Azure Flame Reloaded

Four hundred years after Claude and Rena saved the universe in Star Ocean 2, the time has come for a new bunch of heroes to rise and protect reality as we know it. As far as college student Fayt Leingod is concerned, however, all he’s up for is a holiday with his family- complete with plenty of time spent in the battle simulator. When their holiday is interrupted by an attack from the alien Vendeeni, however, it catapults Fayt into an adventure that will see him visit new planets and meet new allies on a quest to protect the galaxy he calls home.

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Disclaimer: whilst all true in their own way, the opinions expressed in this article are not meant to be taken too seriously.

If anyone asks me (and why they would do so still eludes me), I will freely admit that I enjoy RPGs- ever since the days when I was a slave to the Final Fantasy franchise, they have been the lifeblood of my gaming experience. And yet, when playing, I cannot help but sometimes lament to myself that actually, I don’t like the particular part of the game that I’m on. I’m sure that many of you feel the same way, and so let us analyse just what there might not be to like about wandering from village to village, watching cutscenes, trekking through dungeons and fighting monsters along the way.

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Somewhere out there, if you look hard enough, you can find a game for everything. For example, on the Wii rip-off console Vii, you can indulge in what must be a fascinating and absorbing little number named “Fry Egg”. If your taste runs more to fireworks, however, you can indulge yourself more officially with early Playstation2 game Fantavision- a sure way to beat any withdrawal you might feel after Letterbomb Fireworks night and New Year celebrations.

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A hundred years ago, the demon Orochi was vanquished through the efforts of the legendary hero Nagi and the white wolf Shiranui, but after a century of peace, Orochi has been released again. With the land of Nippon now cursed by evil, the only hope for salvation lies with the goddess of Amaterasu, who must once again reincarnate herself into the form of a white wolf. But Amaterasu’s powers are much lessened from what they once were, and only with the help of the diminutive artist Issun will she be able to travel the world and regain the abilities of her Celestial Brush.

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Felt and Viese Blanchimont are orphans and childhood friends living on the airborne continent of Eden. Whilst Viese studies to become an alchemist, Felt is more concerned with honing his swordsmanship- a seemingly pointless endeavour given that Eden is a peaceful place completely devoid of monsters. Nonetheless, it turns out that Felt’s skills are just what is needed when a mysterious disaster causes part of Eden to disappear, for, armed with the legendary sword known as the Azure Azoth, it is he who must travel to the world of Belkhyde in the hopes of finding the key to saving Eden. But he won’t have any chance in this strange new world without Viese backing him up at home, using her alchemic skills and the power of the Share Ring to supply Felt with vital Mana Items. Continue Reading »

Klein Kiesling is an alchemist- one of an increasingly rare breed of people who make a pact with magical spirits known as Mana in order to manipulate the very elements of nature. Together with his childhood friend and Mana Popo, Klein is on a journey to seek out items related to alchemy, but a chance encounter with a bounty hunter named Lita sees him caught up in a series of events that could determine the fate of the world.

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According to legend, the powers of light and darkness once collided in the form of the Dark Prince and the Maiden of Light, and although light was victorious, the threat of darkness still remains. At the Church of the Holy Maiden, the band of demon hunters known as La Pucelle spend their days exterminating the forces of darkness, but new member Sister Prier isn’t content to go after small fry forever- despite being feisty, outspoken and the most unlikely candidate for the job, she dreams of one day taking on the mantle of Maiden of Light for herself.

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In his own words, Lord Zetta is the most badass freaking Overlord in the entire cosmos, and there’s no doubt he’d like to keep it that way. To that end, he’s prepared to do anything in his power to avoid the prophesied fall of his Netherworld, even going so far as to consult the Sacred Tome, an all-knowing book whose pages should contain the answer to everything. Unfortunately, when he reads a paragraph about his own stupidity, he burns the Tome in a fit of anger, causing the very destruction he was trying to avoid and forcing him to confine his own soul to the book in a bid to survive. Now, book-Zetta’s only hope of regaining his power is for his fellow Overlords to wish him up new worlds to conquer by writing in the Tome, but it seems more than likely that his power-hungry peers will try to slip in a few schemes of their own to trip him up.

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In the first gaming era, I was a lot less selective than I am now; if it even remotely resembled an RPG, I had to play it- and more so if was created by the then Squaresoft. Back in those days, I was a hopeless Final Fantasy fangirl, and so everything they produced had to be great- didn’t it?

Sadly, there was a rude awakening ahead of me, and it was to begin with this game- SaGa Frontier 2. Due to their lack of availability in the UK, I had remained blissfully ignorant of the SaGa franchise up until this point, but even though this is said to be one of the better games in the series, it was to be the one that put me off investigating any of the others.

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Any gamers who frequent this blog will more than likely be familiar with the Shadow Hearts series of games, but not so many will be aware that those games also have a prequel- a PSOne RPG named Koudelka. Ironically intended to be a breakout game that would revitalise the apparently stagnant RPG genre, the finished product was a game so poor that the lucky ones were those who had indeed never played or even heard of it.

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