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Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
Fun fact: You actually can grab some of the fruit used to keep score, you just have to be really quick.

There's not a huge point since it's easy to have fruit trees by now, but you still can.

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Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Haifisch posted:

Fun fact: You actually can grab some of the fruit used to keep score, you just have to be really quick.

There's not a huge point since it's easy to have fruit trees by now, but you still can.

If it counted toward the request for harvesting various kinds of fruit, I would have jumped on them. I waited way too long before getting my fruit tree seeds.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Raiders of the Lost Pendant



I’ve been growing a lot of these giant melons, sickling them down for seeds, and replanting, until now. Level 10 pink melons are mine! They didn’t need to be giant, but it amused me.









This request pretty much requires waiting until act 2. I think it might be possible to get a crop to level 10 using just a silver sickle and incredibly beefed up soil, but I couldn’t pull it off until I had a gold sickle.



What happened?

Just a little while ago, I was ringing up a customer when this bird came flying in! It swooped right towards the customer's coins and tried to take them!

...That sounds like Twinkle. Was everything okay? Did it get the coins?

No, it didn't. Porco came by and caught it in the nick of time. I was shocked, though! I mean, who knew Porco could be so quick!

The power of a fat man who has seen his next meal.

O-oh, okay. So what did he do with the bird?

He let it go outside. He's very kind to animals, y'know.

Oh. Well. Now I kinda feel bad for implying he was gonna eat it.

It's like, every now and again, he'll show flashes of how cool adults can be. Surprising, I know.

I don’t like this implication that we aren’t adults. This game is squicky enough is it is.







Yes. He is so cool and adult.



I’ve also been working on befriending Leon. He likes poisonous foods (certain plants and fish). Because he’s a creepy loving weirdo.





So basically, you’re going to eat it.



Fourteen. BUT WAIT!

I-I'm sorry.

N-no! It isn't that...



GAH?!

"Dolly is mine! MINE, you hear?"

Um...

*HISSSSSS*

I-I'll see you tomorrow!

Huh?



"Dolly?!"

Let's meet there.

Well, things are looking up! Don’t gently caress this up Art.



Also, contest time! Again!









I’d take offense to the implication that Dylas can beat me… but fishing is kinda his thing, and we’ve already seen how hard he is to beat.



Now, this should actually be a nice easy one to win. I’m in Act 2 and have access to Idra Cave, where there’s a pond full of nothing but squid. Except for two minor issues. Idra Cave is still a bit tough to just breeze through, so it takes time to get to that pond. And I changed the route required to get to it by hitting a switch last time I was here, so it takes even longer.



Before, I could have just come in from the west, where that purple barricade is.

There’s also the minor issue of the pond having a finite number of fish I can catch, so I have to leave the screen and reenter every time I catch them all, killing a demon every time I reenter. It’s just one, so it isn’t difficult, just annoying and time consuming.

The results?







Dylas must be having an off day. But the point is that I won, therefore I’m awesome and everybody else sucks.

Meanwhile, over at our friendly local general store…



Doug. Could you take this, too?

What, there's more? Ugh. Where do you want this to go?

Over there.

Eesh.



How the hell did the bird get in here?

Oh my. Are you little Twinkle? You haven't changed a bit in all these years. I'm sorry, dear, but there's nothing here for you to take.

Blossom, that is almost certainly not the same bird that stole your poo poo decades ago. Somebody get the old lady her meds!

Apparently the bird didn’t take kindly to the mistake, because it tackled her, as birds are wont to do.



Are you okay?

Y-yes, I'm fine.

Wait...your pendant! It's gone!

...? How odd. I knew I put it on this morning.

That bird. That thing must've taken it! Don't worry, I'll go get it back right quick!

No, Doug. It's okay.

It's not okay! That pendant is important to you, right?

Well, yes. It was important. But how would you get it back? You certainly can't clamber all the way up to its nest.

Never underestimate the ingenuity of a dwarf. Especially a stupid one.

Why not? It'd be a piece of cake!

What if you fell and got hurt? No. Forget about the pendant. I will be fine without it as long as you are safe.

C'mon, don't be such a worrywart! I'll be fine! Wait here, I'll go get it back quick!

Famous last words. I’ll go get started on digging his grave.

I'll go check on him.

Or, you know, that.

…Blossom?

Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Watching Doug just reminded me of my younger self, is all. Long ago, I went to get a pendant back from Twinkle, just like he's doing. The nest was right in the same place, too. You see, Twinkle had taken my mother's precious necklace. It was very important to her. I was still young, but I remember how angry I was about that. So I did precisely what Doug is doing right now.

You know, sometimes the two of you seem like a real family.

Yeah, if you assume that being a hotheaded moron is genetic.

Oh? You think so?

Yes.

Some days, I wish we were a true family, too.

It’s a sappy sentiment, but frankly these two are family in all the ways that matter. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, yadda yadda.

Now then, will you please go and check on him for me?



I don’t even have to imply the sarcasm, Art took care of it for me.

Yes. Hurry on, now.



Well, he’s definitely climbing the castle wall. In the middle of a snowstorm.

I'm going to go get that pendant back for Granny Blossom!

Wait. It's too dangerous to try and climb all the way up there.



I like that they actually went to the trouble to draw up a new sprite for Doug for just this scene to show him from the back.



I feel like they could have done this for a few other scenes to good effect, but at least they put forth the effort here.

T here you go... That's a good birdie...stay still...



Hmm? Did I step on something? ...A pair of glasses?

Welp. Sorry Arthur, but your stuff doesn’t matter.

Oh well, who cares about those? I've gotta find that pendant. AHA!



Twinkle has become enraged!

Ow! Ow ow owww! W-watch it! Ouch! Uh-oh...

It’s a little hard to see since I missed grabbing a shot when the talking heads were offscreen, but Twinkle knocked Doug back and he’s hanging from the ledge there on the right.



And then he fell, only to be caught by a green whirlwind that slowed him down.



Are you all right?! You aren't hurt, are you?!

I...I'm fine. I didn't break anything.

Goodness, you stubborn child! How could you do something so dangerous?!

Sorry...

That is not enough, young man!

I-I'm very sorry, Granny.

That is not what I meant!

Urk...

Honestly, why must you always do such dangerous things?

Yeah, like… honestly, I got nothing. Aside from his idiotic plan to kill a dragon god king on behalf of an evil empire that was clearly lying to him, I can’t say I’ve seen Doug take a lot of risks.

Sh-shut up!

DOUG!

Urk...! I...I just wanted to get your pendant back.

*SIGH* I'm glad you were trying to do something nice for me, Doug. But I do not recall asking you to do something that would make me worry! Please...don't do anything that could get you hurt anymore.

I'm not a kid, y'know...

How about you just apologize?

He did that, it wasn’t what Blossom wanted to hear.

