Video Game Vintage Title: Tears To Tiara

Tears To Tiara

Tears to Tiara is a Japanese adult tactical role-playing game developed by Leaf. It was first released for Windows on April 28, 2005 in Japan. Then it was followed by a 12-years-old and up version released for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in which the adult content was removed. The PlayStation 3 remake titled Tears to Tiara: Garland of the Earth was released on September 17, 2009 which contained several enhancements and additional scenarios including new character designs and changed the original 2D gameplay to 3D. A sequel to Tears to Tiara, titled Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei , was released on October 31, 2013.

Tears To Tiara Plot

The game draws heavily from Welsh, Celt, Christian and Roman mythology, with characters named Arawn, Rhiannon, Arthur, Epona, Pwyll, Llŷr and Taliesin.

Set in a Late Antiquity-inspired fantasy setting, story starts on an island Erin (or Hibernia, as shown on an in-game map) on the west border of the Holy Empire.

Prologue is centered around the precognition-gifted priestess of the Gael tribe, Rhiannon. She is kidnapped by a rogue priest of the Holy Empire, Drwc, to be used as a sacrifice in a ritual meant to resurrect the Demon King Arawn and put Drwc in his favor. As a response the Gael people burn their village and swear to bring Rhiannon back or exact revenge on the Empire.

In the middle of the ritual, as the Gael people attack Drwc's soldiers, Arawn is resurrected and offered Rhiannon. At this point, he kills Drwc, frees Rhiannon, and proclaims no intention in wreaking havoc which the legends attributed to him. Instead, he shows interest in Rhinannon's brother Arthur, the First Warrior of his tribe. Rhiannon, on the other hand, falls in love with Arawn, and by declaring her decision to marry him, makes him the chieftain of the Gael tribe (hers and Arthur's father was the previous chieftain, but Arthur could not assume the title due to being the First Warrior).

As the prologue ends, point of view is switched from Rhiannon to Arawn, revealing him to be the protagonist of the game, and the story continues with the exodus of Gael tribe to the neighboring island of Albion (or Insula Britannica, as shown on an in-game map) in hope of eluding the Empire.

Tears To Tiara Gameplay

The gameplay between the two versions are very different. The PC game has the combat segments occurring in real-time while the PlayStation 3 version has been altered it to be turn based combat. In any of its version, the player and enemy AI control multiple characters of different classes such as magic user, archer, and soldier. Outside of battle the story is told through 2-D cutscenes, with gameplay proceeding much like a typical visual novel.