Trails in the Wasteland

Trails in the Wasteland (Sabaku no Kiseki) is the first game in the Trails series' Far East arc. 
Unlike many Trails games, it's a Shin Megami Tensei clone due to the more isolating atmosphere of the Far East requiring a game less focused on dialogue. The more minimalistic style has been compared to Breath Of Fire Dragon Quarter.
Unlike many Kiseki games, this one is open world, with the various chapters' order depending on the city where you go first. 
== Setting ==
Ultima Frontiera is the easternmost place in Zemuria. 
It's almost entirely desert, with the only traces of life being sparse villages. It's less Japan and more of a Ken Il Guerriero-style dystopia ruled by violent dictatorial gang leaders (because a desert region where even water is something you have to shed blood for cannot NOT be Nazi-land), to the point that I chose the name based on a J-Pop/Nazirock band from Trieste instead of something Japanese, to give the feeling of "Nazi-land" rather than the beautiful feudal Japan people expect to see. Demons from Gehenna are common sightings in Ultima Frontiera due to the lack of Septium Veins.
Unlike the previous settings, Liberl, Crossbell, Erebonia and Calvard, Ultima Frontiera has very little civilization in it, the only advanced technology belongs to powerful gangs and Jaeger Corps such as the Ikaruga and the Fascio Littorio, who obtain it by raiding, and by Marduk Total Security Company, which has built a fortified city called Reggio del Tohoku.
Ultima Frontiera was once part of the Holy Empire of Isuka and its ancient capital was Isuka, also known as Trono del Tenno (Tenno is a title that refers to the emperors of Isuka), which was completely destroyed and now only its ancient imposing castle (Castello del Mikado) emerges from the sands, enveloped in a black mist called Irrazionalità caused by the corruption of the Wind Sept-Terrion, the Occhio Onniveggente, which governs truth and reason.
Some villages and towns include Kodokuyama, a lone village on the top of the Monte Solitario, which serves as the "hub world", and also Bujjerru, Ingurtokashi (famous for its Naraka Mines), Vipakkoskuro, Fosse Akihabardeatine (a world center of otaku culture, but actually a tyrannical regime controlled by Fascio Littorio members using enslaved people including children to make video games, anime and manga that are exported in the whole world), Kizunomannu, Eiyusepolkro Littorio (a site of ruins, rebuilt as an advanced city by the Fascio Littorio Jaeger Corps as an advanced city using Orbal technology stolen from the West), and Reggio del Tohoku, a modern advanced city built in the desert by Marduk, protected by an orbal shield.
Other attractions include the Paparanu Petrified Forest (the remains of an ancient wood turned to stone by the desertification), and small ancient Shinto-like shrines, now turned by Devils into their domains, known as Nuragi. Contrasting with the ancient past are modern structures, mostly derelict, such as the Jijidagu Orbal Disco, which was an Orbal Disco that was built among the ruins but was then turned into a domain by a Devil, and the Derelict Skyscraper of Roppongi, a MTSC skyscraper destroyed by another Devil.
Typical of Ultima Frontiera is the Eight Leaves One Blade sword style, based on the katana, but also many other martial arts. Ultima Frontiera is well-known for its Ludi Gladiatorii, shows of slaves who fight to the death in arenas.
Ultima Frontiera, especially Eiyusepokro-Littorio and Reggio del Tohoku, is famous for its Orbal Anime and Orbal Video Games. One of the most famous Orbal Anime is "Vanni O' Picchiatore", inspired by the real-life Ken il Guerriero and about the Ouroboros Enforcer XVI Vanni Uccellieri (AKA Van Arkride, his new last name comes from Auclair, as in the late Elaine Auclair). Though, with the desertification of the region, Orbal Video Games and Orbal Anime are made by crime lords and powerful slavers and exported to the West where the fans give a lot of money, power and technology to the crime lords (like what happens nowadays with the Blood Diamonds in war zones such as Congo).
== Characters ==
=== Playable ===
Unlike many Trails games, this one has only three permanent party members plus the Pokémon-esque Yokai. All other playable characters are strictly temporary.
