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Spread Your Wings and Fly. Let's Play Atelier Escha & Logy A little introduction 2013 / 2014's Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky is the fifth Atelier game to be released on the PS3, but most certainly not the last (with the sequel, the third game in the Dusk Trilogy, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea, released a little over a month ago in Japan). This title is a sequel to Atelier Ayesha, taking place a few years later, but in a totally different part of the world. In this world, humanity finds itself on the edge of another civilization-ending catastrophe, another Dusk. Indeed, the names of the title characters are taken directly from a branch of theology called Eschatology, which concerns itself with the end of ages, eras, and / or histories. But this game isn't really about that. It's the personal story of Escha Malier and Logix Ficsario as they fulfill their different, but eminently related, lifetime goals. Although two characters share the spotlight in this game, no matter what, this game's plot is their journey together. LP Structure Although I liked writing as Ayesha in my Ayesha thread, I eventually came to feel I didn't go far enough with that thread's main theme. As such, I'm going all the way with this game. I won't deliver any commentary as myself, instead choosing to speak through the words I invent for Escha and Logy. Italics after Escha and Logy's portraits indicate dialogue I made up, not in the game but wedded to it. As with my previous Atelier threads, I'll be showing off all the substantive DLC (additional characters and dungeons), as well as everything in the main story. But, I should establish something before we begin. Before this game begins, you can choose either Escha or Logy for the main protagonist. Whoever you choose influences the game in a few important ways. The starring character will have more scenes than the character not chosen, you'll hear their thoughts in cutscenes, and they'll appear on-screen in the field and in town. While neither the plot nor gameplay change considerably between characters, there's only so much you can see in the game playing as the character you do end up playing as. This also includes endings that are exclusive to each character. For the purposes of this LP, I'll be doing two playthroughs: one as Logy, and one as Escha. For the LP, I'll be integrating the two playthroughs as much as I can to give you the whole game in one package. As such, I won't show every scene for both characters in this LP. Such a venture would feel bloated to me, and it's just not what I want to do with this thread. The primary idea for this thread is to integrate the storylines of both characters into one cohesive whole. An additional note Some of you may have heard that this game had an anime that aired earlier this year, the first Atelier game to get an anime adaptation (for a series that's been going on for like 20 years, and is unspeakably anime in almost every way, that's pretty surprising). It's actually not bad, in spite of its limited budget, and an enjoyable watch if you ask me. As an adaptation, instead of a straight retread of the game it's based on, the anime's plot takes its considerable liberties with the game's story and tells something quite a bit different from the game. There are a lot of minor and big differences between the anime and game (such as Escha knowing two characters at the start of the game, but meets for the first time early on in the anime on-screen), but nothing too earthshaking. By all means, if you want to see the plot develop in a different way, give the anime a watch if that's your thing. Spoiler Policy Same as it ever was for my threads. No talking about stuff I haven't talked about unless in spoiler tags. Updates: Part I: The Alchemic Boy and Girl Part II: The Enterprising Lad and Lass Part III: The Pint-Sized Merchant and Herbalist Part IV: The Lonely Road and Village Part V: The Adventurous Mage and Swordsman Bonus Update 1 Part VI: The Deserted Plains and Ruins Part VII: The Evergreen Mountain and Atelier Part VIII: The Sweltering Path and Desert Part IX: The Thirsty People and Settlement Part X: The Sorrowful Memory and Body Bonus Update 2 Part XI: The Passionate Gofer and Team Part XII: The Ambitious Project and Plan Part XIII: The Abyssal Depths and Graveyard Part XIV: The Hotblooded Manager and Bartender Part XV: The Shining Swords and Staves Bonus Update 3 Part XVI: The Blazing Wasteland and Mountains Part XVII: The Supportive Friend and Confidant Part XVIII: The Overeager Mechanic and Engineer Part XIX: The Courageous Pirate and Butler Part XX: The Fateful Materials and Syntheses Bonus Update 4 Part XXI: The Mysterious Lab and Research Part XXII: The Soaring Hopes and Dreams Part XXIII: The Enigmatic Place and Voice Part XXIV: The Incompetent Decision and Command Part XXV: The Crimson Bow and Arrow Bonus Update 5 Part XXVI: The Enduring Promise and Friendship Part XXVII: The Distant Reaches and Sunset Part XXVIII: The Prescient Uncle and Troublemaker Part XXIX: The Dangerous Expeditions and Adventures Part XXX: The Triumphant Hero and Heroine Bonus Update 6 Part XXXI: The Grateful Traveler and Medic Part XXXII: The Last Stories and Tales Part XXXIII: The Final Decision and Choice Bonus Update 7 Endings: Part XXXIV: The Great Chances and Opportunities - To Each Their Own Journey Part XXXV: The Great Chances and Opportunities - Busybodies Part XXXVI: The Great Chances and Opportunities - There Were Just the Two of Us Part XXXVII: The Great Chances and Opportunities - Great Expectations Part XXXVIII: The Great Chances and Opportunities - Tea Time Part XXXIX: The Great Chances and Opportunities - The Wild Blue Yonder Part XL: The Great Chances and Opportunities - Reyfer Luckberry and The Last Crusade Part XLI: The Great Chances and Opportunities - The Sky is the Limit Part XLII: The Great Chances and Opportunities - Farewell is for Tomorrow's Sake Sylphid fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Aug 24, 2014 20:20
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Mechanics Post This is going to be a short, non-update update on how the mechanics of the game works behind the scenes, just so that everyone knows how the game is actually played without having to play the game. I understand one key point of an LP is to explain the game's mechanics and how it works, but once you have a theme, you have to stick to it. Anyhow, let's begin. Job Requests  Solle is the only person in the game you can accept requests from, much like the job system in Rorona and Meruru (Totori and Ayesha being exceptions). Every 10-20 days or so, Solle will update his list, and you can accept more requests. Unlike the rest of the PS3 Ateliers I've covered, there's no penalty whatsoever for failing to complete a request. Solle just gives you a verbal dressing down, and you can move on. Requests are good from the time you accept them until the start of a new assignment. The reason you want to do jobs is twofold: every request gives you a certain point value to leveling up R&D, and most important, candy to fuel the homunculi production lines. So, there's no real need to go out of your way to fulfill Solle's requests most of the time, and the batch of auto-generated requests you've already fulfilled just by having stuff in your Container is usually more than enough to set you on your way. Leveling up R&D adds lines you can put items in to take on adventures. Escha and Logy both start with one line in their backpack or whatever they're carrying items in, and can add up to five more lines I think. Each line has five slots, and no item in the game can go over five spaces. If you're not like super hardcore, don't even bother leveling up R&D all the way. If you complete all the main assignment requests (the 9 main ones and all the extra ones), you'll level up R&D to the second-to-last level, but you have to do a metric ton of requests to get R&D all the way. As far as I know, there's basically no point to doing that. Anyway, speaking of the homunculi... Homunculus Requests  Once Solle gives you access to the homunculi at the start of Assignment 4 (investigate the Abandoned River), you can start using all that candy you've been getting from jobs and putting them towards making copies of anything in your Container (your Container has limitless capacity, just so you know). Anyway, Melting Jewels and Sweet Stumps are by far the most common two candies you'll get. However, to get the homunculi to do jobs for you in one of the five categories (Ingredient, Attack, Heal, Support, Synthesis), you'll need the appropriate candy, which is as follows: Ingredients - Melting Jewels Attack - Dried Taro Chips Heal - Cloud Financier Support - Preserved Biscuit Synthesis - Sweet Stump So, if you need an item in a particular category, focus on requests from Solle that will give you that particular candy. That's about all there is to that. Homunculi cannot duplicate Search items, like the Dowsing Rod, weapons, armor, or accessories.  This is the screen for ordering jobs. You can tell the homunculi to make up to 9 copies of a single item on a single order, but you have to pay more candy to make more, obviously (1-1 relationship there). As long as you have open order slots (starts with 3, you can upgrade it to 5 and 10 via R&D experiment books bought from Marion) you can put in as many orders for one item you want. The homunculi take longer to acquire / make copies of rarer items.  One final note about the homunculi is that you can expedite any order by paying them more candy, up to and including giving the homunculi enough candy to somehow instantly finish the order. Best not to think about how that works too hard. Alchemy  I already went over the most fundamental of alchemy mechanics in a regular update, and have done supplements occasionally, but here's how the system works in simple terms. Each material / item in the game has a specific element or elements associated with it. In this screenshot, for example, the Golden Yarn has one point of Water and Wind. There are four elements: Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth, and you can stock up to five of each point. Any points added after five are completely wasted. Additionally, sometimes a item can have several of one element or another. The Eagle Feather has 3 Wind Elements, for example, and the Golden Apple has three of each. The Dunkelheit, the best ingredient in the game, has a whopping five of each element. You can see exactly what each item will add in the little black box underneath each item. The average of all three items will determine was the Effect of the item is (it's directly underneath the picture of the item). The Effect is basically how well it does the stated function. It's mostly closely related to "Quality" from the previous games, but the Effect is not nearly as important as the "Effects" of the tem, which is determined by the four gauges underneath the Effect bar. By adding enough to a specific one of the four elements, you can unlock effects for the final item, such as making a bomb slow enemy speed or having an item regenerate more HP, etc, etc, etc. You can check out what any one effect does by pushing the select button and highlighting the effect you want to know more about. However, sometimes increasing an element will make an effect go AWAY. This is mostly for items that consume a large amount of MP if you use them. Higher elements can lessen the effect of the MP subtraction or eliminate it completely. While higher values are not necessarily better, this is true for about 95% of effects in this game. If you haven't seen the effect before, it'll be "???" on the property preview screen you can check out by pressing R1 at any time. Finally, let's go back to making the item. The reason you want element points is to unlock alchemy skills. Alchemy skills include all sorts of things, like increasing the Effect of the item, making more of the item (mostly related to items that don't have a use count), doubling the number value for the item's elements (so in this example, I can have the Golden Apple add 30 to each element instead of 15), or allow you to use an item up to three different times (if you have the skill Perfect Division, which consumes 4 Wind Points, which you get at alchemy level 33). You can only use a skill if you have enough corresponding element points. A key point is you can only use each alchemy skill ONCE in a synthesis. The Cost Points (CP) system returns from Ayesha. Your CP is determined by some experiments purchased from Marion's R&D "store" (which happens to be the main point of money aside from buying recipe books), but mostly determined by Escha's alchemy level x2. Her alchemy level goes up to 50. She and Logy share alchemy experience, and you can certainly level up as Logy. If you run out of CP, you still have to add the ingredients, but you won't get any element points from the materials.  Once you're happy with a synthesis, you can continue on to make the item. The Properties you can attach to an item are determined by the items you threw into the synthesis, as well as making sure you don't go over the total Property Points (PP) you have available. If you ever see a Property +5, PP Expansion or whatever, those traits are automatically factored into the synthesis, and are added onto whatever base PP value you already have. You can increase the number of PP available for syntheses in a particular category by buying books from R&D. There's a bomb category, food category, accessory category, on and on. Simple idea, hopefully. Also, much like the Atelier PS3s after Rorona, you can only put certain traits on certain items. So, in this screenshot, Ability Power can only be put on accessories (as do most stat increasing properties). Battles  Battles are probably the single most-changed aspect of this game after Ayesha. Your party can be up to six characters at once, and you have to combine your attacks to defeat the enemy. There are a number of changes. The top right is where we start, where the thing that bears most explanation is the Rate. Rate is basically a multiplier added to an attack that increases the damage done normally. So, let's say Linca begins at attack with Rate at 105%. That attack, all things being equal to an attack at Rate 141%, will do less damage. Support numbers are for attacking and defending. You can attack with a support gauge that is at least at level 1 (with a maximum level of 9), and defend another character with a gauge that's at least 50% full. Once you gain six party members, you unlock special attacks once the Rate goes over 200%. The 200% needs to be reached BEFORE the sixth party member attacks. If you have reached thet condition, the words "Special Support" will flash on the screen, and you'll get to activate a special attack from the party member launching the final attack. For most (everyone except Logy and Threia), this is just a simple damaging attack, but for Logy's Thunder Fall, it'll frequently give Logy absolute priority in the turn order. Very handy. Threia's special support hits the enemy with every debuff, which makes it perfect for follow-up attacks. Every attack (including support attacks) will increase the gauge, but attacks that hit an enemy from the side or from behind will make it increase more. A Slag Essence with the trait Slag Wave on it will add a whopping three points to the gauge. Super Attacks are available once a character hits level 30. In typical Atelier fashion, everyone except the main characters get one. For every attacking and defending action, that number builds up (for attacks, strikes that hit more than one target will make it increase faster). Once it reaches 100%, you can activate the Super Move for no cost, other than resetting the counter. You cannot follow-up Super Attacks with support skills. Getting KO'd works a little differently in this game. When a character is KO'd, if they're not revived before they get another turn, a character in the back line will rush in to replace them. From then, you can revive the fallen character, as long as you have the appropriate item (the first KO recovery item you'll probably get is the Cup of Life, which you can use to target the back line if you start to use it but press L1 to target the back line). All six characters at the front of the queue in your party can fight in a battle, if you switch out active characters with back line ones. This system is completely new to this game in the Atelier series. As such, when a character joins, they're in your party for the rest of the game, unlike the recruiting system in the previous four games. Friendship levels  One of the quirkier aspects of this game is that each character in the game has a certain friendship level that's based on a simple numbering system, but as far as anyone can tell this value is completely hidden in-game. Because this game has character endings, you need to increase character affections to get more scenes with the character, and eventually, the choice to get that character's ending. Basically, here's how it works. Characters in your active party (the three characters who are on the field at the start of the fight) gain the most friendship points. Characters in the back line get a little less, and characters in reserve get the absolute least. If you keep a character in reserve the entire game, you probably won't see all their events. As another note, your fellow alchemist (Logy for Escha, and Escha for Logy), doesn't work the same way, so as far as friendship points go, having the non-player alchemist in reserve is the best way, but that character's ability to use items is incredibly handy. Essentially, you'll be fine as long as you switch up your party every now and then. You'll know when you've seen all of a character's events if you see a CG starring that character. Sometimes (like with Linca) all you have to do is see a number of events, but other characters might be a bit more elaborate. Awin is definitely the most elaborate to see all his events, because he unlocks a completely new area of the game on his character path. You can change your front line, back line, and reserve at any point in town or in the field, but your player character is locked into the front line (as indicated by the padlock next to Escha). That's basically all the fundamental mechanics of the game. If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask in the thread, and I'll discuss it as best I can. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Nov 11, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 20:21
