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Wait, how does the Swordsman class not have the relevant skill for a katana? 
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Sep 5, 2023 04:29
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One serving of SaGa games generally breaking up weapon types extensively, long swords and falchions and foils and rapiers all being different things that have no interconnecting skills, and one other serving of katanas always going in a special class instead of being heavy two handed sabres, because there always is the traditionnal rpg distinction between western swordery and eastern swordery.
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Sep 5, 2023 04:38
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Gilgamesh255 posted:Wait, how does the Swordsman class not have the relevant skill for a katana? None of the basic classes have Katana skill. It's only available to three advanced classes and one legendary class. A bunch of skills are only found in advanced or legendary classes.
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Sep 5, 2023 04:44
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Regarding katanas, while I understand them being split up in this entry that seems to have way, *way* more weapon types than I'm used to, I'm rather glad Scarlet Grace just decided to lump Katana and True Katana into the Greatswords, just being a weapon type with some unique Techs among the group.
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Sep 5, 2023 06:49
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berryjon posted:Is that supposed to be there? (Also, why I put // before internal notes like this when I'm writing. Helps it stand out and easy to find in a file.) Hah, no, it was definitely not supposed to be there. 
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Sep 5, 2023 12:20
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I'm glad I'm reading this LP instead of playing the game because the solution to that informal puzzle with the dinosaurs sounds like the kind of thing that would make me tear my hair out and say, "Of course, it's SaGa."
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Sep 6, 2023 21:51
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Shitenshi posted:I'm glad I'm reading this LP instead of playing the game because the solution to that informal puzzle with the dinosaurs sounds like the kind of thing that would make me tear my hair out and say, "Of course, it's SaGa." If I'm being honest, I cribbed that tactic from the official strategy guide published for the PS2 version. That guide has a ton of bad information, but in this case it's on point. There may be another solution, but hell if I know what it is.
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Sep 7, 2023 00:07
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5-Headed Snake God posted:That guide has a ton of bad information, but in this case it's on point Anything as bad as "you can jump through certain hoops and can get Gustaf to join in on Battle of Southmoundtop and make the nightmare of a battle into something merely scary?" bad?
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Sep 7, 2023 00:42
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Shitenshi posted:I'm glad I'm reading this LP instead of playing the game because the solution to that informal puzzle with the dinosaurs sounds like the kind of thing that would make me tear my hair out and say, "Of course, it's SaGa." The intended solution is probably to either dodge them on the field or use a proficiency to sneak past. Making them disappear by retreating is just the easy route
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Sep 7, 2023 01:41
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FeyerbrandX posted:Anything as bad as "you can jump through certain hoops and can get Gustaf to join in on Battle of Southmoundtop and make the nightmare of a battle into something merely scary?" bad? That's not a reference I get, so I suppose I don't know. But it does have some bad strategies and, in some case, outright false information (like claiming certain fights have fixed enemy sets when they don't).
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Sep 7, 2023 02:38
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The Official SaGa Frontier 2 guide mentions that if you did some stuff in a particular order you could bring one of the best units into an extremely unfair fight. Which is strange because the guide was pretty good about other things of similar circumstances. There's a handful of events that only show up if you do other events in order and it documented them well.
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Sep 7, 2023 02:48
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I've spent quite a bit of time discussing game mechanics, so how about we take a break from that and go over a bit of the world's mythology? Not a lot of this is really important to the game's story (some of these names never even show up in-game), but some of it is, and I think it's still pretty interesting. (Note that some of this information is intentionally left incomplete or inaccurate. It's meant to reflect broad strokes and the general knowledge of the inhabitants of Mardias, as well as to hide a few spoilers.) Saiva (left) and Marda (right), with Elore and Nisa (bottom) In the beginning - or at least as far back as anyone knows - there were two gods: Marda, the creator, and his wife Saiva, the destroyer. Together they rules over the world Marda had created, Mardias. At some point, for reasons unknown (possibly their opposed natures), they fell into conflict and began the War of the Gods. The two deities warred continuously with one another, creating monsters and other beings to fight on their behalf. Many of these creatures were wiped out, but a few persist today.  