Introduction

What is this?
Septerra Core is a CRPG, developed by the (now defunct) Valkyrie Studios and published by Monolith Productions, Interplay, and Topware Interactive (who are assholes). It was released in 1999 for win9x systems.

The setting is very soft science fiction with a scoop of fantasy elements; it features an engaging storyline, pretty graphics, good writing and voice acting, nine recruitable characters, killer robots, and doomsday weapons.

Although Valkyrie is no longer around, they still maintain the Septerra Core website.

What's the gameplay like?
It's the same general shape as most CRPGs (that is to say, games like Final Fantasy or Lunar, as opposed to Planescape Torment or Arcanum). You pilot a group of characters with writer-defined personalities through a fairly linear storyline, stopping to talk to, pick up, and/or kill various shiny things along the way. It also features a rather more involved key-item system than most games of this type, ranging from "collect X and Y, use them to repair Z" to "collect A and B, use C to combine them, then use the resulting D as a lure which will let you use E (which you collected earlier using F) to get E', which you can then take to the NPC so that he can turn it into G, letting you advance the plot."

It also features a rather slow-paced and boring combat system which is almost, but not quite, as bad as Squaresoft's Active Time Battle system. I'm definitely going to be taking a video of some of the fights so you can suffer with me. The rest of the game is worth it, though.

What sort of style will this LP have?
I'll be playing it mostly straight - direct transcription with commentary - with occasional snarky and/or informative commentary. Everything will be screenshotted, but there will also be video for FMVs and major battles.

Will there be delicious audience interaction?
Voting on party members, pretty much. The game is fairly linear, although there are a few points where you'll get to influence where we go first.

I remember playing this game! I was really enjoying it until it started crashing constantly when I fought the Sonic Lava Boss/used certain of Led's attacks/etc. If only there were a way to fix that!
This is fixed by patch 1.04. Install patch 1.02 first.

The combat is wearing me down - this game would be great if only I could skip the boring trash mobs, without ending up completely underleveled for the bosses! Is this possible?
Check out the Frequently Supplied Answers; they contain instructions on how to skip the crashy Sonic Lava Boss fight, but these will actually work for any combat in the game. (Search for 'instantly defeat all enemies' if you're having trouble finding that paragraph).

Update rate?
Slow. Expect a few updates in the first week, dropping off to one update a week or so. It might be more frequent if classes are merciful.

Septerra Core: Prologue

In the beginning, the Creator brought forth the shining jewels of the universe and all their secrets. One such jewel was the world that would be known as Septerra.

Its secret hidden within its core, seven distinct layers of continents, called World Shells, orbit the planet, each connected to the other by a giant biomechanical spine.

At the center of all lies the Core, an immense biocomputer regulating the movements of the shells.

The Creator fashioned into this world a way in which man himself might one day inherit his power. He created twin keys which could be used to unlock this secret, granting the gift of the Creator: the Kingdom of Heaven.

Every one hundred years, the alignment of the upper continents creates a beam of light, which penetrates the depths of the core, activating it for a short time.

At this time, the keys may be used to unlock its secrets. Many men attempted to posess these relics, but the world was not yet ready.

Then, there arose one that the Creator and his host of angels could not destroy. Gemma, a fallen seraph, captured the keys to the Core.

The Creator, in desperation, sent Marduk - his only begotten son - to Septerra...and then left the affairs of men forever.

After a battle that raged for a hundred days, Marduk defeated Gemma and retrieved the stolen keys. Teaching that the world was not yet ready for such power, he hid the ancient relics. But Marduk prophesized that one day, many millenia in the future, when the world was in grave danger, they would once again be found - and the power they could unlock would save the world from destruction.

That time is now.

The Let's Play Archive

Septerra Core

by ToxicFrog

Introduction

Contents