Disk 10: Startling Odyssey 1 Blue Evolution (スタートリング・オデッセイ１ブルー・エヴォリューション)

Name: Startling Odyssey 1 Blue Evolution (スタートリング・オデッセイ１ブルー・エヴォリューション)
Type: Turn Based RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

This week we take a look at the RPG Startling Odyssey 1 Blue Evolution. This game has the distinction of being the only one of the three Startling Odyssey titles to be brought from the PC Engine to the PlayStation. It also has one of the more interesting titles that I’ve come across over the years. Let’s see just how startling this supposed odyssey actually turns out to be, shall we? Paging through the manual, I noted that things look like your generic RPG fare, save for the moment when I got to the characters section and saw that the main character was voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru. After the requisite fangirlish squeal had been unleashed at the presence of my favorite seiyuu ever, I saw nothing else of interest beyond the nice character designs (and, of course, made the usual fervent wish that the busty female characters would put something on before they caught a chill). I suppose it’s time to see what this game has to offer us!

The game opens with a rather decent anime sequence. While it was nothing to some of the masterpieces I’ve seen over the years, it was more than passable for its day and was a nice introduction to the characters. From what I gather from the introduction and the manual, there was a pretty massive battle between good and evil that went down long before the game began. We’ve heard this kind of stuff before. According to the infallible internet, the Startling Odyssey games actually go in reverse order, 2 being a prequel of 1, and 3 being a prequel of 2, so I suppose I’m allowed to be a fish out of water here. I’ll play them in the order intended, complete with the requisite confusion.

We awaken in the village of Arishia as the protagonist of the game and resident Midorikawa Hikaru character, Leon Solford. The pest who won’t let him get his shuteye is local boy Mark, accompanied by his dog. Belied by the cheerful music in the background, he actually has a good reason for waking Leon up. It appears that a monster has gotten into the village, and it is up to Leon to help drive it out.

During our trek around the village, we learn that monsters have only begun showing up in the area recently, which is never a good sign in a videogame. The other shoe should be dropping any time now. An earthquake rocks the village in the midst of Leon’s quest for information, after which Mark’s dog Ron senses something. It seems that Ron has found the infamous monster, which is quite demonic in appearance and can talk. Leon is then thrown into his first battle against the monster, Kureido, which he wins handily. With a typically villainous ominous statement being thrown at our hero, the monster dies. His passing is followed by yet another earthquake.

The next morning Leon’s fervent admirers Mark and Ron have shown up at his house again, and Mark asks if Leon is going to see the elder. Since it seems there is a conversation to be held with that gentleman, that is where we should head off to. Saria, Leon’s mother, arrives, and Mark tells us that Sophia is coming home. This is important to us because she is the next playable character that we’ll get and has healing spells. Enough said. Saria hustles Leon off to the elder’s, but another earthquake shakes the land. After listening to the billionth inane comment about how many earthquakes there have been lately, you gain control of Leon.

As Leon leaves, Saria stops him for apparently no reason, changing her mind at the last minute about telling him what she had to say. A poor choice, methinks. Outside the elder’s house, Mark tells Leon that he wants to be like him when he grows up. We never would have guessed that, given that the boy and his dog have literally been following us everywhere since the beginning of the game. Leon, however, seems surprised. Mark desires to become strong in order to protect the village from bad guys, which is an admirable, if rather childish, plan. He then runs off to play with his dog, leaving Leon happily laughing in his wake.

The elder is, naturally, pleased with Leon’s monster cleansing of the night before. Apparently things are a lot worse around here than they appear, though, as there have been rumors of Mazoku (literally ‘evil tribe’) destroying villages on the continent. The monster from the night before gave him a bad feeling, to which Leon replies that Kureido said that the end of the village was coming. The elder is not pleased to hear this news, and it leads into a discussion of the war between light and darkness 270 years previously. The elder cuts the discussion short and shoos Leon outside, where he teaches him the Shooting Star skill. Not bad, old man!

Unfortunately, we don’t have time to appreciate our shiny new powers, as there is a disruption in the village. Mark, of course, comes to get you, telling you that there are Mazoku in the village and that people are being killed. Gara-do and his band of mooks have appeared in this village under the name of his emperor to take the land for the Mazoku. It’s leave or die, but Leon isn’t too keen on that idea, and with Mark as his cheerleader, he clears through some of the rabble with his new technique. Leon then flings himself sword first at Gara-do, who proceeds to totally annihilate him.

