| Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future | |
| Developer: | Sting |
| Publisher: | Atlus |
| Designer: | Hikaru Yasui (Producer) R-Force Entertainment (Scenario) Rui Kousaki (Character Design) Sunaho Tobe (Card Design) Shigeki Hayashi (Composer) |
| Series: | Dept. Heaven |
| Released: | PlayStation PortableNintendo Switch |
| Genre: | Tactical role-playing game |
| Modes: | Single player |
| Platforms: | PlayStation Portable Nintendo Switch Android IOS |
Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation Portable, developed by Sting Entertainment and published by Atlus, with its scenario written by R-Force Entertainment. It is currently only available in Japanese.
Blaze Union serves as the prequel to Yggdra Union, and shares the same systems with a few minor changes to gameplay. The most notable change is the addition of a mission selection system during two points of the game, which leads up to separate story branches much like a visual novel.
A Remastered version of the game is set to release in April 2023. Mobile versions of the game was also announced and it was set to release for IOS and Android.[1]
Blaze Union takes place three years before Yggdra Union, in the year 1487 M.D., an era that was considered a golden age to the rest of the continent but was a dark age for the empire of Bronquia. Thortie, the current Emperor, was an incompetent ruler who taxed the people heavily to support the army he was attempting to build; the majority of the nobility was corrupt, and bandits plagued the land, preying on the weak and innocent.
In the trade city of Tiera, the youth Garlot had grown up being crushed under the heel of various forms of oppression, from the unfairness of the rich and the nobility to his own father's brutal abuse; he and his friends Siskier and Jenon decided to do what they could to change the ugly reality surrounding them and formed a band of noble thieves in order to protect their fellow poor.
The game begins as Garlot and his band close in on a noble named Norn and the mercenaries he has hired, defeat him with the help of the traveler Medoute, and catch the eye of Landgrave Velleman. The landgrave asks for their help in creating order in Bronquia so that it can be stabilized before it destroys itself, and they join forces; Velleman renames their force Gram Blaze.
From this point on, the story focuses on Gram Blaze's progress in restoring public order, gathering new allies, and gaining notoriety in Bronquia as the protectors of the people. As much as the plot is a medieval fantasy and adventure tale, it is also a slice of life story chronicling the strengthening of the bonds between Gram Blaze's members and providing a portrait of Garlot, the people surrounding him, and the world they live in.
Depending on the choices of the player, the plot can progress in one of three directions, with four possible conclusions. Important themes include comradeship, racism, revenge, and mental-emotional stress and trauma.
Although he himself is not aware of it, "Garlot" is not his real name; it is a false name that his mother gave him in order to seal his demon blood. Over the course of the A path, it is revealed that Garlot is the first pureblooded descendant of the demon god Brongaa to be born in centuries, and his birth name is . In this route of the game, he works to unseal his blood after Siskier's death, and overthrows the government to become the new Emperor, leading to the events of Yggdra Union.
Garlot is 174 cm tall and likes grilled fish.[4] He refuses to eat dairy products, and is also depicted as having trouble eating particularly sweet things, such as strawberries.[5] His allies often call him . Two of the game's possible endings result in his suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
Possessed of a very cheerful personality, Siskier insists upon wearing tight-fitting clothing that covers little skin because she claims it allows her to move more easily,[7] but makes an exception for scarves, which she loves and will buy whenever she has the chance.[8] [9] She does complain of cold at various points of the game and acknowledges that her attire is not practical protection from the elements. An early battlefield suggests that Siskier is afraid of heights,[10] although this is not touched on anywhere else.
Siskier has no lead role in any of the paths, but her death in the A route provides the impetus for Garlot to unseal his demon blood. She is 161 cm tall and likes salad.
Optional events reveal that Jenon is a noble, although he conceals this fact from his friends, and that he ran away from home to join Garlot's battle against class discrimination and the oppression of the weak.[12] His father supports Pandra's rebellion,[13] and so Jenon's parents flee Tiera at the end of chapter 5, after it is attacked.[14] While Jenon is not a lead character, he still has an important role; during the A path, he conspires with Medoute to betray Gulcasa, and during the C path, he sacrifices himself to protect Siskier and Ordene and chooses to die without confessing to Siskier when he realizes that she loves Garlot.
