Cartridge 3: Eien No Filerna (永遠のフィレーナ)

Name: Eien No Filerna (永遠のフィレーナ)
Type: Fantasy RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

Today we take yet another jaunt down 16-bit memory lane. I found myself at a bit of a loss as to what to write after my last post’s dating sim rant and decided that it was time to return to the Super Famicom for a while. We are once again looking at a game that I have no previous knowledge of, which was chosen purely because the box art intrigued me. Eien No Filerna (Eternal Filerna), the game which I am prodding with a stick today, appears to have been based on a series of Japanese light novels and anime. We’ve seen this before, I believe. So after shaking off the dregs of inactivity, it’s once more into the breach!

After getting the usual scrolling bit of backstory text common to games of this era, we dive right into the game proper. You begin this game as the titular character Filerna (which is how I shall spell her name, as that is how she writes it on her diary), a young woman who, according to the accompanying manual, is masquerading as a man. She is a slave from the ocean country Firosera known as a Kurechia, who is forced to be a Battler for the entertainment of the empire Debisu. After being given a bit more backstory on the Battle Show that the empire is so fond of, Filerna, age six, is thrown into a training battle against a man named Zena. Apparently Filerna has no choice but to train to prepare for life as a Battler among the men, so it’s time for this little girl (and us) to grow stronger.

After some more background information on Battlers, whose lives sound about as miserable as you would expect, we find that ten years have passed. As Filerna is now old enough to become a Battler in truth, she faces one last training battle against Zena, and this time we’re at the controls. After a fight in which neither opponent does much in the way of damage to one another, Zena gives Filerna some last minute advice, as her debut is tomorrow. He then gives us some equipment to make our survival more likely, accompanied by a tutorial on weapons and armor. Zena then tells Filerna that he has trained her because she has an important mission, which is exactly what she needs to be discussing the night before her first gladiatorial battle, when she should be more concerned with her impending doom. He then shoos Filerna off without another word, telling her to rest. I’m sure she’ll be able to sleep wonderfully, given that she has no pressure on her or anything.



Filerna makes some new 'friends'.

Now that we are free to roam around, we can enter the menu proper. There, we can see that Filerna is most certainly too pretty to fool anyone into thinking that she is anything other than a sixteen year old girl. After seeing that Zena’s lovely new equipment is indeed set, it’s time to rest. After lying in bed for all of two seconds, Filerna gets up and is called before the imperial commander who is in charge of the Battle Show that we are to be a part of. It seems that he has brought all of the Battlers who are to take part in tomorrow’s fight before him so that they can survey one another before they try to commit murder for entertainment. There are no words. What follows is an exercise in posturing, during which all of your potential opponents tell you exactly how they intend to kill you. Then the commander calls in a bunch of women and offers them up to the Battlers. I repeat, there are no words.

Filerna has the taste and the sense to leave her companion for the evening behind. She returns to her room to rest. Unfortunately Rira, the girl in question, doesn’t seem to be able to take a hint. She walks right through the door and begs Filerna to have sex with her. Wow. Filerna’s reaction is much like mine, a long line of ellipses. It seems that Rira is so set on them sleeping together because it is her duty, and that something bad will happen to her if they don’t. I repeat, wow. Whatever Filerna’s plan is to take down the empire, I’m on board one hundred percent. Filerna tries to worm her way out of the situation as nicely as possible, but the inevitable happens and Rira loses her temper. After calming her down by complimenting her beauty and saying that she can sleep in her bed, they turn in for the night. Rira awakens Filerna with a scream and a hilarious bug-eyed animation as she realizes that her companion is a girl. Filerna tells Rira that she has been raised from birth as a boy, although she doesn’t know why. Poor Rira tells Filerna that she was raised from birth in preparation to sleep with men. So after another bizarre and awkward conversation, Rira agrees to keep quiet about Filerna being a girl and a friendship is formed. Being a Kurechia is quite possibly one of the most awful things I’ve run across in videogames in quite a while.

Rira discovers that Filerna is a bit more...er...top-heavy than she originally expected.

The next day the commander comes to collect Filerna and, when asked about Rira, he tells her she’ll find out if she lives. Thanks for nothing. Since there is no putting this off, Filerna allows herself to be escorted to the arena with the other Battlers. A priest comes out, babbles about how the Battlers have the courage to offer up their lives, and calls upon Debisu’s god for them. Because clearly being a Kurechia is a completely voluntary vocation, from what we’ve seen so far. Now it’s time to get this show on the road. Filerna’s first fight is against a Battler named Big Elephant, whose armor clearly gave him his nickname. The fight is quite easy, and while I take no pleasure in this particular victory, the announcer’s surprise at Filerna’s survival is rather offensive. Filerna passes out soon after winning and awakens in a nicely appointed room, where Rira awaits us. It seems that this is Filerna’s new house, which she will get to keep for as long as she remains breathing, and that Rira has taken up the mantle of Filerna’s wife. Nice cover. Now if only Zena had told Filerna more about this supposed mission of hers. You’ll just have to play the game to find out!



