Fox Junction (Playstation)

 This game has been a fascination for me for probably about a decade at this point! There's just something about the way it looks and sounds that's really caught my eye, and as the years have gone on, I think I've figured out most of the mechanics despite the language barrier. There's still a big wall impeding my progress though, that I don't think I'll be able to surpass until it gets a translation patch, but I'll tell you all what I (and people in a few forum threads over the years) have been able to ascertain.

 

First, it's a real time 3D semi-roguelike, where you go to various maps. In the maps, there are, as you'd expect, enemies, items, and traps. There's also a teleporter in each map. This is because all those maps are just squares on a bigger map, that looks like a multicoloured patchwork quilt, each coloured square representing a map and its theme (desert, cave, night town, plains, and so on). There's a tower visible in the distance, and its location is constant: if you see it in the north in one map, then take the teleporter north from there, it'll be closer in the next map, for example. And that's where I've hit the wall! I have no idea what you're meant to do once you get to the tower.

 

However, there's still lots of information I have to give you. So, some of the items are stuff you'd expect, for healing your HP and replenishing your ammo. Some of them are "Drums", which are like files in the game's world. And some of those drums, the ones with P in their name, tell you how to build robot companions called Palmata (I assume a portmanteau of Pal and Automata). The enemies sometimes drop robot parts bearing their names, and these P drums tell you which of these parts you can combine to make your palmata. Give them a weapon too, and that's a new friend you've made!

 

Now, to attack, you hold R1 and press square, but if you have a palmata equipped, holding R1 brings them into the fray to fight in your place. This is essential, not only because it means they take all the hits instead of you, but also because, as far as I can tell, your weapon never gets more powerful. So to fight tougher enemies, you've got to find the parts to create stronger palmata and the compatible weapons to give them!

 

Regarding the language barrier, like I said: I've hit a wall in my progress through the game. But, I've still managed to enjoy hours of it, just through exploring the worlds, trying to get a little further, and so on. It was incredibly satisfying building a palmata for the first time, once I figured out the game actually tells you what parts to combine, and you don't need to use trial and error like I had been doing! I think it's probably going to be a lot more difficult if you can't at least read katakana, though. Enemy names (which correspond to the palmata parts they drop), along with a lot of other items are named in katakana, and being able to identify them at a glance is obviously a lot easier than memorising symbols that have no meaing to you.

 

There's apparently a fan translation in progress, by the people who recently translated Iblard Laputa no Kaeru Machi. I'm very much looking forward to it, but in case anyone wants to give the game a try before it comes out, I hope the information here is at least a little useful. (Also, I wish I'd bought a real copy of this game back when I first found out about it, as the price has shot up to ludicrous levels in the years since!)