Video Game / Opoona

Welcome to Landroll.

An Eastern RPG, developed by Arte Piazza and published by Koei for the Nintendo Wii in 2008. Touted as a "Lifestyle RPG", Opoona follows the titular character, whose family is traveling to the planet Landroll for a vacation. However they are attacked en-route by an unknown force. Their ship is destroyed, and the family scattered across the planet Landroll. When he awakens, Opoona is informed that his parents are hospitalized, and will require extensive matia to heal. The currency of the planet, matia also can be used for powerful healing magic. And so Opoona decides to work on Landroll to make enough money to heal his parents.

As a Tizian, the galaxy's strongest warrior species, Opoona is naturally suited to the Landroll Rangers, a group whose duty is to fight against Rogues, strange creatures from the dark side of the planet. Landroll is an unusual planet in that it has no night and day cycle. An impact in the past left half in constant light, and half in perpetual darkness. And it's from this side that the Rogues come. And so, as both a ranger and many secondary jobs, Opoona begins his work on Landroll.

The battle system is turn-based in design, but plays out in real time. Each attack decreases the user's energy, which has a maximum of 100, and they must then wait until it refills to attack again. The energy bon bon is thrown using the control stick, allowing the curve and force of the throw to be aimed. The longer it's held, the stronger and faster the throw, but also the longer it takes to refill the users energy. Each fight has a time limit of about 2 minutes, with longer limits for bosses, after which time the battle will end. This is said to be due to the unusual energy system which the Tizians use in battle.

One of the game's most striking features is how much attention has been paid to the setting. Each of the many domes which make up Landroll's civilization are vast and unique, with a distinct niche in the Landroll economy. The game also contains dozens of hidden pieces of artwork, including paintings and sculptures, in a range of styles. The game includes details on the history of each piece and its creator, many by the same artists, as well as the various movements which led to their creation. As well as many shows which can be watched via the Net TV. They include a wide-range of programs which vary by region. The game truly lives up to its description, creating a rich and immersive society to discover. Basically, plenty of Narrative Filigree abound.

Outside of this game, Opoona himself has also appeared as a playable character in Warriors All-Stars.

This game provides examples of:

• All Your Powers Combined: In the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, your chosen Partizens use the Cocoons to open the way to the bosses, as well as sending part of their energy to the heroes. The stat increases are based on their personal skills, depending on who you picked.
• Always Someone Better: Early on, Opoona learns that Poleena is also training as a ranger, and is already one star ahead of him. They lied.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: After Sanctuary, you take control of Poleena for a while.
• Anime Hair: Some of the Landrollians have really ridiculous hairstyles, like fountain-shaped ponytails and giant, six-inch hair spikes.
• Anti-Villain: Captain Goldy serves the villains willingly, but intends to redeem them himself. When he finds this is impossible, he humbly requests Opoona defeat them.
• Apocalypse How: Landfall was hit with a Class 0 over half the planet in the past, with The Corruption soon following.

• Berserker Rage: The Battle Monger Coat, which is your reward for one Collection Sidequest. Does lots of damage, but the character runs on auto.

• Bizarre Alien Biology: Tizians are born with their bonbons, some in place of legs! The latter actually signifies particular holy power. The games time limit also signifies how long they can make use of their combat energies, with a special boost when fighting a Worthy Opponent.

• Boss in Mook Clothing:
  • The Salamander, which appears in the Bonus Dungeon. In a game where 200 is a generally decent amount of HP for a late-game enemy, and 300 is downright chunky, this baddie (which you can fight about halfway through the game, as a random encounter) has 1400 HP, does obscene amounts of damage, can attack your whole party, and often appears on-screen with bombs (which, if accidentally struck, will knock off most of your HP if not all). As if to prove a point, it's the last monster listed in your Rogue Book.
  • The Shredder in the ruins, though it's exceedinly rare—enough so that you probably won't even see it on your first trip through, and your only hint that it's there comes much later in the game (at a point when you can beat it easily).
  • The White Monk in the Meditation Tower, which has HP comparable to Salamander without the bombs. As if to prove its point, it has as one of its rare drops an item which is otherwise only obtained through a lengthy Collection Sidequest.
  • The Apocalypse II, which makes itself a nuisance not by having lots of HP, but by having ludicrous defense, and by having singular attacks which do more damage than the final boss. Again, very rare and occurs in only one room. If you're not prepared, encountering just one can be a death sentence. It's possible to fight two at once. Better get ready to spam Armagebbon!
  • You will also rarely encounter enemies in some areas who are much stronger than others, though it's rare.

