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Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
I've been playing a lot of fairly dark games recently. It might be time for a little levity.

I’m gonna play Recettear instead.



WARNING: This game is super anime. Turn back now if that’s not your bag. For myself, and for the rest of you, may God have mercy on us all.

Brought to us by Japanese indie game studio EasyGameStation, translated by indie-loving localizer Carpe Fulgur





Recettear is one part item shop simulator, one part dungeon crawler, one part visual novel. It’s the story of a young girl named Recette, who is forced by circumstances to convert her home into a ye olde item shoppe, selling deadly weapons and alcohol to children, buying ancestral family heirloom sandwiches and sailor suits from old men, and forming solid business relationships with adventurers.

No hero will be helped for free, no villain's business will be turned away, no charity will be given! Communism will not be tolerated! Capitalism is not negotiable!

CAPITALISM, HO!


Part 1: Another Morning in Anime Not!France

Part 2: The Mob Owns You

Part 3: Just What the Hell is a Pin Anyway?

Part 4: A Gentleman Adventurer and the Merchants of Fortune

Part 5: Tear Hates Poor People

Part 6: You Have to Give Me a Do-Over!

Part 7: Gotta Go Back, Back to the Past

Part 8: Heavy Metal Thunder

Part 9: The Humanoid Typhoon

Part 10: Lovely and Charming Little Shop

Part 11: What a Charming Young Lady

Part 12: The Sweet Spot

Part 13: New Folks

Part 14: All My Favorite People

Part 15: Priestly Virtues

Part 16: This Garden isn’t Much of a Garden

Part 17: Horrifying Yet Adorable Berserker Rage

Part 18: Pretentious Evil

Part 19: We’ve Entered an Endless Recursion of Time

Part 20: Nothing Ever Ends

Part 21: It's All Setup

Part 22: Special Video Update 1 - Incorporeal Balls of Fire and Hate

Part 23: Special Video Update 2 - Best Puncher vs. Total Dork

Part 22: Everything Ends, Again and Again

Truthkeeper fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Nov 24, 2019

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Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Part 1: Another Morning in Anime Not!France



Our story starts, like so many anime before it, with our protagonist oversleeping. It also starts in media res, expecting you to just run with things until a flashback explains later what the hell is going on.



But not for long!
I feel like whatever professionalism she was trying to gain with the glasses and tie is lost with the bare midriff and miniskirt. On the plus side, at least she’s legal. Probably.

Does she really not understand how important today is?



Nope!











Thankfully for us, our underage protagonist sleeps fully clothed.

Oh. Tear! G… g’morning!

We do not have time for “g’morning”, Recette! Are you planning on spending the rest of your life dreaming of sweets?

She’s like, 9, so probably.

Today is the day we set for the opening of the store!

Uh, we did? … Oh yeah, we did!



This game is fairly light on the English cursing. French, not so much. Tear has a filthy filthy mouth.

Listen. Go wash your face and make yourself presentable, and then join me downstairs in the storefront.

‘Kay! I’ll be right down!



This used to be the first floor of Recette’s house. Because of reasons, Tear converted it into a shop. Thankfully, as a videogame character, Recette can fit an infinite amount of stuff in her pockets (except when she can’t) and therefore did not have to give up her bedroom for storage.



“Capitalism, ho!” is Recette’s most common catchphrase, and quickly became the catchphrase for fans of the series.

As one person on the Steam forums put it:





The first day of the game is a tutorial. Unfortunately, there are lots of tutorials in this game.

We need to take care of a few matters before we open officially.

Huh? Like what?

Well, I somehow doubt that a store without anything to sell is going to attract all that much business.

Uh… Oh yeah! We don’t have anything to sell!

Nothing gets past our intrepid protagonist.

… So, uh… What do we do?

Get a dozen more skimpily dressed fairies and start a brothel?

Is it appropriate for an underage girl to manage a fairy brothel?

To start with, we need to establish a stock of items for the store. If we have nothing to sell, we cannot claim to be much of a shop!

I think you made your point Tear.

In fact, if you had planned on opening today, why the hell don’t you have any stock? Why haven’t you trained your sole employee? Technically, Recette’s the owner, but Tear’s company owns Recette until she pays them off, because reasons.

That’s true… hmm… So where should we go to get stocked up?

The best way, I think, would be to visit either the town market or the Merchant’s Guild. We need to give our regards to the head of the guild regardless, so that should probably be our first stop.



Recette, at your age, I’m pretty sure every man you meet is an “old guy”, so that’s not really narrowing it down.

The guild operates as a wholesaler for local merchants, so if we stop by we can purchase an initial stock. It would not hurt to grov- er, give your polite regards to the guild chief, either.

Really Tear? You think that the ideal way for a retail shop to obtain stock is to buy from a wholesaler? My God! This revelation will surely revolutionize shopping as we know it!

Especially since the Guild is the organization that allows us to operate here in the first place.

‘Kay, got it! Then let’s go, right now!

When you want to leave the shop, head to the front door, currently located in the upper-right hand corner of the store.

I’d question that Tear is telling Recette how to leave her own house, except we’ve already established she’s not real bright. Also…



Yeah. Preemptively telling her to use the door and reminding her where it is is probably best.

