History VisualNovel / XblazeCodeEmbryo

[[quoteright:294:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xbce_8538.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:294:A new legend... Begins with the "Azure."]]

->''The children who resisted fate's designs.''
->''The mysterious organization that guides destiny.''
->''The "Azure Power" that surrounds and transcends everything.''
->''The wheel of fate is now beginning to turn...''
-->-- '''[=XBlaze=]'s First Trailer'''

->''In the past, there was a girl that was a doll.''
->''She gave her body to the god, and saved the boy she loved.''
->''However, the tragedy didn't end.''
->''The thorns known as death binds his body, and refuses to let go.''
->'' Inside the eternal solitude, the girl learned about the boy's fate, and together with despair disappeared into the darkness.''
-->-- '''Nobody in [=XBlaze=] Lost: Memories's PV'''

In the year 2050, there was the protagonist, Touya Kagari, who lives in Neo Yokosaki City. One day, he follows a mysterious ringing sound into the Restricted Zone, which had been quarantined after an incident ten years earlier. Inside, he comes upon an injured man crying out and groaning in pain. As Touya approaches, the man suddenly changes and attacks him. A wall explodes as the man lets loose a horrible roar, which seems to be synchronized with the ringing of the bell. Unable to comprehend the situation, Touya attempts to run away and escape.

Just when he thinks all hope is lost, a young girl appears and repels the attacker. The Azure Maiden easily weilds a massive sword. Her name is Es. Seithr, Drive, D-Progressor Union, Ensis Librarius Imperium... Touya's peaceful life is turned upside down by a series of confusing, unbelievable events. The wheel of fate is turning.

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' is a Visual Novel created by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=] is a prequel to VideoGame/BlazBlue, which set 150 years earlier, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and was released on July 25, 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game was localized and released on June 24, 2014 in North America by Aksys Games.

A sequel, ''[=XBlaze=] Lost: Memories'',was released on April 9, 2015. This story is about a girl who is referred as "Watashi", who lives in Ishana together with her sister. One day, her sister disappears, so Watashi goes into her father's workshop and somehow enters the phantom field were she meets with a mysterious girl known as Nobody, and together with Nobody, Watashi searches for sister while observing memories through "pieces of memories".

