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vibratingsheep posted:Does this mission introduce the Treue BGM, or does that not come up until later? I'm a big fan of the song, even though I found out a few weeks ago that they remixed it and gave it words for some godawful reason. No, we won't be hearing that one for about 15 missions or so.  At least the singer has a nice voice.
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Sep 16, 2014 04:28
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vibratingsheep posted:Does this mission introduce the Treue BGM, or does that not come up until later? I'm a big fan of the song, even though I found out a few weeks ago that they remixed it and gave it words for some godawful reason. That's a thing some SRW fans do for whatever reason. There haven't been official character vocal themes that I know of since Alpha, and no robot vocal themes since Alpha 3. (and even then it was just the the ones that got remixed from Alpha) Everything since then is fan-done, with the resulting levels of quality. Treue is just a remixed Trombe! anyway
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Sep 16, 2014 05:04
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MarsDragon posted:That's a thing some SRW fans do for whatever reason. There haven't been official character vocal themes that I know of since Alpha, and no robot vocal themes since Alpha 3. (and even then it was just the the ones that got remixed from Alpha) Everything since then is fan-done, with the resulting levels of quality. It's real. They did it to Fairy Dang-sing in the TV series, and Sakakibara Yui also performs the song in concert.
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Sep 16, 2014 05:36
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Time Diver is still the best track in the game. 
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Sep 16, 2014 06:36
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I like to imagine all these theme songs as openings to their own shows starring each character, and they all seem like they were meant with that same kind of musical scheme in mind. Most of the songs in the game have very clear melodies where vocals would go for the verse and chorus and have about the same length. Also Marionette Messiah has a pretty great vocal version.
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Sep 16, 2014 12:25
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This is a way better remixed vocal version than the hatchet job they did for Ace Attacker. It didn't help that I can't stand Apple Pie, but on top of that the lyrics got completely changed from the Alpha karaoke version.
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Sep 16, 2014 13:55
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The SRX team all have lyrical songs which are pretty awesome There's also an audio-drama for them that was released for Alpha. It's got some pretty nice plot I can barely understand I think it basically establishes the scenes we see in OG1, the meeting with Aya and Rai basically, some future events as they happened in Alpha. I don't think I have the audio drama anymore but I love this song
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Sep 16, 2014 14:40
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There's a show called Sasuke in Japan and Ninja Warrior in the US, basically a super-obstacle course-type competition. In the Japanese version, perennial competitors have them songs that accompany them before their runs, and some of those are taken from SRW. No kidding. If I recall correctly, one guy (and it was definitely a guy) has Aya's theme, Psychic Energy.
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Sep 16, 2014 15:54
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Montegoraon posted:There's a show called Sasuke in Japan and Ninja Warrior in the US, basically a super-obstacle course-type competition. In the Japanese version, perennial competitors have them songs that accompany them before their runs, and some of those are taken from SRW. No kidding. If I recall correctly, one guy (and it was definitely a guy) has Aya's theme, Psychic Energy. I remember hearing about an American baseball player or some such who had the opening theme to Robotech as his at-bat music, so that's not so hard to believe.
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Sep 16, 2014 16:07
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I suppose the carrier is going to be our new home now? But perhaps there's a hidden base somewhere.
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Sep 16, 2014 17:05
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vibratingsheep posted:It's real. They did it to Fairy Dang-sing in the TV series, and Sakakibara Yui also performs the song in concert. Wait, what? I remembered Fairy Dancing a little after I posted, but when the hell did they do Treue? Why did they do Treue? I didn't think Leona was that popular. And if they're doing vocal remixes again, where the hell is Hero Senki? Dammit Banpresto!  Onmi posted:The SRX team all have lyrical songs which are pretty awesome There's also an audio-drama for them that was released for Alpha. It's got some pretty nice plot I can barely understand I think it basically establishes the scenes we see in OG1, the meeting with Aya and Rai basically, some future events as they happened in Alpha. I don't think I have the audio drama anymore but I love this song I've got the audio drama on my computer at home, it's pretty cool. I'll try to remember to upload the SRX vocal themes to Youtube or something on Wednesday, if anyone cares. There's another audio drama I have on my computer that's labeled Alpha but is actually OG1, right down to having characters and events that were definitely not in Alpha. It's kind of weird, and I'm not sure exactly when it's from. I'm not sure what to make of it.
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Sep 16, 2014 18:44
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MarsDragon posted:I've got the audio drama on my computer at home, it's pretty cool. I'll try to remember to upload the SRX vocal themes to Youtube or something on Wednesday, if anyone cares. Supposing Super Robot Spirits isn't already on there, I'd wait until the appropriate point in the LP's plot before posting it.
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Sep 16, 2014 18:48
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Broken Loose posted:Supposing Super Robot Spirits isn't already on there, I'd wait until the appropriate point in the LP's plot before posting it. I was only planning on posting Ryusei, Rai, and Aya's themes. There's a kind of spoiler in Rai's theme because of a flashback to Vanishing Trooper, but I'm not sure how much of a spoiler that is if you don't understand Japanese or already know what's going on. Everything else is stuff we've already seen and some generic battle dialogue. I can always wait until the LP gets to that one bit, it's not too far away.
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Sep 16, 2014 19:17
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MarsDragon posted:Wait, what? I remembered Fairy Dancing a little after I posted, but when the hell did they do Treue? Why did they do Treue? I didn't think Leona was that popular. Hero Senki already has a vocal version. Yes I know the pilot they decided to display for all of it is the wrong mysterious guy with long hair. Unless this is a fan thing. Which granted when it comes to SRW vocal themes, always a chance.
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Sep 16, 2014 23:57
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I think it's a fan thing, I've seen his Nico page before. I think. Anyway, as promised, here's the vocal versions of the SRX character themes with the added radio drama bits. I'm not actually that good with Japanese (especially not listening) so if anyone wants to provide a better summary then be my guest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GHgmzdRwGM The scenes here are: Ryusei starting up his mech and Aya+Rai telling him some stuff about the battle coming up Random battle lines Ryusei meeting the R-1 and being much happier about it than he was in the game The scene with meeting Aya for the first time Ryusei finding some weird new enemy and blasting off to fight it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y23Nnvg6RjU As I said, there are some spoilers here, so if you don't want to know the exact circumstances behind what's wrong with Rai's hand, don't listen to this one for a few more updates. The scenes are: Rai starting up his mech and having a chat with Aya about the battle Rai and Ryusei's first meeting The scene where they get into a fight over following orders vs saving lives Some generic battle lines Vanishing Trooper A scene that's not in the games where Rai tells Ryusei that war isn't a game and Ryusei says something about how they're becoming friends, Rai's surprised, Ryusei starts talking about super robot anime and teamwork and they start laughing Ryusei gets into trouble and Rai+Aya have to go help him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WvpNujNFUQ This is mostly Aya reflecting on the SRX Project and having some second thoughts, plus the usual battle lines and going after Ryusei at the end.
