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Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

Stabbey_the_Clown posted:

I like ya, kid, ya got moxie.

Like I can't even call that kid taking all your money for an orange gel a dick move because 2 minutes later you get ten-thousand Gald.

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Crowetron
Apr 29, 2009

I can appreciate a game where a self-proclaimed fortune hunter will just straight up rob a dude because gently caress you, NPC, you ain't even got a unique sprite.

Decus
Feb 24, 2013
Thanks to this LP I learned that changing character names was even a thing for this. So, eager to try it out myself, I booted up Tales of Destiny for the first time in years only to learn something even better: there's a "random" button. What might a random button do, you ask? Fill in the spaces with random names from a list?

What, no, don't be silly. It just fills in the spaces with -random letters-. Yeah. Well, to be fair, in the original japanese I'd have to guess the random button filled in random kana and that makes -much more sense- than the english equivalent of "random letters", but still. It's pretty glorious and if the vote hadn't already gone to default, I'd be voting for "just hit random once for everybody".

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Chapter 5



Ah another day in Destiny; another fool to rob blind. I could totally get behind a JRPG who's heroes are complete selfish assholes only looking out for themselves and their pocketbooks.



"............ZZZZZZZZ...ZZZZ..."

"...Are you listening to me?"

"Mmmph...huh (yawn)? Oh, good (yaaaaaawn) morning ...Did you have something to say?"

"...Oh, forget it!"

"By the way, what are we going to do next?"

"I heard that the head of the Armeida village was looking for someone who could give his grandson lessons in swordsmanship. The pay is pretty good. What do you think?"

"Swordsmanship... That sounds good"

Hell yeah it sounds good. Dudes wouldn't even be able to fight back when we tie them up and loot their house.

"Okay then. Armeida is northeast from here."



"They're..."

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?"

"Shaddap! It's none of your business... Wha, h, hey! Waitaminit!!"





I imagine the JRPG of selfish heroes would go a lot like this actually. You'll go from town to town stealing plot related items while the army chases you down. Eventually your party will come to realize that the best defense is a good offense and take the fight to the capital city.

"Oh, now I remember! You're those thieves who tried to mess with us before!"

"Who're you calling thieves?! We're Seinegaldian soldiers."



So the final dungeon would be a raid on the castle going through floor after floor on your quest to kill the king. Each boss would be like part of the kingdoms "Elite Knights" or something anime like that.

"Did you know that the temple was under the protection and care of our kingdom?"

"What?! ...Hey, hey, Rutee."

"Stahn, did you know that?"

"How the heck would I know that?!"

"Jeepers! Well, gentlemen and sirs, as you can see, we didn't know that."

Phew! Glad we could clear that up. We'll be on our way now.

"Why you little punks! You're lying through your teeth!!!"



"Why, am I that famous? Do you want my autograph or something?"

"I've heard many bad things about you.

You should hear what they say about your mother. :coal:

"Listen you, surrender peacefully. We want to take you to the castle for questioning."

"Stahn..."

"Wha...what?"

"Run!"

"Ru...huh?!"







"Is this an ambush?!"

"What's going on?! I thought you weren't involved in bad things!!"

You just saw her rob a dude in front of you, Stahn. This happened the day before. How loving stupid are you?

"Ugh! Will you stop your whining, Stahn?! My plan is completely screwed up now... Okay, we'll have to do things the hard way! Mary and Atwight, come on!"

"Mary, please stop Rutee!"

"Hee, hee, hee! Come on, you little girlie boys!! Show me what ya got!!!"

Just go ahead and tell me that Mary hasn't won you over as best character.

"Wha, now, hold it right...!"

"We have no choice..."

"You, you must be joking...!"

"We have to make our stand now."

"Argh! ...Lilith, I'm so sorry. I might not be able to come home ever..."

"What are you blubbering about?! They're coming!!"





This battle is a cake walk. Except for the fact that now there's 8 of them, it's exactly the same as the fight in the Hidden Temple. They have the same health and attack strength. In fact because you should have gained a level or two on the way, it's probably easier than before.

I really want to point out the background for this fight. It's not just a simple generic "in town" battle screen. They could have easily gone with that and used the same background for the like one or two other times a fight in a town happens. No, this background is unique to this town which actually has a bridge over a little stream like that. They put in a lot of effort into this game.




"What are you waiting for?! There's only three of them!"

"Move out of my way!"



"drat it, you spineless worms... Quit slacking your job, you morons! Get up now!! I'll take care of them. You fools are going against the national army. Surrender peacefully or suffer the consequences. This is your last chance..."



You're gonna get it now!

"When did they let you out of preschool?!"

"I've given you a fair warning... You'll regret you insolence. Criminals have no rights. Now, you shall pay!!"



Alright let's do this thing! Gonna tear this punk a new assh-



Wait. . .what? Only five points of damage?



Okay, okay. Clearly I came into the fight unprepared. Let's start over and see how much health he has so I can plan. There's a neat little item in this game called Spectacles that let's you see the enemies health and their primary element if they have one.





:stare:

Ok you know what? If the game isn't gonna play fair, neither am I.





You made me do this, Tales of Destiny, You did! I hurt you because I love you.



"Do we have to fight these soldiers? ...Don't I have a choice?"

"What's your problem, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom?! If we stick together, nothing can stop us."

"B...but..."

"Can't you see there's no turning back now? Let's get crazy!"

"B...but..."



And finished off the master swordsman, Leon Magnus. The three went on to take their place in as an infamous gang of lens hunters who roamed the four corners of the world. But that's another story



The game then takes you back to the title screen. And that's Tales of Destiny, Folks! I'd like to thank you all for sticking through my first LP. Big thanks to divide by zero for those portraits as well as thanks to Stabbey_the_Clown for being my unofficial proofreader.

Feel free to leave comments and critiques about what I did right, what I did wrong, and everything in between so that my next LP can be better than this one. Good night, folks!
































Alright, alright; I guess I should at least try to beat Leon fair and square for the LP




Son of a bitch!



Oh!

