Line #58 VideoGame/StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stella_deus_3372.jpg]]
2	''Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity'' is an obscure Platform/PlayStation2 TurnBasedStrategy RolePlayingGame published by Creator/{{Atlus}} and developed by "Pinegrow Studios" (formerly known as "Maxfive"). The game is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/HoshigamiRuiningBlueEarth'': They were developed by the same people, use many of the same gameplay conceits and share a similar GreenAesop plot. The developers learned from ''Hoshigami'''s poor reception and averted that game's rather suicidal {{Nintendo Hard}}ness. Unfortunately, the result is almost Nintendo Easy... but hey, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, and the game has been lauded as a good "gateway episode" into Strategy [=RPGs=] for that very reason.
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4	The world of "Solum" has been engulfed by a corrosive mist called "Miasma", which threatens to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. High Priestess Lumena, leader of the setting's CorruptChurch, has begun to preach that the Miasma is god's will and everyone should just [[SuicidalPacifism lie down and wait to die]]. The Warlord Dignus has taken the opportunity to go AxCrazy and travel the world wreaking slaughter: anyone he meets who isn't willing to fight clearly deserves to die. And an alchemist, Viser, is trying to save the world using his inventions--though he keeps having to kill off benign wildlife called "Spirits" to do it. TheHero, Spero, is his apprentice, who believes that it should be possible to TakeAThirdOption (well, a fourth in this case) and save the world without causing any more harm. This takes more tangible form in the person of Linea, a "Shaman" who can commune with Spirits and claims that, if they can hunt down the "[[MacGuffin Gate of Eternity]]" and open it, more Spirits will come in and set everything right.
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6	Gameplay allows the player to deploy up to six characters for battle. There is no ClassAndLevelSystem in this game (well, technically there is, but it's so linear and non-interactive that it might as well not exist), but that's okay: the "Action Points" system, returning from ''VideoGame/HoshigamiRuiningBlueEarth'', makes up for it. Every action you could possibly commit takes up a certain amount of AP, and you can mix-and-match any way you want, as long as you've got enough AP remaining in your budget. This gives you enormous flexibility and depth in character disposition: Spero can burn off all his AP moving, or attack three times, or go a short distance and then attack a couple times, or even go a short distance, hit once and then retreat again. You can't overburn like you could in ''Hoshigami'', so watch out: if Spero runs too far forward, he might not be able to do anything else once he gets there. Finally, you can also choose to burn extra AP at the end of a turn, so as to seed the character into the who-goes-next turn queue at an opportune moment.
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8	The main gameplay gimmick was "Zone Effects" and their various uses. Each character would be surrounded by a configuration of yellow panels, which indicated their zone of influence, and could apply various effects to this zone; Spero's, for instance, increased all his allies' Dodge rates, while Dignus' inflicts various StatusEffects on his enemies. If two (or more) characters had a foe within their zones, they could initiate a CombinationAttack for extra damage; if those characters had plot significance with each other, they would throw an extra-special attack animation for even ''more'' extra damage. Unlike most gimmicks, the enemy can—and does—use this feature against you.
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10	The game was re-released on the Platform/PlayStationNetwork on September 5, 2013 for $9.99.
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12	!! This game provides examples of the following tropes:
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14	* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: You can level your characters up to lvl 99... which seems reasonable enough until you realize you don't need to be over 50 to finish the game. The point of 99 is to finish the optional BonusDungeon.
15	* AxCrazy: Dignus; Croire; Viper, to a ''much'' greater extent
16	%%* ApologeticAttacker: Lumena and Priere.
17	%%* ArtificialLimbs: Adara.
18	* AwesomeButImpractical: A number of spells in the game ''really'' veer in this direction. Enemy Croire Archer has a RainOfArrows mega-attack which can hit everyone in your party... But the attack drains one third of his MP. The attack only hits for about of you 25% HP (assuming your characters don't dodge it, which half of them will), and whose damage can be healed by much cheaper heal spells.
19	%%* BelligerentSexualTension: Grey and Adara ([[FanPreferredCouple or at least it can be read that way]].)
20	%%* BerserkButton: Adara's arm is a major sore point for her.
21	%%* BetaCouple: Avis and Lumena.
22	%%* {{BFS}}: Avis.
23	* CatGirl: Tia (just a girl wearing kitten jammies, from the looks of it).
24	* CorruptChurch: The Aeque, whose two branches either subscribe to SuicidalPacifism or are {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.
