Azure Dreams

The main focus of the game is entering the Tower of Monsters and destroying its denizens, gaining experience, and collecting treasure. The player can also catch monster eggs to hatch into familiars. Each monster has hidden spells, unique traits, and abilities. The game revolves around the Tower of Monsters and the town of Monsbaiya, which the player helps develop. With his acquired riches, Koh can finance the building of a theatre, hospital, racing track, casino, bowling alley, and gym. Some buildings allow the appearance of specific love interests (such as the Hospital making way for Cherrl to appear and the library making Mia available), while others offer minigames and the ability to acquire currency at a faster rate. Koh can also improve the furnishings and decorate his home. The player is also given the option of pursuing romantic ambitions in Koh's life. There are seven characters that he may develop a relationship with. This relationship-building aspect of the game is absent from the Game Boy Color version. There are a few differences between the Japanese and American versions of the game; the Japanese version has voiced dialogue for every character, a different title screen, narration for the intro movie, and an angel/cherub which is larger and more animated. The monster book graphics were also redone. The Japanese version has a seahorse-like selector with more colorful elemental bars. The layout of the picture and text is different, with the Japanese version having the monster text off to the right and the stats under the picture. The buttons were also completely changed from the Japanese version. Every time Koh enters the Tower, he returns to level one; however, any familiars hatched outside the Tower retain their current level. As such, progression through the higher levels of the Tower relies on strengthening the familiars or equipment. Strengthening weapons and shields can be an uphill battle, because the items that add a +1 to their attack or defense are often far outnumbered by Rust Traps, one of the many varieties of randomly generated traps that only become visible once activated. One remedy to this is to use types of equipment that do not rust. Once in the Tower, there are only three ways of exiting it: If Koh "dies" within the Tower, he returns to town but loses all equipment he carried; a familiar can be sacrificed using a specific item found within the Tower, called an Oleem, allowing Koh to escape and keep all of his other equipment; and a Wind Crystal can be found in the Tower that allows escape at any time. Azure Dreams uses a random map generator: every time Koh enters the Tower of Monsters, the levels are randomly generated so as to make every monster-hunting experience different. Activity within the main dungeon is turn-based, with one move or attack corresponding to a turn (e.g. when the player takes a step, so do opposing monsters).