Much like Pokémon, this simplistic RPG is aimed for kids and as it is it won't appeal much to the general crowd.
+ Lush open environments look fantastic
+ Plenty of Spectrobes to use in battle
+ Neat and addictive exploration is fun for a while
Negative
- The combat gets monotonous too quickly
- Story falls flat after some time
The Wii, more than other platform is lacking in RPGs. That said Spectrobes: Origins may be a welcome addition to RPG library. It's an overall good game but compared to other RPGs found elsewhere Origins lacks depth, originally and an engaging combat system to back up the decent story. There is to enough in the game but most of which ends up in monotony. But it succeeds at bringing something good to the younger people.
In Origins you'll play as Rallen and Jeena who are Spectrobes Masters. By accident when patrolling in outer space they enter a portal which led them to another Star System, infested by an evil army of Krawl whom are the enemy of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol which is the organization our two heroes work for. After the two start exploring planets in the System, they fight their way through countless evil Krawl to rid the planets of them and help the people there. The plot is hollow and empty as I just wrote. As the beginning promises nothing, the progress is boring and the story doesn't stay interesting for long. A role-playing experience starts with an enjoyable and enthralling quest; Origins has none.
You may have never heard of Spectrobes, but it is easily compared to much beloved gotta catch-'em-all Pokémon series. Spectrobes, small cute child creatures or big ferocious adult monsters are in a way similar to Pokémon. The similarity is obvious, there is no questioning that. At the very least Origins doesn't play in turn-based style like the famous Pokémon games for the DS but plays as an action RPG where you as either Rallen and Jeena will fight alongside the big Spectrobes in order to defeat the Krawl. The combat is shallow and monotonous as it can come. The one-note gameplay is varied with the wide variety of Spectrobes to use and decent number of different weapons. You can't even use the two characters simultaneously in battle, why is that? Both characters play almost the identical. Weapons like the sword gives you a combo of three attacks, and you'll just repeat each time. You can have the one Spectrobe in battle to assist you but that doesn't make the combat less repetitive or more engaging. You can switch in and out plenty of Spectrobes which adds some flavor to battles. Luckily the battle area is big enough to move around and it's only limitation is the exit to the area and most areas are pretty big, allowing you to draw away from the enemy crowd. There are two motion commands to use; swing the Wii remote vertically to call the Spectrobe into action and swing horizontally to call it back instantly. This calls for a bit of strategy against big bosses which are tougher and more challenging than average Krawl.
The exploration is luckily more engaging. Thanks to the large amount of items (most of which are minerals) you can find in the ground expands and artificially increases your playtime. In exploration you can have up to three child Spectrobes and choosing only one you can swing the Wii remote vertically to send the child towards the viewing point of your character. Shining objects on the ground indicate that there is an item there. There is a variety of items you can find including minerals, fossils and a random battle. Random battles are a rarity but picking up black mineral automatically puts you in battle. The child Spectrobe is switched with an adult Spectrobes as soon as the battle begins. Ultimately the exploration too fails to keep you. It's repetitive (and useless at some point) and may feel forced (but it's not) and for those guys you love to get every shiny thing it'll grow into a bad habit. Some minor grinding feels needless.
Getting new Spectrobes works similarly to catching new Pokémon, albeit a bit different. Finding fossils allows you to obtain new Spectrobes and other items. But it would still be a fossil to this point and something is needed for the Spectrobe to awaken. Entering the lab menu at the ship or the save point allows you to extract the Spectrobe within the rock for you to use it. Extracting fossils is fun even though it's easy and straightforward. When selecting to extract the Spectrobe, the game opens a completely different mode where the blocky rock and a handful of useful tools appear. In a limited time you have to get rid of all the rock without damaging its content and you got yourself a new ally after doing an easy musical part called the awakening part, or get a mineral. These will be graded and the Spectrobes' level will depend following on your performance in the extraction. Fossils are randomly found in exploration and thus you can end up with the same Spectrobe all over.
Spectrobe vary (like Pokémon). Some are fire type, earth type and many others. In battle it really doesn't matter. But in some occasions you may need a particular type of Spectrobe to advance or open a secret area. The small Spectrobes will evolve if an evolve mineral is fed. Items found in exploration increase their EXP. What's good though is that there are a lot of Spectrobes to collect throughout your journey and you can name them yourself. Their appearance varies, from cute to ugly as small and to plain ugly and fearsome as adults, but the details' quite good.
The best possible thing is the game is how surprisingly good the game looks. Previously on the DS, a jump to the Wii doesn't predict good visuals but the visuals are really good. The outside green environments are very impressive with little repetition and the others while not as good are still something. The character models on the other hand need more work. The Krawl look good, but the bosses (the first boss especially) look terrific. The soundtrack is passable and the voice acting is average with little annoying and repetitive monster sounds and other sound effects. The story is told through great looking cinematics but they take a backseat to lots of dialogues.
Most of the things Spectrobe: Origins does are good – but that's just about it. Very few small things exceed towards greatness but there are more things that detract from the fun. Spectrobe: Origins is just a good game…and that's it. The beautiful visuals and plenty of Spectrobes to collect are nice touches but the combat is too boring to complete the long quest. It is indeed unfortunate, but Wii owners in serious need for an RPG will suffice with the game's setbacks and find a bit of enjoyment here. But returning to the subject matter, it's a game aimed for kids; it's not for everyone.
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Graphics = 8.1
I don't know about everyone else, but I like the visuals. Vibrant colors and varied environments steal the show. The characters need minor work but the Spectrobes and Krawl are just fine as they are.
Sound = 7.0
Average soundtrack, decent voice acting and sound effects. Nothing memorable.
Presentation = 7.1
Plenty of planets to explore and even more Spectrobes to collect. The loadings are okay, but there is a lot of voiceless dialogues that should have been fully voiced cutscenes.
Gameplay = 7.2
Unfortunately the gameplay ends up boring too quickly. It's repetitive and not engaging for long despite the fact that you can use two different characters and many Spectrobes. The exploration is nice for a while. Good idea to leave an open field for battle. Excavating is fun.
Story = 7.0
Basic and generic story which may not hold anyone's interest for very long. It's aimed for kids so don't expect much if you don't consider yourself one.
OVERALL = 72 / 100
Much like Pokémon, this simplistic RPG is aimed for kids and as it is it won't appeal to the general crowd. It is unfortunate that this game doesn't fill the void of which the genre suffers of.