Vandal Hearts
Encyclopedia
is a turn-based
tactical role-playing
video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo for the PlayStation and later ported to the Sega Saturn
by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya. The PlayStation version was distributed in Japan
, North America
, and Europe
. The Saturn version was never released outside of Japan
. There was also a Microsoft Windows
version developed and released exclusively in South Korea
.
It was among the first console role-playing games to be released for the 32-bit systems, and garnered a small cult following
. The game proved popular enough to spawn a sequel, Vandal Hearts II
, also for the PlayStation. A prequel, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
was created for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade
.
Fifteen years ago, this growing discontent found its ultimate expression in the person of Arris the Sage, who united the disparate anti-royal factions throughout Sostegaria and shaped them into a powerful guerrilla
army. Under the cunning leadership of Arris, this Liberation Army managed to outwit and outmaneuver the Royal Army, and finally smashed through to the palace of the Ashah Dynasty itself, and burnt it to the ground.
With the monarchy dissolved, the rebels establish a ruling council founded on the principles of democracy
and popular sovereignty
. From the ashes of the Holy Ashah Empire emerges the Republic of Ishtaria. The leaders of the revolution naturally assumed leadership positions within the new republic: all, that is, except for Arris himself, who suddenly disappeared and has not been seen of, nor heard of, ever since.
Today, the fledgling republic is in increasingly dire straits: the autocratic Minister of Defense, Hel Spites, and his elite anti-terrorism squad, the Crimson Guard, are using ever-increasing force to stamp out the last vestiges of resistance to Ishtarian rule, while they allow outlaw
s to roam the countryside and pirates to sail the seas. Meanwhile, Ash Lambert and his colleagues at the third battalion of the Ishtarian Security Forces begin to suspect a conspiracy at the highest levels of government. Ash's attempts to draw attention to the situation, though, only draw the ire of the conspirators themselves, leaving only Ash and his allies to foil their plans and restore order to the nation.
After the credits, an extra cutscene is available that shows Eleni hearing Ash's ocarina theme while claiming "he" has come back; hinting he is still alive or has returned to Ishtaria.
view. Every character participating in battle has a set number of squares that they can move, and one action (such as attacking, casting a magic
spell, or using an item) they can perform per turn; a characters movement allowance for a turn can be used all at once or split, between two or more movements. Once every friendly character has performed their actions for a turn, hostile characters take their turn. On every stage the player controlling the friendly characters goes first, and they can move their characters in any order they wish.
Most but not all stages are completed by killing all the enemy characters. Other stages have different victory conditions, such as killing one particular enemy character, moving your characters to a specific location on the map, or killing certain enemies while saving others. In every battle, the death of the party leader results in immediate loss. Losing other characters in the party does not cause defeat, instead it causes the loss of gold, which is a greater penalty than it seems as there are a finite number of battles in the game and thus also a finite supply of gold. If a friendly character dies they are only gone from the current stage and can return in the next stage. On stages that include rescuing other characters, the death of these characters also results in loss.
es: Swordsman, Armor, Archer, Hawknight, Monk, Mage and Cleric. The strengths of each class are determined through a hierarchy similar to the hand game
Rock, Paper, Scissors
: melee fighters (such as Swordsmen and Armors) are most effective when fighting against Archers. Archers are most effective when fighting against airborne characters such as Hawknights. Hawknights are most effective when fighting against Swordsmen. The other three classes are magic-users: the Monk pairs healing magic with average physical strength, where the Mage specializes in attack magic, and the Cleric specializes in healing magic. In addition, Mages are also most effective against Armor. Most magic-using classes have weak defensive capabilities when compared to other classes in the game and most attacking magic spells are stronger against heavily armored opponents.
Turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
tactical role-playing
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo for the PlayStation and later ported to the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya. The PlayStation version was distributed 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...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The Saturn version was never released outside of 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...
. There was also a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
version developed and released exclusively in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
It was among the first console role-playing games to be released for the 32-bit systems, and garnered a small cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. The game proved popular enough to spawn a sequel, Vandal Hearts II
Vandal Hearts II
is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation and the sequel to Vandal Hearts.- Gameplay :Vandal Hearts II uses a three-map layout of an overworld map, town map and a battle map. The overworld features a basic map of the country with dots to mark the location of points of interest...
, also for the PlayStation. A prequel, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is a turn-based tactical role-playing video game for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade with a release date of January 20, 2010.-Gameplay:...
was created for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
.
Story
Thousands of years ago, the holy man known to history as Toroah the Messiah traveled far and wide across the continent of Sostegaria, spreading his teachings throughout the land. After his death, his descendants and heirs assumed absolute political power over the region, forming the basis of the Holy Ashah Dynasty and ruling through a combination of religious doctrine and military power for millennia. The kings and queens of the Holy Ashah Dynasty, however, did not always rule wisely or justly, and, as time passed, the citizenry began to resent the power of their leaders.Fifteen years ago, this growing discontent found its ultimate expression in the person of Arris the Sage, who united the disparate anti-royal factions throughout Sostegaria and shaped them into a powerful guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
army. Under the cunning leadership of Arris, this Liberation Army managed to outwit and outmaneuver the Royal Army, and finally smashed through to the palace of the Ashah Dynasty itself, and burnt it to the ground.
With the monarchy dissolved, the rebels establish a ruling council founded on the principles of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
. From the ashes of the Holy Ashah Empire emerges the Republic of Ishtaria. The leaders of the revolution naturally assumed leadership positions within the new republic: all, that is, except for Arris himself, who suddenly disappeared and has not been seen of, nor heard of, ever since.
