Disk 6: Regaia Densetsu (レガイア伝説)

Name: Regaia Densetsu (レガイア伝説)
Type: Fantasy RPG
Available Languages: Japanese, English

I thought that today I’d talk about a game that has one of my all-time favorite story premises, Regaia Densetsu (Regaia Legend). I first ran across this game many years ago under its western release name, Legend of Legaia, and have not found many stories that start off with such a feeling of despair. What small knots of humanity are left safe in the world, and you have no idea how many of them there are, are trapped in small clusters, waiting for what seems to be their inevitable demise.

The world is covered by a malevolent mist, the origins of which are shrouded in mystery. The mist is in and of itself harmless, but it causes Seru, creatures that have thrived symbiotically with humans for many years, to become mad. When surrounded by the mist, Seru will kill humans, and humans already wearing a Seru will become crazed monsters. So needless to say, whatever humans could escape this terrifying epidemic, did, be it by building high walls, climbing buildings tall enough that the mist could not reach them, or by creating complex air supply systems to blow the mist out while cycling fresh air in.

The main protagonist, Van, lives in a town surrounded on one side by water and on the other by high walls, the only thing that keeps the mist and the menacing Seru that it contains from spilling into the town and killing or enslaving the bodies of all who dwell there. His goal in life is to become a hunter, one of the men of the village who brave the dangers outside the wall in order to bring back food for the village of Rimu Erumu. The game makes sure that you feel the sense of immediate danger right from the beginning, as Rimu Erumu, for all its quaint charm, is a town just waiting for the other shoe to drop. People die to bring back food for the villagers to survive, and are going to keep dying for as long as the mist lasts.

This turns out not to be a problem for as long as you would think, as pretty soon after the game begins, Seru force their way into Van’s peaceful hometown and start wreaking havoc. It’s at this point that Van meets his traveling companion, the Ra Seru Me-ta, who has the ability to help him clear the mist and hopefully find the source of the world’s problems. Van and Me-ta help the World Creation Tree grow in the middle of town, and it clears the mist from Rimu Erumu and the surrounding area, leaving you free to go on your journey of discovery while your family and friends rebuild what was destroyed by the invasion of the Seru.

There are two other playable characters available in this game as well, a girl who was raised by a wolf, and a monk who follows a discipline that shuns the use of Seru. Each of them have their own strengths and characteristics and make for interesting travelling companions. You’re certain to get different viewpoints from a boy who was locked in a village for his entire life, a girl who was raised by a Ra Seru possessed wolf, and a monk, after all.

 

 

The Tactical Arts System, the battle system for Regaia Densetsu, is really interesting. Each character can learn new techniques by putting in combinations of button commands and seeing if the character learns new Arts or Hyper Arts from it. Not only are these powerful tools in your arsenal, but they look rather cool too, making the RPG battles appear almost reminiscent of a fighting game.

The magic system is a little less fun for me, given that it can be quite a pain at times. As your characters possess Ra Seru, they can learn how to summon a defeated Seru. The problem with this is that you have to knock said Seru down to just the tiniest bit of health without killing it, and then only the character who landed the last blow learns the summon. This doesn’t even work one hundred percent of the time, so if you’re trying to teach all three of your characters all of the Seru summons there are to learn, you’ll have quite a long road ahead of you.

 

 

The game falls short a bit in the looks department, as out of battle I’ve always felt that the blocky sprites look like they come from a poor man’s Final Fantasy VII. In battle, they look quite a bit better, though, as they need to be more fluid in order to perform the special attacks properly.

The story, as I’ve already said, is very much to my taste, with the creeping mist covering the planet and only you and your Ra Seru companions standing between it and complete takeover. Your goal is to revive all of the World Creation Trees and drive out the mist, hopefully finding the source and taking it out too. Of course there are those out there who are very much against you succeeding in your plans, in some cases those who created the mist in the first place and in others people who are fighting for more personal reasons. When you do finally find out the truth behind the mist, and one of your party member’s unknowing connection to it, it is every bit as horrible and strange as you would expect. I will not spoil it here, suffice it to say that it is worth the price of admission.

