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How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!


Keroro RPG: The Knight, the Warrior, and the Legendary Pirate is a Nintendo DS spin-off Tales game based on a popular manga/anime series in Japan, Keroro Gunsou/Sergeant Keroro. It uses the Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS) and was the last Keroro game released in March 2010. Despite the insane popularity of both Tales games and Keroro in Japan, this crossover only sold about 25,000 copies.

The game's pretty enjoyable if you like Keroro, and it's short compared to other Tales games. It's actually the only Tales game I've played all the way to the end so far. :shobon: It has other merits besides marketable anime characters, which I'll show off as they appear.

The main portion of the LP will be in screenshot format, with videos for stuff like boss fights, voiced events, and victory skits. Watching them is entirely optional. Since this was only released in Japan, I'm translating and subbing as needed.

I'll ask for no story or content spoilers including spoiler tags, though I'm pretty sure this game is obscure enough for me not to worry. Just in case.

There are Tales references all over this game, so feel free to point out any I miss.



Updates

Part 1: Permanent Frog Status
Part 2: Fetch-Questing
Part 3: Steal Everything
Part 4: Is It Spring Yet?
Part 5: The Mountain God's Bride
Part 6: Ninja Central
Part 7: Oh, Goodness Me!
Part 8: Bandit Busters
Part 9: Raise the Jolly Frogger
Part 10: The Prosperous Port
Part 11: Obligatory Sewer Dungeon
Part 12: Pirate Swag
Part 13: Maritime Melodies
Part 14: A Dizzying Encounter
Part 15: Crispy Critters
Part 16: Frogs On Leave
Part 17: KeroCard Mania
Part 18: Tales of Referencia
Part 19: The L Word
Part 20: This Quest Is For the Birds
Part 21: The Dehydration Station
Part 22: Storming the Tower
Part 23: Magical Mimicry
Part 24: Full Circle
Part 25: The Final Showdown
Part 26: Go Home, Frog

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Mar 7, 2015

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How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
:siren:Promotional Videos:siren:

Salvaged from NicoVideo.

First Promotional Video (2009)



Second Promotional Video (2010)

:siren:Character Intro Videos:siren:

Character Intro 1: Sergeant Keroro

Character Intro 2: Private Tamama

Character Intro 3: Corporal Giroro

Character Intro 4: Sergeant Major Kururu

Character Intro 5: Lance Corporal Dororo

Character Intro 6: Keroro Platoon

Character Intro 7: Rein

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Jan 1, 2015

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
Part 1: Permanent Frog Status





The game starts off with a chorus of characters reciting the game's title, along with some pretty sweet art. It's a compressed-for-DS version of this:





From the top, the choices are New File, Continue, Collection, and Customize. Collection doesn't appear until you've beaten the game once. We'll worry about it later.

:siren:VIDEO: Game Title and Prologue:siren:

The intro begins with a voiced narration.



On this fine day at the Hinatas', the sergeant and his platoon's plans for invading Earth...

...are going nowhere.



Seems he's in the middle of playing a video game today. Looks like fun.

The narrator doesn't have any facepics in the actual game, but he shows up a lot in the anime. He's wearing a Japanese theater stagehand outfit, since he's supposed to stay obscured in the background. Doesn't stop him from butting in at every opportunity.

Our narrating voice is Keiji Fujiwara, also the voice of Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist.



Talk about a lucky strike, Private Tamama! I got a console I've never seen in any gaming magazines!

You think maybe, just maybe, it might be a super-rare game system? Gems like this don't show up at the second-hand store in the alien shopping district just any old day!

Sergeant Keroro and his platoon are frog aliens from Planet Keron who've come to Earth to prepare it for invasion. Due to multiple circumstances, mainly Keroro being lazy and irresponsible most of the time, he's freeloading with the Hinata family. He says "Gero," Japanese onomatopoeia for "ribbit," as one of his verbal tics.

He's voiced by Kumiko Watanabe, who's also the voice of Klonoa. Tales fans might know this voice as Karol Capel from Vesperia.



Don't hog it all to yourself, Sarge! I wanna play too!

Private Second-Class Tamama comes across as the team's tag-along kid at first glance, but the cute act is mostly a front, and he's not that innocent. That has nothing to do with the Keron Military enlisting child soldiers.

He's voiced by Etsuko Kozakura, who also voices Coda from Tales of Innocence.



You have all the latest games and consoles you could ever want at Miss Momoka's house. Rich people oughta let the less fortunate have some fun, too.



You lazy good-for-nothings! I come to see how the invasion planning's coming along, and you're screwing around!

Corporal Giroro has known Keroro since they were elementary military-school kids. He fantasizes about invading Earth with giant WW2-style gunships with loads of giant cannons and BIG GUNS, but staying calm and rational are not his strong suits. Also, he has a kitty. :3:

Jouji Nakata does the voice for Giroro, who you may recognize from a ton of other games and anime. He's Van from Tales of the Abyss, too.



Gero... uh... i-it's not what it looks like... it's...

My latest invasion plan!



What? An invasion plan?

That's right, soldier! I call it... "Operation: Used Console!" Hidden within this game are hints we can use for invading Pekopon!

Pekopon is alien vernacular for Earth. Apparently only scrubs call it Earth.

Ohh!

I used what little we had in the budget not to make a brand new invasion-ready mecha, but to get a used game that can achieve the same result. It's really quite economical! Yes! Being economical is IN!



Economical=IN!

It's a fantastic and environmentally friendly invasion strategy!



Now that's inspiring! I'm real happy about this, Keroro!

Poor Giroro. He wants the invasion to happen that badly, after being in a manga for 13 years and an anime for 7 seasons.

Well then, Corporal Giroro, I'd like you to remain on standby until the operation commences!

Roger!

They wait until Giroro leaves.



That's my Sarge! You're the best in the whole universe at makin' up stuff on the spot.

And now, without further ado, let's get this game underway! Put in the hero's name, and we're finally off to adventure!

He's awfully enthusiastic about getting to play Alien Ys or whatever.

Looks like a classic role-playing game to me. First off, let's find out what we're supposed to do.

This is so exciting!



Huh? Hey Sarge, what's that skull mark doing there?

Gero? What's this now? Um... I'll just have my character check it...



