The actions of the characters in one location and time may have an effect on the others, as well, both in the general story and in gameplay.
The player is free to play the scenarios in any order, and may even leave one storyline to follow that of another character for a time.
As the player enters new areas and accomplishes different tasks, the human race's final 15 days slowly ebb away in a predetermined day/night cycle. The story is divided into three major scenarios, each with a different main character: the soldier Sion, the priestess Riza, and the archaeologist Surlent. Some are more space-efficient versions of regular spells. Some of these enemy spells are extremely powerful, although many are not as cost-efficient as the basic spells described above. When an enemy uses magic, the player has but to write down the spells used and then to enter them into his or her own grimoire after the battle in order to have access to them. This use of spelled-out mantras allows the player to learn magic from even their enemies. Adding prefixes or suffixes to these usually makes something completely different (and often useless). For example, geo is an earth-related mantra, and kingcoast is a water spell. Many of these strange words are learned from in-game characters or by reading books. Other mantras consist of unique words, many of them in English, that create certain effects and skip the naming system entirely. Prefixes and suffixes with similar effects can be used in tandem to produce amplified effects. Most of these influence the base power and cost to use the spell, but others add abnormal status effects (for example, poisoning the target) or change the mantra's range so that it only targets a single enemy instead of multiple ones or vice versa. Certain spells that use the root word tou for example, will produce lightning-based attacks, while those containing aqu will create water-based effects.Īdditionally, there are prefixes and suffixes that can be added onto the base elements to change their attributes. Since spells are formed from letters, there are specific patterns corresponding to each element. The remaining two offensive elements, earth and void, have no strengths or weaknesses. There are eight elements (plus healing), and of these, six are arranged in mutually antagonistic pairings: fire vs. There is an underlying framework to the system, however, which is based on the gameworld's elements.Ī complete mantra generally consists of a prefix, elemental core, and suffix, although the core alone is enough to produce an effect. Every one will have some effect, although most are not useful. The player can enter various magic words (called kotodama (言霊,ことだま) in the original) into their grimoire. Whereas most console RPGs give the player access to a limited number of precreated spells, it allows the player nearly total creative freedom. The game features a magic system where the player can create magic spells by entering words up to six katakana characters.
There are 15 turns, accounting for each of the 15 days. This pattern repeats until the characters on one side all run out of hit points and die. These battles may also strike on the overworld map and follow a typical RPG pattern: the player makes choices for their characters (such as whether to fight, cast a magic spell, or run away), and then the enemy takes a turn. Towns contain the prerequisite shops and villagers who offer information, while dungeons are mazelike affairs where random enemy encounters may occur. When in the overworld map, the player directs their characters to different locations in the game. The gameplay is divided into three main areas: the overworld map, the towns and dungeons, and battles. Riza using a Dark mantra against a Future.