Anearth Fantasy Stories--The best RPG for the PC Engine

[RuninRuder]

This is an unbelievably beautiful game, innovative in every respect that you could possibly imagine.

The gorgeous visuals will alter your expectations for a PCE game, there's enough amazing redbook here to cover ten separate RPGs, and the touching opening cinema lays the groundwork for what is truly an incredible artistic accomplishment.  But the unparalleled presentation is just one aspect of the game's overall brilliance.

Enormous labyrinths and dungeons are packed with so many secrets and puzzles that every single one of them becomes its own unique adventure.  There's so much to explore, so many niches to examine, such a wide variety of challenges to face.  Morph from a fish to a frog to a butterfly to circumvent various obstacles, make your way through an upside-down nightmare--you never know what to expect. 

Character interaction is fascinating and deep.  Enter a realm of cannibals who serve up flesh stew (which restores your health!).  Challenge a roaring behemoth for his treasure or work things out peacefully.  Trail a wall-smashing dragon, buddy up with a bunch of pirates, give in to a lizard king's demands and achieve revenge later, and mutilate a vicious, near-invincible murderer. 

Focus on exploration, puzzle solving and character development means no random battles to deal with.  Fights are set at various spots, with the development of your party dependent on the techniques you use during combat.  I never needed to bore myself by "leveling up," yet my little party was a force to be reckoned with by adventure's end.  The pacing and design are simply perfect.  Strategy in combat means more than stats or equipment, making every fight interesting rather than an RPG standard level of tedious. 

This is a special game, people.  Get it.  I'm probably going to work on a FAQ for it, which will take a long while to complete since there's so much to cover.  But it'll be a pleasure to play through it again.

pcengine-fx.com/reviews/duomazov/2013/01/seiya-monogatari-anearth-fantasy-stories.html

[Keranu]

Very nice.

[M1Savage]

I started a faq on this game about 2 years ago but have never finished it. Still trying to find the last of the permanent holix....er holixes, holix's...well, you know what I mean.    If you do write up a faq/walkthrough I'd be willing to lend a hand and even provide web hosting if needed.

Anyway, I've played through the game now as each of the characters once and as a swordsman twice. I like it because it's more about puzzle solving and exploring instead of mindless leveling up.  It stands as one of my favorite PC Engine games and I still have a cash reward offered for an English translation.

Overall, a top notch game and highly recommended.

[Tatsujin]

how you guys play all those RPGs? I mean, even if you're familiar with the japanese language on a level may be of a 8 years old japanese child (like me), it's still so hard and frustrating to struggle through such games. respect is due.

[Seldane]

I've tried this before and it seemed promising, but I never managed to leave the first town.

It was developed by Media Vision I believe - the makers of Wild Arms. For that very reason, I'd really like to play this one.

How come nobody's ever talking about this game? Is it really uncommon? Nobody's played it? Every other RPG gets mentioned all the time, but not this one - at least not that I've noticed.

[SignOfZeta]

how you guys play all those RPGs? I mean, even if you're familiar with the japanese language on a level may be of a 8 years old japanese child (like me), it's still so hard and frustrating to struggle through such games. respect is due.

I don't find it to be that difficult to play Japanese language RPGs from back then. It usually doesn't even take that much longer than an English one due to all the time I save by skipping text I can't read. I know my kana and very very few kanji, but I have almost zero working knowlege of the language. Certainly not that of an 8th grader.

Now, playing something like Final Fantasy XII would just be torture, but RPGs from back in the day were all pretty simple. The boss you need to kill is probably sitting at the end of the only dungeon you have access to at the time, etc. Just talk to every single person every time you enter every town and kill anything that moves. You can't really do the "wrong" thing, so just try every thing.

The first Japanese language RPG I ever finished was Startling Odyssey 2 for PCE. I got hella stuck at the point where you need to get the orihalcon and make your ship warp between all those towers. Back then there was no GameFAQs.com so I did the only think I could, I called the phone number on the back of the box. Rayforce was pretty cool about it and helped me out. They asked me pretty much the same question you did though on the phone, "How you play game you don't know kanji?", or something like that.

