Line #47 VideoGame/EphemeralFantasia


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ephemeral_fantasia.png]]
2	''Reiselied: Ephemeral Fantasia'',[[note]]''Reiselied'' is German for "Travel Song"[[/note]] localised simply as ''Ephemeral Fantasia'', is an EasternRPG developed and published by Creator/{{Konami}} and one of the first fully-3D {{RPG}}s for the Platform/PlayStation2. It was released in Japan in 2000 and in the U.S. and Europe in 2001.
3
4	The game stars a wandering minstrel and his sentient lute Pattimo. They have been invited to the island of Pandule to perform at the coronation of its new king, Xelpherpolis. During the five-day ceremony they meet the bride to be - a melancholy girl named Roleiyu - and witness all manner of strange and tragic incidents. But nothing as strange as what happens on the last day, when Xelpherpolis freezes time itself and proclaims that he will never let you leave the island...
5
6	You wake up on the sixth day to discover that you're just arriving at the island: you've become trapped in a [[GroundhogDayLoop five-day time loop]] which only you, Pattimo, Roleiyu and Xelpherpolis are aware of. The only way to stop it is to defeat Xelpherpolis, but to do that you need to gain strength and gather allies. To do this, you need to break characters out of the time loop by averting the fates they have lived through over and over, thus "proving" that time is looping: for example, in a moment of weakness one character tries to poison another out of romantic jealousy; by preventing her from carrying out the plot, you can break the time loop's hold on her.
7
8	The game uses a [[InUniverseGameClock compressed real-time system]] to depict the flow of time over the five day loop, and to recruit most characters, you must be in certain places at certain times. Unfortunately, figuring out the correct sequence of events can be an exercise in frustration.
9
10	Compare ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask]]'', which had the same basic concept.
11	----
12	!!''Ephemeral Phantasia'' provides examples of the following tropes:
13	%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples are not allowed on the wiki. Please expand them with context before uncommenting them. Thank you.
14	%%* ActionGirl: Rummy.
15	* AerithAndBob: The main character's "gang": [[spoiler:Beak, Fang]], and Mouse.
16	%%* AffablyEvil: Xelpherpolis.
17	* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:At the end of the game, you learn that Xelpherpolis could only live for six days- hence the time loop- and truly did love Roleiyu]].
18	%%* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Justified in that Mouse actually is only taking two party members and maybe a Death Chicken with him.
19	* BlindIdiotTranslation: "Tarinba"? I think you mean "tambourine".
20	* BoobBasedGag: Rummy. In the first meeting, a snarky Pattimo asks what she ate to make her boobs so big, which earns him a DopeSlap from Mouse.
21	* {{Brainwashed}}: The time loop magic has also convinced everyone that Xelpherpolis marrying Roleiyu is a great idea.
22	* ButNowIMustGo: Mouse will leave the island regardless of expressed affection for Rummy or Roleiyu.
23	%%* CastFromHitPoints: Any move that Mouse [[strike: learns]] interprets from another character.
24	%%* ClockRoaches: The Time Monsters.
25	* ClosedCircle: Nobody can leave the island until the ferry arrives on the morning of day 6. Unfortunately, [[GroundhogDayLoop when the clock strikes midnight on day 5, time resets back to the morning of day 1]].
26	%%* DamselInDistress: Roleiyu.
27	%%* DarkWorld
28	%%* DevilInPlainSight: Xelpherpolis.
29	%%* EmpathicWeapon: Pattimo
30	%%* EyesAlwaysShut: Bagoth.
31	* FakeDifficulty: If you want to recruit Grantus, you have to let him capture Rinna a second time. And that's only the beginning.
32	* FrothyMugsOfWater: Averted, alcoholic drinks are mentioned by name, and Shark Killer must have an APV that's off the charts.
33	%% Before adding an example for Getting Crap Past The Radar, be sure it matches the current definition first!
34	%%* GodhoodSeeker: Xelpherpolis' ultimate goal.
