Fushigi no Kuni no Angelique (ふしぎの国のアンジェリーク, roughly translated as "Angelique's Wonderland") is the first Neoromance digital board game, the others being Sweet Ange and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Banjoyuugi. Like Soulmaster, the game was made during the party game's reemergence to popularity in Japan, following the trends of titles such as the Itadaki Street or Momotaro Dentetsu series.
Ruby Party members based the game on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to emphasize that the title is a "dream game". It doubles as a callback to one of their earliest concepts for the Angelique series: to create a game inspired by fairy tales or children novels.
Plot
The protagonist takes a nap one day during the Queen Examination. She overhears her rival, Rosalia, rushing to meet with the Sacred Guardians for a tea party. Wishing to attend herself, the protagonist pursues her and falls into a giant hole. She lands into an Alice in Wonderland version of the Flying Capital. Her goal is to explore her strange surroundings and to reach the four o'clock tea party in time.
Gameplay
Like the original base, the player must name their protagonist, assign her zodiac sign and give her a blood type at the start of each game. The starting time limit is noon, giving the protagonist four hours to meet the necessary objectives for the tea party. Flying Capital no longer allows free movement with its divided pink, blue and golden pathways. Unique effects are assigned to each circle within the map.
The main goal for completing the game is to repair the Gold Star and receive Pastha's permission to go to the tea party. The Gold Star is made by polishing Black Stones; the required number of Black Stones can be obtained by sending a total of fifteen Silver Stars into the cosmos. Throughout the majority of their playthrough, the player is earning Silver Pieces from events or mini-games to assemble Silver Stars. Five pieces creates one star.
If the player desires, they can alternatively dedicate their game to romancing the Sacred Guardians or the mysterious traveling merchant (Catis). Silver Stars can be given away as gifts to boosts Intimacy levels and help trigger romance events. Silver Pieces can also be used to call a guardian at a telephone booth to audibly speak a greeting. High Intimacy ratings can cause the character to drop an item. Receiving it means the protagonist has unlocked a still image ending for that character.
At the start of each turn, the player can check the protagonist's inventory (bag icon) or save/quit their game (book icon). Throwing the dice may move the protagonist on the board (1~6 places), present her with a silver piece (♥ icon), or have her meet with a Sacred Guardian (♣ icon). Results are random. If the player reaches a crossroads on the map, they must choose a direction to complete their turn. The protagonist will move the number of spaces rolled unless she reaches a building; choosing to enter it negates remaining mobility points.
When the protagonist reaches one of the buildings, its function changes.
- My Room - gives the protagonist a shrinking/growing tonic to open a locked miniature door. Opens the way to the caterpillar. Necessary for the main plot and to proceed with the rest of the board.
- Rosalia's Room - Rosalia's elderly lady-in-waiting will present a question about her mistress. Answer favorably to pass. Otherwise, she will force the protagonist to return to the Start.
- House of Divination - choose to talk with a Sacred Guardian (middle) to learn the protagonist's Intimacy ratings or play a mini-game with Sara (right).
- Forest Lake - play a mini-game (left) or confess feelings (right) to a guardian. Guardians are random. Confess three times with a high Intimacy character to see one of their romance endings.
- Park - play a mini-game (museum) or send Silver Stars for Black Stones (north). Opens the way to Pastha. Necessary for the tea party.
- Royal Institute - Pastha's location on the map. On the first visit, he gives the mission to repair the Gold Star. Visit him a second time to open the pathway to the tea party.
- Palace - converse with castle residents to learn hints for the main plot. Necessary visit for the main plot.
The player must successfully complete all mini-games at least once if they wish to reach the tea party.
| Mini-game | Location | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Cult Quiz | House of Divination | Answer ten timed questions. Subject matter ranges from Japanese entertainment media from the seventies~nineties, voice actor trivia, Koei games, history questions and Angelique lore and/or merchandise. Fill up the hearts with correct answers in order to successfully pass the quiz. Answer every question correctly for a special item. |
| Guardian Drop | Forest Lake | Timed Columns-like game. Move stacks of three guardian face icons down a grid. Match up the same guardian faces to earn points. Combos can reward more points. Meet the point quota within the time limit to clear mini-game successfully. Earn 10,000 points for a special item. |
| Image Puzzle | Park | 4x4 square grid sliding puzzle with a randomized guardian image. Tiles are shuffled at the start of the game. Move one tile at a time to restore the original image within the time limit. Solve the puzzle within three minutes to receive a special item. |
| Olivie Treasure Hunt | First yellow circle left of House of Divination | Move one step at a time to avoid obstacles and discover Silver Pieces. Ends once the goal line is reached or if the protagonist discovers a frog. |
| Shooting | Rosalia (if tea party requirements are met) | Shoot hearts into the hoop Rosalia carries to fill up the heart gauge for every guardian. Her bombs penalize the player by taking away earned hearts. She will temporarily shrink the hoop in anger if the player accidentally hits her with a heart. Pick up items which give temporary effects: bottle (halt Rosalia's movements), star (fires three hearts in one shot), candy (doubles heart growth). |
Expendable items, which can be earned, bought or found by chance, can alter the clearing requirements for most mini-games. Twenty-one possible endings can be viewed.
Characters
The entire cast from the original return in this title. Here are the characters who appear in this title.
- Catis
- Alice - real-life inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lives at the palace and tends to her garden. Instructs the protagonist how to fix the gold star.
- Lewis - author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He changes the character icon on the dice to the person who has the highest Intimacy ratings with the protagonist.
- The Cheshire Cat - character from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Instructs the protagonist about the world and the changes within her room.
- The Caterpillar - character from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Tells the protagonist about the tea party's location and items for clearing the path.
Spin-offs
- Angelique History - March 30, 2000. PlayStation version repackaged with four other Angelique games.
Related Media
Two guidebooks were published for this game. Miniature versions of these characters were used for the email decorating software, Angelique Lovelove Mail.
Allusions
- Emit and its image song act as one of the quiz questions.
Gallery
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Game Boy Advance cover
