Azure Dreams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the PlayStation game. For information on its Game Boy Color port, see Other Life: Azure Dreams.
| Azure Dreams | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) | 30 June 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
Azure Dreams is a PlayStation video game developed by Konami and released on 30 June 1998. The game was ported onto the Game Boy Color as Other Life: Azure Dreams. The semi-sequel, Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal, was released in the US on 21 March 2006 on the Nintendo DS.
[edit] Story
The game involves a boy named Koh from the town of Monsbaiya, which is set at the foot of the gigantic Monster Tower, which houses a plethora of monsters and bizarre creatures. At the age of fifteen, the Koh has come of age and is entitled to enter the tower to slay monsters and live up to his missing father's reputation, his father being the greatest monster hunter who ever lived.
[edit] Gameplay
The game offers a lot of choice in respect to how individual players wish to play. The main focus of the game is entering the tower and destroying its denizens, collecting treasure and monster eggs to hatch into familiars but an interesting side mission is the improvement of the town of Monsbaiya. With his acquired riches, Koh can finance the building of theatres, hospitals, racing tracks, and more. He can also improve the furnishings and facilities of virtually any building in the town. You are also given the option of pursuing romantic ambitions in his life. There are seven chracters with which you may develope a relation ship, from tomboy Nico, to stuck up selfish Selfi. In the Japanese version it was also possible to woo the main antagonist, a pathetically weak man by the name of Ghosh.
Every time Koh leaves the Tower he loses whatever level he reached, however any familiars hatched outside the Tower retain their current level. Thus progress through the higher levels relies on strengthening the familiars. Furthermore once in the Tower there are only three ways of exiting it. 1) If Koh 'dies' within the Tower he revives outside but loses all equipment he carried. 2) A familiar can be sacrificed using a specific item found within the Tower and Koh escapes retaining all other equipment. 3) Most preferably a Wind Crystal can be found in the Tower that allows escape from the Tower.
Another unique point of Azure Dreams is the random map generator - every time Koh enters the Monster Tower, the levels are randomly generated (similar to the "Ancient Dungeon" in Lufia II, or the dungeons in Diablo, or the dungeons in Chunsoft's Fushigi no Dungeon series), so as to make every monster-hunting experience different. Added to this is the sheer number of levels within the tower to create what can become very long and detailed gaming experiences.
In many ways, the main dungeon of Azure Dreams is a graphical Roguelike; the game is turn-based, with one move or one attack corresponding to one turn (e.g.; when the player takes a step, the enemy monsters also take a step). The randomly generated dungeons and treasures are also a primary feature of Roguelikes. The familiars are not unlike the pets of NetHack, although the familiars of Azure Dreams can be directly controlled through the menu.
