Opoona

Welcome to Landroll

An RPG for the Wii's library. Touted as a "Lifestyle RPG", Opoona follows the titular character, whose family is traveling to the planet Landroll for a vacation. However, they are attacked en-route by an unknown force. Their ship is destroyed, and the family scattered across the planet Landroll. When he awakens, Opoona is informed that his parents are hospitalized, and will require extensive matia to heal. The currency of the planet, matia also can be used for powerful healing magic. And so Opoona decides to work on Landroll to make enough money to heal his parents.

As a Tizian, the galaxy's strongest warrior species, Opoona is naturally suited to the Landroll Rangers, a group whose duty is to fight against Rogues, strange creatures from the dark side of the planet. Landroll is an unusual planet in that it has no night and day cycle. An impact in the past left half in constant light, and half in perpetual darkness. And it's from this side that the Rogues come. And so, as both a ranger and many secondary jobs, Opoona begins his work on Landroll.

The battle system is turn-based in design, but plays out in real time. Each attack decreasing the user's energy, which has a maximum of 100, and they must then wait until it refills to attack again. The Energy Bon-Bon is thrown using the control stick, allowing the curve and force of the throw to be aimed. The longer it's held, the stronger and faster the throw, but also the longer it takes to refill the users energy. Each fight has a time limit of about 2 minutes, with longer limits for bosses, after which time the battle will end. This is said to be due to the unusual energy system which the Tizians use in battle.

One of the games most striking features is how much attention has been payed to the setting. Each of the many domes which make up Landroll's civilization are vast and unique, with a distinct niche in the Landroll economy. The game also contains dozens of hidden pieces of artwork, including paintings and sculptures, in a range of styles. The game includes details on the history of each piece and its creator, many by the same artists, as well as the various movements which led to their creation. As well as many shows which can be watched via the Net TV. They include a wide-range of programs which vary by region. The game truly lives up to its description, creating a rich and immersive society to discover. Basically, lots and lots of Narrative Filigree.

Tropes used in Opoona include:

• All Your Powers Combined: In the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, your chosen Partizens use the Cocoons to open the way to the bosses, as well as sending part of their energy to the heroes. The stat increases are based on their personal skills, depending on who you picked.
• Always Someone Better: Early on, Opoona learns that Poleena is also training as a ranger, and is already one star ahead of him. They lied.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: After Sanctuary, you take control of Poleena for a while.
• Anime Hair: Some of the Landrollians have really ridiculous hairstyles, like fountain-shaped ponytails and giant, six-inch hair spikes.
• Anti-Villain: Captain Goldy serves the villains willingly, but intends to redeem them himself. When he finds this is impossible, he humbly requests Opoona defeat them.
• Apocalypse How: Landfall was hit with a Class 0 over half the planet in the past, with The Corruption soon following.
• Artifact of Doom: The Dark Bon-Bon.
• Auto Revive: The Airbag Capsule.
• Badass Adorable: This is basically the Tizians' hat. To give you an idea, fighting injustice and evil is at the top of their planetary constitution.
• Berserker Rage: The Battle Monger Coat, which is your reward for one Collection Sidequest. Does lots of damage, but the character runs on auto.
• Big Bad: Lady Babushca and Master Aizel. They are, however, only pawns of the Dark Emperor.
• Bigger Bad: The Dark Emperor.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Tizians are born with their Bon-Bons, some in place of legs! The latter actually signifies particular holy power. The games time limit also signifies how long they can make use of their combat energies, with a special boost when fighting a Worthy Opponent.
• Blind Idiot Translation: This game was clearly localized by Koei's B Team (or in-house in Japan), and is not up to their usual standards.
• Bonus Dungeon: The Server Room, though it's not so much a "dungeon" as it is a Multi Mook Melee.
• Boss in Mook Clothing: The Salamander, which appears in the Bonus Dungeon. In a game where 200 is a generally decent amount of HP for a late-game enemy, and 300 is downright chunky, this baddie (which you can fight about halfway through the game, as a random encounter) has 1400 HP, does obscene amounts of damage, can attack your whole party, and often appears on-screen with bombs (which, if accidentally struck, will knock off most of your HP if not all). As if to prove a point, it's the last monster listed in your Rogue Book.
  • The Shredder in the ruins, though it's exceedinly rare--enough so that you probably won't even see it on your first trip through, and your only hint that it's there comes much later in the game (at a point when you can beat it easily).
  • The White Monk in the Meditation Tower, which has HP comparable to Salamander without the bombs. As if to prove its point, it has as one of its rare drops an item which is otherwise only obtained through a lengthy Collection Sidequest.
  • The Apocalypse II, which makes itself a nuisance not by having lots of HP, but by having ludicrous defense, and by having singular attacks which do more damage than the final boss. Again, very rare and occurs in only one room. If you're not prepared, encountering just one can be a death sentence. It's possible to fight two at once. Better get ready to spam Armagebbon!
  • You will also rarely encounter enemies in some areas who are much stronger than others, though it's rare.
• Bragging Rights Reward: Getting Ine to be your friend. (S)He will only befriend you if you become a famous ukelele musician; a task that takes more than fifty in-game days to complete. But there's really nothing special about him/her.
• Broken Bridge: Everything on Landroll is based around licenses, requiring you to raise your ranking to progress through the domes. Though unlike most examples of the trope, this isn't coincidence, it's simply how the society works.
• Cain and Abel: Aizel and Shagla. When the time to determine the planet's leader came, the two brothers meditated in the Tower. Aizel was chosen, and Shagla was cast out, touched and consumed by darkness. Because Aizel put them there, and he's been manipulated by Babuscha, who's manipulated by the Dark Bon-Bon.
• The Catfish: Legend.
• Chekhov's Gunman: During your first day on Landroll^[1], you meet a girl named Chaika and two odd-looking men, who complain about "not being allowed into the dome" due to being outsiders. Chaika ends up being plot-important much later, as pretty much the only other person on Landroll to multitask as much as Opoona does. And the two men are from a secret outlaw town way out in the wilderness, who end up getting wrapped up in Poleena's portion of the plot.
• Convenient Coma: Your first gameplay day is technically "Day 3"; the first two are spent comatose. And Poleena is in one for however long it takes you to reach Sanctuary + 30 days.
• The Corruption: Dark Energy, radiated by the Dark Bon-Bon.
• Dark Is Evil: And how!
• Dark Is Not Evil: Though the supposed "Dark Sage" Shagla is a Hero with Bad Publicity.
• The Dark Side: Some use Dark Energy this way; however, unlike most examples, it doesn't take no for an answer. And will quickly become The Corruption instead.
• Degraded Boss: Two versions. One early boss, Flamehead, pops up in numerous fights later in Intelligent Sea. Also, many monsters appear early on as "supporters" to another boss (like the Moon Witch), then pop up later as regular enemies.
• Dying as Yourself
• Elemental Powers: Besides spells that are organized into elements, there are also the elemental spirits. After proving your strength to them, they will begin to show up to help you with their spells during battle.