Today, the fledgling republic is in increasingly dire straits: the autocratic Minister of Defense, Hel Spites, and his elite anti-terrorism squad, the Crimson Guard, are using ever-increasing force to stamp out the last vestiges of resistance to Ishtarian rule, while they allow outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
s to roam the countryside and pirates to sail the seas. Meanwhile, Ash Lambert and his colleagues at the third battalion of the Ishtarian Security Forces begin to suspect a conspiracy at the highest levels of government. Ash's attempts to draw attention to the situation, though, only draw the ire of the conspirators themselves, leaving only Ash and his allies to foil their plans and restore order to the nation.
After the credits, an extra cutscene is available that shows Eleni hearing Ash's ocarina theme while claiming "he" has come back; hinting he is still alive or has returned to Ishtaria.
Characters
- Ash Lambert (Hero) - The game’s main protagonist, a man with a strong sense of justice. Ash's friend, Clive Beckett, supported him in the past and later made him a platoon leader of the Ishtarian Security Forces. Despite his position, Ash must struggle to maintain confidence under the stigma of being the son of a man who betrayed Arris. His Hero class is a special type of Knight that additionally learns healing and attack spells.
- Clint Picard (Knight/Armor) - Fellow member of the Security Forces. A somewhat reserved and quiet person, he is nonetheless a reliable friend. Events in his past have made him extremely cautious, especially when it comes to his comrades.
- Diego Renault (Archer/Hawknight) - A carefree member of the Security Forces who’s outspoken personality greatly contrasts Clint’s. He seems to have some sort of anxiety about the merchant town of Kerachi.
- Eleni Dunbar (Mage/Monk) - She was an orphan of the war. Eleni was found and adopted by General Magnus. When Magnus goes missing on the Island of Madness, Eleni, being a powerful mage despite her young age, decides to travel with Ash in order to find the current whereabouts of her father.
- Huxley Hobbes (Cleric/Monk) - Eleni’s teacher, care taker and a humble old healer. When she decides to find her father, Huxley insists on accompanying the party as well, much to Diego’s dismay.
- Kira Wulfstan (Archer/Hawknight) - A fierce fighter and mercenary for hire who saves the party from bandits while they battle on a collapsing bridge. She sometimes endangers herself unnecessarily in battle, seemingly without caring much for the consequences of her actions, something Clint berates her for.
- Grog Drinkwater (Knight/Armor) - A master sailor. After his brother disappeared during an incident with pirates, Grog lost all will to sail and decided to drown his problems and sorrows in wine. When Ash asks him to sail to the Island of Madness, Grog accepts, under the condition that Ash completes a task that seems nearly impossible.
- Dolan (Knight/Armor) - A sensible and responsible soldier under Magnus’ command who cares greatly for those under his command. When many of his men start slipping into madness, he frees what few remaining soldiers he has and flees to safety.
- Amon (Archer/Hawknight) - One of the soldiers under Dolan’s command. Although a clever man he is also something of a pessimist. His exact relationship with Sara is somewhat ambiguous.
- Sara (Cleric/Monk) - A spirited soldier saved by Dolan. She’s close with Amon but evasive about her true feelings towards him when prompted by others.
- Zohar Abu Sa'id (Mage/Monk) - A mysterious wizard of legend who disappeared from history hundreds of years ago and is later found in another dimension.
- Darius (Archer/Hawknight) - A prisoner whom Clint encounters. He seems to have history with Huxley.
Gameplay
Battles are carried out on a series of grid maps made up of squares, which may include different heights such as steps and walls and squares not accessible like water, trees and buildings. Although the environment is three dimensional the angles used make it appear similar to an isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
view. Every character participating in battle has a set number of squares that they can move, and one action (such as attacking, casting a magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
spell, or using an item) they can perform per turn; a characters movement allowance for a turn can be used all at once or split, between two or more movements. Once every friendly character has performed their actions for a turn, hostile characters take their turn. On every stage the player controlling the friendly characters goes first, and they can move their characters in any order they wish.
Most but not all stages are completed by killing all the enemy characters. Other stages have different victory conditions, such as killing one particular enemy character, moving your characters to a specific location on the map, or killing certain enemies while saving others. In every battle, the death of the party leader results in immediate loss. Losing other characters in the party does not cause defeat, instead it causes the loss of gold, which is a greater penalty than it seems as there are a finite number of battles in the game and thus also a finite supply of gold. If a friendly character dies they are only gone from the current stage and can return in the next stage. On stages that include rescuing other characters, the death of these characters also results in loss.
Classes
The game features a variety of characters who join the battle party throughout the course of the game. Every character fits into one of seven character classCharacter class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
es: Swordsman, Armor, Archer, Hawknight, Monk, Mage and Cleric. The strengths of each class are determined through a hierarchy similar to the hand game
Hand game
Hand games are those games which are played using only the hands of the players. Examples include Rock, Paper, Scissors, Odd or Even, Thumb Wrestling and Mercy.-See also:*Hand jive*Red Hands*Pat-a-cake*Clapping game*Chopsticks*Squid...
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....
: melee fighters (such as Swordsmen and Armors) are most effective when fighting against Archers. Archers are most effective when fighting against airborne characters such as Hawknights. Hawknights are most effective when fighting against Swordsmen. The other three classes are magic-users: the Monk pairs healing magic with average physical strength, where the Mage specializes in attack magic, and the Cleric specializes in healing magic. In addition, Mages are also most effective against Armor. Most magic-using classes have weak defensive capabilities when compared to other classes in the game and most attacking magic spells are stronger against heavily armored opponents.