|
Tylana posted:I do love the Thomas chapters. What's our current chaptercount then? 3 Hugo 2 Chris 2 Geddoe 2 Thomas Next up should be either Chris 3 or Geddoe 3. There is, sadly, not a Thomas 3. (There is more Thomas stuff though!)
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 17:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 10:07 |
|
|
yokaiy posted:I was actually a little surprised it let us have that name. I'm not actually sure if there are any limitations on Castle names, though I think there are in some games? Like, I don't think we would have been able to name it Brass Castle, but I've never tried. Far as I know, they didn't have any restrictions at all pre-V. I imagine it'd get slightly confusing if you ran with dual Brass Castles though. The DS one wouldn't have let you get away with it though. Because "Thomas" contains the word "ho" which is very very bad and may upset someone. I wish I was kidding. quote:Raise the woof! quote::unsmiggh:  quote:drat does that feel good. Every time. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 18:20
|
|
|
 Fixed it! Wow, how did I overlook that.Tylana posted:I do love the Thomas chapters. What's our current chaptercount then? Vil posted:3 Hugo Chris 3 is next in line, and then Geddoe will be after that. If you want a really specific chapter count, we've done 9 out of 14 1/2. vilkacis posted:Far as I know, they didn't have any restrictions at all pre-V. I imagine it'd get slightly confusing if you ran with dual Brass Castles though. Hm. Can't say I really know one way or the other; I've never tried to see what they wouldn't let me name things. Also, I think I'm gonna blame Nintendo for that one rather than Konami. I remember having a lot of fun trying to figure out why I wasn't allowed some of my attempted nicknames in the new Pokémon game, and I imagine it's the same deal there. Though I remember being able to put a "ho" in "DisAhole" with no problems, so maybe not. But seriously. Tierkreis was a single-player game, right? The hell do they care what will upset someone if no one else will ever see it? mageofthesands posted:Let me work through this. The Council's position is that Castle Thomas is Zexan territory. That's why they appointed Thomas as the master in the first place. As a castle, it is supposedly a military installation, meant to protect the surrounding areas. I don't see how the master of a Zexan castle can just sell it, much less to a foreign government, without the Council's approval. I doubt Salome could just hand over Brass Castle to whomever he wants. Plus, Thomas was officially removed as master of the castle, and instigated a rebellion in response. From the Council's position, I just don't see how Thomas has the legal justification for this action. The Councilman should have just declared the sale void, and arrest Thomas anyway. Besides, Thomas isn't doing a very good job of protecting the people under his charge. The nearby town of Iksay was savagely attacked on his watch, after all. Did Thomas do anything in response? I doubt he even noticed. No, it was the Knights who had to step in and protect the people. Clearly a strong Zexan hand is required at Budehuc to ensure the safety of the people. If nothing else, the Zexan lawyers could debate this for years, while Thomas rots in chains. I feel like there's at least something of a grey area there because the castle is on Zexen territory but doesn't belong exclusively to them. So that might complicate things a bit? I'm perfectly willing to take "Martha is a very scary woman" as a cover-all for why things went down as they did, though. As for Iksay, I don't think it's actually under his protection. It happens to be a town we can get to from the castle without going through a route, but considering the state of things, I think Thomas' Castle only presides over the area in and around Thomas' Castle. As if Zexen would let a castle that's not entirely their own have charge over any village or land that is entirely their own.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 19:00
|
|
|
yokaiy posted:But seriously. Tierkreis was a single-player game, right? The hell do they care what will upset someone if no one else will ever see it? It has some wireless stuff. Clearly you can't have Little Billy get a quest from Lord Dongs of Dickbutt Castle!
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 19:18
|
|
|
I love this part every time I get to it. Just seeing that defeated councilman was so satisfying.yokaiy posted:
Not only this, but I'm pretty sure the castle was originally just a dual trade zone. I can't quite remember what the game actually says, but I don't think Budehuc ever had military capabilities, and in fact, Thomas only has Cecile anyway so it's not like he could have defended Iksay even if he wanted to.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 19:44
|
|
|
Eruza posted:
Think like a Zexen: the castle couldn't stand up to somebody of means, but it is perfectly fine for keeping out thieves and vagrants (ie, Grasslanders). If anything, the lack of ability to stand up to someone capable of actually storming a castle is a feature, since that means that taking it over makes little strategic sense, except perhaps as a temporary command post. If it COULD stand up to an army without an army of its own, it would be the perfect staging area for an attack against the Zexen Confederacy, while offering little defensive ability because of how easy it is to avoid. High-risk low reward is something a merchant state would desperately avoid.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 20:12
|
|
|
You're really stretching here, dude. Don't forget, Thomas was officially given the title of the master of the castle by a Zexan councilmember, and he still had to send word over to the knights. One of the ruling elites of the country was about to bust in and wreck the place, and ended up being investigated on charges of not following protocol. The knights specifically told Thomas that he was the master until noon the next day, and then that they planned to revoke the castle's status afterwards. For all the faults of the Zexan government, the game specifically pointed out that when their hands are tied, the council can't just go around the laws. That's literally all we know of the situation. There was a document declaring the area common land, Thomas was legally in charge of the castle, they gave him 24 hours before he could leave, and in that span of time he sold the castle and then leased it back as a private citizen. Trying to draw anything more is reaching beyond what the game supports, and applying your own feelings to a situation which may or may not be reflective of that. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2014 21:15
|
|
|
Captain Bravo posted:You're really stretching here, dude. Don't forget, Thomas was officially given the title of the master of the castle by a Zexan councilmember, and he still had to send word over to the knights. One of the ruling elites of the country was about to bust in and wreck the place, and ended up being investigated on charges of not following protocol. The knights specifically told Thomas that he was the master until noon the next day, and then that they planned to revoke the castle's status afterwards. For all the faults of the Zexan government, the game specifically pointed out that when their hands are tied, the council can't just go around the laws. Captain Bravo voiced my interpretation much better than I could have. Also Thomas has loving ninjas man he could kill you in your sleep 
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2014 04:26
|
|
|
yokaiy posted:
On the subject of Suikoden III and name confusion, the first time I played the game I got to the prompt to name the Flame Champion and thought "didn't the manual say the guy's name is Hugo?" Some parts of the dialogue were difficult to parse in that playthrough...