Hmm? The skull mark turned into a creepy-looking castle!



GEROOO!? What in the holy heck?! There's a buttload o' monsters comin' outta the castle!



This game doesn't pull any punches! It gets right to the good stuff!

Retro gaming!

Take this! And that! Taste my power, you dumb monsters!

Go get 'em, Sarge!



Gero...? That's weird. Nothing's happening.



A ninja frog suddenly drops in.

Commander, we have a serious situation on our hands! Change the channel!

Gero? What's all the fuss about, Lance Corporal Dororo?

Dororo's a top assassin in the Keron Military, but since arriving on Earth, he vowed to protect instead of invade. He became a hippy ninja, and actually stays in a different house without electricity (and with fancy ninja traps). He was childhood friends with Keroro and Giroro, though Keroro has always been kind of a dick to him.

His voice is Takeshi Kusao, Cless Alvein from Tales of Phantasia. He's also the voice of Trunks from DBZ, so take that how you will.



Nevermind that, just hurry up and change it already! NOW!

What's on TV?





Gero! Those're monsters from the game I was just playing! So this is a commercial for it? It's a lot newer than I thought!

What the hell are you blathering about?! Pay attention!

We're broadcasting live! If you're just now tuning in, monsters have suddenly appeared in the Inner Tokyo area! Citizens in the vicinity are advised to stay in their homes!



Gero? I'm getting a call from Miss Natsumi.



Dammit, you stupid frog! Where'd all these monsters come from?!

Natsumi Hinata, age 14, is one of the biggest reasons Keroro continues to fail at invading Earth. Usually, if he tries to pull anything, or skip out on chores, he gets physically abused punished by the strongest middle-schooler in the world. Natsumi adores normalcy, baked sweet potatoes, and mysterious high-school drop-out poets.

She's voiced by Chiwa Saito, who also voiced the new protagonist in the PS3 port of Tales of Vesperia, Patty Fleur.

Oh, Natsumi, you've got your Powered Suit on. You're fighting the monsters, I take it?

Well, don't look at me... by the way, Miss Natsumi, what's with the...?

It activated by itself when the monsters showed up!

That's your Powered Suit's emergency mode. Hold on, Natsumi! I'll save you!

Giroro has a thing for Natsumi, thankfully forever unrequited.

I'll be fine! Just hurry up and put a stop to this! Besides, I know it was something YOU guys did!

GERO! Y-y-you misconstrue! I was just playing an old video game system... then monsters that look exactly like the ones in the game happened to attack the city...

What? Keroro, you bastard! You really WERE screwing around!

Uhhh, I was, I mean...

You lousy sonuva-!



Giroro, right now it's more important that we find a way to end this!



ANYway, just hurry and do something about it! Got that!?

Natsumi hangs up.

"Do something," she says...

Get the lead out! If anything happens to Natsumi, I'm taking it out of your hide!



Ge, gerooo...

Keroro's in a jam. :ohdear:



Then another platoon member appears with his signature creepazoid laugh.

Kukuku... I heard the whole thing. Let me handle this.





Swirly Frog starts doing science to the Alien PC-Engine.

I see... this is no ordinary game console.

Show us your super hacking skills, Sergeant Major Kururu!

Kururu, also spelled Kululu, is the platoon's shady tactical officer, scientist of all trades, and a lover of weird things in general. He's a huge curry aficionado... cooking it, eating it, bathing in it. He has cameras set up all over the Hinata house, so he can tape Natsumi and her mom in the bath and shower, and auction it to alien creepos on Space eBay.

He's voiced by Koyasu Takehito, also known as Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss.

Kuuu-kukuku...

While Kururu mods the console...



Gero? Another call from Miss Natsumi...

Hey! What's taking so long?

But... it hasn't even been 5 minutes since you last called! Besides, we don't know for sure if this is really my fault...

Quit whining and get working! Or else it's bath-cleaning duty...

FOREVER!

Natsumi hangs up again, leaving Keroro to his fate.

GERO! Anything but that! I don't wanna end up doing bath chores forever!

(Miss Natsumi's overreacting with her threats again... how'd things come to this just from playing a video game...?)

Nothing else for it, then! Let's get down to business, Keroro Platoon! If we band together, we can overcome anything!

A little later...



Aha... if I fiddle with this, and mess with that... there!



Hey Commander, somethin' good'll happen if you press this button.

Gero! What a lifesaver! I shall press it at once!

Kururu wanders off while Keroro imagines his victory, a surefire way to screw yourself over in cartoons.

(Gero? If I press this, will I become a hero in one fell swoop...?)

(The city's savior, too popular to get stuck with eternal bath-cleaning duty? With my very own anime and Hollywood movie? That fame's just the kind of foothold I need to take over Pekopon... therefore!)

He's doomed.

Just you wait! That heroic role's all mine!

Here I go!



Click!





The game console... disappeared.

So, what happened to the monsters? Is Natsumi all right!? I'll see for myself.





Outside, the neighborhood has been replaced with rolling RPG hills.

Wh-wha... what the!? What's that weird castle doing there!?



Oh no, Sarge! That's the castle from the game!

WHAAAT?!

Not only that castle, but everything else about the city has changed...

Keroro, what the hell did you do this time!

I pushed the button and the game console went somewhere. I have no idea what's going on...



Kururu relishes in their confusion before deciding to explain.

We're the ones who went somewhere, not the console.

Wha... what do you mean, Sergeant Major Kururu?

Turns out it's a transport device connecting two different worlds.

Gero? A transport device connecting two worlds!?

Yup. When you pushed that button, we all went to another world.

So it IS your fault!

You should've told me before that pushing it would take us to a whole other world!

But that wouldn't be any fun. :v:

I didn't wanna come to a weird place like this, either!

So like, does this mean we can't go back home?

Well, it's not completely hopeless. Two phones equals a conversation, right? So if we apply that to a device that connects two worlds...

If we can find the same device on this side...!

We can go back to our world! Back to Pekopon!

Welp, there you have it.

Another transportation device... but where do we even start looking...

Hey Sarge! Isn't that castle all the monsters came out of pretty suspicious?

Gero! Excellent observation, Private Tamama! I couldn't agree more!

It's definitely the most suspicious place around here.



Well then, Keroro Platoon! We're off to the castle!