Jenon is 178 cm tall and likes milk.
In every route, it is revealed that Medoute is a descendant of Dragonslayer Gill, the hero who defeated Brongaa in ancient times. She was raised as a dragonslayer, but because she doesn't believe in destiny, she ran away from home and began to travel the world as a way to rebel against her heritage. She mentions that the hermit seen in Yggdra Union's Battlefield 25 is her grandfather, and that she is a resident of Lost Aries, current homeland for exiled Vanir Tribe that was mentioned by Kylier in Yggdra Union.[15] Despite her resentment toward the way she was raised, she still becomes suspicious of Gulcasa and Emilia after discovering their heritage; she betrays Gulcasa in the A path, and if Emilia loses her mind during the B path, she explains that Emilia must now be killed. Her attitude can be viewed as racism against demons, although it is never defined in as many words.
Medoute is 168 cm tall, and loves travel rations. She is twenty-one years old.
Aegina is the central character of the B route, which explores her and Luciana's background. The two of them were born as the princesses of Fantasinia, but right after they were born, someone attempted to assassinate them. They were rescued by a soldier and brought to Bronquia, where they were adopted by a Bronquian noble; although they do not know exactly why this happened, Aegina says that it is probably because of the Fantasinian superstition that twins are unlucky. During the B route, Luciana is killed by assassins, and Aegina leads an attack on Fantasinia with the support of Gram Blaze in order to smoke out the culprit. After learning the circumstances of her exile, Aegina is able to kill the one responsible and lay her grudge to rest, choosing to remain in Fantasinia with her family.
She is 159 cm tall and likes mushrooms.
Nessiah's ultimate role in the plot differs based on each route. In the A path, he supports Gulcasa in the wake of Siskier's death and helps him to deal with the debilitating side effects of using his powers, and the two become very close; however, he is also shown encouraging Gulcasa to attack other countries in the future at a time when Gulcasa's mental resistance is low. In the B path, Nessiah takes Velleman's place as the party's voice of reason, and remains benevolent. In the C path, the speedy resolution of all the conflicts sends him into a panic, and leads to his becoming the route's main antagonist while suffering a mental breakdown.
More about Nessiah's motives and background are explored in Yggdra Union and the Dept. Heaven World Guidance book. He is about 170 cm tall and is fond of bananas.
Emilia is Gulcasa's half-sister, and her blood was also sealed by Baretreenu; however, because she is not a pure-blooded descendant of Brongaa, she is not as strong as him, and she still knows her own real name.[18] She reveals her identity in the A path after Garlot discovers the truth about himself, but does not join the active forces; during the B path, she breaks the seal on her blood out of her own desperation to be able to help Garlot and Aegina, as well as her guilt at being unable to save Luciana. During the B route, she displays bloodthirsty traits which may or may not be due to her demon blood, and if the player deploys her too many times, she loses control of her power and goes insane, which causes that route's bad end.
Emilia is 132 cm tall. She is one of only three returning characters to retain the same voice actor.
Gram Blaze initially approaches Leon to see if he will train them in combat, but Garlot decides against this after seeing how harsh Leon is with his soldiers. Leon deliberately angers Garlot and challenges him to a practice battle, and receives a deep emotional shock after losing. He quits his post and winds up allying with Pandra in order to defeat Garlot, but after becoming disillusioned with Pandra as well, he attempts a form of suicide by cop after rescuing his little sister Elena from Pandra's clutches. Garlot rescues him and convinces him not to go through with it, after which he joins Gram Blaze.
Leon is 175 cm tall and loves apples. This is the first game in which his face is shown. The exact nature of the incident his parents were executed for is unknown; Elena explains that the official explanation is that they breached military protocol.[20] Like Thortie, he often calls Garlot "Redhead"; however, he starts addressing Garlot by name once they join forces.
Like Nessiah, Velleman's role in the story changes in each route. In the A path, Velleman becomes paranoid and uses Baldus' attack on the base as a distraction to capture Siskier while she is scouting. He uses her as a hostage to attempt to force Gram Blaze into killing Garlot, who he believes will eventually turn against him. This results in Siskier killing herself to save Garlot and his own death at the hands of Gram Blaze, which leaves Garlot deeply traumatized. In the B path, Velleman tries to keep Gram Blaze from accompanying Aegina, and is no longer featured in the story after they sneak out. In the C path, Velleman is chosen by Thortie as the first Prime Minister of Bronquia after he announces his intention to abdicate.
