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yokaiy posted:
You do know that you are a beautiful son of a bitch right? Because that is fantastic.
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Apr 8, 2014 05:53
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I've never liked the Mantors that the Le Buque folks use. Is it weird that I can handle dragons that sound like elephants, dragonhorses, gul-horses, giant owls and those kangaroo-looking things from Tactics... but not flying beetles?
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Apr 8, 2014 09:25
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 Been reading the S3 manga recently and I came across this page. Yes Konami, It would be absolutely terrible if an officer in an order of knights looked too much like an authority figure, I mean she's a WOMAN after all. Let's make her a ball of emotions and tears, even in battle. Delsaber posted:I've never liked the Mantors that the Le Buque folks use. Is it weird that I can handle dragons that sound like elephants, dragonhorses, gul-horses, giant owls and those kangaroo-looking things from Tactics... but not flying beetles? I was fine with them until I found out they also shoot lasers. Just seemed kinda too far for me.
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Apr 8, 2014 09:36
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Fred is an unstoppable one man army once you get his skills up.
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Apr 8, 2014 09:39
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Medrex posted:
Konami got what they wanted with the writing, but well...      
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Apr 8, 2014 10:16
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drat. Just, drat.  Edit: Probably shouldn't have been listening to this while reading that. Alacron fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Apr 8, 2014 |
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Apr 8, 2014 10:20
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Yeah never liked Lulu in the game but the manga does make him seem like a more typical kid by abridging stuff and then this
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Apr 8, 2014 10:25
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Yeah, despite some terrible orders from above, the Manga was really is a nice piece of work overall. The way they messed with Chris was one of only two things I don't like about it. The other being Lilly starting that fight with Chris by saying Chris probably sexed her way into her position. Lilly's a bit of a brat but she's not THAT bad.
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Apr 8, 2014 11:41
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CmdrKing posted:Fred- Our fourth ubertank. Unlike the others, he actually doesn't get Heavy Armor as an equipment class, but chainmail plus shields lets him compete with folks like Chris in sheer defense anyway. He's the S rank shield user, meaning he's by a wide margin the dodgiest of the tanks, although why you want your tanks dodging I don't know. The trouble with tanks is you really need the latest gear from the Zexen Council Private Armory to get them in top fighting shape, which we can't with Chris out of uniform, and Fred's initial gear isn't up to snuff. The reason a tank likes to "dodge" more often than not is to drastically reduce the odds that they randomly die to critical hits, which ignore defense. Fred may not have nearly as much sheer bulk as Leo, but he might be more reliable overall. Granted it doesn't really matter that much. Pretty much all the tanks in this game (even the ones that are clearly intended to not be that great) are pretty incredible at their job.
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Apr 8, 2014 12:43
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Beyond just mechanics, I just like Fred more than other tanks. I like how the ducks are horrified that Fred is asking if the witches practice witchcraft. Not that the ducks think it's untrue, but they're terrified that they'll be turned into frogs or something.
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Apr 8, 2014 17:33
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eehehehehe Landis, I think was one of those late game "Oh, I don't have this guy yet, better pick him up and bench him so I can get on with things" characters for me, so I never used him. Don't think I used any of these people once I got a choice, actually... Probably should have stuck with the ducks. Ducks rule. Medrex posted:I was fine with them until I found out they also shoot lasers. Just seemed kinda too far for me. Bug lasers are great, why do you hate fun 
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Apr 8, 2014 19:15
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Where the gently caress did Sheba come from Sheba you were not there for Lulu's death 
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Apr 8, 2014 20:05
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dancingbears posted:Where the gently caress did Sheba come from The lizards came by after the massacre to see what they could help with (mostly burying the dead). I never realized until I read the manga how much Sgt. Joe was kicking himself in this part.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:12
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That's a rather poetic description, but I suppose a True Fire Rune would be able to set anything but runes on fire.
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Apr 9, 2014 01:00
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Medrex posted:I was fine with them until I found out they also shoot lasers. Just seemed kinda too far for me. I think the lasers are just treated like Runes, if that makes you feel any better? Personally, I like the bugs. They're pretty cool, and bug-riders are not used in things often enough. Dogwood Fleet posted:The lizards came by after the massacre to see what they could help with (mostly burying the dead). They also invite Hugo and Joe to come back to the Great Hollow with them, so they don't end up going to Duck Village at that point. Joe is very much a father-figure to Hugo and Lulu (especially since they don't have fathers or something), to the point that he takes care of them rather than his own family that he apparently has back in Duck Village. Sad as that is, he was probably closer to the Karaya boys than he was to his own children, so seeing Lulu get cut down like that hit him just as hard as if it had been his own child. He's just much more composed than Hugo about that sort of thing. Glazius posted:That's a rather poetic description, but I suppose a True Fire Rune would be able to set anything but runes on fire. We'll be hearing about plenty of things that the True Fire Rune has burned, but yes. That's probably accurate. So here's a question those of you who followed Vilk's thread as well as this one; Yun has just been introduced. Thoughts on her in comparison to Lucretia?  On the one hand, the two of them both seem to have the "look at the other players hand" ability, though it's outright stated that Yun has it for plot reasons while Lucretia seems to just pull it out of her rear end. But I don't find Yun nearly as irritating as I found Lucretia. They've got a similar gimmick, so I'm curious as to what you guys think. Do you feel the same, or is Yun annoying to you guys just like Lucretia? (For those that didn't follow Vilk's thread, Lucretia was the main tactician of Suikoden V.)