I did a little scouting around outside. It appears this place is indeed not Pekopon at all...

Huh? Dororo, did you go somewhere?

Come to think of it, I didn't even notice you'd left.



You're so mean, Keroro...

Welcome to one of the many running gags from the anime: Dororo being ignored and getting traumatized over it. Keron Military top assassin.

But now we're all together! Once more, Sarge, if you please!

All right! Once again, Keroro Platoon, to the castle! Yes sir!





Before we even get to move, the narrator pops in again.

VIDEO: Narrator's Advice Time

By the way... have you noticed that magic circle over there?



You can actually save there. There are also magic circles that restore HP, and teleport you out of dungeons. Don't hesitate to use any you might find.

Whoops! I almost forgot to tell you. Sergeant, if you ever get lost, or you're not sure where you should go next, just hit the SELECT button. Though I'm not too experienced at this sort of thing, I'll do whatever I can to help you.

This is one feature of modern RPGs I really appreciate. Too many times I've picked up a game I let sit for two years, only to find myself midway through with no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do next.

Mr. Narrator, you're cool in my book.

Eh? You think that's easy? Oh, no! Not at all! This is a lot harder than it looks.

I'll be rooting for you from behind the scenes, so please do your best!



Now let's go to--is that a mini-fridge?! :haw:



Sarge, we gotta go check out that castle!

No snacks for us.



Actually, let's save.



Saved in the third slot. Pay no mind to those other two files.



It's just a painting of a door.

A meta-gag from the anime.



Found an Herb!

Checking the pot scores us an item hidden in many RPG heroes' bedrooms.



Not much else to do here, but standing in front of this set of shelves makes the interaction icon come up, and checking it takes us to the game's first skit. Skits, for the most part, are unvoiced optional character interaction things found in many Tales games. Sometimes you can get an item or equipment out of it, and a lot of them are easy to miss.

My Gundam models are all okay!

Keroro loves Gunpla more than just about anything. Think of the Gunpla thread in ADTRW and multiply it by a hundred. He also makes constant references to the anime Mobile Suit Gundam.

Ahh... just looking at them makes me want to do more. It's okay if I make just one... right?

Keroro! What do you think you're doing?

Eh? Isn't it obvious? I'm building Gunpla.

I can SEE that! But we're in the middle of a crisis here!

Well... it helps me concentrate, ya know? When I'm making Gunpla, it's like...



GEROOO!?

I just imagine Giroro throttling Keroro here.

Natsumi could be in danger while you're sitting around making toys! Stop wasting everyone's time and GET GOING!



Keroro gets as far as the doorway before Kururu stops him with more advice.

By the way, Commander. If your HP gets low, you should sleep in that bed. You'll get a full heal that way.

By "bed" he means the lawn chair in the middle of the room. At least it's free.

And if you press R, the status bar will come up. Check it if you think you're about to die or something.

Ooh! Nice tip, Kururu! Duly noted!

He exits for real this time.



Keroro's room was converted from the Hinata house's basement storage on his first day there.





Up the ladder and into the house proper are lots of doors to choose from. Looting time!



Gero!? I can't get into the living room.

Or skit time, whatever.

Hey Keroro, this door won't open either!



This one's stuck, too...

Dororo appears in a ninja-blur.

The second floor's inaccessible, as well. It feels as though an invisible wall is blocking it off.

What the heck is going on here!?



Kuuu-kukuku... don't even bother, Commander.

Gero!? But why?

Space-time got warped when the transfer happened.

Which means...?

To put it simply, you can't go in.

GEROOO!?

So I can't get to my tent... or any of my weapons...

I've got a painted model drying in the living room! Can't anything be done, Kururu?!

Nope. Even if you did manage to get through to the other side...

...You'd end up lost in a dimensional gap forever.

Instead of worrying about that, it'd probably be faster to find a way to return to our world.

Ve... very well, then! Let's go, platoon!

There's nothing else to do here, so Keroro and his merry men throw themselves into the wilderness.



With no weapons.

VIDEO: How To Win At Tales









Running around naked in a random battle-infested overworld goes about as well as you'd expect.







Trapped by the most generic monster sprites ever.

We're surrounded... looks like we've got no choice but to fight.

What now, Commander? We can't use any of the weapons we had back in our world.

Gero!? Then what're we supposed to do!?

I thought something like this might happen, so I found weapons that would suit everyone.



Keroro and co. equipped the weapons Dororo got them! You can open the menu with X to check their equipment.

Dororo is never without his tanto sword, so he doesn't have to worry about losing futuristic space-weapons to dimensional gaps.

Wait! Why do I get a stick!? You seriously couldn't find anything better!?

Shut up and deal with it! Just focus on fighting the enemy!





Dororo gives us a tutorial on how to hit things and make them die. Keroro appears to have a beam sword instead of a stick, but that's just because the weapon sprites never change. It always looks that way, though eventually you can get a Beam Sword weapon.

I'm showing off both screens here because the touch screen is eventually used in battle. Right now it's closed off, though.



Combat's pretty basic: Y+Up to jump (in Semi-Auto mode), A to attack, Y to guard. In Semi-Auto, you don't have to be anywhere near the target to hit it, just press A and your character will run into range and attack.

Dororo also talks about Chain Capacity, or CC, that little round guage with the 4 in the middle next to Keroro's HP. Doing a normal attack decreases it by 1, and stronger attacks require more CC to perform. Staying still or guarding lets it fill back up, which I'll be doing a lot of in the beginning.





Notice how he does very little damage and takes 1/4 of his HP from the weakest enemy in the game. Good thing HP doesn't decrease in the tutorial. More on this in a bit.



AAAGH! Jeez, that hurts! I can't put up with this!

It was only one hit! ...That took 1/4 of your HP.

The screen goes white, and we get a healing noise.

Gero? I feel better all of a sudden. What happened?

Sarge! Your HP got restored!

Uncle! Are you all right?





Oh, Miss Mois! So you're the one who helped me!

I'd go anywhere to help my dear sweet Uncle, even to another world!

Despite looking like a high school girl, Angol Mois is actually a 2,000-year-old alien. She was originally sent to Earth to destroy it on a Nostradamus-predicted doomsday, but Keroro needed to invade it, so she put that on permanent hold for him. Keroro played with Mois when she was little, which is why she calls him her "dear Uncle." Mois never lost her innocent childhood fantasy of marrying Keroro, and helps out the platoon, assisting with their secret base's technical defenses (i.e. bridge bunny), and boosting morale.