Velleman is 180 cm tall and likes cheese. One mission reveals that he was once married and has a daughter, although he and his wife have since separated.[22]
Ordinarily, the game follows a linear progression of battles. First, an opening cutscene is viewed (often preceded by a narrator's plot synopsis), after which the player is taken to a preparation screen where they may select the units and cards they wish to bring into battle, as well as restore characters' Morale or equipping new items. After this, the player enters the battle proper. Within each battle, units are displayed on a grid of spaces which decide where the characters can move. The player and the computer take turns in which movements are determined and one attack can be executed against an opposing character. The player may choose to end their turn at any time. Once all objectives in a battle are completed, the player is given the option to save, and either the next battle begins or the player will be returned to the mission selection screen.
As in Yggdra Union, the player has the option of turning on in-game tutorials, in which characters discuss and explain new gameplay elements as soon as they become available. However, for Blaze Union this option must be toggled under the Options section of the game's main menu, whereas in Yggdra Union the player was prompted to turn tutorials on or off whenever a new game was started.
As in Yggdra Union, Unions are the eponymous game play mechanic. Unlike most games, the player is allowed one attack per turn. Attacks are performed in formations called unions. Most unions involve multiple units, but it is possible to attack with a "union" of one unit. Forming unions allows more than one unit to join the battle, allowing for battles between as many as one hundred and twenty soldiers, grouped into up to five individual battles between two units named "duels". Depending on the gender of the unit, the formation required for a union will be different. Males have an x-shaped formation, whereas females have a +-shaped formation. Linked unions, which become available during Chapter 4, allow units within the core union to apply their union pattern to extend the overall union.
Each unit that can be included in a union is composed of a leader, the "head", and as many as seven underlings, or "members". Each unit has a weapon type, with strengths and weaknesses in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Each unit comes with six stats: Morale, an indicator with a function similar to hit points; GEN, generality; ATK, attack; TEC, technique; and LUK, luck. Player characters have a seventh statistic called REP, and enemy units' seventh statistic is POW.UP. In comparison to Yggdra Union, REP (or reputation) is no longer a stat based on one out of six; instead, it is shown on the status screen as a percentage of total battles won. POW.UP is a reducible stat that increases card POW upon player victory. Each unit also has the potential for five 'effects', which are strategy altering hooks that do many things, from the in-clash voiding of damage enhanced with a particular element, to out of clash Morale restoration. Up to four effects can be innate to the unit, with one effect coming from the unit's equipped item. Items have two possible uses; they can be equipped for stat-ups and effects, or they can be consumed to recover Morale. Equipped items cannot be removed, and will disappear after a set amount of battlefields.
There are fourteen base unit types, generally two differently-gendered classes per weapon type (with the exceptions being Axe and Scythe). The basic types are:
There are a number of story characters who possess derivative classes from one of these basic types with slightly different stat growth (Garlot's class is Rabid Knight, Siskier's class is Assault, etc.), Baretreenu's class is based on the Yggdra Union character Mistel, and Nessiah and Eater's classes are entirely unique.
After the first battlefield has been cleared, the player may control how the character attacks in a clash by changing the Aggression modes, and the enemy's mode of attack will shift with the gradually increasing Rage meter, which has been a series staple since Riviera. When a unit is in Passive mode, Aggression will fill, but the damage the unit deals will be reduced. If there is Aggression in the gauge, the unit can enter Aggressive mode, depleting said Aggression, dealing more damage and also activating the innate element of the unit, if one exists. If Aggression reaches 100%, a card skill can be activated. The enemy's Rage works in a similar way, except that Rage continuously fills until either Max is reached, or is stopped by a skill or effect. When Rage becomes half full, the enemy will enter Rage mode, the damage the enemy deals will increase, and the enemy's innate element, if it has one, will activate. When Rage is completely full, the enemy enters Max mode, damage increases again, and any activated element is removed from damage. In Max mode, the enemy is also able to activate skills. Rage will carry over between clashes in a union based on the outcome of the union; if the enemy loses, all accumulated Rage will carry over, but if the enemy wins it will start empty in the next clash. Player Aggression carries over regardless.
