From the Manufacturer
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While digging through the ancient ruins, archeologists found a
ing man iside an egg-shaped machine. Though the scientist
couldn't wake up the er, they were able to reproduce his
machine which people started calling Elemental Gimmick Gear, or
EGG. A wide variety of EGGs have been manufactured for civilian
and use.
One hundred years after discovery of the er, something goes
terribly wrong, destroying the city and the people. The er
awakes and leaves the laboratory. As the er, you try to save
the city of Fogna and learn what went wrong.
Review
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Do you remember the great, older action-RPGs like The Legend of
Zelda for the SNES or Legend of Oasis for the Saturn? Elemental
Gimmick Gear for the Sega Dreamcast is one of those titles that
definitely returns to the basics of action-RPG. Like the classic
games, you'll jump, run, and attack while acquiring different
items and magic in a 2D rich with colorful, beautiful
backgrounds. The story begins when archaeologists discover an
egg-shaped robot and a pilot at an ancient structure that dates
back more than five thousand years. Engineers successfully
replicate the robot for mass production and call it Elemental
Gimmick Gear or E.G.G. for short. E.G.G. eventually becomes a
part of everyday life, taking on extreme physical tasks so the
human race can take it easy. But the pilot who was discovered in
the original E.G.G. is still a (hence, his name, the
ing Man), and all attempts to wake him have failed. Five
hundred years have passed, and the ancient structure has been
dubbed the Fogna, a place where scientists continue their
excavation, and treasure hunters risk their lives in hopes of
finding buried treasure. But instead of finding treasure, the
treasure hunters trigger a switch that causes mass destruction,
shaking the earth and causing huge tentacles to spread across the
continent, destroying everything in their path. All this
commotion causes the ing Man to wake up and hop in his
E.G.G., hoping to regain his lost memory and find out what lies
beneath the Fogna. The game was developed by Birthday and was
originally planned for a release on the Sega Saturn console. It's
good the game has retained its Saturn-esque image, but it adds
flavor with an additional gameplay element that uses the hardware
capabilities of the Dreamcast console. You will usually move
across town and through dungeons in a 2D reminiscent of the
hand-drawn picture-book style found in Square's SaGa Frontier. 3D
battles occur only on occasion, usually when you encounter a boss
inside a dungeon. The 2D-world graphics are very colorful and
detailed, though it makes it easy to get lost. The characters and
enemies are all in 2D sprites, while polygon models are used in
the 3D battles. Although the graphics are simple first-generation
Dreamcast graphics, the movements and controls are seamlessly
smooth. The game also features FMV sequences in between gameplay,
as well. Miki Takahama did the artwork for the game. His previous
work includes the Japanese live-action flick Gamera 3.
Unfortunately, the artwork doesn't seem to have been used very
well. The clashing styles between the midget-sized characters and
their respective face icons (used during dialogue) cause a bit of
confusion. The mech design of the E.G.G. is neither new nor
unique. It's quite reminiscent of the mech design found in series
like Sakura Wars. Finally, the story and the characters fall
short, lacking well-established and complex characters. It might
seem strange for an RPG, but what saves E.G.G. from being below
average isn't its story or characters; it's the gameplay that
picks up some of the slack. The basic attack consists of either a
punch or a spin. While spinning, you can move faster across the
field, attacking enemies all the while and even becoming
impervious to certain enemy attacks. The only drawback is that
spinning causes your hit points to slowly drop, so you can't use
it all the time. You will later gain special items, which let
your E.G.G. cast spells like fireball, ice beam, earthquake, and
plasma beam. Other special items do things like teleport out of
the dungeon, recover hit points, carry heavy blocks, or cross
broken bridges. All these actions and movements can be done in
the 3D battle mode, as well; the only difference is that your
point of view will change from top-view 2D to front-view 3D. The
gameworld is not as big as you'd expect from an RPG. You'll only
come across one or two very small towns. There are several
dungeons spread throughout the game, such as the tower called
Metal Heaven. But the dungeon you will be exploring most of the
time is the ancient structure Fogna, which consists of several
floors with different entrances and exits located in different
parts of the world. As the game progresses, you will gain access
to deeper levels in the dungeon. Although you will travel across
the same sections several times, the common enemies will get
stronger as you defeat bosses. --Ike Sato
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