Rira decides that she and Filerna should pretend to be a couple, even though she thinks it's a bit perverted.

The game’s combat system is simple enough. You can have up to four characters in your party during battle. There is a gauge next to each of the character’s names, and when that gauge fills, it is your turn. A collection of four icons appears above your character’s head when it is that character’s turn. You have the option to attack, defend, use items, or run. Where it gets interesting is that when you attack, instead of using a simple offensive tactic, you are ushered into a stock menu. Here, you are shown the weapon that you possess and the special techniques that it is capable of. You can stock up to three different weapons and items, including healing items, making for some very interesting tactical planning.

I can’t say very many positive things about this game on the appearance front, though. The game looks rather average overall, which they had absolutely no excuse for with what the competition was able to produce in 1995. Your tiny sprites stare up at giant enemies in the classic format, but other than several interesting enemy designs, there isn’t much to write home about here. Some of the major rooms are decently accented, as you can see that some thought was put into making them look lived in, but that is certainly not consistent throughout the game. The music is neither good nor bad, made up of the kind of tunes of the era that you filter through your brain without really listening to them, but that you don’t dislike enough that they become repetitive. I wish that I could find something stellar in this game’s design to point out to make up for accusing it of being somewhat underwhelming, but if such a thing exists, I haven’t found it.

In the end, Eien No Filerna felt like a rollercoaster ride between greatness and mediocrity. The story was interesting and the battle system was innovative, and yet the music was dead in the water and the appearance of the game was occasionally lacking. This game has so much to offer and yet it will be overlooked by many wholly on its lack of flashy graphics and memorable music. It really is a shame, as I actually really like this game and hope that people will play it regardless of its flaws. There is a lot of amusement to be found playing Eien No Filerna if you’re willing to look for it.

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 8: Thousand Arms (サウザンドアームズ)

Name: Thousand Arms (サウザンドアームズ)
Type: Dating Sim RPG
Available Languages: Japanese, English

Today’s game is one that I have some rather strong feelings about. While it is an Atlus RPG that has quite a few bells and whistles to its name, Thousand Arms also has the distinction of being a game that has a premise I despise. This game left me with a great deal of mixed feelings, given the fact that your characters gain power due to the main character’s manipulation of the feelings of women that he knows. While this game has the distinction of being the first dating sim that I ever played and also introduced me to the music of Hamasaki Ayumi, it also has the dubious credit of being one of the only games that left me feeling like a horrible person after beating it.

I originally ran across Thousand Arms as a teenager when it was released in the United States. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll know that an RPG dating sim that left the JPop music intact would have been considered a rare gift at the time. And so, I gleefully popped the disk in and began playing. What followed was a solid RPG experience with a system of gaining power that left me feeling like a liar and a cheat. So regretfully, I put it aside. As an adult, having had the misfortune of being exposed to some of the true horrors of Japanese computer visual novels and dating sims and having heard tales of the underbelly of the genre, which seems to glory in the suffering of others, I decided that a few kisses given willingly weren’t the end of the world. Maisu’s faults could be done away with after a good cry and a tub of ice cream in comparison to his seedier counterparts. There is a lot worse in the world. So when I ran across a Japanese copy of Thousand Arms at a low price I snatched it up, played it, and beat it. In spite of my high-flown ‘it could be worse’ pep talk beforehand, I still felt badly afterward.

 

This is Maisu, the girl-chasing protagonist of the game.

You start with a ragged looking Maisu stumbling down the road, yelling at his empty stomach and wishing that he could be spending time with girls. Yeah, I’m sure we all see where this is going. He has a flashback to his home, where apparently he is the son of a very famous family, the Triumphs. If you wander around the house, some of the maids seem to dread the presence of ‘Bocchama’. So Maisu is a pervert who goes after his own servants. Great. When we track down Cliff, Maisu’s father, we are treated to a scene which, along with some writings found around the house, show us exactly how Maisu’s personality was formed. Your flashback continues to Kanto, Maisu’s hometown, which is being attacked by the Dark Army. Maisu’s personal leave-taking is brought up short by him sighting a pretty girl, who you can proceed to hit on. No matter what the player chooses to say, Maisu gets trampled by a herd of panicking villagers. There is justice in this universe. Maisu returns to the present in time to lament his fate before passing out in front of the city of Boyzby.