Nowadays there is a nonstop flood of RPGs in English, but back in 1993 or so if you wanted to play more than one RPG a year it was Japanese or nothing. Nowadays I just play Super Robot Wars in Japanese, and that's about it.

[M1Savage]

This game is fairly easy to get through with no Japanese knowledge. I've got stuck in a couple of places one of which was toward the beginning of the game where you are given a hint to look in a flowerbox outside the window of a house. Thanks to the help of Gaijin Punch and his Japanese reading abilities,  I finally figured it out. The other time I was really stuck was towards the end in a maze where you have to go under (through?) a wall to get to where you need to be.

There's so many things you can do in this game if you want such as making healing potions from mixing different compounds together which you can either keep for yourself or sell for money.

Here's a couple of money hints for ya -
1. When you get a chance to go fishing, do so for as long as you can possibly stand. Selling fish is about the easiest way to make money.
2. There's a couple of potions you can sell for more than twice what they cost to make. 

Even without a faq, I'm guessing most of you here could finish the game in 20 hours or less. Here's a Japanese faq for the game with some pics -

wayback://pce.sytes.net/seiya/pce_kouryaku13.html

Now if I could just find someone to sell me a Japanese Saturn for cheap so I can play through the Saturn version too.

[RuninRuder]

Anyway, I've played through the game now as each of the characters once and as a swordsman twice.

Do you know how exactly the game determines the class of your main character?  I have a few ideas, but I'm way too lazy to play through the opening part of the game over and over. 

[termis]

Sweet.  The game sounds pretty cool.  I gotta check it now.

m1savage, I might have a modded saturn for sale sometime relatively soon.  I got a lot of defective saturns recently, and I'm going to try to mix and match several of them and see if I can get a few working saturns out of 'em.  And I like to throw the region mod switches in there just for the hell of it, cause it's a relatively easy mod, only costs me like <$1 for parts, and maybe an hour to solder and drill and all that...

I'll let ya know!

[Joe Redifer]

This game sounds great!  Maybe Working Designs will bring it over and translate it.

[CrackTiger]

The game is real-actually rare and not just "OMG-HTF!!!" like most PC Engine auctions. But it usually goes for only like $60 on eBay. It's also hard to find the Saturn version, but I think it's pretty cheap(I bought mine for like $3).

The thing people need to know before attempting to play it or write a walkthrough, is that it's non-linear. As I understand it, it's not non-linear like Gulliver Boy where you can pick what order to do most things and can skip a bunch of side quests.

It's supposed to be one of those crazy 'choose your own adventure' types, as I've heard Star Ocean games described as. So while playing it one way may only take 20 hours, it could in theory take 40 hours playing a different way.

I only played like 20 minutes of the Saturn version and can say that it just has bigger talking heads and voice acting. The battle bg's have been enhanced and the attack effects may be a little more explosive with some transparencies thrown in. The Saturn version however, lost the intro cinema and instead has a SFC style intro played out using in-game maps and sprites.

The battles in both are side to side like Final Fantasy, but the the characters and enemies run along and animate with a Street Fighter II style warping floor and if I remember correctly, scrolling bg's. It reminded me at first of Tales Of Phantasia(which I've only played until the first few fights).

The graphics look like one of the nicer SFC RPG's, but is more on the stylized cartoon side than super detailed realistic like Xanadu II.

You'll need patience to play it though. I think it took at least an hour before I could actually do anything in the game.

[RuninRuder]

The thing people need to know before attempting to play it or write a walkthrough, is that it's non-linear. As I understand it, it's not non-linear like Gulliver Boy where you can pick what order to do most things and can skip a bunch of side quests.

It's supposed to be one of those crazy 'choose your own adventure' types, as I've heard Star Ocean games described as. So while playing it one way may only take 20 hours, it could in theory take 40 hours playing a different way.

The "Choose Your Own Adventure" elements that I noticed while playing through it weren't nearly that extreme.  Aside from the opening parts that determine the hero's character class, most of the "do it your way" stuff involves deciding when/if you'll fight certain creatures.  Even the character class aspect doesn't seem to alter things much; I used a different class than the fellow who wrote that Japanese walkthrough, yet it seems that I experienced almost exactly the same adventure, though I did some things in a slightly different order. 