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2014 01:41
|
|
|
Xerophyte posted:On the subject of Suikoden III and name confusion, the first time I played the game I got to the prompt to name the Flame Champion and thought "didn't the manual say the guy's name is Hugo?" Well now I don't feel so dumb seeing that I thought and did the exact same thing. Considering some choices that can be made later in the game, naming the Flame Champion "Hugo" could get even more confusing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2014 02:08
|
|
|
It occurs to me that Suikoden III is the only game in the series that I've only finished once. I should do something about that, although my PS2 is barely functional at this point. Does this at least hold up in PCSX2 better than Suikoden V? I had all kinds of issues with that one.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2014 06:53
|
|
|
Delsaber posted:It occurs to me that Suikoden III is the only game in the series that I've only finished once. I should do something about that, although my PS2 is barely functional at this point. Well, I've never tried Sui5 on it (though I've seen pictures of the fun things that happen with it), but Sui3 is fine. It kinda chugs, but I'm going to assume you will be on something better than my laptop so you will most likely have fewer issues with that than me. Textures flicker occasionally as well, but again, nothing that'll really stop you from playing. Sorry to hear about your PS2. I have problems with mine too, in that it has stopped being able to read discs and is essentially useless. Xerophyte posted:On the subject of Suikoden III and name confusion, the first time I played the game I got to the prompt to name the Flame Champion and thought "didn't the manual say the guy's name is Hugo?" Strayed posted:Well now I don't feel so dumb seeing that I thought and did the exact same thing. Considering some choices that can be made later in the game, naming the Flame Champion "Hugo" could get even more confusing. Oh goodness. I laughed -- sorry! Yeah, I can see where that would present some issues.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2014 14:53
|
|
|
Hey, at least it's not calling your file Zelda in the original LoZ. I mean, it says Legend of Zelda right there on the cover, that must be the hero's name! Why is this game so hard? I can't get anywhere. Man, this game sucks, why do people love it so much?
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2014 15:16
|
|
|
With permission I'm posting some bits and pieces from the manga. The manga is long out of print and I have no idea what Tokyopop is trying to be anymore. I'm going to mostly be sticking to character bits that aren't really in the game. Here's the abridged version of Fubar's story. Pages are read right to left.     (We should take some of the feathers-- and the talons. After all, they would bring a lot of money.)      
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 04:41
|
|
|
Now I kinda wish Fubar had a weapon that was a tree on a chain.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 05:25
|
|
|
I really need to read that whole manga one day.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 05:50
|
|
|
Bufuman posted:I really need to read that whole manga one day. I don't think they ever finished it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 06:46
|
|
|
Verbose posted:I don't think they ever finished it. They did at 11 volumes. The creator wrote apologies for delays and a much longer script than she expected in about every volume. It's worth buying if you can find copies at a decent price.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 06:51
|
|
|
I've only ever been able to track down the first four or five volumes in English. Dunno if that's due to rarity or if Australia just has sweet-gently caress-all importation of anything manga or anime related.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 06:56
|
|
|
Chapters had a few of those in stock here for a while, but never the first volume, so I never started collecting them. Maybe I'm just an oddball but I have trouble buying this kind of thing out of order, if I know that I might never track down the rest.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2014 22:55
|
|
|
Delsaber posted:Chapters had a few of those in stock here for a while, but never the first volume, so I never started collecting them. Maybe I'm just an oddball but I have trouble buying this kind of thing out of order, if I know that I might never track down the rest. Normally with you on this one, except I actually got this series out of order originally, wherein the first one I bought was actually volume 4. When I re-bought it, I just got the entire set at once and didn't have to worry about it. Can't think of any others I bought out of order. Or, at least, not ones I bought out of order on purpose. There was one series that I picked up the second volume for first, without realizing that there was a gigantic "two" written in the background of the cover. Also, thanks for posting it, Dogwood. I was wondering if/when you would. Also also, apologies for being slow once again! I've started on the next update, but haven't had the time to play enough for a full update, so it's still in the works. Chris' party is so unbalanced -- it's actually sort of awful.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2014 01:48
|
|
|
yokaiy posted:Normally with you on this one, except I actually got this series out of order originally, wherein the first one I bought was actually volume 4. When I re-bought it, I just got the entire set at once and didn't have to worry about it. Can't think of any others I bought out of order. Or, at least, not ones I bought out of order on purpose. There was one series that I picked up the second volume for first, without realizing that there was a gigantic "two" written in the background of the cover. Sorry, I've been distracted recently. I really should have started earlier. Next time we'll be introducing Chris! And by Chris I mean probably mostly Salome.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2014 02:03
|
|
|
Does Juan react any differently if you name the Castle "Juan Castle"?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2014 12:08
|
|
|
Szurumbur posted:Does Juan react any differently if you name the Castle "Juan Castle"? He declares every day to be Juan Day, which you celebrate by leaving Juan alone and letting him get some drat sleep. Wait, he does that anyway. Well, crap.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2014 17:11
|
|
|
I'm posting stuff again pretty quickly, but I REALLY wanted to show off the beginning of this next part. Again, text is right to left.  By the way, while I'm not doing the world's greatest job on these scans (I'm not taking my books apart for a bunch of goons) there are some really awkward crops on the pages themselves. I'm not sure if that's an artistic decision or a problem with Tokyopop, but I suspect it's the latter.       Chris chapter 1 happens immediately after this I'm posting a lot out of the beginning of the manga, but that stops here. There's a piece of the Fubar story that I thought was important, I couldn't resist posting Chris slapping Lily, and that first battle points out how much of a mastermind Salome is. He's the one who caught that the front line was too spread out and he's the one who effectively thrust Chris into the role of acting captain.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2014 23:33
|
|
|
A bit inconsistent with the game itself though. As I recall, in the game Chris and Lilly apparently got into a table-smashing brawl rather than just one slapping the other and taking off, but then became friends afterward.
