Welcome to a new post on 'Stories of Entertainment'!
I've decided to change things a bit, if only to make up for a mistake from last week. When I was going over the plot for 'Chrono Trigger', I lightly glazed over the different characters throughout the game, ranging from playable characters to even the villains. Now, I want to make things right.
I'll devote this post to all of the playable characters in 'Chrono Trigger'. Just sit tight and relax: this shouldn't take too long.
Playable Characters:
Crono
The de-facto hero of the game. The permanently silent swordsman who literally jumped through a wormhole through time just to save a girl he just met at the fair. Either he's got the hots for her at first sight or he's just a good Samaritan. Either way, he travels throughout time, going to the past and future, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a trusted katana he apparently practices in the off time. Later in the game, he gets the ability to use lightning magic.
He is also one of the few player characters to actually get killed. What makes this more impressive is that he isn't even needed to finish the game. Given that, as a mute, he doesn't have too much personality to him, but his skills in combat definitely help, especially when using double and triple techs with his part.
Lucca
The genius of the small band of heroes, Lucca is an old childhood friend of Crono's. She's an inventor, obviously, and was the one who created the teleportation device that kick started this whole adventure. Armed with a personally crafted gun (remember, this takes place in what could be considered the Middle Ages, though technology in this story is more advanced when compared to our Middle Ages), she joins Crono in saving the world from Lavos. Later on, she helps repair Robo and gains the use of fire magic.
Lucca can be rather meek at times, as well as distracted by her love of science. When push comes to shove, however, she'll stand her ground to face evil. That effort into science makes her a bit weaker in close combat, but she just makes it up with her intelligence and magic.
Marle
If you ever wanted to blame someone for starting this whole mess, best to turn your eyes to Marle.(In Japan, her name is Marledia) She is the princess in her original timeline before bumping into Crono and starting up the plot for the game. She means well, but sometimes manages to get the group into tight spots. Surprising, it was Crono's death that really gets her going, especially went wanting to get him back to life. Like Crono and Lucca, Marle learns magic as well with healing and ice.
If there is one thing that can make Marle stand out from the rest of the team (aside from her skill with a crossbow), it is her unwillingness to accept destiny. Her idealism and selflessness helps inspire her friends into rejecting the end of the world at Lavos's power. However, its her combat skills and magic that make her lacking as an effective fighting character. Really, she isn't too bad, but she could be much worse. (FF's Aerith comes to mind)
Frog
Frog is a powerhouse with his sword the first time you meet him and will be a useful ally to have in combat. In his past, he was turned into a half-frog form by Magus' magic. Fortunately, he doesn't take it too harshly and decides to become a better warrior. Crono and his friends help Frog regain the Masamune, a powerful sword once wielded by Frog' friend and fellow knight Cyrus. Thanks to some healing and water magic he picked up, he'll definitely stay in the party for plenty of fights.
He's a very interesting character, having felt sorry for abandoning Cyrus to Magus in the past before, causing Cyrus' death. After he was turned into a frog, well, he decided to stop moping around and take up arms once more. Its definitely made him one of the more popular characters in 'Chrono Trigger'.
Robo
A robot from the AD 2300, Robo was repaired by Lucca after who knows how long. When he joins the group after being repaired, he decides to try and understand humanity (fitting, considering his designation is Prometheus). His heavy duty body makes him a great ally to have, even packing a few healing skills as well. Like Frog, he's become rather popular outside of 'Chrono Trigger'.
His interest in humanity comes up quite a bit, especially when doing quests in AD 2300. Heck, a certain side quest deals with shutting down a massive computer mind during Robo's time. However, in another mission, he ends up living for 100 years, gaining some wisdom of what it means to be human.
Ayla
The phrase 'Nubile Savage' fits Ayla to a T. Living in the very lost age of 65,000,000 BC, Ayla is a cavewoman who routinely fights humanoid reptiles with just a club and her bare hands. In actual combat, she's the only character to fight with just her bare hands (making her the monk of the group). No doubts as to see if she is as popular as Frog or Robo.
Albeit not the smartest in the group and speaking in rather poor English, Ayla still manages to be an interesting and fun character to have in the party. Seeing her interact in environments that are way before her time can lead to some pretty funny moments.
Magus
Its hard to really pin down the scythe-wielding sorcerer, Magus. Coming from the past to a future (12,000 BC to AD 600), Magus is willing to do everything in his dark power to summon Lavos and kill it. Anything else is just a setback, including the first encounter with Cyrus and Frog. Further down the plot reveals that he was part of the Zeal Palace as Janus, before being sent forward by a summoning conducted by Queen Zeal to bring Lavos and steal its power.Things don't work out too well and Janus gets sent forward in time to become Magus.
Like Crono, he doesn't need to be recruited to complete the game. However, his skills can be rather useful in the late game. His complexity as a character, both as a hero and a villain, make him another popular character.
