Der Langrisser Guide
Langrisser is far and away my favorite strategy RPG series, with a unique general-troop mechanic that no other game comes close to effectively doing. Unfortunately, only the first entry has been localized (the Genesis game Warsong).
The best Langrisser game it is feasible to translate, Der Langrisser, is almost completely translated. The team headed up by D and Moon Knight, whose home is the Clouds of El Sallia forums, is working on editing and testing right now after over 7 years of development. This is the most work I’ve heard of going into a game fan translation, and I’m sure it will turn out well.
I’ve played through Der Langrisser along two paths, and recently I came into possession of a copy of the Japanese official guidebook for the game. As I translate or transcribe various bits and pieces, I will also be posting them here so they have a more permanent home. Note that yes, some of this material I have learned myself through playing the game, but more of it is translated from the guide.
The game itself is easy, but it has 4 main branching paths, each of which is associated with a faction. Following is a brief description of the game.
Your character is Erwin, a descendant of the hero Ledin (Garett in Warsong). Although his ancestor saved the world from evil some hundred years ago with the power of Langrisser (Warsong) and ruled the kingdom of Baldea, soon the kingdom became fragmented and weak. Eventually, Baldea castle itself fell into ruin, and former Prince Erwin was sent into exile with the kingdom’s Swordmaster, Doren, as bodyguard. Erwin himself has no idea of his past, as he was young when Baldea fell and Doren was killed trying to protect Erwin some time ago. Erwin spent years wandering throughout the countryside, and finds himself traveling with a newfound friend, Hein. They arrive at a village which is shortly raided by the Rayguard Empire’s Blue Dragon Knights…
The factions of the game are:
Light, led by the Descendants of Light of the Kingdom of Kalzath. Their goal is the purging of both Chaos and Imperial forces.
Imperial, led by Emperor Bernhardt. Bernhardt’s goal is to gain enough power to unify the continent, and to that end he is temporarily cooperating with the forces of Chaos.
Chaos, led by the Prince of Darkness Boser. His plans are vague, but they involve the summoning of an ancient entity symbolizing chaos itself.
Independent, led by Erwin himself if he chooses. Although each member of the movement has their own goals, each is seeking the power to accomplish those goals.
Light, the original path in Langrisser 2, involves facing off against the Imperial and Chaos forces. It is the “Good” path, but it is also perhaps idealistically so (in that you have to destroy the stable Rayguard Empire to do so).
Imperial, a more realistic but compromising path, involves destroying both the Light and Chaos forces. Although you do have to fight many a good person in this path, your assumed goal is to bring peace through assisting in the Empire’s world domination.
Independent, in which you betray both the Light and Empire forces, is you against the world. If you choose to continue this path after receiving Boser‘s assistance, you also betray Boser. In this path, you wield both the Langrisser and its evil counterpart Alhazard.
First off, the shiny picture. This is a diagram showing the branching paths of the game.
Although bits and pieces of the above I found from the guide, I got the idea for the structure and idea of the diagram from a piece of notebook paper I found in the guide itself (written on in Japanese), so I don’t know who the original author was.
Hidden classes for each character (and final “normal” class to reach each)
Liana – Agent (High Priest), Princess (Sage)
Scott – Royal Guard (Knight Master)
Erwin – King (General), Hero (Sword Master), Royal Guard (Knight Master)
Hein – Wizard (Archmage)
Rohga – Emperor (General), High Master (Ranger)
Egbert – Dark Master (Zauberer)
Sherry – High Master (Ranger), Princess (Sage), Royal Guard (Knight Master)
Keith – Dragon Master (Dragon Lord)
Aaron – High Master (Ranger), Hero (Sword Master)
Lester – Serpent Master (Serpent Lord)
Lana – Princess (Sage), Agent (High Priestess), Wizard (Archmage)
Lana (D.P.) – Dark Princess (Sage), Dark Master (Zauberer), Wizard (Archmage)
Sonya – Wizard (Archmage), Royal Guard (Knight Master)
Esto, Osto have none
Leon – Hero (Sword Master), Royal Guard (Knight Master)
Vargas – Hero (General? Others get through SM)
Imelda – Wizard (Archmage), Queen (Sage? Is only sensible one)
More forthcoming!