• Bragging Rights Reward: Getting Ine to be your friend. (S)He will only befriend you if you become a famous ukelele musician; a task that takes more than fifty in-game days to complete. But there's really nothing special about him/her.
  • There's also the secret celebrity room in Lifeborn, which you can only access if you reach a truly staggering Fame stat. The only thing you can get there is a special license, and the only thing that does is prove that you have a lot of cash to burn. It does count towards 100% completion of your licenses, but that's about it.
• Broken Bridge: Everything on Landroll is based around licenses, requiring you to raise your ranking to progress through the domes. Though unlike most examples of the trope this isn't coincidence, it's simply how the society works.
• Cain and Abel: Aizel and Shagla. When the time to determine the planet's leader came, the two brothers meditated in the Tower. Aizel was chosen, and Shagla was cast out, touched and consumed by darkness. Because Aizel put them there, and he's been manipulated by Babuscha, who's manipulated by the Dark Bonbon.

• Chekhov's Gunman: During your first day on Landroll^note technically your third, but you spent the first two in a coma, you meet a girl named Chaika and two odd-looking men, who complain about "not being allowed into the dome" due to being outsiders. Chaika ends up being plot-important much later, as pretty much the only other person on Landroll to multitask as much as Opoona does. And the two men are from a secret outlaw town way out in the wilderness, who end up getting wrapped up in Poleena's portion of the plot.
• Convenient Coma: Your first gameplay day is technically "Day 3;" the first two are spent comatose. And Poleena is in one for however long it takes you to reach Sanctuary + 30 days.

• The Dark Side: Some use Dark Energy this way, however unlike most examples it doesn't take no for an answer. And will quickly become The Corruption instead.
• Degraded Boss: Two versions. One early boss, Flamehead, pops up in numerous fights later in Intelligent Sea. Also, many monsters appear early on as "supporters" to another boss (like the Moon Witch), then pop up later as regular enemies.
• Domed Hometown: The cities are all beneath domes in order to keep the monsters out. They're even usually referred to as just "domes."

• Elemental Embodiment: The four elemental spirits, which you rescue on your journey. They appear in battle, and you can hit them when they glow to make them cast helpful spells.
• Elemental Powers: Besides spells that are organized into elements, there are also the elemental spirits. After proving your strength to them, they will begin to show up to help you with their spells during battle.
• Fantastic Caste System: Everyone is given a job suiting to them in childhood. However they have quite a bit of say in the decision, and can take on secondary classes if they like. Played more straight with Sages, who are only allowed to hold a single job, as they work as both healers and government officials. Also those who were born outside the domes, or exiled, are not allowed in.

• Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Fire, Ice, and Thunder Coats, which also have upgrades in the Solar Coat, Frozen Coat, and Plasma Coat. There's also elementals known as the Fire Hair, Plasma Hair, and Ice Hair.
• Fishing Minigame: A very simple one which uses the battle engine, however instead of a bonbon you use special bait, which also determines your hp.

• Giant Mook: Golems, which don't even fit on the screen all the way. Even in the Rogue Book, they go outside the boundaries!
  • And later in the game, the absolutely enormous Mega Puchila.
• Gotta Catch Them All: The seven lost puppies. Not to mention all the artwork, optional licenses, secret passwords, Net TV shows, components for the best bon bon upgrades... the game likes this trope.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Big Bad is an Artifact of Doom and the sages under The Corruption. Said artifact was created by The Dark Emperor, who never appears in the game proper.
• Green Rocks: Matia is both currency, and a material used in healing magic.

• Guide Dang It!: Due to the lackluster translation, some clues are less then obvious, or outright wrong. Unfortunately walkthroughs are equally hard to come by.
• Gilded Cage: Paradiso can be this if Aizel considers you a threat. If not, it probably is a genuinely nice place to live, but the Virtual Machines ensure that few people really work up the werewithal to leave.
• Herd-Hitting Attack: Armagebbon targets a single enemy, but can smash those around it if they're close. Copoona also has a number of spells that can target a specific "level" of enemy (On the ground/in the air/way high up), and the Plasma Coat shoots electric tentdrils that zap enemies close to those it hits.
• Human Aliens: Possibly. One NPC, Yukiha, calls herself a "Violetian" and implies she's not from Landroll. She also has unusually purple hair and eyes. But it's not clear if she's an alien species, or part of a very, very purple ethnic minority.
• Idol Singer: Numerous ones. One of them, Mimi, you can befriend, but there are idols in other professions, too (including an idol advertiser).
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • Tizians make use of "Energy Bon Bons", spheres which aid in both attack and magic. They even can be used as a Crystal Ball!
  • Most Rangers use Gunblades.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Completing the Tyrant sidequest gives you the offensive I+1 core, the Battle Core. It straight-up gives you a 15-point offense increase (whereas most other cores increase the stats which increase your offense through a complicated series of formulas). Completing the Diamond sidequest, meanwhile, gives you the Defense Core, which provides the same bonus to defense.
• In-Game TV: Your OMP contains one. Depending on where in the world you are, you can catch different TV shows. Not all are in intuitive locations.
• Inventory Management Puzzle: Your OMP has an infinite carrying capacity (or rather, it can hold up to 99 of every item in the game). However, each of the main characters has a personal battle inventory that limits what they can take into battle, be it healing items or alternate equipment. In addition, the battle inventories don't stack, so if you want to bring 5 of the same healing item into battle with you, that's 5 spaces less you'll have for other things.
• Irrelevant Sidequest: Played with, as the vast majority of sidequests are actually justified by you taking on a new potential job in-game, with license level-ups representing you getting a promotion in that job. Some of them are still completely out-of-the-blue, though.

