Welcome to the Pyro Enterprises Fantendo 10th Anniversary Showcase.
Now, I've been here for over six years now- over half the existence of this site, I have been a fixture in the community. How? Partially because I found it fun, and partially because of the lovely community here.
All of you are amazing in your own way. I love you all.
So special thanks to the Fantendo community for being so amazing!
But I know what you guys are here for... games. And so the games shall commence.
Once again, I welcome you to our showcase. Be prepared.
Day 1: Sunset Maiden, Fire Emblem: Demise, Pokémon Anima 1[]
I spent my childhood in this paradise... No, this prison. The only thing I remember is that I wanted to leave every waking moment I was there... And eventually, I did. I was the only person to escape Palacio de Sol, and I was the only person who ever wanted to leave it.
And now, years later, I'm back. I don't know what demon possessed me to do it, but I can safely say I'm glad to see it abandoned and in ruins. Now all that's left to do...
Is end it's legacy once and for all.
I have recently rediscovered my love for the genre commonly referred to as "Metroidvania", named after the two largest classic contributors to the genre: Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of The Night. Turns out I had secretly played many of these as a child, including Wario: Master of Disguise and Monster Tale, two games very near and dear to my heart... I just didn't know what genre to actually call them until recently. With my falling in love with the modern indie title Hollow Knight, however, I decided it was finally time to revisit the long-lost game I had planned- City of the Sands- and make my own Metroidvania game.
This is Malya. Born into the paradise city of Palacio de Sol, she once longed to escape what she saw as a nightmare, eventually succeeding and venturing out into the world. Now an adult, she is drawn back to the place where she was born and raised through some mysterious force, and she finds the city abandoned and lost to nature. That's all the story you're getting at first glance; Sunset Maiden's story unfolds as you explore, and players are encouraged to fill in the blanks on their own.
In terms of gameplay, Sunset Maiden is a seemingly standard Metroidvania on the surface, but its finer nuances begin to show as the game progresses via emergent gameplay. The core genre gameplay is the primary focus; you, as Malya, explore the massive ruins of Palacio de Sol, finding items, beating bosses, and meeting friends and foes as you unravel the story. However, one of the largest changes to gameplay comes in the form of the game's real-time clock. At first, this seems to only impact the schedules of some non-stationary NPCs: they will change their location and activity depending on the time of day or night.
At sunset, however, things change more drastically, with something stirring within the mutated creatures of the city and Malya herself. While the monsters get stronger (and subsequently drop superior materials and items), Malya herself is infused with a mysterious energy during sunset, changing her into some sort of angelic warrior with enhanced abilities. Why this happens is not explained at first- the player will have to discover the cause behind her change for themselves. This super form essentially turns the sunset period into a very combat-heavy section; Malya becomes far greater at combat, but less adept at exploration, as her items are replaced with strange, eldritch weapons only vaguely resembling the originals. Sunset also allows the ghosts of the departed to briefly appear... Allowing Malya's super form to challenge previously defeated bosses over and over for more rewards.
The game does not hold your hand, and very little is outright explained; the player will have to discover many things for themselves. Players will have to figure out the uses of all their items, with only a short hint giving them clues as to how they might be used. The cooking system, directly inspired by the hit Switch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, doesn't tell you what the results of your meal will be until after you've put everything in. Even the story isn't handholdy- players will most likely make up more of the plot than the game explains.
And I hope that's appealing to you in the audience.
Sunset Maiden will be launching soon. We hope you are all as prepared as we are for Malya's- and your- adventure to begin.
Yeah, something about two gods fighting and a continent divided between the two. Eventually, two legendary heroes reunited the nation under the name of Valentia... But that's ancient history now.
Correct, Caelan. Nations rise and nations fall, and nothing escapes that ebbing tide of time. De'Mila now stands over the nation that was once Valentia, a proud nation all its own. It's entirely possible that Aldari and Rhajanif stand atop once proud nations as well...
Eilida, what's with the philosophy all of a sudden?
Because that tide might be about to sweep us up too.
