History VideoGame / BlazeUnion

* EvenEvilHasStandards: When the band of would-be rapist hoodlums is deciding to themselves which party member girl each one of them wants for himself, [[{{Lolicon}} one guy targets Eimi]]. The party ''and'' the guy's buddies all turn and give him strange looks.

''Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future'' is a TurnBasedStrategy game for the PSP produced by StingEntertainment and published by {{Atlus}}. While not a VideoGame/DeptHeaven episode, it is the {{prequel}} to ''YggdraUnion'', Episode II in the series. The game is currently out in Japan, and as of yet there's still NoExportForYou.

Three years before the events of ''YggdraUnion''--in an era where most of the various countries on the continent were enjoying a temporary peace--the Bronquian Empire alone was mired in suffering. The current Emperor, Soltier, was incompetent and his court corrupt, and the rich lived at the expense of the poor and helpless. With the country slowly rotting beneath that malgovernment, one young man in the slums of the trade city Tiera began to desire power in order to change the country and save his people.

''Blaze Union'' utilizes a streamlined version of ''YggdraUnion'''s systems, with one major exception: There are certain parts of the game where the player will be able to choose missions that he or she prefers to take on. Depending on which missions one undertakes, different cards and allies can be obtained, and ultimately the choices you make in missions will affect the game's MultipleEndings. The plot of the game is more character-driven than that of ''YggdraUnion'', reflecting the effects of Garlot's [[AbusiveParents horrifically abusive upbringing]] on his psyche and his lingering sense of powerlessness; it combines SliceOfLife and ComingOfAgeStory elements with a good hard look at the poor quality of life in Bronquia prior to the revolution.

See also ''YggdraUnion'', the main title; its GaidenGame spinoff, ''YggdraUnison'' (in which the Imperial Army's story continues towards a more positive conclusion); and ''GloriaUnion'', in which one of this game's characters has a guest appearance.

* ActiveRoyalty: Just like in ''YggdraUnion'', here we have Soltier, Ordene, [[spoiler:Aegina, Garlot, and Eimi]].

* AllThereInTheManual: As usual. If you want the entirety of Nessiah's backstory, the details of how Soltier and Lapis met, and various information about the worldbuilding and secondary characters (from trivia to ''vitally important stuff'' that's only hinted at in the game), you may want to invest in the artbook, ''YggdraUnion'', ''YggdraUnison'', and the associated merchandise.

* BittersweetEnding: The True Ending. [[spoiler:Bronquia is saved and the people are overjoyed, but Siskier is dead, Gulcasa is deep in a HeroicBSOD and already showing strain from using Brongaa's power, a number of your allies have left the continent, and everything will come crashing down in ''YggdraUnion'' three years later. Conversely, this means your exiled allies will be spared, and there's always ''YggdraUnison'' for a look at what the Imperial Army's more positive fate would be like in this scenario.]]

* CloudCuckoolander: [[YggdraUnion Pamela]], [[YggdraUnison as]] [[VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare ever]].

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Genocide. [[spoiler:Gulcasa winds up visibly on the verge of collapse after using it a lot, and he's probably not even fooling himself with that insistence that he'll be just fine. Obviously foreshadowing for the HeroicRROD incidents in ''YggdraUnion''.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: Probably not ''really'' darker than ''YggdraUnion'', considering, but nothing quite sets the tone like kicking off a game with the attempted kidnapping of an eleven-year-old girl by a creepy and morbidly obese nobleman who clearly has anything but good intentions.

* DoomedByCanon: There may be four possible endings, but this is the prequel, after all--so no matter which [[MultipleEndings route]] you prefer, the truth is that the second most depressing ending is canon, all the characters new to this game [[ButNowIMustGo walk off]], and [[YggdraUnion three years later]], [[ItWasHisSled everyone dies]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Much of it is rather obvious, but the game has its subtler moments too, such as in the A path, where [[spoiler:Garlot laments his inability to realize that Velleman was suffering before he turned on Gram Blaze, which mirrors Gulcasa and Nessiah's situation in ''YggdraUnion'']].