TO ETERNITY, AND-



Oh, okaaaaaay…



Tear will inevitably explain every little thing in countless tutorials, but allow me a second to explain the layout of the shop, formerly known as Recette’s living room, and the interface, which Tear can probably see, but Recette can’t.

In the top left, we have the clock. Days are separated into four time segments. You can open the shop for one segment at a time, going anywhere in town takes one time segment, and going on an adventure takes two segments. Next to that, we have the day count (the normal game lasts 36 days, although there’s also new game+ and endless modes) and my current money (what a pix is I couldn’t tell you). In the bottom left my current merchant level and experience bar are displayed. Recette is a shopkeep, not a adventurer, and she levels up by buying and selling in the shop.

In the bottom right, a reminder that I can change the camera view if I don’t like sort-of top-down.



It’s not a particularly impressive change.

Otherwise, the shop itself contains shelves for items (one item per space, I currently have room for 12), a counter where Recette sits when the shop is open, a large window (items in front of the window are visible from the street and will impact how people view your shop), and the door Tear gave very clear directions to.



We also have a menu. It contains a calendar with a running reminder of how much Recette has to pay Tear the following week, a list of all items I currently possess, an encyclopedia of every item I’ve seen so far, some options (volume and text speed) and a lost arcane art known as saving the game.



The town of Pensee! Which appears to only have about twenty houses. In normal games I might assume that this is an abstraction representing a normal-sized town, except there’s only about 12 people in this town, except for when they clone themselves.

Once you’ve left the shop (which is called Recettear because REASONS!), you can normally walk right back in the door, no harm, no foul. If you actually go anywhere in town (I’m in tutorial hell, so only the merchant’s guild is available), then one time segment will pass when you return to the shop. It doesn’t matter how many places you go. You can do laps around town as long as you don’t go back to the shop.

And so I will ride the rails over to the merchant’s guild.



A good solid rugged beard and the clothes of the working class. This man is alright in my book.



Yes, you’re recette and that loan-shark!

While that is not… well, an INcorrect assessment, could I ask that you refrain from calling me a “loan-shark”?

Tear is totally a loan shark, or at least works for one.

That’s right, mister! She and I are partners! Don’t be mean!

Recette is… very forgiving, but we’ll get to that in the flashback.

Hahaha! Forgive me, forgive me! Partners it is! So! How’re the preparations for that shop coming along?

Quite well, thank you.

Our sole employee is an untrained child and we have no stock. We are totally prepared for the IPO.

In fact, we plan on opening today, so we stopped by in order to show our gratitude for your help.

Ha! Very good! You two know what’s what! If you have any problems, let me know, I’ll be glad to help!

We appreciate your kindness, thank you.



It’s a good thing Recette is adorable, because she doesn’t have much else going for her.

Not a problem at all! So! You came straight here to pick up some merchandise, right? Well up to the counter then! Let’s get you two sorted!

This is our first time stocking up. Our funds are limited, so do not go completely overboard. I recommend purchasing no more than ten items.

Rule #1: Tear’s advice is usually bad.

Kay-o!



The guild master has a whole list of tutorials, but his are optional, I’ll go into them as they come up.



This is the reason we come here. The guildmaster sells items at wholesale for me to resell to adventurers and other people interested in dangerous weapons. Like small children.

At this point, there are only two ranks of items and they’re all limited in quantity available. As I progress, he’ll make more items available to me, and older items will eventually become infinite in quantity, in case I want to buy a hundred lovely worn swords.

I can only buy weapons (swords, daggers, staves, bows, spears, gloves) and armor (clothes, robes, breastplates, heavy armor, shields, hats, helmets) here, along with a few kinds of accessories (bracelets and charms). The other available source, the town market, has other accessories, consumables, and various random crap.

I bought a small assortment from him, focusing more on higher value items (which are still pretty cheap compared to later stuff) rather than the number Tear wanted me to get. There’s a bit of hit and miss here, making more sales is often more important this early than making money, but I like to have a little padding in the ol’ wallet.

Right then! Will that be all?

Yep, this is perfect!

We shall return when our stocks run low again.

Haha! I’m looking forward to it! Here - a little something extra, as a start-up gift!



Walnut bread being the cheapest food item. Food is easy to sell generally, and is also used as healing items in dungeons.

Alright, little lady! Give ‘em your all!

Capitalism, ho!

Well, Adam Smith would be proud of us, at any rate…



an item shop.

Okay! What do I do first?

First, we need to put some items on display. If we do not have our goods out for people to see, we can hardly expect the customers to buy them, after all!

Tear, I’m pretty sure your goods are already on display.

So I just need to get near these counters?

Just so. Once you know where you wish to place something, choose what you wish to place in that spot by pressing the “primary” button.

Yes yes Toad, I already know about Timed Hits.



Recette was confused enough already without Tear tripping out and talking about buttons.

You will understand when you try it, trust me. Now remember, what you place will affect how people perceive the store, so think carefully before you place something.

Right!

Now then, to start off… Why not line up what we purchased on the counters?

Okai!

Recette is clearly allergic to using the same response more than once.

It doesn’t matter where you choose to put things, with one exception.



Sure, what is it?