Saiva creates Elore Eventually, Saiva decided to create a minion above the rest: a lesser god. She hoped that in doing so, she might finally turn the tide of the war in her favor. Channeling divine power into her finger, she pricked it with a needle, and from the blood that spilled, a god was indeed born. His name was Elore. Elore's birth did change the tide of the war, though not as Saiva had hoped. Elore sided instead with Marda, and together the two were at long last able to slay Saiva. (At some point Marda also created a goddess, Nisa, though it's unclear when; she eventually became Elore's wife.) It is possible that Marda himself also died in the final battle, as he seems to have disappeared in the aftermath.  The three gods of evil rise from Saiva's remains: Death (top left), Schirach (bottom left), and Saruin (right) But while Saiva may have died, her legacy of destruction did not, as she left behind three more gods. From her bones arose Death, whose name and nature are one and the same. From her hair arose Schirach, goddess of darkness and magic. But it was her black heart that birthed the most wicked of the three: Saruin, god of evil and destruction. The peace brought about by Saiva's death was short-lived, as these three new gods banded together to conquer Mardias. Elore and Nisa, who loved the world and its creatures, moved to oppose them. This new war was long and bloody, and Saruin in particular created many terrible creatures to wage it. Some were obliterated, others were sealed away, and still more remain in the world today. Nisa, meanwhile, created two species, the Taralians and Terranites, whose names befit her role as the goddess of the earth. Inspired by these creations, Elore made beings of his own: Humans.  The warrior Mirsa and his companions. Elore eventually devised a strategy to deal with Saruin, who led the three dark gods in their war. He went to the mortal warrior Mirsa and gifted him with ten Fatestones: powerful gems that could counter Saruin's power. Alongside a group of companions (brave knights and an unknown sorceress), Mirsa fought his way to Saruin. The battle was fierce, but in the end, Mirsa emerged victorious. Unable to slay Saruin, he instead used the Fatestones to seal him away. Regrettably, his wounds were great, and he perished not long after.  Elore and Nisa devise a plan to deal with Schirach With Saruin removed from the war, Death and Schirach surrendered. They had mostly been spurred on by loyalty toward their brother, and lacked his ambition. Death retired to the Underworld, where he became the shepherd of the dead. But Schirach posed a greater problem. She was said to be even mightier than Saruin, and if left unchecked, she would wreak terrible havoc on Mardias, even without intending it. Using the power of one of the Fatestones, Elore sealed away her darkness; what became of her, no one knows.  Elore revives Mirsa and raises him to godhood With the war finally at an end, Elore and Nisa were able to settle down and oversee Mardias properly. They had several divine children, who remain worshiped by the people of the world today. Elore also rewarded Mirsa for his service by returning him to life and granting him godhood. Modern Gods of Mardias Elore: God of light, ruler and father of the gods. His temple is in Melvir, capital of Bafal. Nisa: Mother of the gods and goddess of the earth. Her temple is in Crystal City, capital of Rosalia. Yucomb: Wrathful god of the seas and bringer of storms. He has two temples, one in Melvir and the other in South Estamir, in north Kjaraht. Amut: Goddess of love and one of two moon goddesses. Her temple is in North Estamir. Eres: Goddess of beasts and the other moon goddess. Consort of Cyril. She has no temple. Cyril: God of plants. He has no temple. Mirsa: Formerly mortal god of warriors, especially knights. His temple is in Crystal City. Saruin: God of evil and destruction. Though sealed away, he still has worshipers. He has no temple - at least, not under the sun. Death: God of death, ruler of the Underworld. Doesn't seem to have many worshipers, if any at all. He has no temple. Schirach: Goddess of darkness and magic, who disappeared after Saruin's defeat. She has no temple. 5-Headed Snake God fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Oct 3, 2023 |
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Sep 11, 2023 13:36
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Saiva: GO FORTH AND WRECK HAVOC IN MY NAME, CHILDREN! Elore: Nah, I think I'm gonna side with dad on this one; his creation games just appeal to me. Schirach: Meh. Death, I'm not really feeling it, think I'm gonna go chill in the underworld--- Saruin: MOTHER, I SHALL BRING DESTRUCTION AND TERROR THE LIKES THIS WORLD HAS EVER SEEN, FOR THE LAUGHS! ...annnd maybe in your name. If I remember. Saiva: And this is why you're Mommy's favorite  Schirach: Ugu, drat it Saruin, now we have to get involved so we don't look bad! Come on, Death! Elore: Well, shi---wait, hold on, weren't you three born after Saiva died? Saiva:  Saruin: Oh, thanks a lot, dick! Now it's personal! Why yes, what I wrote is hardly accurate to the lore, why do you ask?
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Sep 11, 2023 23:31
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No, that makes it proper SaGa style, if they had the budget to make it so you'd have ten towns up and down a river valley and each would have the myth with the same names and the same core beats except that each would be either subtly incompatible or facially incompatible with the others, they would.
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Sep 11, 2023 23:44
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Gilgamesh255 posted:Saiva: GO FORTH AND WRECK HAVOC IN MY NAME, CHILDREN! I love it.
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Sep 12, 2023 00:05
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now whens this going to be mechanically relevant
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Sep 12, 2023 00:19
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Rigged Death Trap posted:now whens this going to be mechanically relevant Mechanically? Never. But there are parts of it that get referenced in the story.
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Sep 12, 2023 00:22
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The concept art for the Saga series is so good. Tomomi Kobayashi is extremely talented.
