Tales of Symphonia

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Tales of Symphonia (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア ,Teiruzu obu Shinfonia) is a video game first released for the Nintendo GameCube and later for the PlayStation 2. It debuted in Japan on August 29, 2003, in Canada and the United States on July 13, 2004, and in Europe on November 19, 2004. The game received a Japanese-only PlayStation 2 release on September 22, 2004. It is the fifth mothership title in the Tales RPG series, and was the third game in the series to be officially released in the U.S., and the first to be released in Europe. Tales of Symphonia's characteristic genre name is To Resonate With You RPG (君と響きあうRPG ,Kimi to hibiki au RPG). Tales of Symphonia takes place long before Tales of Phantasia (hence a distant prequel). The game sold 118,000 copies during its first two weeks of sales in the U.S. and went on to sell over 1.2 million copies worldwide.

The game was produced by Akira Yoshizumi, a producer from Namco. One notable characteristic of the game is its art direction by Kosuke Fujishima, a renowned Japanese mangaka (comic-book artist).

In June 2007, Ufotable released an OVA in Japan based on the events of Symphonia. A spin-off titled Tales of Symphonia:Dawn of the New World for the Nintendo Wii was released in Japan on June 26, 2008 and in America on November 11, 2008 and TBA 2009 for Europe.

STORY

The game begins in the world of Sylvarant, a land that is dying due to a steady loss of mana, the energy source that is needed both for magic and to support life itself. As crops begin to wither and hardship sets in, the people turn their hopes to the Chosen, a servant and messiah of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration. In order to regenerate the world, the Chosen must travel from continent to continent, awakening the Summon Spirits that sleep at ancient shrines known as "seals." With every seal released, the Chosen comes closer and closer to becoming an angel. Once the Chosen fully transforms into an angel, the world will be regenerated.

As the game progresses, many revelations are made about World Regeneration and the hidden plots that complicate the scenario. One of the earliest revelations is that becoming an angel forces the Chosen to give up the aspects that make him or her human.With the release of the first seal, the Chosen loses the need to eat; with the second, the ability to sleep; with the third, the ability to feel physical sensations; and after releasing the fourth seal, the Chosen can no longer speak. The fifth and final seal requires the Chosen to give up his or her heart, memory, and life. When this process has been completed, the Chosen's body will become one with the goddess Martel.

The party also learns of a second world, known as Tethe'alla, which lies parallel to Sylvarant. Replenishing Sylvarant's supply of mana changes the flow of mana, thereby draining it away from Tethe'alla - much like the sand in an hourglass. The reverse also holds true. As the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla must compete for a limited amount of mana to survive, whenever one of these two worlds is regenerated, the other falls into a state of mana deprivation.

The party succeeds in releasing all the seals, and Colette becomes Martel's vessel. However, they learn that the angels that they are trying to serve have been using them. The party is betrayed by one of its own members, Kratos, who is then revealed to be an angel. The remaining party then goes to Tethe'alla to find answers, where their goal ultimately changes to saving the two worlds. In order to do this, they decide that they must sever the ties between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla to separate the worlds, thus ending the competition for mana. When they have completed breaking the seals connecting the two worlds, this causes the Great Seed, the giver of mana to the world, to go out of control. In the end, the party revives an ancient tree of ever-flowing mana, which, with the aid of the Eternal Sword, merges the two worlds once more.

Dino Crisis 3

Dino Crisis 3 (ディノクライシス3 ,Deinokuraishisu Surī) is a survival horror video game for the Xbox. It is the third and final game in the series. Like the previous iterations of the Dino Crisis series, gameplay revolves around fighting dinosaurus. The action takes place in outer space, on a space station.

Unlike the first two installments of the Dino Crisis series, the enemies in the game are not real dinosaurs. Instead they are mutations created from the DNA of some dinosaur species.

The game was originally planned for both Xbox and PlayStation 2, but the latter version was scrapped early in development.

Gameplay

The number of weapons was reduced to 2 guns with 6 ammo types (one gun and 3 ammo types per playable character), in addition to small machines called "WASPS" that help against dinosaur encounters. The game was played mostly through the character Patrick and only a small section was played as Sonya (although an unlockable mode allows you to play as Sonya only faster wearing a Waitress costume). There are also three types of body armor available.

