NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
The land of Foo suffers from a millennial curse.
Every 1000 years, a dark knight returns and raises
demons in a bid to destroy all that is good and
wholesome in the world. The last time out, the dark
knight managed to wreck Foo pretty good but he was
beaten back by a hero known as Blade Dancer. This
time around, Blade's gone but four new heroes rise
up to meet the challenge. The hero of the adventure
is a knight named Lance who starts the game on his
back. He's lounging aboard a ship that's sailing
towards Foo and his little pet creature also lounges
along with him. As the sight of land appears, Lance
gets a little excited and prepares to disembark.
Once on Foo, conversations with citizens give a few
clues as to what's afoot and how menacing monsters
have begun appearing in greater numbers outside the
walls of the town...
Blade Dancer features 3D roaming action where Lance runs and
interacts with supporting characters. At the outset,
there's not much to do inside the town other than
gather information and open a few treasure chest.
Upon leaving the safe confines of the city walls
however, encounters with monsters are plentiful.
Once a battle starts, attack opportunities are
governed by a little sphere that moves clockwise in
the lower left portion of the screen. Each time the
sphere makes one complete revolution, an exclamation
mark pops up and Lance may choose to attack, use an
item, or vamoose if the battle is going against him.
One on one battles against foes are quick but as
more monsters clutter the battlefield, the little
sphere moves slower as each opposing beasts gets a
turn to attack. As monsters are destroyed, they'll
add a little bit to the Luna gauge located at the
top of the battle screen. Luna is used for casting
magic spells in the world of Foo.
NCS
Game Notes
» At the title screen, the options are:
New Game > Start an adventure with a
swordsman named Lance
Load Game > Restore save data from memory stick
Network > Requires Online Connection
Homepage > Requires Online Connection
» In the save and restore screen, the
protagonist Lance is shown hefting his sword above
his head while the reflection of Tess the elf archer
appears on the blade.
» In the intro to the game, Lance and friends
are shown in serene settings on top of mesas, on
their ship (accompanied by seagulls), and other
locales. In one sequence, Lance pulls Tess up from
the ground on top of a hill and the two stare out
into the distance while petals fly through the air.
They're eventually joined by Gozen and Felis and the
whole gang stands there. Afterwards, Lance is shown
fighting like a demon and is featured in a face to
face against the dark knight. The song that plays in the cinematic
introduction is "Mirai e"
by mao. The title translates to "To the future."
» After starting a game, another intro starts
where the camera swoops down and engages a face to
face meeting between the hero Lance and red-haired
girl named Tess as whitish orbs shimmer in the air
and columns of light gleam in the background. Soon
afterwards, Lance is seen lounging on a galleon as
his pet sits close by. The little beast looks like a
white feline of some sort with big ears that point
downwards, a furry collar, and a tail that looks
like a wispy feather. As the ship courses through
the water, a camera shot shows the little pet
standing on the front mast of the ship while Lance
is on deck. Both are staring at the land mass that's
in the distance and the hero expresses his glee that
their destination is near.
» Controls are standard RPG triggers as follows:
Analog Nub / Character movement
D-pad / Camera movement
L-Trigger / Rotate camera clockwise
R-Trigger / Rotate camera counter-clockwise
TRIANGLE / Bring up menu screen for weapon,
stats, items, etc
SQUARE / Targeting cursor
CIRCLE / Action button
SELECT / Map overlay
» Upon disembarking, the sound of water lapping
against the wharf may be heard and control is handed
over to the player. Lance may run around town,
explore, and speak to NPCs. To talk to a person,
target him or her with the SQUARE button and press
the "O" button to trigger a conversation. This
targeting system is also used to open doors and
treasure chests. The designers made what was
essentially one-button-press actions into
two-button-press action. Instead of stepping in
front of a character and pressing the "O" button to
talk, you have to press SQUARE and then O to chat.
If there's any advantages to the system that
Hitmaker/SCE
decided to use, it's that when walking around a
town, pressing the SQUARE button will show which
doors or items are available for interaction that
might not be readily apparent when rushing through
an area. Another advantage is long distance talking
- you no longer have to sidle right next to a
character to engage and you can stand a few feet
away to trigger a conversation. This also applies to
opening doors.
» When traveling, pressing the SELECT button plops a
transparent map over the center of the screen. If
you move, your position on the map will move also.
However, SCE botched the design aspect of the
overhead map. Instead of positioning the map to the
right side of the screen when called upon, it sits
right in the middle of the screen and blocks your
view of the action.
» The world is designed well if not a bit drab.
Lance's animation is smooth when he jaunts around
the oceanside city but there were times when we
would have liked a button to hold down to speed up
the movement. The pace is very measured and
deliberate.
» In the Now Loading screen, Lance's little pet is
showcased on the lower left corner of the screen in
various states of repose.
» To save your progress, find the whirling blue
circle on the ground and press the SQUARE button to
create a save data file.
» When out of town and in the wilderness, creatures
may be seen as they amble up in the distance. The
first bunch of monsters appear as skulls which roam
around the countryside. If you're in a hurry and
aren't in the mood for battle, you can avoid them
but if they spot you, they'll chase you around with
jaws snapping. Once a battle starts, Lance is viewed
from behind and enemies are arrayed in the
background. When an enemy attacks, the view shifts
to a side view of the action as the foe's blow is
shown in full animated motion. The players attacks
are also shown from a side view where each attack is
animated in short sequences. The battle is
turn-based where each side takes a turn at attacking
until the other is dead. Before an attack can be
made, a little indicator on the lower left portion
of the screen must show an exclamation mark. Up
until that time, a little yellow sphere moves in a
clockwise direction until the mark appears. After
the creatures are defeated, Lance exults and
continues on his way.
» Monsters regenerate very quickly and the
countryside is soon filled with moving skulls after
you've plowed through them the first time around. Of
course, this is very useful when you're in need of
experience and gold. After you've gained a certain
level of stature, you'll have to chase the skulls
since they'll start running away from you instead of
preying on you.
» When a serpent is killed, it writhes realistically
in a dance of death.
» In the
world of Foo, all weapons eventually suffer the
rigors of normal wear and tear. At the outset of the
game, you'll have a single sword but additional
blades may be purchased at the smithy. NCS
recommends purchasing 3-5 extra weapons when you
have the gold since all of your weapons will
eventually crumble during the course of battle. If
you're without weaponry, Lance has to resort to
fisticuffs which isn't as effective as a bladed
weapon.
» Up to
four players may join the game for cooperative
action. The four characters in the game are Lance,
Tess, Gozen, and Felis.
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