Otherwise known as Adventures of Alundra. Released for the Playstation by part of the original Landstalker development team (who after this game would later work on Final Fantasy III and Avalon Code). It's an Action Adventure game that plays similarly to the famous The Legend of Zelda, featuring a Silent Protagonist, lots and lots of puzzles, and a Journey to the Center of the Mind.The story is about an elf eponymously named Alundra, whose people, called 'Dreamwalkers', have the special power to enter people's dreams. He loves adventuring and that's where we first find him, taking a journey with a ship. While he', he sees a vision of a wise man named Lars who pleads with him to stop the evil demon Melzas. His destination is a village called Inoa, which Alundra comes across by getting his ship wrecked and being stranded there.At first Alundra is welcomed, and he helps many people by using his power to enter people's dreams and saving those trapped in nightmares that actually could kill them. However, soon after, the village suddenly turns on him, leaving Alundra with just a handful of supporters. Things get a bit more complicated when another Dreamwalker, this time an elf girl named Meia, enters Inoa. At first acting like The Rival, Meia is quickly befriended by Alundra as they share the same goal: to destroy Melzas.Published in the US by Working Designs. There's also a sequel entitled Alundra 2 that has nothing to do with the first game.
Ancient Tomb: Lars' Crypt and Despair Desert's dungeon.
An Ice Person: The Ice Wand, The Water Scroll, and Water Book allow Alundra to do this.
Anyone Can Die: And, wow, they do. Not only that, but every death is a plot point.
Asteroids Monster: Your first boss battle, the Gelatinoid. A huge blob that, after taking enough damage, splits into four smaller blobs, which (in turn) split into four ordinary blobs themselves.
The Atoner: Alundra, after the people in Inoa Village start to die.
Auto Revive: Wonder Essence can be used as an ordinary healing item to recover both your HP and MP, but it will also kick in automatically when you get knocked out. Note that you can only hold one at a time.
Bittersweet Ending: Alundra saves the day and kills Melzas, but in the end half the people in the village are still dead, including your mentor/caretaker, and Alundra doesn't even get the girl, being left to travel alone instead.
Black Comedy: Despite this being a game dealing with the suffering and death of often innocent people, Working Designs couldn't resist injecting it with their signature brand of humor.
Blessed with Suck: Sibill. A sweet young girl like her shouldn't have to suffer visions like the ones she's having.
Also Nadia who make things explode when she sleeps, and can help move obstacles in different points of the game.
Block Puzzle: Like Landstalker before it, these usually consist of the find-something-to-weigh-down-that-pressure-plate instead of the push-blocks-around variety. But there are a few of those too...
Blow You Away: The Wind Book allows Alundra to do this.
Broken Bridge: Admittedly, no actual broken bridges, but there's one with a big rock on it and one blocked off (on the far end of it, too!) by an old withered tree stump; both spontaneously disappear later in the game.
But Thou Must: Don't want to kneel and pray to Ronan's god at the beginning of the game? Too bad, you must — and it becomes a plot point later on after discovering Ronan's "god" is none other than Melzas himself.
Catch Phrase: Jess starts most of his sentences with "Oy!" and ends most of his sentences with "You know what I am saying?" He even writes it in a letter left for Alundra in the event of his death.
Charged Attack: Several of your primary weapons gain one: sword, mace, and bow.
Chest Monster: They make one heck of a roar when they awaken, but aren't actually much threat. They sometimes even spontaneously drop gold while you're fighting them.
Combined Energy Attack: A literal and figurative one is the Holy Sword, which is created by the spiritual energy of everyone's dreams.
Also when you defeat Dread the Dragon and are about to fight Melzas, everyone of the remaining villagers give you some of their power and completely refiil your health and your magic so you can fight Melzas at full power.
Convection Schmonvection: The Charm Boots allow you to walk on lava. Possibly justified, as the boots could be magical.
Cool Old Guy: Jess, Nava, and Wendell. Too bad they all die by the end of the game.
Cool Old Lady: Yustel the fortuneteller, who will tell you where to go next and refill all of your health and magic for only 15 gilder.
