Culdcept Expansion Plus

Original Title	カルドセプト エキスパンション ・プラス
Format	Playstation
Genre	Strategy
Developer	Omiya Soft
Official Website	Here

  Culdcept Expansion Plus is something of an update of a remake – Culdcept first came out on the Saturn, then it had a Playstation port a couple of years later (with balance tweaks), then finally Plus came out the year after that, which is identical to Expansion bar the ability to use twenty maps that appear to have previously been for promotional use (there’s a Famitsu map and some tournament maps in there). Save data between Expansion and Plus is completely interchangeable.   The game is best classed as a strategy game: the goal is to win by collecting a certain amount of gold (G) before anyone else on the board. It isn’t possible to kill an opponent or even to run out of cards, as your deck is fully replenished when it runs out. This is where the comparisons to Monopoly come in – each tile on the board can be occupied by a player or opponent monster card; if an opponent lands on a tile you’ve already occupied they have a choice of battling your monster with one of their own to gain control or to pay you some gold and avoid the fight.   Tiles and monsters all have one of five possible attributes, matching monsters to the same element or gaining control of a chain of the same tiles grants a stat bonus, making them more difficult to defeat. Terrain can also be upgraded (making matching monsters tougher and increased the toll on opponents) or even have its element changed to something more favourable if the player has the gold to do so. Another possible course of action is to move or replace an existing monster with another.   Spell cards can be used to help or hinder once per turn (if the player has some in their hand); effects range from forcing the target to move one square next turn to showering the player with gold or increasing the damage dealt by a monster in battle.   The game also has a multiplayer battle mode that supports up to four human participants (AI can take the place of any absent friends) across a variety of stages.  

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I couldn’t find any videos for this one, sorry!

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

Original Title	ドラゴン スレイヤー 英雄伝説
Format	PC-88
Genre	RPG
Developer	Falcom
Official Website	N/A

  This game is the first entry in the long running Legend of Heroes (Eiyuu Densetsu) series and this particular version was the first to see release, coming out on the 10th of December, 1989. MSX, PC-98 and FM Towns versions appeared the year after (All handled directly by Falcom), and the game saw numerous other ports by third parties for almost a decade, ending with the Saturn/Playstation Legend of Heroes I and II double pack release in 1998.   The game is split into chapters, each one acting as a self-contained story in an overarching plot. Outside of a few plot-related restrictions there’s nothing to stop the player revisiting earlier areas once they’ve outlived their usefulness, even though it’s not required or necessary.   Battles occur when the player character touches an enemy, although without a special item they are invisible on the world map giving the false impression that battles are triggered randomly. Enemies are usually visible in caves, castles and similar interior areas. Battle commands can either be input manually or handled by a customisable auto battle setting that can be interrupted at any time.   Spells are taught by particular NPCs rather than learnt through levelling and each NPC has a different pool of spells to choose from. It’s important to choose spells carefully as characters can only “respec” if they return to the NPC that can teach the spells they want to use. Another unique quality is that status effect spells are highly effective and dangerous; a poisoned character will die in a few turns if they aren’t cured (regardless of their HP level) and silence has a 100% success rate on everyone in battle, including bosses.   The game’s only ties to other games in the Legend of Heroes series is to Legend of Heroes II, which is a direct sequel starring the son of the first games main character.  

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Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG

Original Title	ＡＺＥＬ -パンツァー ドラグーン ＲＰＧ-
Format	Sega Saturn
Genre	RPG
Developer	Team Andromeda
Official Website	N/A

  This music CD set is rather unique as it also includes a playable demo of the game with some pretty noteworthy differences to the retail version even though this was released only a month earlier.   The music CD contains just eighteen tracks, a great deal less than the “Complete” album (57) or the “Memorial” album (59). However the music appears to have been chosen with some care and still includes basic staples such as the main theme, vocal track and a selection of battle and cutscene music. This part of the album also had a bootleg release, so do beware if you see this album for sale without the game demo, if you need help I wrote a small guide on how to spot bootlegs here.   The demo takes places entirely within a truncated version of the excavation site area of the game, from the point where you first fly out onto the dragon and ending with the boss battle where Edge saves Gash. This playable portion is bookended by some demo-exclusive text and FMV, making it out to be something of a reminiscence by the campfire for the two outcasts.   The most immediate difference to play are the controls, which in addition to being laid out completely differently are lacking certain features too, such as the ability to alter altitude or view the map. The general angle the game is viewed at is also changed, and is more restrictive than the final field of view. Enemy battles play out as they do in the final game although attacks cause a red border to appear on screen rather than the black one used in the game. One change to the benefit of the player is that they have the ability to morph dragon forms even though the ability isn’t unlocked until later on in the final game.  

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