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Σάββατο 16 Απριλίου 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungnir_(video_game)


Gungnir, full title "Gungnir: War God of the Demon Lance and the War of Heroes" (グングニル -魔槍の軍神と英雄戦争- Gunguniru: Masou no Gunjin to Eiyuu Sensou?), is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation Portable, developed by Sting Entertainment and published by Atlus. It is Episode IX of the Dept. Heaven series, and will be released in Japan on May 19, 2011[n 1] after two years of development[1].
According to the official website, while the game is a medieval fantasy, it deals mainly with topics such as racial discrimination that are problematic in the present day.
Contents
1 Story
2 Characters
3 Gameplay
3.1 Tactics Gauge
3.2 Beat and Boost
4 Development
5 Merchandise
6 External links
7 Notes
8 References
[edit]Story

Gungnir is set in the year 983[2] and takes place in the empire of Gargantia, a country populated by two races: the upper-class Daltania and the peasant Leonica. The Leonica race is regarded as "cursed" for yet unknown reasons, and is subjected to harsh class discrimination.
Because of this and incidents such as the "Espada Massacre" that occurred over fifteen years ago, a group of Leonica aided by Daltania sympathizers has formed a resistance army called Esperanza. Their resistance is, however, badly outmatched and struggling.
One day, a young platoon leader in Esperanza named Julio comes upon a slave trader taking a kidnapped Daltania girl out of the country, and he and his men rescue her. He welcomes the girl, Alyssa, into Esperanza, although she worries what response this will bring from the Daltania military.
Shortly after this, during a desperate battle that appears as though it may cost Julio's life, a powerful demonic weapon appears before him. Identifying it as the demon lance Gungnir, he decides to take it up, and uses it to seize victory from the jaws of defeat, striking terror into the hearts of many. Julio and Esperanza come to believe that Gungnir will give them the power they need to win the war with the ruling class, but this acquisition draws the attention of Asgard and the demons of the Underworld and causes Julio's destiny to begin moving[3].
[edit]Characters

This incomplete list is frequently updated to include new information.
Julio Raguel (ジュリオ・ラグウェル Jurio Raguweru?)
The protagonist of the story, a Leonica youth born and raised in the poor district of Espada. He has been a part of Esperanza since he was very young, and has taken part in countless battles while growing up. Julio idolizes his father, who is considered to be a hero by those who live in Espada, and wants to grow up to be just like him. He values his friends and family very highly. While he always works as hard as he can, this is actually because he has something of an inferiority complex, especially when he is compared to Ragnus[4].
Julio dresses mostly in blue; he has wavy brown hair and green eyes that are depicted as almost completely lightless in Satoko Kiyuduki's official artwork. Although he is capable of using Gungnir, as a Fencer-class unit, his primary weapon is the sword[1].
Alyssa (アリッサ Arissa?)
The main heroine of the story. Alyssa is a timid Daltania girl who is rescued by Julio from slave traffickers wishing to sell her in another country. Her exact lineage is shrouded in mystery, but she is implied to be nobility of some sort; Alyssa herself prefers not to draw attention to her heritage. She begins the story as a non-player character, but eventually gains the will to fight, and is said to be hard-headed when it comes to doing what she believes is right.
Alyssa is blonde and has green eyes; she wears a lacy gown and a red hooded cape. Official artwork depicts her wielding a massive lance with a pink flower motif; while her character class is unknown, her secondary weapon is the staff [1].
Ragnus Raguel (ラグナス・ラグウェル Ragunasu Raguweru?)
Despite being Daltania, Ragnus and his family came to live in Espada with the Leonica when he was a very young boy. More than fifteen years ago, he saw his father brutally murdered by Imperial soldiers in the Espada Massacre, an event that traumatized him badly and left him with a deep desire for revenge. Since that time, he has devoted himself to Esperanza, and currently holds the rank of a captain. Julio is his adoptive brother. According to the official site, while Ragnus tries to make decisions coolly in order to be a good leader, he is actually an extremely emotional person.
Ragnus has unevenly cut dark brown hair and eyes of the same color; he wears darkly colored clothing and a striped scarf. Despite having a delicate constitution, he wields an immense battleaxe. His unit class is Gladiator, and swords are his secondary weapon [1].
Elise (エリーゼ Eriize?)
A mysterious girl who claims to be from Asgard. She speaks of the Grim (魔槍を綴りし者(グリム) Masou no Tsudzurishimono (Gurimu)?), and while very concerned with Gungnir and Julio, she has interest in little else. Elise participates in battle only in order to assist Julio. Her unit class is Valkyrie, and she can use bows and rapiers; she has blue eyes and hair and her brightly colored clothes are decorated with many pairs of white wings [1].
Her development name was Ecrile[5].
Natalia Raymond (ナタリア・レイモンド Nataria Reimondo?)
A prodigy fencer who received her first medal at the age of fourteen. She has an overly serious personality, and is very honest, believing strongly in swordsmanship and learning. She plans to revolt against the Gargandian faction attempting to establish dictatorship.
Natalia has very long hair worn in a ponytail and wears red armor over a white dress and pink cape reminiscent of Mellia's attire, and wields a red rapier similar to Aegina's sword Red Crimson. Her character class is Duelist, and she can use rapiers and swords[1].
Paulo (パウロ Pauro?)
One of the founders of Esperanza, a former magister at the Gargandian court who was exiled to Espada after a certain incident. While he ordinarily behaves as a genial old man, he has an authoritative position in Esperanza and serves as a surrogate parent to the three orphaned Raguel children. He is seen as the "village elder" of Esperanza. Paulo is wiry and bespectacled with flyaway white hair and a mustache. He wields rods and grimoires, and has healing powers; his class is Alchemist[1].
Valerie Brigitte (ヴァレリィ・ブリギット Varerii Burigitto?)
A Daltania woman who became a target of the Imperial Army for political reasons. She seeks to revive the republican political faction, and joins up with Esperanza despite being a different race from most of its members. While she originally had no knowledge of how to fight, she studies the art of the crossbow in order to get revenge for her exile.
Valerie has red hair braided into a bun and purple eyes. Her class is Rebel, and she can use bowguns and claws[1].
Fiona Raguel (フィオナ・ラグウェル Fiona Raguweru?)
Julio's blood-related older sister. She was born and raised in Espada, and is fiercely protective of her family due to the loss of her parents. While cheerful, she is even firmer in her beliefs than her brother. Fiona wears blue clothing and appears to work as a bartender, and has the same hair and eye color as her brother. She wears her hair in a ponytail at the side of her head. Unlike the other characters announced thus far, she is an NPC.
Fiona's development name was Sofia; she likes to cook using hard-to-come-by ingredients and does not like to tell lies[6].
[edit]Gameplay