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Sep 12, 2023 06:41
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buddychrist10 posted:The concept art for the Saga series is so good. Tomomi Kobayashi is extremely talented. Heck yeah. Half the reason I wanted to do that post was to have an excuse to show off the artwork.
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Sep 12, 2023 12:22
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Welcome back, everyone. It's time for us to meet our fourth protagonist. Claudia's starting attributes are deceptive. She looks competent, but nothing special - certainly not as powerful as Gray. But make no mistake, Claudia is a beast. With her stat growths, BP regeneration, and absolutely outrageous 17 LP, she's not just the most powerful of the eight protagonists, but probably the single most powerful character in the entire game.  Claudia's starting class is Ranger, which is pretty decent. Bows are always a good weapon type to have, Terrology has some decent utility spells, and Search is vital to have on someone in the party. The class's passive ability of sometimes not using BP is also one of the best you can find in a basic class.  Claudia is tied to the Bafal Empire, though her actual unique interactions with its plotlines are minimal.     Trivia: Eule (pronounced "Oy-leh", or "Oy-lay" by the game's voice actors) is the German word for "owl". So we have three animals in this shot.     Claudia is basically a Disney princess because she seems to be able to talk to animals.  I find it mildly amusing that Eule seems to spend all her time standing outside her hut talking to a wolf and a bear.  Our first task is pretty straightforward: head to the forest's entrance and kill some monsters.    To help, we get our first two party members, Sylvan and Brau. Playing as Claudia is the only way to recruit them, and unlike other party members, they can't be manually removed from the group. They're helpful in the early game, but a lack of Glimmers and inability to use equipment makes them more of a liability as the game progresses.  Note the Event Rank clock: Claudia begins the game at ER 1, rather than zero. Not a huge difference, but it's that much less time to mess around.  Claudia herself starts with some surprisingly decent gear for a girl raised in the woods.  Music Highlight: Pure Guardian/Innocent Warden Claudia's theme is a soft piece to reflect her gentle nature. It doesn't really feel like an exploration song, but it fits the character. Anyway, let's head for the entrance to the forest. Mazewood lives up to its name, but heading toward the camera is usually a safe bet for getting out.   When we arrive, we find a familiar man being chased by monsters.  He evades them by jumping onto a high ledge, and even laughs at their inability to reach him.  Pride goeth before the fall.  Luckily, Claudia shows up just in time.  For the first round of the fight, we have only Gian, though he isn't in much danger. He also seems to be using someone else's BP pool, if that box on the bottom right is any indication.  Luckily, Claudia's party shows up on round 2.  Brau is a big, strong fighter who can inflict poison and paralysis on foes, though the latter has a potential LP cost.  Sylvan focuses more on damage, though her techniques both risk a loss of LP, and she doesn't really have enough to make that risk worthwhile unless we're desperate.  Gian himself is back to using his own BP pool, but with four characters, the fight isn't much of a problem. Yeah, I know I failed to actually get a picture of the opposition. It's two goblins and a basic insect enemy.     Gian seems oddly shocked at Claudia's name.    Sylvan shakes her head, but Brau gives an enthusiastic nod.  Claudia seems reluctant to have a lengthy conversation with this stranger.    Claudia's model does have a barely-visible ring on the pinkie, and you might have noticed that she starts with a Coral Ring equipped. I appreciate little touches like that.    Well, that's a bit random.    And with that, Gian leaves.   It's at this point that I remember to take Claudia out of the front row, since she's an archer. Bows are unusual in that they can be optimally placed in either of two rows. The middle row offers greater power, while the back offers superior speed. I usually opt for the latter since it also comes with a defense bonus, but middle row can be a good choice if we need raw damage.  With that done, we make our way back to Eule.      Witch-mom doesn't seem to place a huge amount of value on human life.    I do appreciate that she's not an overprotective mother figure, and actually encourages her girl to go out and see the world.  If that's not foreshadowing I don't know what is.         We can now leave Mazewood for either Melvir or Aurefont. At this point we could abandon the rest of the intro; NPCs in Aurefont can unlock new cities for us to explore.  But that's way less interesting, so let's head to Melvir.  The city's main square has a set of stairs leading up. Melvir is a two-story city! (The "???" indicates that this is an area transition and we don't know where it leads. On subsequent trips it'll have the name of the area.)  Once we're there, the palace is straight ahead.    The guards are pretty competent, but luckily we're expected.  After a believable wait time, Gian runs out to welcome us.  That's weird, but sure.    Neville has possibly the most impressive nose in the game.       The continues to be extremely suspicious. If I didn't know better I'd think this girl raised in the forest by a witch was important somehow.   Claudia's intro is full of foreshadowing.   Claudia may not know much about city living, but she's smart enough to ask obvious questions.    