NCS Game Notes
» In the intro to the game, ripples appear followed by circular blobs of light which rise upward. A blue haired girl stands in water as the camera pans away with the glimmering blobs of light swirling around her. The scene changes to a view of the party of characters (Rai, Risheru, and Lucian) who are trekking and watching something fall from the heavens as rays streak downwards. Images of battle, an inn with steaming chimney, cooking food, sitting down at a table, hanging sheets on a line to dry, and other daily inn keeping routines are shown with the baby dragon clowning around with the characters. The song that plays during the introduction is "Neverland" as sung by Yumi Matsuzawa with background vocals by Emiko. The intro ends with a fully grown dragon flying into a tree followed by the ripples that were shown in the beginning. The title screen soon appears amidst a backdrop of big trees.
» Press START and the following selections appear:
NEW GAME......Begin a new adventure as Rai or Fay
CONTINUE.......Resume a game from memory card
OPTION...........Toggle stereo/mono, set BGM volumes, activate Dual Shock, select cursor graphic
GALLERY..........View 163 pieces of artwork, beasts, sketches, and in-game screen captures. Many are viewable at the outset but most require unlocking. Toggle to Sound Mode by pressing the L1 or R2 trigger and listen to 41 songs (all but one are locked)
» Upon starting a new game, a big image of Rai appears. To choose him as your hero, press the "O" button but if you prefer Fay, move the D-pad left or right and she'll swivel to the fore. You may then keep the character's default name or enter your own.
» A black screen appears with a shining ankh bobbing below the center of the screen. Press O to flow through the text and the first image that appears is Rai in a room with an pained look on his face. The bells ring and a girl bellows from outside. A guy with goggles above his head named Lucian and his sister Risheru who wears a pink hat with three plush rabbits sitting on the brim appear and hold a conversation outside.
» Much of the dialogue is accompanied by voice acting - the only person who doesn't talk is the protagonist in order to keep the illusion of the player being the character. The first chapter of the game is dubbed, "Welcome to the Shooting Star" which introduces the characters and sets up the background. Lucian and Risheru enter the inn and hold a short conversation with Rai.
» Afterwards, the scene changes to an overhead view of the inn with the roof sawed off so that the interior may be viewed entirely. An ankh serves as the cursor. To exit the inn and visit locations around the town, press the SQUARE button and the ankh will drift downwards to the glowing red gem on the bottom of the screen. Press the O button and the view changes to the town view. Move the cursor to spots marked with a blue gem in order to travel to them and interact with NPCs.
» After a jaunt back to the inn, a training sequence stars up where Rai stands in the middle of four tree stumps. Logs, bricks, safes, and robots appear on the stumps and he has to smack the items with his sword by pressing the four face buttons which represent the cardinal directions of the stumps. For example, TRIANGLE is for the north stump and CROSS is for the south stump. After the exercise, a training primer appears with a few pages which explain battlefield movement and orientation, weapons, etc.
» After the trainingexercise, the three friends are on a trip on the eastern part of the map. Under a bright moon and stars, the three converse and watch as the sky seemingly glimmers a bit. An animation plays where a streaming heavenly body falls to the ground and shakes the screen. The party cries out, startled by the crash and run off to investigate. They find a crater with a glowing object within. Soon afterwards, a hatching sound may be heard. Frightened by the event, the party cries out again in fear but no one follows the flee instinct. Everyone stands around as more hatching sounds are heard and a glowing white/yellow tinged creature appears.
» Rai approaches it and the creature opens its eyes and makes squeaky sounds following by mewing noises. Risheru exclaims, "wot is it!" or something to that effect and the creature eventually takes to the trio and become fast friends. After a while, the color of the creature changes to a blue color with white underbelly and a pinkish flange on its tail.
» The music changes from melodic to urgent when interlopers intrude on the party. They've been tracking the falling body and are there to grab the creature. Rai raises up arms and the first battle ensues on a grassy plain. The party is located on the bottom of the screen with the hatched iridescent egg behind them and five enemies are arrayed above them in the grassy area.
» The battle system is a familiar one to anyone who's played an S-RPG. Simple actions are selected from a menu and each attack is shown in fluid animation on screen. Once an attack is pulled off, the attacked opponent may attack back.
» Bandaids are available to heal party members for 30HP.
» Either d-pad or L-analog may be used to move.
» When an enemy is killed, it explodes into a column of light. After each battle, the winnings of items are shown along with distribution of experience points.
» To end a turn, press START and select the top option.
» After defeating the brigands, the baby creature takes an attraction to Rai and looks to him as a parental figure of sorts.
» When the first battle is over, the gang returns to the inn where a save prompt appears. Play time is 1:04 as of the first save point.
» Chapter 2 is subtitled, "You Little Dickens."
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