Bufuman fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Mar 30, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 00:54
|
|
|
Bufuman posted:A bit inconsistent with the game itself though. As I recall, in the game Chris and Lilly apparently got into a table-smashing brawl rather than just one slapping the other and taking off, but then became friends afterward. It's easy to miss, but Lilly slapped first. Also, edit out those spoilers, I'm waiting on the game to post some things.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 01:00
|
|
|
This also shows the one reason the manga sucks: Chris cries in every other scene. "I'm just a woman"? gently caress you, manga author. I don't care how unrealistic it is, I want invincible Silver Maiden Chris Lightfellow, not some sobbing waif. Your attempts to make Chris feminine fall utterly flat and you should be ashamed.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 02:26
|
|
|
Yeah, definitely the main flaw of the manga. I get having that at the start, show her winning over her comrades a bit but itgoes on way too long to the point manga Chris feels like a different character.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 02:30
|
|
|
dancingbears posted:This also shows the one reason the manga sucks: Chris cries in every other scene. "I'm just a woman"? gently caress you, manga author. I don't care how unrealistic it is, I want invincible Silver Maiden Chris Lightfellow, not some sobbing waif. Your attempts to make Chris feminine fall utterly flat and you should be ashamed. I'm not a huge fan of manga Chris, but 1. A lot of the reason for that was Konami telling the manga author to do that 2. She's been told "you're just a woman" constantly throughout the training that I didn't show 3. The pressure on her is a lot more obvious than in the game 4. Salome tends to upstage her a lot, but she does have her moments 5. Hugo also cries a lot in the manga She hits the "I'M JUST A WOMAN" and "DAAAADDDDYYYYYYYYY" too hard though. The other thing on that first part of the manga- Chris's father never came back from the war and I'm pretty sure her mom died when Chris was still a kid. When she was 16 she started serving under Galahad, who was probably the closest thing to a parent she had and now suddenly he's gone too. Dogwood Fleet fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Mar 30, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2014 02:34
|
|
|
Chris Chapter 3.1 - Duck Hunt Well, now that we've wrapped up the adventures of Thomas and the Merchant Brigade, it's time to resume the adventures of our wayward knight captain and her sleazy sidekick.  Well, I think that was the plan, but this is definitely Duck Village. Nash shakes his head as he defends himself.  : "Er... Since I've never gone this way before, I thought we should hire a guide." : "Better safe than sorry." Wow, it feels like ages since we were back here. I really missed this place!  Walking another two feet triggers a cutscene.  : "Hurry up, Rico!" : "Forget it! Why should I pay when they were so rude?"Fred turns back to his assistant, who is panting. In some ways, this pair reminds me of Lilly and her cohorts.  : "But, master! That's dishonest!" Fred ignores her, and takes notice of Chris. : "Oh! Hello...." He jogs to the duo.   : "You mistake me for another."We're trying to be low-key, afterall. : "Are you sure? Hmmmmmm, I wish I could remember...." : "Can you keep quiet, Rico?! I'm thinking. Hmmmmm.... Oh well. No matter. Anyway, you don't look like you are from the Grasslands. What are you doing here?": "We are seeking clues that will lead us to the Flame Champion. Are you still looking for some sort of 'evil'?"Of course, she gives herself away immediately by bringing up their prior conversation. : "I think we are both on the same track.": "Excuse me?": "I'm following a rumor, too. So what do you say? Might we travel together for a while? Strength in numbers with the same objective...": "Give us a moment." : "What is it, master?": "This is... oops..."He trails off as he remembers that he doesn't remember her name. : "Lady Chris, I believe.": "That's right. Lady Chris. Er, how did you figure that out?": "Well, you...": "Never mind. We will be traveling together, so introduce yourself properly." : "Glad to make your acquaintance, Rico." : "Quite right."I feel like they're convincing themselves of it, yes. : "Well then, let's get started."   The order menu comes up, and we stick Fred and Rico together in the middle.  And now, we can move on into the village.   There's not too much new dialogue in the village, unfortunately.  This one makes me sad, though.  Sad ducks. We have business with those two by the water wheel, though.   : "You're right, brother. Remember the girl with the squeaky voice we encountered the other day? And what of the man we just saw?"I remember that girl very well. And I miss her.  : "Grak! I don't see how the Sergeant puts up with them. I couldn't.": "Very true. Uh huh. Yes indeed. What?"   : "I wonder! We've spend hours on a wild goose chase looking for evil, and you've come up empty-handed.": "Would you have liked it better if you had come face to face with evil?": "Such insolence! Watch yourself, knave!" : "Graaaakk...."Two minutes in and we're already arguing with some Grasslanders.  : "Go on.": "Actually, we need a guide to take us to the Chisha Village. I've heard how brave Duck Clan men are, and how traveling merchants often hire them as guards.": "That's right.": "Then will you take us there?": "It wouldn't normally pose a problem, but with the recent skirmishes going on, our chief wants us to remain here. If you get permission from the chief, we'll be happy to escort you." : "What chief?": "Yes, the chief's the one sporting the finest tail feather. He should be around here someplace.": "Okay.... Whatever you say." : "You're asking the wrong person." Of course, we already know which duck is the chief.  The chief gets a single line before the scene fades out. Which seems odd, to me.  How fortuitous.  Back to the ducks!  : "Indeed. And his tail feathers were as impressive as you said."Nash gives them a not-very reassuring smile. : "Told you!"They don't catch on. : "He's given permission for you to guide us, if you will.": "Absolutely. For the proper pay.": "That depends. What do you consider 'proper'?": "To go to Chisha Village... will cost 2,000 potch.": "2,000!" Chris' companions all look to her. She sighs, lowering her head and nodding. : "That's highway robbery, but... I'll pay it.": "Woo-eee! How easily the upper class parts with money.": "Enough!" Weapon sharpening money.   : "It's a short trip to Chisha Village, so don't worry about a thing." The ducks join our merry band, but not as stars. Now, if you have eyes, you might notice that our ducks out-level the rest of the party. You might also notice that Fred and Rico are, at the moment, terrible.  Fred has some potential with the skills he's got, but we aren't given much to work with from the start, especially since we're in Duck Village and they have no bujutsu teacher.  We can throw Rico into the pile of Water Rune users that Chris has gotten. They really like giving her them. Not complaining; Rico and Nash are both not what I would call the best with their Water Runes, but together they can cover us pretty well.   Rhett and Wilder are about even with each other, with Wilder having a bit more of an emphasis on being overall better from the start, and Rhett having a bit more emphasis on having a bunch of food in his pockets. I love them both. I've had fried ice cream before, it is not as good as it sounds like it would be. Though there's no bujutsu teacher, I still take advantage of the tutor in the area, and boost Rico's Water Magic to B+, as well as Rhett and Wilder's Magic Repel to B.  One more duck in the area with good dialogue, aaaaand...  We're off!  The Kuput Forest and Chisha Village both appear on our map, but we'll take some detours first, to try and even out the levels of our party. First, we head through the Plains Amur.  We happen to run into the rare encounter of the area -- two troll dragons -- a fact that I regret greatly.  Oh well, time to get to it.  Chris still has her Phoenix Rune, so let's see what changes have happened to it since we lost the horse and armor.  Instead of doing a Demon Fang, she does a number of thrusts at the enemy, which looks really silly what with this enemy being in the air 6 feet above her. Other than that, it's about the same. The damage is still pretty good (350 this time), but it leaves her unbalanced, so you won't see it again probably.  Also of note, Fred and Rico have a unite called Maximillian.  The two run back to survey the situation.  Once Fred has gotten a handle on things,  He leads the charge back at the opponent.  They then hit the thing a few times. This will be the only time that Fred manages to actually hit anything in this fight.   The attack leaves Rico unbalanced for the next turn. You probably won't be seeing this much from now on either.  Meanwhile, our ducks are amazing even without runes or unites. (That was Rhett, by the way.)  For some reason, the two dragons really like picking on Nash.  He takes a few too many dragons to the face, and goes down. Nash is probably the most delicate unit on the field at the moment. Also, I would like to point out that, much like Joe, our ducks have fish-themed halberds. However, whereas Joe had a "standard fish" kind of halberd, Rhett and Wilder have a puffer fish and squid respectively, matching their body types.  No one else goes down, but Fred gets close enough to death for him to berserk.  And then miss. We need to do something about this boy, he's actually terrible. Seriously, stop that.  Rhett gets the kill, as Wilder stands unceremoniously over Nash's dead body. I love ducks.  Anyway, we need to do something about all our terrible skills.  Luckily,  Yeah, yeah, shoosh and teach us things.  Nash is lagging behind far too much, so I buy him the Swing and Damage skills, and then promptly get them both capped. He'll be able to strike more than once per turn, now, which is wonderful, but also maybe he won't be the softest hitter of the bunch.  I beef up Chris as well, though there's not much to be said about it.  As for Fred, I promptly delete his Sword of Magic skill, and teach him how to hit things. Among other useful skills.  Rico's swing caps pretty low, but it should be better than nothing. We buy her some accuracy too, while we're at it.   We also cap out everything on our ducks.  We also sharpen everyone's weapons to 11. Coulda gone for 12, I bet, but I didn't. I'm gonna need some cash on Chris for things, though I'm sure I would have had enough even if I'd sharpened more.  There's a new random article in circulation, as well as a couple Erk's Adventures. Since plot-articles only happen at certain points in the game, it's possible to get the same random articles with different Erk's Adventures attached to them, as happened to me. Also, apparently I missed the 6th issue of the paper? It's hard to keep track, so I won't.  Anyway, here's the new article and some new Adventures! Newspaper posted:
 Our next destination is actually Chris's hometown.  It's actually hilarious how many people don't recognize her. It's not worth actually cataloguing them all, but I'd estimate around 80% of the people in town have no idea who she is when she's dressed like this. So just imagine a lot of the dialogue being "HMM YOU LOOK SO FAMILIAR."  We actually did have a reason to come here, though, and not just to see how face-blind the people of Vinay are.  We pick up some GrapeC (really, guys?) since it's only sold here. I think I only needed one, but I got 3 to be safe.  Next, we head to Iksay. The villagers here seem to be much smarter than the ones in Vinay, in spite of having only seen Chris that one time, as nearly all of them recognize her as opposed to the three or four in the capital. Especially considering how many more people are in the capital than here.  This guy continues to be creepy, but weird dialogue was not our reason for stopping here.  