Plot

It is the year 2548, more than 300 years since Earth lost contact with the colony ship U.N. Ozymandias, en route to a². Somehow, the ship has reappeared near Jupiter. A team called S.O.A.R. (Special Operations And Reconnaissance) is sent aboard the probe ship Seyfert to investigate. A small team is sent off on a shuttle in an attempt to board the Ozymandias, when the ship's weapons power up and launch a laser at the Seyfert, destroying the ship. The weapons then direct themselves at the shuttle and fire, slicing it in half and destroying it.

Fortunately, Patrick Tyler, Sonya Hart, commander Jacob Ranshaw, and McCoy survive the blast. They manage to make it to the Ozymandias and board the ship. Inside the ship proves to be quite derelict, though there is still power.

Patrick and Sonya soon find themselves face to face with a large Australis which kills McCoy. The Australis is in turn killed by a small colony of the eel-like Rigel, which eat the Australis alive from the inside. Game-play begins here.

As Patrick, you fight your way through parts of the ship until you reach the Bridge, where one life-sign is discovered somewhere in the ship. You are sent out to investigate. After fighting your way through the ship's storage areas, you finally meet the surviving human, a girl by the name of Caren Velázquez. After defeating a horrifying planet-like organism, Patric is forced to make a hasty retreat as the Ozymandias' MTHR - the ships control system- ejects the entire storage sector from the ship in hopes of stopping Patrick.

After finding his way through the rather confusing Shaft sector, Patrick meets Caren, and reveals that she reminds him of his sister, and that he feels the need to protect her. Patrick reaches the top of the Shaft sector, where he is attacked by a large Regulus. Luckily, Sonya and Jacob this time manage to save Caren, who was injured. Jacob is next to be rescued. Jacob then fights the Regulus head-on, sacrificing himself by detonating a grenade, destroying the room and everything in it. Patrick, Sonya, and Caren manage to escape just before the detonation. Caren soon dies, revealing that she is not, in fact, human, but is instead an android.

Unfortunately Jacob's sacrifice was in vain though, forcing you to fight the large dinosaur anyway. Upon defeating the Regulus, Patrick sees a "new" Caren running through a hatchway.

After restarting the Ships core in the Energy Sector, Patrick is forced to head back after a problem causes some parts of the ship to malfunction. After making it through the Shaft Sector in zero-gravity, Patrick then gets through the Deck Sector with malfunctioned Environmental Systems. On his way to the Hazardous Waste Storage Room, which contained an item to repair the ship, Patrick is almost crushed by a huge foot going through the ceiling. After being forced to the hanger deck after previous rooms froze the doors shut, MTHR has a surprise for him.

After another confrontation with an Australis, Caren manages to repair the ship, saving Patrick from succumbing to the broken environmental systems. Patrick then goes back to the Energy Core to restart it, but the room is severely damaged after MTHRs aquatic creature, "Miaplacidus," crashes through the wall, filling the area with water coolant.

When the fight is finished, the Creature escapes and the trio run to the MTHR sector as the core begins to go into meltdown. As the trio arrive at the sector, the MTHR and Engine sectors detach from the Front Deck, Shaft and Energy Sectors, which are destroyed by the meltdown. The Engines soon activate an emergency system and Warp jump to Earth.

Patrick tries to stop MTHRs main computer but she opens another hatch releasing Miaplacidus a second time. Upon defeating the creature, Patrick tries to stop M.T.H.R. sending the dinosaurs to Earth and fights her, eventually destroying her system, which has disastrous effects on the ship, causing it to activate the Self-destruct.

Patrick is reunited with Sonya and Caren as they try to escape the ship via an escape shuttle, but they are attacked by the "Cebalrai", an adult Rigel. Patrick is then attacked by the creature, being unable to reach his gun. Caren decides to sacrifice her self to make her self fall, along with the dinosaur from a collapsed platform. Patrick and Sonya are able to escape before the ship self-destructs. But the Cebalrai, being able to survive in vacuum, was able to get on the top of the shuttle. Then Patrick gets on top of the shuttle himself to destroy the "genetic freak", and so the final battle begins.

Midway through the battle, the Cebalrai grows a third head, and Patrick is forced to use a "Final Wasp," which weakens the creature and sends it flying into space. Upon its defeat, Patrick stands on top of the ship and says: "It's finally over! Caren ...". Then the Earth is shown on the screen where the game ends.

Note: The game events are canon, but have little connection to the first two games (Dino Crisis 3 is a new chapter to the series). The events of Dino Crisis 2 continue with the spin-off game "Dino Stalker" .

After the the game is completed in sort of difficulties there are 2 bonus/mini-games unlocked .