Those counters by the window… Items you place there are visible to anyone passing by on the street. As such, putting “eye-catching” items… the sort of thing that makes you think “I want to buy this more than anything!”… on those counters is a core principle of running a shop like this. In a very real way, those counters are the “face” of the shop, and what is placed there greatly affects interest in our business. So choose very carefully what to place there.

Tear likes her air quotes a lot.

Wow, I never thought about it like that… Hokai! I’ll be careful!

It’s not as important as Tear suggests, the window shelves matter in two cases: certain events will make specific items incredibly popular and having a lot of that item in the window will draw in huge crowds. Otherwise, the items in the window will affect the shop’s appearance stats, which are on a two-axis chart of cheap vs. gaudy and good vs. evil. Certain items are more strongly associated with one statistic or another, most don’t matter.



I grabbed one each of a handful of items, trying to focus on the cheapest versions of more expensive categories. I got a worn sword (sword) a rusty dagger (dagger) a leather glove (glove), a raincoat (robe), a clothes (clothes… I am aware of the redundancy), and a scrap plate (breastplate), plus the walnut bread the guild master gave me.

… Are you sure it doesn’t look dumb? I…

Do not worry. Everything looks fine for a first attempt. Now I need to reach you how to actually sell things. Please go sit at the counter.

Right-o!



The shop still looks kinda bare. Hopefully a quick infusion of cash will fill things out, if Tear ever stops the tutorial and lets me play the damned game.

Well then. The items are in place, and now you need to learn how to actually sell things to people without embarrassing yourself!

O-kai-o!

So, to start with, I will lecture on the actual process of selling an item we have displayed.

I’ll admit this tutorial is important. It can be kind of hard to catch on to these mechanics at first, and Tear’s lesson does help a bit. I just wish it was skippable.

Yes, professor!





There’s enough variety of expressions in this game to make me smile when people spend forever talking, at least.

Now then. When a customer enters, be sure to greet them with a nice big “Welcome”!

Um, uh… W-welcome!

Greeting the customer helps them to feel comfortable and relaxed while in the store. Their comfort is fundamental to our business, remember that as we continue.

Not really. Mostly it puts social pressure on them to interact with the salesperson instead of just getting what they want, buying it, and getting out. My experience is that customers are generally happier being left alone.

Now! A typical customer will find an item they want on our displays, and then they will come over to the counter to pay for it.

Untypical customers won’t show up until later, after Tear does another tutorial.

Let me demonstrate.



Tear’s about to explain this pretty well in most respects, so I’ll sum up the bits she misses.

Er, um, uh, ah…

What they want will be in the “Target” window. You will also be able to see the name and base price.

You buy items from the guild or market at 70% of their base price. So if you sell at base price, it’s a decent markup with a decent profit.

Pay close attention to that base price. Also, if you press Button 3, you can view expanded information on the item in question.

Details include item category, stats, and highest and lowest prices you’ve sold that item for.

Consult the “custom.exe” program included with Recettear if you wish to check or alter your button configuration.

Breaking the fourth wall was only really funny the first time Tear.



And you’re confusing Recette, who has a day to learn how to run this shop.

Focus, Recette. Your life is hard enough to control as it is.

Uh… okay.

Now then. Next, you must decide what price you wish to offer. In general, you want to try and name a price higher than the base. Try naming a price, if you will.

Uh… lesse…

Looks like they were going for some kind of shortened from of “let’s see” there.

You likely noticed that the base price serves as your default. To raise your price, press up.

Press… up? ... … okay.



It’s really a very unambiguous system. At worst, since a lot of mechanics work on percentages of the base price, the hardest part is calculating percentages of odder numbers.

Also, just because you can throw another 25% markup on top of the base price like this doesn’t mean you should. Tear will say that you should always try to get the most out of every transaction, but Tear’s an idiot.

Prices max out at 500% of the base price, which you will never, ever be able to get.

Yes, very good. That is how you adjust your offer. As might be obvious, if a character is satisfied with your offer, it is a sale and you get a little bit of experience along with the money.

Like I mentioned briefly before, Recette’s a merchant, not an adventurer, and she gains experience and levels up by buying and selling.

If your price is too high, however, a customer can simply walk out. Learning to determine the proper price – there lies the challenge!

Not really. The proper price is pretty simple to guess most of the time. It’s just not the same thing as the highest price you can demand without the customer walking.

Now, if a customer disagrees with a price, but not so much that they want to storm out, then you can negotiate. Remember what I said about comfort earlier? That is the key here. Offer a price, but do not make it so outrageous that the customer feels you are not acting in good faith. So if they disagree, but stay, offer a new price. Ideally, you will lower your offer a little, and they will take it and give you a sale. Some customers may just be trying to sniff out a better price. When they are really willing to pay your initial price, however.

This scenario isn’t very common.

Whether or not you risk testing that possibility is up to you. How long you can keep haggling… well, that depends on how regular a customer the person in question is. As we are starting out, you will not be able to haggle for very long, but after customers being to trust us a little, you can haggle for a longer period of time.

This is good information to know, but here’s something better: if you haggle, you’re doing it wrong. You get more experience for offering a price the customer will take the first offer, even more experience if that price is close to what they think the item is worth, and still more if you get it on the nose. At this point in the game, leveling up is more important than making bank. That’s why I tried to focus on items that will sell for more.

