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You and Me - Let's Play Atelier Lulua And who might this be? This is Lulua, protagonist of the fourth Arland game, released back in 2019 on multiple platforms, making it the first Atelier game released after the designated anniversary game, Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists. For the first time, Gust returns to a trilogy and adds a fourth outing in the same storyline, with Lulua serving as a distant sequel to Atelier Meruru, which I covered so so many years ago as part of the Atelier Arland Trilogy thread. As far as being a sequel, Lulua doesn't directly follow on from any of Meruru's endings, but the added ending to the expanded edition of Meruru (which I didn't cover myself, as I only had the original versions of each game at the time that thread was made, but it was in the LP) where Rorona returns to normal age after drinking the True Potion of Youth seems right to me. So far as I am concerned, that was the canon ending. It does not particularly matter, as Lulua takes place quite some time in the future compared to the last time I visited the Arland series. But it will feature many references and returning faces, not to mention a new cast, helping Lulua along the journey as a story of discovery unfolds before her eyes. And what kind of journey would that be? I'll start off by saying that this is almost certainly not the game Gust would have made if they made all the Arland games in a row, instead of having a Dusk and Mysterious Trilogy, as well as a handful of spin-offs, in-between. You know how most Atelier games don't really have a plot and mostly just have a setting? Lulua is not like that at all, featuring a much longer storyline than the other games, and most certainly the Arland Trilogy. Lulua takes place over the course of 12 chapters, from a prologue chapter up to the final one, Chapter 11. After Chapter 11 is cleared, the player is allowed a plot-free free roam to accomplish whatever their heart desires before choosing an unlocked ending. Like with every mainline Atelier since Shallie, there is no time limit (small exception with Firis, but that's another story) and players are free to progress the game at their leisure. It does feature a Bad Ending at one point that ends the game prematurely but it's very obvious when that ending is available, has nothing to do with what you did or did not do earlier in the game (so you can't get locked into the Bad End), and it's intentionally easy to avoid. Each chapter of this game features a specific set of story goals that must be accomplished before the plot continues. As far as this thread in particular, all storyline and extra content not related to the main story will be covered to my satisfaction, which includes all this game's challenging content in the form of endgame boss fights. If you're familiar with how dense my Arland thread was, or any and all of the Dusk threads on their own, expect more of that. I aim to please. As a small technical note, every scene in this game is voiced on account of my being forced to use the original JP dub (no other language options for voiced content), but I have no intention of making videos out of every scene in the game, because otherwise there'd probably be dozens of videos per update, some only 20 seconds long or so. My presumption will be to make videos for all plot stuff. For additional content, as I feel appropriate depending on the particulars of any given scene. My criteria? Basically if the scene is too short will a video not be made for it. Spoiler policy Since there actually is a plot one can spoil this time, I would ask that anything not covered yet be in spoiler tags if you want to discuss it. If I mention anything in the progress of an update, feel free to assume that I don't consider it a spoiler. Usual spoiler stuff, to be sure. As far as previous games go, I'll talk about previous Arland games as much as I please because this is the same universe, but Dusk and Mysterious I'll occasionally refer to but not spoil anything that can be spoiled in those games. Not only because it would almost certainly be off-topic but also because those are different worlds. No sense in spoiling games with no story relation to this one. TABLE OF CONTENTS Prologue: Chapter of Beginnings I. Pages of First Steps Chapter 1: Chapter of Encounters II: Pages of New Challenges III: Pages of Underwater Friends Chapter 2: Chapter of Impetus IV: Pages of a Big Adventure V: Pages of Old Trails Bonus Update 1 VI: Pages of Mutual Understandings Chapter 3: Chapter of Succession VII: Pages of the Big City VIII: Pages of Rising Strength Chapter 4: Chapter of Destiny IX: Pages of Great Ambition X: Pages of an Important Person X-2: Pages of Growing Up Bonus Update 2 Chapter 5: Chapter of Advice XI: Pages of a Pirate Captain XII: Pages of a Lost World XIII: Pages of an Unrivaled Princess Chapter 6: Chapter of Reunion XIV: Pages of a Certain Homecoming Chapter 7: Chapter of Bonds XV: Pages of Pure Water Bonus Update 3 XVI: Pages of Getting Closer XVII: Pages of Snowy Mountains Chapter 8: Chapter of Answers XVIII: Pages of an Alchemist's Inspiration XIX: Pages of Following Footsteps Chapter 9: Chapter of Truth XX: Pages of a Burning Land Bonus Update 4 XXI: Pages of Deep Night XXI-2: Pages of Wrapping Up XXII: Pages of Inescapable Fate, Part 1 Chapter 10: Chapter of Decisions XXIII: Pages of Inescapable Fate, Part 2 XXIV: Pages of a Way Forward XXV: Pages of Close Companions Bonus Update 5 XXVI: Pages of Great Accomplishment XXVII: Pages of Changed Destiny Final Chapter: Chapter of Blank Pages XXVIII: Pages of an Otherworldly Visit XXIX: Pages of a Journey's End Bonus Chapter: Chapter of ■■ XXX: Pages of Perilous Overtime Bonus Update 6 Epilogue Bad Ending - My Path Normal Ending - Our Days Eva Ending - Our Family Aurel Ending - Our Strength Piana Ending - Our Dream Ficus Ending - Our Show Niko Ending - Our Adventure Rorona/Sterk Ending - Our Journey Curry Ending - Our Food True Ending - Our Path Sylphid fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Jul 14, 2021 |