Art! ...I'm sorry I worried you.

You had better be! Did you get the pendant?

Yeah. Here.

This pendant... Is the one that my mother wore. It was her most cherished possession. Thank you, Doug.

I get the feeling Blossom just repeated this whole scolding from memory based on when she went after Twinkle to retrieve the pendant.

...It was nothing.

But one big question still remains…





Nah, it was probably just a passing airbender.

If you do this scene while Venti isn’t passed out and dying, Art instead asks her about it directly.

You were the one who saved Doug, right?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Uh-huh. Sure. Is that something you really have to hide?

Hmph. Mortal problems are best solved by mortals. It is not the place of one such as I to interfere.

But you did still save him, right?

...S-silence! Today was a...a special case! It was just this once! Understand?!

Yeah, this is pretty much the only time in the game she does something to help anybody besides Art. She isn’t a very good god. Maybe we need to make more offerings. BRING ME ALL THE PANCAKES!

But enough musings on stupid dwarves and unhelpful gods, I’ve got a woman to woo! And that means showing up early in the town square!







Empty air is probably a bad sign, but asking about Pico was probably not the best way to fill it. Still, it’s what I went with.





Of course.











No, I routinely stalk people and assault them with pumpkin desserts as part of elaborate pranks.









You know what? Pico’s alright in my book.







We’ve noticed.





This has also been established.



Again, no new information here.



That’s why you have Pico to translate for you.







This is… a perfectly normal response to someone saying they love you?



This is more normal.









AND THEN THEY ALL hosed!

Or not.









Hey! Whoa! We only just started dating, a little early to start picking out baby names.





Oh, right, pet names. I do not approve, especially since the names offered up here are a little silly sounding. I suspect this scene was originally deciding on honorifics. One of those bits of Japanese almost never translates well.





So no, Art stays Art.













But… I don’t have one. We just decided that.







Are those typos at the bottom, or just really cutesy nicknames? I don’t want to find out.

Now the appropriate choice in my mind would have been to skip a nickname for Dolce as well… but… she did insist that she wanted one.









It’s her own fault really.





I don’t really, but it’s too late to change our minds now! (Until we get married, then I have the option to change it)

Nobody deserves Doosee-Doo though.

And it could be worse. You get the option to call Amber ‘Master’. That got really old really fast.







Now that we’re dating, Dolce’s name box is pink. I guess in case I forget?



Oh, right, there’s still that devil bird to contend with.

Snatching people's belongings, making Doug do dangerous things, goodness what a troublesome bird!

Yes. Twinkle put a gun to Doug’s head and forced him to climb up a building.

For all that, you look pretty happy about this all.

Hee hee hee! I'm not, you know. Not one bit. Oh yes. I'd like to give this to you.

What is it?

Something I made. It's the same as the one I gave to Doug. I hope you don't mind.

Thank you.

I don't expect you to make an heirloom of it, but I hope you do take care of it.



It’s total poo poo, sadly. I’m pretty sure Bado sells these, so I kinda doubt she made it.



That’s what she said.

Literally. She literally said that.



I don’t know if ghosts can grind crafting skills, but it couldn’t hurt to try.



Dating is the main thing I can do with Dolce now that we’re dating. This message brought to you by the Redundant Department of Redundancy Department.









Please. Your social life consists of me, a creepy voyeur who’s probably going to record us having sex, and lunch with the other girls.



Because when I think of good date spots in the dead of winter, I think of going to the lake!





When you’re dating someone, get used to meeting them at 10AM in the town square.







You fill me with confidence m’lady. I’ll wear my finest fedora.



NEXT TIME: Dating and hats.

ThornBrain
Jan 25, 2011

Hi. I forgot your name. Whatever.
My... point is...
Hi. Your head's on fire.
Doug does use that back-facing art in several cutscenes, just usually at the end of them when he's smuggly walking away from you. I think you can see it in the cutscene when you meet him at the water ruins.

YggiDee
Sep 12, 2007

WASP CREW
The pet names are kinda terrible across the board, Dylas' options include 'Dally, ' 'Bro, ' 'Horsie, ' and 'Big D'.

Sage Grimm
Feb 18, 2013

Let's go explorin' little dude!
Those would work more if you were gay-dating. "Let's work out, Bro!!" *wink*

Zagglezig
Oct 16, 2012
I dunno, I like the idea of the protag going around talking about their big date with Big D.


Truthkeeper posted:

Honestly, why must you always do such dangerous things?

Should this one be the old lady?

Rockopolis
Dec 21, 2012

I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird
The Prince Formerly Known as Art

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
I'm not sure if I should be more worried or less worried that there are going to be actual dates involved in romance instead of 80 10 a.m. pizzas and a blue feather.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

quote:

I suspect this scene was originally deciding on honorifics.
It probably did - when I dated Forte in my run, one set of name options was the normal names. As a separate option from "just like always is fine."

They could have put a little more effort into translating that one.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Zagglezig posted:

Should this one be the old lady?

I swore up, down, and sideways that it had to be, but the screenshot log very clearly shows it was Art speaking.



Glazius posted:

I'm not sure if I should be more worried or less worried that there are going to be actual dates involved in romance instead of 80 10 a.m. pizzas and a blue feather.

Well, there's still throwing a gift of food at her every morning, and a craftable ring instead of a blue feather, but yeah, you have to be dating a girl before you can marry her, and go on dates to various locations around town. Also, whenever a person you're dating is in your party, villagers you pass by will comment on it. Everybody has a voiced sentence to say about it.

Also, you can totally string along multiple girls. I once played all of them at once, but that's loving hard, since every girl you're dating makes it progressively harder to start dating another.

RF2 had the best marriage mechanic, each girl had her own quest that you had to complete in order to marry her. RF4 has a simpler but still interesting mechanic that we'll get to... at some point. I would like to get married before Act 3 though.

Haifisch posted:

It probably did - when I dated Forte in my run, one set of name options was the normal names. As a separate option from "just like always is fine."

They could have put a little more effort into translating that one.

That one's in there with a few girls I seem to recall. It also explains some of the sillier names like "Lil Art" (Art-chan or Art-kun, presumably).

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Romance and Hats











We’re in a medieval society. I’m pretty sure that I could literally own you if I gave your father a few of my monsters.

Probably a good thing her father is long dead and I’m kinda attached to my monsters.



I may have passed out from cooking in the morning a couple hours before the big date, but I made it in time. You actually get a fairly generous window for meeting up for dates. She said 10:00, but I could have come as early as 9:00, or fairly late (I’ve never been later than noon, so I don’t know how long she’ll wait). If you don’t show up at all, the girl will be pissed for a few days, and you’ll have to crawl in the mud and debase yourself to earn forgiveness. It’s better to just not stand her up.











Hey Pico, you mind taking off for… literally anywhere else? You’re throwing off my game.