-------------------
...and that's it for this post. I'll probably do more of them in the future, though on what is anyone's guess. Still, this should fill in a bit of insight into these characters. Maybe it might inspire some more digging into their background and such.
Anyway, until next time: Play off that Robo Theme!
(There should be a new meme: Robo-Rolled!)
Chrono Trigger was developed and produced by Square (Now SquareEnix)
Welcome back to another review on 'Stories of Entertainment'!
I find it hard sometimes to find video games that have stories that aren't part of a series. Well, at least in a series where I would need to review all of the in a row in the span of a month. Thankfully, there are those few video games that I can split up and talk about separately at another time. Speaking of time, Chrono Trigger!
(Brought to you bythe guy who drew Dragon Ball Z)
Chrono Trigger, at least in my mind, is considered quite the epic story during its time. Developed and published by Square back in 1995(before it was bought out by Enix and became Square Enix), it was a tale of time travel and Armageddon, traveling from the far past and into the distant future. The characters are rather memorable, the designs seemed to pop, and the mythos that would help launch the 'Chrono' series was started here.
It was created from the mind of what was known as the 'Dream Team': Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, and Akira Toriyama, who drew the Dragon Ball series. There was also Masato Kato who wrote most of the plot, Hiroyuki Ito worked as a game designer and animator, with music supplied by composers Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu. With this kind of talent backing the project, its no wonder 'Chrono Trigger' has been considered one of the greatest games of all time. It was first released on the SNES in 1995. In 1999, it was released for the 1st Playstation along with 'Final Fantasy IV' and on the Nintendo DS in 2008.
The gameplay definitely had a part in its design, with it deviating from most RPGS at the time. Random encounters were taken out and enemies roamed around the map, requiring the player to carefully avoid them if the players wishes to. Battles took place in the same level as the map and tech attacks can be employed by the party to take out enemies in more ways than usual. Other features included time travel, allowing the player to travel through different overmaps in time and was one of the first games by Square to have a 'New Game+' mode.
Alright, enough about the gameplay and development. Its time to focus on the story. No place better to start than the beginning...
(Uh...I meant the beginning of the story. How do babies fit in this?)
Anyway, its starts in AD 1000, with the main character Chrono, a silent protagonist who wields a katana (and looks like Goku from DBZ), attending a fair in his town. There, he meets Marle, who is actually a princess hiding her royalty as she ventures into the outside world. They both come across an attraction involving Lucca, a childhood friend of Chrono. Lucca has been working on a teleporter that has gotten Marle very interested into trying it out herself. However, her pendant reacts weirdly with the device and opens up a portal in time. As Marle is sent back in time, Chrono and Lucca follow her, ending up in AD 600. After fighting a few monsters, they realize that Marle was mistaken as the princess of this time, which creates a grandfather paradox. Time travel isn't really my thing and this will confuse me one way or another. Best just to move on as is.
Marle gets kidnapped during this stay, with Chrono and Lucca getting the aid of a squire-turned-anthromorphic-frog named...Frog. They rescue Marle from her captor, with Frog saying goodbye to the trio as they return to AD 1000. Upon arrival, Chrono immediately gets captured and is accused of kidnapping Marle. Good to know that even back then, heroes somehow manage to end up as bad guys through miscommunication. Of course, Chrono is set free thanks to Marle and Lucca, with the trio opening another portal which actually sends them forward in time. They end up in AD 2300, which turns out to be rather post apocalyptic. Think Terminator: Salvation, only actually good. From survivors, they learn about a creature known as Lavos who appeared in AD 1999 and wiped out the advanced civilization during that time. The three heroes vow to stop Lavos once they figure out how to travel through time. After traveling to a mechanical dome, they come across a damaged robot figure...
(They should be fine. It doesn't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Lucca helps rebuild the robot, who goes by the name Robo, and they end up finding another portal. This time, they end up heading to the End of Time and meet with an old man named Gaspar. He grants Chrono, Marle, and Lucca some magical power, giving them control over Lighting, Ice, and Fire respectively. They then use portals set up in the End of Time to travel to the other periods. One of them sends them back to 65,000,000 BC. They encounter some reptile men and soon encounter a future ally...
(And they said cavemen were just the hunters and gatherers)
The group is joined by Ayla, a cavewoman, who helps them return back to the End of Time. When they head back to AD 600, Frog needs help in repairing a sword known as the Masamune. Apparently, Frog was a human known as Glenn and fought alongside another knight named Cyrus. The two were confronted by Magus, a power sorcerer, who killed Cyrus and turned Frog into his current form. Eventually, the Masamune is reforged once more (even getting help from its original creators, Masa and Mune). Frog rejoins the party, telling them that he believes that Magus would be the only controlling Lavos. They head out to Magus' castle, which is blocked by a mountain of all things. Fortunately, Frog has them covered...
