Elemental Gimmick Gear
- November 24, 2000 14:47 PM PST
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Part of the first wave of RPG games to arrive for the Dreamcast, Elemental Gimmick Gear, or E.G.G., offers a combination of puzzles and battles that will take the player into a world on the brink of destruction as a result of human greed. While more of an action/adventure game than a true RPG, E.G.G. does offer good character development and a whole lot of exploration.
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You Can Spin My Shell
You take on the role of the pilot of an egg-shaped robot discovered in the ancient ruins of Fogna, who has been asleep for five thousand years. While scientists weren't able to awaken the pilot, they did manage to clone the robot, naming it Elemental Gimmick Gear (E.G.G. for short), and they found ways to use it in everyday life.
One hundred years after the discovery of the pilot, treasure hunters accidentally trigger a switch in the Fogna ruins, making it come to life and unleash terrible destruction on the surrounding area. Awakened by this turn of events, the pilot of the original E.G.G. now regains control of his robot and must explore Fogna himself in search of his lost memory and identity. Uncovering the mysteries of Fogna will require the player to solve some seriously challenging puzzles. Special skills such as fireball, ice beams, and earthquake will help the player in solving some of the puzzles, but such skills are only acquired after defeating some mean bosses. As you acquire these special skills you'll gain access to deeper levels of the dungeons and even more challenging puzzles.
The wide array of puzzles ranges from figuring out how to open doors and moving blocks in the right order to allow passage to discovering the right techniques to defeat the bosses. Basic attacks consist of either punching or spinning the enemies you'll encounter along the way. By spinning you can move faster across the landscape and avoid damage to your character while defeating enemies. Unfortunately, you also lose HP while spinning, so it should be used sparingly.
Oval Glory
Visually, E.G.G. is reminiscent of old-school RPG with its overhead view, but the lush and colorful locations give the game a style all of its own. There are no voice-overs and other than the background music, which is engaging enough to avoid becoming a nuisance, the only sounds you'll hear will be special effects during battles. While the controls are adequate for most tasks it lacks the sensitivity and speed necessary to accomplish some of the more challenging puzzles without adding a high level of frustration.
Crack It Up!
E.G.G.'s world is a small one, but its areas must be revisited repeatedly in order to solve all of its mysteries. Playing time will depend mostly on how fast the player can uncover its many secrets. While it lacks depth, E.G.G. does offer some interesting and complex puzzles, which will probably appeal mostly to gamers with an enormous amount of patience and a penchant for the obscure.