Ah, Fire Emblem. Once I knew it only from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where my siblings and I mocked Marth and called him a girly girl while saying that Ike was a really cool dude. Then I bought Fire Emblem: Awakening on a whim, and all three of us fell in love instantly, them probably more than me. Thanks to that, I'd argue almost my entire family has a special bond with Fire Emblem (especially my sister, who had Awakening as the first game she had ever actually ever beaten and gotten emotionally attached to).
So now, it's my turn.
Fire Emblem: Demise goes closer to Awakening than Fates, keeping the player avatar (named Caelan in this game) farther out of the main story and focusing more on other characters, though it also utilizes gameplay changes made in Fates, such as the revamped weapons triangle, an option in file setup to disable weapon durability, the castle hub system, and more.
The plot of Demise focuses around the nations of Aldari and De'Mila, two long-standing allies in a largely peaceful world. However, a mysterious plague falls over Aldari's neighboring nation of Rhajanif, killing thousands in one fell swoop; meanwhile, a revolutionary faction forms in De'Mila, claiming to desire a country where their lives are not ruled over by those claiming to hold the blood of dragons, a claim they find preposterous and stupid. Caelan, as advisor and childhood friend to the queen of Aldari, Eilida, ventures along with her and a group of brave souls on a voyage to De'Mila, curious as to the cause of their ally's strife and hoping to calm the rebellion peacefully.
It's Fire Emblem. It won't.
As said before, Demise utilizes many gameplay mechanics from Awakening and Fates, but that's not to say that it doesn't have some unique ideas of its own. Verticality has become a major component to battle; many maps inside buildings or in environments with natural cave or tunnel systems, a layering system has been established, essentially putting multiple maps into one area and layering them atop one another.
There are also two new very important modes I would like to showcase: Dueling Empires and Dreamscape. Dueling Empires is a two-player versus mode, in which two players utilize their armies and might to battle each other, proving who is the greatest commander on the battle field. Dreamscape, on the other hand, is more akin to a New Game Plus... but with the characters, classes, promotion trees, skills, and even more scrambled up. Inspired by various Fire Emblem randomizer mods, Dreamscape is a randomized experience where no playthrough is the same, and you can make stories out of the randomized units and their... altered dialogue.
Fire Emblem: Demise is coming soon. Prepare your steel and set out for battle!
Gladly. Y'see, our first known contact with Z-Power comes from the guardians of the Alola region... The four legendary Pokémon we call the Tapus. In ancient times, they used to have wars between themselves to see who was the strongest among them, and used big bodies made out of a weird energy to fight with... And now we know that they were made out of pure Z-Power! My work in Pokémon moves has lead me to find these forms in the Z-Move we now call "Guardian of Alola", but as for the origin point of the stuff, I sadly can't help you there...
Correct, Professor. I'm happy to say we've pinpointed the origin of Z-Power: the life force of the planet itself.
Wait, what! Really?
Indeed. A Pokémon borrows Z-Power from the planet's life source when assisted by a trainer, infuses that energy into a Z-Move, then releases it all out in an augmented blast, returning 100% of the Z-Power back to the planet. It's eternally sustainable... Unlike Infinity Energy.
Angela, do you have any idea what Infinity Energy is?
Well, Professor Mesquite, while Z-Power is 100 percent natural energy, Infinity Energy is formed out of pure entrophy... It forms from the souls of human and Pokémon alike. It's an unnatural force, responsible for the phenomenon known as Mega Evolution, where a Pokémon unlocks its natural bonds and ascends to a new level of power. However, as the adults among us may know, the use of Mega Evolution was banned across the planet due to its... health concerns. The Infinity Energy was too powerful for any normal Pokémon to contain, and it caused them pain and suffering beyond measure... In hindsight, considering this energy powered a superweapon powerful enough to threaten the planet, we should have decided to not tamper with it. But that got me thinking... What if we could harness the power of Mega Evolution through Z-Power instead of Infinity Energy?
Day 2: Infinity Gears, Anubia, The Legend of Zelda: Soul Compass[]
Look, Flynn. We've been a couple for years now, gallivanting across the world in search of treasure. The greatest adventurers in the world, the dynamic duo, Flynn and Curia. But... There's no way I'm letting either of us go to Gearforge Island.
