The Legend of Oasis
| The Legend of Oasis The Story of Thor 2 | |
|---|---|
 The Legend of Oasis cover art (North American version) | |
| Developer(s) | Ancient |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Composer(s) | Yuzo Koshiro |
| Series | The Legend of Thor |
| Engine | enhanced The Story of Thor engine |
| Platform(s) | Saturn |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player (Two-Player Mode with code) |
The Legend of Oasis, known in Japan as Thor ~Seirei Ou Kiden~ (トア 〜精霊王紀伝〜 lit. "Thor ~Chronicles of the Elemental King~") and in Europe as The Story of Thor 2, is a 1996 action role-playing game developed by Ancient and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. It is the successor and prequel to the 1994 title Beyond Oasis for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The player takes the role of Leon, who must find the six elemental spirits and use their powers to fight the evil wizard Agito and his legions of creatures.
Plot
Many years before the events in Beyond Oasis, the warrior Ordan gives his young pupil Leon the Golden Armlet, so that he can become the Spirit King of Oasis. This can only be achieved by obtaining the loyalty of the six elemental spirits of the land, which are called Dytto (the spirit of water), Efreet (the spirit of fire), Bawu (the spirit of earth), Brass (the spirit of sound), Shade (the spirit of darkness), and Airl (the spirit of air). Leon's nemesis is the evil wizard Agito who has the Silver Armlet and threatens to destroy the land.
Characters
- Leon is the young pupil of Ordan and the next Spirit King of Oasis; he is given the magical Golden Armlet which empowers him with the ability to summon the six spirits of the land and have them help him with their elemental powers.
- Ordan is Leon's master and gives him the Golden Armlet.
- Myra is a sickly woman who flees to Oasis, pursued by Agito's monsters.
- Agito, Leon's nemesis, wields the Silver Armlet, the counterpart of the Golden Armlet, and intends to destroy Oasis. With his red-gemmed armlet, Agito is able to create chaos and cause destruction.
Gameplay
The game action takes place in real time. Each weapon comes with a set of special attacks that are executed in fighting game style. The player can also summon spirits by firing a "Spirit Ball" at some object from the blue gem in his armlet; the exact spirit summoned depends on the object hit. The spirits can fight enemies, heal Leon, or help solve puzzles. Each has a different power, and Leon can wield short and long swords as well as bow and arrow. He is able to perform "combos" by means of combinations of the D-pad and the action buttons. His arrows can trigger switches.
The game is generally one-player, though a two-player mode can be accessed using a cheat code.
The graphics in Legend are, for the most part, identical to the original. The only noticeable improvements are in color and frame rate. The graphics in the prequel have sharper contrast and saturation and the overall performance is more stable. Legend's soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, as was the one from the sequel.
Spirits
- Dytto is the spirit of water. She is summoned when Leon fires the Spirit Ball from the armlet's blue gem at a mass of water. She can freeze water or enemies as well as put out fires.
- Efreet is the spirit of fire. He is summoned from fire and can melt ice (which in turn can be used to summon Dytto).
- Bawu is the spirit of earth. He can be summoned from plants and can eat iron balls and bite enemies, and can also break open cracks in the environment.
- Brass is the spirit of sound. It can be summoned from metal objects and is able to attack He enemies and shatter crystals by producing sound waves.
- Shade is the spirit of darkness. He can be summoned from graves, ice spires, crystals, and dead beings like ghosts, zombies, and skeletons. He can attack thorns, activate switches, and suffer attacks in Leon's place.
- Airl is the spirit of air. She can be summoned from air fountains, vapor, or electricity sparks. She can serve as a means of transportation.
Reception
The game has been criticized as not being original enough (compared to its predecessor, Beyond Oasis) to justify its appearance on the Saturn platform. The gameplay was also referred to as frustrating at times, because its perspective can make it very difficult to tell how high or low a platform is in relation to Leon — it may force him to walk great lengths to get back to where he was prior to jumping up to a platform that is too high.[1] Game Informer gave the game an 8.75/10.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff, The Story of Thor 2, GameSpot, Jan 23, 1997, Accessed March 26, 2008
- ↑ "Ultimate Review Archive." Game Informer. Issue 100. August, 2001. Page 59.
External links
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