Well, time to put theory into practice.

Uhm, okay!



Could I get this, please?







For best results, a price between 100% and 110% is best. I find between 102% and 108% gets the most experience boosts for accuracy.

The corollary here is that customers have hard caps on how much they can spend, and will often choose to buy items out of their price range. If that happens, a perfectly reasonable price they can’t afford will still be shot down.

Good. At this level, a customer will likely buy immediately. Alright then. Now for the fine art of haggling. Theoretically, what you wish to do is lower your price slowly, but as I mentioned, there is a limit to how long you can haggle. The idea is to deduce a customer’s desired price and go from there.

I’d complain about Tear repeating herself except we’ve established Recette needs these points hammered in.

A large number of stores sell at about 30% over base price. It is not a hard and fast rule, but people will usually accept that price level… usually.

Not really, no. Only a few are willing to pay that much higher.

If you can manage to go over that, you will make a lot of money, but you do not want to risk driving away a customer! Right then. So, as a customer, I am haggling. Could you make it a little bit cheaper?

Okay… gotta make it cheaper, but not to cheap…



This tutorial still offends me.

There we are. Reducing the price to this level makes a sale likely.

I literally reduced it by 10 pix to shut you up. I could have lowered it by 1 and gotten the same response.

Well, that covers just about everything.

I loving wish. She’s got so many more tutorials.

Now let us put the entire lecture into practice all at once. If you can sell me an item, you will be ready for what lies ahead. Let us begin.

Hello! Welcome to Recettear!



I still don’t know where Tear got this steel sword from for this demonstration.



So if I had bought this sword from the guild (at 2100 pix), I’d be making a decent 1150 pix profit at this price.

Yes, an excellent price.

Thank you so much!



This is how Recette reacts to everything she sells, from the most expensive golden idols to the cheapest walnut bread.

Then we went through the same thing again, with the same dialogue. There’s making a point that Recette is kinda dumb, there’s being patronizing, and then there’s this poo poo.

Expertly done. If you ever wish to practice again, simply ask any time we are in the shop. And that is, essentially, how it goes. You are quite good for someone who has never done it before.

Eheheh… really?

We still have a little bit of time left today, so let us go ahead and open the store proper. If anyone comes in, simply handle then in the same way that we just practiced.

Whoa. Are you sure it’ll be okay?

This was literally the plan since before you woke up. It was all about opening up today.

Do not worry. As the saying goes, salesmanship is more of an art than it is a science. You learn as you go. Now then, I will open us up. Go on and sit at the counter.

Okey-day!



Customers come in certain categories, every member of a category shares the same stats and the same portrait. They are probably meant to be different people… but it’s much funnier to assume that every old man is the same old man, every housewife is the same housewife, and every little girl is the same little girl. Occasional individuals will show up, mostly limited to adventures we’ll meet as the game progresses, the guild master, and some annoyances.

And so we have our first customer, the middle-aged housewife. She buys things for her family, will eventually come in selling stuff her husband was trying to hide, and has a decent budget.



She’s buying the cheapest item in the game as a present for her mother in law. Passive-aggression is both passive and aggressive.



I started out at 102%, trying to fish for her target price, and made an easy sale.



I get 2 XP for making the sale. As you keep up a chain of sales without haggling, that amount will double each time. A long enough chain of sales can eventually result in getting hundreds of experience per sale, though chains this long will be pretty rare.



Note the 15 point XP bonus I got. That’s for getting near her target price, it would be doubled for being spot-on.

Apparently Tear locked up as soon as Housewife left, because that’s the only customer you get to do on day 1.



Congratulations. You did well.

… I sold stuff.



She seems so shocked. This girl might have had a heart attack if she tried to run a lemonade stand.

Hey Tear? I… I’m so happy! I… I did it! Tear, I did it!

100 pix down, countless hundreds of thousands to go!

Papa… I did it!...

It’s hard to rag on Recette when she’s so happy. Let’s end on a high note.

NEXT TIME: Terme Finance owns you

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Man, I love this game! Recette is just so :kimchi:, and that adorability is honestly a major factor in why playing this game is so much fun.

As for pricing, I've never gone wrong at 104-105%. It's a hard start, no mistake, but it racks up customer xp like nobody's business. Well, nobody's but Recette's, of course! :capitalism:

Omobono
Feb 19, 2013

That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

Paging SpaceDrake and Robin*, paging SpaceDrake and Robin, we'd wish to thank you again for the localization.
*what was his full username, I forgot

Recette is adorable, Tear gets better and the game and the characters have lots of charm. It's a fairly light and enjoyable game.
Once you get that making the sale on first offer trumps everything else and haggling will make you lose by week two or three, Tear what the hell?

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.
Argh, I can hear the music in my head. It's a good thing you're so adorable, Recette, and that this game is very well designed, because the music will get inside your head and drive you crazy.

