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The Spirit Engine
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Developer(s)	Mark Pay
Platform(s)	Windows
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	8/10 from http://www.GameHippo.com
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse

The Spirit Engine is a two-dimensional sidescrolling rpg that combines an innovative gameplay system with rich graphics, a soundtrack composed by Josh Whelchel with contributions by Nobuyuki` and Yoshiman, and a deep storyline. The current version is version 1.03, which was released on December 26, 2003. The official website can be found at http://tse.natomic.com.

Contents 1 Game play 1.1 Combat 2 The Game Environment 2.1 Giant’s Toe 2.1.1 Enemies 2.2 Pansylvania 2.2.1 Enemies 2.3 Banana Republic 2.3.1 Enemies 2.4 The Mystic Dunes 2.4.1 Enemies 2.5 Clarke's Tower 2.5.1 Enemies 2.6 The end 3 Characters 3.1 Riflemen 3.1.1 Peter 3.1.2 Edward 3.1.3 Samuel 3.2 Mages 3.2.1 Clara 3.2.2 Pippa 3.2.3 Eisfford 3.3 Priests 3.3.1 Clementas 3.3.2 Zepher 3.3.3 Matthieu 4 Notes

[edit] Game play

The game has three separate views that the player will interact with. The first interface that the player encounters is the main side-scrolling view. In this view, the player can see their three-person party in a two-dimensional environment, lead by a floating spirit. By clicking on either side of the spirit or using the arrow keys, the player can control the spirit and the party will follow behind. If the spirit is close enough to certain items or people, the party will either interact with them automatically, or the player can click on them to interact. If the spirit wanders too close to a group of enemies, the second interface will be activated. The second interface is the combat interface. The spirit is immobile during combat, however the party itself comes into play. Using the buttons that appear at the start of combat, the player can direct their party to victory. The battle screen uses the same graphics view as the main side-scrolling view. The player can exit either side of the areas in the main side-scrolling view. Doing this activates the Map screen. From the map screen, the player can select adjacent areas to travel to. The graphics of the map screens consist of small-scale representations of the party members on a backdrop which shows the world at large. Besides these three views, there are interfaces with which the player can customize their party.

[edit] Combat

The system for combat in The Spirit Engine is an innovative blend of standard turn-based RPG combat and real-time combat. The two teams are lined up on either side of the screen. On one side is the player’s three people, on the other side are the enemies currently being fought. Anywhere between one and three enemies can be fought at one time. The battle system is similar to traditional RPG systems in that movement is extremely limited. The player can rotate the three party members: changing who is in front, in the middle, and in the back; that is the only movement possible during combat. The actions, however, all happen in real-time. Each action has a set amount of time that it takes, which can be a strategic point: pick an action that can be performed quickly, or a more time-consuming action that is overall more powerful. Each character, monster or other combatant has a unique set of actions that they can draw from. Actions range from simple attacks to effects such as immobilizing an enemy to aiding oneself or one’s friends. The player’s characters’ actions begin relatively weak, but can be improved by investing skill points. When the player’s party gains enough experience through defeating enemies, it will gain a level. Higher level parties have more powerful actions in general, however each individual character gains one skill point when the party increases in level. These skill points allow the player to specialize their party members. In some cases, the player may pick two characters which have the same actions available, but each character has individual strengths and weaknesses that differentiate the power sets.

[edit] The Game Environment

Template:Spoiler The game is separated into five separate worlds. Each "world" is actually a partition of one large planet, and contains its own distinct characters, enemies, and plot points.

[edit] Giant’s Toe

Giant’s Toe is a temperate island whose outstanding feature is a large mountain in the southeast, where airships arrive and depart. The game begins here. The introductory sequence keeps most of the plot a mystery: the player learns only that a corporation named ‘Frontier,’ headed by a woman named Angelina May, has commenced a mining operation, and some mistake caused an explosion in the mine, killing many. The player is briefly introduced to each character that they selected, each being teleported to a secluded area of Giant’s Toe.

[edit] Enemies

Template:Spoiler-blank Kippon:
Kippons form a large portion of the local fauna. These strange creatures are composed of an enormous egg-shaped head supported by a ring of tiny tentacles. Kippons are normally quite docile, but something on the island has stirred them into a rage. There are three different types of kippons. Junior kippons are the first creatures that the player ever encounters. They are weaker than the second type, warrior kippons. Both junior and warrior kippons feature a mouth with many sharp fangs. The final type of kippon is the mama kippon, which lacks a mouth, instead attacking by rolling its bulky body at foes or firing small bursts of magic.

