| Guardian War | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Micro Cabin |
| Publisher(s) | Matsushita Electric Corporation of America |
| Designer(s) | Masashi Kato (not the Olympic Swimmer) Kenzo Furuya Shinji Ishikawa |
| Composer(s) | Yasufumi Fukuda Yukiharu Urita |
| Platform(s) | 3D0 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) |
|
| Media/distribution | 1 CD-ROM |
Guardian War is a console RPG or tactical role-playing game released for the 3DO console. It is notable for its use of 3-D animation which was uncommon for console RPGs at the time. It is also known as Powers Kingdom (パワーズキングダム - Pawazu kingudamu)[2] in Japan and Europe.
Contents |
The player controls a golem who was awakened by the Goddess Erald which is fighting against Azrael, the Evil Lord.
In this strategy game you move your party around a linear map and when you are ready you can engage enemies in a "hostile" territory (called fields in the game), very much like that of Final Fantasy Tactics. When you enter a territory you move around a flat isometric grid world as single character until you come in range of an enemy. Once engaged in combat your party splits up into a default formation or a formation that you have planned out beforehand in your settings. Melee and ranged attacks have various ranges and area of effects. To continue moving along the trail you must defeat all the monsters in each territory that is blocking your path. Some side territories (called fields in the game) cannot be cleared and are used as a way to continue leveling your characters.
As you continue you collect more golems who you awaken along your travel to help you fight and join your party as a new character. This is the only way you can attain new members in your party that you can control.
Along the trails there are places where you can stop and buy items like weapons and accessories to equip. However, the most interesting equipping option are additional golem bodies which are classes or jobs. These can be applied to each one of your characters. They all have their pros and cons and effect your stats and as well as your skills. Each character can carry 3 bodies utilizing the classes. The primary slot determines how you look and your overall stat configuration. For instance if you choose a knight as your primary slot your characters defense and hit points will be much higher than that of a character who's primary class is a wizard. Additionally experience gained from killing monsters also applies to your class in your primary slot. This will allow you later on to upgrade from a lower class body to an upper class body. For example when you have earn enough levels as a Knight you can now equip a Paladin body, giving you new skills and effecting your overall stats. Later in the upper classes there will be skills that can only be applied if you have another character with a compatible combination skill, where one character will target another one of your members in your party that has a compatible skill and the other member's turn is ready it can cast its special skill. Also while you are moving around in a territory, if your main character's primary body is a bird class it can fly and avoid certain obstacles.
There are some rare items in the game that can allow you to try to persuade an enemy NPC to join your party. If you are successful the NPC will join your party and you will be able to use the NPC throughout the game. The NPC will also gain EXP when you kill monsters. The only draw back is that the NPC will continue to fight as an NPC as in Non Player Controlled. It will remain your ally, but when it is the NPC's turn to attack it will chose which enemy and what skill to attack with. The game finishes when you have reached the end of your journey and vanquish the end boss, Azrael.
Notable features include:
When a golem has reached level 5 in their lower class body they will be able to equip the upper class bodies.
Levels are as follows.
| Lower Class | Description | Upper Class Dark | Upper Class Light |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knight | Powerful sword attack | Dark Knight | Paladin |
| Archer | Arrow attack | Death Archer | Bow Knight |
| Priest | Strong in light magic | Dark Priest | Messiah |
| Shaman | Uses unknown magic | Dark Shaman | Master Shaman |
| Birdman | Quick movement and flies | Devil Bird | Garuda |
| Wizard | Strong in offensive magic | Black Sorcerer | Sage |
| Ninja | Assassin | Ninja Master | |
| Samurai | Black Swordsman | Samurai Lord | |
| Fishman | Neptune |