Out of nowhere, more of the enemies are blown to bits, the source of firepower being none other than Leon’s mother. After an impressive showing of power by Saria, Gara-do shifts the balance in his favor by capturing Mark and killing his dog. He knows that Saria won’t act because of Mark, and proceeds to turn her partially to stone. He then hurts Mark anyway. Saria’s transformation into a statue is then completed, and Gara-do sends her off to become a part of his collection. Tossing Mark’s body to the ground, he teleports off with the magically petrified form of Leon’s mother. Mark reaches out to Leon shakily, telling him that he wants to become stronger, like Leon, and then dies. I believe that we’ve just found the startling part of the game, because I’m genuinely startled by my sudden rage. Leon is left to bury his grief, discover his family’s past, and find a way to save his mother from the magic that binds her.

The battle system in Startling Odyssey 1 is turn-based, with your characters appearing on the right side of the screen and the enemies on the left. The character’s HP and SP appears attached to them by a blue line. When it is your character’s turn, their name and face will pop up on the screen and a set of option buttons will appear. The central button will allow you to attack, the left will let you use skills, the right defend, the top use items, and the bottom will take you to another page of buttons. This page has four buttons, the center of which returns you to the previous page, the left allows you to run, the right sends you into auto battle, and the top allows you to change weapons. It’s very basic and couldn’t be easier to learn, given that the buttons come with accompanying illustrations for beginning learners of Japanese. All that being said, the in battle sprites are truly hideous. There is absolutely nothing good that I have to say about them. I hate to be so negative, but there it is.

I rather like some of the music in Startling Odyssey, although I know that it won’t be to some peoples’ taste. It reminds me very much of the background music of some of the anime I watched as a teenager, and I can’t help feeling nostalgic about it. Other than those few tracks, though, the rest of the music is average. The game’s appearance is also average, with nothing really speaking to me of any extra effort being put into making something memorable. The cut scenes are decent, with the anime style stills making for a nice illustration of the scene in progress, but as I said earlier, I’ve seen it done better.

Overall, Startling Odyssey 1 is a decent way to kill a few hours, or even a few days. It’s not great in any sense, but it certainly isn’t bad either. However, having played through this truly generic RPG for quite a while now, I can say that the only truly startling thing that I’ve come across in it is its title.

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 4: The Mystic Dragoons (ミスティックドラグーン), Part 2

It is every woman’s prerogative to change her mind, and apparently I am going to be doing a lot of that when it comes to the game The Mystic Dragoons. As my longtime readers probably recall, when I first posted for that game, I intended to write several weeks’ worth of my experiences with it for general internet consumption. Thinking that the first post wasn’t going over well, I trashed the idea. That post has since become the most popular one on this blog. So, to thank the readers who enjoyed that bit of whimsy on my part, and to felicitate myself for being wrong yet again, here is part two of my The Mystic Dragoons adventure!

When last we left our ragtag band of heroes, they were recovering from a vicious and unprovoked attack on their hometown that left everyone they knew and loved dead. Needless to say, our little party of five is feeling a tad bit vengeful. It’s time to head into Dorasshu and prepare to track down those Tactical Dragoons. They’re clearly a compassionate lot, after all, leaving a bunch of teenagers to fend for themselves in a burning village. And like I said earlier, they have dragons.

Before we move out, I want to discuss the cover art for this game, which I mentioned in passing before. Now that I know a bit about the characters, I’ve discovered that it depicts Cliff and Elmys, dancing. Yes, he’s dancing with the Gureizeru prophecy princess who, accidentally or otherwise, condemned Collet and everyone in it to death. Strangely, he’s dancing with a drawn sword in hand, so either this is the most bizarre assassination attempt since the time travelling dragon, or we’re about to see Cliff embark on a very awkward relationship. Just thought that I should throw this strange little nugget out there. As before, I’m using the anglicized names that were given in the art booklet where applicable, so if you’re playing along with this post, sorry for any confusion. Well, onward to glory!

We arrive in Dorasshu, where Bud, one of our party members, begins to immediately admire one of the nearby ladies. This irritates Roxy, another party member, greatly. But hey, we all deal with intense, crushing grief in our own way, right? Some of us just do it by ogling strange women and irritating our jealous childhood friend. Romantic subplot, incoming! 

Bud opens up a whole new can of worms by admiring the local 'scenery'.

Eugo, the fifth member of our party, speaks to the aforementioned pretty lady and tells her that we want to go to Harvey and then on to the country of Pura-ma. Unfortunately, it appears that the cave to Harvey was blocked by an earthquake three years ago. Of course it was. What else would one expect in an RPG, after all? Then we tell the pretty lady, Amugine, all about our plans and don’t try to hide Alf, because her well swathed appearance isn’t suspicious at all and there haven’t been any ne’er do wells lurking around recently. Apparently Alf can travel through time and Amugine can tell that just by looking at him. She then books it, leaving Roxy to remark on her oddness. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find her suspicious or sinister at all.

