Opoona: A needless failure

On the face of it, Opoona seemed liked an excellently timed holiday release. Developed by ArtePiazza whose previous projects included the artwork and development of Dragon Quest games, it was to be a traditional Japanese RPG that used the Wii to simplify controls. The other most prominent feature of the game was the artwork created by Shintaro Majima; a Dragon Quest veteran who must shoulder the majority of the blame for Opoona's poor sales.



As seen in the screens above, the game has one of the most unattractive uses yet of cel shading. The main character is apparently a balding, overweight 10 year old in a flight suit. He and all other characters have been carved out in a thick black outline that further divorces them from the occasionally lush environments. It's difficult to understand how the art style of this game was ever approved as it has been universally derided. From my own experience on the IGN message boards, even fans of Japanese RPGs have been turned off this game based on the way it looks.

Despite the artwork, the game received 8,8,8,7 from Famitsu, confirming that beneath the ugly exterior existed a very good game. In particular the game's soundtrack was singled out for praise, as was its depth and difficulty.

Media Create sales figures for the week of Opoona's release shows that not only did it fail to enter the top 10, but it only managed to sell a paltry 3000 copies. A spectacular failure for an original RPG in Japan.