If you couldn’t tell by what I have written so far about this game, I am a really big fan of it. The story had me from the beginning, it being the type that grabbed me and would not let go. I truly wanted to know the source of the mist, and who would create such a terrible thing to wreak havoc on innocent people. You feel quite a bit like a cornered animal at the beginning of Regaia Densetsu, with no escape and no way to fight back. The Ra Seru and your own will are the only tools you have to stand between you and something so unpleasant that by the time you’re done, you’ll feel that you’ve earned your happy ending. At the end of the game, Van gets to choose between one of several endings, and while there is only one that I personally consider to be cannon, the choice is yours. Frankly, I would have preferred one ending that was longer instead of a shorter choose-your-own-ending, but that’s a personal pet peeve. Either way, this game is a great way to spend a few days, and if you haven’t gotten around to playing it yet, what are you still reading this for? Do yourself a favor and track down a copy as soon as possible.

 

If you feel like hearing more of my gaming prattle, feel free to follow me on Twitter. You can find me at @bejiita_buruma

Cartridge 2: Gadyurin, AKA Gdleen (ガデュリン)

Name: Gadyurin (ガデュリン)
Type: Science Fiction RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

Ladies and gentlemen, once again we visit the Super Famicom! Today’s game came to me entirely by coincidence. During a conversation with a fellow retro gamer and friend who loves the SNES, I was asked a question that I had no answer to. “What do you think of Gdleen?” To my intense embarrassment, I had never played it, even though it has the distinction of being the first Super Famicom RPG. This needed to be rectified, both to answer my friend’s question and to soothe my bruised ego. So three days later and six dollars lighter, I found myself in possession of a slightly used ‘Gadyurin’ cartridge. I will be calling it Gadyurin from here on out, because Gadyurin is the name on the cartridge and ‘Gdleen’ just looks strange to me. From the bit of pre-game research that I’ve done, Gadyurin is based on an anime that is based on a series of light novels. Hopefully this doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the series, as I’m quite the fish out of water here. But RPGs are supposed to be an adventure, so let the fun commence!

We start the game as the hero Ryuu, who has just had the misfortune of crash-landing on a strange planet. Several websites tell me that his name is Ryu-n, but the game and the Japanese websites that I’ve looked at say Ryuu, so that’s what I’m going with. After removing himself from his escape pod, Ryuu grabs his gear, including a laser gun, and heads out to find a way back home to Earth. It appears that we have landed in a place called the Forest of Rurua, but as that information means nothing to me, I suppose that we should keep exploring. Thankfully, the pod will allow Ryuu to rest as needed, so the all-important level grind can now come into effect.

 

 

Once he is less likely to die, it’s time to take Ryuu onward through the forest, past a disturbingly still river, to the Water Shrine’s Ruins. There is a grave keeper here, and he’s as full of doom and gloom as you could wish. Apparently this place used to be a bastion of strength against monsters, but lately they’ve found their way inside. So let’s head right in! I want to find this Taranto boss monster that he sounds so frightened of. I’ve spent enough time shooting lasers at mooks. After catching up with the local humanoids and looting their stuff, Ryuu heads out to perform some amateur heroics. He really doesn’t have much of a choice, as Taranto is between us and our destination.

I’m surprised at how much this game holds your hand as you progress. There are healers everywhere, it seems. First the space pod, then two healers in quick succession in the shrine. Either they’re trying to lull me into a false sense of security, or this is one of the easiest JRPGs ever made. Given prior experience, I’m going with the former until proven wrong. Taranto, as the name indicates, is a giant spider. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I have a severe case of arachnophobia, so this thing has got to go. With big red eyes, eight spikey toed legs, and a methodically munching fanged maw, Taranto is 16 bit nightmare fuel. It hits surprisingly hard and can poison you, giving proof to my earlier claim that this game appeared to be way too easy.

 

Taranto in all his spindly nastiness.

 

Once Taranto has been squished, and the creepy crawly feeling has passed, it’s time to take Ryuu further through the bowels of the shrine. After passing yet another healer and leaving through a horribly ugly courtyard, we find ourselves on the other side of the disturbingly still river. Apparently we couldn’t just ford our way across it. After covering another section of the Forest of Rurua, we run across an even more disturbingly still waterfall and, after a bit of searching, find Fana’s Spring. There we run smack dab into a cut-scene with a naked girl with fairy wings, who turns toward the protagonist with the camera cutting away at the last moment to taunt the audience. It seems that she speaks a different language than Ryuu, but can use a ring that she possesses to communicate with him. Surprisingly, she seems to be perfectly find with being buck naked in front of a strange man, and even hugs him. Turns out she wants in on our little quest and so becomes our next party member who, coincidentally, bears the name Fana. Lucky you, Ryuu. So Ryuu’s journey through this strange world continues, and so far I am satisfied with it. After all, it’s not every day that I get to kill a giant spider with a laser.