Of course, it's certainly possible that I didn't notice some opportunities to travel down a new and different path, and if that's the case, I'd love to know about them for my next play-through.

As for penning a walkthrough, it didn't take long for me to remember just how tedious and time-consuming a task it is--particularly to produce something that really goes into detail, and especially for something like Anearth that has so many different paths and puzzles to cover.  Maybe I'll go ahead with the project, but I might just play and enjoy it again without the bother.

[M1Savage]

The character you play is determined at the beginning of the game. You are dropped off as a baby in a basket in front of a church. What you do is press the action button to "cry" to choose which people will adopt you. For instance, if you wish to play as a wizard, wait until an old man with a dog walks by then cry. He will then take you and raise you himself. If you just lay there and don't cry at all, eventually someone from inside the church will come out and find you and raise you as a monk. Pretty cool huh?

Other than the weapon you carry and some stats, the choice you make really only affects the game play until you turn 15 and leave the first town. After that most of the game is the same no matter which character you are. In fact, the game is fairly linear in that you must first "go here" and "do that" before you can move on to the next area.

Here's a quick example of your first few years if you choose to let the swordsman raise you. Note: this is copy and paste from the "beta version" website I'm working on so pics and such aren't shown here.

Swordmaster/Hilltop Cabin Area/Age 5
 You wake up in a cabin.

Search cabinet next to bed. Take "HELMET" and equip it.

Exit cabin to the W and talk to "Dad" who is taking a nap in the tree.

After a short scene, he gives you your first sword. Great gift for a 5 year old!

Follow path across bridge, S down the hill, E across another bridge, and N up to cave.

FIGHT bear. You only have one attack at this point so use it.

Get KEY and open door.

Continue through cave to SAVE POINT.

Swordmaster/Jupito/Age 5
You find yourself in Jupito with "Dad".

Talk to "Dad" and he'll ask you a question. 1st answer allows you to freely roam about the town until you talk to "Dad" again in the INN. 2nd answer lets you follow "Dad" now to the "Lady Swordmaster's" house. May as well take the 2nd answer as you can look around town later.

-CUTSCENE-

Swordmaster/Jupito/Age 10
Exit house and go to CHURCH.

Talk to priest to get KEY.

Go to basement and use SAVE POINT

Swordmaster/Yalem/Age 15
Now you're in Yalem. "Dad" goes to INN to visit girlfriend. You can go look in on him if you want. ^_^

Go to the house in NW corner of town, the one W of the CHURCH. Search all of this house for money and "TOOL" in basement. You should now have about $17. You're going to be using this money soon. ;)

Exit house and enter the CHURCH. Go upstairs and talk to priestess. 1st answer.

Exit CHURCH.

-CUTSCENE-

Swordmaster/Jupito
Back in Jupito again. There is a SAVE POINT in the CHURCH if you want. No need to visit any stores just yet.

Go to "Lady Swordmaster's" house and talk to "Wood Elf" inside.

Exit town. From WORLD MAP go to Hilltop Cabin Area

Swordmaster/Hilltop Cabin Area
Go N to cave. Enter cave, continue though until you find and talk to"Lady Swordmaster".

Go S though door. SAVE POINT.

Search all pots, crates, and chests you find in this area! Equip all armor you find.

Continue S through door and up stairs.

 Take the E path and flip switch. (see pic )

Back down and now take the W path. Continue on (pick up "HOLIX" if you see it) until you get to a basket. Be sure to take and equip all items you find here.

Return and talk to "Lady Swordmaster". 1st answer.

-CUTSCENE-

Exit cave, head s to exit to WORLD MAP.

Go back to Jupito.

Swordmaster/Jupito
 Go to POTION store. Choose bottom option on menu (see pic) for a free "TOOL"(?). You should have an extra "HELMET" and a "SHIRT" to sell. Do so, and you should now have around $32. Use this money and buy as many "SMALL POTIONS" as you can. You may need them in an upcomming area.

Exit to to WORLD MAP and go to A Forest Ulantaya.


That should get you started!

BTW thumpin_termis, do PM me about that saturn if you get one going. Thanks!

[Keranu]

This game sounds great!  Maybe Working Designs will bring it over and translate it.

Totally!

