At the outset of the adventure, players may select a hero from four archetypes (as shown on the game cover) and edit colors accordingly. There's a character called High Lander who's muscular and carries a magnificent sword, a red-headed Amazoness who hefts bow and arrow, a Gladiator who looks like an Onimusha hero, and an almost naked and full-bosomed Dark Sercher who fights with a sword and carries a big shield. Once the character choice has been selected and given a name, head over to the dungeon to the southwest of your current position and battle rodents who bite and leap like Mexican jumping beans... with teeth.

The action runs fast and vicious with enemies approaching in steady waves and collaborating with each other to gang up on the player. When attacking a group of monsters that attempt a swarming tactic, the hero can move around like a whirling dervish swinging a weapon. Low-to-the-ground creatures which look like rodents are called Chumps, muscle-bound bruisers are called Skull Maniacs, insect-like creatures are Dark Rustle, zombie look-alikes are Residents (interesting), and there's a red-skinned fighter called a Minotaur which is exactly that - a minotaur.

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

» Movement is controlled only through the analog nub. The d-pad moves the camera around.

» To exit the first town, simply roam towards the right and a dialogue box appears which allows exit. Once out of the town, an overhead view of the city is shown. The first area that you may travel to is a dungeon located to the southwest and is marked by a red X. The available locations to visit are marked with red Xs but there's isn't much else to explore at the outset.

» The first vermin met inside the dungeon is a Chump or a rodent. Attack by pressing either the SQUARE or TRIANGLE button and jump by hitting X. The action is fast and the moves are fluid as the hero smacks and spins against unfriendly creatures. To guard against attacks, press and hold the R trigger. The R-trigger serves a dual purposes as a camera shifter since the D-pad control of the camera is non-intuitive

» After defeating the Chumps on the first level of the dungeon, head downstairs where you'll meet a man named Bonzo who's seated against a wall and gives some more information on the background of the game. He looks like Luffy, all grown up. If you head to the left, you will come across some crates that may be dropped to the floor and broken open for some bonus items.

» Continue downwards to the third level and you'll get to fight some Residents who try to attack en masse but since they move fairly slowly, it's easy to do a round robin attack and defeat them without much pain. Before the level opens, a screen appears which instructs the following moves: Press and hold the R-Trigger + Press SQUARE to do a shield wallop. Hold R and press X to crouch. When an enemy is down, it's possible to continue beating while it's in a helpless state.

» On the fourth level, you'll learn to hold the L-trigger and press SQUARE or TRIANGLE to activate magic attacks. There's a Speed Down (L+SQUARE) attack that'll lower the movement speed of an an enemy. On the fourth level, you'll level up while fighting the Residents there and upon leveling up, your HP is restored entirely.

» After that, head on down to the fifth level and you'll meet a white-haired, white robed deity of sorts named Labirius who floats above the ground and dispenses advice. At this juncture, you'll learn to activate items by holding R and pressing Triangle. The active item is shown on a vertical slotted bar on the left side of the screen. To return to the town, highlight the circular object on the left slot and then press and hold R and triangle. You'll then teleport back into town where Aldora greets you once again.

» Leave the town and eight new locations open up on the map to explore.

» If you are defeated by creatures, "You Failed!" appears on the screen and you regenerate at the first town.

» There are dungeons where ridiculous amounts of formidable enemies attack and swarm like their lives depended on it. It's fairly imposing to face off against 10 Dark Rustle attackers at once or a gang of armored SkullManiacs but a combination of fast swinging attacks and magic blasts can get you out of hairy 10-on-1 situations. Just don't get caught in the middle of a crowd since they will all attack at once and cause major HP loss.

» Some dungeon levels feature spikes that poke out of the ground or out of columns as well as swinging pendulums. These "traps" provide a great strategic advantage because they'll damage enemies who walk into them. There was one level where a gang of bruisers chased our hero around a platform of spikes and decimated themselves by taking continuous hits from the spikes. Think of the traps as great equalizers when facing mass enemies.

» Different species of monsters will attack each other and see each other as threats. Dark Rustlers and Residents seem to have a special enmity against each other. If you stay a safe distance away, you can watch two groups of creatures massacre each other without lifting a finger.

» This item is also known as Lost Regnum: Emperor of Thieves.

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