PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information.PDF generated at: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:53:34 UTC

Department HeavenSting Entertainment

ContentsArticles

Dept. Heaven 1Riviera: The Promised Land 7Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 15Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 27Yggdra Unison 36Knights in the Nightmare 45

ReferencesArticle Sources and Contributors 51Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 52

Article LicensesLicense 53

Dept. Heaven 1

Dept. Heaven

Dept. HeavenDevelopers Sting Entertainment

Publishers Atlus

First release Riviera: The Promised LandJuly 12, 2002

Latest release Blaze Union: Story to Reach theFutureMay 27, 2010

Official website http:/ / dhe. sting. co. jp/

Dept. Heaven is the name given to a series of video games developed by Sting's Product Team A, headed byShinichi Ito. Currently there are five known episodes, with three already released as well as two spin-off games. JaJaexplained in his blog that the numbering system is more of a goal in originality of game design, for example, withEpisode II being more original than Episode I but not as much as Episode III.

Games

Episode I: RivieraRiviera takes place on the floating continent of Riviera. The main character, Ein being a resident of Asgard, is sentby The Seven Magi to rid Riviera of demons and becomes tangled in a bid for the Gods' dormant power through TheWorld Tree.Riviera is played almost as a visual novel, with "triggers" on each screen that can be selected, rather than directlycontrolling the movement of Ein. In battle, Riviera plays out similarly to the RPG stereotype, however aiming andattacking requires much more careful control, due to the lack of an explicit ability to decide the target of an attack,and the fact that all but one item have a limited amount of uses.Riviera focused very strongly on the story and character interaction, even going so far as providing the player withthe opportunity to slightly affect the ending by developing stronger relationships through his actions with particularfemale members of the cast.

Episode II: Yggdra UnionYggdra Union takes place on an unnamed continent. The game chronicles the Yggdra War, where the Bronquianarmy begins a brutal rampage throughout the world, conquering territories until Princess Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz, ofone of the conquered countries, rallies against them.The game plays differently from most Strategy RPGs, in that you have some amount of control over the battles youwould typically just watch. In these battles you can activate cards and control your units' attack strategies. Anotherunique aspect of the game is that the on-map formation of your units is very important, creating the eponymous"Union" system that is vital to victory.There are two spinoffs to this Episode, Yggdra Unison and Blaze Union. Yggdra Unison is an alternate-universeretelling of the main game with twelve possible protagonists; Blaze Union is a prequel to Yggdra Union taking placein Bronquia three years prior.

Dept. Heaven 2

Episode IIILittle information has been revealed regarding Episode III, except that it is currently planned to be a PCMMORPG.[1]

Episode IV: Knights in the NightmareKnights in the Nightmare takes place in Aventheim, a world recently interrupted by the invasion of a demonic army.The player leads the Wisp through the story, unraveling the past through the events of the present, in order to saveAventheim.The game plays like Chess infused with RPG and shoot 'em up elements. The player moves the Wisp around usingthe touchscreen, activating attacks on allied characters and avoiding screen-covering shots from enemy characters.

Episode IX: Gungnir: War God of the Demon Spear and the War of HeroesA story that takes place in the Gargantia Empire, set to a backdrop of class strife between the noble Daltania and thepeasant Leonica. A young boy named Julio who is part of the Leonica resistance comes upon the powerful demonicweapon Gungnir, and his choice to use it for the sake of the rebellion has drastic consequences.Gungnir was officially announced in the February 24, 2011 issue of Weekly Famitsu. It combines orthodox SRPGelements with original system features and is scheduled for a May 19, 2011 release on the PSP. It is being developedby staff members from Yggdra Union.

ConnectionsIn the unveiling article for Knights in the Nightmare, it was explained that the worlds share a common Asgard,[2] butno further details on their relations were given. In a later Dengeki Maoh article it was revealed how each gameinteracted in the Universe, each initially taking place on the overworld and being connected in some way to eitherAsgard or the Underworld.[3] More connections were revealed when Knights was finally released, in particular withthe release of the Dept. Heaven Episodes World Guide and a thinner American version, The Tome of Lost Souls.These releases explained the various connections between the games and further delineated the culture and history ofthe universe in which they took place.Many gameplay connections can be derived, from the limited item use mechanic appearing in all the games, to theretry functionality allowing the player to continue the story even if the game is too difficult for them. JaJa explainedon his blog that the numbering of the series has more to do with how original the game is than anything else.

TerminologyAsgard (神界 Shinkai)

The Dept. Heaven equivalent of heaven, a realm that idealizes pure order. It was established by the gods,all-powerful beings of pure logic which series director Shinichi Ito likens to computer programs.[4] Followingthe gods' disappearance at the end of Ragnarok, Asgard has been ruled by the Seven Magi. It is home to both ahumanoid species and the angels, with the humanoids serving as the dominant race. The people of Asgardmonitor the surface worlds to make certain that demons are not trying to travel through them to invade Asgarditself.While the people of Asgard possess emotion and thus the world cannot be called a strictly ordered domain,their biology has been significantly altered from that of ordinary humans; for instance, the digestive system isvestigial and has been replaced by a nutrient-replenishing dormant state called SLEEP[5] . Ordinary Asgardianhumanoids, known as Servants, have appeared in both Yggdra Union and Knights in the Nightmare, and wieldgunlike electrical weapons.

Dept. Heaven 3

While no Episodes have taken place in Asgard yet, it is said to resemble the Maze of Shadows present inRiviera: The Promised Land, and current plans for Episode III have it staged there. In Mellia's route of Knightsin the Nightmare, there are two brief scenes which take place somewhere in Asgard.

The Underworld (冥府 Meifu)The Dept. Heaven equivalent of hell, a realm that idealizes pure chaos. It is inhabited by various races ofdemons, and expands constantly by conquering and absorbing surface worlds. The demons in general are bitterenemies with the peoples of Asgard, as their very existences are incompatible. However, as demons have apower-based hierarchy and operate under principles of Social Darwinism (e.g. the strong survive and the weakperish), it cannot be called a world with no order in it at all[6] .The English-language PSP version of Riviera: The Promised Land (and the Japanese Special Edition) feature ashort bonus scenario in which Ein accidentally wanders through a portal to the Underworld, accompaniedeither by the four heroines or by Ledah and Rose, and must defeat the demon god Hades in order to escape.The latter scenario involves Ein, Ledah, and Rose discussing various elements of the universe.According to Shinichi Ito, the Underworld's setting details are intentionally kept vague in order to preserve thegameplay integrity of the series. The people of Asgard refer to both the Underworld itself and worlds that havebeen dominated by demons as Utgard (魔界 Makai); while "the Underworld" is the official translation usedby Atlus, many fans refer to it as "Niflheim" in keeping with the Norse theme of the series[6] .

Surface Worlds (地上 Chijou)The general term for all ordinary worlds inhabited by mortals. Riviera, Ancardia (the world of Yggdra Union),Aventheim (the world of Knights in the Nightmare), and the as-yet-unnamed world of Gungnir are allexamples of these.The surface worlds were originally created by the gods to serve as a buffer between Asgard and theUnderworld, so that Asgard would have greater advance warning when demons attempted to invade. However,Asgard has a general noninterference policy in order to allow worlds to govern and attempt to defendthemselves until there is severe danger of a world being overwhelmed[4] .

Each surface world is connected to Heaven's Gate (ヘブンズゲート Hebunzu Geeto), and as long as thesegates are intact, they are considered part of Asgard's territory. Invading demons will create a Hades Gate(ハデスゲート Hadesu Geeto) and attempt to destroy the world's link to Heaven's Gate, after which Asgardwill consider that world a part of Utgard and abandon it[5] [7] .There are, however, instances where demons appear in surface worlds without creating a Hades Gate, such assummonings by residents of that world (as in the case of Zolgonark in Knights in the Nightmare) or magicalanomalies (the way that Brongaa was drawn to Ancardia by Nessiah's sheer power in Yggdra Union).

Yumira (ユミラ魔郷 Yumira Makyou)A world that exists in a dimensional rift unknown to the gods. There are said to be several of these inexistence, but thus far Yumira is the only one named. Yumira is inhabited by the descendants of a magicalarmy that wandered there long ago, and its people (called the Yumel (ユメール人 Yumeerujin)) practicemagical arts that extend their lifespans. Pamela, the series mascot, is a former resident of this world[8] .Thus far, Yumira has only featured in Nessiah's backstory, as they are the ones who contracted with him toallow him to use the Power of Words in response to his plea for help[9] .

The Seven Magi (ゴートの七賢 Gooto no Shichiken)The proxies of the gods, and current de facto rulers of Asgard. Thus far, series villain Hector is the only onethat has been named.Once ordinary humanoids, the Seven Magi were granted longevity bordering on immortality by the special cloaks they wear. Because they all dress the same and hide their eyes, they give off the appearance of beings

Dept. Heaven 4

that have renounced individuality and transcended human nature, but this is merely a public front theymaintain to keep their leadership strong. In truth, the seven of them constantly jockey for power, makingalliances and betraying one another. Ito explains that Hector is particularly dangerous because of his brilliance,influence, hedonism, and sense of self-entitlement[5] .The Seven Magi were the ones responsible for changing Riviera (originally a part of the Underworld) into asurface world, and used that victory as a cornerstone for the cease-fire that ended Ragnarok. Ito has expressedinterest in creating a game based on their political battles; Sting's Romanization for this term is "Goth" insteadof "Magi".

Angels (天使 Tenshi)One of the races of Asgard. Angels were originally artificial beings created by the gods, and because of this,they cannot be destroyed by the gods despite technically being mortals. In the eyes of Asgard, angels are adefense mechanism of the world, similar in existence to antibodies; they make up the brunt of Asgard'smilitary force and are deployed to fight and destroy demons. In particular, Guardian Angels (守護天使

Shugotenshi) such as Marietta are stationed on Heaven's Gate and considered the backbone of the defenseagainst demons[9] .Because of their origin, angels are considered subhuman beings in Asgard. They have also come undersuspicion during the Magi's reign because their loyalty lies with the gods rather than the humanoid race. Dueto the way that they are treated, angels often display a stunted sense of self despite being capable ofdeveloping normal emotions and free will once exposed to society[9] .Although they were originally manufactured by the gods, the Riviera Epilogue Disc depicts angels as beingable to reproduce, as it portrays Malice with her family. Absolute loyalty to Asgard is demanded of everyangel, and those who disobey any order, appear to be irregular existences, or whose actions endanger Asgardhave their powers stripped and are exiled as Fallen Angels (堕天使 Datenshi) (as with Nessiah, Eater, andMarietta respectively) [9] .

Grim Angels (告死天使 Kokushitenshi)A special subclass of angel. The Grim Angels were created by the gods as a last resort in order to defeat thedemons during Ragnarok, and violate the taboo that only godly beings can possess godly powers. Each ofthem is created using the blood of a god, and each is required to sacrifice a part of themselves in order toreceive an all-powerful weapon known as a Diviner (ディヴァイン Divain). These "parts of themselves" canbe a body part, such as their wings, or an abstract function, such as emotional capability. Aside from Ein, alltrue Grim Angels are easily identifiable by their clawed black wings and leucism of the skin.Because of their immense power and relatively short lifespans compared to other angels, Grim Angels areconsidered to be no more than living weapons and kept in stasis in a mausoleum when Asgard is not currentlyfacing a great threat. Even then, the Grim Angels actually awakened and dispatched are very few in number,and many Grim Angels are never allowed to awaken again once put into stasis. The Grim Angels' mausoleumis depicted in the opening sequence of Riviera [10] .As Hector desires to become a god, he is depicted directing experiments on young female angels in order tocreate artificial Grim Angels throughout the series. Three of his test subjects are shown throughout the series:#367, #549 (Primea), and Malice (#1132). Out of the entire experiment, Malice is the only successful resultknown. Hector's manmade Grim Angels all wield Diviners known as Skadi (Toolus in Japanese). Sting'soriginal Romanization for this concept is "Death Bring Angelix", a more literal translation of the term"告死天使".

Demons (魔族 Mazoku)The inhabitants of the Underworld, whose appearance can range from humanoid to monstrous. There are three types: low-level monsters (魔物 Mamono) (e.g. the Red Sage and Blue Fool), Accursed (インフェルノス

Dept. Heaven 5

Inferunosu) (e.g. Isher and Dotaurus), and demon gods (魔神 Majin) (e.g. Brongaa and Zolgonark). Demongods are roughly the same level of being as the gods of Asgard, whereas the Accursed are one rank lower,being extremely powerful but unintelligent beings and willing servants of the demon gods created from partsof their bodies. It is possible for demons to gain and lose power and change ranks, a type of "class mobility"per se that is only possible in their fluid society[6] .In addition to natural-born inhabitants of the Underworld, it is possible for mortals and even those of Asgard tobecome demons. This can occur one of two ways: Either via a contract (as in the cases of Marietta, Gulcasa'sancestors, and most likely Julio), or by being cursed (as with Nordisch and Piche)[6] .While demons instinctively desire power and clash with ordered society, there are cases depicted of very weakmonster-level demons deciding to settle into mortal society as residents of surface worlds (the Sage and Fool,the ancestors of the Arcs) and even very powerful demons being able to repress their instincts and live ashumans (Gulcasa).

Sprites (精霊 Seirei)A mostly-humanoid species of elementally based beings who are symbiotically connected to theirenvironment. They are the dominant race in Riviera, and some types also appear in other worlds, such as theUndines and fairies that live in Ancardia. The Sprites were originally slaves to the demons, but were liberatedafter Ragnarok and serve as maintainers of the surface worlds, Riviera in particular. Many of them physicallyreflect their natural environment, such as harpies and dryads, whereas those who are descended fromassimilated demons still retain demonic traits, like the Arcs. It is suggested that humans are slowly evolvinginto Sprites as well, evidenced by the appearance of the new Haine race (e.g. Fia, Lina, Cierra)[7] .Symbiotic entities Ursula and Seth are also Sprites, although they have special powers as entities directlycreated by the gods. Both are viewed by the Sprites of Riviera as goddesses[8] [11] .

Ragnarok (神魔戦争 Shinmasensou)A great war between Asgard and the Underworld which started when Zolgonark rose to power and organizedthe demons' forces. Demons invaded and attempted to take over surface worlds en masse, and Asgarddefended them as best as possible; the war mostly took the form of plundering surface worlds back and forth.When the gods realized that the scales were tipping in the demons' favor, they retaliated by creating the GrimAngels. After the Grim Angels' victory and the cease-fire established by the Seven Magi, the gods sealed theremains of their power in Riviera, charged the Sprites with its defense, and vanished. Although time flowsslightly differently in each surface world, Ragnarok is said to have occurred roughly one thousand years ago ineach world at the time that their respective games take place[7] [5] .Ragnarok should not be confused with the war between Yggdra's forces and Asgard which takes place in the Cand D endings of Yggdra Union. While mistakenly translated as "Ragnarok" by Atlus, this war is called"Shinkaisensou (神界戦争)" and literally translates to "the War Against Asgard".

Product Team AWhile only expressly tied to the series starting with the announcement of a series, the development team seems toremain relatively consistent between games. Artist Sunaho Tobe and lead designer Shinichi Ito have both beeninvolved in all three currently released episodes. Other artists involved with more than one episode in the seriesinclude Yoshinori Iwanaga and Satoko Kiyuduki. Shigeki Hayashi has composed music for all three releasedepisodes, working with Minako Adachi on two of them.

Dept. Heaven 6

External links• (Japanese) STING Official Site [12]

• (Japanese) Series official page [13]

ReferencesJaJa's development blog [14].[1] Dengeki Online (http:/ / news. dengeki. com/ elem/ 000/ 000/ 109/ 109061/ ) Interview with Shinichi Ito. Retrieved October 31, 2008[2] Famitsu article (http:/ / www. famitsu. com/ game/ coming/ 1213583_1407. html) announcing Knights in the Nightmare. Retrieved February

17, 2008[3] "られしは", Dengeki Maoh: 502–503, April Retrieved August 19, 2008[4] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. p. 120 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[5] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 118-119 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[6] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 114-115 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[7] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 110-111 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[8] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 130-133 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[9] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 112-113 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[10] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. pp. 108-109 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[11] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. p. 122-129 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[12] http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/[13] http:/ / dhe. sting. co. jp/[14] http:/ / jajanote. blog5. fc2. com/

Riviera: The Promised Land 7

Riviera: The Promised Land

Riviera: The Promised Land

Developer(s) Sting

Publisher(s) WonderSwan ColorJPN BandaiGame Boy AdvanceJPN StingNA Atlus USAPlayStation PortableJPN StingNA Atlus USAEUAU 505 Games

Designer(s) Shinichi Ito (Game Design), Sunaho Tobe (Character Design) (GBA and PSP versions)

Platform(s) WonderSwan Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable

Release date(s) WonderSwan ColorJPN July 12, 2002Game Boy AdvanceJPN November 25, 2004NA June 28, 2005PlayStation PortableJPN November 22, 2006NA July 10, 2007JPN October 18, 2007 (Special Edition)EUR April 4, 2008AU May 8, 2008

Genre(s) Role-playing

Mode(s) Single player

Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)CERO: Ages 12 and up (B), All Ages (A)PEGI: 12+

Riviera: The Promised Land (Riviera ～約束の地リヴィエラ～ Riviera: Yakusoku No Chi Riviera) is a consolerole-playing game originally produced in 2002 by Sting Entertainment for WonderSwan Color as the first episode ofthe Dept. Heaven series of games. The game was later introduced to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance in 2004, whichAtlus USA released in North America in 2005. An enhanced remake was released for the PlayStation Portable inNovember 2006, and was released in July 2007 in North America by Atlus USA.[1] Riviera: The Promised Landbecame a sleeper hit because of its twist to the RPG standard.

Riviera: The Promised Land 8

The player takes the role of Ein, a Grim Angel, who must battle against demons as well as antagonistic Grim Angelsto seal away the four fountainheads of evil known as the Accursed. He is accompanied by four heroines—Fia, Lina,Serene and Cierra—as well as his cat-like familiar Rose. Riviera also contains dating sim elements, as the hero canachieve multiple endings with the supporting characters through decisions made throughout the game.

