Contact's unique and quirky world is one any RPG fan would enjoy.
The game starts off with the Professor, a little 8-bit looking dude in a lab coat, asking you a few questions about yourself. Not yourself in the game, mind you, but yourself communicating with him through the DS. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Contact is that you, the player, are actually a character in the game. The Professor will turn towards the screen and call you by your name all throughout the story. You (yes, you with the DS in your hands) have been given the charge of controlling Terry, the game's protagonist, without letting him find out he's being controlled. Often dialogue will play out between the Professor and Terry, but once Terry leaves the room the professor will talk straight to you. This little twist will keep you interested in the game's story all the way to the end since you feel like you're actually involved in the drama.
The story itself helps to make the game more fun. The Professor's ship has been attacked and you and Terry have to help the Professor recover his lost power cells. You'll travel between different islands scouring dungeons to find these little buggers. Eventually you meet resistance from a small band of pirates who call themselves the CosmoNOTs, and who happen to be out tracking down the power cells as well. The characters all have distinct personalities, and some of the dialogue is even funny enough to make you laugh out loud. It's charming, enjoyable and will keep you engrossed the whole time.
The actual gameplay is what Contact has taken the most grief over. The basic battle system is simplistic. Pressing a button will put Terry into battle mode, allowing him to attack anything within range. Once a fight breaks out everything is turn based. Normal melee attacks are automated while you control Terry's 'techs.' To initiate a tech during combat you open up the tech menu, pick one and watch Terry go. There's a tech meter that determines how often techs can be performed and you can access them at any time while in battle mode. The system is so simple you'll find yourself watching most fights instead of participating in them. It's a small departure from a traditional hack 'n slash, but it can grow dull at times.
Luckily, the character customization in Contact makes all the fighting worthwhile. Terry has no fewer than 26 stats that each determine some aspect of his makeup. Running will increase your speed, attacking will increase your strength and taking damage will increase your HP. There are so many different things to train that leveling up never really gets old, as it does in many other RPGs. On top of the stats, you'll find costumes that grant you special modifiers and techs. These work essentially as a job system, and there's one costume for each element of magic. All this gives you the freedom to build Terry pretty much any way you want him.
It's a good thing that the leveling doesn't wear thin, too, because some parts of the game will have you doing a lot of it. You may find yourself breezing through enemies in one area only to get stomped by the boss at the end. The difficulty can get lopsided like this in a few areas, and there are a couple parts in the story that will have some players stumped as to what to do next. Contact definitely doesn't hold your hand and guide you to where you're supposed to be, so if you don't want to get lost you'll have to pay attention.
Anybody who doesn't end up wasting time trying to figure out what to do next should be able to get through the whole story in a measly 15 hours. This may seem short, and when you get close to the end it certainly feels short, but there's a lot in Contact that will keep you playing well beyond that. Aside from the great customization, there are three optional costumes that turn you into a chef, a fisherman and a thief. Fishing and thieving are pretty fun and can offer some good incentives, such as rare items and money. Cooking is so addicting it can derail you from the story entirely. There are 95 different food items, over half of which can be made by combining different ingredients. Trying to find all the different recipes is great fun and an easy way to make money. There are also an equal number of both weapons and collectibles, so going through and trying to do everything will make the game last around 20-30 hours.
The presentation is another one of Contact's unique and endearing qualities. The two screens are used to represent the two different worlds in the game: the Professor's on top and Terry's on bottom. The lush and detailed environments on the bottom screen mix beautifully with the old-school NES look of the top. Neither front pushes the DS to its limits, but it looks great and fits the game's goofy vibe perfectly. The audio usually doesn't stand out, but the score is in line with the lighthearted feel of the game and most weapons have their own sound effect to go along with them. It's all pleasing to the ear, even if it's not superb.
Overall, Contact is a game that relies heavily on its charm and character to immerse the player in its world, and it succeeds. The up and down difficulty, the mostly bland combat and the short storyline don't take much away from the total package. Contact sucks you in and makes you want to stay for as long as you can. If you have a DS and are at all interested in RPGs, this game won't disappoint you.