Porcupig:

Porcupigs resemble overgrown porcupines with red and blue spines. They can launch their entire rack of spines simultaneously in an intimidating blast, then instantly regrow a new set.

Torfly:

Torflies are giant wasp-like creatures that attack by either rushing forward to sting their enemies or firing a stream of magic energy.

Grundlekrunk:

This creature was unearthed by Frontier, and terrorizes the land of Giant’s Toe. It resides normally in a cave, and appears at first to be a black kippon with blue tentacles. However, when cornered, it expands into an enormous grotesque figure, sprouting two huge arms. The Grundlekrunk attacks by hurling itself at its opponents, and squirting a rain of bubble-like projectiles over them. It can also rest to regain health.

Frostwolf:

These enormous white wolves inhabit the slopes of the mountain. They can attack by rolling forward and crushing people, or breathing icy cold breath on their opponents.

Abombnable snowman:

Abominable snowmen also inhabit the icy ridge, and will fiercely attack anything that comes near. They, like the Grundlekrunk, can regain a small amount of health by resting.

Ice Shaman:

Ice shamans are little magic using creatures that can call down a snowstorm to attack, or freeze people in place.

Hermit mage:

This crazy old hermit lives on the mountain of Giant's Top, and has taken the Airfield hostage. He has an immunity to magic attacks, as well as a shield that will resist a small amount of physical attack. He attacks using various magic spells, including the freeze spell used by ice shamans.

[edit] Pansylvania

Template:Spoiler A short airship ride lands our heroes in Pansylvania, a country dominated by marshland. The adventurers unfortunately arrive in the middle of the "Witching weeks," a period of time where dark magic and undead run rampant.

[edit] Enemies

Template:Spoiler-blank Skeleton:

Skeletons are corpses from which all the flesh has rotted, animated by dark magic, which wield shovels.

Fetid zombie:

Fetid zombies are corpses animated by dark magic, which have mastered the art of poisonous projectile vomit.

Ghost:

Ghosts are unhappy spirits which wander the world. They cannot be affected by physical attacks, but they can manifest themselves in order to attack foes.

Adrian's Ghost:

Annabelle asks you to put her husband's spirit to rest. Adrian's ghost is like all other ghosts, except a little more powerful.

Gargoyle:

Gargoyles are grotesque animated stone statues. they attack by hurling themselves at their opponents and breathing magic onto them. They cannot be harmed by energy-based attacks.

Skeleton fairy:

Skeleton fairies float on magic wings, and fire small magic particles at their enemies. They can also curse opponents, making all their attacks half as powerful.

Pulsating gelatinous ooze:

The pulsating gelatinous ooze is a resident of an arachnid grove. It first traps available prey with blobs of gel, then slowly devours them. It is impervious to all forms of attack. The object is not to defeat it, but to get away as quickly as possible.

Eye spider:

The eye spider is a large arachnid that attacks by hurling various blobs at its opponents. It fires green blobs to deal damage, and white blobs in order to immobilize them.

Snack:

Snack is an annoying little imp that has stolen the key to the church, where you are trying to get. He tells your party that he will play a game with them, then leads them to a dilapidated bridge, where he attacks. He has three methods of doing so. First, he will simply attack with his pitchfork. He can also damage your entire party simultaneously by firing a lightning blast from his weapon. Finally, he can phase out of reality, becoming completely untouchable. He will eventually come back to reality, but before doing so he will unleash an immensely powerful attack onto a random opponent. This final attack makes him a very dangerous adversary.

Imp:

Inside the church, you will find many imps. These are almost identical to Snack, except that they are weaker, cannot phase out of reality, and have a red coloration.

Bogeyman:

Bogeymen appear alongside imps in the defiled church. These creatures, like Snack, can phase out of reality, however they do not unleash any attack before becoming corporeal again.

Neru the elder demon:

Neru is an enormous demon that is summoned by Father Belfidius^[1]
to defeat your party. While the father sits in the background, healing his demon, Neru will pound you with everything he's got. He will throw fireballs at you, cause a fissure to open under your group, damaging all members, and summon suicide imps. The suicide imps will run forward and detonate on your party unless you take them out fast enough.

