Genre: Role-Playing (RPG)
Perspective: 3rd-person, Top-down
Pacing: Turn-based
Published by: Hudson Soft Company
Developed by: Red Company Corporation
Released: 1995
Platform: Super Nintendo (SNES)
The most important feature of this game is that it tried to be the first of many with a system that its programmers called PLG (Personal Life Game), a concept according to which an internal clock is incorporated into the cartridge whose date determines the appearance of certain in-game events. When you turn on the game you have to set the date and time and from that moment the time runs in real time. This gives many possibilities: it gets dark and dawn at the same time as in real life, stores have hours and some are only open on certain days. In each town there are festivities on certain days and at that time you can take advantage of it to buy interesting items, and you can even celebrate Christmas. It also includes the concept of adopting pets, which must be taken care of daily because, if not, they die (as a curious fact, this game used this concept before the appearance of Bandai's Tamagochi virtual pet). Other games that use PLG are Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver for the Game Boy or Pokémon Crystal Version for the Game Boy Color.
Plot
The world of Jiphang consists of 6 kingdoms, the Fire Bear Kingdom (Hijuma Koku), the Peacock Kingdom (Kujaku Koku), the Turtle Kingdom (Kame Koku), the Crane Kingdom (Tsuru Koku), the Kingdom of the Dog (Inugami Koku), the Kingdom of the Dragon (Ryu ou Koku). Of these the Dragon Kingdom is the most powerful and has long maintained a peaceful policy. The game shows a sequence of scenes where it is seen that the new king of the Dragon kingdom enters the court and is greeted by his servant, the new king is the younger of two brothers and his servant reveals that the former Flame has selected. The King worries about his older brother but his servant tells him that she need not fear as the ancient flame chose him. In another room his older brother talks with Ninigi, who advises him that he should be the king and not his brother and that he should kill his brother so he can become king. In another scene, he is shown talking to two guards who guard the Gates to Hell about the noted displeasure of the older brother, suddenly the older brother appears and kills them, then breaks the seal and releases Ninigi to possess his power. Before dying the younger brother tells him "even if you kill me, you will not be able to extinguish the old flame". At the end you see the three eyes of Ninigi looking at the Gates to Hell.
Characters
Good guys
- Higan: The protagonist of the game, lives in the Hikage village, is the new chosen by the ancient flame, since he has it in his blood by inheritance from his mother, he must travel through all the kingdoms to free them from Ninigi and his minions.
- Ji: He is Higan's maternal grandfather, he is killed by Raind.
- Binta and Gekotsu: They are friends of Higan, these characters you only control at the beginning of the game.
- Hisui: He is a fairy who is about to die and needs Higan's help so that a new fairy is born to take his place. You meet this character in the Inochi no Mori forest.
- Subaru: She is the new fairy that will accompany Higan in his adventures, you know this character before the first confrontation against Akamaru.
- Tenji: Higan's partner, you meet this character at the Sake village in the Crane kingdom after doing some jobs. He is joined in body with Mizuki.
- Mizuki: Higan's partner and Tenji's girlfriend. Tenji and Mizuki were victims of Juri who made them a magic spell from the Mandara no Fume flute, so they exchange their bodies every time they play the flute, you meet this character during the confrontation against Juri.
- Yume no Kenshi: He is a kind of wandering swordsman, you will meet him several times as you progress through the game.
Bad guys
Bosses
- Raind: Master of handling ice, murderer of Higan's grandfather, is the head of the Fire Bear Kingdom.
- Akamaru: He is the leader of the Red Tower and head of the Peacock Kingdom, a dwarf character, fat with glasses, you meet this character in the Kujaku Jinja village in the Peacock Kingdom, he will trick you into making him some jobs before dealing with it.
- Sara: She is madly in love with Tenji, because of her sadness the Crane Kingdom is in drought.
- Juri: Head of the Turtle Kingdom, he has special abilities over plants, he was the one who spelled Tenji and Mizuki for the Mandara no Fue flute.
- Kingin: Head of the Dog Kingdom, he is a cat who has oppressed the inhabitants of this kingdom by forcing them to worship cats.
- Ninigi: Final Game Boss, he was the one who tricked the king's older brother to break the seal of the Gates to Hell to release the great power of him.
Underbosses
- Aomaru and Kimaru: Akamaru's friends, identical, the only difference is the color of their suits, you face them together with Akamaru inside the Majin waterfalls in the Kingdom of the Dog.
- Gaen: A fire eater, you face him at the Katana village in Takamahara.
- Mugen: A being with the appearance of a plant, it expels toxic gases, you face it in the Kagami village in Takamahara.
- Suima: An anteater, you face him at the Tamatsukiri village in Takamahara.
- Kokubyaku: An android, he is the right hand of Ninigi, you will face him in the palace in Takamahara.
Kingdoms
- The Kingdom of the Fire Bear (Hijuma Koku) This kingdom is the home of Higan, this is where you start your adventures to prove that you are the brave of fire.
- The Kingdom of the Peacock (Kujaku Koku) The problem of this kingdom is the red rain that falls constantly which causes people to get sick and the food to rot.
- The Turtle Kingdom (Kame Koku) The problem with this kingdom is that there is a dense forest where there used to be sea and islands.
- The Kingdom of the Crane (Tsuru Koku) The problem of this kingdom is the immense desert where before there was a beautiful valley.
- The Kingdom of the Dog (Inugami no Koku) The problem of this kingdom is that the inhabitants are forced to worship cats.
- The Realm of the Dragon (Ryu ou Koku) The final realm of the game and Ninigi's base.
- Takamahara: This kingdom is located in the sky, it is a kind of secret kingdom.