"How amusing. I wasn't aware you had Swordians."

How the hell would you even know? You didn't even let us live long enough to cast a spell. :negative:

"Yeah, so what? What is it to you?!"

"Your Swordian skills are so primitive. What a waste of the poor Swordians..."




"Chaltier!"

"Hey, what's this? Chaltier? Who? Dymlos, what's going on?!"

"Chaltier was our comrade during the ancient war."

"That means he's a..."

"Yes, he's a Swordian master."

"If he's a Swordian master like us, why won't he let us go?!"

"No way. I can't go against my master."

"So, who is this master of yours?"

"Leon is my master. He's the best swordsman in the Kingdom of Seinegald. He's highly respected."

"Kingdom of Seinegald?"

"It's a kingdom that was established after the war in the northern part of the Prime Continent in this world."

People, please. This is not the time for a geography lesson.

"I've never heard of it."

"You don't know because you've been sleeping for ages."

"What is the Prime Continent?"

drat it, Stahn! What did I just say?

"This is the Prime Continent. It was called by that name long ago."

"Oh..."

Are you happy, Stahn? Is your situation any improved now that you know about the Prime Continent? No! You're still tied up and beaten!

"By the way... Chaltier, you talk differently now."

"Do you think so? Perhaps, it's because of my young master...Well, I've also been through a lot..."

"Chal!"

"I know, master. I'll behave..."

"All of you should be silent as well. Surrender your weapons now."

"Yeeessss, maaassssster...!"

"Hey you, Leon or whatever. What are you going to do with us?"

"There is only one place for criminals to go. Just make sure to remove the unnecessary jewelry and clothing around you neck... Send these scum to Darilsheid!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Criminals...Hey, wait a minute!"

"Why did we have to be caught by you, of all people in the world?!!"

"Take them!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Hey, watch where you're grabbing! Hey, lemme go!! Lemme go!!!"

"...What a big mouth!"



And just like that, our short careers as country side thieves is brought to an end. A man can dream. :smith:

Ride The Gravitron fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Mar 30, 2013

Edward_Tohr
Aug 11, 2012

In lieu of meaningful text, I'm just going to mention I've been exploding all day and now it hurts to breathe, so I'm sure you all understand.
I do love that this game gives you a different ending for winning the requisite unwinnable fight. Much better than the mystical cutscene powers that the enemies use in other games, even if it does wind up cutting the game a little short.

Granted, with the amount of grinding you'd have to do to kill Leon legit, you'd probably have a similar count on your game clock compared to playing the full game.

Tuxedo Ted
Apr 24, 2007

Confession time: I never beat Destiny myself. Something about the combat just made it a drag after a while. I'd like to say it's just cause I got spoiler by more modern games, but even Tales of Phantasia felt more smooth. The combos just seemed to roll out more naturally. Eventually I just lost interest, which is a shame since a ton of characters seem pretty cool.

Speaking of, I'm glad Mary seems to be a favorite of others in this thread. Can't wait to see what her deal is. As far as I played I didn't see much more of her character arc than we already have.

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

Edward_Tohr posted:

I do love that this game gives you a different ending for winning the requisite unwinnable fight. Much better than the mystical cutscene powers that the enemies use in other games, even if it does wind up cutting the game a little short.

Granted, with the amount of grinding you'd have to do to kill Leon legit, you'd probably have a similar count on your game clock compared to playing the full game.

A quick googling shows some :spergin:s beating him at like level 7 or something like that which I think is insanely low but what do I know? I don't even want to imagine how hard to must be.


Tuxedo Ted posted:

Confession time: I never beat Destiny myself. Something about the combat just made it a drag after a while. I'd like to say it's just cause I got spoiler by more modern games, but even Tales of Phantasia felt more smooth. The combos just seemed to roll out more naturally. Eventually I just lost interest, which is a shame since a ton of characters seem pretty cool.


There is a slight lag to your characters physical attacks. You'll slash or thrust at the enemy and if you connect you're frozen from doing anything but special moves for like a second and a half.

Stabbey_the_Clown
Sep 21, 2002

Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?
Taco Defender
Wow, it's really impressive that they bothered to add a secret ending for winning that crazy fight.


"Jeepers! Well, gentlemen and sirs, as you can see, we didn't know that."

Rutee is the best character. (Sorry, Mary.)

Spiffo
Nov 24, 2005

Volume posted:

And finished off the master swordsman, Leon Magnus. The three went on to take their place in as an infamous gang of lens hunters who roamed the four corners of the world. But that's another story

Ha ha I am so glad you showed this thing off

Shitenshi
Mar 12, 2013
GodDAMN I remember when I first played this game, I thought it was the most generic thing ever, but looking back, they really did a good job on the translation. What happens when you talk to Milly of the Black Wings is kinda corny, but still in spirit with this game.

Milly: "Oh? Ooooohhhhhhh! Your body! It's so ripped!
And your face kinda reminds me of that way cute actor Leon
DiCarpaccio!! You're soooo cuuuuuuute! I think I'm in love! Say,
why don't you join our gang? I'll take care of you, if you know
what I mean."
--> No.
Milly: "(Sigh)... That's a shame. I'm sooooooo disappointed!"
--> Yes
Milly: "Then, you need to donate 30000 Gald to us for our defense fund.
Do you have it?"
Stahn: "Thirty...(gulp)...thousand?!"
Milly: "You don't have it?! Well, that's too bad.
See you later, lover boy!!! (Smoooooooch!)"

And then Stahn turns red while her two cohorts get the ! animation over their heads. I don't even know if there's an alternate sequence that plays out if you do shark the money in or just plain grind.

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Chapter 6



We catch up with our heroes in jail. They had been beaten, insulted, and shamed but that's not gonna stop Stahn from getting a good nights sleep.



And it sure won't stop him from whining about it the moment he wakes up.

"Yeah! why do I have to put up with any of this?!!"



"What did you say?! First of all, Stahn, this is YOUR fault. You're the one who fought will all those soldiers!"

"Hah! Look who's talking! Okay, then tell me who got us into this mess in the first place!!!"