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Part I: The Alchemic Boy and Girl Atelier Escha opening Music: Milk-iro no Touge   Music: Autumn Collapse -Autumn Collapse-    Escha intro Music: Distant Memories  Logy intro Music: Promise -Piano Version-      First day on the job Music: Tails Numbers One and Two  Stop worrying! I was super-careful when I was packing. You push yourself too hard sometimes. That's not true! I'll be fine! Well, then, I'm off! I'm just concerned. I mean... You becoming a government official is just...  Oh no, look at the time! I can't be late on my first day! I was born and raised on an apple orchard here in Colseit, a small outpost town. My skills are...alchemy, which my mother taught me when I was really young. I'm only a beginner, though. Still, now I'm the only person in town who can do alchemy at all... That's why I'm helping the town government in order to earn a little money. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm gonna do my best for this town! Oh, there you are, Escha! Beginning the job Music: Spicy Sugar This is Miss Marion, who will be my boss starting today. She's really hardworking. I've worked for the Colseit government for a few months, but every time I've seen her, she's always talking about her work, or her office is buried in paperwork. She's incredibly dedicated, though, and always gets the job done. I really admire her.The most interesting story I've heard about her was that she recently finished up an assignment where she was responsible for investigating ruins faaaaarrrr to the east. She doesn't talk about that much, though. Miss Marion! I hope I'll be able to live up to your expectations... Haha, don't worry. Just keep doing what you've been doing for us. *Ahem* Would you mind letting me do the speaking? We don't want the rules of order to break down out here. This is Mr. Grumman. He's Miss Marion's boss, and the man who oversees her work, as well as everyone's work in the R&D Division. Although he seems really strict, he's really easy to talk to. O-Oh! S-Sorry, Branch Manager Grumman... Now, now, there's no need to be TOO formal. You can keep calling me Colland. Or "Manager", if you need to. Y-Yes, thank you... Manager! Now, starting today, you'll be an official member of the Frontier Special Investigation Bureau. As you're aware, we are quite short-handed. Since you already know how we work, it'll be great having you here. I see... Well, I'm not sure if I've been all that helpful in the past, but... Don't be so modest. We brought you on board precisely because we feel you are necessary. But, unlike before, you will have much more responsibility. I hope you're up to the task. But, unlike before, you will have much more responsibility. I hope you're up to the task. That said, now that you're an official for Colseit, we need you to put forth all your efforts for the town's sake. O-Of course! Good. We're not too strict about divisions and assignments, so we'll end this meeting here. Marion? Understood. Shall we go, Escha? I'm sure you already know where R&D is, but I'll show you just in case. Yes! W-Well then, Mr. Manager... If you'll excuse me. Hm. Well, hopefully this will solve our staffing problems at R&D. I'll leave the rest to Marion. Still... Two alchemists. A new setting Music: Look Up at the Sky  ...Finally, I'm here. I knew I was in for a long trip, it was farther than I expected. So these are Colseit's balloon docks... According to the materials I got from Central, Colseit has always been considered a remote frontier town, established mainly for exploring and researching the ruins and geography nearby than a place for people to live. I'm surprised a town this small has this much room in its balloon docks, but it's also true that I've lived in Central all my life. I expect life will be a lot different here. You must've come a long ways. Do you know where to find the local branch? You'll find it near the town square. I'm supposed to take you there myself, but something came up. Would you mind finding your own way? I've read the file. I should be fine. I'm really sorry. If you'll excuse me! ...At a new post already, huh? Well, at least I should be glad I made it here the first day of my assignment. I haven't even seen my lodgings yet, but... I suppose I should get to the Branch ASAP. People usually call me "Logy" and I think I've grown to like that name. I had a job as an alchemist in a far-away city but, due to circumstances, I had to leave. Now I'm here in Colseit because I was told they're in need of alchemists. I decided to come here on my own. I hope I can get along in this foreign town...If worse comes to worst, I suppose things will work themselves out. I need to get a handle on the work here. Headed to work Thank you for coming such a long way. I'm the Chief of the Frontier Special Investigation Bureau here in Colseit. I've heard Central has a number of these kinds of branches throughout the world, but this is the first time I've seen one of them in-person. This town, though... It's larger than I expected. All the material I got from Central said that this was a barely-functioning town on the edge of the known world, but I guess people can live anywhere. The name's Logix Ficsario. I look forward to working with you. Mm. I've been briefed on your history. Looks like you've been through a lot, for such a young age. ...It's of little concern to me. I guess there's no use trying to hide what I've done from an official authorized by Central to manage this area. One day, maybe I'll get a chance to tell you about it... Well, I'm sure you already know, but we're on the edge of uninhabited land. It's quite far from where you're from. On top of that, we're short-staffed and short-supplied. The accomdations may not exactly be up to par, either. Of course, I'll do what I can to help with that, but I doubt it'll ever come close to where you used to live. Please, don't worry. Thank you very much for your consideration. There's no helping it, since Central usually spends what money they have on their own projects. I certainly wouldn't expect a town this remote to have the luxuries of home, but I can get used to this. Good answer. now, if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. Starting today, you work for the town government of Colseit. I hope you dedicate your efforts to improving it. Much appreciated. I will be in your care. Well, now that I've said my piece, you're officially on board. I'll have you sent over to your R&D division. There's someone waiting for you in the hallway. It should be easy to find in any case. Understood. If you'll excuse me. Still... I don't have any idea what I'll be doing. I hope I can live up to their expectations. ...No. I can't let myself get caught up in those thoughts. I have to do whatever I can here. The most important thing is to make a lasting first impression... All right. I hear some talking on the other side...two girls, it sounds like. I hope they haven't discussed anything important yet... Getting to know the boss Excuse me. Is this the R&D Division? Oh, there you are! We were waiting for you. I'm the research lead around here, Marion Quinn. It's a pleasure to meet you. Um, Marion... Who's this? Like I was saying, he's the other new member joining the R&D team. Now, why don't you introduce yourself, Escha? H-Huuuuh!? U-Um, I'm... Escha Malier! She seems...odd, but this is the first I've met her. More importantly, where did she get that outfit? I'll ask her about it later. My name is Logix Fiscario. I'm still not entirely sure how you do things here, so I hope you'll show me around. Um, I look forward to working with you, Mr. Logix! ...As do I. Hahaha. Oh, you kids... That was a stiff introduction! Relax a little. You'll be working together a lot! Y-Yes... I suppose you're right. I'll do my best. They're usually sticklers for protocol in Central, so I guess I shouldn't expect the same thing outside the city. Hopefully Marion didn't get the wrong idea of me from that. S-Sorry... Clone always told me to be polite meeting strangers, and I'm also in front of Marion. I should get comfortable working with Logy really soon. By the way, Ma'am, where is the rest of the team? There's technically one more member, but because of a mission, I'm afraid we're all we have today. ...Is that normal? This seems rather, um...small for a team. It is quite small. In fact, we shouldn't even be operating, considering how short-handed we are. Now that you mention it... When I helped you out before, you didn't have any members, either. Why is that? Truth is, R&D's always been under-staffed, and unable to operate. And that led to poor marks from above. When I was put in charge the entire department was all but disbanded. So, then, transferring you here really didn't solve any problems, did it? Absolutely not! That father of mine... "I'll give you a promotion" my foot! Ms. Marion can get scary sometimes, but when it comes to work, she always seems stressed. I wonder if she ever relaxes... ...Sounds like you've been through quite a bit. But all that ends today! Now I have two brilliant underlings. ...And both of you are alchemists! Now nobody can tell me my R&D's department's just a bunch of dropouts. You mean you're an alchemist, too, Logix? Wh-What a coincidence...! There's so much about alchemy that I never learned. It would be amazing if you could teach me! Alchemy isn't a lost art, but there are only a handful of people who really know how to do it. I haven't been able to learn much until now, but I can do basic alchemy. I wonder what Mr. Logix knows. I...see... Well, I'll do my best, but I'm not sure that I know enough to teach others, either. Still, it's uncommon to hire on two alchemists at the same time... I know, right? That's what I asked for on the application, but I never expected my request to come through... Hmm...maybe they wanted to get rid of me... I-I see... So that's what happened. At any rate, I'm gonna put the both of you right to work! You're gonna help me raise our ratings and make people realize that we're the best our Division has to offer. I'll do my best! (Hmm... So I have to work with a boy now? He looks really capable, but I'm a little nervous...) Understood. (Hmm... So I have to work with her? She looks really honest and diligent. Hopefully things will go smoothly.) Hello! I've returned. Music: The Pen and the Sword, Part 2 Oh, welcome back, Linca. This is Ms. Linca, Marion's friend and assistant. I don't see her in town much, but that's because she usually goes out and fights the monsters who roam around town to make things safer for everyone. She can be hard to understand sometimes, but there's no doubt about her fighting skills, and Marion really trusts her. They have a great relationship. Well, isn't this perfect timing... You remember Escha, right, Linca? Let me introduce you to Logy. He's one of the alchemists joining us today. I've heard about you... This is Linca. I suppose she would be your senior here. Oh, she's the one you said was out on a mission? Yes. She has a lot of assignments to keep the monsters at bay. In fact, your next deployment's been decided. She might be a little rough around the edges, but she knows how to swing a sword. Feel free to ask her for help. It's good to meet you, Escha, Logy. Let's do our best, yeah? U-Umm... It's nice to meet you, as well... Linca. All right, well... Time for your first job. But before that! Logy, you don't really know much about Colseit, right? Only what was in the file... I tried to find out as much as I could. Well, Escha grew up here, so she knows all about the town. If you're ever confused or lost, go and ask her. Got it! I-I'll do my best! The windmill? Now that you mention it, I heard there were some problems with it... I've already sent someone from Maintenance to figure out what's wrong. But, I'd like the two of you to find out what's going on down there. Show Logy around town while you're at it. Show him around... Y-Yes, I understand! I'll be fine! Thank you very much, Ma'am, for your consideration. Don't mention it. You two'd better get to know each other, because you're gonna be doing a lot of work together! If you ever have any questions, come find me or Linca. Huh!? What do you mean, "Huh!?"!? It's our job as seniors to help teach the newcomers. S-Sorry... But with all the missions outside, I really don't know the town that well, myself... She lives in town and doesn't know it that well? Is this going to be alright...? Oh my goodness. Well, you make sure you're able to answer any questions these two might have. You got it? U-Understood... Hahahaha. Well then, we'll be counting on you, Linca. I will do my best. (You two never change, do you...? But Linca does go out a lot, and I'd love to hear more of her stories...) But first, I need to show Logy around town. He's going to be living here for a while, after all! Around town Music: Because the Sky is Red Sure! But what should I show you first... U-Um, Mr. Logix...? Ah... Heh. You can just call me "Logy". I'm not used to being addressed so...formally. Okay, L-Logy. Is there anything you would like to see? Hmm, well... I saw a large ranch on my way here. I was curious what that was... Oh, that's our apple orchard. My parents' house is actually an orchard, too! Colseit has a lot of orchards. Our town specializes in producing apples, you know? And they're delicious! I see. Perhaps I should try one later. Hm...? If your parents run an orchard, why did you become a government worker? Would you inherit in the farm? I've thought about that, too, but... Since I can use alchemy, I thought I should be putting my skills to use. And, I want to use my alchemy to help as many people as I can...and my father actually agreed! I...see. That's a nice story. Y-Yes... Ahaha, I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous right now. ...Hahaha, sorry, so am I. I'm just not used to situations like this. How about we keep on going? Show me the way, Escha. You got it! Let's head over to one of the apple orchards. They're right on the outskirts of town. By the way, Escha... What is that you're wearing? I've heard traditional alchemists typically wear strange outfits, but that reminds me of... A witch, right? Well, yeah... Hehe, it should. I got this from a friend of mine. Actually, she also lives in town, but I think she's out on business right now. I hope you can meet her soon. She's really interesting. I...see. Escha sure has some unusual friends... Big man around town  Um, I'm sure you already know this by now, but let me explain it to you one more time... This city is called Colseit, and it's built on top of ancient ruins. So the city acts as a hub for all kinds of research. Yeah. It used to be a small farming village, but once the government got involved, it grew and grew. Right. It's large for a city out on the frontier. The streets are bustling, too. We're in the town's square right now. You can see all the billboards and shops! There's a lot of businesses around the airship port... That's why this is the center of town. I see... So it's not just the hub for research, but also a growing area for business. I've heard of towns supported by the airship trade, but it's interesting to see it in person. Central City has been investing a lot of time and money into airship travel, and it's allowed numerous settlements to pop up around the world, especially areas like this one with a lot of ruins. ...Honestly, I was expecting something a little more rustic, but I stand corrected. Hahahahaaaa! So you were expecting us all to be in furs, living in log cabins out in the sticks, kid? Sure, it's not huge, compared to Central City, but wherever people and money go, you get a good crowd. Throw up a store here, and you'll get all kinds of customers. And that's how cities grow, my friend. Music: Rice and Meat Anthem I-I see... Umm... Oh, hello, Mr. Duke! Hey there, Escha! I just finished prepping for tonight. Are you out running errands? Yes! I'm going to my job now! Um, Logy, this is Mr. Duke, and he runs this store here. ...It's nice to meet you. I'm Logy. I've been assigned to the local branch's R&D department. Ah, I see, I see! Well, thanks for coming by! You're always welcome here. You still don't know much about this city, right? Well, now y'know where to go when you get hungry. Technically, it's a bar, but I've been putting a lot of work into my menu, too. That would be a lot of help... I still don't know anywhere to eat. Anywhere to eat...? I could always make food with alchemy...I think. Well, now you do. Heck, you can even have dinner here tonight if you want! You're a man! Eat up! But, if we ate at your bar every day, Duke, we'd be, uh...unable to move. HAHAHA! Well, I do cook for real manly men. It might be a bit much for a wisp of a girl like you. You can eat well, despite this season's poor crops...? That's good to hear. Oh, don't worry about it! All right, Mr. Duke, if you'll excuse us... Yeah, good luck with your work. Take care of Logy, too! Thank you very much, Mr. Duke. (What a hearty man...but he seems easy to talk to. Perhaps I should stop by his bar later on.) What do you think of Mr. Duke? Hm? Oh, he seems like a nice man. I'm not old enough to be drinking, but I will see if he has good meals to eat. I don't eat a lot, but staying nourished is an important part of any job. Do you cook, Escha? Um, not much... I mostly know how to make stuff with alchemy, and mostly sweets. You can make food with alchemy...? Oh yes! Food made with alchemy tastes great. I'll have to make something nice soon. Most of the cooking done at my house was done by Clone. I'm sure we'll see her when we arrive at the orchards. (What an odd thing to do with something like alchemy...) The apple orchard Music: Apple Tree So these are the apple orchards...? Whoa. Isn't there anything like this where you're from? I'm not sure... At the very least, I've never seen it up close. This place somehow feels really fresh. Not only fresh, but the scale... There are a lot more trees here than you would think from a remote location such as this. I wonder why... ...Does it come from growing on top of the debris from the ruins? It must impart some vitality. My oh my...you've returned already, Escha? Have you forgotten something? Music: Miss, Why Don't We Eat Apples Together? N-No, I haven't! I'm here on business, really! Ooooh, did they put you to work already? They're sure keeping you busy, aren't they? What a strange person... Is she a friend of yours, Escha? Ah, I'm sorry. This is Clone. She manages the apple orchards, and she's...well, like a mother to me. Hello, my name's Clone. ("Like" a mother?) Clone, this is Logy. He's going to be working with me starting today. Umm... Hello. It's nice to meet you. I see. Well, I'm sure Escha will be a handful, so please look after her. You, too... Um... What exactly do you do as the manager here? We harvest a great number of apples every year. Please feel free to stop by, and I will give you some. Wow, that would be amazing. I would love to try one if I get the chance. Oh, but did you say you were here on duty? Is this in regards to the windmill? Oh, that's right! Um... Someone's supposed to be here already, but... I think I know where to take you. Please, follow me. (Is this person...an automaton? What is she doing out on the frontier?) Automata aren't living beings, but appear as lifelike as anyone else on the outside. Due to the extremely complicated nature of constructing them, only a few are known to exist. Clone seems extremely advanced, although it's