Popular media tells me it’s appropriate to get a girl flowers. Most women I’ve known don’t care for them.



Well, poo poo, how’s that for timing? Although if I’d known it was her birthday I would have shat out a cheesecake or something.



Seriously Pico, I appreciate the translation, but scram!



Hey, this was your dumb idea. I would have preferred… literally anywhere else.



It’s a good thing Art isn’t as much of an rear end in a top hat as I am.









Really? We’re splashing in the freezing cold water now? Dolly clearly has unresolved inner child issues.







And Art is just a moron.





Phrasing?





Douse yourself in water and repent!



This outcome was obvious. Let this be a lesson: don’t play in the lake in loving winter.





A) What light clothes? You’re wearing the same overly complex knee length dress you always wear.
B) Why the hell are you wearing light clothes for hanging around outdoors in loving winter.
C) Dolly you are kinda dumb.





Hot drinks are one of Dolce’s preferred gifts. She doesn’t love them as much as cakes, but they’re equal with moondrop flowers.













Art you are full of fail both in planning and execution. The poor girl has a cold because you were screwing around in the lake. Stop trying to pretend you have game and get her some drat tea.









It’s like watching a pair of preteens. Stupid ones.





Pico, I’d be upset at you ruining the moment if the moment wasn’t really dumb.





You forgot about her hot drink dumbass.





The appropriate end to a date is to walk the girl home, after all.



By which I literally mean walk back to her house, then break the party.





Well, it’s still a more successful date than some I can think of.

Of course, once you break up your party, your party members immediately get back on track with whatever they were going to be doing. So Dolly just follows me outside.



Art, is your head injury flaring up again? Did you already forget that you just got your girlfriend sick screwing around in the water?



Harsh.









It would be rude not to say it, and Art already failed to say it earlier.











That does seem a little odd. And I’m not sure I have anything to give Pico. This is awkward.





Well that’s convenient.



You just told me.





Well said Dolly.





At this point, my ability to make kickass equipment starts being limited by monsters dropping materials. I’ve been working on growing some four leaf clovers, and I fished up a few rare cans during the fishing contests. Both of these items are said to increase the item drop rate when you use them to upgrade gear (some say any gear, others say weapons only). So I made a Happy Ring, which itself increases drop rates, and rolled a clover and a can into it.



Also, while I’ve neglected my main farm (I’m growing grass and fruit trees on one field and using the other three for lumber and stone), I’ve got a fine crop of hot-hot fruit ready to harvest. My flowers need a little more time.



I use the hot-hot fruit to mass produce Formuade. I can’t recommend using it for combat buffs, taking a 50% hit to max HP is too harsh for my liking. But it’s spectacular for restoring RP for crafting. And more importantly, sells for a decent price. I’m just grinding chemistry up right now, but it’s nice to make a little money doing it.



Everything from here is more complicated.



You might recall this fairy I visited, who gave me a hat in exchange for a giant melon. You can repeat that trade every day, but this fairy is only accessible one day per week, annoyingly. The others are available every day.



And there’s another fairy in the winter area, who trades a different hat if you throw her a flower.

I’ve already collected one from a fairy in the summery Selphia Plains, in exchange for a rock, and another on Autumn Road in exchange for an emerald.

But why did I bother?









Well, they’re all good hats in their own right for the time that they first become available, but I’m after something bigger.



By your powers combined, I am Four Seasons!

This right here is the best hat available in act 2. I wanted to have one much sooner, but got screwed by Daily Road, it took me a few weeks to figure out that the route to the Spring Fairy is open on Tuesdays.

I’m going to need to get more headdresses and make more for Dolce and Forte.

But I don’t wanna wear a flowery headband! I want my jaunty red cap back!



You of course remember this snazzy cap I wore for a long time back in act 1. Well it’s time to get snazzy.

By crafting another Fancy Hat, and using the Four Seasons as a crafting material for it…



I got a Fancy Hat with Four Seasons Stats. This is useful for making gear with the appearance of something else, but you can also use it to add the special effect of one accessory to another. It’s fairly common in the endgame to be wearing a pair of boots with a couple more pairs rolled into them.















As much as I would love to make a joke along the lines of “Step back little missy and let the man handle things here”, I think it’s actually funnier to just stare at her.

Also, I’m actually really bad at opening bottles and jars.





It actually just repeats until you offer to try opening it though.







Dolce, you have watched Art pummel several hundred monsters into a fine paste. Are you really doubting his strength?







Well that was anticlimactic.









I didn’t see you offering to open it Pico.



You aren’t making a good case for yourself here Art.













Is the implication here that Dolce is so impressed with Art’s display of manly strength that she’s lost herself to fantasy? Because by that logic she should have been ripping his clothes off after watching him pummel monsters for a few hours.





















I would hope she was already looking at Art as a man, or this relationship is going to go in an unexpected direction.

I suppose it still could go in that direction once I unlock the ability to change Art’s sprite.



Ouch. Harsh.





Dolce, I think you have a problem. Talk to Margaret, I’m sure she has some kind of sex toys she’d be willing to share with you.



No he really isn’t.



I had a second Spring Headdress, so I made a Four Seasons for Dolce, and turned hers into a straw hat. Dolce’s hat is kinda glitchy, and often changes randomly from screen to screen between what she’s actually wearing and her default silk hat.

NEXT TIME: The depths of Idra Cave and the true test of my ability to not make jokes about Sechs sounding like sex.

Truthkeeper fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Nov 14, 2016

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
Four Seasons is a pretty neat concept, even if it doesn't seem like super-endgame gear.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Glazius posted:

Four Seasons is a pretty neat concept, even if it doesn't seem like super-endgame gear.

It is the best hat available in Act 2, and good enough to serve throughout. It's useless in Act 3 of course, where I'll need to stack my stats through the roof, but that's life.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.


This loving cave.



More specifically, this loving floor of this loving cave.



But I made it past the bullshit with the one-way walls, from here on it’s just a matter of punching my way to victory.



This barrier only drops when the button next to it is weighed down, or if a character or monster is standing on the barrier. It’s meant to trick you into walking through and getting stuck, having to circle around again. But I have cleverly bypassed it by weighing down the button.



An earth-elemental spirit, Gaias. My current weapon defaults to earth-elemental, which made fighting these guys when I was trying to get to the pond for squid fishing contest extra fun.



A portal back to the entrance and a save point? Clearly there can be nothing dangerous beyond this point!



I’d call it an abrupt change in architecture.



That’s a dragon.

That’s a god.

That’s a god dragon.

THAT’S loving TERRABLE.

And that’s terrible.



...the Divine Dragon Terrable... one of the legendary Native Dragons governing the world.

Yes, my lord. Although it's not complete, as the research is still in progress.

This is...one of the powers I've been waiting for...