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Sep 18, 2014 04:52
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Ryusei Route: Mission 8 Ryusei's going to be sitting this mission out (spoilers) so I swipe his Chobham Armor and put it on Irm's Gespenst instead, along with an Apogee Motor we picked up for a little more movement. Also I finally remember to put the repair and resupply units on the proper machine. They still don't get used this mission.    Status update time at DC headquarters. A soldier informs Bian that their forces have taken the Federation base in Bahrain; also, the EOT Council has started pestering them for an explanation again, so they've sent a computer virus in their reply to keep them busy for a while. Via transmission, Bian commends Colonel Van Vat Tran on the smooth progress of the North American campaign, but Van only says that there's more work still to be done, so it's still too early for congratulations. Saying that he looks forward to more such results, Bian turns his attention to Lorenzo di Montegnacco for an update on the colonies' Operation Moruroa - it's proceeding well, and is expected to enter its final phase within the next four days. It looks like they're on track to meet in Geneva, then.  A little expansion and retroactive character-insertion going on. Banpresto is taking the opportunity to seed a couple of high-ranking DC officers here so that they don't suddenly materialize out of nowhere later on with "Oh yeah, I was totally a DC bigwig even though you never even heard of me before" as their backstory. Van Vat Tran was introduced as a major figure in Original Generation 2, while Lorenzo, as far as I know, is completely new.Also I'm guessing as to the name of the operation; unless it's actually supposed to be in German (being done by the colonies and all), it looks like a reference to a Polynesian island that was a site for French nuclear testing.   Bian then turns to Adler Koch for a report on the Far East base. Their spies report that the second Space Noah vessel is being prepped, and PTs gathered, for a likely counterstrike. Grudgingly, Adler admits that Laker Randolph did well to ensure that the ship and SRX project were both close at hand, as if he had anticipated their actions. Lorenzo thinks he's giving the Far East commander too much credit, given that they've already eliminated most of the base's defenses. Adler protests that he's just being cautious; if that's the case, Lorenzo presses, why so bold with the missions in that area, especially using that outsider Tenzan? Adler may claim that he's talented, but Lorenzo would rather verify that for himself... Bian cuts this line of conversation off; Adler's actions in this regard were at his command, which should leave no more room for doubt.   Based on Adler's intelligence, this is a prime opportunity to capture both the Hagane and the SRX project for the Divine Crusaders' arsenal. Adler asks for Bian's command, but instead the DC leader calls upon Elzam. Telling him to take the newest Guarlion model, Bian instructs the "Black Tornado" to carry out this mission as he sees fit. Adler watches this in silence. The addition of Lorenzo gives a few more opportunities to show what goes on in the DC command structure. In the original Adler openly protests Elzam's involvement, saying that Tenzan should be all that's necessary; here instead we have Lorenzo confronting him over Tenzan's involvement and Bian being the one to speak up in Adler's defense (but with Adler still seemingly dissatisfied with Elzam being sent.)  Daitetsu Minase hasn't yet recovered from the injuries he received in Antarctica, but still isn't planning on dying anytime soon and has come to meet with Laker as requested. The Far East commander doesn't waste any time beating around the bush; he wants Daitetsu to take command of the Hagane for a special mission. Its target: Divine Crusader headquarters on Aidoneus Island. With the ship's special stealth systems and its Tronium Buster Cannon, it should stand a better chance in battle than the Shirogane would have, but even so, there's little choice in the matter. It's become clear that the DCs' ultimate goal is the Federation headquarters in Geneva, but given the ease with which they've already subdued most of the world, combined with the prospect of reinforcements from the colonies at any time, there's no hope of blunting their offensive and pushing them back through conventional warfare. The only chance of victory, however slight, is to cut off the head of the beast.   Tetsuya is a bit overawed by the importance of the mission, but Daitetsu accepts with no hesitation. He does have one question, though... what's become of the third Space Noah ship? That one, Laker informs us, was being built under the supervision of the EOT Investigative Commission... so there's little need to guess who controls it now. He apologizes for forcing Daitetsu back into the captain's seat, but the old captain says this seems to be his fate after losing so many crew aboard the Hiryu; the men and women who died aboard the Shirogane must now be avenged as well.   Ryusei and Rob are testing out the R-1's systems in simulation, but it's cut short when the machine suddenly shuts down. The operator says that the T-Link system suddenly overloaded, but that makes no sense at all; it wasn't even supposed to be active! Could the machine be reacting to Ryusei specifically? Regardless, it's clear that the R-1 won't be seeing combat anytime soon.   So instead they're going to give him the Wildraubtier. Ryusei isn't happy with the latest turn of events - not because he wants to pilot the R-1 specifically, but because the group desperately needs as much additional firepower as they can get for the war. Rob stands firm, though; the T-Link system needs more adjustments before it can be used, and that's all there is to it. Ryusei's read about this system in the manual - some sort of assisted flight control for the mech. Rob realizes that Ryusei's being kept in the dark about the system's true purpose.   Irm's heard the news that Ryusei's getting the Raubtier, and heads on over to give him a rousing pep talk about not ending up like Kyosuke. Both he and Rob are in agreement that the entire accident was Hans' fault. "Oh, you mean that scheming old jackass," Ryusei says, prompting an immediate warning from Irm to watch his tongue lest he end up meeting with an accident too; Irm's gotten by relatively unscathed by knowing enough to keep his head down and not make enemies. Nonetheless, Rob assures Ryusei that they've fixed the glitch in the Raubtier's design, so it should be perfectly safe. Probably. The machine still needs some fine adjustments, so Ryusei heads over to the Hagane's hangar to take care of things before the launch.   In the hangar, Rio Meilong decides she likes the look of her new posting. Kusuha asks if she's interested in this sort of thing (military hardware), which she says is just her dad's influence rubbing off on her. In walks Ryusei, who's mentally comparing the Hagane's design to the Shirogane's. Cue the shocked reunion.   Kusuha and Rio attempt some semblance of polite introductions, but Ryusei's only concern is what Kusuha's doing here. She's similarly confused by his presence, and it looks like it's a long story to be told on all sides. Ryusei isn't willing to wait around for that, however; if she's here, on the Hagane's dock, then--- but further conversation is cut off by the alarm klaxon. This scene is shorter and less involved than the original version, for a couple of reasons. First off, we've had those other scenes with Kusuha in the hospital to show us what she's been up to, as opposed to in the original, where her last appearance was at the gaming tournament in Mission 2. Another difference is the way that her relationship with Ryusei is characterized. We touched on this a bit back in Mission 2, but in the original release, the script was pretty explicit about Kusuha being secretly in love with Ryusei - well, not so much "secretly" as "he's dumb as a rock and can't pick up on obvious hints." At the beginning of this scene, for instance, when Rio mentions her dad, Kusuha also mentions that she has a friend who's obsessed with robots, which immediately prompts an "oooh, is this friend of yours *special?*" Then she tries to deny it and it's all ruined when Ryusei walks in a few seconds later. Here the closest it gets is that Rio has a little "hmm..." reaction when Kusuha mentions that they're childhood friends. Although Kusuha does have a love bonus from Ryusei when she starts piloting 12 missions from now it's not really made an issue in the remake's script.The last difference here is that in the original Ryusei gets a lot more panicked about Kusuha being here; he insists that she has to get off the ship right now because it's way too dangerous. This leads to a confrontation with Rio over the way he's trying to boss Kusuha around. I could see that being in character here in the remake, but Ryusei didn't get the chance.   