Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Update 3: I'm not from the Realm, dammit!



Hmm... No sign of Ryu... but there's this weird rabbit-creature! And he's fishing! Okay, so he's technically a cat-critter, but in true Mana fashion, he looks like a goddamn rabbit. But hey, maybe we're playing as him for a while, right? Be better than Ryu...



: It'll be a feast tonight!

Uh-oh. I don't think we're playing Rabbit Dude...



Eeew. Ryu IS dead! Shouldn't he, like, call the cops or something to deal with the body?

: !?

He loses the fishing pole and turns to Ryu's dead body.

: Not remotely fishy... Not even edible... Hmm. As I recall, Grandpappy always told me that being a good Samaritan is good for business.

Wait, how does that work? Not the "helping people makes for good business" part but the good Samaritan part! That's a Christian thing. On the other hand, CPR would definitely...



Ahahahaha! Oh, god, he is the biggest rear end in a top hat ever but I love it so much! Kicking the drowned guy helps, right? Of course it does!

Surprisingly, kicking does actual work, and Ryu sits up.




: Oh yeah. I got knocked off the bridge by Dark Lord. Blast it all! And what happened to Willy?

"Blast it all"? Oh, please. I've gotten more angry stubbing my toe, and he totally knocked you over a waterfall! Besides, Willy is dead! Or at least, so we can hope, right?

Ryu stands up and turns to the amazing rabbit-creature.


: Were you the one who rescued me? My name's Ryu. Thanks for saving me. I really appreciate it.

: That's right! I saved your life! I'm Niccolo, the traveling merchant.

: Where the heck is this?

: Truth is, I just got here myself. If you ask me where we are, all I can say is... We're here!

Ahahaha. Oh, Niccolo. You're so amazingly helpful. First with the kicking, now with the complete lack of helpfulness. You are the best character ever.

Yes, by the way, this is yet another Mana series cameo/standard. Originally Neko from Secret, he became Niccolo in Legend of Mana. Actually, there's a lot of bits pulled from Legend in this game.


: I'm trying to get to Topple Village. Do you know it?

: I've heard of it.

: Really? Which way is it?

: Beats me. I told you, I just got here. Pay attention, willya?

The blind leading the blind! Or failing to lead, as the case may be.

: Well, I'm going home! Don't worry, I'll make sure you pay me back sometime!

Niccolo, you're the best. :allears:

Niccolo wanders off to the south, and we're given freedom to move around!




Despite being to walk around, there's only the one thing here - this statue. Unlike the silver one in the last episode, this one is golden and whole, so it restores HP and MP as well as allows us to save. Which, of course, I do - I learned my gaming habits early on in adventure games, so I save every opportunity I get.

Afterwards, we head off to the south as well, only to be stopped at the edge of the screen by a scream! (Literally, just a scream. It pops up an unlabeled dialogue box that says Eeeeeeek! Dammit, I'm not 10 feet away, why can I not see what's going on?)





So, stupid punctuation. It's still a thing. I've already been editing it out. That would include the totally extraneous !? up there. I'm not making you all suffer through it all.



So, there's a time system in the game. I'll explain it more in detail later, but there's morning, day, evening, and night, and the palette changes for each one. I love the morning palette, but this... is the evening palette. It looks god awful, as everything becomes kind of a piss yellow color.

Presumably, the shrieking came from Nina down there... but if that's the case, why are she and the Chobin Hood looking away from each other?


: Look out!

It takes like no time for me to kill the Chobin Hood, and we'll be fighting plenty of them soon enough. Nina demonstrates the same problem as Willy last time - she wanders around aimlessly.

The music cuts out as soon as the Chobin Hood is dead, as well. I think it's supposed to be dramatic, but with the wealth of music in this game, it's not necessary.




: Are you hurt?



Nina, Michael Jackson's dead. The moonwalk was, like, decades ago.

: No, I'm fine. Thank you very much. I'll be on my way...

: It's too dangerous for you to go by yourself. I can take you where you need to go.

I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can catch a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going...

: No, really. I'm okay! I can get back home on my own.

: But what if you get ambushed by a monster again?

Hmm... No, I think she's safe. Safer than you! After all, she has healing powers.

: You, you're from Granz Realm, aren't you?

Wait, Granz Realm? Granz Realm soldiers wear ridiculous gigantic armor that makes you look like a teapot. I'm not even sure WHAT he's wearing!

: Do I LOOK like I'm from Granz Realm?

Believe him, please! Oh, this is gonna be the beginning of a long string of people thinking he's from the Realm, isn't it?

Before Nina can answer, there's a growl. Both characters turn to face the trees to the east.


: Wait! What was that sound?

: Oh, all right. If you could take me to Topple...

: Topple? Great! I was just looking for it myself. We can go together!

: Okay. Topple Village is northeast of here.

Those directions would be good if we weren't playing a video game where straight lines through areas are strictly forbidden. Instead, we actually loop south and around to get over to Topple.

: My name's Ryu. What's yours?

: I'm Nina. Nice to meet you.

: (Nina? The same name as... No, it can't be.)

And we get a quick little ding as Nina officially joins the party as an NPC. And despite what I've said about NPC AI so far, she will actually be our crutch for much of the first quarter of the game - mostly due to her healing magic, which she will spam like crazy if Ryu gets low on health.


Here's our standard "overworld" music. I'm actually not going to repost this one after this - mostly due to the fact that we'll switch back and to this one a lot. For the first half the game, give or take, any time we're outside of town, this music will be playing.

: Oh, wait! A boy from the village asked me a favor. He lost a book in this meadow. Will you look for it with me?

This is a yes/no question, but all yes/no questions are But Thou Must questions. Don't even bother to say no, it's not interesting.

: Thank you. It'll be a big help. Oh, you can gut the grass with your sword! I think we can find it faster that way! Please!

We can actually only start cutting grass now. It's kind of important, since if we could cut grass beforehand, it'd break this little "quest". Or potentially could, anyway. This is sort of one of the things from FFA - you could cut certain plants with a different weapon, not a sword, in that game. This actually comes off as more Legend of Zelda-ish. I don't think we ever need to use it again and I don't think we ever get anything else from it.



Thankfully, the patch of grass isn't random - it's always that one.

: Thank you! Now we can go back to Topple!

Okay, that's all the talking for a few. Time to wander around and kill some things!



So, Ryu's scenario actually gets the most hand-holdy beginning of wandering. It's nighttime! So everything's asleep! Or most things. Those are rabites, critters common to the Mana series and typically the weakest things around. As such, they only do a single point of damage, and we can kill them easily.



Ooh, a nice set ready for the murderin'! Spawns in this game are hard-coded, and there only a few that appear in any given area, and they always appear in the same spots. All details about spawn are set when they appear, including what they drop.

Speaking of murder, time to explain precisely how that works here. Sword of Mana's combat system is fairly simple. Walk around, and hit the A button to swing. Exactly half the weapons (counting the sword and staff as one weapon) have a 3-hit combo.



Timing is important for the button presses - you have to press just before the swing ends in order to combo. I'm bad at that part. Always have been. When you watch the boss videos, you'll see me fail to combo a lot. Anway, the second hit does the same damage as the first, but the third hit does an extra half-again as much damage. Each hit can critical, of course, which does double damage and may stun the enemy for a second.

The other part of physical combat is the Deathblow system. Go look at that last screenshot again - do you see the bars under my HP and MP? Each time you hit an enemy, you fill up one bar. As your skill level with a weapon goes up, you'll fill up extra bars with each hit. Even no-damage hits count for this. Once all the bars are filled, the cahracter will begin flashing green and yellow. Using a Deathblow is easy - hold the attack button until the flashing stops, then release, and viola!



Each weapon has a unique attack and Deathblow. Each time we receive a weapon, I'll include gifs of each weapon's attack and Deathblow.

I work my way through the area, and believe me, this whole area is very easy. There's no danger at all, even if you were completely new to the game. I do and will find periodic chests, like this one.



Floor candy restores health! In this case, they're called Gumdrops and they restore 50 HP each. They'll actually be our primary healing for the first bit of the game, at least until I get magic. I'm not going to show off most of the chests. There's almost never anything of real interest in chests.



Where the chest was. You can see the gold statue where I started the area off on the left there. In between the trees and the cliff, there in the center of the screen, there's actually a little sparkle. You can't see it very well in the screenshot, but it's there all right. We can't get to it, though. First time I played this game, I spent like fifteen minutes trying to get to it. It'll be a very long time before we do get it.



This is located just east and north from the unreachable sparkle. Anyone familiar with Secret or SD3 will recognize this contraption - it's a cannon! Unlike those two games, however, this won't be accessible for a long time, as well. Not as long as the sparkle, though.



If you look behind Nina's HP and MP, you'll see what I'm going for there - a chest. A chest hidden by the NPC stats. It's kinda dumb. Even better, the chest holds an Angel Grail. This item is truly aweso.... bwahahaha no it's totally useless. I will never use one in this game ever. As the NPC AI is utterly worthless, there's never a reason to use one of these, and the game will auto-revive the companion at points anyway, mostly for plot exposition. This Angel Grail and literally every single other one will be sold. Or otherwise ignored.

Time to wander into Topple, which is right there, that left path up.




Welcome to Topple! Home of the Mana Cult, or not. Or maybe. Why hasn't this place been wiped out yet?


: Thank you for taking me so far. Well, then...

: Sure, anytime.

She runs off. We'll never see her again, right? (Spoilers: Of course we'll see her again.)

: No, she couldn't be...

Yes, Ryu is still going on about that.

Now that she's gone, though, it's time to fullfill the time-honored RPG tradition of breaking into houses and stealing everyone's stuff while getting plot exposition or quests!



See! Plot exposition via break-ins! It's the greatest thing ev... no wait there's more talking. Always more with the talking.


: Wh-who's there!? What are you doing, sneaking in here like that!? Y-you won't find anything! Anything at all! Go ahead, check the whole place! W-we don't believe in the M-Mana Goddess! You can leave now!

Hmm. That's nothing if not suspicious!



Suuuuure there isn't...



Hah! Evidence! Wait, I'm not a Heretic Hunter.

This doesn't actually give us the ability to make him talk. Instead, we have to leave the house.



We were just breakin' in and lookin' for treasure, kiddo, now get out of the way...


: Aww, you don't have to tell me. I already know! Go ahead! Ask! You're from the Realm! You've come to arrest us Mana Goddess followers!

Wait, no, why... There's no stupid pot-armor! Stop this!

The grandfather pops out of the house.


: What nonsense are you babblin' about? Don't bother the nice soldier! We don't believe in that Mana Goddess superstition!

Um... Ryu, you're not a silent protagonist. Speak up! Stop letting people get these ridiculous assumptions!

: No! I'm not gonna keep living a lie! I believe in the Goddess! And if that's not okay with you, then you can go right ahead and kill me!

Ryu, please, SAY something! Stop this!

: Sir! Please forgive the boy his childish nonsense! Please overlook it!

Why does everyone do this?! Stop freaking out and making stupid assumptions just because an armed stranger comes into the village!

: So kill me already! Go ahead. I dare ya! Hurry up and get to it!



This is the second time today that Ryu's been hit by somebody. First Niccolo's kicking, now getting punched by a little boy. This is not going well, is it?



Seriously? Would somebody from the Realm just sit there and take all that?!

Ryu just stands back up, shakes his head, and stays silent. Seriously, I wonder if this is from an early draft of the game that had Ryu has an actual silent protagonist, instead of him actually talking. Anyway, the kid and his grandfather look at each other in confusion.


: C-could it be that you're NOT a... Realm soldier?

Ding ding ding! We have a winnah!

: Oh... I though you were one of Dark Lord's... Oh my... I guess you're not... Well, then, why don't you come on inside?



: Quit making excuses!

: It's not that. It's just that Dark Lord has been rounding up Mana believers with his Heretic Hunters. Topple Village has the most believers out of anywhere. And because of that, we are a marked people.

Of course everyone knows about that! It's so well that lifelong gladiatorial slaves have heard about that!

: It's a scary story...

: So tell me...

: Tell you? Tell you what?

Tell me what Mana worship involves! So far, there's been no details, just the silver and gold statues!

: How can I defeat Dark Lord?

Ah, right. His primary character motivation. Let's not forget that, shall we?

: Defeat Dark Lord? You can't be serious! YOU!? Face him alone!?

I'd be disbelieving, too. After all, Ryu did get his rear end knocked over a waterfall.

: You're gonna take out Dark Lord!? Awesome!

: I've got... issues with him, too.

Too bad fantasy worlds don't have psychiatrists.

: It won't be easy. with his legions of minions and his superhuman power. It would take the mightiest of swordsmen to do it. I don't think it's possible with the Sword of Mana.

Ah-hah! Finally! Somebody mentions the game's name. Took long enough.

: The Sword of Mana? What exactly is that?

Ryu, you know the legends about the Goddess. It's her sword! Y'know, the one that rusted the minute that it left her hand? The one she used to help create the world? THAT SWORD.

: Well, well, well. Your eyes glowed at the mention of the sword. Cibba the Sage over in Wendel can tell you all you need to know.

Ding! New overall plot destination. Not that we'll get there very quickly.

: Wendel is two mountains away from Topple. It's the biggest town anywhere!

Again with the terrible directions.

: With the Sword of Mana, I could beat Dark Lord... I'm off to Wendel, then!

You won't be using the Sword much, Ryu. We're totally gonna be flailing at this game.

We're also given the magic rope here, which automatically moves us to the last Goddess Statue we saved at.




Here's the general store. It only sells consumables - we don't buy weapons and armor in this game, instead, we'll need to upgrade them later.

Also, I forgot that it was night-time. There's supposed to be someone in here, right next to that counter, to get a quest from.



So I ran around outside the village to fix the time and came back to talk to the kid, the one right next to the counter.


: Pardon me. Are you an adventurer? My name is Luke. Would you help me find my father? Could you ask around?

Nobody answers no to this. Hello, first long-running quest of the game!

