Upon arriving at their destination, a woman with purple hair and a generous bosom greets the two and introduces them to a world where disputes are settled with swordplay and side-scrolling hack 'n slash action. The siblings are inducted into the Messiah Training School where they'll learn the ways of combat to save the world. The prelude to the meat of the game is a lengthy one where players will sit through nearly an hour of character interaction and conversation where heroes and heroines are greeted. Once the storyline and background has been set up, the first 2D hack 'n slash battle takes place in an arena where Taiga tackles a stone humanoid which pounds the ground with both fists.

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

Jan Code: 4562168541031

* Noriaki Sugiyama provides the voice for Taiga Toma in the game. He's the popular voice actor who also talks/grumbles/yells for Uryu Ishida in Bleach and Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto.

* Love adventure games normally rely solely on interaction sequences throughout the adventure with nothing else to break the tedium. Dual Savior breaks from tradition and hammers home a full-blown action game that is mixed in with the interaction where Taiga and friends battle and fend in 2D arenas. The action is fairly repetitive but new attacks may be used as Taiga and the gals level up by collecting diamonds that are released by defeated enemies.

* In the first cinematic intro to the game, weapons appear followed by a falcon which soars over an expanse of clouds. The cast appears afterwards with their weapons and in stylized poses while a frenetic paced song called "No Way Out!" plays in the background. After the character portraits where their names and voice actors are displayed, the characters are shown in action sequences where they pull off attacks and perform other kinetic movements. The intro ends with two pairs of character embracing and the DSD logo spins into view.

* The PS2 conversion of DSD features a new opening cinema (the second intro) with a theme song sung by KOTOKO named "Fatally" which is catchy. The text in this particular intro reads, "You were Chosen Fatally... to Avater, the first quadrant." New in-game graphics and the elevation of a fiery sub-character named Claire to playable heroine/love-interest add additional value to the PS2 port. The characters introduced in the second intro are as follows

Lily Sheerfield - Wizard
Berio Trope - Priest
Rico-Risu - Summoner
Kaede Hiragi - Ninja
Nanashi - Living Dead
Mia Toma - Half Sibling

* The options on the title screen are as follows:

START - Begin a new adventure
LOAD - Resume adventure from memory card
CG MODE - View 162 pieces of artwork - only 1 is viewable, the rest must be unlocked.
FIGHT MODE - 2D fighting game featuring characters from the adventure
MUSIC MODE - Listen to 42 pieces of music - 3 unlocked, the rest are waiting to be unlocked.
REPLAY MODE - Watch 28 cinemas from the game - the intro cinema is unlocked, the rest are locked .
CONFIG - Set options for graphics, control, volume, system, battle, messages, font, auto-save, voice, etc
DUAL SAVIOR - Locked option

* In the Fight Mode, players can select and control a white-haired girl named Nanashi who wears a pair of bunny ears. One of her attacks (press X) involves throwing her entire head like a projectile while she squeals in delight. To recall her head, press the "X" button again and it'll roll back like a head-frisbee. Nanashi's body acts independently of her head and she may still throw punches while decapitated. She can also set off an explosion with her head by pressing TRIANGLE to do damage to an opponent if he/she's near. To keep her head moving in an explosive rotation, hold the TRIANGLE button and Nanashi's head spins and blows up indefinitely. If you make her skip across the screen, she'll sing out, "La-la-la la la laahhh"

* The fighting game features 7 playable characters at the outset but there's 33 additional fighters that may be unlocked.

* To advance the conversations automatically during the interaction scenarios, press the TRIANGLE button once and you'll be able to watch the lengthy intro without any player input until called upon. Much of the dialogue in the game is accompanied by voice acting. To speed through the interactive sequences, press and hold the R2 trigger.

* To focus in on a portion of the screen, push the L-analog in and the area highlighted by the green square will be enlarged. The R-analog controls a sword icon which may be used like a mouse pointer to activate menu options and scroll through configuration screens. Push it in to work it like a mouse button.

* The first chapter is called "Savior? Me!?" where the siblings Toma speculate about their predicament. Mia is hysterical while Taiga is more level-headed and analytical. The two are in a chamber of some sort where torches inside canisters are lit and encircle a platform with some stairs that lead up to it. They're greeted by a purple haired woman in a low-cut bustier and a green shawl or cape of some sort. She introduces herself and converses with Taiga and Mia. Soon afterwards, the player gets a view of a circular city surrounded by an outer wall that's to be their new home. Winds howl and buffet them from their altitude and the camera closes into the city.

* In the next scene, a violet haired gal who's dressed conservatively in a red and white school marm outfit talks to the Toma siblings and takes the two into her Messiah Training School. The entire introductory sequence lasts about an hour to bring the gamer up to speed on the game, the situation, and the scenarios that await the player.

* After the lengthy conversation, the player finds himself in an arena where the crowd is cheering and murmuring in the background. The ladies from earlier give Taiga some advice on battling. The first challenger that Taiga faces is a golden-colored bruiser that's made of stone and thunders out every step as it approaches. The stone giant attacks twice but Taiga steps away like a genius. After those two failed blows, control is handed over to the player. Simply step to the stone man and hammer away with conventional attacks but in the middle of battle when it looks like you're about to conquer the beast, a cut scene takes over. Afterwards, Taiga-chan is laid low by two mighty stone blows. Mia rushes into the battlefield, manifests a bow, and shoots an arrow through the stone opponent to knock it down temporarily. Mia then rushes to help Taiga up. After some lengthy banter, the battle between Taiga and stone man resumes anew with Taiga now wielding a sword. Throw out a few thrusting attacks (press d-pad in the direction of stone boy and press TRIANGLE) and the stone opponent crumbles into a bunch of rocks and looses a few gems which are drawn into Taiga automatically.

* Mia Tom heads into town afterwards and meets up with a couple of new characters. At this point, you will be able to save your progress to memory card (requires 580K).

* The second chapter in the game is titled, "A black papilio." In case you're wondering, papilio refers to the genus of swallow-tailed butterflies.

This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.