In the base's command center, Operator A reports that armored modules have crossed the fifth monitoring line. The base has been tracking some enemy units for the past week, but this is something new - a model we haven't seen before. A moment later Operator B says that we're being hailed by the enemy, and Laker tells her to patch them through. Surprise surprise, it's Elzam, who wastes no time in ordering the base to disarm and surrender the Hagane and SRX project to the DCs. Laker refuses, then refuses the ensuing "surrender or die" follow-up offer. Elzam says to prepare themselves and signs off.   Sakae orders all units to scramble and protect the Hagane's dock, but then a transmission comes from an unexpected source: Daitetsu, aboard the Hagane itself. He'll be launching the ship ahead of schedule, since based on the DC's previous tactics we can expect a cruise missile to destroy the hangar in short order. This means the ship and its crew will not be fully prepared for their journey - but their backs are against the wall, and the choice is to launch now or never. Bowing to the inevitable, Laker wishes Daitetsu godspeed...  Mission 8: Flight of the Hagane   The Federation redshirts are getting their asses roundly kicked; we tune in just in time to see Hunter and Beast squadrons getting destroyed. Luckily, Kai and Ingram (and Rai, but who cares about him) are ready to roll. Followed immediately by everybody else.   ”What the hell, man? This isn't even remotely fair!" (feel free to substitute in "mon"'s and "dis"'s to your taste.) "The deciding battle already... I guess that means it's time for me to..." "What? Time to what?" "Make my peace, you idiot!"   "Really? Hold on a minute then, I've got a little something to show you first." "Sh-show me...? Wait, you're not seriously---" "My spirit! My unshakable fighting spirit!" "Oh, thank God. For a moment I thought you were about to---"   "What are you two whispering about?! This isn't the time for chatter!" "S-sorry, sir!" "Well. It takes a certain kind of bravery for you two to flirt in a situation like this." "I, uh... guess so, sir?" "From now on, you're stationed on the Hagane. That means you can't die here, understand? "S-sir, yes sir!"   With that enlightening banter finished, Kai points out the Hagane's dock; the ship will be launching in four minutes, so the enemy must be kept clear of it at all costs! Meanwhile, Ingram's liking the way his Wildschwein is handling.   Ryusei, on the other hand, really wishes he had some other machine now. The R-1 can't be used, the Wildraubtier has encountered sudden hardware failure in its servos, and even his old Gespenst-TT hasn't been repaired since their last mission. As Rob frantically tries to get all their machines aboard the ship, Ryusei is left to fume at being the only one unable to help defend the base.  Objectives: we have to kill everything while keeping them out of the Hagane's loading dock. Also, for a change it's Rai who has to be kept alive.  Here's the map, rotated 180 degrees from its normal orientation to keep the compass from obscuring the enemies in the corner. We're at the top-left, and the pinkish square just left of the compass is the Hagane's dock. If anybody gets in there it's an instant game-over, and the enemies are actually pretty serious about getting in there.  As usual, Turn 1 is mostly spent on closing the distance. Kai and Ingram head into the corner opposite the dock to take out the group of enemies there; everybody else cuts diagonally across the map (hopefully) intercept as many enemies en route as possible.   Enemy phase, Kai starts trading shots with the enemies up in the corner. Two of the three jets ignore him completely, heading down towards the middle of the map.   Turn 2. Kai looks like he can handle things up here by himself, so Ingram starts heading down towards the rest of the group, using his shotgun (yay, Ryusei's route has a shotgun now) to take out a jet on the way. His Wildschwein is... well, it's there. Slow, beefier than a Gespenst, limited attack range. It's sort of a poor man's Alt, I guess?  Also, here's Ingram's theme music, going back all the way to Super Hero Operation, I believe.  With his range and Accelerate spirit, I want Rai as close to the water as possible; there's a lot of Lions over there and the other ground-trudgers aren't in a great position to intercept them.     Irm, Aya, Giado, and Garnet clean up this little squadron here this turn. (Rai took the first shot at them before moving.) Aya distinguishes herself by failing to one-shot a jet. Garnet's able to follow up, though.  With so many enemies heading over the water, we need somebody who can hold their own against a lot of foes without needing to be healed at some point. Latooni's our girl for the job (and has the added bonus of being the only one who can reach that far this turn.) Also I change her music to something more awesome.  Still the rockingest theme in the game.   Enemy phase; the jets that started up by Kai continue ignoring him to head towards Aya and company, swiping a dropped item in the process. Probably wise of them, considering that Kai kills everything else within range.    Turn 3. There are even more Lions off the screen to the left, so we've got our work cut out for us still. Rai blows one away and takes up position on top of the base structure for the energy regen. I really should've had him move further out, but Latooni should have it covered. I hope.    Speaking of which, I have Latooni count off seven spaces from the Hagane's dock, making sure she's close enough to reach it in a single turn if necessary, before having her attack. Clearing these guys out will be a multi-turn process.   Kai and Ingram have done their job, so they both move to rejoin the rest of the group. Ingram gets close enough to show off the Wildschwein's built-in beam-shield-slicey-thing.        Not quite as viscerally satisfying as the Jet Magnum, but the damage is good, so I can't really complain. This jet drops a box again afterward - I don't know if it's re-dropping the one that was stolen or if this is something new, but grunts tend to drop crap anyway, so I'm not paying close attention.  Aya takes up a nice defensive position on top of a building and T-Link Rippers one of the nearby Lions.    One lousy crit, Aya. That's all I'm asking.    Irm goes after another Lion with the only thing that can reach; Garnet and Giado twin up and kill a jet.   Turn 3, enemy phase: enemy reinforcements. Just what we always wanted. Among them is this black machine, a new variety of armored module that the group hasn't seen before. It must be a command model, since it has some kind of crest emblazoned on it. Rai starts to put two and two together...   ...And then has it spelled out for him when Elzam rushes straight for him at Char Aznable speed. There's no time for a reunion, however; if Rai intends to reject their father's ideals, Elzam will cast him down himself!    Elzam is duly impressed with his brother's skills, but Rai's not interested in banter.   "What ideals are worth sacrificing even more innocent lives? Her sacrifice wasn't enough!?" "...!" "What could possibly justify plunging the entire world into war?!" "Then show me what you have chosen instead." "What?" "What path have you chosen, when you would not bear the shame of the accident alongside the rest of your house?" "You know very well... it's always been to surpass you!" "Indeed. Precisely, my brother!" This version hints a bit more heavily at the root cause of Rai's disgust for his family. The reference to "her" at the beginning was actually "my sister-in-law," but that's a really awkward way for Rai to refer to her under the circumstances, especially considering who he's talking to, so I vagued it up. Anyway, we'll get more detail on this later. The rest of the team reacts to the news that they're facing down the legendary Black Tornado, Elzam V. Branstein: former Aggressor, genius pilot, highest-ranking ace of the colonial military... and eldest son of their supreme commander, Maier V. Branstein.   Meanwhile, the Hagane's crew is all aboard the ship, and its engines are firing up in preparation for launch - still 90 seconds away. Rio, however, has been on the line with the base and has even more bad news to offer: a heavy missile is inbound, and the base is in no position to intercept. If the DCs can't capture the ship, it seems they're content to see it destroyed.  Now that Elzam's here, we can see the battle mastery - take out everything except Elzam within 5 turns. That "except" is a mercy - we might be able to get our guys over to him within 5 turns, at which point we'll discover that his Guarlion Trombe has 18000 HP and defends against all attacks. It might be doable on a second playthrough when you have upgrades coming out your ears (not that you have anything worth spending money on at this point in Ryusei's route), but not this time.  Especially not since he brought a metric ton of reinforcements with him. Oh, and it's still the enemy phase, in case we forgot.   