Introduction
God, that boxart is ugly.
Released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo by Tecmo, Secret of the Stars (known simply as "Aqutallion" in its native Japan) follows the story of 5 young kids who must live up to their destiny as legendary Aqutallion warriors and defeat the evil Homncruse, who threatens the world. It's everything you'd expect from a classic RPG, and more. Maybe.
The Story:
If you have even a passing familiarity with early console RPGs, then chances are you already know the plot here. Nebulous evil force descends upon the land. Ragtag band of kids are called upon to defeat it. Yeah. There's actually a couple cool plot twists here and there, but overall it's pretty much by-the-numbers. You start the game off as Ray, a young kid living with his single mother in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I'll introduce the other characters as they come up in the game.
The Gameplay:
Travel the world. Fight off random monsters. Etc. What is worth mentioning is the combo system that you can eventually use. Certain spells can combo with each other to create more powerful attacks, and there's even a handful of weapons that can combo with magic. Just having the necessary spells isn't enough, however, as you will need to unlock a special power...
The Rest:
For those of you who may be familiar with this game, I know what you're thinking. WHY would I choose to LP this? Well, it holds a certain nostalgic charm for me. It was my first "real" RPG, and being the young lad that I was having only played Super Mario RPG and Pokemon before, this game was pretty damn cool back then. Yes, I know it has NES graphics. Yes, I know that it has a darts-at-a-dictionary translation. Yes, I know that the story is overly simplistic and at times nonsensical. But as strange as it sounds, that's all part of the appeal to me. The soundtrack is actually not half bad, too.
Spoilers:
I'd prefer it if people who know the game not talk about forthcoming plot elements. I'm not gonna be anal or anything, it's not like the game has a particularly intricate plot anyways, but I just think it's more fun if everyone's on the same page.
Table of Contents
- Chapter One: I Heart Island
- Chapter Two: A Badbad Situation
- Chapter Three: The Ringo Bros. (And Barnum and Bailey)
- Chapter Four: One Giant Leap for Mankind (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Socioeconomic Status Quo)
- Chapter Five: Don't Give a Shit About Politics
- Chapter Six: Insert Chapter Title Here
- Chapter Seven: A Goddram Load of Trouble
- Chapter Eight: History of Japan 101
- Chapter Nine: Ray's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery ft. "John Wilkes" Booth
- Chapter Ten: Hidon Away All My Secrets
- Chapter Eleven: Being the Good Guy Sucks Sometimes
- Chapter Twelve: Kustera's Very Own Episode
- FINAL CHAPTER: Homncruisin' Our Way To Victory