[Keranu]

http://pce.sytes.net/seiya/pce_kouryaku13.html

Thanks for the link! I was browsing the other pages on this site and it has some pretty interesting games on it. Does anyone know what PCE RPG this is http://pce.sytes.net/oq/pce_kouryaku15.html ? I don't think I have ever seen it before, but it looks kind of cool.

[termis]

mobygames.com/game/turbografx-cd/aurora-quest-otaku-no-seiza-in-another-world/screenshots

Can't say I've ever seen it...  But interesting title.  Aurora Quest: Otaku's Constellation in Another World?

[RuninRuder]

Pack-In Video has no place in this thread.

AQ does look pretty neat, though.

[SignOfZeta]

mobygames.com/game/turbografx-cd/aurora-quest-otaku-no-seiza-in-another-world/screenshots

Can't say I've ever seen it...  But interesting title.  Aurora Quest: Otaku's Constellation in Another World?

Hm...I've been wondering about the FC version of that game. This makes it look really interesting.

[Tatsujin]

how you guys play all those RPGs? I mean, even if you're familiar with the japanese language on a level may be of a 8 years old japanese child (like me), it's still so hard and frustrating to struggle through such games. respect is due.

I don't find it to be that difficult to play Japanese language RPGs from back then. It usually doesn't even take that much longer than an English one due to all the time I save by skipping text I can't read. I know my kana and very very few kanji, but I have almost zero working knowlege of the language. Certainly not that of an 8th grader.

Now, playing something like Final Fantasy XII would just be torture, but RPGs from back in the day were all pretty simple. The boss you need to kill is probably sitting at the end of the only dungeon you have access to at the time, etc. Just talk to every single person every time you enter every town and kill anything that moves. You can't really do the "wrong" thing, so just try every thing.

The first Japanese language RPG I ever finished was Startling Odyssey 2 for PCE. I got hella stuck at the point where you need to get the orihalcon and make your ship warp between all those towers. Back then there was no GameFAQs.com so I did the only think I could, I called the phone number on the back of the box. Rayforce was pretty cool about it and helped me out. They asked me pretty much the same question you did though on the phone, "How you play game you don't know kanji?", or something like that.

Nowadays there is a nonstop flood of RPGs in English, but back in 1993 or so if you wanted to play more than one RPG a year it was Japanese or nothing. Nowadays I just play Super Robot Wars in Japanese, and that's about it.

i understand. but the essential question is whether it does really bring some fun with to struggle through such games without getting any content of the storyline, jokes, conversations etc. which all those games are mainly based on..?
sorry for that question, since i never really went into RPGs anyway. neither in japanese nor english/german language.

[CrackTiger]

The character you play is determined at the beginning of the game. You are dropped off as a baby in a basket in front of a church. What you do is press the action button to "cry" to choose which people will adopt you. For instance, if you wish to play as a wizard, wait until an old man with a dog walks by then cry. He will then take you and raise you himself. If you just lay there and don't cry at all, eventually someone from inside the church will come out and find you and raise you as a monk. Pretty cool huh?

Other than the weapon you carry and some stats, the choice you make really only affects the game play until you turn 15 and leave the first town. After that most of the game is the same no matter which character you are. In fact, the game is fairly linear in that you must first "go here" and "do that" before you can move on to the next area.

Before reading this, I tried the game again and just happened to wind up doing this scenario, where as the first time I tried the game I was raised by Sister Maria in the Church.

I recorded some simple gameplay as wandered my way to adulthood and uploaded it to YouTube-

I actually once started a walkthrough for it, but decided to wait until I'd finished it at least once because of the non-linear nature I'd read about. I may someday attempt a full walkthrough now, detailing each of the adoption quests.

i understand. but the essential question is whether it does really bring some fun with to struggle through such games without getting any content of the storyline, jokes, conversations etc. which all those games are mainly based on..?
sorry for that question, since i never really went into RPGs anyway. neither in japanese nor english/german language.

I've actually been emotionally moved, drawn-in and laughed my ass off at more Japanese RPG's than English. Especially a game like Kabuki den, which excells so well that I believe it communicates more to me than some blander RPG's after an even blander translation.

I also used to watch a lot of Japanese animation without subtitles and never had trouble enjoying it.