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Apr 19, 2021 03:28
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Chapter I: Pages of First Steps
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Apr 19, 2021 03:29
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I was going to make the first update in-thread, just as first update privilege, but unfortunately it was just a bit too long. It'll have to do. All the updates will be posted in the Test Poster for usual ease-of-browsing's sake. On another note, I'll just go ahead and say this LP is a bit unusual in that about...70% of it has already been recorded, as I've been busy preparing for this for about two and a half months now, which started about halfway through my second playthrough of this game. That's about when I decided I wanted to do an LP of this as my return to LP work after years of law school. After a certain point in this thread, it'll be fairly obvious when the third playthrough, which will cover roughly the first half of this thread, "ends", and what I recorded during my second playthrough, which was a 100% run, begins. I'll try and maintain the illusion of one playthrough as much as possible, but there are some things I can't fake, like the icon in the lower right, which indicates a scene you've seen on a previous playthrough, not being there for many scenes in the second half of this thread.
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Apr 19, 2021 03:35
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Why's the second vulnerability notch red in the field but yellow in the monster book, is that related to the difficulty level? 
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Apr 21, 2021 16:59
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How is this game compared to Ryza? I played Ryza and I certainly likes it well enough, but it felt like Gust put all their assets into the scenery and nothing into the story or the battles.
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Apr 21, 2021 17:14
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Polsy posted:Why's the second vulnerability notch red in the field but yellow in the monster book, is that related to the difficulty level? Oh, huh, never noticed that. I personally wouldn't read too much into it. If it is related to gameplay I have no clue in what way. As far as this game versus Ryza, I have no clue. Never played it, but it's certainly in my future.
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Apr 21, 2021 20:46
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Chapter II: Pages of New Challenges
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Apr 21, 2021 20:47
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Welcome back, Sylphid. Consider this thread bookmarked for me.
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Apr 21, 2021 22:59
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Now I'm wondering if Pamela will come back in this game too, and if Arland let Gio retire eventually. Probably not, since Aurel just got somehow drafted into the party against his will, so it's unlikely his dad finally decided to stand for himself in this issue instead of passive aggressive dressing up as the phantom thief G (it's been a while, I forgot what he was called). (I'm not wondering about Mimi though, her epitaph will be "It's not like I asked to be buried with Totori because I like her") Omobono fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Apr 22, 2021 |
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Apr 22, 2021 09:58
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Omobono posted:Now I'm wondering if Pamela will come back in this game too, and if Arland let Gio retire eventually. Can't believe you forgot the legend of Masked G. (He was called Mask de G in Rorona I think but that's silly)
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Apr 22, 2021 14:45
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Man Aurel sure is a nice patriot, takes the name of his country, beats up monsters, helps the girls in the area! He must be a travelling hero!
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Apr 23, 2021 19:23
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Heh, that "Einzelkampf" attack they do is a reference to Vayne's Finish Burst from the first Mana Khemia game, lol.
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Apr 23, 2021 23:43
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Is Astrid in this game? I personally never hated her that much I but I could clearly see where people who did hate her come from especially after her shenanigans in Meruru. Also Nice to see Piana is doing well. Edit: What on earth is Eva wilding as a weapon? cokerpilot fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Apr 24, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 00:02
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cokerpilot posted:Is Astrid in this game? I personally never hated her that much I but I could clearly see where people who did come from especially after her shenagins in Meruru. I hope not. I actually reread Sylphid's LPs of the Arland games a while back and I was surprised at what an awful person she was.
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Apr 24, 2021 00:09
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cokerpilot posted:Is Astrid in this game? I personally never hated her that much I but I could clearly see where people who did hate her come from especially after her shenanigans in Meruru. Also Nice to see Piana is doing well. No but she is referred to a few times without explicitly saying her name. . Also, she's using a cannon. Sometimes they call it a bazooka, sometimes a cannon, but the difference is academic to her.
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Apr 24, 2021 01:49
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Seraphic Neoman posted:I hope not. I actually reread Sylphid's LPs of the Arland games a while back and I was surprised at what an awful person she was.
