The Limited Edition of Mahoroba Stories is packaged with an exclusive Pinky Street figure of a new character named Arue. She wears an orange t-shirt with the words, "National Style" on the front and a pair of blue jeans. Arue also wears a blue/white striped wristband on her right hand and blue/white sneakers. The novelty of the Pinky Street toys is the interchangeability of the parts of each figure with any other figure which makes the number of combinations and variants nigh unlimited.

Jan Code: 4582246790090

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

» Press START and the following game selections pop up

NEW GAME
LOAD GAME
CONTINUE
OPTION

» Start a NEW GAME and the camera takes in a seaside house where a girl is standing and looking out. The deck of the house holds a table and a few beach chairs that are striped green and white. The sound of waves sloshing below may be heard. A voice over accompanies the text in the dialogue box which introduces the story and sets up the background of the game. In the next scene, another girl is walking on the side of a highway and is looking at the ground while the sound of her shoes clack on the asphalt. She's talking to herself and stops to look out at the ocean and holds a self dialogue before continuing on her way. Afterwards, the intro from earlier plays in full. Pres the "START" button to skip it if you wish.

» In the next scene, three girls are standing around and looking concerned. They're staring at the girl from earlier who was walking and the camera eventually swivels around to take in the scene from behind the girls as they face the fourth one. After a while, the girls are all introduced with a little back story on each one - their names are Arue, Marizo, Suzu, and Tokko. After conversing, the group of four walk away and the camera pulls back to take in the tower that they were standing under earlier.

» While talking and standing on a road, Marizo's stomach can be heard growling and they decide to walk on the road as a voiceover describes their situation. They continue walking and walking and walking while conversing. There's one point during their walk that they scare themselves and scream to no avail. At one point, they stop and watch a black cat run across their path. They express surprise at what they just saw and ask each other what it was. They then watch the cat walk on two legs up the path. Two of the girls run after it to the protestations of the blonde named Suzu when a third joins them and she finally runs after them as well.

» They follow the cat to an ornate building which is covered in greenery that has grown across its facade and brickwork and trails upwards. The front door is open and the cat walks inside. The girls stand outside the door and commiserate before entering.

» Inside, they stand in the lobby and continue their conversation when they walk further in and observe that it's a library with shelves of books. The blonde decides she wants to leave but the door won't budge. Another girl tries to open but it won't move an inch. A little girlish panic ensues, mostly on the part of the blonde but before the hysteria continues, control is handed over to the player. You control the girl with glasses, black hair and green pants named Tokko.

» Walk around the room and explore the objects. If an object can be inspected, a white quill will appear over it when you're within range. If you walk through the door on the north wall, you will reach a study where you can save your progress to memory card. Simply walk to the table where the spinning rings are located and press the "O" button and you'll be able to save in one of four available slots.

» After exploring the library a bit, walk back to the room where the girls are waiting and an automatic sequence will play where Toto the black cat from earlier walks into the room and the girls start screaming like harpies. The cat approaches them in slow and steady fashion but instead of attacking them with poison and nuclear power, the cat speaks to them with a steady voice and introduces himself as Toto. The girls express abject surprise that a feline can speak perfect Japanese and the Suzu tries to open the door once again. When that isn't working, they try to sneak away but Toto reassures them that he means them no harm.

» Control is handed over the player once again. Make your way through the green door to the north and up the stairs. Walk to the door on the right which is now accessible and through the next door on the right as well. Inside, you'll find a room cluttered with books and Toto waiting. He calls you Mina-san and gives you a little background information on the library. While speaking, the rest of the girls join you when an old guy named Egari enters the room and talks to the assembled. He explains that he restores old books and that's why the library is lousy with stacks of books everywhere. He's suffering from an illness and he explains that his granddaughter Nene was kidnapped recently by a malcontent named Ido who appeared out of one of the books he was restoring.

» While standing around a table with mugs of tea and a teapot in the middle , the sounds of insects may be heard permeating the room but the noise disappears soon afterwards. After hearing Egari's story, Suzu leaves in a haste and is chased by Marizo. A scream is heard later and the music changes tempo. Control is handed over to the player once again but before you leave the room, Egari walks over to you and hands over a red sword that's curved and shaped like a flame. Three more swords float into view and a short static instructional tutorial commences which spans 6 pages.

» Walk out of the room and downstairs, the two girls from earlier are surrounded by demonic creatures that are rising out of black holes or portals on the floor. Their bodies are black and laced with crimson lava lines of sorts and each one carries a sword. Arue joins the two girls followed by Tokko and the magic swords. Toto appears and leads the girls a few steps away from danger. After that, a tutorial starts which shows the commands and slashing techniques to use. A battle then begins between the four girls and the demons. It's turn-based action where each girl gets a turn to move and then attack by smacking the "O" button. The actual attacks are played out in realtime and after defeating the demons, the results of the battle are shown. A short conversation ensues and three books are opened on the tables around you. They lead to new stories and unique adventures. Before heading out however, you can save your progress to memory card by walking up to the three spinning rings atop a table.

» To access the MENU during the game, press the TRIANGLE button and the following options pop up:

Status / View the life points, experience, parts, and immunities of each girl
Equip / Arm a weapon, adorn hair, and wear tops and bottoms
Skill / View available skills for each girl - there's 200 in all to discover
Item / Use an item in inventory
Suspend / Exit from the game; to resume, select CONTINUE on the title
Finish / Return to the library and exit the world of fairy tales

» In the Now Loading screen, Toto the cat runs across the bottom from right to left while colored letters jump out of its book.

» All of the dialogue in the game is accompanied by voice acting.

» Movement is handled entirely through the L-Analog pad. The D-pad does nada. There's no camera control so it can get confusing at times when walking around and the camera stays on top of your character.

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