What follows is one of my all-time favorite Hamasaki Ayumi songs, ‘Depend on you’, accompanied by a rather neat anime opening sequence. Maisu awakens from his stupor to the sound of a girl screaming and rushes to her aid. Sodina, the main love interest in the game and current distressed damsel, doesn’t really seem to need Maisu’s help, but that won’t stop our hero from showing off. Anyway four baddies against one teenage girl seems a bit unfair. Sodina warns Maisu not to use the sword he is carrying, he ignores her, and it snaps like a twig. So Maisu gets beaten to a pulp, and it’s up to Sodina and her brother to save the both of you. She has taken a liking to Maisu for some reason, but her brother is less than impressed with how badly he has treated his sword, and sends him on a mission to repair it. So basically Maisu is on a quest to learn more about his family trade as a spirit blacksmith while trying to hit on as much of the female populace as is humanly possible. And let’s not forget that there is a great deal of trouble brewing all around us, so we’d better get that broken sword fixed pronto!

The game itself doesn’t look like much, although the backgrounds are somewhat detailed. The characters’ faces are lovely, however, and when they talk to you, it looks like you’re watching something straight from an anime. When you go into battle, the game shines as well. Both the character and enemy designs are inspired and make for a very interesting in battle appearance.

 

You can have up to three characters in battle, one in the front line and two in the back. The person in the front line is your attacker, and the people in the back row can cast support magic or use items. Both the front and back line has a gauge, and when the line empties, the action that you chose to take is available to use via a press of the appropriate button. You can have your character cast a spell and hold it in stock, saving it for when you need it, which is very useful, especially for healing. Every now and then you’ll get lucky and a back row character will throw a taunt the enemy’s way to lower their stats, or cheer you on to raise yours. The front row character has your basic RPG commands, attack, magic, special techniques, defend, item, run, all are there for the choosing. They differ slightly depending on who you choose to use as your attacker.

Gaining power via using Maisu’s abilities as a spirit blacksmith is necessary in this game, and to do so, he needs the help of girls who like him and can lend their power to the process. It’s how you upgrade everyone’s weapons to learn new magic and techniques, and is absolutely necessary if you want to win the game. Maisu dates Sodina, the girl he truly likes, but dates a lot of other girls too, all because he likes to play the field and wants to get their powers for his weapons. He dates Uina, even though he knows that his friend Mu-za has a crush on her but is too shy to tell her. You as a player have no choice but to go along with this, as leveling up your weapons and gaining powers on them is the only way to beat the game. So basically you are required to be a jerk. In order to get the girls to like you more, you have many different options, such as presents and mini-games. The most common method of getting the girl to like you better is taking them out on dates, answering whatever questions they put to you in a manner that that particular girl will like best, and then hoping that their affection for you will level up enough that you can take them to a smithy and upgrade your weapons.

 

Sodina rewards Maisu for a successful date, complete with kissing sound effect.

I’ve always felt that one of the signs of a truly great RPG is having characters, both playable and non-playable, that you genuinely care about. This game thrives off of you manipulating the emotions of many of the people around you without any regard to the consequences, which took away from what I feel would otherwise have been a much better game. It’s sad to say that when I look back on my experience with Thousand Arms, I see a game that had a lot of promise, but left a rather unpleasant feeling in its wake.

 

 

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 7: Arc The Lad (アークザラッド)

Name: Arc The Lad (アークザラッド)
Type: Strategy RPG
Available Languages: Japanese, English

As I looked at my blog recently I realized, to my chagrin, that there was a glaring omission in the posts that really deserved to be rectified. There are many types of RPGs out there, and while I had spent time talking about the turn-based and action varieties, I had gone nowhere near the staple that is the strategy RPG. I have no excuse, given that the PlayStation has a plethora of titles to choose from, including what many, myself included, consider to be the greatest strategy RPG of all time: Final Fantasy Tactics. But as that game has been covered by many writers before and is practically legendary, it won’t suit this blog. I certainly didn’t want to write about Hoshigami Shizumi Yuku Aoki Daichi, as I have enough stress in my life without replaying what is quite possibly the most difficult SRPG I’ve ever encountered. I decided, in the end, on a title that is the first game in a series that has been released in the west. It’s not a hugely popular game, and it’s not even the greatest game in the series, but it was the beginning of a great deal of fun for me, and is worth checking out. So our first SRPG on the blog is going to be Arc the Lad.