Neither is this, but I thought this was a really nice bit of world-building. The Iksay people have been trying to work the fields and get them back to being usable, but apparently they've been having some help from an unlikely source. It's cute. And maybe a little touching, given the recent animosity between the two cultures.  Anyway, we're here to pick up a gardener.   : "Who, me? See, I work in the fields near here. That battle the other day sure made a mess of them. The vegetables I'd grown with such care were trampled so badly, I won't be able to sell them." : "I see...": "Now, now. Don't get all serious on me. What's done is done and I'll have to go on. I'll get a job making another field flourish."  I think he also loves to hear himself talk. :>"How about going to Thomas Castle? I'm sure there're areas where you could farm." >"Good luck." : "I've never heard of it. But if they have fields, I'm there. Soldiers in that last battle trampled everything. All I have left is this hoe."He looks to the hoe on his shoulder before continuing. : "Now, if you had grapes, that might convince me.": "Grapes, huh?": "Oh yeah. I'd love a vineyard of my own, but I don't even have enough money to buy grapes to plant. Heh heh!"He shrugs.  How convenient that we happened to pick up some GrapeC right before coming here! Almost as if I had some sort of divine foresight that this would happen!  : "Sure. Take these. Now, will you come to Thomas Castle?": "First you give me the grapes, then you want me to work in the fields. I feel like I should be the one begging you for this! There's no way I can refuse. What should I grow? What would you like to eat? Tomatoes, grapes, or melons...? I can grow some really delicious ones." Mmkay.: "Where is it again? Good! It's not too far. All right. I'm going! Thanks!"  Barts moves into the castle near Juan. He's got a pretty small farming plot, and will grow things if you give him the seeds. I happened to have some on me -- Tomato seeds -- but it takes some time to grow.  Okay, now we can head to the Kuput Forest.  Now, we've already been here as Hugo, so there's not much to show off as far as the area as concerned. There is one difference in the enemies here as Chris, though.  The spider encounters have been replaced by the Grand Holly, which is no longer a rare encounter and can be tripped over fairly frequently. It's also no longer a threat.  First order of business, we start working on trimming down those Demon Seeds. Nash is hitting twice now, so he actually did about 300 damage total, which is a vast improvement.    They're not too hard to take down with everyone doing a pretty consistant 150+ damage (and the ducks and Nash doubling that), leaving just the main body left after about two turns. Also, this screen is really dramatic looking.  Chris didn't have very good luck in this fight. The seeds kept targeting her, for starters, and now she can't even do full damage? For shame.  The skill points definitely paid off for Fred, at least, as he gets the last hit on it.  There are still crabs wandering around as well, but no other differences, so let's head into Chisha.   : "The Chisha Clan is one of the Six Clans. These villagers don't have warrior ancestors like the Duck and Lizard Clans, but they are some of the nicest folks around.": "And their food is delicious!"The important things. Wilder bounces in place a little excitedly. : "Ho ho! Now there's something to look forward to. Right, Master Fred?": "Yes indeed.": "I can't wait!"I can relate to the wanting good food and company. It's also great that this place hasn't been attacked yet, though that's probably going to happen soon enough.   Oh, hey, there are some ladies in the middle of the path. Who are they? They don't look Chishan.   The younger of the two stops a few paces away, staring at Chris, while the other hangs behind. Like a proper noble, Chris takes a few steps forward to introduce herself.  This is a running gag in the series. In Suikoden I, Viktor poses as Schtolteheim Reinbach III in order to get through a border crossing. The main character of that game, Tir, has the option of naming himself Schtolteheim Reinbach IV for the same reason. In Suikoden II, when going undercover, Riou has the option of telling Flik that his codename will be Sturtheim Reinbach III, proving that the translation team changed between games. In Suikoden IV, they decided to push the joke even further and just made the guy a Star, as well as let the main character of the game introduce himself as such to the man's father. Yun won't humor us, though.  : "What need is there for a false name? No one here or in the village will harm you.": "If you say so.": "Don't worry. We were waiting for you. You came here to look for your father, right?": "Yes, I did. But, how could you know that?" : "What do you mean?"The other woman approaches, as if on cue.   The ducks' eyes nearly pop out of their heads. : "What do you mean, 'gifted'?": "You mean she's a seer?" Hey, remember how they were the one clan that no one ever talked about? : "I don't understand. Why all the excitement? Does that make them important?" : "Please calm down, sir. Don't let them get to you. What's so special about Alma Kinan, anyway?": "Allow me to explain. The Six Clans consist of us, the Duck Clan, and five other clans: Lizard, Karaya, Safir, Chisha, and Alma Kinan. This is the first time I've met anyone from Alma Kinan.": "Me, too!"The two girls turn to each other and nod.  : "That doesn't surprise me. We haven't gone outside our village for ages."Possibly ever, actually.  : "Watch your language, human!": "What's wrong with you? What makes them so special?"  : "P-please, forgive me!"Yumi sighs softly. : "Well, I guess I'll let it be. You're merely misguided in what we do, although it does involve rituals and spirits." Yun decides that she needs to move the plot along rather than let our idiots bicker, and she and Yumi both jump into our party as guests.  We then immediately run down to where Sana is waiting.  : "Yes, they are. They will bring good to Chisha Village." : "I see..."Yun looks off into the distance. : "The bad ones will arrive soon as well."  