1. Sonya Express: The player takes control of Sonya Hart, wearing a waitres suit , and a faster jetpack. In the mini-game the player explores Ozymandias and kills as many dinosaurus as they can.
2. Wheel of tune: The mini-game that allows the player take control of Patrick Tyler , also with different costumes. The mini-game is similar to the main story, but harder, and the player must kill as many dinosaurus on Ozymandias as they can, within the time limit.

source: Wikipedia

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Suikoden III

Suikoden III is a console role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the Sony Playstation 2 video game console, and the third installment in the Suikoden video game series. It was released in 2002, with a manga version published in 2004.

Like the other Suikoden games, Suikoden III features an intricate, detailed setting. The game's story is presented through the "Trinity Sight System;" rather than having only one "hero," the plot is explored through three different viewpoints, allowing events to be seen from multiple sides. There are three struggling factions in Suikoden III, each with their own divisions and politics, and there is no unambiguous "right" side. Hugo of the Karaya Clan is a Grasslander, Chris Lightfellow is a Knight of the merchant nation of Zexen, and Geddoe is a member of the Harmonian Southern Frontier Defense Force, keeping watch for the huge nation of Harmonia on the Grasslands area.

The named "hero" chosen by the player at the beginning of the game is actually the Flame Champion, the Grassland leader who upheld the independence of the Grasslands against a Harmonian incursion decades ago. Unlike other Suikoden games, which generally feature a silent protagonist, the Flame Champion and the other main characters all have personalities and dialog.

Final Fantasy XII Gamestory

Final Fantasy XII begins in Dalmasca's capital city of Rabanastre, where the happiness from the union of Princess Ashe of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia is interrupted by the Archadian Empire's invasion of Nabradia. In the subsequent war, Nabradia and Dalmasca are subjugated by Archadia; among the lives lost is Prince Rasler. The Dalmascan king, Raminas, who is forced to sign a treaty of surrender, is slated to be assassinated. A rescue attempt by Dalmascan knights backfires when Basch, one of the leading knights, kills Raminas and fatally wounds Reks, a young 17-year-old knight who was with the knights during the attempt and reveals Basch's deed before succumbing to his injuries. The execution of Basch, and Ashe's eventual suicide, are announced by Marquis Ondore.

Two years later, Vaan, Reks' younger brother, infiltrates the Rabanastre palace during the dinner to celebrate the appointment of Vayne Solidor as Consul, despite Penelo's objection. During the infiltration, Vaan encounters Balthier and Fran, who are after the Goddess magicite that Vaan took. Their escape attempt backfires when Resistance forces storm the palace, landing them into the sewers where they stumble upon the Resistance leader, Amalia. However, Vaan, Balthier and Fran are captured by the Archadians and detained at the Nalbina Dungeons. In Nalbina, the trio encounters Basch and escapes with him, after learning of the existence of his twin, Judge Magister Gabranth. Basch conveys to Vaan that Gabranth had posed as him to blackmail Ondore. While skeptical at first, Vaan finally believes him, and helps Basch reach Bhujerba with the help of Balthier and Fran. They also learn of Penelo's kidnapping by headhunter Ba'Gamnan, who uses her to lure Balthier to him. This brings them to a meeting in Bhujerba with Lamont, a curious boy who is in truth Vayne's younger brother, Larsa. Basch is also able to confront the Marquis, who captures the party to be sent onboard the Archadian airship, Leviathan, headed by Judge Ghis. Ghis takes Vaan's magicite - the Goddess' Tear - to be sent to Archadia.

On the Leviathan, the party is reunited with Amalia, revealed to be Princess Ashe; and Penelo, who had been rescued by Larsa. Escaping the airship and unable to convince the Marquis to prove her royal lineage, Ashe, driven by visions of Rasler, attempts to collect the Dynast-King Raithwall's treasures to prove her royal blood. The Dawn Shard, a form of magicite called deifacted Nethicite obtained from Raithwall's Tomb and seized by Ghis, proves to be fatal as the small stone destroys the Leviathan, Ghis, and his fleet. Now unable to use the Shard, Larsa convinces Ashe to seek Gran Kiltias Anastasis, who lives in Mt. Bur-Omisace, for his approval of her as queen of Dalmasca. Vaan and Penelo travel with the entourage, which includes Basch, Balthier, and Fran. On the way, the party rescues Fran's sister, Mjrn, who was possessed by manufacted (artificial) Nethicite in the process.