Mois is voiced by Mamiko Noto, who has an awful lot of VG and anime credits to her name. A notable one I found was Jeane from the Japanese version of No More Heroes.

I knew I could count on you, Miss Mois!

HNNGH! EVEN GOING TO ANOTHER WORLD WON'T STOP YOU FROM TRYING TO STEAL MY SARGEY...

Tamama and Mois have the most wonderful kind of relationship. Which means Mois makes him so jealous all he wants to do is stomp on her and shove dirt in her face. Mois is none the wiser.

Ah... oh yes! Uncle, do you know about your inner power? If you unleash your inner power during battle, you can fight in all sorts of different ways. I'll tell you a little bit about it.





This next tutorial is about using Artes. Right now we can equip up to 4 at a time, and use them with B alone of B+Up, Down, or Left/Right.



As with regular attacks, Artes performed in Semi-Auto will have your guy run into range of the target before firing it off.



The insanely powerful slime gives zero shits about Keroro's Sonic Edge.



Next, Mois teaches us about Blazing Rise, which is Keroro RPG's version of Over Limit. Getting hit, attacking enemies, and getting Perfect Guards (defend at the exact right time before an enemy hits you, and receive less damage than with a normal guard) will all increase your BR guage. It makes a little noise and lights up when it's full, and when you hit L...





...You go into Blazing Rise mode. You don't receive knockback from attacks, which is great for magical Artes, since the normal damage-flinch will cancel casting. Your CC also won't go down, so you can spam Artes to your heart's content until Blazing Rise ends.



Well, that's all for now. Please do your best, Uncle!

...In other words, good fortune to you?









The bottom screen says "Unable to analyze."



Okay, for real this time: Let's head for that castle, platoon!

Now the menu's finally available! First thing's first:



Pressing Select on the main menu screen cycles the battle control scheme (that little oblong icon below Dororo's picture) through Auto, Semi-Auto, and Manual. You're forced to use Semi-Auto in the tutorial battles, but I much prefer Manual.



It's possible to save anywhere on the world map, like most RPGs. In towns and dungeons it has to be on a green save circle, though.



You can customize text speed, individual volume levels for BGM, sound, and voice. There are also settings for in-battle camera position and difficulty.



Speaking of, if I don't change it, playing a new game will be impossible. It's currently on the highest difficulty, Unknown. Unknown increases enemy stats by 3.5x and triples gold and experience dropped.

Mania and Unknown difficulties are unlockable post-game, and are available any new files made after that. That's why the weakest slime will eat the platoon outside the tutorial while everyone's still at level 1.



Let's keep it on Hard. It increases enemy HP and stats by 1.3x, and increases experience and gold drops by 1.1.

The stats in this game are simple, at least as far as what it lets you see.



We can see everyone's HP, max CC, attack, defense, speed, and luck. Everyone has a different natural stat growth, and excels in two each, not counting luck, which usually changes after each battle.

Keroro has the second-highest attack, defense, and speed, but sits in the middle for HP. He's the easiest to play as, and most people who played this game never switched him out as the leader. Partly because he gets innate skills that make his attack skyrocket not too far into the game.



Tamama has the highest HP and attack, which makes sense since he's a martial artist. He plays almost the same as Keroro attack range-wise, so he's easy to switch to if you're getting tired of having Keroro kill everything.



Giroro is long-range and solidly built stat-wise. He gets the most natural defense out of the five.



Kururu gets most of the magic in the game, and the biggest variety out of anyone. His regular attack is a mix of short- and long-range, depending on the direction pressed with A. His stats make him look squishy, but his only real downfall is his HP.



Now, Dororo looks even squishier, but his high speed, CC, and other benefits make it not matter most of the time. He moves and attacks the fastest in battle, so if you want to spam Artes, Dororo's your man.

Individual stat growth limits won't matter once I unlock a certain feature very early on.



The three party members on the left are the ones who show up in battle, and the remaining two to the right get half experience. If your three fighters die, however, you still lose. I guess the other two are like "Welp."

The guy at the top of the fighters' list is the one you control in battle, currently Keroro. I switch up the default party a bit to get Kururu some faster experience, which will become important very soon.

By the way, this is the whole party for the entire game. Five frogs.



Right now, the inventory only has that Herb and everyone's starting weapons.



Cypress Stick: A weapon reknowned as the hero's first weapon at the start of many a journey.

:eng101: The Cypress Stick is the first weapon you usually have or can buy in the Dragon Quest series.

Bandage: Protective hand tape. Made from special Keron materials.

Slingshot: Fires off rounds from a strong rubber sling. Can be used with confidence.

Somehow, Gun Nut Giroro's not complaining about getting stuck with a slingshot.

Record: Nostalgic analog sound that permeates the soul.

Shinobi Sword: Dororo's favorite weapon. It's not as powerful in this world.



Not much to do in the equipment menus, aside from check out everyone's titles.

Sergeant: A lazy sergeant who loves video games and Gunpla more than anything. You can count on him when things get tough! IF they get tough...



Sergeant Major: An eccentric sergeant major who loves to press people's buttons. He's an inventing genius and makes loads of weird machines.

Kururu's one of the younger platoon members. He's actually really goony.



Private Second-Class: A dual-personality private who loves candy and the sergeant. If he snaps and shows what's behind the cute side, there's no stopping his rage.



Corporal: This stubborn corporal is without peer when it comes to using heavy weapons. Very serious, but has his flaws.



Lance Corporal: A kindhearted lance corporal who loves Pekopon's natural beauty. He doesn't stand out very well, and is often forgotten or ignored by others.

I don't think Lance Corporal is used as an army rank anymore. It used to be equivalent to Private First-Class. In a lot of Japanese Keroro merchandise where they use their own English terms, First Private Dororo comes up a lot.



In the Tactics menu, you can set up how AI-controlled characters act.



There are five modes, Normal, Full Power, Defense, Support, and Natural. Normal's balanced between all of them, and Full Power and Defense are self-explanatory. Support makes healing and buffs their top priority, whether it's with items or Artes.

