When we were at E3 in LA last week, we bumped into Corbie Dillard from Nintendo Life and we took the opportunity to show him our latest build of Spirit Hunters Inc. We had been working on getting a playable version of the game ready for E3 and this latest build is far more advanced than the one we had at GDC in San Francisco in March. We were delighted with Corbie’s reaction to the game and he liked it so much he decided to do a First Impressions feature for Nintendo Life. Here’s what Corbie thought.

First Impressions: Spirit Hunters Inc. Light/Shadow (DSiWare)

The thrill of the hunt

After the success of their pOp release on both the WiiWare and DSiWare services, Nnooo took a little time to create some unique applications for DSiWare before getting the urge to create another game. Spirit Hunters Inc. Light/Shadow represents not only a return to gaming for the studio, but also their first dip into the augmented reality pool.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I was first shown a very early version of Spirit Hunters Inc. back at last year’s E3 show, I wasn’t sure if there would be enough gameplay ideas to make the whole thing work. But after getting a hands-on demonstration of the game at this year’s E3 show, I can safely say that I was wrong and the guys at Nnooo have not only hit on a very engaging idea, they’ve also surrounded that idea with a wealth of unique gameplay schemes and challenges.

When you first begin the game, you’ll be asked to choose your element and then be tossed into the task of hunting down the large lineup of spirits. As you swing your DSi system around, you’ll eventually encounter a spirit and then have to tap on it in order to initiate a battle. It’s in these battles that the game really shines with its massive degree of attack variety.

During battles, you’ll have to work to keep the spirit in front of you onscreen, and depending on how aggressive the spirit is, that can be a rather hefty challenge in and of itself. If the spirit tries to get away, you’ll have to use the tracking bars on the left and bottom sides of the screen in order to swing your DSi system around to locate it. Once you’ve got the spirit on the screen, you can then launch a variety of attacks. Of course, you’ll also have to watch out for the spirit’s attacks as well, yet another aspect of the game that will force you to balance your strategy between offensive and defensive maneuvers.

See the rest of the Nintendo Life First Impressions feature here

Tags: dsiware, e3, first impressions, nintendo, Nintendo Life, nnooo, spirit hunters inc

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