Agarest Senki Marriage, known internationally as Record of Agarest War Marriage, is the newest Agarest game from Compile Heart. It was originally for the PlayStation Portable and Japan-exclusive, but later ported for Steam and given an international release. This time, the developers team up with former staff who worked on the Summon Night games, and the artwork is now done by "Blade" instead of the usual artwork by Hirano Katsuyuki.
Society revolves around the mythos of Yiris, the Larva commonly known as the Sacred Princess, who blessed the world and fell in love with a human. Martyred for her love, she was then punished by the heavenly creator. The Archdemon arrived soon after, and Yiris’ lover pledged to destroy the evil Archdemon with the infamous Ciel Blade, a sword of rainbow. A Hero, or Chosen One, is trusted to produce an heir that can at last put an end to the Archdemon once and for all.
Record of Agarest War Marriage contains the following tropes:
- Bonus Dungeon: L'arc Peak is only accessible on a new game plus file.
- The Chosen One: Rain, the initial protagonist.
- Cat Girl: Kunka, one of the three initial heroines.
- Clothing Damage: A party member with high relationship values may lose articles of their clothing in battle, raising their stats for fights.
- Dating Sim: Gains a lot more precedence compared to the first three games.
- First Girl Wins: If Felicia is chosen to be wedded at the end of the first generation. She is Childhood Friends with Rain and the first party member introduced.
- Gaiden Game: Unrelated to the mainline series continuity
- Gay Option: Ciela, the female protagonist of the second generation, can pursue fully realized romantic relationships with the party members
- Gender Flip: For the very first time in the series, the second generation leader can be a female.
- Gold Fish Poop Gang: BUTCHER, a clan of orcs led by an insane Dark Elf named Liberos, serve as recurring minor foes plotting something sinister but are too incompetent to do real harm.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Summerill as always.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- BUTCHER is only following Liberos for the hero he was before he was cursed into insanity by Eclipse. After his daughter Titania makes a Heel–Face Turn after befriending the protagonist, they all follow suit.
- Eclipse swears this in the Golden Ending after going on the path of redemption
- Hot Coffee Minigame: The Unification System allows the player to unlock interactive CGs and, to quote the Steam page, "inspect your partner’s pleasure spots that will ultimately unlock new abilities and weapons".
- Job System: Characters are assigned to a role: Attacker, Defender, Supporter, and Conductor.
- Little Bit Beastly: Saika
- Multiple Endings:
- If the player does not meet the conditions for the Golden Ending, the fates of Pelche and Lifre are never accounted for. As a result, there is no effort made to liberate Pelche from Eclipse's control, leading to her being killed in the final battle and Eclipse dying unrepentant.
- The Golden Ending sees Lifre saved from her feral state and Pelche freed from Eclipse's control in the final battle, leading to an extra battle with a disembodied Eclipse. Eclipse himself is redeemed in this ending, ascending to heaven under the guidance of the previous heroes and Yiris.
- Video Game 3D Leap: Unlike the sprites of previous titles, all characters and environments are 3D models.
- Virtual Paper Doll: Outfits that change appearances can be crafted from enemy drops or bought in stores.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Pelche and Lifre are never openly mentioned in the second generation despite their focal role before. It's only revealed what happens to them if the player is pursuing the Golden Ending route.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Eclipse, AKA the Archdemon, was Yiris' child thrown into the mortal world from heaven for her love for a human. He takes it on the world in response, creating a Vicious Cycle where the descendants of a Chosen One try to kill him.