Natural has them act according to their personality, so of course I avoid using it. :v: Unless you want Kururu taunting the enemy the whole time.



You can also change each member's proximity to the enemy when battle starts. Everyone has a default position, so Kururu uses everyone else as meat shields.



You can set everyone up with five preferred actions each. Right now we don't have access to a whole lot. The Attack tab contains variations on focusing on enemies of higher/lower HP, and enemies in front/back/flying. The Defense tab only has "Get Away From the Target," and the Support tab is empty. The Other tab has "Back Off If Things Look Bad" and "Do Nothing."



The Artes menu allows you to equip Artes on preferred button combos for your player character, and turn individual ones on or off for the AI.

Keroro, Kururu, and Tamama each have one Arte right now, all long-range.



Giroro and Dororo start with two Artes. Giroro has the first elemental-assigned attack with Flare Impact, which does fire damage.



Dororo has Eye of Judgement, which allows an enemy's full stats and weaknesses to be seen, and Sky Fang, which carries him diagonally upward a short distance with each use. With enough CC, this can be spammed until he's zigzagging far above the battle.



I've done what I can in the menu for now, so let's head northeast to the castle.



But not before the first real battle!

:siren::siren:



Let's get 'em!

Safe Slimes and a Wild Bat, pretty standard RPG fare. Note that there are only like a dozen different regular enemies in this game, and loads of palette swaps. Stronger palette swaps will eventually hit us with status effects and magic later on.



These enemies attack slowly, so it's easy enough just to attack until the CC guage empties, guard, refill, repeat.



Winning battles with different combinations of characters alive, dead, or critical can generate different victory skits, another Tales feature. They even make references to other skits in the series!

VIDEO: Kero-Kuru-Tama Victory Skit



Dark Lord's Castle. Wait, everyone's still level 1...

:siren:VIDEO: Castle Visit:siren:











Who cares? Not Keroro!



He runs toward certain doom with squeaky footsteps.



However, the plot is kind enough to block us from maiming ourselves.



The door is tightly sealed.

Gero? We can't get in.

No hidden doors of any sort, either.

What'll we do now, Sarge?

Well, this is troubling. I was sure this is where we were supposed to go...

There's an evil laugh out of nowhere.

Gero! What's that voice?

Identify yourself!

I am the Dark Lord, Agon! I commend you on making it this far, heroes! To open this door, you must gather the 3 Legendary Armaments!

So the platoon ended up practically transporting onto the last boss's doorstep. Not an unusual trope to start off very close to the final area, but at least with the first Dragon Quest, you were stopped by impassable water. Dragon Lord's castle was a giant swamp-surrounded tease for most of the game.

First of all, take these with you!

Got a World Map and a Monsterpedia! Also got a Guidebook! You can find the Monsterpedia and Guidebook in the item menu under the Key Items tab.



The Monsterpedia records weaknesses, experience/gold/item drops, and stealables for enemies as you defeat them. Some drop better items only when killed on Mania or Unknown difficulties.

That map and encyclopedia shall assist you on your journey to find the 3 Legendary Armaments! Now, I bid you farewell! Haaa ha ha ha!

What a nice Dark Lord!

Uhhh, this map is great and all, but I still dunno where to go.

The Dark Lord evil-laughs like he doesn't get to do it enough.

In that case, you must first go west! Heroes, I shall anticipate the day we truly meet! Haaa ha ha ha!

Wow, he even told us where to go next! This Dark Lord guy's a real saint!

Okay, platoon! Let's go west!



The narrator kindly interrupts us on our way out.

By the way, Sergeant, do you know about Codenames?

Pick out a Codename you like from the equipment menu to improve your stats in different ways.

Currently everyone only has one Codename, their military ranks.

You can get new Codenames from various places all over this world, so if you find a new one, don't be afraid to try it out.

Codenames, eh? Roger that, Mister Narrator!

A new entry has been added to the Guidebook.

Talking to NPCs is the main way to fill out the Guidebook. A lot of them will drop hints on battling and other tidbits. Much of the guidebook content is really obvious or Tales gameplay staples, but Keroro RPG is kid-oriented so it's nice to have an in-game instruction book.



Our bottom screen no longer shows an error message, but the world map. More of it gets uncovered as we explore, and dungeon maps occupy the same space and work the same way.

Next time... probably a fetch quest.

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Jun 11, 2013

djw175
Apr 23, 2012

by zen death robot
This looks pretty cool. I'm gonna be following this.

djw175 fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Dec 31, 2012

JetGrind
Apr 5, 2012

Tagging the streets and humming the bassline.
I know nothing about this Keroro thing so this is all new to me and all I can think is "what the hell is going on here?" It seems really interesting though, so I'll keep up with this. I should go look up the series this is from too.

RentCavalier
Jul 10, 2008

by T. Finninho
This game looks patently ridiculous and yet I want to play it very badly now.

I know nothing of this anime, but I am aware of its existence due to the pretty funny (if maybe rather hit or miss, especially in the later episodes) Sgt. Frog Abridged youtube show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNQIP4RnIk

The creator is a goon and also another LPer, I believe.

Nidoking
Jan 27, 2009

I fought the lava, and the lava won.
At least it seems to capture most of the humor from the original series. (I read as much of the manga as Tokyopop published before they folded, and watched a few episodes of the anime fansubbed.) I liked the Tales series-style combat as well, the few times I've actually played the games. I just never managed to complete one. This could be the perfect game, in other words.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

RentCavalier posted:

This game looks patently ridiculous and yet I want to play it very badly now.

I know nothing of this anime, but I am aware of its existence due to the pretty funny (if maybe rather hit or miss, especially in the later episodes) Sgt. Frog Abridged youtube show.

One thing to remember about the anime, if you watch the English dub made by Funimation, is that Keroro was rewritten to be 10 times the fuckoff he was in the original, and everyone else rewritten to be about as one-dimensional. It got all the Shin-chan dub writers, so that's the route they're taking.