* GoodIsNotDumb: Garlot may not be very smart to begin with, but he has a very sensitive nature that allows him to accurately read and understand his rivals and enemies' motivations. As his adventures start to gain him more and more street cred, it's his overwhelmingly gentle and compassionate heart that manages to win the hearts of his entire country--including those very rivals and enemies, more often than not. We get to see in [[YggdraUnion the future]] just how much Bronquia [[HundredPercentAdorationRating really appreciates]] having a leader who's kind, just, and ''competent.''

* GraphicsInducedSuperDeformed: Some returning characters' sprites feature them in their outfits from YggdraUnion, rather than their obviously different new designs.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Aegina and Luciana, as in ''YggdraUnison'', are introduced as twins right away. Interestingly, however, their exact motives [[spoiler:and the fact that they're princesses]] are kept secret.

* {{Nerf}}ing: Kiss the gameshattering attack power Nessiah once had in ''YggdraUnion'' goodbye. A screenshot that pictures him at level 10 has his stats as 4/2/3/4.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Depending on which choices you make, there is a chance that you might accidentally send a critical YggdraUnion character to an early grave... which is in some cases.]]

* NoExportForYou: Between the fact that Atlus dug themselves into a hole that's hard to climb out of as far as mistranslated elements of ''YggdraUnion'' go, the fact that this game's plot is most accessible to people who've played ''YggdraUnion'', and the fit that the MoralGuardians would throw over all the AttemptedRape incidents, it's not surprising that they've shown no interest in bringing the game over. Probably doesn't make it any less frustrating for people who aren't literate in Japanese, though.

** It's also implied that [[spoiler:Zilva winds up attempting to replace Siskier with Elena, given her makeover by the time of ''YggdraUnion'']].
* {{Retcon}}: Aside from Nessiah getting {{nerf}}ed and the circumstances of Leon and Elena's parents' execution [[NoodleIncident becoming fuzzier]], characters' likes and dislikes have been altered from those displayed in ''YggdraUnison''. Mostly, these are things that can be explained by their tastes changing as they age--Emilia likes milk and dislikes cheese in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'', and refuses to eat cheese at all in ''Unison''; Gulcasa is no longer an ExtremeOmnivore who can [[BigEater put away an entire banquet table and still be hungry]], which makes sense as he's not fueling a growth spurt ''and'' compensating for overuse of Genocide at the same time anymore. (Interestingly enough, he stops [[CarnivoreConfusion eating dragon meat]] in ''YggdraUnison'' too.) In other cases, this is HilariousInHindsight--Nessiah gets ''[[UpToEleven even pickier]]'' after the timeskip. [[PetTheDog Refusal to eat anything lower-quality than Bronquian cuisine, perhaps?]]

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: As of now, there are ''no'' official Romanizations of characters' names, other than the ones who already appeared in ''YggdraUnion''. Given [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Sting's usual naming conventions]], one can see the problem here...

* TalkingToHimself: As in ''YggdraUnion'', most of the side characters' voice actors have two or three different roles. There are a few party members (Eimi and Pamela, Nessiah and Mizer) who share voice actors, too...

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to the interviews in the artbook, the original script for the game was much darker and more serious, styled like a historical drama; Baretreenu also died right at the beginning. This concept was canned for being too depressing. In addition, the scenario writer from R-Force Entertainment pitches a series of post-B-route's-good-ending [[AudioAdaptation drama CDs]] featuring the repercussions of [[spoiler:Ordene dying and Gram Blaze moving to Fantasinia]] on the rest of the world, involving the cast of ''YggdraUnion''. Sadly, these dramas don't seem to be happening.