Creepy Child: Subverted with Sybill and Elene. Sybill's visions scare people, and Elene went insane after her mother died and her father became the town drunk afterwards.
Curb-Stomp Battle: If you fight Wilda while wearing Nava's charm which blocks certain elements, his fire attacks are useless, which makes that fight a walk in the park.
Curse: The whole village suffers from nightmares, and everyone fears that they will be the next victim. Also, some villagers suffer from more powerful nightmares and curses than others:
Nadia is making stuff blow up as soon as she falls asleep. When you arrive in the village, she's been awake for 6 days straight, and is becoming more and more tired and irritated. If you go visit her in her house as soon as you arrive in Inoa village, you'll see her briefly fall asleep while standing, which cause the nearby table to explode. When the mine crumbles, she's on the defensive, stating that she didn't fall asleep (as it turns out to be, it indeed wasn't her fault). Later, when she falls asleep again, she blows up Olen's house (good thing he's dead when this happens... You'd better have got the Gilded Falcon inside before that).
Sybill's curse involves her dreaming while being awake, and she dreams of things to come, most of them being bad news. People are kind of scared of her because of this.
Kline's curse is so powerful that even if you save him from his nightmare, he will turn into a werewolf, prompting you to kill him before he harms anyone.
Defrosting Ice Queen: After learning about Meia's past, it seems to calm her down a bit.
Denial of Diagonal Attack: But not movement, at least (though Alundra lacks diagonally-facing sprites to show it).
Depth Perplexion: Also like Landstalker before it. The addition of shadows to judge elevation by helps slightly, but the non-isometric top-down perspective does not ... is that platform to your right actually straight right of you, or is it actually a few tiles higher and south? It's also mitigated a little once you get the Bow, as you can fire arrows and watch where their shadows fall on the ground.
Everything Is Better With Monkeys: Subverted by the murggs, they are really, really nasty monkeys they burn Inoa Village and kill half of the villagers.
Expy: Alundra kind of looks like a fusion of Link and Crono. Or of Nigel, the hero of Landstalker. Which the team worked on.
Extreme Omnivore: The Murgg who apparently ate Sierra during the attack on Inoa village.
Feed It a Bomb: Strategy for defeating the Soul Leech. It's much safer than Taking the Bullet while unleashing charged attacks with your sword and hoping you have enough items to not die from it before the boss does.
Feelies: The game had six different disc arts, randomly inserted into each box, and the box itself came with a map Feelie
Game Changer: The researcher Septimus explains how he sought out the village of Inoa to research what's afflicting the inhabitants with cursed nightmares, only to discover he can't actually do anything to stop it (and getting a bit depressed over it), and how everything changed when Alundra, who can enter and change people's dreams, washed up ashore of the village near the beginning of the game.
Garden of Evil: The garden section of the final dungeon the Lake Shrine meets this requirement, complete with its own hedge maze.
Genki Girl: Meia in her youth during her dream sequence.
Gotta Catch Them All: Exactly what are Gilded Falcons worth? Unless you can get every last one, you'll never find out.
Guide Dang It: Getting all of the Gilded Falcons; some can be Lost Forever due to secret timer mechanisms or being locked away in one-time-only dungeons. Also, the Fiend and Infinity Plus One Swords aren't exactly something you'll just happen across by yourself.
Hailfire Peaks: Elene's dream has four elementally-themed areas: Fire, Ice, Water, and Desert.
Happily Adopted: Jess thinks of Alundra as his own son almost from first sight, given how he lost his wife and (actual) sone several years ago, and Alundra is about the same age.
Happily Married: The mayor and his wife, Lutas and Fein, and Rumi and Meade until he dies fighting the Murgg.
Heart Container: Red Life Vessels scattered throughout the game (typically one per dungeon/boss) for your HP, and Magic Crystals for your MP. They're certainly not as plentiful as Landstalker's Life Stocks were, but they also give you a free HP refill.
Heroic Sacrifice: Nadia, who's suffering from a nightmare tells Alundra to first save her love interest Bonaire from his nightmare that he's suffering from at the same time. Unfortunately after Bonaire is saved, Nadia dies shortly afterwards, before you could save her. This doubles as a Tear Jerker later on when Bonaire dies in the fire caused by the Murgg invasion, along with Nadia's mother Myra.
