The music service offers ad-free access to more than 10 million tracks, and will initially be offered at a rate of S$0.99 (for web) and S$1.99 (for web and mobile on the Android platform) per month in Singapore.

After three months, the price point will jump to S$4.99 per month for web and S$9.99 per month for web and mobile respectively.

Take a look:

My initial reaction was: meh. I’m not really impressed after I visited the site.

I expected to have some kind of trial or download demo, but that wasn’t the case. Besides having to sign-in with an email account, you have to put in your credit card and pay to see what you can get.

No demo or trial.

Now, music streaming is not a new business at all, and for anybody late coming to the party, you would expect the new kid-on-the-block to come up with demos to persuade people what the fuss was about.

Yes, some of the more dodgy music streaming sites have gone out of business, or have changed business models, but there are still dozens of alternatives — and quite a few are free — out there.

That’s not even mentioning all the strides telcos and mobile vendors have made in making streaming music available over the air, like SingTel with AMPed, and all the experiments Nokia and Sony Ericsson had with mobile music services.

And based on Rara.com’s EULA, the music tracks come laden with DRM, something that is a pet peeve of mine for content issues.

I understand that it is a necessary evil, but I’m not comfortable with the portion on DRM in their EULA.

Quoting directly from Rara.com’s EULA:

“Because the rara Application includes security components, special rules and policies apply. You agree to abide by the rules and policies established from time to time by rara media. We will apply such rules and policies generally in a non-discriminatory manner to users of the rara Application, and such rules and policies may include, for example, required or automated updates, modifications, and/or reinstallations of the rara Application to address security, interoperability, and/or performance issues. These updates, modifications and the like may occur on a periodic or as needed basis without notice to you.

All streaming content is encrypted and, where your Subscription allows you to cache Content for offline playback, that cached Content is protected by digital rights management (DRM) technology to protect the Content against unauthorised use. You must not do anything to disable or circumvent the encryption of the DRM technology.

In addition, you understand that the rara Application is capable of monitoring itself for security-related and tamper-detection purposes and for communicating information to rara media about security incidents. You hereby consent to the operation of the rara Application in this way. Your copy of the Software and your access to certain applications that communicate with it are subject to restriction and/or revocation (such as being shut down) for security purposes or according to consistently applied Content-protection policies. You understand and agree that this may result in Content that was previously available for use being unavailable thereafter.”

I don’t like not knowing what DRM software I’m installing on my PC or device, but more importantly I’d like to know what information it’s sending to Rara.com without my notice. Clarifications on the DRM in the EULA might help.

Yes, Rara.com may have secured international licensing agreements with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music and Warner Music Group and has a large 10 million-plus track database. It may be available in 20 countries around the globe, and is available in Singapore, unlike Deezer, Pandora or Spotify.

And yes, the music streaming industry is not an easy one — anyone remember Soundbuzz, who was one of Singapore’s first online music store but went out of business about two-and-a-half years back?

But that doesn’t change the fact that, for a latecomer, Rara.com feels pretty meh to me on first impressions.

And given that I cannot try the service without paying money, I’ll stick with Grooveshark, Last.fm and Musicovery for my music streaming needs.

As I get older, I have less time to play games, and my attention span has gotten shorter as well.

I still play a ton of games, but I probably play as much casual and indie games — like niche titles like Sequence and Runespell Overture — than triple-A PC titles.

However, I still keep an eye out for triple-A titles that I am interested in. 2012 is a bumper year for some highly anticipated titles for me, and below is a list of the top five PC games I’ll definitely try out this year.

5. Bioshock Infinite

The Bioshock series is made by Irrational Games, a games studio that I had my eye on after my sublime experience with System Shock 2. If you have not heard of this decade-old 1999 classic, check it out.

Bioshock, like System Shock 2, is a mix of great gameplay with atmospheric storytelling. The environment design, varied mobs, RPG-like leveling character development, varied paths to victory,
and an intriguing backstory made the game a huge hit.

And with Bioshock Infinite being designed as the true sequel to Bioshock (not Bioshock 2, which fans derided as a money-spinner), I’m cautiously optimistic about this game. The cinematic trailer and gameplay videos look gorgeous.

4. Diablo 3

Diablo needs no introduction.

This classic game by Blizzard is the spiritual grandfather of almost every game in the action roleplaying genre.