• Fantastic Caste System: Everyone is given a job suiting to them in childhood. However, they have quite a bit of say in the decision, and can take on secondary classes if they like. Played more straight with Sages, who are only allowed to hold a single job, as they work as both healers and government officials. Also those who were born outside the domes, or exiled, are not allowed in.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Seems to be popular on Landroll.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Fire, Ice and Thunder Coats, which also have upgrades in the Solar Coat, Frozen Coat and Plasma Coat. There's also elementals known as the Fire Hair, Plasma Hair and Ice Hair.
• Fishing Minigame: A very simple one which uses the battle engine; however, instead of a Bon-Bon, you use special bait, which also determines your HP.
• Five Races:
  • Stout: Tizian, despite their cuteness.
  • Fairy: Fairies.
  • Mundane: Human, though they're note the focal race here.
  • High Men: Sages can be thought of as this--they're humans (or Tizians, given Copoona), but have lots of holy force within them and are born to healer and leadership roles. A case could also be made for the giants: they've been on Landroll longer than humans have, have a mystical/spiritual energy, and are implied to be very wise.
  • Cute: Nikonikoians. So they're a little snooty... They're just so adorable!
• Floating Continent: Sanctuary.
• Fluffy the Terrible: The Dark Bon-Bon is in no way cute.
• The Force: The Holy Force, source of the Sages powers.
• Fortune Teller: Debia and Creola; you also can become one yourself.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Check up on the people who are using the "Virtual Machines" in Paradiso. Some of the comments you get are extremely... suspect. The large number of people screaming the names of popular celebrities, for one...
• Giant Mook: Golems, which don't even fit on the screen all the way. Even in the Rogue Book, they go outside the boundaries!
  • And later in the game, the absolutely enormous Mega Puchila.
• Gilded Cage: Paradiso can be this if Aizel considers you a threat. If not, it probably is a genuinely nice place to live, but the Virtual Machines ensure that few people really work up the werewithal to leave.
• Gotta Catch Them All: The seven lost puppies. Not to mention all the artwork, optional licenses, secret passwords, Net TV shows, components for the best Bon-Bon upgrades... the game likes this trope.
• Green Rocks: Matia is both currency, and a material used in healing magic.
• Guest Star Party Member: Chaika. Also somewhat of a Crutch Character as Poleena is your only PC at the time.
• Guide Dang It: Due to the lackluster translation, some clues are less then obvious, or outright wrong. Unfortunately, walkthroughs are equally hard to come by.
• Herd-Hitting Attack: Armagebbon targets a single enemy, but can smash those around it if they're close. Copoona also has a number of spells that can target a specific "level" of enemy (On the ground/in the air/way high up), and the Plasma Coat shoots electric tentdrils that zap enemies close to those it hits.
• Human Aliens: Possibly. One NPC, Yukiha, calls herself a "Violetian" and implies she's not from Landroll. She also has unusually purple hair and eyes. But it's not clear if she's an alien species, or part of a very, very purple ethnic minority.
• Idol Singer: Numerous ones. One of them, Mimi, you can befriend, but there are idols in other professions, too (including an idol advertiser).
• Ill Boy: Ted, as a sufferer of "carbon heart". He gets better, thanks to you and the Sages.
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • Tizians make use of "Energy Bon-Bons", spheres which aid in both attack and magic. They even can be used as a Crystal Ball!
  • Most Rangers use Gunblades.
• Kid Hero
• Killer Rabbit: The Tizians are all adorable creatures resembling Playmobile figures. They're also the toughest warrior race in the universe, and serve as a sort of galactic police force. There's also a more literal example near the end of the game, though he's under mind control.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Anyone who opposes Aizel for too long ends up with this.
• Little Miss Badass: Poleena, whose solutions to problems tend to be either "manipulate it with her cuteness" or smack it upside the head with a Bon-Bon.
• Lost Forever: Not many, but there are a few. There are a couple art pieces in the Artiela museum that will get replaced if you don't view them soon after you get there, meaning you can't complete your Catalogue d'Arts.
  • There's also Masao's Statue. If you befriend the alien Masao, he will give you a statue of himself. Its description tells you that "alien arts are valuable on Landroll", and you can sell it for a hefty hunk of change... But then you'll miss out on befriending Ine (another member of Masao's species), and you'll miss out on an essential item to get Masao as one of your Partizans.
• Loveable Rogue: The legendary pirate Tyrant, is said to be the only one to have survived facing the Rogues in their own territory. At least according to the stories. He actually was the monster which killed the crew and stole their ship.
• Mana Drain: Available as a power to both Copoona and Poleena. Opoona misses out, though he has the most expensive skill you'll probably use regularly (Final Armagebbon).
• Metal Slime: The Star Human is a textbook example. It has super-high defense and evasion, so not only does it take very little damage, you can't even hit it half the time. It's prone to fleeing. If you can kill it (no small feat), it drops tons of EXP, cash, and even has a chance of dropping an exclusive item.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Orcalphins.
• Monster Compendium: Jingle's Rogue Book, which even gets its own sidequest.
• Mordor: The dark half of the planet.
• Mundane Utility Besides battle, Opoona's Energy Bon-Bon can be used as a crystal ball for simple fortune telling. Likewise, the hoverboard can be equipped with a nozzle to sweep.
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Subverted by Tyrant, who is a legendary pirate that dared to take on the Rogues in their own territory. Double-Subverted when it's revealed he's a horrible monster.