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!!Tropes pertaining to ''Code Embryo'' include:
* BadEnding: Determined by how you use the [=TOi=], either by ignoring everyone before Chapter 5 or not focusing on anyone to select a route afterwards. Either Sechs just appears and kills Touya for not doing or caring about anything, Es fails to catch Hinata when Ripper drops her off the hospital roof so Touya goes berserk and turns into the Black Beast or Touya goes berserk upon learning Hinata is the Embryo and Es has to MercyKill him before he fully becomes the Black Beast. The Gag Reel also has them for making bad choices.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The T-system is destroyed, Unomaru and Sechs are defeated, the Gate is cannot cover the world in seithr and the time loop has ended. However, in becoming the Embryo, Es is forced to remain in the Boundary to seal the Gate and prevent the Embryo from distorting the world, [[RetGone removing herself from the timeline and erasing everyone’s memories of her]] in the process]].
* BlindIdiotTranslation: All over the place. The Drive Screaming Jaw, [[MakeMeWannaShout which creates destructive sound waves]], becomes Screaming Joe and Touya’s mother Ryoko Kagari was misheard as Suzuko Kagari (although this one was fixed in ''Lost Memories''). The most egregious example is Origin of the Grimoire. “Gensho no Madousho” literally means Grimoire of Origin while Original Grimoire is the most natural translation, but somehow they managed to combine the two in a way that, while kind of having the same idea [[note]]Original Grimoire and Grimoire of Origin suggest that it is the first Grimoire whereas Origin of Grimoire suggests it is where all Grimoires come from[[/note]], doesn’t sound natural and does not fit the naming convention set by [[VideoGame/BlazBlue the main series]].
* BodyHorror: A Drive-Infected Patient has a crystal grow on their body that attaches itself to their nervous system, making it impossible to remove and survive. The crystal is surrouned by large glowing veins that show like the crystal is a tree with roots in the infected’s body.
* CityOfAdventure: Shin Yokozaki City, which is filled with Unions, the Mitsurugi Agency that combats them and a Gate to the Boundary. Becomes this even more so once the Magic Guild gets involved.
* TheCorruption: The Crystals that turn people into Unions can appear suddenly and bond with their host. While they grant a Drive that gives the Union incredible power, they become more violent and insane the more often the Drive is used, eventually causing them to dissolve into seithr.
* {{Fanservice}}: Just like [[VideoGame/BlazBlue the main series]], there’s fanservice in abundance, most notably in the [[BeachEpisode pool scene]], [[ShowerScene shower scenes]] and Es and Hinata’s OutOfClothesExperience.
* FiveManBand: The playable characters form one.
** TheLeader: Touya
** TheLancer: Es
** TheBigGuy: Kuon
** TheSmartGuy: Mei
** TheChick: Hinata
** SixthRanger: Elise
* GasLeakCoverUp: The official explanation for the Wadatsumi Incident and the Mitsurugi’s go-to excuse to hide Union attacks. A number of [=TOi=] posts [[LampshadeHanging take notice of this and start speculating about it]].
* GoldenEnding: Es’s route is the true and best ending. [[spoiler: While it is still a BittersweetEnding, it is this by default since all other endings are negated when Hinata presses the ResetButton. Es’s story breaks the time loop and canonically leads into ''Lost Memories'' and by extension, the rest of the series]].