That alone, would make Diablo 3 worth recommending. Check out the beta review Techgoondu did of Diablo 3 last year.

I’m certain Blizzard will deliver on peerless quality before they release the damn game, which has been in the making for four years since they announced it in 2008. In the meantime, fans of the genre can check out Torchlight or Bastion to get their fix.

And I’ll bet that Torchlight 2 will be released before Diablo 3, given Blizzard’s well-known tardiness in the industry. No matter, as fans of the game will patiently wait for it anyway.

3. Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect, when it debuted in 2007, was a great shooter and RPG-lite mashup.

It had all the elements of a classic, grand space opera of intergalactic war.

A brilliant score, evocative voice acting, and tight storytelling papered over the slight gameplay flaws, like the horrible Mako driving sequences and essentially extremely linear gameplay.

The second installment Mass Effect 2 in 2010 made the game even better. The gameplay was refined, and the story of Shepard’s quest to find out the threat posed by the Reapers was even better than the first.

I remember the storyline fondly, and thus Effect 3 is definitely on my “must try” list.

A caveat and rabid note from a fanboy, though, to Bioware: If you screw up Mass Effect 3, like what you did with Dragon Age 2, you will lose a customer forever. (I tried playing Hawke in Dragon Age 2 for half hour before I gave up in disgust). Please do not screw ME3 up.

2. Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

There is probably no other game I played in 2011 more than Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty.

Blizzard has produced yet another “must try” game for my personal list. Beyond the single-player campaign that tells an epic story of love, war and betrayal, the main reason why I come back to this game again and again is because the multiplayer gameplay is sublime.

My aging reflexes are not as good as they once used to be, but I really enjoy the seamless multiplayer RTS that is Starcraft 2.

30 minute quick match-ups meld into hours as you get lost in the rhythmic flow of zealots and zerglings waging war on each in the network ether.

And with Kerrigan, the queen of blades, taking the spotlight in the second installment of Starcraft 2, this is a game that is a must buy for me.

1. Guildwars 2

I’ve practically stopped playing MMORPGs.

Yeah, I’ve fond nostalgic memories of being the main healer in my World of Warcraft Alliance group, participated in mass brawls in Warhammer Online, and even wandered around for a bit as a travelling cleric in war-torn Rift.

Somehow, coordinating yet another loot run through some dungeon isn’t as fun when you’ve seen the dungeon countless times.

The skills are different, the environments and settings are different, but don’t let that fool you: Most MMORPGs are grindy timesinks, as you grind to get better loot to defeat harder bosses.

After a while, this type of gameplay simply becomes stale. Nevermind the stunning graphics or pleasant musical scores, quest structures of the “kill A to get B” variety simply lose their luster.

Guildwars is the only MMORPG that has really kept me coming back because it is so different from traditional MMORPGs. I spent a ton of time playing arenas for the heck of it — because it was fun and not for some reward.

Throw in the requisite gorgeous graphics, haunting score, distinctive painterly-style artwork, and make it free to play forever, and you have a monster hit on your hands.

In fact, over the Christmas holiday period I logged in to my old account and had a blast playing my main Mesmer character in some quick matches in the random arenas. How many can say that of a game that is almost seven years old now?

ArenaNet has promised that Guildwars 2 will be similar and yet break new ground. No tank, heal, or DPS classes. Players can move in out of frontline and backline roles, depending on positioning and skillsets brought to the fight.

An ambitious objective, to be sure. But with ArenaNet’s pedigree, and given how much I loved the original Guildwars and expansions, this is the one MMORPG game that I’m dying to play.

This, in theory, shouldn’t work.

But with Runespell Oveture by Mystic Box, it does.

This oddball game melds Yahtzee-style poker (an interesting variant called Mystic Poker) with a good old fantasy RPG story set in the Nordic eras. As the story progresses, you “level-up” by unlocking collectible spells and allies, which help you in battle.

And how do you battle? By playing poker, of course.

Gameplay should be intuitive enough for anyone remotely familiar with poker rules. You create five-card hands — straights, flushes, three-of-a-kind — from a pool of cards. Each turn you typically only have three actions, which means you can only grab a limited number of cards per turn to form your hands before your opponent takes his turn.

Once such a hand is created, you can “attack” the opponent for damage. The more difficult the hand is to assemble, the more damage it does. For example, a royal flush does 50 damage, but a full-house is only worth 15 damage.