Nidoking, I know of a few people who've beaten this language-blind with the use of a guide on Easy or Normal difficulty (Normal's the default setting for a completely new game). They're missing out on all the gags and the story, though. It's hard to have Keroro without gags.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
I'm completely unfamiliar with Sgt. Frog, but this looks cool as hell. I'm in like Flynn for this LP.

marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

Nidoking posted:

At least it seems to capture most of the humor from the original series. (I read as much of the manga as Tokyopop published before they folded, and watched a few episodes of the anime fansubbed.) I liked the Tales series-style combat as well, the few times I've actually played the games. I just never managed to complete one. This could be the perfect game, in other words.

Agreed. I'm actually reading this LP in the voice of the narrator from the Funimation dub my kids watched on Netflix. My daughter loves Keroro :kimchi:

Panic! at Nabisco
Jun 6, 2007

it seemed like a good idea at the time
This looks interesting. You...might want to shorten your updates a bit, though. That was a doozy, and you could have a lot more regular content by splitting it up and posting it over several days.

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

I read quite a lot of Sgt Frog when I was younger (I think I stopped around vol 14 or so). I loved this loving manga, and then I saw "Keroro RPG" and thought "that can't actually be what I think it is."

And then it totally was :allears:

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it's completely magical so far.

Schir
Jan 23, 2012


RentCavalier posted:

This game looks patently ridiculous and yet I want to play it very badly now.

I know nothing of this anime, but I am aware of its existence due to the pretty funny (if maybe rather hit or miss, especially in the later episodes) Sgt. Frog Abridged youtube show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNQIP4RnIk

The creator is a goon and also another LPer, I believe.

Yeah, ThornBrain made it. He's running the Bomberman megathread.

At any rate, this thread looks like it's going to be a hell of a ride, what with that 60 hour playtime and level cap over 100 that we saw on the save screen.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

Panic! at Nabisco posted:

This looks interesting. You...might want to shorten your updates a bit, though. That was a doozy, and you could have a lot more regular content by splitting it up and posting it over several days.

The beginning takes its time getting to the actual game, and I was afraid my first part wouldn't have enough content. Second part onward will be paced much more normally, though.

Also, those 60-hour files are both post-game. The main story can actually be sped through pretty fast if you skip all the extra stuff.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
Here's the first of several promotional videos I'll be posting in between updates. They all used to be available on the game's official site, but were taken down like a year ago. I salvaged them from Nicovideo.

First Promotional Video (2009)

The trailer music was actually stored in the game data itself, but not in the same place as the rest of the game's sound, and can't be extracted the same way. It's a compressed version of what you hear in the trailer, but should still sound all right.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
Maybe it's just me, but that promo video was super cool. I want to play this game even more now; is it available in English at all?

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
Sadly, no. :shobon: There was talk of a translation patch a couple years ago, but I don't think it went anywhere.

Not Feasible
Apr 1, 2011
Can't be done.
This is a pleasant surprise! I always wanted to see what KeroroRPG was all about since I used to read the books, plus knowing this game has a deviation of Tales of Hearts' battle system it really got my attention.

A point of trivia: there is Sgt. Frog costume DLC in the Japanese version of a certain Tales game (pretty sure it was Vesperia). Suffice to say, it earned Bandai-Namco a lot of pretty pennies.

InterrupterJones
Nov 10, 2012

Me and the boys on the way to kill another demon god
Holy poo poo! I remember when the anime came out; I watched those episodes like crack for a while! I would like to start watching them again, but...there are nearly four hundred episodes now. :monocle:

This game looks great though. I love how it takes the Tales style of gameplay and adds the characters I love to it; this should definitely be a fun one to follow! Out of curiosity, will you be bringing in Giroro at all? He was always my favorite character in the anime with his total badass attitude.

Admiral H. Curtiss
May 11, 2010

I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.

Yetika posted:

This is a pleasant surprise! I always wanted to see what KeroroRPG was all about since I used to read the books, plus knowing this game has a deviation of Tales of Hearts' battle system it really got my attention.

It actually looks to be closer to Tales of Destiny Remake's battle system, from the little I'm seeing here. Which was the best Tales battle system until Graces, so, yeah, this seems like a pretty fun game! Weird how it didn't sell very well.

sunburnedcrow
Dec 17, 2012
This looks pretty good. Keroro is my go to manga/anime whenever I need a laugh, the references to Mobile Suit Gundam do also help.

AfroGunsou
Dec 8, 2009

:yeah:
If I could make a suggestion: add some sort of distinction to your personal comments in the updates to make them stand out a little better. Bold or italics or somethin.

Otherwise, keep up the good work.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

InterrupterJones posted:

Holy poo poo! I remember when the anime came out; I watched those episodes like crack for a while! I would like to start watching them again, but...there are nearly four hundred episodes now. :monocle:

:goonsay: It has 358 episodes and five movies. The anime's been on hiatus since 2011.

quote:

Out of curiosity, will you be bringing in Giroro at all? He was always my favorite character in the anime with his total badass attitude.

I'll be cycling everyone through my fighting party to keep them evenly leveled. The great thing about the small party selection is that everyone is really useful, even if they're not equally versatile.

AfroGunsou posted:

If I could make a suggestion: add some sort of distinction to your personal comments in the updates to make them stand out a little better. Bold or italics or somethin.

Otherwise, keep up the good work.

I've been putting in-game text (like "You got the thing!") in italics to differentiate it from my comments and character dialogue. Maybe I should put that in bold? I figured the occasional use of emoticons in my comments made them stand out enough.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
I imagine it's probably not going to happen, but it'd be funny if Angol Mois kept showing up to offer advice, but she'd guest starred in so many RPGs that all of it was wildly irrelevant.

RelentlessImp
Mar 15, 2011
What... what is this. Oh god. My sides.

I'm going to tentatively follow this. It looks hilarious.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
Part 2: Fetch-Questing



"Go west, young(?) frog," said Dark Lord Agon, so west they went.



On the way we had another battle, which got Keroro, Tamama, and Kururu to level 2. Tamama learned Storm Claw, an Arte that takes him diagonally upward, good for flying enemies, and Kururu learned his first spell, Heal. Yes, the contrary tech guy is your first and best healer in the game.

We also get a victory skit I've probably seen/skipped like a million times, it comes up so much.

VIDEO: Kero-Kuru Victory Skit 1



West past the Hinata house is the Mountain Pass.





Our bottom-screen map changes to this when we enter any dungeon-type area. Exits to other sections are marked with arrows, and exits to the map are marked with flags. It also shows any treasures found.