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Apr 9, 2014 04:49
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Well, for one, Yun doesn't pull off nearly as much crazy strategy nonsense as Lucretia and, like you said, she is a seer from a secret village of mystical women rather than an incredibly-out-of-place Karayan who happened to study in Harmonia and make connections with the Howling Voice Guild somehow. Plus, Yun's role is much more limited than Lucretia's, considering she's not the strategist in III. Also, freaking Landis. I wouldn't be surprised if he was Sid's nephew or something.
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Apr 9, 2014 05:03
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A large part of Vilk's annoyance with Lucretia was her steadfast refusal to explain even the most minor details of her grand plans. From a pure gameplay standpoint, it make sense since the developers don't want to spoil upcoming awesome scenes. But when you consider that she never explains jack poo poo to the freakin' leader of the entire army that she works for when it would be HELPFUL for him to know the details of the current plan, it's downright infuriating instead. Now, Yun, being a seer and all, is presumably being cryptic for a reason, rather than pulling it out of her rear end, as you put it. That was the rest of the reason for Lucretia being annoying. While it can be assumed that Yun is getting visions or something of what she needs to know, Lucretia just comes off as omniscient and all-knowing and perfect. The fact that she pretty much has her own full-time asskissing squad of Cius and Lelei, who spend more time singing her praises than doing anything else combined, does not help matters.
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Apr 9, 2014 07:28
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yokaiy posted:So here's a question those of you who followed Vilk's thread as well as this one; Yun has just been introduced. Thoughts on her in comparison to Lucretia? As something of an expert on this matter, I can safely say that Yun isn't anywhere near as annoying as Lucretia. Though to be fair, we only just met her. At this point, if I didn't just know all this already like I'm psychic or something, I'd say she has the potential to go either way. v  v
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Apr 9, 2014 10:28
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How could anyone dislike Yun? She's adorable. I also agree with everyone else that the cryptic nonsense that Yun pulls out actually makes sense, both in how she knows it in the first place and why she doesn't explain anything.
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Apr 9, 2014 13:30
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vilkacis posted:As something of an expert on this matter, I can safely say that Yun isn't anywhere near as annoying as Lucretia. Yeah, you have to wake up pretty early in the morning to be as annoying as Lucretia. Krin might stand a chance, but otherwise no one really comes to mind.
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Apr 9, 2014 13:32
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I actually really like Lucretia for the most part but I imagine I'm the only person here with that opinion.
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Apr 9, 2014 14:34
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Endorph posted:I actually really like Lucretia for the most part but I imagine I'm the only person here with that opinion. Nah I liked her too although I can see where everyone is coming from in regards to her. I just tend to like omniscent/ridiculously powerful characters even if they can be dull/harmful in a story sense.
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Apr 9, 2014 16:38
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vilkacis posted:Bug lasers are great, why do you hate fun yokaiy posted:I think the lasers are just treated like Runes, if that makes you feel any better? Personally, I like the bugs. They're pretty cool, and bug-riders are not used in things often enough. I like the concept of them. Giant flying beetle mounts with natural magic powers are cool, it just seems kind of overpowered in the setting. You've got normal foot-soldiers, cavalry, archers, some mages and OH-GOD-GIANT-FLYING--BEETLES-DISPENSING-EXPLOSIVE-DEATH-FROM-THE-HEAVENS! Like mini-dragons that are easier to breed and care for. The way the manga depicts them it's almost like modern day chopper-backup. Endorph posted:I actually really like Lucretia for the most part but I imagine I'm the only person here with that opinion. I tend to like her too, her appearance, personality and backstory are all pretty nice, the problem comes from the writer's infuriating obsession with surprise strategy reveals to try and make her look even more amazing when all it really does is make her seem ridiculous in hindsight for not telling people things she really has no good reason not to.
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Apr 10, 2014 14:08
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I thought Lucretia was the alcoholic strategist lady that looked like, uh, Lily Munster? I think my favorite thing about Yun was the "sometimes the spirits mumble" line.
