Raven is back, and she’s even more stylin’. She’s making the jump from GBA to DS, and that gives her (and her designers) a great deal more flexibility in what she does and how she does it.
Brief background, for the uninitiated: Raven has psychic flashes, which show her (more or less) a vision from the future. She’s not always good about interpreting what she’s seen, but she’s real good at finding the most ridiculous way to react.The premise is that Raven’s beloved theatre is about to be closed down, and you’ve got to figure out who’s doing it, and why. With the GBA, you pretty much have to rely on twitch-based challenges to make a game. With the DS, Psychic on the Scene can rely more on puzzle-solving rather than concentrating on how well you maneuver the D-pad with split-second timing. Not that there won’t be fair amount of twitch challenges as well; there will be.
Along with the greater emphasis on puzzle-solving, Raven has a few new tools at her disposal. A magnifying glass helps you search. Her purse holds your inventory and a cell phone. A map helps you keep track of where you are, and a to-do list keeps track of what you need to be doing (something I would have really appreciated when I was totally lost in Supernatural Style).
There are three mini-games, and they seem to have more substance than the activities in Supernatural Style. Well, two of them do. Raven’s wardrobe is chock full of stuff to wear, and the more you find, the more choices you have. You can spend hours just trying on various outfits, and you can trade styles between two wireless DS’s. As far as I can tell, her wardrobe doesn’t have much effect on the game.
The second mini-game, called “That’s Sew Raven” (get it? get it?) requires you to complete timed dot-to-dot puzzles on the touchscreen to unlock more clothing. I wasn’t able to tell if the dot-to-dot puzzles are trivial or an actual challenge.
In the third mini-game, Eddie is driving Raven to her next appointed stop — the theatre, the mall, the stylist and so forth — and you’ve got to steer and clear the road for them.
Psychic on the Scene looks to be a step forward in the series; I’m hoping it turns out that way.
David, the dad: Got my start in gaming with Steve Jackson Games (paper gaming), first as a tester, then as a developer and editor. Was GURPS and Car Wars system guru for awhile, then edited and developed for TSR (AD&D) and FASA (Mech Warrior, Renegade Legion), before turning to computer games. Spent six years as Origin Systems Publications Manager, then our department spun off into its own little company, Incan Monkey God Studios (IMGS). Since 1997, we’ve been a freelance content and design house, specializing in strategy guides. We created the first strategy guides for MOGs (Ultima Online, EQ: Ruins of Kunark) and now create the best MOG guides (IMHO, of course).
I like to analyze and optimize while playing games, so I much prefer games that require thought rather than action.
Evie is twelve years old and is an avid reader, especially of fantasy. Favorite authors include J.K. Rowling (of course), Brian Jacques, Cornelia Funke and Tamora Pierce. These reviews are her first published writing.
Will is nine years old and loves to investigate, especially dinosaurs and astronomy. These reviews are also his first published writing.
Jesse is seven years old and has just started reading chapter books. He likes Hank the Cowdog and cartoon books, especially Calvin & Hobbes, Baby Blues and Donald Duck.
If you're interested in the (roughly) thousand-year-old triceratops stone in our pic, check out the Dino Art. Some of the accompanying text can be a bit strident, but it's still a puzzle why Central and South American Indians knew pretty precisely what dinosaurs looked like over a thousand years ago.
