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Nine years later, and this anime opening is still the most memorable one of the Atelier games. It has a lot more heart than the generic cookie cutter anime stuff of the other games. And drat, I remembered Lita being a bit unpleasant, but no, she's just a straight up bitch. I'd just go incognito and work with Veola for the rest of my life, saving the world be damned.
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Feb 20, 2014 05:23
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Update 5: Mushrooms and Magoo We have a real objective now, and what better way to celebrate than by completely ignoring it? It's time to visit our friends the shopkeepers!  Atelier Norman: Childish Booze Music: Fun  I see...so the “ghost” really was a demon... Yup, but don't worry. We took care of it. That's a relief. Uh, about the reward...Since the union wasn't sure if it was a Growloon or a demon, they aren't willing to pay...This is from me, though. Sorry I couldn't give you money.Norman hands over 5 glasses of Milk, which we'll put to good use in a sec. It's okay, but...Maybe you could give us extra rice free of charge...? Ha ha ha! Sure, why not? I'd be happy to add that free of charge. You shouldn't be asking for favors, Lita. Nothing in life is free, y'know. What are you talking about, Delsus? Ha ha ha, he has a point! But I don't think there's anything to worry about.I'm not actually sure what the game is getting at here. Anyway, that concludes our bit from last time with the sewer ghost. Now it's time to try out some more synthesis.  Well, actually I want to buy some stuff from him first. As I said earlier, Norman mostly sells (and makes) food and food related items. I got a lot from him as rewards, but it doesn't hurt to stock up a little more, or on things we haven't found elsewhere yet.  Oh, here's something weird. You can use Karikari Liquor as an ingredient to synthesize itself. Funny how that happens sometimes. I wonder if you could theoretically make an infinite quality item this way?  Okay, let's try for a Peach Cocktail. For our first try, I'm going to use the recommended ingredients. This will almost always get you the intended result.  Some of these reviews are just...I mean, how is a drink “too hard”? I guess it could be referring to alcoholic content.  Mmmm, that smells good. If you like it so much, why don't you order one? I'll stick with goat milk, thanks. Ugh...I can't drink this. It's way too sweet... Huh!? I never thought I'd see the day when Delsus turns down a drink! Hey, I drink plenty of booze! I just can't stand chick drinks. Okay, let's try again, but this time let's make the drink as saccharine as possible.  ”Really childish”? It's loving alcohol, man. Here you go. This one's a Lando Sour. It smells like it's sweet and sour. Don't smell everything – just order one. I'll stick with lando juice, thanks. Wooo, this one's sweet... I thought you hated sweet drinks. You're drat right I do. Booze is supposed to be hard! Chick drinks defeat the purpose of alcohol.Okay, so some of the little post-invention skits can get kind of samey, especially at Norman's bar. Even so, I think I like how the designers managed to sneak in some banter and even occasional character development into item synthesis. Some of the best moment in the game happen here. (well, not HERE. They actually happen across the way at Veola's. But I'm getting ahead of myself).  Norman's last available item is a mushroom dish. This requires a pepper of some kind, two mushrooms (some kind of Dancing and some kind of Smoking) and some kind of oil. Once again, let's start with the recommended ingredients.  ”Slippery”!?  Curiously, making the normal dish doesn't get us a skit at all. But let's change up the oil and see what happens... Here we are...It might be a little too sweet, but it's not bad. I hereby give you...the Sauteed fungo. Let me try! Mmm...Perfect! Its sweetness melts onto your tongue while the bold, rich smell perfectly accents the exquisite harmony of flavor and aroma! You've gotta be kidding. Since when do you talk like that? And...didn't he say it was too sweet? I could probably make a spicy one for you, Delsus. Sorry you don't like it.I suspect Norman may be right – perhaps if we change the pepper we can another variant of the dish. Unfortunately, I only have green peppers right now, so that will have to wait. Regardless, these mushroom dishes both heal HP, and the Sauteed Fungo heals MP as well. I'll have to try these out in battle to see how potent they are.  How nice. Okay, let's shift gears and see what Veola's got to make.  Atelier Veola: These clothes...aren't cool? Music: The Laughable Pair (you can pretty much assume that this plays during any scene that contains both Lita and Veola unless otherwise specified)   Veola has some odd things available for crafting. I'm not really sure why I need a globe, but I'm gonna get one anyway when I have the materials for it. For now, let's make some paper. This takes magi grass of some kind, a log of some kind, and water of some kind. I tried a bunch of variations, but none of them seemed to make anything other than the standard product.  Medicinal. ...I give up.   Paper is very practical. You can use it to make all sorts of things.In case you haven't already guessed, there are a few synthesis items that exist for the sole purpose of synthesizing other items. It can get kind of complicated. Okay, now for some clothes. This requires some kind of cloth (I only have Flax or Cotton: both make the same thing) and String, which respawns at the Outdoor Theater. This creates...    … … What's wrong with it? These are just normal clothes. It looks...interesting. Nobody would be caught dead in those clothes, right Klein? … ... Uh, Lita? Oh, I see how it is! You're gonna take Veola's side! You need to be honest with people, even if it might hurt them. These clothes...aren't cool? Well, they might be...a little old fashioned...Just a little. Ohhh...they ARE old fashioned! It's like ancient historical archeology in here... … ...Well, then. I've decided to name these Magoo Clothes. ...Huh?I feel like Veola just burned Lita really badly, but I'm not entirely sure how. Perhaps that's the beauty of it.  Despite being somewhat out of fashion, the Magoo Clothes are worth wearing for that hefty defense boost. I might even make a second set for Delsus (Lita can't equip it – not that she'd even want to).  We can also experiment with the Bomb and the Medicine that Veola already sells. I'll work on the Bomb later, but I think we might be able to try out some new meds...  Medicine requires the mushrooms called Dancing, but lets try Smoking instead.   Thanks! How's this energy drink work, anyway? It makes you fly. That doesn't really say much. Would a better description make it work better? No, of course not. It's a catchy name and a snappy description. Drink it if you need a boost.This is another MP restoring item. Definitely worth having around, especially now that I'm starting to learn some useful skills. There's not much left for me here either, but I triggered a new scene just by leaving and reentering.  Huh? Oh, nothing in particular. You could try being more helpful, y'know! Could I? Well, you're not doing a very - WHAT!? What did you just say!? There's no reason to be helpful. I did not want to open this shop. Then why open it at all? ...I needed to produce income. drat...your life must really be boring. It's none of your business. You shouldn't stick your nose in other people's business. Please leave. Fine, I will! Well, that was fun. Next time we'll get back on to the main plot, but rest assured that there is plenty of Norman and Veola in this game's future.
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Feb 21, 2014 04:14
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If it's covered in oil or marinade, it can be slippery. But that "deadly odor" 
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Feb 21, 2014 04:20
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Oh yeah, it's perfectly reasonable for the dish to be slippery. It's just difficult for me to imagine that being worth mentioning in a review. Perhaps it's so slippery that it's impossible to chew (or spear with a fork) without it oozing away. I'm heading out of town for a couple days, so the next update might be delayed a little. I'll try to get to it pretty soon after I get back, but we shall see.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:28
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The odd thing is that "Deadly Odor" usually is reserved for toxic plantlife in these games, so presumably it means the final dish smells... like a poisonous mushroom. You'd think they'd know better than to use those ones. e: although we'll find later that Klein doesn't actually seem to know anything about cooking, considering some of the stuff you can substitute in Norman's recipes. Also, alas, no bombs today. It's just not Atelier Veola without bombs.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:41
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My personal theory is that the Lando Sour is childish in the sense that it's what teenagers drink when they want to impress their peers. As for the paper being medicinal... maybe you can use it as gauze? It's clean, after all. This banter is really charming: it gives a more human feel to the whole game.
