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Part 5: The Mountain God's Bride When we last left the story, Oyuki (totally different in every way from Koyuki) went to prepare for marriage to the local deity. Dororo's disapproval be damned.  At this point, we have no other choice but to sleep at the inn for the night. Every single platoon member will object to stepping into the cold wastes surrounding the village.  How kind of the game to railroad us.  But wait! It's 20 Gold to stay, and I only have 1 Gold for totally unplanned reasons!  I'd like to let you stay, but if you're broke, then no can do.Since it's the only way to continue, I guess I'll have to sell one of the Guardians I just got, or   Gero!? Well whaddya know, I really don't have enough... Uh, isn't there some way you could waive the fee, Ms. Innkeeper? It took everything we had to make it all the way here in the freezing cold... Even so... I don't get many customers out here. If I let you stay for free, I'd be outta business. (Gero... this looks bad...! If I have to camp out tonight, I'll be a frogsicle by morning!) Keroro popsicles exist.  (Or even worse, what if a stray dog chases me all over creation?!) Keroro ice cream, too. (Oh man, this is terrible! I gotta do something...!) Ms. Innkeeper... I'll ask you just once more! Let us stay... please, let us stay for the night! You can ask as much as you want, but... sorry, but you'll have to try somewhere else. Oh... I see...Keroro said, hoping Death By Dog would come swifter than Death By Freezing.  Wait a minute!  Ma'am, could you please let Uncle and his friends stay? If money's an issue, I can pay you. Oh, so they're friends of yours, Moano? In that case, I got no problem lettin' 'em stay free for one night. (Gero!? Her attitude sure changed fast!) I'll do it for you, Moano, since you've done so much for me. Thank you so much! Now everything'll be all right, Uncle. ...In other words, you've got a room? Thanks a lot, Miss Moano! Anything for you, Uncle. Well then, we'll go ahead and rest up. Don't work too hard, Miss Moano. All right!Since you have to stay at the inn to advance the plot, you get a bonus skit if you go in broke. But not just one! If you talk to the innkeeper with a different field leader, you get a different skit. Of course in a normal playthrough, you'd only see one, unless you saved and reset four more times. Some... some people do that.  When Tamama discovers how broke they are, we get this sound affect alongside the ominous theme from before.    Wha... I'm actually broke enough that I gotta sleep outside...? (Time for my secret weapon!)  If I can't stay here, then that means I'll have to stay outside... and if I go to sleep in the cold, cold snow, I'll probably freeze to death... So can I please stay here tonight? Pretty please? Hmm... well... I can't just throw out a little child. All right, you can stay, but just this once. Yay! Thank you! Wow... nice work, Private Tamama. Let's hurry up and get some sleep before she changes her mind.Tamama effortlessly gets a free inn stay on cuteness alone.  His less sickeningly-adorable comrades don't have it so easy.   Looks like we're camping out tonight. Woah, Giroro! What's wrong with you? We're not just gonna be like "Oh, okay," and sleep outside! We gotta beg for our beds tonight! B--beg...? What is it? I know it makes me look greedy, but if ya can't pay, ya can't stay. I... I know that. But... er... If... if you don't let us stay here, I swear I'll start crying! ...Cry if ya want, it won't get you a bed. Giroro storms back to the others.   Keroro! I followed your plan to a T, and it FAILED! Gero... so Operation: Secret Softie didn't work out so well... Then try this one next! The music goes silent as Giroro approaches the counter. You again, huh? You can ask me 'til the sun rises, and I still won't let ya stay for free. I... I love how cold you are... And that cold heart is what makes you so beautiful... madam. W-would a wonderful woman such as yourself allow us to stay the night here? Oho, looks like Operation: Flagrant Flattery this time around. ... ... Pff... ahaha! You're a real funny guy! I never had someone who wanted to stay here that badly. Okay, ya got yourself a room. I like your style, so I'm makin' a special exception tonight. ...Thanks. Gerori. Total success!So Keroro gets bailed out, Tamama does puppydog eyes, and Giroro humiliates himself. Kururu...  