Rhapsody of Zephyr (1998)

A side-story to Korean "War of Genesis series", The Rhapsody of Zephyr loosely adapts Alexandre Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo, with protagonist Cyrano Bernstein, a young nobleman looking forward to his wedding to his beloved Mercedes, being framed and cast into a remote island prison for crimes he did not commit.

Storyline

A number of years later, the Zephyr Falcons, a rebel group, launch an attack upon the prison to free their captured brethren, and Cyrano is freed in the chaos. Yet his body is too frail from years of labouring over toxic materials within the prison's depths, and he quickly finds himself on the verge of death. In this moment of despair, he is saved by a mysterious spiritual entity that is bound within the depths of the prison. And imbued with new powers, as well as a physical appearance radically transformed by his ordeals, Cyrano returns to the mainland, intent on exacting revenge upon his enemies. The Rhapsody of Zephyr largely discards the SRPG trappings of its parent series in favour of a more traditional console RPG-styled experience, with the only real proof of this heritage remaining in its grid-based, semi-strategic battle system. The game boasts a number of interesting if not fully realised mechanics, with weapon durability playing a key role in battles, as well as weapons boasting separate attack and defence values and acting to both guard allies from harm and help them to deal damage.