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Feb 22, 2014 11:17
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I don't suppose Pamela is going to be our Spirit Mana? Probably not. A mana isn't the same thing as a ghost.
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Feb 24, 2014 05:08
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Glazius posted:I don't suppose Pamela is going to be our Spirit Mana? Probably not. A mana isn't the same thing as a ghost. Spooky Mana.
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Feb 24, 2014 05:12
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Update 6: The Item Co-Lector Music: Wind Over Time On the way to Lake Forwel, I decided to make a couple stops. Here I'm showing off a blocked path – there is a trail here, but the game simply won't let us proceed until the plot allows it.  Hey, this looks inter-   ...Oh. Guess we won't get much accomplished here, either. Let's just go the correct way for now.  Music: Lakeside Zazzy wouldn't turn and face me so I could get a good picture of him, so for the moment let's pretend he's a fisherman. I don't think he'll mind.  Eh!? Huh? What was that, sonny? I said - HUH? Whaaaaat? What are you saaaaaying? ...Get a hearing aid, pops. How rude! I can hear just fine! … ...Forget it. Don't be such a jerk, Delsus. Ohhh, my granddaughter! I haven't seen you in ages! Uh...I'm not your grandchild. Actually, we'd like to get to the ruins. Oh. Well why in tarnation didn't you say so? You can't get up there. Alkavana passed a law. You can't travel there without a Visa.The old man wanders off to his home, to lie in wait for when he can resurface for an obnoxious sidequest.   We kicked their butts last time! I don't want to push our luck. Guess we'll have to take a boat, then.  Here we are, on the other side of the water. We can head north or east. Let's try east first.  Music: The Forest of Meeting This is the roadblock that Alkavana se-MANA ITEM MANA ITEM   Hey! What are you doing? That's the item Mull created...Don't take it! I opted to return the item (even though it's great) because I wanted to see what happens, but it turns out this is one of those secret not-options. You're only going to use this for evil...I won't give it back. Come on, let's go.Our group runs offscreen. Neun runs after them...and then our group returns without her. I think we're safe, now. ...I feel bad for her. Yet another female heart broken by the great Delsus... Tch...Idiot.Well that was all very strange. Anyway, we can't proceed forward without a Visa, so let's double back and head north this time.  I don't actually know why this character is referred to as “Little” Girl, since she looks to be an adult to me. A question. Where are we? Oh, a new customer. Hi, the name's Lector. This caravan sells rare items that we collect from all across the globe. I don't suppose you have any Visas. Of course I do. I'm sure they're hard to come by, and – Huh!? You do!? I've got three of 'em: for collection, sample, and trade. Who'da thunk it? Could we have one? Er, how much are they? Hm...How about we make a deal? I need someone to make me an Item List. Think you could do that? Yeah, no problem! Okay, then. It's a deal. Here you go. All I need you to do is stop by whenever you find a new item. I may even pay you. Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture Toady were going to learn about...Um...Where the heck is Klein? Oh well, I guess he was too busy to make it. But don't worry! I have another guest speaker! Start whenever you're ready. Well, this is a little something I call Making an Item List. When you find a new item, stop by and I'll register it on the list. Depending on the items you bring, you'll receive various rewards. For example, I'll give you a present after you bring me enough items. Just...collect stuff and show it to you. Wow, that sounds easy! It is. And you can review the list whenever you want! Cool, huh? Thank you for speaking, Lector. Do you have any other advice? Not really. Come visit me whenever you like! Oh well, guess I'll see you next time! In case the vague concept of “present, maybe?” doesn't entice you, Lector also hands over a whopping 100 cole per item found...  And if we complete sets of items, such as this one, we unlock stuff in the Bonus menu on the title screen! Pretty nifty, I think.    One cool thing this lets you do is view all of a character's different portraits. There's also a sound test and a cinematic viewer, but I didn't get anything for those just yet. Okay, now let's head back to the roadblock.   Drei, remain here and keep watch. And that's the fifth (er, third?) and last of the Alkavana Knights. Beggur, Ein, and Zwei leave, and our team enters. It's about time they left. That one shouldn't recognize us. With some good acting and a little luck, we'll be on the other side in no time.Our group approaches Drei.  You need a Visa to get through the gate. Here you go. Let's see here...Seems to be in order...Okay, you may pass. Hey, keep up the good work. Boy am I hungry! I hope we have chicken divan tonight... Hee hee! Looks like we fooled him. Let's get out of here before Beggur comes back. Just a short jug further, and we have an intriguingly named first proper dungeon!  Music: Sleeping Reality I like Iris' Resting Place a lot. The music is good, the fights are a step up but not overwhelming, and...I dunno, I'm just a sucker for ornate cemeteries.  This is one of the first places where you can really farm Mini Pendelooks. I don't think there's any particular need to do so right now, but they're here if you need 'em. Let's have a look inside that door.  I dunno...Looks like some kind of factory.The fairy notices us and walks over. Oh, hello. Welcome to the reverberatory furnace. The refribriwhat? You can fuse any of your ore here, no matter how hard it is. However, this furnace is being repaired, so you'll need to come back later. By the way, my name's Puko. I'm the janitor. Nice meeting you.Hmm...I guess we'll have to figure out what this is useful for later. I'll try to remember it's here.  As you might guess, this place is home to many spirit enemies. These ladies have super low HP (I think it might actually be 1) so Delsus can kill them easily with his Dark Arrow and Klein with his normal attacks. Lita gets to cheerlead.  This attack makes me think of Paper Mario but I don't know why. It doesn't hurt too bad, at least.  These electric thingers can be extracted for some Lightning Elements. I believe they hurt you if you touch them as well – I didn't try it out. If we head forward a little, Lita will get distracted by something.  I can feel a lot of Mana energy... Well, it's man-made. Yeah...I think an alchemist probably made it. Can you feel the power? Iris' Resting Place...I wonder what this was for. Whatever it was, it's just another ruin now. Come on – we have to find that catgirl. A few Growloons hang out in this area. This one can't be extracted – only destroyed.  While there are plenty of ghosts here, there are a lot of Punis here, too, so Lita gets her chance to shine.  These arrow blocks force you to move in the direction they point. It would be annoying if I couldn't just extract them for Power and Stone elements.  These statues are Very Important, because...   Y-Yeah...Because I'm an alchemist. Hm, that is rare. Goodbye, then. Wait up! Hm? Why don't you come with us? We could use your power. Ah, yes, of course...Because you are an alchemist. The more Mana I know, the more power I can use, so... … At least you're honest, I suppose.And thus we get our third Mana, the Mana of Darkness, Plua!  Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture Today, Plua is going to teach us about Summoning Monsters. Hello, class. So, what can you show us? If you use my power, darkness will summon many monsters to you. I assume this would be useful when you with to train by fighting monsters. Oh, yeah! Klein could bulk up super fast! It isn't difficult to use. Just set the action dial to the most basic monster, Puni, and press the square button. Thanks, Plua. How about one last tip before you go? Using my power will change your adventure. It may become more difficult, but also prove more rewarding. Hmm...difficult doesn't sound fun to me. Would you like to try it now? Wh-What? What was that noise? Waaaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh! ...See? Fun, wasn't it? That's all for today. See you again. Ugh...That was my...line... You can find other Mana by searching statues, just like that. In fact, if you see anything strange on the map, you should check it out. That's not all...Even if you find a statue easily, it might be super hard to reach it. But if you master using different actions, it shouldn't be that big of a problem. That's all for now...See you again!Oh come on, that wasn't even a tutorial! *grumble*  Sometimes we'll come across these balls of mana. These can be extracted for a whopping thirty-six of their respective element – in this case, Dark.  I also nabbed this new Mana Item, the Mana Jar, which restores MP. Sadly, it costs 5 Spirit Elements to make (Actually more since Plua can handle them, but has a modifier), so I can't make very many. Perhaps I'll find a decent place to farm Spirit Elements soon.    Hmm, the stat boosts aren't anything special, but what's this MANA UP (S)? That sounds really promising.  