"Oh, stop your whining. Whatever the case, it's all your fault, so why don't you be a real man and take responsibility?!"

Stahn's a whiny little useless moper. He'll never take responsibility. It's very strange to see a game where the main character has the weakest presence and personality of all.

"Hey, who made you the judge, jury and executioner?!"

"Mary, say something."

"Why don't you two love birds stop fighting? You two sound like a married couple."

If you readers are sick of it by now just imagine how poor Mary feels.

"Why you traitor!"





"Where are you taking us?"

"You're going to see His Majesty."

"What's going on?"

"You have no right to ask me that question."

"Oooooh! You're useless."

"Take them."

"Yes, sir!"



It's a real shame that these kind of scenes don't happen more often in the game. There's a nice touch on how you're always led like a criminal. From the beginning where those crewmen take you to the captain, to being escorted out of the town by Leon's goons.









Yeah, I got no idea who they are either.



"What does the king want from us?"

"Now, take a moment to reflect upon you heinous deeds."

"What did I do? I haven't a clue. Right, Stahn?"

"What? Err..."

"Who do you think you're fooling, you imbeciles!! You wreaked havoc in a temple under the protection of my kingdom and terrorized citizens with acts of senseless violence! Now, you shall pay for your transgressions!"

You really kind of have to wonder how badly you must gently caress up in order to have the king himself sentence you. Don't they got judges or a court system? Does every little trespassing or vandalism case have to go before the king?

"But, but..."



"One moment, your majesty.

"Hugo, what is it now?"

"Do you know what a Swordian is, sire?"

"That's a strange question, Hugo. What is your point?

I love that the King didn't even answer the question. The truth is that he doesn't know but he's not about to admit that in front of his subjects. Right now all he knows is "Swordian? Really? What a lame word."

"These criminals before you are Swordian masters."

"What? Are you sure of that?"

"Yes, sire. According to Leon, although they are immature, they may be of some use to us."

"Hey, what do you mean by immature...?

Really, the only one who could be called immature is Stahn. Immature, naive, un-educated, foolish, hick, inbred, redneck, slack-jawed; Really a whole bunch of words could be used to describe Stahn.

"If I may be so bold as to make this proposal sire, what do you think about the idea of sending them to Straylize Temple?"

Are you hoping they'll find religion and reform their criminal ways? What a strange and out of the blue suggestion.

"Although you're my trusted vassal, I think this proposal of yours does not make any sense. These wretched miscreants are criminals. We cannot afford to have them on the loose."

"But sire, I have a solution for that. I have no intentions whatsoever of allowing them to run free. As long as we attach these restraining devices made for prisoners on them, they will be unable to escape. Guard! Hold this one!"

"Yes, sir!"





"You can untie the rope now. Sire, this device is capable of generating a severe electric shock via remote control. Now, a simple demonstration of the device."



I really think this would be good for the rest of the game. Whenever Stahn acts stupid, just shock him. :getin:



"The test shock just given to the subject wasn't much, but any attempt to remove the device will generate a lethal shock."

"Ah. I see. So, if they try to run away, we can control them with the device."

"Exactly sire. I believe that these criminals can be easily controlled by assigning a single escort to watch over them."

"Yes, but..."

"What is troubling you, sire? Please tell me, I can't read your mind."

Stahn instantly become relieved at this news. But who in this room can? Who?!

"What I'm about to say does not leave this room.

So let's just go ahead and talk about it in front of criminals who have no loyalty to the country.

Hugo, you've heard of the Eye of Atamoni, have you not?"

"I believe that was the doomsday weapon from the time of the ancient Aeth'er Wars."

"Yes, you are correct. And it is kept underground beneath Straylize Temple."

"What?!"





Oh come on, the thing has been down there for over a thousand years. I'm sure a few more hours of plot dumping won't hurt. Besides, it's not like you've actually given us a reason to worry.

"No, Ashley! If even one of the Seven Generals of Darilsheid investigates this matter, the public may panic. This must be kept a state secret."

He says as he spouts out state secrets in front of criminals he has no reason to trust.

"In that case, I believe using them would be the most expeditious way to handle this matter..."

What matter? What's the problem here exactly?

"But Hugo, can we trust them with the task?"

What task?! Is there even an issue here? You have a weapon, good for you! You haven't told us anything else. If there's suppose to be some sense of urgency here I am not feeling it.

"We'll send Leon along with them. He'll be able to handle them easily."

"Hmmm, Leon, eh? All right, make it so."

"Attach the device on these two and untie their ropes."

"Yes, sir."



"Where do you think you're touching me! Let go of me, you pervert!!"

"Wow, this is a great fashion accessory."

Mary's not worried because she knows that she could kill every one in this room with out breaking a sweat.

"You're such an airhead..."

"Hmmmm..."

Maybe we should get Stahn some medical attention or somethi - no? Oh okay

"Hey there, mister. I don't know if it's the Eye of Atamoni or the Evil Eye or whatever, but you're going to compensate us for our work, right? Otherwise, this is totally ridiculous!"

While Mary is still my favorite character, Rutee is pretty high up there as well.



"You brazen hussy! Who told you to speak?!!"

:nyd:

"What?!"

"Why, isn't she just a lovely lady? I guess having her life spared isn't a good enough reward... Rutee...was that your name? I can't promise you anything right now, but how about a reward upon completing the mission? Of course, the mission must be completed successfully. This is a very important task.

A very important task of going to the temple and doing... something?

"I realize that you are simple people who need some kind of motivation to get things done. Would this be all right, your majesty?"

"Yes."

"Come to my mansion later. I have something to give you. My mansion is the largest building in Darilsheid. You can't miss it.

I love how he just casually drops that in. "Yeah, it's no big deal."

"Oh, and..."

"What?"

"My name is Hugo Gilchrist, the president of Oberon Corporation. Remember my name."

"The...president of Oberon Corporation... You mean THE Oberon Corporation?!"