Arc the Lad is certainly not obscure in its native land, having produced, among other things, its own anime, which I possess but have yet to watch. Be that as it may, many people here have never heard of the series, and so it is appropriate for this blog. The back of the jewel case promises us a nonstop great adventure, so let us begin!

We start out with the village headman and a young woman in front of a large gate. It appears that only members of the White family like the young woman herself can pass this gate. It seems that she is only there because the village headman has promised to make someone leave the village and will let her be free. But in order for him to do that, she has to go to the top of Shion Mountain and extinguish the sealing flame. This all seems quite fishy to me. It seems that Shion’s Flame has burned on the mountain of spirits continually for three thousand years, and now this young woman is going to put it out. Now I’m certain that this is a bad idea. She pushes her own curiosity about this situation aside due to her not wanting to go to Parenshia Castle to marry the prince, which is something that a member of her family must do. No sooner does she extinguish the flame and rejoice about everything being perfectly fine than the screen goes dark and a voice gloats over finally being unsealed. I knew that this was a bad idea. And as the village head says, the seal that held for three thousand years disappeared all because of a shrewish girl. Oh dear. Seems someone named Cabinet Minister Anderu is behind all of this. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We finally meet Arc, our protagonist and the fellow who gives his name to this entire series of games. He seems to be hesitating over the chest which contains his father’s armor and sword. It’s locked, but he clearly wants in. The extinguishing of the flame that we saw caused snow to fall for the first time in ten years, and Arc is upset because he lost his father on a night with a similar blizzard. He feels that if he goes to the mountain tonight, he will find out why his father disappeared. His mother, Poruta, believes his father to be dead, while Arc says his strong father would not die so easily, and if any of the monsters on the mountain did kill his father, he would avenge him. He needs to see for himself. Poruta unlocks the chest for him, and then leaves, remembering her husband’s words. Things are coming to pass exactly as he said that they would ten years ago.

Finally we gain control of Arc and he garbs himself for battle, complete with a heroic change in music. No sooner do we leave Arc’s house, than we’re back with the young woman from earlier, who is quite concerned with what has been happening on the mountain ever since she extinguished the flame. As she should be, methinks. She feels that since it’s her fault, she has to do something about it, but before she can head out, Arc shows up. They introduce themselves, and we find out that the young woman’s name is Kukuru. She tells Arc that the flame on the top of the mountain is out, and that she is going to relight it. He offers to go for her, but she refuses, citing the terrible voice she heard when she doused the flame earlier. Kukuru doesn’t want him to be put in danger for something that she did. Arc is looking for the monster that he believes killed his father ten years ago, and refuses to be stopped in his quest, so he takes her torch and hops quite skillfully up the side of the mountain. There, we are confronted by the Ark Demon, who thinks that Arc is the one who doused the flame, and tries to kill him in order to make sure the three thousand year curse is broken. As Arc isn’t the one the demon is looking for, it moves on without finishing him off. Arc is saved by the spirit of the mountain, who tells Arc to go to the mountain peak, where he should light the flame and make the demon disappear. Arc gets the power of the spirits, which is a pretty sweet deal. Finally we can get to the game proper!

Arc the Lad’s battle system is simple enough by SRPG standards. When it’s your character’s turn, there are multiple choices they can make depending on their skills and their surroundings. Your character has a certain amount of health and magic depending on their level and their natural skills. They can jump to certain heights, throw items a certain distance, and move in a certain radius, given their natural talent as well. They each have their own set of skills and spells, which can hit one or more enemies or allies in a line or radius, depending on the skill. It truly is a very basic SRPG, and is quite a lot of fun.

Arc the Lad is not a visual marvel in any sense, but it is certainly not an ugly game either, and the sprites are quite detailed in comparison to the rest of the game. I won’t spoil the series for you by telling you what Arc’s destiny is, but suffice it to say that the game managed to surprise me. The plotlines of all of the original PlayStation Arc the Lad games are worth checking out, and the gameplay improves over the first game in both II and III. If you are unfamiliar with strategy RPGs, Arc the Lad is a great place to start as the learning curve is rather gentle, and I never felt that unpleasant panicky feeling that some SRPGs can throw at you right off the bat when you’re just learning what you’re doing. All that being said, it’s a great game for beginners, and its sequels up the ante in difficulty, so these games are a great place to hone your skills for other games. And of course, the Arc the Lad games are worth playing on their own merit. The story is interesting, the characters are engaging, and the battle system is fun. What more could you ask for from a game?

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 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