Strategy Guide - Guide for Soukaigi

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SOUKAIGI FAQ
by Chris Murdock
Version 2.3

October 11, 1998
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IN THIS UPDATE:

Added Materia and Talisman usage.
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Soukaigi is copyright 1998 Square/Yuke's.  All rights reserved.
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This is a FAQ for the new Squaresoft adventure game Soukaigi.  
Hopefully this FAQ will help anyone with this very cool game.  I don't 
mind if this FAQ is used for your own use, however, please credit the 
author and the source when using this FAQ.
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This game is for one player, and uses one block on a memory card.
It is also THREE disks, however, don't let that intimidate you.  There 
is a lot of movie footage, so it takes up a lot of space on each CD.

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CONTENTS:
1. Story
2. Game Play
3. Menu Translations
4. Characters
5. Controls
6. Walkthrough
7. Goodies

STORY: A dark act has caused Mt. Fuji to split in half bringing forth 
the Garan.  The Garan are creatures whose sole mission is to take over 
the Earth.  The Garan's power is contained in red, yellow, and blue 
crystals.  There are also large Garan scattered throughout Japan, and 
they must be destroyed in order to save the Earth from the invasion of 
the Garan.  Brave souls, with various elemental powers will try and 
stop the spread of the Garan.

GAME PLAY: 

Garan Level Bar:
To progress from one level to the other you must destroy red, yellow, 
and blue Garan stones.  By destroying the Garan stones, the bar on the 
right hand side of the screen will go from RED to YELLOW to BLUE.  To 
progress to the next level, the bar must be at least to BLUE.  There 
are some crystals that cannot be destroyed, but you can come back to 
get them later.  You can also make the bar go up by destroying enemies, 
but it is not as much as destroying actual crystals.

Garan Crystals:
When you destroy Garan Crystals, you will be given a point value for 
each crystal.  Red is worth one, Yellow is worth three, and Blue is 
worth five.  As you receive more points, you have the ability to 
transfer these points to attributes for your characters at the 
beginning of each level, and each boss.  On every level in the upper 
left-hand corner there is the number of Garan points on the level.  As 
you destroy the Garan stones, the point value in the upper-left hand 
corner will go down showing how many points you have left to get on the 
level.  So, it is advantageous to destroy as many of the Garan as you 
can, so you can raise your attributes.

Poison:
Some enemies may poison you.  If you are poisoned, your Hit Points will 
drop by one Hit Point every second.  You can either find a Magic Circle 
that will heal you from poison, or use your second Magic Spell.

Magic Circles:
In every level there are glowing circles of different colors.  Some of 
the circles are one specific color, others cycle through five different 
colors.  By stepping on a circle, a certain effect will happen, 
depending on the character's element.  A list of colors and effects are 
listed below each character in the Characters section of this FAQ.

Magic:
On the left-hand side of the screen, the middle number (shown in 
Japanese Kanji), is the amount of Talismans you possess.  Talismans 
allow you to cast Magic.  You can set the number of talismans you start 
out with on the screen where you can set your attributes.  Check out 
Controls for how to cast magic.

Magic of Containment (freezing):
If you press the circle button, you can temporarily freeze an enemy in 
place.  During the time they are frozen, they cannot attack you, but 
you can attack them.  You must be directly in front of the enemy to 
contain them.  YOU CAN CONTAIN THE SAME ENEMY IN MORE THAN ONE 
CONTAINMENT SPHERE, and attack them, doing more damage than you would 
do if you just put them in one sphere.  Some enemies cannot be 
contained.  On the top center of the screen, there is a graphic showing 
how many enemies at the same time you can contain.  It also shows how 
many containment "spheres" you can cast on one specific enemy.  You can 
also pile on more and more spheres on the same enemy, to make the 
containment last longer.  If you ever find yourself frozen by an enemy, 
rapidly press all the buttons, and jam on the directional pad quickly 
to get out.

Special Moves:
On the bottom-left hand side of the screen is the number of Materia 
(yes, THAT is right, it IS called "Materia"), you possess.  Special 
attacks use up Materia.  Each character has several special moves.  You 
can get Materia (the green orbs) by defeating enemies.  Any Materia you 
get and don't use in a level will get transferred to the next level.  
Check the Characters section of this FAQ to see a list of the Special 
Moves for each character.

