Theia - The Crimson Eclipse is a 2019 RPG Maker 2003 game by Lollo Rocket Diver. It was originally written in Italian, but was also translated to English, German, and Spanish.
The planet of Ariathale has been in an energy crisis for a long time, due to the depletion of Atlas energy. As a result, the world's nations had to sign the Halderos Treaty to limit the use of technology. In the present, the Risan Health corporation discovers a red crystal that has dangerous effects on wildlife, but can also serve as a new source of energy, possibly bringing an end to the crisis. However, Seth Sheridan, a former Levizoan Vanguard, discovers that there is something sinister about this prospective power source.
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This game provides examples of:
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The Karelet Empire has public executions and stage plays mocking those who are to be executed. While this policy is nominally to discourage crime, it's really to entertain the upper class.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Some guest characters have excellent stat growths, but no Atlas shard slots on their one and only weapon. While they can still use powerful armor like Epic Garb, they cannot equip Atlas that protects them from ailments or elemental damage.
- Backup from Otherworld: When Mishra impales Seth with a shard of Orihalcon, Seth manages to obtain a One-Winged Angel form with the help of the spirits of his fallen comrades. He then summons their spirits to unleash a Curb-Stomp Battle against Mishra.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: In the Extremordeal, the Archdragon looks like a mid-tier symbol encounter, but when encountered, it turns out to have boss-tier HP and more party-wide DPS than Azaros and Rejina, the actual final boss of the dungeon.
- Bonus Dungeon: The Extremordeal is an optional dungeon that starts at around the same difficulty of the main story Final Boss and gets increasingly more difficult the further the player goes. The gimmick to this dungeon is that the player can recruit characters that shouldn't be in the party story-wise, but they need to bring specific party members to progress in certain sections, including the new characters. This place can be accessed by doing an endgame sidequest for Rock in the White Deer Guild, but it only unlocks on Normal and Hard mode.
- Collection Sidequest: The game has collectible Gaia Shards, which can be turned in for rewards at an unnamed altar. However, some shards are missable and it's impossible to collect all 99 shards on easy mode, due to the Extremordeal being inaccessible on that difficulty.
- Crapsack World:
- Ariathale is suffering through an energy crisis, putting the majority of the population in poverty. The few energy sources left, Atlas and Orihalcon, have a tendency to make monsters aggressive, making it dangerous to use technology out in the wild.
- Altilliah, one of Ariathale's moons, is even worse, with most of the surface being dominated by Orihalcon-enhanced monsters. The people of the moon, the Theia, are dependent on Orihalcon to live, yet at the same time, are also in danger because of that same energy source. Worse yet, the Altillians are ruled by Halcon, an evil alien posing as a guardian deity, who wants their society in constant peril so that they'll do anything for its "help."
- Crippling Overspecialization: Skills that target specific types of enemies also do minimal damage to any other type of enemy. This encourages the player to rotate characters depending on the type of the bosses.
- Cutting Off the Branches: On the developer's Discord server, he states that Endings A and X are both canon. However, he also states that the Another Withered Future epilogue occurs in all the other endings too, possibly due to ending X being concurrent with all other endings except for E.
- Defend Command: The guard command reduces damage and heals a bit of the user's HP, but it also lowers the Mastery gauge, making it harder to activate Mastery bonuses.
- Forced Level-Grinding: The Extremordeal has barriers that require a specific party in order to cross. However, all extra characters join at level 50, except for Neval and Mishra, who will likely have their levels in the 60s and 50s respectively. This means that for some barriers, the player will have to grind those extra characters to catch up with the main party.
- Fugitive Arc: In the second half of the game, Seth is framed for murdering Emperor Trayant Levizoa by Lademis, who is possessed by Mishra. This makes him the enemy of all the major nations and forces him to join the Mavericks, a Robin Hood-like criminal organization that believes in his innocence. Additionally, many of Seth's friends are considered guilty by association and are forced to be fugitives with him. Martia is framed for prisoner trafficking by her commanding officer and ends up joining Seth in the Mavericks organization. Both of them are cleared after Lademis is freed from Mishra's control and explains the situation to the world leaders.
- Gone Horribly Right: The Rakshasas used Orihalcon to drive Rudra insane and make him kill the Marut clan. The developer states that this actually backfired on them, since they couldn't control Rudra, who proceeded to slaughter them too.
- Guest-Star Party Member: The game desginates certain characters as guests. Their weapons and skills cannot be upgraded, but the rest of their equipment is customizable. The game also warns that guests generally don't stay in the party in the long-term, though some guests also become fully playable if they have an in-story reason to join Seth.
