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
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