Theresia for Nintendo DS Reviews & Ratings by IGN

Theresia offers a mature, high-concept Nintendo DS experience that, while frustrating at times, might provide adventure gamers with the fix they need. Two games in one, it sends players down a pair of twisted tales following different characters. While the stories are intriguing and puzzles well-designed, parts of the game are just clunky and stuck in ancient trappings.



Both accounts begin with your protagonist awakening in unfamiliar surroundings with no memory of who they are. They must explore a mysterious facility and piece together clues to determine what has occurred. This is much more grown-up stuff than you normally find in a DS game. Set in a world of agony and misery, the stories deal with themes of genocide and atonement. While the tone is welcome, Theresia could maybe use just a tad lightening up. The humorless atmosphere might have been interspersed with the occasional comic relief. I did find myself wanting to push on and discover the meaning to all this madness, though.



I like the puzzles in Theresia, and the fact that there are sometimes multiple solutions. What was annoying was how the game discourages exploration. You have to search rooms for items -- that's how the game works. At the same time, traps are hidden in ordinary objects all over the place, and we are given no warning as to their whereabouts. So opening a desk drawer to look for clues might just trigger a swarm of needles that pierce your hand. Or if you find a peculiar chair that can be pushed, your curiosity may be punished with more needles. You have limited health and if you discover too many traps the game will be over and you'll be sent back to your last save. It is vexing. Sure, you can poke and prod everything you encounter with a two-by-four to see if it's hiding something, but that just creates an extra step for the player.



You maneuver hallways one step at a time as in Orcs & Elves, and the blundering controls make for a bit of a chore when you have to backtrack to a previous room. While the scenes within rooms are well illustrated, these endless hallways need some more detail.



The sound design does a lot to draw the player into this sinister world. Creeping along a hallway, you can here drops of water (or maybe blood) in the distance. The audio helps create a sense of foreboding.

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