GameplayRiviera: The Promised Land is a turn-based RPG game, with some elements from strategy and dating sim games.The last aspect manifests itself in the conversation in the game. Ein will often have to favor either Fia, Lina, Sereneor Cierra over the others in scenes in which the characters interact with each other. This affects their trust for Ein,their mood, and eventually, the game's outcome.For each of the seven main chapters of the game, the player starts in Elendia, and is given a mission. The player thenmoves on to wherever that mission takes place, proceeding through nine stages, to the eighth stage which willcontain the chapter boss. The ninth stage is secret, and often has a particular method of infiltration. Within each stageare multiple screens, all with events and battles of their own. When a chapter is completed, all trigger pointscurrently accumulated are erased. The player is taken to a results screen showing how they performed in the chapter,and gains trigger points based on that performance that can be used in the next chapter.

FieldUnlike most RPGs, when not in battle, the player does not have full control over Ein's movement. Instead of beingable to freely move with directional buttons, the player controls Ein through triggers, in two modes. Each stage ismade up of several screens, each screen having triggers to explore and potentially battles to engage in.Look ModeIn Look Mode, the player may press directional buttons corresponding to triggers shown on the screen. Sometriggers will not appear until certain events have taken place, and some triggers will change based on repeatedinvestigation. However, many triggers require TP, Trigger Points, earned in battle. These triggers can cue manythings, from battles, to event scenes and free items.Move ModeIn Move Mode, the player may advance or backtrack (limited) to previous screens. In a similar fashion to LookMode, triggers will appear on the screen and a corresponding directional button must be pressed to move to them,adding a turn to the count. Unlike Look Mode, however, triggers in Move Mode do not require Trigger Points, soone may move as much as one likes, assuming there is no turn limit. Once the player has exited the final screen of astage, the player will be prompted to save and then move on to the next stage.

Riviera: The Promised Land 9

Battle

A typical combat scene: The OverDrive Gauge can beseen in the top-left corner. (GBA version)

Before a battle begins, the player usually has the choice toretreat, giving them time to prepare. For every battle, the playermay choose only three combatants out of a possible five, and apositioning scheme for them. The player can either choose theAttack or Magic formation. The Attack formation allows Attackbased moves a shorter recharge time, and there will be twocharacters in the front row, and a single character in the backrow. In Magic formation, Magic users have a shorter rechargetime and positioning is reversed. Following that decision theplayer must choose the items to bring. Only sixteen items can beheld at any time, and there are no methods of storage. Theplayer may only bring four of those sixteen items into battle forall three characters to use. However, for every item, each character has a different attack; where, with a staff, Cierramight do great damage with a magical attack, Fia would heal an ally.Once all the preparations are made, battle begins. Turn order is decided by a countdown based on agility, last moveused and formation. A player character may select from as many as eight different skills: one normal skill for eachitem, and, if they are well trained with that item and the OverDrive Gauge is sufficiently filled, a secondary, moreinteresting OverSkill. Using a skill, however, reduces how many more times that item can be used, as Rivieraemploys a Fire Emblem-styled system of item endurance allowing the item to be used only a certain amount of timesbefore it breaks entirely. The OverDrive Gauge fills throughout battle, as characters receive and deal damage, andwith certain skills. At various levels, characters can use different skills, because certain skills require more of thegauge be filled. There are five levels of skills for player characters: Level 0 skills that may be used whenever andwithout training; Levels 1 through 3 skills, which require training and deplete that amount of the OverDrive Gauge;and Execution Level skills that may be used at any level of OverDrive Gauge fullness, but will shatter the gauge forthe battle, and are only obtained through the story. Enemies have a similar gauge with three levels: Normal, Rageand Max. At Normal they may only use normal attacks. At Rage they may use Rage and Normal attacks, but thelatter depletes the gauge. At Max, they may use all three, but only Max skills will deplete the gauge, and will depleteit fully. Enemies also have Etc. attacks, ranging from healing to transformation, that may be used at any time.Once all allies have had their HP depleted to zero, the battle will end triggering a Game Over, which will give theplayer the option to retry the battle with the enemies' stats lowered and the OverDrive Gauge filled. If all enemieshave had their HP deplete to zero, instead, the player will achieve victory and receive a rank based on theirperformance in battle. The rank is based both on time spent in battle and the finisher, but the rank will also belowered if the player retried. Trigger Points and items are distributed based on the rank the player obtained in thebattle. Also, if a character used an item enough times, that character will be rewarded with a stat up and theunlocking of an OverSkill that can be used in later battles.

Riviera: The Promised Land 10

PlotRiviera: The Promised Land draws from diverse mythologies, most prominently Norse, where it incorporatesconcepts like Ragnarok and Yggdrasil into its story. The game takes place mostly on the continent of Riviera, withthe characters visiting various locales such as a sinking city, a forest, and an abandoned cemetery.

CharactersRiviera offers a cast of six playable characters.

Ein (エクセル Ekuseru, Ecthel in the Japanese version) is a Grim Angel, who sacrificed his black wings in order toreceive his Diviner, Einherjar. He wears shorts, a vest, gloves, a cape and a scarf; he has grey-black hair and deepblue eyes. He appears to be an average teenage boy and is quite naive, an attribute that annoys both his partnersLedah and Rose.Fia (フィア Fia, Fiaa in the Japanese version) is a teenage girl with a caring personality. She wears a long greenskirt, and a black vest over a long-sleeved white blouse. She has long green hair tied with a matching ribbon andgreen eyes. Originally, she shared a house with Lina, but later made room for Ein, Cierra and Serene. She is, likeEin, kind and noble, sometimes stern and serious and she can cook and mix herbs well. She is extremely mature,despite being the youngest of Ein's four female companions.[2] Sometimes Fia shows signs of shyness toward others,especially Ein, for whom she nurses a soft spot.Lina (ルゥリ Rūri, Lyuri in the Japanese version) is a sweet, childlike and energetic teenage girl. She wears aflamboyant yellow short-skirt and overcoat. She has brown eyes and orange hair tied into pigtails. Lina enjoyseating, going on adventurous treasure hunts and playing lively games with her friends; she is ignorant abouthousehold chores. She constantly gets into situations in which she embarrasses herself, especially around Ein, forwhom she hosts a secret infatuation.Serene (セレネ Serene) is an outgoing, tomboy-ish teenage girl, the same age as Ein. She is an Arc, unlike themajority of the inhabitants of Riviera, who are Sprites. She used to live on Rosalina Island with other Arcs until herentire tribe was killed by the Grim Angel Malice. She alone survives and joins Ein, for whom she develops aninfatuation. Serene has large, batlike wings, a trait shared by Arcs. She wears a helmet adorned with a pair of fakecat ears on her shoulder-length dark blue/indigo hair and has blue eyes. She wears a long pale blue vest over a blackbody-suit and a dark blue shawl.Cierra (シエラ Shiera) is a kind, thoughtful witch. She is the older sister figure of the group[3] and possessesamazing magical powers. She is always optimistic but sometimes clumsy. She rescued Rose after she and Ein wereseparated, although she accidentally fed her a potion that removed Rose's ability to talk. For enjoyment, she studiesand plays with magic. Cierra wears a typical witch's conical hat, red boots, and a revealing, serrated red dress.Ledah (レダ Reda) is an experienced warrior and one of three Grim Angels shown in the game. He is a strong,loyal, and very solitary man. It is suggested that he is much older than Ein and his companions, given his experience,and the choice of voice actors for him in the GBA and PSP remakes but this is debatable. He follows the order of theseven Magi without question. This is because he traded his emotions for his Diviner, Lorelei, preventing him fromreconsidering the orders given to him. Except just before dying, Ledah is shown as aloof, cynical, and pragmatic.The above characters are the only playable characters in the game. Riviera has several dozen supporting characters,notably Rose (Ein's familiar); Hector (the game's villain); Malice (Hector's henchwoman); Ursula, guardian spirit ofRiviera; and the Four Accursed, who act as Stage bosses. There are also numerous Elendian citizens, fairies andundines who help Ein along the way.

Riviera: The Promised Land 11

StoryA thousand years before the game takes place, a war known as Ragnarok took place. The gods of Asgard wereattacked and overrun by demons from Utgard. In desperation, the gods broke an ancient covenant; they sacrificedtheir lives to create black-winged reapers that came to be known as Grim Angels. Each was armed with a "Diviner",a sacred weapon with which they easily vanquished the demons. After the war ended, Utgard was renamed Rivieraand turned into a beautiful paradise. The gods left their knowledge and authority in the stewardship of seven Magiand their power in the care of the Sprites, the inhabitants of a peaceful Riviera.After a thousand years of peace, rumors of the demons’ return surfaced. Hector, one of the Seven Magi, sends theGrim Angels Ein and Ledah to Riviera, accompanied by Ein's familiar, Rose. They are ordered to activate the"Retribution", a hidden power of the gods which would eliminate the demons but destroy Riviera in the process. Atthe end of Heaven's Gate, they meet Ursula, the guardian of Riviera. Ein falls in battle and is taken to Yggdrasil, theheart of Riviera, by Ursula. Discovering that he has a good heart, she entrusts him with the protection of Riviera.Ein wakes up suffering from amnesia and able to recall neither his purpose nor his origin. He is nursed by Fia andLina, residents of Elendia, which is a village near Yggdrasil. News about the rebirth of the "Accursed" - the"progenitors of evil" - reaches them and they set out to investigate. Eventually, they defeat all four and meet Serene,Cierra and even Rose along the way. Meanwhile, Ledah searches for Yggdrasil, so that he may activate the"Retribution".Ein now expects to live peacefully in Elendia with his new-found friends, but Ursula informs them that Ledah hasbreached Yggdrasil and intends to destroy the three "Aquariums", the sources of Yggdrasil's power, in an attempt toactivate the Retribution. The six companions (Ein, Lina, Fia, Serene, Cierra and Rose) head out to Yggdrasil.Although they manage to subdue Ledah in battle, it is the Grim Angel Malice, Hector's pawn, who deals the fatalblow. A dying Ledah warns them that Hector has tricked them all this time: he does not fulfill the will of the gods,but seeks ultimate power for himself.They pursue Malice, but are unable to prevent her from destroying the last Aquarium. They battle her, and eventuallyLedah appears to intercept one of Malice's attacks. Ledah dies soon after, telling Ein to stop Hector. The companionsthen race to the "Maze of Shadows" where Seth, the Sealed One, is imprisoned. There, Hector takes the life ofMalice and the girl that Ein has become closest to; the last two souls required to unleash Seth. Hector intends tobecome the one True God, and to this end he fuses his body with that of Seth to become Seth-Rah. However, Ein andhis companions are able to defeat Seth-Rah, and afterwards they are teleported back to Yggdrasil by Ursula justbefore the entire Maze collapses.Upon their return, Ursula reveals that, with the death of her counterpart Seth, she too will cease to exist. Beforedisappearing, she resurrects the girl that Hector killed, and also charges Ein, Fia, Lina, Serene, Cierra and Rose withthe continued protection of Riviera.Since Riviera is a renai, the player can achieve multiple endings depending on his responses to his companions.Depending upon them, an ending may be achieved with Ein and the girl of choice having a special scene together.The ending with Rose is a hidden ending, as it was not in the original WSC game, and Rose doesn't have a trust statin the game. The last frame also tells (no matter what the ending) that Rose becomes a historian in later life andrecords their adventures.

Riviera: The Promised Land 12

Development

All of the CG artwork was redrawn when Rivierawas remade from its WonderSwan Color version

(top) to its Game Boy Advance counterpart(bottom). The PSP remake reuses the artworkfrom the GBA version at a higher resolution.

Riviera: The Promised Land was originally developed for theWonderSwan Color. Development started in November 2000, with aJapan-only release in 2002. In 2004, Riviera was remade for the GameBoy Advance, featuring a completely new art style owed to SunahoTobe's involvement in the project, and also had several new CGs andevents and limited voice acting. This version saw an eventualtranslation and North American release courtesy of Atlus USA, in2005. In 2006, Sting announced and released a PSP remake of thegame, with more CGs, events, and complete voice acting, but thesprites were merely upscaled versions of those used in the WSC andGBA versions. After several retailers leaked the news, Atlus USAofficially announced they would be releasing it in North America,[1]

along with an extra chapter not appearing in the Japanese version.[4] InOctober 2007, a Special Edition was released by Sting in Japan, andwas essentially the US PSP version with Japanese text replacingEnglish text.

Another Dept. Heaven title, Yggdra Union had an effect on thefollowing PSP remake of Riviera. Artist Sunaho Tobe is quoted assaying that in the CG image for the Archangel, she drew inspirationfrom the designs of Yggdra Union.[5]

AudioThe GameBoy Advance release of Riviera featured a large amount of voice work for a GameBoy Advance title.While the PSP release is fully voiced, the GBA version still boasts nearly two-hundred voice clips, something fewother GBA titles can claim.The Japanese voice actors and actresses for the Japanese PSP version are largely the same as the GBA version,featuring Rie Kugimiya as Ein, Masakazu Morita as Ledah, Rika Komatsu as Rose, Hiromi Konno as Lina, NatsumiYanase as Fia, Ai Nonaka as Serene, and Yuko Goto as Cierra.[6] Atlus USA, as they often do, chose to keep theJapanese voices in their localization of the game (whose were not included in the European version), as well as addEnglish voice work. However, this led Riviera PSP to having the clunky requirement of choosing the language ofvoice acting every time the game was loaded. The English voice actors for the game are largely unknown due toAtlus' tendency to not release cast lists with their games, though many of the GBA version's English voice actorsreturned for the PSP version's localization.The soundtrack for Riviera was composed mostly by Minako Adachi, with a few tracks by Shigeki Hayashi, andspanned less than forty tracks. This music has been rearranged and rerecorded for each release of the game, but hasfor the most part remained static. The soundtrack has been released twice, with the first following the GBA version'srelease, the Riviera Full Arrange Soundtrack, which featured arranged versions of all the songs, but not the originalGBA or WSC versions. Soon after came the "Riviera Intro Disc" which featured the WSC music, as well as a Dramatrack introducing all the characters. In February 2007, following the release of the PSP version of the game, Stingreleased the Riviera Perfect Audio Collection Plus, a three disc collection containing the original music from allthree versions of the game.[7]

Sting has also released several drama tracks for Riviera, the first appearing on the Riviera Intro Disc, followed by four on the Riviera Epilogue Disc, and then a full-blown Drama CD following weekly airings on Internet Radio Station Onsen (インターネットラジオステーション＜音泉＞ intaanettorajiosuteeshyon<onsen>, [8]) used to

Riviera: The Promised Land 13

promote the PSP version. This Drama CD was called The Precious Chapter and contained seven drama tracksspanning two discs.

ReceptionRiviera: The Promised Land generally garnered fairly positive views, with Game Informer giving the Game BoyAdvance version 8.25 out of 10 and GameSpot giving it 8.7 out of 10.[9] [11] 1UP described the game as "the moststreamlined RPG imaginable". Praise went out to its gameplay design which allowed conversations to occurfrequently and smoothly. 1UP, however, also claimed that the experience and item systems were "a bit damaged"and "slowed the pace of the quest to a grinding halt".[16] GameSpot greatly praised the Game Boy Advance Versionversion's graphics as being "gorgeous" and the backgrounds as "quite beautiful and detailed, even if they're alsostatic and repetitive".[11] 1UP showed similar views, saying that while the graphics are nice, their repetitivenessweakens its impact.[16] IGN described the fights as being "a real drag in Riviera", and that "each fight is hedged by anumber of annoying rules".[15] Overall, 1UP said that Riviera was "lengthy, engrossing and above all unique",[16]

and GameSpy called the game "one of those unusually entertaining titles that takes time to genuinely appreciate".[13]

The PSP remake received a lower score than the GBA version on GameRankings.[9] [10] 1UP considered the PSPremake as more of a port than an enhanced remake. The site thought that the graphics "are only slightly reworked",and that the art "merely looks like jumbo GBA sprites".[17] GameSpot, also noted that the "character sprites, whileimpressive on the GBA, don't hold up quite so well now".[12]

References[1] Riviera: The Promised Land - Another PSP Title Lands in Stores Today (http:/ / news. filefront. com/

riviera-the-promised-land-another-psp-title-lands-in-stores-today/ ) Retrieved on July 10, 2007.[2] Lina: "I'm a year older than Fia!" ( Chapter 3 Dialogue Dump (http:/ / www. lacrimacastle. net/ forum/ index. php?s=& showtopic=397&

view=findpost& p=38821)) Retrieved on March 13, 2007[3] (in Japanese) Riviera Designer's Works. 2006. p. 8. "Takatsu: Cierra is the gentle, sexy older sister"

(高津：シエラは「セクシーなお姉さんだけどっとり」)[4] RPGamer Interview (http:/ / www. rpgamer. com/ news/ Q2-2007/ 060307b. html) with Atlus USA. Retrieved June 3, 2007[5] (in Japanese) Riviera Official Guide Book and Illustration (Riviera〜約束の地リヴィエラ〜 公式ガイドブック＋イラストレーション).

SoftBank Creative. 2006. p. 152. ISBN 4-7973-3814-8.[6] Riviera PSP character listing. (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ riviera/ psp/ chara/ index. htm) Includes voice clips. Retrieved on March 13, 2007[7] Riviera Perfect Audio Collection Plus (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ riviera/ psp/ special/ sound/ index. htm) Track listing and information.

Retrieved on March 31, 2007[8] http:/ / www. onsen. ag/[9] "Riviera: The Promised Land - GBA Reviews" (http:/ / www. gamerankings. com/ htmlpages2/ 921257. asp). . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[10] "Riviera: The Promised Land - PSP Reviews" (http:/ / www. gamerankings. com/ htmlpages2/ 934965. asp). . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[11] Frank Provo (2005-07-11). "Riviera: The Promised Land - GBA Review" (http:/ / www. gamespot. com/ gba/ rpg/ rivierathepromisedland/

index. html). GameSpot. . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[12] Kevin VanOrd (2007-08-08). "Riviera: The Promised Land - PSP Review" (http:/ / www. gamespot. com/ psp/ rpg/ rivierayakusokunochi/

review. html?om_act=convert& om_clk=gssummary& tag=summary;review). GameSpot. . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[13] David Chapman (2005-06-30). "Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA) Review" (http:/ / gba. gamespy. com/ gameboy-advance/ riviera/

630437p1. html). GameSpy. . Retrieved 2008-06-24.[14] Craig Harris (2005-06-30). "IGN Riviera: The Promised Land - GBA Review" (http:/ / gameboy. ign. com/ articles/ 630/ 630358p1. html).

