プリズム・アーク ～プリズム・ハート エピソード2～

What does it take for one to attain happiness? Is it heroism, to ultimately secure the happiness of many? Is it self-sacrifice, the willingness to give one’s own life to save happiness even at the cost of oneself? Is it friendship, wherein one’s happiness becomes one’s strength? Is it justice, and its lawful indictions of self-content under one’s ideals? Or is it trickery and deception, where all the happiness you have will be hidden unaware, under a mask from which one’s true self resides? In order to find the answer, these questions will intertwine, woven with the threads of fate, until one finds the answer… alongside another…

I invite you to join me in embarking on a journey to find the answers. I invite you to Wind Land, to the so-called Prism Ark!

わああい～! My first entry for the Eroge category! I can’t believe I’m finally going to blog about them games too soon. But anyways, enough with the unnecessary details.

PRISM ARK ~PRISM HEART II~ (プリズム・アーク ～プリズム・ハート エピソード2～,) is the sequel of Prism Heart developed by Pajamas Soft. Its release date was on August 25, 2006. Though this may be a sequel to be thought at first, Prism Ark uses a new set of characters, with some special anticipations from characters of the previous game, which is somehow incorporated in a way that there is cited importance, since it IS a sequel and all. However, this remains hidden until the player progresses with the story.

Our story starts with a brief history of a tragic past in the kingdom known as Wind Land. The royal family is secured inside a carriage and is currently underway to safety. The soldiers of Wind Land fend off Sablum enemy troops to secure the king and queen, as well as their newborn. But a series of magic circles emerged, and from the skies, something descended with gigantic hands, a form never seen nor heard of, and wings that fluttered as the creature’s cry echoed into the vast grasslands. However, this creature does not bring salvation. Its hands instantly killed a portion of the Windland soldiers in one fell swoop. His form is bent forward to strike, and the beautiful wings that were once thought to belong to a divine being was now branded as an image of death to all who saw it. Nay, I kid you not, for it was the Angel of Windland’s Tragedy.

“Xaquel: The Angel of Windland’s Tragedy“

Years later. Our little hero-protagonist Hyaweh treads his way towards his new school, Rosenberg Knights Academy. Along the way, he accidentally encounters a girl bathing in the stream, until…

“Iyaaa~! Ecch-I mean… Who’s there?!”

The lady gets attacked by a small squad of ninjas, but successfully defeats them (all while being naked, too!). Detecting Hyaweh’s presence, she brandishes her rapier. Hyaweh gets branded as an enemy, but the girl recognizes that he is not. But still, getting to peep at a naked girl bathing at a stream (then getting attacked, while naked) is… well… somehow… not good… in a way. Anyways, the girl dismissed Hyaweh after taking the liberty of clothing herself, and then proceeds to leave. Of course, Hyaweh didn’t care less on how that went, and proceeds on a path of his own, to the academy. And so, his journey begins.

Okay, there’s the rundown. What’s next? Of course, it’s not just some story about graduating some prestigious academy for knighthood and then going to a fruitless, stupid war that lasts over a century. Of course, we’re presented a variety of characters to match our tastes. But one cannot start to know another if one doesn’t know one’s own self, right?

“Awaken, ALA-GLADIUS!!!”

This is Hyaweh (ハヤウェイ,), a student of Rozenberg Knights Academy (ロゼンベルグ騎士養成学). Just your usual, laid-back type of guy with a hint of perversion. He likes to skip class, eat when he wants to, space out, cram for tests, and save the day from the bad guys. Along with his powerful Bastard Sword, ALA-GLADIUS, he fights for the sake of patriotism, knighthood, and of course, love. He’s our main guy with the freelance type of personality, and it ain’t that unique or bad. Of course, having a not-so-badass sword and a secret past ain’t that much of a difference. But hey, this sword can kill Angels, and a God too! YOU DON’T KILL GOD THAT EASILY! It’s an ausum thing to do (though not epic win), so what gives?

“The Noble Temperamental Princess”

Enter Priecia (プリーシア). Hm? Think you’ve seen her before? Oh yeah! She’s the BUTT NAKED lass you met along the way to the academy, right? Well, turns out that she’s the current Princess of Wind Land (so lucky you), and the idol of Rosenberg Knights Academy. She’s also your classmate and seatmate on your class, Pegasus Class. Okay, so having a princess as a classmate/seatmate is good. If only she would just stop being tsuntsun 90% of the time, then it’s better! And have I told you she’s got good swordsmanship using her Rapier, Ruby Flash? However, there are facts not known to most of the academy, and Priecia intends to keep it that way for some reason…

Seriously, getting hit by a kunai/shuriken in the heart IS GOING TO HURT.

