Growlanser Wayfarer of Time is a TRPG originally released on the PlayStation. It was developed by Career Soft and published in Japan by Atlus in 2003. It is the fourth installment in the Growlanser series, but it has a self-contained story. In 2011, a remake with additional content and new characters called Growlanser IV: Over Reloaded was released on PlayStation Portable in Japan. The North American version, called simply Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time was released on July 31, 2012.
Wayfarer of Time features an isometric perspective and a "traditional RPG" style exploration in towns, dungeons and world map that are very similar to the original Growlanser. Enemies can be seen on the world map and they can be avoided. Each dungeon has a unique, fixed layout (with the exception of the "bonus dungeon", which is randomly generated).
The equipment system is markedly different from most RPGs. Characters can equip two pieces of armor, one being a "Ring Weapon". In the Growlanser series, a Ring Weapon is a new technology where magic rings transform into different weapons depending on the user's personality. Players find these rings often after the defeat of an enemy and can equip different rings for different stat bonuses and different gem-equip slots. There are over 100 types of gems that cause various beneficial effects such as adding extra attacks, more elemental defenses, or increasing range or adding spells to the character's repertoire. These gems all have an innate level and that level must match or be lower than the slot available in the Ring weapon to be equipped. Each Ring Weapon only has 3 gem-slots with a level of 0-9 for each slot to equip the respective level gems. Additionally, a gem's color must match the color of a ring slot. A gem can be equipped into any given slot, however, penalties are incurred if the gem has a skill that can be learned.
There are 11 potential playable characters, but there is a four member party limit in battles. The fate system allow players to save some characters from death based on their decisions and ultimately unlock some additional endings.
Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time was originally developed by CareerSoft in 2003. The game was directed by Shinjiro Takada, who also worked on Devil Survivor, and Taiji Hida. [6] The main scenario writers were Fuma Yato and Yo Haduki, who were also lead writers for Devil Survivor. The original soundtrack was composed by Tomoyuki Hamada. New opening and ending tracks for the PSP version were composed by Ryota Kozuka.
