History VideoGame / SoulBlazer

* ShortLivedSpecies: The inhabitants of the Mountain of Souls only live a year, reaching full maturity at half a year old.

* ReincarnationIdentifyingTrait: In the end, the main girl has a goat named Turbo, whom she names after a dog who did a HeroicSacrifice because he "looked like Turbo". After the main characters leave, the goat follows; pausing to do a gesture that's attributed to the original Turbo; indicating he is a reincarnation.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Reaching level 50, the maximum level allowed, is completely useless. Your attack and defense stats [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588673-soul-blazer/faqs/30159 stop increasing]] after level 25 (and the game can be beaten at level 24 without grinding), and your hit points (of which you have more than enough at level 30 or so) stop increasing after level 47, meaning the last three levels do ''[[EmptyLevels absolutely nothing]]''. Have fun spending a day and a half of your life LevelGrinding for 41 million pointless experience points.
* AfterBossRecovery: The game gives you full recovery after the boss is dead, to make sure you don't [[KaizoTrap die horribly trying to get to the teleporter out of the dungeon]]. Of course, dedicated death-seekers can still find a way, though unintentional post-boss deaths are also possible. Particularly after the first boss, where a number of currently-unkillable monsters lie between you and the exit.

* CollisionDamage: Occurs even when enemies are paralyzed; see MercyInvincibility, below.

* EsotericMotifs: The three Red-Hot items needed to summon the Phoenix bear resemblance to the imperial regalia of Japan -- the Mirror is the most obvious, while the Ball is the jewel and the Stick is the sword.

* AntiGrinding: The game limits the number of enemies by tying them to MookMaker lairs. When the monsters are dead, the lair shuts down. A few places have infinitely-spawning enemies not tied to lairs for grinding, but sometimes they can be more difficult to fight than the lair-based monsters.
** The area just before the FinalBoss has enemies that are easy to fight and respawn, once you have everything you need to fight the boss. However, at that point you don't really need to grind any more.
** It's actually possible, albeit time-consuming, to "reset" monster lairs. Each one contains a set number of enemies to kill; leave one alive, and then either leave the screen or seal another lair that causes a screen transition, and the non-empty lair will be returned to full capacity.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Flame Pillar and Spark Bomb spells, which get attached to fixed positions and are generally too difficult to use in combat when Light Arrow or just a basic sword swing are so much more dependable.
** They can be useful against enemies that are stationary or confined to a small area, though.

* [[{{Heartwarming/VideoGames}} Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming]]: The bit at the very end, where Lisa re-introduces herself to Blazer.

* UselessUsefulSpell: All of them (minus the last spell), when dealing with bosses (except the final boss) or metallic/spirit enemies that your sword can't damage.

* DevelopersForesight: If you release the dolphin that breaks Lue out of jail without first releasing Lue, she will have something different to say about not finding him.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: The Phoenix-based projectile unlocked in the middle of the last level. It's the only way to damage Deathtoll.

* AntiGrinding: The game limits the number of enemies by tying them to MookMaker lairs. When the enemies are dead, the lair shuts down. A few places have infinitely-spawning enemies not tied to lairs for grinding, but they're often more difficult than the others, and there are none in the final world, meaning that to grind for the final boss, you have to do it in the previous world, where the monsters don't give as much EXP.

* ButThouMust: During the game's ending, Lisa asks if the Blazer will remember her. The only option available to choose is "Yes."

* [[{{Heartwarming/VideoGames}} Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming]]: The bit at the very end, where Lisa re-introduces herself to the Blazer.

* LevelLockedLoot:
** Swords can only be swung if you meet or exceed their level requirement, although they can still be equipped and held out while crabwalking. Armor and magic have no such locks.
** Under normal gameplay conditions, the only time you're likely to encounter this is with the Recovery Sword, depending on when you backtrack to kill certain metal monsters with the right sword.

