The Sword of Etheria
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| OZ / The Sword of Etheria | |
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 The Official Japanese and PAL Cover art. Depicts the characters: Fiel(right), Almira(middle) and Leon(left). |
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| Developer(s) | KCET |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date | JPN June 30, 2005 KOR July 21, 2005 PAL February 24, 2006 Re-release JPN January 26, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Beat 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | PEGI : 12+, CERO : 12/B |
| Media | 1 DVD |
The Sword of Etheria, released in Japan as OZ (OZ -オズ- Ozu?), is a Beat Em' Up/Action Adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 by Konami, developed by the same team who created Suikoden III and most of the Castlevania games. It was released on June 30th, 2005 in Japan, July 21st, 2005 in Korea and on February 24th, 2006 in Europe. It was re-released as a Konami Best Hit in Japan on Januarary 26th, 2006.
The game's Japanese title OZ, literally means Over Zenith which is shown in the opening sequence of the Japanese version of the game. It is also the text that apppears when the Tension gauge is maxed out which also explains its definition of "Surpassing the Peak".
The most thought of reason why The Sword of Etheria was not released in the U.S, could have been the presentation of the sales of the game in Japan or might simply be the rejection of SCEA to the game itself, due to its gameplay.[citation needed]
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[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Prologue
The story sets off with visions of unexplainable things. Cain, Leon and Almira fight monsters yet it is unclear of what really is happening.
[edit] Main story
Fiel ("Feel" in the Japanese version), a boy who lost his parents at an early age, grew up with his younger sister Dorothy together with their cat Toto, dwelling in a world of humans, gods and spiritual creatures called the Katenas. Trying to bring down mankind, the gods have drained the planet of 'Etheria' (its energy source) and taken control of the Katenas.
Later on, a group of Katenas and monsters attacks the village Fiel is living in and kidnaps Dorothy by monsters called "Volo". Fiel then must save her with the help of two other Katenas, Almira and Leon. Thus entering the threats present within the grasp of the gods.[1]
[edit] Gameplay
In The Sword of Etheria the player controls Fiel as the protagonist where he will be partnered by Almira and Leon, who are both AI-controlled characters but each given their own individual HP gauge. The Sword of Etheria offers a new distinct battle system to the Beat 'em up genre which is a real-time gameplay where the player will perform a launch attack on enemies which bashes them into the air and multi-hit arial combos could be performed whilst the enemy is in thin-air as if juggling them in the air. With the assistance of both Almira and Leon, stronger and better combos could be performed.
A 'Tension' gauge will be shown in right part of the screen which will be indicating the player's performance with combos. It increases by chaining arial combos and decreases if a large delay gap is present in-between attacks. In addition to this, a 'Deathblow' could be performed altogether by Fiel, Almira and Leon as a final blow to mutiple enemies when a 'hint' displays on the screen. As the game progresses, the Tension gauge will level up and will be longer, thus given the ability to use more powerful Deathblows. If the gauge rises to Level 3, maxing out the gauge will display "Over Zenith" which is also the name of the strongest Deathblow that could be performed.
The Sword of Etheria focuses deeply in its battle system and story which is divided by Chapters and presents Animé looking characters. Stages vary from typical forests fields, villages to different kinds of dungeons.
A special bonus chapter is playable when certain requirements are met. In that chapter, the three main characters portrays some of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz characters but neglects storyline. Fiel as Tin Man, Almira as Scarecrow and Leon as Lion.
[edit] Characters
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
The story revolves around the three main characters. Fiel the main protagonist, Almira and Leon who are Katenas. Their mission is to save Dorothy, Fiel's sister who was kidnapped by the monsters. Fiel could use an extraordinary power with the help of Toto, their cat who could transform into Lex, which can be used as a weapon.
However, they will be opposed by Vitis, Galumn and Juju. Three other Katenas who are under the influence and control of the gods.
[edit] Character design
The game features characters designed by Fumi Ishikawa, character designer from the Suikoden series.
[edit] Music
The game's intro song is called "Polovtsian Dances and Chorus" and was performed by Martha Matsuda. A remix version of the song was featured in Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME 2, another game by Konami.
An original soundtrack which was composed by Michiru Yamane and arranged by Naoto Suzuki was released on July 20, 2005 in Japan with a catalog number of GFCA-3~4.
[edit] Voice Cast
[edit] Japanese
- Atsushi Kisaichi as Fiel
- Atsuko Tanaka as Almira
- Gō Shinomiya as Leon
- Tetsu Inada as Vitis
- Noriko Minagawa as Juju
- Hisao Egawa as Galumn
- Ikuji Nose as Cain
- Minoru Inaba as Toto
- Akane Ōmae as Dorothy
[edit] English
- Steven Jay Blum as Vitis
- Peter van Hoof as Galumn
- Amanda Winn Lee as Almira[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- Some characters are named after the story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Namely Dorothy, Almira, Leon (Lion) and Toto.
- Some costumes that can be bought in-game are from various games made by Konami. This includes Suikoden III, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and Silent Hill 3[3].
- The music in Chapter 6 is rather a remix or a modified version of Suikoden IV OST's "Epilogue ~For the 108 Stars~".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Konami OZ Site (Japanese)
- Oz at GameFAQs
- OZ at the Internet Movie Database