Why not? It's not overly expensive to go there, the returns from the unclaimed treasure would vastly overcompensate for the travel cost-
And don't you think there's a reason it's almost free to go there? Flynn, ever since the archaeology expedition vanished, the island's had a higher disappearance rate than the Bermuda Triangle. I don't want me or you dying in search of some stupid treasure. There are safer was to find a fortune.
Look, it's not the treasure... Okay, it's partially the treasure. I just want answers. Why are people disappearing? What happened to the archaeology team? I want to lay those questions to rest, like a real explorer would. But I think I've proven in the past I can't do it alone.
...I'll book the tickets. You're packing this time.
Infinity Gears: Hyper Robot Neo is a fighting game with an obscure inspiration and basis; it's a whole-sale successor to the classic isometric fighting game Power Stone. All of the classic elements are there; a wild and wacky roster of characters, tight combat, a massive variety of items at one's disposal, and, of course, super-powered transformations.
The story behind the game involves the mythical Gearforge Island, a strange ring-shaped isle covered in ancient technology and the wreckage of ancient mechanical behemoths. Its an island where many have gone missing, including a massive 120-person archaeology team sent to study the mechanics of the island; with this, of course, spreads the rumor of a massive treasure hoard, including the mythical technological artifacts that would also logically be worth a fortune. With this comes a wide assortment of people seeking fortune, fame, and adventure, battling over the objects of the island.
The most powerful of all these relics are the titular Infinity Gears: when three of these legendary artifacts are gathered by one person, it transforms them into a super-powerful robotic variation of themselves, with an entirely different moveset and abilities. In essence, these "Infinite" versions of the characters are new characters in and of themselves. However, depending on both the player's skill and a detailed in-universe plot, this may not be such a good thing...
The roster will be small at first, but as varied and detailed as possible. Much like the recent Killer Instinct games, the focus of the roster will be on free DLC, with new characters appearing in groups of "seasons". As previously stated, Infinity Gears will not have a large roster at first, but every character will be as unique as possible, catering to a wide variety of playstyles and focusing on quality over quantity.
There's also a mode unique to Infinity Gears known as RUSH; inspired by Team Kirby Clash, RUSH teams four players in local or online multiplayer and pits them against a large boss enemy for the chance to win currency or more... interesting rewards. The bosses are tough and powerful, but any decent team will be able to unite and topple these massive foes!
Infinity Gears is coming soon. Gear up for adventure as you embark on a new fighting journey!
Well, Amissy, the sun is a big ball of light that hangs up in the sky. It gives light to everyone and everything, then goes to sleep and waits until morning to start everything over.
So it's like a Rastone?
*giggles* Yes, but it's a lot bigger and it helps plants grow too. Rastones don't do that.
Mama? Can I see the sun someday?
...I wish you could, Amissy. I wish you could.
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes is a game that I adored... while people still played it and the servers weren't lifeless. It had a special kind of fun that most Zelda games I had played didn't really offer, focusing more on teamwork than intense puzzles or action, and I enjoyed every minute of my time with it. Now, what happens when you take Triforce Heroes, merge it with another one of my favorite games of all time, The Binding of Isaac, and throw in a little bit of mythological flair?
You get Anubia.
Long ago, the race of creatures known as Anubites flourished across the vast desert. A thriving society, they worked together in unison to survive and spread throughout the land, becoming a growing empire. However, when the innocent race began forgetting the gods that allowed them to thrive, they were punished by the deity of the underworld with a terrible fate: every last Anubite was sucked into an underground world, far below the surface. While the Anubites have thrived for generations underground, they are still determined as ever to brave the labyrinth that the gods have placed above them, hoping to one day return to the surface.
As one of hundreds of Anubites desperately trying to become the famous hero that saves their race, you must team up with three other players in local or online multiplayer, take a weapon from the varied array available, and enter the massive 100-floor labyrinth in a quest to reach the top. As you play, defeat enemies, and help your teammates, you earn Experience, which can be spent on new items that can appear in the labyrinth, new weaponry to select, and passive buffs that help out your team for one round through the twisted dungeon.
Much like The Binding of Isaac, there are plenty of passive and weapon items that are placed throughout the labyrinth, typically one guaranteed per floor, though more can appear through other circumstances. Few items actually spread to each character, so players will either have to vote on who gets what item, go with first come first serve, or fight over them. Either way, the synergies Isaac is famous for are here in full swing, as every available weapon can synergize with all the passive items. That's a lot of combinations!