Protagonist/The Yokai Master/Kasim al-Fayed: a silent protagonist, named by the player and their gender identity is chosen by the player (the design is gender-neutral and does not change with genders). Originally a member of the Kurgha Jaeger corps who had later joined Marduk, now, having left Marduk after its president Gilliam Thorndyke was exposed, lost all his honor and being reduced to a renegade aimlessly roaming the world on his orbal motorcycle Khamsin Strahl, has recently reached Ultima Frontiera where he's going to make himself a new life and look for the lost Water Sept-Terrion, having accepted a Jaeger contract to protect the village of Kodokuyama from the Devils. His true name used to be Kasim al-Fayed and his true gender is male, but he has taken a vow of silence and has abandoned said name and can even pretend to be a girl depending on the player's gender identity choice (he only speaks through choices, which are explicitly sign language, and if he presents as a girl, the game refers to him as a girl). He's gotten an Orbment called a Yokai by Marduk, allowing him to control Devils (which become known as Yokai once enslaved). His weapon is a Buster-Lancer, which you can't buy anywhere due to it being much more technologically advanced than it is possible in Ultima Frontiera, but you can sometimes buy (or steal) very expensive Orbal Chips to upgrade it. The Yokai Master can also use magic and boost his stats by powering up his Yokai Orbment with various Quartzes (which are much rarer and more expensive in this game). His "chapter ranking system" is called KP (Kurgha Points). After disbanding the Fascio Littorio, he adds another title to his titles "Khamsin" and "Yokai Master": the "Sterminatore del Littorio".
Yokai: Devils coming from the Gehenna, also known as the Beyond, who have risen with the desertification of Ultima Frontiera and now rule over the wastelands while humans survive in small communities. The Yokai Master can control them using a special Orbment called the Yokai. Others
Yukina Demurtas: A young girl, a miko from the village of Kodokuyama, who the Yokai Master has rescued from a Devil. She's specialized in healing magic and acting as a "voice for the voiceless" and her weapon are magic cards which inflict damage based on the ATS stat instead of the STR. Unlike the Yokai Master, she has no Orbment. 
Kosuke Murru: A young samurai-in-training from Kodokuyama, who decided to follow the Yokai Master on his quest to avenge his father Shinnosuke Murru, who had died when trying to kill the demon Kolov-Tzanaar. He uses a katana in battle, being a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade style. Like Yukina, he lacks an Orbment. 
=== Temporarily Playable ===
Antonio Bruno: One of the Ikaruga Jaeger Corps, one of the rival of Kurgha. Antonio was of a branch that wasn't hired by Gramheart and as such stayed in the East. He never learned Eight Leaves One Blade, but instead he uses an orbal sniper rifle, from which he received the title Cecchino no Sensei ("master-sniper" in Isukan language). Antonio later betrays the party when Gianluca Iannone hires the Ikaruga to defend Eiyusepolkro-Littorio. 
Kazuhiko Shibata 
Kurogane (Luigi Oderisi): A ninja from the Ikaruga Jaeger Corps and Shizuna's attendant. He's a master of the Oborozuki-Ryu, a style of ninjutsu known in the West as "Hazy Moon". 
Eriko Taneda 
Hideie Castelli 
Rean Schwarzer: Divine Blade of Void, coming from Western Zemuria to look for his master Yun Ka-Fai.
Shizuna Rem Misurugi: Descendant of the last Tenno (emperor of Iska) Benito Amilcare Rem Misurugi. She's not interested in the throne and later she and Luigi split off from Antonio as they refuse to follow Gianluca Iannone, instead helping Kasim to crush Iannone's dream of a new empire of Isuka.