* LazyBackup

* LoveHurts
* LowFantasy

* PacingProblems: Routes A and C suffer from the CosmicDeadline because there's just too much plot to fit into the available data space. The A path deals with this by [[spoiler:performing a short TimeSkip from Garlot unsealing his blood to the climax of the revolution, frustrating the players who wanted more time to use Gulcasa and [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome actually see him unite Bronquia]]]]; this has the consequence of making this part of the plot take a backseat to [[spoiler:Medoute and Jenon's betrayal]]. In the C path, realistically presenting a conflict with the antagonist would require Garlot and company getting their posteriors handed to them--if nothing else, because [[spoiler:Nessiah knows them as well as they know themselves or better]]--and a very bitter struggle from behind to seize victory. There isn't enough room for this, which is the reason for [[spoiler:Nessiah's incompetence and all the DeusExMachina that rescues Gram Blaze]].

* RedheadedHero: Garlot

* ChickMagnet: Garlot's harem-to-cast ratio rivals that of [[MahouSenseiNegima Negi Springfield]], and not only do his attractive powers work on both sexes, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou they also extend to the fanbase]]. ''This is almost entirely on the merit of his personality,'' though it certainly helps that he's just as generically attractive as the game's other young men.

* BrokenAesop: GrowingUpSucks ''so much'' that it's really better if you never grow up at all and just remain dependent on your parental figures forever instead of confronting the truth and your own problems. This is part of the reason why some fans will tell you they're relieved the C route [[CanonDiscontinuity has zero bearing on canon]].

* FanonDisContinuity: They aren't very common, but a few fans out there deny this game because of it's lack of plot until the endings, which ended up rather rushed. The more common variety simply ignore anything that isn't developed by Ito or isn't one of the Dept. Heaven Episodes.
** However, there are also a number of people that prefer the option of choosing a different future for the characters, making it more of a ContestedSequel.

* CaptainObvious: Siskier.

* CloudCuckoolander: [[YggdraUnion Pamela]], [[YggdraUnison as]] [[KnightsInTheNightmare ever]].

* {{Fanservice}}: There's one mission where the player can get a hot springs scene for his or her favorite female party member in chapter 3. (But please, Sting, think of your straight female/gay male fanbase, and give us mostly-naked men too next time.)

* ItsAWonderfulFailure: A rather {{squick}}y one if you somehow manage to die on 戦士達の休息-Girl's Side-.
** This troper humbly requests further explanation.
*** The battlefield where your opponents are hitting on/attempting to rape the girls?

* TakeThatAudience: The aspiring rapists in "The Warriors' Vacation -Girls' Side-" get a scathing ThisLoserIsYou treatment, which is likely a stab at the rather depraved VocalMinority of sterotypical otakus in the fandom. Said VocalMinority [[MisaimedFandom seems to actually like the attention]].

* TheOtherDarrin: The twins are played by MaiNakahara in this game, not their usual voice actress. This is probably due to the TimeSkip between the games; significantly younger girls would have less harsh voices.

** It's not so much that ''BlazeUnion'' is the darker game--it just makes no attempt to hide the real tone.

* FantasticRacism: According to Medoute and Baretreenu, all demons--and anyone with demonic blood--is or eventually will become AlwaysChaoticEvil. As [[VideoGame/DeptHeaven the rest of the series]] explicitly shows this ''not to be the case,'' it comes off as a real flaw, especially since everyone else tends to take this as the gospel truth. The incongruity can be explained by ''BlazeUnion'' having new writers who may not be familiar with the rest of VideoGame/DeptHeaven canon, but that doesn't make it any less grating.

