Thousands of years ago, the spirits of Earth and Sky clashed. Eventually, the Sky Spirits gave their powers to some humans, transforming them into wizards and allies in the struggle. The Earth Spirits were cast underground, but the Sky Spirits dreaded the human wizards and were also cast underground.
Years have passed, and a strong magician named Kanon has escaped from the dark prison, transforming the human land into a puppet state, terrified of his strength. Kanon’s rule is believed to be brought to an end by a fabled sword. The sword was reclaimed by four warriors – Han, Randy, Nicole, and Ginjirou – but knights dispatched by Kanon are determined to take it away and destroy it at any cost. With the help of the renegade knight Serena, the four heroes must keep the world safe while protecting themselves from the attack.
Guardian Heroes is a cross between a side-scrolling beat-them-up and a role-playing game. The following characteristics and skills separate the four primary player characters: Randy is a sorcerer who can cast assault spells but is physically more vulnerable than Han; Ginjirou is a ninja-type, agile character; and Nicole has weak attacks but can cast healing charms.
The fighting mechanic is slightly more complex than in most other games of this genre, featuring light and heavy attacks, special techniques (performed in the same manner as in most fighting games), magical attacks, and the ability to block. Defeating foes grants experience points, which can be used to upgrade characters between levels by allocating them to various factors such as strength, speed, constitution, and magic resistance.
The game contains a branching plot that evolves based on the player’s stage pick. A “Karma” system also analyzes the player’s behavior in the game environment based on how they handle enemies or innocent people.
Even in one-player mode, there are always two controlled characters on screen – the player directs the other character by altering his “mood” – aggressive, cowardly, etc. – from one of six options. Furthermore, the game can be played as a more typical beat-em-up with up to six players (human or AI-controlled); in this form, you can play as any character encountered throughout the primary game mode.