There are more nuances to this base poker variant, like to unveil more cards to pick from, you have to pick the topmost single cards from your available columns to form your hands. Or, you can “steal” the topmost cards from your opponents pool, which also has the same amount of cards like you.

What makes it truly “Mythic Poker” is, of course all the abilities you can use during the course of forming hands to attack the opponent. Cast a haste spell and avail yourself of six more actions this turn. Toss a fireball at your opponent, or regenerate your health every turn.

Spells and abilities are powered by mana, which is gained whenever you damage the opponent. And all these spells and abilities are unlocked as you progress through the story.

And speaking of the role-playing aspect of the game, you adventure on a small overland map that is represented by waypoints of interest connected to each other (in geek parlance a graph of nodes).

Whenever there is a battle encounter, it is represented on the map as an icon, and you can choose to fight the battle or go back to camp to choose which abilities to take (you can only have seven with you at any one time).

Don’t expect much open-endedness or choice though; the story is tightly scripted and follows a set path. Your first time playthrough will not take you roughly about ten hours even if you complete most of the side quests.

For me, the fact that the game is short is not a minus factor. In fact, it is just right, as I feel that the poker-style battles will run out of depth if the game drags out for too long. Yes, the main battle mechanic can feel gimmicky and sometimes you will end up cursing the swingy battles, but I found the game pretty fun.

The story is serviceable to the gameplay, and didn’t particularly stand out for me. It’s the usual fare of the amnesiac hero finding out that his purpose is to challenge some higher power. I liked the setting of the game though — our real-life Earth often isn’t the setting for fantasy RPGs.

The game retails for US$9.99 on Steam. It is not the cheapest indie game out there, and it is pretty short, but it won’t break your wallet either.

I picked mine up during a Steam sale for less than five bucks (mainly because the mechanics of this game intrigued me), and it was a good, fun distraction. It’s worth a second look if you enjoy playing indie games with interesting mechanics.

So what is a condom maker like Okamoto to do?

Create a social media campaign around being naughty in Singapore. Watch:

The tongue-in-cheek campaign, which was just launched last month, sources for ideas from the public to create products that help Singaporeans have fun naughty sex more often.

One of the more interesting ones that came to Techgoondu’s attention was the Okamoto iPhone app TipOff. A motion-sensing app that detects when a door is opened, the TipOff app calls a number (presumably your lover’s one) when a door is opened.

This notification is supposed to give you and your lover some reaction time. Depending on the scenario, you could compose yourselves, hide in a closet, or even escape out of a window.

Useful when you’re doing something indiscreet and don’t want your spouse/parents/children to walk in on you and your lover.

There’s even a YouTube tutorial on how this works:

The app retails for US$0.99 on the iPhone app store. The app does not come with complimentary Okamoto condoms, of course.

According to YouTube, this is the top list of most watched music MTVs by Singaporeans in 2011. Enjoy, and check it out:

1. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock

2. Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor ft. Pitbull

3. Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song [Official Video]

4. Jessie J – Price Tag ft. B.o.B.

5. Chris Medina – What Are Words

6. Nicki Minaj – Super Bass

7. Pitbull – Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer

8. Super Junior 슈퍼주니어_Mr.Simple_MUSICVIDEO

9. Katy Perry – Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

10. Avril Lavigne – What The Hell

And to contrast, here are the most-watched music videos on YouTube in 2011 globally:
1. Jennifer Lopez – On The Floor ft. Pitbull
2. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock
3. Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song [Official Video]
4. Nicki Minaj – Super Bass
5. Pitbull – Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer
6. Pitbull – Rain Over Me ft. Marc Anthony
7. Jessie J – Price Tag ft. B.o.B.
8. LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
9. Katy Perry – E.T. ft. Kanye West
10. Katy Perry – Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

Not that many differences, as 7 out of the top 10 global videos appear on the Singaporean list, and it would seem that a lot of us consume US culture and music.

1. Nice Guys
2. Daily Life of Rustin Hieber
3. Yam Ah Mee Election Club Mix (GE 2011)
4. Strangers, again
5. plastic bottle heartbreak on valentine’s day (Original)
6. Angry Birds Rio Trailer
7. Nyan Cat [original]
8. POKEMON IN REAL LIFE!
9. The iNavigator
10. Greatest Marriage Proposal EVER!!!

