In a city called Mondominio, lays a tower that seals all the countless monsters and their valuable eggs. During the rainy season, an enormous lighting bolt struck the Tower, damaging the seal and setting loose the monsters. On the remote island of Bente, a secretive group of magicians were training in peace. A boy named Tao, son of the great wizard Amon, lived happily with his family of four. However, the peace was interrupted when the monsters then invaded Bente Island and attacked the residents with a vicious curse that turned them into stone. Only Tao and a few others managed to avoid the curse, and it was said that only the egg of the same monster could revert the spell. Now Tao was sent off to Mondominio to search for the Magic Eggs.

The graphics in Tao are pretty solid for the DS platform. Even though the camera is at a ¾ angle, the game is fully polygonal as far as characters, landscapes and monsters are concerned. The characters animate quite well and show great emotion to provide life to the visuals. Enemies are varied and great which keeps the game quite fresh throughout the entire adventure. The turned based fighting system is basic, but the spell and attacks are quite impressive at times. Konami uses the dual screen in many different was and takes full advantage of the technology. The entire adventure is bright and colorful, but with the formula sticking to the tried and true, it is hard to think that you haven’t been here already before.

The sounds and music in Tao do an adequate job, but really fail to push the DS to any limits. The musical score is midi based and provides a pleasant ambiance and mood to your adventure. Sound effects are unfortunately not very impressive and very 8-bit sounding, which includes your magical conjures as well. The lack of any voice-overs is also quite disappointing, but I guess should be expected in such a small cart.

The dual screen game play is where Tao is set apart from other DS RPG’s like Lunar, as the touch screen is used and used often. Everything from moving, answering questions, navigating your menus, performing magic spell, and more can be done with the stylus. Sure, there is an option to use the old D pad if you choose, but if this is the case, why in the heck did you buy the DS in the first place?

Tao’s Adventure will keep you busy for 20-30 hours at least, which is great for a handheld RPG. Even though the game is purely old school; making you save at inns only, basic level up system, prehistoric turned based action, I can’t help but to remember a simpler time when games weren’t so involved and dealt more with the story and characters, than flashy cut scenes and long winded spells.

If you don’t mind the style and feel of RPGs of days gone by, but with a unique twist thanks to the touch screen options, then Tao’s Adventure will happily fill the empty void in your DS library when it comes to genre. Sure, it is basic, but that sometimes is not always a bad thing.