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The first four DQ games make "living off the land" not a viable strategy. You will run out of resources, so you need to constantly be aware of where the nearest town is or keep that Wing of Wyvern ready.
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Jun 6, 2018 21:56
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Asimo posted:And there's the name from my game. Which I somehow remember after, what, 25 years? To a point. Until things start spewing out group attacks just as nasty as anything you can dish out, or even more.
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Jun 7, 2018 00:23
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Well, I mean it is still DW2.
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Jun 7, 2018 01:25
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rchandra posted:If that "firing" line hadn't been screenshotted I'd have thought it was LP dialogue. Heheh, I originally just transcribed it, but then it came to mind that there was a 100% chance someone would think I made it up. Patter Song posted:The first four DQ games make "living off the land" not a viable strategy. You will run out of resources, so you need to constantly be aware of where the nearest town is or keep that Wing of Wyvern ready. Yeah, the JRPG structure hadn't congealed into the "town -> dungeon -> boss -> plot advances -> next town" rhythm yet, and the overworld here effectively functions as a dungeon, especially when it's your first time in a new area and you don't know where you're going yet. It's tricky to design that way, because if you try to make your world map into too much of a dungeon, then it stops looking like a world map, so to a degree, savvy application of distance and geography has to stand-in for maze complexity. And of course if you avoid making your world map into any kind of dungeon at all then the extreme of that is to pick locations from a menu and skip travel entirely. We've seen this a lot in the intervening years in fact, and it's not necessarily a bad thing if the game is designed properly in other ways, but you lose that growing sense of familiarity with the landscape that really works for how the DW games play.
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Jun 7, 2018 12:43
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 So that's all of the tower that used to contain the Cloak of the Wind. Going up the obvious central shaft is basically a mistake! In terms of size and complexity, I'd say it's a fair bit more involved than Garin's Grave in DW1. Considering that was that game's second-to-last dungeon, we're already stepping up. Along the way, Gwen reached level 7 (1 Strength, 2 Agility, 1 HP, 2 MP), Glynn reached level 12 (2 Strength, 2 HP, 3 MP, and a new spell), and we did in fact make enough money to get Zed a Steel Shield, increasing his defense by 6 points.  Outside teleports you out of a dungeon, just like in DW1, at the exact same expense of 6 MP. Oh, and...  Video: More lottery!Getting two of the same symbol earns you a free try, and as we've seen, getting three hearts got us a Medical Herb. Welp, better than nothin'. By this point, Zed has 79 attack and 53 defense, Glynn has 39 attack and 34 defense, and Gwen has 17 attack and 23 defense. Of course that's not the sum of their usefulness, but it gives you an idea of how they compare.   : Ready to try the western tunnel again? : You know it! : I'll try to be more careful this time.: Ah, don't worry about it too much. I could probably be a better bodyguard, to be honest.: That doesn't mean we can't try to make your job a little easier.: Our success is on all of us.: Right! Let's go, then.We run into an unusually high number of foes on our way to the tunnel, but manage to make it out at little expense. And as soon as we exit the other end...  Carnivogs have fairly high HP and Strength, but low defense. Their claim to fame is to occasionally "blow their sweet scented breath", attempting to put our entire party to sleep. This is not magic, so Stopspell doesn't help, but they're only faintly resistant to Sleep themselves, and damage spells always work against them. This particular fight levels Zed up, for 4 Strength and 1 HP.  Retracing our steps from last time, but a little more to the north, we spot an island across the channel here, with a mysterious tower on it. Better remember it for later.  : You ever spend much time in this desert, Gwen?: I've never had cause to come this way myself. And now that I've actually seen it, I wish I didn't have to.: Eh, same.: We stand at the western boundary of Torland, you know. We are about to leave our ancestors' realms.: I'm not surprised ZedPower and Gwaelin turned back from this sand pit. : I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. : It's also spectacularly unsuited to erecting stoneworks.: Even if it wasn't, it's still sand.  We find a neat little oasis near the western coast, but there's nothing more to it.  A chain of mountains blocks any travel south, so we turn around and follow the sea to the north.  And we come out the other side of the dune ocean. We met no new foes, only tons of Baboons, Megapedes, Magidrakees, Ghost Rats and Carnivogs.    We lose Gwen to a Megapede ambush a bit further north. There wasn't much we could do about that one, unfortunately.   : Hmm. I wonder if we could cross that river by gliding from this tower here.: It's worth a try, but we're not climbing without Gwen. Can you take us back to Hamlin?: Yes, of course.: Man, I don't look forward to crossing that desert again. There's no use complaining, though.: We do what we must. If we balk at a desert, we'll never measure up to Hargon.Oh, hey, while we're at it, here's what the wise man at the House of Healing has to say if you decline to pay for his services.  : No, of course I d- : Good grief, no need to tell us your life story, we get it.: ...wait, who are you paying taxes to? Moonbrooke has fallen. : Oh, uh, right. Just the family and the cow, then.Gwen levels up on the way back, for 1 Strength, 5 Agility, 5 HP, 2 MP, and her next spell.  Repel is still a Fairy Water equivalent, keeping weaker enemies away for a set distance traveled. It still only costs 2 MP. For around here though, I'd rather get into fights, I'm sure we'll need all the cash we can get soon.  Oooh, there's a new enemy in the desert after all! Mummy Men are incredibly strong, but have a defense of exactly 2, and are immune to Sleep, mildly resistant to Surround, and vulnerable to damage spells. They have no other tricks, they only attack. Even Gwen's Magic Knife does well against them, so I don't see myself spending MP on solo ones.  : Guys, I have an idea!: Oof.: We... had the same one. Before.: Aw, you're no fun.  Well this is straightforward.  : I'm sure that I do. : But I have not yet spoken.: Still sure.: I certainly don't know, kind sir. Please share your knowledge.: These twin towers are known as the Dragon's Horn.: Thank you. Was that so hard?: What does it even matter? They could be called Twins' Toothpicks for all I care.  That black area here is a new hazard of sorts. It's a pit, causing you to fall to the floor below. There isn't much to it here, but it does show that the tower is hollow. We go through several identical floors, just going around the central hole, from staircase to staircase.   Oh hey, eight enemies at once. I like that the width of the enemy sprites has a gameplay element to it; we're never going to run into eight Baboons because they wouldn't fit on the screen. It seems that Healers always prefer to heal non-Healers if they can, so we need to eliminate most of them before Zed has a chance to finish off the big guy. A bit further along, Glynn levels up, earning 8 Strength, 7 Agility, 2 HP, and 2 MP. Dang, that'll work!  Demighosts are comparable to Mummy Men, with a bit less attack and a fair amount more defense. However, not only can they sometimes roll critical hits, they'll randomly act twice in one turn! They're only slightly resistant to magic though, so I recommend Sleep or Surround when facing more than one. Right now we can chump one in a single turn if we all simply attack, but they're going to be tough in a crowd.  Medusa Balls are not quite as strong as Demighosts, but they can also attack twice, and they know Sleep. They're highly vulnerable to all magic though, so it's best to disable them before they disable you.  Our MP runs low enough that we start using Herbs to heal; it's best to save some juice for combat.  : Whew! I lost count of how many floors that was. : ...this suddenly starts to feel like a stupid idea.: Losing your nerve?: No, I'm wondering if we can avoid just... falling into the river. I'm not swimming in this gear.: Come now, cousin. Trust in the magic of the cloak.: Yeah, that's the problem. Magic and I aren't much on speaking terms.: Oh, will you quit your fussing already? Let's go, and hold on tight! : AAAAAAAUGH! : ...: My poor ears!: I will never get tired of this.: Ah, well, hmm. Looks like it worked. Good job everyone!The other tower is certainly the way back. There might be treasure of some sort inside, but we're in no shape to climb it at the moment. Let's see if we can find something of interest in the north for now.  : All in favor of not cutting through the woods?: Aye!: Indeed!    : Ah, an inn! My kingdom for an ale!: If you trade Cannock for an ale, I will definitely tell your dad.  20 gold per person, well within our means.   : ...!: ...!: Oh, fascinating! : Perhaps thou has seen ancient maps of my land, but it has changed much through the ages. This is a different type of attendant, but it's still a standard House of Healing.  : Useful skill, that.: Do you...?: I'm not telling! : Err... Alright.: Fine.: Nothing? : Fair enough. Another lottery kiosk, but we're out of tickets.  : Oh my goodness... That's a ship! They have a ship here!: Well, the town is called Lianport.: Come on, let's enquire about passage.: Why would we even want to... Eh, never mind.: Kind sir, would that ship over there be in any way avai- : But... But... It has three square-rigged masts, it's definitely a ship!: Let's go, Glynn. I don't know if there is ever a time to debate nautical terminology with a harbormaster, but it is not now.  : From there in ages past came a great warrior, "a descendant of Erdrick" who slew dragons, and there came also a princess named Gwaelin.: Right, we're familiar with that tale. Quite literally, in fact.: Wh... What? Really? A descendant of Erdrick? They remember his name but not mine? Do I have to forever live in his shadow?: Don't worry, I'm sure someone out there remembers you as "Gwaelin's husband".: That's... Okay, fine, that's a little better.  : Wait, what the hell!? HEY!Video: GremlinsI think we just had our first boss fight! Gremlins are fairly tough foes with high stats, comparable to the harder creatures in the Dragon's Horn. They're mildly resistant to all magic, but especially to Stopspell, and come with a defense-ignoring fire breath attack that hits our entire party, as well as Sleep and Heal spells. It's likely that these are the same type of monster that Hargon sent to sack Moonbrooke.  : That's why we're here, miss. : Please follow me and meet my grandfather.With that, she walks off to the east. Let's check out these shops first, though.  : That certainly bodes ill. Is Hargon going after descendants of Erdrick?: If we were all slain or cursed, there would be few left to oppose him. Ah, Dragon's Bane, we've heard of it before. It's a lot of money though, and I want to see the local equipment prices before committing.  