After you defeat Neru, the wizard Felran is released. He teleports the trio to the other side of Snack's bridge, and gives them a small bit of advice before going on his way.

Dundee, Alaiyena, and Sampson:

These people are all bounty hunters hired to kill your party. Dundee and Sampson carry rifles, while Alaiyena uses magic to attack. The difficulty associated with these people is that they are like another adventuring group; they wear armor, recharge and use a variety of abilities, and can rotate their party if the person in front is wounded.

[edit] Banana Republic

Template:Spoiler After escaping from Pansylvania, the adventurers run to the Banana Republic. They arrive in the middle of a revolutionary war. Rampant giant animals, war between the government, rebels, and the indigenous people, an assassination attempt, and more background on Frontier are all to be found here.

[edit] Enemies

Template:Spoiler-blank Black Ooze:

Black oozes are strange constructs which are impervious to physical harm. They will sumberge their arms in the ground to make a surprise attack against your party, or summon a black ooze polyp. The polyp does nothing but sit there and provide a shield against frontal attack.

Assasin:

These mercenaries have two methods of attacking, besides the default charge and attack. They will spin and throw darts randomly, which can be interrupted by landing a hit on them, and they will also fly into the air, striking down upon a target of their choosing.

Crossbone:

Crossbone is the boss of the assasins. He has all the attacks of the regular assasin, with an increase in power of course, plus he is orbited by three stars which will fly at your party and explode when he is hurt enough. He is fought twice in the game: once in the government building, and another time deep in the jungle.

Scissor crab:

These large aquatic creatures attack with their enormous claws, and their hard exoskeleton provides a level of resistance against physical attacks.

Giant clam:

These huge clams will alternate between firing pearls at your party and hiding within its invulnerable outer shell.

Sea mare:

Sea mares are sea horses imbued with magic that allows them to hover and exist out of water, as well as call upon magic to destroy its foes.

Sham tikki:

The sham tikki are the natives of this region. Like the kippons, there are three types of sham tikki. Braves are small tikki that fire poison darts at their enemies. Brutes are enormous creatures that will either charge their enemies, or cause minor earthquakes by slamming the ground. Shamans can conjure magic shields, fire bursts of magic, and raise fallen tikki as zombies. The zombies can only charge blindly at their opponents.

Giant plant:

Giant carnivorous plants inhabit the jungle, which can drain mana from enemies with subterranean tentacles and fire barrages of thorn balls.

Sprite:

Sprites are free floating spirits. They are essentially more powerful forms of ghosts.

Gigliana:

Gigliana is an enormous version of a giant plant. Gigliana has the same thorn barrage as its little cousins, but it has its own attacks as well. It can raise tangling vines to hold people in place, conjure a mystic wind that drains mana from all of its opponents, and fire helicopter seeds that carry a deadly poison. During the battle, it will fluctuate between being vulnerable to physical and energy attacks and being resistant to them. As more and more damage is dealt, Gigliana will sink further and further into the ground, beginning at the height of an average tree.

After the battle, the sham tikki leader makes threatening advances on the party. He is scared off by Rick Brutal, a man who has managed to attain celebrity by taking credit for achievements that weren't his. One of these was the slaying of the Grundlekrunk, which he hoped he could make up for by saving the trio.

[edit] The Mystic Dunes

Template:Spoiler Upon escaping from the jungle, one of the party members will be informed that a loved one has been taken hostage, to be ransomed for the spirit. They bolt towards the rendezvous point, followed close behind by the other members who are trying to talk sense into them. The others finally win over, and they enter the town of Saline, discovering its citizens in the process of abandoning it. The reason is that a huge magical stone which normally hovered a ways above the surface had fallen and crushed a large portion of the town. The owner of the train station refuses the trio seats on the train, due to it being entirely booked. He mentions that a pair of valuable stones, the stars of elan, may change his mind, however. These stones happen to be hidden within this very desert.

[edit] Enemies

Template:Spoiler-blank Dune wraith:

The dune wraith will charge and attack with its scythe, and from time to time phase out of reality. While it is ethereal, it will fire beams that penetrate any shield.

Witchin:

The witchin alternates between firing blasts of magic and bestowing a curse identical to that of the skeleton fairy.

