It's the 22nd century, and mankind has successfully colonized outer space. These three structures built at the lagrange points between the Earth and the sun - Land-1, Land-2, and a satellite base - fall under mysterious attack by a mutant menace. Earth has sent two teams to investigate, but they have not returned. As a young soldier named Jin (with a last name of your choosing), you are a member of third mission to explore the crumbling remnants of survivors, assemble a crew to help you, and dispose of the corporate faction that has attempted to take over the colonies for their own gains.
Lagrange Point is one of the most technically advanced RPGs on the Famicom. Published in 1991, at a point where the system was losing ground to the 16-bit systems, its graphics are a huge step above the likes of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, it has a relatively involved sci-fi conspiracy plot that contrasts with the typical medieval fantasy setting, and it's simply far more densely packed than most other similar titles on the system. Most impressively, it's the only title to take advantage of Konami's VRC7 memory management chip, which included an onboard FM synthesis chip and produces a soundtrack completely unlike anything on the system.
The battles are much like Dragon Quest, with four party members facing up to six enemies in a first person perspective, with actions displayed in text on the bottom. While most enemy sprites are static (with the exception of certain boss attacks) and the background is all black, most battles are accompanied with scrolling lights on the side of the screen, which change in both color and speed, and shift directions to match the flow of combat. It gives the sensation of hurtling on a roller coaster through a dark tunnel, and manages to make the battles feel more engaging than usual. The enemy designs, particularly the weirdly mutated bosses, are also pretty cool.
While the fundamentals of combat have not changed, various details are unique to Lagrange Point. Amongst the ten playable characters, five are human, three are cyborgs and two are robots. Each character type has different types of abilities and status afflictions - for example, robots can rust and need to be healed through alternate means, and also cannot equip weapons or armor. Humans have unique special attacks called a "kimewaza" ("decisive move") that will drain HP upon use. Humans and cyborgs are also affected by their emotional status, which can increase their strength if they're elated, increase susceptibility to status ailments if they're depressed, or simply cause them to panic; the explicit effects differ with each character. Meanwhile, robots have no emotions, so they are tragically free of such highs and lows. Special powers apart from the kimewazas are enabled by obtaining kits and act like typical magic spells, although certain characters can only use certain skills. There's also a fairly in-depth weapon customization system, which allows you to upgrade, combine or otherwise fiddle with various armaments, increasing their attack power and changing their affinity.
Humans
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Jin
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Dennis
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Chris
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Astro
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Rita
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Cyborgs
Robots
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Tic
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Tac
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You also have to worry about BP (Battery Points), Lagrange Point's equivalent to MP. However, rather irritatingly, BP is not reserved solely for special attacks, and even regular attacks will drain it. As such, you're generally required to keep a stack of battery packs in your inventory to replenish them, or otherwise keep close to the (thankfully numerous) computer rooms which can save your game and restore your stats. The max BP is not raised through level gain, but rather by obtaining and using battery tanks found throughout. Like Dragon Quest, the penalty for dying is fairly light - you are resurrected at the last computer terminal you accessed with all items and experience intact, but you lose all of the cash you obtained since the last visit. The whole party falls if Jin dies, so naturally it's in your best interest to protect him.
Since the colonies are cylindrical, the overworld loops from north to south, and travel is handled initially through a vehicle. At the beginning you can only use a car, which is restricted to (the often broken) roadways, but eventually you can tanks (to travel off the roads), boats (to travel on water) and a hoverplane (which can go practically anywhere). Amongst the cities are numerous laboratories and underground chambers, which link various parts of the colony and function as most of the games' dungeons. The structure allows for some exploration, although plot progression is still generally linear.
For all of its advancements, Lagrange Point is still saddled with all of the issues that plague 8-bit RPGs. The numerous random battles, though fairly quick, still grow tedious, and the game naturally expects you to grind quite a bit. It doesn't quite have the chops of Sega's Phantasy Star, which it was clearly inspired by. The graphics and sound are excellent, but not as excellent as the Master System game from four years earlier, and it obviously doesn't compare to Phantasy Star II either, to which it bears even more similarities. Still, considering that a huge chunk of the Famicom RPG library were middling Dragon Quest ripoffs, Lagrange Point is one of the few that's still worth revisiting.
Perhaps more interesting than its technological advancements is how Konami involved the gaming community in Lagrange Point's development. As part of the "Game Koubou" project, in conjunction with Famimaga magazine, they polled readers for input about various elements, including the title, the details of its plot, monster designs, and even NPC dialogue - similar to what Capcom did for the robot masters in the later Mega Man games, but on a much larger scale. In addition to the Konami Kukeiha Club, the soundtrack was also composed by Akio Dobashi and Noriyuki Takahashi, of the 80s Japanese rock band REBECCA.
Links
Magweasel A write-in in English about the game's background.
H-Empire Excellent full walkthrough and FAQ.
Lagrange Point Wiki Another full walkthrough in Japanese, not quite as good
MP3s
Wandering Journey - Dungeon
Awaken into Warriors - Battle Theme