clear she's an automata, but that still doesn't explain why such a relatively small town has something like this. Maybe Escha knows something? Music: Glass is Boiling Hey, Escha. I was wondering where you were today. Isn't that the man I met at the docks? I didn't know he knows Escha. Ah, Clone, you're here, too. I just finished my check-up. Oh? Over so soon? Thank you very much for you hard work. Well, it still works, but barely. There's only so much I can do here without getting some new parts. Hmm... That's not good. I will leave the matter to you. I get it now. So you were the one who got here before us, Brother! So it would seem. And windmill repair isn't exactly my specialty. Hmm... Did I see you near the depot, by any chance? Yes, thanks for remembering. I didn't know you were Escha's brother, though. Haha, we're actually cousins, and we've got a few years between us. We're not siblings by blood. My name's Awin. I'm an engineer, and I maintain the airships around here. I'm Logy. I've recently been assigned to the Colseit branch. I look forward to working with you. Same here. And, uh, you don't have to be that formal with me. I'm not that much older than you, you know? I... I see. Well, I guess... I'll work on that, Awin. B-Brother... You sure get to know people really fast, huh? Heh heh heh. We're going to be working together a lot. No need to be such strangers, right? I-I guess you have a point, but... Why do I feel like I'm lost here... So, what are the two of you doing together? I've been assigned to the R&D Division with Escha. She's been kind enough to show me around town. Oh, that's right. You started your new job today too, Escha. Sorry, I completely forgot about it. So the other new trainee I heard about is actually you, Escha? Heh, it all makes sense now. Huh? New trainees? The R&D Division's been under-staffed, so Marion asked me to take care of her new recruits. So I guess that makes me something like your instructor now. Start looking forward to it! You're an airship engineer, but you repair windmills and teach, as well? That's quite a handful... Well, engineering is just a part of what I do... In all honesty, I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades. So, what exactly should we be doing? You see that windmill? I think I've done about al I can with just normal repairs. That's why I want the two of you to help me make some new components to fix it. Th-That sounds really difficult. Are you sure we're qualified? Hahaha, you can leave the actual technical work to the engineers. Your part won't be that hard. Marion should be able to give you more details about it. Well, should we head back to the branch? I understand... I'll ask our boss. (He seems a little laid-back, but he's really easy to talk to. I should come to him for advice.) I wish I could show you around the orchards more, but we really should get back to the branch. I understand. It's not like it's going anywhere. The docks Actually, it's a good chance to show Logy around, too. He should get to know the place. You're right. If you're going to live in Colseit, then you have to see the depot. Um... I came on an airship, so I've already seen it. Well, I guess I don't have a choice. Music: Cloud Harbor Right? We can even accommodate airships coming from Central City. Haha, pretty good, huh? This is our town's other pride and joy, aside from the apple orchards. Awin, you're back! What the heck were you doing out there? I told you report back to me! Sorry, I gotta go take care of this. Can you wait a second? I'll be right back, I swear. This thing really is well built... I can see how they'd be able to accommodate a large ship. The ports are separated into different levels, so there's little traffic, too. Very efficient. Wow, you can tell all that just by looking at it, Logy? Amazing! You must know a lot about airships! Ergh... N-No... Not that much... Huh? But the way he was talking... Hey Escha! What was that you were saying about airships? Oh, hi, Mr. Heizman. Logy was just saying how there are ports on different levels to avoid crowding. This is Mr. Heizman, the head of the Maintenance Division. He's responsible for keeping the town's infrastructure in good shape. He's been working closely with R&D, mainly because we don't have many people... Good eye... Not too shabby, for a youngin' like you. I respect that! The name's Heizman. I do most of the maintenance around here, and I'm Awin's boss. Good to meet you. I'm glad to meet you, too. Um, do you mind if I ask... How can this town support such a large depot? I heard that shops and businesses attract a lot of people, but still, it seems very well maintained. Ruins... Now that you mention it, there was a mention of ruins in the documents... What are they? They're ruins, floating in the sky not too far from here. People began to call 'em the "Unexplored Ruins". This town was first built as a hub for sending researchers to the Ruins, as a supply depot. So, these floating ruins are confirmed to exist... But no one's been there? Why not use airships? That's the thing; we can't. The airstream there's so turbulent, it's impossible to approach them. Not only that, but there's rubble floating in the air. You get caught up in that, kiss your ship bye-bye. I see... So no one's actually gone into them. This is the first I've heard of ruins like that. Isn't that strange!? Ever since I was a child, it's been one of my dreams to visit those ruins... Doesn't the fact that no one's ever explored them before just make you want to do it even more!? Heh, I suppose so, but if airships can't get you there, it would be quite difficult. Y-Yeah, I guess you have a point. What are you talking about? Reaching the Unexplored Ruins is a dream everyone in Colseit shares. It's true. Now that you're a government official here, you'd better remember stuff like this. I... I see. All right, I'll try to remember. Now, you kids still have work to do, right? Well, get to it. Hahaha, looks like Heizman was in a really good mood. He loves airships, so I think he was glad to meet someone who knew his language. You're smart, Logy! ...I... Really don't know anything. Huh? That's the second time he said that... Anyway, we should get back to the branch. Escha and Logy's atelier Music: Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe We explored a lot, and talked to lots of people. I think I have a good idea of what's around the town now. Well, that's good to hear. By the way, what happened to the windmill? I think it's pretty close to breaking down completely. It's going to need a lot of new parts. Despite that, I don't think it'll be hard. And since it involves the orchard, it's perfect for Escha. True. Well, then, why don't we use this as a learning opportunity? That's right... I haven't shown you two to your atelier, have I? Since we have a few minutes, why don't you take a quick look? You'll be spending a lot of time there. I'm going to speak with Awin about the other outstanding tasks. You're right... I completely forgot about that! Yes, it would be a good idea to see the atelier, since we will be doing all our work there. Ha, well, this way. Follow me. Hey, did R&D ever have an atelier before? This is the first time I've ever heard of you having one... Actually, we had to put it together in a spare room. But we need it, since now we have two alchemists! Ah, there we go. Make sure you have everything you need in there. When you're done, come back and see me. Of course! I wonder what it looks like... Music: What Should I Do? Heh... So this is our workspace now? It's got a sofa, and a desk...and a cauldron for alchemy! A cauldron...? What is something so dated doing...here...? Haha, of course there's one! It's an atelier! Oh man, this is going to be a blast! I can't believe such old methods are still in use... I have no idea how to Synthesize using a cauldron. Huuuuh!? Logy, you ARE an alchemist, aren't you!? I am...but how should I explain this... In Central City, we don't do things with a cauldron anymore. Y-You don't...? I thought this was normal, but... There's other ways to do it, too? Normally, we have specific equipment for each process. Hmm... I wasn't expecting this. Then you mean that you can't perform your alchemy here...? Not right away, at least. Hm... This isn't good. I know next to nothing about cauldrons. Oh no... I was going to learn a lot from you, too! I guess we don't have a choice. I'll be taking care of all the Synthesizing, m'kay? W-Well, there are two of us here, after all... We should split the work. In exchange, I'll support you in any way I can. The methods may change, but the materials don't. Oh! Then, can you teach me what you need to mix to make certain things? I only know very simple alchemy... Hmm... Then why don't you handle the Synthesizing in the beginning, and I'll handle everything else. Got it! If we work together, I'm sure we can make all sorts of amazing stuff! There's no point in complaining about the facility. I need to figure out what it is I can do. H-Huh...? What's this, all of a sudden? Um, well... We are going to be working together and all...so I thought we should be friends. I...see. No point in being weird about it, I suppose. I should've been more considerate, myself. I may not know much about these methods, but I hope to do my best, too... I'm counting on you. Yes! Leave it to me! Thanks! Now that we've seen our accommodations, how about we go back to Marion? We're finally going to use our Atelier! I'm so excited.
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Aug 24, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 20:24
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Oh you can actually select your player character in this one? Interesting. Is the gameplay otherwise the same for both of them, just different character interactions?
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Aug 24, 2014 21:56
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SSNeoman posted:Oh you can actually select your player character in this one? Interesting. Is the gameplay otherwise the same for both of them, just different character interactions? Just different character interactions, the gameplay is otherwise the same. When we actually start using the cauldron, Escha always handles that, but further on in the game Logy will get to do some work himself. The regular battle music and the atelier theme do change depending on who your main character is, actually. That's about the only "real" change in the gameplay. Oh, and the actual story behind Escha's outfit that I'm using is that if you preordered this game on Amazon or at Gamestop, you got free outfits to go along with it. I went with Amazon and got that cool witch outfit (interestingly, it also makes Escha do a different winning pose after a battle and makes her say something different, I think), bu Gamestop got you a different outfit for Escha and Logy. I went with the witch, since I didn't like either of the others enough to preorder at Gamestop (doesn't help I don't live near any Gamestops). But, all three outfits are on PSN if you want to buy them. I don't feel any pressing need to get Escha's other outfit or Logy's special costume, though.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:06
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Well wasn't that intro just the most pastoral thing ever? Seriously, though, I really like the dynamic they're setting up here. ...how long has it been since there was a dude starring in an Atelier game? Does Mana Khemia count?
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Aug 26, 2014 02:47
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Glazius posted:Well wasn't that intro just the most pastoral thing ever? I'm pretty sure Mana Khemia is considered part of the Atelier series by Gust, even if they're not very much like the Atelier-Atelier games. And I think Logy might be the first dude to star in one of these games as a titular character. Shallie also has the dual protagonist thing, but both Shallies (it's a nickname) are girls.
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Aug 26, 2014 15:21
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The Atelier Iris also had male/female protagonist pairs. But yeah, they weren't really Atelier games in and of themselves.
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Aug 26, 2014 18:16
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Do you get to dress Logix up as well? He should also have the opportunity to wear ridiculous clothing. Some nice side slit pants, maybe a crop top . . .
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Aug 26, 2014 18:43
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Part II: The Enterprising Lad and Lass Music: Magnum Opus So this is the atelier... I guess it makes sense that a town this small wouldn't have Central's equipment for alchemy, but I still feel bad about making Escha do all the work. I'll have to help out in other ways until I can talk to Marion about this. Logy, is something wrong? No...anyway, shouldn't we go talk to Marion about our first task? Oh, yes! Good idea! A difficult new life Well, it looked really good to me, but... "But"? Is there something wrong with it? Actually... There was one small problem... People in Central have heard of using cauldrons for alchemy, but the problem is that nobody's been trained to use cauldrons for alchemy in a long time. The speed of more specialized alchemy machines has transformed alchemy in Central, and I can use those easily. But, a cauldron is just something that I haven't worked with in my life...and that's it. I'm sorry, I was under the impression that all alchemists need to do anything is a cauldron. I wasn't really sure what to get for you... But it seems you have more equipment in Central City. Huh? If this is the first day Escha has seen the atelier, where did Marion get the idea that all alchemists use cauldrons? Definitely no one from Central... What should we do? At this rate, I'm going to be doing all of the Synthesizing on my own... I'll help her as much as I can, but it's true that she'll be doing most of the heavy lifting. There's nothing to be done now. For the time being, we have to work with what we have. I'm really sorry I couldn't be more helpful. No, it's my lack of preparation and knowledge that led to this mess. Do you think you can make do for now? Please don't worry about it. Now that I'm an official worker here, I want to do everything I can! I'll have to think of new recipes that'll work with a cauldron. I suppose that's the first step. Music: Perch Since you'll be officially working for us now, there will be a lot for you to learn and keep in mind. Yes! I'm looking forward to it. At R&D, we operate and undertake tasks in four-month intervals. You will be given new assignments in April, August, and December, and work on them the full four months. During that time, you will one major project, and several small projects. Does priority go towards the larger project, or the smaller ones? Of course, the larger tasks are more important. In fact, failing to perform them earns you a poor rank. I will be the one assigning these missions to you, so I would like you two to do as many as you can. If you complete more smaller tasks than your quota, this will be reflected on your monthly stipend. What's a "stipend"? In other words, we must complete our main mission during the given time period, or we have "failed". That's one way to put it, I suppose. Do you have any other questions? Question! Could you explain more about the stipend? It's basically money allocated to R&D from the branch's funds. You may earn some money from day-to-day activities, but the main income will be from this stipend. There is no doubt that your expeditions will cost money, so please use these funds wisely. So, if we don't watch our finances, we risk not being able to do anything until the next month. Yeah, it would be really bad if we ran out of money halfway through an assignment! You're getting the idea. Don't waste your resources, and remember to check your account every month. Keep up with your assigned tasks, and you'll be able to use your stipend for a variety of things. And, as members of R&D, do a good job and help increase our ratings. Yeah! Leave it to us! We'll have to ensure that we complete our main assignments, at the very least. Music: Hummingbird Logy, I'm still a little confused... How should I say this... Marion will give us a summary of the main task of the assignment, and other, smaller, assignments. When part of the assignment is completed, I'll mark it down and let Marion know it's been done. Sometimes an assignment will have more than one step, and Marion will give us an updated version of the assignment summary to let us know what to do next.Look at the paper closely. Do you see how the nine inside squares are a different color than the 16 squares outside? Uh...yeah! Those are smaller parts of the main assignment. Even if we don't know what they are, I'll make a note of everything we did when we go outside town. When we know what the tasks are, I can update them, so our progress still counts. Oh, I see! Thanks, Logy!  