IGN. . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[15] Meghan Sullivan (2007-07-23). "IGN Riviera: The Promised Land - PSP Review" (http:/ / psp. ign. com/ articles/ 807/ 807392p1. html).

IGN. . Retrieved 2008-06-23.[16] Review by Jeremy Parish (http:/ / www. 1up. com/ do/ reviewPage?cId=3141748& sec=REVIEWS) Retrieved on May 25, 2007.[17] Review by Andrew Fitch (http:/ / www. 1up. com/ do/ reviewPage?cId=3161730& p=7) Retrieved on June 24, 2008.

Riviera: The Promised Land 14

External links• (Japanese) Official Japanese Riviera sites: WSC (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ riviera/ wsc/ index. htm) GBA (http:/

/ www. sting. co. jp/ riviera/ gba/ index. htm) PSP (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ riviera)• (English) Official English Riviera sites: GBA (http:/ / www. atlus. com/ riviera) PSP (http:/ / www. atlus. com/

rivierapsp/ )

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 15

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future

Developer(s) Sting

Publisher(s) • JP Atlus

Designer(s) Hikaru Yasui (Producer)R-Force Entertainment(Scenario)Rui Kousaki (Character Design)Sunaho Tobe (Card Design)Shigeki Hayashi (Composer)

Series Dept. Heaven

Platform(s) PlayStation Portable

Release date(s) PlayStation Portable

• JP May 27, 2010

Genre(s) Tactical role-playing game

Mode(s) Single player

Rating(s) • CERO: B

Media/distribution UMD

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation Portable, developed bySting Entertainment and published by Atlus, with its scenario written by R-Force Entertainment. It is currently onlyavailable in Japanese.Blaze Union serves as the prequel to Yggdra Union, and shares the same systems with a few minor changes togameplay. The most notable change is the addition of a mission selection system during two points of the game,which leads up to separate story branches much like a visual novel.

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 16

StoryBlaze Union takes place three years before Yggdra Union, in the year 1487 M.D., an era that was considered agolden age to the rest of the continent but was a dark age for the empire of Bronquia. Thortie, the current Emperor,was an incompetent ruler who taxed the people heavily to support the army he was attempting to build; the majorityof the nobility was corrupt, and bandits plagued the land, preying on the weak and innocent.In the trade city of Tiera, the youth Garlot had grown up being crushed under the heel of various forms ofoppression, from the unfairness of the rich and the nobility to his own father's brutal abuse; he and his friends Siskierand Jenon decided to do what they could to change the ugly reality surrounding them and formed a band of noblethieves in order to protect their fellow poor.The game begins as Garlot and his band close in on a noble named Norn and the mercenaries he has hired, defeathim with the help of the traveler Medoute, and catch the eye of Landgrave Velleman. The landgrave asks for theirhelp in creating order in Bronquia so that it can be stabilized before it destroys itself, and they join forces; Vellemanrenames their force Gram Blaze.From this point on, the story focuses on Gram Blaze's progress in restoring public order, gathering new allies, andgaining notoriety in Bronquia as the protectors of the people. As much as the plot is a medieval fantasy andadventure tale, it is also a slice of life story chronicling the strengthening of the bonds between Gram Blaze'smembers and providing a portrait of Garlot, the people surrounding him, and the world they live in.Depending on the choices of the player, the plot can progress in one of three directions, with four possibleconclusions. Important themes include comradeship, racism, revenge, and mental-emotional stress and trauma.

Characters

Allies

Garlot (ガーロット Gaarotto)Voiced by: Kōsuke ToriumiThe protagonist of the main story and the leader of Gram Blaze. Garlot is a seventeen-year-old[1] young manborn and raised in the slums of Tiera. He desires to become stronger because he has lived all his life faced witheveryday injustices resulting from the Emperor's poor government. Garlot was abused by his father when hewas a young boy and abandoned by his mother, and he still suffers from the emotional and mentalaftereffects[2] . He is notoriously bad-tempered, to the point of forgetting his objectives once angered, butdespite this he has a gentle and caring personality that makes him popular amongst his allies. Garlot isextremely protective of his friends and flies into a rage if they are threatened or hurt, particularly Siskier.Although he himself is not aware of it, "Garlot" is not his real name; it is a false name that his mother gavehim in order to seal his demon blood. Over the course of the A path, it is revealed that Garlot is the firstpureblooded descendant of the demon god Brongaa to be born in centuries, and his birth name is Gulcasa(ガルカーサ Garukaasa). In this route of the game, he works to unseal his blood after Siskier's death, andoverthrows the government to become the new Emperor, leading to the events of Yggdra Union.Garlot is 174 cm tall and likes grilled fish[3] . He refuses to eat dairy products, and is also depicted as havingtrouble eating particularly sweet things, such as strawberries[4] . The A route of the game, in which he andNessiah have a very close relationship, suggests that he may be bisexual. His allies often call him "Captain"(団長 Danchou). Two of the game's possible endings result in his suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.

Siskier (シスキア Shiskia)Voiced by: Yui Horie

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 17

Garlot's childhood friend, and the lead scout of Gram Blaze. The same age as Garlot[1] , she acted as asurrogate mother or older sister to him during their childhood, and encouraged him to play with her and Jenonoften so that he would have a place of refuge from his father. It is heavily implied that she has romanticfeelings for him, although she is never able to tell him so to his face. Siskier is also implied to be an orphan[5] ,and as a fellow resident of Tiera's slums, she has a strong dislike for all nobles and tends to act prejudicedtowards them before getting to know them personally.Possessed of a very cheerful personality, Siskier insists upon wearing tight-fitting clothing that covers littleskin because she claims it allows her to move more easily[6] , but makes an exception for scarves, which sheloves and will buy whenever she has the chance[7] [8] . She does complain of cold at various points of the gameand acknowledges that her attire is not practical protection from the elements. An early battlefield suggeststhat Siskier is afraid of heights[9] , although this is not touched on anywhere else.Siskier has no lead role in any of the paths, but her death in the A route provides the impetus for Garlot tounseal his demon blood. She is 161 cm tall and likes salad[3] .

Jenon (ジェノン Jenon)Voiced by: Shinji KawadaChildhood friend to Garlot and Siskier, and the primary tactician for Gram Blaze. He is the same age as Garlotand Siskier[1] . Jenon has a flair for the dramatic and flirts with every woman he sees, although certain routesreveal that he actually only has feelings for Siskier (a fact of which Garlot is aware, but Siskier herself isnot)[10] . Jenon is more pessimistic than either Garlot or Siskier and presents himself as far more of a skeptic,and is also more well-read; he is the only one of the three of them who is aware that the world is round, forinstance.Optional events reveal that Jenon is a noble, although he conceals this fact from his friends, and that he ranaway from home to join Garlot's battle against class discrimination and the oppression of the weak[11] . Hisfather supports Pandra's rebellion[12] , and so Jenon's parents flee Tiera at the end of chapter 5, after it isattacked[13] . While Jenon is not a lead character, he still has an important role; during the A path, he conspireswith Medoute to betray Gulcasa, and during the C path, he sacrifices himself to protect Siskier and Ordene andchooses to die without confessing to Siskier when he realizes that she loves Garlot.Jenon is 178 cm tall and likes milk[3] .

Medoute (メデューテ Medyuute)Voiced by: Rie TanakaAn itinerant traveler who first appears following Garlot's band out of curiosity. She aids them in battle againstthe mercenary David, but then thoroughly criticizes their reckless methods, insisting that Garlot is notpowerful enough or wise enough to enforce his ideals as he is now. When she realizes how much of an impacther words had on him, Medoute decides to join up with Gram Blaze as a way of taking responsibility, and actsas an older sister and mentor to the rest of the group. During chapter 3, she spends many missions impressingher view of morality onto the others.In every route, it is revealed that Medoute is a descendant of Dragonslayer Gill, the hero who defeatedBrongaa in ancient times. She was raised as a dragonslayer, but because she doesn't believe in destiny, she ranaway from home and began to travel the world as a way to rebel against her heritage. She mentions that thehermit seen in Yggdra Union's Battlefield 25 is her grandfather, and that she is a resident of Lost Aries[14] .Despite her resentment toward the way she was raised, she still becomes suspicious of Gulcasa and Emiliaafter discovering their heritage; she betrays Gulcasa in the A path, and if Emilia loses her mind during the Bpath, she explains that Emilia must now be killed. Her attitude can be viewed as racism against demons,although it is never defined in as many words.Medoute is 168 cm tall, and loves travel rations[3] . She is twenty-one years old[1] .

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 18

Aegina (アイギナ Aigina)Voiced by: Mai NakaharaA fifteen-year-old[1] noble girl who is being pursued by an organization of assassins called the Blessed PapalArmy. After she is rescued by Gram Blaze, Aegina and her twin sister Luciana join up with the army forprotection, although only Aegina is able to perform in battle due to Luciana having a leg injury. Aegina isextremely polite and has a subdued, serious personality, in contrast to her cheerful and prank-loving oldersister; however, she has an intense hatred of the Kingdom of Fantasinia, and becomes vehemently angrywhenever it is spoken of.Aegina is the central character of the B route, which explores her and Luciana's background. The two of themwere born as the princesses of Fantasinia, but right after they were born, someone attempted to assassinatethem. They were rescued by a soldier and brought to Bronquia, where they were adopted by a Bronquiannoble; although they do not know exactly why this happened, Aegina says that it is probably because of theFantasinian superstition that twins are unlucky. During the B route, Luciana is killed by assassins, and Aeginaleads an attack on Fantasinia with the support of Gram Blaze in order to smoke out the culprit. After learningthe circumstances of her exile, Aegina is able to kill the one responsible and lay her grudge to rest, choosing toremain in Fantasinia with her family.She is 159 cm tall and likes mushrooms.

Nessiah (ネシア Neshia)Voiced by: Tsubasa YonagaA mysterious and strange blind man who lives deep in the forest as a hermit and is rumored to be a prophet.Velleman sends Gram Blaze to recruit him as a strategist, and Nessiah consents on the condition that they beable to defeat him in battle. Nessiah is polite and very knowledgeable; he is able to sense Garlot's latent power,and always addresses him affectionately, but other members of the party are disturbed by Nessiah's talent atnecromancy, and Jenon sees him as a rival due to their similar positions. Despite his power and his infamy(Medoute mentions that he had even foretold the death of Ike, the previous emperor[15] ), Nessiah has theappearance of a teenage boy[16] . While it is not addressed in this game, Nessiah is a fallen Grim Angel bornunder the name Aries, and has lived in the world of Ancardia for about a thousand years. He is attempting toperpetuate human wars in order to give power to his artifact the Gran Centurio, which he intends to use tobreak the shackles binding him and revenge himself upon the gods.Nessiah's ultimate role in the plot differs based on each route. In the A path, he supports Gulcasa in the wakeof Siskier's death and helps him to deal with the debilitating side effects of using his powers, and the twobecome extremely close; however, he is also shown encouraging Gulcasa to attack other countries in the futureat a time when Gulcasa's mental resistance is low. In the B path, Nessiah takes Velleman's place as the party'svoice of reason, and remains benevolent. In the C path, the speedy resolution of all the conflicts sends him intoa panic, and leads to his becoming the route's main antagonist while suffering a mental breakdown.More about Nessiah's motives and background are explored in Yggdra Union and the Dept. Heaven WorldGuidance book. He is about 170 cm tall and is fond of bananas.

Eimi (エイミ Eimi)Voiced by: Ai NonakaAn eleven-year-old[1] girl traveling Bronquia alone in search of her older brother. She is encountered briefly atthe beginning of the game, and then not seen again until Chapter 4, where it is discovered that she went to getNessiah to make a prophecy for her. He tells her cryptically that her brother is imprisoned in a barrier that willkeep her from finding him, but that if she travels with Garlot, she will be able to find him sooner; Eimi getspermission to travel with Gram Blaze, then names her brother as Gulcasa, thus revealing herself as Emilia(エミリオ Emirio) to players of Yggdra Union.

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 19

Emilia is Gulcasa's half-sister, and her blood was also sealed by Baretreenu; however, because she is not apure-blooded descendant of Brongaa, she is not as strong as him, and she still knows her own real name[17] .She reveals her identity in the A path after Garlot discovers the truth about himself, but does not join the activeforces; during the B path, she breaks the seal on her blood out of her own desperation to be able to help Garlotand Aegina, as well as her guilt at being unable to save Luciana. During the B route, she displays bloodthirstytraits which may or may not be due to her demon blood, and if the player deploys her too many times, sheloses control of her power and goes insane, which causes that route's bad end.Emilia is 132 cm tall. She is one of only three returning characters to retain the same voice actor.

Leon (レオン Reon)Voiced by: Takuya SatouA nineteen-year-old[1] soldier in the Imperial Army. Leon used to be a member of the Imperial Guard, but hisparents were executed as scapegoats to prevent a national crisis[18] , after which he was driven from his postby fellow soldiers. His forehead was branded in the process, giving him a large scar there; this incident madehim reluctant to place his faith in people. Leon has a very gruff and proud personality, but is deeply loyal tothe people he cares about, and becomes embarrassed when others notice this trait.Gram Blaze initially approaches Leon to see if he will train them in combat, but Garlot decides against thisafter seeing how harsh Leon is with his soldiers. Leon deliberately angers Garlot and challenges him to apractice battle, and receives a deep emotional shock after losing. He quits his post and winds up allying withPandra in order to defeat Garlot, but after becoming disillusioned with Pandra as well, he attempts a form ofsuicide by cop after rescuing his little sister Elena from Pandra's clutches. Garlot rescues him and convinceshim not to go through with it, after which he joins Gram Blaze.Leon is 175 cm tall and loves apples. This is the first game in which his face is shown. The exact nature of theincident his parents were executed for is unknown; Elena explains that the official explanation is that theybreached military protocol[19] . Like Thortie, he often calls Garlot "Redhead"; however, he starts addressingGarlot by name once they join forces.

Velleman (ヴェルマン Veruman)Voiced by: Go ShinomiyaA thirty-six-year-old[1] Landgrave, and the ruler of Tiera. He desires to reform Bronquia by force before itcollapses from within due to rampant banditry and Thortie's malgovernment. He hires Garlot, Siskier, Jenon,and Medoute in order to start his own private army to defend him from his political enemies and restore publicorder, and is the one to name their party Gram Blaze, meaning "furious flames". Velleman is depicted as astoic, and Garlot comes to perceive him as a father figure[20] , striving for his approval even when theirviewpoints do not meet.Like Nessiah, Velleman's role in the story changes in each route. In the A path, Velleman becomes paranoidand uses Baldus' attack on the base as a distraction to capture Siskier while she is scouting. He uses her as ahostage to attempt to force Gram Blaze into killing Garlot, who he believes will eventually turn against him.This results in Siskier killing herself to save Garlot and his own death at the hands of Gram Blaze, whichleaves Garlot deeply traumatized. In the B path, Velleman tries to keep Gram Blaze from accompanyingAegina, and is no longer featured in the story after they sneak out. In the C path, Velleman is chosen byThortie as the first Prime Minister of Bronquia after he announces his intention to abdicate.Velleman is 180 cm tall and likes cheese[3] . One mission reveals that he was once married and has a daughter,although he and his wife have since separated[21] .

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 20

Enemies

Thortie (ソルティエ Sorutie)Voiced by: Masayuki KatouThe current Emperor of Bronquia, who is known to have a contract with Brongaa. He succeeded his youngerbrother, Ike, and is in the process of attempting to re-militarize the country through raising taxes and draftingsoldiers, earning the resentment of the people. He is also inept at keeping the peace, leading to the country'sproblems with banditry and corrupt nobles. Thortie is a skilled general known for his use of two swords, andhas a very laid-back personality when not in battle. He is very close to his bodyguard Lapis, and is curiousabout Garlot because he can sense his hidden power. Due to Garlot's refusal to introduce himself when theyfirst meet, Thortie usually calls him "Redhead" (赤髪 Akagami). He is one of the main antagonists of the Aroute, but allies with Gram Blaze during the C path and is shown in that ending to be on friendly terms withthem. He is 36 years old[22] .

Lapis (ラピス Lapis)Voiced by: Chihara MinoriThe captain of the Imperial Guard. Lapis has a very stern personality and is extremely protective of Thortie.The two of them have been childhood friends ever since her mother was appointed as Ike's wet-nurse[23] .In-game, her name is often Romanized as "Rapis", although the color palette of her clothes suggests that hername should be evocative of the precious stone lapis lazuli. She is 28 years old.

Ordene (オルディーン Orudiin)Voiced by: Tomoyuki HiguchiLuciana and Aegina's real father, and the 31st sovereign of Fantasinia. He fights for justice and to protect hisyoungest daughter, Yggdra; he is also the current wielder of Nessiah's sword, the Gran Centurio. Aeginainitially believes him to be the one behind Luciana's death and their banishment, but this turns out not to be thecase. In the C route, he willingly gives up the Gran Centurio to be sealed after Thortie offers to abdicate thethrone in return.

Alanjame (アランゼーム Aranzeemu)Voiced by: Naomi KusumiAn advisor in Ordene's court and the commander of the Blessed Papal Army. He intends to bring aboutOrdene's death and rule Fantasinia with Yggdra as his figurehead, and ordered Luciana and Aegina disposed ofas babies because he feared a war over which of them should succeed the throne upon Ordene's death.

Baretreenu (ベアトリーヌ Beatoriinu)Voiced by: Asako DodoGarlot's mother. She sealed his blood and eventually Emilia's when the two of them were children, andabandoned Garlot in order to research Brongaa's power, not even returning when she learned that he was beingabused. Other characters describe her as seeming very motherly[24] . In the A route, she demands that Garlotbattle her to the death for the right to have the seal broken, and tells him that Brongaa's blood turns people intomonsters; thus, he must show that he is willing to become a monster by killing his own mother. Whilereluctant, Garlot is able to do so because he is desperate for the power to prevent any further sacrifice.However, in the C path, where she is summoned by Velleman to treat Thortie's Brongaa-related illness, shejoins the party.