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Apr 10, 2014 17:57
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Rockopolis posted:I thought Lucretia was the alcoholic strategist lady that looked like, uh, Lily Munster? That's Elenor from 4.
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Apr 10, 2014 18:08
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Medrex posted:I tend to like her too, her appearance, personality and backstory are all pretty nice, the problem comes from the writer's infuriating obsession with surprise strategy reveals to try and make her look even more amazing when all it really does is make her seem ridiculous in hindsight for not telling people things she really has no good reason not to.
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Apr 10, 2014 18:15
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Despite Suikoden III already having segments where you lose, but the player has the job of keeping losses to a minimum (the Safe Retreat battles). Suikoden V pretends to have one of those when Sialeeds takes up the Twilight Rune, but it still doesn't impact the impression Lucretia gives off. It's too bad, because in addition to Lucretia's functional omniscience, one of the major problems in Suikoden V is the Godwins NEVER come across as a real threat once you get through the prologue, and letting them actually win a couple battles because they strike before Lucretia's plans come to fruition (bonus points, her plans don't trigger because the Prince doesn't know about them) would have been a big help to the game.
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Apr 10, 2014 19:48
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Endorph posted:To be fair, she outright says that she's trying to come across omnipotent and like a miracle worker. The army needs a miracle worker, so that's what she's trying to be. The main problem is she never fucks up, and no one ever calls her out on not telling them important info, but I feel like both of those are sacrifices to gameplay more than anything. You're right, my biggest issue is there is just too much left unexplained as a whole in that game, and she's the smarmy face you want to smack that represents a very small portion of it. It's still my favorite though, tied with S3.
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Apr 10, 2014 20:28
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CmdrKing posted:Despite Suikoden III already having segments where you lose, but the player has the job of keeping losses to a minimum (the Safe Retreat battles). Suikoden V pretends to have one of those when Sialeeds takes up the Twilight Rune, but it still doesn't impact the impression Lucretia gives off. It's too bad, because in addition to Lucretia's functional omniscience, one of the major problems in Suikoden V is the Godwins NEVER come across as a real threat once you get through the prologue, and letting them actually win a couple battles because they strike before Lucretia's plans come to fruition (bonus points, her plans don't trigger because the Prince doesn't know about them) would have been a big help to the game. Suikoden 3 does probably the best safe retreat/hold the line battle in the entire series. It's a cake walk once you've played the game and know where to get all the stars, bothered leveling people up, etc. But on your first playthrough when you've been able to steamroll every strategy battle with just 1 party, don't have sharpened weapons everywhere, are probably missing ~30 dudes...that battle is definitely loseable. And the reinforcements you get toward the end are an absolute godsend. It's kind of a shame Yokaiy has already played the game and knows what s/he is doing; it's hard to capture the desperation in that battle.
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Apr 10, 2014 20:44
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FairGame posted:Suikoden 3 does probably the best safe retreat/hold the line battle in the entire series. It's a cake walk once you've played the game and know where to get all the stars, bothered leveling people up, etc. Making sure to get the stars aside, I'm actually playing pretty haphazardly. Not going out of my way to sharpen weapons, equip, level people that I'm picking up, or take on treasure bosses for loot, so I'm pretty sure I'll have some problems with some of the upcoming battles. I'm kinda expecting the one coming up soonest to be difficult, since last time I played I remember having issues with it. Oh boy did I have issues with it. The battles thus far have also all been easy, they pick up in difficulty from about here on out. Medrex posted:I like the concept of them. Giant flying beetle mounts with natural magic powers are cool, it just seems kind of overpowered in the setting. You've got normal foot-soldiers, cavalry, archers, some mages and OH-GOD-GIANT-FLYING--BEETLES-DISPENSING-EXPLOSIVE-DEATH-FROM-THE-HEAVENS! Like mini-dragons that are easier to breed and care for. The way the manga depicts them it's almost like modern day chopper-backup. Then again, the mantors kind of have to be awesome when they're the only thing that is keeping Le Buque from being squashed under Harmonia's boot like a bug. If they weren't, the village probably would have been wiped off the map 50 years ago. Medrex posted:I tend to like her too, her appearance, personality and backstory are all pretty nice, the problem comes from the writer's infuriating obsession with surprise strategy reveals to try and make her look even more amazing when all it really does is make her seem ridiculous in hindsight for not telling people things she really has no good reason not to. To those points, I agree. When Lucretia was first introduced, I was actually really excited about her. She seemed cool, they did a good job of making her seem like she was an important person worth nabbing as well as introducing her as a kind of person who does whatever they feel will best help the situation, even if it means betraying the commander. And then she was a Grasslander on top of that! And that was awesome. But then she turned out to not be as cool as I thought when she started pulling dumb shenanigans out of her butt, and that sucked. Yun, on the other hand, doesn't seem as aggravating, and I like her a fair bit. Personally I think it's because she's not actually 100% sure on everything, even with the spirits telling her what's gonna happen and what needs to be done -- she still has to go and make those things happen herself. Or, at least, make sure those things happen. Rockopolis posted:I think my favorite thing about Yun was the "sometimes the spirits mumble" line. I like that line a lot too. 