Oh, is that the one to fix the windmill that Brother was talking about? Yes. I've made that your task for this time period. He said that the windmill is wearing down, and some of its parts need to be replaced with new ones. So, we have to make these new parts using alchemy, and then someone else will take care of the rest? That's right. We'll take it slow for now. Once you have created the parts, bring them over to Clone. Bring it to Clone, got it! And don't forget to report to me once you've finished something. Until you do, you won't be graded. The assignment isn't complete until we report back to you. Understood. Ah, there's so much to remember... I think I'm getting lost... Don't worry. I took down some notes, so you can always refer to them. Th-Thank you very much, Logy! This will be a huge help! Your assignments will also serve as an aptitude test. If you cannot perform tasks of this magnitude, then I'm afraid it means you are unfit to proceed. D-Does that mean we're gonna get fired!? ...I'm sure the two of you will do just fine. I... I understand. We'll do our best. Very well, then. I'm counting on you both. When the time arises, I'll show you how to make your reports. All right... Time to get crackin'! Oh, but before we do, I need to figure out how to make the things we need. Wait, I forgot to tell you something very important. I'm sure you'll be doing a lot of alchemy, but you should know how to talk to the Provisions Department. The Provisions Department? What do you mean? The girl at the entrance to the office should be able to help you with that. Before you leave, be sure to stop by the Administration Office, m'kay? I'm still a little confused... Don't worry, Escha. I'll talk with Marion about how to make the reports in the future. Just focus on the synthesizing, and I'll work on the reports. I've got a few things to talk to her about, actually, so don't worry. I'll help in any way I can. Really? That's great! By the way, do you know where Marion got that teddy bear? No, I didn't really have time to even notice it... It doesn't seem like the type of thing Marion would have in her office... She got it from a friend of hers! I think her name was...Pamela, I think? Yeah, I think it was Pamela. Anyway, I haven't heard from her in a while. Looking at the teddy bear, I get kind of a strange feeling from it. Let's go to the Administration Office, okay? Music: Simulcra  Give us pay. We worked hard. Yes, yes, yes, I know, I'll pay you. Wait a little, all right? You promised, Solle! Shiny... Glimmering...! Hmm... So you even have homunculi working at this branch? I've never seen one up close. You don't have any where you're from? Hee hee, they're pretty cute. R-Really? I'm not really good with them... Huh!? Why's that? They're so cute! I guess... I'm not very good at talking to them, and we never seem to understand each other. Anyway, we have to go see the person in charge of Provisions. Oh, Logy. It's strange that you're not good around homunculi, you know? "Strange?" They're alive, like us, but they were made with alchemy... I think it's weirder to be good around them... Music: Sugary Spice You must be the alchemists who were just assigned to the R&D Division. I thought you'd come by soon. My name's Solle. I'm in charge of the paperwork, accounting, and most of the applications around here. Um, what exactly is the Provisions Department? Marion told us we'd find out if we came here, but... (Sigh) Marion really should take better care of the newcomers. Well, since you're alchemists, you'll probably be here a lot. I suppose I owe you a walkthrough. S-Sorry...and thank you... Now, then. At our local branch, we encourage independent investigation and philanthropic work. So that end, you will require support from the Provisions Department, and our homunculi. Huh... I never knew such a system existed. Can you explain a bit more? As you already know, homunculi have a different skill set than humans. They have a very high aptitude for reproducing things. They can recreate just about anything. Of course, there are some limitations, and they are incapable of creating something entirely new. I never knew they could do that... That's so surprising! Of course, living in Central, I've seen homunculi work before. Escha's right...it's still really strange how the minds of homunculi work. You didn't...after all this time? That's what surprises me... And so, with the aid of the homunculi, we are able to support all of our expeditions here. Put simply, whatever you create with your alchemy or use in your expeditions, we can create more. They can resupply us with tools and provisions in time for our next assignment? That's amazing...! I suppose that's one way of looking at it, but they are for branch use only. I won't let you misuse them. Also, there are quite a few things even they cannot duplicate, so limit their use to consumables. I see... So we can't ask them to make an infinite supply of tools for us, then. I'm not saying they can't do it, I'm saying that it's beyond the duties of this department. Furthermore, because have a limited homunculus staff, I will deny any unreasonable requests. Seems like he's really protective of them... Really? Why's that...? If, however, you increase your ratings, we will devote more of our resources to your requests. ...So it's entirely up to us to determine the quality of our provisions? I'm glad you're so quick to understand. Now, let me explain how you submit a supply application. First, there are still some supplies from previous R&D members that I suggest you look through. Logy... I know. I'll try to explain it to you later. His explanation uses a lot of strange words, but I think I know how it works. Okay, this is how it works, Escha. When we make something with alchemy that can be used on an adventure, we have to register it with Solle. Before we leave on an adventure, we have to let Solle know what items we have, and how many of them we have. That lets him know what items to tell the homunculi to make.When we return from an adventure, I'll check it in Solle and allow him to examine our inventory. Then, he'll let us restore our supply of the items we used on the adventure. So, a healing salve helps heal minor wounds, right? If we have three of them on an adventure, I'll let Solle know, and he can tell the homunculi how many to make. That way, we don't have to make new items for adventures. And don't worry about talking to Solle about items, I'll take care of it. Oh, I think I understand! Thanks Logy! What kinds of items do we have? Three Healing Salves, and 4 Crafts. Crafts are a pretty weak type of bomb, but we shouldn't need more powerful items on our first adventure together. Escha, I'll let you use the Crafts. I'll take care of the Healing Salves on our first adventure. Wow... These aren't too impressive, are they? Well, they had so much work that I think they barely ever left the building... And, they're quite old. So this is all we have to go on our expeditions with...? That's a little worrying. You're welcome to invest in your own equipment. You are alchemists, after all. Of course we are! I'm gonna go get ready right away! Let's go back to our atelier for now. I need to see how good you are Synthesizing, Escha. Music: Morning Dew Pizzicato We're going to make medicine out of these? I'm getting a little nervous... Hahaha, just do what you always do. You should be fine. R-Right... Okay, I'm gonna do my best. So Logy, let me explain to you how you Synthesize with a cauldron! Making items in a cauldron can be kinda tricky... First you need the materials, and the recipe for the item you want to make. Making something without a recipe can be really dangerous, but there are alchemy books all over the world! Alchemists in the past were really smart and we still use what they invented...it's not impossible to make new recipes, but it is very hard. I can't teach you that.Once you decide what item to make, you have to use your materials to make it, of course. By selecting different ingredients, you can bring out new effects from the item. Here, let's give it a try!  Okay! To make a Healing Salve, we need a (Plant), (Oil), and (Liquid). When we gather new materials, write down what you think the category is for it. I can check my books when we get back to the atelier. For the (Plant), please hand me that Wind Flower. For the (Oil), pass me a Bullet Seed. And for the (Liquid), you can give me the Water, Mixed Oil, or the Clean Water from the well in town. I have a question. What does "Eases Illness" mean? I see those words next to Fresh Water in your notebook. Oh, that! Materials all over the world have different properties to them. Some materials can heal you more, some hurt enemies, some can make you stronger or give you more vitality...there's so many materials and properties in the world, there's probably nothing they can't do if you look hard enough for them! Eases Illness means if a monster poisons you, or makes you weaker than normal, the item will heal you!Before I add anything to the cauldron, you can ask me what anything does, and I can tell you. Even if I haven't written it down in my notebook, I can go back to the orchard and ask Clone for one of the alchemy books my mother wrote. She was a lot smarter than me, and knew a lot more stuff.  Once you've selected your materials, you can review the Effects that will be on the final item. "Recov. Bonus Min", means the Healing Salve I'm making now will heal wounds better than the Healing Salve Solle let us use. Like with the properties, if it's not in my notebook, it's in one of the alchemy books my mother left me. Next comes the funnest part of synthesis! How you add materials can really change what an item does, either making it better or worse... But since I'm not very confident in my alchemy skills, let's just put in the Wind Flower, Bullet Seed, and Clean Water for now. My mother taught me that everything in the world is made up of the elements Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. That includes the items we make with alchemy. Each material in the world has elemental properties. For example, you can see the Bullet Seed is a Fire-elemental material.Each material also has a certain "cost" to using it in a synthesis. The cost I can use depends on the materials and how good at alchemy I am. Right now, the cost isn't very high...so we can't make very nice items. But as I get better at alchemy, I can do more! Every time I synthesize, I also make a note of what the elemental properties of the materials I used add up to. Umm....don't worry about that right now, m'kay? I'll explain what that means later. When you think you're okay with the item, just tell me, I can start the synthesizing process! You can also go back to the step and choose new materials if you want to make the item in a different way. The alchemy process uses a lot of chemicals and time, and I don't know how it works well enough to explain it to you. But I can do it! I have to add the materials together, change the elements with very special chemicals, then I can synthesize! Most of the work that I do is just stirring...but the way you stir is very important. Anyway, don't worry about that!  The last step of making an item is choosing the properties. Properties come from the materials and I use, and some properties I can't put on certain items. But you can't put all the properties you want on an item, or it'll go bad and you can't use it. Tell me the three properties you want, and I'll put it on this Healing Salve. Okay...how about "Eases Illness", "Fixed Healing", and "Effect Up"? I did it! Hmm... So that's how you Synthesize something using a cauldron? Fascinating. Heh heh, I'm pretty confident in my ability at making medicine. Would you like to give it a shot, Logy? ...No, this doesn't look like the sort of thing I'll pick up at once. I'll slowly try to understand it. D-Does it really look that hard? I've been doing it since I wa a girl, so it comes naturally to me. Well, aside from that, this method takes longer than I expected. We'll need to manage our time carefully. H-Huh!? Am... Am I really slow at this? No, that's not what I meant. The equipment is dated, so there's a lot of areas we can try to improve. We need to figure out how to be more efficient. I'll try to think of a plan. You focus on Synthesis. O-Okay... I'll try to work a little faster... At any rate, we made the medicine. Let's go take this to the Provisions Department. This is all we have right now, but once we can create formulae, I'm sure things will get easier. Yeah, and I need to work on my alchemy, too! Oh, Brother! Welcome! I've gathered up all the materials I thought we'd need to repair the windmill. Thanks. Let's take a look... You think that'll do? It doesn't look that difficult to make, but the problem is materials, We simply don't have enough. Then, let's go outside of town to gather what we need! We can also collect items for future jobs. Right, we have to gather materials ourselves... I forgot. I rarely had to do that in the city. ...You mean you don't gather, either? Just what do alchemists do in Central City? Haha, I guess alchemy is different all over the world. Well, we should get on our way. Huh? Don't you have to work to do, Brother? I need to make sure you two get a good start. I'm not tossing you out of town without supervision. That's a good idea... Thanks for the support, Awin. Don't mention it. I was actually looking for something to do, so it all works out. I'm interested in R&D too, and with the both of you in my care... Let's go on some adventures. C-Can you really be that easygoing? Don't blame us if you get into trouble with Heizman. Ha, don't worry about it. As long as I'm doing what I have to, he'll understand. Why don't we start in the nearby forest? I'm sure there are lots of good trees we can use there. Yeah, I know where the forest is. But let's not forget to prepare for the journey! Brother is going to be a lot of help! He's so strong from working on machines all day! I can tell he's strong, but Escha...if we have to fight some monsters, I want you to stay close to him. I'm not that used to fighting, since I hardly left my workshop in Central, and Awin can probably protect you better than I can. Our first adventure together! I'm so excited! Music: Our Planet Has But One Sky  Let's start near the forest entrance. I'm sure we'll find something good there! Music: A Story of an Adventure in an Uninhabited and Terrifying Place That's because it IS dangerous. There are monsters all over the place. ...Like that one, you see? An Ore Rat... I suppose that monsters are just a hazard that comes along with investigation. Logy, do you have any combat experience? ...I can't say that I have much of it. Back home, I used to spend most of my time in the atelier. Ha, well, some's better than none. The monsters here aren't all that strong, so I think you'll be fine. I'll give you some advice, so do your best to take them down. This is all part of being your mentor. Yeah... Time to give it a shot. I-I've never had to fight anything before! Don't worry, Escha, you'll get used to it after you've done it for a while. If we're really cornered, we have the supplies we brought... They should help. Just remember that we have to go back to town to get resupplied. You have to plan when to use them. O-Okay... I think I can do this! Music: Pavane Okay, Escha. Try hitting that monster with your staff before it gets too close! Music: Updraft First battle You were a little slow...if you hit the monster first, you'll be able to attack before they know you're there. Remember that for the future. If me or Awin has enough time, we can protect you when an enemy attacks. It's important to protect yourself and the people who are fighting with you. My sword is going to be a little more effective in battle than your staff, but I'm here to help you in battle, of course. I can use items in my basket in battle, just like you can use items in your basket. Awin's not an alchemist, so he probably doesn't know how to use the items and make them work. When the timing is right, we can follow up attacks on the enemy. As we hit the enemy without giving them a chance to recover, the damage rate grows up. That means with the same attacks, from my sword, Awin's hammer, or your staff, they'll do more damage than they normally would. Be sure to work with your teammates to stay safe, and defeat monsters that attack. Right! I'll do my best! Music: Increase the Altitude It might seem scary now, but I'm sure you'll learn how to fight effectively the more you work with me, Awin, and anyone else who wants to help us with our assignments. If you ever need more specific advice, I'll do what I can. Logy, there's another gathering point nearby. Maybe we can find some of the things Awin needs to fix the windmill here... I know I've come here to get Bullet Seeds and Tauns, a kind of plant with medicinal properties. You're right... There's no harm in collecting them now. That would seem the most efficient option. Well, since we've come all the way out here, let's collect everything we can! Wait, wait, our priority is to fix the windmill. If we spend too much time here, we'll miss our deadline. Th-That's right... I need to find items that will help us with our goal. But even things we don't need right away, we may need further down the road. Good point. I'm a little worried about our schedule, but harvesting items while we're here is smart. Looks like we won't find what we need for the windmill here... Let's go a little deeper. Escha, me and Awin are going to check the area for enemies. You can take as much time as you need to gather materials. Oh, that's good, because it takes me a long time to pick the materials out of the ground and put them in the basket carefully. If you rip them out of the ground, it can ruin them... You have to be so careful with alchemy materials. If I find something new, Logy, I'll be sure to tell you about it! I've seen Silver Hives before, but maybe you haven't, living in Central all your life... But I'm sure there's a lot even I haven't seen. With your help, I'm sure I'll find some amazing materials! I've noticed it in other places...but what is all of this, Escha? There's barrels, pieces of wood that would have been used for buildings, logs, boxes...all kinds of things that indicates people lived here before, but it doesn't look like anyone's been here for a long time. I actually asked Marion about this one day. She said there used to be a pretty large village in this area, next to Colseit. Then one day, everyone just left... I've heard the previous people at R&D were supposed to find out what happened to everyone living here, but they weren't able to find out why everyone left and the village disappeared. Maybe we can find out why... Hmm... The one who uses magic Yeah... Don't go too far. I-Is that...! Miss Wilbell! Hello! Music: Baby Bird Part 2 Miss Wilbell is a girl who came from a really far away place to learn about life in Colseit. She said the name of her town one time...Vierze-something, I think, but after one of her friends left, she decided she'd start traveling the world. She has a lot of interesting stories, and there's also something else special about her... Huh? Oh hey, Escha. What are you doing here? I've come to collect materials for my job. Oh, yeah... You did start a new job, didn't you? How's that going? Wait, there are a lot of monsters around here, y'know? Can you actually fight? I don't intend to let Escha fight on her own. I think we'll be okay. Wait a minute...Wilbell's hat, Escha's hat... Could she be...? ...Say, who's the new face around town? My name's Logy. I'm an alchemist working with Escha. Hmm... I'm Wilbell. I travel from city to city for... Reasons. Gotta admit, I've never seen a young alchemist like you. All the men I know who do it are old farts. Oh yeah...one of her friends was named Keith something. I forget his last name... So, do you mind if I ask what you do? You don't appear to be in the same trade... Wilbell is a mage! Isn't that amazing? Wha...? A mage? "Mage"? As in magic? No way. I-I was...? I'm sorry... Ugh, in one ear and out the other. You're NOT supposed to tell other people about that, got it? ...Don't worry. I have no reason to reveal your secrets. W-Wait a second... You don't actually believe it, do you!? That's because my ancestors worked really hard to keep it that way. If our powers were used for a bad cause... Who knows what would happen. Okay, okay. By the way, we're looking for materials to repair a windmill. Have you seen any? ...Why do I feel like you're not taking me seriously? You can find the materials on your own. Buh-bye, kids... Don't go too deep and get lost in there, you hear? Y-Yes... You be careful, too, Miss Wilbell. C'mon, Logy. You can't doubt everyone like that. How could I possibly believe her? Her story has no evidence at all. W-Well, that might be true, but... Hey, I found some things that could be useful! Hey, Brother's calling us. We'd better go.
