Baldr Sky

is a duology of Japanese adult visual novels with 2D action elements developed by Giga. The series characterizes itself as a cyberpunk action adventure game. The first game, named ''Baldr Sky Dive1 "Lost Memory”'' was released in Japan on March 27, 2009, for Windows. The second game, ''Baldr Sky Dive2 "Recordare"'' was released in Japan on November 27, 2009. A fandisc called ''Baldr Sky DiveX "Dream World"'' was released in Japan on September 24, 2010. An English version containing both Dive1 and Dive2 was released by Sekai Project on December 20, 2019.

Gameplay

A majority of ''Baldr Skys gameplay consists of reading the text that's rendered on screen and supported with audio for voices. The player will occasionally be presented with choices to select which may or may not determine the outcome of the game. As ''Baldr Sky'' has multiple endings, the player will have to replay the game multiple times in order to view all of the endings.

Similar to other games in the ''Baldr'' series, ''Baldr Sky'' is also driven by a top-down 2D interface where the player controls a mecha in sprite form to combat enemy machines. The player is given a chance to upgrade or modify the equipment of the mecha prior to a series of battles.

Plot

Setting and themes

''Baldr Sky'' takes place in Japan some time in the future during the 21st century. Nanomachines have become commonplace and have taken a major role in society. The abilities of these nanomachines range from medical purposes for curing ailments and modifying the taste of food. A new generation of humans now also have a chip embedded in them which allows them to be connected to the Internet at all times. With the dawn of these new technologies, warfare has expanded beyond the physical world onto the virtual world. People engage in combat online in simulacrums, the name of the mecha units in the game, or with viruses (unmanned robots).

Story

The story of ''Baldr Sky'' revolves around the male protagonist and is told through two timelines, the present and the past through flashbacks. At the beginning of the story, Kou is suffering from memory loss, so much of the back story about the past is told through flashbacks while Kou is recalling his memories with the aid of medical nanomachines. In the present, Kou and his subordinate, , are after a group of scientists who had inadvertently triggered a hazard due to leaking of a developing nanomachine. The city and the surrounding area that the lab is located in is ultimately demolished but the scientists had actually evacuated to safety from the lab before the place was destroyed. Kou wishes to uncover the truth about what happened that day and to prevent another tragedy from occurring again, as his girlfriend Sora was killed by the nanomachines.

Characters

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The protagonist of the story. A free mercenary and an excellent simulacrum pilot. Kou has been chasing after the truth behind the incident known as "Gray Christmas", in which he lost the person most precious to him.
As he recovers his memories and experience new ones, he reaches closer to the truth.

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A mercenary and Kou's subordinate.
Referring to Kou as Lieutenant, she becomes the one to guide the amnesiac Kou. Like a commander, she scolds and encourages Kou whenever he is in the midst of confusion at times. Even though she is polite and gentle, her gestures and expression often give people a cold impression.
Rarely letting out her emotions, she often remains composed. She is merciless towards enemies. Her actions usually put Kou's safety as top priority, so much that she may even give up her own life for Kou.

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Kou's friend that lived with him in the Kisaragi dormitory. She disappeared after Gray Christmas, but later reappeared before then undergoing memory restoration process Kou, dressed in an army uniform and heavily cyborgized.

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Kou's childhood friend, a year younger. She lost her parents due to a bomb. Now she's a keeper of an internet cafe.

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Kou's second cousin who he considers as his sister. She's a "wizard" - a genius programmer in the virtual world. Kou's simulcrum is her gift when he was moving to Kisaragi dormitory. She works in the corporation of Kou's aunt, Ark Industry.

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Sora's little sister, she met Kou who saved her from bullying by her peers due to her illness. Later moved to Kisaragi dormitory.

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Makoto's older sister, whom she heavily adores. She died in the accident, called "Gray Christmas".

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Kou's best friend, who loves women and mecha. Moved with Kou in Kisaragi dormitory when they lost their previous place due to a certain incident with their upperclassmen.

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A woman with a childlike appearance, and a capable underground doctor, who lives in the Suzushiro City's slums. Officially runs a sex-toy shop.

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Leader of an illegal mercenary group "Dainsleif". Sworn enemy of Kou.

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Nanomachine researcher, lectoring in the Academy Seishuu.

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Kou's father. Member of a mercenary organization "Fenrir". Colonel.

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An officer mercenary from Fenrir. Major.

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An officer mercenary from Fenrir, Shizel's subordinate. Lieutenant.

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Kou's aunt, head of Ark Industry.

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Head priest of Dominion, a group of cultists worshipping AI as their goddess.

Music

The opening theme for ''Dive1'', entitled , is sung by KOTOKO. The opening theme for ''Dive2'' is "jihad", also by KOTOKO.

Development

''Baldr Sky'' is the third game in the ''Baldr'' series following ''Baldr Force'' and ''Baldr Bullet "Revellion"''. Character designs were, like the other two games in the series, by Seiji Kikuchi. Music composition was provided by Tgz Sounds, Barbarian on the Groove, and LittleWing.

Release history

Prior to ''Dive1s release, GIGA released a demo of the game's prologue chapter online on the Internet on January 23, 2009. The full game was released about two months later on March 27, 2009.

On September 24, 2010, GIGA also published a fandisc called "BALDR Sky DiveX: Dream World", which included many scenes that weren't mentioned in Dive1 and Dive2, such as the memories of Kou while he was a mercenary with Rain.

''Baldr Sky "Zero"'', another game in the series, had been in production and released in March 2013. One of the new elements is a crossover between the Baldr Sky series and Jinki series (Jinki crossover in terms of art design).

Reception

According to the sales numbers on Getchu.com, a popular Japanese games shop, March 2009 sales ranked twentieth in the following month in April.

In Getchu's user-voted rankings for games of 2009, ''Dive2'' came in first overall, as well as first in the System, Scenario, and Music divisions, 4th in the Movie division (referring to the opening and ending animations for the game), and 10th in Graphics. Rain Kirishima and Sora Minazuki were voted the #1 and #3 characters in that year's Character division.

''Dive1'' was awarded the Silver Prize in the Theme Song category in 2009's Moe Game Awards. In 2010, ''Dive2'' won the Silver Prize in the Program category and the Gold Prize in the 3D category.

In Getchu.com's 2010 game ranking, ''DiveX'' was ranked at 4th place in the System category, 8th place in the Movie category, and 18th overall.

The story is rated as one of the best visual novels of all time, both on the Japanese review site Erogamescape and on the English-speaking site vndb.

References

External links

''Baldr Skys official website

''Baldr Sky DiveX "Dream World"'' official website

''Baldr Sky "Zero"'' official website

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*{{vndb, 10833, title=Baldr Sky "Zero"

2009 video games
Eroge
Visual novels
Beat 'em ups
Bishōjo games
Video games developed in Japan
Windows games
Windows-only games
Video games about mecha
Nanotechnology in fiction
Cyborgs in anime and manga
Video games about robots
Single-player video games
Science fiction video games