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Apr 24, 2021 19:31
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Chapter III: Pages of Underwater Friends
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Apr 25, 2021 23:00
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Very nice of Lulua to say sorry to the fish after stealing part of its body after beating it up. There was certainly no better way to do that which didn't involve cruelty to monsters
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Apr 26, 2021 14:30
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It's Atelier, the fish should be thankful we didn't fillet them 
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Apr 26, 2021 15:50
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Yesterday's enemies are today's ingredients.
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Apr 26, 2021 23:07
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I still have my head-canon that people in Atelier games aren't friendly to you because you're a little girl, but because your power over nature and in battle is utterly terrifying.
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Apr 27, 2021 04:07
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Chapter IV: Pages of a Big Adventure
Sylphid fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Apr 30, 2021 |
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Apr 30, 2021 05:48
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Goddamnit Rorona.
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Apr 30, 2021 21:18
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Seraphic Neoman posted:Goddamnit Rorona. Four games later and Rorona is still very much Rorona. I wonder if she is still the goddess of pies though?
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May 1, 2021 01:28
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Seraphic Neoman posted:Goddamnit Rorona. Signed: Cordelia Will the grandparents appear in this game? Or did Rorona tell them to get stuffed after years of being completely absent save the five minutes every now and then between trips? E: cokerpilot posted:Four games later and Rorona is still very much Rorona. I wonder if she is still the goddess of pies though? Easy prediction: Ruby curry.
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May 1, 2021 03:45
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Omobono posted:Signed: Cordelia Parents, but no. They are still stuffed in the broom closet. Maybe they moved out of town after the game ended.
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May 1, 2021 15:07
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Chapter V: Pages of Old Trails
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May 3, 2021 17:12
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Pamela does indeed appear in Ryza, in fact her sidequest chain is pretty important. Hagel does not though as far as I could see 
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May 3, 2021 18:52
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Seraphic Neoman posted:Pamela does indeed appear in Ryza, in fact her sidequest chain is pretty important. Hagel does not though as far as I could see ...As "Pamila", IIRC?
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May 3, 2021 20:04
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OddObserver posted:...As "Pamila", IIRC? Well...mostly. 
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May 3, 2021 20:16
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Bonus Update 1
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May 6, 2021 03:52
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I actually agree with Lulua's voice actress, her voice makes Lulua sound older than the rest of the cast which kinda throws me off.
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May 7, 2021 06:23
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYWhqlt9F5o Here's something interesting I discovered by accident, a 6 1/2 hour speedrun of this game on NG CHARISMA, which is pretty impressive. At first I was pretty surprised how quickly this was done, but I'm starting to get to the point of the game where I wrote nearly every scene a couple months ago so I'm skipping the cutscenes since there's no need to record them twice. When you can skip almost every scene, these games actually go by really fast. One of the related videos was Totori DX in 90 minutes, for another example, although the two games can't really be compared since you can skip so much of the earlier Ateliers just by running around on the world map, which is the fastest way to pass time since you won't be interrupted by cutscenes. Lulua also has a fair amount of required fighting, so you can't really do a super minimalistic run. Totori only really has the Flauchtraut as a required fight, since you don't need to fight Evil Face to get an actual ending and not a glorified Game Over. These actually make me hanker for an Atelier TAS, manipulating it so the absolute best traits and quality to show up as early as possible so you can play the games to maximum efficiency. I"d watch that. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 21:03 on May 9, 2021 |
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May 9, 2021 20:59
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Chapter VI: Pages of Mutual Understandings
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May 11, 2021 06:35
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They should have called it Battle Cohesion or something instead of affection. And yeah I'm surprised how much of a fight enemies are putting up in this game, you usually roll over most fights in Atelier games unless you do like no synthing. Eva's prim-and-proper dress combo'd with her bazooka never fails to make me laugh.
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May 12, 2021 19:22
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Seraphic Neoman posted:They should have called it Battle Cohesion or something instead of affection. And yeah I'm surprised how much of a fight enemies are putting up in this game, you usually roll over most fights in Atelier games unless you do like no synthing. It's always weird when the "friendship" score with the childhood friend starts at 0...
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May 12, 2021 21:41
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Chapter VII: Pages of the Big City
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May 14, 2021 12:46
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I appreciate all of the returning characters but I do wish the games themselves would show how they came about their circumstances. I can't really imagine Adventurer Totori suddenly deciding a government position was what she needed.
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May 14, 2021 18:17
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Unfortunately the Lulua website doesn't have the critical 'character height' information that was there for the PS3 games, but in her own game Meruru was 5cm taller than age 19 Totori (155cm/150cm) so if (again, per the OP) Lulua is about the same height as Meruru then Lulua's probably coming out on top.
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May 16, 2021 19:38
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VIII: Pages of Rising Strength
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May 17, 2021 00:06
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