From a gameplay standpoint this isn't strictly true, but there's a fair amount of violence that can happen in the game's cities, so it's not unfair.   Unfortunately, he's an absolutely rotten guard.  Sure. "Just now."    I guess Gray's default response is to accept Gian's request.  And I still can't tell whether he lacks any social grace or he just enjoys messing with Gian.        This is probably the nicest we've seen Gray so far. It's actually starting to seem like he could have genuinely made friends with Galahad and Myriam.   Having Gray join up unlocks a bunch of new locations. I'm not going to bother showing them all here, but he basically gives us access to every city in Bafal, Rosalia, the Dry Lands, Ligau, and Walon Isle, which is north of the Dry Lands.  At this point Claudia's intro is done, but let's do one more thing and head to Aurefont.  In lieu of the normal music for the town, something else is playing. Music Highlight: Omen/A Sign A basic but solid track with a real sense of urgency and danger.  Most of the townsfolk aren't on the street, but this guy is willing to stick around and tell us what's up.  This building with two unconscious guards outside is probably it.  Inside are a whole bunch of guys from Metal Gear Solid who we thankfully don't have to fight.  They barrel through us, knocking us to the back of the room, and another monster comes in to take us out.  It's a morlock, with is slightly above our current Battle Rank.  It's not terribly tough though.  We chase the thieves outside and... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLf4BUSrXvQ Patrick is one of the hammiest characters in the game, and as a bonus, he has an amazing mustache.  The mystery of where the gold went and why it was stolen remains to be solved, but that's a story for another time. 5-Headed Snake God fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Sep 20, 2023 |
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Sep 18, 2023 13:20
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Gian's stats are way too high for being such a loser.
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Sep 20, 2023 18:59
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Welcome back everyone. We're halfway through the character intros, and we're finally getting to what I think is the more interesting half of the protagonist pool. Jamil (pronounced "ja-MEEL") is a plucky thief. Despite having possibly the fanciest outfit of the eight protagonists, he's a street rat, so presumably those clothes are stolen.  Jamil's class is, appropriately, Thief. While its special ability (a chance to use a certain proficiency to reveal treasures above the skill's level) is pretty lame, its skill set is very good: Foil is always a good weapon skill, and Search and Strategy are two of the most important field skills.  Jamil is associated with Kjaraht, a once-grand empire that rivaled Bafal in power, but has been slowly falling apart in more recent years.     Estamir is an unusual city in that it's divided into two halves, which are considered separate cities in terms of gameplay. North Estamir is prosperous and wealthy, while South Estamir is basically a big slum.    We're quickly introduced to Jamil as well as his friend and partner, Dowd.    Dowd is one of those characters who lacks the confidence of his close friend. In a proper narrative he'd probably grow and develop, but this is SaGa, so he'll always be that way no matter how powerful he actually gets.  Jamil, meanwhile, has confidence enough for two and grabs a fancy set of silver bracers.  It's at this point that the pair's luck runs out and they're forced to flee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjRFPyvtl-U (There's some pretty bad audio desync in this video and I'm not sure why. I'll work on fixing it for later updates.) The fact that Jamil Naruto runs through the city sewers will never not be funny to me.  Jamil and Dowd make their escape into South Estamir.    Jamil is kind of a jackass.  But Dowd sticks by him, ever the doormat. Music Highlight: I'll Take All the Treasure!/All the World is an Oyster Jamil's theme plays over the usual South Estamir music when he's the protagonist. It's a theme that highlights his happy-go-lucky nature.  Now that we've got control, let's check out our party. Jamil has some pretty basic starting stats and gear, though his Dexterity is excellent. He also starts battles with 50% of his maximum BP - the most any character can get - and gets +3 per round even with a mere 15 maximum. This will serve him quite well as the game goes on, assuming he's in our party.  We may as well equip him with the bracers we got as well, despite their low defense.  Dowd, meanwhile, is... not great. He has a ton of LP, but that's about it. He has some bottom-of-the-barrel weapons, which are totally useless since he doesn't have any skill with them. His starting class, Thug, is actually new to the remaster (on PS2 he had no starting class), and uses Scimitars, Martial Arts, and Strategy.  Strategy is redundant with Jamil as a Thief and we can't afford any scimitars yet, but punching things is always an option, so we may as well remove his weapons to give him a bit more speed. With that out of the way, let's take a look around the city.  She's not wrong, but I think the city being dirty is the least of its problems.   This lady obviously knows us. Since money is tight, we'll keep what we have, but if you all choose Jamil as our protagonist I'll let you dictate his behavior more closely.   The girl over here, Farah, is likewise an obvious acquaintance of Jamil's. (She's also recruitable, but like Neidhart, not until about halfway through the game, so she won't be presented as an option for our final party.)  