These two huge blue sigils just kind of rotate here. We can walk right through them and nothing happens. How curious. Well, anyway, I think I see the exit-   Music: Beat of the Rumbling Earth It's Mysterious British Gentleman, who has finally deigned to get a portrait! What the hell are you doing here? Where's Beggur!? This has gone on long enough. Hand it over, girl. Are you cracked? I don't have anything for you. Hmph. Haven't you realized who you are, yet...Daughter of Iris? …!? What are you talking about!? Very well. I will have to take the power myself... Mull approaches Lita and, um, puts his hand distressingly near her breast region. What the hell do you think you're doing, you pervert? AH!!!! Hmph...It's lost its shine...No matter. I'll just have to alter the plan accordingly... And Mull teleports away. After paralyzing everyone. That's two instances of villain power bullshit in one cutscene. Lita! Don't worry...I'm...okay... Don't worry? What the hell was that!? What's the Ruby Prism? And why did he call you Daughter of Iris? We still have to find that girl, right? Don't you want your book back? … … Okay, okay...But let us know if you need help, okay? ...Yeah. Let's get going.Hmm...could we have finally stumbled onto the real plot of the game? Regardless, let's get out of here.  Music: The Forest Where the Witch Lives It must be. We made pretty good time, then. Now, just look for a house that a witch might live in. Hey, mushrooms I can extract for Spirit Elements! I like this forest already.  The enemies here aren't too bad. Mandragoras are annoying because they like to paralyze someone when they die (which is actually more of an Attack Down debuff than what it is in other RPGs), but it doesn't always work. Golems are mountains of HP and defense but magic hurts them well enough. They also enjoy throwing their heads at you.  High quality water for high quality items! Actually I think there's even higher quality water somewhere else.   It looks like we're here! Unfortunately Zeldalia apparently likes trolling visiting alchemists by putting a Mana Item out of reach. What a mean lady.  Well, that's it for now. Join me next time as we beat up a little girl because she stole some book. -  Decision Time! Do we want an alchemy item or a new ability?
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Feb 25, 2014 05:27
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Alchemy Item We're alchemists! Abilities are for plebs.
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Feb 25, 2014 06:03
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Just found this thread, I've never actually beaten this game so I'll watch and comment until you catch up and then maybe play along. Also Hagel is another recurring character in the Atelier games. Also Ability.
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Feb 25, 2014 06:43
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Overrate Sage, your assessment that this game is less than the sum of its parts but still likeable perfectly sums up my feelings. It's anime as gently caress, filled with every cliche ever, and sports a paper-thin cast (hell, most of the shopkeepers are more personable than the PCs), but it's still worth a play. That said, let's get the Alchemy Item. More things for Klein to throw at dudes is always good.
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Feb 25, 2014 14:01
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I can see abilities in any game, so let's go alchemy.
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Feb 25, 2014 18:49
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Are either unique?
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Feb 25, 2014 18:53
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It really says something about me that I went through this part without knowing there were two alternatives. That said, let's get another Item. Just tell us later what ability we missed out on, please. I'm curious.
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Feb 25, 2014 19:00
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Okay, it looks like we're going for a new Alchemy Item. As it happens, both the item and the ability are unique. However, this is one of those merciful situations where whatever we don't pick now we can still get (much) later, so we'll wind up with both at some point. Ardeem posted:Also Hagel is another recurring character in the Atelier games. Oh, I was wondering about that. It seemed really strange to me that he gets a full portrait even though he doesn't offer synthesis.
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Feb 25, 2014 19:22
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I love the idea of wandering through some random room and triggering the main plot.
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Feb 26, 2014 21:32
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Update 7: The Catgirl Music: Cute Witch Video: Norn and Zeldalia  It's customary to knock. Heyyyyy, sorry...Um, do you know a witch named Zeldalia? She's standing before you.Delsus looks around the room, clearly not getting what she's saying. Yes, I am the witch which you seek. ...You're kidding me. ...though I do look incredible, don't – Why am I telling you this? Just pretend I'm young. You don't look a day over gorgeous...Really? I think she looks several days under gorgeous. Nevermind that. Why were you looking for me? That girl took my book, and I want it back. It's an heirloom of my grandma's. Interesting...And you believe you're worthy of this book? Huh? You do not deserve such a book. You can't even read it. Daphne would be ashamed. How do you know Grandma's name!? Why don't you prove yourself? Here, follow me... What!? I can't fight a little girl! Do not underestimate her. I taught her everything she knows. You're Klein, right, meow? Let us begin. Ready or meow, here comes Norn! I won't go easy on you, meow! I don't have much of a choice...  Music: Ferocious Drive Welcome to the first proper boss battle of the game: Norn and her Puni friends. While Norn herself is a credible threat as we will see, this little wizard fella is the main problem in the fight. This wizard, or Master Puni, has the ability to buff his allies (which seems to apply to both physical and magical offense and defense). This makes the ordinarily harmless Punis become somewhat dangerous, and makes Norn herself become extremely difficult.  Norn's standard attack hits somewhat hard, and also damages MP. As such, your first priority should be to use Delsus and Lita's specials to kill the Punis and Master Puni as quickly as possible before Norn kills their MP (and/or HP).  Unfortunately, on my first run the Master Puni went into a supporting frenzy, healing and buffing out the wazoo, to the point where I had to do a lot of damage control to stay alive, and after a while...  ...he buffed Norn up so much she started straight up one-shotting my characters. Resurrection items are actually pretty rare right now, so...  Music: The Story is Over Yeah.  On my next try (or maybe the try after that), the Master Puni decided to attack me on it's first turn, making the fight infinitely more manageable.  Klein's Wide item ability allows him to heal the whole party as long as they're close to each other with a basic Heal Jar, as long as I have one in my inventory to use (as opposed to making one in the heat of battle). This is pretty nice until I get an actual heal-everyone item, if such a thing even exists.  Lita and Delsus kill the Master Puni before it can buff Norn, then mop up the others, leaving a vanilla Norn by herself.  Norn can also put someone to sleep, though it takes her two turns (or one double type turn!  ) for her to do so. I couldn't interrupt her this time, but it's still manageable as long as she doesn't nail Klein with it when you need to heal – and even if she does, that's what Meuniere is for! Even without buffs, though, Norn is super fast and can whittle my people's HP down quickly – not to mention their MP, if they have any left after nuking the Punis. After a lot of basic attacks, I decided to mix things up and use a non-alchemy based attack item. I bet these pinenuts hurt.  I didn't even time that. I just accidentally won a fight by throwing a nut at a boss.  Klein picked up a new skill called Delay. I've never really gotten the hang of this ability (or really any ability that doesn't activate now now now) but I'd like to experiment a little with it and see if I can learn how to make it effective.  Music: Spirit's Hometown So, alchemy runs in your veins, after all. I want the book back.Zeldalia hands it over. I had to ensure you were following the right path. My old friend Daphne asked me to look after you. By the looks of it, she didn't have anything to worry about. I see you're good friends with the Mana of Wood. We've been best friends since Klein was a baby! We're practically brothers. Grandma told me Popo used to live in a tree near her house. Brothers? Do not forget that he is a Mana. I know. I've made pacts with other Mana, as well.Uru (but not Plua for some reason) pops up out of nowhere.  What? You have another Mana already? Yeah...so? I see...Lineage of Iris... Norn, go with Klein. Please help him. Awwwww...But Zeldalia, meow! I want to help YOU, meow... You don't need to worry about me. ...Okay, meow...I'll be your guide.And thus we meet our fourth party member! I've always had pretty mixed feelings about Norn. All in all I actually think she's pretty okay, but the constant meowing really overshoots “cute” and lands somewhere on the far border of “obnoxious”. She's also rather hit-or-miss in battle, but we'll get to that in a bit.  Music: The Forest Where the Witch Lives Her resting place? Something will be waiting for you.A mysterious lady figure pops up briefly next to Zeldalia. Are you talking about another Mana? Yes, this is my Mana. She shares my joys, my sorrows...unlike you, I only have the one. At Iris' Resting Place, there will be a pedestal where you may place your Mana. I tried long ago...but couldn't make it. I'm sure you will succeed where I failed. … ...I'll try.We regain control of Klein here, but let's talk to Zeldalia again in case she has any more important stuff to say.  By the way, I don't think I've mentioned this in the thread yet; the game adds black borders during most cutscenes, but not during some other conversations like this. I've been cropping them out and resizing everything back to 640x480, so if some images of the same place or character look more stretched than others (like the above screenshot and the one before it), that's why. ...Right, back to the scene at hand. I should give you something, for coming all the way out here...You have two choices. One's a useful mana item, the other is a skill. If you choose the skill, items will automatically appear when you get hurt. On the other hand, you can use the item to fire a powerful beam at your enemies. So, what'll it be? That's a tough choice... We're the good guys, right? Why not just give us both? ...Don't be greedy, Klein, or you'll end up like him. As if that would be a bad thing!  The thread has chosen the alchemy item, a light-based attack. Unfortunately, it requires a decent chunk of Light Elements that I still don't have many of, so I probably won't use this for a while yet.   Get back to work, Nyaron, or I'll tell Zeldalia!Myaron: MROWR!? Okay, don't do that...Please, meow?  Then open up the shop, meow.Nyaron: Don't rush me, meow! Hold your horses for a minute...   Nyaron sells a couple of interesting things. We'll find a few books throughout the game that can help us out with shop synthesis, and I think some of this other stuff will make for good ingredients.   This mask offers good stat boosts, but it doesn't have MANA UP (S) so I'm not sure I'm interested.  Oh yeah, here are Norn's stats. She's the game's ultimate caster, with boatloads of MP, Magic, and a ton of speed to back it up, as well as good resistances. Conversely, her defense and HP are poo poo. Bear in mind that def stat is AFTER the +16 from the Magoo Clothes. Even at this stage of the game Norn crumples in two or three hits, and it's all downhill from here. Her strength also sucks, but that's less relevant since, like Klein, her standard attack works off of her magic stat.  Now that we have more characters than can fit on the battlefield, we are allowed to swap between them in battle. One neat thing is that if somebody gets KOed, they still get a “turn” where you can choose to swap someone else in for them.  Norn's basic attack works just like it did in the boss fight – she damages both HP and MP. I've never tried to actually apply this against any bosses, but it's an interesting idea.  Music: Sleeping Reality All right, time to explore Iris' Resting Place some more. Oh hey, remember those ghost ladies?  They drop beachwear. I don't know why. These are standard items, not equipment. But what could I use these for?  I seem to recall that Norn's basic attack has a very very small area of effect, but all in all she's probably going to just hit one enemy. The good news is she hits pretty hard, especially against def-based enemies. Some of her spells have larger areas of effect, but those aren't really relevant yet; she has the sleep spell from her boss fight, but by the time she gets around to casting it everything's dead. She also has a standard offense spell called Shrink (L) that's okay, but it won't really shine until I can pour some points into it.   So, I'm supposed to place my Mana - Ooh ooh! Ah ah! Pick me! Ooh oooooooh! Over here! Pick me!Popo rushes forward and leaps onto the center pedestal.   Quit hogging all the fun! Ooookay, I don't get it. It's so soothing...It's making me...sleeeeeepy...Plua appears and floats over to the last pedestal. Yes, this is quite nice...Something activates, sending a quake through the ruins... What was that? Something over there made a sound that I heard, meow. I see...it took three Mana. That's why Zeldalia couldn't do it. Hey, I think that's a door over there. Oh, I didn't even notice that door the first time through here. The electricity zaps out of existence, so maybe we can get inside. Let's go!  ...After I collect some more beachwear. You never know when we might need something like this.  But, but...I did hear something here! I have good hearing ears! Here, let me see. What the-A flash of light bursts from the door, and when it fades...  What? Huh? Nani? This place looks familiar... Music: Eternal Eyes What's happening, Lita!?Lita turns away and clutches her head. Klein spots something else in the room and approaches it.  July 2nd: The artificial life is maturing steadily. I still can't fix the lifespan issue. They always die within ten years. If I could strengthen their hearts, it would solve the problem. September 14th: I completed the experiment at Avenberry's Atelier. The Ruby Prism is functioning well. This should greatly increase their lifespan. I will consider the artificial lifeform project a success. The Ruby Prism...THAT Ruby Prism!? Lita, you're - Music: Sadness is Whisked Away by the Wind  Heh...guess you figured it out. … … Please don't tell the others. But, that means...Your lifespan - Great...Now Mr. Alchemist In Training feels sorry for me...This sucks. … …Lita collapses...  Lita...You have wings? Oh, those? It's nothing...This happens whenever I'm tired... ...We should head back. Delsus is probably worried about us. Heh heh...Don't worry, it's no big deal. We should go talk to Zeldalia. She probably knows more about this. Yeah, sounds like a plan.The trip back was uneventful enough, so let's skip right to it...  Well, well...Looks like it's time for a bath. A...bath? Lita's body needs mana to function. The warm water should help her recharge. Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture Today, we're going to learn about...Well, I'll let our guest speaker tell you. Everyone welcome elite alchemist Zeldalia! I'm going to lecture on Mana Protection, so you might want to take notes. Hmm...I was expecting a teenager. Who invited grandma? Did you say something? Oop. No, not me. Nothing at all. ...Okay. Why don't we get started? A Mana Bath is the only way to temporarily replenish a being's energy by using mana. Lita's Ruby Prism was stolen, so the mana in her body is unstable. If she's active for too long, she'll lose mana and her fighting ability will decline. The larger her wings, the worse her condition. You'll need to replenish her mana immediately. To do this, go to the Mana Bath back at base, and press the X button. You'll need to choose Mana to recharge Lita's energy. You can select two if you wish. The Mana will use items to revive Lita. Of course, you'll need items elements to use before you can recharge Lita's energy. You'll be using a Mana's energy as well, so keep an eye on that. This is great information. I hope our special instructor has more wisdom to share. Two Mana are always better than one. Remember that. Wow, today's lesson was pretty serious. I wasn't expecting that. I guess that's all. See you next--Basically, Lita gets weaker over time. This is good to know and secretly the exact opposite of the truth. We'll get into that more next update.  Let's all welcome back Professor Zeldalia! She's going to teach us about Mana Protection. They're all yours! Take it away. Let's do this step-by-step. First, you need to equip a Mana. By having protection, Lita's energy won't drop as quickly. Any other questions? Oh, oh! Pick me! Me me me! What benefit does Mana Protection have? The character's growth will be enhanced by the Mana they have equipped. Certain skills may also be enhanced, depending on the Mana's specialty. Consider your needs when deciding which Mana you want to equip. My tiny brain is bursting with information! But I think our teacher still has more to say. Of course, you could always just choose your favorite Mana. Have some fun with it. My hip's acting up again. Wisdom comes with age, I guess. Thanks for sticking around, everyone! See you again!This stuff is kind of confusing to discuss without actually doing it myself. I'll go over this in the next update also.  Otherwise...Lita won't have much time. Mull's got the prism. We need to get it back. Are you serious? That rock was cracked to hell! But there's no other way!???: You can't defeat Mull.  Music: Sleeping Reality We have to TRY, Arlin! Fight me. Perhaps then you'll understand. And so we're suddenly thrown into a fight with Arlin. Hmm...I don't really have any buffs, particularly strong attacks, or hope, so...  Face the wrath of Klein's puny arms!  Darn.  Why did you use physical attacks, Klein? Alchemists have more powerful forces at their disposal...You solved the mystery of Iris' Resting Place. I know you're stronger than that.Wait, did the game actually base Zeldalia's comment on what one action I got to perform? Because that would be pretty neat. I'm tempted to replay this bit and use an alchemy skill just to check. … … Klein proceeds to have like four flashbacks in a row about times he and Lita talked with this loving hideous reddish orange filter over them. Once that's over...  