My lord! It's too dangerous! Please, stay away!

Mwa ha ha... This is the Rune Sphere's...! With this, I can wield the powers of an Earthmate! It can be all mine... It's MAGNIFICENT! MWA-HA-HA-HA!!

How many violations of the Evil Overlord List can you count in just this one conversation? I count at least four.

Hey!! Give me back the Rune Spheres!!

Who goes there?!

My lord, please step back!

...You look familiar... Oh, you're the Earthmate from Selphia!

How do you know about me?

That’s a very good question.

I didn't expect to see you here. My name is Ethelberd. I rule the Sechs Empire.

The Emperor of Sechs...?!

Were you recently promoted from the grand vizier of cocksucking?

Earthmate of Selphia. Did you enjoy the gift I sent you?

Gift...?

That soldier who bore your precious Rune Sphere. I knew he'd fall short in the face of an Earthmate... but I just wanted to say... "hello."

...Because of him, Venti and Doug...

Doug? ...Who's that?

He's the spy we sent to Selphia, sir. The dwarf we manipulated after destroying his town.

Hmph. I don't recall.

How can you forget something like that?!

For you, the day the Sechs Empire attacked your town was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday.

More importantly...behold, Earthmate! It's Terrable, the Native Dragon!



I've used the Rune Sphere 's power to create it!

Last time you used a series of machines to harness the power of an Earthmate to summon it from the Forest of Beginnings and enslave it. I guess this was probably easier.

It's stunning...just stunning! The ancient magic you've all created is simply brilliant!

I think we should all slowly back away and leave the emperor of syphilis alone with his dragon.

You...!

Mwa ha ha! Don't you wish you could experience its strength? Show me, Earthmate.



Wai—

“Wait” you say. Does he look like a waiter?





As a knight of the divine dragon, are you allowed to fight other divine dragons?







Terraclone is an easy fight compared to the rest of this shithole dungeon. He breathes poison gas, drops meteors, and ranged rock spikes. Pretty identical to how Terrable fought in RF1, except that fight was in a much larger room, it’s harder to maneuver in here.



But it’s just a lovely clone, not the real deal, so he still gets put down.





...I did it. Somehow... But the Rune Spheres ... If that's the kind of power they hold... what will happen should the town be attacked?





Punching it a few dozen times seemed to work pretty well, I’m gonna stick with that strategy.



Arthur? What are you doing here?!

Well, as I said before, I am technically a prince.

Technically, of course, because nobody around here cares.

Huh?

It's only natural that I come for a personal visit in this time of crisis, no?



Heh. I was only joking, of course.

Oh... Of course you were! Ha ha...ha.

...My apologies. Please don't mind my...lack of humor.

You tried.

W-well...I mean... The crisis had already passed. At least, the one that took place here.

What do you mean?

I mean you should have literally passed the loving emperor of loving on your way in.

Well...

And then all was explained in a cutaway, because the writers couldn’t figure out any way to explain this that didn’t make it sound like Art is high as hell.

I see. I had no idea things had gotten so extreme. But at least we now know for sure that the Sechs have stolen the Rune Spheres .

We knew that already. Because of the soldier. From Sechs. Who attacked the town. With the Rune Spheres.

Arthur you are an idiot.

The problem lies in the power they possess. I knew it was strong enough to support Lady Ventuswill... But even Terrable...?

Anyway, we need to take back the Rune Spheres .

That's right. Our goal has not changed.

So how are things back in the town?

Oh, no need to worry about that. With Mr. Volkanon, Forte and countless other skilled guards on duty... no enemies would be able to set even one foot within its gates!

Forte isn’t on duty, she’s here, with me, saving the drat world.

I've also finished most of my tasks as prince.

What tasks? You compile farming data and run a questionable item shop, with an import/export business of questionable legality on the side. You made me do your actual prince work, which for some loving reason involves running a loving farm.

I see. I'm glad to hear that.

But it'll probably take a while for the reinforcements to come. A crisis for Lady Ventuswill is equally a crisis for this kingdom. The royal capital must be quite panicked after such a dramatic report! It'll take them some time to sort everything out and actually send us the help we need.

So what you’re saying is that the king and central government are completely loving useless, and when this is over we should rise up in revolt and overthrow the monarchy?

But, that should be no problem. We're well-manned as it is.

Yeah, we have one knight, and some butlers, and a guy who punches stuff! And a number of guys who dress like soldiers but never seem to be around when poo poo is going down.

So...you came here because...?

I came here because I was officially ordered to find you... and ask you to return to town until reinforcements arrive...Though, to be honest, I am a bit worried. To think the Sechs would go this far! I'll have to make sure I report this to the king at the first available opportunity.



Art...?

I need to catch up with them. The longer I can keep them busy, the better our chances, right?

That's true, but—

What's more... I want Venti to get better as soon as possible. I want us to share stupid stories and make fun of each other again, like we always do.

To be honest, that's exactly what I was hoping you'd say.

Huh...?

Now is the time both to be cautious and collect as much information as possible. And the person who's most suited to do that is you. Art...



Arthur, stop pretending you have any relevant opinion here. Nobody cares about you.

Arthur...

I've been reflecting on what's happened thus far.

Oh?

When the town was invaded... I was so disturbed that I lost my ability to make sound judgments. As a result, you had to take on everything yourself.

Really? Is that why you never bothered to put in an appearance? Because you “lost your ability to make sound judgments”? Are you sure you weren’t just hiding under your bed?

That's not—

That's why... I would like to officially ask of you, as the prince of this kingdom... ...to track down the Sechs and stop them. In the meantime, I will do what I can as well. And this time, let's be sure we save Lady Ventuswill. Failure is not an option! We will win her back, or die trying.

It’s a nice little speech Arthur, but refer back to what I said about what you want not mattering. I’m already doing that.



I truly appreciate all you're doing. You managed to defeat Terrable, so I have no doubt you're up to the task. The only problem is... where did they go?



In which case, he must be headed toward the border. The border between the Sechs Empire is in the winter area , west of Autumn Road. There's a single bridge at the westmost point in Norad Kingdom. Please head there first.

I'll find them.

I know you will. I have faith in you. But please, don't push yourself too hard. All right?

Same goes for you, Arthur.

Because Arthur is pushing himself so hard, writing the occasional letter home begging daddy for help. I oughta drag him along and make him fight the next boss solo.

Right. Let's do everything we can.

And so we had a plan!



Which I put off in favor of seeing my lady to her home.



And fulfilling more requests.

NEXT TIME: A side boss, a broken bridge even the power of a butler cannot surpass, and more Sechs Soldiers that I’ll inevitably use a single portrait to represent.

Zagglezig
Oct 16, 2012
So if the emperor is personally tramping around here, who's running the empire? Did he get his own protagonist-ish character to deal with Emperor duties like Arthur and Venti got you to?
I don't know much about the Sech's Empire, but they seem like the sort to have treacherous politicians.