(Still manlier than 80s He-Man)
They arrive at Magus' castle, even fighting against some of Magus' best warriors: a fat green blob named Ozzie, a gender-confusing mage named Flea, and a dangerous swordsman named Slash. (They should form a band. :D) Of course, all 3 get defeated (Ozzie's defeat is rather embarrassing for him) and Magus gets confronted once and for all...
(Bit of mood lighting helps set the tone)
So the heroes fight Magus, who decides to be a dick and send them back to the past, way past. I mean 65,000,000 BC past. With Ayla, they discover that the reptile men, actually referred to as Reptites, planning something with with several members of Ayla's tribe. They decide to mount an attack on the main Reptite stronghold, and decide to do so in style...
(Too bad it doesn't catch on. Would've loved to fly a pterodactyl)
Once they reach the Reptite stronghold, they discover the origins of Lavos. It is there that they discover that Lavos has been on the planet for millions of years, having started to absorb the DNA and energy of every living being since its arrival. Another time hop, skip and jump to 12,000 BC, where a kingdom known as Zeal has discovered Lavos and intend on absorbing its power through the use of something known as the Mammon Machine to grant them immortality. Crono and his friends try to stop them, but Queen Zeal catapults them out of the timeline and sealing off that point in time. Undaunted, the heroes travel back to 2300 AD, where they find a new machine would help them travel through time without a portal. It is called the Epoch, also known as the Wings of Time...
(When this hits 88 miles per hour, we get to see the serious shit Dr. Brown promised)
They manage to make it back to 12,000 BC before the Mammon Machine is activated. Unfortunately, they get delayed by a general named Dalton, who stalls them long enough to get the Mammon Machine activated without fail. Lavos appears before them, and Magus is there as well, having disguised himself to kill Lavos. However, Chrono makes his stand against the creature with the ultimate sacrifice...
(Magus-Piccolo probably wondered why Chrono didn't dodge that attack)
So yeah, Chrono is dead. Not the usual thing to see the main hero get killed like that. The rest of his friends survive, but end up being captured by Dalton. They manage to get free, Dalton gets his just desserts, and they recover the Epoch. At this point, Magus can be recruited as well, if the player chooses. From there, Magus tells the story of how he was known as prince Janus and actually lived in Zeal. When Lavos was summoned, he was scattered through time and ended up in the Middle Ages. He created the entity of Magus and vowed to kill Lavos and avenge his sister, Schala, who had died when Lavos appeared.
Soon, the Ocean Palace, which was part of the Kingdom of Zeal, gets turned into the Black Omen and rises above the ocean. The heroes seek help from Gaspar, who states that they could save Chrono through the use of a 'Chrono Trigger' (I see what he did there). The device helped save Chrono at the moment of his death, bringing him back to the land of the living. Before setting out to fight Lavos, a few missions are introduced by Gaspar, telling the heroes how there were ways that could help them in the coming battle. Some of these missions included finding the legendary Rainbow Shell, returning a forest that became a desert and even visit the grave of Frog's friend Cyrus...
(Jeez, that's really depressing...)
The last mission involves attacking Black Omen and taking out Queen Zeal. The fight is pretty tough, but can be done. From there, they use the Epoch to take on Lavos at its source, destroying its outer shell and pushing in further, deeper into the core of Lavos' being. More fighting ensues and in one great climax, Lavos is finally killed. Now onto the celebration!
(For those who didn't notice before, Vegeta took out Frog, dyed his hair green and took all of his glory. That bastard.)
And that is the end of Chrono Trigger. I'm still not surprised that this video game is considered one of the best video games of all time. The story, the characters, the gameplay: all mesh up into one nice package. Thankfully, its still remembered after so many years, thanks to loyal fans and some rereleases. There have been 2 sequels to it: Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross. I'll review those two at another time, but it will happen.
Until next time...
Chrono Trigger was developed and produced by Square (Now Square Enix)
Thanks to EssiMonsterEvolved, VGCutsceneTV, StyxNL, QuovakSA, DarkSpartan4, majikos, littlesephiroth, and guitmm for all the Youtube videos.
Welcome to another review on 'Stories of Entertainment'.
Keeping with a sorta theme from the last review, I'll be switching over to Arthurian lore this time around. Its an interesting shift from gods to heroes, though there will always be both in either mythos. Anyway, Arthurian lore deals will, well, King Arthur, as well as different characters such as the Knights of the Round Table, the wizard Merlin, Lady Guinevere, and the sorceress Morgan le Fay. Its a rather famous part of British literature and there have been great stories told with these characters before. Why not make an animated show about it? Enter: King Arthur & the Knights of Justice!
(90s guitar riffs make scenes feel more awesome.)
With its first episode appearing in 1992, "King Arthur & the Knights of Justice" was a story about how a team of football players got sent back in time by Merlin to replace the captured King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It was produced Golden Films, C&D and Bohbot Entertainment and lasted only 2 seasons (26 episodes total). Hm, wonder why?