Anubia is coming soon: don't waste any time getting hooked!
After many trials and hardships, Link came to the stronghold of Ganondorf, slaying the vile conqueror where he stood. Zelda freed at last, she came down to welcome her hero... but the celebration was not to last.
Link took the Master Sword, weapon of the Golden Goddesses, and stabbed themselves right in the chest, the blade shattering as the divine essence it had scattered across the land. Zelda was horrified, but things took a turn for the worse as the shambling Link, a look of pure insanity across their face, slew the princess in a single blow, exhausting the last of their strength. All three bearers of the Triforce had been slain, and Hyrule was coming to a slow and painful demise. However, the scattered power of the Master Sword and the spirit within, an emissary of Hylia, prevented the catastrophe from growing too great... Using its diminished power to shelter the souls of all of Hyrule, the kingdom became a spirit world, lost to time itself.
Or so they say....
The Legend of Zelda: Soul Compass is nothing short of my own take on the immensely popular Breath of the Wild, which I cannot express my adoration for in mere words. There's so much already right with it, but Soul Compass is my way of adressing those few faults and making what I hope turns out to become a beloved game as well.
Players take on the role of Link, who in this game, actually has gender options! these serve no purpose other than cosmetic changes and a few edited lines of dialogue, but it is designed entirely around making a larger amount of players feel more comfortable with their character, especially in a game that's this focused on the player's experience over Link's own experience.
So what is the story?
Link is a soldier for the royal army of Hyrule, a largely peaceful nation who has seen an unusual amount of strife lately from an unassuming source. A rogue clan of the long-lost Sheikah race, calling themselves the Yiga Clan, have begun attacking settlements across the kingdom, massacring hundreds in order to obtain what they believe are the souls of the departed, which they use to harness their powerful magic. Link, as soldier and beloved sibling-like figure to the young princess Zelda, is tasked with helping to defeat a Yiga attack on a border town...
And they are killed mercilessly.
Link wakes up in a strange, mystical place, and eventually encounters the ghost of a young girl; the depressed maiden backs away from them, frightened for a reason not even they know of. Link comforts the young spirit, who introduces herself as... Zelda.
Link is startled at first- after all, this clearly wasn't the Zelda they knew. Zelda explained that while many of her memories had been lost to the centuries, she could remember some important details. Long ago, she woke up in the spectral world which she had come to call the Lost Kingdom, the shattered remains of some sword beside her as she arose. Across the centuries, a new kingdom had been built over the Lost Kingdom, the world of life that Link had come from. However, a new, menacing force had begun siphoning the power from her home, and now Ganondorf, a spectral conqueror who had also lost his memory and was elected ruler of the Lost Kingdom due to his strength, had begun sending dangerous monsters up to the world of life. Zelda realized that Link, as a living person that existed in her spirit world, was able to cross between the two realms with ease, and pleaded them to help her in saving both their world and her own.
And that's all the story you're getting today.
Gameplay-wise, Soul Compass is rather similar to Breath of the Wild; it's player-driven, has a massive open world, and lets you essentially do whatever you want within the confines of the laws of physics. The biggest change to this game is the World of Death, also known as the Lost Kingdom- a Dark World-esque map that essentially doubles the game's size. It has its own dungeons, own bosses, own characters, and more: its essentially another whole game.
The titular Soul Compass is also an important item... But what it does, you'll have to wait to find out.
the Legend of Zelda: Soul Compass is coming soon. Prepare for another epic journey spanning two worlds...
Day 3: Black Arts, Bravely Venture, Pokémon Anima[]
Her name was Noira, and she was a witch who wanted to steal the world's color for herself.
"I need that color for my magic!". She cackled, having her minions line up a big telescope.
"With this magic telescope, I'll use the moon to steal the color from the world!"
As Noira drained the vibrance of Earth, the world was put in stasis; nothing moved anymore.
Mystical beings and spirits long dormant rose, returning to the monochrome silent world.
While Noira laughed about her victory, a young girl in her lair awoke from her bed.
