Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator was for me an unexpected gem on the PC.  Released in 1999 by Monolith productions, I purchased a copy only because it was being sold at the time in a twin-pack with Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.  It was probably a couple of months after purchasing it that I actually installed the game and gave it a shot, and man had I been missing out.

Part of my lack of enthusiasm at the time was an only passing interest in RPGs and the fact that I didn't care much at the outset for the game's pre-rendered 3D graphics.  That, and the fact that I only had it because it came with another game I wanted contributed to me tossing it aside.  Shortly after diving into it, however, I found myself caught up in an RPG game that stood to give Final Fantasy a run for its money, at least on the PC market where RPGs of that nature were not in abundant supply.

The game has a complex and rather unique storyline, blending together sci-fi with religion and mythology pulled largely from Babylonian sources with a dash of Christianity for good measure.  The game takes place on the world Septerra, a bio-mechanical planet with a computer at its core, continuously orbited by seven, independent continental layers.  Each floating layer bears its own culture, with the highest layer assuming itself to be the favored of God, citizens referring to themselves as the "Chosen".  Every 100 years, the orbit of the layers lines up so as to create a direct hole from the surface to the core.  This allows sunlight to reach the core, activating its machinery and allowing the use of two specials keys to unlock it.  Supposedly this act will open up the "Kingdom of Heaven", but the keys have been lost for ages.  The game takes place as one of the "Chosen" means to gain forcible entry into this Kingdom of Heaven, despite the disruption this may cause for the other layers.

If you've played Final Fantasy, you know what the gameplay is going to be like.  In fact, the game involves a close variant to Final Fantasy's Active Time battle system, wherein each character waits for a gauge to fill before they can perform a new attack.  In Septerra Core, however, all characters have "levels" of attacks.  A brief charge allows a minor attack, and the longer one waits the more power will go into it.  There is also a magic system that uses collectible cards to perform actions such as summoning elemental gods, and consumable combat items.

One of the more engrossing features of the game for me is that it contains full voice acting from actors that are actually pretty good.  It also has a decent musical score.  Fun bit of trivia: the game was scored by Marty O'Donnell, who later scored Halo: Combat Evolved.  Steve Downes provided minor voice acting for Septerra Core and was recommended by Marty O'Donnell as a potential voice-actor to provide the voice of Master Chief, a role he was subsequently given.