Aya cleans house surprisingly well, killing everything in range. Also she hits level 8, but doesn't gain anything of note.   Latooni takes a few Latooni-sized chunks out of the enemies around her...  ...Except for all those newly-arrived jets, who ignore her completely.  Turn 4, and now we get to see one way that it's really easy to lose the mission if you're not keeping defense in mind. See those jets at the bottom of the screen? They all arrived last turn, and they're already just one move away from the dock. It's rather unlikely that you'll have enough units down here to kill them all this turn, meaning that if you didn't end turn 3 with somebody within movement range of the dock, you can only watch helplessly as the jets coast merrily past you and get you a game-over.  This is why I made sure to keep Latooni within range; can't capture the dock if she's sitting on it. Neener, neener!         Irm and Rai get their feet wet by jumping into the harbor, going to work on the mass of enemies there. Meanwhile, Aya, Giado, and Garnet continue rolling up the enemies on the other side of the bridge.   Turn 4, enemy phase. Rai goes to town on the mass of enemies and clears most of them out - the ones who didn't keep heading for the dock, at any rate.   Only one of the jets is actually able to reach the dock (okay, maybe I overstated the risk of accidental game-over a little bit), but lacks the basic common sense necessary to not attack Latooni afterward.  Turn 5, and the missile is still approaching; Daitetsu orders the Tesla Drive activated in any case.  And the Hagane finally launches.        Daitetsu orders the Hagane to prepare its anti-missile countermeasures, while Ingram orders all units to protect the ship. For his part, Elzam merely acknowledges that the primary objective (trap or steal the Hagane) has failed - all that remains now is to try and ensure that the missile reaches its target.  For whatever reason we no longer need to keep Rai alive, and the Hagane must obviously be protected. Not much else to say, though. There's one turn left, and the greatest risk is missing the battle mastery, rather than losing the Hagane.  The main issue you're facing here is that the enemies will pretty much all drop what they were doing and go for the Hagane at this point. This means you can no longer count on them destroying themselves with counterattacks, which also means that if too many enemies are still alive on the far side of the map, you're screwed.    Assuming that's not the case, you just need to plan out who's killing what in advance and you're all set. Ingram and Kai have finally caught up to everybody else, so they team up to kill one (Ingram claims the kill, because alas, this is the last time we'll be using Kai on Ryusei's route). Giado and Garnet claim another, Aya and Irm take out a third...  ...Rai takes out this last straggler in the middle...      ...Then Daitetsu casts Strike and softens up these guys. Since the Hagane is their target, we can count on them all to attack him and die during the enemy phase.  Which they do, earning us the battle mastery in the nick of time.   Noting that the missile has arrived to put an end to things, Elzam retreats. Eita gives us the news that the ship's anti-missile countermeasures can't get a lock on the target; making things worse, the drive's output isn't yet enough to power the Hagane's barrier system, either! As a last-ditch effort, Tetsuya tries to order fighters scrambled to intercept, but not even that's a viable option - enemy units still control the surrounding airspace.   Robert bursts in at the last minute with another option: have the R-1 line up a boosted rifle shot along the missile's trajectory. It's a long shot (literally  ), but the T-Link system may enable the pilot to "sense" the target's course instinctively. With no other options, Daitetsu gives his approval, preparing to synchronize dropping the Hagane's energy field with Ryusei's shot.Video of the upcoming scene.   "Roger! Rifle settings, good to go! T-Link system, connection established! Harmonic adjuster, all green! All right, let's do this!" "We're counting on you, Ryusei..." "Roger that! R-1, activate!" ... Imagine a trombone "wah, wah, wahhhh" as we hear the R-1 powering down here.  Robert tells Ryusei to try again, and quickly, as the missile draws ever closer.   "drat it... come on, R-1! I'm begging you! Why did we come this far? We've got to protect everybody from the DCs and the Aerogaters, right?! Why were you even built if you won't move now?! Come on, R-1, answer me!"     "It's moving... IT'S MOVING!" Yes, he got his robot to boot up by appealing to its manly spirit. Smile and nod.  Robert sends Ryusei the trajectory data; he disembarks and prepares to fire as the missile enters the map. Ingram tells him to "reach out and grasp" the missile - then he'll be able to shoot it down.  "It's all riding on this shot!"       I'd lecture Ryusei on how to properly aim and fire rifles, but I guess I can't argue with results. The missile goes off with a stupendous bang; Laker and the base staff breathe a collective sigh of relief as they see that the Hagane is unharmed and on its way.   Elzam's men are preparing for pursuit, but he orders them off. Given that the Hagane, and Raidiese, have survived this first trial, he looks forward to their next encounter. In the original he's a bit more explicit about his true motives here.  Despite the rough start, all units (except Kai's) have been retrieved and the Hagane is well on its way, with no sign of immediate enemy pursuit. Rio has a final message from Commander Laker: Godspeed on your voyage, and success in your duty. Daitetsu orders Tetsuya to set course for the Marquesas.   Ryusei comes to ask Rai about the whole Branstein thing. Rai supposes he's going to view him as an enemy now, but that's not it; he's just surprised, that's all. Rai says he's gone his own way; his father and brother's goals are not his, and he has his own duty to accomplish. He walks off, and Ryusei tries to imagine what it must be like to fight against your own family.   Then Giado comes over, and apparently Ryusei's now the toast of the town after his miraculous save. Giado's willing to come out and say he was wrong about him; Ryusei, however, tries to beg off, saying that it was the R-1's systems and Robert's data that did all the real work. Latooni has something to say to that, although Garnet has to translate from ellipsis to English: only a talented pilot could have made a shot like that.   That said, she runs off before Ryusei can ask for an explanation. He observes that she's pretty quiet, and Garnet says that she has circumstances of her own - but she's a nice girl when you get to know her.   Aya comes to get Ryusei and bring him to the briefing room, where Ingram fills him in on the details of their mission. Ryusei's heard of Aidoneus Island somewhere (although his first reaction to hearing the name is "Eh? Maido island?  " leading to a correction from Rai). Rai still has to fill him in on its significance. It was a site of the Meteor-3 impact, seven years earlier (Ryusei was a kid at the time, but remembers all the clamor surrounding it). Ryusei, as a civilian, wasn't aware of the true nature of the event; for the first time, he's informed of things like the nature of EOT and the fact that Meteor-3 was packed full of it, and so forth - things that we learned back in the opening text crawl. (It sinks in a little better for him when he realizes that the Granzon was probably built using EOT.)   In any case, that's where we're going, into the belly of the beast to assault DC headquarters - a mission which Ingram gives only a 9.7% chance of success. Ryusei gapes at this bit of information, but Rai is just fine with their chances. Ryusei needlessly points out that that means a 9-in-10 chance that they all die; Rai's aware, but as of late he's started to find those tactics more agreeable. Neither Ryusei nor Aya seems sure what to make of this. In the original this is pretty clearly presented as "Rai is A-OK with those odds if it means a chance to kick his brother's teeth in." Here, given his confrontation with Ryusei two missions back about staking too much on slim odds, it instead looks like he's getting more receptive to the idea as a result of Ryusei's demonstration.  Due to Ryusei sitting the mission out, Rai's taken the lead on the killboard. We also have the Wildraubtier from now on, for all our accidental-blowing-up-while-transforming needs. And we're off. Farewell, Far East Base! Farewell, Major Kitamura! Farewell, missions with a positive land-to-water ratio.  Next time: 
Seyser Koze fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Sep 19, 2014 |
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Sep 19, 2014 04:05
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I'd never noticed that little bit of head-plate metal peeking out beneath Adler's hat before. It puts his face-plating into a little more perspective. Also the Divine Crusaders really love their ridiculous flapping out collars almost as much as I do.