No way, we worked hard for these!  Says the girl who stays home with her mom all day. Let's get out of here.  We are almost immediately threatened by someone who wants all our money. But to hell with that.  Dowd's low stats mean he often won't even deal damage when he hits, but Jamil can reliably one-shot muggers.  A person in town tells us that the city sewers are infested with monsters. What she doesn't mention is that they connect the north and south parts of the city. They must be pretty deep down to run under the ocean.  Besides muggers, South Estamir's streets are infested with child beggars.   Go steal your own money, kid.  Lacking anything better to do, we head to the local pub. We'll ignore the resident musician and talk to the barkeep.   Sure, we could use some more cash.  No, not the musician. The less obvious guy.    So saying, the guy disappears in a puff of smoke.  This seems like a job worth doing, but we have no idea where to start looking. But Farah's a young woman, so maybe she's heard something?  This doesn't look good.     Jamil might be an rear end, but at the end of the day, he still supports his friends, and probably doesn't care for slavers.  Conveniently, a house on the north end of town is labeled as belonging to the slave trader.  He's got some guards, but it should be fine.  Well, we're making progress in our job, if not the way we intended.   A fight ensues, and it's barely worth mentioning. It's three guys more or less identical to the mugger on the street. I've thrown in a shot of Dowd doing nearly nothing so you can see how bad he is. At least he's getting some decent stat growths, since his numbers are so low.   Kidnapping women and imprisoning them in the temple of the goddess of love? That's dark.   Jamil seems to be considering it. And, after some dramatic camera zooms and spins, the screen goes white...  ...and somehow he's changed clothes. I have no idea where that dress came from, but I can't deny that Jamil makes a fabulous drag queen.   Jamil himself clearly doesn't care for it, but needs must.  Jamil has a unique walk cycle for this brief period disguised as a woman, which is a bit impressive.  We could get to North Estamir via the sewers, but for now we're better off avoiding the monsters. Luckily, there's also a boat that will take us there for a pittance.  The difference in the two halves of the city are plainly visible. North Estamir actually looks really nice.  The temple is at the northwest part of the city.  The interior is the same as any other temple: a big, spacious room with stairs leading up to a dais.  The temple priests sell magic at inflated prices. However, they tend to be the only places to buy the best spells in each school, and every purchase carries an additional bonus - though we'll discuss that another time.  The temple of Amut is unusual in that it has a second set of stairs leading down from the dais.   It leads us to a door, the guard of which is all to happy to let us in. (We could also have come here without visiting the slave trader, in which case we'd have to fight our way in.)  Ugh. I generally prefer not to find a guy's secret sex dungeon. Wait, isn't that..?   Yep, it's Aisha. This is where she ends up at the end of her own intro, assuming she loses to the Kidnapper.  Yeah, loneliness is definitely the emotion I'd expect her to be feeling in this situation.    We recruit Aisha, though she's about as useful as you'd expect. We can at least give her Dowd's bow to keep her off the front lines though.  Finally, let's talk to Farah.     Farah's voice actress spends a good ten to fifteen seconds just laughing at Jamil. I suppose it's just vengeance for refusing to give her the bracers.   Unfortunately, we're interrupted by Wuhan himself, who sees through our disguise and sics his guards on us.  Wuhan's Guards aren't too tough, though they're a step above the guys we've fought so far. With Jamil's strength, we should be able to win in two rounds.    Unless, you know, Dowd Glimmers something and absolutely destroys the other one. One-Two-Three is a great early-game martial arts technique, since it has a relatively low cost and deals pretty impressive damage.  Following the fight, Wuhan begs for his miserable life. Being a miser is one thing, but murdering a man who's begging for his life is another. We'll let him go for now.    Back at Farah's house, she and her mother offer profuse thanks and a handful of jewels.   We also head back to the pub to collect our payment. I've mentioned it before, but quests really are a great source of gold.  As before, our contact disappears in a puff of smoke.  And with that, Jamil's intro is done! 5-Headed Snake God fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Sep 26, 2023 |
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Sep 25, 2023 21:47
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And that leaves...two, if I'm not mistaken? Without giving too much away, one being someone who was the subject of an LP of the original Super Famicom version of this game before the writer called it quits for reasons, and the other being AWESOME, with an equally AWESOME bro. Editor's note: Awesomeness is subjective, and may or may not be as awesome I actually think.
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Sep 26, 2023 01:37
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Gilgamesh255 posted:And that leaves...two, if I'm not mistaken? Without giving too much away, one being someone who was the subject of an LP of the original Super Famicom version of this game before the writer called it quits for reasons, and the other being AWESOME, with an equally AWESOME bro. Three, but if you're talking about the one I think you are, yes, they and their bro are both still awesome.
