Hands On: Invizimals (PSP) - News

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 14 May 2010 / 10,468 Views

Recently I had a chance to play the upcoming PSP game Invizimals with Petro Piaseckyj, Managing Producer at Sony Computer Entertainment and guest panelist on the recent PSN reality show The Tester. Similar to EyePet, Invizimals is an augmented reality game that uses a camera, was released last year in Europe, and is coming to the Americas later this year. Unlike EyePet however, Invizimals isn't all fun and games with your cute and cuddly companion. As Piaseckyj puts it, this game is all about hunting, capturing, battling, and evolving. You eventually have to rescue them from the forces of evil to save the world, too.

Invizimals takes itself very seriously. It pretends that your PSP isn't a video game system, but rather a powerful video conferencing and monster-detecting tool. The game starts with a video transmission from Dr. Kenichi Nakamura, a researcher from the PSP R&D lab in Tokyo. He's discovered that the PSP's camera attachment (which comes with the game) is more powerful than the human eye and can detect invisible monsters. He teaches you how to scan your environment to find and capture the little critters, and you work together to collect them. You meet several other characters during the main story mode, and eventually somebody steals the technology so they can use the Invizimals and their energy as a weapon. You get to be part of the whole international spy drama just by scanning your bedroom and leveling up some monsters.

You scan for monsters by walking around and pointing the camera everywhere, looking for strong colors. The Invizimals you can capture depend on the time of day (some are only available during the day, while others are nocturnal), the color you point at, and the lighting. If the game asks you to find a specific color but it isn't around, after a minute or so it will switch colors to give you another chance. As you scan different areas in your room, the game works like a Geiger counter, so you get a "hot or cold" sound effect when an Invizimal is nearby. Once you locate one, you have to set down your trap and then capture it in one of several mini-games. This is where the action starts, and is probably my favorite part of the game. You really get to learn a lot about the personality of each monster when you trap it.

This piece of paper is actually the hi-tech portal that acts as your trap and your battle arena.

During my time with the game I saw five different capturing techniques. If the Invizimal is a fish, you actually fish for it with some virtual invisible bait. If it's a bird, you hold the PSP sideways and dodge its attacks as it tries to fly right into your face. One wasp creature just needs to be stunned, so you just swat it with your hand. You can blind another by shining a light on it. My favorite was a cute little monster that liked music, so I had to tap on the table to the beat in a short rhythm game. This put the savage beast to sleep so I could snatch him and force him into my monster club.

Once you've assembled a crew of Invizimals, you battle them against others in one on one matches. The battles are in real-time, and each Invizimal has a stamina gauge. You can use your weaker attacks quickly or wait for your stamina to charge all the way before unleashing a special attack. Each battle starts with four attacks ready, represented onscreen by the four buttons in the bottom right corner. You can also block your enemy's attacks if you have some stamina available. Normally this saves you just a few life points, but if you can time it perfectly you may even block the whole attack.

If your Invizimal is victorious in battle, it will be rewarded with Watts and Sparks. Watts are your experience points, used to level up your choice of 5 stats: maximum life, maximum stamina, stamina recovery rate, attack power, and armor. After each level you can increase one stat, and after a few levels you can evolve your Invizimal into a more powerful form. Sparks are the currency in the game, which you use to buy items called Vectors. These Vectors can be anything from simple life boosts or stamina boosts to awesome special attacks that use the camera in some more interesting ways. You can shake the PSP to cause an earthquake, or blow on the PSP to cause a blizzard. (The PSP camera has its own built-in microphone, so this will work on any PSP.)

Each Invizimal has a few attack types (sonic attacks, charge attacks, poison, fire, etc.) and its own element (water, fire, jungle, desert, rock, or ice). There are over 100 Invizimals to collect, and their elements and attacks give them various advantages and disadvantages against each other. Certain attacks won't even work against certain characters. For example, you can't bite a rock monster or slice an ice monster. You have to choose your Invizimal carefully, because you can't switch fighters in the middle of a battle. Once you throw one in the ring, you're stuck with it. After a few fights, a boss becomes unlocked, but you don't have to fight it immediately. You can keep leveling up by fighting the weaker ones a few more times, or purchase some new Vectors to get ready. I probably should have done all that actually. I had to try a few different Invizimals before I could successfully take down my first boss. He was a doozy.

Invizimals also has multiplayer battles, via local wireless or online. You can even bet your Invizimals and play for keeps if you want. And last but not least, you can plant your trap anywhere you'd like, summon your favorite Invizimal, and do a fashion shoot. You can take photos, save them, and play with them to keep them company. Bothering these guys is even more fun than pestering an EyePet, because they can show off their fangs or claws to tell you to back off. Unfortunately you still can't eat them.

Invizimals (along with its trap and PSP camera) will be coming to the Americas sometime this Fall.

13 Comments

MDMAniac (on 16 May 2010)

LOL at this coming to the Americas after a good year since it was released in Europe ;)

naruball (on 16 May 2010)

This is great game. One of the best in psp.

goldingku (on 16 May 2010)

That sounds pretty nice actually

Dioxinis (on 15 May 2010)

this game seemed really cool and i was excited for it now im even MORE excited!

tolu619 (on 15 May 2010)

Someone would think its a no brainer that this should be a DSi game what with the camera & mic and all. They probably don't want to try their luck competing with pokemon!