The party learns in Mt. Bur-Omisace that not all parties are wishing for war. Larsa, who had been investigating Vayne's connection with the manufacted Nethicite, had made contact with Al-Cid Margrace, a member of the Rozarrian Empire ruling family, to convince the two Empires to cease their war. Their plan to announce Ashe's status as Dalmascan Queen and to persuade Gramis for peace was forestalled with the Emperor's death at the supposed hands of the Archadian Senate Chairman, Gregoroth. With Anastasis' aid, Ashe retrieves the Sword of Kings, which can destroy Nethicite. While she obtains the sword, Anastasis is killed by Judge Bergan and Larsa is brought back to Archadia. After defeating Judge Bergan, Ashe's party travels to Archades and the Draklor Laboratory, where manufacted Nethicite were made by Dr. Cid's research. There, they encounter Reddas; however, Dr. Cid escapes and leaves clues that lead them to Giruvegan, the supposed location of the Sun-Cryst, the source of deifacted Nethicite. While together able to enter Giruvegan, Ashe alone encounters the makers of the Sun-Cryst, the Occuria, receiving the real location of the Sun-Cryst, and the Treaty Blade to cut her own piece of deifacted Nethicite.

The Archadian Empire's might, led by Vayne, was due to Dr. Cid's Nethicite research and the assistance of the Occuria betrayer, Venat. Vayne aims to become the new Dynast-King by using manufacted Nethicite to conquer all of Ivalice. Dr. Cid, revealed to be Balthier's father, was obsessed with researching the Nethicite's power after his own visit to Giruvegan and initial encounter with Venat. Their expansion campaign which led to the Nabudis' destruction and Dalmasca's occupation was made to obtain and study the royal heirlooms - deifacted Nethicite. Gabranth was sent to after Ashe to ascertain her intentions for war. With the Occuria's clue to the Sun-Cryst, Ashe travels to the Pharos at Ridorana Cataract, accompanied by Reddas. Finding the Sun-Cryst atop the tower, Ashe resolves to destroy the Sun-Cryst, defeating Gabranth, who admits to killing her father in an attempt to force her to give in to her hate. By then, Cid arrives to chide Gabranth before disposing of him and evoking the full-power of the Sun-Cryst with the Nethicite shards prior to his death. Reddas, intent not to allow history to repeat itself like at Nabudis, sacrifices himself to destroy it using the Sword of Kings.

Ashe learns from Al-Cid that an impending war between Archadia and the Resistance group led by Marquis Ondore, who defied the Empire after the Leviathan incident, is about to take place in Rabanastre. The party travels home to find Archadian forces strengthened with the Sky Fortress Bahamut - an enormous, nethicite-fuelled airship armed with incredibly powerful weapons. Infiltrating the sky fortress with the aid of the Resistance, Basch confronts Gabranth, who spews hate towards his twin, yet taken by Basch's loyalty. The party encounters Vayne and Larsa, the latter objecting to Vayne's plot for power; Larsa and Gabranth ally with the party to destroy Vayne after Venat infused its power into him. The war ends with an announcement by Ashe, and with Larsa taking over the Imperial Army. The party escapes Bahamut, now void of its fuel due to the final battle, with Larsa and the body of Gabranth. Balthier and Fran remain onboard the Bahamut, steering it away from Rabanastre to prevent a collision, though contact with them was lost.

One year later, Ashe has become Queen of Dalmasca and her coronation is about to take place in one month's time; Basch replaces Gabranth as Judge Magister due to the latter's request, serving as guardian to Larsa, now Emperor of Archadia. The story ends with Vaan flying his own airship with Penelo after Balthier and Fran return to 'steal' the Strahl. They leave Vaan a message which includes a note to Queen Ashe and also her ring that Balthier took from her earlier in the story, this is then delivered to Ashe. Following this, Vaan and Penelo set out in an airship to visit Balthier and Fran in Bervenia.

Story Source: Wikipedia

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Suikoden IV Game Story

Suikoden IV begins its tale with a training session (for both the player and the characters), where the Hero (identified in the novelization as Lazlo) and his best friend Snowe Vingerhut face off against their Commander and Vice Commander, Glen and Katarina respectively, out at sea. After the training concludes, Lazlo and his fellow knight trainees head home to Razril, where they are to be pronounced full-fledged Gaien knights.