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Sep 26, 2023 01:39
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5-Headed Snake God posted:Dowd is one of those characters who lacks the confidence of his close friend. In a proper narrative he'd probably grow and develop, but this is SaGa, so he'll always be that way no matter how powerful he actually gets. This isn't entirely true, but that's probably best discussed later on.
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Sep 26, 2023 02:25
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EclecticTastes posted:This isn't entirely true, but that's probably best discussed later on. Assuming it comes up in the LP at all, which is pretty unlikely.
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Sep 26, 2023 02:30
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5-Headed Snake God posted:Assuming it comes up in the LP at all, which is pretty unlikely. Look, we both know who the frontrunners in the protag vote are gonna be, but let's at least pretend Jamil has a chance to take it. Also if he doesn't get picked, it won't be a spoiler anymore, so I'll probably bring it up at some point when it feels relevant (probably alongside the glitch that's also connected to this topic).
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Sep 26, 2023 03:13
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It's interesting how even in these prologues, they are already working to get the various protagonists together, rather than letting happen during the 'main' plot.
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Sep 26, 2023 03:23
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berryjon posted:It's interesting how even in these prologues, they are already working to get the various protagonists together, rather than letting happen during the 'main' plot. As you will see, there is actually no effort made to get the protagonists together during the main plot. Also there really isn't much of a main plot except in very broad strokes.
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Sep 26, 2023 03:25
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A bit soon to discuss this, but does the new game plus function allow you to choose a new main character, or are you slated with the one you chose at the beginning? The former could allow Five Headed Snake God to explore the other characters... assuming that works that way, of course, amongst other possible factors I won't go into.
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Sep 26, 2023 03:41
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Gilgamesh255 posted:A bit soon to discuss this, but does the new game plus function allow you to choose a new main character, or are you slated with the one you chose at the beginning? The former could allow Five Headed Snake God to explore the other characters... assuming that works that way, of course, amongst other possible factors I won't go into. No, you can and are expected to choose a new character (and eventually beat the game with all eight). I'm not gonna do that for the LP since I'd burn out way before finishing it.
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Sep 26, 2023 03:45
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Oh man this has gotta be one of my favourite games. I finished the game with Aisha (a taralian) on the old ps2 back in the day.EclecticTastes posted:Patrick Seitz (Neidhart's VA) is the English voice of Franky in One Piece, as just one example of his many roles. Neidhart is, in fact, only his second major role in a video game, after Garrosh Hellscream in World of Warcraft, and he wouldn't really break out until a year after Minstrel Song was released, when he landed the roles of Kenpachi Zaraki and Isshin Kurosaki in Bleach. And recently he was Handler Walter in AC6!
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Sep 27, 2023 16:44
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Welcome back everyone. We're moving right along to our sixth character intro. Sif is basically a Viking warrior: a blue-eyed blonde who could probably snap most men in half like a twig. That she's named for the Norse goddess of battle is not a coincidence.  Sif's starting class is Valhallan Warrior, which has an okay passive ability but a solid set of skills. Every party needs Survival, and Two-Handed Sword and Hand Axe are both good weapon types.  Sif is associated with the snowy region of Valhalland, which is about as good of a pun as we're going to get from the game. She's also one of the two characters associated with multiple regions, as she has a connection to the nearby Knights' Dominion as well.       And so we get control of our heroine. Music Highlight: Resolute Bravery/Valor Unyielding Sif's theme is a strong, martial tune fit for a warrior.  Sif comes with some strong physical stats and a surprisingly robust set of weapons and armor. We need to remove a weapon to make room for both the First Aid Kit and Smoke Bomb Pouch, but that's an easy choice since her class doesn't use bows.  The people of Gato's Village are simple folk, but their snowmen are delightful.  There's not much to do here, so talking to Gato is a logical first step.    He gives us a deceptively complex task: monster killing. This is a actually a pretty involved starting quest that includes a substantial amount of fighting. It can actually take longer than Albert's intro, especially if you don't know what you're doing.  Trying to do this alone would be absolute suicide, so we'll head to the pub to get some help.   As a generic character, the Valhallan Warrior won't be in our party for long, but he'll be valuable for tacking this intro.  While we're here, let's talk to this sharp-dressed man. You've probably noticed him in several other intros as well.  This is the titular Minstrel. He hangs out in all of the game's pubs and can be used to remove unwanted party members.  As we progress through the game or accomplish certain goals, he'll also offer to tell us new stories. This one is available right out of the gate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKfLVOANxcw  It's nothing I didn't cover in the mythology post, and even the Minstrel himself admits that he needs some new material.  