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Apr 10, 2014 22:08
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Yun, above all, is humble. She doesn't glory in not telling you poo poo for literally no reason. When she doesn't tell you stuff, it's to the best of my recollection for a valid reason. Also help I literally cannot stop laughing at LandisArt.jpg He's honestly really good if you ask me. He's a solid hitter that doesn't give a gently caress about magic damage and I cheerfully used him in Chris' party lineup for the rest of the game.
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Apr 12, 2014 07:56
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This duck loves his food to the point he even names his weapon food. Makanan is the Malay word for food. Rhett should be holding the True Gastronomy Rune.
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Apr 14, 2014 07:06
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Chris Chapter 3.2 - Village of Shamans I feel like we've been here a lot lately, huh. Well, let's head in and see what's going on.  Immediately, the ducks start giggling to themselves.  : "Excuse me, Rhett."  : "Yes?": "Could you keep that to yourself for the moment? We have more important matters to attend to." : "I don't care to make a spectacle of myself, anyway.": "Sure you don't want people to admire you?": "I'm sure.": "Drat! Well, if that's your wish, I'll do my best to honor it." : "Well, then we'll go see the village chief and report on the incident at the Chisha Village." The two run ahead, as the rest of the group lingers to chat a bit.  : "I sense they're definitely somewhere in the village." Why do you keep leaving me?   Yun may be coy with information, but I'm sure you can already guess as to who we're picking up here anyway.  Did you guess Caesar and Apple? Because it's Caesar and Apple.   : "What and where? You have to be more specific."Apple shakes her head. I wonder who they're talking about?  : "That's why we're here... to investigate!": "You call this milling around investigating? Unbelievable! Remember the last chance you had me take? You know, in that last battle...?" : "The food at the lodging is awful. I'll try to find us something else, okay?"What, you don't like raw fish?  He turns and nearly runs into Yun, who was waiting just off-screen to ambush him. : "Do you want me to tell you where he is?"She takes a step towards him, and he takes one backwards in turn. : "Who the hell are you?": "You are looking for someone, aren't you? Actually, I am looking for someone too." : "No idea."They relocate to talk a bit more.  : "Basically, yes, but you're slightly off track.": "Uh... I don't know, then.": "You are from Alma Kinan. A possessed child. A shaman who speaks with the spirits. Am I right?": "You know a lot. But you look like you're from someplace other than the Grasslands.": "I'm from the Republic of Toran, where I studied for a while. Since Alma Kinan villagers seldom leave the village, what brings you here?"  : "It's not entirely clear, but there's an evil force coming that could wreak havoc upon the land. If we don't oppose it, expect a disaster so horrific the spirits would shudder.": "I'm not the superstitious type, but you mentioned something interesting. You know where this conspirator is?" What, the conspirator showing up will result in Chisha being saved?? Hmm... : "What shall we do, Apple?": "We'll come with you."Caeasr: "W-wait a minute now. Who made you the boss?" : "We can't just stay here doing nothing.": "Still..."  : "E-excuse me?": "Ah! I was right! How do you do, Lady Chris? I noticed a resemblance, so I thought it might be you. See, Caesar?": "All right."The scene fades as they go outside and make ready to leave.  : "Yes, if you please." : "I have no idea." : "drat!"They really have been out of the loop recently, haven't they?  : "No, no problem."Caught off-guard, Chris takes a couple steps back. : "Oh, she is your choice. I see.": "Hee hee.": "Hmm?" : "Yes, Caesar. I'll handle the messenger business. Don't go wild while I'm away. Understood?"Remember this in approximately 2 minutes. : "Yes, yes, yes. Let's get moving." Caesar jumps into the party in a guest slot, and that about wraps up what we came here for.   Before we head off, I buff up Landis and Yumi's magic skills a bit.  As we're leaving, the ducks return to our party. Now, back to Chisha.   I think you've seen this place often enough recently to know how this works. For some reason, I don't even get into any battles on my way through.  Aaaaand, onward!   : "Heh! You must be talking about me." Caesar steps up smugly.  : "What? Where did he come from?"He ignores Fred and approaches Sana.   : "Yes, my boy. I am Sana, chief of this village.": "Nice to meet you. I am Caesar. I studied strategy in the Toran Republic and Crystal Valley." Remember when Apple told him not to go wild? : "I see.": "Military strategist?": "You dragged me into this, so you follow my orders. Understand?": "What do you mean, 'baboons'?!": "I didn't say that.": "Liar!": "Aren't you in a hurry? Do as I say! Chief Sana, I'll need you to pass my orders along to the villagers." He promptly starts walking off.    The group meets up shortly thereafter in the square, as planned, so that Caesar can give instructions.  : "Auxiliary troops?": "Apple has taken care of that, so don't worry.": "Even with auxiliary troops, we have to plan a strategy. We can't just wait around here.": "Our strategy is simple. We just focus on repelling the next onslaught. The other troops will follow in suit. We'll guard the village entrance and drive the enemy away. That's it." Caesar nods. : "A more complicated plan would be easier to botch. I'll finish organizing units for combat. Then we'll be ready." Well, this is a new menu. Starting from now, I believe, we'll be able to customize our battle units. Right now, though, we don't have enough units to really do much, so I'll be leaving it on the default arrangement, as is. Not much to work with, really. The layout is pretty self-explanatory -- the numbered panes correspond to your unit numbers. In this case, we've got three and a reserve. The "three" (in quotes because I don't have a single full unit) people at the upper part of the windows are your general units, with the one highlighted in gold as your leader, and the one below them as their support. You can see more information in the lower panels. Rhett has a weird weapon, so that's why it says "other" next to the sword icon, if you were wondering. You'll notice that we're missing some units, which is an interesting quirk of strategy battles -- some of our stars just don't get to fight in them. Though it might also be a quirk of this specific battle, since I think Mel, at least, would normally be available for them. Not sure about Landis and Wan Fu.  : "We're ready. All that's left to do is fight.": "I'm depending on you." And now for the battle!  Someone in the thread mentioned that I was making these look easy, and that's been true for the most part. This one is where they start becoming more difficult. I'd say this is the first one where you really have a good chance of losing it, but I'll be playing this one very safe so we won't. : "Guard the entrance area to the village and try to buy time.": "That's the plan?": "Don't sweat it. I've thought this through." The Harmonians pop up on the map. Their icon-symbol, by the way, is that of the Circle Rune.  : "Preparations are complete." : "Good. Start the raid from the village entry, and don't stop until you're done.And make sure to finish before dinnertime."The key to this battle is to be as defensive as possible.  I move Fred back in hopes of luring someone to the center to gang up on, but my plan didn't work.  Harmonian Unit 3 kicks off by attacking Chris and her fighters.  It goes better than I hoped it would, actually, but I'm a little worried about Yumi being so low on HP so early in the strategy battle.  The skirmish ends with Rhett looks a little worse for wear, Yumi looking not so hot, and Chris untouched because she's the rear guard so they'll attack her last.  Unit 2 moves over to share a spot with Unit 3, but can't attack us yet. Dios has this to say after the first skirmish, regardless.  Unit 4 then proceeds to attack Nash, but I'm not going to risk it.  It would be easy to get overwhelmed, and I was pleasantly surprised that Wilder managed to dodge two of the three attacks.  Nash retreats back to the same spot as Fred, Dios moves up, and we get a little bit of HP recovery for being within the confines of our "base," the village.  I move Nash and Fred back to their original spots, and wait. I didn't want to risk attacking with Chris, either, since the defending army gets to choose who intercepts the attack, and the AI is smart enough to pick the stronger unit to do so with.  Nash is attacked again, but he doesn't have to stand his ground, since none of the other units would be able to move far enough to take his spot.  He pulls back next to Fred.  Unit 2 attacks Chris. This time, we fight back.  Ow.  poo poo, no!  Crap crap crap.  Aaauuugh.  Somehow, I get them out of there before Yumi goes down too.  Dios moves up. He's the most dangerous because he's got a full unit. Now, we've only got half-units to block with. I go with Fred since he's more sturdy.  Of course, by "go with" I mean "distract and flee so no one else can take the spot." I do not want to take on four soldiers with just these two.  Three of them get some potshots on Rico before they can get away.  Fred flees to the back.  Everyone moves up once again, and we pray nothing worse happens.  poo poo. New goal: don't loving get near Sasarai. : "It seems they have enlisted quality assistance. It's time to conduct a swift routing of their forces." : "But do not continue the attack further than is necessary. I trust you understand that.": "Of course. Now, they should be along any minute...""They?" Who's "they?"  Unit 4 resumes it's attack.  We retreat, as per usual.  Unit 3, the one that only has one guy in it left, attacks, and we cut him off with Chris. I'm a little worried about Yumi, but I like the odds well enough to go for it.  She does well.  So does Sasarai.  Unit 2 and Dios switch places, and I'm really only posting this picture so you can see just how close Yumi was to death after Sasarai's Rune attack. We get a bit of recovery for being in the village, of course, but wow. Ouch.  Chris's unit can heal by virtue of having Yun, I believe, so I have her use it now.  We all defend.  Dios attacks us, but no. We are not fighting him without our duck.  