: Actually, my dad works in Wendel. He left Topple to find work there, and he hasn't been back since. He writes now and then, but the address changes.

You know, this little boy looks more like a little girl. Ah, well.

: We haven't been able to contact him. We've all been so concerned about his health...

: That's why we wanted to give him some barbecued newt. Please, would you see that he gets it?

So, this quest involves a second yes/no question here! ...we say yes, of course. Although I would think barbecued newt would go bad before we could find the deadbeat, but whatever.

: Thank you so much! Barbecued newt is good for the body. Oh, right. Doesn't matter. Sorry about that! My dad's name's Marco. Thanks for doing this!

I'm... confused. Whatever! Time to run around with some newt. Actually, I wasn't kidding earlier - this quest will stick with us for a looooooooong time.

Most villagers don't say anything of interest - either stuff we already heard through Plot Exposition or just generic stuff. There is one, though...




: several disappearances at Vinquette Hall to the east. Tales of attractive girls who went missing. I'm hardly pretty, so I should be safe, right?

Another yes/no question. Of course I answer no! I'm kind of a jerk sometimes.

: Why, you! You didn't have to agree so quickly! That really makes my blood boil.

Don't ask me stupid questions!

At night, we go into the inn, and upstairs to find this guy.



He doesn't have anything terribly interesting to say, he just asks for Blood Pouches from the batmos in the cave ahead, and will pay us 100 Lucre per pouch. I accept the quest and move on. (I'm not going to post the full text of every quest - only the more interesting dialogue.)



Every town, as far as I'm aware, has a Gold Statue somewhere. Interestingly enough, this doesn't invalidate Inns. Instead, staying at the Inn allows you to advance time, and gives you a special status called Best, which improves all your stats for basically the next full day cycle, which can be very handy.


: Blast it! I can't seem to sell this shabby notebook...

Niccolo, surely in a town of people as dumb as the girl concerned about getting kidnapped, you should be able to find someone.

There's only one more house of interest, the one just to the left. It's got the last bit of exposition needed to move along.




I AM NOT A REALM SOLDIER. Please don't accus-

: Are you an adventurer? You look like you know how to use that.

Oh, okay.

: An adventurer? I'm not sure if I'd call myself that...

Wait, what? You'll talk to THIS guy, but not to the crazy kid and his grandpa to defend yourself? Seriously? AUGH. (Actually, this is part of why I suspect that bit with the kid and grandpa may have been from an earlier script, but it still stands out as glaringly bad.)

: Ah, so I'm mistaken. I thought you might've gone to see the man who lives in Cascade Cottage, just north of here. Word has it he's quite the accomplished knight.

: (Hmm. Cascade Cottage, north of Topple. If he's that good, he might have some advice for beating Dark Lord. I'd better pay him a visit.)

Excellent. So we've got an immediate destination in Cascade Cottage, and an overall goal in Wendel. Let's mosey on out of here before we get caught and forced to buy something



stupid. Goddamit, Niccolo.


: Oh! The kid I rescued!

Hello Niccolo. You're still an rear end in a top hat, and I still love you, but this conversation is terrible.

: Great timing! I've got just the thing for your adventure! I spesshy-alize in items catered to the individual needs of your trip! And where will you be heading?

Here, we're given two options: "To avenge my parents!" and "None of your business!" Taking the second option results in this.

: That's too bad. I'm sure you have your reasons. Still, I only let authorized people pass through! At least tell me where you're going!

Okay, seriously, I hate, hate, hate "but thou must!" questions, of which this is a prime example. There's no reason Ryu can't keep walking, Niccolo's not even in the way, and the rabbit-man can't stop us from going anyway. Unfortunately, the notebook is actually a core game mechanic and so getting it is absolutely required. They could have made either answer work, but unfortunately, the conversation just loops back around to the same response set. The only way we can continue the game is by telling Niccolo about vengeance.

: Oooooh! Then it's a lucky day for both of us! This Popoi's Notebook is perfect for you! While on your adventure, it will automatically record maps and monsters, and even your friends! And it's only 10 lucre! Why not pick one up?

I have no idea what would happen if we didn't have the 10 Lucre. I intend never to find out. Let's get moving and murder some things, shall we?



Nighttime, and we're north of Topple now, so we get some new enemies. This is the batmo. I'll be killing a lot of them in the near future. They're actually pretty frustrating enemies right at first - they're very dodgy, and so most attacks with the sword just outright whiff. Even better, slash attacks, like the sword, do only half damage, making them even worse. Finally, their attacks can inflict Confusion, which is the age-old backwards control screw, which is just annoying. I just run past them for now, and believe it or not, they're the better option than the daytime enemy.



Ah, the Bebes. I hate them. They're also kind of dodgy, but not as much as the Batmos. However, they hit kinda hard and they can inflict Poison, which is a serious danger to us right now, as we have no good way of healing. No, gumdrops don't count as a good way, as we have very few. Healing magic would be better, but it'll be quite a while before we get access to that. Also, Bebes are like the Batmos - they take half damage from slash weapons.

There's a bit of a theme to this whole area - a theme in that this area is piss-easy for Nina. Everything takes double damage from bash weapons, many take double damage from light magic (which she starts with) and she has healing magic. I think the developers were trying to be "nice" to Nina, since she's theoretically the weaker character (hint, no she's really not) but in this area they just went totally overboard.




Anyway, it doesn't take long to reach the cottage. And just like back in town, it's time to barge in and look for supplies and/or exposition! Guess which we'll find?

Also, there's no music inside Cascade Cottage. Why?




Exposition envelope! Grab it! Quick! It's actually a pretty short letter and just says to head for Wendel. Nina walks in right after we finish... wait, she left before Ryu! How did we get here first?



And she draws her staff. Oh god, here we go again. Ryu, are you just going to sit through this one silently?

: Heretic Hunter!? With the Realm!? Wait a minute! What are you talking about1?

THIS is the right reaction. Perfect!

: What have you done with Sir Bogard!?

: I haven't done anything!

It's so nice to see him defend himself. Of course, Nina's not going to listen, but it's a good try!

: You're lying!



Oh god that's the third time today why does everyone keep doing this?!

: Ow! Ow! Ow!



: Just like you did when you destroyed my village!

That's actually kind of a silly statement. He doesn't look particularly timeworn, so he can't really be THAT old, particularly in a JRPG.

: Hold on! You've got it all wrong! My only enemy is Dark Lord! And if you're one of his minions, I WILL draw my sword!

What, is it deathmatch time already?

: Me? Work for Dark Lord!? Get real! Dark Lord is the sworn enemy of our village...

Wait, no, I think clues are seeping into to local skulls!

: Okay, so neither of us works for Dark Lord. Let's calm down or we won't get anywhere.

Excellent.

: So you hate Granz Realm, too?

: Um, here... It's a letter I found. It must be fore you.

: Huh? Is it a letter from Sir Bogard?



I originally had no clue what Nina was doing here, but I think I've figured it out. I'll explain in a second.

: Wha-!?

: Hey ya! I'm wisp, a light spirit! Recovery from attacks and such is my specialty. How d'ya do?