* {{Retcon}}: Aside from Nessiah getting {{nerf}}ed and the circumstances of Leon and Elena's parents' execution [[NoodleIncident becoming fuzzier]], characters' likes and dislikes have been altered from those displayed in ''YggdraUnison''. Mostly, these are things that can be explained by their tastes changing as they age--Emilia likes milk and dislikes cheese in ''BlazeUnion'', and refuses to eat cheese at all in ''Unison''; Gulcasa is no longer an ExtremeOmnivore who can [[BigEater put away an entire banquet table and still be hungry]], which makes sense as he's not fueling a growth spurt ''and'' compensating for overuse of Genocide at the same time anymore. (Interestingly enough, he stops [[CarnivoreConfusion eating dragon meat]] in ''YggdraUnison'' too.) In other cases, this is HilariousInHindsight--Nessiah gets ''[[UpToEleven even pickier]]'' after the timeskip. [[PetTheDog Refusal to eat anything lower-quality than Bronquian cuisine, perhaps?]]

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Oh, Gulcasa. [[spoiler:Medoute tries to murder him, spits on his ideals, accuses him of already becoming a monster and disgracing Siskier's memory--and after he subdues her, he's ''still'' going "Can't we just talk this out?". When she rejects this, he still refuses to kill her, despite Nessiah pointing out that this is a terrible idea and she'll just attack him again. Instead, Gulcasa puts her in an easily-escapable jail and does not allow anyone to chase her and Jenon when they do run away.]] Keep in mind that this character is uniquely equipped to kill him and has made her views on demons [[FantasticRacism plenty]] [[FantasticHomophobia clear]].

[[caption-width-right:300:Garlot, [[TheMessiah our hero]].]]

* DontTryThisAtHome: The sourcebook features, among other things, a nice little WallOfText about what it takes to preserve potatoes so that they do not sprout and how bad it can get to eat one that has (even listing ''side effects''). Its title? "The Sprouting Protato Even [[BigEater Gulcasa]][[hottip:* :who will indeed down anything that is not milk or cheese, including the poisoned apple ("This looks really poisonous. But as I am now, I have no need to fear poison! ...It's bad, but not so bad that it's inedible."), rotten fish ("Who cares if it's rotten?! Become a part of my flesh!!"), and dragon steak ([[CarnivoreConfusion ...isn't that technically cannibalism?!]])]] Regretted Trying".

* UnusualEuphemism: No, those gangsters do ''not'' mean ImTakingHerHomeWithMe in the [[WhenTheyCry Rena sense]] of the term.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Junon. Uh, I mean Jenon.

* DeadLittleSister: [[spoiler:Emilia and Yggdra in the route B bad ending.]]

* IWillDefinitelyProtectYou: Siskier, reassuring people that Garlot will be fine because she's there to watch his back.

* BadPowersBadPeople: Averted very hard with [[spoiler:Garlot and Eimi]], who are [[spoiler:technically demons]] and vulnerable to TheCorruption, but heroic.

* DroppedABridgetOnHim: Oh, Eater. Rarely is there a character who can perform a Bridget-drop in quite so many ways...
** Siskier is also quite shocked to find out that, yes, Zilva is female.

* ZettaiRyouiki: Eimi (a bit weird, as she's only eleven), Siskier, and Nessiah.

* ShinyMidnightBlack: Eater, Leon, and Soltier.

''Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future'' is a TurnBasedStrategy game for the PSP produced by StingEntertainment and published by {{Atlus}}. While not a DeptHeaven episode, it is the {{prequel}} to ''YggdraUnion'', Episode II in the series. The game is currently out in Japan, and as of yet there's still NoExportForYou.

* FantasticRacism: According to Medoute and Baretreenu, all demons--and anyone with demonic blood--is or eventually will become AlwaysChaoticEvil. As [[DeptHeaven the rest of the series]] explicitly shows this ''not to be the case,'' it comes off as a real flaw, especially since everyone else tends to take this as the gospel truth. The incongruity can be explained by ''BlazeUnion'' having new writers who may not be familiar with the rest of DeptHeaven canon, but that doesn't make it any less grating.

