History VideoGame / RondoOfSwords

''Rondo of Swords'' (偽りの輪舞曲 / ''Itsuwari no Rondo'', lit. "Rondo of Deceit") is a 2008 StrategyRPG for the Platform/NintendoDS, developed by Creator/{{Success}} and localized by Creator/{{Atlus}}. During an attack on the city of Bretwalde by an invading army from the Grand Meir Empire, Prince Serdic was mortally wounded, so he had his body double take his place and save the kingdom in his stead. The new "Serdic" leads the few remaining soldiers of Bretwalde in a campaign to recapture their homeland and to drive off the Grand Meir. Along the way, Serdic and his company manage to recruit a variety of different people to help him, including stars from other Success games such as [[VideoGame/IzunaLegendOfTheUnemployedNinja Izuna]] and [[VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton Cotton]].

''Rondo of Swords'' (偽りの輪舞曲 / ''Itsuwari no Rondo'', lit. "Rondo of Deceit") is a 2008 StrategyRPG for the Platform/NintendoDS, developed by Creator/{{Success}} and localized by Creator/{{Atlus}}. During an attack on the city of Bretwalde by an invading army from the Grand Meir Empire, Prince Serdic was mortally wounded, so he had his body double take his place and save the kingdom in his stead. The new "Serdic" leads the few remaining soldiers of Bretwalde in a campaign to recapture their homeland and to drive off the Grand Meir. Along the way, Serdic and his company manage to recruit a variety of different people to help him, including stars from other Success games such as [[VideoGame/IzunaLegendOfTheUnemployedNinja Izuna]] and [[VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton Cotton]].

** Stance Shift increases counter chances at the expense of DEF.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: While characters don't die permanently when you lose them in battle, they do end up with the "hurt" status where in the next stage, they end up with all their stats and level halved and unable to do side quests. However, characters with the skill Adamancy can work around it since it has chances of reducing penalties for Hurt characters.

** Blind Rage and Berserk respectively increase ATK and counter chances at the expense of accuracy.

* DownerEnding: Both paths can end in somber ways depending on the decisions you take.
** Path A: [[spoiler:If someone other than Altrius kills the real Serdic, the former will mysteriously fall asleep after defeating Gauss. Since the Holy Blade is still cursed and Mephreyu is still alive and kicking at this point, it also implies that the Darkness is covering the planet and destroying the world.]]
** Path B: [[spoiler:If you have Serdic run away in Stage 37, "The Successor", it will end in the Divine Empire of Bretwalde withdrawing and the Grand Meir Empire chasing them around, but by then Serdic's advances have severely weakened their once-notorious military strength. Eventually, Grand Meir collapsed under its own weight come Year 384 and Aegil took lead of both Verona and the Divine Empire, futilely waiting for Serdic's return until she died of old age.]]

* OneHitPolykill: Some spells and certain characters' [=OverBreaks=] act like this by damaging lines of enemies in one hit. Examples are Ice Spear and Cotton's "Thunder" at level 1-4 for spells, and Serdic, Ansom, and Alberich's [=OBs=].

* IOweYouMyLife: If you release Alberich in the hidden stage, titled "Underground Prison" (which is accessible if you save Simon and Yumiluna from their execution in the previous stage, "Free Verona"), he'll join your party out of gratitude and obligation after finding out Gauss' true intentions.

* DoubleEdgedBuff: The game has several Skills, passive and active, that can increase a unit's stat at the expense of another.
** Lion Rage (Active) and Daredevil (Passive) can increase Attack at the expense of Defense. This is inverted in the case of Empower (Active) and Garrison (Passive), which increase Defense at the expense of Attack.

* IOweYouMyLife: If you released Alberich in the hidden stage.

* TimedMission: Stage 18. You won't get a GameOver if you pass the 'Time Limit', but you will lose Yumiluna and Simon if you don't rescue them in time, and lose the chance of recruiting another 2 characters (Izuna and Alberich).

* CounterAttack: Units that are targeted by [[FoeTossingCharge an enemy attacking head-on]] have chances to block the advance and attack in response. Moreover, skills like Retaliation and Karma Strike respectively increase the likeliness and damage output of counters if equipped and set. Other abilities, like Rook, on the other hand, decrease counter chances in exchange for boosting Defense.

* RapePillageAndBurn: Although it skips on the "rape" and "burn" parts, Stage 8, titled "Harbor and Pirates" centers on pirates invading Zandi, a harbor town in Shalem. Your mission there is to protect the villagers and fend off the pirates as they escape to safety. If you finish the mission with no casualties among the villagers, a hidden stage titled "Pirate Island" will be unlocked and your party will venture to Darkness Island, where the pirates' base is located. Moreover, this secret stage is the only one where you can find and recruit Cotton.

** Path B: [[spoiler:If you have Serdic run away in Stage 37, "The Successor", it will end in the Divine Empire of Bretwalde withdrawing and the Grand Meir Empire chasing them around, but their forces were severely weakened by Serdic's past advances. While Grand Meir, once a military powerhouse, collapsed under its own weight come Year 384 and Aegil took lead of both Verona and the Divine Empire, she kept waiting for Serdic's return until she died of old age.]]

* CounterAttack: Units that are targeted by [[FoeTossingCharge an enemy attacking head-on]] have chances to block the advance and attack in response. Moreover, skills like Retaliation increase the likeliness of counters if equipped and set. Other abilities, like Rook, on the other hand, decrease counter chances in exchange for boosting Defense.

** Path A: [[spoiler:If someone other than Altrius kills the real Serdic, the former will mysteriously fall asleep after defeating Gauss. Since the Holy Blade is still cursed at this point, it also implies that the Darkness is covering the planet and destroying the world.]]

** Path A: [[spoiler:If someone other than Altrius kills the real Serdic, the former will mysteriously fall asleep after defeating Gauss. Since the Holy Blade is still cursed at this point, it also implies that the Darkness is covering the planet and destroying the world.]]

** Path B: [[spoiler:If you have Serdic run away in Stage 37, "The Successor", it will end in him suddenly disappearing,. While Aegil took the lead on the Divine Empire of Bretwalde's campaign to crush Grand Meir and succeeded, it was at the cost of many casualties. Moreover, she kept waiting for Serdic's return until she died of old age.]]