: That's a... light spirit, isn't it? Can you actually use spirit magic!?



A bit of energy swirls around Ryu here - presumably healing.

: You've never seen a spirit before? They won't appear to bad people. So I guess you're probably not too bad.

Okay, so, here I was confused originally. It was a lot of production for just healing, and she's already done that a lot. But I think she was deliberately calling Wisp out to gauge if Ryu was trustworthy or not. If Wisp refused to come out, she would have known he was lying and been free to try to kill him. Unfortunately, it's never properly explained, so all I can do here is guess.

<edit>So, thanks to MightyPretenders, I went back and double-checked, and this is actually the first time we see Nina use magic. During the walk from the glade to Topple, she sticks to just swinging her staff, and doesn't use magic at all, which is a surprisingly nice touch, highlighting her distrust of Ryu and her unwillingness to help him more than necessary, plus her fear of him being a Heretic Hunter. It also means this sequence makes perfect sense, since this is, in fact, the first time Ryu sees a Spirit.</edit>

Nina then gives us a brief tutorial on magic, but it's pretty useless. We still don't have a spirit of our own, we don't know how to Sit... I'll go over magic properly once we get a spirit.


: Spirit magic, huh? So I can use it, too. Oh, that's right! I forgot the letter. I didn't know it was for you when I read it... Sorry about that.

You mean "exposition envelope".

I really do like how this game animates things. It's not worth making a gif, but Ryu steps forward and hands Nina the letter.


: Just as I thought. It's Sir Bogard's handwriting! He's all right. Oh, good... I'm going to have to visit Wendel.

: If you're going to Wendel, would you mind if I tagged along?

: How come?

: There's a sage in Wendel by the name of Cibba.

: Yes, I've heard of him. Are you going to see him?

: Yeah. There's something I need to ask him.

: Alright, then. Let's go to Wendel together.

: The master over at Vinquette Hall sealed the cave to Wendel. We've got to go to Vinquette Hall before we can get anywhere.

This is why I don't show the villager dialogue much - one of them does mention that very last bit about the sealed cave, but it's always brought up in exposition anyway.

Nina officially rejoins the party and we step outside.



These are outright lies. We can hop down mid-size cliffs, but we can only jump up teeny tiny steps.



PowerUP!

Time to keep going. We head off to Batmo cave, since we're done here. Things to do, Batmos to grind on, weapons to steal... we also run into Niccolo just outside the cave, but all he has to say is a brief tutorial on Metaballs, so I ignore him and just keep going. My tutorial is better.


Most caves will use this music.



And this is Batmo Cave! Our primary enemies will be the aforementioned Batmos, but we also have some other fun surprises!



Like these jerks! Chobin Hoods are archers, and hit pretty hard, but thankfully, the arc of the arrow is exploitable for safety.



These are the last enemies of the cave - the Lime Slimes. They're immune to slash and bash weapons, and they're semi-dodgy. Thankfully, magic works just fine if you must kill them, but there's a better way right around the corner.



Throughout the game, there will be rooms that hold only a single type of enemy, and that enemy will always be one with a weapon. In this case, this room had like five Chobin Hoods in it and nothing else. Once you finish killing all the enemies in the room, you receive the weapon they used, so here, we now have the Bow. This is actually an amazing weapon. It's extremely accurate, so is great for those dodgy enemies. If you get yourself just right, you can actually hit an enemy twice with each shot. It's got good range, and the arc is exploitable to attack safely. Anyway, since I've already introduced a weapon this update, I'll show off the bow in the next one.



So, most quest turn-ins are "rare" drops, which means 10%. This usually isn't too bad, but in this case, I was stuck killing a lot of batmos. I think it took me like twenty tries or so to get the drop? Believe me, I'll have a lot to say about this little mechanic later, but I'm not at true rage levels yet. That will come later, don't you worry. I run back to turn this in, though.



And that's our first quest complete, out of 33. We'll get every quest over time, and many of them are pretty simple to complete. Others will be rage-inducing. Oh, there will be SO MUCH rage.

I run back through the cave and out the other side, and find this a moment later.



You know, this isn't a Metroid game. Backtracking isn't strictly necessary... Obviously, this chest will be acquired later, once we get the ability to cross water.



Finally, we head east only to find... a locked gate! Dun dun duuuuuun...



Stat update as of level 6, which is 5 thief levels. We've received our first class title, which gives +5 Accuracy, and +5 Critical Hit. As you can see, our Power and Agility are coming up nicely, Defence isn't doing too badly, but Int and Mind are... well, going nowhere fast. Don't worry, we'll fix that before long. Or at least, I'll try to - becoming a Ninja Master involves a bunch of Random levels. I may or may not cheat on those.

Catch you all next time, when we finally discover the power of magic!

Serifina fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Apr 7, 2014

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
You have two wrong images as far as I can tell.

Serifina posted:



If you look behind Nina's HP and MP, you'll see what I'm going for there - a chest. A chest hidden by the NPC stats. It's kinda dumb. Even better, the chest holds an Angel Grail. This item is truly aweso.... bwahahaha no it's totally useless. I will never use one in this game ever. As the NPC AI is utterly worthless, there's never a reason to use one of these, and the game will auto-revive the companion at points anyway, mostly for plot exposition. This Angel Grail and literally every single other one will be sold. Or otherwise ignored.

I think this is a wrong image because it doesn't fit the description and is repeated here at it's proper place:

quote:

Hmm. That's nothing if not suspicious!



Suuuuure there isn't...

And here is another error, you use a picture twice:

quote:

I have no idea what would happen if we didn't have the 10 Lucre. I intend never to find out. Let's get moving and murder some things, shall we?



Nighttime, and we're north of Topple now, so we get some new enemies. This is the batmo. I'll be killing a lot of them in the near future. They're actually pretty frustrating enemies right at first - they're very dodgy, and so most attacks with the sword just outright whiff. Even better, slash attacks, like the sword, do only half damage, making them even worse. Finally, their attacks can inflict Confusion, which is the age-old backwards control screw, which is just annoying. I just run past them for now, and believe it or not, they're the better option than the daytime enemy.



Ah, the Bebes. I hate them. They're also kind of dodgy, but not as much as the Batmos. However, they hit kinda hard and they can inflict Poison, which is a serious danger to us right now, as we have no good way of healing. No, gumdrops don't count as a good way, as we have very few. Healing magic would be better, but it'll be quite a while before we get access to that. Also, Bebes are like the Batmos - they take half damage from slash weapons.


Other than that, great write-up. And you are spot on with this part:

quote:

There's a bit of a theme to this whole area - a theme in that this area is piss-easy for Nina. Everything takes double damage from bash weapons, many take double damage from light magic (which she starts with) and she has healing magic. I think the developers were trying to be "nice" to Nina, since she's theoretically the weaker character (hint, no she's really not) but in this area they just went totally overboard.

The girl's start is so much better, her weapon is very effective against the enemies here, unlike the sword, and she starts with the best magic. Not to mention that even if the boy had wisp too, because of the way magic works he would still have a much harder time hitting the enemies. Stupid sword.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Oh, dammit. I'm about to fall asleep - I'll have to fix them later. Sorry about that, folks.

Torrannor posted:

The girl's start is so much better, her weapon is very effective against the enemies here, unlike the sword, and she starts with the best magic. Not to mention that even if the boy had wisp too, because of the way magic works he would still have a much harder time hitting the enemies. Stupid sword.

Hell, the staff is overall a better weapon in general.

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Here's something you didn't mention: Nina doesn't use magic in Ryu's story until they meet again in Cascade Cottage. This is because she's suspicious of Ryu and knows that using Magic (even if it's just Spirit magic and not Mana power) will make the realm soldier suspicious. I always thought that was a nice touch.

She's also the only party member who equips a spirit automatically. For everyone else, you have to switch to them and equip it manually. And once equipped, you can never Unequip it.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Okay, images are fixed. Sorry about that. At least they weren't super-important images.

MightyPretenders posted:

Here's something you didn't mention: Nina doesn't use magic in Ryu's story until they meet again in Cascade Cottage. This is because she's suspicious of Ryu and knows that using Magic (even if it's just Spirit magic and not Mana power) will make the realm soldier suspicious. I always thought that was a nice touch.

She's also the only party member who equips a spirit automatically. For everyone else, you have to switch to them and equip it manually. And once equipped, you can never Unequip it.

Hmm. I didn't mention it because I didn't realize it! I could have sworn I've seen her use magic during the walk from the glade to Topple, but after reviewing the video, you're right, she doesn't use magic at all. I'll definitely keep my eye on the NPC magic usage, too, but I would definitely say at least one of the other NPCs comes with magic equipped automatically (the freakiest looking one).

I edited in a comment about her not using magic before the Cottage.

Serifina fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Apr 7, 2014

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Hm, I may have forgotten about that one.

And on a related note, I think you were right about Nina's goal being to test Ryu's virtue using Wisp.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

MightyPretenders posted:

Hm, I may have forgotten about that one.

And on a related note, I think you were right about Nina's goal being to test Ryu's virtue using Wisp.

It's the only thing I can think of that makes sense. After all, just casting a heal to make up for thwacking him wouldn't take that long.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

Serifina posted:



Nina, Michael Jackson's dead. The moonwalk was, like, decades ago.
You can't tell me what to do! You aren't my real mom! :argh:

Dabir
Nov 10, 2012

Cutting grass can actually get you things. Occasionally herbs like blinkroot will pop out, they basically draw in all enemies that rely on a specific sense, like blinkroot will distract all sighted enemies. I've never found a use for them myself, but there they are, and the book thing is a nice little tutorial for that.

And the reason that area's so much easier for Nina is, well, it's her first area. If Ryu's having trouble with it, you could always just go grind on Rabites as a last resort.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Oh, so there are a whole bunch of different weapon types like Secret of Mana? Do the weapons improve too?

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

Glazius posted:

Oh, so there are a whole bunch of different weapon types like Secret of Mana? Do the weapons improve too?

There's nine weapons, but the sword is Ryu exclusive while the staff is Nina exclusive. We'll gain levels in the weapons as we use them, and later on we'll be able to improve them with better materials. No additional super attacks like Secret, though - the levels only improve damage.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

Serifina posted:

There's nine weapons, but the sword is Ryu exclusive while the staff is Nina exclusive. We'll gain levels in the weapons as we use them, and later on we'll be able to improve them with better materials. No additional super attacks like Secret, though - the levels only improve damage.

I think this actually is a step in the right direction. I was never very fond of running around and evading the enemy while charging the sword to level 6/7/8 and then attacking, the system in Seiken Densetsu 3 and Sword of Mana, where you have to do several normal attacks until your special attack bar fills up is much more engaging.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
I think the charged attack from a weapon is just a guaranteed critical hit, isn't it?

With extra range.

And, as you'll see with the staff when I finally get off my rear end and update (See: survive the current week of setting up three different class projects for three completely different classes that are all equally important for my grades), it is the best goddamn weapon.

Also, I've already recorded enough for at least one or two updates, I just need to do the screenshots and gif making.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
Update 3b: In Which Nina Discovers The Path of Justice

We start out with Nina leaving the cottage and heading towards Topple proper. However, before she can get there, something... happens.



Namely, Nina learns that poking nature means it pokes back. Educational! :eng101:

Also, there was no way I was gonna go into Topple under level 6. I have a game to break. So, several dead rabites later...




Nina then ventured into Topple, with her new title and +5 damage bonus to Spears. Which we won't get for a good, long while. :eng99:



Now, to interact with the common folk.

The first place she goes is the house immediately on her left. Inside is a guy she apparently knows and talks to on occasion. In a village. Within distance of the arena. Bogard is the worst guardian.




If the Heretic Hunters catch you, they make you into a slave. Then day after day, they force you to fight monsters, just for their entertainment.
That sounds horrific! Who would do such a thing?
I thought I'd snap when I first heard it.
How long has Granz Realm been like this?

Seriously? Has Bogard told you nothing?

Since Darth Vader Dark Lord gained political power. He denied Mana power to differentiate himself from Vandole, but... in the end, he's as bad as the Emperor Vandole.
Vandole...
Cibba the Sage, who lives in Wendel, knows all about it. You should go ask him.
{Cibba the Sage... in Wendel...)

Alright, we have our first plot hoo- what do you mean that isn't our plot hook?! Anyway, Nina makes her way to the Inn and goes up stairs, ignoring all those people below. She's too important to talk to them. Up top, she finds someone who catches her interest, although she can't figure out why. Since Ryu's path has the same dialogue, I'll just paraphrase.



Blood for the Blood God!
Ooooooooooookay. Backing away slowly.

Downstairs, she decides to actually talk to the people now that she has determined the guy upstairs is far too into Warhammer 40K for her liking.

Mum's the word. They say the master of Vinquette Hall beyond Batmo Cave is an underworld Mavole! The hall's gate is only open after dark.
(Mavoles... seems there used to be a lot of them...)

What's a Mavole? We've got no clue, and while our intrepid heroine seems to know, she isn't going to tell us squat. Thanks for that, Nina. Outside, she finds the same young woman walking around talking about kidnappings at Vinquette Hall. Nina, however, knows a hot woman when she sees one, since she's one herself. So, knowing that she's the superior beauty, she finds no problem in calling it like it is and telling the woman she, too, is a fellow looker. The response is, of course, different.



But I fear the Heretic Hunters may come for me soon... Er, no, never mind.

Beyond the woman, she decides that the item shop is a nice place to enter, so she meanders inside and heads straight to the small boy, her Quest senses tingling. Again, the dialogue is the same, so I'll paraphrase. I in no way forgot to start this quest after hitting level 18 two updates ahead. Not at all. Ignore the Ryu in the corner.



Are you a PC?
Why, yes!
Want a quest that'll sit around in your log for ages?
Do I have a limit on the amount I can have at once?
Nope!
Boy, do I ever!
Take this food item that mysteriously never goes bad with you and give it to my dad!
Sure thing! I'm getting paid for this, right?
... *flees*
... Welp.