The first episode, titled "Opening Kick-Off', has Camelot being under siege by a group of warlords led by Lord Viper, who is actually the second-in-command to the real villain, Queen Morgana. At this point, Merlin is the only one who is defending Camelot by himself since King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table get trapped into a place called the Cave of Glass. While Merlin does his best to defend Camelot, Queen Guinevere gets captured by one of the evil Warlords. At this point, Merlin realizes that he is not enough to stop Morgana and gets a message from the Lady in the Lake. She tells Merlin to find new knights from the future and bring them to help protect Camelot. And these new knights happen to be...football players. Really?
I understand the Lady of the Lake said they were good men and all, but was 12 football players really the best she could come up with. Aren't there soldiers who also exhibit qualities of goodness and justice? I don't think that all football players exhibit such positive qualities.
(This is especially true when some start picking fights with referees)
We cut to the present day (or at least the 90s equivalent of the present day), where we see our main heroes for this series: the New England Knights. Hm, guess the New England Patriots got replaced. The team is led by their quarterback, Arthur King (clever) as they win another game. They head out to their next game, with several of the players remarking how good of a leader Arthur is and how much they're looking forward to their next game. I was able to make out a couple of the other names of the players and looked up the rest.
Seriously: Gallop? Breeze? LUG? (that last one ain't even a player: its their equipment manager) I thought there were nicknames of something, but I never seen them refer to themselves by any other name. Arthur is the only one who at least has a last name. Anyway, they encounter a storm which actually brings them back in time to meet Merlin. It also gives them some new clothing to fit the period.
(I hope he realizes how utter boned he might end up being)
Merlin tells the group how Camelot is in peril, how Queen Morgana wants to rule all, and how the original King Arthur and his Knight were captured. The football players agree, reluctantly, and see it a fun experience. Yes, cause all war is fun, right? Once everything is settled, they swear an oath of sorts which also acts as a power-up chant.
"I am King Arthur..."
"and we are the Knights of Justice! We pledge fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil!"
Eh, a bit wordy, but it gets the job done. They get their armor and weapons, which make me laugh silly. Honestly, the Power Rangers do a better job of coordinating colors, in my opinion, and the Knights look down right hilarious. Its like they set up color suggestions on a dart board and just started throwing randomly. They also get weapons, which is odd for some of them. Like Brick, who apparently shoots bricks out of his chest (odd), and Lug, who has a football. Really, a football? Couldn't he have a hammer or something?
(If they're trying to say how dangerous a sports ball can be in a fight, they got the wrong one. That, instead, would be the Blitzball)
Anyway, the new Knights of Justice fight against Lord Viper and the evil warlords in their first battle. The knights do rather well for their first fight, with Arthur King proving himself to be quite a tactician, if only that he is using football formations in the fight. They manage to beat back the evil army and set out to free Queen Guinevere. Thus ends the first episode.
No, wait, I need to get something off my chest. The fact that the Knights of Justice were able to fend off the evil army in their first bout has me a bit confused. Are the evil forces that incompetent and if so, what does this make King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table out to be? Maybe the Knights of the Round Table were pretty effective in the beginning and one clever trick got them trapped in the Cave of Glass. After all, its been revealed later on that the evil warlords are actually constructs made by Queen Morgana, so I'm guessing that the mold broke for each warlord at one point or another.
Back to the Knights of Justice, who are also equipped with some pretty powerful magical items (aside from Excalibur, of course). Didn't the original Knights have them too? Or were these new items made specifically for the Knights of Justice? It just raises too many questions.
Despite the all the questions I keep thinking up about this series, I would simply consider it be to 'awesomely bad', which is what you can expect out of some cartoon shows during the 80s and 90s. There are even some good moments in the series, like Lug actually taking on Lord Viper in a one on one fight. It has some good moments, which start to get anvilicious in the second season when they have a moral to go over in the end.
Again, it is more of an 'awesomely bad series' than just a 'bad series'. Its definitely for some good laughs every once and a while.
Until next time...
King Arthur & the Knights of Justice belong to Image Entertainment
Thanks go out to 'Legendarybarr' for the intro theme
Welcome to a new review on 'Stories of Entertainment'.
I'm changing things a bit up here, despite it being the third review I've ever done. This review will actually cover an RTS game and its sequel, which features stories of great heroes and a mythic adventure. Of course, it is Age of Mythology and Age of Mythology: The Titans!
(Jeez, the guys gotta be using cheats if he can have that many mythic units)
Another game that turned out to be a spinoff of another main series, the Age of Empires. Created by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios, the game was released in 2002, with its sequel coming out a year later. Like Rise of Legends, it takes a different approach to the game mechanics of its predecessor, while adding some new ideas to the mix.
In the game, there are 3 groups to choose from: Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse (the Atlantians are a 4th group that appear in the expansion). Each one, of course, plays differently, with Greeks being the most balanced, Egyptians having faster, but weaker units, Norse, who are the powerhouse of the quartet, and Atlantians who have strong attackers weak armor.
