Here’s a game I was very interested in as a fan of the show Avatar: The Last Airbender (apparently in some regions at some times, the show was marketed as Legend of Aang instead. I know my Book 1 DVD has that title, but I don’t think the others do). The reason it was appealing was that it presented an all-new story within that universe, set between Books 1 and 2.

Now, you won’t actually know this from the box, the manual, even the game itself. I started the game thinking it would be a retelling of Book 1 with extra plot elements and levels added in to make it more game-friendly. It starts with a choppy rendition of the show’s opening (if you’ve played any DS game with an FMV, you know the quality we’re talking here). You start, and see Aang standing next to Appa. He wants to go penguin sledding with Katara. Ok, I say, I know what’s going on here. This is the same as like Episode 2, but we’ve been given no introduction or background aside from the stock show opening.

I start exploring and find a Water Tribe village. So far so good, some stuff happens and Zuko attacks. But a few details start to bother me. There are adult males here, when all warriors should be away fighting. There’s waterbenders! Then someone mentions they’re in the North. A typo? I start formulating a theory that this is some kind of wacky alternate universe retelling of Book 1. Then everything changed when a robot attacked! This was getting simply bizarre.

I realise of course at some point, that this is set after the end of Book 1. That waterbending master (that they call Master Wei in the DS version) is supposed to be Pakku. But if this world is anything like Earth, there shouldn’t be otter-penguins in the North. Oh well, there’s polar bear-dogs in the South so that’s fine. Apparently the small village I’m in is a special waterbender training town, not the North Tribe capital. Ok, I can see that. It all comes together. Of course, the game really should have explained itself better.

Let’s skip ahead. I had the chance to play the PS2 version later, and while they’re both produced by THQ Studio Australia (although this was actually developed by TOSE), the difference is night and day. The DS one is really skimped, gimped, and rushed compared to the console one. There’s also a GBA one I hope to play soon, and a PSP one, and a PC one, which are all different but cover the same plot. The console one at least has more mechanics, voice acting, equippable items, explanations, and isn’t as brutally hard.

It’s basically an action RPG with instanced battles. But it’s missing basic mechanics like a place to rest and recover health. There’s a few items that give you a stat boost, but there’s loads of herbs everywhere that fill your inventory and can be crafted to make useless potions and expensive, slightly useful ones. And apart from food for health and smoke bombs for escaping battle, that’s all. And items don’t stack. Money is also hard won and each battle will sap your health so for a long time I was on a tightrope between my health, EXP, money, and progression. That tension didn’t make for a fun experience.

Other dodgy mechanics include the lame minigames, locking you out from each area when the chapter finishes, and the awful camera control. The shoulder buttons rotate your view, but more than half of the available angles are grossly unhelpful, so you’re constantly shifting around just to see where you’re going. There are others, but the basic fundamentals of RPG balance not being well developed results in a game that is just tough to get through. Grinding is not viable at the start and once you get over the hump (and Katara gets the revive ability) it’s too easy.

So as a game it’s not great, but the other versions have potential. Let’s get to the whole reason I played it, which is the story and characters. I’ll say the writing is pretty great, at least for our main characters. Between chapters is a fully-voiced cutscene, with the original show’s actors reprising their roles (this was produced concurrent with the series, although obviously after Book 1 aired). I found myself laughing at Sokka’s usual antics and so on, so they captured that stuff well. NPCs are very dull though, with small text boxes and not much to say.

Your party climbs to 4 when you reunite with Haru, you know that earthbender kid form Book 1? He turns up later with a mustache? Yeah, him. I guess they wanted that element represented so they brought him back. It’s cool, and of course I put this game in my own canon as Book 1.5 Robots or something so any element that fits is fun. Of course, there are problems with the continuity of this game. They regard Omashu as the capital and “heart” of the Earth Kingdom, with Bumi as its king. This is just wrong, and Omashu looks all wrong. It’s all yellow sandstone. I’m playing the second one right now and they did Omashu much better there.

Anyway they also claim at one point that destroying the Avatar statues at the Southern Air Temple (which they call “the Air Temple”) will sever Aang’s connection with the Avatar spirit. Now that’s also wrong, although this could just be construed as Lian’s misguided theories. It’s also a little strange in general with the Gaang jetsetting around on Appa through the Earth Kingdom and elsewhere, instead of doing Book 2 stuff which seemed fairly pressing. Aang needs an earthbending teacher: they meet Bumi face-to-face here, and travel with Haru. He also displays no waterbending skill. You gotta forgive it some things though, for trying to do something new here.

The reason for basically ignoring any other matters is due to the appearance of mechanical monstrosities that are terrorising towns and I guess killing benders or something? Not sure but Lian, the mastermind of these machines, has a vendetta against benders and their warmongering and so is replacing them with her artificial creations. There are shades of Amon and the Equalists from Korra here with her plans and the idealists who follow her, which is cool as this came first. It’s also interesting that you rescue her from Fire Nation prison, but it’s revealed that they were keeping her for her ingenuity and machine designs (I think?), kinda like the Machinist in the Northern Air Temple. You think you’re saving her but by freeing her she goes rogue with her robots, which is a bit of a twist.

This whole plot isn’t given a whole lot of justification though, and there’s a few tenuous connections. I feel like the console version probably fleshes it out a bit more. You get to visit some cool locations though, like the aforementioned North Pole, Southern Air Temple, and Omashu, as well as an Earth Kingdom village with forest and scared cave with a bear Spirit, a Fire Nation prison, a hidden island with a lost civilisation, and finally a blasted wasteland with Lian’s doom fortress. Don’t know how she built that so quickly but fine.

I really like that they made a whole new plot here. It allows them to explore a few new ideas and characters, revisit old ones, and add a bit to the “continuity” while avoiding simply rehashing the show. Unfortunately the next two games do exactly that, and just retell Books 2 and 3 (as far as I know so far). This one is also considered non-canon generally which is a shame but yeah I can see the point that just adding things willy-nilly can dilute the importance of the show’s events. But hey the comics are canon, and they’re not slowing down. It’s most likely because Brike were not directly involved (“Flint Dille, Union Entertainment” is credited with Original Storyline).

Anyways the game isn’t really that good so if you’re interested in the story, try and get the console one. It was ported to Wii from the Gamecube/PS2 version with some motion controls and some minigames I think, that’s probably the one to get. The GBA one (developed by our own Halfbrick studios) is also supposed to be quite good, I’ll try that one some time. Like I said, highlights are the writing of the leads, maybe the robot designs, although the sprite work is a little shonky. The music is also really horrible. No no positives! Um, er, the bending? No that’s underwhelming and hard to control. The fan service? You do meet the cabbage merchant, and there’s a few animals that appear which is always fun, and a new spirit bear/man. Really the plot is the main reason for this game, but this isn’t the best way to deliver it. I’m glad I had the chance though. I do savour every game experience, yes even Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Metroid Other M. You’ll hear about those later ;)

So until next time, yip yip! Or even Avatar State, yip yip! (obligatory Ember Island Players reference)