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Sep 19, 2014 04:24
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It's a pity you don't get to use Kai again on Ryusei's route, as the dude is pretty awesome, and as I stated before, his Gespenst was the only one in OG1 with a 1-2 Range Jet Magnum. All the rest were stuck with 1 Range versions, and wouldn't get upgraded to be 1-2 range until OG2.
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Sep 19, 2014 04:35
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I think I've managed to shoot down Elzam on this mission (on a New Game+), but it's really, really not worth it. There are a bunch of extra lines you get for attacking him with various characters, if that's your thing. They're all about what you'd expect.
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Sep 19, 2014 05:02
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TheLastRoboKy posted:I'd never noticed that little bit of head-plate metal peeking out beneath Adler's hat before. It puts his face-plating into a little more perspective. Call me crazy, but I'd always seen that as perfectly ordinary gray hair. It's not as though Adler doesn't give us other reasons to doubt/distrust him EDIT: Looking at it again, I guess it does look like there are screws there too. Huh. Seyser Koze fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Sep 19, 2014 |
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Sep 19, 2014 05:23
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The Wildschwein is actually worth using well into the endgame in OGs PS2; unlike most other real robots with a melee finisher, its Circle Zanber/Slicer carries the Barrier Pierce ability. Give it some love with upgrades and it'll treat you right against many endgame bosses.
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Sep 19, 2014 09:38
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Son Ryo posted:The Wildschwein is actually worth using well into the endgame in OGs PS2; unlike most other real robots with a melee finisher, its Circle Zanber/Slicer carries the Barrier Pierce ability. Give it some love with upgrades and it'll treat you right against many endgame bosses. Yeah, the Wildschwein is actually really drat good for what it is. It's the best mech you'll have for a while on Ryusei's route, too, so that doesn't hurt its case, either.
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Sep 19, 2014 10:35
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Materant posted:Yeah, the Wildschwein is actually really drat good for what it is. It's the best mech you'll have for a while on Ryusei's route, too, so that doesn't hurt its case, either. I really found myself missing it in 2nd OGs, it's a great unit and looks great too. I think I actually put Latooni into it for a while at one point.
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Sep 19, 2014 11:36
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It is also straight up a gundam. Not even wink-wink-nudge-nudge like the R1.
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Sep 19, 2014 12:02
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BlitzBlast posted:It is also straight up a gundam. Not even wink-wink-nudge-nudge like the R1. Eh, it's much too fat and isn't quite a gundam. Now the HUCKEBEIN! THAT is a Gundam.
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Sep 19, 2014 14:08
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It is no Alt or R-1, but the Wildschwein is pretty good and one of the better second-tier units. After Ingram gets a better mech, it becomes the ideal machine for someone like Bullet or, Terada forbid, even Giado.
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Sep 19, 2014 14:37
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Latooni's also surprisingly good in it despite her stats being biased much closer to ranged weaponry. Then again, Latooni's good in just about anything.
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Sep 19, 2014 14:42
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I think I just mentally block it due to mission after mission of Ingram reaching the battlefield just as the battle's ending.
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Sep 19, 2014 14:46
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I think I'll go over why I like this stage, compare/contrast with the original game and give an overall opinion. Overall storywise this mission is meant to be Ryusei's redemption, not just in the eyes of his peers (who basically see him as a worthless brat) but in the overall scheme of the story. Ever since Antarctica Ryusei has been on edge and terrified of what's going on. He was trying to make the best of a lovely position (Remember, he only took the job with the army because they offered to handle his mothers medical bills and get her into a good hospital) when he got launched into a war, discovered that the federation basically planned to recruit people via video games, and that others have been recruited for the DC. In two missions before this, he broke down and physically assaulted Rai, because they failed to stop the MAPW that annihilated Sasebo. He physically didn't have the skill to shoot down the MAPW, and the people who did have that skill didn't want to believe in the 1% possible to do it. In short, it's been string after string of losses, and here it is, In the GBA version Ingram asks for the Boosted Rifle so he can do it, and he's flat told there wouldn't be enough time to get it and fire the rifle. Ryusei pulls out the trick shot of a century (Fun fact, the Boosted Rifle in OG is a physical weapon, in previous incarnations the Boosted Rifle was a BEAM weapon and a MAPW for the R-1.) And basically turns the tide on everything... oh yeah and woke himself up to be a Psychodriver, not that he knows what that means, or anyone's ever going to explain it to him. It's a mirror to Amuro Ray taking out the nuclear weapon in the Odessa Operation (though not nearly after such a string of failures, though notable, Odessa is the operation that turns things around for the Earth Federation in MSG. The same is true of this one shot and the launch of the Hagane.) Anyway, in OG1 it works, there's still a lot of emotions rippling about, but there's nothing lost here, except Ingram offering to make the shot himself. Oh, the other thing I'm going to address is this quote:Another difference is the way that her relationship with Ryusei is characterized. We touched on this a bit back in Mission 2, but in the original release, the script was pretty explicit about Kusuha being secretly in love with Ryusei - well, not so much "secretly" as "he's dumb as a rock and can't pick up on obvious hints." At the beginning of this scene, for instance, when Rio mentions her dad, Kusuha also mentions that she has a friend who's obsessed with robots, which immediately prompts an "oooh, is this friend of yours *special?*" Then she tries to deny it and it's all ruined when Ryusei walks in a few seconds later. Here the closest it gets is that Rio has a little "hmm..." reaction when Kusuha mentions that they're childhood friends. Although Kusuha does have a love bonus from Ryusei when she starts piloting 12 missions from now it's not really made an issue in the remake's script. I disagree that Ryusei doesn't pick up on the obvious hints. My own interpretation is that he always knew, though the evidence of such isn't until much later in the game. He's not so much dumb as a rock and not picking it up as he is falling into a very big trap when it comes to certain protagonists. "If I die unloved then no one has to suffer for it." Ryusei's father was a policeman who was KIA, and both he and his mother suffered that pain. Now HE is in the military, in a position that he's become horrifically aware could kill him at any moment. He falls into that trapping that so long as he's only friends with everyone, then when he eventually does bite it, it's not going to hurt. Of course, that's bullshit, but there's a reason it's a very common character trait. Ryusei's really good with covering it up by being goofy as hell and acting like he just doesn't get it. But when he's forced to confront it he usually acts very serious. The thing with Kusuha, especially in the original, I think emphasized it a lot. He is adamant that she get the hell off the ship, get out of the military, and he's downright furious when he finds out WHY she was chosen and why she wont be let out. He goes far out of the way of simply caring for a friend when it comes to Kusuha's safety. But if anyone brings it up, "Ooh, robots." And that was way a lot of sperging for a very anime game about robot punching each other. So I think I'll lay off here.
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Sep 19, 2014 15:07
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Yes Elzam is basically a Char
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Sep 19, 2014 16:35
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Personally, I like to think that Ryu just isn't interested. Which makes him a jerk for not telling Kusuha.
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Sep 20, 2014 05:07
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Wounded Land posted:Personally, I like to think that Ryu just isn't interested. She's not nearly robotic enough.
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Sep 20, 2014 06:45
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Given Ryusei is supposed to be the most anime of heroes, I figure he's just doing the thing where he considers friends to be the most importantest thing in the whole wide world so of course he'll make sacrifices for friends that most people would only do for their children. Similarly, he presumably just thinks that Kusuha thinks of him in a similar light because he's entirely too goony to get what relationships are and why a girl might consider him suitable for one. Although in fairness I dunno what a girl would see in Ryusei at the start of the game either. I mean sure, if he keeps on going like he has been, that'd make sense, but the Ryusei we see in mission 2? Dude, what.
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Sep 20, 2014 09:14
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CmdrKing posted:Given Ryusei is supposed to be the most anime of heroes, I figure he's just doing the thing where he considers friends to be the most importantest thing in the whole wide world so of course he'll make sacrifices for friends that most people would only do for their children. Similarly, he presumably just thinks that Kusuha thinks of him in a similar light because he's entirely too goony to get what relationships are and why a girl might consider him suitable for one. Although in fairness I dunno what a girl would see in Ryusei at the start of the game either. I mean sure, if he keeps on going like he has been, that'd make sense, but the Ryusei we see in mission 2? Dude, what. He's a dude who loves his Mum and will do anything to support her. Some girls like a guy who'll look after his mother like that. Especially since he and Kusuha have known each other since they were kids, so while he's always been goony as hell, he's also a good person and she's gotten to know that guy. Everything will probably be explained eventually. But it's worth noting that an event in Alpha 3 winds up breaking him so hard that he loses access to his Psychodriver powers.
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Sep 20, 2014 09:49
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Good point. Any guy who's not shy about loving his momma's gotta have something going for him.
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Sep 20, 2014 10:18
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There is usually at least one scene per game where Ryu surprises you saying something surprisingly mature for a guy who supposedly only knows about super robots. Banpresto is pretty good at walking the line between "predictable cliche" and "actually interesting" but it is most obvious if you pay attention to the SRX team.
GimmickMan fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Sep 20, 2014 |
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Sep 20, 2014 12:21
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I'm just going to also jump on the support for the Wildschwein. It really is a good unit for this game, especially its Disk Slicer/Circle Zanber attack. That thing carried its weight and then some.
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Sep 21, 2014 03:42
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Dr Pepper posted:Yes Elzam is basically a Char Char wishes he had Elzam's awesome override powers...
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Sep 21, 2014 15:39
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Kyosuke Route: Mission 8  I start out spending a few bucks to upgrade the Weissritter's mobility, which should make about a 30-percent difference in her dodging rate. I take the Screw Module off of Russell's Gespenst (which I actually put him in this time) and stick it on Katina's instead, along with a Dual Sensor to boost her accuracy.   Bian commends Van on his victories. Van says that despite Langley's capture, the Federation is struggling to prolong the conflict; in response he's strengthening their counter-insurgency network and applying a little additional pressure from "outside," so he will wait to accept the congratulations until the job is done. Bian thanks him for his dedication, but Van refuses even this praise; he is well aware of the burden Bian himself carries. This war to free the people from Federation tyranny is only the surface, while the true battle lies beneath, and it is for this battle that he offers his support. Bian tells Van to remain focused on the task at hand and let him worry about the roots of the conflict, to which Van reluctantly agrees.   There's the same brief conversation with Lorenzo over the incoming aid from the colonies, and then Bian turns his attention to Adler and the Hiryu Kai. Adler can't fathom Bian's interest in this retrofitted exploration vessel and its crew of test pilots and prototypes. Yes, they have the Type-0 and the Tesla Drive - which Bian gave them before the war began, in another completely mystifying maneuver. By way of explanation, Bian says that equilibrium will be necessary; he wants the ISA forces to be efficient, but the existing Stork and Killer Whale carriers aren't enough for that. A superior force that only fights inferior enemies will grow soft. Adler is... skeptical. Once Adler has confirmed the Hiryu's destination, he's to send Elzam to intercept. This is the face Adler makes when acknowledging orders. The face of a man you can trust.   Sanger finds Lefina alone on the Hiryu's bridge. Knowing that things will only get harder from here on out, she's told the crew to get some rest while they can. Unbidden, he tells her that no matter how hard she strives to be an leader, if she's unable to wield her sword at the crucial time, defeat is all but guaranteed. For that reason, Sanger himself maintains a state of calm in his heart at all times. Lefina catches the undercurrent in his words easily enough and asks what he's trying to say.   When he looks at Lefina, Sanger believes that she's afraid to fight. She confesses that it's true; she knew this was coming when she became the ship's captain, but still... Sanger advises her to focus first and foremost on striking down the enemies before her; if you forget that on the battlefield, death lies not far behind. She asks how he became so strong, but Sanger doesn't consider it strength - he just doesn't know how to run away. This may be strength of a sort, but it would have stopped him from fleeing even as his superiors laid down their lives to cover his escape. This brings them to the crux of the matter: does Sanger think Lefina made the right decision? If she hadn't done so, he says, they'd all have shared in their commanders' fate.   She thanks him for his wisdom, but Sanger thinks that one thing has been made clear. The Federation lacks the strength to defeat the DCs and the colonies; if this conflict drags on, it will leave the entire world exhausted. We need a plan... a drastic one.   