Software:Lennus II

From HandWiki
Short description: 1996 video game
Lennus II: Fūin no Shito
Developer(s)Copya System
Publisher(s)Asmik Corporation
Director(s)Hidenori Shibao
Composer(s)Kōhei Tanaka
Platform(s)Super Famicom
Release
  • JP: July 26, 1996
  • JP: December 1, 1997 (Nintendo Power)
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Lennus II: Fūin no Shito (レナスII　封印の使徒; "Lennus II: The Apostles of the Seals") is a 1996 role-playing video game for the Super Famicom. It was developed by Copya System, and published by Asmik Corporation.

Story

The game takes place on the moon named "Eltz" that orbits the planet "Raiga".[1] The first game took place on Lennus, another moon of Raiga.[1] The plot centers around a hero, Falus.[2]

Gameplay

Gameplay is fairly similar to the original Lennus / Paladin's Quest:

  • The player can swap out mercenary equipment.
  • There have been some revisions to the magic system.
    • There are eight spirits: Fire, Light, Wind, Gold, Earth, Sky, Water and Void, with one spell for each spirit and each pair of spirits, for 36 spells.
    • Falus starts the game with three of the eight spirits, and can gain the powers of the other five through sidequests. He can only cast spells from the spirits he currently has equipped, and only has a limited number of slots (starting with only a single slot, with three more slots unlockable through sidequests for a maximum of four, allowing up to 10 of the 36 spells to be available at a time), and can only swap spirits outside of combat.
    • Much like in Paladin's Quest, each mercenary has a fixed repertoire of spirits, which are automatically equipped and cannot be swapped out.
    • Instead of building up spirit skill ratings by repeatedly casting associated spells, in Lennus II, spirits are powered up by defeating monsters, who yield a sort of spirit-specific experience points in addition to regular experience points.

Development

The game was developed by Copya system,[3] and published by Asmik Corporation.[4] It is a sequel to Lennus: Memory of the Ancient Machine.[5] Enix brought the original Lennus to North America as Paladin's Quest.[5][3]

The game was directed and written by Hidenori Shibao, who also directed the original.[5][6] The music for the game was made by Kohei Tanaka.[7] Shibao was writing strategy guides and making 20 million yen per year, but working on Lennus II he was only making 2 million yen a year.[1] The game took four years to finish, instead of the planned two years.[1] Shibao said: "It was like the entire project was cursed!"[1]

Developer Copya System changed its name to "Shangri-La" in 1996.[3]

Release

Lennus II was released on July 28, 1996 for the Super Famicom.[4] A Nintendo Power version was released on December 1, 1997.[4] According to Shibao the game didn't sell well and he described it as "a huge bomb".[1] For that reasons, plans for Lennus III were shelved, and the game was never made.[1] The plot for the third game would have focused on the planet Raiga itself, and the construction of the two moons.[1]

Enix had closed its American headquarters by this time, and focus shifted to the Nintendo 64.[2] The game has never been released outside of Japan,[8][3] but a fan translation of the game into English was created for it in 2008.[9][2]

Two tracks from the game were recorded by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra for release on the Orchestral Game Concert compilations.[10][11]

Reception

In Famicom Tsūshin commented on the game in terms of graphics and gameplay. Hamamura Tsūshin found the game's graphics were unique and the in-game world was well established as if it were a series that had already spanned generations. Two other found the graphics to be low quality, with one saying that it gave the impression of an RPG from a bygone era. One reviewer found the battles in the game monotonous while another said that raising spirits in the game was fun but battles were tedious.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Feature: A Memorial For Hidenori Shibao" (in en-GB). Nintendo Life. 2018-04-09. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/04/feature_a_memorial_for_hidenori_shibao. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Lennus II – Hardcore Gaming 101" (in en-US). http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/lennus-ii/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ciolek, Todd (2014-07-17). "The Strangest Game Company Names of All Time" (in en-US). http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/17/the-strangest-game-company-names-of-all-time. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "レナスII -封印の使徒- [スーパーファミコン / ファミ通.com"]. https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=18055. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Gamasutra - Characters and Worldbuilding: Analyzing the Strength of Japanese Games". 31 May 2013. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/characters-and-worldbuilding-analyzing-the-strength-of-japanese-games. 
  6. ↑ "Paladin's Quest And Legend Of Legaia Writer And Game Designer Hidenori Shibao Has Passed Away - Siliconera" (in en-US). Siliconera. 2018-04-05. https://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/05/paladins-quest-legend-legaia-writer-game-designer-hidenori-shibao-passed-away/. 
  7. ↑ "【7月26日】今日は『ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ』シリーズ発売26周年！【レトロゲームの誕生日】 - ゲームドライブ（ゲードラ） - スマホ・アナログ・レトロ・新作ゲーム情報を毎日掲載中！". https://gamedrive.jp/news/1501030801. 
  8. ↑ "Paladin's Quest" (in en-GB). 4 April 2018. http://www.nintendolife.com/games/snes/paladins_quest. 
  9. ↑ "Classic RPG Daikaijū Monogatari Translated Into English 20 Years After Original Release - Siliconera" (in en-US). Siliconera. 2015-05-20. http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/20/classic-rpg-daikaiju-monogatari-translated-into-english-20-years-after-original-release/. 
  10. ↑ Farand, Eric. "Orchestral Game Concert 4". RPGFan.com. http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ogc4/. 
  11. ↑ Gann, Patrick. "Orchestral Game Concert 5". RPGFan.com. http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ogc5/. 
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named famitsu
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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