A pity Goons don't get to run the shop. Though then we'd probably be toast by week three at latest when we blow all our money on Beef Bowls.

eta: If we DO run the shop, I demand we go all out on Luxe. Show that so-and-so character how it's REALLY done.

habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Nov 9, 2018

theshim
May 1, 2012

You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!

habeasdorkus posted:

Argh, I can hear the music in my head.
game is cute and good

Mechanical Ape
Aug 7, 2007

But yes, occasionally I am known to smash.

Truthkeeper posted:

Papa… I did it!...

FATHER! THE HUCKSTER HAS AWAKENED!!!

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Ooh, glad there's another attempt at this one. It's a rather charming game.

Agreed on the tutorial being really bad. Excessive haggling is why certain customers are hated more than they really should be and why several players will ram into the game over screen early on. Possibly repeatedly.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
All customary huzzahs!

This is a pretty good game for what it is, even though we haven't quite seen all of what it is.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Part 2: The Mob Owns You

So, right about now you might be wondering what kind of circumstances lead to a young girl (Recette’s age is never given, but I can’t believe she’s any older than 8 or 9) converting her home into an RPG item shop.



Yeah, that.



Cue the flashback!



You can tell it’s a flashback because the background is suddenly in sepia tones.

Yup, the calendar says it’s been three months since Papa left… I don’t get why he suddenly said “I’m gonna be a hero!” and then took off without saying when he’d be back…

Kid your father is either dead or he abandoned you.

I really hope he’s okay… I’m getting lonely… Well, I shouldn’t worry too much about him. The best thing about him is how tough he is! He’ll be okay!

Really, it’s impressive that this kid has managed to keep herself alive for three months. I guess her papa must have been a fiscal genius who left a stash of money to support his daughter even if he was gone for a prolonged period. That has to be the case, right?

And then there was a knock on the door.

Bwuh? Papa… wouldn’t know. Who is that?



The medieval anime Not!France equivalent of Child Protective Services, finally alerted to the fact that this girl’s father bailed months ago and she’s been living alone ever since?

Huh? There’s nobody here. … Wait, what? At my feet…?



Tear’s a fairy, and therefore we’re supposed to assume she’s small. She floats at Recette’s eye level in cutscenes, so one wonders why she was standing on the ground where Recette couldn’t see her when the door opened.

Uhm…

You are Mademoiselle Recette Lemongrass?

Tear is the only one actually even pretending this is supposed to be France.

Uhm… Miss Fairy?...

Pardon me, but I am the one asking questions. Again - you are Recette Lemongrass?

Uh, um… yes, I’m Recette.

My name is Tear. I am an agent of the Terme Finance Company.

Finance… Company?

Metal Gear?

I am here to collect payment on a loan paid out to your father. Here is the contract, and my identification.

Uh… … Loan? Repayment? I, uh…

In plainer terms, I am here to get our money back. If you are incapable of facilitating repayment… This house will be seized as collateral in order to repay the loan.

This sounds illegal as gently caress to me, but this is Anime Not!France, not America, so the hell do I know about laws and poo poo?

Besides, Terme isn’t really what you might call a “legitimate financial institution”. There’s a reason the Guild Master calls Tear a loan shark and the only thing she can say in her defense is to ask him not to.

… Facilitating? … Collateral?

So many new words little Recette is learning today! Truly this is a perfect teaching moment!



I guess she knew that one already.

B-b-b-but I but I-I-I… Papa, Papa isn’t…

He is not here… yes, I see that now.





He picked a fight with a dragon… on top of a volcano… and then disappeared… and your theory is that he turned around and went home?

Even if he has not, however, the contract covers this eventuality.

…Covers this?...

Quite. As the sole remaining member of his household, we shall require that you pay the debts in his stead.

Again, illegal as gently caress. If Monsieur Lemongrass hasn’t been declared legally dead, you can’t reasonably go after his heirs, since they haven’t inherited anything yet. Unfortunately, since the house is still his property, they probably could totally still take that.



I… barely have enough money to live by… by myself…

Naturally, we are not demanding it all be repaid at once.

That is technically exactly what you demanded when you first came in.

There is still a small amount of time before any payment is due. Therefore…

Am I gonna get sold off in parts to distant, foreign lands to repay Papa’s debts?

Why do I get this uncomfortable feeling that this isn’t the first time she’s been concerned about that?

I wonder if I can survive with only two internal organs?

Well, you are an anime character, so very probably.

Maybe if I eat a lot of spinach, that can replace my blood and… oh, but I don’t want to be a sailor! What am I gonna do?...



I have no idea where you are getting these ludicrous ideas from.

Yeah, it’s not like an enforcer for a shady loan shark just burst into her home and threatened to take it away, right?

But I would never do such a thing. Quite the opposite, in fact?

… So you’re going to sell her body for experiments involving adding additional organs?

I was sent here to ensure that you wouldn’t have to resort to such… well, absurd methods to pay us back.

No, you were sent here under the assumption that M. Lemongrass was alive after fighting that dragon and had gone back home and just failed to pay you. You were surprised to find out you had to collect from the kid.

But, what…

I have been sent to support you to the fullest of my ability so that you may repay the debt via labor.

That doesn’t really sound much better Tear. Usually telling underage girls in debt to shady organizations that they have to pay off their debt through work means something VERY DIFFERENT from what we’re doing here.



B-but I’ve never worked a single day in my life!