If they could have done it, I'm sure they would have made Rutee's eyes get filled with dollar signs here. This dude, the king's right hand man, is the president of the largest corporation in the world. That's the company we sell all those lens to.

"Yes, the one and only. Well, if you'll excuse me..."



"Okay, so what are we supposed to do?!"

"I shall give you two tasks. One is to inspect the temple. Contact Archbishop Marton and ask for an update. Something may have happened to him."

Not like we have a reason to suspect so but eh, couldn't hurt to check up on him.

"If Marton is not there, ask anyone who's available."

"And then what's the other task?"

"If something is going on, put a stop to it, whatever it may be. I don't care HOW you do it- just get it done."

Just, you know, if by chance you come across a world threatening disaster that we don't know about or something.

"What could that something be?"

For once Stahn's confusion is justified.

"You have to find out for yourself. Just follow Leon's instructions."

"But he's just a little kid! Are you sure it's all right?"

"Hey!"

"Leon's skills are easily on par with the Seven Generals. Not to worry."

"How lovely! I feel sooooo much better now!"

"Just stay out of my way."

A brooding dark loner child who's a master swordsman? Really filling up on our anime quota here.

"The temple is located deep in the mountains northeast of Darilsheid. Prepare for the trip at Hugo's mansion and head for the temple. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"All right. You are all dismissed."

So now that we're freeish people. Let's go loot the castle and put our freedom at risk.



There's not really anything too spectacular to steal. Oh wait, what's this?



Ewww. Well I guess we're not always gonna have access to a toilet but still...



"Long ago, a comet came crashing down on these lands. Nearly half of our population was lost due to this cosmic calamity. The dust clouds that resulted from this collision spread over our planet's skies for years. This caused an unnatural winter that seemed to have lasted forever. Our world was plunged into what was effectively an ice age. Our race of people split off into two groups during this ice age - an age of darkness. They were the chosen and the outcasts. The chosen escaped from the winter on the surface and lived their lives in an utopian world in the sky. The chosen ones ruled the outcasts on the surface with lighting bolts they threw down at them. The outcasts on the surface rebelled against the tyranny of the chosen ones and thus began a war between heaven and earth. This is what became known as the Aeth'er wars - A War Without Victory. The eventual victors of the Aeth'er Wars were the outcasts - The people on the surface. Or were there really victors of this war? No, our entire race lost."

Like I said before, the flavor text in this game is really kind of lame and stupid. On occasion though you can find a few hidden gems.





And with that we can head on out of the castle.



And over to Hugo's house.





Marian!! Are you here?"



I was always way impressed with that picture on the wall because it looks like someone actually loaded up a real photograph and just stuck it in the game.

"Leon, my boy. It's so good to see you."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Master Hugo in his office, my boy."

"Hee, hee. He called you a boy!!"





Little trails of smoke follow her down. There's a lot of neat details like that throughout this game.

"Silence!"

"Why you little (grumble, grumble)..."

"What did you just say?"

"No, nothing, I swear (mumble...mumble)."

"That's what I thought. Now, shut up."

"By the way...who are they?"

"Don't mind them. I'm traveling with them out of convenience."

"Hey, I thought we were working together..."

As in the way a slave works with his master, Stahn.

"Was I talking to you?"

"Well, you don't have to treat us like a bunch of lepers or something."

"Kind strangers, please don't fret over what the boy says."



"Hah!! Speak for yourself!"

"Leon tends to keep people at a distance on purpose."

"Nonsense!"

& "........."

"Well, any guests of the young master Leon are welcome here.

"Sorry, but we don't have time for that right now."

"That's a pity..."

"Hugo is in the office, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Fine. Well, let's go."

"Oh, whatever!"

"You're hopeless."





"You're here earlier than I thought. Well, let's go to the hall and talk."



"Marian, bring them here."



"Excuse me."

"Let me introduce all of you to Marian. She's our housemaid."

"Hello, how do you do?"

"Marian, give them the Swordians."

"Yes sir."

"Dymlos!"



"Atwight!"





"History books say that 6 Swordians saved our world in the ancient Aeth'er Wars."

"That's correct."

He can't hear you, Dymlos! You're just in Stahn's head.

"And now, half of them are assembled here. I expect you to be successful.

Successful in what? I don't even see a problem for us to solve. Why are you sending us to a temple?

"And take this too. This will help you find your way around the world. Now go ahead with your mission."

Hugo hands us the customary world map and we are out of here!



drat it, Leon! Haven't we plot dumped enough yet?

"Wh,what?"

"I remembered something. Wait here for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business. Remember, there's no use trying to escape. I'll hunt you down in the end."

"I, I know."





"Leon, what's wrong?"

"Don't call me that. No one can hear us here."

Maybe he just wants to be called Big Poppa Pimp.

"...I'm sorry. But I thought you went off to some place."

"I don't think I'll be able to see you for a while, so I just wanted to talk to you before I left."

"You came back just for that?"

"I'll miss you."

"Oh, poor thing. Master Hugo wouldn't like it if he knew about this."



"Emilio...you shouldn't say such things."

Dissociative Identity Disorder: Check.

"............ I'm sorry, Marian...I was wrong."

"It's fine as long as you understand."

"Then, I'm off."

"Emilio...please be careful."

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine."



"Marian... Sorry, it's nothing."

"I just wanted to pose dramatically one more time."

"........"



"He said he had to take care of business. I wonder what he meant by that?"

"I don't know! Don't ask me!"

"I wasn't asking you!"



"You never know!"

"You fools! those tiaras on your heads work as homing beacons.

How does that even work in a setting like this?

"We know exactly where you are, wherever you go. Don't even try to get smart on me, do you hear?"

"Anyway, where were you?"

"It's none of your business. I don't have to answer any of your inane questions! Let's get going!"

Current Status:







Tuxedo Ted
Apr 24, 2007

Where the heck did your maxed-out HP go, Leon? It was cool of them to not make his fight totally unwinnable, and the early end cutscene was a treat, but that still doesn't quite excuse handing over the superboss enemy as an average-stat ally immediately after getting your butt handed to you. Wasn't he on par with some elite knight order?

