Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Dewy’s Adventure Review for the Nintendo Wii

Dewy’s Adventure Review for the Nintendo Wii

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Nintendo’s systems have long been considered to be the destination for younger themed games. The Wii is definitely not an exception to this rule. With the Xbox 360 and the PS3 battling over the hardcore gamers’ dollars, Nintendo virtually has the younger and more casual gaming market all to themselves. Dewy’s Adventure is the most recent example of a Wii game that is clearly attempting to attack parents’ pocket books by way of their children’s requests.

Dewy's Adventure screenshot

The story behind Dewy’s Adventure is formulaic and yet still somewhat interesting. It revolves around a race of tiny creatures named the Eau that live in peace and prosperity. This is made possible by the tree of seven colors that protects and sustains them. One day an evil creature named Don Hedron shatters this symbiotic relationship by calling forth the black rain to destroy the tree and then proceeds to capture the defenseless Eau. With its dying breath, the tree gives birth to the fabled hero water droplet named Dewy. Dewy must now free the Eau, destroy Don Hedron, and restore the tree of seven colors.

This story is delivered like it is being read from a children’s story. While I think this was a good way to handle it, the person reading the story would sound condescending even to a child. The cinematics involved are quite beautiful and bright but are only comprised of slightly moving still pictures. With a different narrator and more fleshed out cinematics, I think this could have been a very compelling beginning for the game.

Dewy's Adventure screenshot

Once the story has been set into motion, the game gives you control over Dewy. Unlike Konami’s first Wii title Elebits’ point and click controls, you will need to hold the Wii-mote sideways like the classic NES controller. Since Dewy remains seated throughout the entirety of the game, you will need to tilt the Wii-mote in the direction you would like him to slide. While this seems to work well initially, you quickly find many narrow passages and moving platforms that become completely frustrating. Imagine holding a book flat in each hand with a marble resting on one of them. Then think about how difficult it would be to roll and launch the marble from one book to the other without dropping it. The marble would undoubtedly end up plummeting to its doom much in the same way that Dewy often does. Even if you do make the jump, trying to keep him from sliding off of the other side of the platform can be incredibly difficult. This is made even worse by the fact that there are no checkpoints in this game. If you die trying making some of the game’s more challenging jumps, you will have to play the whole way through the level to try again. Not only is basic movement and platforming difficult by themselves, but you will also need to dispatch enemies while constantly trying to regain control over your runaway droplet.

Dewy's Adventure screenshot

As a water droplet, Dewy’s attacks are incredibly lacking. Fortunately, the game allows you to change Dewy’s state using the D-pad. Pressing down will chill the environment, turning Dewy into ice. This form allows him to move quicker and perform incredibly more effective attacks. Pressing up will heat your surroundings, turning Dewy into a cloud. As a cloud, you can shower your enemies with lightning but will be unable to move. Not only do these form changes spice up the game’s combat, but they also serve as the key to many of the game’s puzzles. You may need to cool things down to create a much needed ice bridge or become a cloud to get swept away by wind leading to your next destination. While these puzzles are usually fairly obvious, they do help to distract you from the plummeting frustration that is platforming as Dewy.

To top