Line #69 VideoGame/SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sword_of_the_berserk_guts_rage.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:349:The cast. Top row left to right: [[TheOphelia Annette]], [[TragicVillain Balzac]], [[AntiHero Guts]], [[AmnesiacLover Casca]], [[WellIntentionedExtremist Eriza]]; Bottom row, [[CircusBrat Rita]], [[FairyCompanion Puck]].]]
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4	->''"An outcast warrior enters a land plagued by an evil fate. He is not like ordinary men, for he carries the Dragon Slayer--a mighty blade of retribution, whose fury knows no equal. His enemies will know true fear, once he starts to swing."''
5	-->--OpeningNarration
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7	''Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Flowers of Oblivion'' is the first of two [[LicensedGame licensed videogames]] by Japanese game developer Yuke's based on Kentaro Miura's DarkFantasy manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. Combining HackAndSlash game play with a strong story emphasis, it came out on the Sega Dreamcast in 1999 and received an English localization from Creator/EidosInteractive in 2000 under the title [[CompletelyDifferentTitle ''Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage'']]. It uses an original scenario and characters created by Miura, and serves as an {{Interquel}} taking place between volumes 22 and 23 of the manga. Its 2004 [=PS2=] sequel, ''VideoGame/BerserkMillenniumFalconHenSeimaSenkiNoSho'', was less fortunate in terms of localization and did not get an overseas release.
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9	'''WARNING: This works page contains {{Late Arrival Spoiler}}s for the ''Berserk'' series if you haven't read up to volume 22 of the manga. Read it at your own risk!'''
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11	In this storyline, [[AntiHero Guts]], [[TheOphelia Casca]], and [[FairyCompanion Puck]] come across a travelling performer by the name of Rita and rescue her theater troupe from some bandits. Upon stopping in a nearby castle town to rest, they discover that the town is afflicted with a [[TheVirus strange disease]] that turns the victims into plant-like creatures called "Mandragorans" that become violent when attacked. Balzac, the lord who rules the city, tells Guts about the disease and how he is developing a cure for it, which may also cure Casca of her insanity. He gives Guts a proposal: bring him the heart of the great tree that grows in the infested village, and he will give Casca the cure. Taking the chance that his beloved might be well again, Guts takes Balzac's offer and begins the dangerous quest. Things grow more complicated when the townspeople begin revolting against Balzac's rule, and the chaos attracts the attention of the demonic Apostle Nosferatu Zodd. What waits for Guts in the village, and what is Balzac hiding from him?
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13	Take care not to confuse this work with ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage'' (although ''Berserk'' has its own ''Musou'' game in the form of ''VideoGame/BerserkAndTheBandOfTheHawk'').
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15	----
16	!!This game provides examples of:
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18	* AllThereInTheManual: If not familiar with Berserk, without reading the "World of Berserk" information in the menu, one would be lost to many things (what a Behelit does, who the Skull Knight is, why the Brand reacts to demons, etc)
19	* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: [[spoiler:The FinalBoss is fought within the always hellishly surreal realm that appears whenever the God Hand are summoned by a Behelit. It appears to be set inside a giant spherical structure made up of constantly spinning bands, all of which are covered in blinking ''eyes''. There's also no visible floor.]]
20	* ArmorIsUseless: Balzac's fully armored soldiers get shot full of arrows as if their protection wasn't there.
21	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Rita calls Eriza's views insane, saying that no human would want to become a mandragoran, Eriza renders her speechless by asking whether she thinks the human village or the mandragoran village is happier.
22	* ArrowCatch: Guts catches a knife thrown at him by Rita between his fingers.
23	* AssimilationPlot: The tendency of the virus is to turn everyone in to Mandragorans if it is allowed to spread. Eriza argues that this should be allowed to happen, because if everybody became mandragorans then there would be no war or suffering.
24	* BaitAndSwitchBoss: Zodd shows up and gets rid of Gyove and the soldiers in the village just as they're about to set upon Guts and his party. The problem is that now he wants to fight Guts instead!
25	* BattleAmongstTheFlames: The boss fight with Zodd takes place in the middle of a village that was set on fire.
26	* BigDamnHeroes: Rita and Casca are about to be captured by bandits in the opening cutscene, when Guts shows up just in time for a cool rescue by dispatching the attackers with his throwing knives and {{BFS}}.
27	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Balzac is slain, the Mandragora that had been plaguing the region comes to a definitive end, Guts and company are free to continue their journey, and Rita has grown from the experience. But the city has descended into anarchy, Guts is hated as a monster for slaughtering so many people mind-controlled by the Mandragora, and Casca's condition is still uncured.]]
28	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The localization efforts leave a lot to be desired. There's a bit of Engrish going around, a lot of the dialogue is just plain wrong, and Guts is routinely referred to as Gatsu.
29	* BookEnds: The game begins and ends with Guts, Casca, and Puck wandering in the wasteland. The scene of a mob beating a man accused of being a mandragoran also occurs again at the end of the game.
