Jan Code: 4988601005050
 

STORY MODE
   It's raining outside and thunder sounds off. A building appears followed by a dark creature with red eyes that shuffles along in the rain and stops to survey the town below as the thunder and lightning continues to blast in the background. The next day, blue skies span the horizon and all seems fine in the town but there's snow covering some parts. A guy named Ratov is chopping wood while two kids are looking on. After splitting a few logs in half, he addresses the awestruck kids. Their names are Yuri and Cherinka - twin brother and sister. They hold a conversation and crisp voice acting accompanies the dialogue on the bottom of the screen. Later Ratov, asks if they want to try cutting some wood and the two eagerly rush to grab the blade but the two of them can't even lift the cutter much less swing it.

   Afterwards, they're greeted by a Yuke named Alhanarlem and a Lilty known as Misu who both amble up towards the family. Cherinka rushes up to Alhanarlem and gives him a bear hug and everyone gets a little reunion love. Yuri later pats Misu on the head like a little dog. The voice acting and dialogues continues to surprise us with its clarity. Ratov later picks up his blade once more and asks his childrem to lift it also and then he steps backwards. With eyes closed, the two are still holding the sword when he releases it to show them that the strength 's within them to slash and smack like poppy. The two then lift up the blade and slash it downwards to split a log in two. Yuri then runs off and cheers as he swings the blade in the air like it was nothing.

   Control is handed over to the player afterwards. You control Yuri and explore the town that he resides in but Cherinka is with him though she doesn't appear on the world exploration map.

   To save your progress, walk over to the green crystal shard on the side of the building and follow the cues. Ascend the stairs to the northeast and Ratov, Misu, and Alhanarlem are milling about. There's no voice acting during these in-game sequences and it's limited only to key event scenes. Continue to the southeast and you'll encounter a group of Moogles who scatter but one remains behind to teach Yuri the basics of gameplay in the new Crystal Chronicles. After opening the gate, the siblings explore a cave which Cherinka lights up with a little crystal shard. The Moogle reappears and commences with the tutorial where it explains HP and SP, button commands, and the basics of battling.

   Control is handed over to the player once again. A map on the upper right screen shows your present location by way of a single blue dot as well as the shape of the dungeon. Enemy creatures appear as grey dots. Doors are colored blue or pink so head on over to the pink door on the northeast side of the dungeon. There's a big switch in the next room that has to be smacked to lift up the two gates to the east and southeast. After exploring a bit more, the two siblings find a gold-colored coffin and Yuri walks up to it but the floor begins shaking and the coffin launches upwards to reveal a massive crab-like creature with a single eye and a powerful laser blast. The battle is simple and consists of running around the crab and smacking it. Wait for it to shoot its laser and while in mid-stream, rush in and smack about 8-10 times before running off. Rinse. Repeat. It explodes afterwards and releases a bunch of money that can be swiped by pressing the "A" button. The voice acting continues after the crab is destroyed. After their celebration, a redheaded apparition appears which scares the siblings away. The dark specter with red eyes from earlier appears and the scene shifts.

   In the next scene, Yuri and Cherinka are seen lying on their beds covered by green blankets when Ratov leaves through the door. Yuri stirs and gets up and out leading Cherinka with him. Right outside the door, Yuri grabs their Moogle friend who just happens to be sleeping and parks him right outside the door and then heads out again to explore. Head on over to the northwest and Ratov may be found staring off into the distance.

   After their late night reverie together as a family, they return to their beds. The next morning, Yuri wakes up and talks to his father. Talk to him again and he'll force the door open, ejecting the sleeping Moogle on the other side. Cherinka goes to visit Alhanarlem who fashions a locket for her special crystal shard and dangles it for her before she gives him another bear hug. She later joins Ratov and Yuri in front of the wood chopping block and the two siblings go on to their next dungeon quest.