* MacroZone: In one level, Blazer is shrunk down to fight toy soldiers in a model of a town.
* MercyInvincibility: The ''enemies'' have it for a short time after they spawn. One of your swords has the power to stun enemies that it can't damage. They not only enjoy invincibility during that time, but can also damage you if you walk into them.
** Your character also has it upon getting hit, and one type of armor can extend the duration.

* OrbitingParticleShield: The Rotator spell turns your spirit companion(s) into this; holding the button down causes it to orbit you faster and drop down small damaging orbs in quick succession. It's very easy to run out of [=GEMs=] if spammed for too long without the Magic Bell.

** Most of the souls that can accompany the Blazer have an ability that is only useful in one area in that is only found in that specific region. The only exception is the first soul, which grants the ability to cast magic.

** The English names for the Doctor Leo and his daughter Lisa are a shout-out to, of all things, Creator/LeonardoDaVinci and his most famous picture, the ''Mona Lisa''.

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: The Blazer can communicate with any type of lifeform. See also TalkingToPlants.

* TalkingToPlants: And they talk back! Even after they've been cut and turned into something else like, say, a chest of drawers.

* TrueSight: After finding the Souls of Detection and Reality, the soul orb that orbits Blazer will expose a specific radius of invisible things to make them visible to the player.

* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: After killing Deathtoll, the Master allows the Blazer to return to Earth in exchange for losing all of his memories and his ability to converse with any creature except humans.

* WeaponOfXSlaying: Metallic enemies can only be killed by the Zantetsuken, and spirits only by the Spirit Sword.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Reaching level 50, the maximum level allowed, is completely useless. Your attack and defense stats [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588673-soul-blazer/faqs/30159 stop increasing]] after level 25 (and the game can be beaten at level 24 without grinding), and your hit points (of which you have more than enough at level 30 or so) stop increasing after level 47, meaning the last three levels do ''absolutely nothing''. Have fun spending a day and a half of your life LevelGrinding for 41 million pointless experience points.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Reaching level 50, the maximum level allowed, is completely useless. Your attack and defense stats [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588673-soul-blazer/faqs/30159 stop increasing]] after level 25, and your hit points (of which you have more than enough at level 30 or so) stop increasing after level 47, meaning the last three levels do ''absolutely nothing''. Have fun spending a day and a half of your life LevelGrinding for 41 million pointless experience points.

* AntiGrinding: The game limits the number of enemies by tying them to MookMaker lairs. When the enemies are dead, the lair shuts down. A few places have infinitely-spawning enemies not tied to lairs for grinding, but they're often more difficult than the others.

%%* BlindIdiotTranslation

* {{Reincarnation}}: A central theme in the ''[=SoulBlazer=]'' trilogy.

* VisibleInvisibility: After finding the Souls of Detection and Reality, the soul orb that orbits Blazer will expose a specific radius of invisible things to make them visible to the player.

** The son of the tool shop owner in Grass Valley is named Teddy, which is also a name associated with a couple of plot events in ''ActRaiser''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''ActRaiser''. Similarly, ''Illusion of Gaia'' and ''Terranigma'' are considered to form a loose trilogy with this game.
* SuperNotDrowningSkills: The Bubble Armor surrounds Blazer in a magical bubble full of air, allowing him to enter the Seabed of St. Elles and stay underwater indefinitely.

* AntiGrinding: The game limits the number of enemies. When they're dead, the MookMaker shuts down. A few places have infinitely-spawning enemies to grind on, but they're more difficult than usual.
** Until right before the FinalBoss anyway, then it's easy to grind. However, the game still averts it as you really don't need to grind at all to beat the boss.
** Also, it's possible, albeit time consuming, to "reset" monster lairs. Each one contains a set number of enemies to kill; leave one alive, and then either leave the screen or free a creature from a previously-emptied layer, and the count will be returned to full.

* BreakTheCutie: Lisa is taken hostage by Queen Magrid [[spoiler:and gets to watch her father die saving her]].