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MENU TRANSLATIONS:

On the TITLE SCREEN (from left to right):
     CONTINUE GAME: Continue a saved game.
     NEW GAME: Start a new game.
     OPTIONS: Configure the buttons.

On the CONTINUE GAME screen, you have three different save slots that 
you can use.  They give you the area name and your location.  Choose 
(from RIGHT to LEFT), File #1, #2 or #3.  Press CIRCLE or START to 
confirm.  It will then ask if you want to load the game.  The Japanese 
option to the left is "NO", and the right option is "YES".  The cool 
thing about this (and I wish they could incorporate this feature in a 
RPG), is they give you a summary of the events that have just happened 
prior to the level you are going to play.  Of course, none of this 
helps if you can't read Japanese.  Press CIRCLE to speed up the TEXT.

Note, on disks two and three, you will only have the options of 
CONTINUE GAME and OPTIONS.

ON the OPTIONS screen, you can configure your buttons.  I would suggest 
leaving them the way they are.  Pressing LEFT or RIGHT will change 
whether the game is in STEREO or MONAURAL.  Press START to exit.

On the STAGE SCREEN (with the map of Japan):
     (from LEFT TO RIGHT):
     MEMORY CARD: Save or Load a game.
     BEGIN STAGE: Begin and play on the latest level.
     SELECT STAGE: Choose a stage to start on.

On the GAME OVER SCREEN:
     On the LEFT: Retry.
     Top CENTER: Continue.
     On the RIGHT: Restart: Go back to the main screen.

On the PAUSE SCREEN:
     On the LEFT: Retry. (Start the level over.)
     At the TOP: Continue.
     On the RIGHT: Quit.  (Go back to the title screen.)

If you are on a stage you have already finished, there will be an 
option on the bottom of the PAUSE screen that will allow you to leave 
the current level with everything that you found. 

On the CHARACTER SCREEN:
     By pressing UP or DOWN, you can choose what character you want to 
start out with.  Once you have the character you want, you can change 
the level of certain attributes.

On the ATTRIBUTES SCREEN:
     By pressing up or down, you can transfer how much energy you have 
gained by destroying Garan Stones to your attributes.  The more stones 
you destroy, and the types of stones you have destroyed will give you a 
number that is shown at the top of the attribute screen (after you 
choose the character you want to play).  This number will drop a 
specific amount depending on which attributes to raise.  When you raise 
your attributes, it is NOT permanent.  However, any character you have 
with you at the time has access to all the stone's power.

ATTRIBUTES (from LEFT to RIGHT:
     1. Dashing and Jumping (the higher the number, the faster/higher
     you go).
     2. Magic Points (Talismans) you start out with.
     3. Number of enemies you can freeze on the same screen.
     4. Resistance to Magical Attacks
     5. Physical Defense
     6. The length of how far your projectiles go.
     7. Attacking Power

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SPECIAL MOVES:
Hold down X until character begins to glow, then keep holding down the 
button for different types of attacks.  You can tell the difference 
between attacks, because the character will go into different stances.  
Let go of X during any one of the stances to do a special move that 
matches with the stance.  You must have sufficient Materia to perform 
these moves.  The stances determine the special moves, and they are 
listed in the order of the stances.

ABOUT MATERIA USAGE:

Every time you use a special move it uses up a specific amount of 
Materia.  The number of Materia is shown on parenthesis next to the 
special move. 

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CHARACTERS:
I am using the instruction book as a reference point.  Start at page 27 
for the introduction of the characters.

CONTROLLABLE CHARACTERS:

Naoya Mabui  (Page 27)
ELEMENTAL POWER: EARTH
Male, Age 18
HP: 400
This is the character you start out with.  He is average in speed and 
power.

Special Moves:
(1) Dashing Attack
(2) Thunder Slash
(3) Sword Beam (this uses up some of your Hit Points)

Magic Circles:
RED - Attack Up
YELLOW - Nothing
BLUE - Recover all HP
WHITE - Invincibility
BLACK - Heal from Poison


Mizuho Mikanagi  (Page 31)
ELEMENTAL POWER: THUNDER
Female, Age 18
HP: 300
This character you get after the second stage, but prior to the second 
stage boss.  She is slightly faster than other characters.