30	* {{Bowdlerize}}: The characters section in the instruction manual (at least the English version) says that Casca's insanity was caused by witnessing the horrors of the Eclipse, with no mention of [[RapeAsDrama what actually did it.]] Inverted in the game itself, which had additional blood and gore added to the Western version...just like [[VideoGame/BerserkAndTheBandOfTheHawk another Berserk game]] [[HilariousInHindsight would do years later.]]
31	* BrownNote: If a mandragora flower is uprooted, it screams loudly enough to kill or at least incapacitate anyone in earshot. If the victim doesn't die immediately, the mandragorans summoned by the scream will try to kill them.
32	* BullyingADragon: Upon discovering that Rita's partner John is a mandragoran, the townsfolk start throwing stones at him and calling him a monster. This provokes him into growing tentacle arms and going berserk on them, requiring Guts to save everybody by killing him.
33	* CastFromHitPoints: Guts can perform a powerful spin attack at the cost of some health. He also has a slower version that doesn't drain health, but is a ChargedAttack.
34	* ChekhovsGun: Nico's [[ArtifactOfDoom behelit]], first mentioned in Eriza's story, finds its way into someone else's hands by the end of the game.
35	* ContentWarnings: The EIDOS localization prefaces the game with the text: "[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction This game is a work of fiction]]. It contains violent, unsettling images. Only mature audiences should play this game." WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay got a good chuckle out of this.
36	* CuteIsEvil:
37	** The Mandragora saplings look like adorable little sprites, but they're just as hostile as the more mature ones can be when threatened, and they release a piercing scream when pulled.
38	** The Heart in particular looks like a giant child ([[spoiler:because it ''is'' a child]]), but it's still a destructive monster.
39	* DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler:After Nico is killed, and all traces of his heart have been destroyed, all other Mandragora die and free the people who were possessed.]]
40	* DiscOneFinalBoss: The Great Tree. Slaying it and claiming its heart is Guts' goal in the first half of the game, but things quickly spiral out of control once the deed is done.
41	* DynamicEntry: Zodd breaks into Casca's cell by crashing down through the ceiling, repelling the ghosts in the process.
42	* EpicFlail: John, the first boss, has a whip-like appendage with a spiked ball on the end.
43	* EnfantTerrible: [[spoiler:The penultimate boss is a giant Mandragora plant shaped like a baby.]]
44	* EscapeSequence: [[spoiler:After defeating Balzac the first time, Guts controlled by the player has to flee down a corridor from giant roots erupting from the walls until the exit is reached.]]
45	* FisherKing: Balzac's increasing bloodthirstiness and obsession seems to be reflected somehow in the misfortune of his domain and subjects.
46	* ForegoneConclusion: If you've read the manga, you know that [[spoiler:Casca won't be cured in this game.]]
47	* ForeShadowing: As soon as they arrive inside the castle, Casca draws Puck's attention to a portrait of a beautiful woman in the entrance hall, and he wonders who she could be. This is the start of their quite accidental discovery of Balzac's backstory.
48	* HackAndSlash: The main game play consists of controlling Guts from a third person perspective in melee combat with his sword.
49	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The bandits in the opening talk about selling Rita after they've kidnapped her, and get the idea of taking Casca with them too for some "fun" later.
50	* HealThyself: Bags of elf dust are the game's main healing items, and can be used by the player when their health is low.
51	* HopeSpot: The whole game, really. Balzac informs Guts that a Mandragora heart can cure any illness, and it might even be able to restore Casca's mind, which is more than enough to spur Guts on to seek it out. It works, and Casca does indeed regain her sanity...but only for a few moments.
52	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Eriza points out that the Mandragora are peaceful when left alone, whereas humans are vicious creatures willing to spill blood to get what they want. It doesn't deter Guts from seeking the heart, though he does agree with her assessment. And of course, the ending where the humans begin to strike back at the people who used to be possessed by the Mandragora only drives the point further in.
53	-->'''Guts''': It's true. Vicious and cruel. ''That'' is what humans are.
54	* InconsistentDub: Despite the game being called "Guts' Rage" and Guts being the official pronunciation, the game calls him "Gattsu" (his old fansub name) 95% of the time. The "world of Berserk" section has several inconsistencies as well, calling Zodd "Zoddo", Behelits "Beherites", and Apostles "Disciples".
55	* {{Interquel}}: Takes place between volumes 22 and 23 of the manga.
56	* {{Irony}}:
57	** Dunteth is surprised to see that the mandragorans living happily in the infested village look more lively to him than the non-infected human folk, even using the word irony to describe it.
58	** The effects of the mandragora's juice simultaneously give and take away. [[spoiler:The medicine of the mandragora cured Balzac's wife physically, but robbed her of her personality and memories, so that even though she lives on it is as if her personality has died. The last cruel irony is that it makes sane people crazy, but crazy people sane. Therefore Casca is momentarily cured while absorbed by the mandragora heart, but relapses into her madness as soon as it wears off.]]
59	* LaResistance: Dunteth and the commoners are revolting against Balzac in protest against his human experiments and draconian rule.