* GratuitousGerman: The Ten Sages are given German numbers as titles, as opposed to the English numbers used later in the timeline, so we have Sechs, Acht, Drei and [[spoiler: Zwei]]. Additionally Kuon and Elise’s spells have german names.
* GroundhogDayLoop: In proud Blazblue tradition! [[spoiler: Hinata’s power as an incomplete Embryo allows her to subconsciously reset time to the beginning of the game whenever something bad happens using Phenomon Intervention. The loop only ends when Es inherits the Embryo and Sechs is defeated]].
* {{Masquerade}}: Maintained by the Mitsurugi Agency, who have authority over the police and Shin Yokozaki’s hospital in order to keep Union activity hidden.
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The Wadatsumi Incident resulted in the creation of a large number of Drive-Infected Patients. While there were Unions before the incident, they were incredible rare, around one in ten thousand people. The incident caused the rate to increased more then tenfold in the Shin Yokozaki area.
* MultipleEndings: There are at least six endings (including the Bad Ending and the Joke Ending).
* NGOSuperpower: The Mitsurugi Agency has pretty much complete control over Shin Yokozaki city, commanding the police, able to buy Touya’s entire school overnight and with ties to the similarly powerful Magic Guild. [[spoiler: ''Lost Memories'' reveals that the Shin Yokozaki branch is just a small part of the Agency and the much larger and stronger branches are searching all over the world for other Gates]].
* NoPronunciationGuide: Averted with the title. It actually is pronounced the way it looks (as opposed to some other Japanese works, which have x being pronounced as cross).
* OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding: Again, the Mitsurugi Agency. Unomaru, the leader of the branch in only one city, was able to buy Touya’s high school overnight just so he could enroll Es in it without having to deal with getting her credentials, and this is before any of the experiments with Embryo and the Gate. In ''Lost Memories'', Mei remarks that the Agency was probably created by a bunch of rich old men with nothing to do.
* PowerCrystal: The appearance of a Crystal is what turns someone into a Union. They gain a Drive that uses seithr to power supernatural abilities, but go insane over time as it is used.
* RelationshipValues: By using [=TOi=], you are able to read articles that the other girls have read, which will unlock additional scenes with them as you bond over shared interests. Choosing who to focus on determines whose route you end up on.
* ResetButton: [[spoiler: Hinata, as the incomplete Embryo, keeps pressing it via Phenomenon Intervention. Whenever Touya dies she sets time back to the beginning of the game, beginning the GroundhogDayLoop again. Even if she dies, the button is still pressed since she is not consciously using the incomplete Embryo, or even aware she is it]].
* SubliminalSeduction: [[spoiler: Unomaru created [=TOi=] to monitor people’s interactions and intake of information. While the system is just supposed to find articles that the user would like, it also controls what is shown to direct people’s interests and attention away from the Mitsurugi Agency. It is a small prototype of the T-system, which intends to the same on a much larger scale with Phenomenon Intervention]].
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Shin Yokozaki City is a fictional city that is somewhere in Japan.
* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: If you don’t learn about any of the characters with [=TOi=], Sechs gets bored since Touya’s not accomplishing or caring about anything and kills him, resulting in a BadEnding.