Truthkeeper posted:

Really? We’re splashing freezing cold now?
------------------


Well, they’re all good hats in their own right for the time that they first become available, but I’m after something bigger.



Got an extra water headdress pic in front of the four seasons.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
This update has A+ timing with the end of the Rune Factory 1 LP. (Go read it if you haven't, the game itself is bad but it makes RF4 Ethelberd seem even more hilariously petty)

quote:

Slightly regretting not bringing Dolce along to more plot events. :allears:

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Zagglezig posted:

So if the emperor is personally tramping around here, who's running the empire? Did he get his own protagonist-ish character to deal with Emperor duties like Arthur and Venti got you to?
I don't know much about the Sech's Empire, but they seem like the sort to have treacherous politicians.

He does seem like the kind of guy who would have a treacherous vizier, or an insidious advisor, or maybe just a son looking to knock off the old man and take over.

Haifisch posted:

This update has A+ timing with the end of the Rune Factory 1 LP. (Go read it if you haven't, the game itself is bad but it makes RF4 Ethelberd seem even more hilariously petty)

It's interesting that you bring that up. It isn't very clear yet, but our future interactions with Ethelberd will show that he took the events of that game very poorly.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
You know, for all the awesome powers of nature, as an actual weapon it's probably going to get beat in the cost-effectiveness department by, like, Greek fire.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Glazius posted:

You know, for all the awesome powers of nature, as an actual weapon it's probably going to get beat in the cost-effectiveness department by, like, Greek fire.

gently caress the WMDs of the ancient world, the Sechs have guns and tanks. Somehow they're still not an effective fighting force.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Stupid Sechsy Soldiers

Alright, so Arthur said to go as west as west can go. He also said to go to the winter area west of Autumn Road, which is half right. We’ve talked about the first winter area, where the winter field and the out of sequence enemies are. But where we’re actually going is down by the autumn field. A dungeon that I could have done the first few rooms of at any time since Autumn Road opened up, except stuff here was way too tough to handle back then for no real reward.

Annoyingly, you can’t take the airship to the autumn field during this time. Here are the rails, now follow them.



So I chase these guys down on foot. It’s better not to wonder how I managed to catch up given the head start they had.

He’s running west, getting the gently caress out of Norad, but I can probably catch him at the bridge and kick his rear end.



That’s… odd, but hardly seems to be anything worth worrying about.



Oh gently caress me sideways. Whatever will we do, they have destroyed a bridge. If only I had an aerial means of conveyance, or butlers trained in the art of bridge building. But alas, we are doomed!



I agree Art, this is slightly inconvenient.



I don’t think that’s the word you were looking for Art, but the idea is sound.



No, you really don’t have to. You are already capable of taking the airship to the other side of the bridge, no royal letter writing required.



Not yet.

I see. In any case, please don't push yourself too hard.

Well...actually, I have a bit of a favor to ask!

What is it?

I seem to have reached an impasse while chasing the Sechs. And it seems like the only way to go any farther is from above.

I see. In that case, I'll try to secure you the use of an airship. In which case, you can just fly to the Maya Road entrance directly.

I have an airship license already. I realize they wrote this so that you could still proceed if you weren’t bothering to get licenses, but this is just loving lazy. This entire conversation was completely pointless.

Thank you very much!

My pleasure. I also have something to report. I've sent word to the royal capital about the current situation and possible countermeasures. Reinforcements should be arriving soon. There was a lot of confusion at first, with everything that happened to Lady Ventuswill... but they seem to have calmed down enough now to take action. What remains is figuring out just how much power the Sechs have... and how to counteract it. So, Art. Please try your best to find the Sechs and save Lady Ventuswill.

Spoiler alert! Those reinforcements never show up. Or even get mentioned again, so far as I can remember.

I will.

Now, I should get back to work.

Arthur... Please protect the town, and all the wonderful people in it.

You take care of yourself as well, Art.



And so I regained the ability to fly to the autumn field. This area, one screen north of that field, leads to Maya Road. They could have made this less pointlessly stupid just by having the bridge be one screen to my left, between here and Maya Road.

Also, I’m not going in there immediately, I got poo poo to do. Saving the world can wait.

Because while I’ve been chasing soldiers and chatting with Arthur? It’s been typhooning. Well, winter typhoon, so blizzarding. The point is?



There’s a boss in Sercerezo Hill who only shows up during typhoons. His name is Typhoon. He is the natural enemy of all farmers.

I’mma deck him in the schnoz!



This is a surprisingly difficult fight, considering the smackdown I laid on Terraclone. Typhoon uses a fairly large dark magic projectile, and there’s not exactly room to dodge around here.



For a while I managed to lock him into a throw chain, where I could keep grabbing him and throwing him around.



He also summons tornadoes. Again, hard to dodge.



Beating him earned me a… rotten piece of fruit?



Well, that just seems worse than useless, huh?

Wait and see friends. Wait and see.

So what was I doing again?

Oh right, gotta save the dragon, save the world.



drat decent of them to wait for me to catch up.

Why not? I think it was a brilliant idea!

W-well, without the bridge, how are we going to get to the other side ourselves?

Why would you need to? You accomplished your objective here, there’s no reason why you would need to go back.

...drat it, you're right!

I-I won't report this to Lord Ethelberd...



C-come on! Let's run! Fast as we can!

Yes, by all means, run as fast as you can. I’m sure it will matter.







No, she’s talking about Forte, clearly.



Maya Road consists of two levels. Here we have the upper area, a winding path of rocky ledges with gusts of wind blowing me around. The monsters are reasonably tough, but no worse than what I fought in Idra Cave. There’s no new ore in this dungeon, so it would be unreasonable to have a steep jump in difficulty when I can’t upgrade my gear very much.



There are lots of barriers blocking the way.

Don't be so hasty.

They're right on my tail!

Calm down. Once we shut this, the only way in is through that hole.

Th-that's true...

That place is filled with monsters that are resistant to normal attacks... so without elemental weapons or magic ... it's a no-man's land.

Well thanks for the heads up. I might have had a problem down there if you hadn’t warned me about that!

It's open.

Okay! Now run!



They… left the barrier open. They can’t possibly be that stupid.



Okay, not all of them can be that stupid.

Oops, sorry. Don't know where my mind is sometimes, I swear!

And so the barrier was closed, leaving me no option, but the pit.



Which brings us to the lower level of Maya Road. A series of dark caverns full of unnamed monsters that all absorb physical damage. No magic or elemental weapons? You’re hosed.



Which is why I thought ahead and brought an extra pair of gloves with the earth element. Without their gimmick, these monsters are still reasonably tough, especially since there are a lot of them per room and the rooms are fairly cramped, but it’s doable.



