Crusader of Centy

An action/adventure video game for the Sega Genesis published by Atlus. Also known as Soleil in PAL regions.

Gameplay and visuals are similar to those in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or the Soul Blazer series, with a few exceptions. Instead of collecting items, you have animals join your party. Two animals may be equipped at a time. Certain animals may be equipped with certain other animals to produce a unique or upgraded effect.

The game starts with your character on the birthday where he receives his first sword and becomes a man. He inherits his father's, a great swordfighter and hero, old sword. After learning to throw it, you venture out into the world to fight monsters and have a good ol' time. Except that not all is as it seems...

Essentially, Crusader of Centy is a parable for environmentalist and expansionist issues as well as the morality of killing those who are different and strange.

Tropes used in Crusader of Centy include:

Ability Required to Proceed: If you want to get anywhere, you'll need to pick up certain abilities. While these usually come in the form of new animal companions, there are exceptions, such as learning how to throw your sword from an instructor at the Rafflesia Training Ground, or learning how to talk to animals from the Fortune Teller.
Amplifier Artifact: The Moa Bird. When you pair him up with another animal, his teammate's abilities will be more potent than usual: Flash the Cheetah makes you run even faster, Inferno the Lion and Chilly the Penguin give your sword stronger elemental damage, and so on and so forth.
Ancestral Weapon: Your father's rusty sword.
Androcles' Lion: Many of your recruited animals must be saved first.
Animal Talk: Animals speak their language, and understanding them requires you to forsake your knowledge of the human tongue. You get better, though.
Bee Afraid: Hitting certain switches will destroy trees containing bees that will instantly try to attack you. Interestingly, they aren't dangerous because they try to sting you. They actually don't do any direct damage. They will, however, push you and carry you around, potentially dragging you into damaging hazards or slam-dunking you into bottomless pits that hurt you instead.
BFS: While it's a normal-sized sword for her, Maldra's sword is longer than the main character is tall!
Big Bad: The Spirit Energy, apparently. Given that it's blocking off monsters from returning to the Underworld, it's indirectly responsible for all the suffering they experience.
Born In The Wrong Timeline: The imprisoned adventurer in the epilogue: Amon. Since monsters don't live among humans in the new timeline, this cantankerous Blood Knight is a public nuisance instead of a revered hero.
Bribing Your Way to Victory: To recruit Flash the Cheetah, you need to beat him in a race. The problem is that he's way faster than you, and you have no hope of beating him even if you drive perfectly. However, he's willing to slow down if you pay him 50 Malins, which is the intended way to beat him.
Broken Aesop: A two-fold example.
- Firstly, the game wants you to know that Humans Are Bastards, and monsters are innocent victims of discrimination. It really, really wants you to know that, to the point that the time traveling road trip during the second half of the game is kicked off by killing Maldra and thus tainting the Place of Peace with bloodshed. Of course, for this to work, you have to ignore the fact that at least 9 times out of 10, conflicts between monsters and humans are instigated by the monsters themselves, who are constantly shown attacking people unprovoked with the intent to maim, kidnap, and kill. Likewise, you killing Maldra is a textbook case of self-defense seeing as how she taunts you and immediately starts trying to cleave you in half with her gigantic sword. The only time you unambiguously murder an innocent monster is when you destroy the heart of the MotherMonster, and that's still exactly one case where you are the aggressor vs countless moments where you aren't.
- Secondly, the game itself implores you to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between humans and monsters so the two species can coexist peacefully. So naturally, the game ends with you promptly sending the monsters back to where they came from, creating a timeline where monsters and humans remain separate and have never mingled among one another. So much for coexisting peacefully, huh?
The Cameo: Sonic the Hedgehog. You can find him relaxing in Anemone Beach, and can even talk to him! Unfortunately, he immediately tells you to get lost.
Canine Companion: Mac, your loyal pet dog and the first animal who you recruit.
Circling Birdies: The Big Bad Wolf's attack consists of hitting himself on the head with a hammer, and then using the stars to damage you.
Cool Sword: The Holy Sword, a shiny golden blade that you get as a reward for getting all three medals at the nearby training grounds. Receiving one means that you're officially recognized as a hero of the kingdom of Soleil.
Convection, Schmonvection: A stage is set around and inside of an active, near erupting volcano. Falling into the lava only removes 1 apple (life point).
Crowning Music of Awesome: Battle 3/Leviathan
Disappeared Dad: Your father ain't around much. Don't despair. You have your best friend Johnny the dog and you get his sword.
- You get to see him again in Heaven. He doesn't have a name, but he's stereotypically dad-like and refills your health. It's couldn't be anyone else.
Faceless Eye: The Sense of Sight is a gigantic eye without a face. While the Spirit Energy technically has a face, it's ultimately another living eyeball surrounded by a dense clump of cloud-looking things.
Floating Platforms: Many many many floating platforms. Half the floor in some stages is such. Standing on the floor too long will make it collapse into a never ending pit/lava/ice etc.
Fox Chicken Grain Puzzle: Featuring a chicken, a caterpillar and a flower.
Genius Loci: It turns out that the entirety of Dahlia Valley is a giant monster. When you first visit, you climb her body. When you visit during the endgame, you go inside of her.
Hello, Insert Name Here: You give your character his own name at the start of the game. Officially, it's supposed to be Corona.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Even though they act more like boomerangs and you spend most of your time throwing them at stuff.
Kill It with Fire: Inferno's ability will ignite your sword.
Moon Logic Puzzle: One of the animals you get is Rio, an armadillo that can be used as a platform to jump on (previously only used to cross water). One puzzle requires you to throw him into a bottomless pit where he will float unsuspended in the air allowing you to use him as a stepping stone.
Puzzle Boss: Many many many.
Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Even if you change the effects of time, you remain the same.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: With TIME TRAVEL.
Shifting Sand Land: A desert setting with quicksand pits that don't suck you in but do spin you around and throw you. Necessary to reach some areas by slingshot jumping. Some pits have spikes in the middle.
Shout-Out: Snoop Dogg, Little Red Riding Hood, The Wizard of Oz, The Bible
Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Complete with killer snowmen. Melts into a water level.
Spikes of Doom: Averted, spikes only do minor damage.
That's No Moon: The first mountain range where you battle monsters? It's a single giant monster. At the end, you talk to her at a time before she became so large.
Stock Video Game Puzzle: All over the damn show.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: The first technique you learn with it. Handy for cutting down grass (Familiar, no?) and necessary to beat some enemies/every damn boss. Even works as a boomerang.
Turns Red: The Octopus literally turns red when he's low on health.
Under the Sea: Complete with lack of oxygen. Can be That One Level.
Upgrade Artifact: All the animals. Varies from fast running to an extra life to a rideable dinosaur. Many for your sword too. You can make it bounce of walls, guide it manually in flight, light it on fire or make it a freeze thrower.
Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: The American version has some translation issues.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: This game is all about the morality of killing monsters. Whether they deserve it, who starts the violence and how if effects their families.
Xanatos Gambit: The seer gives you the ability to talk to animals and creates a path to the past in an attempt to have you bring about world peace.
You Bastard: The game loves to guilt trip you over killing monsters, many of which attack you unprovoked.