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 31, 2014 20:57
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So is this game going to be dealing with the fallout of killing Yggrdrasil? Or was that a self-contained incident?
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Aug 31, 2014 22:19
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SSNeoman posted:So is this game going to be dealing with the fallout of killing Yggrdrasil? Or was that a self-contained incident? More self-contained that anything that has a huge impact on this game's plot, but that's not to say there's not things that tie this game into Ayesha's backstory.
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Sep 1, 2014 22:31
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Ah, continuity. So can you actually see what items are in a gathering spot before you sink time into getting them?
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Sep 2, 2014 22:28
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Glazius posted:Ah, continuity. Nope. It's always a gamble what exactly you'll get, but you can tell what materials are in a location before going there, from the gathering point's information on the world map.
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Sep 3, 2014 05:06
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Another quick item question: I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a "Quality" rating for the items, is that not a thing in this game or is it covered by that "Effect" meter? Glad to see you doing another Atelier game, Sylphid. 
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Sep 3, 2014 05:39
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Jagged Jim posted:Another quick item question: I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a "Quality" rating for the items, is that not a thing in this game or is it covered by that "Effect" meter? You're right, there is no "Quality" rating on items you pick up in the field or make in the Atelier. The Effect on synthesized materials is the closest thing to "Quality" in this game. For items you make, the "Effect" is the average of the "Effect" ratings of the items you used to make it in the first place. Obviously, higher Effect is better, but it's not a deal breaker in either direction. The most important thing is packing good traits (Properties) on the item, and getting good Effects. The Effect bar is unrelated to the Effects summary you get from the alchemy screen after you make an item.
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Sep 3, 2014 05:48
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Part III: The Pint-Sized Merchant and Herbalist I'm just saying, you can't go around and assume everyone is telling the truth about everything they say. That can be dangerous. Have you even ever seen her do magic? Well, no... But she's teling the truth! Can't you see how many mysterious jewels and items she has? That's not convincing. If she can't do magic, then there's no point to all that stuff. I guess so...but I still believe her! Let's just focus on the task, okay? Brother says there's some good stuff to find near here. This must be the remains of the actual village. There's houses we can go into as well. Let's make sure to check this whole area. Amazing, it's like everyone just left right in a hurry and left everything behind. There's still chairs, and beans in the bags... People could have been living here yesterday. I really wonder what happened to this village... Awww...I thought we'd find some amazing treasure. It's just a shirt. Even considering it's age, it's still pretty strong. You can probably get more benefit from it than me. Your clothes don't seem too sturdy, and take a lot of damage from even Ore Rat attacks. Yeah, you're right. Logy! Logy! Look at this! It's a cog! It's in bad shape, but with alchemy, we can make windmill parts from this! You're right. Awin has good senses...who would have guessed that something that like would be here? It's a good thing we found the materials after only a few weeks. There's no telling how far we'll have to search for materials in the future. I look forward to seeing how you make good parts out of these, Escha. Of course! Leave it to me! Come on, we should find more parts, too.  Yeah... All we have to do now is go back and Synthesize the parts for the windmill. ...Don't you think we should look around a little more while we're here? Haha, I don't recommend taking too many detours. This is Marion's test for you guys, isn't it? If you miss your first deadline, I can't guarantee that you'll get to keep your fancy new jobs. Good point... Escha, we should go back for now. If we need more materials, we can come back later. Okay... But are you sure we can't take a little detour? I won't stop you, but part of this job is going to be learning how to manage our time carefully. If you think you can find better materials, we can stay here, but I'd like to see how you make something more complicated than a Healing Salve. Okayyyyyyy...I guess we can go back now. Heh, I'm leaving this one up to you, Escha. This'll be my first official Synthesis for m job... I have to work! Yeah, do your best. While you're working, I'm going to ask Marion how we prepare reports. I'm sure she won't mind for the first time, but in the future I'll need to learn how to do it. Uhhh, wait! Logy, can you teach me how to create this? I've never created metal with alchemy before... Hm...okay. The most important thing to remember is to be careful adding the Bent Screw and Rusty Cog. You should add the Rusty Cogs to the cauldron first. They'll sublimate in the cauldron and prepare it to receive the Wind Flowers and Bent Screws. It provides a metal base that will form the Windmill Parts according to the plans Awin gave us.After the Cogs have been added, you should wait at least half a day before adding the Bent Screws. After that, you can add the Wind Flowers. You should give yourself plenty of time to make the actual Windmill Parts, it's going to be a little tricky. I'll tell you what I can, but it's up to you. I'm sure you can do it, Escha. Okay, let's begin.  Three days, and nine materials...okay, I can do this! Whew...I did it! Music: Germination Wow, you really can create a lot of things using a cauldron. I'm impressed. Thank you so much for teaching me... Um, nothing's ever gone this well for me on the first try! Heh, I'm just glad I could be useful. If we keep this up, we'll make amazing things in no time. Yes! I'll do my best, so we can create more items! I need to start Synthesizing to help out, too. We won't be any good at our current rate. Having you help me made the process go really smoothly, though. I think this arrangement will work for now! I'm glad to hear you say that, but I do feel a little useless. Maybe I can do something besides Synthesis. ...But first, we should bring the parts back to the apple orchard. Got it! Let's go right away! (Whew... I'm so glad that went smoothly. I'm sure Clone will be surprised that I built this!) Actually...I'm kind of hungry. Maybe we should go visit Duke... That's a good idea. I haven't got a chance to eat there yet. Duke's bar is pretty cheap, and he gives you big portions. It's really popular with the branch employees. Hi, Duke! You look pretty busy, as usual. Hell, yeah! But, these are all just my regulars, so it's nothing to get excited over. I need to get some new blood in this place, but it's been a little tougher than I thought it would be. Yo, old man! Where's my food? Hahah! When I said your cooking's worth waiting a year for, I didn't mean starting right now! All right, I hear ya. You just hang tight, ya knuckleheads! Sorry, it's getting a little rowdy in here. Th-That's how you treat your customers...? I'm surprised they don't get mad at you. Well, we've all known each other for so long here, we can throw some friendly jokes back and forth. Hah! Heh heh... I always see these guys here in your bar. Oh, yeah, we were all partners in the branch. Ever since I retired, they've been really supportive. Huh? Wait a second, do you mean to tell me... Yep, I used to work for the Colseit branch, once upon a time. When I retired, I decided to buy this bar. It's not really done anymore, but in my day, when a newbie joined the branch, they'd throw a party here. Pretty soon, this bar would become the favorite watering hole of every single person in the branch. I can see why you'd take the place over, then. It does seem relaxed and casual in here. Don't forget about all the great food! Oh, and we usually have a decent stash of ingredients, if you happen to need any. I'll sell 'em cheap! Th-That would be really helpful! If we ever need any, we'll stop by! Music: Kitchen Dance These are some nice ingredients, but we don't need have enough money for the most important thing - more alchemy recipes. It's probably a better idea to wait until our first stipend to buy it. Hey, do we need any materials? if they sell them in town, I was going to pick some up. Ooh, I do need a few things, but I don't know if the regular stores have them for sale. Chemicals for the cauldron, a new stirring stick... It's always important to only do alchemy when you have all the materials in front of you, after all. I doubt we'll find anything too obscure. Central City had some specialized stories, though. Hey there, sir and madam. You wanna take a look at my wares? Here in Katla's Shoppe you can find all kinds of rare items and fine masterpieces. Take your time! Hey, it's her again. I've seen her around town, but... Huh? There's a store here...? There is now, thanks for noticing! See, my previous location didn't get much traffic, so I moved here. Perhaps it was Fate that brought you through my door today... Why not take a look around? Sorry, we've got everything we need. Maybe next time. But I understand, though... It's bad form to interrupt such a cute couple on a date! Whoa, hey, we're just coworkers! And we're on the clock right now. Oh? Okay, pardon me. But don't you think it's important to take breaks from work now and again? Why don't we just take a little look? There could be some interesting finds in there! ...If you must. Honestly, Logy, you should be a little more curious! Please, please, come right in. All our products are lined up right here. Take your time! Wow, you really do have some rare things in stock... Quite a few of them, no less. There's so much stuff! Maybe we could use this! Look at this! And this! And this! Wowza! Maybe I should manage the money from now on... I can tell you're not an average customer. You've got good eyes... So, what is that, anyway? Wh-What is that--! This is YOUR shop! Aren't you supposed to know what you're selling!? Whoa, that was just a slip of the tongue. I meant, what a good bargain you've got there! Um... We're alchemists, and we started working at the local government branch recently. I see, alchemists! No wonder you two have such fine faces and great style. It makes perfect sense! ...Do you have any idea what alchemists do? You can tell me all about your job next time. For now, just keep browsing! Drink it all in, yeah. If you find what you're looking for here, then always remember to stop by the humble Katla's Shoppe. I'm constantly updating my stock, so it wouldn't hurt to check in every now and again, I promise. (...What a charlatan. But she does have a number of materials. I guess looking in here won't hurt.) So Escha, who is this girl, anyway? Why does she talk like that? I don't know much about her... A few months ago, she came into town and set up her shop on the main road. Someone told her to move, and I've seen her around Colseit ever since then. This is the first time I've seen her here, though. She's a little strange, but she's got some nice stuff, right? I guess, but still, we should probably be careful with her... A lot of old materials, but nothing we probably need right now. She's right, though, she may come across some amazing things that will really help us with our job. Ms. Wilbell stays in town when she's not outside. I think she said she was studying magic. She wants to learn more about the spirits in this area of the world, since where she cames from she said she had already made a "pact" with the most powerful spirit, someone she called the Wind Ruler. This story is only getting more silly. I'm telling you, Escha, there's no such thing as "magic". Fateful girl Hmm... She should be around here somewhere. Huh? Escha? What are you doing here? Music: A Flower Blooming Nearby Part 2 This is Miss Nio, an herbalist who came with Miss Wilbell from far away. She lives in a different house in the apple orchards, since she wanted to start living in Colseit, and me and Clone had another house we could give her. She's a big help around the orchards, so me and Clone are happy to have her around. Oh, Miss Nio! Do you know where I can find Clone? She just went right over there... I think she should be back soon. Oh, thanks! I guess we'll wait here for a while. Another friend of yours, Escha? Hello! My name is Nio. Escha's house has been really good in taking care of me. My name's Logy. I'm an alchemist working with Escha at R&D. Oh, really? I thought Escha was the only alchemist in this town. Well, I just arrived here from Central City. But, do you mind explaining what you meant just now? Miss Nio's a pharmacist on a journey from far far away. She just came here recently. Because of some unforeseen circumstances, I'm going to be staying in Colseit for a while. And Escha was kind enough to let me stay with her. ...A lady traveling alone? That seems dangerous. I'm with Miss Wilbell, so I think I'll be fine. But, I guess I won't be traveling for a little while. I see. From your looks, I would estimate that you're around the same age as Escha. Yeah... But Miss Nio does a lot of really difficult stuff with medicine! She knows so much! Also, you don't have to keep calling "Miss" Nio, okay? It's embarrassing. Aww... And I was just getting used to calling you that! You seem so much more mature than I am, too... Ah, I think I get it now. Something about the way she talked to you sounded a little strange. Heh heh... I'm hoping she gets used to it after a while. Oh, yeah...! I gather materials for medicines and sell them. If you ever need something, just ask. That would actually be a great help. We'll be sure to come see you. She seems so smart, and she knows so much... I bet she knows a lot about magic after traveling on the road so long with Miss Wilbell. And, I don't know...there's something strange about her. I just like saying "Barrel"! So do I, actually... I don't know what it is about the word, but I just like saying it. Anyway, we should get back to work and give Clone the Windmill Parts.  Understood. Thank you very much. Still, I'm impressed that you knew enough about alchemy to be able to create this. Hehehe... We're awesome, huh? Indeed. I believe we may finally be able to put our problems with that windmill to rest. It is all thanks to the two of you. Thank you so very much. Y-You don't need to be that thankful... Don't be so humble. The two of you are no doubt contributing to our city. Please, take pride in that. ...Yeah! Thank you, Clone. I think I'm really beginning to love my job. I didn't know that our work would make so many people happy. My, oh my... You've only just begun your work. We are all cheering you on. Our boss said that the job isn't over until we report to her, remember? Y-Yeah, that's right... We've got to go talk to Marion. Oh, is that so? You must take care to remember what your duties are... Aww... We're fine! We haven't learned what to do when we make our report yet... Let's get back. I'm still amazed by Clone's ability to talk and act like a human. It's obvious she's an automaton, but whoever made her did an excellent job. I want to talk to her later about that. Is that so? Well, good job, you two. Well then, now that that's over, I think it's time you both learned how to submit a report. Right... What exactly do we need to do to write it? I'll give you an overview, but there's really no specific format to doing these. Okay, let's start at the top. First, when ou come back, let me know how much progress you've made. Um, so we start by talking to you... Got it. ...This reminds me of when I began my first job. It's like I described it to you last time, Escha. I'll make a brief report of everything we do when we go outside town, and that will let Marion know our progress toward the various tasks each assignment. I'll try and keep everything organized, but I do want you to learn how to do it, too. I told Marion about everything we did in Twilight Forest, but in the future, we'll be going to more and more distant areas, so I'll need to learn how to write reports. You just worry about the synthesizing for now. Even if we haven't completed the other tasks, as long as we accomplish the task in the center of the paper, we'll have completed our assignment. This means we've completed our goal for the month, then, right? That's right. And it's a good idea to prioritize your more important tasks, like this one. But when you complete smaller tasks, I can mark those off as work completed by the R&D Department. if we keep this up, our ratings will continue to rise. So, whenever we finish something, we should come report it to you, right? Yeah. That would certainly be helpful...and it'll increase our expense allowances. One more thing: You designate which report will be the last of the term. So, if you have any outstanding tasks at that time, they will all be marked as "incomplete". So, we should save our final report for when we've completed everything else, then? That's the tough part... You have to submit your final report at the end of each term. In fact, if you're late the ratings of the R&D Division will drop. I need you two to keep on the ball. So, whether we choose to work on tasks until the last second or report earl, we need to report in. Once you've submitted your final report, I'll give you new tasks for the next period. So keep completing your assignments, and report to me every now and then. Got it. What should we do now? We've completed our big job for this term... Until you make your end-of-term report, you can do as you please. Roam about, or work on Synthesis. Um, about that... It seems like the cauldron's a lot for me to wrap my head around so quickly. Would it be possible to bring in equipment from Central City? I can't keep making Escha do it all. I guess I didn't do a great job of explaining it... It is really hard, when you think about. Knowing what chemicals to use, what order to use the materials, how you make good items, and knowing how to stir... My mother taught me a lot more than I ever thought... Hmm... I see. Well, give me a list of all the equipment you need. I can't promise that I'll get you everything you want, but I'll see what I can do. Sorry for the trouble...but it would do wonders. Really!? Yay! That was a pretty easy task. If we couldn't do that much, I'd say we were in real trouble. I'll give you general feedback on your work at the end of the term. Until then, you're on your own. I agree... I'm a little fatigued myself. That was quite an assignment. Still, I'm glad Marion thought we did a good job. It's always a good idea to make a good first impression. Ah...! Was it my fault? Did I stress you out!? No, that's not what I meant. You did really well. It's just... I was a little worried. Worried...? You were, Logy? I thought everything would itself out at first, but when push comes to shove, you never know... When I came here, though, everyone welcomed me so warmly, and we finished our task, so I... I think I'm confident that we can do reall good work together. That's why I'm relieved... ...Me, too! I wanted to work hard for everyone, but I wasn't sure that I could... But you and Brother are so nice and supportive, I'm so relieved. Ha, so we were both worried about the same thing, huh? Looks that way... If you ever have anything on your mind, please don't hesitate to tell me. I'll do my best to help. Same here; you can lay your worries on me. I think we'll be spending a lot of time together. Hah, well, we still have some work to do. Right! Let's do our best at everthing, no matter what, and help everyone! But I'm hungry now! Let's head to Duke's! C'mon Logy! Yeah, good idea... My new life starts now. Atelier Escha & Logy Attract Trailer Music: The Way of Heaven and Earth         
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Oct 7, 2014 |
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Sep 6, 2014 11:47
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Oh wow even Nio's here? I didn't expect that. I'm surprised she didn't bring up Ayesha since our two protagonists are alchemists.