Also, the monsters are very clearly palette swaps of the same trolls, fairies, and beetles I was fighting on the surface, with some slimes mixed in. All named “???”. Sadly, nothing down here can be tamed.



For a change of pace, I brought out my light elemental spell, Light Barrier. On its own, nothing special, especially as my light magic skill is poo poo. But it hits things in front of me in melee range, so it’s basically free added damage while I punch stuff.



Everything down here can drop Mysterious Powder. It’s a drat fine item for upgrading magic staves, magic attack boosts are somewhat difficult to find at this point. I’m pretty sure it’s pointless to inflict fatigue or sickness on monsters, but if I wanted to, this would be one way.



I got the silence curing spell Mediseal. That may seem like an oxymoron, but Mediseal can be cast while you’re sealed for exactly that reason.



And back to the surface to continue the chase.



Lots of bees in this area, and birds. I wouldn’t say it’s all palette swaps of old enemies from here on out, but they will be much more common.



And of course there’s another barrier to get around.



And another cavern to get around it with! This just seems poorly designed as a means to stop people from getting through the road.



I got… a lovely longsword rune ability. Woo.



When you pop up on the other side of a barrier, there’s a switch to open it, so backtracking and getting back to your furthest point is easier.



Have I mentioned that it’s windy enough to push me around? The holes are meant to be avoided this time in order to get to the chest.



Pineapples are nice. Probably never grow anything else in the summer field from now on. Expect a rant about pineapple juice later though.



I made my way through another cavern, and reached a save point! Because this dungeon is loving long, so they added save points and teleporters along the way.

NEXT TIME: Maya Road and Christmas. Don’t ask questions, just roll with it.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer
I can already guess what you're gonna do with that black apple :devil:

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
So are we invading Sechs territory at this point or have they just kind of quietly snuck into a giant stretch of wilderness?

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Glazius posted:

So are we invading Sechs territory at this point or have they just kind of quietly snuck into a giant stretch of wilderness?

The game never says for certain, but the implication is that this area is a sort of no mans land between Norad and Sechs. Maybe a disputed border or something, it's never made clear.

But the next dungeon, immediately the next area after Maya Road, is called Sechs Territory, so at that point we're definitely invading.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
All I Want for Christmas is Your Severed Head



Just because you can do some things doesn’t mean you should. I have no desire to be visited by four ghosts tonight.



I have pineapples, and I have a blender. But Pineapple Juice? Nope, can’t make that! You’d have to be some kind of culinary genius! Or just find the recipe in a late game dungeon. Because without the recipe, this juice takes over 3000 RP to cook. I’ll find a way around it eventually, because waiting until I can find the recipe isn’t my style.

Oh yes. Tomorrow is...



Yes. So I heard. …



Because, of course, Christmas is the kind of holiday one attends.

Wha…? Well...I don't have anything else planned, so I guess I could think about it. What about you? Do you have any plans?



I guess I wouldn't mind.



And so Art has a date for Christmas.



Your confidence fills me with pride.



Volkanon, you are a large bearded man, it is true, but Santa you ain’t.





Me? Hrm…



So Christmas is a holiday based around wishes being granted… I wish for Emperor Ethelberd’s severed head!



I’m powerful enough now to kill Ambrosia before she can metamorphize to her butterfly form.



Terrable isn’t so difficult that I can’t put him on farm with the rest of the cretins. He’s being damned stingy with dropping his item though.

And then it’s time for Art’s big date.

Sorry I’m late.





Huh?

I’m with Art on this one. Apologizing for being late when you’re early is just bizarre. But then, Art showed up nearly an hour early too.





When I think of good date spots at night in the dead of winter, the top of the tallest building in town is not among them. What the hell is wrong with you people?

This one is actually set though, the Christmas date is always stargazing at the observatory. It’s not just Dolce being stupid like going to the lake.









I don’t buy it. You made a magic ghost-proof box and locked her inside it.

















Counterpoint: shouldn’t you then wish for things that you aren’t capable of achieving on your own? If these people have a magical tower that grants wishes once a year, why the hell isn’t everybody in town standing here wishing for Ethelberd to have a stroke? loving lazy rear end villagers relying on RPG protagonists to solve all their problems.















You just finished telling me that we have a magic wish-granting tower. It either grants wishes or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, then why the gently caress are we up here and not sitting in front of a fire?





Well, that’s nice.



I think that’s the only time you get to kiss your significant other prior to marriage.





You heard the lady.









But if you get what you wished for, doesn’t that mean your wish did come true?









I believe it.





It’s a nice scene, but seriously, round up the town and get to wishing for severed heads already.







Poor Pico, she missed the sappiness.



Also, you get the option anytime you look at somebody’s bed to sleep in it. You aren’t allowed to, but it’s usually amusing.











I dunno, I think she likes the idea.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Finally added a table of contents to the OP. Put that off way too long. Still need to go back and fix formatting on some of the early posts.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Maya Road and the Demon God Dragon



It’s a shame there are so many rocks in Maya Road, because mining here isn’t very helpful. It’s mostly a mix of gems, and none of them are new.



drat decent of these guys to hang around and wait while I go on dates and work the farm.



Well, look who's here.

Oh, for crying out loud...

Fortunately, it won't be long until...you know. So let's try to buy some time! Come on!



Clearly Lazy and Neutral Soldiers are the only ones smart enough to realize how that would go.

W-wait! Why are you guys running away?!

Survival instincts?

Th-this is a strategic retreat! ...Just you wait! You'll get yours!



If you’re telling me Pico could have been doing something more useful than you using her as a projectile all this time…



Oh good, Pico’s still useless.



Yes, but they’re polite enough to wait for us at the next checkpoint.



Art, this is hardly the time for napping!



What did I just say?



The gimmick of the next few rooms is rocks falling… from the sky I guess, because there’s nothing to suggest that there’s a mountain or anything above us here.



Here, they fall slowly, but it picks up as I advance, to the point where the last room is almost a rock bullet hell. Rock hell? Bullock hell? Quickly falling projectiles that I need to dodge.



While grabbing loot and killing monsters, because just dodging rocks would be too easy.



I managed to get the best spear skill though. Axel Disaster is a multi-hit attack that drives you forward at high speed into whatever enemies are in front of you for a decent distance. It’s faster than walking, so sometimes I use it to move across town.



Another clear room with a save point and a teleporter back to the entrance. This dungeon brings a lot in terms of convenience.



See? Such polite invading soldiers.





Ha ha it’s funny because Pokemon.



Guess that kid caught up... Sorry, but we need the Rune Spheres for Lord Ethelberd.

O-our lives are actually at stake here, you know!

We don't even have the Rune Spheres, anyway.

That's right! They're in Lord Ethelberd's hands.

H-hey, I don't think you should have said that...



You just did.

Well, now you have!

Oh, dammit...