[GUTS]

I just like the gameplay of old RPGs, sometimes the stories were nice but mostly they were pretty simplistic stuff that I couldn't care less about so being in Japanese isn't a big deal as long as it doesn't hinder my progress too much or too often.

[Tatsujin]

i see. it's like a 4 years old brat having fun with "looking" at mickey mouse comics or so

[CrackTiger]

i see. it's like a 4 years old brat having fun with "looking" at mickey mouse comics or so

Kinda, except that 90% of the dialogue in anime when I watched it regularly consisted of the same common words and phrases, just like a stereotypical hollywood blockbuster. "You okay?", "Damn you", "I'm gonna kill ya!", etc...

Aside from the large vocabulary(for a gaijin) I developed, I also taught myself katakana playing Snatcher, later learned hiragana and picked up the common kanji symbols/words from playing so many Mickey Mouse games.

A good (real) comic can tell the whole story with pictures alone. Like how animation and live action films are storyboarded. It's the same with games.

I just like the gameplay of old RPGs, sometimes the stories were nice but mostly they were pretty simplistic stuff that I couldn't care less about so being in Japanese isn't a big deal as long as it doesn't hinder my progress too much or too often.

Its the same with me, I loved RPG's as games back in the day, still love 'simple' "old school" RPG's and can't get into most of these cutting edge hi-tech RPG's where you don't even equip anything. But when a game like Kabukiden takes it a step further, it's just that much more enjoyable.

[RuninRuder]

I was also amused and touched by Kabuki Den.  And I've thoroughly enjoyed exploring Neo Metal Fantasy's massive labyrinths and solving Anearth's intricate puzzles.  And I don't need to be fluent in Japanese to appreciate Xanadu II's beauty, Emerald Dragon's score, Manji Maru's scope, Xanadu's level of difficulty, Blood Gear's action, Madou Monogatari's charm, Dragon Knight II's atmosphere, Brandish's ingenious stage design, Efera & Jiliora's abstract setting, Cosmic Fantasy 3's refined play mechanics... and Astralius' shark level.     

There are plenty of elements besides story that can immerse you in an adventure.

[Keranu]

http://www.mobygames.com/game/turbografx-cd/aurora-quest-otaku-no-seiza-in-another-world/screenshots

Can't say I've ever seen it...  But interesting title.  Aurora Quest: Otaku's Constellation in Another World?

Thanks for the link, looks to be another cool looking obscured RPG. The PCE is loaded with these.

I just like the gameplay of old RPGs, sometimes the stories were nice but mostly they were pretty simplistic stuff that I couldn't care less about so being in Japanese isn't a big deal as long as it doesn't hinder my progress too much or too often.

Its the same with me, I loved RPG's as games back in the day, still love 'simple' "old school" RPG's and can't get into most of these cutting edge hi-tech RPG's where you don't even equip anything. But when a game like Kabukiden takes it a step further, it's just that much more enjoyable.

Same here. I was playing my bro's game of Final Fantasy X recently and when I got into a battle, I was just clueless what to do. I see all these options and I ask "Can't I simply just choose between fight, magic, item, and run?" My opinion still goes by the rule of simplicity = good.

[Joe Redifer]

My opinion still goes by the rule of simplicity = good.

Agreed.  I become disinterested when stuff like mixing potions and whatnot is involved.  I really hated Sword of Sodan.  In fact I usually am not a big magic user in RPGs, especially these days.  Thanks to the pile of crap that was Final Fantasy 7, every time you cast a spell in a modern RPG it takes twenty to thirty minutes to sit through the flashy colors and other stupid-looking things that appear on the screen that make Japan-o-nerds cream their jeans.

[Emerald Rocker]

Yeah, Sword of Sodan would have been cool if not for the potion-mixing aspect.

[CrackTiger]

My opinion still goes by the rule of simplicity = good.

Agreed.  I become disinterested when stuff like mixing potions and whatnot is involved.  I really hated Sword of Sodan.  In fact I usually am not a big magic user in RPGs, especially these days.  Thanks to the pile of crap that was Final Fantasy 7, every time you cast a spell in a modern RPG it takes twenty to thirty minutes to sit through the flashy colors and other stupid-looking things that appear on the screen that make Japan-o-nerds cream their jeans.