Special Moves:
(1) Circular Slash
(2) Freezing Sphere
(3) Lightning Strike	
(4) Dashing Attack

Magic Circles:
RED - Attack Up
YELLOW - Nothing
BLUE - Recover all HP
WHITE - Invincibility
BLACK - Heal from Poison

Daiki Yashima  (Page 35)
ELEMENTAL POWER: FIRE
Male, Age 32
HP: 670
This is the character you get after stage one.  He is slower in speed, 
but he is one of the more powerful characters.  His attacks also do 
added damage when they connect.  He has no defense.

Special Moves:
(1) Spinning Flame 1
(2) Spinning Flame 2
(3) Dashing Attack

Magic Circles:
RED - Recover all HP
YELLOW - Attack Up
BLUE - Heal from Poison
WHITE - Nothing
BLACK - Invincible

Hifumi Sudou  (Page 39)
ELEMENTAL POWER: WIND
Female, Age 25
HP: 420
You won't get this character until Disk 2.  She cannot shoot 
projectiles.  She is a little slower than some characters, and must be 
used up close for any real effect.

Special Moves:
(1) Fireball
(2) Absorption
(3) Quake

Magic Circles:
RED - Heal from Poison
YELLOW - Recover all HP
BLUE - Invincible
WHITE - Attack Up
BLACK - Nothing

Azusa Kotohira  (Page 43)
ELEMENTAL POWER: LIGHT
Female, Age 11
You will get this young girl at the start of stage four.  She has one 
of the longest reach of any weapon (seeing how it is a bow and arrow), 
but she has no real close up attack.  She also cannot dash.

Special Moves:
(1) Flowing Waves
(2) Arrow Shower
(3) Ground Arrows
(4) Light Arrows

Magic Circles:
RED - Invincible
YELLOW - Heal from Poison
BLUE - Nothing
WHITE - Recover all HP
BLACK - Attack Up

Kaname Gabu  (Page 47)
ELEMENTAL POWER: DARKNESS
Male, Age 20
You get him after you beat Yato at the end of stage three.  He has no 
dash and no magic but has powerful up-close attacks.

Special Moves:
(1) Power Up
(2) Dark Crush
(3) Dark Fireball

Magic Circles:
RED - Nothing
YELLOW - Invincible
BLUE - Attack Up
WHITE - Heal from Poison
BLACK - Recover all HP

OTHER CHARACTERS:

Genseitenson Kahaku  (Page 51)
Male, 12,000 years old

Bukyuutenson Yanron  (Page 52)
Male, 12,000 years old

Reihoutenson Infu  (Page 52)
Female, 12,000 years old

Princess Nami  (Page 53)
Female

Yato Saegami  (Page 54)
Male, Age 23

Kongou  (Page 54)
Male, Age 29

Shuuzou Azuma  (Page 55)
Male, Age 40

Minami  (Page 55)
Male, Age 10

Hisagi Shiosato  (Page 56)
Female, Age 20

Sae Tateshina  (Page 56)
Female, Age 29

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BASIC CONTROLS:
(under default settings)

CONTROLLER:
UP: walk forward
LEFT: walk to the left
RIGHT: walk to the right
DOWN: block

Double Tap Left or Right: sidestep left or right
Double Tap Down: quick jump back

SQUARE: DASH

X: ATTACK
(You can hold down X for special moves and reflecting projectiles.  
Also used to activate pentagram.)

TRIANGLE: JUMP
(Press Triangle twice for a double jump (not all characters can double 
jump).)

CIRCLE: Spell of Containment, HOLD for MAGIC

L1: turn left 180 degrees
R1: turn right 180 degrees

L2: move camera up
R2: move camera down

START: Pause
SELECT: Movie Skip

SPECIAL MOVES USES UP MATERIA.

MAGIC USES UP TALISMANS.

Special Moves: Hold down X until character begins to glow, then keep 
holding down the button for different levels of attack. You can tell 
the difference by the different stances the characters do.  Let go of X 
to do the Special Move.  You must have sufficient Materia to perform 
these moves.

Magic: Hold down Circle until the character turns around in a circle, 
then press X to make a pentagram appear, then press CIRCLE for the 
number shown for each spell (so if it is three, press CIRCLE three 
times for that spell).  There are eight spells available:

1: Throw a damaging ball of energy
2: Heal from Poison
3: Shield
(With the shield, it will only protect what is directly in front of 
you; you can still get hit at the side and behind.)
4: All Enemies damaged on screen
5: Invincibility AND Attack Up
6: Stop Time
(This works on bosses as well.)
7: Create a decoy that distracts the enemy.
8: Recover all HP

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WARNING: In the game there are statues and other things you can 
destroy, however, it is best if you do NOT destroy everything around 
you.  You will need these objects to stand on to reach the Garan stones 
at a later time when your JUMP/DASH level is higher.  

