Smartphone

Astrae Oratio ‘The City, the Stars, and Magic’ trailer

"Shindenki magic RPG" set in Tokyo, 1989.

Publisher NCSOFT and developer Dynamis One have released a new gameplay trailer for “shindenki magic RPG” Astra Oratio, dubbed “The City, the Stars, and Magic.”

The trailer features a look at combat, menus, characters, and the game world.

Here is an overview of the game, via its official website:

About
“—Tokyo ’89, a new dream (magic) begins.”
Set in Tokyo, the city of youth and celebration. Retro / magic / administration / adventure / shindenki! The story begins now!

Magicians
“One whose hands manifest the wishes of people contained in the stars.”
The defining characteristic of modem magic is that it reflects the way of life within the land where the casting magician resides.
Even though many aspects of modern magicians have changed greatly from those of the Second Era when Hecate appeared, the legacy of Hecate’s torch and dagger continues to endure to this day.
Trial of Domination
“A trial (duel) held to resolve disputes between magicians.”
A means of judgment conducted when disputes arise between magicians. It is also called a Trial of Domination. Since the Fourth Era, it has become a deeply entrenched method of dispute resolution and a core part of the judicial system among magicians.
Magic
“Magic is the dream of mankind.”
When people sought to share their wishes to the world, they looked to the stars above. Magic lies in a person’s heart, impossible wishes whispered to the stars through the ages.
Dreams are what people desire: what they long for, what they hope will come to pass, and what they pray never will. They are prayers, hopes, and the yearning to see the world become something more. Even knowing such wishes may never be fulfilled, people still continue to entrust their hopes to the world. In other words, magic is the desire humanity offers unto the world itself.
People offered their prayers on pitch-black nights to the faintly shining stars above. Even knowing their wishes might never come true, people still placed their hopes in the stars. All dreams have been whispered to the stars.
And so, the dreams of humankind became stars.
Tower
“The wish of one who connects the stars and dominions.”
Babylon. The king of magicians who declared, “I will become a god,” built a tower toward the stars, only to be cast back down to earth. Turin. The philosopher who proclaimed, “God is dead,” attempted to part with the greatest mystery and eventually succumbed to madness.
The fall of the king who sought to become a god brought the Second Era to its end, while the madness of the philosopher who sought to bid farewell to God brought the Fifth Era to its close.
Between the Age of Gods and the Age of Enlightenment. Or between the Tower of Babel and the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps even between “I will become a god” and “God is dead.” Rather than merely wishing upon the stars, humanity sought to seize them with its own hands. And so, the concept of the Tower may have remained an enduring symbol throughout every lineage of magic.
And then came Tokyo, Reisel Year 9. In the same year the Fifth Era came to a close, a new tower approached completion, as though heralding the arrival of the next paradigm in the history of magic.
Artifact
“A weapon through which a magician’s will takes form.”
Hecate’s dagger, and a weapon that manifests a magician’s will into reality.
Artifacts are weapons that possess magical powers. They exist in many forms, from ancient relics steeped in history to ingenious creations born of modern craft.
Magicians who enter the hidden world through an ignition key can wield an artifact, which allows them to command powerful magic that would otherwise be impossible.
Kleis (κλείς)
“The key that unlocks the boundary between the surface world and world hidden beneath.”
Hecate’s torch, and the key that allows passage between reality and unreality. Derived from the ancient Greek word for “key,” the Kleis is an essential tool that allows magicians to wield magic, commonly referred to as an ignition key.
Just as a car requires a key to start, magicians must enter the realm of unreality using a Kleis to use magic. Because every magician possesses one, the Kleis is also regarded as a symbol of a magician’s qualification.
Origin of Magic
“Hecate, the First Magician.”
The goddess Hecate, revered as the first magician, is most often depicted holding a torch in one hand and a dagger in the other.
A powerful goddess of sorcery, magic, and thaumaturgy, Hecate also presides over the moon and the night, shadows and crossroads, and boundaries. Her authority over boundaries allows her to govern transitions between worlds: day and night, life and death, surface and hidden, city and nature, and reality and unreality.
The torch and the dagger are Hecate’s most iconic symbols. The torch illuminates the boundary between night and day, symbolizing the divide between reality and unreality, and represents the key that grants access to the hidden side of reality known as magic. The dagger, in tum, becomes the magician’s will that manifests magic into reality.
Though myth has faded and the paradigms of the age have changed countless times, the two concepts of torch and dagger remain the most essential principles for magicians to this day.
Dominion
“The foundation of life and the basis of magic.”
Magic reflects the way of life within the land where magicians reside. Since the Fifth Era, magicians have adopted administration as a framework for understanding the world. By systematizing the administrative structure of the land they belong to, they established the magician’s dominion. As a result, the administrative system itself has come to be regarded as identical to the magician’s dominion system in the modern age.
Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa, Sumida… Magicians’ dominions are divided according to administrative districts in modern Tokyo, including its 23 special wards. Conflicts between them have likewise taken the form of administrative disputes.
