Azure Dreams

aka: Other Life: Azure Dreams
Moby ID: 6368
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Description official description

The huge Monster Tower stands near the village Monsbaiya. It is populated by vicious monsters, and few dare enter it. But the monsters in the tower lay eggs, and whoever takes possession of such an egg, can tame a monster which will come out of it, and those monsters, called "familiars", will help their tamers in times of danger. Some brave adventurers dared to enter the tower and to take the eggs. One of them was called Guy. He was killed in the monster tower. Now his son Koh is fifteen, and he is allowed to try his luck in the tower.

The player controls Koh and his party of "familiars" in this dungeon crawling/monster taming RPG. Each floor of the tower is randomly generated when entered, including the layout, items, and traps within it, although the enemy monsters that appear are based on the current floor number. Movement and combat in the game is turn-based; first Koh moves, then allied familiars, then enemy monsters, but outside of combat enemy turns happen instantly. Because Koh's level is reset to 1 every time he enters the tower he has to depend on equipment, a sword and a buckler, and familiars. A familiar's MP will slowly deplete as it follows Koh, however, and they must be periodically fed with appropriate food or they will become unresponsive. As in most Mysterious Dungeon type games Koh will lose all items, even carefully upgraded equipment, if he is defeated in the tower, so fleeing the tower is always a valid strategy.

Once back in town the player can hatch any found monster eggs into permanent familiars and sell off loot from the tower. This money can then be reinvested in the town to add new buildings, decorate Koh's house, unlock minigames, and to show up Koh's rival Ghosh, a rich pretty-boy who never lifted a finger to help Monsbaiya. As Koh restores the town he also meets new female love interests, who over the course of several dungeon trips can be befriended and eventually become close confidants. Koh's familiars retain levels earned in the dungeon, and by carefully merging familiars they can be upgraded with skills they otherwise could never acquire.

Spellings

  • アザーライフ アザードリームス - Japanese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation version)

32 People (31 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

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Critics

Average score: 66% (based on 13 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.2 out of 5 (based on 12 ratings with 1 reviews)

Become the Master Hunter of Monsbaiya, and get the ladies too!

The Good
I picked this game up when I was just a kid, and I was hooked almost instantly. While seeming unimpressive at first glance, the game is oddly addicting once you start playing. The 2D sprites work nicely with the fully panoramic 3D environments. The monster tower is always different each time you go up it, so you'll always have a new challenge to face. There are traps, hidden treasures, and secret monsters on almost every level, so be prepared for surprises!

The battles are all turn-based and take place right on the dungeon map. You can either attack directly, do a 'Brid' based attack (combining physical attacks with your familiar's skills), or have your familiar attack at your side. This allows the player to incorporate a degree of strategy to their battles. Familiars gain levels as you go up, making a high-level familiar a good asset to your travels.

The real-life aspects are impressive for the age. Working your way up the tower becomes more worthwhile as you find more rare treasure and monsters, and likewise you gain more respect from the people of Monsbaiya. You can build, expand, and add on to certain buildings in the town, furthering your good name to everyone around. You can't complete the game fully without completing tasks within the town. It makes for a good change of pace when you're tired of dungeon crawling.

The Bad
One thing that always bugged me was that when you start a new adventure through the tower, you're at level one. It makes getting to the upper levels of the tower take a great deal of strategy so you're not running out of items or having your familiars faint before you make it to your goal. This makes speed runs through the tower virtually impossible without having a high-level familiar, and even then it's difficult.

Another thing is that you cannot exit the tower without the use of certain items. While choosing to "quit" gives you the option to save and return to the main menu, loading up this game save lands you back in your home without all the treasure you collected. Because of this, I hoard wind crystals :)

The Bottom Line
The game follows a young boy named Koh in his journey to make a name for himself in the town of Monsbaiya. Your duty is to go to the Monster Tower, collect treasure, monster eggs, and raise your 'familiars'. The feat is harder than it sounds. The tower has 40 levels with more powerful monsters as you go up. The higher you go, the more valuable the treasure and the more powerful the enemies you'll face. The ultimate goal is to conquer all 40 levels the Monster Tower, but that's not all you have to do to 'complete' Azure Dreams.

The town itself is run-down, and with your house being called a 'dirty hovel' even by your familiars. With the money you make selling treasure and monster eggs, you can expand and buy new decorations for your house, upgrade existing places, or erect new buildings for the people of Monsbaiya to go to (like a theater and a casino). Building certain things will open up new tasks for you to complete, as well as several mini-games to pass the time.

Another major aspect of Azure Dreams is the girls. There are a total of seven women in the game to woo, and some you can only meet after completing certain tasks in Monsbaiya. Each one has their own tastes and you'll have to work accordingly to win them over. Once you do, they'll date you and frequent your house to give you goodbye smooches. Don't worry about jealousy here, you can date all seven at once!

While out-dated by today's standards, Azure Dreams continues to be one of my favorite games. It's in-depth game play remains interesting enough to hold my interest, while simple so that it doesn't become needlessly complicated. A definite classic!

PlayStation · by Adelei Wade (3) · 2009

Trivia

Regional differences

  • This game combines the more traditional Japanese RPG elements with those of a dating sim. Further, a part of the game was removed for the American version. This portion of the game had the main character marrying the girl of his choice. Since the character and all the female characters were roughly 14-17, this obviously didn't sit well.
  • In the Japanese version of the game, you could date not only the girls in the game, but also a male side character. This was removed for the American and European releases of the game.

Information also contributed by Parf

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  • MobyGames ID: 6368
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Unicorn Lynx.

Additional contributors: Vance, //dbz:, Alaka, Parf, DreinIX.

Game added May 13, 2002. Last modified January 14, 2024.