It’s an eclectic mix. The only two really Singaporean videos are the Yam Ah Mee Election remix and the plastic bottle heartbreak video. I would have expected more content from Singaporeans, but these are the stats from YouTube.

Here’s the Yam Ah Mee remix:

As for the rest of the content they are mainly sourced from the US. Yes, Ryan Higa (nigahiga) is a big YouTube personality, but seriously three videos (Nice Guys, Daily Life of Rustin Hieber and the iNavigator) in the top 10 for most watched community video in Singapore for 2011? Interesting what Singaporeans are watching.

Wong Fu productions — a talented bunch of Asian-American aspiring film producers — came up on the list with Strangers, again. Of all their shorts, I liked their older short When Five Fell the best though.

And last, but not least, if you have never heard of Nyan Cat, let me be the first to foist this distardly Internet meme on you. This video has attracted 55 million views based on the picture of a cute animated cat spliced with a pop-tart and a Japanese soundtrack. Don’t ask.

I now can’t get this annoying song out of my head, so here it is in all it’s glory.

It’s that time of the year again.

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, and every year at Techgoondu we want world peace and justice. This year I want to add to the list a fairer society, better public transport, and affordable public housing.

And in case those big dreams fall a little short of our lofty naive ideals, well, there’s always geek toys and gizmos that we can console ourselves with. And still keep dreaming big dreams — they are worth fighting for, aren’t they?

In the meantime, here’s what the goondus would like this Christmas:

Raymond wants:

Wait a minute, Raymond already had an entire article’s worth of tech stuff he wanted to buy. Check it out.

Alfred is dreaming of:

Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray player

I know we’re going into an age of lossless tracks and HD video downloads, but if you are looking for a universal player that plays back your Blu-ray discs, SACDs and regular CDs, there is only one that every AV geek is talking about right now – the Oppo BDP-95.

At US$999, it looks expensive compared to the US$90 Blu-ray player at electronics stores, but this Oppo player is packed to the gills with the most high-end features (like streaming and 3D support) and also audiophile-grade goodies, like two, yes, two, separate top-notch Sabre32 DACs to handle both movies and music.

Oppo players are so solidly built – yet relatively inexpensive, considering all the stuff thrown in – that they have been cloned and repackaged with more expensive-looking chassis and sold for several times more!

B&W 802 Diamond speakers

I heard these speakers at the showroom once and the sound has never left my mind. A live performance is what you’d expect to hear – you sense the scale of an orchestra, the sound is so airy and real, and bass is impossibly extended and deep. Even movies sound amazing – yes, the showroom also used them for a Blu-ray movie.

But what do you expect of speakers so big that the average Singapore apartment can never accommodate because of their size and their power? Even if you had more than 20-grand (Singapore dollars), these B&W 802 Diamonds won’t sound good in most homes here, unless you have a big listening room, so this is definitely a “dream-worthy” item. Maybe it’s time to upgrade the house first!

Aaron is drooling over:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

I’ve never fancied lugging around a 10-inch screen wherever I go. So when Samsung unveiled the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab, I knew it was going to be the top on my Christmas wish list. It’s more portable than the iPad and shares the same features as the larger Galaxy Tab 10.1 including the latest Android Honeycomb OS.

Compared with a 7-inch tablet, the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab packs more screen estate for displaying both e-books and webpages in their full glory without excessive scrolling. At just under $250 for the 16GB version with a data plan, this slate is a steal too!

Asus Zenbook UX31

This skinny ultrabook will give Apple’s Macbook Air a run for its money. Measuring just 3mm thick at its slimmest, the Zenbook is a head-turner endowed with a gorgeous metallic design, a 1600×900 pixel display and a solid-state drive for top-notch computing performance. The exceptionally well-crafted machine feels more solid than the Macbook Air and boasts of Bang and Olufsen’s ICEpower audio technology.

In some ways, the advent of ultrabooks such as the Zenbook represents the coming out party for PC makers who have shown that they too have what it takes to deliver great industrial design.

Lester craves:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Game of the year? Quite possibly. Skyrim has been released to rave reviews across the board, and dedicated gamers have ratcheted sales beyond expectations.

