|
Part 4: Is It Spring Yet? I recently got two large winter storms back to back in my area, and had a ton of snow dumped on me after a relatively dry winter. So this upcoming area of the Musha Area feels rather appropriate.  Before we can get there, however, we have to make our way through the Secret Passage.   Moano instructs the platoon on how to get through upon their arrival. VIDEO: Into the Secret Passage  This way, Uncle! The path starts here. There are several Ojizousama statues ahead, so when you see one wearing a hat, go in the direction it's facing. Got it? Look for the statues wearing hats. Okay, Uncle, let's go. ...In other words, watch your step? Ojizousama are similar to the USA's roadside memorial crosses in a lot of ways. They're both religious symbols (Jizou is a Buddhist deity who watches over children and travelers), and they're often erected in honor of someone who died.  Like the ones in the Secret Passage, Ojizousama statues are often dressed up, as if to protect them from the weather, or in representation of whoever died. It's not unusual to see small offerings of money or food left in front of them.  Makeshift Ojizousama statues can be built out of a few rocks, and dressed up just the same as the fancier ones.  Ojizousama wearing little hats and aprons are usually made for deceased or stillborn children.  This hatless Ojizousama is facing north.  What harm could come from following where it points? Jizou's supposed to look after travelers, after all.   Maybe this path leads to goodies...  ...Hidden in dark passages!  GRRRRR...  KIIIYAAA!! !! Something's coming!! Yeah!  The "pincer attack" theme plays for this scripted fight, even though it's not a pincer situation.  And the enemies are weak as ever.  After an easy victory, Keroro rattles off his official full title--correctly this time. VIDEO: Sergeant Keroro's Full Title   Whew, that was scary...  Because YOU went the wrong way! Looks like a dead end up here. Let's get back on the right path. I guess Jizou won't protect you if you go the wrong way on purpose.  A little ways south of the hatless Ojizousama is the one leading the way out, but there's still a few treasures to collect.  While rooting around for Keparrow stuff that doesn't need keys in this area, I find this baby: the Idolm@ster CD.  Produced by the super-unique idol girls! Naturally it's a weapon for Kururu, because he enjoys girly J-pop. Just look at that HP and attack boost!  The extra CC is great too.The only other Keparrow loot we can get for now is an Attack Berry, so it's time to move on.  On the other side of the Secret Passage, a sudden change in geography loved by JRPGs everywhere awaits.  The platoon's already headed into snow country. Why don't we see frogs during winter?  Because they hibernate, usually digging into the ground to avoid the ice until spring. But some frogs are total badasses and legitimately freeze. Their liver converts sugars, which are sent to every tissue to prevent cells from completely dehydrating, and their heart slows to an eventual stop. It's apparently not yet known what tells their hearts to start beating again when they thaw.  Of course, something inconvenient like hibernation's not gonna come up in this game. Instead we get the next recolor of the Safe Slime, called Mostly Sherbet.  Luckily there's a village past all those blue enemies.  And it's the one we were looking for. VIDEO: Arriving In Whitesnow Village    Uncle, I've heard this village's shrine has a sacred treasure inside. That may very well be one of the Legendary Armaments. You've been such a big help, Miss Moano! And I'm honored to have been of assistance to you, Uncle. Well, I've got to get back to my job, so I'll see you later. ...In other words, business is booming? I know she's a different person from Miss Mois, but I'm still kinda sad to see her go. That horrible woman finally left! Now I got Sarge all to myself. But Tamama, for every person, it's said there are 3 lookalikes. You just might end up running into the other two at some point. All right, let's go find that Legendary Armament! Ah, Uncle! Oh, Miss Moano. Did you forget something? Since this is your first time at this village, I thought I'd show you around! ...In other words, a guided tour? This leads to another tutorial! But we just went through a bunch, why would we want more? Let's turn her down. No, that's all right. After all, you're in the middle of your work, Miss Moano. I wouldn't want to keep you from it. Uncle... you're so thoughtful... Thank you! Well, I'll be going, then.  Now let's rewind so we can piss off Tamama.  Ooh! Please do. I'd really appreciate it. HNNGH! THAT drat WOMAN'S LIKE A DINGLEBERRY! First stop on the tour is the grade shop. Each battle rewards not only experience, gold, and sometimes items, but grade points as well. This isn't the first Tales game to use them, and I assume they're used for similar things across the series.  Moano introduces her new friends to the grade shop owner. She's pretty much the most popular person in the village. She goes on to explain that the better you do in battle--getting longer combos and finishing fights quickly--the more grade points you earn. There's another way to increase GP output, which I'll get into later. The grade shop has loads of goodies to blow your hard-earned points on, but before that, we have the next part of our whirlwind tour...    