I really enjoy how they phrase that, and I don't think it's a translation error. Somehow, being possessed with an ability sounds much more ominous and curse-like than possessing an ability. It implies that Yun is actually a very unfortunate girl. : "See things?": "I see certain things very well, but this will not last for much longer." I feel like I should point out that neither Yun nor Yumi are the chief of Alma Kinan. That this Chisha man would address both Sana, his chief, and Yun, who holds no political power, implies that she is important in spite of such things. : "This is what she meant."Yumi replies far-too-calmly, looking at Chris.  Suddenly, bugs!  Hey, Franz, you crossed the action line. : "What are those things?": "Mantors... and Le Buque's men riding them, I suppose. This is the first time I've seen them too."   The group jogs up the hill to meet the bug riders.  : "Listen up! Bishop Sasarai, the leader of the Hold Harmonia Kingdom's army, wishes to avoid further conflict. Thus, I have been ordered to locate the Fire Bringer gang. This village will be under our rule for as long as this situation remains. You will obey our orders. Is this clear? This is not a request. It is a decree!" : "We have no means to fight back, but we are the masters here." : "Do you wish that same fate upon yourselves?"I wonder how they must feel, attacking the grassland tribes like this.  drat, Sana. Low blow. It's not like they're under Harmonia by choice. : "drat! You idiot!" Franz, ever being an angry hot-head, lunges at Sana. : "Watch out!" Chris jumps in between them. : "Who are you? You don't look like a villager.": "Why should I divulge my identity to a beast?" Nash runs to her side, followed by the others. : "Our cover is blown! Weren't we supposed to remain anonymous?": "I'm sorry, Nash, but..."He sighs and grins.    : "Understood!": "It looks unavoidable. But don't overdo it, Franz.": "I know!": "They're not backing down, Nash. We'll have to fight our way out of this.": "I hate it when this happens. Okay, let's get on with it!": "Here they come!"  This fight is actually pretty easy. Also, one of the Mantor trainers appears to have fizzled out into the ether between the cutscene and battle.  First order of business was to throw heals around, since I hadn't rested between arriving and now. Rico and Nash both use Kindness Drops on their pairs, returning them to the "good enough" range of HP, rather than the "I forget how hard these guys can hit us so this could be worrisome" range.  Rico is better at it than Nash.   After, we commence with the hitting enemies with pointy things bit of the battle. Chris goes after the mook enemy, while the ducks and Fred pile on Ruby and Franz.  Also, Wilder dodges like a champ a couple times.  The generic goes down first, followed by Franz, but the bugs are a bit more sturdy than their human partners.  Oh, and they can also shoot lasers. I don't remember if this has come up before. Like most of the personal Runes, it leaves them unbalanced the following turn.  With a little bit of trouble, we take down the remaining two bugs.  Franz turns back to Chris briefly. : "You will regret this!"I dunno, I feel like you guys will regret your loss more than Chris will regret it, considering you guys will have to report it to Harmonia.  Franz and Ruby fly off, and the others follow behind him.  : "They're gone.": "Yes, but they're just a sample of the Harmonian army. If they're on a recon mission, we haven't seen the end of this yet."They return to Sana in the center of the village.  : "Don't mention it. We should have been more careful. That attack's not the end of it. We can expect Harmonia's main army next.": "You took up arms on our behalf. Be proud." Sana shakes her head. : "If you hadn't resisted, we would have, in our own way, for this land was once the land of the Flame Champion." Nooo, ducks.   Well, while we're here and have space in our party, there was a room back here that we neglected as Hugo for a certain reason, so let's check it out now.  Inside, a man has passed out on the floor.  : "N-Noooo! M-My body won't move...": "Are you all right? Someone help this man!" : "After you?!"Suddenly, a Chishan comes through.   : "How dare you try to pull an eat-and-run on me!" He says, lying face-down on the floor and unable to move. : "What's the matter? Did you stuff yourself so much you couldn't get away? You'd better come up with 3000 potch right now!": "I'm sorry... But as you can see, I can't work to pay it off. You think you can cover me?": "Me?!": >"All right. I'll cover your bill." >"I refuse." : "Oh, you're going to pay for him? Well, as long as someone does." Alas.  : "Feel free to use the undefeated Fu style of martial arts." : "You have a lot of tattoos on your back.": "Huh? My tattoos?" : "When did you...?"He stops talking for a few beats, before changing the subject. : "Hmm.... Your group is gathered at Thomas Castle? Well, then I guess I'll..."He walks off without another word. : "That was a joke, right?"Yeah, I dunno either.   Moving on, we've got a little more plot up the hill.  Chris pulls over to a bare spot away from the villagers, with Nash behind her. : "What's the matter?" : "I helped burn down the entire Karaya Village. They should despise me as their enemy. Why am I helping these people? Is this going to make up for what I did?": "No, it won't. And we're not getting anywhere here. You don't want to be recognized, and you'd be better off helping overthrow the Grasslands."She whirls around to face him, seething. : "What?! Overthrow the Grasslands?" : "Ally with Harmonia, and you can crush the Grasslands from both sides and divide the spoils between you. I hear that Harmonia already has some close ties to the Zexen Council.": "How can you suggest such a treacherous plan? The Knights would never stand for it! Speak nothing further of this."  : "So, what happened to the search for your father? That Yun girl seemed to know you."Chris wills herself to calm down a bit before replying. : "Thanks for reminding me." Now, we're supposed to go find Yun, but I have other plans. Suddenly, I feel like running into the forest.  