To differentiate the players who use the same races are choices in which primary god they worship. For example, if I play as a Greek, then I can choose between Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, each one having special bonuses to fit a certain play style. As you advance to each age by gathering the proper amount of resources (food, gold, and wood), you then choose a minor god who also has benefits you can use if you choice them. These include different bonuses to units, buildings, and even mythic units. So, if I chose Zeus, then when I advanced to the next age, I could chose to either have Athena or Hermes as my first minor god. This continues until the fourth age, where you have chosen 3 minor gods at that point. The choice of minor gods change depending on the main god (Poseidon could also choose Hermes as well, but Athena is replaced by Ares).
Back to the resource gathering, a new one was added known as favor. Each group has a different way to gain favor. Greeks have temples where they send villagers to worship to gain favor, Egyptians build monuments to gain favor, Norse gains it through combat, and Atlantians gets it through building on settlements. It definitely adds new strategies when it comes to adding a new resource to a game. Overall, the gameplay is pretty great, even when just fighting against a computer.
(This is the ultimate showdown, of ultimate destiny~)
Anyway, onto the story mode of Age of Mythology, with the main hero Arkantos having a dream of fighting an old enemy named Theris. Athena appears and warns him of great danger that could spark a war between the gods. After Arkantos wakes up, he makes it to his home, Atlantis, and is told to sail out again to help the Greeks in the Trojan War. Pirates attack, led by a minotaur named Kamos, with Arkantos repelling them before heading out to Troy. Once there, he meets up with the commander Agamemnon and Ajax. After an assault, Arkantos works with Odysseus to knock down the first gate of Troy. Unfortunately, the Troy forces make an assault of their own, taking down Ajax's and Agamemnon's forces during the Greek's siege. Down, but not out, Arkantos and Odysseus come up with a plan to trick the Trojans into accepting a giant, wooden horse for the Greek's surrender. The bait is taken and Troy falls in the very night.
(At this point, the Trojans were grabbing the Idiot Ball too tightly)
So, the Trojan War has ended, with Ajax accompanying Arkantos on his trip back to Atlantis, which takes a detour to a port town due to the ships being damanged. Once they arrive to the town, they discover that it has been ransacked by bandits and that their leader, Chiron (a centaur) was captured as well. The two Greek heroes rescue Chiron, though most of the prisoners have been taken away to a dig site. Meanwhile, a massive cyclops known as Gargerensis is working on a way to travel into the Underworld, using the prisoners to dig into the earth. Arkantos, Ajax, and Chiron assault the bandit's fortress and follow Gargerensis into the Underworld. The Greek heroes watch as Gargerensis' forces try and bust down a massive door. They stop them, but end up being trapped in the Underworld by an avalanche. The Greek heroes manage to move through the Underworld to a point where they come across temples to Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. When Arkantos tries to pray at Poseidon's temple, believing that the God revered in Atlantis would help them, but gets no reply. Instead, Zeus creates a passageway from the Underworld back to the surface.
Oddly enough, they end up in Egypt of all places, crossing paths with the Nubian warrior Amanra. The Greek heroes help Amanra by acquiring an artifact that helps the group assault a bandit's fortress run by Kemsyt, who is actually working with Gargerensis along with Kamos. After the assault, the heroes acquire a piece of Osiris, with Amanra telling them that Osiris was tricked by Set, 'killed', and cut into several pieces, spread out in Egypt. When they reach a safe haven, it turns into a trap by Kemsyt, with Amanra the only one escaping. She manages to rally a force to assault an island prison where the rest of the heroes are held, even rescuing a priest of Osiris known as Setna. They escape and manage to recover the piece of Osiris once more.
Taking a break from all the battles, the Heroes try to plan out what to do next. Arkantos takes a nap, which triggers another message from Athena. She tells how the Titans fought the Greek gods and lost, being locked away in Tartarus behind adamantine doors. This prevents gods from opening the the doors, leaving only mortals to open them. To Arkantos' surprise, Athena tells him that Poseidon has helped Gargerensis in trying to free Kronos from the prison. All to get back at Zeus for taking most of the power amongst the Greek Gods.
(Finally, a story where Hades isn't the designated villain)
This actually cuts to a pretty trippy mission where Arkantos attack Atlantis as the enemy, being told that if Gargerensis isn't stopped, Atlantis and everyone on it will be destroyed.
Arkantos finally awakens from his dream, getting informed on the plan everyone else was working on. They decide to reunite all the pieces of Osiris in order to stop Gargerensis from accessing the Underworld in Egypt. The heroes split up, with each one managing to acquire a piece of Osiris in one way or another. Amanra manages to fight Kemsyt (though he escapes), Arkantos and Ajax fight Kamos (with Arkantos killing Kamos with his spear), and Chiron meeting a group of Norsemen who have been following Gargerensis from the North (how? why? does it really matter at this point?). Anyway, the heroes manage to recover all the pieces, reunite them and bring back Osiris, who then proceeds to open up a can of 'SMITE' by stopping Gargerensis and destroying most of his army. The cyclops flees to the north, with the heroes following him soon after.