I know, I know, video game, but it'd still feel a bit better if they let you get a few more levels under your belt before he joins. I remember this whole thing kinda souring me on him as a character back when I played it too, and I ended up ignoring him a bunch.

Drastic Actions
Apr 7, 2009

FUCK YOU!
GET PUMPED!
Nap Ghost
Tales of Destiny was the second JRPG I actually beat (The first being Earthbound, one of my favorite games ever). I really love the real time combat system, which made fights more chaotic and exciting. The storytelling has just enough anime elements that I can tolerate it without it being too annoying... but unfortunately the remake amps up that by a factor of ten. Still though, despite that, I really enjoy the Tales series.

Speaking of the directors cut, while the story remained roughly the same certain plot points did change around. For example, in the last update above where they are in jail cells, in the remake everyone is in the same cell and the dialog is a little different. The Marian scene and the scene with Hugo where you get your swords back was dropped. Also, the scene where you get the homing devices strapped on was changed so it happens just before you leave the castle, and the characters are given a choice of whether or not they want the "cute" one (Mary picks that one).

There are a bunch of little changes like that, basically making the game more in line with the later entries in the series.

There are also more dialog backstory branches you can select that give more background to the characters and to whats going on (in case you need a hint as to where to go, for example). I'm not sure if anyone has translated that stuff or not. If not, I would be willing to do it.

Gildiss
Aug 24, 2010

Grimey Drawer
I got this game and Brave Fencer Musashi for Christmas the year they came out. I played this one first but got stuck on the ship where you had to move the boxes out of the way because I thought you could only push them. So I switched to BFM and beat that and then finally realized you could pull by holding O or whatever.

What I'm trying to say is this game is cool, and I was bad at video games.

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

This game may have actually been my introduction to Playstation-era JRPGs, and it was certainly my introduction to the Tales series. It's a drat shame the remake could never come out here because Sony's standards had gotten a lot more strict in the PS2 days - unlike most Tales games not released here, I'm pretty sure ToD PS2 wasn't an issue of Namco being jerks, it just wasn't released in America because Sony demanded English dubbing for everything, and Namco seriously couldn't be arsed at that point. There might've been other byzantine rules, as well, such as not allowing sprite-based games (I vaguely remember this being an issue with one of the Ys games?) but I know there was a bunch of console drama about it.

Fun fact: The skits are still in the English version of the game, in the sound test mode! They're all... untranslated. In Japanese. Without any subtitles. But they're there, at least, after all the in-game sounds/voice clips/music.

Fun fact #2:

That tombstone will never be important. EVER. :v:

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

Stahn has always been my favorite stupid protagonist.

Stabbey_the_Clown
Sep 21, 2002

Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?
Taco Defender
I don't think I ever get tired of seeing eventual romantic leads squabbling. :allears:

Pierzak
Oct 30, 2010
We absolutely need to see those skits. Or at least the translation.

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

Pierzak posted:

We absolutely need to see those skits. Or at least the translation.

Youtube answers your prayers! Here's what we would have seen up til now.

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

Pierzak
Oct 30, 2010

Volume posted:

Youtube answers your prayers! Here's what we would have seen up til now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtjqKqSZxUw
Yessss this is exactly what I hoped for :toot: Thanks!

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Chapter 7

When we last left off we were charged to go investigate a temple for absolutely no reason and no sense of urgency at all so let's take our sweet time.

I was going to start off our time wasting by investigating that weird stone tablet outside of the castle but,


KataraniSword posted:


Fun fact #2:


That tombstone will never be important. EVER. :v:


So I guess we don't have to worry about it! Let's get on with this trip then.



There's a fair bit of shopping to do in Seingald but with that out of the way we can get started on our vague unimportant journey.

On the way though let's pick a few fights and check out what Leon can do.










Leon starts off with both Kick Attack and Missile Sword and over the course of the game ends up sharing a lot of the same moves with Stahn.



His animations are slightly different though. As you can see for Missile Sword, instead of slashing downwards, he does a upper slash to send off his attack.





His first spell Stone Blast isn't that impressive to look at either. It's about as powerful as Ice Needle only in earth form.



With that out of the way let's check out our first stop in wasting time. This town is on the way to the temple.



There's really not much going on in this town. There's no plot and no upgrades to your equipment if you went shopping in the last town.

If the name of the town sounds familiar to you though you might recognize that this is where our party was originally heading towards to teach some kid on how to use a sword. There might still be time to knock that out of the way for some extra cash so let's check that out.




"Famous Swordsmen"? I wonder who they could be.



Wait a minute. . . those sprites look familiar.



Black Wings! :argh:

"Yeah!"



"Well, whatever the case, don't bother me."



"Yeah, yeah!"

You'll rue the day, Black Wings! Sadly I think this is the last time they pop up in the game. It would have been kind of cool if they stuck around as a thorn in your side all game long.



There's not much else to do here except check out some crazy cat lady's house. So let's get going.



I just think this is a great shot on the way towards the temple. You can see it in the background.



A little bit past the river you enter another dungeon like area. It's not too hard as it's pretty linear.



Early on you can find this little clearing. We've already established that the tablet isn't important but those mushrooms look kind of funky.



Hell yeah, time to trip balls. The Savory increases one characters max TP by 5%. You can use an item or a skill later on to change it to a Red Savory which increases one characters TP by 10% instead. We'll be holding on to this and any other we find for a long time.



You're also going to encounter new enemies in the woods. The Rock baboons hit hard for this early in the game but the chunbirds are just slight upgrades to the bird types we've already fought.



These Orcrot's are kind of dicks. They can shoot a volley of apples at you for some decent damage as well as strike you by shoving a root underground. They're usually in the back row and since their attacks are long range can make things slightly difficult.



Along the way Stahn picks up a new spell. This is one of the rare spells that actually stops time while it's in effect. It's also a very strong spell dealing out over 200 points of damage. It's also an area of effect so if you have enough enemies grouped up together you can one shot them all with it. Though any enemies in the air will be safe from it.