Pandra (パンドラ Pandora)Voiced by: Tsuguo MogamiA former member of the Imperial Army who was sacked during the demilitarization of Ike's reign. WhenThortie began building up the army again, he became resentful and began to form a rebellion. However, he

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 21

gradually became corrupt and is little more than a bandit now, pillaging innocent villages and rapingtownswomen. He resents Garlot for agreeing to work with a noble, and the two of them come into conflictmany times, culminating in his attack on Tiera. Pandra is lazy and a coward, preferring to make his men workfor him and always fleeing if his own life appears to be in danger.

Cerica (セリカ Serika)Voiced by: Haruka TomatsuA girl who alternately works as a mercenary and acts as a bandit, part of David's mercenary company. David'sdeath early into the game drives her to attempt to avenge him by killing Garlot, but is unable to do so despiteseveral attempts, and only causes Garlot to feel sorry for her. Cerica speaks in the third person as a way ofshowing how much she loves her name, which David gave her; it is eventually revealed that David adoptedher. Cerica is eventually convinced to stop chasing Gram Blaze either by Baretreenu's lecturing or by Garlotsaving her life, depending on the route. She is nineteen years old and likes cherries, and is implied to have anElectra complex towards David[25] .

GameplayOrdinarily, the game follows a linear progression of battles. First, an opening cutscene is viewed (often preceded bya narrator's plot synopsis), after which the player is taken to a preparation screen where s/he may select the units andcards they wish to bring into battle, as well as restoring characters' Morale or equipping new items. After this, theplayer enters the battle proper. Within each battle, units are displayed on a grid of spaces which decide where thecharacters can move. The player and the computer take turns in which movements are determined and one attack canbe executed against an opposing character. The player may choose to end his/her turn at any time. Once allobjectives in a battle are completed, the player is given the option to save, and either the next battle begins or theplayer will be returned to the mission selection screen.

Medoute explains how cannons function.

Tutorials

As in Yggdra Union, the player has the option of turning onin-game tutorials, in which characters discuss and explain newgameplay elements as soon as they become available. However,for Blaze Union this option must be toggled under the Optionssection of the game's main menu, whereas in Yggdra Union theplayer was prompted to turn tutorials on or off whenever a newgame was started.

UnionAs in Yggdra Union, Unions are the eponymous game play mechanic. Unlike most games, the player is allowed oneattack per turn. Attacks are performed in formations called unions. Most unions involve multiple units, but it ispossible to attack with a "union" of one unit. Forming unions allows more than one unit to join the battle, allowingfor battles between as many as one hundred and twenty soldiers, grouped into up to five individual battles betweentwo units named "duels". Depending on the gender of the unit, the formation required for a union will be different.Males have an x-shaped formation, whereas females have a +-shaped formation. Linked unions, which becomeavailable during the Chapter 4, allow units within the core union to apply their union pattern to extend the overallunion.Units

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 22

Each unit that can be included in a union is composed of a leader, the "head", and as many as seven underlings, or"members". Each unit has a weapon type, with strengths and weaknesses in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Each unitcomes with six stats: Morale, an indicator with a function similar to Hit points; GEN, generality; ATK, attack; TEC,technique; and LUK, luck. Player characters have a seventh statistic called REP, and enemy units' seventh statistic isPOW.UP. In comparison to Yggdra Union, REP (or reputation) is no longer a stat based on one out of six; instead, itis shown on the status screen as a percentage of total battles won. POW.UP is a reducible stat that increases cardPOW upon player victory. Each unit also has the potential for five 'effects', which are strategy altering hooks that domany things, from the in-clash voiding of damage enhanced with a particular element, to out of clash Moralerestoration. Up to four effects can be innate to the unit, with one effect coming from the unit's equipped item. Itemshave two possible uses; they can be equipped for stat-ups and effects, or they can be consumed to recover Morale.Equipped items cannot be removed, and will disappear after a set amount of battlefields.Unit TypesThere are fourteen base unit types, generally two differently-gendered classes per weapon type (with the exceptionsbeing Axe and Scythe). The basic types are:• Fencer (sword, male)• Valkyrie (sword, female)• Bandit (axe, male)• Griffon Rider (axe, female)• AxBattler (axe, female) - new to Blaze Union• Knight (spear, male)• Undine (spear, female)• Necromancer (staff, male)• Witch (staff, female)• Hunter (bow, male)• Assassin (bow, female)• Golem (lump, genderless)• Skeleton (lump, genderless)• Imperial Knight (scythe, male)There are a number of story characters who possess derivative classes from one of these basic types with slightlydifferent stat growth (Garlot's class is Rabid Knight, Siskier's class is Assault, etc.), Baretreenu's class is based onYggdra Union character Mistel, and Nessiah and Eater's classes are entirely unique.Aggression and RageAfter the first battlefield has been cleared, the player may control how the character attacks in a clash by changingthe Aggression modes, and the enemy's mode of attack will shift with the gradually increasing Rage meter, whichhas been a series statistic since Riviera. When a unit is in Passive mode, Aggression will fill, but the damage the unitdeals will be reduced. If there is Aggression in the gauge, the unit can enter Aggressive mode, depleting saidAggression, dealing more damage and also activating the innate element of the unit, if one exists. If Aggressionreaches 100%, a card skill can be activated. The enemy's Rage works in a similar way, except that Rage continuouslyfills until either Max is reached, or is stopped by a skill or effect. When Rage becomes half full, the enemy will enterRage mode, the damage the enemy deals will increase, and the enemy's innate element, if it has one, will activate.When Rage is completely full, the enemy enters Max mode, damage increases again, and any activated element isremoved from damage. In Max mode, the enemy is also able to activate skills. Rage will carry over between clashesin a union based on the outcome of the union; if the enemy loses, all accumulated Rage will carry over, but if theenemy wins it will start empty in the next clash. Player Aggression carries over regardless.

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 23

CardsSkillsEach card also has a skill, ranging in effect from restoring allies and killing enemies, to changing the landscape andeven invincibility. For these skills to be activated, the Union leader must first match the ACE of the card. In addition,there are two types of skills: A and B. B-type skills require the B button be held to charge a bar, at which point, ifreleased, the skill will activate and deplete the Aggression gauge. A-type skills are activated by pressing A, andholding it for as long as the skill's effects are desired, or until the Aggression gauge is completely depleted. Manyskills have certain requirements of their own, such as Steal - which steals any item the enemy might be holding -being usable only by Siskier.When 100% Aggression or Max Rage mode is reached and all other conditions are met, a skill can be activated.Each skill has a rule or equation for its mechanic; for example, Steal will succeed if the user's TEC is larger than orequal to the target's GEN, otherwise it will fail and the opponent's item will not be stolen. These rules and equationscan affect how effective the skill is when used by a certain unit.New CardsBlaze Union features three new cards: "Vise", which raises the entire Union's LUK to full throughout the entirebattle; "Rauger", a Skill usable only by Byff which raises the ATK and GEN of all male Union members; and"Insanity", a Skill usable only by Thortie which causes damage and inflicts a random status effect.

Mission Selection and Route DivisionA mechanic new to Blaze Union which was created due to its branching storylines. During chapters 3 and 5 of thestory, the player is allowed to choose a certain number of missions to complete out of a large number. All missionscannot be taken in one playthrough. These missions all have different objectives, such as restoring public order orrecruiting new allies. Certain missions are connected to the B or C story paths, and by playing through thosemissions, the player will affect the course of the story. If insufficient B or C path triggers have been seen, the storywill continue along the A path, the default and canonical series of events.

Other Changes From Yggdra Union• In battle, there is a new bar underneath the active statistic, which shows the unit head's HP.• Some cards have been altered. For instance, "Dragon Killer" may only be used by Medoute, "Ace Guard" has

been made male-exclusive while "Refreshment" is female-exclusive, and "Reincarnation" now has 10 MOV.• Instead of having a single dialogue portrait and three in-battle portraits, all characters have at least four full-body

portraits which are used during scenes.• In battle, Skill incantations and various other lines are now voiced, as per requests by the fans.• All characters other than Emilia, Pamela, and Yggdra now have new voice actors.• Edible items now only increase statistics by one or two small stars, not one full point.• The MVP bonus has been changed to that unit's Morale being extended by 300, and the Quick Clear bonus has

been changed to a single small star. Stages also now have a set stat that they increase, instead of the bonus beingrandomized.

• The cast of Blaze Union has much more restrictive taste in food than the cast of Yggdra Union, making equippingedible items more selective.

• There are new equipment restrictions, such as finger size restriction on rings.• Certain scenes feature cutscene graphics.• Nessiah's elemental attribute has been changed to "darkness". This is actually a holdover from Yggdra Unison; in

the PSP version of Yggdra Union he had no base attribute (this changed based on use of Reincarnation), and inthe GBA version his attribute was "lightning".

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 24

DevelopmentThe first indication that Yggdra Union would receive a prequel was made in the book Dept. Heaven Episodes WorldGuidance, in a Q&A section where series producer Ito addressed common fan questions. Here, Ito mentioned thatthere had been a great deal of fan interest in Luciana and Aegina's past, which was never fully explained in Yggdra,and that if a prequel or sequel were ever produced, it would feature the twins' backstory[26] .The development team for Blaze Union shares many members with Product Team A, but features a differentdirector, writer, and artist. According to interviews, R-Force Entertainment was chosen to write the scenario due toproducing many popular fantasy light novels, and Kousaki was chosen for the art to give the game a different feelfrom Yggdra Union, where one of the major selling points was the gap between Kiyuduki's characteristically "cute"style and the seriousness of the story[27] [28] . The game script went through many edits in order to keep the storylinefrom becoming too dark, and the game was in production for about three years, although most of the work was donein the half-year after Yggdra Unison entered its final development stages[27] .Garlot's design is cited by both Kousaki and Yasui as having been problematic, as Sting intended his true identity toremain secret until the end of the canon route of the game[27] . Early sketches depicting him as more muscular andwith messy hair were canned because he was too obviously identifiable as Gulcasa, which led to his being given aneater hairstyle. The dragon motifs incorporated in his armor were likewise changed to lions. Further alterations toobfuscate Garlot's design, such as giving him black hair, were proposed but ultimately rejected. Yasui suggests thatPandra (who has reddish-brown hair and pale eyes) may have been intended as a red herring, but admits that Pandrais a little too old to pass as Gulcasa given the year Blaze Union takes place and that in retrospect making theconnection between Garlot and Gulcasa was likely very easy[29] .In fact, the last update of the game's official website and 5/13 production blog update inadvertently gave Garlot's trueidentity away early. The blog entry in question [30] revealed that Blaze Union would take place three years prior toYggdra Union, meaning that Gulcasa would have to be seventeen years old in this game; in the voice actorcommentary section added to the website, the actors were photographed holding character sheets that included thosecharacters' ages. This revealed that Garlot, the only character with the same hair and eye color as Gulcasa, was thecorrect age as well.

LocalizationAlthough a thread requesting Blaze Union to be localized was posted in Atlus' forums directly following the game'sunveiling[31] , Atlus currently has no plans to do so[32] as of December 2010. No reason for their decision has beenstated.Theories as to why Atlus might not be interested in localizing Blaze Union usually cite the fact that certain elementsof the game conflict with Atlus' translation of Yggdra Union, such as the alteration of Gulcasa's title of BlazingEmperor (焔帝 Entei) to "Emperor of Carnage" when the fire motif associated with Gulcasa is very important inBlaze Union[31] . Fans have also expressed worries that the events of the battlefield "The Warriors' Vacation -Girls'Side-" (戦士達の休息-Girl's Side- Senshitachi no Kyuusoku -Girl's Side-) and its Game Over scenarios, which depictthe attempted rape of the female party members (including eleven-year-old Eimi), would be difficult to localizewithout some form of censorship due to their controversial subject matter[31] . This particular event was even metwith disapproval by several members of Sting's staff, though it became popular among a minority of male players inJapan[33] . Fans have also expressed concern that the suggestions of Gulcasa's bisexuality, such as his affectionaterelationship with Nessiah, might be censored[31] . Atlus has not yet addressed any of these theories or concerns.While an official statement has yet to be issued, an Atlus staff member indicated in the thread requesting fellowseries game Gungnir that the cost of voice acting may also play a part in the company's stance[34] .

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 25

MerchandiseLike other games in the Dept. Heaven series, a few pieces of Blaze Union merchandise were released. On June 23,2010, the 59-track original soundtrack was released by Columbia Music Entertainment. The soundtrack contains all58 musical tracks used in-game, along with a bonus track that features a piano rearrangement of the main theme.One week later, on June 30, the 192-page strategy guide was released by Softbank Creative, and on August 2, a128-page artbook called the "Blaze Union Setting Book" was released by the same publisher[35] . The latter containsmost, though not all, of the in-game artwork along with a great deal of concept art, including rough artwork of townlayouts and the topography of Bronquia; it also features an interview with some of the game's staff.

External links• (Japanese) Official Website [36]

• (Japanese) Release Blog [37]

• (Japanese) Gram Blaze Twitter [38]

Notes[1] Blaze Union Setting Book. Softbank Creative. 2010. pp. 38-61 (ISBN 978-4-7973-6031-8)[2] In-game event from "David, Final Battle!" (決戦、デイヴィド！ Kessen, Deivido!). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable.

(2010-05-27)[3] In-game character demo, Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[4] Retrieved Game Dialogue: (as Garlot:) 甘酸っぱいが……どうも味が口にいつまでも残る。あまり好きじゃないな。 (as Gulcasa:)

小粒なくせに、甘みが強いな… Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[5] Dialogue: "I see... So that's what a mom is like.", "The End of the Beginning" (はじまりのおわり Hajimari no Owari). Sting

Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[6] Gram Blaze twitter account (http:/ / twitter. com/ blazeunion/ status/ 14423879403), posted 21 May 2010 and retrieved 23 September 2010[7] In-game event from "The Anguished Martyr" (懊悩の殉教者 Ounou no Junkyousha). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation

Portable. (2010-05-27)[8] In-game event from "The Warriors' Vacation -Girls' Side-" (戦士達の休息-Girl's Side- Senshitachi no Kyuusoku -Girl's Side-). Sting

Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[9] In-game event from "Proceeding to the Capital of Flarewerk" (フレアヴェルク上洛 Fureaveruku Jouraku). Sting Entertainment. Blaze

Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[10] Blaze Union Setting Book. Softbank Creative. 2010. p.44 (ISBN 978-4-7973-6031-8)[11] In-game event from "Pursue the Night Thieves!" (夜盗を追え！ Yozoku wo Oue!). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable.

(2010-05-27)[12] In-game event from "Salt Road" (ソルトロード Soruto Roodo). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[13] In-game event from "History Moves at Night" (歴史は夜、動く Rekishi wa Yoru, Ugoku). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation

Portable. (2010-05-27)[14] In-game event from "Blazing Emperor Gulcasa" (焔帝ガルカーサ Entei Garukaasa). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation

Portable. (2010-05-27)[15] Dialogue: "I’ve heard that story. He foresaw the last emperor’s death, didn’t he?" from "Endless Vengeance" (終りなき復讐 Owarinaki

Fukushuu). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[16] Yggdra Union official site (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra), character section; Nessiah is listed as 19 years old[17] In-game event from "Will the Weapon Break the Shield?" (盾を破るのは矛なのか？ Tate wo Yaburu no wa Hako na no ka?). Sting

Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[18] Ito Shinichi x Kiyudzuki Satoko x Tobe Sunaho Tell-All (http:/ / community. livejournal. com/ disaresta/ 52597. html), translated from

Japanese (original interview from the book Yggdra Union: The Complete Guide. Ascii Media Works. 2008. pp. 44-47. ISBN978-4-8402-4206-6)

[19] In-game event from "Warrior and Madness" (戦士と狂気 Senshi to Kyouki). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable.(2010-05-27)

[20] In-game event from "Farewell" (別離 Betsuri). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable. (2010-05-27)[21] In-game event from "Mizer the Barefoot" (はだしのミゼル Hadashi no Mizeru). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStation Portable.

(2010-05-27)[22] Blaze Union setting book, p.71[23] Blaze Union Setting Book, p.70

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future 26

[24] In-game event in "The End of the Beginning" (はじまりのおわり Hajimari no Owari). Sting Entertainment. Blaze Union. PlayStationPortable. (2010-05-27)

[25] Blaze Union Setting Book, p.69[26] Dept. Heaven World Guidance. Softbank Creative. 2008. p. 128-129 (ISBN-13 978-4797348798)[27] Blaze Union Setting Book. Softbank Creative. 2010. pp. 118-123 (ISBN 978-4-7973-6031-8)[28] Developer Interview Part 2, Gram Blaze Blog (http:/ / bu. sting. co. jp/ blog/ index. php?e=18). Posted 20 May 2010; retrieved 23 March

2011[29] Blaze Union Setting Book. Softbank Creative. 2010. p. 38 (ISBN 978-4-7973-6031-8)[30] http:/ / bu. sting. co. jp/ blog/ index. php?e=16[31] "Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future", Atlus forums (http:/ / www. atlus. com/ forum/ showthread. php?t=6687) (retrieved 29 December

2010)[32] Knights in the Nightmare: Mastering Bullet Hell in a Strategy RPG (http:/ / blog. us. playstation. com/ 2010/ 10/ 14/

knights-in-the-nightmare-mastering-bullet-hell-in-a-strategy-rpg/ #comment-468214), comments (retrieved 29 December 2010)[33] Blaze Union Setting Book, p.51[34] "Gungnir (PSP)" (http:/ / www. atlus. com/ forum/ showpost. php?p=236928& postcount=30), comment #30, Atlus forums (retrieved 5

March 2011)[35] "Blaze Union Setting Book" On Sale 8/2 (Blaze Union) (http:/ / www. 4gamer. net/ games/ 107/ G010757/ 20100730051/ ), 4Gamer.net.