The next mission is really a re-telling of a part of the Odyssey, where Arkantos and Ajax find that Odysseus was shipwrecked and his crew turned into pigs. Arkantos and Ajax end up getting turned into boars (guess Circe's magic wasn't working too well at that point or something) and the two manage to rescue the crew before they were killed. They even manage to revert them to their original forms, with Arkantos and Ajax parting ways with Odysseus.
(Enough of the Greek pansies, time to be manly Norsemen!)
Anyway, the heroes managed to reach the North, immediately getting a snow avalanche dropped on them. Thankfully, two dwarves named Brokk and Eitri help the heroes once they help the dwarves get their armory back from a group of giants. They part ways, and the heroes meet up with an old man named Skult, who tells them of the different Norse clans infighting while the giants came down to join in. He offers to use his clan flag as a way to attract their attention, if only for a few moments. Don't worry, this old guy seems legit.
The group manages to find the clans, but they end up getting attacked due to the symbol they carry. After fighting through several Norsemen, the heroes realize they were tricked when Skult laughs at them and turns into ravens. Thankfully, a valkyrie known as Reginleif meets them and told them that Loke tricked them by having them carrying the symbol of the Folstagg, a frost giant who has caused a great deal of trouble to the Norsemen. They manage to recruit more Norsemen for an army and assault the fortress that leads to the Norse underworld. As they assault Gargerensis and his forces, they get chased by Fire Giants with Chiron sacrificing his life to stop the giants' advances.
As they try and regroup themselves, they come across Brokk and Eitri, who are working on a special project. Reginleif explains that Thor's hammer was smashed by Loki, with the dwarves working on trying to fix it. After protecting the dwarves, Thor's hammer is fixed once more and the God of Thunder stops Gargerensis' plans cold.
(Time to drop the hammer!)
In one more fight against Gargerensis and his forces, the heroes are rejoined by Odysseus, who has also brought an army with him to fight. Apparently, Athena has shown Odysseus on how his own home was destroyed if he didn't go to help the heroes in the north. They manage to beat the cyclops, with Ajax cutting of Gargerensis' head as revenge for Chiron's death.
Eventually, the heroes head back to Atlantis, with Arkantos demanding that the cyclops' head being lashed to the bow of the ship. However, it is revealed as another trick by Loki, the head actually turning out to be Kemsyt. As they reach Atlantis, it has come under siege, with Arkantos realizing that the last door to Tartarus is in Atlantis. As the heroes try to rescue as many people as they can, Gargerensis calls upon Poseidon to help him. The god of the sea turns a statue to life to open the path to the door faster. Arkantos sends the heroes away to get the citizens to safety, while he stays to stop Gargerensis. Zeus, realizing that his brother is using a loophole to get his way, helps out Arkantos by empowering him. In the end, Arkantos kills Gargerensis, but dies from the sinking of Atlantis. Taking pity upon him, Athena grants Arkantos the power of a demigod.
And that brings an end to the Age of Mythology campaign story. It was good, characters were fleshed out enough to make them different, at least personality wise, and each of the missions were interesting and helped move the plot forward. Now, onto Age of Mythology: The Titans.
The story takes place a decade after the end of Age of Mythology, with the Atlantians trying to rebuild their society after the destruction of their island. However, they are having little success in returning to their former glory. Elsewhere, Kronos, somehow, sends forth a creature to take over the mind and body of Krios, a minor character from the previous game I've neglected to talk about until now. Its only because he didn't really have too much of an effect in the last game until now. He was priest of the Greek Gods and that was about it.
The next morning, 'Krios' tells the remaining Atlantians about a vision of a temple that would take them to a much better land. When they reach that temple, it turns out to be a gateway to a better land, leading the Atlantians out of a cold tundra to a temperate climate. Its revealed here that Oranos, the Sky Titan, was the creator of the gateway that the Atlantians used to get them here. Most were hesitant to worship the titans instead of the gods, but Kastor, the son of Arkantos, tells how the Greek Gods abandoned them and at least the Titans gave them aid. Like Krios, Kastor was a minor character in the previous game, but helped give Arkantos a stronger reason to protect Atlantis aside from just doing it as his duty.
(Jeez, where is Ms. Arkantos in all of this?)
The Atlantians decide to rebuild the old Titan temples, but get attacked by Greek forces. Furious at their assault, Kastor launches his own army against the Greek general Melagius. The general ends up dead, but Egyptian and Norse forces appear to back him up. Taking advantage of their arrival, Kastor splits up his forces and sends them to the North and Eqypt in order to strike them at their home.