=== Other characters ===
Vanni Uccellieri/Van Arkride and Vittorio Uccellieri/Yukimura al-Fayed: Vanni is a man with black-blue hair roaming the desert as a "Spriggan" alongside a young child he refers to as Vittorio Uccellieri. He was Calvardian, but has changed his name to the Ultiman-sounding Vanni Uccellieri (Uccellieri being an Ultiman corruption of "Auclair", as in his late girlfriend Elaine Auclair). He's actually Ouroboros' Enforcer XVI, the Eternally Vagrant, and his true name is Van Arkride. Van took Kasim's recently-born son Yukimura al-Fayed as a request from Kasim himself, and renamed him Vittorio Uccellieri (Ultiman version of "Victor Auclair", named after Victor of Bistro Montmart). Van is tasked by the Seventh Anguis to look for the Sept-Terrion, and acts at first as an enemy towards the Yokai Master (as Kasim himself . Vanni dislikes Marduk. 
=== Antagonists ===
Gianluca Iannone: Leader of the Fascio Littorio Jaeger Corps, known as the "Divine Blade of Hate" and the "Emperor of Evil". Originally, he was just a Jaeger in the Ikaruga, but after seeing the lack of law in the desert and after Shizuna decided to join Gramheart rather than retake the throne belonging to her ancestor Benito, Gianluca decided to break Jaeger code, stop being a Jaeger and turn his corps into a fascist militia to impose order in Ultima Frontiera, inspired by the Calvardian mafia Armata (calling himself "the Gerard Eldarion of the Far East"). His dream is to restore the glory of the ancient Tenno dynasty, He wields a cursed sword called the Olocausto Sanguinoso, one of the two Spade del Demonio alongside the Apeiron used by Gerard Dantes (who Gianluca Iannone was a great admirer of). Olocausto Sanguinoso is sentient and bloodthirsty, requiring to drink the blood of seven men per day, else it kills Iannone. He originally attempted to kill Yun Ka-Fai when he expelled him from his Eight Leaves One Blade training, but was wounded in retaliation, and so his life became tied to the Olocausto Sanguinoso, which feeds on his hate. After being freed from his sword, Gianluca decides to join Ouroboros, but Van refuses to let him join and kills him, ironically having him share the same fate as his inspiration Gerard Dantes. He's a descendant of Terunosuke Iannone of the Littorio clan of the Navagraha that used to protect the Emperor of Iska, and claims to be the future emperor . 
Italohide Vattanohara: Lord of Fosse Akihabardeatine, and an overseer of Fascio Littorio, also known as the Game Master because he owns Akihabara Corporation, the most important video game and anime corporation, which uses slaves. 
Gilliam Thorndyke: President of Marduk, and the man the Yokai Master was originally affiliated with.
== Trivia ==
* Many placenames are taken from Italian, such as Vipakkoskuro referencing Vipacco, Reggio del Tohoku referencing Reggio Emilia and Reggio Calabria, Kizunomannu referencing Decimomannu (a place in Sardinia), Eiyusepolkro-Littorio referencing Borgo Sansepolcro (a town where Mussolini made the Manifesto di Sansepolcro, and the Fascio Littorio which is Mussolini's symbol). and Bujjerru is pronounced as "Buggerru" (Sardinia).
* The setting is Italian-like because of the inspiration from Ken Il Guerriero, an anime set in a post-apocalyptic desert which was popular in Italy. A parody of Ken Il Guerriero is an anime called "Vanni O' Picchiatore", about the Ouroboros Enforcer Vanni Uccellieri.
* Ultima Frontiera's name is taken from a J-Pop/Hatecore band from Trieste, known for its racism and Nazi sympathies, which sung the main theme of this game "Non Ci Sono Più Eroi".
*The Fascio Littorio Jaeger Corps is based on Nazi Skinheads and the bandits who dictate law through violence that are common in Mad Max and Ken Il Guerriero. Gianluca Iannone, the leader of the Fascio Littorio, is named after an Italian neo-fascist criminal. 
*Ultima Frontiera has been described as "Naziland", portraying the Kiseki version of Japan as a lawless third world country ruled by force by terrorists, criminals and fascists, nothing like actual feudal Japan (but feudal Japan was never a desert).
Category:Games
Category:Trails games
Category:Japanese Role-Playing Games
Category:JRPGs