Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky

Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky on PS4 and PSV is a classic jRPG game with a turn-based combat system, in which we move with our heroes to an unknown planet. The game was developed by Spike Chunsoft (creators of such series as Zero Escape and Danganrompa) and tri-Ace (series Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profiles). The developers were supervised by Norimoto Masaki, the creator of the Valkyrie Profiles series on PlayStation and PlayStation 2. He had the greatest influence on how Exist Archive has turned out.

Plot

The action of Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky begins in contemporary Tokyo. The main character, Kanata Kujo, together with his fiancée named Ranze Miwakawa, becomes a victim of a mysterious explosion. Dying in the arms of her beloved, Ranze states that she doesn't want to die in his company. Before the protagonist can understand this surprising confession, he wakes up without any wounds in a strange and unknown place, which soon turns out to be a planet called Protolexa. With time, Kanata discovers that the explosion in Tokyo was triggered by the soul of the god Yamatoga. As a result of this event, the 12 victims of the explosion were fused with a part of the deity, gaining immortality and moving to am the unknown world. The protagonist decides to find all of them and return home.

Mechanics

The action in Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky is presented in a similar way as in the Valkyrie Profiles series. Although the locations have been prepared in 3D, players only move on them on a 2D plane, just like in the standard 2.5D platformers. During the exploration, we meet NPCs as well as opponents. Groups of monsters are shown on the map in the form of colorful spheres. When we approach them, we get transported to a separate combat arena. The fights take place in turn-based mode and the party consists of up to four heroes. Each of them has unique abilities, weapons and statistics that increase with experience. The four main buttons are assigned to actions performed by a single hero. They also activate their attack. Using different button combinations, we activate special combos or spells.

Technical aspects

The graphics of Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky are full of details and fantastic landscapes. Mino Taro, who previously worked on the popular Japanese Love Plus series, has worked on the character designs. The music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, the industry's veteran who worked on soundtracks for games from the Tales ofseries, Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profiles, Dark Souls and many others.

Last updated on 14 October 2016