 

Fana seems quite comfortable in her own skin.



The battle system is your classic first person view turn-based system, with options to attack, run, use items, use special attacks, and defend. What is interesting is that this game also has a command that allows you to talk to the enemy, during which you can use one of several options in order to try to win them over to your side. You can tempt them with items, gems, and gold, or try to coerce them with your words. It’s surprisingly complex.

This game looks much better than I had anticipated. I was frankly shocked at how nice the appearance was in comparison to several other games of this era that I have played. I don’t know whether that says more about Gadyurin or about the companies who didn’t utilize the Super Famicom’s potential as a system. It’s not a visual marvel in any sense, but it passes muster for 1991. That being said, the mapping in some scenes was rather uninspired, and the character’s slow gait made getting around feel like an eternity. But to balance that out, there were a few enemy designs, such as Nemuri Hime, that I absolutely adored. The cut-scene with Fana, all subtext aside, was nicely done as well. Some of the music in this game is really catchy too, and I found myself stopping to listen to it more than once. Gadyurin, like many games of its era, was written in furigana, so it’s a great game for beginning learners of Japanese to start out with.

When all is said and done, I like Gadyurin. It was worth the investment of time, and certainly was a good place to drop six bucks. I had, of course, heard of this game before, but probably wouldn’t have gotten around to it for years if it wasn’t for the mention given to it by my friend. While he goes unnamed in this post, I want to thank him for giving me the push, intentional or otherwise, to play this game. I’ve truly enjoyed it, and I hope that this in some way answers his question. My quest through Gadyurin will most certainly be continuing.

 

 

If you feel like hearing more of my gaming prattle, feel free to follow me on Twitter. You can find me at @bejiita_buruma





Disk 5: Little Princess Ma-ru Oukoku no Ningyo Hime 2 (リトルプリンセス マール王国の人形姫2)

Name: Little Princess Ma-ru Oukoku no Ningyo Hime 2 (リトルプリンセス マール王国の人形姫2)
Type: Fantasy RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

Today we take a look at the game Little Princess Ma-ru Oukoku no Ningyo Hime 2 (The Puppet Princess of Ma-ru Kingdom 2). It is an old favorite of mine, made by the quirky Japanese company Nippon Ichi Software. Some may actually be familiar with this game’s predecessor, Ma-ru Oukoku No Ningyo Hime, as it was released in English on the PlayStation under the title Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. Subject to some of the worst dubbing in the history of mankind, Rhapsody was salvaged by having the option to use the Japanese voices available in the menu in an age when that was really quite rare. Ma-ru Oukoku No Ningyo Hime was released before Nippon Ichi Software made its mark with major titles like Makai Senki Disgaia and, due to the shortness of the game, the fairytale-like storyline, and the insertion of song and dance into regular conversations, was overlooked by western audiences. Thus, its sequels never left the shores of Japan, which is a real shame.

The first game will only be discussed in passing here, due to the fact that it was rereleased on the Nintendo DS, and in my opinion that version is superior to its PlayStation predecessor. The story of Little Princess really can’t be fully understood without knowing something about its predecessor, and as I started my interest in the series, aptly enough, with the first game, it really does deserve a mention. I ran across the western release of the first Ma-ru Oukoku game, Rhapsody, when I was a teenager. I had heard horror stories about the English dubbing, but it was the weekend and I had nothing better to do, so I thought that it would be worth renting. I never regretted it, especially when I saw that I could change the vocals in the menu. What was presented to me was a rather fractured fairytale: a story of a girl, Cornet, going on an adventure to save her beloved prince, Ferdinand, from an evil witch with only an army of puppets to assist her. It is, needless to say, a strange little game, even if you discount the often very amusing musical numbers. But to cut a long story short, good wins out over evil, the girl marries her prince, and the story ends with them having a baby daughter.


People tend to burst into choreographed musical numbers in this game. It's as adorable and terrifying as it sounds.