35	* GottaCatchEmAll:
36	** Subverted in there is a variation depending on if you did not get Fang by killing a certain boss too quickly, Rummy will go with you.
37	** There are 100 "Death Hyoko" (Chicken) eggs, each one can become a temporary party member, and if you get them all, you get a strange scene where you get to meet King Death Hiyoko and receive D.H. Manju (The Famous Dessert The Death Hiyoko Dumpling). [[BraggingRightsReward This does nothing.]]
38	* GratuitousGerman: The game's original Japanese release name was ''Reiselied'' which means "Traveller's Song". It makes sense since the main character is a travelling musician but all they really wanted it for was [[http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2000/101800a.html to sound exotic]]. German isn't so exotic in the West, so the name was too sensible, hence the different title.
39	* GroundhogDayLoop: Technically a week, as the loop is five days long. And it's implied that the loop has been going on for ''years'' before Xelpherpolis decided to mix things up and invite Mouse to play the wedding in order to add a new plot thread to his infinitely repeating wedding festivities.
40	%%* GuideDangIt: Especially when you have to search outside the town.
41	%%* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Claire.
42	* HelloInsertNameHere: The default name for the minstrel is "Mouse".
43	%%* HopelessBossFight: Nearly all the early fights with Xelpherpolis.
44	* HyperspaceArsenal: Claire's Time Vault, which can store your money and items between loops.
45	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Almost everyone. Mouse's broadsword is normal enough, but whoever heard of fighting broadsword and lute? Kyte and his fish, Rind Rinna's tarinba (normal Rinna's mop is more like an ImprovisedWeapon), Plosi's brush, Ano's book...
46	* InstrumentOfMurder: The Hero has a sword hidden in a guitar.
47	* InUniverseGameClock: Uses a compressed real-time system.
48	* ItsAlwaysSpring: Summer, instead of Spring. Initially mentioned by the boatman NPC, then true until you break the loop.
49	* JustifiedExtraLives: Well, technically the characters still only have one, but in most cases-while the time loop is still in place-you'll be able to start again from the beginning of the next loop.
50	%%* MagicalGirl: Rinna is an AffectionateParody.
51	* MiniGame: Playing your lute comes in the form of a ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}}''-style rhythm MiniGame.
52	%%** The drinking game with Claire.
53	%%* MsFanservice: Rummy (think [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa]] with red hair).
54	* MultipleEndings: Depending on party members. For example, there's a boss that if you take too long (and you'd done Kyte's ending and sent a message), one of Mouse's old thief partners will appear to help if you finished . Beat it quickly, and he never will. Normally Mouse will leave with his two thief friends at the end of the game, but if the second doesn't appear, Rummy will take their place.
55	* NintendoHard: [[spoiler:if you've awakened Kyte and don't have him in your party on the 3rd day, at the start of the next loop he'll be gone, and Mouse has to fight through the dungeon Kyte got himself lost in alone.]]
56	* NonIndicativeName: There is a drunk in your party, but it's not Rummy.
57	* PermanentlyMissableContent: If you recruit [[spoiler:Gallhint]] without going to [[spoiler:Kyte's Dungeon first]], you cannot recruit [[spoiler:Beak and Fang]].
58	* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:Several of the game's characters are already gods or KANNON as they're called in game.]]
59	%%* RippleEffectProofMemory: The main character and his lute have one, and the first goal of the game is to pass on this power to other people. One of your allies already does, [[spoiler:but won't stop drinking her knowledge away until you talk to her]].
60	* StableTimeLoop: So stable, in fact, that your changes are incorporated into the next cycle (if you don't go to an event one loop, you won't be expected there the next). Obviously, much of the game involves finding out how to completely destroy it.
61	* {{Stripperific}}: Rummy and Roleiyu dress in very revealing midriff-baring outfits.
62	%%* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Recruiting Plosi. Especially what it says about you, the player, if you choose Rinna to be his model.

Context VideoGame / EphemeralFantasia