Gero-!? What's THAT doing here!? What do you mean, Sarge? Take a good look at that sign, Private Tamama! Tama! Tha... that's a...! Uh oh. About time you noticed. This shop sells my beloved Gunpla! To think I'd find them in a place like this! Can you believe my luck? How strange. Yeah... What's strange? Even though we're in an entirely different world... Why are they selling Pekoponian toys here? Keh... I got a bad feelin' about this... kuuu-kukuku.  Hey, hey! Why's everyone just standin' around? If we don't hurry, all the Gunpla's gonna get sold out! Gunpla? Uncle, are you talking about these? Yeah, but... They're called Guardians, Uncle, not Gunpla. Looks like Guardian's the name for 'em in this world. But they look just like 'em... ...So, what exactly are these Guardians for?Moano goes on to explain the benefits of equipping snap-together plastic figures as armor. They can not only increase various stats (usually defense and at least one other), but most add at least one Guardian Skill. Guardians can have up to three skills, and that's in addition to the Character Skills everyone learns, which eventually adds up to six each altogether. With that explanation, Moano's tour ends, and she returns to her post at the item shop.  This lady tells us about Character Skills. Each platoon member learns three, and most of them can't be found on Guardians.  At the party's current level, only Dororo has one. His first Character Skill, Invisible, lowers his chance of being targeted by enemies. Heh.   Let's buy toys we can strap to ourselves for higher numbers!  ...Though right now we can only afford the Zaku Cannon, Zaku II Stutzer variant, and the GM. Each Guardian is based on a mech from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, and they get very, very specific.  They even come with pictures (Zaku Cannon here), and detailed descriptions of which Gundam anime and movies they were in. I curse Keroro every time I have to open a Gundam wiki so I can get the model names right.  Anyhow, the Zaku Cannon grants the skill Magic Spell, which decreases magic cast time by 5%. That means it goes on Kururu. The defense, speed, and HP bonuses are welcome, too. Most skills, mainly stat-related ones, have improved versions denoted by a II or a III tacked onto the end.  Some Guardians don't have skills, just stats. I get them anyway, because I plan to buy at least one of everything for collector mania title-related purposes. It's another one of those Tales series things.  It's also to make do with what little money I have at the moment, and equipping Tamama with a Zaku II Stutzer is better than nothing.  What's Moano got for sale?  Besides healing items, she's got food! Delicious food! Or the ingredients to make it with, at least. This list covers a lot of recipes gained throughout the game, so we'll be constantly shopping for more groceries.  As for right now, may as well buy as much as we can.  What can we buy at the weapon shop with 1 Gold remaining?  Jack!  But that's okay, because we don't want to, at least not for upgrading purposes. Keroro and Kururu are doing just fine with the stuff they found on the ground, and will be for a while. The other weapons in the series will come along soon. Keparrow-looting in Whitesnow Village gets us an Antidote, a Speed Berry, and a Paralysis Heal. Paralysis is a pretty annoying status, as it randomly cancels character actions, like using attacks, Artes, or items.  The NPCs in this village are notable, because most of them will react to the platoon being outsiders, wondering how they got in. This goes along with Moano mentioning earlier that only villagers and merchants selling in the village could get in and out. They warm up to Keroro and the others after learning they helped out Moano, of course. This lady explains that it's unusual to see outsiders because of the local god's divine protection. Only those carrying a special charm are allowed through, but anyone who enters the village once with someone carrying the charm is able to enter and leave freely from then on. She thanks the platoon for rescuing Moano, gives them an official village welcome, and hands over an Herb.   This little girl doesn't care where they came from, and is happy enough just singing songs to colorful frogs. Lost in the hills was a little snow bunny To the right and up ahead, only snow to see Lost in the hills was a little snow bunny To the right and up ahead, where is his mommy? To the right and down below, bunny made a fuss Looking for the way home, bunny made a fuss Bunny cried while heading right, heard something down below It was his mommy calling, so he hurried home  This is the Collection Maniac. You'll find him in most towns, where he'll buy amount x of monster drop y for a nice chunk of change. It's an okay option for building up gold in the first half or so of the game.  There is nothing in this house.  Unless you're Kururu.  All around the village are sparkly goodies to find.  There's even stuff buried in the drifts. First visits to towns usually warrant a thorough sparkle search.  And, like most JRPGs, no one cares if we barge into and loot their poor homes.  Except for this old guy, who yells at Drawer and Closet Inspection to leave. Somebody needs to get with the program.   This girl apologizes for her grandpa and gives us a Monster Gummy. Monster Gummies are an ingredient drop that can't be bought in the item shop.  Speaking of shops, our Gold may be spent, but our Grade Points aren't.  