What I didn't 'get' with modern FF's, was how the summons would always animate with the exact same camera angles in 3D. What's the point of rendering it in 3D, if it's always going to be at the same angle? Why not just use fmv, or static bg's with extra good realtime 3D characters for the entire fight? I'd still skip over them after the first few times, if I managed to play through a modern FF.

Synthesizing in place of rare equipment drops has ruined PSU and I had no interest in learning crafts when I experimented with FFXI. Its not so bad to have tacked on lame systems when they're only tacked on and not mandatory. I wasn't too happy with having to spend so much time blacksmithing equipment in the Saturn Shining games.

[Seldane]

What I didn't 'get' with modern FF's, was how the summons would always animate with the exact same camera angles in 3D. What's the point of rendering it in 3D, if it's always going to be at the same angle? Why not just use fmv, or static bg's with extra good realtime 3D characters for the entire fight? I'd still skip over them after the first few times, if I managed to play through a modern FF.

Makes a lot of sense to me. Cutscenes doesn't take up as much space as videos, and the resolution is higher. Grandia II, for example, uses video files for all magic effects and it looks really bad, since the videos are really low-res (because otherwise they wouldn't fit on the disc).

[CrackTiger]

What I didn't 'get' with modern FF's, was how the summons would always animate with the exact same camera angles in 3D. What's the point of rendering it in 3D, if it's always going to be at the same angle? Why not just use fmv, or static bg's with extra good realtime 3D characters for the entire fight? I'd still skip over them after the first few times, if I managed to play through a modern FF.

Makes a lot of sense to me. Cutscenes doesn't take up as much space as videos, and the resolution is higher. Grandia II, for example, uses video files for all magic effects and it looks really bad, since the videos are really low-res (because otherwise they wouldn't fit on the disc).

The PSX FF's were already on multiple discs, because they didn't shy away from mixing in fmv. But they still should've made more than one angle for the summons' since you're basically spending half the game looking at the same non-interactive animation.

[TR0N]

The character you play is determined at the beginning of the game. You are dropped off as a baby in a basket in front of a church. What you do is press the action button to "cry" to choose which people will adopt you. For instance, if you wish to play as a wizard, wait until an old man with a dog walks by then cry. He will then take you and raise you himself. If you just lay there and don't cry at all, eventually someone from inside the church will come out and find you and raise you as a monk. Pretty cool huh?

Other than the weapon you carry and some stats, the choice you make really only affects the game play until you turn 15 and leave the first town. After that most of the game is the same no matter which character you are. In fact, the game is fairly linear in that you must first "go here" and "do that" before you can move on to the next area.

Before reading this, I tried the game again and just happened to wind up doing this scenario, where as the first time I tried the game I was raised by Sister Maria in the Church.

I recorded some simple gameplay as wandered my way to adulthood and uploaded it to YouTube-

I actually once started a walkthrough for it, but decided to wait until I'd finished it at least once because of the non-linear nature I'd read about. I may someday attempt a full walkthrough now, detailing each of the adoption quests.

i understand. but the essential question is whether it does really bring some fun with to struggle through such games without getting any content of the storyline, jokes, conversations etc. which all those games are mainly based on..?
sorry for that question, since i never really went into RPGs anyway. neither in japanese nor english/german language.

I've actually been emotionally moved, drawn-in and laughed my ass off at more Japanese RPG's than English. Especially a game like Kabuki den, which excells so well that I believe it communicates more to me than some blander RPG's after an even blander translation.

I also used to watch a lot of Japanese animation without subtitles and never had trouble enjoying it.

Hmmm looks neat... it reminds me of lunar ss&eb maybe i'll check it out one day.

What's a copy of it run for these days?

[termis]

herr-g's got one for ya.

pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=2387.0

[M1Savage]

Since there seems to be quite a bit of interest in this game again, I have decided to continue on my walkthrough/faq. I have everything written down in notebooks and graph paper so now I'm trying to make sense of it all and am typing it up. I should have at least the first few towns up for all the characters in the next couple weeks so you guys can get a good start. Now if I can just find those other 2 permanent holix........