Given the distinct lack of school in this Not!French town, not surprising. I suppose maybe Papa Lemongrass was training her in whatever job he did before he dropped everything to become an adventurer, that would explain the outfit.

Experience has no bearing in this case. All that matters is whether or not you are willing to work.

If not, then we go back to that idea about selling your organs.

Awwww…

If you do not wish to work, then that is it, the house is Terme’s, and I will have to ask you to leave the premises.

Again, no. A) You’ve already established that the debt hasn’t come due yet and B) You can’t evict somebody that quickly. Although, again, loan shark. Presumably Recette can’t fight being evicted after her kneecaps are broken.

As the saying goes – those who do not work do not eat.

Says the fairy snatching the dinner table out from under the child.

So, Miss Lemongrass… which will it be? Work, or the house?

… I’ll work, then.

Splendid.

B-but I don’t even know what I could do…

Actually, I already have an idea on that front. You are aware, of course, that this city is an adventuring hub.

No real explanation as to why this small town is a major adventuring hub, but there are a large number of adventurers who move through here taking advantage of Recette’s shop before hitting the local Adventurer’s Guild.

Therefore… I propose converting the house into an “item store”

Tear, you know you’re not supposed to convert the house into a means of generating profit for your company until after you’ve seized it, right?

Item… store?...



Right about now if I was Tear, I’d probably be tired of the screaming child. Of course, if I was Recette, I’d be tired of the pushy mob enforcer.

Still, somehow that did work out, and Tear left to check on the details.

The next day, she just let herself in, because Tear is rude.





There is a fair amount more movement in these cutscenes than in your garden variety visual novel, on top of the characters having a decent variety of facial expressions. You can almost forget that you’re staring at static images moving around the screen.

I was only gone for a little while to do market research… Where could she have gone?



All I did was threaten to take away everything she ever knew and loved.

At least she has the good sense to know she’s the bad guy here.

Asking her to turn the house into an item shop was foolish, even if it was to repay the debt… The poor girl must be terribly confused… And on top of that, her father is probably…



Oddly enough, Recette did not make a run for it (what would even be the point, it would be exactly the same result of Terme taking the house), but just went outside.



For somebody who claimed to have no marketable skills for making money, she does seem to have some ability to work with tools. Maybe Papa was a carpenter?



Hey, Tear! Look! It’s done!

What… is that?

It’s very clearly a sign.

It’s our shop sign, of course! Doesn’t it look cool? You can’t be a shop without one of these, you know.

One could argue that it’s even more important than having inventory. Speaking of, isn’t there something you should probably take care of before opening day?

Yes, well… it is quite well made. However…

Hehehe! I’ve always been good at making stuff.

Be that… as it may, while the sign is nice, I… hmm…

Huh? Is there a problem?

Well… the name. You are quite sure you have thought that through?





No, that’s a pretty dumb basis for naming your shop on. Especially as Recette is the one who does all the actual work.

Isn’t it neat?

Well, that is to say, the sentiment is commendable, but…



so the name should reflect that, right? … You don’t like it?

Really, it is not that, but, well, that is…

Then it’s decided! Recettear, ho!







Tear doesn’t like being reminded that she’s a horrible person who does horrible things while working for even more terrible people.





And she doesn’t have the ability to say no when Recette is being cute.



Well, the tutorial certainly was. I swear, my first time playing, that tutorial nearly put me off the game.

But for now, that’s enough tutorials and flashbacks, we’ve finally reached the loving game!

Next time: The loving Game!

Truthkeeper fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Nov 9, 2018

Wayne
Oct 18, 2014

He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself

Dr. Fetus posted:

Ooh, glad there's another attempt at this one. It's a rather charming game.

Ditto. The "you're the merchant the adventurers you usually play" gimmick is cute, and it's neat that more events start happening once more characters start showing up. It seems like an obvious thing but a lot of these "anime sim genre twist" games don't really have much going on besides the premise itself.

And yeah, count me as one of those guys who took the tutorial to heart and ended up way behind on XP despite doing OK on money (once I broke a chain I'd just start trying to rip people off :v: ). I was just unprepared for how big a jump the last week was, failed and never could play it again. :smith:

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
After spending the early part of the game adventuring, I hit a plateau after a certain boss and checked the bad ending to get a boost. This was before the defense patch after release.

mateo360
Mar 20, 2012

TOO MANY PEOPLE MERLOCK!
ONLY ONE DIJON!

Truthkeeper posted:


I am here to collect payment on a load paid out to your father. Here is the contract, and my identification.



So, Miss Lemongrass… which will it be? Work, or the house?

… I’ll work, then.

Splendid.

couple of errors here.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

If I remember right, hitting sales prices people see as reasonable also levels up the customer, which eventually leads to them having a bigger budget.

I really wish there was ever an incentive to actually haggle. A lot of the management is really fun and the game is charming as all heck but the actual negotiation is so absurdly weighted towards never haggling that it's just nuts.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

mateo360 posted:

couple of errors here.

*Stealth fixes*

You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything, and you aren't going to tell anybody!

Night10194 posted:

If I remember right, hitting sales prices people see as reasonable also levels up the customer, which eventually leads to them having a bigger budget.

