Sword of Vermilion
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| Sword of Vermilion | |
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| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) | Sega Genesis December 16, 1989 Nintendo Wii Virtual Console  February 27, 2007 March 2, 2007 March 5, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Role-Playing Game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii Virtual Console |
| Media | 5 megabit cartridge |
| Input | Control pad |
Sword of Vermilion is a role-playing game developed and published by SEGA in 1990 for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the first console-exclusive game designed by Yu Suzuki. The game is also a part of the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. It was released on the Nintendo Wii's Japanese Virtual Console on February 27, 2007, for the European Virtual Console on March 2, 2007, and on the North American Virtual Console on March 5, 2007.
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[edit] Storyline
Sword of Vermilion is about the role of Erik's son, who takes on a quest of revenge to defeat Tsarkon and free the world of Vermilion from evil.
In the town of Excalabria the people went about their business, and tended to the fields. One day, vicious fighting broke out everywhere as the army from Cartahena, led by the wizard-king Tsarkon, swarmed all over the town. The townsmen were overwhelmed. The castle of King Erik V collapsed. Summoning his bravest, strongest and most faithful warrior, Blade. He gave his infant son and an ancient family heirloom, the ring of wisdom, to Blade. He ordered Blade to save himself and the child while the castle burned. Blade traveled to a small village named Wyclif, where he settled down and raised the child as his own son. Eighteen years later, the son of Erik begins his quest.
The Sword of Vermilion becomes the most powerful weapon at the end of the game. Erik's son saves the world of Vermilion and fulfills the prophecy of the Malaga fortune tellers.
[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay would feature different views and play style to break away from the more traditional RPGs at the time.
- The Town View would utilize the typical overhead angle found in most RPGs.
- The Battle View would be a tilt overhead view where the player takes full control of the character in real-time combat action. You can use your weapons and magic. There is nothing menu based.
- The Dungeon View would be in a first person perspective where an array of sprites represent the maze corridors' walls. The view was likely influenced by Phantasy Star or Ultima.
- The Boss View puts you up against a boss resembling a platform game.
[edit] Criticism
The length of the game was unusually short for an RPG of that era. It can be debated that Sega rushed the release in an effort to carry the RPG momentum after the release of Phantasy Star II from the previous year (1989). Sword of Vermilion was the main RPG game launched during the Genesis does what Nintendon't campaign. The advertisement claims 300 hours of gameplay time, but even novice gamers can finish the game in 20+ hours.
[edit] Trivia
- The Sword of Vermilion would be one of the last Sega Genesis RPGs to come with a box sized hint book. The hint book was 106 pages long.
- By repeatedly equipping and removing a suit of cursed armor, the main character's strength/armor class can be reduced to zero, and then overflowed to the maximum value possible. Once the character levels up, it goes to "just" 255.
[edit] Screenshots
 Battle View |
 Town View |
 Dungeon View |