As a public official of Tokyo and a dominion administrator for magicians, the Shunin must now mediate and coordinate these disputes among magicians…
Special District Office
“Other Decree Special District Office.”
The administrative agency that the Shunin works for. Located in Minato City beneath Tokyo Tower, this government office oversees the special district designated by the Other Cabinet, the true power behind Tokyo’s magical world. It holds authority over all magical affairs and administrative matters that take place throughout Tokyo. Though one may call it the magician equivalent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Shunin is the only public official working here at the moment.
What fate awaits the Shunin, who must now oversee this place?
Synopsis
“The city, the stars, and magic.”
A familiar yet foreign world where Tokyo Tower has just been completed and Odaiba’s international exhibition center is still under construction. The Shunin, a low-ranking local public official, is assigned to a mysterious institution known as the Special District Office. It turns out to be an agency responsible for overseeing the administrative affairs of magicians living in Tokyo while concealing their true identities.
The Shunin becomes the public official assigned exclusively to the magicians of Tokyo. They alone are tasked with handling the city’s various magician-related incidents.
Beneath the city lights, people still speak of dreams and magic. This is a world that resembles our own yet advances along a different path. Another story is about to begin.
Tokyo ’89
“A familiar yet strange city of youth[hope] and celebration.”
Tokyo 1889. A world where technology, culture, and civilization are intricately intertwined, accelerating nearly a hundred years beyond what we know today.
After Tokyo’s selection as the host of the next Paris Expo over its rival, Kyoto, the reclamation of Odaiba rushes ahead at full speed.
With the completion of Tokyo Tower slated for this year, Tokyo is regarded as the most youthful, dynamic, and energetic city in the world, having achieved unprecedented postwar economic growth.
Characters
Other Decree Special District Office
Ai Hiwagashiakari (voiced by Haruka Shiraishi) – “I am Commissioner Hiwagishiakari Ai, the one in charge here. I look forward to working with you.” The head of the Special District Office, and the one who reassigned the Shunin to serve at said office. She keeps various toys in her office, and as the Shunin’s direct superior, she is hardly what anyone would call a model public official. Virtually everything about her is shrouded in mystery.
Ai Hiwagashiakari (Kimono) (voiced by Haruka Shiraishi) – “Now then, tell me. What is your dream?” Commissioner Hiwagishiakari Ai’s attire as a magician.
Doll (voiced by Haruka Shiraishi) – “Rest assured. I will protect you.” A sort of temporary bodyguard created by the Commissioner to protect the Shunin. The only information available about this entity is that its body is made of wood.
Dominion Management Council, Special District Office Branch
Director – “If ‘sorry’ fixed everything, we wouldn’t need incident reports, would we?” An adorable but terrifying Director who manages subordinates with an iron fist. She always seems to know exactly who did what—and who made which mistake.
Administrator – “Hmm? The work never ends? Any other mundane observations?” The administrator of the Dominion Management Council, known for their stoic demeanor and by-the-book approach to work. As the council’s de facto leader, they handle and organize all matters within the Special District Office.
Clerk – “Excuse me, Shunin These documents need to be processed today.” The administrative head can usually be found buried in paperwork, wearing a perpetually exhausted expression. They look like they could use some more sleep.
Magical Activities of the Minato Girls
Erin Tanaka (voiced by Hinami Nanami) – “Huh? Do you have high hopes for me, Shunin?” A Japanese middle school girl born and raised in Japan. Though her mother is of Irish descent and she looks unmistakably Western, Erin is, in every way, an ordinary Japanese girl. (And no, she can’t speak English.) She lived a perfectly normal life until entering middle school, when a chance encounter with Riria and Anna led her to discover that she was a user of ancient mythic magic long thought lost. Since then, Erin has begun a secret life as a magician alongside Anna and Riria, finding herself in the middle of various incidents involving magicians across Tokyo.
Anna M. Battenberg (voiced by Minami Takahashi) – “I thought I’d have a quiet school life… but this isn’t so bad.” A noble young lady from Vienna. Her full name is Anna Marie von Battenberg. Ever since her grandfather’s generation grew fed up with the family’s outdated traditions, “finding a suitable match” has been the family’s top priority. As a result, the entire family keeps close tabs on Anna’s love life, much to Anna’s exasperation. She currently resides in a flower shop building in Tokyo run by the family’s retired butler, who, for some reason, seems to regard the Shunin as a potential future son-in-law.
Riria Fujiawara (voiced by Aira Iryo) – “Magicians! Girls! They’re both such exciting words!” A young lady from an extremely prestigious magician family, and an ancient shrine maiden capable of wielding the sorcery of the ancient Yamatai Kingdom. For reasons unknown, she transfers to Minato Middle School, where she meets Erin and Anna and enjoys the ordinary life of a middle school student.
Other Cabinet
Signalman – “I will take this man’s heart and brain and make them into a living idol.” A bureaucrat of the Other Cabinet, the mysterious group that governs Tokyo’s magical world. Their current form is merely a constructed persona, a substitute form created because their true nature is too great for this world to bear.
Death Mask – “We are the hidden mysteries, the boundaries of the world, and the legacy of myth itself! We will no longer be ruled by hollow notions like ‘cities’ and ‘administration’!” The incarnation of the Signalman, and the living embodiment of the very concept of the City.