Posted 30 July 2010, retrieved 28 December 2010[36] http:/ / bu. sting. co. jp[37] http:/ / bu. sting. co. jp/ blog/[38] http:/ / twitter. com/ blazeunion

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 27

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone

Developer(s) Sting

Publisher(s) • JP Sting• NA Atlus• EU 505 Games

Designer(s) Shinichi Ito (Game Design)Nobuhiko Matsumura (Scenario)Satoko Kiyuduki (CharacterDesign)Sunaho Tobe (Card Design)

Series Dept. Heaven

Platform(s) Game Boy AdvancePlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS

Release date(s) Game Boy Advance

• JP March 23, 2006• NA November 21, 2006• EU 2007PlayStation Portable

• JP January 24, 2008• NA September 16, 2008Nintendo DS

• JP December 3, 2009

Genre(s) Tactical role-playing game

Mode(s) Single player

Rating(s) • CERO: All ages• ESRB: Teen

Media/distribution 256-Megabit CartridgeUMD

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone is a tactical role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance and PlayStationPortable, developed by Sting Entertainment as the second episode of the Dept. Heaven saga of games. Atlus USAlocalized and published both versions of the game in North America. 505 Games published the Game Boy Advanceversion in a limited number of European countries, such as Italy and France. A Nintendo DS side-game was releasedin Japan on December 3, 2009 as Yggdra Unison: Seiken Buyuuden.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 28

The game is a tactical RPG with an overhead view of a 2D map, managing miniature versions of the units. A cardsystem dictating unit movement and potential skills plays into both enemy and ally turns, as well as the "Union"formation system, in which massive battles can take place between several platoons. There are also some real timeelements included during actual battle sequences, such as being able to control how units attack the enemy.

GameplayThe game follows a linear progression of battles in which, when one is cleared, the next begins. Within each battle,units are displayed on a grid of spaces which decide where the characters can move. The player and the computertake turns in which movements are determined and one attack can be executed against an opposing character. Theplayer may choose to end his/her turn at any time.

UnionUnions are the eponymous game play mechanic. Unlike most games, the player is allowed one attack per turn.Attacks are performed in formations called unions. Most unions involve multiple units, but it is possible to attackwith a "union" of one unit. Forming unions allows more than one unit to join the battle, allowing for battles betweenas many as eighty soldiers, grouped into up to five individual battles between two units named 'clashes'. Dependingon the gender of the unit, the formation required for a union will be different. Males have an x-shaped formation,whereas females have a +-shaped formation. Linked unions, which become available during the fifteenth battlefield,allow units within the core union to apply their union pattern to extend the overall union.UnitsEach unit that can be included in a union is composed of a leader, the head, and as many as seven underlings, or'members'. For example, in the case of Yggdra's unit, Yggdra is the head, and her five members are Sword Maidens.Each unit has a weapon type, with strengths and weaknesses in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Each unit comes withsix stats: Morale, an indicator with a function similar to Hit points; GEN, generalcy; ATK, attack; TEC, technique;and LUK, luck. The final stat depends on alignment of the unit. Player units have REP, reputation, measuring victoryrates, and enemy units have POW.UP, which is a reducible stat that increases card POW upon player victory. Eachunit also has the potential for five 'effects', which are strategy altering hooks that do many things, from the in-clashvoiding of damage enhanced with a particular element, to out of clash Morale restoration. Up to four effects can beinnate to the unit, with one effect coming from the unit's equipped item. Items are multi-purpose in Yggdra Union;they can be equipped for stat ups and effects, or they can be consumed to recover Morale. Equipped items cannot beremoved, and will disappear after a set amount of battlefields.Aggression and RageAfter the first battlefield has been cleared, the player may control how the character attacks in a clash by changingthe Aggression modes, and the enemy's mode of attack will shift with the gradually increasing Rage meter - aholdover from Riviera. When a unit is in Passive mode, Aggression will fill, but the damage the unit deals will bereduced. If there is Aggression in the gauge, the unit can enter Aggressive mode, depleting said Aggression, dealingmore damage and also activating the innate element of the unit, if one exists. If Aggression reaches 100%, a cardskill can be activated. The enemy's Rage works in a similar way, except that Rage continuously fills until either Maxis reached, or is stopped by a skill or effect. When Rage becomes half full, the enemy will enter Rage mode, thedamage the enemy deals will increase, and the enemy's innate element, if it has one, will activate. When Rage iscompletely full, the enemy enters Max mode, damage increases again, and any activated element is removed fromdamage. In Max mode, the enemy is also able to activate skills. Rage will carry over between clashes in a unionbased on the outcome of the union; if the enemy loses, all accumulated Rage will carry over, but if the enemy wins itwill start empty in the next clash. Player Aggression carries over regardless.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 29

CardsAt the beginning of each turn, a card must be chosen. Unlike many card games, a card is not drawn randomly from adeck, but rather picked from a hand of anywhere from one to thirty cards selected before the battle begins. Each cardhas three attributes: POW, ACE, and MOV.• POW is the overall strength of the card and factors into how much damage the loser of a clash takes. The higher

the power, the more damage the enemy will take.• ACE is what weapon type the Union leader must use to allow the skill held by the card to be usable. If the ACE is

sword, a sword user must start the Union. If it is All, then anyone can start the union.• MOV is the total movement available to all characters. For example, when a card with five MOV is picked, five

characters can each move a single space, one character can move five spaces, or any other combination.

The Steal card's status screen.

SkillsEach card also has a skill, ranging in effect from restoring allies andkilling enemies, to changing the landscape and even invincibility. Forthese skills to be activated, the Union leader must first match the ACEof the card. In addition, there are two types of skills: A and B. B-typeskills require the B button be held to charge a bar, at which point, ifreleased, the skill will activate and deplete the Aggression gauge.A-type skills are activated by pressing A, and holding it for as long asthe skill's effects are desired, or until the Aggression gauge iscompletely depleted. Many skills have certain requirements of their

own, such as Steal - which steals any item the enemy might be holding - being usable only by Milanor.When 100% Aggression or Max Rage mode is reached and all other conditions are met, a skill can be activated.Each skill has a rule or equation for its mechanic; for example, Steal will succeed if the user's TEC is larger than orequal to the target's GEN, otherwise it will fail and the opponent's item will not be stolen. These rules and equationscan affect how effective the skill is when used by a certain unit.

Hard modeIn the PSP version, a normal playthrough will be significantly easier than in the GBA version as Morale is restoredto characters upon level ups. Upon successful completion of a normal playthrough, a Hard mode will be unlocked inwhich Morale is not restored, leaving the game essentially as it was in the original GBA version. Also, only in Hardmode can certain new story sequences and characters be accessed. Some cards had effects and requirements changedin the PSP version, leading to the difficulty fluctuating further. For example, the Refreshment skill heals Morale inthe PSP version making it even harder to die, yet Lightning Bolt, the card used by recurring enemy Mizer, is able toinflict a new status effect.

Plot and setting

StoryThe story of Yggdra Union starts with the Princess of Fantasinia, Yggdra, fleeing her besieged home with the familyheirloom, the Holy Sword Gran Centurio. Throughout the story, the idea that justice lies with the Holy Sword[1] isused to drive Yggdra and her army forward through their plight, as well as to provide explanation to them for theacts they commit. It is constantly used as justification for their acts, particularly those situations in which civiliansare slaughtered during the war.The story mainly details Yggdra's reclamation of her kingdom from the Bronquian Empire, and her eventual unitingof the entire world under her sovereignty, with quite a few stops along the way leading to an intricate and involving

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 30

plot. The ending is split off based on the player's actions, one ending essentially being a game over and the other twobeing open ended with Yggdra either pursuing the ideal that justice lies with the holy sword, or sacrificing it in orderto achieve universal peace.In the PSP version, additions were made to the story that further develop the Dept. Heaven universe and story,deeply tying the game into mythological elements first developed by Riviera, with the more direct appearance ofDiviners, and Grim Angels, and passing mention of Malice, Hector and The Seven Magi.

CharactersYggdra Union features a large cast of characters, the most important of which is the seventeen-year-old[2] princess,Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz,[3] whose plight is the center of the story. The lead male of the story is Milanor, theseventeen-year-old[2] thief king; The Silver Wolf, whose home was burned down by the Empire in an attempt to findYggdra. These two start and lead the Royal Army to take back the Kingdom from the Empire. One ally they recruitis Durant, the twenty-four-year-old[2] leader of the Third Cavalry,[4] a knight of Paltina. Nietzsche, thetwelve-year-old,[2] naïve Undine from Embellia joins the Royal Army to gain revenge on the Empire for theirespionage in her country, as well as to search for the Transmigragem. Twenty-one-year-old[2] Necromancer Roswellof the Branthese house and nineteen-year-old[2] Witch Rosary of the Esmeralda house are met in Verlaine Hills, oneof which will join the Royal Army for revenge on the Empire's involvement and betrayal in Verlaine and in order torecover the Ankhs, the other of which will die at the hands of the Royal Army. Kylier is a seventeen-year-old[2]

Griffon Rider from Lost Aries, with an affection for Milanor, who never really joins the Royal Army, but assiststhem when they need help most. She rides her Griffon Al into battle. The Astral Fencer, the twenty-five-year-old[2]

Russell betrays the Empire and joins the Royal Army for revenge for his fiancée Flone, and to repay the Royal Armyfor his actions against them. Cruz is a twenty-two-year-old[2] hunter, who made it to number one on the Empire'sMost Wanted List for his leadership of the Karona Resistance and joins the Royal Army after his headquarters istracked down and attacked by Mizer. Elena is the sixteen-year-old[2] Assassin that joined the Empire for a chance tostop her brother, Leon, in order to restore honor to her family,[4] and when her betrayal becomes clear, and the RoyalArmy aids her, she joins to repay her debt to them. Gordon, of the Temple Knights of Welheim is another ally to theRoyal Army, albeit only for a short time. He joins when the Royal Army offers assistance in saving the Pope.The Empire contains many characters, too, starting with the twenty-year-old[2] Bronquian Emperor, Gulcasa. Adescendant of Brongaa, and seeker of his resurrection, Gulcasa took the Empire in a violent coup d'état, andimmediately began conquering neighboring countries. Despite his violence, he has full support of the Bronquianpeople. His direct subordinates, the eighteen-year-old[5] Twin Valkyries Aegina Eine Artwaltz and Luciana RuneArtwaltz, apparently of Royal lineage, make constant attempts on the Royal Army, Yggdra in particular. Leon is thefirst introduced of the five Dragon Generals, twenty-two-year-old[5] brother to Elena, he is called the Black Knightfor his excessively wanton violence and cruelty. Emilia, a Dragon General titled the Scarlet Princess, is half-sister toGulcasa through a shared father.[4] She abhors being labeled a child, and will do anything to defend Bronquia.Baldus, the Dragon General known as the God of War, is an older, wiser, yet extremely powerful warrior of Ishnad.The last of the Dragon Generals is Nessiah, the Imperial Army's war strategist, truthfully a Fallen Angel ignitingwars in order to enrich the Gran Centurio with which to take revenge on the Gods. Eudy, the twenty-eight-year-old[5]

Court Magician, is another high ranking general in the Imperial army, and the cause of many cannon woes.[4]

The game features many more characters, both enemy and otherwise that further delineate the story and lengthen thequest. The PSP version added a few new characters, including an elderly man named Bly, a woman named Mistel,and an angelic figure referred to simply as #367.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 31

AudioYggdra Union has an extensive soundtrack, totaling nearly sixty tracks[6] co-composed by Shigeki Hayashi andMinako Adachi. This near-half division of effort left Shigeki Hayashi mostly with character themes and promotionalmusic, and Minako Adachi with the story, map and menu music. The soundtrack is an entirely original composition,except for the song Heaven's Gate (ヘヴンズゲート hevunzugeto), which is explained to be a bell-heavyarrangement of the Riviera song Heaven's Gate (ヘヴンズゲート hevunzugeto).[7] Aside from the music, the audioin the GBA version of Yggdra Union is fairly standard, with sound effects in battle and beeping for text of a pitchbased on the character speaking. There is no voice acting in the GBA version, but, despite that fact, one of the manyfan demands since even before its release is a Drama CD.[8]

A third of Yggdra Union's soundtrack is dominated by Shigeki Hayashi-composed character themes,[6] which areimportant in the presentation of the battles. When a clash starts, the attacker's theme song is the background musicused for the entirety of the clash, and, when a player-controlled character is the attacker, the pacing of the music isdictated by the mode; in Aggressive, the music will speed up, in Passive the music will slow down, and whenNeutral the music will play normally.The first official compilation of the Yggdra Union soundtrack was the Yggdra Union Perfect Audio Collection Plus,released a month after the GBA version's Japanese release. The collection is made up of two discs, the original BGMcontaining songs directly from the GBA version of the game, and the image BGM containing instrumented versionsof the songs. The compilation also contains six bonus songs, one being a collage of the battle themes and appearingat the end of the original BGM, and the other five being arrangements of various tracks, placed at the end of theimage BGM.[6] In the soundtrack insert is a large amount of artwork, as well as notes from Shinichi Ito, MinakoAdachi and Shigeki Hayashi on the soundtrack itself, and notes on each song's instrumentation, design andimplementation.[7]

Upon the release of the "Sting the BEST" version of the game, however, another soundtrack was produced in Japan,compiling the new orchestrations of the PSP battle themes along with the "image BGM" versions of Adachi's tracks,which were used in the PSP version of the game.The PSP version added full voice acting, with notable talents including Mai Nakahara () as Yggdra, MiyukiSawashiro (みゆき) as Milanor, Yui Sakakibara as Kylier, Atsushi Kisaichi () as Durant, Ai Maeda () as Nietzsche,Akemi Satō () as Rosary, Ai Nonaka () as Emilia and Mariko Suzuki () as Zilva.

DevelopmentYggdra Union had a small development team, consisting of less than 25 members.[9] Shinichi Ito, director anddesigner of Riviera, played the same developmental role in Yggdra Union. Also reprising their roles are composersand sound designers Minako Adachi and Shigeki Hayashi. Masanori Ishikawa, one of Riviera's programmers,returned to be one of the two Yggdra Union programmers. Riviera's character designer, Sunaho Tobe, managed thecard illustrations, with Satoko Kiyuduki taking on character design.[9] [10] Sting also contracted Atlus USA to writeEnglish text for the Japanese version's script.[11]

The game started development in early 2005 under the project name "YGG",[12] with the official unveiling to thepublic being in October 2005 through Famitsu and Sting's official site.[13] The game changed quite a bit throughoutits development. In early designs, the GEN stat did not exist, characters instead being assigned LDS and INT stats, aswell as a "FREEZE" status effect that did not make it into the final version.[12] Also in these early designs, thecharacter art was incomplete, leading the designers to resort to the recycling of Riviera resources duringdevelopment.[12] In the first released screenshots, it can be seen that Aggression functioned in reverse, the directionalbuttons coinciding more literally with the change in Aggression produced by their manipulation, rather thansymbolically. The cards were initially shown to have a great deal more MOV, along with the much larger maps.[13]

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 32

There were some problems in Yggdra Union's development. One such situation was a worry that they would not beable to fit all of the data onto the cartridge, but Sting okayed the release of the game on a larger cartridge, alleviatingany space problems.[12] The largest problem was character design. Many different character designs were produced,but the creators of the game had difficulty agreeing on which ones to use.[12]

The PSP version, also initially revealed by Famitsu and soon after confirmed by Sting, was given many new features,including completely redrawn sprites and new characters,[14] as well as modified game mechanics such as increasedunit capacity, and an animated opening cutscene previewed on the development blog.[15] Other changes include newstory sequences following one of the endings of the game, returning character Pamela as playable, a hard mode, newstatus effects attached to several skills, as well as new cards and battlefields.

LocalizationFollowing the surprising success of Riviera: The Promised Land,[10] [11] [16] [17] Atlus USA was quick to take theopportunity to end "on a high" on the GBA by localizing Yggdra Union.[11] [18] [19] This decision caused the releaseto be pushed back as Atlus USA announced more GBA games such as Summon Night: Swordcraft Story and SuperRobot Wars: Original Generation. This also led to the game being missed by many, having only nine recordedreviews on Game Rankings.[20] Yggdra Union was a particularly difficult game to localize due to the stylisticpresentation. Characters have effects, innate abilities attached to them. These effects are formatted in such a way thatin the Japanese version of the game, there was only room for 7 characters of a 10-pixel-tall font. Nich Maragos, leadeditor in the localization effort, notes such difficulties as the extreme text constraints, as well as Atlus USA's busyrelease lineup leaving Yggdra Union short on staff.[21] Atlus recently announced their plans to localize the PSPversion, with a planned release date of September 16, 2008.[22]

CensorshipWhen Atlus released the English version of Yggdra Union, the bath scene was more explicit than the Japanesecounterpart. Not only was a key piece of foliage blocking the scene removed and the lighting softened, but twodialogue faces were replaced (in the Extra Contents section, there are two slots for these faces, which must beunlocked through the scene, but no actual artwork can be seen). The Japanese PSP version also contains a censoredversion of the bath scene, however significantly more is revealed.Nich Maragos has explained that he had "softened" a character's line in one of the tutorials during editing due to itbeing out-of-character and therefore potentially damaging to the audience's perception of said character. Heexplained that it is his job to "remain faithful to the spirit of the game, not the letter, and the most important thing isto make sure everyone in the game sounds natural."[21]

ReceptionFor the most part, reactions to Yggdra Union were positive, with a 78% average score on Game Rankings.[20] Manyreviews had qualms with the game, but they all had different ones. Some complained about the unnecessarystrictness in the card usage limitations that "seem like they’re in place to keep you from doing cool things rather thanfacilitate them"[23] and that a certain few cards "were applicable in many situations, giving the most flexibility."[24]

Some were upset by the music; RPGamer believed the music was "the one thing which truly drags upon thegame",[25] and still others were displeased with the union system and the stylistic presentation of the game.[26] Theodd name and pronunciation of "Yggdra" is oft-noted.[18] [26] [27]

In Japan, the game tied in fortieth place in Famitsu's Reader's Top 100 Games of 2006[28] and received a 35/40 from Famitsu.[29] However, the game was unable to break the top ten, debuting in thirteenth place in national sales.[30]

Despite this, when Yggdra Union was released in Japan, GBA sales saw a noticeable spike, a potential correlation noted by GamesAreFun.[31] The PSP version managed to top out at ninth place in its first week, with sales of

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 33

17,304.[32]

MerchandiseVery little merchandise for Yggdra Union has been released, in contrast to the large quantities for Riviera. This isdespite the fact that Sting has posted a survey asking what types of merchandise fans would like, as well as thevaried results collected.[8] The Perfect Audio Collection Plus was in the works before the survey was ever released,however, because Sting was certain that an official soundtrack would be a popular request.[7]

• Character Making Card: A card featuring concept art and information on Yggdra. Packaged in the limited GBApre-order box.[33]

• Yggdra Full Metal Strap: A metal keychain with Yggdra's likeness carved out and "We'll never fight alone"engraved. Packaged in the limited GBA pre-order box.[33]

• Yggdra Union Poster: A B1-sized promotional poster. Only ten were made and they were given away in adrawing held by Sting.[34]

• Yggdra Union Official Guide Book: A guide book for the game. Released on April 21, 2006.[35]

• Yggdra Union Perfect Audio Collection Plus: A two-disc soundtrack featuring all of the music from the game.Released on April 21, 2006.[6]

• Yggdra Union The Complete Guide: A guide book updated for the PSP version of the game, featuring a largeamount of artwork and interviews. Released on February 23, 2007.