Also keep in mind that there is the actual stages of the game to get 
through and a BOSS of the stage.  Your HP will not reset between the 
time you finish a stage and fight a boss.  So if you just got through, 
say the Desert base with Daiki, and you have 120 HP left, you will have 
only 120 HP to start out with if you decide to use him to battle the 
boss.  This is also true of poison status.  If you reach the end of a 
stage poisoned, you will still be poisoned when you fight the boss, if 
you use the same character.

WALKTHROUGH:

DISK ONE:
Stage 1: Small Village
Boss: Kahaku (2000 HP)

Character: Naoya

This is basically the introductory stage.  This is a fairly 
straightforward level.  I would just play it and familiarize myself 
with the controls.  You fight Kahaku when you reach the tunnel.  He 
isn't too difficult, just stay close to him and slash away.

Stage 2: Desert Base
Boss: Fire Demon (1800 HP)

Recommended Character: Daiki

In this stage, just destroy as many creatures as possible.  They will 
give you plenty of Materia.  When you reach the cliff, make your way 
down, and it will cut into a cinema where you will meet with Mizuho.  
When you get to the boss, use Daiki or Naoya.  Keep close to the boss, 
and you should be okay.  If you get low on HP, there is a healing point 
near a ledge on the level.

Stage 3: Blue Island
Boss: Kaname (1000 HP)

Recommended Character: Mizuho

The things you must look out for are the falling ledges.  Make sure you 
put up your DASH/JUMP power.  If you don't negotiate the jumps 
correctly, you will fall in the water and lose 60 HP.  You will also be 
transported to the beginning of the level.  When the Garan bar is blue, 
enter the boss stage near the house by the edge of the docks (where you 
see the small gates with trees in the background).  For the boss, I 
recommend Naoya.  Freeze Kaname and jump and dash over him and strike 
him while he is contained.  Stay a good distance from him, because he 
will spank you pretty hard if he gets a chance to combo you.

Boss: Floating Cyclops Creature (2100 HP)

Use Kaname here.  The easiest strategy is to reflect the fireballs that 
the creature shoots at you.  Time your button press so that you hit the 
fireball to reflect it (Kinda like a more dangerous version of 
baseball).

Stage 4: Desert
Recommended Character: Azusa

Look out for landmarks in the ground (like a car, telephone pole in the 
sand), so you can remember where to go.  One good piece of strategy is 
to only kill enemies in your immediate way, and try not to kill enemies 
all the enemies near the teleporting gates.  This way, you can use them 
as a reference point just in case you get lost.

Boss: Flying Golden Machine (3000 HP)

Use Naoya on this boss.  It is not terribly difficult, just stay close 
to him.  It may help to put your jump/dash power up and your attack 
power up.

Boss: Infu (hit her once)

This is a piece of cake.  Use Naoya again.  All you have to do is hit 
her once.

DISK TWO:

At the start of DISK TWO, you will only have Naoya, Asuza and Hifumi as 
playable characters.

Stage 5: Evacuated City
Boss: Floating Monolith (3600 HP)
	
Recommended Character: Naoya

Do NOT attack the boss first!  YOU WILL get SPANKED!  Instead put your 
dash/jump attributes up, and your attack power up.  Then, destroy as 
many crystals as you can.  Once you hit blue (or near blue), you will 
become invincible for a limited time.  Use this time to track the boss 
down, and kill him.  If you stay very close to him, most of its 
fireballs will miss you.  

Stage 6: Blue Crystal Shrine
Boss: Kahaku (3300 HP)

Recommended Character: Hifumi

Basically, all you have to do is destroy the yellow crystals around the 
level, and some of the enemies to reach blue on your meter.  Make sure 
that you put your jump/dash power up so you can reach most of the 
yellow crystals.  Then you can destroy the large blue Garan crystal in 
the center shrine.  For the boss, I would suggest Naoya.  Put your 
attack power up, and attack him as before.

