Game:

Tenerezza (2003)

Duration: 2:55:18

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If one asked what would be a "good" Japanese Action-RPG for the OG Xbox to play, they would probably get laughed at due to the overall poor sales of the system in Japan and the very small handful of exclusives, but there is at least one that is actually sorta good that you could play on the system... a cute little game called "Tenerezza", an experimental title from Aquaplus, the publisher (but sometimes developer with its main subsidiary, Leaf) of such hits as the "To Heart" series, "Comic Party" series, "Utawarerumono" series, "Tears to Tiara" series, and more. As a one-off title with no spin-off or sequels, Tenerezza is fairly unique among the studio's output which mostly consists of visual novels and RPG/Strategy games with heavy visual novel elements. Originally finished towards the end of 2002, the game would get delayed and released in January of 2003. Due to poor sales and some key aspects (mentioned later), the game would get ported to Japanese Windows PCs a few months later.

The story centers around a young witch, Tenerezza (which is Italian for "Tenderness"), who wants to be the world's most powerful magical girl, but this is partially a front as she takes on the role of the town guardian and quest completer for the denizens of Esparanza. Cheerful and helpful, she protects those in need and one day gets a request to check the cursed forest to the east to stop a demon lord, who she mistakenly assumes is the Fairy, Lolo, but after their misunderstanding, Tene (for short) learns that there is an evil witch named Sharom who summons monsters and works in the service of a greater evil. Tene, in her hubris, believes she easily dispatches Sharom only to be caught off guard and severely injured by her. Before she can deliver the finishing blow, Tene is teleported to safety and learns that Sharom can be stopped if she gathers four elemental gems and journeys across the land with Lolo and the disciple of fire, Celius, to find them.

The plot is pretty predictable and the story isn't very deep but banks on its charming and funny characters and is passable overall. The gameplay is similar to the plot in that it is fairly simple and a little under-baked; Tenerezza can cast spells from the four primary elements, use melee attacks with a non-elemental blade, and craft / cook a variety of items to equip or use on her quest. While there aren't a lot of core items, there are a lot of ingredients to farm which becomes a problem very quickly as Tene has a VERY limited carrying capacity and as most items cannot be bought outright (they require a combination of cash and many ingredients or must be found), you will either find yourself full of items right near dungeon entrances or ignoring everything but what you need for a particular items or quests. Tene has a safe at home which holds a hefty 500 items, but she can only carry 20 items out in the field (which can be increased to 40 and then 60).

Battling takes place in real-time and Tene gains experience and levels like a regular RPG. When she levels, she gets stronger as well as gains a little HP, but the real reward for leveling are points you can allocate to each element or HP / melee strength. While the game doesn't tell you specifically (though one NPC references it), it's better to specialize in one or two elements starting out; magic can be charged to new heights as intermediate magic can be learned when an element reaches level 7, advanced at level 13, and mastered at level 20 (improving your base element). You can also learn Forbidden Magic (by getting two or more elements to level 20 and investigating hidden stone monuments) which are frankly OP and the game does have a few rewarding sidequests and several secrets, some that are time sensitive and some which will alter Tene's cosmetics.

The game can last about 20hrs or so if you milk it, but it can be cleared faster if you don't care about the quests or characters. While some enemies resist certain elements (the one thing preventing you from cheesing everything), you can actually speed run the game pretty quickly as levels aren't as important as getting items, using strategy and avoiding damage. One fatal bug exists in the Xbox version after you collect all four gems and take them to the president of Esparanza, locking up the game. While the scene can be rapid-skipped to continue, it could not be fixed. This lead to the PC version's patch when it released a few months later as well as improved graphics, added bestiary, new ending context and post game features to improve goodwill with fans. The PC version is the definitive release. The game sounds good and looks like a fairly polished Dreamcast game.

The opening is animated by Studio OX and the theme song "Fragrant Wind" is sung by Emi Motoda who also did vocals for Comic Party and Utawarerumono. Yumi Kakazu who voiced Tene also voiced Yuffie Kisaragi from various iterations of FF7 and Kula Diamond from the KoF series. This is a 3hr test video. Enjoy.