!!Tropes pertaining to ''Lost Memories'' include:
* AlternateTimeline: As it turns out, Watashi’s timeline (the main VideoGame/BlazBlue timeline) and the Xblaze timeline are not one in the same), somehow. In Watashi’s world the Wadatsumi Incident never occurred. [[spoiler: This allows Es to change Touya’s fate without the risk of a paradox that would effect Watashi’s life]].
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: All of the Memory Fragments Watashi can find in the Phantom Field [[spoiler: except the black ones]] show the events of ''Code Embryo’s'' canon Es route from each of the main girl’s perspectives [[note]]Blue for Es, green for Hinata, red for Kuon and purple for Mei[[/note]], showing what each girl did when away from Touya and explores their characters further, showing things like Kuon and Mei having a duel that lets them become VitriolicBestBuds and revealing [[spoiler: how Hinata became the Embryo]].
* BadEnding: [[spoiler: After Es returns to the Xblaze timeline]] the player makes choices like a traditional visual novel, with incorrect choices leading to the B routes that end badly. Most of them involve [[spoiler: Freaks killing everyone]] but there are a few joke endings too.
* BittersweetEnding: For Watashi’s story in the first half of the game [[spoiler: She found her sister and escaped the Phantom Field, learning that her father did love his family and making her first friend in the process, allowing her to care for and trust in others. However, after learning that Nobody cannot leave the Phantom Field and of Es’ tragedy, she comes up with a plan to restore Es to the Xblaze timeline so that she can save Touya and her friends. Unfortunately the plan requires Nobody to give up all of her own memories, so she will not remember Watashi so Watashi not only will never see her first friend again, but will not even be remembered by her]].
* {{Chibi}}: The quizzes Nobody gives after each floor of the Phantom Field use the same style as [[VideoGame/BlazBlue the ''Teach Me, Miss Litchi'' segments]].
* DeathByChildbirth: Watashi’s mother dies giving birth to Imouto. [[spoiler: This is because the seithr Watashi produced while in her womb poisoned her leaving her too weak to survive a second childbirth and she refused to choose her life over her child’s]].
* DubNameChange: Watashi and Imouto have become Me and Little Sister respectively, a translation of their EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep names.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Es finally gets a happy ending, as opposed to ''Code Embryo’s'' BittersweetEnding. She gets to return to the Xblaze world, helps avert Touya’s tragic fate, and [[BecomeARealBoy becomes human]]. While it’s unclear whether or not Touya and the others regain their memories, they still welcome her into their life. She and Touya work together under Mei in the Mitsurugi Agency and it’s almost guaranteed that they are going to get together, averting StarCrossedLovers]].
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Watashi and her family have no given names, just being Watashi, Imouto, Mother and Father. However, it is pretty obvious that Watashi, Imouto and Father are named Konoe, Celica and Shuichiro respectively; Mother’s name still remains unknown.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can give Watashi another name, but her canon name is still Watashi. [[spoiler:You can't, however, give her the name "Konoe". Or "Nine". Or "Phantom". [[DevelopersForesight Or Celica, Kokonoe and Shuichiro for that matter.]]]]
* InconsistentDub: A rare positive example. Because of BlindIdiotTranslation, Touya’s mom was named Suzuko Kagari. In ''Lost Memories'' this was corrected, switching to her original name Ryoko Kagari, but the discrepancy is noticeable.
* MookBouncer: Later levels of the Phantom Field introduce enemies that you have to avoid. Even if you somehow manage to get hit by them, they simply send you back to the start of the room, which is barely an inconvenience.
* PensieveFlashback: The Memory Fragments Watashi finds show her the events from ''Code Embryo'' [[spoiler: and later the circumstances surrounding her birth]].
* PlaceBeyondTime[=/=]VoidBetweenTheWorlds: The Phantom Field exists as it’s own dimension. [[spoiler: It serves as a barrier between the real world and the Boundary, keeping the Gates closed. Time is irrelevant in it since Watashi can enter it and Nobody could leave it and add herself to the timeline years before Watashi was born on an AlternateTimeline]].
* PowerCrystal: The Memory Fragments. [[spoiler: They are actually crystallized seithr created from people who enter the Phantom Field and the people closest to them. In the case of Es’s fragments, they are literally her memories, scattered across the Phantom Field after she fell into despair and became Nobody]].
* RedHerring: The scenes of Sechs talking to a crystal in ''Code Embryo'' and similar endgames seem to hint that [[spoiler: Hades Izanami is the ManBehindTheMan to Sechs]]. However ''Lost Memories'' reveals he is talking to [[spoiler: A strange double of himself that appeared due to him being an ArtificialHuman. This double shares none of Izanami’s personality or mannerisms and even considers Sechs a friend. Additionally, it was Sechs who came up with the plan, wanting to absorb the world into seithr so that there is perfect balance in the world, without life or death, which is slightly different than Izanami’s goal]].
* {{Retraux}}: The Phantom Field in all of Watashi’s gameplay is rendered in an 8-bit style.
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: Because the Embryo is needed to maintain the World of Tsukuyomi, Nobody is trapped in the Phantom Field. If she left to try and save Touya and the others from Freaks, the Tsukuyomi would disappear and seithr would start leaking out of the Wadatsumi Gate to consume the world. Watashi figures out how use her Xblaze and Nobody’s Phantom Memories to create a human body for Es in the Xblaze world and send her memories into it, leaving Embryo behind in Nobody’s EmptyShell body to maintain the Tsukuyomi]].
* TheUnreveal: Watashi and Imouto’s names are never directly spoken. However given the same appearances, voice actors, personalities, abilities, relationships and their appearance in VideoGame/BlazBlue via Amane-fication them being Nine and Celica becomes something of a CaptainObviousReveal at the same time.