You can get a great view of Straylize Temple from this one rock. Leon even comes out for a short second to let you know what it is but it just clutters up the screen and ruins the moment so gently caress that.



At a certain point into the woods, it starts getting foggy and that triggers another enemy.



The Shrooms aren't really that impressive. They just kind of kick you or shoot spores at you and that's it. Regardless they still give enough XP that Both Leon and Rutee picked up some new tricks.



Deep Mist is Rutee's new spell and kind of lackluster to be honest. It lowers an enemies' Hit rating by 10% which means you'll be auto blocking their attacks a bit more but it's hardly noticeable.





Her new skill however is around to remind us that she's not a useless white mage. It's not as strong as any of the other fighters Special moves but it does help by time to protect a spell caster or free up an ally under attack. It's super fast if nothing else.









Leon just picks up a new spell but it's an impressive one. A series of four spikes come up from the ground one after another juggling the enemies around for a while. Each spike is dealing 75 to 85 points of damage so if they all hit it easily rivals Stahn's new spell for sheer damage levels.



Deeper into the woods we manage to pick this up. Bellebanes increase your agility by one. For those who have forgotten agility factors into your formula for auto blocking an enemy attack. Much like the Savory you can use an item or skill on it to change it into a Red Bellebane which will add two to your agility instead of one. So we're gonna hold on to it until we get that.

Next time:



Bonus! Skits part two

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

Kheldarn
Feb 17, 2011



I think your talk of toilets has inspired someone...

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
How do I submit that "plop" screenshot to it?

Kheldarn
Feb 17, 2011



I don't really know anything about Tumblr, but I suspect a goon who does will be along before the day is over. :)

Raitzeno
Nov 24, 2007

What? It seemed like
a good idea at the time.

The first two Breath of Fire games had toilets too, iirc. Dunno why those aren't on there, but I don't think you mentioned them in your rant either.

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Volume posted:

Early on you can find this little clearing. We've already established that the tablet isn't important but those mushrooms look kind of funky.

I trust you know what I meant. :v: For what it's worth, the first one I remember being able to properly read when it first appeared was in the Tidal Cave? Even then, you might have to come back if you're underleveled.

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

KataraniSword posted:

I trust you know what I meant. :v: For what it's worth, the first one I remember being able to properly read when it first appeared was in the Tidal Cave? Even then, you might have to come back if you're underleveled.

I did, I was just running with the joke until that one you just mentioned.

rubythunder
Feb 20, 2011

Kheldarn posted:

I don't really know anything about Tumblr, but I suspect a goon who does will be along before the day is over. :)

Checking the tumblr, it doesn't seem like it has submissions open anyway.

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

rubythunder posted:

Checking the tumblr, it doesn't seem like it has submissions open anyway.

It's never gonna have a complete database that way. :colbert:

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Chapter 8

When we last left the party they were in the middle of their pilgrimage towards the temple because the king sent them on a whim even though we have no reason to suspect anything is wrong.



Well I sure didn't see that coming!

"Do you think so too?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's too quiet."

"Yeah, no one seems to be around."

"Maybe everyone is dead."

"No, they couldn't be..."

"Well, we're here to find that out. Come on, let's go!"

Oh come on, I'm sure it's not that bad.



:ohdear:



Well at least not everything's gone to hell.



"...The bishop...and the others... are...in the back..."

"Hang in there!!



Guess I spoke too soon. Let's check the back.



"P ...please spare these girls!!"

"Whoa, hey, wait a minute! We've been sent here by the King!"

"Wh, what? You gave me a good scare..."



What happened here?"

"What happened? Maybe you can tell me!! I was visiting one of our sister temples in another country... When I returned, it was like this. Since I had to protect these girls, I couldn't leave here at all. In fact, I don't know how the others are doing..."

"...You really don't know what's going on, do you? Well that'll do for now. We're going to search for the Archbishop. If you value your life, remain here for a while and don't attract attention to yourselves."

Luckily since they aren't little boys we can safely leave the girls in the hands of the church.

"I...I believe evil beings are still in the temple. Please take this with you. Please save the Archbishop..."

Dude hands us a Talisman which boosts someone's defense by 5%. This goes right onto Rutee since her defense is the lowest. This should come in handy as we raid through the temple and slaughter the infidels! Sadly however that treasure chest is going to have to wait.





Oh it's that kind of church!



"Oh, Atamoni. Am I condemned to die here, trapped without hope?"

Where's your god now?

"There's something strange about that door in the back.

I'll say, it's talking!



"Is anyone out there?!



"Are you on the other side? Please open the door."

"I can't"

"What are you talking about?!"

"W, wait. I've already tried many times but it just won't open. I'm telling you, it won't open."

"Stahn, a force field is blocking this door."

"Force field?"

"How quaint..."

"We have to destroy the shield crystals. They must be around here somewhere."

I love that force fields are such common things that every one knows just how to deal with them.

"We'll open it for you. Hang on."

"Thank you."

We are now tasked with walking around the temple and finding the crystals.



These cute little fellows are guarding the crystals.



A fun little fact that'll absolutely wreck your poo poo. There was some sort of translation error here. It says "Vulnerable against" but that's total bullshit. It's actually strong to. This isn't that big of a deal early on but later in the game when the spectacles tells you that the boss is "Vulnerable against Water" you're gonna be pissed when you cast a powerful water spell and completely heal the son of a bitch.



The lizard men are not too tough on their own and the crystal that accompanies them in the battles don't do anything. They just sit there waiting to be shattered.





After every fight you'll see a small little scene of a crystal ball shattering and Stahn will count them down like a 4 year old who just learned his numbers.



The crystals are scattered all around the temple.



Unfortunately for us, the temple is actually rather large and the first time we see what I was talking about dungeons earlier in the LP.



Everywhere you go there seems to be too many ways to go and it's kind of easy to get lost. Thankfully there are no random battles in the temple.



The only fights are five of these which are all the exact same pushovers.







A gold star for you, Stahn!



"What happened to Archbishop Marton?"