As Kastor leads the attack against the Norse, his other army fights against Amanra, now known as Queen Amanra. Before the actual fight, she was visited by Arkantos, who warned her about the Atlantians attacking her. She fails to stop the Atlantians, but manages to survive the attack. As she heads out to face the Atlantians at their home, Arkantos tells her that his son is leading the forces. Wait, if he could just appear to anyone, why couldn't he just help his son and the Atlantians rebuild their homes?
Anyway, Kastor makes it back to Greece, where he prepares for another assault. 'Krios' tells him of another gateway of Oranos, which actually leads to Mount Olympus itself. He decides to ransack Mount Olympus, which will end up doing something horrible. Meanwhile, Amanra reunites with Ajax, just in time to see the return of the titans, specifically the one called Prometheus. As Kastor returns, 'Krios' reveals its true form and explains how it was all Kastor's fault that the Titans are free. Without those temples on Mount Olympus, the Titans would be able to break free from their imprisonment and rule the world once more. Wait, why didn't Gargerensis try to attack Mount Olympus instead of just trying to take out the doors? It sounds like this way would've been a lot faster.
Ajax and Amanra manage to save Kastor from his troops and the wrath of Prometheus. As they re-group, Akrkantos appears and tells them at other Titans, one in Egypt and one in the North, have also appeared. Since they can't fight Prometheus now, they head out to sea to stop the other titans. Apparently, the ones that are appearing now are considered 'lesser Titans', meant only to make way for the bigger ones. They manage to get help against the Titans, like an Egyptian guardian of great power, and Folstagg, the giant that was mentioned in the first game.
Of course, the heroes succeed and head back to Greece. They soon discover that one of the Titans, Gaia, is against Kronos' return and helped the heroes take down Prometheus. At least this makes sense, since the the Titans that first appeared are trying to make way for the rest.
(Its hard to think of a handful of Titans more powerful that Gaia)
After dealing with Prometheus, the heroes head out to try and take down 'Krios' at the Atlantian colony. However, they walk into an ambush. They survive, of course, and further follow him back to the ruins of Atlantis. There, Kronos manages to break out of Tartarus and begins to try and take over the world. Fortunately, Gaia gives the heroes help once more, even making a physical appearance to stop Kronos. They succeed, with Kastor even managing to take out 'Krios' himself. In the end, Arkantos gives Kastor the 'Staff of Atlantis', making him the new leader.
The campaign mode for Age of Mythology: The Titans is kind of a letdown. It's pretty short, not a lot of character development and even the villains were pretty poor. I was expecting a lot more out of the expansion. Still, the gameplay is pretty good overall and it can be fun in the off-time.
Until next time...
Age of Mythology and Age of Mythology: The Titans is owned by Ensemble Studios
Thanks to 'cheesesteak999' for the intro video to Age of Mythology
Welcome to a new post of 'Stories of Entertainment'.
I'm a comic book fan by heart and have always enjoyed reading comics whenever I could. Thanks to a collection of paperback comics that got passed down to me, I was exposed to the industry when I was basically in elementary school. It helped that there were animated shows like X-men and Batman on during my youth, that only made me enjoy the stories even more. There have been other comic book series that have been turned into animated series, but not many have been revered back then as they have been today. With that said: Ultraforce!
(Wow, this intro is so 90s.)
Ultraforce was a comic book series made by Malibu Comics, who was soon bought out by Marvel. There wasn't much of any other information I was able to pick up on the book series, other than it ran for 2 different volumes before being canceled. The animated series was made in 1995 by DiC Entertainment and ran for 13 episodes. Hm, wonder why?
Anyway, the intro itself is pretty cool to watch (if the quality was good enough), the music just scream 90s, and it does its part to introduce the members of Ultraforce in about a minute. The team is as follows: Hardcase (leader of the team), Contrary (senses stimulator), Ghoul (self-explanatory), Prototype (offspring of Iron Man and Spider-Man), Topaz (standard warrior woman) and Prime (kid turns into giant meat-head). Oh boy, we are in for a treat.
The first episode is known as 'Prime Time'. Great, this will definitely end well. Anyway, we see Hardcase, as well as a few minor characters getting their butts handed to them by a robot called NM-E. Really, I'm just getting flashbacks to 'X-men: Days of the Past'.
However, it turned out to be just a dream, as Hardcase is now an actor whose team was lost some time ago. Apparently, NM-E is back as well, as a news report shows him attacking military bases. This prompts Hardcase to take up his costume once more and fight his old foe. I actually like Hardcase, since he's a veteran hero and understands the risks it takes to be a hero. Though, it wouldn't hurt for him to relax just for a little while.
Elsewhere, a kid name Kevin Green also sees the news reports, heading out under his superhero guise of Prime. Really, I hate this character. He's a lot like DC's Captain Marvel: he's a kid with superhuman powers with an identity that makes him look like an older man. Unlike Captain Marvel, Prime is making himself out as kind of a jerk. While he does get better as the series progresses, I don't think I could ever respect him as much as the other members of Ultraforce.
(Honestly, that physique scares me.)
Also, Protoype gets introduced as a tester for a new power armor to take on NM-E himself. Like I said before, he's like Iron Man mixed with Spider-Man. He's young, bit of a jerk, but still tries to do good. Not much to say else wise. Will research more later.
Of course, the three meet up while fighting NM-E and don't like each other. All that bickering prevents them from preventing all the nuclear missiles from the base being stolen. The military, geniuses as they are, blame the trio and attack them. However, they get rescued by Contray, Ghoul and Pixx. Who is Pixx? I'll explain later. Right now, Contray suggests that they form a new team to fight evil and such. Of course, Hardcase objects, words get thrown around, and another base starts getting their missiles stolen. The trio head down to help (with Ghoul in tow), but all of the missiles get swallowed up by the ground. With Ghoul staying topside, the three head into the bowels of the Earth. Here, we see the Big Bad that is behind is all: Atalon, king of the Fire People!
(Uh, I don't think that is normal royaltywear)
The three of them get royally owned and sent back packing, with Atalon setting off several missiles to try and destroy the surface world! Thus ends 'Prime Time'.
Second episode begins, titled 'The Stuff of Heroes' with the team bickering amongst each other once more. Contray breaks up the little fight, while Pixx does her best to shut down as many missiles as possible before they explode. Wow, she's pretty useful on the sidelines as a tech expert. Glad she's part of the team, yeah?
After that bit, 3 missiles are left to be shut down. As Ultraforce shuts them down, Hardcase and Prime keep butting heads. I'd say get a room, but that would be way to squicky in this kind of context. So, Prime heads out on his own, with the team trying to get him back. However, Ghoul gets a premonition of Pixx dying, tries to warn her, but fails.
As Hardcase, Ghoul, and Prototype go to retrieve Prime, Contray and Pixx watch the arrival of Topaz. Since Topaz grew up in a place where women ruled the world, of course she would hate men with the passion. Doesn't explain why she will join the team later on, though it helps that Ultraforce isn't a complete sausage fest.
Anyway, Prime rebuffs Hardcase's plea to help Ultraforce and even fights with them for a bit. However, NM-E comes back to fight them once more. During the scuffle, Ghoul gets taken by the Fire People while NM-E gets taken down by Hardcase and Prime.
Unfortunately, all that exertion has Prime turn back into Kevin Green, which makes Hardcase realize that Prime is basically a kid in superman-sized shoes. He accepts Kevin's secret and wishes to help him become an even better superhero. I like to think that Hardcase sees a chance at redeeming himself as a leader and mentor by helping Kevin/Prime. Its pretty good narrative-wise and fits with the character.
Anyway, the team regroups, now with Topaz joining the team, and soon realize Ghoul's disappearance. Episode two ends with Atalon getting Ghoul to try and communicate with deceased Fire People to show that the surface would should be theirs and such.
Moving on to episode 3 'Armageddon', as Ghoul does just what Atalon wants him to do: contact the spirits of the past Fire People kings. However, they don't seem too kind to Atalon's plans to conquer the surface world. Atalon doesn't take it too well and lies to his people to keep his own plans from stopping. Hm...
(We need to conquer the surface world.)
Ultraforce, tired of sitting on their butts, take the fight straight to Atalon, who is apparently staying on an island that he formed himself. Rather egocentric of him. Anyway, Ultraforce decide to take out the missiles that Atalon has stockpiled, preventing him from destroying the surface world. Pixx offers to disarm them and Hardcase, rather reluctant, accepts as long as she is wearing an anti-radiation belt. Hopefully, they got the warranty on that.
Anyway, big fight occurs as the Ultraforce battle Atalon and his Fire People force. During a scuffle between Pixx and a Fire People soldier, her belt gets damaged. Ghoul manages to meet up with her and leads her to where the missiles are stockpiled. Apparently, the missiles are leaking radiation (guess moving them damaged their hull or something) as Ghoul tries to warn Pixx. She knows the risks and continues trying to disarm to the missiles. She succeeds, but at a great cost.
(The worst part would probably be that her comic version outlives the animated version)
Anyway, Atalon gets banished by the Fire People spirits, peace is made with the Fire People and the Ultraforce says goodbye to their teammate. Such is the ending of episode 3 of Ultraforce!
So, did Ultraforce deserve more credit than it got? This series surprised me a bit. The characters have a bit more shape to them and it took its time to introduce the members of the team, rather than just introducing them all at once. However, the villains tended to fall a bit flat at times and were mostly one-offs. Overall, I'm surprised that this only had 13 episodes. I wouldn't mind seeing more of the show.
Though now that I think about it, compared to what else was being featured back then, it probably wouldn't have made a big impact under the 'Malibu' logo. Having backing by 'Marvel' or 'DC' could go a long way.
Well, that's the end of this review. Until next time...ULTRAFORCE!
Ultraforce is owned by Marvel Entertainment
Thanks go out to Superspoon21 for the Ultraforce intro
