Langrisser Millenium - Dreamcast (2000)
Characters:
I won't talk about the music, because it's all garbage. But the visual and aural disparity between Millenium and the rest of the Langrisser games isn't really the problem. The problem is that Millenium is an entirely different game, one which mimics the Sega Saturn classic Dragon Force, and a very crappy one at that. At the beginning of the game, you pick on of the five characters above. Each one is the leader of a kingdom and has their own plotlines. There are no scenarios here - it's a real-time strategy game where you're given a map, and told to simply conquer as many towns as possible. You gain additional characters as you go along, and separate troops can be formed, so you can have multiple contingents spreading throughout the map.
Whenever you meet up with an opposing unit or try to take over an occuped space, battle ensues, and this where the game just falls completely apart. These battles also unfold in real in real time, and are intended to meld action and strategy. You take four units into a skirmish, but you only control the main character. At the beginning of the battle, you choose which formation for your squad to move in. During the battle, you can tell them to attack or defend, but that's really about it. As for the main character, you control them directly with the pad, and can choose which enemies to fight. Unfortunately, the control is terrible, as everything moves at a snail's pace, and the actual melee combat is sloppy and requires no strategy at all. So if the action element is pathetic and the strategy element practically nonexistent, what's the point?
There's really nothing positive that can be said about Millenium, except that it really makes Langrisser 3 look really good. Just stay far, far away.
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium WS: The Last Century - Wonderswan (2001)
The game stars a young boy named Shion. When his family is attacked by a group of bandits, his mother unveils her identity as a warrior and proceeds to kick ass. Being completely blown away, Shion ventures with his mom and a sexy pair of twins on the usual quest for truth and justice. Considering that this is the only portable Langrisser game, it's not too bad of an effort.
Langrisser Millenium WS
Precursors to Langrisser: Elthead and Gaia
Links
IGN Review: Langrisser Millenium Quite accurate review of this terrible game.
Cover Artwork
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium
Langrisser Millenium is not a Langrisser game. It is, in fact, a filthy charlatan, masquerading as an installment in one of strategy gaming's finest series. Most of the crew at Careersoft had gone on to work on the Growlanser series by the time that Masaya made Millenium, so there's not even involvement on the development level. Satoshi Urushihara's artwork has been replaced by character artwork from Kaishaku, another semi-popular manga/porn artist (also known for Steel Angel Kurumi.) The artwork is actually quite good, although the crappy looking character models don't quite capture the look effectively.
Cover Artwork
Langrisser Millenium WS
Langrisser Millenium WS
It's incredibly unfortunate that this portable title shares the same name as the Dreamcast title, because Langrisser Millenium WS: The Last Century is a completely different ordeal. In fact, it's actually a true Langrisser game, as the gameplay is pretty much the same as the first or second game of the series. The graphics aren't anything spectacular, of course, and unit movement is made a bit difficult due to the black and white screen, but Kaishaku's character designs still look reasonably decent on the small screen. Still, having some actual animation on the battlefield couldn't have hurt things.
Langrisser is one of the finest strategy RPG series out there. It has the depth that Shining Force lacks, but doesn't require the obsessive perfection that Fire Emblem demands. And unlike FF Tactics or Nippon Ichi strategy games, the focus is more on strategic thinking than building up levels or skills. The only real problem with it - other than the fact that only the first one was ever translated into English - is that it's too epic for its own good. You play certain levels, and it takes several minutes of sitting and waiting - waiting for the computer to think and move, or waiting for your characters to move across the map. Although efforts were made to trim the number of units in battle, it still feels like many battles simply comprise of doing nothing. But for those who are patient, Langrisser will prove to be a classic.
Anime Archive - Langrisser Lots of scanned artwork, much of which was nabbed for this article.
Mobygames - Langrisser Usual decent Mobygames link.
Der Langrisser Shrine Focuses mostly on the SFC game.
RPGFan - Langrisser 5 Nice review.
PC-FX World - Der Langrisser A look at the obscure PC-FX version.