Well, that was weird. Anyway, we’re off to get us some shuteye, and then we need to track down an elf for some healing magic. That is the best idea that this game has thrown at us yet. I like not dying. After strolling around and looting the town, hero style, we manage to track down the aforementioned elf, who is sitting in a room that is hidden behind a giant curtain. Subtle. Tall, blonde, waiflike, pointy ears, check. That’s an elf. She teaches us Prayer of Healing, and therefore greatly lessens our chances of dying. Apparently the elves are our allies and we should talk to them all. Duly noted. As amusing as this has all been, it’s time to move on and see exactly what is going on in this cave to the west. I can’t envision the Tactical Dragoons having a sudden attack of conscience and coming back to check on the bunch of orphans that they so unceremoniously ditched, after all. Us having to do this the hard way is what makes this an RPG, right?

We reach the cave that leads to Harvey and find it every bit as blocked as Amugine and the townspeople said it was. I suppose that it was too much to ask for them to all be a bunch of malicious liars. Alf squawks and, as though the universe is mocking us, it starts to rain. But then the screen warps in an odd way and a truly obnoxious alarm sounds. Didn’t the time travelling dragon in the opening sequence use water, and didn’t Amugine say that Alf was one? But our party is oblivious to the oddity going on around them, and goes to wait out the storm in a nearby hut. When the storm clears, our little troop returns outside to find that the massive cave-in has completely disappeared. After reacting with incredibly mild surprise to this, the party decides to move on, not bothering to question how this strange event has occurred at all. I suppose that in a world where time travelling assassination-assistant dragons exist, this kind of stuff is normal.

This dungeon is so incredibly linear and generic that there is no point in going into what I went through while traversing it, beyond saying that I fought a bunch of enemies, collected a few treasures, and didn’t die. Outside, it starts to rain again. Bud, being the genius that he clearly is, suggests that we return to the cave to wait it out. The obnoxious screen warp alarm thing happens again, and our band of heroes, equally oblivious to the obvious, books it back into the cave. Inside we meet a fellow with truly epic hair who is picking away at the magically returned cave-in and tells us what I’m sure you lovely, intelligent people have already figured out. Eugo, ignoring the evidence that is right in front of him, tells him that we just came from Dorasshu. The guy tells him off, which he totally deserved for being an idiot, even though what he said is true. So let’s move on, and hope that our characters can pick up some sense along the way.

This guy's hair is a thing of beauty. It's even more amazing in profile.

We return to the field map and, according to my handy little booklet, Harvey should be to our northwest. After checking the forests for the local elf and smacking around any mooks that dare to cross our path, we finally make our way into Harvey. It’s a slightly more colorful place than previous towns, and includes and inn with the two Ns on the sign reversed. Nice to see that they put so much effort into their advertising. I headed straight to the port, and there our party is confronted by a ship that sticks out like a sore thumb. But as our little band of misfits has no business boarding said ship, it looks like we’ll have to get ourselves clearance.


Lovely sign they have there. I wonder if that's anything like an inn.

Time to check out the large building with the incomprehensible writing on it in the middle of town. It seems that we’ve located the local bar, in which we find another elf and a hippie who runs the black market. A man in the bar mistakes you for hunters, which would be my first guess too when I see a bunch of angry teenagers and a ten year old girl just wandering around. Clearly they are people who go out and hunt things down in order to sell them. Sounds lucrative, though, so I’ll remember it. This is the most logical game that I have ever played, by the way. Its understanding of human nature blows my mind. Well, now that that interesting experience is over with, it’s time to check out the bar’s basement. What awaits us there is our only way forward.

I hope that that slice of Cliff’s continued escapades lived up to the previous post and was as fun for you to revisit as it was for me. Perhaps someday I’ll post another part of this, depending on the reception of part two. Either way, this was a fun revisit. We all know that I love dragons.

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 9: Kuro no Ken (黒の剣)

Name: Kuro no Ken (黒の剣)
Type: Turn-Based RPG
Available Languages: Japanese

Today’s game is yet another one that I picked up entirely for the cover art. Kuro no Ken, subtitled in English as ‘Blade of the Darkness’, sports a very nice sketch of a man saving a damsel in distress from an unpleasant situation on the front cover. The back of the jewel case promises an excellent vocal cast paired with high quality graphics. From the pictures shown to illustrate this fact, those high quality graphics consist of nearly naked women, which doesn’t impress me much. The male lead is voiced by Koyasu Takehito, though, and that impresses me a great deal. Let’s see if Kuro no Ken can live up to its own hype!

Whether you hear it first from the game opening itself or have read it in the manual, it seems that the world in the game we are going to play has had some trouble with jet black dragons. I seem to be meeting up with a lot of dragons during the course of writing this blog, but considering that my medium is RPGs, that should be no surprise. Koyasu Takehito’s voice speaks for the first time as a ship in the midst of a storm appears in a mirror. A strange conversation ensues with a woman, during which we learn that the main male character, Kaiesu, is in the country of Kuraitsen training as a swordsman. It seems that he has come to ask the woman where he should go next. She is as vague and unhelpful as one would expect, and ends by telling him to choose for himself.



