Linkle Liver Story

Linkle Liver Story[lower-alpha 1] is a 1996 Japanese video game developed by Nextech and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn video game system. The game is an action-RPG where the player takes control of foxgirl named Kitsch.

Linkle Liver Story
Developer(s)Nextech
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Osamu Satou
Producer(s)Katsuji Aoyama
Tatsuo Yamada
Designer(s)Eiichi Kitano
Yuji Tamaya
Programmer(s)Eiki Aizawa
Manabu Takahashi
Toshio Toyota
Artist(s)Masayuki Matsushima
Kazuhiro Nagata
Kōichirō Kobayashi
Writer(s)Yayoi Onda
Composer(s)Fumito Tamayama
Hidehiko Enomoto
Masato Takahashi
Platform(s)Sega Saturn
Release
  • JP: 15 March 1996
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot.

The game is an action adventure game.[1]

Finding and planting seeds will give the player new weapons, for a total of eight possible weapons.[1]

The game uses an isometric perspective.[1]

The game is 2D and makes extensive use of the CD-ROM format to have higher quality graphics, sound, and music, as well as greater length, than would be possible with the cartridge format.[2]

Plot

The game is set in a world inhabited by demi-humans. An evil force has conquered the land of Four Seasons, and a young heroine joins forces with small woodland animals to fight back.[3]

The main character is named Kitsch who is a fox girl.[1]

The game is set in a fairy tale world.[1]

The game is set on the world of Mamuna, and is ruled by a figure named Muma. He uses dark magic, and has ruled the planet as an authoritarian but his power is beginning to wane and he may vanish if he can't find more power.[2]

The game focuses on Kitchu, a fox girl, and she is accompanied by a squirrel named Balel and a rabbit named Lalala. Her third partner is named Putchimoku and is a seed that grows throughout the game.[2]

Development

The game was developed by Nextech, who had previously made the games Crusader of Centy, and Ranger-X.[4] The game was part of an initiative of role playing games for the Sega Saturn, including Magic Knight Rayearth, Shining Wisdom, The Legend of Oasis.[5]

Release

Linkle Liver Story was released on March 15, 1996 for the Sega Saturn video game console, and was published by Sega.[6][7][8][9][10] The game was released only in Japan. In 2019 however, the game was translated into English through a fan translation. In addition to the game, the translation team also translated the game's manual.[11]

Reception

According to Famitsu, Linkle Liver Story sold over 4,950 copies in its first week on the market.[13] Famitsu gave the game a score of 26 out of 40.[7]

Three reviewers for GameFan gave it scores of 65, 85, and 70, of an average of 73.[4]

Three reviewers for the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine gave it a score of 7, 7, and 6.[12]

Several gaming publications found the game's title to be strange.[3] Several publications, including Next Gen, Official Sega Saturn Magazine, Mega Console, previewed the game calling it "Wrinkle River Story". GameFan reviewed the game calling it "Wrinkle River Story", however they pointed out that the game's title screen says Linkle Liver Story.[4]

Notes
  1. Japanese: リンクルリバーストーリー Hepburn: Rinku Ruribā Sutōrī, lit. Wrinkle River Story

References
  1. Hara, Tetsuhiko (May 1996). "Saturn-News: Linkle Liver Story". Video Games (in German). No. 54. Magna Media. p. 64.
  2. "NG Alphas - Wrinkle River Story". Next Generation. No. 18. Imagine Media. June 1996. p. 80.
  3. Ogasawara, Nob; Mike, Major (May 1996). "Overseas ProSpects: Linkle Liver Story". GamePro. No. 92. IDG. p. 36.
  4. Des Barres, Nicholas; Loe, Casey; Halverson, Dave (May 1996). "Viewpoint - Gen 32 Japan Soft: Wrinkle River Story". GameFan. Vol. 4 no. 5. Metropolis Media. pp. 13, 66, 67.
  5. Bittanti, Matteo (April 1996). "Sega News - Wrinkle River Story". Mega Console (in Italian). No. 25. Futura Publishing. p. 23.
  6. "リンクル・リバー・ストーリー (セガサターン) - ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  7. "New Game Cross Review". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 379. ASCII. 22 March 1996. p. 31.
  8. "リンクル•リバー•ストーリー". Sega Saturn Soft Information (in Japanese). Vol. 6. Sega. 1996. p. 4.
  9. "Japan News - L'actu Façon Sushi - Wrinkle River Story". CD Consoles (in French). No. 19. Pressimage. August 1996. p. 30.
  10. "Saturn Scoop Fan - Scoop 18 - Linkle Liver Story". Saturn Fan (in Japanese). No. 14. Tokuma Shoten. February 1996. p. 126.
  11. Peeples, Jeremy (3 January 2019). "Saturn Action-RPG Linkle Liver Story Gets English Fan Translation". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  12. "Sega Saturn Soft Review - New Release Title Check! - リンクル•リバー•ストーリー". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 18. SoftBank Creative. 8 March 1996. p. 225.
  13. "Game Search". Game Data Library. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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