Her name was Nikki, a witch training under her mother.
Nikki protested to her mom's evildoings, asking why the magicless people deserved it.
"If you love them so much," Noira laughed, "why don't you try to save them?!"
With a wave of Noira's staff, Nikki was flung into the air and out of her home.
Now, it was up to Nikki to stop her mother and return color to the world.
Black Arts is a very retro-inspired game, based of a combination of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Kirby's Adventure, and the original Shantae. The aesthetic draws heavily from the original Game Boy, as everything is in pure monochrome and fully sprited to truly obtain an authentic experience, while still providing something new.
Black Arts is a free-roaming adventure game, letting Nikki the young witch fly across a vast world in order to find the mystic strongholds where her mother's guardians reside: by taking them down, she can access her home and battle Noira to restore color to the world. It's not a top-down venture like Link's Awakening, however. Instead, it's a two-dimensional sort of dungeon crawler, with Nikki wandering through the world, taking down baddies, and learning various types of magical spells to solve puzzles and take down increasingly more threatening baddies.
There are also flight sections, where Nikki takes to the air in a sort of shoot-em-up segment. These flight stages usually act as transitional stages, where Nikki flies from one location to another; this doesn't mean they aren't hectic, as the game goes from dungeon crawler to bullet hell and you are required to make alternative uses of your various spells.
Black Arts is coming soon...
And next we have-
Hello? Is this thing on? Ah... Good. Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alice, servant of the Celestial.
Don't mind me intruding in, but I thought I could give a rundown of this next little "game" more than the guy running this page ever could. After all, I'm in it. So everybody sit down and shut your faces, because I'm about to tell this... wonderful audience about what Mr. Pyrostar's been calling "Bravely Venture".
First off, I'll just say that the "heroes" of this story are a bunch of ingrates.
I mean, seriously. A spoiled brat with mommy issues, a kid who thinks he's smart enough to be an adult, a suicidally reckless pre-teen, and some goody two-shoes murderer who the Luxens were dumb enough to trust a vestal to. Ugh... Why couldn't it have been the old heroes? Tiz Arrior, Edea Lee... Somebody competent, at least.
Anyways, my boss, the Celestial, found out that something on Luxendarc was going wrong. Some supposedly cataclysmic superweapon had been unlocked from its centuries-old seal, yada yada, they wanted me to go get some Warriors of Light to fix the problem. Thing is, though, they explicitly wanted me to find new ones... Y'know, instead of the people who had saved the same friggin' planet twice already and had proven themselves as heroes. No, they wanted these idiots. The little female one had almost died by the time they picked the four of them, and yet they found them decent enough to be Warriors. I'll never understand them, will I?
But hey, this is a "game". You in the audience are probably more interested in "mechanics" than the ingrates I have to guide through this journey.
The Celestial trained me in the combat strategies of those actually competent Warriors of Light, so I guess you could say these newcomers play about the same on a core level. They use BP to store attacks and then spend them as need-be, utilize those wonderful little gems called asterisks to gain cool new powers, and yada yada the old ones did it better.
However, I've managed to teach them a few new tricks... One of the being called Venture. Inside the timeless pocket dimension that the Celestial has given me to rule... which they called the "pause menu" for some strange reason, you can set up every one of the Warriors with two separate loadouts of job skills, abilities, and weaponry. Then, in the middle of battle, you can use Venture to switch between them on the fly! The strategies resulting from this are conceivably infinite, and considering how varied you in the audience are, I'm certain at least some of you can come up with half-decent plays to make with this.
Oh right, I just remembered! Tales of the older Warriors talked about how they worked with people all across the world to team up in battle with some weird dimensional void-crossing force. Well, the Celestial has helped me harness this ability to give the new Warriors the help I know they'll need... Summoning allies for longer amounts of time! You can team up with a friend, who can use their own copy of the party, complete with their own items and job setups! Of course, if you want to spar and see who's the best, I can certainly let you duke it out as well! Anything to please!
Oh, time's up! Well, I'll see you lovely people around some other time. Thanks for listening to poor little Alice talk for a bit. I appreciate it, really do. Until next time-
Bravely Venture is coming soon.
...Wait, what happened?
Time to finish things off. Let's go.
