TGS 2009: Hands-on: Tsumuji
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Sep 24th 2009 at 1:00PM } 
The story begins with generic JRPG convention #1: our hero wakes up in a small remote village. Inexplicably, the game wants you to throw a rock at your mom's precious china. It's easy, too. Just simply tap on a faraway item to throw a rock at it. None to pleased about losing a valuable treasure, your mom punishes you by giving you money to buy a delicious meat dinner (seriously). Your character takes the money and lifts it in the air in a motion that should be familiar to most Nintendo fans.
Beyond the presentation, most of the gameplay will also be more-than-reminiscent of the DS Zelda games. Your character is controlled entirely through the stylus: simply drag the stylus to where you want your character to go and click on people/items you want to interact with.
Gallery: Tsumuji
Tsumuji does offer the promise of something "more," to differentiate it from being just-a-Zelda-clone. Like in Naruto, the game takes place in a ninja village, meaning the player immediately has access to the swiftness and stealthiness that all ninjas have. Whereas players are encouraged to take a more direct route in Zelda, by slashing enemies with a sword, we're told that Tsumuji will be more about being stealthy. In our demo, we were able to sneak into the roof of a neighbor's house. We had to very slowly drag the stylus to move very slowly. On the top screen, we could see the two residents of the house. If we managed to get above them without being detected (by moving the stylus too quickly), we could listen in on their conversation. Presumably, this mechanic will be used in later missions.
Perhaps it wasn't wise for EA Japan to simply give us access to the game from the beginning and let us just play ... for the ten-minute chunk we can get away with at a busy conference. It seems that, just as we were possibly uncovering the unique charms of Tsumuji, it was taken away from us. At the very least, Tsumuji has the potential to be a competent Zelda clone -- and what better game to imitate?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GTMoney519 @ Sep 24th 2009 1:05PM
Brings back memories of my childhood, when my mother would give me money to buy a delicious meat dinner after I smashed her crockery.
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GT
Anything-With-RPG-Elements-Geekfest - http://tgip.wordpress.com
samfish [is sad there is no Gene in Tats v Cap =( ] @ Sep 24th 2009 1:15PM
I'm already fairly excited for this. Not nearly enough companies try to clone Nintendo games or appeal to Nintendo fanboys. It's nice to be pandered to for once. I just hope it turns out to be good.
Markez @ Sep 24th 2009 1:20PM
Holy balls, Yoon, you weren't joking. Yeesh, how blatant. First Dante's Inferno, now this. Which game is EA going to utterly rip off next?
WREturns(There was once a dream called Rome) @ Sep 24th 2009 1:25PM
Madden, ironically.
LameDuck @ Sep 24th 2009 1:38PM
Oh snap!
captainprotonx @ Sep 24th 2009 1:41PM
Need a better name in the states.
Otherwise, expect name hashes like "Too smudgy".
jake @ Sep 24th 2009 2:41PM
swing a sword
Chibi Chaingun - blackhivemedia.com @ Sep 24th 2009 4:45PM
no u
rokubungi @ Sep 24th 2009 6:06PM
I think they'll name it "Touch:Cute Ninja"
Nipah @ Sep 25th 2009 2:36AM
If that name is not already taken, then someone in marketing is not doing their job properly...
MRLN the Amazing @ Sep 24th 2009 7:58PM
Link is ninja? I have no qualms with that.
Extinction @ Sep 25th 2009 2:51AM
I HATED Phantom Hourglasses controls...
Metoo @ Sep 25th 2009 10:24AM
I don't mind if it's a knock-off if they make it fun and improve on Phantom Hourglass.
Shoyz @ Sep 25th 2009 11:56PM
The funny thing is it'll probably be better than Phantom Hourglass. I just never understood the appeal of sailing around trying to figure out where to go next, getting lost all the time.