Hey, looks like everything's ready now.

...Heh heh heh. This is the end for you.

Oh yes, I’m sure whatever engine of destruction your empire crapped out this time is so frightening.

Come, Fiersome!



Oh gently caress me they’ve got another dragon. God. Demon? Maybe? Fiersome is a world destroyer, can we call him a demon god? Demon God Dragon it is!



And he’s loving here. Really wishing I’d gotten around to making fire resist rings like I’d planned on.



Heh, I can still appreciate watching these chucklefucks get knocked around.

D-drat it...

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAAAAAY!!

When a dragon reared its ugly head, brave Sir Lazy ran away. Brave brave brave, brave Sir Lazy.



What Serious, were you actually planning on staying and fighting alongside the giant fiery dragon? This room is too damned small for this fight as it is.

The nice thing is that, with the bait and switch on the fight, we get a second set of dialogue from Dolly, Pico, and Forte.







A, that’s my woman you’re creeping on



B, she’s wearing a dress that goes down past her knees. You’re the one with the short skirt Pico.



C, that.



Short and to the point and not creepy. Well said Forte!



Fiergaenger, much like Terraclone, would be a damned sight easier if there was more room to dodge.



As it is, those fireballs can be surprisingly hard to avoid. Thankfully, the game didn’t try to send me to fight the fire dragon with fire weapons like last time. He’s got a boatload of health, and is tanky enough to make it take time to beat him. My punches are knocking him about for around 200-300 each, with Forte and Dolce doing less. He has 16000 HP.



You’d think looking at this screenshot that he’s throwing those fireballs out from his body, but he’s actually sucking them in from… somewhere. It hurts like hell to try and stay at melee range while he’s doing this, but it is basically free attacks while he isn’t moving.



I’m not saying he’s all fire and nothing else. He has some nasty-rear end physical attacks.



When he goes into his critical phase, he gains a sizable defense boost. I’m not saying it took as long to finish him from here as it did to get to this point, but it sure as hell felt like it.



Yeah I know! It’s not like I’ve already killed one of your dragon clones before!







And then the soldiers bolted. They’re smarter than I gave them credit for.



So this is officially the border. I’ve been running with the assumption that Maya Road is a sort of no-mans-land, or maybe a disputed border between these two hostile countries. But from here it’s all enemy territory.



And so the first thing they give me is a level up in a bottle. Until I have the capability to mass produce these, they aren’t very helpful.

NEXT TIME: Secrets of the Empire, a bit of sequence breaking, and the last contest of the year.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
I love that you can do a children's-movie villain move like canceling Christmas.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.


Now we’re officially about to invade Sechs Territory. This would probably be an act of war… if not for the Sechs already blatantly committing an act of war. We totally have casus belli here, but our army sucks, so I’m just gonna assassinate the Emperor, should solve all our problems forever. Killing one person always stops out of control evil empires.



This dungeon has orcs. Lots of orcs, that throw lots of axes. Since there was no real new equipment tier going through Maya Road, the difficulty ramping up a bit here is really noticeable. I can handle it, because I’m awesome (and more than a bit overleveled still), but it would be very possible to just barely squeak through Maya Road and Fiergaenger and be caught totally unaware here.



Hello Tart!













Tart’s goofy, but harmless. She’ll give you a random cooked dish once per day.



And then there’s this poor starving wolf. Given that monsters in this game can eat literally anything, I’m not sure how one starves, but this poor thing is.

I gave it my Seafood Doria. If you’re going to give food to a starving animal, why not a complicated seafood and rice dish they can’t possibly have the palate to appreciate?



I made a friend today!



Wolves were originally the only kind of monster you could ride, back when individual monsters could only be good for one thing (watering or harvesting or riding) besides fighting. But I’ve got a unicorn for that.



Just because I’m not marrying Forte doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the reference.



More of the mysterious biting plants from Lava Ruins. I guess they can survive some pretty extreme environmental swings.



Also, giant blue elephants.





The puzzle here is interesting, but not difficult. There are multiple barriers and buttons. For each button I weigh down, one barrier drops. The last button turns off the ice avalanche, allowing me to open the chest. The reward is mediocre, a longsword rune ability, Steel Heart.

The areas I just showed off, along with a few that weren’t interesting enough to screenshot, form a giant circle around the area. The purpose of that circle?



This is immediately north of the entrance. The circle leads to those two switches to open these gates. If I wanted to progress further just yet, I would have hit them as I circled around. But the rest of this dungeon will come later.



I did decide to pay a visit to Leon Karnak again. I can, just barely, manage to kill monsters here now. If I avoid getting hit at least. I managed to fight my way to a chest, and was rewarded with armor far beyond my current capabilities. And not just one, but three HP increasing Vital Gummies.





My visit came to an end here though. These pineapple looking motherfuckers have high defense and heal themselves, I’m not fighting through them anytime soon.

Huh, wasn’t I complaining earlier that no monsters cast healing spells? Guess that came back to bite me.

That was all pretty much to kill time while waiting for the last contest of the year to begin. The fourth and final seasonal harvest contest. And I forgot to save a winter vegetable. Out of season crops take a point penalty, but I’m prepared to work around that.



Very prepared.









I’m the melon king, hail to the king.



Time to deal with weird villager comments about my crops again.





He caught me off guard last time and I guessed incorrectly, but it was a mistake to try to troll me the same way again Leon!











Yeah, you can’t troll the troll king.





About a day actually, if you soak your field in growth inducing chemicals like me.





Wanted to pick the last one to see his reaction, but I accepted that this was probably the answer he was looking for.



Third place:



Better luck next time sweetie, I’m sure if you try hard enough second place will be yours for the taking. First place is over my dead body though.

Second place:



When the hell does he even find time to grow vegetables? Where does he grow them? Where does anybody grow them, I’ve got a lock on the only vacant lot in town!



Now imagine if I’d bothered to save a hot-hot fruit for the contest. And bothered leveling them up to 10 for it. Maybe next year. Now that I’ve aced all four of these and gotten their respective trophies, I won’t feel bad about ignoring them if I don’t feel like doing it.

NEXT TIME: The year draws to a close. Let us reflect upon what Art has achieved in these past four months.

Eifert Posting
Apr 1, 2007

Most of the time he catches it every time.
Grimey Drawer
[quote="Truthkeeper" Killing one person always stops out of control evil empires.

[/quote]

Well it works on the Mongols, even if they mostly drank themselves to death during their heyday.


Really enjoying the lp, good job man.

