Line #63 VideoGame/CIMATheEnemy


1	[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cima_the_enemy.png]]
2	''CIMA: The Enemy'' (known as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Frontier Stories]]'' in Japan) is a 2003 isometric ActionRPG for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance made by Neverland, the company behind ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'' and ''VideoGame/RuneFactory''.
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4	The story takes place in a sci-fi/fantasy western setting, with humanity [[AlienInvasion under attack]] by a race of shapeshifting interdimensional aliens called CIMA , who attack humans by pulling them through portals into their world and feeding on their hope. There also exists an organization called the Gate Guardians who oppose the CIMA for humanity's sake, mostly acting as glorified bodyguards for travelers. When a train carrying settlers, along with three Gate Guardians: Jester, one of the six most elite Gate Guardians, and two rookies, Ark and Ivy, are pulled through a CIMA gate, and while scouting for a way out, the group is attacked by Pike Nighttrap, one of the Crimson Nine - the leaders of the CIMA. The settlers are scattered all over the CIMA world when the dungeon they're in collapses, while Jester is quickly killed fending Pike off while Ark and Ivy escape, leaving them to spearhead the rescue effort and clear a path for the train to make it's getaway back to the real world.
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6	Along with the typical ActionRPG elements, CIMA also incorporates some strategy elements as well. Since Ark and Ivy can't leave the rescued settlers on the train for risk of being attacked again, they end up tagging along with them and have to be protected. Fortunately, only a small handful of settlers take the role of TheLoad, while most of them have skills that can be utilized in dungeons, whether it's being able to fend off enemies, heal, or pass certain obstacles (for example, one of the pioneers is a small boy who can cross bridges that would crumble under the weight of a full-grown adult.)
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8	!!This game contains examples of:
9	* ActionGirl: Ivy
10	* AerithAndBob: The main characters are Ark and Ivy, the mentor is named Jester, and some of the settlers have names like Yurald, Vanrose, Eberle and Telmia. And then there's settlers with names like Doug and Jean.
11	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The player will occasionally take direct control of one of the rescued settlers after they're separated from the group. [[spoiler: In the final dungeon, all the combat-capable settlers even get their own boss fights.]]
12	* AntagonistTitle: The CIMA are the alien invaders, and are outright called the enemy. Averted in the Japanese version, which is called ''[[MarketBasedTitle Frontier Stories]]''.
13	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Yurald is supposed to be a priest, but is depicted wearing a rabbi's yarmulke.
14	* BigBad: Pike Nighttrap, one of the Crimson Nine (the most powerful CIMA) and the effective leader of their AlienInvasion. He and his fellow CIMA [[HopeCrusher feed off the hope]] of humans and seek to destroy the Gate Guardian heroes.
15	* BratsWithSlingshots: Halley
16	* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler: Ivy is a CIMA who decided to side with humanity.]]
17	* DefrostingIceQueen: Ivy
18	* DegradedBoss: Bruton, the first boss of the game, reappears in the dungeon after it as a respawning CIMA nest enemy.
19	* EldritchLocation: The CIMA world.
20	* EmotionEater: The CIMA
21	* EscortMission: The entire game. Fortunately, the player is able to issue commands to the rescued settlers, and some of them are capable of fending for themselves and protecting other settlers.
22	* EyepatchOfPower: Pike
23	* EyesAlwaysShut: Eberle
24	* FailedASpotCheck: Yurald's ability is to hide nearby settlers from enemy detection.
25	* FloatingContinent: The CIMA world is made up of a series of floating islands.
26	* GameplayAllyImmortality: Ivy becomes invulnerable during boss fights. Unfortunately, she also doesn't do anything during boss fights either except follow you around.
27	* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Even if you park all the settlers in front of a CIMA nest and hack away at enemies until everyone's trust goes into the positives, Vanrose and Doug will still hate you for much of the game.
28	* GoodOldFisticuffs: Vanrose's weapon of choice.
29	* GratuitousEnglish: Genox is fond of this in the original Japanese version.
30	* GrumpyOldMan: Doug has a fierce dislike of Gate Guardians [[spoiler: after one failed to protect his daughter from a CIMA attack.]] Fortunately, he warms up to Ark and Ivy after a while.
31	* TheGunslinger: Ivy
32	* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: The tutorial Jester gives you in the first dungeon.
33	* HeroWithBadPublicity: The settlers start out mostly not trusting in Ark and Ivy's ability to take over for Jester in the slightest (it doesn't help that one of them just hates Gate Guardians in general). The player has to spend the rest of the game earning that trust.