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Sep 6, 2014 19:48
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Sylphid posted:
I'm pretty late but you've got manager repeating himself in the first update.
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Sep 7, 2014 02:58
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Huh, I thought that the canon ending was the one where Nio went along with Ayesha and Keith?
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Sep 7, 2014 06:37
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Serious Frolicking posted:Huh, I thought that the canon ending was the one where Nio went along with Ayesha and Keith? It was, and that's why Nio is in Colseit in the first place. We'll be hearing about what's bee going on with Ayesha more in the future from Nio.
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Sep 7, 2014 08:28
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Well, that was pretty simple. Have Neutralizers been out of the game for a while? I know they were important in early Atelier games, but I don't think they've been touched on in the later LPs.
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Sep 9, 2014 01:23
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All this talk about the previous game makes me feel like I'm missing out on a lot of interesting references. I guess I'll come back to this lp after reading the previous one.
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Sep 9, 2014 02:26
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ViggyNash posted:All this talk about the previous game makes me feel like I'm missing out on a lot of interesting references. I guess I'll come back to this lp after reading the previous one. It is a direct sequel and about half of the cast introduced thus far are originally from Ayesha. One thing I found rather ridiculous was that anyone would ever give Katla the boot. Who could possibly oppose the immense grandeur of her hat?
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Sep 9, 2014 22:45
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Huh, just noticed this. It seems like GUST is getting better at the faux-2D look. Also is Solle a man or a woman?
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Sep 14, 2014 06:01
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wdarkk posted:Huh, just noticed this. It seems like GUST is getting better at the faux-2D look. Also is Solle a man or a woman? Looks like a guy to me. He's not even particularly effeminate for an anime. I'm not sure why you're confused.
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Sep 14, 2014 06:12
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Solle is a dude. Say what you will about Hidari's art, but he / she doesn't go for the effeminate look very often. Ayesha didn't have any character designs like that, and there's only really one character in this game who is even slightly effeminate-looking. Though, in his case, being very flamboyant is kind of his thing. Also, my apologies for the slow pace of the updates so far. My job doesn't leave me a lot of room to work on updates, since I get home very late at night, and for my own reasons I like to show up at work early. Weekends are the only real time I have to work on updates for long periods of time, and luckily, I'm close to posting another one. So, please be patient waiting for new updates.
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Sep 14, 2014 06:41
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Part IV: The Lonely Road and Village Well Escha, we're done with our first assignment. What do you want to do now? We've got about three months until the next big assignment. How about we go to the Old Highway? I've never been there myself, but there used to be a big town there, with trains and all sorts of machines that could deliver materials to and from Colseit, but it was abandoned when the air trade became easier than the land trade. It's possible there's still a lot of materials we could use there! Hm, that's a good idea. A lot of our additional assignments have to do with the Old Highway. And, that sounds really interesting. Awin should really like going there, too. Sounds good to me. It would also be a good idea for you to learn how to fight more and do more syntheses. Let's get started. More Crafts will really help! Hey, where's Logy? It's a chitty confirming our operational stipend. I see... So that's how we receive our expenses, huh? Yeah. As long as we remember to apply for funding, we'll receive it right away. Right! But... When we're out on long expeditions, I'm afraid we might forget to pick up our money. When that happens, they'll hold on to the cash for us. There's no need to worry about losing it. Oh, that's good. We'll always be able to get our expense money sooner or later? Right. Once it's divided up, let's double-check the details and make sure we receive our payment. Gotcha...and if we spend too much, we'll be in real trouble until our next payment, right? The report looks really detailed...I've identified various categories we'll be paid under. The column on the right side of the page is the summary of everything we've done, and how much we'll be paid for the month. Hmm...so, if we do more outside of town, and we Synthesize more, the more we'll get paid? Well, yes, but don't forget to do assignments and increase R&D's rating. The more we do, the more we get paid. Just keep that in mind for the future. I'll be keeping all the reports in here, so if you want to check at any time, they'll all be right here after I receive the money and report from Marion. Sounds good! Shall we go see Solle? Marion said she had some reports she gave to Solle and needed him to review some spending documents. Sweets and homunculi Heh, excuse me. I was taking a little break. ...Do you mind doing this while I eat? This guy really seems to like his snacks... It's not a probem. Sorry for catching you at a bad time. *munch* For starters, please tell Marion that I've received her application. However, also let her know that for requests like this, she needs to give me more time. Okay... Those snacks look delicious. Oh, they are, but you can't have any. Aww... I just wanted a little bite. It's kind of surprising that you'd have snacks like those, Solle. My brain doesn't function if I don't get these, which is why I make a lot of them on weekends. You mean, they're hand-made? Wow... They look really high-quality. Yes, it's something of a hobby of mine. Perhaps you'd like to join me sometime? Really? That would be amazing! I look forward to it. Huuuuh? That's so mean... Hm... But if you insist, I suppose we could exchange terms. The truth is, the number of requests we get from citizens is overwhelming the staff we have. Hm... It sounds like it's a lot of work just assigning the tasks. Yes. That's exactly why I want the two of you to take care of the easy ones before I filter them through. So... In other words, you want to give us more work? Think of it as you helping me out. Of course, I won't force you to. Nonetheless, I'm sure it certainly won't hurt your department rating. And I'll even share my snacks. Ratings aside, our only reward from you is snacks...? This sounds like a child's chore to me. Logy! Now, now. I'm not saying I'll give YOU any snacks. This is just how I pay people in Provisions, you know? This is...their pay? Isn't that...? And, since this is their currency, you two will now be able to give them simple requests directly. So that's why...I need to Escha what Solle even does after this... I see... So we can ask them to do things other than resupplying our items. I'd say that's worth it. AND it will help with our ratings! We'll do it! Please let us! Ah, but the homunculi have their hands with a large order, and I can't send any your way. But, the moment their hands are free, I'll let you know, and I'll give your orders priority. It's a shame we can't use them right away, but I understand... We'll try it when we have the time. Wait a second... I just realized that if we us all the snacks paying them, I won't get any! Maybe I should hold on to the snacks. Escha has some...weird priorities... Well, you're more than welcome to eat it yourself, but then you can't give it to the homunculi. Awwww... When you say it like that, it makes it sound like it's a waste to eat it. We should get back to work... Escha, do you want to check out the jobs Solle is offering? Looks like pretty easy jobs so far... I've heard Poision Squirrels, Heavy Skins, and Green Spirits live on the Old Highway, so should probably take those jobs, since we're going there anyway. Yeah, good idea. So, while we won't get money, we will get snacks, and apparently we need those to keep the homunculi working on our requests. It would be a good idea to do as many jobs as we can so we can get a lot of sweets for when the homunculi are done with their special order. Plus, every request we do will increase our department rating by just a little bit, and there's always a chance some of Marion's additional assignments will have to do with requests from Solle. Of course, our assignments take priority. That about sums it up, I think. So Escha, I'm just curious: what does Solle do in Provisions? Hm, the way I heard Marion tell it, Solle is responsible for managing all the funding for Colseit's different departments. Before any of the departments can get any money, they have to submit funding requests through Solle, who passes them on to Mr. Grumman, who gets the money and passes the money back through Solle to the departments. Solle is really strict, and won't pass on anything that's not perfect. One time Marion passed along some funding reports, and Solle tossed them all in the trash. I still wonder why he did that, since Marion's reports are usually fine. I've never asked her why... I see. So Mr. Grumman gets the money from Central, and he has to give the money to the departments so they can do their work. It's an efficient system to keep everyone happy, and to keep Central well aware of what's happening even out here in Colseit. Escha, I'm going to start getting ready. Do you want to join me? No, I think I'm going to go talk to Clone a little. I started this job a month ago, and I haven't really got a chance to talk with her privately about it. I'll be along soon! Okay, see you then. It's pretty busy, but it's fun, too! Everyone I work with is so kind to me! What about you, Clone? I was helping you with the apple orchard before, but... No, there haven't been any problems at all. In fact, I think our efficiency has increased slightly. Before, we would have to trim all the branches you damaged, and clean up your messes in the tool shed. Now, we can use that time towards our principal work, which improved our overall output. Ugh... I... I see... That makes it sound like I was in the way... That being said, there are of course times where I wish we had an extra hand. I find myself asking for you without realizing that you're not here anymore. Ahaha, me too. Sometimes I just feel like calling out to you for help while I'm working. My oh my, habits are interesting things. Once engrained, they are very hard to forget. We were always together before, so being on my own, now...is actually quite difficult and strange. It was your decision to suddenly go work for the government branch. You gave us no warning at all. I assumed you were going to continue working for the orchard, so I was most surprised. Hmm... Well, it's not that I don't like this work here, but... I though tit would be better to use the alchemy Mom taught me to help as many people as I possibly can. Milia never seems to concern herself with such practices, so it is strange to hear you say that. Using alchemy for the sake of others... I think your purpose is virtuous. Really? Hehehe... Nevertheless, I will say you are still far from being of any use to anyone else.  I-I-I-I know that! You don't have to worry...! Are you sure? Both you and Milia would say you listen, only to ignore my advice moments later. If you keep up this behavior, I think I will be dissatisfied with our current arrangement. Perhaps we should arrange some time for you to train and study more, once you're done with your work...? U-Umm... I'm actually kind of busy with my work right now, so that might be a little difficult... My oh my, that's a shame. I thought I might be able to take care of you. It has been a while... Clone can be really hard on me, but she really is like my mother, you know. She always wants to look after me, but I always wanted to do something great with alchemy. It's the only thing I really have to remind me of my mother...she stayed up late in the night telling me about formulas, stories of past alchemists, and I would always fall asleep when she started telling me about mixtures and chemicals... They're precious memories... Did you have a good talk with Clone? Oh...Oh yeah! She's always scolding me, but she really does want to get better at my job. Of course, Clone never leaves Colseit, so she can't help me outside town. That's why I'm relying on you, Logy! Of course. I'm here to do whatever I can to make sure this job is a success. To get to the old train tracks, we need to pass through the northern road. This is a long road that originally led right into Colseit, but it's been long abandoned. Did she...? I don't recall anything specific... I think it was something about being as detailed as we can on our investigations. More detail, huh? What exactly does that entail? I don't think we have to think about it that hard... Just do whatever we can on our missions. We'll need to be cautious when investigating monsters, though. We could get an unexpected surprise. Y-Yes, I'll be careful. Or rather... I hope we never have to fight one. She wasn't forcing us to do things we can't do, so if we're unsure, we can put other assignments first. Yeah. Let's just keep trying to think of new things we can do! At any rate, we just need to be more proactive about getting things done. I bet we'll get used to it. Music: Dreadful Space As time passes, there's no telling what can happen. Before we leave an area, we should thoroughly investigate it. You can never tell what will happen before it does, though... I really need to ask Logy how he does that with his sword... He can throw it at an enemy, then it flies back and he can catch it! How does he do that?! Escha...there's something here. I'm sure we can find something hidden here... Wow, you're right! Look on top of that train! It's a Colseit Fiber! You may not know it, Logy, but Colseit is famous for its clothes. The fibers made in Colseit are sent all over the world. Maybe you've even seen them in Central. A strong fiber like this can definitely be used to make good clothes in the future. We should hold onto it. Yeah, good idea. ...I guess the people in Colseit are very resourceful... This looks like a checkpoint of some kind... You're right. Anyone traveling on the roads through this place had to pass through here. Central City was managing the roads, I think, until they stopped working on it in favor of the airship trade. I like flying a lot more than walking, that's for sure. Escha, be very careful with Heavy Skins. Their claws can easily tear through even the strongest shirts, and while they don't have much stamina, they are definitely harder than the Hamsters we've been fighting so far. You can use me or Awin to protect you from the enemy attacks, and use Crafts to damage them a lot more than your staff can. Just stay calm, and you can do it.  