Korean Game Marathon

RPG-Update (1)

Liar - Legend of Sword II (신검의 전설 II)
This game is obviously inspired by Ultima, though it seems a bit simplified in comparison. Don't know much about this game yet, since you're attacked very early on, and I can't manage to survive that fight (sadly, it's real time).





Surely, you've noticed the 'II' in the title. That is because it's the successor to the very first Korean RPG. That one owed even more to ultima, down to the Programmer (who was in high school at that time) naming the king after himself.
I haven't played one, since it's for the Apple II, and damn me if I'll ever find disk images of old Korean home computer games.




홍길동 Hong Gildong
This early RPG (I think from 1993) is based on a very famous old story (the Name Hong Gildong is also the Korean John Doe), the Hero is born from an aristocrat's secondary wife, and thus suffers from his low social rank, even though he is extremely talented. This RPG follows the Dragon Quest school, unfortunately (or fortunately, as I would have never come that far else) the version I've go is cracked with cheats, so it's next to impossible to lose in a fight. I died a cutscene death, though, because I came back out of a dungeon before I had found the necessary item to save me.
Dungeons are rather dull, visually as well as from a level design standpoint. I don't know if there's a party later on, the battle screen doesn't look like it's designed for it.
There's actually a sequel to this game, but it is nor RPG, but more like Dragon's Lair.










Astonishia Story
Released 1994 and thus still a fairly early title. The presentation is very neat, there's a lot of details, like birds on a bridge that fly away when you pass them. The story starts with the player being part of an escort for a high church official. The battles take place on a turn based tactical field, similar to the Gold Box D&D games. There's also a remake with nicer graphics for the GP32. That one got ported to PC as well, but since it kinda sticks to the handheld resolution (the actual resolution is higher, but you have a big border in cutscenes and buildings, only in towns and open fields you have a wider view range). Kinda recognized as the first good RPG in Korea. It has become rather famous for its PSP port, but I'm listing it for "completion's" sake.

The sequel to the game (only GP and PSP) is known as Crimson Gem Saga in the west and Garnet Chronicle in Japan, but its combat system seems more typical for an Asian RPG.




Forgotten Saga
By the same developer as Astonishia Story, this one is a bit more similar to western RPGs. At first, you have a catalogue of questions to determine your class, like in Ultima or Ogre Battle, only longer. Then you build 3 companions from typical fantasy races (humans, dwarfes, elves, and halflings). There is a fifth party slot and you get to type the name of your girlfriend in the beginning (the hero is always a human male), so I'll guess she'll join later. This one is notable for its party movement. Instead of following you in a line like goose, the party moves more freely and realistically. The combat system is similar to Astonishia Story, only with a nicer interface.






Protocoss
This is a very typical RPG, I'm only posting it because of the nice effect that blends into the battle screen... There was a practically unwinnable fight very early on, I didn't bother to restart and try another way.






忘國戰記 (Record of the Forgotten Land)
A girl finds a wounded fighter in midst of a bunch of dead ninjas and takes him with her to heal his wounds. That's all I got from the story, yet. The first town is rather huge for an RPG town, it feels a lot like a medieval Korean setting, but it takes place in a fantasy world. Characters can switch classes like in FF5, and it also has an ATB combat system.






Cain in the 3rd Earth.
Your space ship is attacked and crashes on a medieval fantasy world. It's in 640x480, but you alway have a border, though with variable size. In battles, it has a neat zoom-in effect when your characters attack.








Darkness
An action RPG. You can switch between a Sword, a Bow and a Boomerang, but the latter two draw from your health (though very little). It plays rather hectic.



Leithian
Some of you may have seen this in my little screenshot problem thread. This is a rather competent Action RPG. After a lot of story text (you've grown up adopted by an old man and his son, until you dicover some strange tatoo on your neck you got from your reoccuring nightmares, it's connected to your mother, you're the chosen one, etc. blabla, then you get thrown out), you start your adventure. The combat feels a bit stiff at first, but in time you learn more and more combos and special moves, and you can also block enemy attacks. You don't level up per se, instead you can use XP directly to raise your stats (except agility, which rises automatically through fighting, luck and reputation). Looks like you're gonna get a party of five, though I don't know if they all fight simultaneously.

It seems rather badly balanced, however, and after the first two battle areas I had to grind for almost two hours to get a fighting chance in the third.










각시탈 (Virgin Mask)
Takes place in colonial times, a mysterious man wearing a mask from traditional mask dance kills Japanese soldiers, you kind of witness it. This has been more like an adventure, so far. The "errand" type, not the "puzzle" type. There's definitely fighting (you have a health bar and experience level, after all), but I didn't encounter any so far.







Arcturus
This is more modern than the other games (from 2000), since I've actually bought this in a store, rather than downloading it (it was a budget release, though, and not the splendid first print), and probably the least obscure of this post. It has actually been published by Falcom in Japan, and it is claimed that it inspired Falcom to their own 3D engine (which isn't too far fetched if you take a look at it).
The battle system is interesting, and I've got a bit of a Grandia II vibe from it, however, the game has been extremely dialog-heavy so far, with only a handful of battles, most of them with a single character. Not too bad, and my verdict could change to "good", if it catches up in pace a bit.