I really wish there was ever an incentive to actually haggle. A lot of the management is really fun and the game is charming as all heck but the actual negotiation is so absurdly weighted towards never haggling that it's just nuts.

Pretty much exactly. Customers have their own level up system representing your reputation with that customer. Making a sale gets you a little reputation, any XP bonuses will also give rep bonuses. Notably, there are certain actions that will lower your rep with a customer, including haggling three times in a single sale (thank you again Tear for your masterful tutorial), setting a price on a sale that's higher than the customer has on them or that's so high it drives them away (Tear did at least mention this one). Then it gets weird and complicated and any given transaction has a 1/3 chance of actually affecting your reputation because reasons.

Truthkeeper fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Nov 9, 2018

ChrisBTY
Mar 29, 2012

this glorious monument

Nice Dragon Quest III reference there.

Also I absolutely love this game and am sad I can't find any other game to scratch this itch.

MaskedHuzzah
Mar 26, 2009

Come now! Look me in the eye and tell me - isn't this the face of a guy you can trust?
Lipstick Apathy

Glazius posted:

All customary huzzahs!


I think I'm one of those, and to be fair I'm interested in this LP. The Volcano callback to Dragon Warrior 3 made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it, and it's nice to see that come so soon after a DW3 LP is finished.

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

quote:

B) You can’t evict somebody that quickly.

:eng101: Depends on your state in the US! In New Hampshire, it can be extremely fast, with a week or two of the seven day notice to quit. In Massachusetts, it can last months or even years.

quote:

Especially as Recette is the one who does all the actual work.

Hey now, she's invaluable later on in keeping track of bulk orders and other stuff.

If I could ask a favor for readability, could you italicize or bold your own commentary? It'd make it easier to follow and I'd very much appreciate it.

Night10194 posted:

If I remember right, hitting sales prices people see as reasonable also levels up the customer, which eventually leads to them having a bigger budget.

I really wish there was ever an incentive to actually haggle. A lot of the management is really fun and the game is charming as all heck but the actual negotiation is so absurdly weighted towards never haggling that it's just nuts.

Yeah, and they can end up with a huge amount more than their original budget. As for haggling, there's a place for it if you get a chain broken after 5-6 customers by that damned little girl.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

Night10194 posted:

If I remember right, hitting sales prices people see as reasonable also levels up the customer, which eventually leads to them having a bigger budget.

I really wish there was ever an incentive to actually haggle. A lot of the management is really fun and the game is charming as all heck but the actual negotiation is so absurdly weighted towards never haggling that it's just nuts.

You're correct, and it makes certain customer types a lot less of an eyesore when they can actually afford the expensive stuff you're bothering to put out instead of begging you to lower the prices or never even bothering to even attempt to buy the merchandise in the first place. The only possible use for haggling is if you're desperate to meet the deadline. It's an uncommon scenario, but situations like that very won't likely happen if you have a good relationship with the customers in the first place. Or I suppose haggling could be used to gett more money in general, but Pix honestly isn't that important to have outside of the game's main objective.

Seriously, Tear's tutorial just makes the game more aggravating than it needs to be. I suppose you could argue that it's in character for her, but the game never mentions all the mechanics with regards to customer relationships and such. It's a very big thing to be leaving out.

Araxxor fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Nov 9, 2018

MechaCrash
Jan 1, 2013

Dr. Fetus posted:

Seriously, Tear's tutorial just makes the game more aggravating than it needs to be. I suppose you could argue that it's in character for her, but the game never mentions all the mechanics with regards to customer relationships and such. It's a very big thing to be leaving out.

These are two of the game's major flaws. The tutorials are very long and very wrong. If Tear spent three tries (and a lot of words) teaching you about the very important Pin system, or at least about chain bonuses, it wouldn't be so bad, but she teaches you the same wrong lesson repeatedly. And you can't skip the tutorial at all. At least on the bright side is that when you fail from her lovely advice, you can skip the tutorials, and you get to keep your inventory and level (if not your money).

Crystalgate
Dec 26, 2012
About the customer's maximum budget, as far as I know, they will always be able to afford an item they choose. Their budget will affect what items they will choose, but once they have chosen one, they can afford it. You can get into a scenario where you have to sell an item for way below its value, but not yet, it can only happen when taking advantage of certain gameplay features not unlocked yet.

Also, something funny about the first customer who will always buy a Walnut Bread, there was a bug that allowed you to sell it for a huge amount of money to her. Normally, you can only haggle a few times until the customer leaves. However, she is a special case since she's basically part of a tutorial, you can never drive her off. It also happens to be so that for every subsequent haggle attempt, you can charge just a little bit more. This took a lot of patience, but in theory you could charge her a ludicrous amount. Nowadays she has a hard cap to how much she is willing to pay.

Mechanical Ape
Aug 7, 2007

But yes, occasionally I am known to smash.
As a RPG item shop, do we also deal in vendor trash? Will we have to smile politely at adventurers and pretend we’re actually interested in 20 Dire Boar Snouts?

