Light Crusader
Encyclopedia
Light Crusader is an action RPG developed by Treasure and published by Sega
.
It is similar in gameplay to Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, blending console role-playing game RPG, action-adventure
and platform
video game elements in much the same way. It featured an art style and presentation that mimicked European RPGs. It marked a major departure for the developer, known for fast paced action games, with colorful anime-inspired visuals. It is, to date, their only RPG, and their only game with a distinctly Western art style.
viewpoint. Players can execute simple sword slashes as well as using the four magic elements, move freely, jump, and push objects. Gameplay is a mix of action, puzzle solving, and platforming for the most part, with the usual role-playing staples like towns, shops, equipment, and spellcasting. The player controls Sir David as he travels through an assortment of dungeons, battling creatures such as 'slime', solving puzzles to advance and saving those who were kidnapped.
Cullen - A resident of Green Row who was taken by the Wizard's Guild to be sacrificed to awaken Ramiah. He is found in B2, B3, and B6 of the dungeon; offers the solution to one of B2's puzzles and offers infrequent advice during the brief sequences of gameplay which feature him.
King and Queen - The rulers of Green Row, the queen was given a choice to marry either the king or Roke, but she chose the king. The king gives David the talisman to bypass the barrier leading to B2.
Ghost of King Garriott - Appears as a boss in B4, he challenges you to see if you are worthy of wielding his sword, the Light Crusader. It was used to seal Ramiah into the dungeon along with the help of eight wizards. His name may be a homage to game developer Richard Garriott
, creator of the seminal computer RPG series Ultima.
The 8 Wizards of King Garriott - The eight wizards who helped seal Ramiah into the dungeon. They must be found and rescued in the eight temporally-displaced worlds (short dungeons which each feature a boss appropriate to the portrayed time zone) in B5.
Other "secret" items exist, such as a pair of gloves dropped by the ninjas in a dungeon set in an ancient Eastern building and a sword that will periodically follow up a sword slash with the Thunder spell, and though useful, none are as easily obtained or influential to the character's survival as is the Gold Armour.
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
.
It is similar in gameplay to Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, blending console role-playing game RPG, action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
and platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game elements in much the same way. It featured an art style and presentation that mimicked European RPGs. It marked a major departure for the developer, known for fast paced action games, with colorful anime-inspired visuals. It is, to date, their only RPG, and their only game with a distinctly Western art style.
Gameplay
The adventure follows the knight Sir David as he travels to the town of Green Row. Green Row has been suffering from a rash of disappearances and Sir David has been summoned by the King to find the cause. Gameplay is viewed from an isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
viewpoint. Players can execute simple sword slashes as well as using the four magic elements, move freely, jump, and push objects. Gameplay is a mix of action, puzzle solving, and platforming for the most part, with the usual role-playing staples like towns, shops, equipment, and spellcasting. The player controls Sir David as he travels through an assortment of dungeons, battling creatures such as 'slime', solving puzzles to advance and saving those who were kidnapped.
Story
Upon starting the game, the player is introduced to a man who is later revealed as an evil wizard named Ragno Roke who is angered by the queen; it is said that both the king and him had offered to marry the queen, but he was rejected. He decided to reawaken the evil demon Ramiah to get revenge. Sir David is offered to come over to Green Row after his journey. He hasn't been there for a long time and was awaiting to return. However, the king informs David about recent events that involved people disappearing out of nowhere. The king tells him to search for the missing people. By the end of the game, David confronts both Roke and Ramiah. Roke tells David that he doesn't need the life of the missing people to revive Ramiah and that his own life should be enough. Upon defeating Ramiah, Roke ends up dying and the missing people come back.Characters
Sir David - The main character and hero of the game. He was offered to take a vacation in Green Row, but upon hearing the news from the king, he must find the missing people before Roke can awaken Ramiah.Cullen - A resident of Green Row who was taken by the Wizard's Guild to be sacrificed to awaken Ramiah. He is found in B2, B3, and B6 of the dungeon; offers the solution to one of B2's puzzles and offers infrequent advice during the brief sequences of gameplay which feature him.
King and Queen - The rulers of Green Row, the queen was given a choice to marry either the king or Roke, but she chose the king. The king gives David the talisman to bypass the barrier leading to B2.
Ghost of King Garriott - Appears as a boss in B4, he challenges you to see if you are worthy of wielding his sword, the Light Crusader. It was used to seal Ramiah into the dungeon along with the help of eight wizards. His name may be a homage to game developer Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
, creator of the seminal computer RPG series Ultima.
The 8 Wizards of King Garriott - The eight wizards who helped seal Ramiah into the dungeon. They must be found and rescued in the eight temporally-displaced worlds (short dungeons which each feature a boss appropriate to the portrayed time zone) in B5.
Gold Armour
Whereas the most powerful items generally only appear toward the end of video games, sometimes following an extensive quest or difficult fight, the best armor in the game can be obtained on the first dungeon level. Weak enemies resembling lilypads, who only spawn in groups of three and only in specific rooms, have a chance to drop the Gold Armour, which has unrivaled damage reduction and appears in the rightmost slot of the Equipment menu's Armor category, which is notably not framed with a white square like all the other blank entry fields (making the item appear to be a "hidden" or "secret" item, as there is otherwise no other indication given that the item exists). Dedicated players can repeatedly wipe out a room full of the relatively non-threatening enemies, leaving and returning afterward to cause them to respawn; since each individual monster has a small chance to drop the Gold Armour, and there is no limit to the number of times the lilypad enemies can reappear, it is outstandingly likely that a player will eventually be rewarded for their perseverance. Players might notice that, given the armor's unrivaled defense rating, they will no longer take damage from the lilypads' attacks, and even the final boss of the game will deal considerably less damage to a character so equipped.Other "secret" items exist, such as a pair of gloves dropped by the ninjas in a dungeon set in an ancient Eastern building and a sword that will periodically follow up a sword slash with the Thunder spell, and though useful, none are as easily obtained or influential to the character's survival as is the Gold Armour.