Description
Wow, it's been four years already for SS? I decided to revisit less-import-friendly games from my archives and came across this odd duck: "Gunblaze S". Originally developed by "Active Software" in 1994 as an adult / NSFW RPG for NEC's PC-98, it's the only game of theirs to get remade as an ecchi release on a home console (unless you arguably count the PSP port of "Bible Black: The Game", an elusive release on UMD-PG, aka "Players Game", with interactive segments like DVD Player "games"). Released in early 1998 for Sega Saturn, it upgraded the visuals and removed the most erotic scenes, though the context is still highly suggestive (earning the game its "Yellow Label"). "Active Software" is an interesting company, so let's talk about them a bit.
Founded in 1991 in Kyoto, Japan, Active Software (typically just called "Active") was run by Michiko Sakai (she was also known as "Micchan" in game credits) and was best known for "Mahjong Fantasia", "if", "Bible Black: The Game" and "Discipline". As one of the early female pioneers running a company in the video game industry, almost all their games were visual novels or VN-adjacent, but "Gunblaze" was her most ambitious work as it took the usual visual novel trappings and added an RPG framework to it with a team of about a dozen people. The game stood out as a title with Western sensibilities and presented a crime-fueled 1800s view of London and Germany but with a few Japanese accents and Steampunk / Fantasy elements. While you can tell they had fun working on it as a passion project (it got a remake after all), the game was deemed amateurish and ultimately unsuccessful commercially, though it had a few fans who remembered it fondly, mostly as an introduction to (J)RPGs.
Somewhat ironically, Michiko and Active participated in the "Ethics Organization of Computer Software" (EOCS) from 1993-1998 which was a precursor to the Western ESRB / PEGI or Japanese CERO orgs., outlawing games with graphic sexual scenes depicting underage girls. For context, this was mainly for children twelve (12) and younger as the age of consent at the time was thirteen (13), so Michiko was doing her part to curb objectionable content while advocating for mature content in games. That said, I gotta talk about how WEIRD this game is. Here's a few of the things I experienced:
Within the first 15 minutes: A sick girl is shot at and falls out of a Zeppelin
Within the first 30 minutes: This girl is being assaulted at night
Within the first 45 minutes: Same girl is related to MC and tries to force herself on him
Within the first 90 minutes: A sect who can influence demons and use alchemy
And that's the "normal" stuff. There's also animal cruelty, dictators, mental manipulation and debauchery. Fortunately, it's nuanced enough to make it palatable. The main plot is about a genius named Keene Flint and his grand-daughter, Jewel, who stumble upon the ultimate energy source, Ether (Photon Crystallization), when they're abducted by a sect known as the "Rosicrucian Order" led by Irene. His crowning achievement, the "Shining Star", was made in a bid to keep Jewel alive as it keeps her sickness at bay as long as she possesses it, but was made by a series of coincidences and can't be reproduced. Jewel narrowly escapes and is told to seek out Mark Flint, a relative and detective, to stop the sect from mass-producing Ether and taking over the world. The game is more story than actual gameplay, and much of the plot is fairly cliched, though one sub-plot with a side character basically overshadows the main plot as one of the game's best (but eerie) segments.
*SPOILERS*
-
-
-
This sub-plot basically involves a woman taking advantage of a man with amnesia, naming him after a man she loved (who is also a playable character), and then makes love to him before abandoning him for his own safety... this happens in less than a week. Yeeeeah...
-
The presentation, while improved from the PC-98 game overall, is not very good. CGs are okay, but the mature scenes, while hi-res, are on a blank background and kinda silly (I'm sure they made more sense in the original). All other graphics are reminiscent of the late 80s / early 90s and battle graphics are minimal. The soundtrack is okay and the gameplay is a super basic turn-based RPG. That said, it's got A LOT of little issues... you only gain HP at level-ups, can only get stronger through gear (different guns with ammo), guns can jam / misfire / explode (causing you to lose turns and inventory), you can't sell stuff, turn order is dictated by level, there's collision bugs when running (so you have to fiddle with entrances / exits), high encounter rate, you need an obnoxious amount of EXP after getting to Lvl.10 and there's other odd stuff in the game (like a gun you start with not being usable by normal means, explained in comments). The change of currency from Shillings to Marks later in the game is a novel touch.
This is a vid of the game in action. Enjoy.