* HesJustHiding: InUniverse. In Nessiah's route, [[spoiler:Garlot and Siskier search frantically for Jenon after his HeroicSacrifice, clinging to this possibility. Miraculously, they do actually find him--and a few minutes later, [[CameBackWrong everything]] [[PeoplePuppets goes]] [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight to]] [[ItGotWorse hell]]...]]

* ItGotWorse: Nessiah's route.

* SuccessionCrisis: Plays a large role in the B and C routes. Another one [[AllThereInTheManual in the backstory]] but not brought up in-game was the death of Soltier's father from illness, after which Bronquia nearly fell apart. The reason that he didn't inherit despite being the oldest was because Fantasinia pushed hard to get his quieter and easier-to-manipulate younger brother on the throne as their figurehead. Obviously, ItGotWorse as Ike stripped Bronquia of its military on Fantasinia's orders, then Soltier came around to build it up again...

* EyesOfGold: Garlot. Eimi too, although hers have some green in them.

* YamatoNadeshiko: Luciana tries to act like one for Garlot. Eater also has a number of the requisite traits, but is [[LittleMissBadass rather less pliable]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: Remember, kids, revenge is ''bad,'' and demons are AlwaysChaoticEvil.

* CanonSue: Baretreenu.

* CompleteMonster: Alanjame.

* CrackIsCheaper: If you want to import the game, it's 60 USD. Then there's the 30 USD soundtrack, the 20 USD guide, and the upcoming artbook, which will probably cost around the same. That adds up to $130. If you want Pamela (and the rest of the canon story), you also need ''YggdraUnion'', which is another 30 USD to import, and ''its'' merchandise (soundtrack and artbook/guide), which adds up to another 30 USD each. Your total is $220 by now. GaidenGame ''YggdraUnison'', which stars a lot of ''BlazeUnion'''s cast, is yet another 50 USD to import, and then there's '''''its''''' merchandise (guide, soundtrack, drama CD). Oh right, and you're going to want the series sourcebook if you want to know [[AllThereInTheManual the details of Nessiah's backstory]]. After that, there's [[DeptHeaven the rest of the series]]. Yikes.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Byff.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Siskier is terrified of heights and spends the first battlefield in Chapter 2 trying not to panic when traversing the wooden-bridge mountain path to Flarewerk, to the great amusement of all. In one route, [[spoiler:she dies jumping from a high place]].
* GameBreaker: The Vise card, which helps in battles even if it isn't used optimally, but basically exists to exploit Garlot's most broken battle effect (Flash Attacks do double to triple the usual damage). Of course [[spoiler:Gulcasa]] is one; [[spoiler:Emilia]] also is, but [[SchmuckBait you don't want to overuse her]].

* HoYay: Garlot and Nessiah.
** FoeYay: Garlot and Leon.

* IronWoobie: [[spoiler:Garlot/Gulcasa]].

* {{Moe}}: Eimi alone will cute your face right off. Luciana, Aegina, Eater, and Nessiah are also ridiculously adorable, and there's a reason why people have taken to miswriting Garlot's CatchPhrase (燃え上がってみせるぜ！) with the wrong kanji for "moe".
** [[http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/258/258604/img.html Leaked screenshots]] seem to suggest that instead of just giving her the prophecy and going on his merry way, Nessiah actually spends some time traveling with Eimi. Prepare for death by cute.

** Though you really ''shouldn't'' let her fight on certain battlefields...or you will have [[ThatOneBoss hell to pay]].

* TearJerker: [[TearJerker/BlazeUnion See here]]; note that spoilers are unmarked.

* TheWoobie: A large percentage of the cast can apply for this position. Take your pick, folks.

''Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future'' is a TurnBasedStrategy game for the PSP produced by StingEntertainment and published by {{Atlus}}. While not a DeptHeaven episode, it is the prequel to ''YggdraUnion'', Episode II in the series. The game is currently out in Japan, and as of yet there's still NoExportForYou.

* MadnessMantra: [[spoiler:[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel LET'S FIGHT MORE! MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE]]!!]]