Music: Albion What are you talking about, Klein? I promise you...I WILL surpass Mull! … … Sounds interesting. I'm game. There's supposed to be treasure in Avenberry. That's good enough for me. Meow! I'll help, too, Klein! I too have business in Avenberry. You're coming with us? Perfect. He can take my place in battle. The more the merrier, I guess. ...So be it. You should get a full night's sleep before you gu.Fade out/in.. First we need to figure out how we're going to get past Henmil's gate. Well, about that... Oh yeah, remember when we were kind of thinking about maybe going to Avenberry sometime? I guess that's our official goal now that Lita's life depends on it. Mirrors...twilight...dawn. Got it. Someone in Kavoc should know. Let's go. This seems like a good stopping point, but first, let's have a look at Arlin's completely bonkers stats. He has great strength, great speed, great defense, great HP, great MP, and surprisingly decent magic. He even comes with a cheap magic damage attack to help deal with ghosts and things. His only real flaw is that his standard attack (and most if not all of his specials) are single-target, making him more of a boss killer, but he can still wreck randoms as well. I mean...he's just totally overpowered. There's gotta be something wrong with him. Right? - I don't know how much fighting I'm going to do in the next bit, but we might as well vote now: who gets to go to the next dungeon, boss, or other significant battle time? I'll be sure to show off Lita's new condition and Arlin in general either way. Oh yeah, and here's a video showing off a few random battles, since people were interested. I can take more as the game goes on if people want to see more.
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Mar 2, 2014 06:01
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Norn needs to be in the party long enough to pick up her next skill.
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Mar 2, 2014 10:03
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I say pick Norn and Delsus. The "party member needs some sort of cure ASAP" is really abused in JRPG. At least here it's slightly foreshadowed so it didn't break my immersion.
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Mar 2, 2014 15:59
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I'll say Norn and Lita.
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Mar 2, 2014 16:33
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Norn and Lita Delsus kinda bores me all told.
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Mar 2, 2014 19:37
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It's interesting that he just decides creating a new ancient alchemical artifact is going to be better odds than fighting the guy who took the first one.
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Mar 3, 2014 17:03
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Update 8: Wings Music: Alchemic Blast All right, so last time we played Lita gained a new, essentially permanent status effect. The game tried to explain it with a tutorial, but I'm going to go over it again a little bit here. The obvious impact Lita's sickness has is that her MP steadily falls. But I don't mean her current MP – I mean her maximum MP. Notice in the above shot she has 43/43 MP.  But when her turn rolls along, it drops to 42/42 instead. Remember, Lita's MP is already pretty low, so watching it constantly fall ever further kinda blows. This also persists between battles, so Lita's MP can plummet pretty far if you let it. But there is some good news!    When Lita's MP falls far enough (something in the 2/3rds ballpark of her “real”max MP), her wings pop out. This lowers her maximum HP, but also increases all of her other stats (including defense, curiously enough, to help lessen the blow).  At somewhere around the 1/3rd mark, it happens again. Her MP does actually bottom out somewhere before zero, but it still gets absurdly low if you let it (I think right now it stops at 4).  By understanding and properly manipulating this mechanic, you can shift Lita to favor balance/durability by keeping her MP as high as possible all the time, or you can let it fall and watch as her already solid offenses fly through the roof. By the way, remember that Lita's standard attack constitutes a half turn or Double Type or whatever you want to call it. Basically, if you have her use her standard claw swipe, then she won't lose an MP on her next action (because it's still technically the second half of the same turn). Also, bear in mind that Lita's current MP will not decrease (unless it's the same as her max), so you can use your specials early on and not even really notice the difference. To summarize, this mechanic plays Lita's strengths up even further, and it's actually kind of awesome.  Oh yeah, I said I'd talk about Arlin a little, but actually he's not that interesting right now beyond having stupidly high stats. Here's a picture of him using his magic attack.  Meanwhile, Norn picked up her next ability, Turn 2 Candy.  Turn 2 Candy turns an enemy into candy (shocking!). For some reason on my first playthrough I decided this ability was stupid and I didn't want to use it. Well, bully on me, it turns out this ability is actually kind of cool and I'm pretty sure it's necessary to complete at least one shop synthesis recipe. Even if you don't have a sweet tooth it's still basically a death spell.  Meanwhile, you might remember Zeldalia talking about equipping Mana. This is another interesting mechanic of the game. Basically, we can pair a character with a Mana and that will give them some sort of parameter boost (for example, Popo grants HP/MP regen to Klein). Furthermore, after battles your Mana will gain EXP, and when they “level up” (at 100 exp), they will confer point boosts to certain character skills. Again, for example, when Popo levels up he can put 7 points into Klein's ELE EXTRACT skill. Since Lita and Norn seems to be the prevailing party, I thought I'd go ahead and assign my three mana to them and Klein.    ...which actually worked out pretty well. Since not everyone knows all of their skills yet, some mana don't benefit every character equally. Like Zeldalia said, this isn't something that will make or break your characters, but it's a nice bonus that you might as well take advantage of. ...Now that I think about it, Zeldalia also suggested that equipping one to Lita would give her additional help regarding her condition, but I don't think I observed any such thing. I'll try to keep an eye out for that. ...Phew! I think that's enough gameplay talk for now. Let's get on with our plot. We were going to head back to Kavoc, but on our way there...  It's getting bigger...Wow!The mysterious black hole swallows our party...   Music: Small Workshop Are you a fairy? What is this place? The name's Paka, and this is my house. I'm a self-employed smithy. How'd we end up in your house? Well, sometimes my house appears in other worlds. Nothing unusual, really. This is the Mana world, right? I can tell from how it smells. Yeah. Usually humans aren't allowed here. Here's an idea...Why don't I teach you some of my smithing techniques? I can teach you how to improve your weapons. Don't be shy...c'mon. From this day forward, I will be your sensei. You have learned all I have to teach. Congratulations! You passed. Is it over, meow? I'll give you a forge so you can smith at home, too. Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture For today's topic, we have yet another special instructor. So let's hear it for professional freelance blacksmith, Mr. Paka! Hello, everyone. I'd like to teach you some new techniques. Every blacksmith needs materials – and your materials are Mana Stones. Got it? I guess regular stones won't work... (It's a good thing we had this lecture...) To start smithing, press the X button at the forge I gave you. You'll see a screen like this... Okey-dokey...First, I'll discuss the top one: Crystallize Mana Stone. This command will let you turn a Mana Stone into a Mana Crystal. First, pick the stone to use, and then choose a Mana to assist you. The result will be different depending on which Mana you choose. I see. What about the next one? Fuse Mana Crystals is the key step. Combine two Mana Crystals together to create a much stronger one. For example, combining two crystals of the same type will create a much stronger one. By experimenting, you can form a variety of different Mana crystals. Okay...so by combining more, I can make increasingly effective crystals. Yeah, but one crystal can only hold three effects – so don't go crazy. To apply a crystal's effect to your equipment, you'll need to select the third command, Mana Crystal to Weapon. Mana crystals can't be applied to that many items... Keep these simple rules in mind, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun. So, Paka, any parting words? Do your best to discover when Mana are most compatible. Well, that's today's lesson! Bye bye, everybody!I'm not really very familiar with this part of the game's invention/synthesis/etc stuff. We'll get to see that in practice at the end of the update.  