This dude at the entrance tells us about reordering our fighting party, stuff I've already gone over in the first update.



The pass isn't too complicated. You can just run left and--







A pincer attack... however...!

At the outset of a pincer attack, you're not only surrounded by enemies, you're stunned and can't move for a few seconds. You can avoid the stun part if you have equipment that prevents it, though.



A clean sweep.

Even on Hard, pincer attacks at this early point are just a slight annoyance. Scrub Snakes and Swaying Scorpions are still no problem.

Pincer attack frequency relies mainly on the RNG, which means it's affected by the luck stat. Bad luck also means less crits and item drops.



The pass branches off to the north and south. South has a chest with an Herb in it.



The north branch has some Gold, and...



...Some nature for Keroro to appreciate.

What a lovely pine tree...

Dororo oughta be proud.



The "Dororo gets ignored" gag makes its way into several victory skits.

VIDEO: Dororo Gets Ignored



Back into the overworld!



I switched out my party, and decided to use Giroro. I'd actually never taken control of him before in my previous playthroughs, because face-stabbing monsters at close range is so satisfying. Despite most of their weapons being stuck in a dimensional rift, Giroro has infinite grenades for his Flare Impact Arte and Up+A attack.



You've got a long way to go before you can deal with the likes of me. Ku ku ku...

Kururu, you're as merciless as ever.

Since I set Kururu's AI to attack enemies with lower HP, he finishes a lot of battles by himself. This will only happen more often as he becomes the designated nuker.



Beyond the Mountain Pass is a checkpoint.









Here we find our first shop with a whole three items!



I blow all my hard-earned Gold on Herbs. The other two items are Magnifying Glasses and Antidotes. One identifies enemy stats, but unlike Dororo's Eye of Judgement, it doesn't reveal all the information at once. The other cures poison, which I'm not sure any enemy can do just yet.

Only 15 of each healing item can be held at once, so 13 Herbs is actually plenty.



And he's fresh out of ingredients. :(



We need to get through, but unfortunately, the guards are actually doing their job.

VIDEO: The First Fetch Quest



If you wanna get through, I'll have to see your pass.

Gero? A pass?

It's a permit for going through checkpoints like this one.

I don't have anything like that.

In that case, you can pay a toll to get through instead.

Well why didn't you say so! Corporal Giroro, pay the toll, would you?



Why do I have to pay it!? That's what the invasion budget's for!

Things have been tight this month...

That's because you won't stop buying those drat Gundam models!

Don't forget video games.

If you need money, I've got some.



Gero... Private Tamama, where'd you get all that...?

It's my allowance from Momocchi.

Seriously...? Boy, do you ever have it good...

What's this paper supposed to be?

All this isn't enough? You're not tryin' to rip us off, are you?

We use Gold in these parts.

Sheesh, what's with the game currency tropes?

So how much of this Gold do you want?

Well, the toll's 1,000,000 Gold, but...



DUDE! That goes over the six-digit limit!

I'm just following orders from higher up. Complaining to me won't change anything.

But if you find the Buried Treasure in the Mountain Pass, you'll probably have enough.

Gero? Searching for buried treasure... sounds like an RPG fetch quest to me.

Sergeant! You're not supposed to talk about it like that!

We've no other choice. To return to our world, we must find that Buried Treasure in the pass.

Looks like it.

A treasure hunt sounds like fun!

All right, platoon! To the Mountain Pass!



Hey, at least all the guards want is a ridiculous amount of money. They don't even care about the oversized bipedal frogs running around.

So where the hell do we find buried treasure in that pass? It's not like it has anything remotely interesting in it.



Except this lovely pine tree.

Found the Buried Treasure!

So this is the buried treasure! It's full of glittering gold!

Gero? This is supposed to be worth a whole lot in this world... so if I sold it, I'd be filthy stinking rich!

Hold on, Sergeant! Don't get blinded by your own greed! If you don't take care of the monsters attacking Earth, it's bath-cleaning duty for all eternity!

Gerooo! That's not good! Keroro Platoon, let's take this treasure back to the checkpoint right away!



We mosey on back, with some battles in between.



Here's a victory skit that's in a few Tales games, most notably Tales of the Abyss.

VIDEO: The Choro-Ama Skit



Back to the gate with our effortless stack of gold.

Oh hey, it's you again. Find any buried treasure?

Hahaha! Like they'd find it that easily...

You mean THIS buried treasure!?



Bashed the guards with the treasure!

Th... this bright, glittering gold! It's the Buried Treasure! Man, I really underestimated you! I had no idea you'd actually find it.

That's what you get for being :smug: . You get a pile of gold crammed in your face.

Please, go right on through!



Oh yeah! Here, I'll give you guys somethin' good.

Got a Keparrow Map!

That map shows treasure locations when you put in passwords. But apparently you can't find any of the passwords in this world. If you hear about any, don't be afraid to try 'em out.



By the way, I heard a rumor that the important little booklet you guys have has one of the passwords. You know, one you should always read before playing.

Sucks when things like this happen and the game's bought used, and you're lucky to even get a box. :sigh: I hear the condition of used games is a lot different in Japan, though. You could buy this 10 years down the road, and still have the original box AND instruction book! Imagine that.

Why don't you read it and give that password a try?

Gero... are you talking about reading the manual...?

Keroro is notoriously bad about not reading the user's manual for anything.

Looks like you could get some loot out of it, so why the hell not?

Well, have a safe journey!





Wait a minute...

VIDEO: More Mois

Gero? That was Miss Mois...

HNNNGH! WHAT'S THAT HUSSY DOING HERE?!

Miss Mois should still be back at the base...

But I'm sure that was her I saw just now...

She must be plotting to steal my Sargey! LET'S KEEP GOING!



I'm sure this can't mean anything at all! :v:



Then we hear a scream.



Ah! That's-!



Someone help! ...In other words, a desperate situation?

It IS Miss Mois! We'll save you!



The platoon runs in to save Mois? from the generic monster sprites.





Using Eye of Judgement will fully reveal an enemy's HP and weaknesses on the first try. It's like a Magnifying Glass with a 100% success rate. We can see this Flutterbird's weakness to Wind and resistance to Earth.



Rather than just jumping back a little, Dororo ninja-vanishes to dodge.



