Princess Crown
Princess Crown is a groundbreaking action RPG developed and published by Atlus for the Sega Saturn. Released in 1997, the game follows the journey of Princess Gradriel as she ventures to save her kingdom from a mysterious curse. Renowned for its beautiful hand-drawn 2D animation, innovative side-scrolling combat system, and multiple playable characters with interconnected stories, it established new standards for visual presentation in video games.
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Story
Princess Crown opens with the warrior queen Elfaran De Valendia defeating an evil demon who sought royal blood to resurrect its master Lalva. Twenty-five years later, Elfaran's thirteen-year-old daughter Gradriel ascends to the throne. After hearing of problems across Valendia, she sneaks out of her castle to help her people in person. During her journey, she is confronted by multiple demons and runs into three other characters on her journey; the knight Edward Glowstar, the noble pirate Portgus, and the mischievous witch-in-training Proserpina.
The demon attacks are being caused by Lalva, who—through humans controlled by a sentient grimoire—seeks to use both the magical crowns of Valendia and neighbouring kingdom Volga to break his seal. During one encounter, Edward dies protecting Gradriel. He is saved when Gradriel travels back in time to save him on advice from Heindel, a dragon who helps her in exchange for a magical jewel. After Volga's crown is stolen by the sorcerer Leon, the latest person possessed by the grimoire, Gradriel gathers her forces at Valendia's castle for a final stand.
She defeats Leon, but seal is broken. Entering the demon world, Gradriel defeats Lalva and seals away the grimoire. Following the completion of Gradriel's quest, three more scenarios are unlocked, following the characters Edward, Proserpina and Portgus. Edward's scenario shows his journey and fight with a corrupted dragon; Portgus' scenario reveals his actions surrounding Gradriel's aid during his quest to reclaim his name from an imposter; and Proserpina's scenario follows her antics around other events.
It is later revealed that the corrupted dragon killed by Edward was one of four dragons created by the goddess Gaia a thousand years before to hold her power for when she could be resurrected; the other two dragons died during the wait, leaving Heindel the only survivor. Heindel used Gradriel, Edward and Portgus to reclaim the lost jewels. After completing all four scenarios, a fifth scenario is unlocked where Heindel, now possessing all the jewels but unwilling to die himself, forces Gradriel to kill him as humanity's representative. After Heindel's defeat, Gaia is resurrected and swears to protect the world.
The final scenes show the people recounting Gradriel's story and the other characters continuing with their lives.
Gameplay Systems
Princess Crown is a two-dimensional (2D) side-scrolling action role-playing game where the player takes control of four different characters across multiple scenarios. The game world is navigated using linear paths connecting towns and dungeons. During exploration in towns, characters can purchase items using gold attained from battles. Among the items present are seeds which can be planted to yield ingredients which can be used to restore character health.
Ingredients can also be cooked and turned into meals which offer a greater health boost to characters. Combat—which uses a beat 'em up -style battle system—is divided into normal battles triggered by random encounters while navigating the roads and dungeon environments, and boss battles tied to story events. While many normal battles are against a single enemy, sometimes multiple enemies appear in a single battle. The player attacks using a single button, creating combination attacks depending on both the number of button presses and other actions such as jumping and dodging.
Each character has a main weapon and subweapons which can be thrown at enemies from a distance, and a shield which can be raised to block attacks. All combat actions are tied to the Power gauge; every action consumes Power, with full depletion leaving the character vulnerable to attack. Standing idle or walking allows the Power gauge to replenish. Armor and accessories can be equipped which increase character statistics, ranging from raising attack power to healing the player character.
Consumable items are stored in an inventory, which can be accessed during battle to use both healing items and expendable attack items such as elemental jewels. At the end of each successful battle, the player is awarded experience points which may raise their experience level, increasing the character's health and attack power.
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About Princess Crown
Princess Crown is a classic video game released for the Sega Saturn on January 1, 1997. Developed by Atlus and published by Atlus, this title has become a beloved entry in the retro gaming library.
This wiki entry provides comprehensive information about Princess Crown, including release details, gameplay information, and story synopsis. Whether you're looking to revisit a childhood favorite or discover classic games for the first time, Emulator Games Wiki has you covered.
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