The Wizard's Wand can be equipped by anyone; it's 4 points weaker than a Magic Knife, but it can be used in combat to cast a slightly weaker version of Firebal at will. Clothes (of?) Hiding can also be equipped by anyone. Its defense value is 8 points higher than Chain Mail and only 5 points below Full Plate, but its true power lies in giving its wearer a 1 in 8 chance of evading physical attacks (though that's never described in-game). I'd like to get a Wand for Gwen, but both her and Glynn are way overdue for an armor upgrade, so we pick up two Clothes Hiding for now. Gwen's defense goes from 25 to 43!     : I shall gladly lend thee my swiftest ship.: ...huh. Thanks?: Well, that was remarkably convenient.: Huzzah!This whole sequence feels a little on the nose, but it's better than "hey, free ship, no reason".     : Uh... does either of you know how to...: Yes, yes! I've read all about it! Make way!: Wow, okay then. I... I guess that's fine.: If anything goes wrong, I'm sure we'll have time to use Wings.: Right. : I'M SAILING!: Well would you look at that, he's really doing it.: Will wonders never cease.   : Yes! Pirate stories! Treasure! This is the greatest adventure of all time!: Glynn, my father is-: Let him have this, will you?: ...sure. Sorry.: Bring me this treasure and I shall pay a handsome fee.: Ha, only if we don't want to keep it because of how cool it is!   : WOOOOOOO! Music: Riding the waves Well hey everyone, it's the sea. And I thought this world was big before. Dragon Warrior 2 has been quite linear so far. The only truly optional part has been getting the Silver Key, since nothing of progress-critical importance was locked behind any of the silver doors we've found. (It didn't occur to me to show it unfortunately, but you're not allowed to cross the tunnel to the desert without the Princess of Moonbrooke.) However, getting the ship opens up most of the world to exploration, with practically the only limiting factor being our ability to defeat the local fauna. We can land our ship on any terrain we can usually walk on, and if we use a Return effect, it will be teleported to a nearby body of water accessible from our destination. That said, this freedom comes at a bit of a thematic cost: we have absolutely no idea where Hargon is. Investigating Moonbrooke Castle was a clear objective for the first portion of the game, but now, our goal is investigating the entire world, and as far as the main plot is concerned, that's not quite as driving in a we're-going-to-this-specific-place-for-this-specific-reason sense. It's pretty ambitious design for the time, I'll give it that. Whatever thread might exist to lead us to the endgame, we'll have it discover it on our own. In a way, I even find it rather compelling. We're set loose in the world, and it's up to us not only to put the puzzle together, but also to even find the pieces. : Glynn, settle down for a moment and come over here, will you?: But-: Cousin, we need a plan.: You dig the sea. I get it. But I'm sure we'll get to do plenty of sailing in the fullness of time. I'll even call you captain if you like.: Ah... Sure, fine.: I'm not calling him captain.: Suit yourself, cous. Anyway, alright, take a look at this. : We can be pretty sure Hargon's headquarters aren't anywhere we've been to yet. Unfortunately, no one alive can tell us where they might be. We have literally zero leads.: Unless the disappearance of Alefgard's king is connected to him.: It's also just across the strait here, so it would be a close starting point.: Okay, that's one option. We could also visit the lake south of Moonbrooke, sailing right over the tunnel to the desert, and see if we can reach the lands south of the mountain range there. We were in fact looking for traces of our enemy in that region, so that should also be worth a look.: I'm inclined to agree. That said, I'm also curious about that tower we saw on the island west of my castle.: Right, I'll add it to the list. Anyth-: We could search for the wreck of the Relentless!: ...: That's... technically true.: Where would we even start to look, though?: It sank in chill waters, right? This must mean the far north!: That doesn't narrow it down by much.: It could also be in the far south.: ...right.: Either way, it's an option, I'm putting it down. What else?: There was that lone monolith northeast of Midenhall, remember?: Hmm. True. I'm not sure what it has to do with anything, though.: There are many great powers in this world, not all of them evil. It would be wise not to be so consumed by the pursuit of our foe that we neglect to search for allies.: Hmm! That is an excellent point.: Okay, the place did look important, it makes the list.: Zed, do you have any idea where the village you can see from your castle's travel gate might be?: I really don't. It's in the middle of the ocean somewhere. But we can keep an eye out for sure.: Alright then. That seems to be about it.: Indeed. Our travels are not at their end yet!: How about this, then. We sail west between the Dragon's Horns to reach eastern Midenhall and investigate the monolith there; once that's done, we take our rest again in Lianport and set off for Alefgard.: I can get behind that plan.: Agreed! Let's-: No, actually, wait a moment. We haven't investigated the northern Horn yet, and we've barely even seen any of the region we just left. I'd feel better if we mapped it out, too.: Ugh, I get you, I can relate. Glynn, can you land us right over here again?: What!? Really?: You heard the lady, Cap'n. You don't want to be turned into a tadpole, do you?: Oh boy. That is never going to get old, I can tell.
