Weltorv Estleia

## Description

_Weltorv Estleia_ is a non-linear role-playing game set in a medieval fantasy
world with its own mythical history and lore. The background story involves a
battle between seven legendary warriors, led by the young magician Ten,
against an evil dragon. The player assumes the role of a nameless adventurer,
male or female, who ventures to the city of Farbell. There, he or she is
instructed to join the the Adventurers Guild, and eventually becomes involved
in the grand struggle against dark forces threatening Estleia.

In the beginning of the game the player has to create a customized character,
modifying his or her age, hair color, clothes, height, and weight. Character
class can not be assigned, but the player character can eventually specialize
as either a monk, a magician, or a thief, by completing missions for the
respective guilds. The protagonist has three main attributes – spirit,
technique, and vitality, which can be manually increased whenever he or she
levels up. Other attributes include various aspects of physical preparation
and conditions, which act as requirements for equipping weapons and armor.
Experience points in the game are awarded for defeating enemies as well as for
completing quests.

Despite its Japanese origins, _Weltorv Estleia_ is a free-form RPG that is
closer to Western templates. The game’s world consists of interconnected areas
and contains several towns, wilderness areas, and dungeons. The player is free
to explore the game world and undertake any quests from the onset. The game’s
scenario system allows players to pursue as many quests as they wish at the
same time. By interacting with the various non-player characters, the player
gets key words or key phrases indicating details and giving clues about the
currently selected active scenario. The scenarios will then trigger when the
player, having followed the clues, reaches the scenario point. By fulfilling
the requirements for each scenario, the player progresses through the game.
There are over a hundred scenarios, ranging in length and difficulty,
sometimes having different possible outcomes.

Interaction with NPCs also allows the player to express emotions by having the
player character smile, cry, or become angry. These emotional responses during
conversations may influence the way NPCs react to the hero. The player can
also have the main character draw his weapon at any time.

Combat in the game is turn-based. Battles are fairly sporadic and occur either
in a scripted manner, dictated by the scenario, or by approaching hostile
creatures that may be encountered in the wilderness. The player navigates the
main character on the battle screen in a tactical fashion, attacking enemies
when they are within the range of the equipped weapon. Over the course of the
game, several characters may join the hero’s party, usually as a possible
scenario outcome. These characters are controlled by the AI during combat.

The game’s outdoor areas (including towns), dungeons, as well as all the
characters and enemies, are rendered in 3D. Only smaller indoor locations such
as shops, guilds, bars, people’s houses, etc., are presented as pre-rendered
backgrounds. There are no character portraits and the game generally eschews
anime-style aesthetics usually associated with RPGs of Japanese origin.

Weltorv Estleia