But we do have something new. Onward! :hist101:



... in the meadow that's beyond the forest to the south. Couldja, like, go get it for me and stuff?

Boy, that is not how you ask someone for help. At least you aren't hitting her. Of course, we say yes, because we wish to advance the plot. This is another But Thou Must.

Thanks! It's in the meadow beyond the forest south of here. Watch out for soldiers!

Wait, what? :stare: Anyway, we also talk to his old man. And by old man I mean the guy with a silly hat and a pimpin' 'stache.

Do you pray to the Mana Goddess every day?

We have two responses, yes and no. Since his replies are so obvious, and not very amusing, I will once again paraphrase.

Yes: You're such a good child.
No: You drat kids! Git off mah lawn! :argh:

There's other news around town, of course.

Didja hear the news? The caves to Wendel have been sealed!
Sealed?
They say the master of Vinquette Hall did it! Now I can't go see my daughter in Wendel!

He is appearing to be a dick, and we haven't seen anything yet, let me tell you.

The Heretic Hunters have been giving us nothing but trouble lately. So I gaze at the stars. Hanging high in the heavens, they climb hills, and nearly touch the ground. Half of every day is a sky full of stars. How cool is that?

That's about all there is to see in Topple for now. As such, we head off to the south and go onwards with our quest. Since we're beating things up and taking their stuff, let's show off the staff, shall we?



The staff has a simple three-hit combo, just like the sword. As a bashing weapon, it will be rather handy as a complement to Ryu's sword, which we'll never, ever get to use ourselves. Stingy bastard.



The special is a nice, wide area attack that can hit multiple times if they're in the correct area. I've hit people up to four times if they were just a bit beneath me (ahaha) on the screen. The spell effect is a neat little homing bullet. I'll show it off later after the magic update.

With that out of the way, we move onwards! As we wander, we find... something... shiny.



We'll get you. Oh yes, we'll get you.

Eventually, though, we do make it to the meadow.




Nina wastes no time in starting her search.



Of course, we can't have too much of a disparity between plotlines! Mystery Man shows up to ruin our day.

... !?

Goddamnit Nina, that isn't dialogue! :argh:



I see... Now I remember... I didn't think there were any Mana Clan members left... a fortuitous meeting indeed.
Nobody left... You don't mean... ? Mother, Kaseem, and Willy... Everyone... You killed them all? You murdered EVERYONE!?

Nina, you can stop pretending to care about Willy now. We won't blame you.

Me? Actually, Realm soldiers did that, and Dark Lord gave the order. Surely you've heard of it by now.

Again, Bogard is a dick for not telling her anything.

It's the same thing either way! You ALL did it! You destroyed a peaceful village!!!

I know you are angry, Nina, but ease up on the punctuation.

Pph, pph, phh. That's funny.

What the crap kind of laugh is that? Seriously, it sounds like you're trying to whistle and failing miserably.

Was the village's fall really our fault?

Yes. :colbert:

Isn't it because the Goddess abandoned you?

He turns around at this point, leaving his back wide open, and yet Nina doesn't try to brain him. Damnit, Nina! :argh:



*from offscreen* Sir Julius! Can you hear me? Dark Lord beckons you. Please return immediately!

And now we have a name for the Mystery Man! It is... Julius. Really?



Really?!

Dark Lord?

Then, like a true villain, he lets someone else do his dirty work.



Eeeeeeek! You-you even have control over monsters?



He then teleports out, leaving us to fight a... Chobin Hood. Really?

Look out!

Ryu Military Man shows up to save the day! We quickly dispatch the Chobin Hood and dance merrily upon its corpse.

Are you all right?
(A bloody sword... Is he a Realm soldier?)

Goddamnit, Nina! He just gutted that monster in front of you! :argh:

Well, okay, Nina did all the work, but still.




Oh, I'm fine... Thank you very much. I'll be on my way now...



She wastes no time in jumping to conclusions and assuming Ryu this guy wants to kill her. Because that's why he helped her out. Really. Nina has trust issues.

It's too dangerous for you to go by yourself. I can take you where you need to go.

But... but I fought my way here... :psyduck:

*puts away the staff* No, really, I'm okay! I can get back home on my own.
But what if you get ambushed by a monster again?
I will sit it down and explain the virtues of peace and JUSTICE!
... *takes a careful step back.
*looks him up and down* You, you're from... Granz Realm, aren't you?
Do I look like I'm from Granz Realm?

Yes. Also, at this point, they hear a sound off screen that sounds like a generic explosion/soundeffect/whathaveyou and look to the right.

What!? What was that sound...?

Nina walks back to the grass and lowers her head to read the script.

... Oh, all right. If you could take me to Topple...
Topple? Great! I was just looking for it myself. We can go together!
Okay. Topple Village is northeast of here.

Because we didn't already know that.

My name's Ryu. What's yours?
(Ryu!!! The same name as...!? No, that can't be...)
I'm Nina. Nice to meet you.

They spin and do the Party dance, and Ryu joins us. But not for long.

Oh, wait! A boy from the village asked me for a favor. He lost a book in this meadow... Will you look for it with me?
Yeah.
Thank you. It'll be a big help.



No defoliation for this path, sadly.

Got it!
Thank you! Now we can go back to Topple! The village is just northeast of here.
You keep on saying that.
It's for those with incredibly short attention spans, of course.
Ah.

And so, they return triumphantly to Topple.



Thank you for taking me so far. Well, then...
Yeah.

Ryu takes off to the north and leaves the screen.

(If that boy had survived, he'd probably be about his age... Enough, enough! I told myself I wouldn't be controlled by my past.)

Shaking her head, Nina heads into the house on the right to turn in her fetch quest return the book.



It's a weird story called "Magical Vacation." Kids at a magic school do all sorts of stuff! They beat up enemies with fire, lighting, poison and stuff! Bam! Pow! BOOM! Giant acorns!
... Acorns?
Acorns!
Acorns!

Ah! Sorry, sorry sorry. Got all carried away... I'll let you borrow it when I'm done! Come back and we'll play sometime!

Having done that, we talk to his grandpa again.

Sorry my grandson's been such a bother. You must be tuckered out. I'd take the rest of the day off.
Yeah, ya should! You wanna rest up here?

Um... not creepy at all. And if we say yes, we get this.

You go ahead and make yourself comfortable.

With that disturbing thought in our minds, the screen fades to black, then returns.

Come again anytime. May the Goddess protect and keep you.

Well, our status hasn't changed, so we must not have had anything done to us during the night. Good to know there's still folks like this around.

Come visit us again! Grandpa's always a lot less cranky when other people are around.
I almost forgot! I reckon you'll be facing new dangers on your trip. Here, use this!



Sweet! A magic rope! The old man describes the mechanics of it. It hasn't changed from any other Mana game. Use the magic rope and it'll bring you back to the entrance of the dungeon you're in. It takes you back to the last statue you used. That's nowhere near as useful.

I'm afraid that's about all I can do. Give it your best!
Thank you, sir!

And so we go to leave Topple and return to the cottage, because I am dumb and forgot to talk to someone first. Instead, we get mugged by Niccolo instead.