As the Hiryu heads for the Manhattan Crater, it becomes clear that neither Tasuku nor Bullet really know what it is. Excellen steps up to the plate to do her teacher routine once again: at the beginning of the previous century, the impacts of Meteors 1 and 2 devastated New York and Moscow (and Washington. Maybe Meteor-1 was a MIRV). Russell ends up being the one to fill in the blanks, but Katina scoffs that even kids know this stuff, stopping Excellen's little show cold. Inevitably, discussion moves on to Meteor 3, which fell on Aidoneus Island, and speculation that the Aerogaters might've sent the first two as well. If that's the case, Tasuku observes, they've sure been dragging their feet, since it's been close to two hundred years since then.   Kyosuke thinks to himself that it's all becoming clear, that the Personal Trooper and Armored Module development was begun to prepare for the coming invasion, that the DCs and the colonies aren't the true threat... basically, things Sanger and Elzam have already run into the ground but which he now presents as a stunning epiphany.  In any case, soon they'll be meeting up with the Federation remnants at the crater; there's a somber moment as Excellen says that Greg's sacrifice can't be allowed to go to waste.  Then the alarm sounds - Eun's picking up signs of a battle at the Manhattan Crater. Lefina orders all units to prepare to assist; Sean wonders if their delayed arrival will prove to be good fortune or bad.  Mission 8: Separation  Behold all that remains of the Federation's military might in North America.   Tenzan cackles and says that they're not taking any prisoners, while Tempest adds that if they have to curse somebody in their final moments, curse the Federation.   "GAME OVER!" Rest in peace, Operator B and Faceless Federation Soldier. We hardly knew ye.  With the current wave of targets eliminated, Tempest prepares himself for the arrival of the Hiryu Kai - and Sanger Zonvolt.   As Sean feared, they're too late. Sanger wastes no time in ordering everybody to get out there.  We're starting out over the water, and in case you've forgotten, Kyosuke's Gespenst machines kinda suck in the water. I put the Screw Module on Katina, so she's good to go, but what about Bullet and Russell? Do I put them closer to the shore so that they have less distance to wade (at a rate of about 2 spaces per turn)?  Nah, I'd rather put people in the front who can actually start killing on the first turn. Tough luck, you two!   The enemies are well organized to have annihilated the Feds so quickly - and now we're right in the palm of their hands, with no hope whatsoever of reinforcements. Tempest intends to leave the entire Federation force - ourselves included - littering the bottom of this cursed sea. Sanger tries to appeal to his reason, pointing out that they're leaving the Earth weakened at a crucial time, but his former comrade considers the Feds no great loss. Bian will lead them to glory and victory... and in any case, he needed no encouragement to destroy the Federation.   "I just like to blow poo poo up!"  Sanger is disgusted with the baseness of their motives. Tenzan seems suitably impressed by his German Samurai Warrior spirit, but Tempest is unmoved - it's clear that, having thrown his lot in with the Federation, Sanger will never understand Bian and Maier's ideals. Realizing that there's no way they're settling this with words, the group prepares to engage - a move Tempest finds ridiculous, as there's no longer any hope of reinforcements for them, or any hope whatsoever for that matter. Sanger just reminds him that even a mouse will attack a cat if cornered. Kyosuke, however, can tell that he's keeping an eye out for some way out of this mess. Objectives. Kill stuff, don't lose Sanger. Pretty much from this point on, losing the battleship is also a loss condition. For the battle mastery, we need to take out either Tenzan or Tempest, both of whom flee at 60% health (4200 HP).  And here's our bird's-eye view of New York City. Never forget. The rim of the crater (roughly, the vertical column one space to the west of the Lions is considered rough terrain with a 20% defense/evasion bonus. The blue stuff is water. It still sucks. Thankfully, most of our guys don't have any trouble, being either water-capable (Sanger, Kyosuke, Katina) or able to just fly right over it (Excellen, the Hiryu). As for Russell and Bullet, they get to ride on the ship. You can park your guys in a carrier to repair/recharge/rearm, although doing so costs you some morale. The Hiryu can also move a lot faster than a Gespenst pilot without Accelerate.   Sanger opens up in style.   Then Excellen steps up to show off her mobility upgrades---oh, loving hell. I can see I'm going to have to drop another 50k on the Weiss' movement.   Katina finishes the job.   I'm letting Kyosuke hog the left side of the enemy formation.   Enemy phase; everybody goes for either Kyosuke or Sanger. Anybody outside of punching range of Sanger (4 spaces) lives until the next turn.   Turn 2. Gambling on the AI being dumb, I have the Hiryu fly up and grab an easy kill with its AAA cannons. Lefina will be fine provided that somebody else ends up closer to the enemies than her.   Fun fact: Katina's shotgun now has a higher attack rating than the Gespenst's Jet Magnum.     You can launch units from a carrier even after the carrier has moved. Russell, Excellen, and Bullet all pick up some easy kills; I have Sanger hang back a bit this turn, since he now has all the kills he's going to need for a very long time.   Tempest goes for Kyosuke.   "You're Sanger's subordinate... then there's nothing left to say."   "Playing with me... What's the matter, Aggressor?" Then his misses the counter.   Russell dodges a shot from Tenzan and pings him to minimal effect. Kyosuke and Excellen finish off the rest of the trash.  Turn 3, time to take on the boss, singular. We have to choose between Tenzan or Tempest, and the choice mostly comes down to their drops; Tenzan has a Chobham Armor, while Tempest has a Booster, which increases a unit's movement range. The armor's pretty meh, whereas I can always use some more movement, so this isn't a tough decision for me.  Of course, pulling it off is another story. (Actually, it's not that hard, but I'm trying to show something off so I'm not having Sanger SMITE him like I could be doing). Tempest's Guarlion has a decent chunk of defense, making it easy to underestimate how much damage it'll take to chew off 4000+ health.  This was a real thing that really happened. If this were 2nd OG on the PS3 I'd be ecstatic because I wouldn't have to worry about getting that trophy any longer. Not pictured: about ten additional minutes of reloading a quicksave while I tried out different combinations of attacks.  Eventually it's Lefina who comes to the rescue with a shot that does juuuust the right amount of damage.   "Save your words, Sanger. The last ray of hope for the Federation vanishes here... I'll snuff it out myself." "I need no words here... I need only strike down the enemy before me!"   punch punch punch   pew pew pew  "Hey Boss, see what a big help I am? Don't I deserve a raise?"    Yes, Excellen. Yes you do.   Tempest can't believe he's being forced to eject here. Tenzan can't believe the old fart went down so easily - then again, maybe this means the Aggressors weren't such hot poo poo after all! Before he can have any fun of his own, a code-AAA order comes in to withdraw. That level of authority means the order comes from the highest levels of command; Tenzan doesn't like it, but Adler will have his balls if he doesn't obey, so off he goes.  The enemies have withdrawn. Does this mean... the enemy no longer considers us worth their trouble?  hahaha no   Bullet can't figure out why new enemies have shown up, just seconds after the last batch fled.    "Maybe they're doing a sacrifice bunt to bring in the pinch hitter?" "A sacrifice? To what!?" "Umm... Hell, maybe?" You are a disgrace to the name "Brooklyn," Bullet.    