34	* HopeSpot: The CIMA utilize this to feed on humans' hope, offering people they've pulled into their world a way out, and then trying to kill them before they can reach the exit.
35	* HubLevel: The train acts as one, directly connecting to all the dungeons. It's also where the player can boost the attack and defense of any of the characters if they've rescued Doug.
36	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Jean attacks by throwing scalpels.
37	* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: The player often finds their path blocked by a column. Not columns plural; a single, skinny column that the characters can easy just walk around most of the time, but instead have to find something to trigger it to sink into the ground.
38	* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Each character can only carry 21 items (16 items in their inventory, and 5 quick-slot items)
39	* ItemCrafting: Done by using crystals called Majesty that are randomly dropped by enemies. Each character (including settlers, but only if they trust you) have their own items they can make.
40	* ItsPersonal: One of the recurring CIMA builders [[spoiler: is responsible for the death of Doug and Ilyeda's daughter.]]
41	* TheLittleDetecto: Halley and Emmy can find and dig up any buried treasure they walk by.
42	* TheLoad: A few settlers have no special skills beyond ItemCrafting and only exist to be protected. Telmia is the biggest load of all, ending up injured by the time you find her, and having the weakest defense in the game.
43	* LoadBearingBoss: Defeating Pike causes the whole hub world to start to collapse.
44	* LovableCoward: Rick. Though his fiance doesn't think his cowardice is all that lovable...
45	* TheMedic: Jean
46	* TheMillstone: Vanrose starts out butting heads with Ark and Ivy at every opportunity and causing trouble, until he eventually learns to trust them enough to go along with their plans.
47	** In fact, one could argue that he indirectly leads to Jester's death in the first place during his WhatTheHellHero moment with Ark and Ivy, guilt tripping them into going back to help him, when all they accomplish is distracting Jester long enough for Pike to fatally stab him.
48	* MookMaker: Most enemies come from CIMA nests marked by floating crystals.
49	* PressurePlate: If there's one thing the game loves, it's pressure plate puzzles.
50	* RecurringBoss: Pike's underlings are each fought throughout multiple dungeons before they're defeated for good (fortunately, they can shapeshift into a different form for each fight.)
51	* SequelHook: There's quite a bit of worldbuilding in the beginning of the game that never pays off since the game is spent almost entirely in a series of CIMA dungeons. Also, when Pike is finally defeated, he warns Ark that the other members of the Crimson Nine are out there, making it look like Neverland was setting up for a sequel that never happened.
52	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Genox is named Zenox, in the original Japanese. Also, Sunfraw, one of the bosses in the third dungeon, is named Sunflow in Japanese (which makes more sense, since it fights alongside a boss named Moonflow.)
53	* SwordBeam: One item allows Ark to shoot lightning from his sword until he's hit.
54	* {{Technobabble}}: The intro scene consists of Jester and some guy in an underground facility spewing incomprehensible {{Technobabble}} at each other before any of it is defined. Majesty? Plug? Base? Singularity? What the hell are you even talking about!? [[spoiler: The best part is that the scene is about the overall CIMA invasion and the efforts to combat it, when the rest of the game is only about rescuing a handful of settlers.]]
55	* TookALevelInBadass: Rick eventually gets over his cowardice just in time to rescue Diana from a CIMA attack.
56	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The party is frequently separated, forcing the player to guide the separated characters to a rendezvous point, and then take control of Ark and the remaining party as they get there as well.
57	* WeaponsOfTheirTrade: Doug's weapon of choice is his blacksmith hammer.
58	* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: A party-wide example. If even one character's HP hits 0, it's game over.
59	* WelcomeToCorneria: Parodied in the fourth dungeon, which contains a stock RPG town full of [[YouALLLookFamiliar identical NPCs]] that only say one line apiece, making conversation useless.
60	* WhatTheHellHero: Vanrose is ''not'' happy with Ark and Ivy leaving Jester behind to fight Pike (even though he ordered them too) and the revelation causes the entire party to lose trust in them.
61	* VitriolicBestBuds: Ark and Ivy once the rescue mission starts.
62	** Elvira and Genox for a villainous example.
63	* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: Each settler has a trust meter that goes up and down either because of plot reasons or because the player protected them from an enemy (or conversely, let them get hit.) Settlers that don't trust Ark and Ivy (denoted by a negative trust score) aren't able to craft items for them.

Context VideoGame / CIMATheEnemy