As a teenage girl, particularly one who loved manga, I don’t need to go into detail about how much I loved this game. So when I heard that there was a sequel, I did everything in my power to track it down. It didn’t surprise me that it hadn’t been released in the west, given that this series is something that only certain members of the gaming community can appreciate, but I was one of those people, and after quite a bit of searching, I finally got my grubby little paws on a copy of Little Princess. I was not disappointed, as the adventures of Kururu, Cornet and Ferdinand’s daughter, are superior to those of her mother’s in every aspect.

Kururu, our twelve year old protagonist, has spent her entire life hearing about her mother’s heroics and dreaming of finding a love like her parents share. So she decides that with them conveniently away from the castle, it’s time for her to go out and track down her own elusive love interest. Kururu is a rather temperamental and awkward girl, made worse by her own dubious fashion sense, which even the people of her own kingdom comment on. So with little thought as to logistics or to her position in the world, she charges forth on her adventures, best friend Kurea in tow, whether those around her like it or not.

Kururu and Cello, her love interest, meet in a way that is very reminiscent of the meeting of her parents, but unfortunately for our heroine, she is quickly disabused of her romantic notions. Cello is as rude as Ferdinand was chivalrous, a trait which will mark their interactions for much of the earlier parts of the game. As such, they meet up sparingly at first, and only end up working toward the same goal very late in the game, due to the secrets that Cello is keeping.

Kururu goes on many adventures that seem to spin away from the main plot, some of which are very interesting. When she goes looking for ‘soft cream’, the Japanese way of referring to soft serve ice cream, she finds that the local delicacy is not quite what she bargained for. You really don’t want to know what it’s made of. It isn’t Soylent Green, but it’s certainly quite disgusting, and you find out all about it in a song and dance number dedicated to the subject. I don’t think that Kururu ever quite recovers.

Each character comes with their own set of abilities, as is common in an RPG. They can each also equip up to three puppets, who will change your character’s stats according to their own and also come with their own sets of abilities. Certain puppets can only be equipped by Kururu and Cello, due to certain backstory reasons that I won’t get into here. But that doesn’t mean that all is lost for your remaining characters. Sometimes after a battle is over, one of the defeated enemies will transform into a puppet that can be equipped by many of your party members and then leveled up accordingly. It’s a strange but fascinating battle system, and I have personally had quite a lot of fun with it.

 

The game ends on quite a happy, fairytale-like note, just as its predecessor did, and is quite satisfying for people who are looking for a longer, more difficult game that is written in a similarly quirky style to the original. Little Princess is a game that I return to often for relaxation purposes. For those who are interested in the series as a whole, there are other Ma-ru Oukoku games besides these two. There were several puzzle games released in the Ma-ru Oukoku universe, as well as a sequel, Tenshi no Present (Angel’s Present), for the PlayStation 2. Tenshi no Present is a game made of short stories that fill in plot gaps in the Ma-ru Oukoku universe. It is of particular interest to Little Princess players because it contains the epilogue to Little Princess as one of the storylines.

In closing, what I will say about this game is that if you like Nippon Ichi Software style quirkiness, you will probably like this game, even if you aren’t enamored with cute storylines. Sure the characters burst into song and dance occasionally for no particular reason, but I find that it adds to the humor value of the game, and they do have several famous voice actors to back it up. I ran into the first Ma-ru Oukoku game one night when I was bored, and it turned into a lifelong love for me. It might just turn into a few hours of amusement for you.

 

 

If you feel like hearing more of my gaming prattle, feel free to follow me on Twitter. You can find me at @bejiita_buruma

Cartridge 1: Emerald Dragon (エメラルドドラゴン)

Name: Emerald Dragon (エメラルドドラゴン)
Type: Fantasy RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

I remember mentioning, back in the halcyon days when I started writing this blog, that I would not always be covering PlayStation games. Check the post Delusions Of Grandeur if you don’t believe me. This week, I feel the need to spend some time with my childhood sweetheart, Nintendo’s incomparable Super Family Computer, better known to many as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Since I’m still on a dragon kick from last week, what better way to showcase this classic system than with an RPG where the main character actually is a dragon? No, we’re not playing Breath of Fire. This week’s game is called Emerald Dragon. It was released on several different systems over the years, has some lovely artwork, and spawned its own set of drama CDs. I beat it years ago and have been looking for a reason to do so again, so here’s hoping it can amuse us for a while.

