Knights of Xentar

Knights of Xentar
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Series Dragon Knight
Platform(s) MS-DOS, PC-9801, FM Towns, X68000, PC Engine CD
Release
  • JP: 1991 (Dragon Knight 3)
Genre(s) RPG, eroge
Mode(s) Single-player

Knights of Xentar is an eroge role-playing video game published for the MS-DOS in North America by Megatech Software in 1995 and has been originally published as Dragon Knight III in Japan in 1991. It is part of the Dragon Knight series of games created by Japanese game developer ELF, who originally released the game for the NEC PC-9801 computer in 1991, followed by ports for the Sharp X68000 and PC Engine CD platforms.

The game is a sequel of Dragon Knight and Dragon Knight II. Its gameplay system is different from that of previous installments of the Dragon Knight series, resembling this of the early Final Fantasy (even more in the PC version) series instead of first-person-view dungeon crawler, and enabling the player to explore the entire world of the game. Some of the characters were renamed in the English and German localized Knights of Xentar release, including the protagonist Takeru's name changed to Desmond.

Gameplay

Knights of Xentar is a humorous JRPG eroge (meaning it has erotic content). The RPG system is completely different from that of the previous games in the Dragon Knight series. The player travels with a top-down view on the world map, visiting towns and dungeons (including Strawberry Fields and Phoenix from the first two games, Dragon Knight and Dragon Knight II respectively). The game's quest is nearly two times longer than the series' first episode.[1]

The enemy encounters are random and the battles are displayed in a side-view style similar to other Japanese RPGs such as Final Fantasy. The battles are partially automated with the enemies and characters attacking each other in real-time. A battle can be paused at any time to cast a spell, use an item, or change attack style through a list of AI scripts.[2] There are eight levels of attack strength, each with its advantages and disadvantages (for example, more powerful attack levels require more time).

The game features cartoonish cut scenes, many of which contain nude erotic images - the girls the main character encounters and helps will often feel grateful and award him with sexual favors. However, there are no explicit hardcore sex scenes in the game and the girls' genital areas are censored as in most eroge games.

Plot

The main character is a young warrior named Desmond (known as Takeru in the Japanese version). After liberating Strawberry Fields from a demon's curse and saving the girls of city of Phoenix from an evil witch in his previous adventures, Desmond finds himself in a situation unworthy of his heroic status: robbers have taken all his possessions, including his magic sword, and even his clothes! So the first task for the unsuccessful hero is to get some money. Luckily, the mayor has an assignment for him, for which he is also willing to pay. Desmond accepts the assignment without knowing what it will lead to - traveling all over the world, fighting fearsome enemies, encountering beautiful women, and solving a mystery that will also reveal the secret of his own true identity.

Release

Knights of Xentar was the second hentai RPG released by Megatech Software after Cobra Mission and remains the only Dragon Knight game to be ever released outside Japan. A CD-ROM "full talkie" version was also produced.

In the Megatech version of the game, the names of the two main characters were changed: Baan as he was known in the Japanese version was changed to Rolf and Takeru, the main hero of the game, was changed to Desmond. The dialogue was also modified, having a major localization overhaul in the same manner that Working Designs approached in translating several JRPGs. For example, the North American release's dialogue included many American pop culture references and jokes, and several times broke the fourth wall with the Megatech script writers even joining in the heroes' conversation. Desmond's partners, Rolf and Luna, and even some of the girls Desmond meets make fun of him cruelly.

Megatech released two versions of this game: NR-13 and NR-18 (USK 12 and USK 16 in Germany), and the NR-13 version can be upgraded to the NR-18 via a software patch. The NR-18 version is the uncensored version whereas the NR-13 is censored in that all the nude girls had their private parts covered up by hands or clothing and some of the crude, crass dialogue was edited as well.

References

  1. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly 43 (February 1993), page 64
  2. ↑ Dragon Knight III: Staff Review, Honest Gamers.
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