[Keranu]

Since there seems to be quite a bit of interest in this game again, I have decided to continue on my walkthrough/faq. I have everything written down in notebooks and graph paper so now I'm trying to make sense of it all and am typing it up. I should have at least the first few towns up for all the characters in the next couple weeks so you guys can get a good start. Now if I can just find those other 2 permanent holix........

Excellent.

[nat]

Since there seems to be quite a bit of interest in this game again, I have decided to continue on my walkthrough/faq. I have everything written down in notebooks and graph paper so now I'm trying to make sense of it all and am typing it up. I should have at least the first few towns up for all the characters in the next couple weeks so you guys can get a good start. Now if I can just find those other 2 permanent holix........

Somebody needs to do a translation patch for this game. I will pay them.

[Kaminari]

Seiya Monogatari is not the groundbreaking RPG runinruder makes it sound like, but it's a decent game nevertheless. Some good production values, and a great soundtrack by Masahiro Sayama (Murder Club). The gameplay is far from being revolutionary, actually it's quite limited (there is no real leveling system, fighting encounters are scripted and not random). I think it could have been a much better game. It's definitely not as good as, say, Kaze no Densetsu 2. But it's still an enjoyable ride nevertheless.

[RuninRuder]

The gameplay is far from being revolutionary, actually it's quite limited (there is no real leveling system, fighting encounters are scripted and not random).

Well, you're saying it's not revolutionary because it didn't have the typical leveling systems and random battles that most RPGs did at the time.  That sounds a little contradictory to me.  Scripting the battle locations was perfect for Anearth because it wants you to focus on the puzzle and exploration elements.  Most other RPGs at that time had much simpler dungeons to wade through: go right, left, up, down, find chest, unlock door, fight boss.   Random battles comprised the busy work to do while you stumbled around.  Anearth had gargantuan dungeons with a very wide variety of puzzles and loads of secrets; it actually had fun, challenging things for you to do inside its mazes, so it didn't need busy-work random battles. 

And when battles did take place, I found I was able to use far more strategy than in most, if not all, other 16-bit RPGs where I'd usually just hammer the attack button.  Enemy formation, enemy location at any given moment, enemy capabilities, my own party's strengths and formation, different assault methods to utilize--all of this would come into play in virtually every battle.  (The expected counter would be that your experience with its battles involved far less strategy than what I'm claiming they involve, but I know for a fact that people have been stumped by its fights before, and the solution isn't the typical "level up more" approach that gives you an easy out in many of Anearth's peers.]  And the game definitely has a legitimate leveling system: the pacing is so perfect that if you fight intelligently your characters will be right where they need to be stats-wise at every point in the adventure.  I prefer that to running around in circles leveling up like you do in many old RPGs.  (And if you are the sort who likes to level up in the traditional  repetitive style, there ARE battles that you can repeat in certain places.] 

It's definitely not as good as, say, Kaze no Densetsu 2.

I love Xanadu 2, but I'd cite it as being far more limited than Anearth.  It's very straightforward and simple; you bumble around while enjoying the magnificent beauty of the whole experience, and in a mere few hours it's all over.  The caliber of puzzles and labyrinths that Anearth boasts are nowhere to be found.  They're two different types of RPGs and we're beginning to compare apples and oranges, but it seems odd to present short, simple  Xanadu 2 as an alternative when criticizing Anearth for limited gameplay.  If anything, you might've cited Xanadu 1 instead.  THAT game is epic in scope and has a monstrous final tower that presents many intricate challenges.

[Keranu]

The gameplay is far from being revolutionary, actually it's quite limited (there is no real leveling system, fighting encounters are scripted and not random).

Well, you're saying it's not revolutionary because it didn't have the typical leveling systems and random battles that most RPGs did at the time.  That sounds a little contradictory to me.

Completely agree with Runin here and I thought the exact same thing.

[GUTS]

Yeah runin hit it perfectly on the head as to why Anearth is so awesome.  I love the preset battles, it made it feel like an old AD&D rpg where the battles were all set at certain points and the dungeons had tons of puzzles and were huge.