Each card also has a skill, ranging in effect from restoring allies and killing enemies, to changing the landscape and even invincibility. For these skills to be activated, the Union leader must first match the ACE of the card. In addition, there are two types of skills: Hold and Charge. Charge-type skills require the □ button be held to charge a bar, at which point, if released, the skill will activate and deplete the Aggression gauge. Hold-type skills are activated by pressing □, and holding it for as long as the skill's effects are desired, or until the Aggression gauge is completely depleted. Many skills have certain requirements of their own, such as Steal - which steals any item the enemy might be holding - being usable only by Siskier.
When 100% Aggression or Max Rage mode is reached and all other conditions are met, a skill can be activated. Each skill has a rule or equation for its mechanic; for example, Steal will succeed if the user's TEC is larger than or equal to the target's GEN, otherwise it will fail and the opponent's item will not be stolen. These rules and equations can affect how effective the skill is when used by a certain unit.
Blaze Union features three new cards: "Vise", which raises the entire Union's LUK to full throughout the entire battle; "Rauger", a Skill usable only by Byff which raises the ATK and GEN of all male Union members; and "Insanity", a Skill usable only by Thortie which causes damage and inflicts a random status effect.
A mechanic new to Blaze Union which was created due to its branching storylines. During chapters 3 and 5 of the story, the player is allowed to choose a certain number of missions to complete out of a large number. All missions cannot be taken in one playthrough. These missions all have different objectives, such as restoring public order or recruiting new allies. Certain missions are connected to the B or C story paths, and by playing through those missions, the player will affect the course of the story. If insufficient B or C path triggers have been seen, the story will continue along the A path, the default and canonical series of events.
The first indication that Yggdra Union would receive a prequel was made in the book Dept. Heaven Episodes World Guidance, in a Q&A section where series producer Ito addressed common fan questions. Here, Ito mentioned that there had been a great deal of fan interest in Luciana and Aegina's past, which was never fully explained in Yggdra, and that if a prequel or sequel were ever produced, it would feature the twins' backstory.[27]
The development team for Blaze Union shares many members with Product Team A, but features a different director, writer, and artist. According to interviews, R-Force Entertainment was chosen to write the scenario due to producing many popular fantasy light novels, and Kousaki was chosen for the art to give the game a different feel from Yggdra Union, where one of the major selling points was the gap between Kiyuduki's characteristically "cute" style and the seriousness of the story.[28] [29] The game script went through many edits in order to keep the storyline from becoming too dark, and the game was in production for about three years, although most of the work was done in the half-year after Yggdra Unison entered its final development stages.
Garlot's design is cited by both Kousaki and Yasui as having been problematic, as Sting intended his true identity to remain secret until the end of the canon route of the game. Early sketches depicting him as more muscular and with messy hair were canned because he was too obviously identifiable as Gulcasa, which led to his being given a neater hairstyle. The dragon motifs incorporated in his armor were likewise changed to lions. Further alterations to obfuscate Garlot's design, such as giving him black hair, were proposed but ultimately rejected. Yasui suggests that Pandra (who has reddish-brown hair and pale eyes) may have been intended as a red herring, but admits that Pandra is a little too old to pass as Gulcasa given the year Blaze Union takes place and that in retrospect making the connection between Garlot and Gulcasa was likely very easy.[30]
There are currently no plans for an English language localization of the game.
Like other games in the Dept. Heaven series, a few pieces of Blaze Union merchandise were released. On June 23, 2010, the 59-track original soundtrack was released by Columbia Music Entertainment. The soundtrack contains all 58 musical tracks used in-game, along with a bonus track that features a piano rearrangement of the main theme.
One week later, on June 30, the 192-page strategy guide was released by Softbank Creative, and on August 2, a 128-page artbook called the "Blaze Union Setting Book" was released by the same publisher.[31] The latter contains most, though not all, of the in-game artwork along with a great deal of concept art, including rough artwork of town layouts and the topography of Bronquia; it also features an interview with some of the game's staff.
Additionally, an iTunes-exclusive album called "Blaze Union Battle Theme Collection" was released on June 1, 2011.[32] It comprises tracks 27-55 of the official soundtrack, and includes an extended remix of Garlot's theme.