I'd like to let you stay, but if you're broke, then no can do. Kuru...? Hey, what the hell happened to all our money...? Don't tell me we're sleepin' outside tonight...Kururu gets pissy about it. I--I didn't do it! There's no cake or juice here for me to spend it on, anyway! I don't know where the money went, either. Yeah, same here.  Ge... gero...!? A--are you saying it's MY fault? Now you've squandered our invasion AND traveling funds! Now is not the time to blame one another. Finding a place to sleep is our first priority. ...You're right. First, let's find a spot without any snow. Tch... Kururu takes matters into his own hands.   Hey, I wanna talk to you outside for a sec. Well aren't you a demanding one? Fine then, let's go. They leave, and a little later, Kururu returns.   We can stay. Sergeant Major Kururu... what exactly did you do? Oh nothing, just had a little chat... You wanna hear it too, Commander? I... I'll pass! Kuuu-kuku...Whatever was said is left to our twisted imaginations.   So how does Dororo handle this one?  Of course. I apologize for interrupting your work. Wait a sec, Dororo! Ya gotta appeal here! If you don't, then we'll freeze our butts off campin' outside! But Commander, demanding to stay for free would be unreasonable. Let's find a place to sleep while it's still light out.He handles it with honor. Hold on. Seems like ya got a situation on your hands. Mind tellin' me about it? Looks like you got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Or somethin' like that. Now c'mon, out with it. The five of us are...An explanation happens. So you've got to travel all over? That sounds rough. All right then! You get a free room tonight. But I wouldn't want to trouble you... No, none of that, now. Go on and make yourselves at home. You have my gratitude.So we have four relatively humorous scenarios, and a pretty straight Lawful Good one. They show off the individual characters' personalities pretty well, though. With their beds secured, the platoon gets some shuteye.  And later that night... VIDEO: Let's Sneak Out!  I cannot ignore this. At least not until I learn more about the situation...  Are you going to save that girl? Then let the rest of us help you out. Gi... Giroro.  There's no need to act all cagey and go off on your own, ya know. That's right! After all, you've got us here, Dororo! Kuuu-kukuku... well, that's how it is. Th... thank you, everyone! Thank you so much! The village is taking Oyuki's role pretty seriously. They've posted lookouts everywhere. Well then! With our unity strengthened, let's move out, Keroro Platoon! Okay let's DO THIS  VIDEO: SO SNEAKY In case the sirens didn't entice you to click the video, here's a summary of my Tactical Frog Action.  There are lookouts blocking every path you can possibly go.  There's a super narrow path you must find through the village, and there's no way to tell how far the lookouts can see.  So I threw it.  Fortunately, Dororo takes pity on us. Commander, it appears the guards are more difficult to deal with than I thought. I'll go ahead and secure a path to the shrine.Let Dororo guide you to the shrine? >Yes please There's no penalty for letting Dororo take you straight there. Maybe they knew the sneaking section was broken as hell, and at least they never make you do another. VIDEO: Oyuki Leaves  Oh? You're the ones from earlier... Oyuki! We've come to help you! Help me? What do you mean? If you become the mountain god's bride, you can never come back. My platoon and I refuse to ignore such a situation! We'll help you get away! ...So nosy... Gero? Did you say something? No... nothing at all! I appreciate your kindness, but... It is my duty as a member of this village to become the mountain god's bride. Please don't get in my way. I'm leaving to meet the mountain god now.   Does she really not want anyone to help her? She must have a real strong sense of responsibility. What'll we do now? We go after her, of course! Even if only to find out the whole situation. I figured you'd say that. The mountain god seems to be in the Snowy Path of No Return, northwest of the village. Let's hurry there! With that, we're left to run after Oyuki to a cheerful-sounding place.     The Snowy Path of No Return is the northwestern-most location on the world map.   It's another forest dungeon, with a little twist.  The sign says, "Listen well to the folk song, and the path shall open." You know, the song that goes something like... Part 4 posted:
 Fluffy here is one of the mountain god's familiars, and can tell us about difficulty settings and our dungeon map. Talk to him about difficulty, he asks if your journey's been a hard one so far. If you say yes, he sets it down to Easy. You still can change it back to something reasonable like Hard or Mania in the options. As for the dungeon map, he can erase it for us. There's no purpose to this, other than to check if you're mashing A, I suppose. Speaking of mashing buttons, I sat on the first screen of the dungeon and grinded everyone up to level 8, got money for Keroro's Guardian habit, and collected Grade Points.  During this, Tamama got his first character ability, Absorb. It increases the effects from all recipes except curry, so he recovers more HP and gets better temporary buffs from them.  There's a Keparrow treasure here as well, a Mega Battery, which is useless for now.  An interesting victory skit happened during the grind. VIDEO: An Unwanted Comparison  And now Keroro knows Heal, too. This can be kind of helpful when he's on AI control, but he's better suited to stabbing things repeatedly.  On one of my trips back, I triggered a skit that happens if you sleep at the Whitesnow Village inn three times (not counting the plot-related one). To my knowledge, this is the only skit done completely with face portraits against a black background. It sure is nice to sleep in a nice warm futon! I'd rather have a soft, fluffy bed. In that case, I'd want a king-size! What are you two going on about? You should be glad we're sleeping inside at all. As soldiers, you should be able to deal with worse. Now quit flapping your lips and go to sleep! Look, even Kururu's already asleep! There goes our red daruma on one of his lectures again... A daruma is this little doll (usually red) where you paint in one eye when you set a goal, then paint the other eye after achieving it. Popular among Japanese politicians. Also romanized as dharma, but according to Google Image Search, no one actually calls it that. Dammit, Keroro! Listen to me!Giroro stomps in rage in a small space... right on Kururu. Oh... sorry about that, Kururu. ...Hey, Giroro. If you're such a model soldier, why don't you sleep outside tonight... Show us your soldier's pride, why doncha? Kukuku... But spending the night outside in a blizzard is far too dangerous. Then why don't you join him, Dororo? Uh... but I... Kururu, let's stop fooling around and go to bed, already. Oh, you're not sleepin' in here, old man. Hey! KURURU!Meanwhile, Tamama and Keroro share popcorn.  He sure hates rude awakenings, doesn't he... Let's just ignore 'em and get some rest. 'Kaaay! Good night! The next morning, the innkeeper has a different line than usual. Sounds like you had a good time last night. You take care, now.Aren't you glad you have all this in context!  After buying all the available curry recipes and useful AI commands from the grade shop, and fitting everyone with suitable Guardians...  Time to actually progress the story!  Following the path indicated in the song guides us through the not-so-lost woods.  Straying from it sends you back to the beginning with the sign and the cat.  You're allowed to retrace your steps, though, as long as it's on the given path.  A Revival Orb's in a chest along the way, like it's preparing us for something.  There are plenty of Keparrows to get as well, and here's where we find the Iron Fist, Tamama's special beginner upgrade weapon!  A prize given in Mishima Zaibatsu's martial arts tournament. Not actually made of iron. The Iron Fist, AKA Tekken, gives 5 CC and 44 points in facepunching.  Don't mistake those yellow sparkles in the snow for anything but Deluxe Curry Spice. It's a great Keparrow treasure, but one we can't use with our current curry recipes. The only other Keparrow loot for us right now is an Herb.  A save spot heralds the end of the dungeon.  A quick save, and we're off to the last room. VIDEO: The Mountain God Gero! That's-!  Oyuki, I'm here to help! Hold on!  Our first boss fight begins!   This big guy is the Mountain God's Familiar.  He can... woah, wait, wait a minute. Part 1 posted: ...Keroro would be a crunchy snack.  In any case, he's more of a piņata than a boss.  Doesn't mean he's helpless, though. This roaring attack punishes anyone fighting up-close, and has a chance to stun.  