The Side Stories
Genesis 1 & 2 are the core, but several side stories fill in gaps and carry the world forward.
Genesis Gaiden: Crow
창세기전 외전: 크로우
- Era:
- Just after Gratias through the final confrontation with the Black Prince
- Protagonist:
- Crow (Ice Pandragon)
- Released:
- 1998 (Part 1), Part 2 later; incorporated into the Gray Remnant remake
Story
Crow receives news of the Trisis disaster. He urgently rescues Lacid from Trisis assassins and trains him for ten days (Part 1). He then travels to the Empire with Riona Willard and Xuan Nore to rescue Iyolin (Part 2). Both companions die in the Dark Castle escape. Crow pursues the Black Prince to the sea and their final confrontation.
What it adds
- Introduces Riona Willard and Xuan Nore as named characters with full story roles.
- Shows Crow's internal perspective.
- Establishes that Crow's confrontation with the Black Prince is deliberately suicidal from the start — following Riona's letter.
Well-received; helped restore the studio's reputation after a rough period.
Rhapsody of the West Wind
서풍의 광시곡
- Era:
- 50 years after the War of Creation
- Protagonist:
- Cyrano Bernstein, Vincent's great-nephew, the Gray-Cloaked Knight
- Released:
- 1998, full PC game
Story
The Geysir Empire has been disbanded and the region is in political chaos. Cyrano is imprisoned in the Inferno Prison on fabricated charges and, while imprisoned, inherits Deimos's dark blood. He escapes, begins a revenge campaign that becomes entangled with the founding of a new Geysir Empire, and joins Zephyr Falcon (Lacid's secret resistance org).
The game is modelled on historical Italian Renaissance politics (the faction wars of Italy, Cesare Borgia, Machiavelli) and draws on the Monte Cristo revenge narrative.
What it adds
- Establishes what happens to almost every Genesis 2 character's family line fifty years on.
- Shows Iyolin as an old woman on Storm Island.
- Establishes Cyrano as 'the greatest swordsman since the Black Prince.'
- Carries the Asura sword forward.
Considered one of the finest narrative games in the series — the last one where the series' core theme of 'resisting fate through sacrifice' is fully intact before Tempest introduced reincarnation elements that changed the tonal direction.
Multiple endings: the canonical ending ('History's Wheel') leads into Tempest and Genesis 3. An alternate harem ending exists. The most beloved ending by fans is the 'Rhapsody' ending — where Cyrano takes on all enemies alone and fights until death — for its emotional impact, even though it's not the canonical path.
The Tempest
창세기전 외전: 템페스트
- Era:
- Around the same era as Rhapsody, in the Pandragon Kingdom rather than Geysir territory
- Protagonist:
- Clausewitz Pendragon (Lacid's grandson), operating under the alias Scharnhorst
- Released:
- 1998, same year as Rhapsody
Story
After Lacid's death, a succession dispute erupts between Richard Pandragon and Scharnhorst (Clausewitz). Scharnhorst was the front-and-centre protagonist of Rhapsody (in a supporting role); here he becomes the lead in a political thriller modelled on the Wars of the Roses. Katarina (Strider and Sara's daughter) also features.
What it adds
- Gives Clausewitz Pendragon a full story.
- Shows that the Pandragon royal line remains contested even after Lacid's achievements.
- Carried the series forward into Genesis 3's era.
Published in a rush due to financial pressures (the distributor had gone bankrupt), released in an unfinished state, notorious for bugs including a 7-battle chain finale that frequently crashed.
Regarded as the entry that permanently shifted the series' tone toward reincarnation and fate-driven narratives rather than the human-sacrifice-against-fate theme that defined Genesis 2 and Rhapsody.