Next on the list is Kagura (神楽). She’s a Mikogami from Wa no Kuni, assigned to be Priecia’s bodyguard. A very self-centered person who likes to keep to herself, she portrays little or no emotion whatsoever at most times, guarding Priecia as majority. However, this changes as days go by, especially as Hyaweh starts to interact with her. Her weapon of choice is the Nagayumi (bow), Amagami-no-Mikoto. She also employs healing magic and protective buffs for Hyaweh’s party. Her attack strength may not be as great, but her range and indispensible magic make her an important member in fights Hyaweh may encounter. Oh yeah, I have to warn you of your food, too. Kagura is not one to take lightly when it comes to that, especially since she’s near insatiable and will eat anything edible in sight.

おい氏耳！

Next with the uber delicious ears is Fel (フェル). She’s the self-proclaimed “スーパ天才真帆処女”, or Super Genius Magical Girl, if you didn’t understand that. She was enrolled with the help of the Duke and Principal, Kizarov. Basically, she’s a nosy, hyperactive, devious girl hell-bent on making mischief. You’ll have to expect wild slapstick comedy while with her. Moreover, she’s the first magic user you’ll encounter with in the game, able to use different types of single-target elemental magic with her trusty Staff, Magical Hammer. Story states she has preference over ice magic, though. This is due to an event in the past, and a promise she wants to fulfill, but let’s not dig further into that.

“The Holy Samurai: For Me, a True God is Justice.”

Meet your professor: Mibu Karin (壬生 華鈴). She’s the current Drill Professor for Pegasus Class, and a member of the most coveted group of knights in Wind Land: The Templeritter. She’s quite a bitch at first, incorporating punishments at the very least of offenses (ever heard of having to run 10 laps by just laughing?), but she’s actually got a very nasty secret: She may be fearless at the sight of Angels. but she’s dead scared of ghosts that the slight mention would make her hair stand from end to end. This proved to be a useful weapon to use… for Hyaweh, at least. But getting back to the fearless kyoukan, she has mastered the art of Miburyuu Kenjutsu (Mibu Style Sowrdsmanship) from her country, Wa no Kuni (no, Kagura isn’t related to her whatsoever), using her Katanas, Kotetsu and Kikuichimonji, with a preference mostly to the latter.

”子供じゃないです！”

And so we proceed to the type Oniichan likes the most: The cute, little loli. She’s Litte Ratus (リッテ・ラートゥス), the bubbly, clumsy, and cute little girl you’ll bump into early in the game. But make no mistake, this loli ain’t just as cute as she looks. Well, so much for saying that she’s your Homeroom Teache-WHAT?! Errr… you see… uh… nevermind. She’s the second character in your party that uses magic, with an inclination for using most splash/multiple target magic, as well as a penchant for earth magic. Her twin Directivity Automagically Floating Prisms (seriously, what the hell is that…), Bud and Fys, are twin prisms that are controlled and levitated by magic, in contrast to Fel’s Magical Hammer.

I see a veeeeeery striking resemblance to Arcueid Brunestud here…

Then, we move on to another type that probably Hemi-tan would like: The transforming oneesan. The name’s Teletha Theresa　(said and written ingame as テレサ・テイレット, so there may be inconsistencies on how it’s said/translated), a resident of Mediado. Hyaweh meets up with her after bumping into her on the street, with the former separated from his group. Hyaweh then discovers that she’s a helper in the church there, tending on the orphan kids who were survivors of the war. Eventually, Hyaweh convinced himself to help out Theresa, as well as to tend at the kids as well. She’s also adept in terms of combat, and wields a shortsword. However, there is one thing that Hyaweh doesn’t know of.

“The Sister Who Came From Hell”

When at Mediado, she’s is known as the person called Teletha Theresa. However, in Sablum, she’s known as the mercenary Sister Hell (シスター・ヘル),, a puppet under the strings drawn by Sablum’s sultan/king, Gerod. Her garments contrast to what she believes: “There is no God. If there is a God, I shall not believe in it.” Why this is so will be explained later in the game. All I can tell you though is that as a member of the elite Elpiss, she can go toe-to-toe, or even overpower Karin. Sheer raw power and athleticism fuels her and her Crossing Sword, Expiatio, and anything or anyone that goes against her are either dead, or badly injured, giving justification to her dreaded nickname.

”妹かな、かな!!”