The bear's weak to fire-based attacks, and Giroro has plenty of them.  Bash the bear enough, and you can stun him, too.   Here's an example of the bear's roar stunning someone. In this case, Dororo. Stunned characters can't move or do anything until it wears off, though you can mash the directions to make them get up faster.  Keroro finishes the battle by mercilessly stabbing with his silly Gundam sword.  A group victory skit and a level-up for Giroro. The boss also drops our first Curry Spice, which we can use with the lowest-level curry recipes.  Anyway, we saved Oyuki! Time to get showered with... Oh, of all the...! I told you not to get in my way!...Zero gratitude. Gero? Whaddya talkin' about? We're here to rescue you. I was this close to finding out where the mountain god was! Finding the mountain god? What do you mean, Oyuki? That's quite enough!    There you are, Mountain God! That's the mountain god? He just looks like a little boy to me. The mountain god they sacrifice brides to is only a child...? Don't refer to it in such a disparaging manner. The bride simply remains with me in order to keep up the village's divine protection. When my familiar did not return, I suspected... you there, young lady! You sought after me... to obtain the sacred treasure, did you not?  EEP! But... but it's too late now. I never intended to be your bride at all! Now tell me how to break the village's divine protection! That would allow your comrades to enter the village and steal the treasure, would it not? DOUBLE EEP! Wow, he's pretty smart for someone who looks like a little kid... With the protection lifted, anyone can walk right in, and take the treasure as easily as anything! Is that so. However, there is no need to talk me into doing anything. When you refused to become my bride, my divine protection was... Wha... what's that?! Why, it's a lovely view from the mountain of Whitesnow Village's smoldering ruins!   Oh no! The village is on fire! The lives of the villagers could be in danger! Do you really want that to happen, Oyuki?!Doro-dad gets all parental on his not-daughter. That's just how it goes. I'm a ninja, after all. This is all part of my work! But even so, they weren't supposed to go this far... Let's hurry back to the village! Oyuki, you're coming as well!You are so grounded, young lady. No rooftop-jumping for a month!  Hmm... in that case, I shall accompany you. It has been a long time since I left the mountain. With the protection lifted, there's little else for me to do.Let's wait until next time to dig out the charred corpses. Artes/Skills learned this update: Keroro Escape: Keroro's first Character Skill. To run from battle, you walk against the edge of the screen until a gauge fills all the way. With Escape, Keroro makes the gauge fill faster. Bubble Bomb: Water elemental magic. A bubble floats slowly across the screen until it hits the target, during which the caster cannot move. Not at all worth it and is outclassed by every other water Arte ever. Heal: Heals one ally's HP by 30%. Same as Kururu's Heal. Tamama Absorb: Tamama's first Character Skill. Increases the effect of all recipes except curry. Dead Upper: Punches twice quickly, ending in an uppercut. Earth Shake: Tamama punches the ground to force a rock spike into the enemy's face. Earth elemental. Giroro Extend: Giroro's first Character Skill. Makes positive stat buffs last longer. Flare Bullet: Giroro's first spell. Sends a small fireball at one enemy. I usually forget to turn this off for the AI--it's not bad in itself like Bubble Bomb is, but Giroro's just not that great a magic user. His time is better spent shooting every gun ever. Muzzle Rush: Rapid-fire shooting. Because he wasn't doing it fast enough before, apparently. Kururu Sinister: Kururu's first Character Skill. Increases the critical hit rate when attacking an enemy with the element it's weak against. Bubble Bomb: Same as Keroro's. It's best to turn it off for the AI as soon as possible. Wind Shot: Fires green spinny disc things at the enemy. Wind elemental. Dororo Gale Wind: Attacks with quick repeated slashes. Heavenly Advance: A self-buff that raises Dororo's speed. Next time: Crispy villagers?  Also, secret passages! Hidden doors! And ninjas EVERYWHERE.   A scroll depicting a more traditional God of the Mountains and Forests. How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Aug 19, 2013 |
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