• Killer Rabbit: The Tizians are all adorable creatures resembling Playmobile figures. They're also the toughest warrior race in the universe, and serve as a sort of galactic police force. There's also a more literal example near the end of the game, though he's under mind control.

• Loveable Rogue: The legendary pirate Tyrant, is said to be the only one to have survived facing the Rogues in their own territory. At least according to the stories. He actually was the monster which killed the crew and stole their ship.
• Mana Drain: Available as a power to both Copoona and Poleena. Opoona misses out, though he has the most expensive skill you'll probably use regularly (Final Armagebbon).
• Magic Is Rare, Health Is Cheap: Angel Dice and Force Carpets can only be gotten with shop points. Also, very few enemies actually have FP for Copoona and Poleena's Mana Drain skill to steal from. However, you can buy healing items even in the middle of dungeons.
• Menu Time Lockout: Averted in battles—your timer will still tick down and enemies will still attack you while you look through menus. Be speedy about it! You can, however, still perform an instant equipment change if you put equipment into each character's personal inventory.
• Metal Slime: The Star Human is a textbook example. It has super-high defense and evasion, so not only does it take very little damage, you can't even hit it half the time. It's prone to fleeing. If you can kill it (no small feat), it drops tons of EXP, cash, and even has a chance of dropping an exclusive item.

• Mundane Utility: Besides battle, Opoona's energy bon bon can be used as a crystal ball for simple fortune telling. Likewise the hoverboard can be equipped with a nozzle to sweep.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Subverted by Tyrant, who is a legendary pirate that dared to take on the Rogues in their own territory. Double-Subverted when it's revealed he's a horrible monster.

• Optional Boss:
  • Tyrant can be fought surprisingly early on for an optional boss. You have to fight a series of enemies over the course of several days in one off-the-beaten-path location in order to face him. He also drops the game's Infinity +1 Sword when beaten. You actually have to beat him if you want maximum friendship with Mishell.
  • The Beehives are this crossed with Boss in Mook Clothing in that they're all optional to fight. When you encounter the first of them, a Ranger even specifically warns you not to mess with it until you're much stronger. However, taking it on and winning rewards you with the excellent Honey item. Poleena's jaunt through the game is FULL of beehives, which not only help boost her stats, but provide valuable healing as well.

• Permanently Missable Content: Not many, but there are a few.
  • There is a couple of art pieces in the Artiela museum that will get replaced if you don't view them soon after you get there, meaning you can't complete your Catalogue d'Arts.
  • Masao's Statue. If you befriend the alien Masao, he will give you a statue of himself. Its description tells you that "alien arts are valuable on Landroll," and you can sell it for a hefty hunk of change... But then you'll miss out on befriending Ine (another member of Masao's species), and you'll miss out on an essential item to get Masao as one of your Partizans.
• Playable Epilogue: The ending sequence has you flying home to Tizia in your repaired ship, but Roidman suggests you save your game first. Loading the save you make there puts you back in Sanctuary, and you're free to do whatever you like from then until eternity. Indeed, there are some things (like maxing out your friendship with your Partizans) that can only be done post-credits.
• Player Headquarters: You eventually receive an apartment in Lifeborn, which not only provides your main place to sleep, but also your home for your pets. However, you can get apartments/houses in just about every city you visit. Only the Lifeborn one is furnished in Opoona's trademark colors, though.
• Plot Tunnel: After Sanctuary, you go on a long, strange trip with Poleena as your main character, and can't roam free again until you've rescued your brothers.
• Projected Man: Serge. For the most part, he looks like an ordinary NPC, but he shorts out a few times during the Intelligent Sea parts of the story.