Last of the main characters, and probably the character that has the hardest route to get, is Filia (フィーリア). She’s Hyaweh’s little sister, or imouto. She’s a working student, serving as a waitress on the academy’s canteen when not in class. Compared to everybody else, she’s probably the most conservative, helpful, loving, servicing girl in the game, and her diligence is something I sometimes irk into (yeah, I’m lazy, no need to point that out). She is seen mostly close to Fel, though the friendship sometimes rift into quarrels. Just think of if as the usual love-hate relationship. Anyways, she’s not known to fight, and mostly stays in the background on most of the decisive battles. However, if requested, or if push comes to shove, she’ll get the Broom of Pegasus Class and wham your head off, seriously. I smell incest somewhere…

There’s too many characters to mention aside from the main ones, and some characters from the past Prism Heart game come back with a recurring appearance, although of different aspects, proportions, and connections to the current cast. Still, comic humor is delivered mostly by the interaction of the main and sub-characters in the theme of high school life. But still, focal points are pointed out here and there as Sablum is attempting to invade Wind Land for the seventh time creating tensions between characters both from Wind Land and Sablum Sides.

The Royal Couple, Meister and Princea, securing the safety of their royal child by sacrificing theirs.

The game mostly revolves on Hyaweh’s point of view, though at some instances, character flashbacks narrate a chosen girl’s memories in the past. But, in these instances, narrations are not necessarily voiced, and would only be if they are speaking with another character in the past. Hyaweh, on the other hand, does not get voiced, but at some instances, he gets to say a word or phrase just to dictate a focal point, especially on a chapter’s climactic moments.

The battle system that Prism Ark incorporates is not rather new, to tell the truth. Random battles are littered here and there on, some being hidden, which then commences to the decisive battles at the end of each chapter after a few more storytelling sequences.

Like any other well-fought war, one must not go without the best armaments in hand. So before you go to battle, you’re given a chance to select from a variety of Prisms: Weapons, magic, items, and equipment to match the players, as well as the player’s companion/s.

Gear up using Equip Mode at the Start/Camp Point.

After picking the right equipment you are then dropped off at the starting point of a chessboard-like map filled of spaces you can move in. Every spot designates enemy battalions that you can choose to battle with, usually indicated on the battalion descriptions what enemy forces are in that certain spot. But usually, if you find a certain boss impossible to beat with the current set of equipment, you can always go back to the spot where it says “CAMP”, specifically your starting point, in order to change anything you want so you can defeat the bad guy of the day.

It looks more like Snakes-and-Ladder-ishy…

Of course, being one of RPG nature, it not just good, IT’S CLASSIC. Using the oldschool turn-based style of gameplay, players decide in turns on what attacks to use against enemies, as well as to plan on defense once an enemy turns on either an attack buff, or is using some kind of high-class magic or attack. Be noted that in turns character stats also affect how the battles fare. If a character has high speed, it attacks first and foremost before any other party member. If a character’s LP (or Life Points) is high, he/she is harder to kill, etc., etc.

The Battle Inferface: Hyaweh vs. Angels! (and seriously, the scale range is screwed…)

Of course, there are variations for oldschool. If Hyaweh has a certain attack that another character can correspond to, he and that character can team up to unleash a deadly TA (Team Attack), mostly on all enemies. Moreover, this does not work only on Hyaweh. Other characters can also team up with another one (not Hyaweh) to do more damage, which players can abuse to have up to 3 maximum team ups per turn. Also, the collected prisms after a certain route has been finished, as well as the character levels, may be retained if you want to start over for a new route.

One of Hyaweh and Priecia’s Team Attacks

Of course, it has its downsides. The only player that you can change equipment with is Hyaweh. Other characters would have their built-in, standard equipment for you to cope with. If you’re fortunate enough to have a good prism, you might be able to do TAs, but that’s when you’ve collected a good sum of them. Also, the 3D rendering is good, but having them as Chibis? Are we aiming for distraction from battle due to moeness? Probably not. Also, the scaling between player characters and Angels are quite screwed. Angels should be as GIGANTIC as they are depicted to be, not to be chibified to near a player’s sprite height. One last thing to note is that the battles are as repetitive as hell. The battle system incorporates bad guys with extremely high levels. In order for you to kick their asses, you must repeatedly do battle on “Free Zones”, or spots that respawn the certain enemy battalion designated there even after you’ve defeated it. Abusing this may let you fight the bosses in an equal level, but it gets as boring as well. This strengthens to a certain degree after you’ve collected some formidable prisms after clearing some routes or special chapter choices in the game. No more free battles alright, but in order for you to progress through the game you must still do the decisive battles.