"Marton...perished at the hands of Lydon..."

"And, where is that THING?"

"Excuse me? Thing? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play the fool."

Acting like you don't know about this vague thing we mention. Oldest trick in the book.

"I'm talking about the Eye of Atamoni."

"How do you know about that?!"

"The Eye of Atamoni! The Eye of Atamoni?!"

"Yes."

"Oh, my..."

"Show us around this place."

"I can't."

"I came here by the order of the king to investigate. Show us around. Now!"

"B, but..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. Didn't Hugo explain it to you?"

"No, he didn't!"

Because Hugo doesn't have a mental illness that makes him talk to swords!

"No, we didn't know about that."

"Arrrgh, be quiet!"

"Hey, Rutee! Do you know how serious this is?!"

"I just want the Eye of Atamoni so I can get the reward money from Hugo. This had nothing to do with you."

"Oh no, this is more serious than your petty concerns!!"

"Calm down, Dymlos."

"How can I be calm at a time like this?!"

"I said be quiet!"



"Ignore them. They're a little funny in the head.

Maybe they're possessed by demons. Can you perform a quick exorcism, Ayles?

"Anyway, this is an order in the king's name. You can help us, or we can go about doing things our own way."

"All right. I'll go with you. There's a cathedral to the left rear of the temple. Go there first."

No, first we're gonna explore this odd structure we're in now.



And in deed a lot of backstory and fluff poo poo hidden in all these books but gently caress that poo poo. We're here for one reason only.



At the very top of the tower, there's like 8 or 9 floors, you'll find this. This ring allows you to put Stahn in Manual mode during a battle which we'll get into in the next update. It's a huge loving blessing.

Now that we got that though let's get going.








"May Atamoni bless us with her mercy And with everlasting truth to guide our wayward path Our guardian against darkness We ask in the name of the Goddess, to show us the way."



"Well, I'm impressed..."

"Now, let's hurry."

Much like everything else in religion :reject: the prayer session is a complete farce.





If you notice on the foot of the pedestal there's a switch that goes up and down as the secret door opens and closes.



Beyond the secret tunnel you'll find another small section to explore.



It's not too hard to make a beeline right to the back to where you have to go but you're gonna find it locked.



Exploring this area will lead you to find these switches. There's six in total; three light and three dark.



Walking over one will switch it on. You just have to switch on a set. Either all light or all dark. If you step on the wrong one accidently walking over it again will correct it. Once all three in a set or completed you can go through the doors.



Hmm, must be where they do the baptisms... of small children...in a secret area behind the church that no one knows about with an overly complicated lock...:gonk:



"There's nothing here..."

"No...it can't be..."

"What's going on?"

"It's gone...the Eye of Atamoni is gone..."

"What?!"



"An acquaintance of yours?"

"She is an apprentice priestess studying under Lydon."

"I see, an ally of the enemy. I'm going to use the Panacea Bottle on her. Step aside."







Leon just poured out that P. Bottle we found in the castle. Didn't know he was into golden showers. Then again he does have this authoritative side to him so it probably has something to do with that.



"She...she became human!"

"What happened to me...? Ph! High Priest Lydon!"



"Philia, calm down!"

"Oh, sir..."

"Will you explain to us what happened?"

"Y ...yes...but... Who are they...?"

"We came to check on the Straylize Temple by order of the King of Seinegald."

And thank god we did. I mean we just stopped by to say hello see what you all have been up to. We had no idea this was going on. We were just sent on a whim.

"What's going on?! You have some explaining to do."

"It's terrible! But the High Priest couldn't be... How awful..."

"Hey, calm down. You're not making any sense! Who is this High Priest?"

"His name is Lydon. I was working on many research projects under his guidance but..."

"But?"

"...I never imagined anything like this would happen."

"Don't bore us with your self-loathing! We don't have time to listen to your whimpering. So, I'll make things really simple. Tell us only the important things! What did Lydon do?!"

He maybe a bit of a walking anime cliche but I do appreciate how Leon is all business. Can you imagine if this was Dart from Legend of Dragoon? "Oh here, cry on my shoulder for the next hour and a half of the game, it's ok let it all out. We'll get to the plot eventually"

"He stole the Eye of Atamoni that was kept in this room!"

"What?!"

"The Eye of Atamoni?"

"Oh, no!!!! What has he done?!"

"He took the Eye of Atamoni?!"

I know you're just a figment of Stahn's imagination but even you had to have seen this coming, Dymlos.

"I can't believe it!"

"What's the big deal?"

"You must get the Eye of Atamoni back. It shouldn't be in the hands of mere mortals."

"Get it back? First of all, what is this eye of Atamoni?"

"The Eye of Atamoni is a gigantic Lens that has enough power to destroy the whole world!"

"Destroy the world? Oh, come on..."

"The world once was on the brink of disaster because of the Eye of Atamoni’s power. It was hidden and kept in the confines of this remote temple... How could someone steal it...?"

"Don't worry! Lydon won't get away from us! Looks like you won't go free anytime soon."

"(Sigh) I guess it can't be helped. We're just passengers along for the ride."

"Okay, let's go!"

"Ex...excuse me... May I join you?"

"An enemy spy traveling with us? Are you crazy?"

Well it would be nice to have some one more naive than Stahn to make fun of during this LP.

"I feel totally responsible for not stopping the High Priest."

As you should! If I was there I would execute you on the spot.

"Please let me go with you."

"How can I possibly trust your words?"

"Please!"

"You can trust this girl. Her eyes aren't lying."

"Yeah, I agree."

"Philia is not a liar."

"Hey, Philia...was it?

"Yes?"

"We may have to fight against Lydon. Do you still want to come with us?"

"Yes, I'm prepared to face what's ahead."

"Good, I like her attitude. Let's take her with us. She might be even useful."



Oh god he's about to "assert his dominance" with his pee again isn't he?

"Okay, hot shot, do you actually know what Lydon looks like? Philia, you know him well, don't you?"

"Yes..."

"..."

"Come on, let's take Philia with us, Leon."