The grade shop sells, of all things, AI commands in its first tab. I can't afford all of them at the moment, so I just get a vital one.  "Heal In a Pinch" makes an AI-controlled character heal anyone in battle who drops below 25% HP with the use of magic or other healing Artes. A must-have for Support Kururu.  The second tab has stuff like the buff berries, and Bandit Eyedrops which show unopened treasures on the map for a short time. Most importantly, this is where you buy Angel and Devil Bells. They're the same as the Holy and Dark Bottles from the other Tales series games. Angel Bells decrease encounter rate and Devil Bells raise them, each for a short time. There's a Demon Bell lying around this village as a Keparrow treasure.  The grade shop weapons are notable for granting lots of CC, and also for being fairly expensive. 250 Grade Points takes quite a while to grind, and there are more expensive ones later on. Each one of these raises a party member's CC to 14, but they don't offer much in the way of attack power. I think they're meant for getting the combo-related titles earlier, if that's the player's thing. The one for Tamama, Ora Ora Knuckle, is a reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.  The fourth and final tab contains the most important recipes in the game: curry. Unlike normal food recipes, which can only be used once after the end of each battle, curry can be used as long as you have the ingredients. The catch being that the most important ingredient, Curry Spice, is hard to come by.  Makes sense because curry permanently raises the stats of one party member. For now I just get the recipes for Curry Rice Crackers and Curry Udon, which raise HP by 10 points and attack by 1 point respectively. The other two, Curry Bread and Curry Croquettes, raise defense and speed by 1 point each.  Our first proper town, and our first proper inn, has a magic save circle.  It also has a guy who hands off his Gummy Stew recipe to us. Among the ingredients are monster drops like the Monster Gummy we got earlier. Instead of restoring HP like the Riceballs do, the Gummy Stew raises everyone's defense by 35 points for a few battles.  This guy kindly informs us that hitting zero HP in battle is a bad thing. I can't imagine why.  Behind this Japanese-style gate is a weapon for Giroro, DG-X.  They're Haseo's weapons from .hack//G.U..  They give a nice boost to CC and attack, allowing Giroro to lob more grenades for more damage.  This kid claims we can hold B while moving to walk, since the platoon automatically runs. In most cases, running is preferred.   Two more sparkles to loot. While easier to find, sparkles don't usually grant the same quality of items that Keparrow treasures do.  So how about checking that shrine we're here for, eh?  VIDEO: A Familiar Face This must be the shrine that holds the sacred treasure. Suddenly, Dororo's ninja sense goes off.  Ah! That's Koyuki heading this way! Over here, Koyuki! Koyuki Azumaya is one of the platoon's human friends, and Dororo's partner.  But...  What's Koyuki doing here in the game world?   Huh? A kappa? I'm not a kappa, Koyuki. It's me, Dororo!Koyuki mistook Dororo for a Japanese water imp when they first met on Earth. I guess some things never change.  Koyuki? You've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Oyuki. Oyuki... I see. Please forgive my rudeness. But you look so much like Koyuki, even I couldn't tell the difference... Here we go with the lookalikes again. I'm going to become the mountain god's bride during tomorrow's festival, so I'll be praying at the shrine until then. Oh, the bride of the mountain god, you say? Yes. I'm going to be with the god who protects this village. But once we're wed, I can never return here. You can never return...? That's inexcusable.Dororo and Koyuki live in their own house together on Earth. Koyuki apparently has no living relatives, so they're sort of a mixed-species ninja family. I know little of this mountain god, but it sounds as if you're becoming a sacrifice.And Doro-Dad doesn't want his little shinobi girl getting hitched to some punkass deity.  I suppose... but everything has already been arranged. If there's no bride, then the mountain god's divine protection will disappear. If that happens, anyone who wants the sacred treasure can just enter the village and...Nevermind that Oyuki and Koyuki are different people. Oyuki is understandably put off by this stranger's concern. But, even so... Commander, we can't simply ignore this! Gero... but there's probably more to this than what it seems... Tomorrow's festival is one this village takes a lot of pride in. Why don't you stay at the inn for tonight so you can watch it later? But... please, wait just a minute! I know how you feel, Dororo, but why don't you calm down a little and think this over? Good point. Let's call it a day and rest at the inn. Oyuki...And that ends this part. Artes/Skills learned this update: Keroro Crazy Roll: Jumps while spinning his sword around, ending with a downward strike. Can be used in the air. Useful for quite a while as an aerial attack. Giroro Blast Flare: Fires explosive shells. Can be used in midair. Fire elemental. Kururu Bless Wall: Raises one ally's defense. Kururu's first buff. He usually opens fights with this when on Support mode. Next time: Haggling with innkeepers! Ninja master stealth! Obligatory snow dungeon!  Kappa. Indistinguishable from frogs. How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Aug 19, 2013 |
| ← # ? Mar 5, 2013 22:36 |
|