His dialogue does not change a single bit between routes. All that changes is the options you have for your adventure. In Nina's case, they are:

To find my mother!
None of your business!

Obviously, not telling him results in this.

No!
But thou must!
No!
But thou must!
No!
But thou must!
No!
But thou must!
No!
But thou must!
No!
But thou must!
Argh! Yes!
Yay!


And so he sells us Popoi's Notebook. It has some neat things in it, but there's one thing that stands out the most for Nina.



:ohdear:

Now, if you do not go back to this guy and talk to him, absolutely nothing will happen for the plot. You can run up to the cottage and back innumerable times, making several years pass in game, and Ryu still never makes it there. Until you talk to this guy. Makes you wonder what he was doing.



When I told him about your uncle, he seemed pretty interested. Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut...

No poo poo, Sherlock.

(So that guy WAS with the Realm... I'm worried about Sir Bogard. I'd better get back to Cascade Cottage!)

Back to the cottage, for justice!



JUSTICE!



Heretic Hunter!? With the Realm!? Wait a minute! What're you talking about!?
What have you done with Sir Bogard!?
I haven't done anything!
You're lying!



FOR JUSTICE AND KITTENS!
Ow! Ow! Ow!
Why don't you draw your sword? Just like you did when you destroyed my village!

Granz Realm: Employing Child Soldiers Since Whenever :hist101:

Hold on! You've got it all wrong! My only enemy is Dark Lord! And if you're one of his minions, I WILL draw my sword!
Me? Work for Dark Lord!? Get real! Dark Lord is the sworn enemy of my village...
Okay, so neither of us works for Dark Lord. Let's calm down or we won't get anywhere.
But... but JUSTI-
:colbert:
*sigh* Okaaaaaaaay... So you hate Granz Realm too?
Um, here... it's a letter I found. It must be for you.
Huh? Is it a letter from Sir Bogard?

Nina suddenly gets an awesome metal song in her head, because she starts headbanging.



Then Wisp, who was previously inside her head, flies out due to the power of metal. Ryu is suitably speechless.



Hey ya! I'm Wisp, a light spirit! Recovery from attacks and such is my speciality. How d'ya do?
That's a... light spirit, isn't it? Can you actually use spirit magic!?

Nina and Wisp heal Ryu from the earlier beating before Wisp goes back in Nina's head. Or maybe he's in a pokeball. I really don't know, and it is never explained where they go.

You've never seen a spirit before? They won't appear to bad people. So I guess you're... probably not too bad. Okay, then, I'll teach you how to use magic. Tutorial! :eng101:
Spirit magic, huh? So I can use it, too. Oh, that's right! I forgot the letter. I didn't know it was for you when I read it... Sorry about that.

He hands over the letter and we never get to read the contents themselves :argh:

Just as I thought. It's Sir Bogard's handwriting! He's all right! Oh, good... I'm going to have to visit Wendel.
If you're going to Wendel, would you mind if I tagged along?
How come?
There's a sage in Wendel by the name of Cibba.
Yes, I've heard of him. Are you going to see him?
Yeah. There's something I need to ask him.
... Alright, then. Let's go to Wendel together.

Spinny party dance time again! Ryu has joined us again, this time for a longer period of time.

Hey! That reminds me. The master of Vinquette Hall sealed the cave to Wendel! First, let's head east toward Vinquette Hall.

So, we head out to go on our intrepid adventure. But first, we must learn something!



He teaches us how to jump.



... Now I am the master!
Huh?
Now I can jump!
So can I, though.
Can you sit?
... No...
Bwahahahaha!


With our protagonists back together, they head up the cliff and eastwards to the Batmo Caves. However, before they make it, they find... someone.



If you were thinking of cutting through the cave, better forget it. There are metaballs blocking the way. But fear not! I've got the perfect remedy to those pesky metaballs.
Are you going to try and sell me something again?
Oh ye of little faith.
Remember, there are several kinds of metaballs and each type has its weakness. Quite a predicament... I'd say that only Nina could take care of it!
Didn't you just say-
Look at the time!
Couldja do that for me? Then it's a deal! See ya!
But... I didn't even agree to anything. Hey, where's my pocky?! Niccolo! :argh:

So yeah, thanks for that, buddy. So we head into the Batmo Cave, and start killing things as is our normal modus operandi.



Yeah, we wreck their poo poo. While in the cave, four very special things happen. Firstly, get a bow



Secondly, we get a blood pouch. Thirdly, Ryu has learned to fly.



I'm supposed to be the one with wings!
Wooooooooooooooooooo~!

Thirdly, we end up at level 12 or so because of how many things we have to kill.

Still, we're through! So, Onward, to Vinquette Ha-




Welp.

*****

You might notice that not all the portraits for the NPCs are going to match up perfectly. That's because they're interchangable NPCs who have too many portraits for me to care about keeping seperate. The ones I deem worthy of having their own portrait will have their own portrait. The rest will sit there in obscurity with the same face as everyone else.

198 Rabites have died so Lucy may level.

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Magical Vacation is another video game by Brownie Brown, which unfortunately never made it out of japan. The basic plot is about students of a magic school being scattered across different planes of existence when the Heartless - uh, the Enigma attack during a field trip.

It also involves a spirit based magic system, but with a different and more extensive lineup of spirits - 17 "elements" if I remember correctly. (For the sequel Magical Starsign, they switched the whole thing out for an astrology system instead.)

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
Don't know what's wrong with Julius? It's a great name for a villain :colbert:

On the other hand, this Julius is embarrassing his FFA counterpart right here. No time to cast a quick spell to kill the heroine? No? You would rather stand there and wait for that Chobin Hood to slowly walk towards you before leaving? Right, carry on, idiot!

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Are there boosted version of rabites later or are there just the simple vanilla rabites?

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

Glazius posted:

Are there boosted version of rabites later or are there just the simple vanilla rabites?

Oh, there are later on rabillions, which are pink rabites, and then there are upgraded doom-versions of EVERY enemy in the game. We'll get to those, don't worry.

Edward_Tohr
Aug 11, 2012

In lieu of meaningful text, I'm just going to mention I've been exploding all day and now it hurts to breathe, so I'm sure you all understand.
So vanilla, then strawberry, then chocolate, then? :v:

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

Edward_Tohr posted:

So vanilla, then strawberry, then chocolate, then? :v:

Yep, we have Neapolitan rabites.

Rigged Death Trap
Feb 13, 2012

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

MightyPretenders posted:

Magical Vacation is another video game by Brownie Brown, which unfortunately never made it out of japan. The basic plot is about students of a magic school being scattered across different planes of existence when the Heartless - uh, the Enigma attack during a field trip.

It also involves a spirit based magic system, but with a different and more extensive lineup of spirits - 17 "elements" if I remember correctly. (For the sequel Magical Starsign, they switched the whole thing out for an astrology system instead.)

Ohhh there was an LP of that on SA that never finished.(or was it the sequel?)

Pretty purile story but cool mechanics.

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Ohhh there was an LP of that on SA that never finished.(or was it the sequel?)

Pretty purile story but cool mechanics.

