Crimson Gem Saga



A roleplaying game released for the PlayStation Portable, developed by Iron Nos Software. Released in its native South Korea as Astonishia Story 2, but had so little in common with the first game in the series that its name was changed to Crimson Gem Saga for the North American release and Garnet Chronicle for Japan.

Killian von Rohcoff is a new Chevalier graduate from Green Hill Academy who is eager to get out into the world and prove himself. He reluctantly teams up with con artist treasure hunter Spinel and the two are soon embroiled in a plot between opposing forces to collect the magical Wicked Stones, gathering a party of quirky allies along the way.

Crimson Gem Saga is in many ways an homage to old-school RPG sensibilities and lovingly lampshades many of the genre's tropes along the way.


 * Artifact of Doom: Gathering the Wicked Stones causes...evil things to happen?
 * Better Than a Bare Bulb: Especially early on, this game hangs a lampshade on everything it can, though it eventually succumbs to the very types of clichés it has been poking fun at.
 * Big Bad: Dryden, the sole character to return from the first Astonishia Story.
 * Bonus Boss: Notably, one of them is
 * Bonus Dungeon: The Ziggaraut,
 * Butt Monkey: Jeffrey (and his buddies). When you first meet him, he's
 * Can't Drop the Hero: Averted. If you have at least five total party members, Killian can be swapped out at any time.
 * Combination Attack: As long as everyone has the MP for it and they all get consecutive turns, you can use combination attacks of two, three or four party members. Even better, it only counts as that first person's turn, so everyone else can use their own spells or another combination attack altogether.
 * Corrupt Church: Whatever faith the Radiant Crusaders follow, which is never specified, though the Cardinal in charge and those immediately beneath him seem corrupt enough to qualify.
 * Critical Hit...and how! Getting a critical opens the opportunity to land extra hits. One character can land as many as seven critical hits in a row before his turn ends.
 * Design It Yourself Equipment: Weapons and armor can be modified with elemental affinities and stat-buffs. You will likely never use any of these things until the very end of the game, for fear of wasting something good on a weapon you'll sell as soon as you get to the next town.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fake Difficulty:
 * Fetch Quest: The general plot of the game is this, but also a series of optional quests given to you by Chevalier trainer Englehyde.
 * Five-Man Band plus Sixth Ranger
 * The Hero: Killian, who plays it very straight.
 * The Lancer: Ladhuk, whose practicality and coldbloodedness is often at odds with Killian's sense of morals.
 * The Smart Guy: Henson, who constantly looks down his nose at his teammates.
 * The Big Guy: Gelts, who also really enjoys his booze and is regularly accused of being a Dirty Old Man by Spinel.
 * The Chick: Spinel, who is not only the party's Token Girl for most of the game, but also (tries to) act as the voice of reason.
 * Sixth Ranger: Acelora, who is added to your party late in the game, but is even more badass than The Hero in some regards.
 * Floating Continent: The place where Henson's master lives, though it's never actually shown and you only visit in a cutscene.
 * Game Breaker: Very much the Grace of God Combination Attack. Full party immunity for eight turns! With careful strategy, even the hardest Bonus Bosses can't touch you.
 * Glass Cannon: Ladhuk, the aforementioned Mr. 7-Hit Critical, is a bare-fisted Monk with crappy defense. Spinel qualifies as well, as her high chance for criticals makes her a damage-per-second beast, even early in the game.
 * Global Airship: Teased, but surprisingly averted for a game with such old-school sensibilities. There's one in the title screen cinematic, but none to be seen in-game.
 * Gold Fever: Given that the very nature of the Wicked Stones is to tempt the hearts of Men, it shouldn't come as a surprise that
 * Good Morning, Crono: Killian wakes up late for his own graduation.
 * Heroic Mime: Subverted. Sometimes, you might wish Killian would just shut up.
 * Infinity+1 Sword
 * Subverted with
 * Upheld with
 * Kill Sat:
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: Lampshaded a couple different ways.
 * Knight in Shining Armour: According to Killian, Chevaliers are warriors for justice, who should uphold honor and duty above all else. Speaking with the rest of his graduating class seems to put his viewpoint in the minority.
 * Knight Templar: The Radiant Crusaders and Acelora in particular,
 * Lost Technology:
 * Love Triangle: Averted. You'd be forgiven for expecting this to happen between Killian, Spinel and Acelora, but it never does.
 * MacGuffin: Seems like everybody and their grandma wants the Wicked Stones, though it's not always clear what they could be used for.
 * Magic Knight: In standard RPG hero fashion, Chevalier Killian was also trained in the use of basic offensive and defensive magicks, though he's not as powerful at either as the specialists, like Henson and Gelts.
 * The Medic: Gelts, your basic Cleric, complete with big honkin' hammer.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Spinel--a dusky-skinned, pink-haired elf in a leather bikini. It doesn't hurt that her in-combat sprite has Jiggle Physics.
 * Nominal Importance: Subverted. Every NPC has a unique name and there's a fair amount of variety in their sprites, many of which are animated, like someone repairing a roof. (Of course, it's always that same guy repairing the roofs in every village.)
 * Now Where Was I Going Again?: An in-game quest log often gives you explicit directions to your next objective, assuming the strict linearity of the game itself isn't enough for you to figure it out.
 * The Precursors: The Big Bad's plot revolves around
 * Preexisting Encounters: Enemies can be seen on screen and usually avoided, including some bosses and even certain story events, so you know in advance when you should prepare for the worst. Enemies roaming the map can recognize you and charge in for an ambush, but you can ensure initiative by approaching from behind. A brief period of invincibility after encounters lets you approach another enemy without fear, meaning you can chain together every encounter in the room and never lose initiative.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Killian's party is remarkably dysfunctional, yet unwaveringly loyal
 * Red Herring: Herbert von Guterrian, who is presented as Killian's rival at the start of the game. He's not around for most of it and you never even get to pound his smug face into the ground.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Galorians, who are blue and have one horn, and their self-appointed leader Stormghor, who is red and has two horns.
 * Save Point: Averted, you can save anywhere. It's a wonder some other games for mobile platforms haven't figured this out yet.
 * Saving the World: Averted...? It's never really clear what the Big Bad is planning to do.
 * Shout-Out: The Wrath of God Combination Attack consists of a giant bare foot stomping on your enemies.
 * So Long and Thanks For All the Gear: Party members will depart and (sometimes) rejoin your team with no warning.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness: Not only do the podunk villages at the ass ends of the world sell better gear than settlements and cities that are supposedly on major trade routes, but the prices skyrocket so high that much of the game will be spent grinding more for money than levels. Somewhat justified in that the game is strictly linear, so you have no real choice over where in the world you're going.
 * Squishy Wizard: Henson
 * Stock Video Game Puzzle: A couple variations: (1) a key that unlocks the chest for another key, rinse/repeat; (2) rooms that lead to other rooms; (3) and so many switches...
 * Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Crimson Gem Saga is considered a vast improvement over Astonishia Story in terms of gameplay, graphics, character development and pretty much everything else.
 * Time Travel:
 * Took a Level In Badass:
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Spinel being an elf--possibly the only one left in the modern world--is never commented upon by anyone.
 * Villain Forgot to Level Grind:
 * Villain Forgot to Level Grind: