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vilkacis posted:At least there is snow to use for that purpose here! I imagine it's less fun for all involved in a desert. Nah, just take her sword gauntlets off and put them on her feet, then you've got skis. MythosDragon posted:Cool thing about Skill Scrolls that technically means you wasted it, you can teach skills characters can't normally learn through them. Remus can't get thievery normally, but you can use that scroll on him. Technically wasted, but realistically not. There's no guarantee that Remus won't get benched once we pick up more party members. If I taught it to him, there's a (albeit slim) chance he gets kicked out of the battle party soon and then I'm stuck without steal for a while. FalloutFan56 posted:I fully agree with you on temperature. When it's cold out I can put on a jacket and be fine. When it's hot out I can't do poo poo to cool down except sit in front of a fan. Granted I've always lived in Minnesota so that might be why I'm used to the cold. Might also explain why I tend to like snowy areas in games. Then again the summers can get hot. It has been almost 100 Fahrenheit the last 2 weeks. This is what I always tell people! It's so much easier to get warm and stay warm than it is to get cool and stay cool. Staying cool usually requires you to root yourself in one place and have a noisy fan pointed at you, or be a rich rear end in a top hat that has an air conditioning unit in the house. Warming up can be done with any old cheap blanket.
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Jul 6, 2021 12:45
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Finally caught up. This naturally means Psycho Knight is gonna do two updates tomorrow for some reason.  I'm very much a cold-weather person myself. Forget even "you can wear more clothes to stay warm", I just don't get as cold as other people, for whatever reason. Which helped back when I worked at a football stadium and would have to stand outside in the cold for six to eight hours. Didn't help so much when I had to stand outside in the heat for six to eight hours.
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Jul 7, 2021 08:12
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Psycho Knight posted:Technically wasted, but realistically not. There's no guarantee that Remus won't get benched once we pick up more party members. If I taught it to him, there's a (albeit slim) chance he gets kicked out of the battle party soon and then I'm stuck without steal for a while. I like to use everyone lol. But yeah Remus is basically my least favorite party member despite him honestly being overpowered with that bow.
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Jul 7, 2021 08:18
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Commander Keene posted:Finally caught up. This naturally means Psycho Knight is gonna do two updates tomorrow for some reason. I already have one ready to go. But I'll hold off on posting it because the Sweet Fuse LP needs some attention first. I'm the same way. I can't remember the last time I wore an actual winter coat. Usually I just have a fall jacket or a windbreaker on. Just something to keep the snow off my clothes. It's exactly why the cloak needs to make a fashion comeback. I'm gonna make it happen. MythosDragon posted:I like to use everyone lol. But yeah Remus is basically my least favorite party member despite him honestly being overpowered with that bow. The weirdest thing about Remus is that I think he's the only long range fighter for a long time. Vallery comes close, but his range is only about half of what Remus can manage. Meanwhile, at least half the playable characters are close range fighters and most of the others are mages. I guess they figured that Remus' physical attack range would be useful in the early game before you have a bunch of spells, at which point his usefulness would drop off compared to dedicated spellcasters. Either way, whether he's a useful character in battle or not doesn't really matter in this case. The thread is going to be deciding party composition for me. I could wind up with a team of 3 mages and Crevanille for all I know. ...Or a full team of melee fighters...
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Jul 7, 2021 14:19
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I also prefer the cold to the heat most of the time, especially because where I live it doesn't get any worse than -5C in very cold nights, and it didn't even get nowhere near that these last few weeks.
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Jul 7, 2021 14:22
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I am normally all for the cold but I lived through the recent Texas winter storm that took out all the power and my whole family got hypothermia and it sucked, so I am less enthusiastic about it than before.
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Jul 7, 2021 18:17
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Update 15: Detours Before we start the trip back home to No Angeles, we stop in nearby Riesel to rest and shop. The store owner is feeling better now, so there’s some new stuff to check out. Armour is, as always, way too expensive to afford all of. For now, I grab an Earth Robe for Frayne and a Mirage Guard for Crevanille. Mirage Guard is Crevanille only, but since it’s nearly 4,000 Ril cheaper than Dragoon Jacket while only boosting DEF by 2 less than the DJ, it’s more efficient. It also means that I can throw Crevanille’s old Chain Jacket over to Remus and get his defence up by 24 for no extra cost. As far as Spellstones are concerned, he has one new one on hand: Magic Lv+1. Does what it says and also teaches Attack Up and Protect. Both of those are buff spells that would be great to have on hand (our Remus has already mastered Protect, thankfully).  After resting, as well as a brief period of mourning for our now deceased wallet, we set out. All of the enemies are the same types and levels on the way back as they were on the way in. This is why I told you to get your grinding done in Iglesias/Ruins. Leveling up around here is more of a time sink since the enemies are 3-5 levels lower.  Once we arrive back at the signpost outside Klasdahl, we spot a man freaking out about something. Let’s see what’s bothering him. [Man]: Hmmm… Hnnngh… What should I do?  Excuse me, but what’s the matter?[Man]: Huh? Oh. ! Perfect timing! Could you do me a favor? Depends. Is there a reward in it?  A favor?[Man]: I’m from Klasdahl Village, just west of here.  [Man]: And I made the trade! But then I kinda sorta left the fish behind… I need to go back and get them, but that’ll make me pretty late… The old lady will get worried. Would you mind going to Klasdahl and telling her the message? The village is right over there! In the time it took for you to explain the situation to us, you could have gone there and told her yourself!  Sure, I’ll do it.[Man]: Thanks! I owe you big time!  Ah, so that’s the reason. You were standing around out here trying to think up a good excuse. *The man runs off*  Don’t mind me. I’m just… uhh… taking precautions in case the old lady becomes violent. Yeah, that’s it. You know how powerful old ladies can be.    Seems like you have some skills. But what do you think you can do against these numbers? It’s you who forced us to take things this far.Ohhhh, this son of a bitch. Things just got interesting for us.  Casualties of circumstance. If you had let yourself be killed in Dulkheim, my hand would not have been forced in this fashion. Aren’t those Dulkheim soldiers? Master, that man! Why are Dulkheim soldiers attacking the citizenry?[Dulkheim Soldier #1]: Captain! Look over there! The escapees we’ve been after! Excellent, we’ll deal with them, as well![Dulkheim Soldier #1]: Understood! That’s cute. You guys think you stand a chance against us.  You will all die here. And we’re off! This is the hectic battle that I mentioned previously. There are a lot of Dulkheim soldiers in this fight, including a group of three spellcasters. Meanwhile, our buddy Mortis is cornered in the center of town with the mysterious old samurai man. Priority #1: Get somebody to start charging Protect (preferably Level 3, if you have it). We want to get Protect on Mortis as quickly as possible, because he is going to be drawing aggro on a minimum of 2 enemies (Cargill and the Swordsman right in front of him are basically guaranteed to focus on Mortis), and possibly as many as 4 (the 2 archers will sometimes take pot shots at him as well).  Well, we had to be cautious. You are known as a master swordsman, after all. Though, after seeing this display, perhaps the poisons were unnecessary! Spells alone seem to be proving sufficient to take you down. Hngh… such conniving and trickery… Once you get Protect on Mortis, have at least one party member charge Cure (or pop a Secret Vulnerary) for Mortis. He’ll have taken quite a bit of damage by the time you manage to get Protect on him. For those curious: No, Mortis does not need to survive the fight. Keeping him alive is optional. But he’s our buddy and his name is freaking Mortis. We want to keep him alive if for no other reason than to spit in the face of Atropos.  While tending to Mortis, you’ll want Crevanille to begin his march towards Cargill. Crevanille should be able to carve through all of the soldiers in his way on his own. Frayne, Remus, and Eliza should turn their focus towards dealing with these spellcasters. They are the biggest threat to your party, as they are seemingly capable of pulling off Joint Spells by themselves. We haven’t been introduced to Joint Spells yet, but they are essentially Area of Effect spells. They likely won’t be enough to outright kill your party (unless you ignore them throughout the whole fight), but taking too many hits will result in you having to divert characters’ attentions to healing yourself, which wastes valuable Bonus Gauge time.  I choose “none of the above.” Not an option, kid.Yeah, we’ll see about that soon enough, won’t we? Crevanille is on his way, and the wimpy little Dulkheim soldiers aren’t going to stop him from getting to you.  The old samurai man can generally be left to his own devices. He will go down the bridge opposite of where you are (you can approach this fight from the right or left sides of the tree, although it doesn’t make much of a difference). He’s strong enough to handle himself without the need for Protect or Healing. That said, keep an eye on his HP just in case. His death will fail the mission, unlike Mortis. Once Mortis is protected and healed, the rest of this fight is just a matter of picking off the important enemies while we wait for Crevanille to shove his foot up Cargill’s smug rear end. The spellcasters are the most dangerous enemies. After that, you should turn your attention to archers. The healer that camps out next to Cargill seems like a problem at first glance, but in my experience her focus is almost always on healing that soldier standing in front of Mortis. She rarely has time to cure the spellcasters. She can make it harder for Crevanille to get through the soldiers in his way, though, so if you feel like you have the room to take her out then go for it.  One way or another, Mortis and Crevanille will eventually overrun Cargill’s position. Despite his tough talk and sadistic personality, he is a joke in one-on-one combat. Honestly, Mortis could probably solo him if given the opportunity.  But Crevanille has personal reasons for wanting to end this man. I have to pull out… It doesn’t matter now, anyway. That old man can’t survive much longer!*Cargill then manages to slip away from the village by hopping the fence behind him* A shame, but all it means is that we’ll get another opportunity to make him suffer in the future.  We get a Skill Level +3 spellstone as a bonus. During the fight, one of the enemies also dropped a Magic Lv. +3 spellstone. A chance at that happening is worth retrying this battle a few times for. Magic Lv. +3 boosts spell levels by 3 while equipped, but more importantly, it also teaches Cycle Up. Cycle Up can be a very busted buff spell to be able to cast at will. Tellingly, it takes 999 skill experience just to get it to Level 1. I’ll be leaving this on Crevanille until he permanently acquires it. We’ll always have someone capable of casting it that way. That’s the last of them, right? Seems so. Superlative, everyone.[Mortis]: Man, you saved our lives!  Mortis is another person subject to the saving throw of the Fate System. It’s going to be a while before we can find out what would have happened to him, though. The Dollhouse is all the way back in No Angeles. We’re glad you’re safe, too.[Mortis]: Now that that’s over, though… is the old man doing okay? Ngh… The poison… from their attack… This is bad! We need to go somewhere I can treat him! I’ll get a room at the inn!*Sometime later*   A night has already gone by, and he still hasn’t awoken. Who can say? All we can do now is leave it in Remus’s hands.PK’s Grammar Pet Peeve Corner: This game subscribes to the apostrophe “s” form of possessives ending in “s”. I personally prefer the apostrophe only method. Both are acceptable, but it bothers me that this game does it so much because it fools me up in my own writing and leads to inconsistent usage. He must be important, though, if Dulkheim came all this way to hunt him down. Whatever he knows has got to be significant… Agreed. I wonder what kind of secret it could be… How is he? He was poisoned in that fight, and that’s causing more damage than his physical wounds. I gave him an antipyretic, but he’ll still require monitoring until he regains consciousness. I see… You all should get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on him.*Remus heads back in and we fade to black as time passes*  Yes, actually. He regained consciousness. Thank goodness… It’s not all good news, though… Could you all come with me?Uh-oh.  They all helped to rescue you. Don’t you remember, Hien? I… I’m sorry. I owe you my life, yet I remember nothing. What do you mean, “nothing”? No! Not the dreaded JRPG Amnesia! Amnesia… Sounds familiar. I’m sure your memories will return, Hien. *sigh* Hien… Is that even my name? Yes, that much we’re sure of. I see. You may laugh, but I am seeing something next to you that appears to be a… fairy. You can see me? That means you have the ability to use spells, Hien.Now, we could be massive assholes here and gently caress with the old man that just got amnesia, but that wouldn’t be very heroic (one of the response options is “Fairy? What fairy?”). She’s called a “Familiar.” Ah, a Familiar. I’m glad my eyesight is functioning correctly, at least! What will you do now, Hien? *There’s a knock* Seems like we have a guest. Huh? This person… Dame Silverneil of Valkania Kingdom’s Royal Guard? I heard of your actions from the villagers. Truly, well done. You have my thanks, and I’m sure you would have His Majesty’s, as well. Oh, it was nothing… Okay, quick pause here. You may look at that line and go, “Wait, Uncle? I sort of figure he’d be a grandfather.” Diana is only 25, after all. Now, look at Hien and take a guess at how old that man is. Keep in mind that Dixon was 42. According to the game manual, Hien is supposed to be 45. …”Uncle”? Have you forgotten? It has been quite a while. I’m your niece, Diana. …Niece…? Uncle, what’s the matter? Unfortunately, Dama Silverneil, he seems to suffer amnesia from the poisons he was inflicted with. His memory is gone!? No… I finally get to see family, and this happens. I do apologize, miss. Perhaps if my will had been greater… Please, you cannot blame yourself. If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me who you are? Ah, I have a sister. How does she fare, then? …… Again, I apologize. I did not mean to cause any offense… Oh, Uncle!*We fade out*  I am truly indebted to all of you. My army will henceforth protect this village. If you’ll pardon me, I have orders to give.*Diana leaves* Hien’s gone back to sleep. We should get some rest. I’ll stay here and continue to monitor his condition.*Remus goes to the door while Eliza and Frayne head outside* We’ve got a little free time now. Before we go look around, we can check in with Latika again for another Muntzer story. [Latika]: Oh, hi, mister! Haven’t seen you in a while! Can I tell you about my new daddy? Sure, go ahead![Latika]: Daddy’s a hero of the country, but he sure is awkward! Like this one time… *Flashback time*   Mmm-hmm…[Latika]: Daddy, are you even listening? Mmm-hmm…[Latika]: What’s wrong? You’ve been staring at that door all day! Is somebody coming? Well, I invited some company, to tell you the truth.[Latika]: For work? Well, um, she is a colleague, but… It’s not entirely work-related…*There’s a knock* [Latika]: Coming!  Ah, you’re here! I’m sorry I’m late. But are you sure about this? This is your leave, is it not? Oh, I should be the one to apologize for dragging you here. There’s simple… nowhere else I’d rather spend the time. So you’re Latika? Nice to meet you! I’m Diana. I work with your daddy.[Latika]: Welcome, Miss Diana! Pleased to meet you! I might be in your way today, so please forgive me.[Latika]: Oh, no problem! Hey, you work with Daddy; could you tell me about him? …Well, she’s asking me. What would you like me to do? …Er, well… go easy on me… Seems to me like Muntzer is angling for a new mommy for Latika.  Outside, there are a few people to chat with. [Mortis]: All that aside, I can’t believe the old swordsman was Hien. Do you know him very well? No.We had never even heard of him until a few days ago. [Mortis]: Remember this, then. Hien is the master swordsman who trained the Royal Guard. As impressive as that is, though, I suppose even he couldn’t win against old age… He’s 45, Mortis. The man was injected with poisons and still managed to fight off like 3 Dulkheim soldiers while taking only 30% damage.  Uh, oh… What is it? It’s quite rude to eavesdrop. Things’ll get better. You don’t need to try to cheer me up. Would you mind just leaving me alone? There are some things I’d like to think about.Everyone is being such a bummer. Maybe Frayne will be more interesting. What are you doing here, Frayne? It’s like she’s in harmony with nature while kindly watching over her people. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but this is how I view the Angels. It’s certainly not popular. I know Angels are attacking people. We just need to figure out why…They are pissed at humanity, Frayne. The why isn’t hard to deduce. Now what humanity did to piss them off is another story. It pains me to think that the secret of Angels may have been in the memories I’ve lost. No need to apologize. It’s good of you to say so. The Royal Guard embodies all our country’s noblest ideals. What happened was… beyond excuse. And to be honest, my mother’s death still hangs over me. Crevanille… I’ve been told that Dixon raised you as his own. That seems to be a recurring thing with everyone in this village. …You’re quite strong, aren’t you? Your memories can give you strength. I wonder… Hmmm… Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps my grief for my mother and my love for her memory are both intertwined now. The strength to carry on, then, is it? Thank you. I am glad to have spoken with you.Finally. Now that we’re done tending to everyone’s emotional needs, we can head back to check on Hien.  *Diana, Eliza, and Frayne enter* Remus? Has my uncle woken up? Yes, and he wants to speak with all of us. Indeed I am. Well, with Hien’s wounds healed, I think we’re about done here. We can return to Marquelay. About that. Will you take me with you?Yes. Uncle? Why not stay with your niece, Hien?No. Come with us. More party members, please.  The way of the samurai… Even with your memory loss, you’re till the man I remember. Well, for his sake, I request of you the same: let him accompany you. At least if he’s with you, I know he’ll be with someone familiar. My villa has many vacant rooms, so it’s fine with me. Thank you. I’ll be in Klasdahl for a while longer. Feel free to speak with me. Take care, Uncle.*Diana leaves*  *Hien will accompany you!* Yay!  Hien joins us as a guest party member. Despite his history, his stats are only on par with our current party. Most likely this is because of the poisons/amnesia. Still, even though he’s been injured, he’s still an impressive fighter. Were it not for Crevanille’s end game Ring and 3 additional levels, Hien’s attack would be higher than his (our Crevanille currently has 237 ATK and is level 24). It should be obvious that Hien is meant to be a purely frontline fighter. Unlike Eliza, who can double as a spellcaster, Hien doesn’t have the MP capacity to do much in the way of spells. He has a low ATW to make up for that, though.  Anyway, before we set out again, Latika has something new for us. [Latika]: Mister, could you help me pick out Daddy’s present? Sure, let’s go!Let’s get this over with so we can leave. [Latika]: Thank you, mister! I was thinking of inviting Miss Diana, too! Miss Diana… You mean Dame Silverneil?[Latika]: Yeah! You know her, too? We’ll be waiting here.[Latika]: Let’s go get Miss Diana! Thanks for ditching us, everyone. Teamwork.   [Latika]: Miss Diana, hello! Hello. …Why are you with Latika? Beats me. We listened to her talk about her dad twice and now apparently we’re like her best friend or something.[Latika]: Mister’s my friend! He’s helping me pick out a gift for Daddy. I want you to come, too! Me, as well? I’m hardly the best person to give such advice, and besides… Would it not be best for “mister” to choose for you? Come along. It’ll be fun![Latika]: Yeah, let’s go together! Very well. I’ve little time to spare, but I’ll go with you. …Hold on.*Diana heads over to the nearby soldier* Forgive me. I must step away to resolve a private matter.[Valkania Soldier]: Yes, ma’am! *Diana returns* Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go. [Latika]: Okay! Let’s head to the general store! Slowly! Because we have to wait for Latika and Diana to get there! [Latika]: Maybe something he can wear all the time. Hm… Mister, what do you think is good? He’ll love anything you pick out.[Latika]: Well, I asked ‘cause I don’t know! Kid, I was trying to be encouraging of your self-confidence. I don’t loving know what your dad would like. We’ve met him twice and fought him the same number of times. He also kidnapped our friend. These accessories look… fitting. Why not choose from one of these?[Latika]: Okay! Thank you, mister, miss! I’ll pick one!  [Latika]: It’s called an Accessory Plate. Should I go with it? That’s perfect.Whatever gets us out of this hell quicker. [Latika]: Yeah! …Well, I mean, if you say so. I’ll take this, then! I wanna buy this! [Clerk]: This comes with a free engraving service. What message do you want engraved? [Latika]: Engraved? How about, “I love Daddy!”? [Clerk]: Sounds perfect! Love, hm…? Would you rather be a kid again? You might say that… But I am a Royal Guard, just as I wished all those years ago. I don’t have any regrets.[Latika]: Mister, miss! I bought it! Wonderful, Latika![Latika]: Thanks for coming with me. I love you both! Bye-bye! Please stop talking to us. Like a third of this update has been about you. There’s places we want to go and things we want to see, you know. *Latika leaves* I shall be returning, as well. This has made for an excellent outing.Finally. We’re free.  Excuse me? What’s with this “we” business? You just hung out here at the inn, Remus. I told you, we’re even for the jail break now. Don’t go trying to muscle in on our good deeds. You only get credit for poo poo when you contribute to it.  On the way back to Ordinale, we continue our blood feud with all Bounty Hunters. Maybe someday they will learn their lesson and stop attacking us on the road.  Once we reach Ordinale, we can discover a Dandy Book hidden under some bags near the entrance. Dandy Book can be used to increase friendship towards Crevanille. We’re going to hold onto that for now. I do a bit of supply shopping. The armour shop has also reopened, although we are currently tapped out from Riesel and can’t really afford any new threads. Mysterious Dress and Dragon Guard are new, but they cost between 12k and 16k.  After gearing up, we chat with the clerk from the last time we were in Ordinale. His business conference thing is finished, so he can guide us to the place where Dixon was getting those letters. Yes.[Clerk]: All right, then. Please wait for me near the boulder in the northern forest. I will meet you there.  The boulder in question is this one, where we first got ambushed by Bounty Hunters while Chris was tagging along. [Clerk]: The person you’re looking for actually lives alone in a ruined village. And where’s that?[Clerk]: The only way to get there is just behind this boulder. Please follow me. *We follow the clerk into the trees behind the boulder*  [Clerk]: This is as far as I’ll be going. I’m returning to the shop. Good luck. I can’t believe we had to wait for this guy to bring us here. He could have easily just told us about this path. It doesn’t seem that difficult to find. Whatever. Keep traveling to the east. The enemy assortment is nothing new. Just bears, Garuga, and Imps.  Hey! It’s that place from our flashback! Looks like it’s seen better days. This place really is a mess… It’s kind of depressing. Huh. I feel somehow nostalgic being here, though. That so? I wonder if that means this place was around in the time when you were born, then. The person corresponding with the boss is here, right? I wonder what kind of person he is… or if it even is a “he.” We can look around the place, but there isn’t much to find here in terms of items. There is some commentary, though.  Did the Angels do this, too…? After weaving through the broken buildings and around the small craters, we find some evidence of human activity. There are a few graves set up in a meadow near a house. Probably not an encouraging sign.  There’s also a free Fairy Tear if you examine this bucket near the stairs. After collecting that, we head inside the only house still standing.  Oh, I… We… Those clothes… Are you a Ruin Child? You know of Ruin Children? Ohhh, yes. If you all brought a Ruin Child here, then we must have something to discuss. Dixon was getting letters from here. Oh, you know Dixon? And that’s why you’re here? To find out about the letters? That makes sense. Can we talk to him? I’m afraid not. He died about a month ago. You saw the graves out there, yes? If only you’d been here a little sooner…Stupid business conferences. *Sigh* Hm, I’d like to help you out if I could. I can try to answer any questions… Thank you, um… Call me Maggie. Let’s go in a little. We can’t help it! It’s what JRPG heroes do!  Okay, okay. We’ll stop poking around and talk to you. So, it all started when…*Crevanille then proceeds to explain his life story* Dixon has passed away, then… I think I’ve got the gist of your situation now. I don’t know as much as the chief would have, but I do remember Dixon taking a child from here. To think that was you… Well, it should be all right to tell you, knowing that. Oh, so that explains why this place looks the way it does… It was by design to fool the Angels? No, that was something else, actually. This was a normal village fifteen years ago. Then that man came… But that’s another topic. I’ll come back to that later, if you want. Anyway, the villagers who did survive the Angel attacks tried to preserve what knowledge they could to pass it on to future generations. Sounds like it’s time to make use of that knowledge, then! “Supposed to be”? Does that mean…? Yes, it no longer exists. If was burned fifteen years ago by that same man I mentioned earlier… What!? But why? No idea. I mean, I would understand taking it, but to destroy it? When he did it, he said something about how one should only rely on oneself. Very strange… I still don’t really get why he would do it. Maybe he already had the knowledge. That’s our best guess, currently. We know it was Vester, we know Vester is opposed to the Angels to some extent, so why the hell would he destroy the knowledge to defeat them unless he wanted the power to do it all to himself? That may be true… The bottom line here is that the book is gone. Why it’s gone doesn’t seem terribly pressing. The reason I’m still here is to record what I know. Dixon’s mission was to travel around in search of the remaining ruins to find a way to defeat the Angels. To enter the ruins, though, he’d need a Ruin Child. I take it that’s why he took Crevanille? Probably. To borrow the words of the village chief, “He is the key.”Ah, so he meant a literal key instead of a metaphorical one, then. So, this was Crevanille’s hometown… Is there anything else you want to ask?Let’s try and get some more info on the mysterious man, even though the player already knows it was Vester. What about “that man”? We didn’t know his name, but he was using spells of a kind we’d never seen. It was like his attacks sliced through space itself. That’s why the buildings look like this… I wonder about what the Angels want, too. It’s hard to know for sure. That may have been the case 2,000 years ago, but I don’t believe that is what’s happening now. If they wanted to annihilate man, why not target large cities? You know, when you put it that way, it does seem kind of odd. Our experiences with them were at Lamplast, then the ruins, Ribocca, and then Iglesias… There are indeed larger cities…Uh-oh. Frayne is slowly corrupting Remus with her love for the Angels. Our boy is losing his bloodlust. For right now, I think only the Angels themselves know. Heh, maybe we should just ask them.Has anyone actually tried that?  A letter, you say? Sounds intriguing. Where is it? Or was it perhaps also incinerated along with the book? I have no idea where it is. I only know there was a description of an Angel’s Letter within the Book of Legacies. You know, thinking on it, that’s another thing Dixon was searching for-- that letter. If you really want to finish what he started, finding the Angel’s Letter may be the fastest method. Thank you, Maggie. All right, Crevanille! I’m glad this trip was worth it! We are heading to the ruins, then? To search for the Angel’s Letter? Mmm-hmm. I believe what the chief once thought: you are the key to everything. Never forget that.Please stop piling the weight of the world on the shoulders of a teenager. He’s got enough poo poo going on in his life right now and teenagers don’t typically cope well with stress. Just look at Eliza.  By this, Remus means that we should talk to Maggie a second time. Hey, you, Familiar. Yes? Please let that be fast travel. A what now? A Transgate. I guess that’s a no, eh? A Transgate is a spell that connects two separate spaces together. Might as well learn it while you’re here. I’m sure it’ll come in handy. Come over here.*Yuni and Maggie go over to the table to talk* Remember this well. All right.While Maggie explains, we are free to walk around and talk to our team. Huh. All those times we’ve crossed the forest, and who knew there was a ghost town here? You had a hometown, didn’t you? That must have been pleasant…Right, except for the part where it got burned to the ground when he was 3 or 4. Huh. You learn something new every day. Even at my age, I suppose. It’s an Angel’s Letter… If it’s meant for humans, it might tell us why the Angels are attacking. Once that’s done, any Transgate you create will automatically connect to the home gate. Should I look for concentrated points of mana that emit enough spell energy for a gate to be set up? You’ve got it. Such concentrations are not easy to find. But when you do, they’ll make your traveling much easier. Thank you, Maggie. You should stay here for the night. It has to be better than camping out.Well, I’d like to get back to No Angeles, but it couldn’t hurt to take a nap. We head upstairs to the bed and get some sleep. You know what that means!  20%?! Are you insane?! I repeat: We fought off a naval invasion with the Marquelay army and the four people in our party. It wasn’t even close! The Dulkheimers didn’t even get off the docks! This isn’t even taking into account the fact that Dulkheim can’t manage a full invasion of Marquelay because their forces are concentrated in the north and east. Strategically, the better plan would be to push further into southern Dulkheim and take or (fully) destroy Trockmere, which cuts off Dulkheim’s ability to even launch an attack on Marquelay in the first place. [Narration]: However, because the remaining Valkanian forces were not at full strength, their advance into southern Dulkheim resulted in a standstill.  [Valkania Soldier]: I mean, I know Marquelay’s an important source of revenue, but if Valkania is attacked while we’re away… Ours is not to question why. We’re being trusted with a task. We need to be satisfied with that.[Valkania Soldier]: Still…  Thankfully, Ludwig’s forces seem pretty low, too. We should be able to manage without difficulty.[Valkania Soldier]: Yes, sir.  Not at all, we were all right. We may be back at some point, too. You mean if you have a question about the Angel’s Letter? If you come by too often, you might interrupt my work, but it should be fine if you’re mindful. Good luck, everyone, and be careful.Yeah, we’re not very good at the being careful thing. Don’t be surprised if the next time you see us we’ve gotten at least one person killed.  As we try to leave, we’ll bump into some familiar faces. Look who’s alive! And look who finally left Trockmere!  Wha…? Oh, what are you doing here? I never thought I’d find you here! Pamela!? Hm? Why the surprise? Well, I mean, you went into Ribocca, didn’t you? And there was an Angel attack there, so… Oh, no! You thought I was dead… Though your thinking wasn’t far off-- I almost died in the explosion. I was lucky… I happened to be pretty far away from where the blast hit. *touch her to see if she’s a ghost* We’re trying to be funny here, game. Not creepy. *touch her shoulder* Hm? What’s the matter?*She seems to not be a ghost* Glad we confirmed that. You can’t be too careful. I mean, Zombies apparently exist in this world, after all.   Game! We were being funny! Knock it off! *don’t touch anywhere else* Hey there. We meet again. Considering how many times we’ve met, I’m starting to think this fate. To think you’d know Pamela, too. Mmm? I never expected to find you here of all places, and with Crevanille and the others! It’s good to see you! Yes, well… Oh, you know Magnus, too? I met him in Trockmere.Of course you did. She saved my life after the Angel attack. It’s thanks to her that I’m here at all. So, I offered to be her bodyguard! It was the least I could do. A sensible precaution. There’ve been a lot more monsters showing up lately. It’s true. Now it’s my turn to say that I wouldn’t be here without him. There was one time in particular on the way-- Maggie! Long time no see. How have you been? Here, this is my report. You didn’t come all this way for THAT, did you? I’m sorry for the trouble. You two know each other? Yes, Maggie and I are childhood friends. I grew up here. You are exploring ruins? Does that mean that you are a Ruin Child, too? Yes, that’s right. Though I was found in a different ruin site than Crevanille. So, where are you headed next? These guys are planning to go into ruins, too, so why not go with them? Hrm, well, we were planning to head to Dulkheim next… Dulkheim… We’re kind of wanted men there, so I don’t know about that. Well, Magnus? Shall we? You’re going already? You just got here. Why not rest a day? I’d rather get going as soon as possible, you know? Also, seeing you and Crevanille has reenergized me! Good luck, you guys. Just leave it to me. *Pamela and Magnus leave. Maggie heads back into her house* Well that was fun. Good to know that Pamela didn’t die in Ribocca, although I suspect most of you kind of assumed that anyway. The game isn’t going to design a brand new character for an updated rerelease just so they can kill them off in the first 3 hours. With nothing else to do here, we head for the entrance of the village.  What should we do when we get there? Rest, first of all. That’s a good idea. Afterword, we’ll continue boss’s ruin search for the Angel’s Letter. Well, then, to Marquelay! I’ll come with you. My debt is not nearly paid up yet.We’re headed back to No Angeles for some much needed R&R. But in order to do that, we’ll need to decide on something.
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Jul 8, 2021 14:32
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—Furlough #1— When we get back to No Angeles, we’ll be able to take our first Furlough (vacation, basically). Furloughs are break time events where we can spend time with our party members and work on their side stories, which will eventually lead us towards their character specific endings. This first Furlough isn’t critical to getting a specific ending, but it serves as an introduction for how I plan to handle them. The thread is going to have to start latching on to their favourites, so now is the time to start thinking about who you may want to see a character ending for. I’ll be doing these votes for every Furlough, but eventually I will remove the least chosen characters from the running once it becomes impossible to earn their ending. For the first Furlough we will only have enough time in each day to hang out with two party members. So, which two characters should we focus our time on? Put your choice(s) in bold.
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Jul 8, 2021 14:32
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Nice to see Cargill's smug mug get a few dents put into it! "But are you sure you don't want to go for the sexual harassment option?" Real classy, game. I say we should hang with our bro Remus and also Hien because he's new and exciting
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Jul 8, 2021 16:26
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Frayne and Remus
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Jul 8, 2021 16:28
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Frayne and... I can't really decide on the second one, so I will just pick Eliza.
Space Kablooey fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jul 8, 2021 |
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Jul 8, 2021 16:34
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Frayne and Hein
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Jul 8, 2021 17:47
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Eliza and Remus. I remember what Frayne's vacation events are and I'm less interested in Hien than his student and niece. Norman: 19 Maggie: 27 And with that, unless I am misremembering, is all of the ages for the important NPCs. There is one character left that the instruction manual lists as ???, but they're a party member and in the original game, so Psycho Knight might have their age already.
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Jul 8, 2021 18:13
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Frayne and Eliza.
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Jul 8, 2021 20:30
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Time to pull a Remus*. Hit on the ladies. *Possibly without the angels coming in to raze everything to the ground.
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Jul 8, 2021 20:38
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Frayne and Eliza at least partially for the outrageous outfits.
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Jul 8, 2021 21:03
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As long as you commit to finishing one of the mutually exclusive paths I'll try to pick up the slack with bonus updates to let this be archived as complete as possible.
MythosDragon fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Jul 8, 2021 |
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Jul 8, 2021 22:25
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MythosDragon posted:As long as you commit to finishing one of the mutually exclusive paths I'll try to pick up the slack with bonus updates to let this be archived as complete as possible. The best I can do is to show the endings of whatever characters are feasible as part of a bonus update. The choice of which characters to hang out with and include in the party was always intended to be left in the thread's hands because I like to have thread participation in my LPs whenever I can. vilkacis posted:"But are you sure you don't want to go for the sexual harassment option?" Real classy, game. It nearly ruins an otherwise entertaining dialog option. Face touching also bugs me, but at least in this case Pamela will immediately realize that Crevanille is testing to see if she's a ghost. Granted, she will also blush and comment about asking her next time, so it still turns out slightly weird/creepy. For what it's worth, if you do go the sexual harassment route then Pamela decks Crevanille in the face when she sees him reach for her chest, so at least the player is given the appropriate response to being a creep. Melomane Mallet posted:And with that, unless I am misremembering, is all of the ages for the important NPCs. There is one character left that the instruction manual lists as ???, but they're a party member and in the original game, so Psycho Knight might have their age already. I think I do. We’ll revisit that topic once that character joins.
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Jul 9, 2021 00:37
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Psycho Knight posted:For what it's worth, if you do go the sexual harassment route then Pamela decks Crevanille in the face when she sees him reach for her chest, so at least the player is given the appropriate response to being a creep. That makes it somewhat better, at least.
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Jul 9, 2021 10:53
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More fun stories about that weird filter for foresight scenes. I've been using the heck out of save states to see all the dialogue variations I can, and it uses my last save state for the background, and that poo poo gets BURNED into the screen, it's several times more invasive than the bedrooms. I just had the genius idea to save and then turn PPSSPP off, and what do you know, the foresight scene was completely normal after while using the latest version of PPSSPP. Helpful since the majority of them take place next to save points.
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Jul 9, 2021 13:42
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MythosDragon posted:More fun stories about that weird filter for foresight scenes. I've been using the heck out of save states to see all the dialogue variations I can, and it uses my last save state for the background, and that poo poo gets BURNED into the screen, it's several times more invasive than the bedrooms. I just had the genius idea to save and then turn PPSSPP off, and what do you know, the foresight scene was completely normal after while using the latest version of PPSSPP. Helpful since the majority of them take place next to save points. I've had some success with getting rid of this by reducing the Rendering Resolution and Window Size back to 1x, then putting them back to 2x. It's only temporary, but for many of these foresight scenes I only need a clear picture for long enough to get one or two screenshots. It's definitely a result of increasing the resolution beyond the standard PSP size, because I've had similar issues with my Sweet Fuse LP. Unfortunately, the standard PSP resolution is too small for an LP and batch scaling images up makes for worse quality than simply recording at a higher resolution (even if that resolution is itself being scaled up). My only worry with doing the rendering thing too much is that it will screw up my recordings. The last time I did it I got super paranoid that my recordings had suffered in quality a bit despite none of the OBS settings being changed. vilkacis posted:That makes it somewhat better, at least. It's better than nothing, and that's about all I can expect out of a game that let's you choose an option like that in the first place.
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Jul 9, 2021 13:58
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Psycho Knight posted:
It's really unfortunate because they're the ones willing to spent a lot of money on special editions and merch, many games had and still cater to the kind of guys who wish they had the cajones to actually grab someone like that. I had the PSP release, ended up trading it in as the combat ended up being too sluggish to my taste, and I'm getting the weird sense of not remembering most of the stuff, but knowing I stopped somewhere ahead of the LP. Aside, I also had the not!Rei fairy, and was annoyed that' a lot to do with Crevanille answering he doesn't care long as it's useful, game I was trying not to be a weirdboy. Robindaybird fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jul 9, 2021 |
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Jul 9, 2021 18:59
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Psycho Knight posted:For the first Furlough we will only have enough time in each day to hang out with two party members. Frayne and Hein.
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Jul 9, 2021 23:08
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Robindaybird posted:It's really unfortunate because they're the ones willing to spent a lot of money on special editions and merch, many games had and still cater to the kind of guys who wish they had the cajones to actually grab someone like that. I've made it clear in previous LPs that I am far from being a prude. Fanservice stuff doesn't bother me, except in 3 main cases. One of those cases is when the player is given the option to be a scumbag and still ends up rewarded for it. It just makes every other character worse by association, because it requires them to ignore it or otherwise be okay with it in the long run. So at the very least it's good to know that the player in this game will be treated accordingly. I'd like to see a game that takes this further and actually locks you out of party members who can't stand being around you when you act like a creep all the time. This is around the point where the game settles down into the long stretch, so I don't blame you for dropping it. Everything moves very quickly until just after you establish your city, then it becomes more of a Ruins exploration thing. Story stuff still happens, but not the same as when we were jumping from Anime Dad death to military days to prison torture. Yeah, I thought they would mention this by now, but I guess I misremembered. D-MD's profile outright describes her as thinking of Familiars as nothing but tools, which is why those answers during creation lead to you getting her. D-MD's starting personality is "I am a tool for you to use. Nothing more."
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Jul 10, 2021 01:08
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I think the game gets a lot better around now tbh, getting the base and building your team and hanging out with them is a ton of fun. Also Super Hitler isn't your boss anymore and you get to devote the rest of the game to sticking it to him. I adore the game and the overly long prologue since it makes everything that follows better, but man that's my 5th time going through that, and it took me 15* hours to get a full party. This time around I've cemented my opinion that I wish the game was a 2011 original since I think not having to be kind of wishy washy with the additional characters would have definitely improved the game with letting Tricia and maybe Magnus be on your team as previews like Vallery. *Voice Acting, PPSSPP idling, and liberal use of turbo definitely messed with my playtime compared to PK. On a related note to friends, I have learned that if you play as a full on rear end in a top hat, you can actually tank below the default "same as all the others" friendship rating. Frayne hates Crev now. I legit thought your choices meant nothing in regards to that and only their bonding events effected it. Same on anime weirdness, I'm basically desensitized to all things anime weird, and just let my sense of humor guide me. Also games made in the west like Dragon Age do that as long as youre not fixated on the pervy creep angle. Edit: Now that I've finally read the update I can comment on it. In the Trockmere Catastrophe, theres a point where the screen cuts to black and Magnus is lost in the water and a person grabs him. That scene is voiced acted, so Pamela being alive is confirmed so much earlier. KICKING CARGILL'S rear end GIVES ME LIFE! MythosDragon fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Jul 11, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 02:32
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I’ve split this update into two parts, because it was going to be a little too long on its own. This first part will be a little bit of story and then the Furlough. The second half is all story stuff. Update 15.5 – Takin’ a Break (Furlough #1)  We’re on our way back to No Angeles for a little vacation! I think we can all agree that we deserve it.  Unfortunately, before we can do that, we need to put up with this chucklefuck again.  *sigh* We were told to investigate. That’s why we’re going this way. Tch, I know that! I just… don’t like this place. Makes me queasy for some reason. Don’t you think so? No, I don’t. This area seems as ordinary as any other. Ngh… Grrr! Who’s he…? You met him, too, Cynthia. At Marquelay the other day. Hmmm. What was your name again. Crevanille. I hate you. I hope you can understand that. That’s right. Crevanille! Tch. You obviously just learned that for the first time… I… apologize for her behavior. My name is Cynthia, and she is Meline.I truly do not care. We’re twins! See?Yes, you’re both super special awesome with your loving asymmetric heterochromia. Can we go? Meline… They didn’t need to know that. If you’ll excuse us. That’s enough, Meline. …Yes, Cynthia. Well… Bye-bye!*Meline and Cynthia leave*  You think? They were adorable!Cynthis is okay. That’s as much praise as I’m willing to give them. I disagree on any other positive descriptor of them, such as “adorable”.  With them gone, we’re free to continue on our way back to No Angeles. We do get harassed by more bounty hunters along the way, but they don’t slow us down very much. You’d think this area of Marquelay would have a reputation by now for Bounty Hunters turning up dead on the road. Maybe we should talk to the Princess about sticking up some signs, like “Beware of Crevanille”.  I also try out Thievery here and manage to swipe a Regeneration Seal spellstone. Regeneration Seal can teach Poison Attack. I think it also restores HP over time while in battle, but not enough to make it worth equipping. Venom Attack is the better option for poison moves. Whomever you taught Thievery to using that scroll will be stuck with it at Level 1 for the time being, so you’ll only be able to use it once before you need to rest at an inn (Knacks have a limited number of uses which is based on their Level). Generally you’ll want to use that single charge on bosses or special enemies.  We annoyingly have to run all the way back through the Marquelay-Ordinale tunnel, as well. Eventually we get back to our new home, but Yuni stops us just before we enter No Angeles. One moment, Master.  Here. This place should be ideal. I will set it up so that this is the home gate. This’ll make it a lot easier to return to the villa. I apologize for the wait. The home gate will be usable in a few days after the spell’s effects appear.Yay! We’re one major step closer to fast travel! Thank god for that. With the home gate in place, there will be certain locations elsewhere in the world where Yuni will be able to set up a destination gate. These gates will link us back to No Angeles for quick access. Good stuff. Now, to No Angeles! For real this time!   Wow, they work fast. Wait a second! Who in the hell commissioned those stone Angel statues!? We didn’t okay that! Do you people not understand what this entire city was built on!?  Huh? Sir Crevanille? It’s only natural to refer to him that way. After all, he is in charge of this land. This place is impressive. It was just a field not too long ago. Yes. Gordran has done a fine job of overseeing much of this construction.Was he the one that signed off on those statues? Because we need to have some words with whomever did that. [Gordran]: Even though we put up a museum, it doesn’t mean people will start showing up. So, I’ll do whatever I can to draw people in. So, the museum is open? Yes. The first phase of construction is on schedule and will be completed soon. We certainly will! We need to make sure that you guys didn’t go erecting any more monuments to our mortal enemies.  In the little information booth at the center of the town square, there is a lady here that claims to be one of Sydney’s trainees. She’ll let us rename the city if we feel like it. Because user ultrafilter’s suggestion was the one selected for the city, I will leave any decisions related to renaming it entirely in their hands (whether or not we do it, what it is, whether to hold a new vote, etc.). The west side of No Angeles isn’t complete yet, so we can’t enter. The east side is where the museum is, but they are still setting things up, so that’s currently blocked off to us as well.  Up towards the villa, however, we find that Carnos has gotten back on his feet and is chatting with a new face. [Carnos]: Hey, how are you? As you can see, I can finally walk around now.  [Carnos]: She managed to escape the Dulkheim Army and come here. [Kate]: Hi, it’s good to meet you. I was researching spells for Dulkheim. I’m not a Ruin Child, though, so I didn’t go through what you did. But after hearing everything from Carnos, I escaped and came here. If possible, I’d like to help you with the spell knowledge I have. That’s tremendous! Please, you should make yourself feel at home. [Kate]: The first thing I’d like to do is give you a spellstone that will teach you the same skill. *We obtained 5x Proof of Friendship spellstones!* [Kate]: The skill Synchronize can be learned with this spellstone. As for joint spells…  Here’s all the basics on Joint Spells. Combining Fire/Ice/Earth with Wind will turn the spell into an AOE type. All other combinations will result in more powerful single-target types. Characters can only pull Joint Spells if they know the Synchronize ability, which Proof of Friendship teaches. You’ll want to slap those spellstones on everyone and go level them to at least 1 before proceeding any further, that way you can equip a good spellstone when it’s time for a mission or boss fight. [Kate]: If these conditions are met, you’ll be able to select Synchronize when activating the spell. Slightly incorrect, although it doesn’t particularly matter: The actual option for using Joint Spells is “Assist”, not “Synchronize”. I say it doesn’t matter, because it will be glaringly obvious what you need to do when you go to use the spell. [Kate]: Then, you’ll chose who you’d like to Synchronize with. As you might expect, the effect will differ depending on the spell combination. You should try them out for yourself! But there is one thing that’d be good to remember.  Screenshotting this for emphasis. [Kate]: For example, if you want to use Blizzard, combine Ice Barrage with Wind Edge! Other joint spells were being researched in the Dulkheim spell lab, too. It shouldn’t be complicated for me to complete that research on my own, though. I’ll be working on it here. And when I figure out something new, I’ll let you know! Yay! The promise of further destructive power! Just what we need. I will show some of these off once we head back out for random battles, but for the time being, here are the Joint Spells that are currently possible: —AOE Spell Combos— Blizzard = Ice + Wind Flare = Fire + Wind Thunderbolt = Earth + Wind (This one is a Line AOE, instead of Circular like Flare/Blizzard) —Single-Target Spell Combos— Soul Force = Fire + Ice Eruption = Earth + Fire Other combinations will require us to collect certain items in order to aid Kate’s research. Even if the player knows the combo for a joint spell, they can’t cast it until Kate completes her research. For example, “Holy Cross” is Wind Edge+Holy (both of which we have), but we still cannot cast Holy Cross until Kate researches it.  Before we head inside to start our Furlough, there’s one last important thing to discuss with Carnos. We need to ask him about the Resonators, now that we’ve successfully acquired both pieces. [Carnos]: That… that is a resonator, is it not? You’ve acquired something quite rare. I was told that this item can power up a Familiar, but there haven’t been any changes, even with two of them. Augment the connection…[Carnos]: Ah, sorry. When the time comes, it will be useful. We were promised homunculus steroids!  What happens when the connection is augmented?[Carnos]: To put it more simply, most of the time, you won’t see any difference. But, sometimes when you’re in a dangerous situation, the connection between your minds will become stronger. So, a warning from the Familiar will reach its master quicker. I understand. That sounds like a useful ability.[Carnos]: Because of that, it’s important to keep these resonators safe. Man… I was expecting like a transformation or something cool. Lame.  Thank you, Levan. It’s good to be back.[Levan]: You seem rather fatigued. Oh, I am. A lot’s happened.[Levan]: What news of your father? I… couldn’t see him. The mansion was seized and Father and Mother were nowhere to be seen. But I’m sure they’re just in hiding, so they should contact us in short order.*Eliza looks around* Odd, though… Why are you the only one coming to greet me? Uh, what does THAT mean?Haha! You’re broke! …Sorry. Inappropriate. [Levan]: The money being sent from Iglesias stopped coming. So, there was no way to pay everyone. I would not ask them to work for free, so there was little choice but to dismiss them. I can’t believe you did that! How could you!?*Eliza runs off through the living room towards her room*  There was nothing else you could do. People need to make a living. Eliza will understand eventually.The past few weeks or so has just been a series of gut punches for her. She ain’t doing too hot. She was just taken by surprise. And we’ve had a long journey.[Levan]: I see… Incidentally, did you happen to know anybody in a place called Fort Rheoslock? Because that place is gone. *Sydney enters*  Sounds like a good idea. Eliza, certainly, could use the rest. Let’s make plans for your furlough. Where will you spend tomorrow?The game gives us a false choice here. Normally, we would be able to choose to spend our furlough days in either our city or nearby Marquelia. For the first furlough, however, we can only go to our city. If you choose Marquelia, Sydney will inform you that something is going on over there at the moment and it is unavailable to vacation in. *The furlough location is No Angeles!* Understood. Please get a good night’s rest. I’ll be in my room. See you all tomorrow! I’ll be going, too, then… What should I do? I’ll show him the way. Come on, Hien.Remus, for the love of God please don’t imprint on Hien. You’ve been awfully close to him since he joined. I want more options for party members, so the last thing we need is him getting struck down by an Angel or rogue Sephiroth like every other familial substitute you’ve had so far. Rest well, everyone. As everyone else leaves, Sydney will be seen scribbling something on a nearby board. That board is a bulletin board that you can check to see where the next day’s furlough is taking place. It also occasionally has other information for you on city happenings.  [Levan]: Perhaps I should have waited for Miss Eliza to return first, at the very least. No, you’re not at fault.You had to do what you had to do, my man. You couldn’t wait around for us to come back before springing the whole “Hey guys! We can’t pay you!” on everyone. [Levan]: It is a relief to hear those words. Oh, yes, I have some good news. Mr. Carnos is recovering wonderfully. Not quite fully yet, but he now walks outside for rehabilitation every day. Thank goodness! Well, at least our prison escape wasn’t a complete wash for everyone without a character portrait. We managed to at least save Carnos and Elena.  Before hitting the bed, I use the training sessions that we’ve built up to improve Yuni’s stats a little. She doesn’t pick up any new skills this time, but she does level up Guard Physical to 2.   We also take a look at what would have happened to Mortis if we hadn’t saved him. He would have died! Big surprise there. And yes, that’s literally all he gets if we had failed to save him. The girl that was crushing on him is heartbroken that he died. Some altered fates are more involved than others.  When we try and rest, Yuni will stop us for a second to ask if the journey was worth it. Hmm… We had to deal with Meline and Cynthia… we watched another place get blown up by Angels… we had to fight that stupid rear end mech guardian thing and travel through those irritating ruins… Yeah, it was good.On the other hand, we got to make Cargill bleed, kill some Dulkheim soldiers, reunite with Bauer, save Mortis, and meet Hien, so… yeah. I think it was a good trip overall. I see. I am pleased you had a good experience. I can say that this trip was a valuable experience for myself. I hope you find tomorrow’s furlough valuable, Master. Good night.*Sleepy time*  Mercifully, the game spares us from any foresights or graphically messed up visions this time.  [Levan]: Hmm… Correct me if I am in error, but are you thinking about Eliza?[Levan]: The young miss has locked herself in her room on the third floor… Perhaps I was in the wrong… Okay, so here’s the thing about Furlough #1: People voted for Frayne, Eliza, Hien/Remus in that order. I put Eliza up for a vote because she’s a party member, but for this first vacation period she isn’t actually available to spend time with. We’re still going to technically spend time with her, though, because there’s a story scene with her. That said, that scene doesn’t actually use up any of our limited furlough time. Because of that, we’ll spend the furlough with Frayne and Hien instead. Hien and Remus tied, but I decided to break it by voting for Hien (since I’ve never actually seen many of his events).  Before all of that, we need to try and talk some sense into Eliza. Negative. We are not Levan. …Oh. What’s up? I just wanted to chat. No time for chat. Chat later. There is no cause for negativity. Master is simply concerned for you. Oh… oh, okay… Man… how come you get a sitting room? It’s not just because Eliza is the noble of the house, either. Frayne’s room has a similar layout. Why does Crevanille get shafted with the lovely hotel room next to the What do you think about what happened? I know he was right to do what he did! Pfft, I know this is about Levan! And he can’t just decide on his own without even asking me! Did you want to be the one to do it? You idiot, is that what you think!? I mean…! That… er… I was left completely out of the loop. Like I didn’t matter at all. You are aware of your continuing responsibilities in our endeavors, correct? I simply wish to confirm that you understand this responsibility.This is a weird line from Yuni. I don’t recall Eliza ever having responsibilities to us. She doesn’t owe us a life debt like Hien, and she’s not a Ruin Child like Frayne who could hold the key to solving the Angel problem. You’re right, of course… Thanks. Thanks for putting up with me… Could I have a little time alone, please?*Crevanille and Yuni leave* Another emotional problem dealt with through the lost art of “listening”! Huzzah!  With that out of the way, let’s go spend time with Frayne and Hien.  Hien is the first to be spotted. He’s hanging out by the info kiosk. As funny as Option 4 would be, it wouldn’t be very heroic. Let’s go with something a little more traditional. To protect those I care about. For others, then… Hold on to those convictions, Crevanille. They will keep you strong. Indeed, the mere presentation of equal strength as a sign of respect used to be enough. Then, the weapon was only drawn as a last resort. At this point we’re given the option to Invite Hien. Inviting let’s you walk around the furlough location with the party member. If you don’t invite, then you simply pass some time talking with them. This time, we’ll invite Hien and take him to the Museum… since it’s kind of the only place open in No Angeles at the moment. You will have me along, then! Excellent! Where shall we go? The eastern part of No Angeles is now open. Mel has her accessory shop set up, but we can’t buy anything from it as of yet. For the first furlough, don’t bother taking anyone here. Mel just makes some comment about the two of you and then the person you invited will say a brief line before leaving. In Hien’s case…  I also feel… a bit out of place.Mel makes him feel awkward about palling around with Crevanille. Remus has a similar event. Frayne will just comment on the accessories and that’s about it. Let’s go to the museum instead.  [Receptionist]: The museum is currently having an art exhibit. Would you like to enter? Yes. If something is painted with purity of purpose and emotion, it will resonate, no matter the artist… What would a work done by an artist who had a dark spirit be like? No matter how skillful an artist like that would be, it would come out twisted and grotesque.Ehhh... can’t say I totally agree with that. Picasso is one of the most well known artists in the world and was also a gigantic piece of poo poo that routinely psychologically tortured women to the point that two of his wives died by suicide and another had a mental breakdown. "I’d rather see a woman die, any day, than see her happy with someone else." – Something said by one of the most famous artists in modern history. This doesn’t just apply to art; whatever a person does is a reflection of his personality. The image projected by his actions does not lie. Sometimes it’s good to ensure that what you’re projecting is an image you’re comfortable with. I shall take my leave, Crevanille. Good day. Hien then leaves and the screen gets tinted to show that time has passed. It’s evening now, so we’ve only got time to hang out with one more person. Frayne got the majority of votes overall, so we’ll see what she thinks about art.  *Invite Frayne* You would like me to join you? Thank you! I wish I could remember things this clearly… Sorry for being like this… but it’s just so moving. Whoever painted this must be a master. You should try painting yourself. Me? I could never do something like this. One cannot gauge one’s own level of talent without first taking the time and effort to explore it. You think so…?*We leave the museum*  I think I want to try painting after all. But what to paint first? Something that means a lot to you. Hm, something that means a lot, something memorable… That’s hard to narrow down. I feel like I want to paint everything. Preserving your memories through art is an optimal approach. I look forward to viewing the results. All right… And that’s all for Day 1. It’s also pretty much all there is for Day 2, as well. There aren’t a lot of character events available at the moment and a few of them have other triggers before furloughs are needed to complete them, which is why I said this first furlough wasn’t particularly critical for endings. So for the time being, the thread has nothing to worry about. Just make sure that you are thinking about favourite characters from now on. User MythosDragon says that there exists a “perfect run” guide for completing every character side-story in a single playthrough, but I would prefer not to use it. I’ll try and progress as many character side-stories as possible whenever I can, but I’m not going to follow a walkthrough for this LP. I like thread participation, which means you guys are going to have to make choices.  If you selected Frayne during this furlough and took her to the museum, then she’ll drop by to visit you when you try and rest at the end of the day. We are still awake.*Frayne enters* Frayne, what troubles you? Well, it’s nothing important, but… There’s no way I could show it to you— it’s not very good— but I really enjoyed doing it. It’s a way to keep my memories. And if I can get all my memories on canvas, I won’t forget them. Sorry to bother you… I just wanted to share that. Good night.*Frayne leaves and we get some sleep* That sure was nice. We helped Frayne find a hobby.  The warrior who fights alone does not receive any benefits beyond that which he grants himself. The one who fights alongside others receives an incalculable bonus, not only in terms of physical support, but emotional support, as well. They will help keep you to the path, and will give you something to fight for… You’re right. Thank you, Hien. Of course. Remember that it is a two-way street. Protect them as they protect you.Day 2 doesn’t have much to offer us. Talking to Hien has him spout philosophy and life lessons at us again. On the plus side:   His opinion of us has marginally improved! We’re better than average in the eyes of Hien! Meanwhile, Frayne will keep going on about her painting thing. I started a new painting… It’s a memory from the prison. At least I thought it was the prison… But when I looked closer, I saw it was something from further in the past… *let her continue* Well… I can’t even remember his face now. All I can think is that I might remember more if I could see the prison again. But I couldn’t impose on anyone else for that.It’s going to be a while before we can make that happen for Frayne. The prison is back in Dulkheim, where we are certainly not welcome. For anyone that voted for Remus and was a little disappointed we didn’t do anything with him: Don’t be. Remus doesn’t really have anything interesting to offer during the first furlough.  Despite dressing like a theater major, Remus apparently has no appreciation for the fine arts. Taking him to the museum is mostly a waste of time. Anyway, that’s all for our furlough days. We’ll be getting another one very soon, but I think we’ll stick with Frayne and Eliza, who got the most votes this time. Unless the thread vehemently disagrees with that, anyway. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 13:19 on Jul 13, 2021 |
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Jul 11, 2021 18:48
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Update 16: A knife in the back The morning after our furlough, our party rejoins us outside of Crevanille’s room. I should note that unlike many RPGs, your party members leave Crevanille’s room whenever he goes there to rest in the bed. They don’t just stand there as the screen fades out as if they plan on all sharing the same bed. That furlough is just what I needed. Now we need to get permission to go into the Marquelay ruins, right?That’s right, Remus. But before that, let’s have a quick peek at Joint Spells. I slap a Proof of Friendship on everyone (except Hien since he is a guest party member) and head out to grind some skill experience.  Once two characters who know Synchronize have a spell charged to at least Level 1, you can select “Assist” to do a Joint Spell.   Once a Joint Spell is selected, you’ll be able to select a target. For AOE spells, two circles will appear on screen. The yellow circle is the target area of the spell itself, while the blue circle is the range. I screenshotted this for the purpose of showing the edge of the circle, but Flare’s range actually extends way beyond what you see here. Different spells have different max ranges, which is handy to keep in mind.   The elemental AOE Joint Spells will usually fill the screen with effects. It looks devastating as all hell, but the actual damage could be pitiful if you only cast a Level 1 or 2 version.  Single target Joint Spells, on the other hand, tend to be much more elaborate.    Such as Soul Force, which involves using the loving moon to shoot a laser from space at enemies like Bahamut ZERO.  Not all AOE spells are circular, either. Thunderbolt (Wind Edge+Sand Shot) is a line type. Very good for narrow hallways or places where the enemy is being funneled into a line. Anyway, that’s enough messing around with Joint Spells. Let’s go get permission to enter those ruins.  On the way out of No Angeles, we will find that the Transgate has become active. Now we just need to plant a destination gate somewhere else and it will be usable.  When we get to Marquelia, we notice a few oddities right away. There’s a Marquelay soldier standing outside the inn cursing Valkania under his breath for some reason. The armour shop clerk will also stop us as we pass by to let us know that new stock is available.  It’s the same stuff from Riesel. I do a little bit of shopping, though. Eliza gets bumped up to a Mysterious Dress after I sell the Vito’s Nostrum we picked up in Iglesias (it sells for about 3,200), since I don’t have any need for it personally. I sell Eliza’s old gear and some rings to also grab a Sage’s Robe for Frayne. We’re tapped out again, but I should be able to remedy that once we get to the new ruins and I’m able to grind out Ril/Exp on higher level enemies.  