That was Starsign, the sequel. The stories are very different, but they both have the themes of traveling to different worlds, discovering how harsh it can be, and growing up.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

Torrannor posted:

Don't know what's wrong with Julius? It's a great name for a villain :colbert:

On the other hand, this Julius is embarrassing his FFA counterpart right here. No time to cast a quick spell to kill the heroine? No? You would rather stand there and wait for that Chobin Hood to slowly walk towards you before leaving? Right, carry on, idiot!
Oh, it's a totally okay name. I'm still going to mock him relentlessly, though.

Just like I'm going to mock everyone and everything in this game. Seriously, the mockery is well deserved.

And yet, it's still a really, really fun game.

BlazeEmblem
Jun 8, 2013

Uh oh. Do I use Ariadne thread or Goho-M?


:argh:

I hated having to deal with amigos - or rather, the lack of them, because I didn't have any friends that played this game. And because of that, I never finished that one late game quest.

And even if I did, I would have had to pull out a link cable to do it. At least later portable systems used wireless linking instead of a physical link cable.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

BlazeEmblem posted:

:argh:

I hated having to deal with amigos - or rather, the lack of them, because I didn't have any friends that played this game. And because of that, I never finished that one late game quest.

And even if I did, I would have had to pull out a link cable to do it. At least later portable systems used wireless linking instead of a physical link cable.

Oh, we're totally cheating the amigo quest. I was the same - I didn't have anyone else nearby who played the game, so I never had any amigos.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
"Hey, guys, remember how Secret of Mana had great multiplayer for its time?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's tell people we're gonna do something like that but totally not do it."

I know that's not how it actually happened, but that's how it feels.

MagusofStars
Mar 31, 2012



Serifina posted:

I was the same - I didn't have anyone else nearby who played the game, so I never had any amigos.

Frankly, given that this happens in EVERY single-player game with a tacked-on linking capability*, I'm half convinced that "cheating like crazy" is actually the developer-intended behavior.

*Pokemon games being one obvious exception, simply because in those games it's not just tacked-on, but actually a core mechanic to expand gameplay and increase replayability (via tournaments/multiplayer). Also, the games were broadly popular enough to easily find competition.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

MagusofStars posted:

Frankly, given that this happens in EVERY single-player game with a tacked-on linking capability*, I'm half convinced that "cheating like crazy" is actually the developer-intended behavior.

*Pokemon games being one obvious exception, simply because in those games it's not just tacked-on, but actually a core mechanic to expand gameplay and increase replayability (via tournaments/multiplayer). Also, the games were broadly popular enough to easily find competition.

The problem is that these developers are Japanese, and in Japan, it's not actually all that hard. Higher population density and more likeliness to play these games, plus they love them some connectivity stuff. Here in the US, these features become near-worthless. It's only in the last couple of years that developers have realized oh right DUH a lot of sales of these games happen outside Japan.

PixoPoxo
Dec 11, 2006
Am get!
I actually played through this recently, and I think the thing that really stumped me were some of the mechanics related to enemies. Detection via sight, smell, etc.? How the hell am I supposed to know what enemy detects me by what arbitrary sense?

I also did a bit of looking around after playing through it, and I found out something interesting.
The new design of Dark Lord takes inspiration from the old official one. Thought it was a bit of a neat touch.

Regardless, the game has great music and visuals for a GBA game. As for the "secret," are you referring to the post-credits chocobo cameo?

PixoPoxo fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Apr 19, 2014

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

SGR posted:

I actually played through this recently, and I think the thing that really stumped me were some of the mechanics related to enemies. Detection via sight, smell, etc.? How the hell am I supposed to know what enemy detects me by what arbitrary sense?

Regardless, the game has great music and visuals for a GBA game. As for the "secret," are you referring to the post-credits chocobo cameo?

Nope. It's a bit of equipment.

Once you've killed an enemy, it shows up in Popoi's Notebook. If you open their info there, it lists which senses the monster uses. I've never bothered caring, though - they're typically slow or stupid enough that you can run past if you need to. The only difference it makes is that you can use certain items to lure enemies with the related scent over to one location, but it's never needed.

PixoPoxo
Dec 11, 2006
Am get!

Serifina posted:

Nope. It's a bit of equipment.

Once you've killed an enemy, it shows up in Popoi's Notebook. If you open their info there, it lists which senses the monster uses. I've never bothered caring, though - they're typically slow or stupid enough that you can run past if you need to. The only difference it makes is that you can use certain items to lure enemies with the related scent over to one location, but it's never needed.

Yeah that mechanic felt really tacked-on and useless. Dunno what they were thinking with that.

Arcade Rabbit
Nov 11, 2013

Serifina posted:

It's only in the last couple of years that developers have realized oh right DUH a lot of sales of these games happen outside Japan.

The heavily increased use of wifi has also thankfully made this much better in recent years. Now you don't have to rely on someone else having the same system and game, you can trade pokemon with someone in Germany or co-op a game with someone in Russia. Something tells me such a thing would have been very helpful for a game like this.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

Serifina posted:

Nope. It's a bit of equipment.

Once you've killed an enemy, it shows up in Popoi's Notebook. If you open their info there, it lists which senses the monster uses. I've never bothered caring, though - they're typically slow or stupid enough that you can run past if you need to. The only difference it makes is that you can use certain items to lure enemies with the related scent over to one location, but it's never needed.
Speaking of Popoi's Notebook, I'm going to do some more detailed writeups of enemies we encounter in some later info posts, which will go into more detail about monster types, strengths, and weaknesses.

And how such things can make you want to punch someone in the face for attempting one build or another that isn't relatively balanced between magic and physical combat for certain parts of the game.

During which I will also point out how to get around that.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Deepest apologies, folks. An update is coming, I promise, but life has been busy, I've been lazyor distracted (Child of Light came out), and things have been weird. (I have today off and will be working on the update all night if I have to, so hopefully will have one for you by morning.)

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
Good to hear! We are about to enter one of the more stupid parts of the game.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

Torrannor posted:

Good to hear! We are about to enter one of the more stupid parts of the game.
You say that like there's a part that isn't stupid.

So stupid it's amazing. :allears:

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

Serifina posted:

Deepest apologies, folks. An update is coming, I promise, but life has been busy, I've been lazyor distracted (Child of Light came out), and things have been weird. (I have today off and will be working on the update all night if I have to, so hopefully will have one for you by morning.)

You had something very important come up and the update will only be delayed until the weekend, right? :ohdear:

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...

Torrannor posted:

You had something very important come up and the update will only be delayed until the weekend, right? :ohdear:

It's called "my computer is a dick". My recording got corrupted so I had to go back and redo stuff. Just frustrating but it does mean it takes longer.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

Serifina posted:

It's called "my computer is a dick". My recording got corrupted so I had to go back and redo stuff. Just frustrating but it does mean it takes longer.
Hey, ME TOO.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
I know things are delayed, but I promise, folks, my update is in the works. It's about 3/4 done. Full disclosure: I got caught in the loop of endless cliffhangers in Agents of SHIELD (yes, I've only just now watched it) and lost a few days. Look for the update either sometime between now and Tuesday.

  • Locked thread