This friendly fairy merchant hangs out in the blacksmith's house as well. What are you doing over there? The name's Pattet. I'm a specialized fairy vendor. Okay, let's see, then...Hmm, not a bad selection... Hey, thanks, buddy! If my customer's happy, I'm happy. I'm always here, so visit from time to time, okay? Pattet has a few odds and ends and sells a lot of Mana stones, but I'm either lacking funds or need for most of his stuff so we'll check that out later. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of Mana Stones lying around here for our blacksmithing pleasure, as well as a couple of other goodies...  ...Including the delightful Speedster, which provides Klein with a much-needed speed boost. Yeah, the loss of other stats hurts but I feel Klein would benefit more from being able to act more frequently/sooner than from raw power, especially since he tends to play healbot right now. Now, we just need to head into the teleporter we entered from...  ...And it deposits us right back in Kavoc. Sweet! We can eventually use the smith's house as a teleportation hub, but for now it's kind of limited. Since we've been away for a bit, let's see what our friends the shopkeepers are up to...(it's actually less than I had hoped but there's still some quality stuff here)  Music: Fun Shopping in Kavoc Atelier Norman: Sweet and Spicy Could you guys try something out for me? Of course! Yeah, it's not a problem. Thanks. I appreciate it. I want to add a rice bowl to my menu. That'd be great! I love rice, especially with stuff on top! This fried stuff is good. What is it? Oh, that's just Sweet Lando. … … …!!! Mmmm...Sweet Lando...*drools* It doesn't only make good juice, it's great with rice, too! Sweet Lando! Gack...I don't even want to think about it. Oh, that's right. Delsus hates sweets. What about the rest of you? Like it? I'd say it was pretty good if I didn't know it was Lando on top. Don't expect me to touch it! It's super yummers, meow. Sweet Lando Bowl? Oh, no, I have a much better name: Jaja Bowl. What the heck does “Jaja” mean? My name was a lot better! Well, when Lando is frying, it makes a sound like “jaja”, see? That's why. I still like Sweet Lando Bowl better. At least Norman's name has a nice ring to it. Anyway, if you guys like it, I'm sure everyone will. I'll add it right away. Even though Norman actually made the dish beforehand, it's still not really on the menu until we synthesize a version of our own. But first, I want to make some super spicy mushrooms for Delsus. These red peppers should do the trick.   That isn't emotion, meow... ...It's too spicy! Ha ha ha! Sounds perfect to me! Let's see here...Hmm... Woooooohoooooo! Fantastic! I feel like I've transcended mere taste-testing! Sounds good to me. We'll call it the Astral Saute.Well, I'm glad he liked it. I feel like we might be able to do even more with our mushroom dish, but that'll have to wait until I have more ingredients.  The Jaja Bowl requires a Sweet Lando, but the fish and spice are variable. None of the variations I actually tried did anything, though.  Huh...I can't believe you made that out of Sweet Lando. I can't believe you called it the jaja Bowl! Oh, get over it!That's right, Norman, you gotta stand up to that mean lady. Anyway, I ran over to Lake Forwel to buy some more fish, and...  Of course! We go there all the time. This might sound strange...but do you have any of their ale? Ale? Yeah, we do, actually. Could I have some? I can't concentrate without it. You probably shouldn't drink too much of this. You don't understand. Ale's my source of energy. Please...Thanks! Now I can get back to work. I'll trade you this for the booze. I caught it earlier this morning. It's a Joker Fish. Why's this fish have such...weird lips? I don't know. There's gotta be some reason for it. I don't know what it could be. ...Huh. Those are goofy, now that she mentions it.  On my way to Veola's, Yach popped up to ask me something. As far as I remember, this automatically happens any time you find a new book. What is it? You're an alchemist, right? Can you teach me some alchemy? I don't know...I've never taught anyone before. Alchemy's not as easy as it looks. You know that, right kid? But I really wanna learn! Really...please? Okay, okay. You're really going to teach him, Klein? Here, this book should get you started. Cool! “Magic in 7 Days!” I'll finish it right away, mister!Fade out/in. I don't know what exactly our characters are supposed to have been doing in the meantime... That book was awesome! Now I'll start learning all about alchemy!Yach runs off. I don't think this is such a good idea... Well, it's not like we're doing anything wrong. He's the one who wants to be an alchemist. There's a bomb up at the cathedral. I have no idea why. Klein can extract it for fire elements. And now...   Music: The Laughable Pair Atelier Veola: Explosives Veola chomps on some sort of bread or giant cookie or something, during which time Klein stands around awkwardly. Mind if I visit your shop once in a while? Do as you will.munch munch You know, it's rude to eat while you're on the clock. It's my shop, and I'll do as I please. I happen to enjoy eating. But the customer is always right! Not when you're the customer. Wh...What did you just say!? Calm down, Lita! Did you hear what she said!? She's the rudest person I've ever met! Please stop bothering the customers.Veola is the best character. You know, in case you didn't pick up on that yet. Also, the game does have an actual explosion sound effect that plays at that time.  I thought that I might have done something to add stuff to Veola's menu, but it looks like that is not yet the case. I have some poison, and I thought I'd try to make medicine from it to see if I could make anti-medicine, but it just made more Blue Bull (?).  Let's make a bomb instead! We need some kind of Legien (Red is the only one I have) and a Fest Stone or Fest Rock. Let's try a larger stone than the recipe asks for.  Ohh yeah. I had a lot of extra material, so I made a larger bomb. So this ones the Larger Bomb? No, I had a much better name in mind. Really? What is it? Big Bomb. … …I'd forgotten how much people argue about item names. I mean, I remember some of the more noteworthy ones, but it's come up for like half of these now. That's it for shop synthesis, I'm afraid. Let's go home.  Where are you going?Delsus leaves without a response. How many agendas does that guy have? I'm sweepy, meow. You can take a nap until Delsus gets back. Just a catnap, meow...Nighty nighters... I must practice. I'll be back later.Norn and Arlin also leave, and the camera cuts to Arlin in the forest...  ...who collapses for no apparent reason.  Don't push yourself. Your body's- I didn't have a choice. There was no other way to defeat him. … ... drat you, Mull!Uh-huh. Let's go back to Klein and Lita.  What is it? Why did you decide to go to Avenberry? I couldn't stop Mull...or even Arlin. I'm tired of being so weak...I'm going to train and get stronger...Then I'll show Mull what I'm really made of. Is there any other reason? Huh? Why? Er, no reason. Nevermind. You're so dense. No, not at all. Where's Delsus? He's not back yet? I saw him at the bar hours ago... Sigh...Norn and I will go track him down. Nooooo...I'm sweepy, meow... You had your nap. C'mon, let's go. Let's do a couple more things here at base before we go find Delsus. This is the Mana Bath. We can use this to boost Lita's max MP back up to it's correct amount. We need one element (wood for Popo, Fire for Uru, etc) per MP recharged. We can also use two Mana to split the cost between elements. Simple enough.   And then there's Smithing. As the tutorial said, we just take Mana Stones and use a Mana to transform them into these crystals. I got these two.  We can combine crystals into better ones...  ...and apply the crystals to weapons...  And voila! I have made Klein's Cane completely terrible by giving it a -25 speed penalty! ...I'm not very good at this. But I'll practice and see if I can make something better. Fortunately, Mana crystals can also be removed from weapons, so I took it back off.  Yes, the Fairy's text box is cut off in-game. Lady: drat, that is the WORST pick-up line I've ever heard... Hey, babe, do you have a number? Or should I just call you mine?Lady: No thanks, creep. The woman storms out of the bar. Where you goin' girl? Aww man...What's your problem, Delsus? You scared her away! Me? I'm the only reason she came over here in the first place! Uh...research. That's funny...Because it looked like you were trying to hit on girls. You saw – Ahem, oh, that woman you saw? That was an old associate of mine. Right, Pilke? drat, girl! You are one fine honey- She's not your type. Trust me on that. Aww, I just want to get to know her. Maybe caressing her milky skin would help... WHAT!? You, Popo! I didn't think I'd find the Mana of Wood in a place like this. You know him? Not personally, but all fairies know the Mana of Wood. Despite appearances, we're different species...but all forest creatures are friends, dig? Hey, that's great. Um, I think this is where I cut out. Not so fast! I thought you wanted a job. Oh? You have a job? What kind? I can already tell this is going to be excellent. A Puni...God? Yeah. Defeating it should net you a Super Puni Ball. Hook me up with one of those, and there's some serious cash in it for you. Don't rush it, though, I've got lots of time. So, did you get any information? Uh...no. Not really. Then what have you been doing this whole time!?And that's where we leave for today. Join me next time as we visit the Puni God.