Logy, let's make sure we find all the materials we can! Keep your eyes open really hard now, because I want to find some rare materials. I can smell them! Okay... (Escha is strange, but she does have good instincts. There's definitely better materials here than what we've found so far.) It's been a long time since this road was really used very much, but you can definitely see that there used to be a lot of people living here. I'm sure we can find some great stuff here at least. She's right... Escha, come check this out. I found an old document inside one of the barrels. What? Oh, it's about an accident during an airship construction. Hm...airships are usually only constructed in Central. Logy, do you know about this? Ergh...! Uh...yeah, I've heard about this before. It was a pretty famous disaster, where they had to close down a lot of the research facilities and a lot of people ended up with pretty serious burns. Come on, let's just keep going for now. (Logy got really scared when he saw that. I wonder why?) Escha, after we finish our investigation here, why don't we head back? The Basket is getting pretty full, and I want to get started on our first real report of our activities outside of town. Plus, we've got a lot of valuable information about this area, and I'm sure Marion would want to know what we've been doing since we completed our assignment. Aw, but we've come this far. Come on, I only want to find a couple more areas: the end of the train tracks, and an old campsite nearby. We might find some even better materials. Okay, okay. Couldn't hurt to keep looking around, I suppose. Just remember we don't have a lot of Crafts left. If we get in trouble, remember we can always run away. See? I was right. It's always worth doing a little more than you might want to, especially when it comes to alchemy! There's all kinds of ores around here. Is there an old ore vein nearby? That could explain a lot about this area. Oh...oh yeah! That's a big reason why no one lives in this town anymore...monsters started showing up, and they couldn't find more ore in the mines near here. No one knows why the monsters started showing up, though. I'm sure Awin likes this kind of stuff. It's just amazing how quickly the village around here dried up. Colseit was lucky... I can't imagine how many other towns and areas around here have had the same thing happen to them. Could this be... Logy, why are you just standing there? Let's go! Wow. Escha, I'm impressed. You've gotten a lot better at anticipating when enemies would attack. I'm sure Marion would be happy to know that you'll be safer on the road with the skills you've already built up. Like I said, you just have to get used to how monsters behave, and when you need to attack them. But for now, let's go back. I've got a lot to write about this adventure. Little witch Are you going out? Maybe I'll take a break, too... Would you like to go with me, Logy? It will be a nice change of pace. That's true. All right, I'll go shopping with you, Escha. Katla's selection wasn't terrible, but did you see all of those silly necklaces she has? I didn't think think they were silly! They looked really- Heeeey, you guys. Have a minute? Oh great... Oh, Wilbell. Do you need something? I was just thinking about before... You don't believe that I'm a magician, do you? Especially you, Logy. You don't seem to understand at all. Of course I don't. You'd have to be crazy to believe something like that. I can understand why you would want to believe in things like magic, but you should act your age. Ugh! Condescending much? All right... I don't normally show people, but I'm going to make a special exception for you guys. You're really going to show us your magic!? I've never seen it before. You believed her, but she's never demonstrated it... So, what are you going to do? Let's see... I know, go gather some flammable paper and other stuff I can burn around here. Why do we have to- Just go bring some! Hurry up. We really don't have time for this, but as long as it proves to Escha this girl can't do magic, I guess we have time. Um, is this okay, Wilbell? Yeah, that's good. All right, here I go... There! It really did...how did she do that? Can't be magic, but I don't see anything she might be using... Remarkable... Did you use some sort of tool to do this? It's a basic fire spell, like I've been saying. It's easier to employ a spirit, but I didn't want you to say I was using a pet or something. I gather heat from the surrounding air, and release it all in one spot. Easy for someone like me. I see... Well, I did just witness fire appearing from nowhere. So, this is magic... Um... The magic was amazing and all, but maybe you should put the fire out now. Oh, right. Okay, stop! ...What the? Wait up... Weird. Oh, that's why! Hey, if you don't get this fire out soon, it's going to be dangerous. The fire already spread out of where I cast it, so I can't control it anymore. Sorry. Wait, so what do we do about the fire? Whaaaat!? You can't put it out with magic? ...I'm not good at water magic yet! Ugh, fine, I'll get some water. Please hurry, Logy! Yes... It was amazing... Good, yes, we get it. Just don't do any more magic for a while, please. Well, I guess she was telling the truth, but she's really clumsy... I hope she's not planning on using magic in town anymore. Yeah, I have to agree... Logy, I'm going to get started on alchemy. I can see from the paper Marion gave us that we have to buy a book called Newlywed from Nio. Can you take care of that while I'm working? Sure, I'll be right back. After I get back, I'm going to start working on my report. Earnest merchant I didn't want to start a conversation with her, since I was in a little bit of a hurry, but once she has her eyes on you, you just can't get away... She asked me to tell her what I think of her selection. I'm an honest person, so there's only one thing I could say... Man... You always have the strangest selection here... You think so? I always take the eccentricity of my wares quite seriously. Eccentricity...? Why don't you try carrying items you know will sell? Oh, come now! It's my family motto to carry the merchandise that you can't get anywhere else! We cherish clients who have unique needs that they just can't fill anywhere else. It's not a terrible idea, honestly, but her problem is that's ALL she's carrying. If she had more useful stuff, I'm sure she'd have more business. Do you have enough clients? I can't imagine that you can sustain a business on niche sales alone. Of course I can... I've got one such customer standing right in front of me, don't I? I...guess I can't really deny that. Maybe you're right, though... As you can see, the store isn't doing as well as it could be... Not to mention I don't have the money to rent space on the main street. I can't do this alone... Speaking of being alone, how do you manage to run your shop all by yourself? Ah, well, my parents find and gather the items, and I take care of the shop. I see... So everything that you have for sale in the store here... It's mostly stuff my parents bring back from their travels. I can see the need for more "normal" items. But, you know how the crops aren't doing so well, and there are fewer and fewer farms? Yeah, it's been a big story in Central for a long time. Reports of crop failures and deserts eating up once-pristine farm land have been all over the news for a few years now. It's a big part of the reason of the heavy reliance on alchemy to make vast quantities of staple foods, but I just wonder how long they can keep going with that... I suppose you have a point. Colseit has an amazing apple orchard, but in Central City, farming's impossible. Right, and people from Central City buy up all the produce and general day-to-day goods... There's really no way for a small shop on the frontier like us to acquire the stock we need. I-I see... When I lived in Central City, I thought having such variety available was a convenience. My parents used to have a general store, too... But they had to close it down for that very reason. But I won't give up! I'm going to make this store prosper! You must have it pretty rough, too. Well, I don't know what to tell you, but hang in there. They're individually hand-crafted by artisans. You will never find one like it anywhere! Um... It just looks like you took a piece of junk and put it on a string. Ugh! You're pretty sharp, unlike Escha. How'd you see right through my trick? I think whoever buys that deserves it. But if you try tricking me again, I'll stop shopping here. Th-That would be really bad! P-Please take it as, um...customer appreciation! Thank you! She may have a bad situation, but she's definitely trickier than I'd like... I'll have to be extra careful around her. Logy! Logy! Whoa, Escha? I'm taking a break from Synthesis. This part doesn't need me to stir, so I just have to wait for the next step. Why don't we go talk to Nio? Sure. I was just on my way there anyway. More than an herbalist You sure seem happy. Are you helping the apple orchard with their work again? Yes, they don't have enough people to help. And I'm staying there for free, so it's the least I can do. Also, growing something yourself like this feels very rewarding. I know how you feel. It's a happy feeling when you harvest apples that you've cared for all season. What do you do normally, Nio? When you're not traveling, do you have some sort of occupation? Hmm... Well, I'm always selling medicine to make money. Making and selling medicine is your specialty, right, Nio? Yes. It's not hard when I can find the right herbs nearby, and I'm glad to help so many people. I see. It must be convenient to have such a special skill. Sometimes it's hard to sell medicine, though, so I also help at various shops. I still keep some in reserve for when I need to resume my journey. You're planning that far ahead...? It sounds like you're on a difficult journey. So why did you decide to stay in this town? Aren't there other places you could have gone? Oh, that story. That drew my attention, too, when I was reading reports. Yes, it's very suspicious! There are many ruins, but that one site in particular seems special... Hahaha, maybe you're more of a scholar than an herbalist, Nio! Yeah, maybe. But that's why I decided to stay in this town, while I gather more information. That sure is an interesting hobby... Um, I can't explain it all that well... Does it really seem strange to you? No, I think it's good. It's interesting. If you do figure anything out, let us know. It's actually my dream to someday go to the Unexplored Ruins! I'll support your research! Thank you! I'll do my best. If you find anything interesting in your own investigations, let me know. Anything interesting... I wonder what we'll find... "Suspicious"... That's a good way to put it. What do you mean? Think about it. Ruins suspended in the sky, a lot of debris and turbulence surrounding it, and nobody knows anything about what's inside there. I've lived in Central my entire life, and I've never even heard about ruins in the sky. There has to be a reason why the ruins are near Colseit, and it's almost as if someone put the ruins there so no one could reach it. Heeeey, yeah...you're right! We need to pay extra special attention to any information about the Ruins, though... I'm still unsure how we'll get there. Before I leave Colseit, I want to go there. It's my life-long dream! I know we'll go there! (There's also these mysterious orchards. The area surrounding Colseit is mostly desert and deserted towns, yet these orchards are flourishing. I don't want to bring it up to Escha, but there has to be something special about these orchards...) "Newlywed", huh? The recipes might not be much, but these are still the basics. Besides, this is an important part of our assignments for this quarter. Escha, I'll go on ahead back to the workshop. I need to get started on my report. It may take me a while to finish, because it's my first one. Okay, I'll catch up as soon as I can! Wow, we've done so much already...and all of the nine squares in the center are filled in! I'm sure that means we'll find out what the squares outside all mean when I turn in a progress report to Marion!Actually, I haven't gotten a chance to see what Katla is selling yet... Maybe I should do that on the way back.  Desperate merchant Hm? What is it? Hmm... It's pretty rare, though, so I'm still contemplating whether or not I can part with it... Aw, that's a shame. Well, in that case, I'll be going now. Whoa, hang on! Back that caravan up! You're not supposed to just back down like that! The thought's supposed to grow in your mind, like a virus, until you have to say, "Oh, can I see it?"[/i] What does "virus" mean...? Oh, right. Okay, then... Oh, can I see it? Well, if you want to see it that badly, I suppose you give me no choice... Behold! This is the accessory that's all the rage right now in Central City: the Ruin Pendant. Wow, it's got an interesting shape... I guess this is what's trendy in the big cities? Ohhhh, yeah! Exactly! And I got my hands on the latest one from the city! This isn't any ordinary crap from the ruins... This was specially created from precious inheritance. I see... It must be pretty rare, right? Probably really expensive, too... "Dear friend"? I don't know her that well... Maybe she's trying to talk me into buying it. What do you say? Don't you just WANT to have it? No...? I think I'll be okay without it. B-But it's all the rage! You're still not interested!? Oh, I'm sorry... I mean, it's nice, but I don't think that kind of stuff looks good on me. C'mon, Ms. Escha... You should think a little more about being stylish, you know? W-Well, but... I don't want to spend lots of money on things like that. It seems like such a waste... And, it's not good to spend money on things I really don't want. I'd never be able to save up that way. Ugh... Okay, that's true... But how am I supposed to run a business if everyone felt that way? Dang! I guess my patter isn't good enough. I swear, I was so close to sealing that deal... Now, now... I'm sure you'll find someone who will buy it, if you keep trying different people. Hmm... Really? Well, I guess I'll just keep on trying until it sells... She seems...insincere? I'm sure Logy wouldn't like it if I spent a lot of our money, and we have to manage our expenses until the next stipend. Still, though, she seems nice, and very enthusiastic about being a merchant. I sure hope she's successful.
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 10:26 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 09:49
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Oh come one Willbell! You were blowing stuff up just fine in the last game! You're supposed to be a master witch now!
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Sep 15, 2014 06:38
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I like how Escha and Logy both pass on the Ruin Pendant for completely different reasons.
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Sep 16, 2014 16:11
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Part V: The Adventurous Mage and Swordsman Oh yeah, Logy told me to turn in the two jobs we did at the Old Highway. I can't wait to see what the homunculi's snacks look like! Melting Jewels Dried Taro Chips...I've never heard of those foods. I guess the homuculi really are a lot different from us. And I guess we need to work extra hard to rank up the department... We're still a long way away. Oh! This looks like Logy's handwriting... I guess this is the first report he did. Looks...different, from the reports Marion usually does. Maybe it's because it's his first one. Well, it certainly tells Marion everything we did at the Old Highway. It was a lot, actually. Wow, we did so much! We have time to complete the entire sheet! Let's see what else we have...
