The limited edition of Utawareru Mono includes a Utawarerumono Visualworks book which spans 100 pages. The first 20 pages feature color artwork of the characters and profiles of the leads including Hakuoro and Eruru. Hakuoro's main allies also make it in the book. Some of the works appear to be fan submissions including one which depicts the scene when Eruru held up a mirror so Hakuoro could look at himself. The scene is recounted in the game as well.

The remainder of the book is in black & white and contains character development sketches, items in the world, storyboard set-ups, location sketches, and unfinished pencil artwork. The last image in the book is a black & white group drawing of the major characters in the game.

The storyline centers around a series of wars set in ancient times and the ascension of a hero named Hakuoro. As the story begins, two young sisters named Eruru and Aruru are foraging in the forest when they stumble across a wounded young man who is wearing a mask. The siblings decide to bring him back to their village. With the help of their grandmother Tusukuru, the family eventually nurses him back to health. From humble beginnings, Hakuoro eventually leads a rebellion against the oppressive emperor of the land and becomes the king of a new country that he names Tusukuru, after the grandma and village elder. Once on the throne, Hakuoro soon learns that running a country is hard work and wars are inevitable. As his renown grows, he attracts like-minded peoples and supporters from surrounding countries who join the kingdom of Tusukuru's sphere of influence. Utaware Rumono mixes interactive sequences with tactical battles which be familiar to anyone who's played a strategy-RPG such as Disgaea, Phantom Brave, or Makai Kingdom.

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

NCS Game Notes
» In the intro to the game, a gal named Eruru prays followed by a sequence where Hakuoro sits on top of camel with his forces arrayed behind him on a dusty plain. He raises his metal hand fan and goads the troops forward. The game logo appears followed by a animations from the television series including the scene where the sisters Eruru and Aruru are going through the forest and picking flowers - they have tails. The intro ends with Hakuoro, Eruru, and Aruru standing near a cliff and looking into the distance.

» At the outset of the game, the player takes on the role of Hakuoro who has been rescued. His vision is blurry but he soon makes out the girl Eruru who saved him earlier. The sound of water can be heard in the background. He blacks out again but hears Eruru singing and opens his eyes again while drinking something. She continues to tend to him and as the days pass, he gets better.

» When he gets up, Hakuoro sees that he's in a large brightly lit room with craftwork nearby. When he exits the building, the first thing he sees are chickens on a dirt road before Eruru arrives to greet him. She's dressed in a white kimono with red sash and a blue/white neck covering. There are animal ears that poke out of her black hair and a ring is attached to strands of hair which hang down on the left side of her face. One day, Eruru's white haired grandma Tusukuru comes by to visit. She wears a tan shawl and a matching headband. At one point, Hakuoro is shown his reflection in a circular mirror and he recoils at the mask that he's wearing. His body is also wrapped in bandages like a mummy.

» The intro is slow and deliberate to deliver the storyline at a measured pace. Eventually Hakuoro is well enough to receive visitors and a procession of people arrive to meet him.

» Battles are grid based - when the movement phase is in effect, the landscape is overlaid with a grid which shows movement range. Attacks commence after movement phase and are shown with highlighted target possibilities.

» To speed through the introductory sequence if you're already familiar with the storyline or just want to get to the action, press and hold the R1 trigger and you'll pass through every portion of the intro in a second or three.

» There are 22 major characters in the game who provide interaction and support including Oboro, the twin sisters brothers Dori & Gura, Touka, Yuzuha, and many more.

» Hakuoro wears a partial face mask which covers his cheeks, eyes, and forehead but leaves his nose and mouth and chin exposed. The top of the mask features two horns which makes Hakuoro look slightly devilish. The mask is also permanent and cannot be removed.

» A training tutorial mode is narrated by Eruru and a sometimes sleepy Aruru which teaches players the rudimentary basics of control and fighting in the game along with elemental alignments.

» All of the dialogue in the game is accompanied by voice acting and occasional sound effects.

» In the Option menu, players may set sound volumes, message speed, battle parameters, controller config, etc.

» The Gallery Mode features 91 pieces of artwork (all locked), 29 music tracks (all but 2 locked), 90 cinema sequences (all locked), and 100 character profiles (all locked). When listening to a track, a CD-disc spins on the right side of the screen with information on the song and artwork.

» This item may also be known as Utaware Rumono.

Correction from Jeremiah Bourque on the game title
Hey, not to nitpick but free Japanese advice: a game you just got in
stock today, you put it as Utaware Rumono. I can see from the Japanese
title that this is incorrect: "wareru" is a verb conjugation. Therefore, it is Utawareru Mono. ("That which sings"?) Well, it's a hard thing for a title with two parts capitalized when the original is like, in handwriting, without anything like capitalizing, and written as if one word.

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