• Odango: Poleena's Bon-Bons are placed in this position, especially when in disguise.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: The Final Boss theme.
• People Jars: Quite a few appear in the underwater prison as well as playing a key role in the Dark Burrows.
• Playable Epilogue: The ending sequence has you flying home to Tizia in your repaired ship, but Roidman suggests you save your game first. Loading the save you make there puts you back in Sanctuary, and you're free to do whatever you like from then until eternity. Indeed, there are some things (like maxing out your friendship with your Partizans) that can only be done post-credits.
• Precious Puppies: The seven puppies which help with the tutorial, as well as a later sidequest.
• Projected Man: Serge. For the most part, he looks like an ordinary NPC, but he shorts out a few times during the Intelligent Sea parts of the story.
• Rainbow Pimp Gear: All the stuff you equip to your Bon-Bon? It shows. So your Bonbon could be a giant sparkling mace encircled by a UFO, leaves, and half-covered by a riveted metal base--awesome stats, ludicrous appearance.
• Random Effect Spell: The Random Hearts equipment, which adds random effects to your attacks.
• Randomly Drops: A number of sidequests are based on items which you can get from random drops, and some enemies even drop pretty good equipment on defeat. There are a few exclusive equipments you can get only from enemies, and some of them are surprisingly good (like the Ghost Ring, which has instakill properties, or the Tentacle Coat, which gives you Combat Tentacles that do non-elemental damage).
  • There are also some enemies which are just plain rare to begin with, but you need to fight them for 100% Completion too.
• Rare Candy: Numerous ones!
• Released to Elsewhere: Originally, the stories about Paradiso were true; however, in recent times, most four-stars have instead served as Human Resources for the Dark Bon-Bon.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Sand Weasels. Not to mention all the puppies, some rogues and, of course, the heroes themselves.
• The Rival: Ted, initially, though he ends up being a subversion: all his bragging is because he's an Ill Boy who wants to feel like he's doing something cool.
• Scenery Porn: The game has some very pretty areas, though the bad camera often gets in the way. Of special note are the dozens of detailed pieces of artwork and sculpture, one of which is many stories tall and must be seen with an elevator!
• Shows Damage: Rogues get progressively more beat-up looking as you wail on them.
• Show Within a Show: In fact, your OMP has a built in online TV, which streams different shows depending on what area you're in. They include everything from dramas and sports, and even dance lessons (which you have to watch for a sidequest).
• Silent Protagonist: Opoona is indeed one. As is Poleena, but only during her time as main character.
• Smash Mook: Golems and their Palette Swaps.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Believe it or not, an aversion. In addition to occassionally throwing an extra-strong enemy at you as a Boss in Mook Clothing, weak enemies will also sometimes pop up in later areas just because. "Wait, what are the Flameheads from all the way back in the second dungeon doing here, so late to the game?"
• Spell My Name with an "S": Sadly, the translation really did need some proofreading. At least one character is even referred to by two different names in the same conversation!
• Tastes Like Friendship: How you befriend the Orcalphin.
• Too Awesome to Use: Popcorn Shower. The only way to get one is by spending 1000 Shop Points (1 point = 100 MT, so it basically costs 100,000 MT), and it's one-use. It does about 800 damage to everything on the field, which is enough to wipe out pretty much everything short of a Salamander. But given its cost and given that most battles don't need that kind of firepower, when will you think to use it?
• Treacherous Advisor: Goldy, the commander who trained Opoona, as well as Crescent. Aizel and Babushca would be this to Copoona, though his interaction with them was all off camera.
• Trickster Mentor: Joey.
• True Companions: Called "Partizans" on Landroll.
• Unique Enemy: The Killer Screen is the only enemy in the game without a Palette Swap. Even most bosses have swaps, but the Screen doesn't.
• The Unseen/The Unfought: The Dark Emperor. Likely a Sequel Hook.
• Useless Useful Spell: Averted; some of the support skills are actually genuinely useful, since even some random encounters can be quite tough. Particularly notable are the "shield" abilities, which reduce damage for a time (perfect for protecting Squishy Wizard Copoona against some of the more damaging attacks), and Milky Rain, which can stun all enemies (perfect for dealing with huge mobs of enemies, especially when bombs are around).
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Dark Burrows.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Aizel and Babushca are loved and respected leaders.
• Wasted Song: The background music from the hideout is absolutely epic. Said hideout is two rooms in size, and has maybe three story scenes in it total.
• Weasel Mascot: Though not the game's mascot, the sand weasels are completely adorable.
• Wham! Episode: Sanctuary. Especially if you hadn't talked to a certain pair of optional NPCs.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Aizel.
• Work Off the Debt: Interestingly, Landroll is based entirely around this principle. Everyone begins with a lifetime total known as your "quota". Once you've worked it off, you're free to live in an all expense payed resort for the rest of your life. The record is apparently three days and eighteen hours.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle: We did it, we finally made four-star! Wait, aren't we short a sibling?

1. ↑ Technically your third, but you spent the first two in a coma.