This is a nice spot. Got a cool bush and some sun rays coming through...  A nice Grand Holly to jump out at us...  And -- whoah, hello, who in the world are you?!  So, this is Landis. He's a winghorde that was kind enough to pop into our party in the middle of battle. Of course, he'll only do that on one screen in a certain patch of grass, and only if you have an open slot, or else I would have nabbed him on the way over. Remember when Ernie asked us about things that could fly -- ducks, dragons, and winghordes? Well, now you know what one looks like. They're also commonly called Wingers, and he is the only one we get in this game.  He makes a pretty good unit, all around, and I'm fairly fond of him. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he's one of the best units for shrugging off magic. His Drain Rune restores 1/3 of his HP whenever he gets a critical, for reference.  With that out of the way, let's go talk to Yun again.  : "You can call me Yun.": "OK. So, Yun... you said you were waiting for me. Why?": "We two came to this place for two reasons. First, to defend the village. And because we haven't completed our first mission yet, I'll have to wait to tell you the second."I get the feeling that this second mission, whatever it is, involves Chris somehow. : "To defend the village? You and her? Just the two of you?" She grins, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. : "Oh, how I wish! But no, I will never have that power. I do have the power to hear spirit voices better than most. This will protect the village. Trust me." Chris, being a woman who had to earn her reputation with effort, doesn't fancy this spirits-will-save-us kind of talk. : "But it did work just now.": "That was pure luck. There were only a few intruders, and we just happened to be here.": "That's what you think. The fact you were here to help us was not mere coincidence. It was fate at work. We'll need more than that for our next battle, though. I need to ask you a favor." ": "What kind of favor?": "I need you to go to Duck Village and bring someone back here. They'll be able to help us defend the village. Will you do it?": "OK, I'll help you. It's a deal.": "Thank you so much. I knew I could count on you. For a moment, I was a bit worried.": "I thought you could hear the spirits talk.": "Yes, but... sometimes they mumble. Now, let's get started. Time is running out, you know." : "Rico and I will stay behind. You never know when they might return.": "Yes, Master Fred. Time to let the world know about the Maximillian Knights!": "Then we'll go with you.": "We need to report back to the Village Chief anyway.": "So it will be Yun and me, along with Chris, Nash, Rhett and Wilder, right?"And Landis and Barts, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  : "Try to contain yourself, Rhett. This will surprise the whole Village, indeed." : "Certainly. Spirits bless us all.": "Thank you.": "Enough small talk. Let's move along quickly!": "Of course." With that, Wilder and Rhett replace Fred and Rico, with Yun jumping into a guest slot, and Yumi kicking Wan Fu out of the party so she can pair up with Landis, and Barts chills out in support.  Next time, we head back to Duck Village to pick up a person! yokaiy fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Apr 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 01:53
|
|
|
I always hated being stuck with this party. Personality-wise everyone is fine (actually a big fan of Fred and Nash), but in battle? Rhett and Wilder are mediocre at best, and Fred and Rico are just miserable at this stage of the game. Compared to Geddoe's squad or characters like Lilly and Fubar, they're just sad. I suppose that's amplified by my being too lazy to go all the way back to Juan to raise their skills. I always tried to just get this chapter over with as quickly as possible.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 02:36
|
|
|
Oh, well that came out of nowhere. Hi Landis. Does he ever get any dialogue or is he just sorta... there?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 02:52
|
|
|
AshtonDragon posted:I always hated being stuck with this party. Personality-wise everyone is fine (actually a big fan of Fred and Nash), but in battle? Rhett and Wilder are mediocre at best, and Fred and Rico are just miserable at this stage of the game. Compared to Geddoe's squad or characters like Lilly and Fubar, they're just sad. Ugh, agreed. This party is absolutely abysmal next to the other two. Hell, I think even Thomas and the shop keepers end up being more reliable in battle, though that's partially because they're up against weaker enemies. I actually had a hard time adjusting to this group in the beginning of the chapter, though that sorted itself out while I was globe-trotting and getting into a bunch of battles (including the crab treasure boss, though it wasn't actually worth showing off). They get much more manageable when their levels have evened out a bit, though. Doubly so when you raise up their skills. The ducks might fall off a bit in usefulness later on in the game, but at this point they are essential, since I can rely on them to dish out some serious damage and not fall over from attacks. Them aside, Nash is probably the most useful at the moment. Now that he's hitting more than once, he's doing reliably more damage than the others, and can throw around a heal if we need it. I need to get Landis' skills up now, too, though even without me touching him he's doing pretty well. alcharagia posted:Oh, well that came out of nowhere. Hi Landis. You know, I'm not actually sure. I guess he might have a line if you track him down at the castle, but I have no idea where he hangs out over there, and don't remember ever tracking him down.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 02:56
|
|
|
The first time I played this game, Landis somehow slipped into Hugo's party on the way the Chisha village without me noticing. So I got to Chisha and there was this creepy-looking dude hanging around the background of the cutscenes and I was freaking out wondering why no one would acknowledge or explain this scary demon man who suddenly appeared.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 03:21