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Jun 7, 2018 13:12
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I really hope Glynn didn't get the ale and ship together. That seems like a recipe for disaster.
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Jun 7, 2018 14:08
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So that is the part where DW2 just kinda throws you into the world and tells you to figure it out.
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Jun 7, 2018 14:16
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loving love Fiona Apple posted:So that is the part where DW2 just kinda throws you into the world and tells you to figure it out. Yup, and sometimes your only real indicator of where to go next is "well, that encounter didn't wipe my party in one round, let's check it out!"
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Jun 7, 2018 14:20
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I dunno. There's been a lot of people namedropping Alefgard, so I'd be inclined to sail into that direction first thing. 
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Jun 7, 2018 14:53
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So I've been playing DQ9 since my brother got it long ago. I'm noticing from that game, and this LP, that this series is not afraid of throwing the hordes at the player. I am not used to dealing with large numbers of baddies, but it looks like statuses are the way to go if it can disable several enemies at once. The trick is figuring out which statuses an enemy is weak to.
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Jun 7, 2018 20:47
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Llab posted:So I've been playing DQ9 since my brother got it long ago. I'm noticing from that game, and this LP, that this series is not afraid of throwing the hordes at the player. I am not used to dealing with large numbers of baddies, but it looks like statuses are the way to go if it can disable several enemies at once. The trick is figuring out which statuses an enemy is weak to. DQ9 never really rubbed me the right way. I never got very far in that one. But yes, the series loves throwing, like, 6-8 enemies in a random encounter at some points.
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Jun 7, 2018 21:20
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Patter Song posted:DQ9 never really rubbed me the right way. I never got very far in that one. But yes, the series loves throwing, like, 6-8 enemies in a random encounter at some points. I played about ten hours of it and decided it was just a little too goofy for me and I prefer the old ones.
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Jun 7, 2018 21:23
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Flavius Belisarius posted:I played about ten hours of it and decided it was just a little too goofy for me and I prefer the old ones. As somebody who more or less finished it, DQIX slowly, on average, stops being goofy. In fact, I'd almost say that the game gets downright depressing near the end.
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Jun 7, 2018 21:32
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Sordas Volantyr posted:As somebody who more or less finished it, DQIX slowly, on average, stops being goofy. In fact, I'd almost say that the game gets downright depressing near the end. It's more that each town's story is very varied in what it does and how goofy or depressing it is. It's a bit weird, though; sometimes it feels like you get a ridiculous setup and then the game punches you in the gut.
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Jun 7, 2018 21:51
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One thing that's really cool about this game is that the entire map from the first game is a very small part of the map of this game.
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Jun 7, 2018 22:24
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Epicmissingno posted:It's more that each town's story is very varied in what it does and how goofy or depressing it is. It's a bit weird, though; sometimes it feels like you get a ridiculous setup and then the game punches you in the gut. This just happened to me. Specifically, just finished Bloomingdale. I thought it would be a case of an evil doppelganger pretending to be the formerly sickly girl. I was not expecting it to be that girl's doll given life, or that it was just trying to carry out the girl's dying wish. The end especially was just... "Well, this is hosed. I'm gonna leave now, but Jesus." I don't think I'll have time to get to DW2 at work, since some of my responsibilities are changing, but I'm really liking the LP. I like our party's interactions a lot, the banter is good. I bet this part of the game probably sold a lot of guides back in the day.
