History VideoGame / SandsOfDestruction

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sandsofdestruction.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[CoversAlwaysLie He doesn't want to destroy the world. She does.]]]]]

''Sands of Destruction'' is a Nintendo DS game developed by Creator/{{Imageepoch}} and published by Creator/{{Sega}}. It was released in Japan in 2008 as ''World Destruction: Michibi Kareshi Ishi'', with a North American release in January 12th, 2010. It was also [[AnimatedAdaptation adapted into an anime]], ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'', which aired in 2008 and similarly had a North American release in early 2010. A [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction manga]] was released in 2009, and there was an online AudioPlay which ran around the same time as the anime. These were only released in Japan; however, there is an English {{Scanlation}} of the manga available.

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Dark Kyrie, a doppelganger atop the Temple of Darkness.]]

* EnemyWithout: One BonusBoss is a manifestation of [[spoiler:Kyrie's doubts and fears, a side effect of when he grew a soul and became human, then decided to give that up to try and save the world from himself.]]

* SecretLevel: Some time after [[spoiler:the Temple of Light turns dark]], you can return to the area to complete another set of puzzles and fight a BonusBoss.

* ShadowArchetype: [[spoiler:Dark Kyrie]] is one for Kyrie, though [[GuideDangIt you may not find him during the course of the game]], as he's a BonusBoss. [[spoiler:He's a manifestations of Kyrie's doubts and fears, a side effect of when he grew a soul and became human, then decided to give that up to try and save the world from himself - apparently the part of himself that he rejected in order to be able to make a heroic sacrifice also rejected the idea that suicide would save people and so got himself his own body.]]

* TreacherousSpiritChase: If you return to the Temple of Light after it's darkened, Kyrie will spot a person who he claims looks just like him and insist on chasing after him. At first no one else believes him, but eventually they decide it ''does'' look a lot like there's a second Kyrie out there. [[spoiler:When you finally catch up, he's a BonusBoss.]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/77c1ee5560f5f6434aabb3851c8e3600.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[CoversAlwaysLie He doesn't want to destroy the world. She does.]]]]

* OfficialCouple: Kyrie and Morte.
* OffModel: A couple of characters have inconsistent coloring between their sprites and {{Character Portrait}}s:
** Kyrie wears a complete pair of gloves in sprites, but only one glove in portraits and art; his other hand is bare. After [[spoiler:he's resurrected as the Destruct]], his battle portrait has brown eyes whereas they're blue in his sprites and other art.
** Morte's hair is a light reddish-chestnut in portraits and art but a medium dull brown in her sprites.
** Muffy's bow is red in her portraits and brown in her sprites.
** Agan's eyes are green in his battle portrait; they're blue in art and other portraits, and sometimes blue or sometimes black in his sprites. The cross on his face is also green in his battle portrait, whereas normally it's just drawn in black.
** A series of official character wallpapers gets ''nobody's'' colors right, and seems to do a worse job with the two leads than with other major characters:
*** [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sandsofdestruction/images/2/20/577907-bigthumbnail.jpg Kyrie]] has black boots instead of yellow, has an inverted pattern of blue-on-darker-blue on his shirt tail, and his jacket has an odd purple cast. He also appears to be carrying extra knives tied to his shirttail, rather than keeping them in his pack, and his hair is rather dark.
*** [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/sandsofdestruction/images/e/e9/765128.jpg Morte]] has lost overall color saturation, has white ribbons instead of the proper blue, and her skirt is too light and close to her coat's color.
*** [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/sandsofdestruction/images/3/3d/5092-1063403983.png Agan]] gets off pretty well, only having his belt turn orange instead of brown, slightly pale hair, and a split up the center of his coattail that shouldn't be there.
*** [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sandsofdestruction/images/9/91/Rhia.jpg Rhi'a]] only has a few minor problems as well, with the piping on her shirt and shawl turned from purple to white, ribbons that are slightly too dark, the crosses on her gloves are black instead of purple, and her guns should not have a black leather stock.
*** [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/sandsofdestruction/images/4/4b/Naja.jpg Naja]] has almost no issues, the only ones being that the tips of his shoes are over-saturated so they match his scarf, and his earrings are purple instead of blue.

* WhipItGood: Agan

* AndThisIsFor: After TheyDo, Kyrie's post-LimitBreak PreMortemOneLiner changes to "That one's for Morte!" Rather odd, considering she may be perfectly unharmed or not even in the active party.