Once we move towards the castle, we’ll spot some Valkanian soldiers at the gate. Hm, that’s a little odd, even if they’re only here as guards. I don’t see any Marquelian soldiers, either.Hmm… curious. The Valkanian soldiers won’t allow us to enter the castle if we talk to them. They just shoo us away by telling us that they are on guard duty and no unauthorized personnel are allowed entry.  What we need to do is go back to the inn where that Marquelian soldier was grumbling. Inside, there’s another soldier that will ask us if we need to meet with the Princess. Princess Alicia is here?[Marquelay Soldier]: Yes… Didn’t you know? The castle was overtaken by Valkanian soldiers. If the princess hadn’t made it out, she might’ve been held captive now. I’ll show you to her room straightaway!  Can we not leave a place alone for 2 seconds without it being invaded or destroyed? Princess Alicia. What happened here? I’m sure you’ve already heard, but my castle has been taken by Valkania. However, “protection” was the last thing from their mind. “Occupation” is more the order of the day.Welp, I guess that explains the reason for sending 20% of the frontline army into Marquelay. Can we do anything to help? This place is like my home. Crevanille, if it is your intention to fight, you can count on my strength. C-Could it be…? Are you swordmaster Hien!? I-Indeed… So, what will you do? Will you leave them to do as they please? You’re planning to fight, then? I don’t want that. I’ve always believed peace to be the best option. But there are times when we must take a stand, and I believe this may be one such time. So, Marquelay is prepared for this… We’re dedicated, but Valkania’s spell attacks may be too much for us. Even taking back the castle may prove difficult. Please… Will you help us? Yes.Sure. I don’t think we have any hangups about it. Valkania might be cooler than Dulkheim, but they did still kidnap Vallery and take him away from us. That’s all I need for justification to join a war. Plus, No Angeles is in Marquelay. We’re not going to let any assholes take our city away from us.  Thank you! Just your presence among the soldiers will bolster morale. Hien… Isn’t your niece in Valkania? If the time comes that I must face her in battle, I am certain that we can make her see the folly of this.Good to hear, my man. Wel— *A soldier barges into the room*  What!? We must hurry and stop them! Let us go. Thank you, Sir Hien. We cannot lose with you on our side! To the castle, then![Marquelay Soldier]: Wh-What of the treasure that was already carried out, though? We’ll get that back. Thank you! Hien, come on! Indeed.*Hien and Baker head for the castle* Good luck to you all. We will draft a plan to take back the castle.You got it, Princess. Let’s go ever—  Hm? What is it? …No, never mind. Be safe, everyone. My prayers will be with you.Would you just talk to him, already? Don’t spend two thirds of the game pulling this “Will I say it this time?” crap.  Turning our attention back to the mission at hand, our objective lies just around the corner from No Angeles. Hien and Baker are dealing with the castle, so it’s our job to chase after the treasure that has already been carted out of Marquelia.  Before proceeding to the next screen, make sure you’ve saved and also make sure to do your pre-fight buffing. Protect isn’t super important in this fight, but Attack Up and Cycle Up (if you are lucky enough to have scored it previously) are very helpful. Cycle Up is expensive (10MP per cast), but 30 MP is good enough for Crevanille in this fight.  We have found them! Hold it right there! You will return what you stole this instant! [Valkania Captain]: Stay calm. Our mission is to take back the treasure. Make protecting it your priority. [Valkania Soldier #1]: Understood, sir! Hm, they’ve taken more of it than I thought. If they get away with even half of that, Marquelay’s finances will be hit hard.And there’s our mission objective. We need to target and defeat as many of those transport animals as we can before they escape the screen. If 4 of them escape, then we fail. A mission complete will obviously require us to take down all 8 animals. Mission Clear will happen if at least 1 of them manages to escape.  NOTICE: Welcome to another “Growlanser likes to gently caress with you” moment. The player can be introduced to Joint Spells right before this mission, which at first glance seems custom made for AOE spells. The game wants to give you some practice with a big group of enemies so you can see just how powerful Joint Spells can be, right? Hahaha! Wrong. Avoid Joint Spells in this mission. It’s a cruel trick by the game.  Issue #1: Blizzard has a short max range, so if you try to use that, you won’t even be able to hit many of the transport animals in the back, let alone the ones at the front of the line. Issue #2: Even the longer range AOE spells like Flare will likely fail to hit. By the time your characters can charge Flare, the front of the convoy will be at the edge of Flare’s target range.  Issue #3: Low level AOE spells don’t pack much individual damage for the charge time. If you try and charge a higher level AOE, then the transport animals will have likely escaped the max range of the spell by the time you finish. Issue #4: The two soldiers and the archer at the back of the line will go straight for you at the start of the fight. When they get to you, they will slow down your casting time by attacking you. The one caveat to what I’m telling you: If you took the time to grind out skill experience for Synchronize so that you can cast higher level Joint Spells, then you might be able to one-shot the transport animals before they can escape the max range. I didn’t bother to try it, but I will concede it may be possible. It may also be possible to fire Level 1 Flares fast enough to take them down before they slip beyond the max range,  The better approach to this fight is to have everyone immediately start casting Level 3-4 single target spells. Single target spells don’t have a max range, so if the spell you cast doesn’t kill a transport animal in one hit, then you can very quickly cast a Level 1 spell to finish the job. You also won’t be waiting on multiple characters to charge spells before attacking using this approach. Remember that even with Cycle Up, some characters have better Spell Charge time than others (DEX helps determine this). Remus/Frayne/Eliza have better DEX than Crevanille, so they can charge spells faster than he can. With the single-target method, characters can just throw spells out as soon as they are ready and then start charging a new one.  Once you’ve whittled the transport animals down to 2, the other Valkania soldiers will turn around and go after your party. At this point, you should be free to switch Crevanille and Eliza to focus on the soldiers attacking you and the reinforcements that are now approaching. Frayne and Remus should continue attacking the remaining transport animals with spells. Remus’ line of sight is blocked by that big rock/hill, by the way. It’s best not to try and attack the transports with him physically, because then he’ll run straight into the soldiers while trying to line up a shot.  Using single-target spells, I managed to complete this mission with a bonus gauge of +15, which scores us a ton of EXP and Ril. Now don’t get the wrong idea: Joint Spells can be incredibly useful, especially once you have access to certain combinations and higher max spell levels. But in my experience, Joint Spells are not good for situations such as these, when you need to quickly stop something before it escapes. They also lose out against single-target spells when the enemies are spread out or very far away. Impressive, Master. We were able to take back all the treasure. Baker! A little late, aren’t we? We took back the treasure!*There’s a slight time skip where the Marquelay soldiers collected the treasure and move it back to the capital* Phew… thank you. You saved us. Now it’s time to take back the castle. You’ll be helping with that, right? Yes, of course.In for a penny, in for a pound. You have our gratitude! Okay, I must make preparations. Come to the harbor when you’re ready to proceed.You heard the man. Heading to the harbor will trigger the next mission, so make sure you prepare. If you struggled with this mission, then maybe consider grinding a little more or fiddling with spellstones.  There is a chance that you may have received Intelligence Up +1 from this battle. This is a good spellstone for Frayne, as it increases the strength of attack and healing spells. It also teaches Bind and Fire Arrow. Once you’re ready, make sure to rest up and save at the Marquelay Inn before heading to the harbor.  I apologize that I must wait until later to repay the debt of gratitude I owe you.Hien will be outside the castle, facing off with the Valkania soldiers. We’ll leave the siege to him and go meet Baker at the port.  Let’s do this. All right. I will explain the operation. The Valkania Army has several of our ministers held hostage, and we can’t let that continue. How will we get in? There is a secret passage that’s in place for emergencies. We will take you there by ship. There are two entrances to this area, so please divide your group into two. Two teams of two, then? Correct.Crevanille needs a partner for this operation. Because Frayne got the most votes for the furlough, I go with her. In this case the thread has gifted me the best choice for this mission, as I will soon explain. Y-Yes, I understand. The remaining two will form the other team. All right, then. Please board the ship! After boarding the ship with our teammate, we find ourselves in some underground tunnels. There should be stairs up ahead, right? Oh, that must be it. I wonder if the others are okay. I’m sure they’re fine. You’re right, Crevanille. We should trust our friends. And we need to do our best to not let them down!*Frayne continues ahead, but Yuni stops us for a moment*  I cannot logically describe this, but I have a bad feeling… I’ll be careful. Thank you, Master.Ominous.   So, this is where the passage leads. I guess Remus and Eliza should be coming out the hidden door on the pillar farthest back? Let’s try to defeat the Valkania soldiers around here before they exit, okay?Now is the moment for you to apply your pre-fight buffs. The battle only triggers once you start going up one of those stairways on the left and right. Attack Up and Protect are handy here, assuming one of the two characters you have possesses them. Cycle Up will never not be handy, which is why I wanted Crevanille to start learning it right away.  Now, this is a personal strategy that you can try if you are having trouble Completing this mission. I load up Crevanille with MOV Up +2 stones. This boosts his Movement speed by 80% (223 to 401). You’ll learn why I did this very shortly. The colours don’t match up with the Ring’s slots, but that’s fine. I’m not looking to level the skills, I just want the MOV Speed Up buff of the stones themselves.  I recommend approaching from the left stairway. The reason for this will also be explained soon. [Valkania Captain]: Wh-Where did they come from!?  There are a bunch of soldiers now aggroed on us. I send Crevanille after this guy up here, because I want to clear a path further into the hall. Frayne should start casting attack spells. Picking off one of the archers is a good start. The good thing about having Frayne for this mission is that she starts the battle tucked away down the stairs, so none of the enemies currently on the field can attack her (the archers can only hit what they can see). The other soldiers would have to go through Crevanille in order to get to Frayne, and that sure as hell isn’t going to happen. If their AI was better, they could circle around behind her from the other stairs, but it’s not, so they will simply head in a straight line to the left stairway.  As soon as you choose your first actions, the two archers will make a run for the doors in order to warn Simmons. We want to stop them from doing that. Simmons will eventually be alerted anyway, but I think the archers are able to call him in early if they get to the rear doors. A Level 2 or 3 spell from Frayne should be able to take out one of the archers. Meanwhile, Crevanille’s insane movement speed boost will let him blitz the other archer before she can get too far.  With the archers down, I would recommend turning your attention to the Valkanian Captain. He’s Level 24 with the ??? health bar.  Once you take out the Captain (or one of the other soldiers), Simmons will arrive with two spellcasters at his side. [Valkania Soldier #2]: Captain! Intruders!  What? The Marquelians!? …There’s just two of them![Valkania Soldier #2]: B-But they’re stronger than they look. Enough! We have hostages, so just calm down. We’ll show them what happens when someone defies the Valkania Army! No! Here is why I boosted Crevanille’s movement speed. As soon as Simmons joins the fight, him and (usually) the spellcaster on the left will make a beeline for the rooms near the bottom of the screen. There are three rooms on each side of the hall and they all have a civilian minister in them. In order to get a Mission Complete, we need to stop the Valkanians from killing any hostages. Frayne should pick off the spellcaster, while Crevanille should position himself between the lower middle room and Simmons.  