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

habeasdorkus posted:

:eng101: Depends on your state in the US! In New Hampshire, it can be extremely fast, with a week or two of the seven day notice to quit. In Massachusetts, it can last months or even years.
Depending on when this happens exactly, the rights of tenants might be none or near none. The game at least does feature guilds so a few rights might be in place but any and all power would absolutely be in the hands of the powerful, i.e. loanshark fairies

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Mechanical Ape posted:

As a RPG item shop, do we also deal in vendor trash? Will we have to smile politely at adventurers and pretend we’re actually interested in 20 Dire Boar Snouts?

Thankfully, no. I'll get into the adventuring mechanics later, but suffice to say that the adventurers aren't in a position to sell anything from their adventures.

On the other hand, there is an entire category of items labeled 'Treasures' that people frequently want to sell to you and very rarely want to buy themselves. So in this case of this game, the vendor trash consists less bear asses and boar snouts and more various solid gold knickknacks.

VictualSquid
Feb 29, 2012

Gently enveloping the target with indiscriminate love.

Mechanical Ape posted:

As a RPG item shop, do we also deal in vendor trash? Will we have to smile politely at adventurers and pretend we’re actually interested in 20 Dire Boar Snouts?
No, we are in the kind of classic rpg where the adventurers have to sell us the 20 bat-wings individually while haggling for each piece separately.

Gridlocked
Aug 2, 2014

MR. STUPID MORON
WITH AN UGLY FACE
AND A BIG BUTT
AND HIS BUTT SMELLS
AND HE LIKES TO KISS
HIS OWN BUTT
by Roger Hargreaves
Must crush capitalism.

Gridlocked fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Nov 9, 2018

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry

Mechanical Ape posted:

As a RPG item shop, do we also deal in vendor trash? Will we have to smile politely at adventurers and pretend we’re actually interested in 20 Dire Boar Snouts?

I don't want to get too spoils until the actual systems show up in the game, but man, I wish this was an option sometimes.

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
Unless there was a very late patch, there are some things that really should have been addressed within a week.

T-man
Aug 22, 2010


Talk shit, get bzzzt.

Mechanical Ape posted:

As a RPG item shop, do we also deal in vendor trash? Will we have to smile politely at adventurers and pretend we’re actually interested in 20 Dire Boar Snouts?

Yes.

If you imagine the fairy is Capital's Middle Manager and the kid as the proletariat (adventurers are the lumpen-proletariat) the game gets a lot more interesting from a storytelling standpoint.

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Uh excuse me the game's catchphrase is CAPITALISM HO! not FULLY AUTOMATED LUXURY GAY SPACE COMMUNISM HO! thank you very much :colbert:

Omobono
Feb 19, 2013

That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

Night10194 posted:

If I remember right, hitting sales prices people see as reasonable also levels up the customer, which eventually leads to them having a bigger budget.

Bigger budget is an understatement.
One of the most hated customers is the grade school little girl, because she has an allowance of like 100 pix and she will try to buy the 10k pix sword she can't afford and thus break your combo.
Level her up and she'll buy a 100k gold chalice as a gift to grandpa on her allowance. Actually buy, with actual cash flowing into Recette's coffers.

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead

T-man posted:

Yes.

If you imagine the fairy is Capital's Middle Manager and the kid as the proletariat (adventurers are the lumpen-proletariat) the game gets a lot more interesting from a storytelling standpoint.
The only ethical consumption is mass starvation.

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER

Omobono posted:

One of the most hated customers is the grade school little girl, because she has an allowance of like 100 pix and she will try to buy the 10k pix sword she can't afford and thus break your combo.

As someone above said though, they generally don't try to buy something that's way beyond their budget. I went with 104-105% on sales through my whole game, and I never broke a combo nor lost once.

Crystalgate
Dec 26, 2012
Even if a customer with 100 pix budged for some reason did try to buy a 10k pix sword, they would still be able to afford it. Customers can always afford items they pick up off your counter, even if it exceeds their budget. The budget system can not screw you over at this point of the game, but it will be able to very soon.

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.
The trick with the little girl is to keep a bunch of relatively cheap items around even late into the game so that when she comes asking for a type of item (books and bracelets are her most common asks IIRC) you can sell her something she can actually afford on her tiny budget and not screw up your sales streak.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



habeasdorkus posted:

The trick with the little girl is to keep a bunch of relatively cheap items around even late into the game so that when she comes asking for a type of item (books and bracelets are her most common asks IIRC) you can sell her something she can actually afford on her tiny budget and not screw up your sales streak.
By the late game the little girl should be dropping millions like it's not big deal.

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

Xander77 posted:

By the late game the little girl should be dropping millions like it's not big deal.

Yeah, but in like week 2-3 is when she can mess with your leveling.

Zoe
Jan 19, 2007
Hair Elf
The game is much more fun now that I know not to haggle, thanks thread!

The end of the first week still enrages me though, I'm just barely squeaking past that first payment and suddenly everybody in town wants to sell me expensive things and the only way to say 'no thanks' is to offer an insultingly low price. The merchant guild guy straight up threatened me for not giving him several thousand for something I didn't need.

azren
Feb 14, 2011


Recette's eyes are kinda unnerving. The little light reflections are so small that it gives her this kinda glazed look that says "I've seen some poo poo, man..."

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Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
The ever-present dread that if even one week turns out poorly, she will live in the streets, forever.

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