This one, we intercept with Fred.  I'd hoped it'd be a more even match, so I let them duke it out for a round, and then had them retreat after.  Wait, why did these new circles pop --  poo poo. Hugo, whenever you'd like to get here, that would be absolutely wonderful. Except, you know, if you could do it now, that'd be even better. Just saying.  : "We aren't going through the front door! I'm looking forward to this..." : "We'll be outflanked!": "Don't panic. Chief Sana, proceed as planned.": "Very well. Everyone... Now!" : "Wahhh!" : "What's that smell? It's -- !" : "That was the Le Buque Legionnaire squad on their Mantors. The smoke is from a mixture of manure and dry wood, burned together with shibami grass. Mantors detest the smell. Heehee."Thank goodness. That's one thing out of the way, at least.   : "Sir! It's--" Thank goodness.  : "Uwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!" : "I end the plight of my comrade by Sword, Loyalty, and Strength!" : "Sergeant, let's go!" : "Charge!": "Braggarts. Just because their reinforcements were timely...": "Sir, shall we regroup and attack in greater numbers?": "The thoughts is tempting... But I'd rather go home.": "Sir?": "We needn't trouble ourselves. We've already made our appearance for the day." Dios and his men poof away. : "Retreating?"  : "It's easy to see why. This is not the time to risk anything.": "Ah."He leaves too.  Whew! I think we could have gotten a major victory if Rhett hadn't gone down, but I'm not sure.  : "Yeah, but this isn't the end. They'll be back soon enough." : "Your timing was so good, I'd say you must have been waiting in the wings for your big moment.": "That's more your style, Caesar." I like this shot because the focus is on Apple and Caesar, and Hugo's initial reaction is off-screen. It emphasizes the little spat distracting from the matter at hand. Not that I don't like how he reacts, though. It's just a neat little thing. : "!" The camera moves over to him as he steps out from behind Joe.  : "! The child at the village..."Hugo trembles. : "You took his life. You took my home. Why? What are you doing in Grassland? You don't belong here! This is our village. What do you care what happens to it!": "..........": "Why are you helping us 'barbarians' all of a sudden?" : "Out of my way!" : "Why protect him, Sergeant?": "I know how you feel, but this isn't the way.": "He's right. The battle's not over yet. We can't afford internal discord if there's gonna be more.": "drat it!" Chris promptly gets as far away from Hugo as possible.  : "He's still angry.": "There are plenty of unwanted deaths in war. Even a skilled fighter is likely to have quite a toll.": "Yes, I know..." Chris's face softens a little, and she turns to face Joe. : "Of course.": "Sorry about what happened just now. Hugo is young and doesn't understand.": "That's all right. He has every reason to hate me.": "To be honest, I wouldn't mind avenging Lulu myself.": "Then, why not?"He doesn't answer her.  : "What do you mean?": "You know, the chief of -- oh, I get it. It must've just been a rumor. Can't believe everything you hear, I guess." He ponders this and doesn't say anything else, so Yun interrupts. : "You, from the Duck Clan. Are you done talking?": "Yes, ma'am. I got what I came for." He leaves, and Yun turns to Chris. : "Chris, can you come to Alma Kinan with us?": "Why? If the battle continues, we can't leave the village, can we?": "The other part of our purpose in coming here was to invite you to our own village.": "Why me? What do you want with me?" : "Second to last?": "Yes. You see, I can tell you about your father one we reach my homeland." : "I managed to persuade them, but they'll eventually discover you're the Zexen hero, Chris Lightfellow. In the Grasslands, they call you the Ironhead Chief.": "Still, I can't leave...": "We'll handle this battle ourselves. Tend to your own business."Yeah, I guess we should get going.  : "Come now... It wasn't that much.": "This is fate. Because you were with us, we were able to defend the village. However, we are still destined for more conflict. I wish you well.": "We will be fine. He is with us too.": "That's true."   : "You're probably right, but I feel there's a great confrontation ahead of us." : "Is this why we are going with them?": "That's correct." : "Certainly not! Rico, shut your mouth and get moving!" : "D-Don't go too fast, Master Fred!"  Fred and Rico once again replace our ducks.  Next, Alma Kinan opens up on our map, with the path coming from the Kuput Forest.  Remember that one weird path that looped in on itself?  : "Protective barrier? Is it some kind of magic?": "Could be. Some call it that.": "OK, let's go." He walks off, and the girls look at each other quizzically. : "We didn't invite him, did we?": "It doesn't matter. We haven't had guests for ages." : "What is it? Get moving."Hehe.  Last time we went down this route, there was a thick fog covering the area. It is gone now.  While we're in the area, however, we run into the new rare encounter. The monsters have all been updated, but they're things we saw as Hugo aside from this guy here. (Tarantulas and Needle Beetles, for reference.) The Ghost Holly is essentially a beefier version of the Grand Holly, except the Grand was way scarier back when it was a rare encounter than this guy is now.  