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Arubarea’s Maiden |
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Added 12.4.01 | Review by Jeffrey Villanueva |
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Ah, the dating sim. A genre that has yet to take off outside of Japan. Tokimeki Memorial. Pia Carrot. Several others come to mind. However, until I played this game I have never been able to name one where you play the girl. Arubarea’s Maiden is an interesting and refreshing combination of strategy rpg and dating simulation, all of which take place in a medieval fantasy setting. You take control of one of three girls summoned to train in the magical kingdom of Arubarea, in hopes of being chosen queen by the presiding ruler. In addition, there is also the chance that you will find true love and happiness with one of the five holy knights that defend the land. You are red-haired girl (for lack of a better term). Your rivals are a snotty, stuck up-looking blonde and a kind, nature-loving brunette. Your job is to make sure that YOU take over the throne, while the other girls run back to whatever country spawned them, broken and defeated, presumably to spend the rest of their lives as destitute peasants. That said and done, be sure to play nice okay? ^_^ The game is divided into two phases, which I like to call the castle phase and the battle phase. The majority of the game is spent in the castle phase, where you interact with various folk and attend classes to prepare you for the station of queen. From time to time, you will be called on to go monster-hunting with one of the holy knights, in which case the battle phase takes over.
In the castle phase, you must plan out a weekly schedule of up to two activities per day, be it attending a class on magic, resting to regain body energy, or just paying a visit to one of the guys. Each of the five classes in the game increase a specific attribute, and may randomly grant you special abilities for use in battle. The sorcery class, for example, increases your magic skill attribute, which in turn raises the damage of spells you cast in battle, your magic resistance, and allows you to learn new spells. When you have completed your schedule of classes, hit the run button to watch several humorous scenes of your character in action. Beating on a training dummy in fencing class, only to have it fall and squash her. Accidentally blowing herself up in sorcery class while chanting the incantation for a fire spell. Taking a nap…in the middle of a busy street! (Too bad nobody steps on her…) All of the animations are ultra-cute and hilarious. Once a month you will be called in by the queen, who will administer a test to gauge your progress in the five subjects. If your attribute point total for a given class is high enough, you will pass. If not, well, you know the rest… You must consistently score high in these tests if you want to achieve the ultimate ending to the game and become queen. The problem is, taking a class to raise a certain attribute randomly lowers another. Fencing, for example, increases strength but might randomly lower magic skill. Classes also consume body energy, which must be replenished by resting, otherwise you end up tired and perform poorly in your studies. You have to figure out the perfect schedule to maximize your weekly attribute gains and minimize your losses. You have the weekends off, in which case you can put in some extra studying for a class, explore the castle and surrounding city, or (most importantly) go on dates with one (or more) of the holy knights. There are five to choose from: Generic Hero Guy-Short, blonde-haired swordsman. Heroic demeanor. Looks like just about every short, blonde haired heroic swordsman in the rpg multiverse. And guess what? He’s a flame user! I bet you didn’t see that one coming… He likes to hang out at the weapon shop and play with swords. Oh, and he teaches the fencing class.
Badass White Haired Guy-Long, white-haired warrior mage. Cold disposition. Okay, so that’s a cliché too, but its one of my favorites! This guy makes use of the element of water. He likes to spend time browsing at the magic shop, as well as relaxing near large bodies of water. He’s also your magic teacher. Hyper Priest Boy-The youngest of the knights and your instructor in the clerical arts, the manual lists this kid as fourteen years old! Extremely active and cheerful in character, this warrior priest really gets around! Dates with him quickly eat up your body energy though, as you end up zipping all over town and castle. His element seems to be wind. Mysterious Arabian Guy-Dark skin. Green eyes. Wears a turban. This guy looks really exotic, as this game takes place in a medieval England type fantasy setting. He also seems extremely difficult to win over. Likes to hang out in the local forest, so I guess that makes his element nature. He teaches literature. Womanizing Pretty Boy-Blonde, wavy hair. Lavender eyes. An air of nobility. This skirt-chasing womanizer always seems to be in the company of a girl OTHER than you, making it difficult to win him over. And its not like you can attack whoever he’s dating at the time. Stupid bastard. I have yet to win with him. He also teaches etiquette. No clue what his element is. Light, perhaps?
Occasionally you will be called on to assist one of the holy knights in battle. This heralds the start of the battle phase. Battles take place from an angled, overhead perspective, on multileveled playing fields similar in style to those used in games such as Vandal Hearts and Tactics Ogre. You are given control of your character, one of the five holy knights, and two cannon-fodder soldiers. While its true that all of the holy knights have monstrously high battle statistics and can destroy most of the opposition single-handedly, its your job to see that YOUR character kills a satisfactory amount of beasts. This is due to a grading system that monitors your battle performance and assigns you a grade at the end of each battle. If you hide in a corner and send hero boy to slaughter the onrushing masses you can expect a low grade. If, however, you stay by his side right in the thick of things, knocking off a couple of enemy guys and healing your guys when they are in trouble, it will almost always result in an A. As with your daily classes, you must also do well in your battles to be considered a competent ruler. If, by the end of the game you have scored well in all of your classes, kicked ass in all of your battles, and one-upped all of your rivals, you are treated to a well done anime cut scene of your character being crowned queen, right before the credits roll. In addition, if you manage to get one of the guys to fall head over heels in love with you the game also rewards you with a cut scene specific for that character, where you get to see your future life with him. With an interesting premise, colorful graphics, and some pretty challenging battles, I would recommend this game to any hardcore strategy rpg fan. |
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