Has the fighting already begun? I report that the hostages are in imminent danger. Roger that! Awaiting your orders! With Remus and Eliza now in the fight, we can deal with the other soldiers while Crevanille fights Simmons. Remus and Frayne should try and take out the leftover soldiers at the front, because they will also be focusing on hostages from this point on. Eliza should be sent to deal with the two spellcasters at the back.  Simmons needs to be physically blocked from the room with the hostage that he has his sights on. Attacking him from behind with Remus and Eliza will not stop him from heading to the room.  He’s fairly strong, but Crevanille should still be able to out damage him without any help. If not, then just have Crevanille use a turn to throw a Secret Vulnerary or something. Whenever Eliza finishes cleaning up the soldiers in the back, you can have her help Crevanille or help Remus/Frayne with the remaining soldiers. Either way, use spells or items, because Eliza will likely not be able to cover the distance needed to physically attack another enemy in time.   You’re not even a soldier! How could I lose to this!? drat it!*Simmons runs for the throne room* Hey, you get back here! We need to prioritize saving the hostages! If there are any soldiers left alive by this point, then have Crevanille help with them. Thankfully, the hostages are strong enough to survive at least one attack from a soldier or spellcaster (they will probably scrape through a second hit, but it isn't a sure bet). Simmons, however, could one-shot them and will definitely 2-shot them, so make sure he doesn’t get inside a room. If you need to, remember that non-party allies can still be healed by you. You can quickly use a Secret Vulnerary to get a hostage back to full health if you need to buy time for a spell or Remus to deal with the attacking soldier.  Looks like all the hostages are safe, too. Thank god. We’re the greatest! …Except for all those times where we failed, like with Dixon, Ribocca, Vallery, and Trockmere! Superlative, everyone.*Hien and Baker enter from the front* Is everyone safe? Hien! Guess the outside of the castle has been dealt with, too. Sir Hien, everyone… You have my ever-lasting gratitude. We would have failed without you. But… Marquelay’s relationship with Valkania is… I’m prepared for that. Even if it comes to war, it’s better to fight than weakly submit. Ah, that would be great! And you are…?[Carnos]: My name is Carnos, and I’m friend [sic] of Crevanille and the others. I can’t fight like I could before, but I can still teach! We can use all the help we can get. Once we’re through with you, Marquelay will have an unmatched fighting force! [Marquelay Traitor/Valkania Spy]: If only he didn’t exist…! *The guy rushes Crevanille* *gasp* Master, look out!*The screen goes white* *kill him* Nice try, jackass.[Marquelay Traitor/Valkania Spy]: Guh… Captain… Simmons… *Falls over dead* I’m glad I was in time… I would not have been able to tell you fast enough without the resonators… I’m pleased I was able to be of use, Master… There’s a little bit of story stuff after this, but we’re going to stop this update here because we need to have a little bonus update to discuss what just happened with Yuni. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Jul 11, 2021 |
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Jul 11, 2021 18:51
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Psycho Knight posted:
For shame. I'm open to renaming the city if someone can come up with something the thread agrees is better. Your call how to handle that.
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Jul 11, 2021 19:26
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Psycho Knight posted:Update 16: A knife in the back Typo here (no -> now)? ultrafilter posted:For shame. My vote would be for "Some Angeles", but it doesn't fit. 
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Jul 11, 2021 19:48
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Space Kablooey posted:My vote would be for "Some Angeles", but it doesn't fit. That ten character limit is a hard constraint to work with.
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Jul 11, 2021 19:52
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ultrafilter posted:I'm open to renaming the city if someone can come up with something the thread agrees is better. Your call how to handle that. In that case, we'll see how it goes as the game progresses. If everyone latches on to a new name the way they did for yours, then we'll revisit the topic. Space Kablooey posted:Typo here (no -> now)? Thanks, fixed. Yeah, the character limit is a killer for funny/creative names, not just in this game.
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Jul 11, 2021 20:04
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ultrafilter posted:For shame. Looks like the town should be called TwoAngels now.
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Jul 12, 2021 01:34
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Welcome to Growlanser 4, where a ginger and his ragtag group of anime take over an entire continent for the country that can't fight it's way out of a paper bag because the other 2 countries on it are headed by douchebags. I completely forgot you could rename the town, the game literally treats Crevanille like Jesus, so why not Nazareth?
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Jul 12, 2021 02:30
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Psycho Knight posted:Update 15.5 – Takin’ a Break (Furlough #1) Another typo
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Jul 12, 2021 02:48
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Evil Fluffy posted:Looks like the town should be called TwoAngels now. One more character--just one more!--and we could have Dos Angeles.
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Jul 12, 2021 02:57
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At least its not the ye olde days of 5 character limits when like 80% of people have 6 letter names.
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Jul 12, 2021 03:29
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I'm still disappointed to share a thread with a bunch of Remus-haters. Some good Little poo poo reply options there... quote:The elemental AOE Joint Spells will usually fill the screen with effects. It looks devastating as all hell, but the actual damage could be pitiful if you only cast a Level 1 or 2 version. jrpg.gif That Soul Force is real impressive looking for one of your first combo spells.
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Jul 12, 2021 04:30
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ultrafilter posted:One more character--just one more!--and we could have Dos Angeles. Cant we just get rid of the space and make it one word?
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Jul 12, 2021 05:53
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—Extra Update 2: A Familiar Fate— Yes, our Familiar is included in the characters whose fates can be changed with the Fate system. So what would have happened to Yuni if we hadn’t inquired about the resonators, then collected them, then shown them to Carnos?   Yep, same thing that would have happened to every other Fate character so far: She dies.   Remus will be distraught. Meanwhile, Eliza will throw out suggestions on how to bring the Familiar back (giving the protection spell "back", using some kind of ancient spell), only for Frayne to shoot the suggestions down by saying they aren't possible.   So, in the Original Route/PS2 Version, your Familiar takes the hit for Crevanille and dies from her injuries. It’s a shocking and heartbreaking moment… or at least it would have been—  —had the PS2 version not spoiled it in the loving animated intro of the game for some deranged reason.  Translation: We have a little something to show him… Now, you might (rightfully) conclude that the game isn’t going to take away your Familiar from you so early in the game, since she handles some important aspects like Friendship Ratings, Fast Travel, Scouting, and Foresight.  Yes, she does get brought back in the PS2 version (as well as this version, if you didn’t do the Resonator side quest). Crevanille spends a few days locked in his room being despondent, with Eliza, Frayne, and then Remus dropping in to try and cheer him up. Eventually he spies Frayne visiting Remus’ room and going inside. The two of them seem to be planning something. Later, Eliza enters his room and notices that he seems to be feeling a little better compared to yesterday, so she drags him out of the house to walk around the city with her. Upon their return, Frayne and Remus are waiting at the entrance and tell him that they’ve got a surprise waiting for Crevanille in his room. He goes up there to find the Familiar, and the rest of the party eventually arrives to explain that Frayne and Remus managed to create a new Familiar based on data from the Dollhouse.  Translation: Um… nice to meet you. You must be my master. Unfortunately, they really do mean a new Familiar. The Familiar that joins you looks the same as the one you just had and has the same skills/stats, but she doesn’t quite have the same personality. She also lacks the memories and experiences of the one you just had.  Translation: For Master, I will do my best in place of the previous Familiar. So it’s not all smiles and happy endings. You get your Familiar back, but she’s essentially a different being. You are even asked to rename her, and Remus will be a little taken aback if you pick the same name as the last Familiar, making it clear that even he and Frayne know that this Familiar is merely a replacement. But it can potentially get even more hosed up! Following the Familiar's death, user Polsy states that a scene will happen later on where the new Familiar shows you a vision/foresight of the deceased Familiar. The dead Familiar will attempt to bring some closure by encouraging Crevanille/the Player and the new Familiar to take care of each other now that she's (the dead Familiar) gone. Now, you might think "If the dead Familiar can apparently talk to you from beyond the grave, then she must still exist in some form, right?" Well, it actually is possible to fully revive your original Familiar. From what I’ve read, you achieve that by being as mean as you can to your new Familiar. This supposedly results in her reaching a point where she basically erases herself to bring back the original. Although I have not seen these events for myself, user JamMasterJim claims that it's true. According to them, "The last thought of the new familiar is that this is the only way they can be useful to you." That's a super messed up thing to let the player do! To make it worse, I don't think there's even an ending variation for that scenario, meaning that it isn't required to get 100% completion. It's just something completely reprehensible that the game allows the player do.  Either way, many people may cheer the inclusion of the Fate system purely for this moment, because it allows you to save the little fairy companion you’ve grown to love (I assume). It’s especially poignant for Type D-MD, because of the way she thinks of herself. Something that isn’t outright stated in-game until much later on is the fact that D-MD sees herself only as a tool for her Master (Crevanille). The other Familiar types have the same fierce loyalty and willingness to die if it means saving Crevanille, but D-MD is the only one that sees that as a Familiar’s intended function instead of something done out of affection. Only if she's good in battle. This is evident from the choices which lead to getting a Type D-MD Familiar: “Only if she’s good in battle”, “Eh, girls are problematic” (automatic D-MD), “Serious, skilled, and serene”, and “Don’t care, as long as she’s useful”. Being able to save her in the PSP version is a way of showing her that she matters as an individual and is not simply a floating 1-Up or Swiss Army Knife. That said, I understand any complaints from people who feel as though the Fate system being extended to certain characters ruins some potentially emotional moments. There’s arguments to be made for both viewpoints. I had actually considered putting Yuni’s ultimate fate up to the thread as a vote, but that would have spoiled the moment. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Aug 1, 2021 |
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Jul 12, 2021 14:42
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| # ? May 9, 2024 23:27 |
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Psycho Knight posted:Apparently (and I say that because I can’t find a playthrough to verify it), in the Original Route it is possible to fully revive your original Familiar. From what I’ve read, you achieve that by being as mean as you can to your new Familiar. This supposedly results in her reaching a point where she basically erases herself to bring back the original. If true, that is a surprisingly messed up option to give the player. I wouldn't put it past this game after what we've seen so far. ...Crevanille's black lipstick makes him look like a j-rocker...
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Jul 12, 2021 17:12
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