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Mar 4, 2014 20:42
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Who does Norman remind me of? Every time I see his model I swear I've seen one just like it somewhere else.
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Mar 4, 2014 22:23
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I love Veola, I love synthesis and I love the next part. This update basically made me really happy. Also: if you ever need spirit element (you don't for now, but you may need it later) just use Kein's element extraction on the Banshees. They have so little HP it's basically free elements.
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Mar 4, 2014 22:27
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So is Arlin equipped with that Mana or can you actually give him a second one?
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Mar 5, 2014 01:20
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:Who does Norman remind me of? Every time I see his model I swear I've seen one just like it somewhere else. I'm not really sure. He always looked like he could be a nobleman or maybe some sort of mercenary in that getup of his. He doesn't really remind me of anyone specific, though. I guess the darker-haired character model has a vaguely Mario or other Italian-esque vibe. paradoxGentleman posted:I love Veola, I love synthesis and I love the next part. Glad to hear it! I'm really looking forward to the next part. I remember it being delightfully silly, and it has one of my favorite tracks from the game. Glazius posted:So is Arlin equipped with that Mana or can you actually give him a second one? The gameplay does not currently acknowledge that Luplus exists, so Arlin can be treated like any other character when it comes to equipping Mana. I just don't have enough Mana to spread between all my characters, so he and Delsus have to wait until I find more.
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Mar 5, 2014 02:07
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Pitching in my vote for Veola as the best character. It's great to imagine her just stonefaced while dropping sick burns on Lita all day.
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Mar 5, 2014 02:26
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Lita's mechanic is pretty cool! That's a good bit of plot integration.
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Mar 5, 2014 04:07
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The stat gains from Lita's wings are proportional to how much HP she's lost(20%/40%), so it's entirely possible to set her up so she's more durable with the HP cut than she is without it. There really isn't all that much reason to ever touch the Mana Bath. And yeah, Turn 2 Candy's required if you ever want to get around to filling out all of crafting. That said, smithing. If you're willing to look up a guide and savescum a lot, it will snap the game in half. If you go at it blindly, it's mostly useless. Each of the Mana Stones can turn into different things depending on which Mana you use to refine them. Each Mana/Mana Stone combo can have multiple possible results. Combining two crystals with the same mod sill fuse them into one mod. Combining multiple specific mods will cause them all to fuse into a new, special mod. These can be extremely powerful. There is no documentation of any of this in-game. Mana Stones, as have been mentioned, are a rather limited resource, ranging from rare to effectively one-per-game. This isn't something you can really trial and error through, particularly seeing as there's absolutely no indication that the combo mods even exist, so you'd never run into them short of getting extremely lucky.
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Mar 5, 2014 04:55
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Unoriginal One posted:The stat gains from Lita's wings are proportional to how much HP she's lost(20%/40%), so it's entirely possible to set her up so she's more durable with the HP cut than she is without it. There really isn't all that much reason to ever touch the Mana Bath. I see...Well, I'll go ahead and dig up a FAQ on smithing sometime soon so I can show off how it works when it works right. I'm not sure how much I'll end up doing in the long run - I mean, I don't want to destroy the game, but I also want to demonstrate that it's possible. We shall see. Regardless, thanks for the info. And now... Update 9: Puni As I headed out of Kavoc, I stopped to do my daily annihilation of the town square when a strange NPC caught my eye...  What is it? Food! Aha! Take this! Hey! Cut it out! I'm not food! Ah, I see. My mistake. It seems you're just a traveler. I apologize for my behavior. My mind was...somewhere else. You scared the crap out of me...Who are you, anyway? I am Oscar, the fugitive chef. ...Fugitive? Yes. I've escaped from the harsh confines of the kitchen and embarked on a quest to master culinary arts! Fate must have brought us together. Bring me ingredients, and I can cook for you.  And so we meet our third synthesizing, “shopkeeper”, Oscar the fugitive chef. He seels a few odd, sometimes rare ingredients, and can make these two dishes for us. Sadly, I'm quite lacking in stuff needed to make them, so let's just keep him in mind for later.   I didn't mention it at the time, but the game offers to show the path to the Puni God. He's off a path going west from the Tower of Airfen, as shown here.  It's huuuuge, meow! We could fit inside that thing...Think it'd eat us? It isn't moving...I think we'll be okay. NEVER FEAR...I WILL NOT EAT YOU. I AM A GOD. ...Um. Did he just- The P-P-Puni is t-talking...meow... Should we trust him? The only way to find out is to head inside. Music:  Miraculous Little Universe :iamafag: Meow! Puni feels squishy soft! Well, I think we're in its stomach...........technically. I'm uncomfortable. We should get what we came for.I love how Arlin and Norn join on the pretense to help me reach Avenberry and the first thing we do is take them inside a giant Puni.  Anyway, this is basically my favorite place in the game because it's a delightful combination of adorable and absurd. The music helps emphasize that. You DID click the music link, right? Speaking of adorable and absurd, this place has an EVENT BATTLE!  ...Who the hell are these guys?Taro: Bwa ha ha ha ha! What's the matter? Can't handle the challenge of superior warriors? Behold, dashing heroes to Puni everywhere...I'm the first son, Puni Taro! Jiro: I'm the second son, Puni Jiro! Kichi: I'm the third son, Puni Kichi! Taro: Together, we're the...moderately attractive Puni Brothers! You'll pay for what you've done! …... …... …... They look powerful, meow.Taro: Heh, what's wrong? Petrified by terrible fear? Jiro: Let's just fight 'em already. Kichi: Yeah, bro...let's get this over with so we can get back to the Puni hot tub. Taro: Yeah! Let's do this!   Taro: Ugh...this can't be! Who are these guys? Kichi: Hang in there, bro. We'll get you some mouth-to-mouth... Jiro: We'll be back! We'll get our revenge...watch your back...  I really have nothing to add to that little scene. Freezing Rain is super cool stuff, though. We'll find a use for that in this very update.  This Puni has some neat stuff lying around in its body. I guess it must have swallowed these things. The Dragon Fangs are a decent defensive accessory which I gave to Norn.  The enemies are, of course, all varieties of Puni. These little wizard guys are much less dangerous when Norn is on my side instead of theirs.  We also have the new Invisible Puni. It's hard to hit, and has a bit better parameters than blue and red Puni, but still isn't terribly dangerous.   Ooh, this looks interesting. Unfortunately, I still can't make very many. The Wood cost isn't so bad since Popo handles those fine and I can grind Wood elements in Kavoc, but Evil elements are still hard to find and Plua has a heavy modifier when dealing with them. Oh well, maybe later.  Finally, as if Lita wasn't already a powerhouse, this dungeon offers a weapon that jacks her strength (and magic, curiously enough) up by a huge amount AND makes her deal extra damage to Punis.  