60	* LicensedGame: In case you didn't notice, this game is based on an already popular manga franchise.
61	* LockedInTheDungeon: Balzac puts any mandragorans he captures in holding cells, ostensibly to prevent them from harming his subjects when they go berserk. Later on, Balzac confines Casca in a dungeon to make sure that Guts keeps his promise.
62	* LotusEaterMachine: Those who are turned into mandragorans lose their sentience, but Eriza argues that unlike humans they are happy and peaceful as long as they're not attacked. Another example is that the juice of the mandragora is a potent medicine that cures all bodily ills but makes the patient lose their memories.
63	* MadScientistLaboratory: Balzac gives Guts a tour of his Castle's secret laboratory for mandragora research which contains shelves of books, scientific glassware, cadavers, and white-masked assistants performing experiments.
64	* OutsideContextProblem: In the scope of the game, that would be Zodd, who is in no way involved with the Mandragora threat plaguing the city. He appears abruptly towards the midpoint seeking recruits for Griffith's apostle army before deciding to just fight Guts [[BloodKnight for fun]], and then taking off once he's had his fill to continue doing his master's bidding elsewhere.
65	* PetTheDog: Guts is still a somewhat tactless and cold AntiHero in this game, but he keeps the players' sympathy by being deeply protective and even affectionate towards his beloved Casca. He is also unapologetic to Rita at first about killing John when he was out of control, but later he sincerely asks her forgiveness showing that he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold on the inside.
66	* {{Planimal}}: The mandragora transform animals as well as people into plant monsters, and Guts has to fight many of these on the forest path.
67	* PlantPerson: Any human infected by the mandragora flowers is progressively covered with root-like growths until they are part-plant.
68	* PressXToNotDie: Although it was a TropeCodifier for requiring players to react to button prompts during cutscenes, this game plays it with a light touch. Most examples, if missed, only send you down a different path or force you to fight the next battle with some damage taken. A few boss battles, however, do have "Press X or Die" moments, usually right before the battle itself actually starts.
69	* RescueIntroduction: Rita meets Guts at the start of the game when he rescues her from the bandits.
70	* ShoutOut: When the mandragora flower is pulled out of the ground, it's screaming face resembles the main figure in the Creator/EdvardMunch painting ''Art/TheScream''. Notably, it's not a [[TheScreamParody comedic parody]] but dead serious.
71	* TheStinger: After the credits roll, the Skull Knight appears in the wreckage of the castle to consume the behelit that caused so much trouble, and then rides off for parts unknown.
72	* StormingTheCastle: The final level involves Guts storming his way into the castle to confront Balzac.
73	* SuperMode: Inflicting or receiving damage fills the Berserk bar. When it's full, Guts automatically enters Berserk Mode, where he's stronger, faster, invulnerable, resistant to flinching, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking his sword clips through walls, allowing him to freely use it in tight spaces]].
74	* {{Transflormation}}: Mandragora infection turns you into a PlantPerson.
75	* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Puck finds a mute girl in Balzac's castle, and also an old portrait of Balzac with a beautiful woman. Reasoning that the woman in the picture must be Balzac's wife, Puck decides that the girl must be their daughter who took after her mother. LampshadeHanging occurs as he wonders aloud how such a mean dad could have such a sweet daughter, and quips about how fortunate she was to inherit her mother's looks instead of her father's. [[spoiler:Subverted, as it turns out there ''is'' no daughter, and that the girl who Puck assumed to be Balzac's daughter is actually his ''[[UglyGuyHotWife wife]]''.]]
76	* UglyGuyHotWife:
77	** Dunteth is middle-aged and homely, and while his wife is more average than beautiful she's ''much'' younger and better-looking than he is.
78	** Puck finds a portrait in the castle that depicts Balzac together with his beautiful wife, who is now presumably deceased. It turns out Balzac was actually [[IWasQuiteALooker pretty handsome back in those days]] except for his scary expression, and since then age hasn't been kind to him. [[spoiler:Balzac's revelation that Anette is not his daughter, but his wife, completely shocks Puck and Rita because she still looks beautiful and young while he is old and ugly, but this is because the mandragora extract stopped her aging while he continued to age normally.]]
79	* VillainousRescue: Zodd ends up saving Casca from the ghosts that were about to kill her in the jail cell by smashing through the ceiling and scaring them off. Fortunately, perhaps because of his NobleDemon nature, he leaves her unharmed and flies off to look for Guts.
80	* TheVirus: Wherever the mandrake flowers grow, people get infected with plant-like growths that eventually turn them into mandragorans, who might be described as plant-zombies.
81	* WakeUpCallBoss: [[spoiler:Zodd]] is far and away the biggest challenge in the game, but comes only half-way through the story.
82	* YouMonster: When Guts discovers that Balzac has [[spoiler:become an Apostle by sacrificing his wife to the God Hand]] he shouts "You animal! You [[spoiler:sacrificed her]]!" In Guts' sight, Balzac has just crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

Context VideoGame / SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage