Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Career Soft |
Publisher(s) | |
Series | Growlanser |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Tactical RPG |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness [a] is the third installment to the popular series Growlanser created by Career Soft and published by Atlus, as well as one of the two games released in the United States in Growlanser Generations. [1] [2] As the back cover of the game says, it takes players back to the time and planet where the series began, a world in which the sun's power is fading and the land is dying.
Growlanser III, along with Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice , was released under a single title in North America, titled Growlanser Generations in December 2004. Growlanser II and III were originally planned for separate American releases by Working Designs. Due to opposition from Sony, Working Designs was forced to release both games together. Working Designs opted to add an Auto-Battle feature to both games, as well as enhanced voice acting options, such as the ability to switch voice acting on or off for specific characters. Each game also has a newly added gallery of artwork, vocal outtakes (a staple of Working Designs titles), and music available upon completion.
Though similar in some ways to its immediate predecessor in the series, some notable changes to the gameplay were made. Four characters are now used during battles instead of eight, and the most powerful spells require cooperation between two different characters. Additionally, movement through the land now happens on an overland screen rather than on a map with pre-chosen destinations, and the player can now freely move within towns and cities.
Like in Growlanser II, a character's most notable piece of equipment is their Ring Weapon. Each Ring Weapon grants different stat bonuses and has three gem slots. Each gem slot has a level from 0 to 9. If the slot is level 0, no gem can be equipped there, but otherwise the slot can be equipped with a gem of the slot's level or lower. These gems can grant a variety of benefits, such as increasing the damage dealt by a character or decreasing the cost of casting spells.
Slayn Wilder
A boy with amnesia. He is found unconscious at the base of a cliff by Annette and nursed back to health. He also has the ability to see ghosts and spirits. In combat, Slayn wields a large two-handed sword. Slayn's starting stats, abilities and personality are determined by the blood type and constellation chosen by the player at the start of the game; his personality can change over the course of the game depending on the dialogue choices made by the player.
Annette Burns
The daughter of the Xironia Federation's president. Her mother was killed before the start of the main story. She wishes to stop the war between Xironia and Aggressival. She was the one who found Slayn and nursed him back to health, and she wants him to regain his memories. In battle, she wields a Long Sword.
Hugh Foster
A strange man who joins the group in Bibliostock. He likes to tell jokes, which are often not well-received. He wields a saber and has an affinity for wind magic. He can see Raimy, and met Yayoi at some point before the story.
Monika Allenford
A girl who is half-human and half-Featherian. Normal Featherians have full-sized wings and are able to fly, but as a half-Featherian Monika's wings are too small. She is afraid of water as a result of an incident during her childhood in which some Featherian children pushed her off a cliff to try to make her fly. She looks after Michelle Liedbulk, a girl who is unable to leave her sterilized room due to an immune-deficiency disease. In battle, Monika uses throwing knives.
Viktor Hugo
A scientist that helped the Featherians create a device that let them find a new world to settle in order to escape the famines and wars of their dying land. By reading certain books in the Bibliostock Library, Viktor can make special items. One of these items is a Space-Time Summon Device which can be used to import characters from Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice .
Yayoi Tachibana
A shrine maiden from the East. She is pursuing a woman named Simone who used to work at her shrine. She is the last character to join the party. In battle, Yayoi wields a bow.
Raimy
A Dark Fairy that Slayn meets in the town of Schwartzhaas. As a fairy, most people are unable to see Raimy, so she asks for Slayn's help once she realizes that he can see her. While she is not a playable character in battle like the others, there are some missions in which the player can control her as a scout.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as Super Puzzle Fighter II X, is a 1996 tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. The game's title is a play on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, as there were no other Puzzle Fighter games at the time, and the game includes music and interface elements spoofing the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers games. It was a response to Compile and Sega's Puyo Puyo 2 that had been sweeping the Japanese arcade scene.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is a 2005 role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the second game in the Mario & Luigi series, and is the prequel/sequel to the 2003 Game Boy Advance game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The game was later re-released for the Wii U as a Virtual Console title in 2015, available for purchase from the Nintendo eShop.
Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean is a role-playing video game produced by Sunsoft for the Sega Saturn. It was originally made for the Super NES, and ported to the Saturn late in its development. Released in Japan in August 1996, the game was made available in North America in July 1997 by Working Designs.
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara is an arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1996 as a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Mystara.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart is the third game in the Dragon Quest Monsters series, released only in Japan by Enix for the Game Boy Advance. The game was simultaneously announced with Dragon Quest VIII in Famitsu in 2002. Like the other Dragon Quest titles, development of Caravan Heart was led by Yuji Horii.