Shinobu realizes that she is in a game that subsists on fanservice.

We are suddenly taken from that strange scene to meet Shinobu, who is sitting up in her bed as though she has just awoken from a dream. Apparently she was sleeping naked, but is thoughtful enough to cover herself with a sheet despite her confusion. There is a scantily clad woman in the room with her (the lack of clothing seems to be a theme in this game) who asks her if she understands her, because Shinobu is a foreigner. She introduces herself as Enisu, the savior of Shinobu’s life. Apparently Shinobu has no idea where she is, but she does mention a ship. Enisu saved her from getting eaten by monsters, and bribes her into working for her in return for saving her life. Unfortunately, Shinobu only carries a sword with her as a good luck charm, so she will have to use magic to pay off her life debt. There is a noble’s manor to the south of the city where Enisu wants us to go, so I suppose we have no choice. She won’t tell Shinobu what she’ll be doing there, though, which is worrisome. We finally gain control of Shinobu, who can’t find her very important sword anywhere. Enisu won’t tell her where it is, but says she’ll remember after her work is finished. Great, first guilt, now extortion.

Shinobu trudges south to the manor, which is replete with fountains and potted flowers, and stately music plays in the background. After the player takes a moment to decide that the place is legitimately creepy in its outward cheerfulness, Shinobu heads down a marble hallway, past some surly guards, and into the mansion proper. As she wanders aimlessly about, Shinobu finds a pretty jewel which she believes Enisu sent her to the mansion with the intention for her to take. She isn’t too keen on the idea and so doesn’t steal the jewel, but as she’s leaving she gets attacked by the guards for being Enisu’s underling anyway. A fight ensues, which Shinobu wins without breaking a sweat. Those guards really should have listened to her.

 



Unfortunately, a youjinbou, Zefyu-doru, shows up next, but he actually listens to Shinobu. After making a rather perverted comment and letting us think that we’re going to get away, the other soldiers remind the youjinbou of what he’s being paid for, and the fight is on. As he has both voice acting and an accompanying facial avatar, I’m assuming that this won’t be so easy. I attacked him with Shinobu’s basic magic attack, Fu Chou Jin, but it did nothing, and after commenting on her magic’s strangeness, Zefyu-doru defeats her in one blow.

Shinobu is certain that he isn’t just an average youjinbou. She is searching for a swordsman who is going to be caught up in some complicated RPG destiny that the game hasn’t explained yet, and Zefyu-doru is as confused by Shinobu’s riddles as I am. He reminds her rather forcibly that she has just lost a fight to him, which is probably something that she should be more concerned about at the moment. Just as Zefyu-doru thinks that his amusement is about to begin, Shinobu shows him why she isn’t as concerned as he thought she should be by using her magic to disappear from the battle entirely.


Shinobu decides that it's time to leave Zefyu-doru and the manor behind.

Shinobu heads back to the port city of O-rubain to speak to Enisu, telling her that she has no intention of becoming a thief. Enisu has no problem with this, though, as Shinobu had only been sent in as a decoy. Lovely how she saved her life only to throw her into danger immediately after she healed. After joking about how she doesn’t remember where Shinobu’s sword is, Enisu finally returns it. Apparently Shinobu is looking for a swordsman that she can entrust it to. She tells Enisu that the sword is cursed, that its name is Kuro no Ken, and that it’s better if she knows no more about it than that. I have a feeling that we’re going to learn a lot more about it before the game is over though, given that the game is named after the sword.

The battle system in Kuro no Ken is your average turn-based RPG fare. When it is your character’s turn, you will be presented with a window with that character’s health, magic, and status, and there will be a long list of commands that appear in kanji on the screen. You can attack, use a special command that depends on which character you’re using, defend, use an item, change your equipped weapon, or retreat. It’s an incredibly basic battle system, but it looks very nice.

The major conversations in this game take place in anime-like images, much like visual novels. They are very nicely drawn, if a little voyeuristic at times. The rest of the game world looks rather average, a typical fantasy RPG world that you could see in half a dozen games picked at random. In fact, it looks more like a Super Famicom game world than a PlayStation one. The in battle sprites are where this game shines image wise, as the creators really put some love into their design. The music is bland, not bad in any sense, but certainly not memorable either.

While Kuro no Ken was a nice game overall, in spite of its gratuitous fan service, it certainly didn’t live up to the hype on the jewel case. I will admit that the game looked lovely in battle, and that the anime cut scene pictures were nice, but the rest of the game was average at best. While I wouldn’t recommend Kuro no Ken over many other major titles, it is a nice way to spend a few afternoons if you’re bored. I have certainly played games that were a lot worse.

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 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