Update: August 25, 2006
«©NCSX» Originally released for the Japanese PC as a ¥1050 download in Nov 2004, planetarian is a digital novel set in a dismal future. An updated version of planetarian shipped earlier this year with voice acting for the heroine, Reverie. The PS2 conversion is based on the new PC edition where voice actress Daisuke Ono provides the spoken dialogue for Reverie.

As the story goes, a nuclear war has destroyed much of humanity and a malaise covers the planet with a dark clouds and endless rain. Combat robots roam the cratered cities and eliminate any remaining humans that they encounter. From this desolate backdrop, a scavenger (aka a junker) emerges as the hero of the novel. While exploring the ruins of a city, he is attacked by bots but he escapes and stumbles into a planetarium. Once inside, he meets a robot named Reverie who has been waiting for a guest for the past 30 years. Single minded and programmed to serve visitors, Reverie tries to show the scavenger a special presentation but the projector is broken. With nothing else to do at the moment, the hero resolves to repair the projection hardware known as Miss Jena. The story soon unfolds that an old generator provides meager power to the planetarium and Reverie only operates one week each year due to the scarce electricity available.

The hero eventually fixes Miss Jena and Reverie gets to present the special show which features the wondrous vision of a star-filled sky. In the middle of the presentation however, the power goes out but Reverie continues her work without the aid of the projector. Since Miss Jena used up the remaining power from the generator, the show is Reverie's final presentation as well as her final days as a functioning robot.

Every order for PS2 Planetarian will include 244-page soft cover book which contain four stories based on the events leading up to the planetarian tale and happenings afterwards. Please note the text in the book is in Japanese. A 1-page color image of Reverie and a 2-page color image of Miss Jena are included inside. A laminated dust jacket protects the book from the rigors of wear and tear.

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

START STORY
LOAD DATA
OPTION

» Start the storyline and a jingle plays (What a Friend We Have in Jesus) and a voice over and dialogue starts which recounts the end of days. The camera passes along a brightly lit street at night time with the murmur of a crowd and cars in the background. In the next scene, heavy rains fall and the words "about ten thousand days later" appear and the city is now stark and gray.

» The camera fades out and footsteps may be heard. A girl's voice welcomes the visitor by exclaiming "Omedeto Gozaimasu" - press the "O" or "X" buttons to advance the text and overall story. Pushing down on the d-pad or the L-analog pad will also advance the story if you're after a little variety in control. The progress of the story may be saved at any time by pressing START and then highlighting the second option at the top of the screen. Inexplicably, there is no automatic forwarding of the text by toggling an option especially since planetarian is a story that is meant to be viewed.

» After the speech, a robotic girl named Reverie appears in front of rows of seats. Reverie is reminiscent of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna except her hair is silver-grey and her eyes are a deep green color. Reverie's voice is for the most part narrated by her voice actress in perfect time to the dialogue. The junker's voice is also spoken by a voice actor.

» The projector shown in the game looks like something that H.R. Giger would design and sort of looks like Robby the Robot if Robby were a projector. The junker resolves to help Reverie continue her planetarium show by fixing the damaged projector so that the stars and planets may be shown indoors once more. A wondrous sight that man has not seen since the clouds from the nuclear war blocked the sky.

» To review the script of the story, press the "SQUARE" button and scroll through the previous text entries by moving the d-pad left and right.

» To remove the dialogue box temporarily from the screen, press and hold the TRIANGLE button. Useful if you want to view the entire graphic on screen without the box blocking the art work.

» After Reverie's introduction, the scene shifts to a recap of the aftermath of the war that destroyed most of mankind and the rains that now fall incessantly on the cities. Back inside, Reverie continues her rant.

» The presentation of Planetarian is through static backgrounds and a static anime actor. There are spot animations in some scenes but the bulk of the game uses a single backdrop for each scene along with an image of Reverie. The speech and music add life to the story but make no mistake that this is purely a visual story with no user interaction other than the button presses to advance the story.

» The Playstation 2 version of planetarian supports progressive output with the use of a component video cable or a d-terminal cable connected to the PS2. The game also features anti-flicker function to remove the assault on your eyes.

» The definition of the word "planetarian" is a worker at a planetarium. It may also refer to a denizen of a planet. For example, since we live on planet Earth, we are all planetarians.

» planetarian tells a touching and tragic story. One of our staffers who purchased the Japanese CD version a few months ago related that she felt a tear roll down her right cheek at the conclusion of the story.

Jan Code: 4933032003953

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.