Emerald Dragon on PC Engine is one of those quietly legendary 16-bit RPGs that always looked tantalizing from afar, with big anime cutscenes, CD-quality audio, and striking box art, and it finally has what it always needed, a complete English translation that makes the whole package accessible without a guide on your lap. The game started life on Japanese PCs in 1989, developed by Glodia, before being rebuilt for consoles. The 1994 PC Engine Super CD ROM² version, handled by Alfa System and published by NEC Home Electronics, is effectively a remake with overhauled visuals, voiced dialogue and a cleaner, more modern battle system layered on top of the original design.
The setup leans hard into high fantasy melodrama, in a good way. In the Holy Land of Ishbern, the dragon realms have been corrupted by demons for twenty years, and as Garsia the Infernal and his forces move in to finish off the kingdom of Eirvad, dragon man Atrushan steps in to protect his human companion Tamrin, joining her on a continent spanning journey to uncover her origins and unpick the real cause of the war. Moment to moment, Emerald Dragon is a traditional JRPG filtered through PC Engine CD sensibilities, with lots of voiced story beats punctuated by exploration and battles. Combat in this version is a refined, somewhat tactical turn based system rather than a twitchy action RPG, and the remake’s pacing and encounter design are generally regarded as a step up from the old computer builds and even the already translated Super Famicom port.
For years, import fans have talked up this particular release as the one you should really play thanks to its animated cutscenes, full voice work and stronger overall presentation. With Supper’s new patch fully translating the game into English, the PC Engine CD edition finally escapes that familiar looks amazing on video but too much hassle to actually play limbo and becomes a genuinely approachable way to experience one of the more interesting mid-90s JRPG deep cuts.
Source: Stargood via Time Extension
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