Blind Duke
Nov 8, 2013
I remember diamonds and Platinum being a big thing I needed to craft the next tier of equipment for a long time before I progressed enough to access this area

I also delved into Maya Road a long time before I was supposed to and powerleveled the hell out of the intended section

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Blind Duke posted:

I remember diamonds and Platinum being a big thing I needed to craft the next tier of equipment for a long time before I progressed enough to access this area

I also delved into Maya Road a long time before I was supposed to and powerleveled the hell out of the intended section

Platinum is the big roadblock right now. Diamonds (available now in Sechs Territory) get me a couple new things, including a new staff for Dolce, but getting Platinum in the next dungeon opens up the final crafting tier for Act 2. Not nearly as much content in Act 2 compared to Act 1, sadly, but we're not gonna be done with this thing for a while yet.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

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

Clapping Larry
So are the Sechs friends with the orcs? Or did they just slip through a secret locked door somewhere?

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Glazius posted:

So are the Sechs friends with the orcs? Or did they just slip through a secret locked door somewhere?

I'm running with the assumption that the orcs are native to this area near the border, and the Sechs don't gently caress with them. BUt the second half of the dungeon has specific Sechs monsters so maybe they're all on the payroll, hard to say.

mastersord
Feb 15, 2001

Gold Card Putty Fan Club
Member Since 2017!
Soiled Meat

Truthkeeper posted:

I'm running with the assumption that the orcs are native to this area near the border, and the Sechs don't gently caress with them. BUt the second half of the dungeon has specific Sechs monsters so maybe they're all on the payroll, hard to say.

The Orcs, like all other normal monsters, can be tamed with garbage. My guess is the old geezer just threw rocks at them till they loved him enough to stay. Heck, it's what I did.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

mastersord posted:

The Orcs, like all other normal monsters, can be tamed with garbage. My guess is the old geezer just threw rocks at them till they loved him enough to stay. Heck, it's what I did.

Wish I could send my army of monsters to guard the border. Probably put a stop to these border incursions.

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
End of Year Recap

It’s the end of the year. Art has been working at this prince schtick for 119 days. What do we have to show for it?



I’m building up a nice little treasury. More than enough money for anything that I can do right now, short of buying the last field, and my building materials are stocking up nicely. I don’t really have anything useful to do with prince points right now, which is why I have a nice little pile, but haven’t really been working to get more.



The prince’s bedroom. I’ve been putting off upgrading this, which would add additional rooms, because I prefer keeping my crafting stations outside. You already know my forge, crafting bench, and pharmacy bench outside. Here we have the rest of my stuff.

Along the left and right walls are my cooking stations, which I meant to move outside but never got around to it. I have all of them now. Uncooked, knifework, oven, pot, mixer, and frying pan. The only thing I’m missing is a late-game license that lets me use any one station to cover all of their uses, a big space saver.

In the bottom right is my bookshelf, where I keep extra spells and rune abilities. This is mostly useless, as you never really need more than one copy of anything, and the spell inventory is big enough to hold everything.

Bottom left, you’ll recall the shop box. It isn’t upgradeable, so I can only ever keep 15 items in it to sell in the shop.

In the center of the room is the shipping bin. I’ve been moving this around trying to find the most convenient place for it, but since I always begin and end the day here, putting it right in the room made the most sense. I’ve got it upgraded enough to not have any issues getting all my poo poo shipped.

Up top is storage, just the storage bin and fridge still. I’ve been expanding them pretty regularly, so each can hold several hundred items. Still coming close to filling the fridge, since I keep all my extra seeds in it. I’m still missing two boxes, one for weapons and other equipment, the other for tools, including seeds.

Next to the diary table is my Telecommunicator. Much like the one in the north part of town, this let’s me summon the airship to fast travel. I’m just lazy and wanted one right where I wake up in the morning. Later I’ll probably have a bunch scattered around.



The original vacant lot/field. I mostly use the seasonal fields for crops now, so this one mostly is just grass and fruit trees. And I’ve been lazy about replanting my grass.





The other three fields (I haven’t unlocked the fifth and final field yet, it’s expensive) I’m using to farm lumber and stone. The pun was not intended. I let my monster pets take care of that for me. They can each hit a branch, stump, or rock once per day. They just destroy weeds instead of collecting them, so I still sometimes run through to grab those.











Monsters, I have them! The ones with skulls above them are exhausted from overwork. They automatically stay off the clock until they recover, or I can feed them food or potions to restore their HP.











Skills! Nothing new since the last time I showed them off. There are a few that could stand to be worked on (spears, all the resists except sleep). It’s still useful to level skills that I don’t use for the stat bonuses (I’ve been grinding a lot recently trying to increase my max RP), but otherwise I’m in pretty good shape here.







Recipe collection is going well. The recipes I’m missing mostly require deep delves into the bonus dungeon (the non-fist weapon recipes still need me to grind my weapon skills a bit as well).









My relations with the townsfolk. I have not been purposefully trying to woo Forte, I have no idea why she’s so high. I swear I’m not cheating on Dolce. Yet. Doug is locked at 3 until the end of Act 2, which is annoying as there’s a request to get everybody to 5.







My monster relations. Those bee names were supposed to be placeholders, I’m not sure how I forgot about them. I freely admit I’m very bad at taking care of my monsters, which is why so many of them don’t have very high friendship.



And then there’s my trophy collection. There’s a trophy for every contest, bronze, silver, and gold for third, second, and first place. I did pretty drat good this year, and only need to worry about acing the bean toss, the big catch and fish variety fishing contests, and the buddy battle. Dylas will make those fishing contests tough, and the buddy battle is always a challenge.

The top row and the first half of the second row are reminders of firsts. You get a trophy for dating a girl, completing your first request, and even taking a bath. The book, as mentioned so very long ago, lets me change the difficulty. The projector at the top lets me watch the opening video and the anime intros for each marriage candidate




The other two rooms have the trophies for the final two contests not seen above (handicraft and cooking), and fish trophies. You get a trophy for each kind of fish, better trophies for catching larger specimens of that fish. I’m missing a fair few, and most of them are only the bronze trophies for small fish. Need to catch more fish.

So what do my neighbors think about the upcoming new year?









I intend to marry into this poo poo folks. Ventuswill have mercy on my soul.





Poor guy, only gets one day off a year. His job must be so hard.

I’m still not sure what it is he’s working so hard on.





Nah Leon, you’re perfectly capable of being serious, when you want to be.





That is literally what I’m doing, thank you Dylas.



Yeah, I know, everybody here would be dead if not for me. I sure am great.





Art can’t do that, because amnesia. You are a cold and heartless bitch for mocking him about that Forte.

NEXT TIME: Hey, wasn’t I trying to save the world or something? Meh, whatever, there are shiny distractions!

Zagglezig
Oct 16, 2012
So if you upgrade your room for the extra space, does the game not let you put the various stations outside?

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
You still can, there's just no reason to spend the resources on extra rooms if you're not putting anything in them. :v:

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Eifert Posting
Apr 1, 2007

Most of the time he catches it every time.
Grimey Drawer
Just making sure the LP isn't dead...

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