Level-ups for these three, who resonate in victory, in case you forgot they were frogs and also spooooky aliens. Keroro learns Mach Spike, which hits 5 times rapidly. Dororo learns Heaven and Earth, an Arte that teleports him to the target to attack, and is useful the entire game.

It didn't show it because he's sitting in reserve, but Kururu also gained a level and learned his first Earth-based magical Arte, Dug Blast.





Thank you all so much for saving me!

Are you all right, Miss Mois?

Oh my, have we met before, Uncle? I work as a peddler around here. My name is Moano.

Moano? So you're not Miss Mois. But even so...

SHE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THAT drat WOMAN!

It's said there are three copies for each person.

Hey, Uncle? My house is just ahead. I'd like to reward you for saving me, so could you please stop on by?

Come on now, don't be shy! ...In other words, I'll share what I have?





But before we advance, let's check out that Keparrow Map the guard gave us.



On top, it shows how many treasures we've marked/discovered, and on bottom is where it'll show the location of a selected treasure.



Hitting X takes us to the password screen. Each treasure is a combination of five symbols, selectable with the buttons or by touch screen. Like the guard said, there's no way to find passwords within the game itself.



But that's what the official site is for! :D A while after the game came out, all the passwords were made available. Some were only available with certain Keroro toys or in the strategy guide at the time of the game's release.



Each password put in records a treasure's location, so we can always check where it is.



The downside is that there are three hundred and one of these things, and every time you put in a code, the symbol squares shuffle randomly into new positions. Very tedious.



So I only filled in about fifty or so, which covers much of this first area of the game. Many require keys we can't get until much later.

For now, I leave you with official art of the late Captain Jack Keparrow. Next time, treasure hunting and frog fashion!



Yeah, it's a Pirates of the Caribbean reference.

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Aug 19, 2013

BrightWing
Apr 27, 2012

Yes, he is quite mad.
Dude, Tales of Sgt. Frog?! Count me in! This looks awesome. Was kinda sad this one never made it over.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
:siren:CHARACTER INTRO VIDEOS:siren:

Now for a couple of the character intro videos from the official Keroro RPG website! These were taken down quite a while ago, but someone recorded them and stuck 'em on Nicovideo. The overall quality's not great, and they skipped through the text kinda fast, but it should be watchable. In them, each member of the platoon (plus a little extra) will tell us a little something about the game. These were all available prior to the game's release.

Character Intro 1: Sergeant Keroro

Character Intro 2: Private Tamama

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
I haven't seen a lot of RPGs where everything was played pretty much for comedy. Working the schticks into victory skits is pretty great.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
Part 3: Steal Everything



Last time, I uncovered the locations of over 50 hidden Keparrow treasures. Here's the first one, waiting to be looted back in the Mountain Pass. But before we make grabby-hands at it...



We're gonna stop by Moano's house for a little somethin'.

Read the rest!

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Jul 14, 2014

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

drat it game, I was enjoying you, then you had to go and reference SD Gundam :argh:

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
If you're getting mad at Gundam references in a Keroro game, you don't know Keroro very well. Next part might make your head explode. :haw:

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

How Ingratiating! posted:

If you're getting mad at Gundam references in a Keroro game, you don't know Keroro very well. Next part might make your head explode. :haw:

Oh no, like I said, I've read plenty of the manga. That said, if the next segment features a skit called Zaku Zaku Hour, this could go dark places.

drat it Bamco, why would you give us Dawn of the New World instead of this :negative:

BrightWing
Apr 27, 2012

Yes, he is quite mad.


:stare:

Should I be afraid?

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.

BrightWing posted:



:stare:

Should I be afraid?

I sure as hell am.

:gonk:

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
I dunno, listen and decide for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwjmjcfmHAA

Gero gero gero gero
Tama tama tama tama
Doro doro doro doro


Rodyle posted:

Oh no, like I said, I've read plenty of the manga. That said, if the next segment features a skit called Zaku Zaku Hour, this could go dark places.

The game is too full of Keroro screwing around to have room for Zaku Zaku Hour. But I do love how ridiculous the Vatras Sword's attack and CC boost makes the early part of the game. It's like Keroro wasn't already numerically destined to be a powerhouse!

How Ingratiating! fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Jan 21, 2013

ThornBrain
Jan 25, 2011

Hi. I forgot your name. Whatever.
My... point is...
Hi. Your head's on fire.
Liking the LP so far. My only experience with this game is a few videos I saw of the first 10 minutes or so and a Retsupurae I did before joining SA. I always thought the combat looked fun despite the random encounters.

And yes I did Sgt Frog Abridged, with my LP partners among others. For those who haven't seen it but know about Sgt Frog, it's nothing like the original series; we went a completely different direction, ended up writing our own story, adopted a vastly different humour style and completely threw out some of the character personalities. In fact this LP is already reminding me why we did that: I honestly don't like most of these characters. Keroro, Tamama and Kururu annoy me, and the two I do like, Giroro and Dororo (from what my partner Yoshi told me when he played the game and what I'm gathering from this LP) are almost useless in this game.

Makes everything sound weird when I read the dialogue in my head as the SFA character voices.

ThornBrain fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Jan 21, 2013

Not Feasible
Apr 1, 2011
Can't be done.
Costume-based skillsets! :swoon:
So much about the gameplay in this game really makes me lament the fact that it didn't get localised. I'd have bought it in a heartbeat.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

ThornBrain posted:

In fact this LP is already reminding me why we did that: I honestly don't like most of these characters. Keroro, Tamama and Kururu annoy me, and the two I do like, Giroro and Dororo (from what my partner Yoshi told me when he played the game and what I'm gathering from this LP) are almost useless in this game.

Since you only get five playable characters ever, everyone has a varied skill set. They each have a limited/useless move or two, but none of the characters are useless. In fact, you can play with whatever formation you like and never switch it out for the entire game, and still be okay. The game gives the player a ton of goodies and advantages. When I first played, if I was ever stuck, it sure as hell wasn't on a boss fight.

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How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
:siren:MORE CHARACTER INTRO VIDEOS:siren:

Same quality as before, hopefully still watchable. Kururu talks about what really matters.

Character Intro 3: Corporal Giroro

Character Intro 4: Sergeant Major Kururu

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