* BadEnding: Determined by how you use the TOi, either by ignoring everyone before Chapter 5 or not focusing on anyone to select a route afterwards. Either Sechs just appears and kills Touya for not doing or caring about anything, Es fails to catch Hinata when Ripper drops her off the hospital roof so Touya goes berserk and turns into the Black Beast or Touya goes berserk upon learning Hinata is the Embryo and Es has to MercyKill him before he fully becomes the Black Beast. The Gag Reel also has them for making bad choices.

* GasLeakCoverUp: The official explanation for the Wadatsumi Incident and the Mitsurugi’s go-to excuse to hide Union attacks. A number of TOi posts [[LampshadeHanging take notice of this and start speculating about it]].

* RelationshipValues: By using TOi, you are able to read articles that the other girls have read, which will unlock additional scenes with them as you bond over shared interests. Choosing who to focus on determines whose route you end up on.

* SubliminalSeduction: [[spoiler: Unomaru created TOi to monitor people’s interactions and intake of information. While the system is just supposed to find articles that the user would like, it also controls what is shown to direct people’s interests and attention away from the Mitsurugi Agency. It is a small prototype of the T-system, which intends to the same on a much larger scale with Phenomenon Intervention]].

* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: If you don’t learn about any of the characters with TOi, Sechs gets bored since Touya’s not accomplishing or caring about anything and kills him, resulting in a BadEnding.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The T-System is destroyed, Unomaru and Sechs are defeated, the Gate is cannot cover the world in seithr and the time loop has ended. However, in becoming the Embryo, Es is forced to remain in the Boundary to seal the Gate and prevent the Embryo from distorting the world, [[RetGone removing herself from the timeline and erasing everyone’s memories of her]] in the process]].

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' is a Visual Novel created by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=] is prequel to VideoGame/BlazBlue, which set 150 years earlier, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and was released on July 25, 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game was localized and released on June 24, 2014 in North America by Aksys Games.

!!Tropes pertaining to Code Embryo include:

* BlindIdiotTranslation: All over the place. The Drive Screaming Jaw, [[MakeMeWannaShout which creates destructive sound waves]], becomes Screaming Joe and Touya’s mother Ryoko Kagari was misheard as Suzuko Kagari (although this one was fixed in Lost Memories). The most egregious example is Origin of the Grimoire. “Gensho no Madousho” literally means Grimoire of Origin while Original Grimoire is the most natural translation, but somehow they managed to combine the two in a way that, while kind of having the same idea [[note]]Original Grimoire and Grimoire of Origin suggest that it is the first Grimoire whereas Origin of Grimoire suggests it is where all Grimoires come from[[/note]], doesn’t sound natural and does not fit the naming convention set by [[VideoGame/BlazBlue the main series]].

* GoldenEnding: Es’s route is the true and best ending. [[spoiler: While it is still a BittersweetEnding, it is this by default since all other endings are negated when Hinata presses the ResetButton. Es’s story breaks the time loop and canonically leads into Lost Memories and by extension, the rest of the series]].

* NGOSuperpower: The Mitsurugi Agency has pretty much complete control over Shin Yokozaki city, commanding the police, able to buy Touya’s entire school overnight and with ties to the similarly powerful Magic Guild. [[spoiler: Lost Memories reveals that the Shin Yokozaki branch is just a small part of the Agency and the much larger and stronger branches are searching all over the world for other Gates]].

* OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding: Again, the Mitsurugi Agency. Unomaru, the leader of the branch in only one city, was able to buy Touya’s high school overnight just so he could enroll Es in it without having to deal with getting her credentials, and this is before any of the experiments with Embryo and the Gate. In Lost Memories, Mei remarks that the Agency was probably created by a bunch of rich old men with nothing to do.

!!Tropes pertaining to Lost Memories include:

* AnotherSideAnotherStory: All of the Memory Fragments Watashi can find in the Phantom Field [[spoiler: except the black ones]] show the events of Code Embryo’s canon Es route from each of the main girl’s perspectives [[note]]Blue for Es, green for Hinata, red for Kuon and purple for Mei[[/note]], showing what each girl did when away from Touya and explores their characters further, showing things like Kuon and Mei having a duel that lets them become VitriolicBestBuds and revealing [[spoiler: how Hinata became the Embryo]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Es finally gets a happy ending, as opposed to Code Embryo’s BittersweetEnding. She gets to return to the Xblaze world, helps avert Touya’s tragic fate, and [[BecomeARealBoy becomes human]]. While it’s unclear whether or not Touya and the others regain their memories, they still welcome her into their life. She and Touya work together under Mei in the Mitsurugi Agency and it’s almost guaranteed that they are going to get together, averting StarCrossedLovers]].

* InconsistentDub: A rare positive example. Because of BlindIdiotTranslation, Touya’s mom was named Suzuko Kagari. In Lost Memories this was corrected, switching to her original name Ryoko Kagari, but the discrepancy is noticeable.

* PensieveFlashback: The Memory Fragments Watashi finds show her the events from Code Embryo [[spoiler: and later the circumstances surrounding her birth]].

* RedHerring: The scenes of Sechs talking to a crystal in Code Embryo and similar endgames seem to hint that [[spoiler: Hades Izanami is the ManBehindTheMan to Sechs]]. However Lost Memories reveal he is talking to [[spoiler: A strange double of himself that appeared due to him being an ArtificialHuman. This double shares none of Izanami’s personality or mannerisms and even considers Sechs a friend. Additionally, it was Sechs who came up with the plan, wanting to absorb the world into seithr so that there is perfect balance in the world, without life or death, which is slightly different than Izanami’s goal]].

* BadEnding: Determined by how you use the TOi, either by ignoring everyone before Chapter 5 or not focusing on anyone to select a route afterwards. Either Sechs just appears and kills Touya for not doing or caring about anything, [[spoiler: Es fails to catch Hinata when Ripper drops her off the hospital roof so Touya goes berserk and turns into the Black Beast]] or [[spoiler: Touya goes berserk upon learning Hinata is the Embryo and Es has to MercyKill him before he fully becomes the Black Beast]]. The Gag Reel also has them for making bad choices.

* CaptainObviousReveal: WHAT! You're telling me that Watashi and Imouto are younger versions of Nine and Celica? I never would have guessed, what with them looking exactly the same, having the same voice actresses, having the same personalities, Watashi and Nine having the same preference for fire magic, Imouto and Celica having the same ability to nullify seithr, and Watashi and Imouto appearing when Nine and Celica are Amane-fied.

!!Tropes include:

* TheUnreveal: Es's smile. Apparently, it is not the Unsmile.

A sequel, ''[=XBlaze=] Lost: Memories'', is set to be release on April 9, 2015. This story is about a girl who is referred as "Watashi", who lives in Ishana together with her sister. One day, her sister disappears, so Watashi goes into her father's workshop and somehow enters the phantom field were she meets with a mysterious girl known as Nobody, and together with Nobody, Watashi searches for sister while observing memories through "pieces of memories".

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' is a Visual Novel created by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=] is prequel to VideoGame/BlazBlue, which set 150 years earlier, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and is slated for a July 25th release for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game will be localized and released on june 24th in North America by Aksys Games.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Averted with the title. It actually is pronounced the way it looks (as opposed to some other Japanese works, which have x being pronounced as cross).

* NoPronunciationGuUide: Averted with the title. It actually is pronounced the way it looks (as opposed to some other Japanese works, which have x being pronounced as cross).

* NoPronunciationGUide: Averted with the title. It actually is pronounced the way it looks (as opposed to some other Japanese works, which have x being pronounced as cross).

* MultipleEndings: There are at least six endings (including the Bad Ending and the Joke Ending).

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' Visual Novel created by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=] is prequel to VideoGame/BlazBlue, which set 150 years earlier, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and is slated for a July 25th release for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game will be localized and released on june 24th in North America by Aksys Games.

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' Visual Novel created by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=] is prequel to VideoGame/BlazBlue, which set 150 years earlier, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and is slated for a July 25th release for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

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The protagonist, Touya Kagari, lives in Neo Yokosaki City. One day he follows a mysterious ringing sound into the Restricted Zone, which had been quarantined after an incident ten years earlier. Inside, he comes upon an injured man crying out and groaning in pain. As Touya approaches, the man suddenly changes and attacks him. A wall explodes as the man lets loose a horrible roar, which seems to be synchronized with the ringing of the bell. Unable to comprehend the situation, Touya attempts to run away and escape.

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' Visual Novel createed by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=]’s story is linked to the world of VideoGame/BlazBlue, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the VideoGame/BlazBlue team and is slated for a July 25th release for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

''[=XBlaze=] Code: Embryo'' Visual Novel createed by Arc System Works. [=XBlaze=]’s story is linked to the world of BlazBlue, according to series producer Toshimichi Mori. The game is being developed by the BlazBlue team and is slated for a July 25th release for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.