Shapeshifter:

The shapeshifter flips between the three kinds of attack: magic, physical, and energy. In each form, it fires attacks of that type and is impervious to that kind of damage.

Sand construct:

The sand construct is a huge being that can only be damaged by magic. It is particularly deadly when it is in front of other kinds of creatures.

Humbol:

In a magi retreat you find an old man, Aegin Warstick, who asks you to enter his pocket dimension and find his watch. If you accept his mission, the humbol is one of the enemies you will fight. The humbol spends most of its time sitting and recovering health, but will occasionally spit green blobs at you.

Jugon:

The jugon is the other kind of monster your will face in the parallel dimension. It will simply fire magic attacks at you constantly.

Granael:

Granael is a lonely beast, sitting atop his pedestal. His only accompaniment is two granlings, small pods on either side of him. During battle, the granlings fire yellow beams of energy to attack your party or green beams to heal Granael. Granael in turn fires blobs of magic and breathes ice, freezing one party member in place. He begins the battle vulnerable to magic, however during the battle this vulnerability slowly becomes armor against magic, and his attack rate becomes ever more rapid.

Tomb guard skeleton:

These are simply more powerful skeletons.

Ghoul:

These are simply more powerful ghosts.

Dry zombie:

These are simply more powerful fetid zombies, except they are vulnerable to magic.

Mumi:

Mumis are vulnerable to physical and energy damage, while resistant to magic. They alternate between firing magic stars and healing itself and its allies.

Frontier riottrooper:

The party member whose loved one was taken discovers that this person has died. Consequently, they kill a frontier official, then go on to fight one of these, along with a serpentine acolyte. Riottroopers are armed with a heavy riot shield, a pistol, and flash grenades.

Serpentine acolyte:

Serpentine Acolytes fire blobs of magic, like many magic opponents. However, they also have a life drain spell, which rapidly drains its target's health. The spell can be interrupted. Acolytes are invulnerable to magic attacks.

Familiar:

Familiars are small book-carrying creatures that have poisonous attacks.

Slave Reptilian:

Slave Reptilians are impervious to energy damage. They have the usual charge attack, along with the imp's lightning attack.

The Grandfather:

The grandfather is arguably one of the most powerful bosses in the game. He has three attacks. The first is the standard magic blob. He can also call down rains of runes from the sky which attack all three members. His most deadly attack is a spell that instantly halves a party member's health. The real danger comes when he is almost defeated, however. He encases himself in a completely impervious shield, and heals himself entirely before dropping the shield and resuming his offensive.

[edit] Clarke's Tower

Upon exiting the arcane library, the trio is confronted by Angelina May, backed by heavy artillery. She demands that they hand over the spirit. However, Felran appears and teleports them to Clarke's Tower, Frontier's headquarters. Inside the tower, a protest has gathered, headed by Rick Brutal. Rick decides that he wants to join the adventurers, saying that he wants to actually do the things he has pretended to do for so long.

[edit] Enemies

Template:Spoiler-blank Frontier riottrooper:
This world is populated with riottroopers, which were explained along with the enemies of the Mystic Dunes.

Servitor:
Servitors sit and gain health, and occasionally put up a shield for themselves and their allies.

Frontier heavyarms:
Heavyarms are exactly what their name implies. They carry huge laser cannons, which require a round of charging before they can be fired.

Frontier gunship zero:^[2]
This is the second of the two enemies in the game that are impossible to defeat. Instead, the aim is to survive a 90-floor ascent while it unloads its firepower onto the adventurers. It has three attacks. The first is a large chaingun, which deals heavy damage. The second is a missile launcher, which is slightly less effective than the chaingun. Finally, as the battle progresses, small drones begin to orbit the gunship and fire magic bursts at the party. The gunship cannot be defeated, but it can be damaged. At certain levels of damage, its two weapons will fall off, and after both have been destroyed it will fly away, giving a short rest period before it returns with heavier armor than before.

Magenik:
Mageniks are literally brains in jars. They are highly vulnerable to physical attacks but impervious to magic attacks. They attack using various kinds of magic.

Corporate defense weapon:
CPWs are essentially tanks. They have a chaingun similar to the one on the gunship, and are highly resistant to physical damage.

