Crimson Gem Saga Game Sample - PSP

Crimson Gem Saga is the last worthwhile release in the Korean RPG "Astonishia Story" universe (known as Astonishia Story 2 in Korea)... or is it? Yeah, it is -- there was a cross-over game called "Norimax Heroes" released in 2005, an "unreleased" "Astonishia Online" MMO that was teased between 2007-2012, and a goofy "Astonishia Vs." mobile game that lasted less than a year between 2014 and 2015 (which used a few assets from Astonishia Online), but CGS set the bar pretty high for Korean games at the time. It was first released for the mobile GXG platform in 2006, where it would later be ported and improved on the PSP/iOS and released Internationally between 2008-2010 (with improved graphics, illustrations, gameplay features, etc.) by IronNos (a subsidiary of Sonnori, it's their name spelled backwards).

Continuing the tradition of training exceptionally brave knights in the spirit of the Latein Empire, the small but diligent town of Green Hill is celebrating its 200th Graduation Ceremony for Military Academy cadets. It's during this momentous occasion that Killian von Rohcoff, our young star-crossed protagonist, wakes up late and almost misses his own ceremony (kinda like a certain Lloyd von Roiental). Killian is hard-working, honest, and somewhat naive, and is disappointed when he loses the valedictorian spot to his rival and borderline enemy, Herbert von Guterrian (who is favored by the Order of Light and has lots of connections through family and acquaintances). Still, salutatorian is nothing to be ashamed of, as his principal points out, and he writes him a letter of recommendation to join the Excelsior Force, an elite group of knights who work closely with the top factions throughout the continent. Things are looking up for Killian... until he gets involved with an artifact called the Wicked Stone, narrowly avoids death from a mysterious assailant and makes it his life's mission to track him down and restore his honor. This gets him involved with a motley crew who inadvertently do the same ol' save the world thing.

You do not need to play AS to follow the plot as it is generally self-contained, though there are two references for fans of the original: the legacy of Lezail is mentioned and Dryden plays a significant role in the plot, so you've been forewarned. Outside of that connection and the music (which has many remixed tracks from the original game), the games are different in a lot of ways. CGS plays much more like a traditional JRPG than a light tactical game. There's turn-based combat, skill trees (where a pool of skill points can be spent on characters), combination attacks, visible enemies on all fields, a town/field map, a wider range of gear this time (versus the four slots in the original), timed critical attack extensions (think similarly to Mario RPG / Legend of Dragoon) and escaping battle is done on a sort of Russian Roulette wheel (where you have to hit one of a few yellow markers successfully).

As if that wasn't enough, there's also the "Ambush" system which is a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at it; enemies can be caught from behind for a preemptive strike, engaged normally when an exclamation point is over their head, or potentially ambush you if they give chase. Enemies move around pretty quickly and it's fairly difficult to surprise enemies early on (until you purchase special shoes to move quickly in Chapters two or three), though you're briefly invulnerable when done with an encounter and can use this to surprise nearby enemies. The game does keep in the spirit of Astonishia Story with expensive equipment upgrades, and they are arguably less useful in some cases than the first game; a lot of weapons have elements attached to them, and a lot of the strongest weapons of a current period are the same element as a boss enemy, causing your character to deal negligible damage, so you either have to wear an older weapon or go at the boss without a fully functional roster. Just like AS, you can also save anywhere, which can compromise you at a few points, though this game is effectively easier than AS as enemies generously drop goods often.

The graphics feature hand-drawn backdrops and characters which are nice to look at, lovely illustrations, and some decent animation here and there. The opening movie is badly compressed though and worse than the original, as it's the same promotional video used for the GXG mobile platform. The soundtrack has a rather pleasing and nostalgic quality to it and there is occasionally English voice overs, -- they're definitely up there with the finer localizations out there, surprisingly. The game is quite humorous at times and Atlus did a great job elevating a cast of otherwise generic tropes. Combat rarely evolves above spamming certain attacks, most dungeons are very confusing, and the pace is a little slow, but such is life I suppose. Overall, it's a respectable PSP RPG I can recommend for those with some patience. Enjoy.

[Feiwong]

Oh Ashtonisia Story 2, I have good memories of this game, but i still haven't beated it.

[Oheao]

Oh, that's cool, I didn't know that there were Korean RPGs on the PSP. In fact, I guess I'm reather unaware of Korean console titles in general.