Wizardry is a series of role-playing video games originally created by American publisher Sir-Tech. The series was influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games alongside Ultima and Might and Magic. The original Wizardry was a significant influence on early console role-playing games such as Shin Megami Tensei, Dragon Slayer, The Shining, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Originally made for the Apple II, the games were later ported to other platforms. The last game in the original series by Sir-Tech was Wizardry 8, released in 2001. There have since been various spin-off titles developed for the Japanese market.
To Heart is a Japanese romance eroge visual novel developed by Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled To Heart PSE was released containing the PlayStation version as well as bonus games. To Heart PSE and the PlayStation version had the more intimate scenes removed. To Heart is Leaf's fifth game, and the third title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series, following Shizuku and Kizuato and preceding Routes. The gameplay in To Heart follows a plot line which offers predetermined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the eight female main characters. A sequel of To Heart, To Heart 2, was released on December 28, 2004 for the PlayStation 2. A special bundle of To Heart 2 and a PS2 version of To Heart was released on the same day. The original PC release of the visual novel was titled To Heart, but the anime and the PSE versions later changed to ToHeart without any space between the words. The English release of the anime uses the former format.
Leaf is a Japanese visual novel studio under the publisher Aquaplus, and has offices in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, and Tokyo. It and its competitor Key are two of the most popular and successful dedicated visual novel studios operating today. It was launched out of obscurity by its early release To Heart. Leaf used the XviD video codec in several games: Aruru to Asobo!!, Tears to Tiara, Kusari, and ToHeart2 X Rated. Since XviD is free software, released under the GPL, Leaf was obligated to release the source code to those games under the same license. One still requires the game data to actually play the games with the source code. In addition, a free software game engine, named xlvns, was developed soon after Leaf released its first three visual novels. Characters from Utawarerumono, Tears to Tiara, To Heart, and Kizuato are playable in Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match, a fighting game developed by Aquaplus featuring characters from various Leaf games.
Comic Party, sometimes abbreviated to ComiPa, is a dating sim video game by the Japanese game studio Leaf. It was first released on May 28, 1999, for Windows with adult content, but re-released with it removed for the Dreamcast, Windows, and PSP. The main focus of the game is the creation of various dōjinshi by the player's character, during which there are varied opportunities to interact with a cast of girls.
Star Ocean: The Second Story, known in Japan as Star Ocean: Second Story, is an action role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released outside Japan, arriving in North America in June 1999 and Europe in April 2000, by Sony Computer Entertainment. Taking place in a science fantasy universe, the story centers around a young man named Claude C. Kenny, a cadet from a space-faring Earth organization who is stranded on an undeveloped, medieval-level planet. There, he meets several companions and must stop a plot from an evil organization that spans multiple worlds before finding his way home. The game was the basis of manga and anime adaptations.
Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as well as select webcomics. The company is headed by Jason DeAngelis, who coined the term "world manga" with the October 2004 launch of the company's website.
To Heart 2 is a Japanese romance visual novel developed by Leaf and published by Aquaplus. It was first released for the PlayStation 2 on December 28, 2004 as an all-ages title, and was followed by an adult version playable on Microsoft Windows and subsequent all-ages versions for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. This deviated from the release history of the game's predecessor, To Heart, which was originally released with adult content prior to receiving versions with such content removed. The gameplay in To Heart 2 follows a branching plotline with multiple endings, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction based on the player's decisions. Its story centers on the male protagonist Takaaki Kouno, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.
Aquaplus, formerly U-Office and Aqua, is a Japanese company which specializes primarily in the publishing and distribution of visual novels, including both adult games under their brand Leaf and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of anime based on Leaf's games. The company is also involved with music, franchised restaurants, and at one point was involved with automobiles.
Valkyrie Profile is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It was released on December 22, 1999 in Japan and on August 29, 2000 in North America. Inspired by Norse mythology, Valkyrie Profile follows the titular valkyrie, Lenneth, as she travels through Midgard, collecting the souls of slain heroes to serve either as einherjar or her personal companions for Ragnarok - the battle to decide the fate of all creation - and trains them by fighting monsters and performing additional quests. As she journeys, she learns more about her original human life, removed from her memory upon becoming a Valkyrie.