You don't belong here! Go! Go away! What is that thing? If you value your life, you will leave while you still can! Video: SUPER PUNI Music: Popcorn Strategy Prepare to see the most amazing supreme power you have ever witnessed! Okay, so we're up against Mr. Super Puni with his three Red Puni and two Gold Puni friends. That's a big group, but they're clustered together kinda close, so let's try out Lita's new skill.  This skill is a bit unusual. It's one of those Other Type skills which temporarily ejects Lita from the battle (though I'm pretty sure the battle won't end if the others fall while she's away, it only works that way for enemies.) So the Punis beat Klein and Norn up a bit, and then...   ...Lita comes back and loving ruins them. This did about 140 damage to all enemies. This ability is pretty fantastic against groups, though it also costs a kind of unreasonable amount of MP (22, same as Force Blast) considering Lita's lack of it.  After that, the fight's pretty much over. It's just trading blows and healing until it dies.   I got quite a few levels out of this, I think everyone except Delsus leveled up, and Lita even gained two somehow.  What did you expect? Puni are the weakest monsters around. Huh? Nobody told me. The world must be a much bigger place than I realized.The Puni disappears in a flash of light.  Is that it? It's round and puni! Mrowr, I love it! Let's get this back to that perverted fairy.It takes one to know one, Delsus. Anyway, we can leave through this back door, which deposits us on the world map slightly behind the Puni God.  Music: Town Where the Bells Chime You're kidding...There really was a Super Puni Ball? Man, I bet the girls'll go crazy for this! …... This is a treasure of mine. You can have it.Pilke hands over a key item, the Gust Sphere. What's this supposed to be? We risked our necks for this? Well, we fairies never forget a favor, so maybe I'll hook you up later. If you ever need anything, just gimme a shoutout. …... Well that was all very arbitrary. Hey, you don't suppose this is one of those self-referential items? This was developed by Gust, after all. Perhaps later we'll find a Gust Cube and a Gust Dodecahedron. At this point we're left without any direction to go. First, let's see if Norman has any leads.  Wouldn't fish go bad pretty quickly on its way here from the harbor? Yuck! Rotten fish smells worse than Lita's socks, meow! Exactly, and that's why I won't be serving rotten fish anytime soon. But I heard an interesting story...Supposedly there's an item called Frozen Rain that never melts. That gave me an idea – with the Frozen Rain, I could easily transport fish without it spoiling. Makes sense. I was hoping you guys could track some down for me. I've got 500 Cole. I know it's not the biggest reward, but... We'll do it! Then you can make us some tasty fish! Yeah, we'll do it. Next stop, Frozen Rain. Thanks a lot. Good luck, you guys.Well, we already have it, so let's talk to him again.  We brought the Frozen Rain you were looking for. Really? Let's have a look...Whoa, it's better than I thought! It's really cold, and not melting at all! Now I can start importing fresh fish. Here's your reward. Fish is back on the menu, boys! Feel free to order it whenever you want....Hmm. Well, that added new stuff to the synthesis menu, but we haven't actually progresses the story any. I decided to try Veola's next, and on the way there...  How do you know my name? Everyone around here knows about you. …...Really? Oh, hey...I found some information on the Flawless Marvel. Long ago, a legendary alchemist created it all by himself! Can you believe it? An alchemist? Amazing, huh? One alchemist created an entire city! I'm so excited...I can't wait to discover more. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something new. See ya!Rurona leaves us with no better ideas on what to do next. However, when I went to Veola's, she told me that the weapon shop guy, Hagel, is looking for us. So let's head that way...  ...What's she doing? That's Rurona. And she's got...Rurona, you're standing on a Mana. Yes, of course I am. This is the Mana of stone. It makes a lovely stepladder. I guess Mana come in all shapes and sizes...That seems so demeaning, and yet this game has enough platforming and out-of-reach stuff that I'm kind of looking forward to finding a Stone Mana of my own to reach new places.   You wouldn't mind running to Arcose to pick up a mineral for me, would you? Where's Arcose? Great! I knew I could count on you! W-Wait...I didn't say yes yet! We're kind of busy as it is. Meeeow! We have to find the mirrors! C'mon guys, please? Going to Arcose wouldn't be such a bad idea. Oh? And why is that? Arcose is a port town. People from all over the world pass through there. We have a better chance of finding out about the mirrors in Arcose than in Kavoc. That makes sense, meow. I won't lie to you, though...it's pretty far away. We'd have to cross Lake Forwel and Poto's Forest...The camera shows us the exit of Iris' Resting Place, then pans along the path out of Poto's Forest.  You had a point. We won't fund much information around here. I've never been to a port town! I can't wait! There will be yummy mummy fish, meow! You guys are awesome. I already paid for my order, so you just have to pick it up. There's been less Mana around here lately, so we have to buy minerals form other towns. Hmm...I didn't know that. Be careful out there, guys! That's it for today. Join me next time as we find a new town – and, perhaps, a new shopkeeper?
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Mar 8, 2014 01:16
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The Puni God's insides are a lot grosser than I remember. I never noticed the attention to detail on the pseudo-intestines you have to walk on.
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Mar 8, 2014 01:23
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The Puni Bros are also recurring characters, but I think this was their introduction and they haven't actually shown up in many games.
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Mar 8, 2014 01:36
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Ardeem posted:The Puni Bros are also recurring characters, but I think this was their introduction and they haven't actually shown up in many games. Probably because Puni already show up in enough Gust games as is. And making three generic puni into a recurring rival band feels lazy.
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Mar 8, 2014 01:54
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The most notable appearance of the puni bros is Mana Khemia 2, where a main character was adopted by them and only speaks Puni She rode around on one and they made appearances in most of her special attacks, and generally hung around being somewhat pathetic. Which is a considerable step up from how totally pathetic most puni are. They also had a cool sidequest where you fight like 100 puni at once.
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Mar 8, 2014 02:39
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You'd be correct in assuming that Stone Blast won't cause a game over if Lita uses it while she's the only one left standing. There is a fight where this comes in handy, but you won't be running into that one for a rather long time.
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Mar 8, 2014 03:19
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Fetucine posted:The most notable appearance of the puni bros is Mana Khemia 2, where a main character was adopted by them and only speaks Puni
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Mar 8, 2014 05:32
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Wow, I didn't realize how many recurring characters this series has. I guess it makes sense that if you're going to have a recurring monster race that you might as well have recurring members of that race. Is the Puni God in any of the other games?
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Mar 9, 2014 00:50
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I don't think so. Most of the Mana don't show up in the other games, but all fairies (but one) and the Mana of Wood share a sprite.
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Mar 9, 2014 01:48
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