• Yggdra Union Anthology Comic: A collection of comics based upon Yggdra Union, drawn by various artists.Released on March 31, 2007.

Aside from physical merchandise, Sting has also released a large amount of Yggdra Union download content fortheir mobile service Sting Station (スティング☆ステーション sutingu suteeshon), such as calendars andwallpapers featuring artwork from the game, ringtones based on soundtrack themes, and even several games that canbe downloaded and played.

Spinoffs

A NPC battle overview summarizedon the top map of Yggdra Unison.

On March 1, 2007, Sting released to their Sting Station download service aplatformer starring Nietzsche, titled Nietzsche's Treasure Hunt(ニーチェの宝探し niiche no takara sagashi).[36] The game features Nietzscheswimming through aquatic levels and collecting treasure.

Not long after the announcement of the PSP remake of Yggdra Union, a largermobile phone game effort was released called Yggdra Unison: Beat Out OurObstacle (ユグドラ・ユニゾン yugudora yunizon). The game features aterritory conquering system similar to that found in games like Emperor: Battlefor Dune. There are eleven armies vying for 36 territories in the game, eachtaking a turn in which they can attack a neighboring territory, potentiallyconquering it and thus increasing their presence on the continent. In battle,characters move around in real time, and when two opposing enemies encounter

each other, a skirmish more similar to those found in Fire Emblem is initiated, with the units attacking each other.With proper timing a Unison attack can be activated, in which all allies within a circular range of the skirmish willalso engage. The cards featured in the original Yggdra Union are also activated within skirmishes.[37] A Nintendo DSport of this game has been released in Japan in December 2009.

JaJa's blog had featured discussion and photos of Yggdra Unison (code-named "YZ") for several months before theofficial announcement.[38] The game was officially announced at the end of November 2007, and released in earlyDecember of that same year.[39]

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 34

In January 2008, Sting released two more download games, Milanor Dash! (ミラノダッシュ！ mirano dasshu!)and Yggdra×Quiz×Union (ユグドラ×クイズ×ユニオン yugudora×kuizu×yunion), the former being a falling-itemcollection game featuring Milanor, and the latter being a quiz game featuring questions about the game's story andmechanics. In May 2008, yet another download game was released, Yggdra Puzzle (ユグドラ・パズル yugudorapazuru), a falling block puzzle game.

PrequelIn May 2010, a prequel concerning the events of Gulcasa's ascension to power in Bronquia was released. The gamewas published by Atlus and features a new scenario writer and new character designer, although many staff membersbetween the two games remain the same. As its subtitle, "Story to Reach the Future", suggests, Blaze Union hasthree branching story paths which allow the player to attempt to find a different future for the Imperial Army andavert the events of Yggdra Union entirely.

External links• (Japanese) Official Japanese website [40]

• (English) Official English website [41] (PSP Version)

References[1] Narration: "Since King Paltinaeas's founding of the Kingdom of Fantasinia, the Holy Sword Gran Centurio has lit a path for the kingdom in

the name of justice. " Sting. Yggdra Union (in English). (Atlus USA). Game Boy Advance. (2006-11-21)[2] (in Japanese) Yggdra Union Official Guidebook (ユグドラ・ユニオン ガイドブック). SoftBank Creative. 2006. pp. 6–9.

ISBN 4-7973-3576-9.[3] Extra Contents: "Fantasinia's Princess. Her full name is Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz." Sting. Yggdra Union (in English). (Atlus USA). Game Boy

Advance. (2006-11-21)[4] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Character" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ chara/ index. htm). . Character Description page. Retrieved

June 3, 2007[5] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Character" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra). . Character Descriptions. Retrieved October 19, 2007[6] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Special" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ special/ soundtrack/ index. htm). . Perfect Audio Collection Plus

information. Retrieved June 3, 2007[7] (2006) Album notes for ユグドラ・ユニオン Perfect Audio Collection Plus by Various Artists [booklet]. Five Records.[8] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Special" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ special/ goods/ index. htm). . Goods Survey Results. Retrieved

June 3, 2007[9] Extra Contents - Credits Sting. Yggdra Union (in English). (Atlus USA). Game Boy Advance. (2006-11-21)[10] Atlus USA (February 3, 2007). "ATLUS U.S.A., INC. ANNOUNCES “YGGDRA UNION” FOR THE GAME BOY ADVANCE" (http:/ /

www. atlus. com/ cgi-bin/ press?press_release_id=1). Press release. .[11] N-Philes Interview (http:/ / www. n-philes. com/ features. php?id=258) with Tomm Hulett of Atlus USA. Retrieved May 4, 2007[12] JaJa's Development Blog (http:/ / jajanote. blog5. fc2. com/ blog-date-200504. html) March 2005 entries. Retrieved June 24, 2007[13] GAF News Article (http:/ / www. gamesarefun. com/ news. php?newsid=5649) announcing Yggdra Union, as well as noting the

pre-announcement page attaching Riviera developers to the project. Retrieved on April 30, 2007[14] Yggdra Union Set for PSP (http:/ / psp. ign. com/ articles/ 824/ 824626p1. html) Retrieved on October 4, 2007.[15] JaJa's Development Blog (http:/ / jajanote. blog5. fc2. com/ blog-entry-159. html) 2006/12/01 entry. Retrieved October 4, 2007[16] RPGamer's Japandemonium: 11-24-2005 (http:/ / www. rpgamer. com/ news/ japan/ bb112405. html). Retrieved June 19, 2007.[17] Gamasutra Interview (http:/ / www. gamasutra. com/ features/ 20060206/ andersen_01. shtml) with Jim Ireton of Atlus USA. Retrieved May

4, 2007[18] Static Multimedia Interview (http:/ / www. staticmultimedia. com/ content/ games/ features/ feature_1156625318?info=games) with Zach

Meston of Atlus USA. Retrieved on May 4, 2007[19] deeko Interview (http:/ / www. deeko. com/ readfeature. asp?id=75& p=7) with Zach Meston of Atlus USA. Retrieved on May 4, 2007[20] Yggdra Union Reviews (http:/ / www. gamerankings. com/ htmlpages4/ 930490. asp) at GameRankings. Retrieved January 9, 2008[21] 4 color rebellion Interview (http:/ / www. 4colorrebellion. com/ archives/ 2006/ 07/ 17/ 4cr-interview-nich-maragos/ ) with Nich Maragos of

Atlus USA. Retrieved May 4, 2007[22] Atlus USA (June 9, 2008). "Atlus shows its hand, reveals Yggdra Union for PSP" (http:/ / www. atlus. com/ new_forum/ viewtopic.

php?t=1452). Press release. .

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone 35

[23] Game Informer (http:/ / gameinformer. com/ NR/ exeres/ 2926F245-664C-4BA7-8BD7-997BADCBE13E. htm) Review. Retrieved May 12,2007

[24] GameCritics (http:/ / www. gamecritics. com/ node/ 3853) Review. Retrieved May 12, 2007[25] RPGamer (http:/ / www. rpgamer. com/ games/ other/ gba/ yggdra/ reviews/ yggdrastrev1. html) Review. Retrieved May 12, 2007[26] Eurogamer (http:/ / www. eurogamer. net/ article. php?article_id=73342) Review. Retrieved May 12, 2007[27] Yggdra Union remade for PSP - PSP Fanboy (http:/ / www. pspfanboy. com/ 2007/ 10/ 03/ yggdra-union-remade-for-psp/ ). Retrieved

January 9, 2008.[28] NeoGAF (http:/ / www. neogaf. com/ forum/ showpost. php?p=5807152) Forum list of Famitsu Reader's Top 100 Games of 2006. Retrieved

May 21, 2007[29] GAF News Article (http:/ / www. gamesarefun. com/ news. php?newsid=6123) of Famitsu reviews for the week of Yggdra Union's release.

Retrieved May 21, 2007[30] RPGFan Top Ten Sales (http:/ / www. rpgfan. com/ news/ 2006/ 1164. html). Retrieved July 1, 2007[31] GAF News Article (http:/ / www. gamesarefun. com/ news. php?newsid=6170) detailing Japanese hardware sales for the week of Yggdra

Union's release. Retrieved May 28, 2007[32] GamesAreFun (http:/ / gamesarefun. com/ news. php?newsid=8574) reports first week sales for Yggdra Union PSP. Retrieved February 4,

2008[33] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Special" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ special/ tokuten/ index. htm). . Preorder Goods information.

Retrieved June 3, 2007[34] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Special" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ special/ pre_pos/ index. htm). . Poster information. Retrieved

June 3, 2007[35] "ユグドラ・ユニオン：Special" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ gba/ special/ guide/ index. htm). . Guide Book information. Retrieved

June 3, 2007[36] "スティング☆ステーション：アプリ" (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ mobile/ app. htm). . Sting Station Application page. Retrieved June 3,

2007[37] ユグドラ・ユニゾン ： システム (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ mobile/ unison/ system/ index. htm) Yggdra Unison system description

page. Retrieved on January 9, 2008.[38] JaJa's Development Blog (http:/ / jajanote. blog5. fc2. com/ blog-date-200610. html) 2006/10 entries. Retrieved January 9, 2008.[39] STING： (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ old. htm) Old Sting News. Retrieved on January 9, 2008.[40] http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra/ index. htm[41] http:/ / www. atlus. com/ yggdraunion/

Yggdra Unison 36

Yggdra Unison

Yggdra Unison

Developer(s) Sting

Publisher(s) • JP Sting, Atlus

Designer(s) Shinichi Ito (Game Design)Kenji Ikuta (Director)Satoko Kiyuduki (CharacterDesign)Sunaho Tobe (Card Design)Minako Adachi (Composer)

Series Dept. Heaven

Platform(s) CellphoneNintendo DS

Release date(s) Cellphone

• JP November 11, 2007Nintendo DS

• JP December 3, 2009

Genre(s) Real-time strategy game

Mode(s) Single player

Rating(s) • CERO: A

Yggdra Unison is a real-time strategy game for the cellular phone and Nintendo DS, developed by StingEntertainment as a "fandisc"-type spinoff to Yggdra Union. The original cellphone version was self-published andreleased on November 11, 2007; the DS version was published by Atlus and released on December 12, 2009[1] .Neither installment has been released in any language other than Japanese.The tagline to the original game was "Beat Out Our Obstacle", while the tagline to the DS version is SeikenBuyuuden ("Holy Sword Legends", 聖剣武勇伝). The game display is similar to that of Yggdra Union and BlazeUnion, but all action is in real-time and units are allowed to move freely instead of on a grid. The DS version ismainly stylus-based with support functions and menu displays toggled by the R/L and directional buttons.

Yggdra Unison 37

PlotYggdra Unison begins in the year 1490 M.D., with Emperor Gulcasa—the ruler of the New Bronquian Empire—andhis vast army attacking and capturing Fort Karona, which lies on the border between his own nation and that of theKingdom of Fantasinia, the country perceived to be the greatest world power. Fantasinia's defeat and the death of itsking shock the world, but unlike the events of Yggdra Union, this shock causes every major world power to strikeout in an attempt to conquer the continental world[2] .The player selects one of these nations, and their storyline unfolds as they conquer other territories, eventuallyculminating in their achieving world domination. Because of the sandbox-style gameplay, the game focuses more oncharacter interaction and gameplay itself than a linear plot; there are twelve storylines, each following one of thetwelve playable characters.

CharactersBlazing Emperor Gulcasa (焔帝ガルカーサ Entei Garukaasa)

The twenty-year-old[3] emperor of New Bronquia, whose capture of Karona sparks off the world war[4] .Gulcasa's actual motivations for wanting to conquer the world are not explored in this game, but are insteadrevealed in Blaze Union. He is a charismatic leader who enjoys doing battle with powerful opponents, and ispart demon. Gulcasa has the highest number of generals in the game--his bodyguards Luciana and Aegina; theDragon Generals Baldus, Emilia, Russell, and Leon; court magister Eudy; assassins Zilva and Elena; andmilitia captains Canaan and Monica. He is also the most powerful unit in the game, and for these reasons is themost difficult to recruit and unlock. Certain elements of Yggdra Unison's advertisements along with the"heroic" sound of Gulcasa's theme suggest that he may be considered the game's true protagonist.

Princess Yggdra (王女ユグドラ Oujo Yugudora)The seventeen-year-old[3] ruler of the Kingdom of Fantasinia, whose parents were killed by Gulcasa whenBronquia captured Fort Karona. While she also seeks revenge for this, her main motivation for world conquestis to end the war as quickly as possible, in order to find a better way to settle conflicts[5] . Yggdra'ssubordinates are the knight Durant, the freedom fighter Cruz, and the tactician Mistel. She loves strawberriesand dislikes mushrooms. Yggdra is one of the only two characters available from the beginning of the game.

Silver Wolf Milanor (銀狼のミラノ Ginro no Mirano)The seventeen-year-old[3] leader of a band of southern thieves. The oppression of the nobility has influencedhim to become an anarchist, and he seeks to free the world from the control of aristocrats and rulers[6] .Milanor's followers are his childhood friend Kylier and one of his Flunkies. He is one of the only twocharacters available from the beginning of the game.

Queen Emelone (女王エメローネ Joou Emeroune)The ruler of Embellia, a nation of Undines. She is twenty-six years old[3] . Emelone holds pacifistic views, butjoins the war nevertheless in an effort to discover why all the humans began to fight and create a lastingpeace[7] . She is supported by her general and confidante, Ishiene, and the young girl Nietzsche.

Branthèse Successor Roswell (黒薔薇家総帥ロズウェル Buranteeze Ke Sousui Rozuweru)The ruler of the northeastern half of Verlaine Hills, an intellectual young man. Roswell is twenty-one yearsold[3] . He enters the war after an incident in which some of his family's important research is stolen, and has along-standing rivalry with his distant relative Rosary[8] . He is followed only by one of his summonedskeletons. Roswell is particularly fond of bananas.

Esmeralda Successor Rosary (白薔薇家総帥ロザリィ Esumeraruda Ke Sousui Rozarii)The ruler of the southwestern half of Verlaine Hills, a haughty young woman. Rosary is nineteen years old[3] . Like Roswell, she enters the war after some of her family's magical research goes missing[9] . She considers

Yggdra Unison 38

Roswell her rival. She is followed by one of her summoned golems, which she named Sodom. Rosary lovesher witch's hat too much to equip any other headgear.

Brigand King Ortega (山賊王オルテガ Yamazoku Ou Orutega)The thirty-two-year-old[3] leader of a band of mountain bandits who frequent the Lenessey Mountains. Ortegahas a very genial personality, and he and his men enter the war not out of a desire to rule, but simply todetermine how powerful they are[10] . He is supported by the mercenary Inzaghi.

Bandit King Dort (蛮賊王ドルト Banzoku Ou Doruto)The thirty-eight-year-old[3] leader of a group of desert bandits who attack travelers in the Nyllard Desert. Dortenters the war because he sees it as a chance to revive belief in the sun god Barlabasa, which has been dyingout of late[11] . Contrary to his appearance, Dort has a good education and is literate, unlike the other bandits inthe game; he also speaks in a unique dialect. He is followed by the golem Protector.

Cardinal Juvelon (枢機卿ユベロン Suukikei Yuberon)The forty-nine-year-old[3] head of the Meriant religious faction, centered in Lombardia. His sect is in conflictwith the Pope's traditional faction. Juvelon seeks to conquer the world solely for personal gain, but he is verycowardly and panicks when he believes he may actually be harmed. His allies are the archbishop Mardym(who is said to be manipulating Juvelon behind the scenes)[12] and the assassin Amareus.

Steel Gordon (鋼のゴードン Hagane no Goudon)The leader of the Temple Knights who serve directly under the Pope, Gordon is twenty-eight years old[3] . Heand his men enter the battle both to oppose Juvelon and to spread the Pope's religious influence[13] . Gordon isvery stern and a fundamentalist. He has no subordinates.

Mystic Witch Pamela (不思議魔女パメラ Fushigi Majo Pamera)The leader of the United Forest Forces. Pamela is an eccentric young woman who appears to be fifteen yearsold[14] , but is said to be older than that[15] . She wants to study the Undines in order to learn about how theyperpetuate their race, and frequently tells Undine opponents to "become hers". She usually ends her sentenceswith the tic "da wa sa", and her speech patterns are very childish. Her only subordinate is the bounty hunterMizer.

Nessiah the Fallen (堕天のネシア Daten no Neshia)A fallen angel who is physically nineteen years old[14] but has been alive for over a thousand years. He intendsto reclaim his sword, the Gran Centurio, from the kingdom of Fantasinia and unite the world as preparationsfor taking revenge on the gods[16] . Nessiah and Gulcasa were once close friends, but their differing goals havemade them rivals. Nessiah has no subordinates, and his nameless soldiers are very strong; however, he hasdifficulty recruiting enemy generals because he is viewed by the other characters with fear and suspicion. Hehas a bad habit of constantly teasing his opponents.

GameplayThe object of the game is to bring the rest of the world under your control.There are twelve playable armies, but at the start of the game, only Yggdra and Milanor may be selected. The otherten armies must be unlocked by fulfilling two to four conditions during a playthrough; what an army's conditions arecan be viewed from the selection screen, with fulfilled conditions appearing in red.Once the player's army has been chosen, the player is shown that army leader's prologue and prompted to begin thegame. Much like other Sting games, the phases of Yggdra Unison are called "turns"; "turns" are split up into threeparts—preparation, combat, and treasure hunting[17] .

Yggdra Unison 39

Preparation

A scout's report in the cellphone version.