"............ Stop referring to Lydon as the High Priest."

"I beg your pardon?"

"That thief is our enemy. Do you understand me?!"

"Ye, yes!"

"How about that, Philia?"

"Thank you!"

"The Eye of Atamoni is about 20 feet in diameter. I think it'll attract the public's attention wherever it goes."

"Okay, we'll gather information as we go along and pursue Lydon and the Eye of Atamoni."

"Well, I suppose we don't have any other choice."

"Let's go!"

And we now have more than four characters! :toot: So feel free to vote on who you want to be in the current party. Stahn can not be taken out. Vote for two different characters and the top three will be slotted in.

Current Stats:









Raitzeno
Nov 24, 2007

What? It seemed like
a good idea at the time.

Volume posted:

After every fight you'll see a small little scene of a crystal ball shattering and Stahn will count them down like a 4 year old who just learned his numbers.

Good thing there aren't too many crystals...

Ride The Gravitron
May 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Bonus update! The full knowledge of the Tower of Knowledge




"There are secret skills that can only be learned by master swordsmen. These skills are written in the SACRED TEXTS. The SACRED TEXTS 'choose' their readers. Unworthy or unskilled readers will be unable to read, let alone understand it."



"In ancient times, a comet fell on this planet. The impact of this comet wiped out nearly half the world's population. Dust thrown up into the atmosphere by the explosive force of the comet caused a long artificial winter on this world."



"The people on this planet split into two groups during this era. The were the chosen and the outcasts. The chosen escaped from the winter on the surface and lived in an utopian world in the sky. They ruled the outchasts on the surface with lightning bolts they fired upon the ground. The people on the surface could not bear the suffering and the tyrannical rule of the people in the sky. Eventually, a war broke out between heaven and earth. This conflict became known as the Aeth'er Wars."



"The victors of the Aeth'er Wars were the Er'thers, the outcast people who lived on the surface of the planet. However, there really was no victor in this shameful war. Humanity lost."



"After losing the war, the Aetherians, the people who lived in the skies, were forcibly repatriated to the badlands of the Second Continent. This continent is now called Calvalese. The Descendants of these people were systematically discriminated against for countless years. That era remains a dark chapter of this world's history."




"The Oberon Corporation is a company whose main business focus is the manufacture and sale of Lens products. Oberon Corporation purchases Lens from people for cash and then processes them to make Lens products."



"A lens is crystal extracted from the core of a comet that fell on this world before the Aeth'er Wars. It is cut and shaped into standard sizes."



"The impact of the Oberon Corporation's Lens products on the world is tremendous. Given that people can now make fire by merely pushing a button instead of actually building a fire, it is easy to see the importance of this company. This company effectively has control over people's lives by focusing primarily on home consumer products. This corporate approach has been well-accepted and supported by the consumers."



"As Oberon Corporation began to purchase Lens for cash, a group of people called Lens Hunters appeared. They made a living by taking Lens from the bodies of monsters they killed and trading it for money. The number of Lens Hunters swelled in a short period of time. However, the ranks of these hunters were reduced as poor hunters fell victim to the monsters. In addition, as the supply of Lens stabilized, Oberon Corporation lowered the exchange rate. Because of these factors, the number of career Lens Hunters has decreased considerably."



"Draconis has a Lens power plant in the center of it's body. This is proof that the Draconis was created by humans. Only a limited number of Draconis were created in ancient times since it required a large amount of bionic metals for it's construction. Currently, the only acknowledged Draconis in service is controlled by the Seinegald kingdom. This Draconis is virtually unavailable to the public. The kingdom currently uses the Draconis for delivering goods. Otherwise, it is used to fly state guests."



"Since the establishment of each temple is based on different beliefs, the religious practices of temples vary accordingly. For example, the ritual of sky-gazing is still performed in Calvalese where their system of belief centers around Aetherian principles. Peace and security of the nation and family safety are the core beliefs shred among all the temples. The organizational structure of priests consists of 5 levels (from top to bottom): Archbishop, Bishop, High Priest, Priest, and Apprentice. However, bishops and above only preside at the headquarters in Seinegald and the temples in other regions are administered by High Priests."

Ride The Gravitron fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Apr 3, 2013

Edward_Tohr
Aug 11, 2012

In lieu of meaningful text, I'm just going to mention I've been exploding all day and now it hurts to breathe, so I'm sure you all understand.
Keep Mary and Philia.

Red Metal
Oct 23, 2012

Let me tell you about Homestuck

Fun Shoe
Rutee and Philia

Shitenshi
Mar 12, 2013
This is the part of the game that pissed me off. The game stops giving you outright places to go, and you have to randomly start talking to every townsperson in the hopes that it'll be the one townsperson that will activate the next plot point. It was said before, but the snow town is so small, and the games gives you no reason to do anything else. I don't know if it's here that it happens, but it's pretty drat soon. The game is still playable, but I remember I was stuck for a good long while confused as to what I should be doing.

Oh, and keep Rutee and Philia.

Shitenshi fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Apr 3, 2013

Crowetron
Apr 29, 2009

Mary stays forever because she's the best, and tag in Philia since she's new.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer

Crowetron posted:

Mary stays forever because she's the best, and tag in Philia since she's new.

Pretty much my reasoning, so go with that.

Stabbey_the_Clown
Sep 21, 2002

Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?
Taco Defender
That scene with everyone talking to the swords and confusing the bishop was great. It's easy to forget that only users can hear the swords.

I really like the water effects, and the big hole in the wall with the scenic overlook.

Rutee and Philia.

Lord_Ventnor
Mar 30, 2010

The Worldwide Deadly Gangster Communist President

Crowetron posted:

Mary stays forever because she's the best, and tag in Philia since she's new.

Sure, I'll go with this.

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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

Crowetron posted:

Mary stays forever because she's the best, and tag in Philia since she's new.

Agreed.

Is it not normally possible to play characters that aren't Stahn without a Channeling Ring. I remember playing with Mary, I swear I do, but I don't remember if the ring was involved.

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