Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
Encyclopedia
, is a video game released on the Game Boy Advance
in 2003 by Konami
. Produced by Hideo Kojima
.
The player takes the role of Django, a vampire hunter
, who uses a weapon called the "Gun Del Sol" (Solar Gun), that fires bolts of sunlight at enemies. Boktai' s game cartridge includes a photometric
light sensor that measures the amount of sunlight
/uv rays exposed to it. In order to charge the in-game weapon, the player must actually take their Game Boy Advance outside in the daytime (as verified by the light sensor). If the player's gun runs out of light reserves and there is no sunlight available, then the player must have to avoid enemies.
Accompanied by Master Otenko, together they must stop the undeadening and this doesn't go unnoticed. They must purify Istrakan from the four Immortals that roam there, by bathing them into sunlight. But this does not go unnoticed. In Django's adventures, they meet a dark figure that tries to stop Django and Otenko from saving the world. Django later learns that this dark figure is his brother and together they defeat the queen of Immortals, Hel.
. The engine can then determine when the sun will rise/set, and will simulate the position of the sun inside the game. This way, the player has an advantage during the daytime because, according to lore, vampires cannot be exposed to sunlight. Sunlight also affects the world around the main character. A good example is the Solar Tree. This tree is affected by all the darkness of the Immortals, and can be cured by playing in sunlight. The game also simulates times of day by putting bird chirp sound effects in the morning, and giving the outdoor environment a soft orange glow around sunset.
Unlike other action RPGs, the combat focuses on stealth. An integral concept is shooting an undead in the back, stunning it then running away or finishing it off. Getting caught by a monster (indicated by a red exclamation point above the head) will reduce the grade received at the end of a stage. The highest grade one can receive is an "S", and the lowest an "C-". A number of other factors also determine the grade received, such as total time taken to complete the level. While playing the game, the player goes through a number of levels called dungeons. After a certain amount of these dungeons, the player will encounter a level that somewhat bigger than the others. These levels all called Immortal, because the four Immortals reside inside these levels. The player will have to fight his way to the so called boss creature, or Immortal, of the level. The player must defeat the "Bosses" and return them outside the dungeon level, to bathe and battle the Immortals into sunlight, called a Battle Drive (this is from the name of the device, used to defeat the Immortals, called the Pile Driver, summoned by Master Otenko). The player must use the solar sensor inside the game pack to defeat the Immortal. The sunlight will activate the Pile Driver. The Pile Driver will shoot the amount in sunlight to the Immortal. The Immortal will get weakened faster if the amount of sunlight is higher.
The "Gun del Sol" is the only weapon used by the main character. It has the ability to charge with sunlight and being the only weapon to defeat the undead and Immortals. It is a very versatile weapon, because all parts of the gun (lens, frame, battery, and grenade) can be customized. By changing the Lens, the element used by the Solar Gun will be changed. There is a wide choice of lenses, Sun, Luna, Fire, Frost, Earth, Cloud, Dark and Star. They all have different effects at different situations. Some monsters have specific weaknesses against an element. As you use the lenses, they will gain experience and if it gains enough experience, the lens will become stronger and level up. This will increase damage and effectiveness. Some element lenses (Fire, Frost, Earth and Cloud) will be used to solve puzzles. A frame is the part that will determine the shots of the gun. The gun's fire can be changed by adding different sorts of Frames. Some of the frames are inspired on existing weapons (shotgun, automatic gun) and some are fantasy based (a sword spread, a vortex or a wide spread). They have their own strength, based on grades from C- (weakest) to A (strong). Batteries are the gun's power source. By increasing the quality of the battery, the gun will be able to store more energy from the sun. Grenades are explosives with different types of effects. Some will explode, attracting or hurting enemies and some will be able to reveal hidden objects.
gave it a score of 9/8/8.5: the first reviewer, Shane Bettenhausen, called the game "incredible", while the third reviewer, David Chen, said that "all you really need to know is that this portable gem is a pleasure to play".
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
in 2003 by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
. Produced by Hideo Kojima
Hideo Kojima
is a Japanese game director originally employed at Konami. He is currently the director of Kojima Productions and was promoted to Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment in early 2011...
.
The player takes the role of Django, a vampire hunter
Vampire hunter
A vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a character in folklore and fiction who specializes in finding and destroying vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures....
, who uses a weapon called the "Gun Del Sol" (Solar Gun), that fires bolts of sunlight at enemies. Boktai
Photometry (optics)
Photometry is the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its perceived brightness to the human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the science of measurement of radiant energy in terms of absolute power; rather, in photometry, the radiant power at each wavelength is weighted by...
light sensor that measures the amount of sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...
/uv rays exposed to it. In order to charge the in-game weapon, the player must actually take their Game Boy Advance outside in the daytime (as verified by the light sensor). If the player's gun runs out of light reserves and there is no sunlight available, then the player must have to avoid enemies.
