TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga (ティアリングサーガ ユトナ英雄戦記 Tiaringu Sāga Yutona Eiyū Senki, unofficially translated as TearRing Saga: Yutona's Hero Quest) is a tactical role-playing game that was developed by Shouzou Kaga after he left Intelligent Systems and formed his own studio, Tirnanog. It was released exclusively in Japan on May 24, 2001 for the Sony PlayStation console. Due to the numerous similarities that it shares with the Fire Emblem series, it could be considered to be a spiritual successor, but it was also the subject of a lawsuit regarding Fire Emblem's copyright. In addition, it is often considered to be a spiritual successor of Fire Emblem Gaiden because of its story split between two protagonists, the traversable world map, and the use of various monsters as enemies.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga has three official novels that are illustrated by Mayumi Hirota.

Setting
The game takes place on the continent of Lieberia, which is primarily composed of four kingdoms: Reeve, Salia, Canaan, and Leda. There are several other smaller kingdoms, including Marl, Istoria, and the neighboring island called Wellt. For many generations, Lieberia has been involved in the conflict between the native Zoans and the descendants of immigrants from the eastern continent of Judg.

Story
Lieberia is being terrorized by an evil cult led by Gwenchaos, who is hell-bent on reviving the dark god Gerxel. Runan and Holmes, the two heroes of the game, travel around the continent on their own separate journeys that lead them on a quest to stop the cult before its ambitions are realized.

Characters

 * See main article: List of characters in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga.

Classes

 * See main article: List of Classes in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

Chapters

 * See main article: List of chapters in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

Similarities/References to Fire Emblem
Apart from possessing similar gameplay as traditional Fire Emblem games such as Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem and Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, there are some more similarities, ranging from vague to obvious.
 * Staple Fire Emblem classes such as Swordfighter, Armor Knight, and even Pegasus Knight are featured.
 * Many of the weapons and items are identical, including Kill Blade, Hammer and Meteor.
 * The first protagonist, Runan, begins as a Knight Lord (originally named Lord Knight in the pre-release version) and promotes to Lord.
 * Manaketes were originally set to be featured, but were replaced with the similar Emiyu race of dragons. They feature all of the characteristics of the Manakete race, even a mysterious catastrophic decline, but transform using rings instead of Dragonstones.
 * The legendary White Master Morse was a member of the Emiyu race, similar to Gotoh's role.
 * In the Kingdom of Wellt, there is a visitable location called the Temple of Mars.
 * Some non-playable Dragon Knight characters hail from the Dukedom of Sofia, which shares a name with a kingdom from Gaiden.
 * According to Lieberia lore, the founders of the Kingdom of Reeve originally came from the continent of Jugd from the east, a possible reference to Jugdral.
 * Miradona, the mother of Utna according to legends, possesses a similar role to Mila in that she is an Earth Goddess. The other half of her name might be derived from "Doma".
 * The final boss, Gerxel, is a Dark Dragon who was once vanquished by a legendary hero, Garlon, much like Anri in the backstory of certain Fire Emblem titles. There is also an unused class called Naga Dragon, a reference to Naga, which is likely Miradona's class.
 * Gwenchaos schemes to resurrect Gerxel through a ritual that requires four priestesses (Enteh, Katri, Tia, and Neyfa) as sacrifices, which is similar to Gharnef's plan to resurrect Medeus through the sacrifices of four priestesses (Lena, Maria, Elice, and Nyna).
 * Raquel is nicknamed "The Child of Bridget", which is a possible reference to Briggid.
 * The unnamed character who runs the Secret Shop and the game suspension feature is visually identical to Anna, complete with the trademark pose.

Legal History
The release of TearRing Saga was met with legal resistance from Nintendo, who filed a lawsuit against the game's publisher Enterbrain for copyright infringement. The reasoning behind Nintendo's claim stemmed from the numerous similarities that TearRing Saga bears to the Fire Emblem series, among which include near identical gameplay structures and scenario concepts. Prior to release, the game was even at one point titled Emblem Saga.

The courts ruled that TearRing Saga was not in breach of copyright. However, on appeal, Nintendo was awarded a settlement, though the game itself was allowed to continue sales. It is possibly due to this legal battle that the sequel to TearRing Saga, TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, features a number of sweeping changes that separate its gameplay from traditional elements of Fire Emblem.

Fan Translation
The game was never released in or localized for English-speaking countries. However, many fans of the game attempt fan translations.

There is currently an ongoing open fan translation at: http://sites.google.com/site/trstrans/ On July 21, 2012, the first public release version was posted. Oboro and Runan are still seeking editors.

On November 7, 2016, the new fan translation by Aethin was completed and released on Serenes Forest.