Also Giles, when he overcomes Melzas' evil after discovering the truth, chooses to fight back so that his little sister Kisha wouldn't be killed, and dies in the process.
Later on, Meade and Wendell fight the Murgg to protect Rumi, Nestus, and Bergus. They succeed, but die in the process.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Alundra at first, due to most of the villagers beliefs that he is responsible for Melzas tormenting the city and using nightmares to kill the townspeople.
The Horde: The Murgg just seem to keep on coming. Just when you think you've finally conquered them for good, their remaining numbers attack and burn down Inoa village.
Hot Witch: Meia's magical powers classify her for this.
The Legendary Sword. It has no Charge Attack, but it doesn't need it since its normal attack is even stronger than the Charge Attack of the next strongest weapon. Annoyingly, tied to Mercy Mode, requiring you to die and Quick Restart a lot to get it (otherwise, its keeper will declare that you "seem a good swordsman" and probably don't actually need it).
The Spirit Wand. Grants infinite MP in exchange for having no physical attack. It requires collecting all the Gilded Falcons in the game, several of which are prime examples of Guide Dang It and Lost Forever. One of it also requires getting five straight wins four times on a Roulette Table, which is a Luck-Based Mission and is as frustrating as it sounds.
Irony: Almost every person whose life you save from a nightmare ends up dying in one way or another by the end of the game.
The Insomniac: Nadia. If she falls asleep, things tends to blow up around her. Also, some villagers will admit that they are afraid to sleep and are keeping themselves awake in order to avoid nightmares, such as Fein.
Light is Good: Alundra's charge attacks have a light based power.
Light Is Not Good: Both Ronan and Melzas use light attacks in their battles against Alundra.
Likes Older Women: The mayor's young son Talis, who openly admits his crush on Meia.
Load-Bearing Boss: After you beat Melzas, the sanctuary begins to collapse into the lake.
Lost Forever: Pretty much anything in a dream world — including Life Vessels and Guilded Falcons — can be lost if you don't pick it up before beating the local boss.
Making a Splash: The Water Scroll and Water Book allow Alundra to do this.
Also, the Watcher In The Water literally defines this trope.
The Maze: Once again, the Murgg woods. Also Nava's Keep.
Mega Manning: Inverted in saddening way. Every time someone in the village dies, you get a new weapon, item, or upgrade.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Considering how protective Jess was for Alundra, and how desperate Melzas was to kill him, Jess' death was all but guaranteed in the end.
Mercy Invincibility: You get it, regular enemies don't. Oh, and bosses get it too, generally meaning that when you damage them, you should immediately get out of the way in case they try to counter-attack.
Me's a Crowd: Elene, so much so that her dungeon consists of four multiple parts.
Moon Logic Puzzle: Clues to the colored-sages puzzle inside the Tomb of Lars might be Lost in Translation — it's still possible to reason out which sages are greater than their peers, but does "with utmost respect" mean speaking to them in this order or that? At least you can tell when you finally get it right: their spirits don't disappear after talking to all five and you hear a small chime.
My Greatest Failure: Alundra being unable to prevent the deaths of many of the villagers was bad enough, but the Murgg's destruction of the village took this Up to Eleven.
Also Bonaire thinks this way about being unable to prevent Nadia's death.
Nerds Are Sexy: Meia, who's both very pretty and highly intelligent.
Nice Girl: Meia, and few of the girls in Inoa Village.
Nintendo Hard: The puzzles! Especially the ice manor and Kline's Dream, which were difficult enough that Working Designs had to post a solution on their webpage for a short time.
No Hero Discount: Eventually averted ... once the entire village puts their trust in you to save them, you can take healing items from the shop for free.
Papa Wolf: Jess definitely qualifies for this, considering that he confronted Ronan to protect his surrogate son Alundra, and dies in the process.
Parental Abandonment: Unfortunately, quite a few characters actually have this in common.
Playing with Fire: The Fire Wand, The Fire Scroll, and Fire Book allow Alundra to do this. Note that of these three, only the Fire Wand is actually capable of clearing obstructive brambles.
