Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS 2011)
Handheld/Role-Playing Game
Let's get this out of the way: this game is unbelievably furry, and that virtually guaranteed that I would enjoy it more than any game of similar genre and quality. At first, I tried to reason that I was probably reading way too much into it and seeing what I wanted to see, but after a while it became impossible to ignore. I've played a lot of video games with anthropomorphic characters before, and this is the only one that has ever made me say, "Okay, this game is definitely furry."

Okay, moving on. Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is a story-based fantasy JRPG. And it's a good thing it's story-based, because that's where its strenght lies. The story itself is fantastic and has several genuinely interesting plot twists. This is enhanced by great dialogue, stunningly beautiful art (especially the character art), and an impressive score (which actually comes on a CD with the Special Edition, which of course I have.) The game is very heavy with story and dialogue, so if that's not what you're looking for, I can't in good conscience recommend it.

One quality handheld games really need is the ability to put them down and pick them back up without much trouble, and Solatorobo mostly wins on that count. Although its reliance on savepoints feels a bit archaic, those savepoints are always readily available. You are prompted to save after every cutscene, can save at any time from your ship, and find numerous savepoints in every location (including dungeons.)

The game's biggest drawback is that it simply isn't challenging. I don't mean it isn't brutally difficult, I mean it isn't challenging at all. It's always very clear where you're supposed to be going and what you're supposed to be doing. The combat is actually fairly arcade-like, which might seem out of place in an RPG. It's easy to learn, intuitive, but ultimately repetitive. There's really no reason you ever need to lose a battle, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since the game is very story-heavy, but if what you're looking for in an RPG is intense strategizing and a complicated combat system, you're just not going to find it here.

Ultimately what you have here is a story-based RPG with a low difficulty curve, stunningly beautiful visuals and a fantastic story. Sounds like a middle-of-the-pack game, but then you have to heap on top of that the fact that the game was clearly either directly created by, or intentionally appealing to, members of the furry fandom. This game made me positively giddy.