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Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand is an action-RPG developed and published by Konami, released on May 14, 2004 for Game Boy Advance. It is a game with an original concept developed by Hideo Kojima, the father of the Metal Gear saga. The Boktai game cartridge has a solar sensor, so sunlight has a major influence in the game, and it is in some way the essence of gameplay.

The player controls a boy named Jango, son of a famous vampire hunter killed by an evil Count. Armed of the Solar Gun, Jango will then carry out his revenge and face vampires to save humanity from the threat they represent. He will be accompanied throughout his journey by Otenko, a speaking sunflower, kind of avatar of the sun, who will guide the player by giving very useful advice.

Jango will have to explore many dungeons filled with creatures of the night. The vampires fear sunlight then we will have to use the Solar Gun to eliminate them. However Solar power is relative to the index of solar brightness sensed by the solar sensor of the cartridge. Thus in order to advance without difficulty in the dungeons, you must play during beautiful sunny days. Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand a game that encourages the players to go outside in order to enjoy it. However, it is possible to play with little light or at night, having previously stored solar energy in a bank provided for that purpose in the game. The enemies become incredibly tough and fights must be avoided as much as possible, then the player has to sneak like Solid Snake.

However, it is unthinkable to confront the bosses of the game without playing under great sunlight. These are rather tough, and once defeated a first time we will have to trail along their coffin to the entrance of the dungeon, where is the Pile Driver, a device that exorcises the vampires. The Pile driver needs a very large amount of solar energy, so it is better to play during a sunny day.

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand offers an unusual and innovative concept, though sometimes frustrating because of having to play the day and preferably when it's sunny. Hideo Kojima has also thought about something in order to prevent sunstroke. So the player has to get out of the sun from time to time to prevent overheating of the Solar Gun.

Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand reviews