During the preparation stage, the player is prompted to choosewhich card will be effective during the combat stage. The cardsare presented face-down, and each playthrough has them in adifferent randomized order. Each card may only be used once perplaythrough; there are exactly as many cards as there are domains,and so every card cannot be used in a single playthrough. As longas this is not the first turn, the player will also receive twoMedallions at this time.After this, a scout will appear and give a report on what ishappening in the rest of the world. These reports containinformation on two types of things: First, if two enemy charactershave fought, then the player is told the outcome of that battle;second, if there are geographical effects, then the player is toldwhich territories have been hit with them. There are two types ofgeographical effects—disasters and sickness. An enemy territory that has been affected by a disaster will have lowerdefense over the next turn; an enemy territory that has been affected by a sickness will have fewer soldiers thannormal over the next turn. The player's conquered territory will never be invaded, nor will it have geographicaleffects. In addition, reports are never given for the first turn, and towards the end of a playthrough, reports willusually not be given as the number of free territories decreases.

After this, the player is prompted to choose an enemy territory to invade; it is possible to attack any territory thatdirectly touches one's own. Once the player's choice is confirmed, the game progresses to the combat stage.

CombatCombat is performed in real-time in a capture-the-flag format; the player is given 300 seconds to defeat the enemygeneral and capture his or her fortress. 150 seconds are considered "daytime", and the other 150 seconds are "night";what time the battle starts is usually randomized. Each side is initially able to deploy two units, but by capturingneutral villages or deployment points (the latter are exclusive to each side), up to three additional units may bedeployed at a time for a total of five. When one side's deployment points are captured by the other, the attackedside's units are forced to retreat if there is not a surplus of deployment points. For instance, if Milanor's army wasfighting Ishiene and had captured one village in order to deploy three units, then that village were captured by one ofIshiene's soldiers, Milanor's third unit would have to return to base, losing half its hit points. In addition, enemysoldiers which are made to retreat cannot be redeployed, but allied units can be deployed any number of times aslong as they still have hit points.Villages may be captured back and forth with impunity, but when a non-village deployment point is captured by theenemy, it is permanently destroyed. Villages are denoted with small house-shaped icons, allied deployment pointsare shown as small cannon-shaped icons, and defensive ones are portrayed as fences. Each side's base is shown as asmall flag icon. Units that sit on villages and fortresses slowly recover HP as they do so, which is shown by theiroutlines flashing green.Other map objects include ballistic weapons, which can be captured and used by one side or the other; treasure huntpoints, depicted as hut icons; card discovery points, which allow the player to see which card is in play and areshaped like magnifying glasses; and event triggers, which are shaped like question marks. These cannot be usedunless touched by an allied unit.When two units touch, a clash begins, and the two units attack one another in the style of Fire Emblem battles; after the player's unit attacks, he or she will be prompted to begin a Unison. Once a Unison begins, a circle of effect called

Yggdra Unison 40

an Impact Circle appears, and every other allied character on the field will be assigned a number; by entering thenumbers of any allies within the Impact Circle, those units will join in the attack and do even more damage. Any unitwhose HP is reduced to zero retreats; if the player continues a Union Attack after the enemy's HP hits zero, they startdealing fatal damage. If the HP bar reaches zero twice, this is considered a Kill Out. Unison Attacks can only beused by players.Sometimes characters with a connection to each other will converse with each other before a clash actually begins, orafter it concludes. In the DS version, this is displayed on the top screen. These are known as Duel Events, and thedialogue changes based on who is attacking whom and whether the clash ends in victory, defeat, or death.Units

Aegina (top) and Monica (bottom)'s stats,displayed in the unit demo

The unit types from Yggdra Union make a return for this game, with the onlydifference being that Yggdra, Milanor, and Gulcasa no longer have uniqueclasses. Each unit has several different statistics: VIT (vitality, which shows aunit's morale), HP (which is twice their current vitality), ATK (which rangesfrom 1 to 10), Impact Circle size, a hidden DEF stat, elemental affinity,movement type, and Pride. VIT decreases slowly each turn for everycharacter except the protagonist, and can be restored after battle by givingthat unit items that they like; VIT decreases faster if a unit is deployed againsta character that he or she does not want to fight. Movement type denotes howquickly units will move over certain types of terrain. Pride determines howeasy it is to recruit a character.

The weapons triangle also makes its return, but is similarly altered: Scythesstill have no weaknesses, but also have no strengths; bows are both strongagainst and weak to the sword-axe-lance triangle, but are weak to lump-typeweapon. If a character's weapon type is trumped, they are knocked back andunable to counterattack; however, if a character attacks someone with aweapon that trumps theirs, the enemy blocks that attack completely.CardsThe gauge at the upper-left corner of the screen, which shows how much time is left, also displays colored bands thatshow when cards will activate. A gray bar indicates that the card's activation conditions have not been fulfilled (theright character type is not deployed, for instance); a blue bar shows a positive effect, a red bar shows a negativeeffect, and a green bar shows a neutral effect. Each card has different effects, which can be seen described eitherwhen they activate or examined in greater detail in the Extra Contents section after the game has been beaten once.After VictoryOnce the player captures the enemy's territory, the battle's wrap-up begins. First, the enemy's territory is added toyour own; if you have captured the enemy's capital, all of his or her unconquered territory will be added to your ownat once. After this occurs, the enemy general will be brought to you as long as you have not killed them in battle, andyou will have the opportunity to attempt to recruit them.Character recruitment is determined by both the Pride statistic and your own army's relationship with the enemyarmy. Generals belonging to an allied country have no recruitment conditions and will join your cause automaticallywhen asked. If the enemy's army has no ties to your own, your conquered territory must be equal to or greater thanthat general's Pride stat to recruit them. If your army's relationship with the enemy's is bad, then your conqueredterritory must be equal to or greater than twice that general's Pride to recruit them. The characters with the lowestPride are the Servant (Roswell's Skeleton) and Sodom (Rosary's Golem); the characters with the highest Pride areGulcasa and Milanor.

Yggdra Unison 41

The player's army may only have five characters at a time, including the protagonist. When attempting to recruit asixth character, you will be prompted to dismiss one of your current subordinates to make room (or cancel therecruitment).After this, you will be prompted to give your units items as rewards. By giving units items that they like, their VITwill be restored and their HP will increase. Characters do not necessarily like all items that they can equip, andcannot necessarily equip all items that they like. Items' equipment conditions and status bonuses can be viewed atthis time, as well as the VIT bonus they will restore to each unit. Some items have humorous equipment conditionsthat expose certain aspects of characters' personalities that could not be shown in Yggdra Union itself, which is whythis game is seen as a "fandisc" to it.If you found either of the special event triggers, then that hidden character will also join the war publicly at this time.The player is then prompted to save, and the Treasure Hunting part of the phase begins.

Treasure huntingIf the player has discovered treasure hunt points during the battle phase, then during this phase of each turn, it ispossible to spend the points earned during battles to deploy named generals to search for items in any area whosetreasure hunt icon was found.The treasure hunt system is deceptively simple. When deploying a unit, you are able to check each area's elementalaffinity and type of terrain. If the deployed unit has a favorable elemental affinity and move type, they will be able toreturn quickly, but if they have an unfavorable alignment, then the treasure hunt may take a number of turns to becompleted.Once a unit is deployed, they will have 30 steps with which to discover a treasure inside a contained labyrinth. Thecharacter's view and commentary are displayed on the top screen, with the map on the lower screen. Each dungeonwill contain three treasures out of six possible items available for each stage. When a treasure chest is discovered, it'spossible to choose to keep searching for a different box, but if all 30 steps run out, then the unit must returnempty-handed. In addition, if the deployed unit's VIT is too low, they may desert the army instead of coming back.There are six types of treasure chest that can appear in a dungeon: A burlap sack, a wooden box, a sun box, a moonbox, a present box, and the Gorgeous Box (an actual treasure chest). Wooden boxes will always appear, no matterwhat, and contain common items. Sun boxes only appear if the battle ended during the day, and moon boxes onlyappear if the battle ended during the night. Causing the other types to appear is much more difficult.Each territory has a hidden condition that influences whether the other types of treasure will appear. If this isfulfilled, then the present box will appear in the dungeon; in addition, if certain characters with a high affinity to thearea are sent to search for treasure, the Gorgeous Box will appear instead. When the hidden condition has not beenfulfilled, sending one of these certain characters (with the exception of the territory's owner) will result in the burlapsack appearing. Otherwise, a sun/moon box and two wooden boxes will appear instead. For instance, the conditionfor discovering the present box and Gorgeous Box at Castle Paltina is to defeat Yggdra using a Unison Attack[18] . Ifthis is done and then Yggdra is sent to search the area in the same turn, the Gorgeous Box will appear in the area.

Yggdra Unison 42

TitlesWhen the player has completed the game, each character will be awarded a title during the epilogue. The titledescribes what happens to them after the war, as well as how their efforts are honored, and is based on the character'sperformance.Titles have several different ranks: 0 points, 1-500,000 points, between 500 thousand and one million points, overone million points, over two million points, and over three million points. Titles from the two lowest ranks tend to beeither humorous or negative, depicting the character as unsuccessful or contrary, while the third rank up depicts themmore positively; each rank is displayed with a different card on the Hall of Fame screen.Each route's protagonist has a special title set, and the rank divisions for protagonists are also slightly different.Units' dialogue on the Hall of Fame screen is also determined by their VIT.

DS version changesThe DS version involves several additions that were not originally present in the cellphone version, aside from theinformation on the single screen being divided to display on the two screens of the DS. The method of entering theunits' numbers has changed from using the cellphone's number keys to writing them manually using the stylus. Forthe DS version, composer Minako Adachi wrote thirteen new tracks—one each for the armies, as different themeswere now to be used during the day and night, and two for the new army.Special events are also new to the DS version. When these are not discovered, the game handles much the same asthe original cellphone version; the special event items must be found in order to involve the new characters in thewar.The biggest difference is that Nessiah and Mistel themselves are now featured characters who do battle. Nessiah waspresent in the cellphone version, where he explained card effects, but in the DS version he is an unlockable maincharacter. In addition, fourteen new items are included in the DS version—six each for Nessiah and Mistel'sterritories, the Mirror of Truth as Mistel's event trigger, and the Cloverlight, which replaces the Revelation of theGods (now Nessiah's event trigger) as the item in the Gorgeous Box at Castle Bronquia.

DevelopmentSting's programmer JaJa began posting blog entries about Yggdra Union's development as early as 2006. The projectwas originally codenamed YZ, and early screenshots show that the game's beta title was Yggdra's Ambition ~HolySword Legends (Yggdra no Yabou ~ Seiken Buyuuden ユグドラの野望 聖剣武勇伝)[19] . While this was changedto Yggdra Unison: Beat Out Our Obstacle, the original tagline was reused for the DS version. Initial screenshots ofthe game were displayed in black and white[20] .

MerchandiseYggdra Unison has a few pieces of independent merchandise. On December 25, 2009, a 127-page strategy guide wasreleased by Enterbrain. The game's original soundtrack was released on February 24, 2010 by the label GeneonUniversal, featuring all 40 tracks used in-game plus a full-orchestral version of the Flash Movie BGM, the versionrearranged by Shigeki Hayashi which was used in the promotional video [21][22] . The booklet included notes fromAdachi about certain tracks. Later in the year, on the 25th of March, a drama CD was released by Frontier Works,featuring the same voice talent as the PSP version of Yggdra Union[23] .

Yggdra Unison 43

Drama CD SynopsisThe drama CD contains three short stories, focusing on the Royal Army, Milanor's thief band, and the Imperial Armyrespectively. The former two are lighthearted and comedic, whereas the last of the three is more serious andmelodramatic.Kingdom of Fantasinia's ChapterIn this episode of the drama CD, Yggdra (Mai Nakahara) and her forces find themselves lacking the number of generalsnecessary to confront Bronquia, and so they must seek allies elsewhere. Mistel (Kozue Kamada) recommends that theygo to find and ally with Milanor (Miyuki Sawashiro), because she thinks that a noble thief fits the Royal Army's imagethe best. The Royal Army heads towards the south of the continent, conquering all the other countries in the way,and accidentally winds up battling Milanor's forces after they encounter and get into an argument with Kylier (Yui

Sakakibara). Mistel attempts to stop them and remind Yggdra why they came here, but becomes offended whenMilanor and Kylier refer to her as "oba-san", and tells Yggdra to defeat them instead. Once this is done, Yggdraremembers that they had a reason to come down to this area of the world, but Mistel hurriedly assures her that it's nota big deal[24] .Milanor's Thieves' ChapterThis episode follows Milanor, who has been successfully gathering allies but is plagued with bad luck in his choiceof cards, which cause Flunky (Katsuya Fujiwara) to desert the army, temporarily transform him and all of his allies intoUndines, chests and all, and break all the items he has in his possession. Meanwhile, his childhood friend Kylierattempts to get his romantic attention, and their ally Rosary (Akemi Sato) tries to foil her by pushing Milanor towardsYggdra instead. All of this continually backfires when Milanor's unlucky hand at cards makes things go from bad toworse, and even Yggdra turns on them in the end[24] .New Bronquian Empire's ChapterThis chapter focuses mainly on Luciana (Tomoko Fujino), one of the Imperial commanders. She and her twin sisterAegina (Tomoko Fujino) must project the illusion that they are the same person up until Fantasinia is defeated, becauseotherwise the two of them will be in danger (alluding to certain plot elements of Blaze Union). Luciana, however, isdisheartened when she realizes that even her own allies can only tell her apart from Aegina based on their hairstylesand the color of their clothes, and begins to worry that Gulcasa (Hiroaki Miura) might have the same problem. WhenEudy (Ai Maeda) discovers this, she decides to try to help Luciana express her individuality by "hinting" that the twinsare separate people, and has her equip strange items when going into battle. This eventually upsets Luciana, whostarts to worry that Aegina's reputation will be ruined by her behavior, and despite Aegina's reassurance, shebecomes angry and rejects her friends' item suggestions in favor of the Golem Suit, beginning to rampage around thefortress. At this time, Gulcasa arrives; unable to understand the bizarre circumstances, he confuses Luciana's anticsfor a test to see if he can tell who she is. He laughs her off and tells her that no matter what she does, he'll never fallfor the twins' disguises because they're individual people, thus laying the issue to rest[24] .

Yggdra Unison 44

References[1] Dept. Heaven Official Website (http:/ / dhe. sting. co. jp/ ), retrieved 29 November 2010[2] Famitsu preview (http:/ / www. famitsu. com/ game/ coming/ 1226106_1407. html), retrieved 29 November 2010[3] Yggdra Union: The Complete Guide. Ascii Media Works. 2008. pp. 08-19. (ISBN 978-4-7973-6031-8)[4] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_03. html), description of Gulcasa (retrieved 28 December 2010)[5] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_01. html), description of Yggdra (retrieved 28 December 2010)[6] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_02. html), description of Milanor (retrieved 28 December 2010)[7] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_04. html), description of Emelone (retrieved 28 December 2010)[8] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_05. html), description of Roswell (retrieved 28 December 2010)[9] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_06. html), description of Rosary (retrieved 28 December 2010)[10] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_07. html), description of Ortega (retrieved 28 December 2010)[11] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_08. html), description of Dort (retrieved 28 December 2010)[12] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_09. html), description of Juvelon (retrieved 28 December 2010)[13] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_10. html), description of Gordon (retrieved 28 December 2010)[14] Yggdra Union official site (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ yggdra), character section (retrieved 29 November 2010)[15] Yggdra Unison official site (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ chara/ chara_11. html), description of Pamela (retrieved 28 December 2010)[16] "Yggdra Unison", introducing "Nessiah the Fallen", the second hidden character (http:/ / www. 4gamer. net/ games/ 096/ G009604/

20091201017/ ), 4Gamer.net. Posted 1 December 2009, retrieved 28 December 2010[17] Yggdra Union official website (cellphone version) (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ mobile/ unison/ system/ index. htm), retrieved 28 December

2010[18] Yggdra Unison DS wikia (http:/ / www29. atwiki. jp/ yggdraunisonds/ pages/ 15. html), retrieved 29 November 2010[19] JaJa's Development Blog (http:/ / jajanote. blog5. fc2. com/ blog-date-200609-9. html) 9 September 2006 entry, retrieved 29 November

2010[20] JaJa's Development Blog (http:/ / blog-imgs-31-origin. fc2. com/ j/ a/ j/ jajanote/ 20061017. jpg) 17 October 2006 attached image, retrieved

29 November 2010[21] http:/ / www. famitsu. com/ game/ news/ 1228613_1124. html[22] "Yggdra Unison", Soundtrack CD featuring all used BGM set to release on 2/24 (http:/ / www. 4gamer. net/ games/ 096/ G009604/

20100128050/ ), 4Gamer.net. Posted 28 January 2010, retrieved 28 December 2010[23] "Yggdra Unison", Drama CD featuring original stories to be released in March (http:/ / www. 4gamer. net/ games/ 096/ G009604/

20100212035/ ), 4Gamer.net. Posted 12 February 2010, retrieved 28 December 2010[24] PlayAsia product description (http:/ / www. play-asia. com/ paOS-13-71-9x-49-en-70-3qr0. html), retrieved 29 November 2010

External links• (Japanese) Cellphone Version Official Website (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ mobile/ unison/ index. htm)• (Japanese) DS Version Official Website (http:/ / yu. sting. co. jp/ )

Knights in the Nightmare 45

Knights in the Nightmare

Knights in the Nightmare

Developer(s) Sting Entertainment

Publisher(s) • JP Sting• NA Atlus

Designer(s) Shinichi Ito

Artist(s) Satoko Kiyuzuki (Design)Sunaho Tobe (Character Illustration)Yoshinori Iwanaga (Enemy Illustration)

Composer(s) Shigeki Hayashi

Platform(s) Nintendo DSPlayStation Portable

Release date(s) Nintendo DS

• JP September 25, 2008• NA June 2, 2009PlayStation Portable

• JP April 22, 2010• NA November 9, 2010[1]

Genre(s) Console role-playing game, Real-Time Strategy

Mode(s) Single-player

Rating(s) • CERO: A• ESRB: T

Media/distribution Nintendo DS Game CardUMD

Knights in the Nightmare is a strategy-shooter role-playing game hybrid from Sting Entertainment, and the fourthepisode in the Dept. Heaven saga. It was released by Atlus in North America on June 2, 2009.Sting released a special edition version of Knights in the Nightmare, called the "Knights in the Nightmare DHESeries Special Pack", and it includes a copy of Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone for the Game BoyAdvance.[2]

Knights in the Nightmare 46

GameplayGenerally, the game is divided into three separate screens: the Setup, which consists of the player preparing for thebattle, the "Tactics Screen", which shows a preview of the scenario, and the actual Battle. Except otherwise noted,the game is fully controlled by the Nintendo DS' touchscreen throughout all of these areas.At its core, the general gameplay mostly resembles a turn-based strategy role-playing game, but it also extensivelyuses elements from several other genres, such as real-time strategy and bullet hell.

