When we think of the all-time great action RPG developers, Quintet is a name that tends to be forgotten. And yet, their games are some of the most creative and thought-provoking in the history of the genre. This is an ongoing series that intends to cover both the history of Quintet, as well as analyzing all their major works.

Episode one covers ActRaiser, a game that's actually not an action RPG at all, but an innovative mix of action/platformer and god-sim. It's not only one of the most memorable debut works by any video game developer, but also introduces themes and concepts that would reoccur throughout the rest of Quintet's history. It's also just a really fun game.

Works Cited

ActRaiser Instruction Booklet

“AVG & RPGIII,” Nihon Falcom – Ys Developer Interview, https://shmuplations.com/ys/

Beep Magazine (March 1989), “Success Story,” https://shmuplations.com/success1989/

Bowl of Lentils, "The Early History of Falcom,"    • The Early History of Falcom  

Famitsu, “Sound Creators That Pushed Hardware Limits: Yuzo Koshiro and Yasunori Mitsuda,” https://www.onemillionpower.com/sound...

Famitsu, “ActRaiser 30th Anniversary,” https://www.resetera.com/threads/actr...

Hiromasa Iwasaki, “Complete history of Ys I and II (17): Development and end of Ys III, and one speculation,” http://www.highriskrevolution.com/wp/...

Indigo Gaming, “Terranigma, ActRaiser, Illusion of Gaia & Soul Blazer | Complete Quintet Retrospective,”    • Terranigma, ActRaiser, Illusion of Ga...  

MSX-FAN (May 1988), "Fan Clip: Tomoyoshi Miyazaki," https://www.tumblr.com/thearkhound/18...

Peklo, “Quintet: Heaven and Earth,” https://talking-time.net/index.php?th...

Quintet, “ActRaiser,” https://web.archive.org/web/200503081...

Ys I & II Developer Interview, "Book of Ys," https://shmuplations.com/ys/

Timecodes

0:00 - Introduction
3:26 - Early Action RPGs
6:20 - Ys
8:22 - Masaya Hashimoto and Tomoyoshi Miyazaki
11:22 - Ys III
16:15 - The Beginning of Quintet
17:36 - ActRaiser Introduction and Story
19:02 - Action Mode
22:01 - The Soundtrack
26:04 - Simulation Mode
28:53 - Analysis of Story and Themes
32:04 - The Legacy of ActRaiser
35:15 - Ending Credits and Patreon Shoutouts