The wizard, formerly known as the magic-user or mage, is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.
Magical Circle Guru Guru is a Japanese manga by Hiroyuki Etō, which was serialized in Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan from 1992 to 2003. It was later adapted into an anime series on October 13, 1994. A second manga series was serialized in Gangan Online in 2012.
White Album is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Leaf, and was originally released on May 1, 1998 for Microsoft Windows as a CD-ROM. A PlayStation 3 version published by Aquaplus with several modification was released in 2010 and ported to PC in 2012. A sequel to the original visual novel, titled White Album 2, was released in two parts in 2010 and 2011. The gameplay in White Album follows a linear plotline, which offers predetermined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.
Tears to Tiara is a Japanese adult tactical role-playing game developed by Leaf. It was first released for Windows on April 28, 2005 in Japan. Then it was followed by a 12-years-old-and-up version called Tears to Tiara: Garland of the Earth released for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in which the adult content was removed. This port also contained several enhancements and additional scenarios including new character designs and changed the original 2D gameplay to 3D.
Xanadu, also known as Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II, is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom and released in 1985 for the PC-8801, X1, PC-8001, PC-9801, FM-7 and MSX computers. Enhanced remakes were later released for the Sega Saturn, PC-9801 and Windows platforms. It is the second entry in the Dragon Slayer series, preceded by Dragon Slayer and followed by Dragon Slayer Jr: Romancia, which, as most games in the Dragon Slayer series, have little relation with each other.
Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X is a remake of the Game Boy Color role-playing video game, Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, for the PlayStation Portable developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released in Japan on August 5, 2010. The original game was the first sequel in the Tales series, which normally does not have connected storylines. The story begins 205 years after the beginning of Tales of Phantasia. The game's theme song is Glass Flower and was sung by Hanako Oku.
Dragon Nest is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by Eyedentity and available in different regions and languages. Aside from boasting a non-targeting combat and skill system within instance dungeons, Dragon Nest revolves around a rich story which is told in different points of view depending on the player's chosen class. Dragon Nest receives new content, balance patches and cash shop items on a monthly basis. Major expansions that include several new dungeons, Nests, new classes, multiple new features or remake of old ones, extensive class adjustments and a raise on the level cap take place every year.
Corpse Party is a survival horror adventure and dōjin soft video game series originally created by Makoto Kedōin and developed by Team GrisGris. The first game in the series was developed using the RPG Maker software version RPG Tsukūru Dante 98 and released on April 22, 1996 for the PC-9801. It was followed by three remakes: Corpse Party: NewChapter, which was released incomplete for mobile phones from October 3, 2006 to December 26, 2007, Corpse Party: Blood Covered, which was released for Microsoft Windows from March 8, 2008 to July 28, 2011, and Corpse Party: Blood Covered ...Repeated Fear, which was released for the PlayStation Portable on August 12, 2010, and iOS on February 9, 2012. The game was released in North America and Europe by Xseed Games and Marvelous Europe under the title Corpse Party. Xseed Games planned to release a localized version Corpse Party Blood Covered for PC in North America in 2015, but the title was delayed until 2016. A 3DS version of the game, titled Corpse Party Blood Covered: ...Repeated Fear was released in Japan on July 30, 2015, and contains a new extra chapter not present in the PSP and iOS version.
Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match is a 2011 2D arcade fighting game co-developed by Examu and Aquaplus. It is a joint collaboration between Aquaplus and Leaf, who developed all the titles and featured characters. The "Dream Match" in the title references the characters of the game coming together from various Aquaplus titles, including Utawarerumono, Tears to Tiara, and To Heart.
Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal is a dungeon crawler role-playing video game developed by Sting Entertainment. It is the sequel to To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers within the To Heart 2 franchise. Dungeon Travelers 2 was released on March 28, 2013, on the PlayStation Portable in Japan; an enhanced remake for the PlayStation Vita was released in Japan on September 25, 2014, and later in North America and Europe in 2015.
