sheelal | Chaos Rings: lots and lots of setup (Reply)

I bought Chaos Rings from the iTunes App Store because I was curious what a native iOS RPG from Square would be like, and I promised iphiro that when I played it, I’d make at least one screenshot post so they could see, too. This is that screenshot post.

Chaos Rings: Please touch
Behold, the title screen.

Now, I am paranoid about controls, so rather than jumping right into the game, I went straight to the options to see what I could configure.
The English Options screen for Chaos Rings, with the Instruction Manual, BGM and Sound Effects level settings, language selection, and the option to turn environmental effects off.
Hey, what does switching the language do?

Identical to the English Options screen, except everything is in Japanese.
Oh. That’s what it does.

There wasn’t really much I could do in Options, other than adjust the sound levels and unlock the screen so I could turn it horizontal the other way. Time to start a new game, then.

I was given the option of playing either Escher and Musiea, who are featured in practically all the promotional materials, or Eluca and Zhamo, who aren’t. I went with the under-promoted team.

Opening movie sequence:
The sky over some palm trees. The sun is shining.
Something is starting to cover the sun.
The sun is completely covered, and the game has slapped Chaos Rings: Daybreak over the eclipse.
So, a solar eclipse happened. A very pixelated solar eclipse. I’m guessing this is Relevant.

Zhamo rising, saying: What is this place?
Hell if I know. That’s what you’re supposed to find out!

And now, time for a dramatic pan:
From right to left: a boy with swords, a blonde woman in robes, a white-haired man with a beard and no shirt, and the blonde woman in the game icon.
Excluding people already covered, from right to left: a white-haired man in black armor, a pink-haired woman in red armor, and a man with long blond hair, who is wearing green armor.
I started taking screenshots of the pan a little too late and one person got cut out. Sorry about that.

Eluca says: Relax. You are not dead.
This is Eluca’s first line in the game. Really.

The blonde woman just attacked white-haired guy, who tossed her aside, saying: Why did you do that, woman?
Out of nowhere, Musiea (whose name we’re not supposed to know yet) attacks Escher (whose name we’re not supposed to know yet either), and again, I wasn’t fast enough on the draw to get a screenshot of her attack. It’s fairly obvious she doesn’t like him, at least.

Eluca says to the white-haired guy: This is no time to be indulging in petty fights. We need to appraise our current situation.
Eluca has no idea what’s going on, but she does know that in-fighting is the last thing they need is to start infighting before they know what the hell is going on. What if there are zombies?!

Blonde-haired man says: As you say, this is not the time for petty squabbles. It would be best for all of us to exchange whatever information we possess.
This guy agrees with her, then introduces himself as Garrick. He talks about how he and his order were in the middle of battle when the sky went dark, then everyone froze in place, then he and his girlfriend Alto vanished and woke up here. And then he notes everyone there are couples, which Eluca objects to.

Something says: Welcome, champions of the world.
It’s an ominous voice from nowhere. The plot is upon us!

A giant metal armor floats in the air above all the characters.
I know I’m supposed to be intimidated, but instead, I just find myself thinking, “He doesn’t have any legs.”

Pink-haired woman says: W-what is that?
Armor-thing says: I am the Agent.
That explains… absolutely nothing.

Then he decides to introduce everybody to each other, pair by pair:
Escher and Museia, the white-haired black-armored guy and the blonde woman from the game icon.
Zhamo and Eluca
Ayuta and Mana, who are too faded to see because my screenshot timing sucks.
Garrick and Alto, the blond man and pink-haired woman.
Olgar and Vahti, the white-haired bearded shirtless guy and blonde woman.
Sorry about the screenshot fail again with Ayuta and Mana. I took some extra screenshots of them later to make up for it.

The Agent says: To the last pair left standing, I promise eternal life and eternal youth.
Right. You kidnap people, make them fight each other, and then grant the winners ageless immortality. I’ll believe that when I see it.

The Agent says: You may not refuse to compete in the Ark Arena. Likewise, you are prohibited from fighting until I allow it.
The Agent says: If you break either of these rules, you will pay with your lives.
Also, no personal choice about it. You do it or die.

Really not believing this immortality spiel as-is right now. Too many fishy things. I’m guessing it’s more like “you will be ageless and immortal because your brain will be powering a giant AI,” or something.

Garrick says: Know what I think?
Garrick decides this is bullshit and challenges the Agent directly.

The Agent says: ... I take it that you do not intend to fight in the Arena then?
At least he’s being polite about it. Double-checking.

Then an action-sequence occurred where Garrick attacked the Agent, was thrown back, and then the Grim Reaper appeared and vanished him within a purple cloud. All of which I failed to get screenshots of. I know, I suck at screenshots.

Alto says: ... Garrick? This is a joke, right...? You wouldn't go down that easily, right?
That’s a natural reaction to your partner suddenly getting killed off in the opening sequences.

Eluca thinks: Garrick... He was a highly skilled fighter. I hate to admit it... but there's no way we can defeat the Agent now.
I guess you’ve got no choice but to play the game by the rules.

And I stop here, at this nasty cliffhanger, because otherwise the post is going to be huge. Next post, Eluca and Zhamo engage in battle! And die. And learn to hate a little devil of a shopkeeper.