[CrackTiger]

Seiya Monogatari is not the groundbreaking RPG runinruder makes it sound like, but it's a decent game nevertheless. Some good production values, and a great soundtrack by Masahiro Sayama (Murder Club). The gameplay is far from being revolutionary, actually it's quite limited (there is no real leveling system, fighting encounters are scripted and not random). I think it could have been a much better game. It's definitely not as good as, say, Kaze no Densetsu 2. But it's still an enjoyable ride nevertheless.

Although I don't like non-random battles, that was the way of the future at the time and Chrono Trigger got labeled as ground breaking for it.

And although the battle system may(I don't know myself, since I haven't really played it) not be revolutionary, the presentation was unique and very entertaining for the time. Because back then, we were lucky if battle sprites even had any animation(see the static sprites of SNES FF's), let alone characters running up to each other for attacks(like the industry changing FFVII), let alone scrolling past a single screen(with seperate scrolling bg's!), let alone the warping floor effect from SFII that EGM once said could only be found in the arcades.

From what I've seen, I just think it looks like a fun RPG that offers something different and has some of the nicer graphics on PCE, particularly for an RPG. I wouldn't put it above LoXII either, but I don't consider it a traditional RPG either.

Of course if we're talking traditional'ishy style RPG's, we all know that nothing on PCE or otherwise can touch Kabukiden.

[Kaminari]

Well, you're saying it's not revolutionary because it didn't have the typical leveling systems and random battles

I don't see any contradiction in my words. You're trying to make me say what I didn't say. I never said it wasn't revolutionary because it didn't have a leveling system (as a matter of fact, I hate leveling). I said it was limited because, like it or not, it's a very linear ride. The fact that you can't avoid the scripted combats and that the overworld is a very straightforward map where you always have to go from A to B in order to progress (pretty much like Ruin) makes it a RPG with limited interactivity. The few puzzles are not exactly mindstorming and the exploration is often restricted to small labyrinths (I don't consider them particularly big nor complex, which is not a bad thing mind you).

Of course that's my opinion based on my own role playing experience. I have to make it clear I never suggested it was a bad game, so I don't really understand the passionate reactions. I'm merely reacting on your topic statement that it's the best RPG for the PC Engine, which by now you have guessed I don't agree with. But whatever floats your boat

[RuninRuder]

I don't see any contradiction in my words. You're trying to make me say what I didn't say. I never said it wasn't revolutionary because it didn't have a leveling system (as a matter of fact, I hate leveling). I said it was limited because, like it or not, it's a very linear ride.

Actually, the word "linear" was not used in your original post, and other people interpreted your remark the same way I did.  Perhaps you just didn't express your idea well. 

I have to make it clear I never suggested it was a bad game, so I don't really understand the passionate reactions.

I don't see any emotional, over-the-top remarks in my post, just level-headed counterpoints to your statements. 

I love the preset battles, it made it feel like an old AD&D rpg where the battles were all set at certain points and the dungeons had tons of puzzles and were huge.

Heck yeah.  You never knew what to expect around every corner in those old games, and Anearth felt like that too.

[CrackTiger]

Well, you're saying it's not revolutionary because it didn't have the typical leveling systems and random battles

I don't see any contradiction in my words. You're trying to make me say what I didn't say. I never said it wasn't revolutionary because it didn't have a leveling system (as a matter of fact, I hate leveling). I said it was limited because, like it or not, it's a very linear ride. The fact that you can't avoid the scripted combats and that the overworld is a very straightforward map where you always have to go from A to B in order to progress (pretty much like Ruin) makes it a RPG with limited interactivity. The few puzzles are not exactly mindstorming and the exploration is often restricted to small labyrinths (I don't consider them particularly big nor complex, which is not a bad thing mind you).

Of course that's my opinion based on my own role playing experience. I have to make it clear I never suggested it was a bad game, so I don't really understand the passionate reactions. I'm merely reacting on your topic statement that it's the best RPG for the PC Engine, which by now you have guessed I don't agree with. But whatever floats your boat

I had forgotten about the world map. Again, I don't like non-traditional world maps myself and once again, Anearth was way ahead of it's time with it's lousy 32+-bit gen RPG style map(like Grandia).

I think that most of Anearth's shortcomings were things that started taking off and were praised by game mags during the 32-bit generation.