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Kyrie.
** TheLancer: Morte/Taupy.
** TheSmartGuy: Agan (or at least the rational guy).
** TheBigGuy: Taupy, despite being an adorable teddy bear-like feral.
** TheChick: Rhi'a.
** TheSixthRanger: [[spoiler:Naja]].

* DesertPunk: Seems to fall here, as while the color palette is brighter and machinery is less important than your typical punk fare, [[SandIsWater the world's oceans are made of sand]] and our heroes are essentially swashbuckling wanderers (despite Morte claiming she's out to end the world, the team actually seems to do a whole lot more good than harm wherever they show up). Punk machinery comes up more often later as the ScienceFantasy becomes more blended; Lacertus Rex's clock tower in Galoa is full of exposed gears and automatons, [[spoilers: he's capable of creating perfectly lifelike mechanical copies of himself or other Ferals, and the final boss is essentially a machine-fused angel]].

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The World Salvation Committee lumps the World Annihilation Front and the Golden Lions together under the heading of terrorists. While you could certainly argue that the former are, the later see themselves as freeing humans from FantasticRacism and are somewhat offended at the association.

* FantasticRacism: [[{{Deconstruction}} Ridiculously straight]] with ferals to humans. Unfortunately, it's the kind of {{Narm}}y, cartoon-characterish racism instead of something a little more subtle. Probably a definite sign that the game you're playing wasn't intended for adults.

** And even though it's Morte's primary motivation for wanting to destroy the world, for every city where humans are openly bullied, it seems like there's another where they live more or less as equals. Morte's hometown even has a human chief with a laid-back feral population.

* DinosaursAreDragons: Rhi'a's personal quest has you freeing her ancestor from a curse that's keeping him a zombie. Naturally, this ancient dragon bears a striking resemblance to a T-rex, as do some of the RandomEncounters around the Dragonkin Ruins of the current day. Rhi'a's grandfather appearing as a skeleton is also likely meant to bring fossils to mind, because EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs!

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Most LimitBreak attacks and several regular attacks involve at least a modicum of spinning.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. Shares numerous staff members and some story and gameplay elements in common.

* SchizoTech: Farming is apparently still done by hand and [[TheGunslinger Rhi'a's guns]] are the exception rather than the rule for WeaponOfChoice, but Sand Skiffs are essentially hovercraft with internal combustion engines. [[spoiler:Nobody really blinks at the futuristic tech found inside the Ark, either.]]

* SickeninglySweethearts: Agan and [[spoiler:Naja]] accuse Kyrie and Morte of being this, though they're actually pretty low-key in their affection. Taupy and Muffy are much more blatant, but no one ever complains about them (being [[TinyGuyHugeGirl size-mismatched]] live stuffed animals apparently gives you license to be [[TastesLikeDiabetes teeth-achingly cute]]).

* BadassLongcoat: Morte is, and Agan WISHES he was one of these. Well, at least he's got a NiceHat.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted; our protagonist Kyrie is a KnifeNut and the only sword-wielder of any sort in the group is Morte, with a {{BFS}} scimitar. [[spoiler:Played straight after Kyrie Awakens; he trades his pair of knives for a single, standard sword.]]

* IHaveManyNames: The game's wanted posters have nicknames for your characters that change over the course of the game. Most are fairly absurd, but given that the wanted posters are [[FacialCompositeFailure overall horrible caricatures]], it's not so surprising that their names are equally unfitting[[note]]NiceGuy Kyrie starts off known as TheButcher because he's a KnifeNut, but really, the only thing he wants to butcher [[SupremeChef is a steak]] - and likely [[FriendToAllLivingThings a tofu steak]] at that[[/note]]. Morte (probably the only one to ''deserve'' her nicknames) overhears a couple of ferals discussing her various names - Beastslayer, Scarlet Plague - and finds the idea hilariously entertaining until they get to "[[ThisIsMyNameOnForeign Lady Death]]", which she finds lame.

* KnifeNut: Kyrie [[spoiler:until he Awakens as the Destruct.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Agan tells Kyrie he's more like Morte than he realizes; despite the fact that she's much more enthusiastic about the World Annihilation Front's goals than he is, they're both exceptionally stubborn. [[BirdsOfAFeather This cheers Kyrie up.]]