SetupIn this screen, the player is allowed to prepare for the upcoming battle. This screen gives several options to allow theplayer to look up the stats and info of the playable Knights, Equipment, and special items available. This is,however, the only screen in which the player can level up the Knights (the characters used for attacking enemies) andEquipment (the items used for damaging the enemies).The experience points gathered from the previous battles is accumulated into this screen and then given to the playerto choose where to distribute, not to the Knights themselves as in most role-playing games. Those that do gain theextra levels are rewarded for more access to higher-level Equipment and a small amount of "Vitality". Similarly,Equipment are given items which can be used to "level up" in a special manner so that they are more powerful andhave additional bonuses. However, this puts the potential of not having enough experience for other Knights, or therisk of losing the Knight/Equipment obtained, or simply having a bad level/upgrade.There is also an option to "Transoul" (or "transfer one's soul") a Knight to another Knight, since all of the playableKnights are considered dead excluding the central characters. Potentially, this allows for stronger Knights at the riskof losing another and/or having a bad outcome. An extremely large amount of conditions exist in this system (suchas the past life of the Knights themselves, their elemental affinities, the race of the Knights, etc.) and these conditionsmust be well-regarded in order to have the best possible outcome. c

Tactics ScreenThis screen is done as a final preparation before each battle "turn" is actually initiated. The player can select theKnights, Items, and Equipment in use for the battle, and also look up information on the enemies that will appear inthe battle. This mostly resembles common tactical role-playing games in which the player is given time to prepare.Also in this screen is the option for the player to change the initial "Phase" of the battle. While this can also bechanged during the actual battle, this can be done at will by a flick of the in-game switch. Resembling something likeIkaruga's black and white switch, the two phases can be changed to greatly affect the play of the battle, ranging fromdamage location to the Equipment used. Where each Equipment has an elemental affinity, each also has a Phaseaffinity, or, rarely, none at all. Also, each Knight has a point-based affinity to either Phase that can greatly affect thedamage output while in battle. a

BattleThe battles take place in real time on an isometric grid. The "Wisp," which is resembles as a small ball of light, iscontrolled via the touchscreen and moves around the field to give orders to allied units. When the wisp comes intocontact with a unit that can be controlled, the attack must be aimed by moving around the Wisp into one of the fourintermediate compass directions and then lifting the stylus off the touchscreen. However, the wisp will be underconstant enemy fire, so the player must guide the Wisp to dodge the shots as well as order the allied units to attack.Normal attacks generate "Gems", which recharge the Magic Point meter. Equipment, such as swords, axes, andmagical wands, can be used to generate Skill Attacks which can kill enemies and destroy objects on the field.Despite having a timer, "time" is only deducted for charging attacks and when the player's wisp takes "damage" from on-screen bullets. Thus the player has virtually unlimited "time" to plan strategies and in this manner resembles other

Knights in the Nightmare 47

turn-based strategy role-playing games, but this is done instead in real time. If there is any "time" left, it can beconverted in the Pause Menu to either Experience Points or Magic Points and will end the battle "turn".To further change the pace of the battlefield, the game has a "Rush Count" system. Each time an enemy is hit, thiscounter ups by one and activates the condition associated with that number, as long as that number remains the samebetween hits and if there is one available. For example, one hit to an enemy may give a Rush Count number ofreplenishing to a Knight, similar to how a healing potion works in common role-playing games, while another hitmay give maximum health to the enemy. b

GoalsExcluding boss battles, the goal of each battle is not to defeat as many enemies as possible, but to align the enemydeaths in a tic-tac-toe style (that is, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) across the "Enemy Matrix" (which isdisplayed at the bottom of the screen) labeled in-game by "KILL markers". This isn't accomplished in one "turn", butover multiple, since the enemies are selected manually by the player via roulette. Since boss battles always have onecentral enemy to kill, this system isn't used, and is instead represented by a health bar going across the bottom of thescreen, but these bosses normally have extremely large amounts of health and deploy larger amounts of bullethell-like instances.However, there are a limited number of times the player can have in any of these battles. Permadeath exists ascharacters have a "Vitality" stat which decreases when they use skills, and the same applies to the Equipment, but isreferred in-game as "Durability". Vitality is replenished through leveling up in the Setup screen, the "Transoul"system, and other special circumstances such as the "Rush Count" system, while Durability is similarly acquiredfrom merging like Equipment. a b

Plot

StoryThe story in Knights is told in both a forward and reverse fashion, with the revelation of past events - what happenedat castle Aventheim - being used to decide and explain the events of the present. The plot follows the player's wispand a Valkyrie, the former of whom recruits fallen knights as allies to battle against monsters. These allies' pre-deathstories are shown as glimpses of the Before Crisis events.

Before Crisis

The Before Crisis flashbacks explain that the disaster at Aventheim was caused by Capehorn, who summoned thedemon Zolgonark in order to gain the power to get revenge on both the Knight Kingdom who oppressed his peopleand the Tiamat. Though Capehorn is also of Tiamat descent, he was exiled after his discovery of the Written Lawand proposal that it should be used to defeat the Knight Kingdom. He was taken in as one of Wilmgard's retainers,but betrayed the king and knights, leaving all those with no allegiance to him to have their souls taken by thedemons. Capehorn's ultimate goal is to destroy the barriers between the worlds and remake the universe as hepleases.At the same time, Zolgonark sought to escape Capehorn's control in order to conquer the world of Aventheim andmake it a part of the Underworld. In order to do so, he contacted Marietta, who had been dispatched to the world todiscipline the humans for recreating Kilgia Tower, which Asgard perceived as sinful for its height, but had beencreated by the Lemonoug as a way to plead for Asgard to save them from oppression. By promising to give Mariettathe power she desired, he tricked her into removing Capehorn's barriers, and then stole Ancardia and split her soul intwo, claiming one half as his servant. That half of Marietta's soul killed King Wilmgard when he returned to thecastle; the king's soul was sealed inside a crucible, which was stolen by the opposing half of Marietta at the start ofthe game.

Knights in the Nightmare 48

Characters

Wisp (ウィスプ Wisupu)The player controlled character, the disembodied soul of King Wilmgard (ウィリムガルド王 WirimugarudoOu). He is a descendant of the Arbitrator lineage, a human family charged with defending the world ofAventheim from damage that might be incurred by battles between Asgard and the demons. The Wisp'smemories have been damaged by the trauma of being torn from its body, resulting in temporary amnesia, butwith occasional help from Maria and her analogues in alternate routes, he rallies the similarly disembodiedsouls of the country's knights to drive out the demons.His name in the Japanese version of the game is Willimgard, and he is 38 years old.

Maria (マリア Maria)A mysterious armor-clad valkyrie whom the Wisp encounters many times over the course of the story. She iseventually revealed to be one half of the angel Marietta's soul, which Zolgonark split in two after manipulatingher into removing his barrier. Maria blames the state of Aventheim on her desire for greater strength to betterserve Asgard, and despite her stern looks is actually downcast and somewhat timid. She cooperates with theWisp to defeat Zolgonark's forces, but often departs on her own in order to search for her staff Ancardia,which Zolgonark stole from her. She is well aware that even if she manages to defeat the demons, become onewith Melissa, and put right the problems her mistake has caused, she will still be cast out of Asgard for whatshe has done.As part of the PSP version's advertisement campaign, Maria was given her own Twitter account, which may befound here [3].

Melissa (メリッサ Melissa)The other half of Marietta's soul, Melissa is bound to serve Zolgonark as an aftereffect of their contract. Sheencounters and fights with Maria and the Wisp several times while searching for Ancardia, but does not seemto hold ill will towards either of them, possessing an aimless and whimsical nature. Unlike Maria, Melissaretains her desire for power, and secretly hopes for the opportunity to absorb Zolgonark's power if she cannotregain Ancardia.

Mellia (メリア Meria)The counterpart to Maria in an alternate-universe scenario that displays what might have happened had Mariaand Melissa's roles been reversed. Like Maria, she cooperates with the Wisp while searching for Ancardia. Incontrast with her, however, Mellia is assertive to the point of being irreverent, and only seeks Ancardiabecause she wants to destroy it to get back at Marietta. Despite her inherent selfishness and cocky attitude,Mellia is insecure about her own identity, which is implied to stem from Marietta treating her as an aberrationwith no right to exist. By the end of the story, she grows to trust the Wisp very deeply.After the release of the PSP version, she was also given a Twitter account, which may be found here [4].

Marietta (マリエッタ Marietta)A guardian angel dispatched by Asgard to the world of Aventheim to punish the Lemonoug race for buildingthe Tower of Kilvas. Her earnest desire to become stronger and become more useful was taken advantage ofby Zolgonark, who split her soul in two to suit his own purposes. She appears at the end of Maria's route as thecomplete form of Maria and Melissa's soul, and takes on an antagonistic role in Mellia's route, where sheassumes Melissa's role. Marietta's portrayal differs between the routes, as in Maria's she is depicted as a goodbut ultimately misguided person, whereas she treats Mellia cruelly in the alternate route. At the end of Mellia'sroute, she presents the player with the option to betray Mellia and side with her for the sake of order.Marietta first appeared as one of the Accursed in Riviera: The Promised Land, and is shown before her fall from grace in Yggdra Union. Among the game's other topics, Knights portrays what happened to Marietta after

Knights in the Nightmare 49

Yggdra to cause her to be exiled.Sting claims the game has over 200 characters. The vast majority are met during battle and recruited by using itemsobtained from previous levels. In the PSP version, another non-canon scenario is available, in which the player usesPrincess Yggdra (from Yggdra Union) in place of Maria.

DevelopmentScreenshots, artwork and music clips for Knights were revealed over two years prior to the game's release on theblog of JaJa, one of the developers.Satoko Kiyuduki reprises her design role from Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone. Sunaho Tobe, havingworked on the first two Dept. Heaven titles, and Yoshinori Iwanaga, having done the monster designs for the initialrelease of Riviera also return for Knights' illustrations. Shigeki Hayashi, having composed music for both Rivieraand Yggdra Union returned to compose the soundtrack for Knights.While the game was initially intended to be sold in July in Japan, its release date was pushed back until September.According to Ito, this is because Sting realized that a more in-depth tutorial was needed to help players learn thegame's complex systems; many adjustments to the game interface were also done at this time[5] .

ReceptionReception to the game has been generally positive, with Famitsu giving the game a 32/40.[6] The game reachedsixteenth place in sales in its release week.[7] Knights was also nominated for an excellence award at the Japan MediaArts Festival in 2008.[8] IGN's Mark Bozon awarded the game an 8.8/10, praising the game's depth and complexity.The most common complaint among the reviewers was the tutorial, which is almost an hour long, and its very steeplearning curve.

Notes• a  Knights in the Nightmare Instruction Booklet pg. 12-15• b  Knights in the Nightmare Instruction Booklet pg. 16-24• c  Knights in the Nightmare Instruction Booklet pg. 25-28, 32

References• First Famitsu [9] article for Knights in the Nightmare.• JaJa's Development Blog [10]

[1] Press release (http:/ / www. joystiq. com/ 2010/ 09/ 09/ knights-in-the-nightmare-arriving-on-nov-9-bringing-yggdra-uni/ ) confirming releasedate push-back. Retrieved September 10, 2010

[2] Sting Announcement (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ knights/ sp/ sppac/ index. htm) for the Knights in the Nightmare DHE Series Special Pack.Retrieved May 19, 2008

[3] http:/ / twitter. com/ maria_kin[4] http:/ / twitter. com/ mellia_kin[5] To Bring Out the Maximum Potential of the DS! "Knights in the Nightmare" Interview (http:/ / news. dengeki. com/ elem/ 000/ 000/ 109/

109061/ ), Dengeki Online. Originally posted 1 October 2010, retrieved 23 March 2011[6] Famitsu Scores Archive (http:/ / fs. finalfantasytr. com/ search. asp?query=Knights+ in+ the+ Nightmare), retrieved October 26, 2008[7] Media Create Sales (http:/ / www. neogaf. com/ forum/ showthread. php?t=337234). Retrieved October 26, 2008[8] Siliconera (http:/ / www. siliconera. com/ 2008/ 12/ 10/ games-recognized-as-media-art-advancements-in-japan/ ) Games Recognized As

Media Art Advancements In Japan. Retrieved May 29, 2009[9] http:/ / www. famitsu. com/ game/ coming/ 1213583_1407. html[10] http:/ / blog5. fc2. com/ jajanote/

Knights in the Nightmare 50

External links• (Japanese) Official Site (http:/ / www. sting. co. jp/ knights/ index. htm)• (English) Official Site (http:/ / www. atlus. com/ knights/ )

Article Sources and Contributors 51

Article Sources and ContributorsDept. Heaven  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=417567175  Contributors: ChainsOfConviction, Cxz111, DrSturm, Erachima, Geoff B, Giraffedata, Karenjc, L-Zwei,Moreoregano, Reconsider the static, Salavat, Shooterwalker, Vaselinae, WikipedianMarlith, Xchronicax, Yoenit, ぽえこ, 43 anonymous edits

Riviera: The Promised Land  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=413465141  Contributors: Axem Titanium, Axiszen, Bakazuki, Betacommand, Bippo Ernesti, BirgitteSB,Bmicomp, Chris the speller, Cmdrjameson, CyberSkull, David Gerard, Deadkid dk, Deon, DrSturm, Erachima, Flamefury, Flipkin, Gorrister, Hahnchen, J Milburn, Jan Akiyama, John ofReading, Karenjc, Kevin, KojieroSaske, L-Zwei, Leyviur, Mdwav, MetroidMan000, Mika1h, Mitaphane, Moeron, N. Harmonik, O CoRVo, Omata SSK Korosu, Orangemohawk, Oscarthecat,Pajamaman, Pearle, PitrPatr, RagolSlayer, Raijinili, Ravimakkar, RegruBgniK, Remurmur, Rex 'R2' Regal, Rjwilmsi, Sadalmelik, Sh3llsh0ck, Slowking Man, SnowFire, Struway, Syaoran13513,Tenks, Thriceplus, Thunderbrand, Trevor MacInnis, Vaselinae, Wengier, WoodElf, Xchronicax, Yamamoto114, Yggdra Juril Altwaltz, Yoshi～, Z. Dan, 230 anonymous edits

Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=420838665  Contributors: Moreoregano, New Age Retro Hippie, Salavat, Teancum, 6 anonymousedits

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=404931112  Contributors: Askcheung92, Axem Titanium, Brandon, Calamity-Ace, Chafa head,ChainsOfConviction, Chowbok, DrSturm, Dravecky, Erachima, Evaunit666, Firsfron, Ganryuu, Gatotsu911, Giraffedata, IRP, J Milburn, Jake Wartenberg, Jan Akiyama, Joel7687, Karenjc,L-Zwei, LloydWhiteWlof, Luckiestdice, Luvcraft, ManecoWifi, Mattiator, Mika1h, Moreoregano, Mr T (Based), Netito777, Nick Number, Oed, Pcap, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Raijinili,Remurmur, ReyBrujo, Rich Farmbrough, Salavat, SharkD, Slimeknight, Soul Fighter, SubStandardDeviation, Tcaudilllg, TenPoundHammer, TheFarix, Theturtleking, Una Smith, Vaselinae,Voretus, Warreed, Wdflake, Wengier, Woad85, Xchronicax, Yggdra Juril Altwaltz, Yoshi～, Zeta Nova, 117 anonymous edits

Yggdra Unison  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=406478081  Contributors: Moreoregano, WikHead, X201, 3 anonymous edits

Knights in the Nightmare  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=420418222  Contributors: Avono, Calamity-Ace, Cardiacparade, Dawynn, DrSturm, Encyclopediac 10, Erachima,Fuen Fuboo, Ganryuu, Geoff B, Grundle Hax, Jj984jj, Karenjc, Knightgamer11, L-Zwei, Mika1h, Moreoregano, Mr T (Based), N. Harmonik, Odie5533, Pstanton, Raijinili, Totlmstr,Trachtemacht, Urutapu, Vaselinae, Westernmyth, Woad85, Wrel, Xchronicax, Yamamoto114, 62 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 52

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:RivieraBox.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:RivieraBox.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Calmer Waters, Courcelles, J Milburn, Jaxl, Remurmur, Spitfire,Thunderbrand, Yamamoto114Image:Riviera The Promised Land Combat 01.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Riviera_The_Promised_Land_Combat_01.png  License: unknown  Contributors:Axem Titanium, Courcelles, CyberSkull, Fritz Saalfeld, O CoRVo, Reach Out to the Truth, Rockfang, WoodElfFile:Riviera cutscene comparison.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Riviera_cutscene_comparison.png  License: unknown  Contributors: N. Harmonik, RemurmurImage:Blaze Union key visual.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Blaze_Union_key_visual.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Moreoregano, SalavatImage:Blaze Union tutorial screenshot.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Blaze_Union_tutorial_screenshot.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Moreoregano, N.HarmonikImage:Yggdra Union - We'll Never Fight Alone Coverart.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Yggdra_Union_-_We'll_Never_Fight_Alone_Coverart.png  License:unknown  Contributors: SalavatImage:YUCardSShot.PNG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:YUCardSShot.PNG  License: unknown  Contributors: DrSturm, Jusjih, N. HarmonikImage:Yggdra Union Top-Map Screenshot.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Yggdra_Union_Top-Map_Screenshot.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: DrSturm, N.HarmonikImage:Yggdra Unison Key Visual.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Yggdra_Unison_Key_Visual.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: MoreoreganoImage:Unit Statistics.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Unit_Statistics.png  License: unknown  Contributors: MoreoreganoFile:Knights in the Nightmare cover.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Knights_in_the_Nightmare_cover.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Calamity-Ace,Trachtemacht

License 53

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedhttp:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/