Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito
Encyclopedia
is the debut video game developed by Nintendo
's second-party developer, AlphaDream
. It was released in Japan
on March 9 2001 for the Nintendo
Game Boy Color
.
card battles. Most battles are fought against wild monsters encountered randomly in the wilderness, or generic kotodama battlers placed throughout the game map. Certain battles cannot be avoided because they are essential to the game's story. When the player enters a battle, the right side of the screen is the player's field, and the opposite side is the enemy's field. As a kotodama battler, the player has the ability to summon up to three friendly monsters to assist in battle, each placed on the top, mid, and lower sections of the screen.
There are four options available in the battle menu; "Use kotodamas," "Kotodama history," "Defend," and "Escape." Items cannot directly be used by the player, and battles are fought out entirely through the use of kotodamas. Turns are determined by the "timecost" assigned to each type of kotodama or monster, and begin when the other side's timecost goes to zero. Kotodama battlers begin each battle with a timecost of 5, and monsters may have a timecost shorter or longer than that according to their type.
, and combining two or more of the kanjis in "Kotodama history" will create a new kotodama card. If the combined kanji happen to form an actual word, the new card that forms becomes a special combo card. Combo cards are powerful, but the regular kotodama cards must be used sparingly in order for a combo card to be created, so it becomes difficult to produce combo cards during battles against strong opponents. Kotodamas (kanjis) used in this way are discarded from the history option.
The "Escape" command allows players to avoid random encounter battles, but cannot be selected in battles against kotodama battlers. The player loses the oldest record in their kotodama history when they make a successful escape.
(spiritual energy) element kotodama awoke in the country of , wreaking havoc and destruction upon the world. However, five other kotodama elements join forces to seal away the ki kotodama, saving the world from destruction. The remaining elements spread throughout the world, and miko
(shaman women) continued to protect the land using the kotodama. The player takes the role of a kotodama battler in training who is the younger brother of a shaman woman. He holds the power of the kotodama, and seeks to become a ; the group of kotodama battlers whose job is to protect the shamans.
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's second-party developer, AlphaDream
AlphaDream
is a Japanese video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno in: Tokyo, Japan. It was formerly known as Alpha Star. In partnership with Nintendo, it has produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS...
. It was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on March 9 2001 for the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
.
Gameplay
The game progresses by defeating other characters in kotodamaKotodama
refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", "magic word", and "sacred sound"...
card battles. Most battles are fought against wild monsters encountered randomly in the wilderness, or generic kotodama battlers placed throughout the game map. Certain battles cannot be avoided because they are essential to the game's story. When the player enters a battle, the right side of the screen is the player's field, and the opposite side is the enemy's field. As a kotodama battler, the player has the ability to summon up to three friendly monsters to assist in battle, each placed on the top, mid, and lower sections of the screen.
There are four options available in the battle menu; "Use kotodamas," "Kotodama history," "Defend," and "Escape." Items cannot directly be used by the player, and battles are fought out entirely through the use of kotodamas. Turns are determined by the "timecost" assigned to each type of kotodama or monster, and begin when the other side's timecost goes to zero. Kotodama battlers begin each battle with a timecost of 5, and monsters may have a timecost shorter or longer than that according to their type.
Using kotodamas
The player chooses 20 kotodamas prior to battling, 4 of which randomly appear for use at the start of the battle in the form of a card. Kotodama cards already used can be viewed in the kotodama history option, and those used in each turn are replaced with others from the initial 20 kotodamas at the start of the next turn. If the player runs out of kotodamas to use, they lose the battle even if they still have health points (HP) remaining.Monster cards
This type of card allows the player to summon the kotodama power of a monster on the battlefield. Summoned monsters shield the player from enemy attacks, and attack the enemy when the timecost reaches zero. If the players uses a monster card when the field is already filled with summoned monsters, the newly summoned monsters will take the place of the previous ones. Each summoned monsters's HP is relative to the kotodama battler's level, so monsters grow stronger as the summoner's level increases. Using monster cards usually requires a greater timecost than using item or magic cards.Item cards
In Koto Battle items cannot be used by the player during battle, but can be given to summoned monsters as weapons. Items can only be given to monsters already on the battlefield, and a player cannot summon an item first and assign it to a monster summoned afterwards. Item weapons have a variety of different effects, allowing the monster wielding it to gain greater attack power, special abilities, or directly attack the opposing kotodama battler (bypassing summoned monsters). Some may have adverse effects as well. For instance, a weapon may increase the attack range of the monster but decrease its attack power, or may damage all units on the field, including friendly units.Magic cards
Kotodama power can also be wielded as magic, which can be cast on both friendly and opposing units. Like monster cards, the effectiveness of magic is dependent on the level of the kotodama battler. However, magic is not powerful as an offensive force in comparison to other forms of attack, and as enemies become stronger, only the most powerful magic cards can deal out large amounts of damage to opponents. Players will mostly rely on magic to heal (regain HP).Other options
When kotodama cards are used during battle, they are recorded in the "Kotodama history" option and cannot be used again in the same battle. The game records up to 4 past card uses, and the oldest is discarded when the player uses a new card. Each type of kotodama is represented by a specific kanjiKanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, and combining two or more of the kanjis in "Kotodama history" will create a new kotodama card. If the combined kanji happen to form an actual word, the new card that forms becomes a special combo card. Combo cards are powerful, but the regular kotodama cards must be used sparingly in order for a combo card to be created, so it becomes difficult to produce combo cards during battles against strong opponents. Kotodamas (kanjis) used in this way are discarded from the history option.
The "Escape" command allows players to avoid random encounter battles, but cannot be selected in battles against kotodama battlers. The player loses the oldest record in their kotodama history when they make a successful escape.
Plot
The game is set in a world containing a mysterious power known as . Long ago, the kiQi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
(spiritual energy) element kotodama awoke in the country of , wreaking havoc and destruction upon the world. However, five other kotodama elements join forces to seal away the ki kotodama, saving the world from destruction. The remaining elements spread throughout the world, and miko
Miko
is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...
(shaman women) continued to protect the land using the kotodama. The player takes the role of a kotodama battler in training who is the younger brother of a shaman woman. He holds the power of the kotodama, and seeks to become a ; the group of kotodama battlers whose job is to protect the shamans.