| Weapon Type | Name | Used By | Location | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sword | Long Sword | Knight | Equipped from the start. | +16 ATK |
| Sword | Lunark Sword | Knight | 1st shop | +25 ATK |
| Sword | Gajjet Sword | Knight | Shrine of Fall | +43 ATK |
| Sword | Emperor Sword | Knight | 4th Shop | +75 ATK, +2 SPD |
| Sword | Darkness Sword | Knight | West Gazuto | +97 ATK |
| Sword | Dragon Slayer | Knight | 5th Shop | +122 ATK, +4 SPD |
| Sword | Paladin Sword | Knight | Shining Sea of Measa | +200 ATK, +12 SPD |
| Sword | Soul Eater | Knight | Mushroom Forest | +270 ATK, +13 SPD |
| Blade | Samurai Blade | Ninja and Samurai | Shrine of Fai | +20 ATK |
| Blade | Samurai Blade | Ninja and Samurai | 1st Shop | +30 ATK |
| Blade | Muramasa Blade | Ninja and Samurai | Shrine of Fall | +50 ATK |
| Blade | Izayoi Blade | Ninja and Samurai | 4th Shop | +80 ATK |
| Blade | Musashi Blade | Ninja and Samurai | Shisu Shrine | +165 ATK, +2 SPD |
| Blade | Mifune Blade | Ninja and Samurai | Shining Sea of Measa | +225 ATK |
| Blade | Kamikaze Blade | Ninja and Samurai | Medford Cave | +310 ATK, +25 SPD |
| Mace | Mace | Priest | Punching weapon but its attack power is not strong. | |
| Mace | Ark Mace | Priest | Magic power goes up if you use it. | |
| Rod | Rod | Wizard and Shaman | Attacking power is considerably weak. | |
| Rod | Devil Rod | Wizard and Shaman | Has strong power. Not recommendable regarding the character's ability value. (parameter) | |
| Sickle | Sickle | Birdman | Small weapon. | |
| Sickle | Cyclone Sickle | Birdman | Has Wind power. Not available at SHOP. | |
| Arrow | Bow | Archer and Fishman | Small arrow made of wood. Attacking power is weak. | |
| Arrow | Critical Bow | Archer and Fishman | Very special arrow to raise hitting rate. Not available at the SHOP. | |
| Shield | Clay Shield | All | Small shield made of soil. Defense power is weak. | +20 DEF |
| Shield | Battle Shield | All | ???? | +30 DEF |
| Shield | Herukey Shield | All | ???? | +50 DEF |
| Shield | Mirror Shield | All | ???? | +80 DEF |
| Shield | Black Shield | All | ???? | +99 DEF |
| Shield | Crystal Shield | All | Power shield made of mineral crystal. Best Defense. | +130 DEF |
| Shield | Holy Shield | All | ???? | +200 DEF |
| Shield | Paladin Shield | All | ???? | +270 DEF, +14 SPD |
| Shield | Demon Shield | All | ???? | +300 DEF |
| Fire Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Ball | close | one | Shoot Fireballs. |
| Fire | close | one | Pillar of fire burns. Gives great Damage. |
| Fire Burst | medium | all | Many pillars of fire burn. Gives extraordinary damage. |
| Flame-birds | long | all | ???? |
| Meteor Strike | long | all | Shooting stars fall on enemies. |
| Bomb | medium | one | Explodes and damages |
| Atomic Bomb | long | all | ???? |
| Lightning Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder | close | one | Thunder strikes. |
| Thunderburst | medium | all | Thunder strikes entire area. |
| Plasma Ball | close | one | Thunder ball. Gives an electric shock. |
| Plasma Burst | medium | all | ???? |
| Wind Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | close | one | Gives damage by spinning the enemy. |
| Storm | medium | all | A big tornado rolls the entire place. |
| Water Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whirlpool | close | one | A whirlpool occurs and damages target. |
| Maelstrom | medium | all | A huge whirlpool damages all targeted enemies. |
| Big Wave | long | all | ???? |
| Darkness Clouds | ? | ? | Oxidize the enemy by acid clouds. |
| Earth Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Rolling | long | all | ???? |
| Earthquake | long | all | Give damage by huge earthquake. |
| Stone | close | one | Turn enemy into stone. |
| Light Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healing | medium | one | Heals targeted allies. |
| Whole Healing | close | all | Heals all targeted allies. |
| Holy Light | close | one | Holy light damages target. |
| Holy Ark | medium | all | ???? |
| Genesis | long | all | ???? |
| Dark Type | Range | Area of effect | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drain Energy | medium | one | The mysterious light deprives HP from the enemy. |
| Lost Energy | close | all | The mysterious light deprives HP from all the enemies. |
| Black Light | close | one | The Light of Darkness damages target. |
| Black Burst | medium | all | ???? |
| Apocalypse | long | all | ???? |
The two chief composers of Guardian War's music were Yasufumi Fukuda and Yukiharu Urita.
The game received fairly positive reviews. The game received two awards in GameFan's 1994 "Megawards" (Vol 3, Iss. 1)[4]