The Minstrel's third job is to act as a jukebox. If we ask him to play a song, he'll switch the background music to a random piece we've heard so far. But sometimes, he'll throw in a bonus.   If the party isn't full, he'll join up as an ally. He'll remain with us until we enter any pub, at which point he'll return to his usual spot, though he can be recruited again. Despite being available early, I won't be offering the Minstrel as an option for our final party, for one important reason: near the end of the game, he becomes unrecruitable. We won't have the resources to carry around and upgrade a party member who can't be present for the finale. It's a pity too, as his battle lines are pretty entertaining. ("And so they strode into battle!" *guitar sting*)  But for now, when we have literally no other options, he's a good addition to our ranks. Although his armor situation is a bit dire, he has a unique sword that's pretty decent for the early game and a strong set of stats. He's also a member of the legendary Bard class, though he doesn't gain its passive benefit since it's not at level 3. His sword also has a powerful technique associated with it, Feste d'Arme, though with a BP cost of 15, I won't be able to show it off.  The Valhallan Warrior, meanwhile, it kinda trash, being stuck with a pair of mediocre weapons and the usual 4 LP that generics have. Still, he can do some damage and take some hits, which at the end of the day is what we really need.  We're as prepared as we can get. Let's head out.  Valhalland's main overland area is Shiverland, a snowy field with numerous branches leading off of it.  Our quest notes indicate that we have to take out monsters in three of these branches: east, west, and south. The southwest branch leads to the world map, while the southeast branch leads to another area we may or may not see in this LP.   The east cave is the closest and therefor our first destination. It's also the smallest, featuring a simple chamber with a monster waiting for it.  Technically this is a boss fight, but it's not especially interesting so I'm not wasting your time with a video.  The two goblins are fodder and nothing to worry about; any of our party members can one-shot them. (I also want to point out that the hilt of the Minstrel's sword is shaped like the end of a guitar, which is a cute detail.)   The Walking Corpse, on the other hand, is a brutal foe. Its attack deal heavy damage, while our own deal very little. (Undead in general tend to have pretty high defense.)   Yeah, this is how TPKs happen.  Luckily the Minstrel glimmers Impact Slash at the last possible moment and wins the fight for us.  An ugly victory, but a victory all the same.  With the east cave down, we head to the south.   Before we can even get to the cave itself, we have to navigate some slopes. The narrow confines of these areas make avoiding fights more or less impossible.  The good news is that Sif manages to Glimmer Blunt Strike during one of these fights, meaning she won't do so in a boss fight where the loss of damage would really hurt.  On the second slope, a branch to the west leads to our destination.  The cave itself has more narrow confines, and by God look at all those monsters. There's a reason this quest involves a ton of combat.  At least we're able to find the map in a nearby chest.  At the end of the cave is our target. Boss Fight: Valhallan Peggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6vuqgX_hh8 Music Highlight:The Soul of Fire This is probably the most "generic" of Minstrel Song's boss themes, in that it shows up a lot. It's a great piece that gets you hyped for a tough fight.  This fight is against two Valhallan Peggies (fairly low-ranked enemies) and a Peggy Chief. Boss fights against multiple regular foes are fairly common in the early game, but taper off in late-game quest as character reach the point where they need proper bosses for a challenge.  Our strategy in this fight is simple: kill off the regular peggies as quickly as possible, then attack the chief. The Minstrel's Impact Slash is great for this, as it can easily kill one of the mook in a single use.  The chief has a special attack, Takedown, which can deal a fair amount of damage, but for the most part the attacks we suffer here are low-damage. The threat comes from the number of them, and our luck can swing heavily depending on how much they spread out their damage.  In this case, we win with everyone on their feet.    With the boss fight done, the ice nearby disappears, revealing a pair of chests. The first contains a Wing Amulet, which raises Dexterity. The other contains a bit of gold and some jewels.   As we make our way back out, the Minstrel manages to Glimmer another technique, Sonic Slash. This deals decent damage and has the "Quick Recovery" trait, which means it gives the user an initiative boost on the round it's used. It's weaker than Impact Slash despite having the same BP cost, but it doesn't require any DP, and it's handy for finishing off weakened enemies before they can act.  Our last destination is the west cave.  More narrow confines, more crowds of monsters.  One of the monsters catches us from behind, but rather than resulting in a surprise attack, we get a melee instead. This pushes all party members to the front row, which would be a real problem if we had someone anywhere else!  We also start encountering Slimes in here, and without magic we can't really deal with them.  Thank goodness for smoke bombs.   A nearby chest gives us some jewels, and then we're off to face the boss.  Well, bosses.  There's not much to say here. Magic Bugs and Illusion Bugs are fiends that primarily cast basic offensive spells, but have little in the way of durability. This fight is a nonissue.  Once they're gone, we can see a treasure chest behind where they were, but there's a gap that requires the Jump proficiency to cross, and we don't have that. There are several other such gaps in the cave as well, taunting us.  With the monsters gone, we head back to Gato's Village.  Foreshadowing!  Since we have the gems, we'll stop by the local mentor and boost Sif's class level to 2, in hopes of improving her odds of getting Glimmers. It doesn't help.  It would be nice if we could by Jump to get the treasures in the west cave, but it's not sold here. Rude.   