Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyoushou (Twin Pack) includes Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyoushou & Toki no Naka de - Maihitoyo.
- HARUKANARU TOKI NO NAKA DE - HACHIYOUSHOU: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de is the first installment in the Haruka series, the starting title for the second and longest Neoromance IP. It is the game which receives the most outside coverage and spin-offs within the series. Yasuhiro Misawa is the main composer for the game.
At the time of the game's conception Heian period based stories were receiving an explosion of popularity in the Japanese entertainment industry. Ruby Party used the trends to their advantage to create their first Japanese history based IP. Members wished for the game to keep the same simulation elements as its predecessor yet thought it better to include role-playing game elements which were still in high demand with the female fanbase. To further distinguish it from their first work, members sought to highlight the seasonal beauty of spring and summer through the lens of Heian aesthetics.
PLOT:
The story begins in the spring of 2000. The protagonist is a normal high school girl who goes with her two schoolmates, Tenma and Shimon, to investigate the occult rumors of an abandoned well near their school. When the trio approach it, they are inexplicably summoned to a parallel world resembling the capital of 10th century Japan. Upon their arrival, the protagonist is informed that she is the White Dragon Priestess and her friends are two of her anointed Eight Guardians. Her divine duty —which must be completed for their return to their home world— is to protect the capital from vengeful spirits and the nefarious Demon Clan.
HARUKANARU TOKI NO NAKA DE - HACHIYOUSHOU: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Hachiyoushou (roughly translated as "Excerpt of the Eight Leaves") is a remake of the first game. It was repackaged to tie into the eponymous animated TV series adaptation's broadcast. The anime has been localized into English by Bandai Visual USA as Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time - A Tale of the Eight Guardians; it keeps the original audio with English subtitles.
The Premium Box includes an original character CD book and postcard. Consumers who purchased the game from Gamecity Shopping received a printed slip. Hori offered a Hachiyoushou memory card.
CHANGES:
- General gameplay remains with the following alterations.
- Portraits for every character and bosses have been redone. Battle portraits for the guardians have been redrawn with new key poses and animations. Vengeful spirits and sealing lose their animations in favor of the still image floating effect used in the third title.
- Every guardian receives a third "Hachiyoushou" ending with new still images to cater to them. When the player meets these conditions with a character, his vanilla route remains the same until the ending.
- Akram has a romance route in this game. His default portrait has been altered to have him unmasked.
- Select story and character events are now fully voiced.
- Still images have been recolored with smoother colors, shadows, and highlights.
- The opening movie has been altered to a re-cut version of the TV animated series's intro using the vanilla game's introduction music.
- Music has been remastered.
HARUKANARU TOKI NO NAKA DE - MAIHITOYO: Is the branding name for one of Ruby Party's multimedia projects the others being the Angelique Gemme Stories and Twin Collection series. Maihitoyo is the name for two games, an animated movie, two drama CDs, a light novel, and a live theatrical production set within the first Haruka game. Each medium provides the same basic plot with varying characters, backdrops, and events. Developers stated that their goal was for fans to experiment and enjoy whatever medium that most appealed to them.
The Premium Box included an illustration book of the Maihitoyo game and a printed foldout of the stylized chapter illustrations. A memobook was added to the purchase if the game was reserved at select game outlets, and Hori printed a PS2 memory card in its image. Gamecity Shopping offered nine postcards and had a limited time poster giveaway for its consumers.
The bonus includes an illustration gallery, movie collection, and a limited event gallery earned through playthrough(s). Events are limited to the epilogue event for each character's story. Mobile Joy options can be found in this section.
PLOT:
Sometime after the protagonist arrives into the capital and gains the ability to seal vengeful spirits, the Imperial Palace is consumed by a considerable number of curses. The overwhelming spiritual taint causes several members of the nobility —including Fujihime— to become severely ill. Due to restrictions regarding decorum, the protagonist is sent to stay at the palace alone to remedy the predicament. Her early attempts to purify fail and she is bullied by the nobility for her improper conduct. A mysterious young man visits her during her time of vulnerability and imparts her with the knowledge she needs to overcome the threat. Once she is reunited with her comrades their goal is to save the Imperial Palace, the spiritual heart of the capital, from the Demon Clan.
GAMEPLAY:
The overall gameplay has been changed to resemble the third entry using Hachiyoushou character portraits. Backgrounds from previous Haruka titles are often reused for events in this title. Standard name and birthday adjustments apply for new protagonists. For the first time in the series, the protagonist's name will be audibly spoken if her default name is kept.
- The protagonist's avatar can explore the palace and capital by moving along preset paths. There is no time limit for the main story or character events. Story and character events are symbolized by floating exclamation points on the main map. Shining exclamation points indicates that the player will proceed with the main story once activated. When the protagonist is within the palace after chapter 2, she gains access to explore a secondary mirror world within the main menu. It changes the over world map to a web of colored dots, each dot representing a battle within the palace walls.
- Combat takes place primarily within the mirror realm. It remains turn based but has been modified to roughly follow the third game's system:
- Cheering is no longer needed to build a guardian's Will Power for magic. It does remain one of the means of replenishing their Will Power, the other being protecting allies or answering favorably during the standard battle quotes.
- Magic no longer consumes Five Elements to cast.
- A maximum two characters can be switched into the active party before or during battle.
- The protagonist's healing fuda changes to magic she can cast during combat.
- Summoning magic no longer plays animated movies when cast.
- Special abilities for battle or exploring can be leveled up in the main menu. Level increments can be gained by placing the character in the battle party.
- When damaging magic is cast, the player has the option of compounding its effects by spinning an elemental wheel (L1 and R1 buttons). Starting elements within the wheel rely on the spell cast in battle. If a full rotation is completed within the time limit, the protagonist and one of her guardians can be paired in a special illustration for a powerful spell. The length of the sequence relies on her comrade's learned elemental properties and the remaining health of the opponent. Her partner for the final spell is decided by whoever the player uses for the final element.
- Maihitoyo requires the player to pay a toll for regular battles called "Priestess Power". It can only be restored by selecting text options which befit a dutiful priestess during the main story. One priestess power is used per battle, meaning that the player will be unable to progress in the mirror world if it runs out. If the player continues from their cleared save data, they will not need to revisit sections of the map they have previously purified. The only exceptions to this are the "Love Buds" needed for character events.
The entire story is told in a total of five chapters. Music from Hachiyoushou is reused with thirteen new music tracks created for this game.
MANUFACTURER'S DESCRIPTION:
Different world "today" women's romance adventure series that was to stage similar to Heian-kyo. Become a high school girl was summoned to "today", and enjoy the conversation and events, and to advance the story while fighting a ghost. New character of "Movie", "Taki-shi" is first appearance in the game, you can enjoy the episode that is not told in the "Movie".
FEATURES:
- First person perspective.
- 2D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Demons, Medieval Japan, Romance, Fantasy & Anime themes.
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