E3: AWAY Shuffle Dungeon (DS)

I think most of you know I am not an RPG kinda guy. The way you always have to talk to every single townsfolk to find just the right person. The endless fetch quests. The incessant tinkering with inventory and management of your equipment. It all just bugs the hell outta me, but when I saw AWAY Shuffle Dungeon it shoved all those complaints aside.

It has the added benefit of being an action/RPG and streamlining some of those nagging points above, but what really hooked me was the dungeon gameplay. Venturing between both screens, you’ll seldom see a doorway in these twisted dungeons because after a few frantic seconds one of the screens will shuffle, away. The goal is to rescue Webb Village’s kidnapped citizens and lead them, trailing behind you, through the ever-changing dungeons while defeating enemies and searching for treasure. Phew! The 2D top-down view and the impending, life-threatening shuffle makes it feel more like Pac-Man or Bomberman than Zelda, and I like it.

Yes, there’s still lots of inventory to manage, a 3D village to interact with, magical Fupongs to supplement your skills, and a whole fetch quest before you even get into the dungeons, but the action gameplay has me intrigued. Oh, and it’s from Mistwalker and AQ Interactive with music by Nobuo Uematsu, so it’s definitely got the RPG street cred covered. Check out the gameplay video above and expect the game to be delayed at least once before it’s alleged Fall 2008 release date.