* ContinuingIsPainful: You lose all your gems when you die. As gems are your magic, this can be especially annoying towards the end, as you can't hurt the final boss without magic. This is even part of the storyline: the boss is aware of the fact that you can never die and mentions it before the fight in a highly philosophical manner.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: The lava areas in the Fire Shrine and the Durean volcano. Granted, you ''are'' an angelic avatar or whatever, but that doesn't explain why you still get hurt by hot coals directly above the aforementioned lava.

* FrictionlessIce: Though you can cancel the effect by wearing the Mushroom Shoes given to you by a kid you rescue.

-->'''King Magrid:''' I know this sounds strange, but in the world of humans, if a person kills one man, he is a murderer. But if he kills 100 people, then he is praised as a hero.

* OrbitingParticleShield: The Rotator spell turns your spirit companion(s) into this; holding the button down causes it to orbit you faster and drop down small damaging orbs in quick succession. It's very easy to run out of gems if spammed for too long without the Magic Bell.

** The eight Emblems of the Master that are exchanged for the Magic Bell (which allows you to cast magic without expending gems).

* ReincarnationIdentifyingTrait: In the end, the main girl has a goat named Turbo, whom she names after a dog who did a HeroicSacrifice because he "looked like Turbo". After the main characters leave, the goat follows; pausing to do a gesture that was attributed to the original Turbo; indicating he is a reincarnation.

* ScratchDamage: Can be avoided with the Light Armor. With the Light Armor equipped, any attack that doesn't do enough damage over a certain threshold instead does no damage at all.
* ShoutOut: The English names for the Doctor Leo and his daughter Lisa are a shout-out to, of all things, Leonardo daVinci and his most famous picture, the Mona Lisa.
* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The mountain areas in the 4th area.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: And plant too. The Blazer can communicate with any type of lifeform.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/{{Actraiser}}''. Similarly, ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'' is the successor to this game.
* SuperNotDrowningSkills: The Bubble Armor surrounds Blazer in a magical bubble full of air, allowing him to enter the underwater dungeon and stay underwater indefinitely.

* UnderTheSea: The theme of the third area. You need to find Bubble Armor in order to breathe underwater and explore the depths.

* UnstableEquilibrium: If you do well and avoid dying, you'll have more gems than you know what to do with, thus enabling you to spam magic to your heart's content. If you die frequently, you'll have fewer gems... which necessitates more close-range combat, and an increased chance of damage and death. Saving often and resetting after death is recommended.

* LevelLockedLoot: Swords can only be swung if you meet or exceed their level requirement, although they can still be equipped and held out while crabwalking. Armor and magic have no such locks.

* ScratchDamage: Can be avoided with the Light Armor.

** Makes you wonder what could be done with [[Film/OfficeSpace 37 pieces]] of magic flair...

* AmbidextrousSprite: Averted. Blazer is unambiguously right-handed.

* BlindIdiotTranslation

* ButThouMust

* [[{{Heartwarming/VideoGames}} Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming]]: The bit at the very end.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: The Phoenix-based projectile unlocked in the middle of the last level.

* InvincibleMinorMinion: Several types are invincible until you obtain the correct sword.

* LevelUpFillUp

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The King of the Mountain of Souls [[spoiler:is instrumental in calling the Phoenix.]]

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: And plant too.

* TalkingAnimal: But only because Blazer is an angel. [[spoiler:He cannot understand them as a human in the ending.]]

* VictoryGuidedAmnesia

* WakeUpCallBoss: Metal Mantis.

According to the game's {{backstory}}, a greedy king made a DealWithTheDevil, gaining the power to exchange the souls of living things for gold coins. As the king's treasury grew, the population decreased until practically nothing was left alive. That's when Light Gaia (called the Master in North America and Europe, originally God - effectively the Abrahamic God) sends his servant Blazer on a mission to destroy monsters and release the captured souls of a world's inhabitants. Blazer is armed with a sword, and has the ability to speak with any living thing and be understood. He battles the hordes of Deathtoll (also known as Dark Gaia) with the assistance of his Soul helpers.

[[[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/soul_blazer.jpg]]

[[quoteright:283: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/temp/DA.jpg]]

* InsistantTerminology: The game always capitalizes your source of mana as [=GEMs=].