The game opens with a quick introduction to the primary characters, and then states the title rather intensely. A small amount of voice acting in a Super Famicom game? Nice! Moving forward, we are taken to Doraguria, home of the dragons, if you couldn’t guess by the name. It’s not a good day, though, as there has been a shipwreck nearby. Rather pleasantly, after last week’s extended wading through text, I gained control of a cute little blue dragon immediately. He is the main character and has, hands down, my favorite name of all time: Atorushan. Say that five times fast. The ship apparently belongs to humans, and the only survivor is an amnesiac girl. The white dragon, leader of all the dragons, appears and it is decided that the little girl will remain among them and be known as Tamurin.

Fifteen years pass, and it seems that Tamurin returned to Ishuba-n, where the humans dwell, three years ago. Now she’s calling via the horn that Atorushan broke off and gave to her. He told her to use it if she needed him to come and save her, so clearly something has gone wrong. Unfortunately, Ishuba-n is cursed land for dragons and going there would kill him, so clearly we have a problem. The white dragon gives Atorushan a key to a secret path, within which you can find the Silver Scale, an item that will protect you from the aforementioned curse. How convenient!

The first dungeon in the game is more of a test of your will than anything else. There is no experience or money to be had, just an endurance test. How much do you want to save Tamurin, Atorushan? Once you reach the altar where the Silver Scale rests, some happy music plays, and Atorushan is rather unceremoniously turned into a human. Oh well, I’ve played this game before, I knew it was too good to last. So, grabbing a few basic pieces of equipment and a small wad of cash, we’re off to the land of the humans to find Tamurin.

 

In the introductory sequence that follows, you can see that things are really as badly off in Ishuba-n as had been previously hinted. Looks like we had better get to tracking Tamurin down quickly. After arriving in the city of Uruwan, your search begins in earnest. Apparently there is an army, aptly called the Evil Army, that has been causing a bit of a stir around these parts recently and people are looking for brave souls willing to fight them. After talking with the village elder, who is ludicrously happy to see you, you are given a quest to rescue the sorcerer Bagin. Like every other RPG in the universe, nothing ever goes according to plan. But a ray of hope arises as he tells Atorushan that a girl named Tamurin went to the temple where Bagin is. What are the chances? RPG chances, of course! You are sent to the local bar to fetch Barusomu, a swordsman who will help you on your quest. Barusomu locates the secret entrance into the temple with disturbing ease, only to be stopped short on the way in by the smell of death. Great, this place is chock full of the undead. Have I ever mentioned that I hate zombies? After the battle is over, and being explicitly warned to be careful, Atorushan runs headlong into a trap. But, in the world of glorious RPG coincidences, it lands him in the same cell as Tamurin. Unfortunately, she has no idea who he is, being that he is in human form. With this inauspicious set of events, Atorushan’s journey across Ishuba-n to confront the forces of evil begins.

 

 

Unfortunately, the only character that you can control in battle is Atorushan. There is a blue bar at the top of the screen indicating how much energy you have to perform tasks, and once it is depleted, your turn is over. Moving decreases the bar, as does attacking. All you have to do is press the directional button toward the enemy that you want to attack and once you reach it, press toward it to attack. A box around your character shows how much room you have to move before your bar depletes and your turn is over. It really could not be simpler. The NPCs in your party all have their specializations as well. Tamurin, for example, is an exemplary healer.

 

Using the X button, you can bring up the options menu. You can use items, give orders to your party members, run, change into your dragon form for a special attack, or turn the in battle animations on and off. The AI usually does what you need it to do, so you will normally find Tamurin throwing a healing spell at the appropriate time. If you want a character to attack a particular enemy, you can always order them to via the menu.

This game, when all is said and done, is a very simple one. Either you’ll like it or you’ll hate it, there is not much room for middle ground. I find it rather nice for relieving stress, as some of the complicated battle systems that I work with in other games aren’t always what I need to be putting myself through at the end of the day. The sprites are cute, and tend to emote in a rather endearing way. When Atorushan finds Tamurin at the beginning of the game, he grasps her hands like he’s found his lifeline, and a big drop of sweat appears at the side of her head because she has no idea who he is. As an anime and manga fan, that made me smile. The in game artwork is nice, and there is a teensy bit of voice acting, which I always love. If you’re looking for a game where every nuance of every situation is under your control at all times, keep moving onward. If you’re looking for an RPG that has an interesting premise but that won’t overtax you, Emerald Dragon may be just what you’re looking for.

If you feel like hearing more of my gaming prattle, feel free to follow me on Twitter. You can find me at @bejiita_buruma