Mystic defense mechanism zeta:
Before you fight this, Angelina May reveals her past. She was from a highly technologically advanced universe which had designed and was testing a particle accelerator. She was part of this test, and as part of a malfunction was sent to this universe. She is attempting to unite the spirits in order to design a universe such that she can return to her home.
This is the final boss of the game. As with many other games, this boss has three forms in total. The boss itself is the huge brain in a jar. It is aided by two different defense mechanisms for the first two forms. For the first form, an impenetrable barrier sits between you and the boss. This barrier has two weapons: another chaingun, and a laser which attacks the entire group. From time to time, it will lift to the ceiling, allowing you to attack the CPU directly.
After enough damage has been dealt, the barrier is destroyed and replaced by a heavy shield. The shield also has two different weapons. It will fire missiles vertically which rain down on the party, and bombs forward that are similar to suicide imps, only much more dangerous.
Once enough damage has been dealt to that, the shield is destroyed and the CPU can be attacked directly for the remainder of the battle. Its only attack is to fire blobs of magic at you.
If your party starts running low on health, you will be joined by Tza-Tze. He is an extremely useful ally in this battle, able to withstand an extreme amount of punishment and dish out the same in return.

[edit] The end

Template:Spoiler After the CPU is destroyed, Angelina May attempts to join the spirits to recreate the universe. However, she is stopped by the good wizard Felran. He, however, goes on to freeze the entire party and join the spirits himself, hoping to use the spirits to create a universe that is perfect for him. However, the spirit that has lead the party for the length of the game decides to let the adventurers and Rick Brutal design the new universe instead because it had been with them and knew they were good candidates. The end result of the adventurer's designs is that the universe was set back to the way it had been before the entire adventure happened, and the spirits left, never to return. Rick also asked for the powers he had previously boasted of having. Template:Endspoiler

[edit] Characters

There are three types of characters that you can choose from in The Spirit Engine. There are riflemen, mages, and priests.

[edit] Riflemen

Riflemen have a variety of abilities pertaining to their rifles. They can, however, also heal themselves, throw dynamite, and lasso enemies, preventing them from attacking.

[edit] Peter

Peter is an arrogant, aristocratic boy who lives with his beloved father and butler. He has improved ability with sharpshoot and magic bullet, but is less proficient at recover and lasso.

[edit] Edward

Edward is a kind-hearted, naive and slightly clueless young man who works as a field hand. He has improved ability with power shot and dynamite, but is less proficient at speed fire and magic bullet.

[edit] Samuel

Samuel is a mysterious individual who used to work as a guard before he allowed a tragedy to happen. He lives his life trying to atone for his error. He has improved ability with recover and lasso, but is less proficient at sharpshoot and dynamite.

[edit] Mages

Mages use magic to perform their abilities. Most are attack powers, but they can also raise shields. One noteworthy ability is life drain, which is the only attack that does not have an attached type of damage. This means that it will go through invulnerabilities. It cannot harm undead or mechanical enemies, however.

[edit] Clara

Clara is a short-tempered bounty hunter who happens to have latent magical ability. She has improved ability with rock rain and life drain, but is less proficient at celestial lightning and rainbow.

[edit] Pippa

Pippa is a cheerful wingless faerie who lives at the magi retreat. She has improved ability with rainbow and magic shield, but is less proficient at life drain and kinetic smash.

[edit] Eisfford

Eisfford is a studious occupant of the arcane library. She has improved ability with celestial lightning and kinetic smash, but is less proficient at rock rain and magic shield.

[edit] Priests

Priests also carry rifles, but have many more specialized abilities. They can heal, give mana to, and bless their party, and use a variety of attacks that are especially powerful against undead creatures.

[edit] Clementas

Clementas is a bitter old priest of the Order of the Sunken Stone. He enjoys working with his apprentice, Michelle Seal, though he wouldn't care to admit it. He has improved ability with Silver bullet and holy bolt, but is less proficient at party heal and party bless.

[edit] Zepher

Zepher became a priest trying to find direction in a mostly aimless life. The most important thing for him is to help others. He has improved ability with party heal and party bless, but is less proficient at spirit summon and holy bolt.

[edit] Matthieu

Matthieu is the only priest in a small farming village. He owns a rifle but is not very skilled with it, preferring to resolve problems through intellectual means. He has improved ability with hand of the gods and party recharge, but is less proficient with rifle attack and silver bullet.

[edit] Notes

I compiled most of this information by playing through the game myself. However, I used the boss guide to verify a few enemy names.