The Sword of Etheria

Also known as Over Zenith in Japan and Chains of Power in Korea.

Fiel, a boy who lost his parents at an early age, grew up with his younger sister Dorothy together with their cat Toto, dwelling in a world of humans, gods and spiritual creatures called the Katenas. Trying to bring down mankind, the gods have drained the planet of 'Etheria' (its energy source) and taken control of the Katenas.

Later on, a group of Katenas and monsters attacks the village Fiel is living in and kidnaps Dorothy by monsters called "Volo". Fiel then must save her with the help of two other Katenas, Almira and Leon. Thus, entering the threats present within the grasp of the gods.

The Sword of Etheria is a 3D Hack and Slash developed and published by Konami. It was released on June 30, 2005 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and was later released in Europe on February 24, 2006. The gameplay focuses on aerial combos and powerful finishers, where you send an enemy into the air so your AI controlled partners can continue delivering the pain, filling up a Zenith bar which allows you to execute powerful moves to destroy the enemies.

The game was very well received, making it into the Konami Best Hits titles in Japan. It also features character designs by Fumi Ishikawa of the Suikoden series and music by Michiru Yamane well known for her compositions in Castlevania games as well as being developed by most of the development teams from both series. Despite this, the game is mostly unheard of, mostly due to a case of No Export for You in the US.

Tropes used in The Sword of Etheria include:

Badass in a Nice Suit: Vitis. Especially if you give him the Butler costume.
Badass Longcoat: Leon sports one. It expresses his personality perfectly.
Big Bad: The Gods.
Big Damn Heroes: The New OZ in the good ending. Dorothy weakens the Giant Space Flea Out of Nowhere, resulting in tons of little spiders about to attack her. Cue in Vitis, Juju and Galumn coming to her rescue, leaving the monster up to Fiel, Almira and Leon.
Bittersweet Ending: Dorothy's Ending. You managed to kill the last God; however, a Giant Space Flea Out of Nowhere still threatens this world. Dorothy then sacrifices herself to destroy it.
Boisterous Bruiser: Leon. He says that the Gods made him fearless and he enjoys it because he can fight anything.
The Cameo: You can get costumes for the characters which make them look like characters from Suikoden, Castlevania and Silent Hill.
Dialogue Tree: Present sometimes before starting a stage. The choices you make affect an affection value on your partners, the higher it is, the more likely your partner is to help you when starting a combo.
Eldritch Abomination: You face one in one of the chapters. It asks you to kill it to end his pain.
Giant Space Flea Out of Nowhere: Played in the Dorothy and Good Ending. A creature made of pure hatred consumes the last God, according to Dorothy it comes from another world where the Jerkass Gods abused their powers as well.
Good All Along: Vitis, of all people. Revealed in the extra chapter where he meets Cain, they have a battle, and just like Fiel, Cain can destroy the ties with the gods on Katenas. Vitis then pretends to be a bad guy all along.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Leon shas some claw scars in his chest.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the normal ending, Almira and Leon do this to allow Fiel rescue Dorothy and defeat the king of the Gods.
Hostage Spirit Link: There is a stage with the ghosts of innocent people who were killed. Damaging them damages you.
"I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Fiel does this to take Dorothy out of Atheus in the Normal, Dorothy and Good ending. Special mention to the latter, where he does it with extreme confidence, and it works.
Instant Death Radius: Get close to Juju, and she'll attack you in a seemingly endless combo with her Lexes.
It's a Wonderful Failure: Fail to get a Composite Ranking of at least B, and you get the bad ending. Dorothy has turned in a tool of the Gods, which results in Fiel killing her. You then get to see Fiel turning into a monster out of hatred followed by the words: "Bad End. Try Again!"
Jerkass Gods: The Gods obviously, they have abused their powers including the kidnapping of children, brainwashing an almost extinct race to use as personal army and even screwing around with other worlds.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Leon. He says that he doesn't care much about defeating the gods or Fiel and Almira, that's obviously not the case.
Light Is Not Good: The Gods. They kidnapped all the children in Fiel's village and brainwashed the Katenas to serve as their personal army.
Limit Break: Zenith moves. Lv 1 involves your character doing a powerful blow, Lv 2 will make you team up with your closest partner for a deadly move and Over Zenith (Lv 3) makes all three party members do a destructive move on an enemy.
Made of Iron: Gameplay-wise, if you run out of health, your character will just stay on the ground recovering. You can move around to avoid getting knocked out again or mash X to speed up the process. If you succesfully recover, you will jump back to the action with less health so as long as your teammates don't get defeated as well you can revive infinite times, at the cost of your mission rank.
Meaningful Name: Theologia, the land of the gods. It's an Italian word for the study of religion and gods.
Multiple Endings: There are a total of four endings: how well you fare in the missions determines it.
Not What I Signed on For: The OZ. They realize that they've been mindless puppets to the Gods once Fiel breaks the curse.
One-Winged Angel: Atheus, the Supreme God, uses Dorothy to achieve this.
Power Trio: Fiel, Almira and Leon obviously.
- Also applies to Vitis, Juju and Galumn, the new OZ.
Razor Wind: Fiel's Lv 1 Zenith move does two slashes with this effect, before crushing his sword on the ground.
Say My Name: Everytime a combo is started, the character will say the other's name to let them know that they've sent the enemy on their way.
- Also in the bad ending, Dorothy has turned into the tool of the Gods, Almira tells Fiel that he has to end her, Fiel then yells Dorothy's name.
- Dorothy Ending as well. While Fiel manages to save Dorothy, she decides to sacrifice herself to detroy the monster that just consumed the Gods. Of course, Fiel doesn't like the idea and yells her name.
Secret Character: Vitis, Galumn and Juju. You can mix and match any character to build custom teams in EX mode after a certain mission.
Spin-Off: Dorothy's Great Adventure, unlocked after obtaining all 20 Fragments of Intelligence.
- OZ Rangers. A parody chapter mocking Super Sentai unlocked by obtaining a certain item and completing a certain chapter with it equipped.
Sprint Shoes: When an area is empty, the trio will start running.
Super-Powered Evil Side: Fiel gets one in the bad ending. He turns into a monster, apparently because of the hatred against the Gods that has consumed him.
Super Mode: Lex Armors, which unlocks the Katena's full power. After a certain mission, the player can use it on boss battles.
Talking Animal: Toto. He's also Fiel's weapon.
Unlockable Content: Tons of items, special galleries, modes, extra chapters and difficulties.
Villainous Breakdown: Juju has one. She simply cannot fathom how "two dropouts and a reject" could defeat her, one of the OZ.
When All You Have Is a Hammer: Any Katena: they all have one weapon called a Lex.
You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious: Leon always calls Fiel "Kid". In the Normal Ending, before dying, he calls him by his name. Fiel points this out.