Plot
In a place not too far from here and now... The End of the World approaches... The Undead appear, breaking the natural cycle of life and death. The evolution of species ceases... and one by one they become extinct. In the age of darkness in which people have forgotten the sun, the "Immortals" -- the beings of the dark—have appeared and turned San Miguel, the City of the Sun, into a land of death. The dark curse has turned all species into the "undead". "Dark matter" has brought about the "undeadening" of all life. The man who was known as the strongest vampire hunter has fallen, and the people's hopes have been shattered. But one day, a boy left San Miguel to avenge his murdered father. This boy is Django—the heir of the solar gun "Gun Del Sol" and the last hope for humanity. In him flows the blood of the greatest vampire hunter of all time. He heads for Istrakan—the City of Death, to pursue his father's murderer. Can Django avenge his father's death with the use of sunlight as his weapon? Can he stop the undeadening that threatens the lives of all? Can he bring back Our Sun?Accompanied by Master Otenko, together they must stop the undeadening and this doesn't go unnoticed. They must purify Istrakan from the four Immortals that roam there, by bathing them into sunlight. But this does not go unnoticed. In Django's adventures, they meet a dark figure that tries to stop Django and Otenko from saving the world. Django later learns that this dark figure is his brother and together they defeat the queen of Immortals, Hel.
Gameplay
A unique feature of Boktai is that before a game is started, the player is prompted to set their current time and time zoneTime zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
. The engine can then determine when the sun will rise/set, and will simulate the position of the sun inside the game. This way, the player has an advantage during the daytime because, according to lore, vampires cannot be exposed to sunlight. Sunlight also affects the world around the main character. A good example is the Solar Tree. This tree is affected by all the darkness of the Immortals, and can be cured by playing in sunlight. The game also simulates times of day by putting bird chirp sound effects in the morning, and giving the outdoor environment a soft orange glow around sunset.
Unlike other action RPGs, the combat focuses on stealth. An integral concept is shooting an undead in the back, stunning it then running away or finishing it off. Getting caught by a monster (indicated by a red exclamation point above the head) will reduce the grade received at the end of a stage. The highest grade one can receive is an "S", and the lowest an "C-". A number of other factors also determine the grade received, such as total time taken to complete the level. While playing the game, the player goes through a number of levels called dungeons. After a certain amount of these dungeons, the player will encounter a level that somewhat bigger than the others. These levels all called Immortal, because the four Immortals reside inside these levels. The player will have to fight his way to the so called boss creature, or Immortal, of the level. The player must defeat the "Bosses" and return them outside the dungeon level, to bathe and battle the Immortals into sunlight, called a Battle Drive (this is from the name of the device, used to defeat the Immortals, called the Pile Driver, summoned by Master Otenko). The player must use the solar sensor inside the game pack to defeat the Immortal. The sunlight will activate the Pile Driver. The Pile Driver will shoot the amount in sunlight to the Immortal. The Immortal will get weakened faster if the amount of sunlight is higher.
The "Gun del Sol" is the only weapon used by the main character. It has the ability to charge with sunlight and being the only weapon to defeat the undead and Immortals. It is a very versatile weapon, because all parts of the gun (lens, frame, battery, and grenade) can be customized. By changing the Lens, the element used by the Solar Gun will be changed. There is a wide choice of lenses, Sun, Luna, Fire, Frost, Earth, Cloud, Dark and Star. They all have different effects at different situations. Some monsters have specific weaknesses against an element. As you use the lenses, they will gain experience and if it gains enough experience, the lens will become stronger and level up. This will increase damage and effectiveness. Some element lenses (Fire, Frost, Earth and Cloud) will be used to solve puzzles. A frame is the part that will determine the shots of the gun. The gun's fire can be changed by adding different sorts of Frames. Some of the frames are inspired on existing weapons (shotgun, automatic gun) and some are fantasy based (a sword spread, a vortex or a wide spread). They have their own strength, based on grades from C- (weakest) to A (strong). Batteries are the gun's power source. By increasing the quality of the battery, the gun will be able to store more energy from the sun. Grenades are explosives with different types of effects. Some will explode, attracting or hurting enemies and some will be able to reveal hidden objects.
Connection with Mega Man Battle Network 4
In Mega Man Battle Network 4, Django is part of a funhouse ride featuring vampires. The boss of the vampire robot, whose network contains a story following the adventures of Django fighting the evil vampire Dracky, is ShadeMan.EXE. Django (and Otenko) later appears in the Undernet as part of a mini-quest to acquire the "S. Sensor" item and activate the PileDriver. He hopes that the PileDriver will delete ShadeMan.EXE, who sleeps in a coffin before Django, regaining strength to revive. The Program Advance 'PileDrvr' also appears in-game.Reception
Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
gave it a score of 9/8/8.5: the first reviewer, Shane Bettenhausen, called the game "incredible", while the third reviewer, David Chen, said that "all you really need to know is that this portable gem is a pleasure to play".