Still hits pretty hard, though. Except against Landis, wow. That guy is a champ. I think I'm going to keep him.  It berserks when it gets low enough on HP, which is new for this type of enemy.  Also, it can cast??? I killed it before it got to use whatever it was, though. Which is a shame, I'm really curious about that now.  Continuing on...  The outsiders look around for a few moments. : "A force field? I don't see anything.": "This is it. Usually, you return to where you started from. Its power has weakened lately, though."That doesn't sound good.  Emerging from the force field, we find ourselves in a new screen.  Followed by another. These two are pretty boring.  This one is kinda cool, though.  Oh, hi. Where did you come from? I see you are all armed. So are we.  Oh, okay, false alarm.  : "Hi, Yun, good to see you back. By the way, did you find her?": "Yes, this is Chris, Yuiri. She helped us defend the Chisha Village too."Yun motions towards Chris, who steps forward.  : "Welcome to Alma Kinan!"And here she is from the front. As she said, Yuiri is the Chief of Alma Kinan. At 28 (I think), she is the youngest chief in the Grasslands.  : "Surely, my dear. But that would take longer than I have at the moment. I'm preparing for one of our rituals. Would tonight be soon enough?": "Most assuredly.": "I will come too."Well this is going pretty --  Welp. Nash, first to notice an intrusion, spins around, and the others follow in suit.  Crap.   : "I see at least one of you is perceptive and on the ball."Yuber walks forward nonchalantly, whereas Yun backs up to the protection of some of her clanswomen. : "I make a good spy."  He contemplates this boredly, before walking right past.  He stops before Chris and Yuiri, who both draw their weapons. : "What am I then? Actually, I'm glad I'm not as fragile as coarse as humans are.": "How did you get past the force field into our sacred Alma Kinan? What do you want?!" He looks like he's in a bad mood, but he's kind enough to answer anyway. : "I sensed something amiss... a disturbance in the space continuum. I figured someone was using an invisible force field. All I had to do was find a weak spot in the barrier, and voila! Here I am. But let's get down to business." True... Water Rune? : "Who told you...?"  : "Monster!"Says the guy who's probably not human anymore either.  I really like this, actually. They can tell that he's out for blood, so their first reactions are to draw their weapons and take him down before he murders them all.  Pretty sure the animation for him drawing his swords is faster than this gif. It's really hard to catch.   Aw, man. Landis gets plot-booted in favor of Yuiri, who is not as useful. I mean, she's cool and I like her a lot, but Landis would be really useful here, and for something in a little bit. We won't get to pick him up again until after we desperately need him.  Anyway, this fight. There's just one strategy to use. Hit him frantically until he stops moving or you die.  Our two shaman ladies have a unite, so let's see that.  It's kind of boring, but definitely matches our current strategy.  Basically, they shoot him a lot.  It's kinda lovely, and we're not using it again. At the very least, it hits all enemies, though we've only got the one here.  Yuber hasn't changed much since last time we fought against him -- he still likes to cut you, and he likes to cut you twice per turn, making he, Nash, and Chris the only ones who'll hit twice. Still hard to hit, too.  He really has it in for Rico in this fight.  Even having her heal herself isn't enough. You can see Fred berserking because of it. Yuber is also berserk from taking enough damage.  The Alma Kinan girls are doing pretty well without their unite.  He panics and attempts to cast.  But Nash and Chris team up to finish him off before he can fry us.   He backs up.  And either disappears out the same barrier-hole he came in through or teleports. Really, I'm not sure. I guess teleporting is something he can do even without Sarah's help?  : "Who or what was that? Tell me.": "One of the destructive forces Yun was talking about.": "Destructive forces?": "Yes. I will explain this to you too, later. Yun and Yumi, show them around the village. I will be at Great-Auntie's."  Finally, we proceed to Alma Kinan Village.  I like it a lot, has some nice atmosphere to it. It's also conveniently small.  Well, let's get to it!  We start off at the gate of the village.  If you check out the mini-map, you'll notice that the village is arranged in a circle. On the far right, we have the Rune shop.  Nothing too special. I like how the village is furnished, though. It skirts the line between fancy and barbaric pretty often, not just in scenery but also in it's residents. I mean, look at this store. It's very decorated, but then there's a bunch of animal hides hanging from the ceiling.  This woman is hiding off to the side. The stairs and door behind her are just for show. Back outside.  There's more than one donkey in the village.  : "I saw a flashy looking-couple when I was hunting this morning. I didn't speak with them, but they seemed to be training."Says the woman on the right. The people she's talking about are people we will meet a little later in the chapter. As for the ones in the back...  : "I've never seen a Duck before! His tummy feathers look so soft and squishy. Think he would mind if I rubbed it?"  : "Tell me, where is this place? There are no Ducks anywhere. The forest is dark, too... I'm scared to go home."The duck also gives us a new doghouse for Koroku. : "Beyond this point is the most sacred ground in the village. So keep your hands to yourself!" : "This area's great for mountain vegetables and fruit. While the forest lives, there's no need to develop the land." If we head towards the building directly behind us, we trigger a cutscene. This will be our eventual goal once we're done exploring, but I'll be saving that for next time. : "I've been wondering. I haven't seen a single man in this village. Why is that? Have they all gone to battle?" Fred seems very troubled by this news. : "This is an all-woman clan?": "Odd custom, I'd say.": "You think so? This is how we have lived for a long time.": "I'd like to know why." Oh, really? You're gonna leave us with that as an explanation?  Yun heads in. : "Why on earth are we here?"Who knows, Chris. Who knows.  Moving to the left again, we've got an inn.  It's pretty roomy inside.  Oh, thank you. She gives us a recipe. Behind her, you can see some stairs and a door, which are not just for show this time.  Okay. Moving on, now. Very quickly.  Going left one more building puts us in front of the general store. There's a woman just off to the right with the horse who says this:  : "A monster bit my horse on the leg when we were hunting. Do you think that's a bad sign?" A little girl inside gives us some melon seeds. We'll pass them along to Barts at some point.  And here's the shop keeper. The door is a lie this time.  Hehe. This building here is awesome. It's got both a tutor and a bujutsu teacher.  The front of the store is for the tutor.  While the door behind her leads to the bujutsu teacher. Also, note the weapons. There are so many weapons in this village. On the walls, on the villagers -- this room is literally lined with spears, swords, and crossbows.      We buff ourselves like so.  : "This black one laid an egg with two yolks. Encore! Encore!"There's one final person over to the right. Because of the camera, she's actually really easy to miss.  Now, then, for that path in the back of the village.  It leads to a very picturesque area with a single girl. : "I hear the Duck Clan has plenty of water and it's really lively. Does that mean they have lots of water bottles?..." What a nice spot. It feels very calm and quiet here.  That actually covers the village in it's entirety, so I'll cut it off here. Next time, we'll talk to Yun, Yumi, and Yuiri, and see what in the world these ladies want with us and why we are here. Finally, I will leave you with this. 
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Apr 22, 2014 07:25
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Well on Yuber, he bears the Eightfold/Hachifusa rune which allows him to summon monsters from the world of emptiness. Could reasonably use that to teleport also.
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Apr 22, 2014 07:50
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yokaiy posted:Chris Chapter 3.2 - Village of Shamans "Also I burned down his village and some of my men slaughtered a bunch of civilians there, but that hardly seems worth mentioning "I feel like the whole war crime aspect of what happened at Karaya has been continually glossed over so far. I mean, so far the most attention it's gotten has been Geddoe kinda, sorta chastising Borus for it (though to be fair, Geddoe doesn't put effort into much of anything) and Borus maybe, sorta feeling bad about it later. Lulu's death is tragic, sure, but I'd like some freaking acknowledgement. Not even Sgt. Joe brings it up. 
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Apr 22, 2014 09:03
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You have to admire the pair of balls that Yuber has on him, walking right into the middle of a group of hostile warriors with their weapons drawn like that. Granted, he has good reason to be that confident, but still, balls, man.
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Apr 22, 2014 09:38
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This game's real crime? No Pesmerga.
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Apr 22, 2014 09:59
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I wonder what the reactions to Yuber would be like if he appeared in his giant black armor. I think Lucretia must be partly Alma Kinan. It's the only explanation for her loving annoying cryptics and precognition, teehee.
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Apr 22, 2014 12:02
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Rigged Death Trap posted:I think Lucretia must be partly Alma Kinan. IIRC they mentioned she has some Grassland blood, so this wouldn't surprise me in the least.
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Apr 22, 2014 14:03
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This area calls for a soundtrack link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfh2URpmFOY
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Apr 22, 2014 14:20
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