Sample status screen featuring Julio.
Thus far, details about Gungnir's gameplay are largely unknown. Released screenshots depict an isometric, partially 3D game environment with hand-drawn character sprites, and the official website describes the game as using the orthodox tactical RPG system as a base while employing a time system and an all-new mechanic known as the "Tactics Gauge".
Sting programmer JaJa remarked in his production blog that "This time we're not going for the 'What the heck is this?!' mysterious approach of Knights in the Nightmare... I think it'll be the type of thing where people will look at the game screen and wonder, 'Is it this type of game then?'. And at first, that guess will be right on. However, as you play the game, parts that make you go 'Huh? What's this??' will pop up all over the place if we can get the finishing touches right"[7].
According to the game's product page on Gamestar, Gungnir will feature an optional support mode for players struggling with the system and difficulty level[8]. The Amazon product page features one screenshot depicting a decision point, showing that there will be some form of branching in the game; both multiple routes and Easy Mode were later confirmed by an interview appearing in Geimaga.
The game's PV advertisement claims that there are 25 basic unit classes.
[edit]Tactics Gauge
The gauge displayed on the left side of the screen is known as the Tactics Gauge, and the Tactics Points used to fill the gauge can be employed for various functions. The more Tactics Points are in the gauge, the stronger the party's attacks will be, but these points may also be used for the Scramble function, which interrupts the natural turn order and allows the player to mobilize his or her army any time they please[1].
Tactics Points are primarily gained by obtaining control over key locations of each battlefield.
[edit]Beat and Boost
Two extra methods of attack that rely on cooperation between allies. Beat involves up to four extra allies joining in to attack the targeted enemy as long as they are within the plus-shaped target locus; Boost involves allies on a similar locus extending from the initiator lending their strength for a single powerful attack. How many squares these loci extend depends on how many key locations the player controls[1].
[edit]Development



Julio exults in his newfound power.
Details about Gungnir and its development first emerged in JaJa's blog as early as May of 2009, where it was referred to by the code name "9th", a moniker quickly adopted by fans. However, while 34 entries were posted over the course of May and June of that year featuring development talk and occasional postings of concept artwork, JaJa's blog went silent after that time. While Sting initially projected that the game would be released in late 2010, no more was said about it during the development of Yggdra Unison's DS remake, Hexyz Force, the PSP version of Knights in the Nightmare, and Blaze Union, which were developed and released from late 2009 to mid-2010.
The project resurfaced in February of 2011 with an announcement in Famitsu magazine, followed by the appearance of a teaser site maintained by Sting and hosted on Atlus' domain. On February 24th, JaJa uploaded his first post in two years, confirming Gungnir as Dept. Heaven Episode IX[9]. According to JaJa, part of the reason he had not updated his blog during this time was because Sting received a great deal of help on Gungnir from people outside the company itself, and he was worried about causing trouble if he mentioned things that weren't supposed to be revealed yet. Attached to the post in question is a sketch by Satoko Kiyuduki featuring the four main characters of the game backstage at the Famitsu announcement, complaining about their two-year wait.
[edit]Merchandise

A demo build of the game will be available for download starting 14 April 2011. Details about how much of the game this demo covers have not been released.
In addition, a prerelease mini-album is available for download through iTunes, distributed by Atlus[10]. This release contains the three tracks that play randomly on the Gungnir homepage: The title track Gungnir (グングニル Gunguniru?), battle theme The Noble Ones (高潔なる者たち Kouketsunaru Monotachi?), and Theme of Alchemy (錬金術のテーマ Renkinjutsu no Teema?) (Paulo's theme).
Preorders of the game from certain online stores (Messe Sanon, Medialand, Imagine, Softmap, and WonderGOO) come with a phone card featuring special illustrations of certain characters (Fiona, Natalia, Alyssa, Alyssa, and Elise respectively).
[edit]External links

(Japanese) Gungnir Official Website
(Japanese) Gungnir Release Blog
(Japanese) Dept. Heaven Official Website
(Japanese) JaJa's development blog

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