25	* CriticalEncumbranceFailure: Each character had a "Weight" stat, which impacted how many AP it took to travel one square, determined by [[SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness the modernity of their gear]] versus their current stats.
26	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Grey.
27	* DeathIsCheap: Played very straight. While there's no Revive spell, there is no permanent penalty whatsoever to losing a character in battle, besides a small drop in their LUCK stat. Keep in mind that this is a game by the team that made ''VideoGame/HoshigamiRuiningBlueEarth'', wherein ''every'' death was either a {{Permadeath}} or an immediate GameOver.
28	* DeathRay: Golems have these.
29	* DeathSeeker: The apparent philosophy of the Aeque, who just want "a peaceful end". (The Nox, on the other hand, interpret the state of the world as "[[GaiasVengeance God is angry at humanity]]" and have become {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.)
30	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Jade, Echidna and Viser for the good guys; in a rare works-for-the-bad-guys example, Croire to Dignus.
31	* DoomedHometown: Spero's hometown and Avis' home ''nation''. You manage to ''prevent'' Linea's hometown from one of these.
32	* EscortMission: Any mission where Tia is a GuestStarPartyMember has an element of this: If she dies, she's [[PermanentlyMissableContent gone]]. Fortunately, she's quite the fighter to begin with. Unfortunately, one of these missions has her as an enemy...
33	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Arrows can shoot around corners and through obstacles as long as the target is in range.
34	* ItemCrafting: The "Fusion" system allows access to a lot of things, including a ''large'' quantity of weapons and armor that aren't available any other way.
35	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Spero even [[DualWielding dual-wields]] them. Echidna uses them too.
36	* LevelGrind: made easy by training facilities, the "Catacomb of Trials", accessible from any town.
37	* LuckBasedMission: Getting Jade's ultimate weapon requires winning several hands of cards in a row at the MinigameZone.
38	* OminousPipeOrgan: The battle with [[spoiler: Viser]] and [[spoiler: Nebula]] takes place on one of these.
39	* PlayerMooks: One each for all of the named characters you see here. While it's fun to collect them all, once you get your sixth named character after Battle 10, you'll basically never use them again.
40	%%* PluckyGirl: Linea.
41	* PowerFist: Tia; Adara, to a lesser extent, whose combat animation is just smacking people with her metal arm.
42	%%* PsychoForHire: Viper
43	%%* RandomEncounters: Averted.
44	%%* RealMenWearPink: That ultra-Golem...
45	%%* SceneryPorn
46	* SpritePolygonMix: As was typical for [=SRPGs=] of TheNoughties, 3D-rendered backgrounds were topped with 2D sprites. The sprites themselves were of superb quality, and reviews frequently mention them as a highlight.
47	* SquishyWizard: Averted; physical attacks are a perfectly respectable combat option for Adara, Prier and Lumena.
48	* SuicidalPacifism: The Aeque teach that everyone should just accept that the mist is going to consume everything. While previous attempts to save the world haven't gone very well, this results in ApatheticCitizens who not only won't help you at all, but will actively ''obstruct'' your every move.
49	* TheStoic: Gallant is typically presented as unemotional and distant.
50	* {{Stripperiffic}}: High Priestess Lumena's costume consists of an unbelted robe over... [[http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-06/sd-lumena.html a one-piece swimsuit]]?
51	* UnSoundEffect: Most characters have footstep sound effects when they walk. Lumena has this godawful * WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP!* noise.
52	%%* VerbalTic: Tia. "Nya?"
53	* WakeUpCallBoss: Viper, the AxCrazy LargeHam. He has a Zone Effect around him that makes it impossible for you to attack him, and he can two-hit-KO your characters. The problem is that he's seen in only the fourth battle of the game, by which point you've only been playing for a couple of hours... and, in the days before ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', this kind of thing was frowned upon.
54	%%* WalkingShirtlessScene: Avis.
55	* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Spero. Keep in mind that a large-enough Team Attack can be a OneHitKill.
56	* WhipOfDominance: BigBad [[spoiler: Nebula]] is a whip-wielding villainess who wears a {{Stripperiffic}} leather outfit and is a MisanthropeSupreme with a cruel and imposing personality, often demeaning and insulting everyone around her. She tells others to submit to her when she lashes at them with her whip, and her special attacks animation has her tightening the whip in an intimidating fashion.
57	%%* YouKilledMyFather: Echidna to Spero. (Also has Spero's dad's SwordOfPlotAdvancement.)
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Context VideoGame / StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity