Trouble is in the land of Acralind. Thousand years ago, seven legendary heroes have sealed the powers of evil with seven sacred stones. But now, the stones have been weakened, and the ancient evil raises its head again. Monsters attack villages and towns. It is your task to retrieve the seven stones and to restore peace in the land. In this strategy RPG, the emphasis is on preparation for the battles rather than on the battles themselves. Before each battle, you are able to see the stats of the monsters and even the tactics they are going to use. You must then select seven units of various classes (knights, archers, mages, etc.) and place them on a battle field, which is a grid composed of four columns and three rows. Front row can attack, middle row support or attack with bows, and back row heals. The battle itself is controlled by computer AI, but you can change formation at any time.
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"A very old, and long, long story. Perhaps it continues even now..."
By some metric a very unoriginal game, but considering the cyclical nature of the story told, isn't that kind of the point? It's hard to dislike a game so earnest in its portrayal of the typical hero's journey. The visuals, music, and combat itself are all excellent, so I have no real complaints.
I imagine the sequel Venus & Braves tells a more unique story, but it's kind of pointless to fault this game for not doing something it had no intention of doing.
Including a generational company management mode as NG+ is also quite the bonus, I didn't really try it out since it seems similar to what Venus & Braves is going to do and I plan on playing that immediately after this. Regardless, a very good addition, so much so they resold it alone as a phone app in 2011.