Anyways, it’s not all that bad. The seiyuu cast is exquisitely handpicked, I say. To note some, the versatile Yui Sakakibara went a little bit off for Priecia’s Tsundere Hime character, but has somewhat sufficed with her usual cold tsuntsun voices and ojousama-ish way of speaking. Kaori Mizuhashi, on the other hand, voiced Fel as jollywell as she could, and it fitted so well when she did those tsuntsun sequences as well. Yu Asakawa voices Sister Hell/Theresa, switching from a sweet, soft-spoken person, to one with very icy demeanor. Her character song, nomadic lady, is one of my personal favorites, too. Haruko Momoi also stars in her first eroge (note, not visual novel, eroge, E.R.O.G.E.)series as Filia, in which she uses her usual childish tone when she did Minazuki Chika of Ai Yori Aoshi. She also sang the OP and ED songs f “Sor the game alongside KOTOKO. But the one who best delivers one-man humor is Kōsuke Okano as Kizarov. I mean, IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE WHO CAN DELIVER GOOD COMIC HUMOR THAN I DO?! NO THERE ISN’T!

反語…

Sakakibara Yui (Priecia) and Kimiko Koyama (Litte) in one of Prism Ark’s fandisk projects.

The art isn’t bad either, or should I say it’s well done? Major CG excellence at its best. It’s also animated all the way, from normal to ones expressing emotion (i.e. sadness, blushing, astonishment, etc.). Major effects like slashes, stabs, magic, as well as other objects are done as smoothly as they could be. The CG animations for standout full-screen CG portray moving mist, rotating windmills, roaring flames, even laser beams. And just look at the architecture!

Bird’s Eye View of Rosenberg Knights Academy.

I think the buildings are handled very much the same way as the Angels are rendered, since they quite share that smoothy, shiny-ish texture on the renders. The various places are pretty much done in 3D as well, so it’s quite a refreshing feel to see something like it instead of the usual drawn backgrounds. Add in the background animations and versatile lighting effects and it would certainly look beautiful.

Angel Phagiel: Seriously, THAT’S ONE BIG MOTHERFUCKING GUN!

The Angels are done splendidly as well. Though rendered smoothly, it can still depict some parts for detail, like Xaquel’s battle-scarred armor, and the gruesome parts of the Ultima Angel. Battle and story-wise, each are different in its own way, and are divided by type. Xaquel is the basic meelee unit Angel, while Gladiel serves as aerial unit. As for artillery, Phagiel and its big cannon gets jobs done. But all this boils down to the ultimate Angel that has all of what these Angels can do. Ultima Angels can fire strong blasts of heavy magic, tackle multiple heavy enemies at once, and even fly at high velocities. However, there’s nasty secret about them, and it should come at the latter chapters of the game.

Fel in her Ultima Angel form: Sleek, stylish, and SHE OWNS!

Most of the CG art is done by one person, but the chibis are done by another. Such a working combination is quite an interesting thing to have, especially if it’s perfectly done to cope in a certain slapstick sequence. Throw in some animation and you’ll get better results.

Snowflakes have never been this dangerous.

The songs and music can’t be missed either. Each main character has its own character songs whenever the said character is being engaged. Priecia and her tsundere character fits with her character song’s name, Secret Heart, while Karin has her very oriental character song, HOLY SAMURAI. But basic BGM didn’t cut it, they made vocal songs for them as well, which are played at climaxes in the game (more inclined on the last chapters on a character’s route, that is). Like I said, Yu Asakawa doing Theresa’s/Sister Hell’s vocal character song, nomadic lady, is probably the best, while Karin’s vocal character song justice! fares second. The character songs usually personify the character in question, but there are some instances that it copes up with a situation for example, a decisive battle, or an imminent disaster.

The storytelling is good enough for an eroge. Most of Hyaweh’s self-narrations are quite funny too. But the way the story goes is quite different in itself. Like the usual eroge, it’s divided into two major segments: the transition phase or the part where you interact with the girls and see how your choices fare for Hyaweh’s true love, and the character route phase or the part where you solely interact on Hyaweh’s chosen love. However, unlike the old games I encountered in the past, this game has preference choices, contrasting to just character choices (you just pick a character you like, that’s it) you have on some old games. The humor isn’t bad as well, which is sometimes given with a tinge of fanservice. I mean seriously, scaring the ghost-sensitive shenanigans out of Karin was classic.

CHIBI YURI YUMMINESS AT ITS FINEST.

But then again, no game is without it’s setbacks. First, the game is HUGE! I mean, REAL HUGE! How does 6.13GB sound to you? It’s not even fully animated like School Days! Aside from the usual battle system rants I provided earlier, the loading times weren’t any better too (around 2 minutes tops), and the size of the game kinda slows it down to a certain extent, be it on battle or not.

But still, the game itself proved a worthy challenge to finish. Aside from the variety of routes to finish, as well as unlocking secret routes, chapters, and prisms, the general mood of the game didn’t let me down. If you want a game that can keep you quite occupied for more than half a day, for a total of maybe more than a week, Prism Ark is a good choice.

Oneechan’s Verdict:

Story [rating:4.5]

CG/Art [rating:4.5]

Music [rating:4]

Battle System [rating:3.5]

Overall [rating:4.5]