Romancing SaGa 3 is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The sixth entry in the SaGa series, it was also the last developed for the platform. Originally released on the Super Famicom system in Japan on November 11, 1995, the game was released on the Virtual Console in Japan for Wii on September 21, 2010 and Wii U on February 26, 2014.
Lunar: Eternal Blue is a role-playing video game developed by Game Arts in association with Studio Alex for the Sega CD as the sequel to Lunar: The Silver Star. The game was originally released in December 1994 in Japan, and later in North America in September 1995 by Working Designs. Eternal Blue expanded the story and gameplay of its predecessor, and made more use of the Sega CD's hardware, including more detailed graphics, longer, more elaborate animated cutscenes, and more extensive use of voice acting. Critics were mostly pleased with the title, giving particular merit to the game's English translation and further expansion of the role-playing game genre in CD format.
Suikoden is a role-playing video game published by Konami. It is the first installment of the Suikoden series. Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, it was released initially in 1995 for the PlayStation in Japan. A North American release followed one year later, and a mainland European release came the following April. The game was also released for Windows and Sega Saturn in 1998, but only in Japan.
Vanguard Bandits, known in Japan as Epica Stella, is a tactical role-playing game (RPG) for the PlayStation. The game was developed by Human Entertainment and originally released in Japan on July 30, 1998. It was published in North America by Working Designs.
Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice is the second game of the Growlanser series of video games developed by Career Soft. It is the first game of the series to be a tactical role-playing game, but maintains several features from the first game, such as branching storylines and multiple endings. The series is often likened to the dating sim genre, as the player character will often be paired with a single NPC. As a direct sequel to the first Growlanser, nearly all of the characters seen in the first game make a returning appearance as both playable and non-playable characters.
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2; the game was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America. It was never released in Europe. It is the first entry in the Xenosaga trilogy and forms part of the wider Xeno metaseries. Gameplay features exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles use turn-based combat with the player characters fighting both on foot and piloting large mecha dubbed A.G.W.S.; combat in turn features a system of button combinations for attack types, and multiple leveling systems.
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It is the final entry in both the Xenosaga trilogy and the larger Xenosaga series, which forms part of the Xeno franchise. Concluding the narrative of Xenosaga Episode I and Episode II, Episode III sees Shion Uzuki and the battle android KOS-MOS search out the origins of the hostile alien Gnosis while being hunted by Shion's former employers and four powerful humans called the Testaments. Gameplay is carried over from the first two games, featuring exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles follow a turn-based system featuring multiple leveling systems and combat with both a human party and mecha.
Battle Raper (バトルレイパー) is a eroge fighting game developed and published by Illusion Soft in 2002. The game has gained notoriety and controversy for its simulation of rape. This aspect was removed in its follow-up; Battle Raper II: The Game in 2005, which while still focusing on some sexual themes such as the removal of clothing, the sequel focuses more heavily on the fighting mechanic.
Growlanser: Heritage of War is a tactical role-playing video game for the PlayStation 2. It was developed by Career Soft, and published in Japan by Atlus in 2006. Atlus USA published the game in North America on September 18, 2007, and Rising Star Games released it in Europe on June 13, 2008.
Growlanser is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation. It was developed by Career Soft and published in Japan by Atlus in 1999. It is the first installment in the Growlanser series, a spiritual successor to the Langrisser series.
Resonance of Fate is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in January 2010 in Japan and March 2010 in Western territories. The game uses a fast-paced strategic combat system revolving around different types of firearms and combination moves between the three playable characters. A remastered version titled Resonance of Fate 4K/HD Edition was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows on October 18, 2018.
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, also released as Pocket Fighter, is a 1997 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. The game uses the same super deformed character designs previously used in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, a puzzle game by Capcom. It was ported in 1998 to the PlayStation, which retained the Pocket Fighter title for its North American and PAL releases, and then the Sega Saturn and WonderSwan, both in Japan only.
Infinity Blade II was an action role-playing video game for iOS developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games. The game was the sequel to Infinity Blade by the same developers.
Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time is a tactical role-playing game developed by Career Soft and published by Atlus. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in December 2003, and later for the PlayStation Portable in Japan in August 2011 and in North America in July 2012. It is the fourth installment in the Growlanser series, with character designs by Satoshi Urushihara. A visual novel fan-disc Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time - Return, containing three short stories, was released on PS2 in 2005.
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is a 2022 role-playing video game developed by Alim and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Windows. It was released for Android and iOS in 2023. Using the aesthetic of a tabletop role-playing game, the player controls a young man who escorts a magical maiden on her quest to collect relics and protect their home from destruction. Gameplay involves travelling between towns, completing story quests and fighting in turn-based battles.