I have already proclaimed my unabashed love for Elite Beat Agents (EBA), so it should come as no surprise that Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! found its way into my mailbox. As the original Japanese game that inspired EBA, Ouendan has been critically acclaimed and developed a large fan base, both in its native Japan and foreign countries. I couldn’t wait to try it out.

When I began on the easiest level, I was a little surprised. Like EBA, it was hard when it was too slow (you have to concentrate to hit the sparse buttons, a drastic change from the more constant buttons that practically keep the tempo of the later levels). However, the overall pacing of the difficulties was much, much better. Levels progressed at an accelerated rate to that of the Westernized EBA. While it may be challenging for the new player, I felt that there was less of a plateau in difficulty among the levels. While in EBA there would seem to be a couple easy songs and many harder songs (in each of the four difficulty levels), Ouendan provided levels that progressed more steadily. As a player (and an EBA veteran), I felt respected. The game adjusts to the player’s rising skill, making it more fun.

Also high on the fun factor were the charts themselves. By charts, I mean the layout and pacing of the touch buttons and other devices during the songs. They were laid out in such a way so that they were not frustrating (such as not placing buttons all the way across the screen so you have to rush over to that spot) but high on the fun factor (such as laying out a string of buttons for a fun little drum solo). Perhaps it was the songs themselves, as many felt more like dance songs than those in EBA. Overall, there were fewer tricky rhythms to stumble over (like triplets in even time signatures) and the beat patterns fit the songs really well.

One you get past the fantastic gameplay, the main difference between EBA and Ouendan is the language. Ouendan is in Japanese. While I know some Japanese, I cannot read most of this game. The stories are still fairly easy to figure out from the pictures alone, but it appears the there are some stories that I may not understand due to language and/or cultural barriers. Keiichi Yano described how he changed the stories entriely for EBA because some problems just don’t suit Western audiences, such as the student having trouble focusing to study for an important exam. I have to admit, I found the stories for EBA to be much easier to relate to, perhaps because I’d seen stories like them so many times (the oil tycoon falls from power, the stealthy ninja steals secret plans, the lost puppy must find his way home).

Considering that I skip past most of the story animation after watching it once or twice, I really believe that the gameplay is the most important aspect of these iNiS games. If I had to pick between the two, I’d say Ouendan is definitely the more solid of the two and more fun in terms of gameplay. However, I’d definitely recommend Elite Beat Agents to most of my friends first since it is much more accessible. I am really glad that I played EBA first because it seems less difficult in general, making Ouendan quite a treat.  

I had the privilege of going to the D.I.C.E. Summit this year. (It’s basically a video game conference and awards show hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.) I helped out behind the scenes as an intern and got to see a lot of cool things. One of them was the game Elite Beat Agents, developed by iNiS.

I had never heard much about Elite Beat Agents or iNiS before D.I.C.E. What I did know was that there was a speaker from Japan. He had made a game I had heard of (Guitaroo Man) and this other game, Elite Beat Agents. I didn’t really know what Elite Beat Agents was about, but one of the other interns at D.I.C.E. had a DS and let me play their copy.

I wasn’t expecting much, but I really liked this game. It was a rhythm game, which is one of my favorite genres. Unlike tradition rhythm games, however, you got to touch the screen in the right place at the right time (instead of just hitting the right button at the right time). It was interactive in a new way, and had fun extras like spinning wheels and good stories.

I was really impressed by the stories, especially since each was very short and very simple. Regular problems, such as a lost puppy or putting kids to sleep, were shown in cute little manga-style sequences. The sounds were great and the scenes were short and sweet. There was a good bit of creativity involved as well, such as having animals or former enemies dancing with the protagonists of the stories. After talking again and again about cutscenes in my classes, I was very impressed by the concise stories in this game. They were simple, fun, and, most importantly, could be skipped easily (a great feature when replaying levels).

Fortunately, I was able to sit in on Keiichi Yano’s speech. He feels that music and games are naturally suited to each other. His presentation emphasized the idea that harmonies and dissonances in music can easily accompany tension and release in stories. He was a charismatic speak with simple but effective ideas. I really enjoyed his presentation.

After the session was over, I had the opportunity to talk to Keiichi Yano. I told him how much I enjoyed his game. I also explained how refreshing it was to play a game with such simple, effective stories. My fellow intern and fan of Elite Beat Agents got his copy of the game signed. Keiichi Yano seemed like a really neat person, and I was so grateful that I had been able to play Elite Beat Agents earlier. If not, I would have missed out on something really special.