After the ceremonial Kindling Ritual and a night of feasting, Lazlo awakens the next morning for his first duties as a new knight, including the task of escorting a man named Ramada to the neighboring island of Iluya. During the trip there, they are attacked by Brandeau and his pirates. Snowe abandons the ship after being fired upon by "rune cannons," while Lazlo decides to brave the attacks and stay, thus inspiring jealousy in his cowardly comrade. Brandeau then boards Lazlo's ship and challenges him to a duel, which the young knight unexpectedly wins. As a last effort, Brandeau unleashes the power of the Rune of Punishment and attempts to destroy everyone, but a mysterious force shields Lazlo from its might. Glen arrives to save his men, and in that brief moment, the Rune of Punishment is passed from Brandeau to Glen, after which Brandeau evaporates into dust.

Soon after, the knights retreat back to Razril. Several enemy fleets attack in succession, finally forcing Glen to repel them with the power of the deadly Rune. In the aftermath, Lazlo finds the Commander dying, and unwittingly becomes the Rune of Punishment's next bearer. Snowe arrives just in time to witness Glen's evaporation and blames Lazlo for killing him. Katarina, who assumes command in Glen's stead, believes Snowe's story and sentences Lazlo to exile from the island. Drifting aimlessly on a small boat, Lazlo discovers that two of his fellow knights, as well as a wandering merchant, have stowed away to join him.

As Lazlo and his companions drift on the open sea, they come across one of the militaristic Kooluk nation's merchant ships, which takes them on board. However, Lazlo discovers that the ship is actually a military vessel, captained by the Kooluk hero Troy, and that Lazlo's former charge Ramada had been a Kooluk spy. Troy catches Lazlo eavesdropping, draws steel and easily defeats him in a fight, but then allows the banished knight and his friends to flee. Adrift again, the companions wash up on a deserted island, where they forage for materials and eventually build a raft to leave. This time, they encounter a ship from the friendly kingdom of Obel, and are welcomed as guests.

The ship's crew inspects Lazlo, recognizes the Rune on his hand, and sends him to meet with Lino En Kuldes, Obel's young and capable king. Lino En Kuldes hires Lazlo, putting him in charge of recruiting new talent to help shore up Obel's defenses in the event of a Kooluk invasion. Lazlo's first assignment is to meet and recruit the inventor Oleg. During their meeting, Oleg's invention (the world's first movie camera) captures Kooluk's Rune Cannon strike on Illuya. This prompts the King of Obel to take serious action, but too late; Obel is next on Kooluk's list, and Lazlo, his friends, and Lino En Kuldes himself are all forced to flee in Obel's secret flagship (which becomes the hero's HQ for the remainder of the game). The Kooluk forces, with the backing of the arms merchant Graham Cray, conquer Obel with ease, establishing a foothold for their planned southern expansion.

In need of help, Lazlo and company join forces with the pirate queen Kika, who suggests the recruitment of the tactician Lady Elenor Silverberg. Elenor is reluctant to help, but joins once she hears that Graham Cray is involved. She quickly forms a plan to liberate each of the Island Nations, then bring them together to face the Kooluk as a united front.

Lazlo leads his forces from island to island, recruiting more and more along the way. Eventually, his campaign takes him back to Razril, where Snowe and his lord father have sold everyone out in the hopes of a peaceful takeover. The liberation of Razril succeeds, and Snowe leaves in further disgrace. (Later, depending on the player's actions, Lazlo either tracks Snowe down and befriends him again, tracks him down and executes him, or just forgets about him entirely.)

As the company's forces continue to grow, Lino En Kuldes successfully leads the fight to recapture Obel. That leaves only Kooluk's regional base of operations, El Eal. Elenor devises a two-pronged attack, which ultimately brings both she and Lazlo face-to-face with Graham Cray. Cray summons an enormous tree-like creature, both to dispose of Lazlo and to claim the Rune of Punishment for himself. Lazlo defeats the tree, leaving a wounded Cray in the now-collapsing fortress. As the company flees, Elenor stays behind to confront Cray — her former student — and apparently dies along with him in El Eal's collapse.

Just as Lazlo escapes the fortresss, Troy appears and challenges him to a final duel. They fight aboard a sinking ship, where Lazlo claims victory. Returning the favor from before, Lazlo offers Troy a lifeline, but Troy chooses to go down with the ship instead.

El Eal explodes, forcing Lazlo to activate the Rune of Punishment one last time, followed by Lazlo passing out. It is not made entirely clear what happened after Lazlo saves the fleet; however, the final, post-credits scene shows Lazlo floating motionless in a lifeboat, presumably sent away from the Island Nations to remove the Rune of Punishment which had caused so much destruction from the region. If the player recruited all 108 Stars of Destiny, Lazlo then awakens and attempts to flag a passing ship.

Lino En Kuldes then declares himself the leader of a new Island Nations Federation.

Story Source: Wikipedia

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