- Hero Antagonist: In the second half of the game, Seth is framed for Emperor Levizoa's murder. The majority of the world's soldiers don't know any better and believe Seth is guilty, making them enemies until Prince Lademis is able to expose the truth.
- Infinity +1 Sword: The A and S-Rank weapons from Borghetti's shop have to be made from endgame weapon Atlas, but they all have high stats, powerful Unveil bonuses, and two Atlas shard slots.
- Limit Break: All characters have an EX gauge to fill in order to use their EX skills. However, every character has different requirements to fill up the bar. For example, Seth can only fill his bar up with normal attacks, Nimrod must use skills, and Martia can use either.
- Magic from Technology: Due to magic being sealed away on Ariathale, Atlas technology is the only way for most fighters to use elemental attacks. Theia can use magic naturally due to having Orihalcon in their veins.
- Multiple Endings:
- Ending A: Nadia is the love interest and Seth chooses to be a vassal. Seth eventually leaves his post as vassal and marries Nadia, becoming the king of Neo-Altilliah.
- Ending B: Nadia is the love interest and Seth refuses to be a vassal. Seth stays on the moon instead of being with Nadia, though Nadia holds out hope that she'll eventually see him again.
- Ending C: Martia is the love interest and Seth chooses to be a vassal. Seth and Martia remain in Reyel to run the fief.
- Ending D: Martia is the love interest and Seth refuses to be a vassal. Seth decides he can't face the families of those he killed, so he joins the Mavericks, with Martia following him.
- Ending E: This ending can be obtained by losing to the final boss in any phase. Mishra completes the ritual, but spares the party. The party is in despair over seeing Ariathale destroyed by Halcon. Afterwards, he has one final duel with Seth, telling the latter that the two of them aren't so different in sacrificing others for their "noble" goals, and accepts his death at Seth's hands out of guilt for what he did.
- Ending X: If Nimrod uses his EX against the final boss, he accidentally becomes an Apostle due to carrying the souls of Neval and Crismaida, resulting in Halcon possessing him and using him to ressurect. He tries to warn Elvett, but the message doesn't get through and no one stops Halcon's revival.
- Optional Party Member: All guest characters that don't fully join can still be recruited in the endgame by acquiring their action figures. They will still have their guest status and all the limitations that come with it, but their skills are all upgraded to level 3 or higher. Gallian, Elvett, and Nimrod have in-story reasons to join , but Alison, Demiya, pre-timeskip!Nion, Horus, Var Nell, Sophet, Neval, Grant, and Mishra are all recruitable from the Extremordeal as deliberate story-defying paradoxes.
- Our Elves Are Different: Exils are pointy-eared people who are humans who were genetically altered due to long-lost magic, giving them longer lifespans, more intellect, and less physical power. Vashnars are a rare variant of Exils who are more physically resilient.
- Sequel Hook: The Another Withered Future epilogue shows that the victory that Seth's party achieved won't last, since the Orihalcon is still a non-renewable energy source that will eventually dry up. Seth's descendant, Dayke Sideris, uses the Original Light to unlock Arca Babylon, which will supposedly solve the current crisis, but the epilogue cuts off before he can reach that place.
- The Cameo: While a Savvy fan can spot many a great cameos from various different titles used as backgrounds from different stories such as Chrono Trigger's courtroom, you can see Marle and Schala in the crowd of the central plaza area of Benedicta after successfully rescuing both Seth and Martia from the Execution during the escape, on the left side of the crowd. Schala also appears during the Memory of Altilliah.
- Treachery Cover-Up: If the Ancestral Archives quest is done after beating Mishra at Altilliah's Heart, the final scene of the quest will be extended so that Dael tells King Coeus about Halcon's true nature as an evil, world-devouring alien. However, this information can't be made public, since Altillian society would collapse into mass panic if they knew their "spirit guide" was manipulating them and that they would never get a new home. According to the developer, this truth is still confidential in Ending E, since Ariathale's destruction means the Altillians have no alternatives for survival other than relying on Halcon. Averted in Endings A-D and X, where the Altillians have the option to move to Ariathale after Halcon's demise, meaning it's possible to reveal the truth without inciting mass panic.
- Toxic Phlebotinum: Orihalcon can make living beings being aggressive and feral, but the people of Ariathale are so desperate for a new energy source that they try to research Orihalcon, despite the risks. Fortunately, in the ending, the Altillians share their methods for safely using Orihalcon. Unfortunately, Orihalcon is eventually depleted without Halcon to produce it.
- Wolf Man: Varzans are humanoids with wolf heads, fur, and claws.