• Rainbow Pimp Gear: All the stuff you equip to your Bonbon? It shows. So your Bonbon could be a giant sparkling mace encircled by a UFO, leaves, and half-covered by a riveted metal base—awesome stats, ludicrous appearance.
• Random Effect Spell: The Random Hearts equipment, which adds random effects to your attacks.
• Randomly Drops:

• There are also some enemies which are just plain rare to begin with, but you need to fight them for 100% Completion, too.

• Released to Elsewhere: Originally the stories about Paradiso were true, however in recent times most four-stars have instead served as Human Resources for the Dark Bon Bon.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Sand Weasels. Not to mention all the puppies, some rogues, and of course the heroes themselves.
• The Rival: Ted, initially, though he ends up being a deconstruction: All his bragging is because he's an ill boy who wants to feel like he's doing something cool.
• Scenery Porn: The game is chock-full very pretty areas, often with unique textures or constructions in just about every room; even the unimportant ceilings of most indoor areas are a treat to behold, and rarely duplicated. Of special note are the dozens of detailed pieces of artwork and sculpture, one of which is many stories tall and must be seen with an elevator!
• Shout-Out:
  • There are enemies called Radio Ga-Ga, and Killer Screen, named of course after Queen songs 'Killer Queen' and, well, 'Radio Gaga'.
  • An NPC in Tokione is prevented from ever leaving the skypod terminal, even to return home, being screwed over by a catch-22 of laws about entering countries. Is this sounds at all similar to the plot of The Terminal, that's because it is.
  • One enemy is just outright named 'Twin Peaks'. Yes, it's name is plural despite being a singular entity with no additional heads or anything.
  • One NPC is an elderly woman who is known as a skilled detective, named 'Maple'. Similarities to Miss Marple are surely not coincidence.
  • When you collect all the pieces of the Sho-gi themed art exhibit, and display it at the museum at the museum, the completed piece is named 'Sho-Gi-Oh'.
• Shop Fodder:
  • When doing the vacuuming minigame, you can sometimes find Rainbow Gems. These can be sold as-is for a small hunk of change, but there's also an NPC who will pay differing amounts for them depending on the day. Sometimes they'll sell for lots of cash with her, but sometimes they'll be almost worthless.
  • The cheapest minigame in Artihella simply rewards you with Medals, small metal discs stamped with Artiella-related images. Ostentiably, the discs themselves are the reward, but the rarer ones sell for more. You can even find a secret NPC lurking about behind the stand who offers to exchange your worthless discs for actual money. (This being a sly workaround in Japan in Real Life for their gambling laws.)
• Shows Damage: Rogues get progressively more beat-up looking as you wail on them.
• Show Within a Show: In fact, your OMP has a built in online TV, which streams different shows depending on what area you're in. They include everything from dramas and sports, and even dance lessons. (Which you have to watch for a sidequest.)
• Silent Protagonist: Opoona is indeed one. As is Poleena, but only during her time as main character.

• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Believe it or not, an aversion. In addition to occassionally throwing an extra-strong enemy at you as a Boss in Mook Clothing, weak enemies will also sometimes pop up in later areas just because. "Wait, what are the Flameheads from all the way back in the second dungeon doing here, so late to the game?"

• Too Awesome to Use: Popcorn Shower. The only way to get one is by spending 1000 Shop Points (1 point = 100 MT, so it basically costs 100,000 MT), and it's one-use. It does about 800 damage to everything on the field, which is enough to wipe out pretty much everything short of a Salamander. But given its cost and given that most battles don't need that kind of firepower, when will you think to use it?
• Treacherous Advisor: Goldy, the commander who trained Opoona, as well as Crescent. Aizel and Babushca would be this to Copoona, though his interaction with them was all off camera.

• Unique Enemy: The Killer Screen is the only enemy in the game without a Palette Swap. Even most bosses have swaps, but the Screen doesn't.

• Useless Useful Spell: Averted; some of the support skills are actually genuinely useful, since even some random encounters can be quite tough. Particularly notable are the "shield" abilities, which reduce damage for a time (perfect for protecting Squishy Wizard Copoona against some of the more damaging attacks), and Milky Rain, which can stun all enemies (perfect for dealing with huge mobs of enemies, especially when bombs are around).

• Work Off the Debt: Interestingly, Landroll is based entirely around this principle. Everyone begins with a lifetime total known as your "quota". Once you've worked it off, you're free to live in an all expense payed resort for the rest of your life. The record is apparently three days and eighteen hours.

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