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Rodea: The Sky Soldier (Tenkuu no Kishi Rodeanote  in its original Wii incarnation) is a "Flying Adventure game" for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS by Kadokawa Games and Prope, designed by Yuji Naka of Sonic the Hedgehog and NiGHTS into Dreams… fame, released on April 2nd, 2015 in Japan, November 10th, 2015 in the US, and November 13th, 2015 in Europe. The game's main gimmick is the protagonist's ability to fly, which is used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

Once upon a time there existed two countries: Naga, the terrestrial machine empire, and Garuda, a floating kingdom in the sky. Thanks to their advanced technology, the Naga Empire thrives. Seeking the power contained in crystallized Graviton energy, Naga gazes skyward at the neighboring kingdom of Garuda and launches a full-scale invasion.

Princess Cecilia, the daughter of Emperor Geardo, ruler of Naga, attempts to flee to Garuda alongside her robot bodyguard, Rodea. Trapped by her pursuers, she entrusts Rodea with half of the Key of Time, an artifact that is integral to the success of Naga's invasion. Using the remaining half of the Key's power, she teleports Rodea to Garuda, depriving Naga of the intact Key of Time, thereby preventing the earthbound aggressor from successfully carrying out its invasion.

Since then, 1,000 years have passed and Garuda's citizens regard Naga's failed invasion, as well as the Naga Empire itself, as little more than a footnote in the pages of history. At a small village in Garuda, a young woman named Ion lives a peaceful life with her grandfather, where she spends her days tinkering with machines and inventing all sorts of odd gadgets. One day, Ion is surveying an ancient ruin when she discovers a deactivated, broken robot — Rodea. Though Ion repairs the damage to Rodea's body, the damage to Rodea's memories is too extensive. He remembers next to nothing about his past, save for his mission to save Garuda, and the face of a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Ion.

The game was initially thought to be Vapor Ware until an announcement in November 2014 revealed the game was slated to be released in Spring 2015. NIS America announced that they would localize the game for English release in North America and Europe during Fall 2015. First print editions of the game had the original Wii version packaged in America, Japan and Europe.

The official English trailer can be found here. The old version of the trailer can be found here.


Rodea: The Sky Soldier provides examples of:

  • Artificial Limbs: The main character has a Clock Punk right upper arm which Ion made for him.
  • Big Brother Mentor: The artbook mentions Rodea being this for Kelvis. He actually kinda is her big brother by being made first and being in the same line.
  • Black Dude Dies First: While not directly black, Orthos is the first of the R-line robots to be destroyed by Rodea. Rodea openly regrets this right afterwards remembering their once strong friendship. Orthos tells Rodea that he was always jealous of his special name given by the princess. For some reason Rodea keeps this to himself rather than asking Ion to fix him, hurting himself further.
  • Bonus Stage: doors that lead to them are shattered around the levels, usually there's a medal at the end.
  • Chatterbox: you can increase or decrease how much Ion is going to talk to you in the options in the Wii U version. So while it can be a bit nice to have her talking to you if you're lonely can it get annoying when you die and she starts from the beginning again.
  • Clock Punk: In elements.
    • The Chronos Towers depict turning gears and are inhabited by the Guardians of Time.
    • The Key of Time is literally turned like a key-in-latch to unlock Rodea's time portal function.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Sonia, which gets exploited by one of the villains. Also Ion, to a lesser extent.
  • Cyberpunk: The Naga Empire's main base at 1,000 years ago.
  • Cyberspace: You'll travel through a couple of these on the way to the final boss.
  • Deceptively Human Robots: Rodea in the Japanese Wii version where he speaks pretty metallic. In the Wii U version however, not so much.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: The flight mechanics in the Wii version. Unlike the Wii U and 3DS version, Rodea can not hover above the ground in one spot, although in both versions, he must lock on to something in range in order to fly.note  However, also unlike the Wii U and 3DS version, there's no flight meter, so if skilled enough, one could go an entire level without ever touching the ground.
  • Disney Death: Cecilia, although this is only confirmed in the Wii U version.
  • Doting Grandparent: Ion's grandfather Asimov became very protective of Ion after his wife died.
  • Embedded Precursor: Physical version. Pre-orders and first-run copies of the Wii U game come with a copy of the original Wii version.
  • Expy:
    • Cecilia is similar to Maria in some ways. Otherwise, she's more like Tikal.
    • Amnesiac Rodea in turn is really similar to Shadow in his own game mixed in with some of both Sonic and Silver.
    • Ion is like a mix of Tails and Amy without being a Stalker with a Crush. Also a bit like a much milder Pascal.
    • Geardo: is quite a bit like Eggman (as well as Tikal's father), trying to use robots to take over the world, despite his daughter's strong diagreement with his plans.
  • Facial Markings: The R-line robots usually got this.
  • Fake Difficulty: In the Wii version, expect to go through the Final Boss a dozen times before beating it due to the fact that Rodea can't just fly anywhere he wants, has limited flight range, can't stop in mid flight, and (unlike in the Wii U version) has to start the final boss fight over from the first phase if he loses a life...
  • Fake Longevity: Applies to both versions. For those trying to get 100% Completion, expect to take a really long time getting all the medals, and (in the Wii U version) fully upgrading Rodea, as well as fully decorating the room Ion and for a while, Sonia is innote , since 1)There's no radar in the Wii version, 2)In order to get the parts you need in the Wii U version, you have to clear the stages you get them in order to actually get them, and 3)Not all of the medals are immediately available to collect in the Wii U version. This also applies to getting all of the unlockables in the Wii U version.
  • Genki Girl: Ion is really cheerful and energetic.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Kelvis' horn-things look like pigtails.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Rodea did this in the beginning of the game.
  • Hime Cut: Sonia got her unique version of this.
  • Horned Humanoid: Rodea and the other robots in the R-line has some horn-things.
  • Identical Stranger: Both the game and art book are quick to mention that Ion has the same face as Cecilia (Rodea however doesn't). You probably wouldn't give it much thought at first thinking there's Only Six Faces.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Amnesiac Rodea, it's mostly a cover.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Amnesiac Rodea is this, much to Ion's dismay.
  • Ludd Was Right: The population of Garuda fears this and because of that stays away from machines in general.
  • The Men in Black: Valghis and Geardo.
  • Meaningful Name: Rodea was given his name from the princess, Ro from his serial number R0 and dea from dear.
  • Mood Whiplash: Rodea himself does this in the Japanese version, and goes from his Shadowy amnesiac self to his upbeat and cheerful previous self when one first visits the status screen in the Wii U version.
  • Mr. Exposition: Rodea himself in the prologue, then Ion becomes Ms. Exposition in chapter 1.
  • Raised by Grandparents: Ion was according to the artbook.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: Rodea and the other R-types. Despite this, they are quickly indentified implying that they're Deceptively Human Robots In-Universe.
  • Snark-to-Snark Combat: Rodea and Ion does this often, it ends up with him saying 'huh', or her saying 'probably' or threatning to turn him into scrap metal.
  • The Stinger: After the credits, Rodea awakens in front of Ion, and the two embrace.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ion and Cecilia respectively.
  • Video Game Flight: Unlimited flight in the Wii version, not so much in the Wii U version.

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