After a quick rest at the inn to refill our missing LP, we report to Gato.    We get the usual gold and jewel rewards, and now have nothing in particular to do.  We head out of town to see if we can find something, and we immediately find something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNkU_6YvIZs If you were wondering what happened to Albert, it was this. If we were still playing as him, the game would pick up here and go more or less the same.       Following this exchange, we find ourselves outside and immediately head back in.  It seems Albert is a quick healer.   Some of the dialogue options in the game are pretty good. "I avoid hard work!" is probably my favorite, but this is good too.   Sif respects people with a spine, and however weak he might be, Albert does have guts.  The young noble has gained some stats since the start of his own intro, though he's still pretty weak.   Before we take off, we sell off some of our unneeded loot and repair the Minstrel's sword. The Worthless Clubs that Goblins sometimes drop are pretty terrible as weapons, but they sell for over 200 gold, which is impressive.  Oh, and I also remembered to equip our proficiencies: Vigilance (prevents ambushes), Trade (allows trading items with some monsters; it doesn't get used in this update), and Find Chests (reveals hidden treasure chests; also doesn't get used today).   The Walking Corpse fight is actually easier than last time, both because we have an extra character and because there's only one Goblin.   Between that and Albert Glimmering Impact Slash, we end with no casualties.   South cave is still a crowded mess. But why does the area name say "Stage 2"?   Because technically, this is a different map. At the end, where the peggies were last time, there's just a wall, and we have to head left instead. Boss Fight: Valhallan Peggies, Round 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ7ayOFqpMM   Oh my lord that's a lot of monsters. This is another fight that can be extremely swingy depending on how much the enemy group spreads out or concentrates its damage.  Our strategy is the same, though: take out the regular peggies first, then focus on the chief. With two characters able to use Impact Slash, this actually goes pretty quickly.   Albert also manages to Glimmer Paralyzing Thrust, an attack that lowers the target's Dexterity. It's okay, but not amazing.  The fight goes well, and we win without any casualties.   Behind the boss is a chest containing a nice bundle of gold and a Quarterstaff. If you're one of those weirdos who wants to have a character fighting with a staff, this is pretty much the best one you can get, but most staff-using classes are casters who prefer weapons that boost their Intelligence.    There's not much to say about the west cave. The bug fight is actually easier this time since one of the Illusion Bugs was replaced by a weaker Magic Bug.   And with that, we're done.    More gold and jewels.         Albert is headed to Rosalia via the Knights Dominion, with Sif as a guide. We'll need to get to the world map via the southwest exit from Shiverland, and from there we can travel automatically to the nearest Dominion city, Eugenstadt (named for one of Mirsa's companions, Baron Eugen).  But before we can leave, Gato calls us back.    Besides being a badass warrior-woman, Sif is also descended from people who made allies of dragons.     And thus we have Sif's connection to the Dominion, as well as a new piece of equipment.  The Dragon's Eye provides a host of bonuses, and only Sif can get it.  Take a look at our Event Rank clock. We started at ER 1, meaning we've gained 4 Event Ranks since the game started and we've only just finished the intro! This is the downside of choosing Sif as the main character: missing out on the quests that expire early in the game (and there are several).  As Sif prepares to leave her home, we'll like wise leave her be to meet our next protagonist. 5-Headed Snake God fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Oct 2, 2023 |
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Oct 1, 2023 15:19
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5-Headed Snake God posted:
The warrior village containing snowmen with angry eyebrows t-posing to assert dominance was not something I knew I needed in my life.
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Oct 1, 2023 16:31
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You mean to tell me that it's cold down south? What sort of upside down world is this!?!?
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Oct 1, 2023 16:38
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Gato has a gato
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Oct 1, 2023 17:28
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I really like SaGa games, but usually not until I read an LP of them, since they're so confusing and I need some direction on how the hell they work. I am very excited to follow this LP of a SaGa I know very little about! 
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Oct 2, 2023 01:02
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berryjon posted:You mean to tell me that it's cold down south? What sort of upside down world is this!?!?  cardinale posted:Gato has a gato I suspect it's a stuffed toy since it never moves an inch. Luninareph posted:I really like SaGa games, but usually not until I read an LP of them, since they're so confusing and I need some direction on how the hell they work. I am very excited to follow this LP of a SaGa I know very little about! I'm glad! I'm hoping any technical and literary deficiencies in the LP will be made up for by my sheer enthusiasm. 
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Oct 2, 2023 02:53
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OK, I walked into that one. Kudos.
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Oct 2, 2023 03:03
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Funny thing about the SaGa gacha game: they seem to ship Albert the tiny noble with the Sif the big barbarian lady.
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Oct 2, 2023 03:05
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