Dragons are popping up all over the land of Skyrim, and you- as the Dragonborn- are the only one with the power and skill to stop them. Adventure across a staggering open-ended world and do just about anything you like. Take a long hike across the landscape that starts off as a forest that peters into vast snow fields. Embark on sidequests, slay dragons, raze entire towns, or help anyone that asks for it- the choice is yours.

Skyrim’s wide-open gameplay brings something to everyone. The graphics alone are enough to halt even non-gamers and to intrigue them into playing. Skyrim will provide hours of fun- actually, that’s more of a caveat than a statement, because Skyrim is so open, so wide, it’s easy to get sucked into gaming for hours to come.

Google Galaxy Nexus

Yes, it’s due to be out only in January 2012, but Google’s Galaxy Nexus is already generating mobile tech-lust for this user. Google’s latest Nexus iteration brings the Android experience mobile users have come to love and expect in a gorgeous form factor that’s packed with incredible top-end smartphone specs.

Being the model phone for Android 4.0, the Galaxy Nexus will no doubt be the phone for Android fans that want the pure Android experience. Improved Gmail integration, enhanced text-to-speech and smoother multitasking are welcome features, and the Galaxy Nexus won’t disappoint.

For those who can’t wait, and require a suitable stocking-stuffer, the Motorola Droid Razr is a comparable model. Already touted to be one of this year’s best Android smartphone, the newest, sharpest Razr shows that a sleek, fashionable smartphone can exist alongside powerful hardware. Just wait for the Android 4.0 update to the released, and it’ll be a lean, mean mobile beast.

Chi-Loong desires:

Guild Wars 2

If Lester can get away for wanting the Google Galaxy Nexus that isn’t out yet, I can certainly get away with craving a game that is due next year that I’ve been awaiting as a patient fanboi for the longest time.

No, it’s not Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2:Heart of the Swarm (though that is high on my list), it’s Guild Wars 2.

For MMOs, I’ve played World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and Rift, but nothing kept me as enthralled as the original Guild Wars, which I’m almost ashamed to say I sunk in almost 1700+ hours over a five year span. I plead guilty that I was a major addict of the game at one point.

I’ve really fond memories of the game, and I’ve high hopes for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2.

Now if only I could invent a time machine to take me into the future to get a copy of this game now…

Games for Change

What would a Techgoondu Christmas wishlist be if it didn’t have an interesting entry that tied back to our tongue-in-cheek introduction of wanting, you know, good things for the world?

What if you could marry my one big vice, gaming, with something I really believe in, like changing the world to become a better place?

And this is how I became a fan of Games for Change, a global non-profit organization dedicated to using games to serve as tools in humanitarian or educational efforts.

It’s how I got to know about indie games such as Fate of the World (available on Steam) and We Topia. Watch:

Food for thought, certainly.

And on that note, we here at Techgoondu wish all our readers a very merry Christmas.

The recent SMRT debacle has provided lots of juicy fodder for spoofs of every sort.

Rather than stew in anger or rage in impotence, some people have gotten creative instead.

This #SMRT YouTube parody has been steadily clocking in tens of thousands of views — currently around 62,000-odd — since it was launched two days ago on December 18th. Watch:

Mr Brown (aka Lee Kin Mun) is one of the best known bloggers in Singapore, and is behind the extremely funny Mr Brown Show. It’s no surprise that his hilarious “Limpeh not happy” take on the issue is clocking above 175,000 views as of now.

Side note: to fully understand the parody you will need to watch the infamous Aaron Tan (no relation to Techgoondu’s Aaron) video.

Aaron is one of several notorious Singapore social media personalities who are reviled for their posts, like Adelyn Hosehbo and Steven Lim. Bleargh. Non-Singaporeans, please note that they don’t represent the majority of us.

This YouTube SMRT spoof song — set to the music of “Apologize” by One Republic — is pretty fun as well:

Of course, the parodies go beyond YouTube. Facebook has seen some action with their fake SMRT(feedback) Facebook page, which Alfred has already written up a great post about.

On Twitter, one of the most viral memes on the SMRT issue has been on the topic of “Who broke that MRT window?”. Blogger Darryl Kang at dk.sg has one of the better roundups on this particular issue, featuring angry birds and the Marvel’s Hulk.

Angry bird smashes glass! RAAAGH!!!

Even celebrities have taken to lampooning SMRT, from The Noose’s (a popular Singapore fake news comedy series) Barbarella and Leticia Bongnino on Twitter.

