Madou Monogatari (Saturn)

Madou Monogatari
	; Boxart of Madou Monogatari
Developer	Compile
Publishers	Compile & Sega
Platforms	Saturn
Players	1 player
Release date	July 23, 1998

Madou Monogatari (魔導物語) is the last Madou Monogatari title to be produced by Compile. It was released for the Sega Saturn on July 23, 1998.

Plot

The plot begins with Ragnus being cursed by Yoggus, and getting sent to Arle's world. Mysterious creatures known as Yogs soon begin to appear throughout the world, along with their influence spreading onto others. With the help of Rulue, Carbuncle, and various party members recruited throughout the game, Arle resorts to defeating the Yogs, and eventually Yoggus itself.

Gameplay

Unlike the other games which tend to be dungeon crawlers, Madou Monogatari Saturn sends you through isometric maze like levels with up to 3 partners where you can use minimal puzzle solving skills to clear paths and find your way to the goal.

Your main party consists of Arle and Rulue in it most of the time, but other characters are recruitable. Carbuncle is also in your party, but functions as an NPC that will randomly attack enemies without warning.

Characters

Protagonists

Party Members

Enemy families

Click the title to view the enemy families.

Arachne family
- Arachne
- Black Arachne
- Horn Spider
- Ogre Spider
- Queen Arachne
Archan family
- Archan
- Elf Huntress
- Forest Sniper
- Little Hunter
- Little Shooter
Barbegazi family
- Barbarian
- Barbegazi
- Evil Dwarf
- Magma Thug
Cockatrice family
- Cockatrice
- Icewing
- Phoenix
- Thunderbird
Gust family
- Cool Gust
- Gust
- Gust King
- Heat Gust
- Poison Gust
Honey Bee family
- Doctor Bee
- Honey Bee
- Machine Gun Bee
Kodomo Dragon family
- Kodomo Lizard
- Kodomo Salamander
Lamia family
- Chaos Lady
- Lamia
- Lamia Queen
- Snakehead
Lich family
- Lich Gorgeous
- Lich Very Poor
- Lichpoor
Living Doll family
- Cursed Doll - Not to be confused with the one in Sei Madou Monogatari, the way the Japanese names are written is different.
- Living Doll
- Marionette
- Poltergeist
- Wandering Ghost
Lizardman family
- Doku Lizard
- Dynalizard
- Hunter Lizard
- Lizardman
Lycanthrope family
- Lonely Wolf
- Lycanthrope
- Wolf Bancho
- Yankee Wolf
Mandrake family
- Cauliflower
- Dryad
- High Flower
- Mandrake
- Rafflesia
Ninja family
- Kunoichi
- Master Shadow
- Ninja
- Orochi
- Shinobi
Otohime family
- Beach Girl
- Otohime
- Tennin
Pecker family
- Big Pecker
- Icepecker
- King Pecker
- Pecker
Puyo family
- Blue Puyo
- Comet Puyo
- Green Puyo
- Nuisance Puyo
- Purple Puyo
- Red Puyo
- Rock Puyo
- Star Puyo
- Yellow Puyo
Samurai Mole family
- Ashigaru Mole
- Mole Taishogun
- Samurai Mole
Spector family
- Phantom
- Shadow
- Spector
Trent family
- Fall Trent
- Spring Trent
- Summer Trent
- Winter Trent
Turtle family
- Final Tortoise
- Heavy Turtle
- Killer Turtle
- Volcano Tortoise
Violence Monkey family
- Dynamite Ape
- Mad Ape
- Magic Monkey
- Violence Monkey
Wisp family
- Burning Soul
- Dark Spirit
- Luminous Balls
- Will-o-Wisp

Bosses

Harpy
Incubus
Jarne
Kikimora
Kodomo Dragon
Mamono
Minotauros
Nighthorse family
- Bastard-Sword Horse
- Halberd Horse
- Lance Horse
Nomi
Owlbear
Rulue
Satan
Schezo Wegey
Skeleton T
Scylla
Succubus
Suketoudara
Sukiya Podes
Yog family
- Dimensional Evil God Yog Sothoth
- Dimensional Evil God Yog Sothoth Second Form
- Yog of Contamination
- Yog of Corruption
- Yog of Deficiency
- Yog of Desire
- Yog of Domination
- Yog of Overconfidence
- Yog of Temptation
- Yog of Wrath
- Yoggus (blue)
- Yoggus (red)
Zoh Daimaoh

Harmless characters

Prerelease version

The original version of Madou Monogatari Saturn shows many differences to the final version, as during development, Compile began suffering financial issues and as a result the game had to be cut down on. Some of the differences that can be observed through prerelease footage and screenshots include:

Young Ragnus was fully playable, as seen in some battle footage.
Character portraits were visible for playable characters in battle, but were not visible on the overworld.
Witch and Draco were enemies in battle, similar to Kikimora. Some battle footage shows all three fought together, suggesting that at some point, Kikimora herself went from being a normal enemy to a boss, as seen in the final game.
Arle’s mother, as well as Nasu Grave, appear to have had appearances.
The overworld was completely different, unlike the isometric maps like the final game, the overworld appeared to be more like traditional RPGs. It’s possible this was recycled for the overworld in the prologue of the game, as the prologue in the final game has a non-isometric overworld.
The game seemingly was going to have a fully animated opening, which was used for promotional videos.

Trivia

The original plot, as created by Madou Monogatari: Chaotic Final Exam writer Kenji Oda, was meant to bridge the Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo series. The setting was rejected due to managerial differences. Oda would reuse concepts from the failed setting to create the True Madou Monogatari novels. It is thus unknown whether Compile intended the novels to be canon to Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo, or they simply reflect Oda's rejected plans for the franchises.^[1]
Takeshi Okamoto, the artist for the in-game artwork such as talk sprites and cutscene stills, shared the linework he did to be digitalized and colored for the game via Twitter in December of 2020. He explained how he was originally planned to do more artwork surrounding the game, but those expanded roles were late given to Ichi, the game's character designer and veteran artist at Compile for the Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo franchise, seemingly a cost-cutting measure due to Compile's financial state at the time.^[2]