Elzam hails them, with a warm greeting for his old friend Sanger. Once fellow Aggressors, now soldiers on opposing sides... it seems fate has a cruel sense of humor. Sanger agrees. If Colonel Lau could see them now, he'd be disgusted with them both. It was thanks to his efforts that we know of the aliens, but now Elzam is fighting the Federation he served and helping to plunge the world into chaos. Sanger says he can't fathom Elzam's motives, but thinks he understands them only too well.   Meanwhile, the rest of the group is puzzling out this guy's identity and his relationship with Sanger. It ends up being Excellen who recognizes the Branstein crest on Elzam's mech, and we get the same rundown on his background that we already heard on Ryusei's route. Looks like they've got one hell of a pinch hitter after all...   Realizing that the DCs really do intend to finish them off here, Kyosuke prepares for battle. Sanger tells Lefina to withdraw while he holds the enemy; Elzam is beyond their capabilities. Kyosuke isn't listening, however. Taking Elzam out here would deal a crippling blow to their enemies, and that's far too good of an opportunity to pass up. Elzam likes his thinking, but nonetheless rebukes him for staking so much on a gamble like this - a rookie mistake. Kyosuke claims he never could get the hang of that whole "giving up" thing.   Excellen is all too willing to back him up on this, then comments that this guy's really something, right Bullet? For his part, Bullet's just determined not to run away again. Welp, that's it - looks like we're sticking around to fight after all! Elzam compliments Sanger on his men, but Sanger knows in his heart that their spirit won't be enough to win in the end. Elzam agrees; unless they're put to a proper test, they'll never win. His meaning begins to dawn on Sanger, but when Elzam issues the now-traditional "surrender or die" ultimatum, it's not addressed to him, but to Kyosuke.   Kyosuke's only plan is to fight; if that leads to his death, so be it. Acknowledging his resolve, Elzam tells him to prepare himself...   And here we are. Unlike Ryusei's route, this time around we really do have to destroy Elzam's Guarlion Trombe to win. (Actually he'll flee at 5000 health, but he has an Apogee Motor and I really want those movement boosts.) We also get a new enemy mech to deal with! The Sealion is a Lion-series machine specialized (shockingly) for water combat. It has a little more health than the basic model but isn't all that impressive.     I take a little time to get my ducks in a row before we start to make our move on Elzam's troops. Here's something new - my first time using a Repair Unit this game!  It's a decent way of getting experience on somebody who doesn't normally see much combat. And on Turn 4, I use the supply unit to load Kyosuke up with Revolver Stake ammo again. The supply unit is less wieldy than the repair unit, as it can't be used after moving and lowers the recipient's morale when used; however, the experience payoff is SO much better. I'm not even kidding, it's more lucrative than actually killing things (except that you don't get any pilot points, which I haven't even used yet so there's not much point in even mentioning them now.)  Not too much to say about this part, actually. Lions are pretty much free kills at this point, although the Sealions manage to take a pretty good chunk out of Katina. She takes care of most of the fighting on the left, while Kyosuke handles the right; however, the enemies are just out of range of the powerful weapons, so we're left with a bunch of weakened enemies at the beginning of Turn 5.   Yep, that's a 6000-plus-damage double-crit with the shotgun. If this had been a counterattack, it would've been over 7000 thanks to Revenge. Katina, I think I love you.  Bullet and Kyosuke grab the last couple of trash kills, and now it's time for the main event: Elzam, flanked by two Killer Whales. He's been pretty patient about waiting for us, so let's not keep him waiting longer.  ...Then again. Kyosuke hasn't used Focus yet, but  that's not good.  On the other hand, you don't have to be able to hit Elzam when you can just hit the sub next to him instead and make him support-defend. On the other other hand, Sanger really ought to be doing well over 5000 damage with Boost Knuckle at this point.   On the enemy phase, Elzam and the subs take a pretty good-sized chunk out of the Alteisen. No, Kyosuke can't reliably dodge the subs any longer, so he's sitting around 1000 HP when the player phase rolls around again. Lefina's there to cast Trust and heal him back up again, but something's gotta give here.  It's been a while since that first mission where we could control him, so here's a look at Elzam's abilities. The main thing of note is his Genius skill, second from the bottom; this is part of what makes Latooni so drat good, and now we get to be on the receiving end of it and its hit/evade bonuses, on top of his already-impressive stats.   On the bright side, he can only support-defend once per turn. Bullet takes care of that now by going after one of the subs. Being able to cast Grit makes him a very good sacrificial lamb for situations that require you throw somebody into the line of fire and/or waste their attack, since it eliminates the actual sacrifice part of it. For one round at least.  Here's Katina's shotgun with Valor cast. I'm assuming this is due to Elzam's boss status and the sub being much bigger than a Lion. Still more damage than I'm getting out of anything else (aside from Sanger's sword) at this point.    Excellen finishes off one sub, while the Hiryu and Kyosuke put down the other. And then Sanger finishes Elzam off.       Elzam says you've done well to defeat Trombe. Sanger accuses him of holding back, but Elzam says he's not a good enough pilot to try something like that. Sanger demands to know what Elzam's really planning, but his friend just responds that if he's brave enough, seek him out and all will become clear.   Elzam makes his escape/explosion. Excellen wants to know what's going on; why did Sanger let him go? Our fearless leader isn't listening to her, though; he now realizes that Elzam's chosen a very thorny path to walk. A little nuance that didn't come through in the translation is that in this line, Sanger initially says "you," plural - and then corrects himself, amending it to just the singular.    Sanger announces that he's going after Elzam, ignoring both Kyosuke's warnings about enemies in the area and Excellen's pleas for an explanation. He tells Kyosuke to look after the others... and leaves. gently caress.   Eun frantically tries to raise Assault 1 on the comm, while the group tries to wrap their head around their leader's having abandoned them. Katina is furious at the apparent betrayal, while Bullet refuses to believe it. Lefina orders pursuit, but Sean countermands her - the Divine Crusaders now control the area, and it's too dangerous. Also... Sanger probably isn't planning to come back. Excellen wants to believe that their boss has some plan in mind, but under the circumstances...   As the Hiryu prepares to leave the area, a coded transmission comes in from an unexpected source - Major Gilliam Yeager, a former Aggressor like Sanger and Elzam. Never fear, ladies and gentlemen. The Hair has arrived. Next time: a short mission! 
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Sep 25, 2014 06:27
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 13:49 |
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Ah, the joys of trying to wrangle out the damage required to bring down an enemy commander when they have flee conditions. SRW has so many things that just make a completionist writhe in anguish and I love it.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:00
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