   The second end-level boss looks like a bull if it had mated with a dragon. A purple dragon. It has two blue horns, a red mohawk, and a bifucated tail. Similar to the first boss, the winning strategy is to run rings around it and attack. It blows out flames, rears itself up on its hind legs and then stomps downwards with its front legs and shoots a laser blast. It's pretty stupid however and it'll be finished in short order. A burst of treasure may be picked up by Yuri after it's dispatched and it can be seen lumbering off into the distance with a defeated air about it. The siblings give chase and they see it round a corner but when they reach it, they look at a blue haze but no monster. Within the haze is the redheaded apparition girl from earlier and Cherinka begins stuttering with abject fear. Ratov breaks them out of their wonderment and the family is reunited once more.

   Alhanarlem joins your party after the second dungeon is conquered. Visit his workshop and notice that he isn't there but talk to Misu and then Ratov who is lingering inside. Exit and Alhanarlem will be waiting for you. Cherinka gives him a third bear hug before they all head for their next quest.

QUEST MODE
» If there's no one around, the Quest Mode can be enjoyed by your lonesome. Up to 8 character save slots may be stored by selecting one of the big green tomes at the beginning of the game. Choose one and its pages open up to reveal four character classes and the ability to choose your hero's sex. Name entry may be made in katakana, hiragana or English. There's no story to speak of other than meeting the king for instructions on which quests are available. Upon receiving a quest, your character is dumped in a dungeon where objectives range from killing every monster that manifests or collecting certain objects and opening various doors and gates to reach your objective.

» Monsters manifest themselves by appearing in the dungeon randomly.

» Press "Y" in Quest Mode and follow the prompts to save your game at any time.

» One character class can perform a double jump - the Selkie which is represented by Nasche.

» Before each quest, the conditions are listed along with the objective

» The archer shoots strange-looking arrows. They look more like wooden stakes than slender arrows. The archer also only shoots straight across when she's on a floor or level. If there's a creature slightly lower in the dungeon, the arrows will only soar over it instead of connecting. .

» When the bat-like creatures are hovering over your character, jump up and you'll hang onto it aloft... until it kicks you off.

» There's a time limit for each quest.

» After defeating the required amount of monsters in Quest Mode, a treasure chest appears which can be smacked open to retrieve the orbs and bonuses within.

NCS General Game Notes II
» The use of the stylus is relegated to inventory management and use of special attacks.

» Yuri can perform a downward thrust move by jumping and then holding the attack button. He'll perform a conventional attack while in mid-air and then plunge his sword downwards on anything hapless enough to be standing underneath him. The move is also useful for pushing down big switches. When standing on the ground, three attacks can be chained together by pressing the attack button thrice. The last blow in the chain is a swinging upwards attack that ends with a flourish.

» Yuri makes sound effects when jumping and attacking. We've heard "Yoo!," "Hah!," "Yah!," "Ho!," and more. Note that each sound is accompanied by an exclamation point.

» The orbs that Yuri collects yield magic effects. To activate any one of the six available orbs, tap on it and then press and hold the "X" button. Next move the d-pad to the target and release the "X" button. To cancel a magic use, keep holding the "X" button but press the A button and Yuri will stand down. There's a time release element to the magic as well that can be triggered. To set a time delay for a magic effect to take place, press the "X" button and then move the cursor to the desired target and press the "L" trigger. You now have 5 seconds before the magic ignites. This delayed timer effect is useful in the second dungeon. Orbs may also be used as "keys" by placing them on like-colored pedestals to trigger open doors and gateways.

» Sometimes it's better to leave big monsters alone because they can be used as stepping stones.

» Every time Yuri levels up, his HP and SP are replenished entirely.

» When enemy monsters are slain they'll give up a death gasp. For example, the fire creatures that explode will give up a wheeze while the chipmunk-like rodents utter a death squeak. The skeletons are undead but they still groan a little when killed for another time. Creatures in the dungeons will release gil, colored orbs, and restorative elixirs which refill health and magic points. Your inventory is tracked on the right side of the touch screen. The object that looks like a pineapple will recover health.
 

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