Avalon Code is a fantasy action role-playing game for Nintendo DS. It was developed by Matrix Software and published by Marvelous Entertainment.

The Story Behind Avalon Code

The voice reveals that the protagonist's world has undergone countless reincarnations in the past and is fated to a cycle of correction, destruction, and rebirth until "true enlightenment" is achieved and that the main character has been chosen by the Powers-That-Be to deem the people, places, and things of the current world worthy (or "unworthy") of being carried over into the next. The game also allows the player to select between a male or female protagonist. The game gained attention early on for its high quality 3D engine.

Although there is an onscreen several-minute countdown for each challenge room, the player may still complete the challenge and advance after running out of time with no penalty other than a lower score. In May 2008, Famitsu featured Avalon Code in their Nintendo DS spotlight. Answers can be filled in differently as many times as the player wishes, yielding different results with different code combinations.

How Avalon Code Plays

In this way the Mental Map undergoes two size upgrades, beginning with a 3x3 square. Changing titles to remove 'defective' Codes as well as creating 'new' items (usually by following certain obtainable recipes) is a facet of gameplay used in many side-quests and occasionally within the story. In order to raise page values, the player can, for example, manipulate Codes, examine 'Exploration Points' on a map, present another cast member with things he or she enjoys collecting, defeat a high number of a certain enemy, call on a Spirit for aid, or equip a weapon.

Locations are filed under the Book's Map section and are added automatically when the player enters the screen for the first time. Each page in the Book of Prophecy has a numerical value of 'worthiness' measured in Code Points, and when the Book's entire value reaches certain quantities, it will level up. This page Code is in turn composed of many Codes, which are exactly what they sound like: pieces of seven different shapes that fit into the Mental Map like pentominoes into a box and radically alter the target's properties.

Why Players Still Load It Up

This voice is that of a magical sentient record book called the Book of Prophecy. Nintendo Life praised the game for its "stunning" visuals, but criticized the Book of Prophecy for being "ridiculously annoying [to browse] through to find the data you need". The game makes use of a mechanic that allows the player to affect the "elemental code" of the world around them by using the Book of Prophecy which is situated on the touch-sensitive lower screen.

Six additional characters become available as love interests after the completion of the main quest: two Book Spirits apiece, along with a Hero and Heroine not listed in the game's instruction booklet. IGN called the game's core component, the Book of Prophecy, "a compelling mechanic you won't find anywhere else". Most character-related side-quests may be undertaken by either Yumil or Tia even if the character in question is of the same gender as the player or the player already has an 'established' significant other.

Avalon Code — Frequently Asked Questions