Numerous enemies and bosses do this, like Wilda and Dread who are dragons.
Also the Murgg, during the destruction of Inoa Village.
Posthumous Characters: Lars and the other spirits trying to help Alundra stop Melzas.
Portal Network: Scattered around the village of Inoa are eight Stonehenge-like rock formations. They all link up to each other.
The Power of Love: This is what frees Giles' mind from Melzas long enough to prevent himself from killing his little sister Kisha. Too bad he dies shortly afterward.
Save Point: The Diary, like the one in Jess's house. (Unlike Landstalker, you don't need to take them to a priest this time.) Dungeons frequently include a purple-glowing warp tile that takes you to an isolated room with a diary and HP/MP recovery points, and the island's Portal Network contains one as well.
The Scapegoat: Many villagers will end up blaming Alundra for their misfortune, beginning with Myra, Nadia's mother. Giles certainly is the most aggressive toward Alundra, even calling him a demon (at least until Alundra saves his life; he tones it down after that).
Sequence Breaking: Once you get the Long Boots in the desert area, you can actually start the sequence to activate the various teleporters set in the game.
Shielded Core Boss: To damage the Corpse Worm, you must attack its armored body first before you can strike at its head; the boss regenerates its armor regularly throughout the battle. And in order to strike the weak point of the Hidden Eye boss(es), you must attack the boss repeatedly to lower their core to within striking range.
Shock and Awe: The Wind Scroll allows Alundra to do this.
Shoplift and Die: Invoked. You can't actually steal from shops, but the shop owner will make herself very clear that if you try to steal something, she will have to break your knees.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Nestus is calm while his twin brother Bergus is energetic.
Swamps Are Evil: The Lair of the Retilicus Maximus. Complete with endless amounts of Lizardmen enemies.
Taking the Bullet: In a meta-example, when facing the Soul Leech, you're warned to not let the owner of the mind get swallowed by it (especially when it's Giles, where it will trigger an instant Game Over). So if you can't keep them away from the boss's mouth, you can at least throw yourself in in their place.
Teen Genius: Septimus, although he might be a little too old to qualify.
Temporary Platform: While navigating certain puzzles, platforms may fall or crumble seconds after stepping on them. It's not always possible to spot these in advance.
Time Stands Still: Melzas pulls one of these in an ultimate attempt to stop Alundra from reaching him.
To Serve Man: After Inoa Village is burned down, during the meeting at Mayor Beaumount's house, someone says that Sybill's mother Sierra was eaten by the Murgg during the attack.
Town with a Dark Secret: It turns out that the citizens of Inoa village have been inadvertently praying to Melzas all this time, unknowingly making him stronger in the process.
Undying Loyalty: Jess and Sybill to Alundra, considering they both die to help him in the end.
Also Giles to Kisha, which is proven when he dies to save her.
Ungrateful Bastard: So, you just saved Giles from a nightmare! Is he going to show some gratitude to you? He suddenly blames you for the death of Sybill instead.
Also Zorgia, considering he betrays and kills Nirude who raised him until he joined Melzas.
The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Shrine of the Lake. Packed full of the hardest monsters and the toughest of puzzles, the entire place is incredibly confusing. The Shrine was previously underwater, and it was constantly referred to in the game—it was submerged due to Melzas' wicked ambitions. It also has a hauntingly beautiful tune to go with the place.
Wham Episode: Every sequence has its own title when you save the game. Beware of any titles that have character names in them, as it's a guarantee something bad has either happened to, or is about to happen to that character.
What Could Have Been: Apparently, according to one of Sybill's dreams, if Lutas had died, Jess would have used his spirit's energy to create the Holy Sword, which is one of the most powerful weapons in the game. This is why Ronan, who was being manipulated by Melzas, saved Lutas' life at that point in the game to ensure that his spirit could not be used to make the Holy Sword at that time. Good thing you can get it later anyways.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Ronan, when you learn that Melzas deceived him, and was using Ronan all along so that he could destroy Alundra, only to have Ronan defeated by Alundra in the end.
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