|
|
|
yokaiy posted:
He has an proper intro sequence in the Castle. He hangs out near the secret underground reading bunker. So! We got a pile of new PCs. Let's take look. Fred- Our fourth ubertank. Unlike the others, he actually doesn't get Heavy Armor as an equipment class, but chainmail plus shields lets him compete with folks like Chris in sheer defense anyway. He's the S rank shield user, meaning he's by a wide margin the dodgiest of the tanks, although why you want your tanks dodging I don't know. The trouble with tanks is you really need the latest gear from the Zexen Council Private Armory to get them in top fighting shape, which we can't with Chris out of uniform, and Fred's initial gear isn't up to snuff. Rico- One of the weakest non-joke characters in the game. Hammers are the overall worst weapon type in the game, being abysmally slow like axes but a bit weaker on raw attack, and Rico doesn't have the strength stat to bother with hitting stuff anyway. Best magic though is Water at a B+, although also gets Shield. Um yeah, Rico's just a pocket healer for this stretch of the game so everyone else can do more useful poo poo. Dump if given the option. Wilder- One of the most average characters in overall stats and skills in the entire game. Boring as sin. Which kinda fits. Rhett- Surprise! Rhett's our A+ Swing dude. So between that and the duck halberd being a pretty good weapon, he's actually one of the most damaging dudes for basic attacks (roughly fourth place behind Emily, Juan, and Hallec) before support runes. Trick is, he's also got bad natural accuracy and his skill peaks at B, making him one of the most inaccurate fighter types in the game. He's not really great overall, and needs heavy investment to keep up, but he's usable enough. Wan Fu- I have never ever used Wan Fu. he's more boring than Wilder. Wilder's defining character trait being "is incredibly stuffy and boring even though he's an adorable talking duck". Think about that. Landis- Landis is one of the few characters with natural S ranks, and indeed the only one with three. Those being in Magic Resist, Thief, and Freeze. Thief we've seen on Ace, and Freeze is seen on a lot of characters. The difference is that the skill ranks on every other character aren't high enough to see Freeze's real potential. Other users get a random chance to cause stun, which is cool. At Landis' level, you also have a random chance to instead paralyze the enemy, which is a permanent status that prevents all action. Pretty neat, but also unreliable and ultimately a bit pointless because generally enemies don't live multiple rounds anyway by the time you start making out S rank skills. Landis has another neat feature, coming into the party with the Blood Armor. It's pretty good armor for this time, and also jacks up all the users other stats in exchange for causing them 15 damage per turn. While soon outdated in terms of raw defense, it's total stat boosts make it a handy option for quite a few characters throughout the game. On the whole, Landis more or less joins the party at peak usefulness, especially if you do so with Chris, but he's a quirky pickup worth playing around with if you just want someone different and handy to steal equips from if you don't. I seem to recall Yumi doesn't officially join the party for this excursion, instead hanging around as a useless Guest, so saving her rundown for another time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 03:40
|
|
|
Yumi does join the party until we get to Alma Kinan. She's a good archer and the best user of the earth rune in the game. So you know, she's a good archer and would be a good mage with anything else. Thing is that she's pretty slow and is going to struggle to reach two hits. Wan Fu is essentially a mountain of health that hits for a decent amount of damage thanks to a B+ in Heavy Damage (so increased critical hit rate) and has a chance to revive on death thanks to getting an S in Adrenaline Power. Thing is, his defense is terrible and he's pretty inaccurate. So think Rikimaru.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 04:10
|
|
|
Oh then yeah. Yumi is pretty similar to Aila. Aila's got better stats and freez, but Yumi's got Sharpshoot, so they're actually pretty even overall. Aila's still got Shield to use all those non-L4 slots on though, so she's obviously better, but if you really wanted a pile of archers or something Yumi's better than Roland still.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 04:22
|
|
|
Mountaineer posted:The first time I played this game, Landis somehow slipped into Hugo's party on the way the Chisha village without me noticing. So I got to Chisha and there was this creepy-looking dude hanging around the background of the cutscenes and I was freaking out wondering why no one would acknowledge or explain this scary demon man who suddenly appeared. That is fabulous. CmdrKing posted:He has an proper intro sequence in the Castle. He hangs out near the secret underground reading bunker. I'll have to make sure to track everyone down in the castle and show off their one-liner once we've got the full cast. And his intro. I've never actually seen it. Testekill posted:Yumi does join the party until we get to Alma Kinan. Yup. Right now she's chilling with Landis, which I'm sure is incredibly enjoyable. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 04:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 10:07 |
|
|
Landis is an interesting one, in that he has many similarities with fellow Winghorde Sid from Suikoden 2. Both are creepy as hell, they share the extremely strange habits of walking on their hands and making graves for fish they eat, and they even fill the same Star of Destiny. Furthermore, if you reverse the last three letters of Landis's name, you get Sid. If they didn't have different listed birth years (Sid being born in 440 to Landis's 456), I'd think that we just got a stealth S2 cameo.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2014 04:59
|
|