Neopets: The Darkest Faerie E3 2005 Hands-On Report

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie is a third-person action adventure game based on the crazy popular world of Neopets, a Pokémon-like world filled with furry creatures that are always down to scrap. From the short demo being shown at E3 2005, this one looks like it could be a pretty cool and kid-friendly adventure.

You're cast as the duo of Roberta and Tor, and you can swap one character out for the other by pressing L1 and R1 at the same time. Roberta's a magic user that attacks with a wand, while Tor is a wolf in shining armor that attacks with a sword. Both characters can equip pickup items called motes to alter the properties of their offense and defense. These motes essentially imbue your items with different magic, and some magic works better (or worse) against specific foes. This means that you can equip Tor's sword with fire magic or give Roberta's robe a water affinity. The skeletons we blasted in the demo didn't seem to respond any differently to our elementally equipped attacks, though.

The Darkest Faerie seems like it will be a game about going on quests. The quest we tried had us investigating a crypt in search of a prince's family history so that he could prove to his fiancée's parents that he was of a royal bloodline. There's a quest log that you can use to keep track of what your current task is, and a map screen makes finding your way around pretty easy.

Graphically, Neopets has a clean and colorful look to it that gives the game a good sense of personality. The controls are very approachable, and you're given extremely easy access to your stock of motes and healing items using submenus that are accessed using the D pad.

With the popularity of Neopets continuing to soar, it seems likely that The Darkest Faerie will be a hit when it's released later this year, but regardless of its own popular lineage, the game feels good and looks smooth and may very well be appealing to players who may have never seen a Neopets product before.