Anima's starters consist of the Grass-type Spizard, the Fire-type Pyrabbit, and the Water-type Kelponi. Now, meet their evolutions!
Spizard evolves into the far spicier Kalizar, a pure Grass-type Pokémon that certainly pack the heat in battle! Its thicker, tougher skin allows it to take more hits and act as an efficient tank, and it can utilize its signature move Pepper Bomb to throw off its opponents, who expect it to hit with Grass-type attacks to match. Just keep in mind that its Special Defense isn't as good as its Defense.
Pyrabbit evolves into the Fire-type Sylvigil, whose calming mists generated by its internal heat and water source have calmed its raging temper into a near Zen-like state. With less anger clouding its judgement, its offensive stats has risen, as has its speed; it relies on taking down enemies swiftly, before they are able to strike back and target its low defense. It can help its frailty using Steam Strike, which can lower the accuracy of targets it strikes.
Kelponi's evolution is the semi-majestic steed that is Aquine, a pure Water-type said to be able to walk across water as if it were solid ground. A natural haven for aquatic plant life, it uses this to generate the powerful attack known as Coralhorn, the scattered bits of which remain on the battlefield to damage foes. Aquine has high Special Attack, Special Defense, and HP, and relies on both status effects and support, alongside powerful special attacks over time.
An all-new Pokémon I'd like to introduce to you all is Toxigator, the Mighty Gator Pokémon. A Poison-Fighting type, Toxigator is a massive, scaly, muscular hulk of a Pokémon, enraptured in the fame and glory of the Nazhican combat style of lucha libre. Adapting this martial art into its natural battle style, Toxigator's ability is the all-new Super Grapple, which boosts the duration of trapping moves such as Whirlpool or Sand Tomb. With naturally high Attack, Toxigator's role in battle is keeping an opponent on lockdown, dealing chip damage and huge damage alike as the opponent cannot switch out to evade the mighty gator's blows.
Another brand new Pokémon is Zappling, the Grass-Electric Seedling Pokémon. A tiny seedling that was once struck by lightning somehow matured into this Pokémon, which is used as a natural lightning rod in order to keep the homes of others safe. That essentially fills Zappling's role in battle as well; coming in with either Lightning Rod, Storm Drain, or Prankster as its abilities, it's designed to handle support, diverting attacks away from allies and disabling the opponent to let teammates snag quick and easy KOs. I'd recommend waiting for it to evolve first, though.
Our final new Pokémon for tonight is a little beauty called Mikorache, the Weaving Pokémon, who's a pretty little Psychic/Bug who was said to formerly be a Dark/Bug species before ancient immigrants from the Johto region caught them and taught them how to create beautiful web-based pieces of art for their religion. Over time, the Mikorache species adapted alongside these Johtonese monks and priestesses and became inherently attached to their religion, following their teachings almost by instinct even in the wild. Mikorache are extremely defensive as well as decently fast, though they don't have the greatest HP of any Pokémon in existence. Its unique ability Webdancer automatically uses the move Sticky Web when Mikorache enters battle, slowing down the opponent's team immensely for the next few turns; this both allows it to attack technically faster opponents and assist its teammates in the off chance it happens to faint while the web is still active.
New Pokémon aren't all we have, though!
Nothing, Opal. Daddy needs some alone time with a client right now.
Dad, this is no ordinary man. This is a psychopath. He and his goons kidnapped my friend!
Oh? And what proof do you have of this, little girl? Show your father hard evidence that I am the monster you make me out to be.
You- Arrrrgh! Here's some proof for you- I snuck out and broke them out of whatever island you had your little secret base on! Azlem and I knocked out who knows how many humans and Pokémon in order to break them out!
Your daughter's delirious, Auron. Don't listen to a word she says.
Their family were in tears, Dad! I was there! I know you've been cooperating with Oculus for months now! That's why I've been going out- to find a way to stop them!
Opal, stop it. Now.
No, I'm not! Oculus say they keep society in order, but everything I have seen them do is step on innocent people's lives for the sake of "stability"- they want to kill of free will as a concept! How can I, as your daughter, allow that?!
Auron, she is aware. Deal with her.
I... If I must, Feldspar.
Let the wiki last for ten more.