Contact could prove to be an RPG sensation when it is released here in the states. If RPG purists get any notions of traditional RPG gameplay out of their heads early on, the game should be a rich, rewarding experience. Just don’t expect it to make a lot of sense, at first.

The E3 demo starts surprisingly: a man in a blocky-sprite art style room stands at a computer typing as his dog sits on the ground. And nothing happens. This could, conceivably, continue for hours and hours; the game does not begin until you tap the man with your stylus. This tapping is an extraordinary event, since you as the player represent the “other" world. The man has been trying to reach you through your DS for a long time, and has finally achieved contact. He asks you your name and some of your preferences about food and life (what is it with nosy DS games this year?). He explains that he is a doctor on the run, and needs your help.

We are then treated to a bizarre cinema dream sequence showing a boy chasing a girl. The art style has oddly switched from blocky sprites to more shaded, rounded characters, and the perspective is no longer isometric. The graphical difference between the two is like NES to Super NES, or Earthbound to Golden Sun. This world, apparently, represents the player. After the dream sequence, the boy wakes up on a beach and finds an odd green gem on the ground that looks like a rupee. The lush environment of the boy is rudely interrupted by a blocky sprite spaceship landing on the beach. Suddenly, the two art styles have merged which creates a real impression of contact between two worlds. The graphics in the game make clear what the game is about, and that is an achievement.

The doctor explains that his ship has been shot down and he needs the boy to find elements to aid repair. This is where the gameplay starts to feature. As you progress on the bottom screen using touch control and the D-Pad, the top screen shows the doctor in his spaceship with his dog. They seem to have conversations as you play, which means things could be going on up there when you aren’t looking. When the doctor needs to give you advice, he’ll send text to the bottom screen. As soon as you start to move around you will encounter enemies. You can either hit B or just tap the enemy and click a sword icon to enter “Battle Mode." While in battle mode, you cannot move as fast, but you will automatically attack anything that comes near you. This is the first sticking point of the game, and I’m sure some RPG fans will greatly dislike it: you attack automatically. It seems that you can learn new attacks and switch between them, but for now your character will attack on a timer. This amounts to turn based battling since your enemies seem to be on the same timer, and you could just sit back and watch if you wanted to. However, you can dodge around the enemy and avoid some attacks, which adds some interactivity. Of course, you gain experience points, and it seems the customization is very complex. There are pages and pages in the menu with tons of places for items, skills, etc. Though the battle system is automatic, it could gain depth as you learn more abilities and choose how your character will play. (Something else RPG fans may not like: sleeping in the bed doesn’t heal you, but taking a bath does.)

After some combat I stopped playing the demo; the cinemas were fairly long, and my 15 minutes with the game was up. I enjoyed the cinemas quite a bit (the music was moody and great), but even more I appreciated the combat and communication mechanics. Though it’s not traditional, I feel like the game’s system works well with its “contact between two worlds" theme. The art style and cinematics do an excellent job of portraying this as well. From the looks of it, this is going to be RPG gamers replacement for Mother 3.