Stage 7: Crystal Maze

Recommended Character: ANY

All you have to do is get to the bottom of this maze.  You can't get 
back up, so time jumps carefully.  Contain as many enemies and kill 
them to make this level easier.  This is the only level where you don't 
need blue in your bar to get to the boss.

Boss: Twin head monster (3200 HP)

This BOSS is a PAIN!  I would suggest using Naoya, and put your attack 
and projectile power to as high as possible.  Reflect the orbs that it 
shoots you because they will severely damage the boss.  Try to stay on 
the same level as the boss so that your projectiles will hit the boss.

Stage 8: Boat Ride
	
Recommended Character: Naoya (Mizuho cannot be played.)

There is no boss here.  The boat is on a set path.  All you have to do 
is survive.  I would use the magic spell 3 (the shield), because it 
helps.  Destroy as many stones as possible.

Stage 9: Glowing Cave

Recommended Character: Any

You must reach the end of this jump and dash area without falling into 
oblivion.  Put your jump and dash power as high as possible, and 
carefully negotiate the tough jumps.  Grab as much Garan as possible, 
and avoid enemies like the plague.

DISK THREE:
(The BOSS disk!!!)

Stage 10: Decimated City
Boss: Yato  (2000 HP)

Fight Yato.  Use Naoya.  Freeze and attack.  Nothing special, just 
don't get too close to him.

Stage 11: Spiraling Mountain
Boss: Kahaku  (7000 HP)

Part 1: Use Daiki to scale the mountain.  Don't put your jump/dash 
power too high, otherwise you'll jump over where you want to go.

Part 2: Use Naoya to kill Kahaku.  THIS BATTLE IS HARD!  Try to stay 
semi-close, and keep attacking him with strong projectiles.

Stage 12: Triangular Structure
Boss: Infu  (2000/6000 HP)
Use anyone other than Naoya, since you are forced to fight Infu with 
him.  You must get her down to 4000 HP, and a movie will occur.  
Destroy the surrounding crystals, and when she gets close on the 
ground, swing at her.  Save your talismans for healing.

Boss: Infu  (4000 HP)
THIS IS A PAIN!!!	  Keep close to her if she is above the structure, if 
she outside striking range, try and hit her with projectiles.  When you 
can strike her at close range, use the invincibility/attack up spell 
(the fifth one), and hope that you have a lot of luck.

Stage 13: Toward the Finale
Recommended Character: Mizuho	

Basically, the only key to this level is SURVIVAL.  Try and destroy as 
many crystals as possible.  The enemies here are very aggressive, so 
it's best to kill what you can, and avoid the rest.  Get your right bar 
to blue, and proceed to the boss.  NOTE: the character you choose for 
this level is the character that you are forced to fight the Mutant 
boss with.

Boss: Mutant  (3600 HP)
This boss is not terribly difficult, just make sure that you keep a 
good distance by using projectiles and some of your special moves.  
Save your talismans for healing.  Even if you screw up somewhat, if you 
play conservatively, you can outlast the Mutant.

Stage 14: Floating Structure (FINAL STAGE)

Boss: Yanron  (8888 HP)
You must play NAOYA here.  AND, you have to fight Yanron with your 
default stats!!  Stay close to Yanron, use the invincibility spell, and 
attack him and get him down to 6666 HP.

Boss: Yanron  (6666 HP)
Same battle, but now you have full stats!!  Stay close, contain him, 
and use the magic circles when you need to.  Use your talismans for 
healing and invincibility.  Once you beat him, enjoy the ending!!

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GOODIES:

When you clear the game, and view the ending, it will go to a save 
screen.  Save the game, and it will ask you to insert DISK ONE.  Now 
you can play the entire game without the cinemas, and you can use ANY 
character you want, including Yato (who only has special moves)!  You 
will also start with 500 Garan points, enough to fill all your 
attributes to MAX, and 99 Materia.  If you saved your game, if you 
insert DISK TWO, you will get a strange movie, showing some original 
character designs for Naoya and Santa Claus(?!).

The translation of the name "Soukaigei":
The first symbol "SOU" means a set, a pair, comparison.
The second symbol "KAI" means circle, world, boundary, limits.
The third symbol "GEI" means rule, ceremony, affair.

A loose translation of the name "Soukaigei", would be "a set world 
rule" (as in the overtaking of the world by the Garan).

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Well, what do you think?  E-Mail me at [email protected] if you have 
any comments or questions.