And lastly, to round things off, here is a nice series of tongue-in-cheek SMRT “announcements” by Gweekspeak that has been circulating on the Internet. Enjoy.

Since Steve Job’s untimely death, Samsung has been ramping up the assault on Apple, having launched a series of funny ads attacking the iPhone 4S.

Take a look at this ad which was just released a few days ago:

And of course, here was the original ad that mocked the throngs of people who queued up to buy the latest iteration of the iPhone 4S.

Of course, the battle isn’t just being fought in the realm of marketing and PR.

A global war is being fought on the patent lawsuit end between the two giants, and Apple just suffered a setback when it failed to get Australia courts to prevent the sale of the 10-inch Galaxy Tab just this week.

Of course, Apple is well-known for using patents to go after the competition, in this case Android and the phonemakers who support the platform, like Samsung and HTC. Apple has purportedly even dipped into the shadier side of the law through patent trolling in its all-out war.

Steve Jobs himself famously vowed to “go thermonuclear” on Android in the recent official biography by Walter Isaacson.

This book, by the way, even though it is only about two months old, has already become Amazon’s top grossing book of 2011. A testament to the man’s legacy that even the big Apple detractors here at Techgoondu have to admit.

With the mobile wars between Apple and Samsung and HTC heating up, and not forgetting dark horse Nokia (with Windows), 2012 will surely be an interesting year. Fight!

For example, Sequence by Irridium Games, a crazy mash-up lovechild between a finger-pounding rhythm game with an old-school hard core RPG.

Surprisingly, it works well for the most part, and with a price tag of US$4.99 on Steam — I got mine for US$2.49 on Black Friday sales last month — it is a steal.

Sure, this indie game is not perfect and some kinks could be ironed-out, but for the price point and fun I had, I’m not complaining.

The heart of Sequence are the rhythm gameplay segments, where you have to mash keys in tandem with the beat of a song. Anybody who has played similar games in the genre like Guitar hero or Elite Beat Agent will find the mechanic very similar.

What makes Sequence different though is that the rhythm game is wrapped around a RPG shell. Each rhythm segment is a battle with monsters as you cast spells to slash their hitpoints to zero. Win the battle, and you get experience, loot and improve in stats, like in a RPG.

Battle, music, fight!

So how do you fight? Each battle screen has three panes — the monster field (red), the spell field (green) and the mana field (blue).

Monsters try to reduce your hitpoints to zero, and this is represented by falling beats in the red field that you have to try to hit with the right button. Miss a beat, and you take damage.

Have your hitpoints reach zero, or if the song times out before you defeat the monster, and you lose the battle.There is no penalty to losing the battle, and you can retry battles after switching inventory or spell slots (of which you have a limited number).

You kill monsters by casting spells, which is also represented by hitting the right beats, but in the green field instead. Lastly, you need mana to power the spells, which is represented by blue field. Strike the right notes on this field, and you gain mana. Missing a beat has no penalty on this field.

At any one time it is likely that at least two fields will have falling beats, and every battle is a frenzied fast-paced affair as you decide whether to take damage, do damage, or regain mana.

It sounds complicated, and at times you will curse the game’s difficulty, but the mechanic plays well and is overall well thought out.

Storyline and RPG elements

The RPG portion of the game is the weaker part of the mash-up. It is essentially linear, and parts of it are frustratingly repetitive as you fight the same mob over and over again to get a particular item drop so that you can progress.

The storyline, however, was a blast to play through. Every line of dialogue is voiced, and the voice acting is excellent — a surprise for such an indie game that was put together by such a small team.

The hand-drawn visuals are colourful and serve to flesh out the story of our protagonist who woke up in a strange tower with no memory of what he was doing before. Standard RPG fare, but the story was good enough that I actually found myself caring about how the game would end when I neared the last few levels.

The final ending, though, threw me for a loop, but I won’t spoil it for people who haven’t played the game.

Last words

The game is short — which is perfect in this case — and I completed in about 13 hours. Don’t expect it to be easy though, and some of the rhythm segments are just brutal, even on normal difficulty. For example, having to hit 150-note combos in order to learn certain spells can make you tear your hair out.

If you like rhythm games and RPGs, or you want to try something fresh and different, then definitely check this one out.

I’ll also be doing more reviews of indie games over the holiday period; stay tuned!