Looks like a lot, but I'm sure we can do it! We should probably head for the Twilight Forest next. I have to tell Logy about what Marion gave us!  Whoa, Escha, where did you get that book? Oh, Ms. Marion gave it to me! When we complete the inner 9 tasks and make lines from one assignment to the next, she'll give us special bonuses, like recipe books and more money! That's interesting... I didn't know that. It could certainly help. So it also looks like the rest of the assignments appeared? Yes, and the report you handed in was really good. Marion's already registered the progress we've made toward two of the new assignments. See? Yeah, I do... Good, looks like I'm getting the hang of it. Defeat the Flesh Eater and Scissor Beast. The assignments relating to alchemy I can't really help you with, but going to the Twilight Forest for now might be a good idea. What do you think? Wow, that's just what I thought! But first, I want to try making a bomb. Okay. But be careful. The bombs in the book are designed to be made in a very stable way, but still... First, I need to make some paper to stabilize the bomb. The quality of the paper is important. I can make the bombs more powerful if I have stronger binding materials, but it looks like I can only make a Zettel right now. That's okay. Um, Escha...you probably shouldn't have used that Earth Root. The cost is really high to add it to this synthesis. You can still keep going and make the Bomb, but it probably won't be very good... Yay! I made my first Bomb! Wait, should I be happy about that? I think so. It's pretty impressive to make explosives with alchemy. Of course, it's not a very powerful Bomb, but it is better than the Crafts we have. We should bring it along to Twilight Forest. Yeah, I guess so... Hey Logy, can you pass me those books to your right? Hm...these books look like they contain some tricky alchemy methods. Are you...? Yeah! I've definitely gotten better with alchemy. I can try some new things now, like using the elements of each item in syntheses, or adding materials in any order I want... I think we can make even better stuff now! And, we have to let Marion know about my alchemy progress! Yeah. Can you show me how the element system works? I've tried reading about how to do things like that with a cauldron, but I still don't know how it works in practice. Okay! I'll try making a dessert to show you how. The ingredients I've added, I already know the elemental properties of each. The Taro is Earth, the Apple is Water, the Fairy Soul is Air and Water, and the Clean Water is Water. As long as I don't go over the Cost, I can add elemental points on the little chart I have next to the cauldron. By drawing out the power of each element, I can change the synthesis. Each element has something it can do to the item: Fire can draw out powerful effects, Water can transform into any of the other three elements, Wind can change effect values and the quality of the item, and Earth can increase the quality of the item.Of course, each element can do a lot of special things, but I still need to improve my alchemy before I understand them.  This is a list of things I can do to the synthesis with the elements I have available. The higher the elemental values, the more powerful skills I can use. That's about it.  Wait a second... Is something the matter? What did you just make? It looks like an apple tart. Yup! That's exactly what I wanted to make. I think I did a pretty good job with this one! Escha, you know how to cook, right? Why are you using alchemy...? That's because... Logy, I just realized something. What's that? So...? But it's so much work to have to cook everything whenever we want to go explore... And then I thought, if Provisions is supposed to keep us supplied, and as long as we have alchemy... Don't tell me... Are you serious? You're twisting the rules to use the homunculi as your personal chefs! I know, isn't it great!? I don't know what's worse here, but your logic or your sweet tooth... Yep. Escha definitely has weird priorities... Oh, Logy! I'm glad you're here. I made some Mixed Lubricant for some future [Fuel] syntheses. It's a pretty powerful item for synthesis, because it can draw out a lot of Fire power for the item! Looks like you're getting better every day. What's amazing? You mean the cauldron? Yeah. I said it was impossible, but at the same time, I can't be here and not study it, you know? I'm going to do a little research and see if I can figure out how to use it, too. Really? Well, you might be able to, if you tried. So, what do you think? Do you feel it's possible? Not a chance. I guess mimicking what I've seen you do just isn't good enough. Escha, how did you learn alchemy? M-Me...? Um, I was so young, I honestly don't remember. And it wasn't really being taught; I was just copying what my mother was doing. You figured out how to do it as a child... It has to be simple, right? H-Hmm... I guess it's a little hard to explain... You know how you stir the contents of a pot when you're cooking? Huh? So, maybe it's not going really well for you because you don't know how to cook in a pot! I had to practice going around and around and around and around a lot! Uh, do you think you could take teaching me a little more seriously? Um... I WAS teaching you seriously. That's how I learned it from my mother, anyway... You add the materials until it feels right, and then you stir it...until it feels right, too! Wow. That's very specific. ...Um, is it really that hard to understand? N-No, I think it's my problem that I can't understand it. Don't worry about it. Why don't you show me again when we get another chance? I'll watch you Synthesize something else. Got it! I'll try to go real slow so you can understand, too! I guess synthesizing with a cauldron is a lot more complicated than I first thought... How does she know what feels "right"? I don't know yet... Logy, I'm going to take a break. Want to go with me to Duke's? Sure. Let's get something to eat. Simple woman Just now, actually. I was going to report to Marion...but she appears to be absent. She's probably in a meeting. I could go look for her if you want. No, that's not necessary. She should be back soon. Okay. By the way, what kind of work are you always doing, Linca? I want to talk to you more, but you're almost never here. Mostly eliminating monsters, as well as searching for wanted criminals when we get information. There has been a lot of monster activity in distant areas recently, so I get assignments to kill them. Criminals? I don't remember Marion saying anything about that... You sound less like a government official and more like a full-time swordswoman. I don't understand what you mean by "full-time". I've been a swordswoman since I was born. I know only the sword. Therefore, I determined that the best way I can contribute is by putting it to use. So that's why you aren't in town very often. Sounds rough... Marion is opposed to it because she says it's dangerous, but this is the only thing I can do. I suppose that if we don't produce any results, then our department will lose face... Marion was very happy that you two joined our ranks. I'm also very grateful that the two new hires were both assigned to our department. Haha, I'm not sure we're making much of a contribution just yet. There's still a lot I don't know, so I would be glad if you could teach me some things. I'll probably be out of town very often in the future as well. But contact me if you need something, and I'll make it a point to rush over from wherever I am. Heh, thank you. Do your best with your work too, Linca. Not even I can stop her when she gets mad... I think I know what you mean... We'll be careful. What does THAT mean...? Well Logy, do you want to head to Twilight Forest? Sure. I want to see how powerful those Bombs are, anyway. Marion said the Flesh Eater and Scissor Beast are near the abandoned village deep in the forest. Escha, watch out! Music: Fulcrum That's a lot of enemies... Here I go! Bombs can be really dangerous...but I'm glad I have them here... Very impressive, Escha. That was a dangerous group, and that Bomb did a lot of damage. The Scissor Beast can be dangerous, but as long as you guard its attacks, you should be okay. And, there's only one of them. This should be easy. Actually, I want to try something I've been practicing in secret...     Logy...that was amazing! How did you do that!? Heh. I can explain later. For now, though, I think we should head back. Oh, it's our second stipend. Looks like we're doing pretty well! Yeah. Hey Escha, Wilbell said she wanted me to talk about something before we left, so I'll see you in a little while. You should probably start working on your next synthesis. I think we still need to make a Craft with the Bursting effect, so you'll probably need to look through the materials. Okay Logy. See you later. Well, of course. We've been living in hiding so nobody knows who we are. Your outfit speaks otherwise... But it's amazing the secret isn't out. Regardless of how much like a fairy tale it seems, I'd think Central City would have some information... Hmm. I wonder. It does seem strange that they wouldn't know, no matter how well we hide. Maybe there's somebody secretly pulling some strings in Central City? I don't particularly care. You don't care? It sounds like a very important part of keeping your big secret. I'm keeping the secret, so I'm fine. As long as nobody else is leaking information, we'll be okay. So there are other magicians out there besides you? Maybe. My family's always been magicians, but I don't know anyone else. Even if there were, I doubt there would be very many. I've never met one. I guess it's the same as us alchemists not knowing how many of us are out there in the world. Exactly. But I'm sure there aren't a lot. Magic power is passed along in the blood, so if the family line ends, magicians would disappear. Hmm, so that's another factor. And some of those people can if they train hard enough, but it's a rarity. I see... Sounds like you have it pretty rough, too. When you look at it that way, alchemy sounds really easy. It's all in your books, and anyone who understands it can do it. Now that you mention it, that's right. Alchemy sure is convenient if you think of it like that. Yeah, but that's the danger of alchemy, too. Anybody who wants to use it can, if they learn how. Magicians are in hiding to make sure magic isn't misused. Lately, everybody's been using alchemy. The chance of someone using alchemy to do bad things is greater. ...Yeah. We need to be careful so that something like that doesn't happen. Well, there's no way you could beat us magicians if we got serious anyway! ...Yeah, yeah. We couldn't beat all you magicians. Hey, are you mocking me? I'm really powerful, you know! She may be young, but she's smarter than she looks... Hm... Did Ms. Wilbell tell you something? Yeah, we were talking about magic and the fact magicians like her are in hiding. I still don't know how she can call herself "in hiding" when she's wearing clothes like that, but when it comes down to it, alchemy and magic are similar except in one important way: not everyone can do magic, but everyone can learn alchemy with the right amount of study. Well, yeah, but isn't alchemy a good thing? Shouldn't more people learn it? I don't know if that would be for the best... Anyway, did you find out how to make a Craft with the Bursting effect? No, not yet... I just know I had a book around here with the effects for Crafts written in it, but I just can't remember where I put it... Is this it? Oh yeah, there it is! Thanks Logy. But, hm... How do I get the Wind effect? None of our materials are very good for that. Aren't the Spiky Buds and Charcoal Pieces Wind-elemental? That should be enough. It is! Where did you get those Charcoal Pieces? One of the Green Spirits at the Old Highway dropped them. It seems you overlooked them, so I decided to pick them up. One thing you have to remember with alchemy is that you can't take anything for granted. Ehehe...right... Wow Logy, that's the best Craft we've made yet! It looks like we're about done with all of our assignments for this quarter. Really? That means we can do anything we want! Yeah. Do you want to try and go back to the Old Highway? I might be able to show you a few things about gathering materials. Heh heh...sure... So what am I doing wrong, Logy? What kinds of things do you look for in the field? Well I...  Escha, get ready! Great battle  Music: Don't Panic So these things are still around... Lo-Logy...what are we going to do!? Just stay calm. It's not as strong as it looks.  Escha, your staff is too weak to do any real damage to it. Focus on using items and supporting me and Awin. Seems it's mostly focused on long-range attacks and using its massive weight to gain an advantage. As long as we can overwhelm it, we can win. Logy, I can't keep going...[/i] Just hang in there!  I'm feeling so much better! I can keep fighting! Good, because it's still coming!   Music: Beyond the Light Logy...what was that? That...was a slag. A creature created with alchemy that follows a pre-programmed set of orders. Slag technology is fairly advanced, but not many are made these days. Nowadays you mostly find them near ruins. I guess it's not a big surprise to see one around here, but a slag of that size is certainly unusual. I've heard reports of those kinds of slags appearing every now and then, but... Logy! We're going! You'd think she'd be more careful after something like that...  Alright. I've turned in my report to Marion. I'll keep a record of any journeys outside of town, but as far as assignments go, we've completed all of them. What do you want to do now? Hm...there's still some alchemy I need to complete before we end this assignment. This was just our first one, and it's only going to get harder. Okay. That sounds like a good idea, plus, I want to see cauldron alchemy in action more.   Hm... What is it? I...kinda wanna fight more slags. We fought that big one a couple weeks ago, but I'm still really confident! I managed to beat a giant monster! That was only because me and Awin were there, but I won't stop you. I'll get ready to go. Music: My Name is Legion I know you're getting better, but me and Awin are here to help you. You don't have to fight everything yourself... Let's do it! Logy...I think I'm going to take it easy... drat! These slags are really aggressive... Where are they all coming from? Escha, you can get up now. Is...is it over? Yeah. Me and Awin took down all of the slags. Come on, we need to get back to town and make sure your injuries were nothing serious. Oh! I wanted to see Brother working at the air docks today! He said was going to be doing some really interesting work today! I guess it's a good thing sometimes she's so energetic. Clumsy mechanic[/i] That was, um...just a sudden impulse on my part... Who does THAT on impulse!? Thanks to you, MY head was on the chopping block! I-I'm really sorry about that, Heizman... See, I think you've got talent, but you don't have to go out of your way to do crap you don't have to! Please, just do the work that we tell you to do. Got that!? Whoa, when did you kids get here...? Sorry you had to see that. Did you do something again, Brother? W-Well, yeah... It's not that I did it. "again", more like I keep on doing it... heh heh. What is it this time...? I was sent to take care of a house with a clogged chimney, but...uh...something happened. Wow, the Maintenance crew has to do stuff like that, too? You'd be surprised by how many requests for structural repairs and renovations we get there. It's not as important as your assignments, but it's still work that needs to be done. I like it... Why was he so angry at you, then? Um... Yeah, the chimney was an easy fix, but we've been getting a lot of these calls lately... Now that you mention it, I think our chimney gets clogged a lot, too... That's because trash and crud get stuck in the mesh that's supposed to keep birds and bugs out. "Modified..." In someone else's house...!? Yeah... Trash wasn't getting in, but smoke wasn't getting out, either... You can see the problem. Obviously, the owners complained, and Heizman took the heat for me. Man, the things I put up with. Didn't he get mad at you for something else a lot like that...? This is a common thing with Awin? It sounds to me like it's Heizman and the people who live in that house who had the problem. I guess I need to figure out a better airflow system. Maybe if I went for more of a diagonal... Awinnnnn! Heizman just yelled at you for this exact thing! You have to think about what you did! Don't worry, leave it to me... I'll get it done right this time! Argh! I'm trying to tell you to STOP modifying things! Aw, but it'll be so much better! I just need to think of a way to solve that problem... Think all you want, but you probably shouldn't put your plans into action without asking.  So Logy, what do you want to do now? We've only got 16 days left on our assignment. I never thought I'd say this, but why don't we take a break? We've been working a lot lately, and I can't think of anything more to do. Clone told me that they need some help getting the orchard ready for picking in a couple months, as well. You might want to do that. That's a good idea! What are you going to do? Hm... I thought of compiling a list of things I might need from Central and just relaxing. There's really nothing more for us to do. Okay, well, see you in a few days! Music: Rest Escha, I just got done handing in a bunch of new jobs to Solle. We've done about all we can, so let's go make our final report to Marion and end our first assignment period.  Is that it for our study period...? It felt really short...but somehow really long, too. Yes. Starting today, the two of you are officially members of R&D. I'm not treating you like trainees! We're going to have a lot more to do from now on, huh...? Hopefully we don't get fired. Heh heh, don't worry. I made that task mandatory because it was your test. This won't be the case now. All you have to do is complete your goals. And, if you do somehow fail, I won't fire you immediately. I-I see... That's a relief. I was worried you might give us really difficult assignments... That said, I don't want you two slacking off, either... So make sure you're prepared for the worst. If we don't finish our tasks, then the R&D Division won't get its funding next season, right? That's right. Let's make sure we complete as much as we can! Yes, that's the spirit! I see the awareness of your responsibilities is settling in. Good! Before we go into your next goals, I'd examine your previous period's work. Please pay attention. Yes. Thank you very much. Now, let's see your completion ratings for last period... It was our very first job... I guess we tried super-hard! We're still getting the hang of our work, but I guess it's good that we did this well...? Yes yes, it's perfect! To be honest, I really wasn't expecting results this good. Heehee, if we keep this up, I think we can finish our goals every period! I certainly don't want to discourage you, but keeping up this performance record won't be easy. Still, I confess that I'm relieved to see this. I can trust in you two to get a lot done now. Haha, well, we'll do our best to live up to your expectations.  Investigating ruins... I suppose that's a fitting task for a region like Colseit. These particular ruins have been explored a few times, but Central City's sending an expert this time. Wow... Someone from Central City's coming here? Well... They WOULD be, but their so-called expert went straight to the ruins without checking in here. So this person went in alone...? He or she must be really confident...or really thick-headed. Yes, that's what bothers me, too. Which is why I want you to go to the ruins and find out what's up. I'd also like you to take a look at the deeper regions, as well, to prepare for our true investigation. Gotcha! So we have to go deep in the ruins now, right? That's correct. Also, there have been reports of treasure-hunting looters, so proceed with caution. People raid the ruins for treasure...? I guess that kind of thing happens everywhere. Okay.
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Oct 1, 2014 |
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Oct 1, 2014 00:07
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I'm kind of cheating a bit for this update a bit, since if you start a New Game+ (which I'm doing for my Logy playthrough), you can carry over alchemy skills, which is how I made that Craft I used against the boss. Normally you wouldn't be able to make a Craft that good at this point in the game, since you won't have the PP to carry over all those traits on a straight New Game. But, it's not like it's going to make a huge difference either way, especially as we head toward the end of the game. Regardless, my apologies it took this long for the update to come out. I have no excuse for that, and I'll try to be more punctual in the future. I'm going to work on the first bonus update next, which will be the same system I had in the Ayesha thread.
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Oct 1, 2014 00:12
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Hey man, you're doing this for our enjoyment. Being punctual is a good thing, but if stuff comes up, we get it. But on more a more game-related note, would you be able to beat the "Tough" boss without your NG+ craft shenanigans, or is that more apple tarts than you'd really be able to afford?
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Oct 1, 2014 01:36
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Sylphid posted:
Your tax gold at work.
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Oct 1, 2014 02:52
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Genaro posted:Hey man, you're doing this for our enjoyment. Being punctual is a good thing, but if stuff comes up, we get it. It's certainly possible on a straight New Game, yes, because of something special you get on a New Game+, it's much more manageable. Besides, the hardest bosses are actually in the second DLC dungeon, which I fully intend to do. It's also much easier to do the bosses on Logy's playthrough as opposed to Escha's, and what you'll want to do is beat Escha's game, then use that to start a Logy game, which is what I've done. Basically, toward the end of the game, regardless of the main character you'll get a superweapon kind of attack item, but what superweapon you get depends on your character. Logy's superweapon is a single-target item, and Escha's is group. On a New Game+, if you play with the opposite character, you can get both.
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Oct 1, 2014 04:17
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FrantzX posted:Your tax gold at work. I think you mean Cole, mister 
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Oct 1, 2014 08:07
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Well, since Escha is eating them in battle we can categorize them as part of our equipment expenditures. Sugar is life, chocolate is hometown.
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Oct 1, 2014 08:11
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Tarezax posted:Well, since Escha is eating them in battle we can categorize them as part of our equipment expenditures. I do like the new animations they made for those. Before they just made potion noises and bam +20 HP recovered.
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Oct 1, 2014 08:17
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I just found this thread. Didn't realize it had been a month since you started. Its a shame this stuff doesn't get more attention. Especially, since this game is a lot more approachable than the others mechanically.
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Oct 1, 2014 08:18
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The Gentlemieu posted:I just found this thread. Didn't realize it had been a month since you started. Its a shame this stuff doesn't get more attention. Especially, since this game is a lot more approachable than the others mechanically. Indeed. The lack of attention also results in pages loading slowly because they have too many updates on them  bump
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Oct 1, 2014 08:21
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