There’s currently a dearth of RPGs for the DS system, although there are several that are slated for release this year, most notably Final Fantasy, LostMagic, Children of Mana, Pokemon and Zelda. So, any RPG at this point in time is a welcomed addition to the DS library. Or is it?

Tao’s Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal at first presents itself as a typical RPG, complete with the requisite dungeon crawls, conversations with villagers, magic spells and turn-based combats. As a new “touch,” it also almost exclusively utilizes the DS’s touch-screen capabilities for navigation and interaction. Using the DS’s unique touch-screen system would seem like a good idea (why else is it there), but in practice, for this game at least, the actual experience is less than desirable.

The story is this: Tao’s island home is being menaced by mysterious flying monsters, one of which has turned most of the villagers into stone statues. Tao learns that these monsters have escaped from the Monster Tower in the town of Mondominio, due to a lightning strike on the tower itself that released some of the monsters. Tao is just a kid, but he’s evidently the only one capable of taking on the monsters, so he’s elected to travel to Mondominio to kick some monster butt. Don’t ask me why the elders who survived the monster attack in the village by using magic protective spells can’t go with him and help, I don’t write these stories, I just report ‘em.

Luckily, Tao has just learned several magic spells from his father, who just happened to be a teacher on the island. Armed with this newfound knowledge, he sets out for the Monster Tower.

This story is unfolded in a long sequence of cutscenes. While long, the movie is interesting and sets the stage for the game very well. During this introduction, players learn the spells that will be used against the monsters in the early leveling-up stages of the game. These spells are based on earth, wind, fire, lightning, movement and health. They are activated by drawing their associated symbols on the touch screen.

After Tao arrives in Mondominio, he must travel around town and talk to the various people he encounters. At first, he will only be able to access a few of the buildings, but later, as he talks with the people and befriends them, he’ll be able to enter more establishments. These town excursions are mostly for the purpose of upgrading items, buying and selling items, and using these items for health and other effects. Tao can also gain useful knowledge about the monsters, which will come in handy as he decides which monsters are best for using as familiars to help in attacks on other monsters.

The other main area of exploration is the Monster Tower, where Tao will spend the bulk of his time fighting monsters and leveling up, capturing eggs to grow monsters for familiars, and searching around for useful items to use and sell. The monsters can either be fought, or avoided by running away. The combat is turn based and Tao can do several different things during his turns, but only one at a time. He can move, strike, defend, use magic, summon a familiar, and choose other actions. He can turn in a different direction in order to face the monster without having to use a turn, but this doesn’t work very well. Most of the time Tao moves at the same time he’s being turned, so he loses a turn. This can be a problem, because if he encounters the monster at an angle, his spells won’t land on the monster’s tile square.

The first several floors of the Monster Tower are pretty easy to clear, but things get a bit tougher toward the top. Every so many floors there is a boss level, too. However, Tao can get lots of help from his familiars, which can be packed into his monster keeper thingy 16 at a time. Also, he will learn more spells as he advances in the adventure.

Besides fighting and exploring, Tao can practice his combat skills in the Coliseum, ala Pokémon, by fighting his monsters against other monsters. Players can either fight against friends, or the game’s AI. Monsters can also be traded with friends.

One of the better aspects of this game is the really nice colors and drawings; the game looks wonderful on the DS, comparable to many older computer games.  Tao and the others are very detailed, and look almost of cartoon quality. The town of Mondominio is also attractive, but the Monster Tower is less so, even with the different looks of the different floors. It’s too dark and dreary and square appearing.

The touch screen is used heavily; in fact, there is no use of the buttons except for the A button to scroll down the dialog, once it’s begun. All of the movement and action choices must be accomplished by using the touch screen to pick from a menu. This may have seemed like a good idea, but it’s not. In fact, it’s incredibly annoying in execution. Having to keep switching back and forth from running around, to picking up the stylus to choose from little words in a small screen, just isn’t very fun. Using the movement directions on the screen with the style can alleviate swapping back and forth, but for me anyway, I prefer using the directional pad.

The spells are also activated on the touch screen, which is a good idea, except for one thing: There is no way to access the spell book to see which spell does what, which is a major problem in the beginning of the game when the symbols haven’t been memorized by repeated use. There should have been a menu option in the top corner to choose the various spells and see what symbols they needed.

And, to add more to the fun of getting around from the Tower to town, the game can only be saved in the Inn! Yes, if Tao dies in the Monster Tower, players will have to begin again at a point before he entered the Tower. This means that players will keep having to use their Bound spell to get out of the tower, run back to the Inn, travel to the upstairs room and lie down, THEN save. Then, back again to the Tower for more fighting. This is nuts.

I enjoy playing RPGs, and haven’t really had many opportunities to do so on either the GBA or the DS. I had fun with Tao at first, and was pleased that the first battles weren’t too difficult and that the beginning leveling up was easily accomplished. The battles become harder later, but that adds to the challenge and doesn’t make the game impossible, as Tao has sufficient powers to present a decent defense. The problem was that the game’s progress kept being broken up, as Tao had to keep leaving after so many battles, to save at the Inn. Also, having to choose Talk and Search from the touch screen was irritating and clumsy. The monsters are cute and interesting, but in and of themselves don’t offer enough attraction to keep having to travel around so much in order to get things, advance, and save. If the save feature wasn’t such a pain, the other awkward control issues with the touch screen could be forgiven, but the save option was a definite detraction, for me, anyway.

An average RPG that fills the current void, but will probably suffer in comparison to the RPGs that will be released over the next several months.

Gameplay: 6.0
The game begins well, but soon becomes tiring due to the annoying save feature. The fighting monsters theme isn’t enough to keep interest for very long, as it is pretty much the same thing over and over again.

Graphics: 8.0
Very nice graphics!

Sound: 7.0
The music is nice enough, but not wonderful.

Difficulty: Medium
The game is easy in the beginning, but becomes tougher as play advances. Strategy is definitely a factor in picking the right monsters to help, and the right spells to cast.

Concept: 6.0
There really isn’t anything new here, except for the use of the touch screen for drawing spells and choosing menu options.

Overall: 6.5
This isn’t a terribly bad game, but neither is it a really good game. The design flaws detract from the game, and there isn’t enough variety to make the annoying features worth overlooking. Best for people who aren’t too picky about their RPGs.