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Jun 7, 2018 22:33
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I know this isn't exactly the most recent release so I'm not gonna insist everyone must strictly color inside the lines at all times, but still, just in case, even if only for the form, let's keep any neat reveals under our respective hats until the relevant episodes drop, eh?Fenrir posted:Yup, and sometimes your only real indicator of where to go next is "well, that encounter didn't wipe my party in one round, let's check it out!" I kinda like that, in a way. It's sort of like a metroidvania, only instead of getting a key or a double jump or something, the requirement is "are you swole enough yet?" Llab posted:So I've been playing DQ9 since my brother got it long ago. I'm noticing from that game, and this LP, that this series is not afraid of throwing the hordes at the player. I am not used to dealing with large numbers of baddies, but it looks like statuses are the way to go if it can disable several enemies at once. The trick is figuring out which statuses an enemy is weak to. Yeah, figuring out when a 2 MP disable is going to save you a 5 MP heal or two is a pretty big part of the combat system's tactical interest. It's a bit trial-and-error if you don't have external info, but you always need money and experience, so even then there are no wasted battles.
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Jun 7, 2018 23:46
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That shipowner should have just foisted over his boat when faced with three royals. Then again, the kingdoms are dropping like flies. So it's essentially a free-for-all on who has the power in this world. Considering how things have been going and the peoples' impressions of things, giving the ship up on royal laurels is like burning it right there. And I'm surprised y'all are talking about dark DQ games and VII hasn't been mentioned.
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Jun 8, 2018 00:27
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VII seems really neat but it goes on and on and on and there's a lot of backtracking. I'm thinking I should start it again but man, it seemed to drag.
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Jun 8, 2018 00:30
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FrankZP posted:I know this isn't exactly the most recent release so I'm not gonna insist everyone must strictly color inside the lines at all times, but still, just in case, even if only for the form, let's keep any neat reveals under our respective hats until the relevant episodes drop, eh? If this is directed at me, I apologise. I figured I was fine posting that much, given that we already know it's a location we can go to.
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Jun 8, 2018 00:30
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Shitenshi posted:That shipowner should have just foisted over his boat when faced with three royals. Then again, the kingdoms are dropping like flies. So it's essentially a free-for-all on who has the power in this world. Considering how things have been going and the peoples' impressions of things, giving the ship up on royal laurels is like burning it right there. VII's insanely depressing, and I only got about a third through the game before bailing (not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I saw no light at the end of the tunnel). The bits I did see had some pretty horrifying little vignettes. I like VII's idea of "let's have a bunch of mini-RPGs about 1-3 hours long" but the sum total is pretty overwhelming and having dozens and dozens and dozens of those vignettes is going way overboard.
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Jun 8, 2018 00:32
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7's kind of the opposite of 9, even though both of them are vignette-focused, in that in 7 you go around making things better whereas in 9 you go around making things better but there's generally one aspect where you've made things worse. That's not to say 7 doesn't have its moments where everything goes wrong either, of course.
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Jun 8, 2018 00:49
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I just want to be the chosen hero and go from town to town and hear people hope that I will save them. I know it's cliched but that romantic simplicity was what I liked so much about DW1.
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Jun 8, 2018 01:06
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Epicmissingno posted:7's kind of the opposite of 9, even though both of them are vignette-focused, in that in 7 you go around making things better whereas in 9 you go around making things better but there's generally one aspect where you've made things worse. That's not to say 7 doesn't have its moments where everything goes wrong either, of course. What do you mean you generally make one thing worse in each vignette in 9? I can only really think of one where you might've made things worse.
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Jun 8, 2018 01:18
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savixeon posted:What do you mean you generally make one thing worse in each vignette in 9? I can only really think of one where you might've made things worse. I don't really want to talk about that because of spoilers, but there are a couple of places where you fix some of the town's problems while causing others. Llab probably said the best example behind spoiler text, though Coffinwell is another one where everything doesn't come up roses. Of course something like that doesn't happen everywhere, but after a certain point things tend to get very bittersweet even if it's not your party making it that way. In any case, my original point isn't exactly valid. There are plenty of places in both 7 and 9 where you end up with some dark stuff. Epicmissingno fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jun 8, 2018 |
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Jun 8, 2018 01:41
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You know, you could make a tidy profit in DQ games by setting up a Wyvern Wing network. Have a waystation that doesn't count as a town, and one person who was last at the town you want to go there stay there. Some adventure party goes to the station, and for a reasonable sum, temporarily joins the party of the guy. Bam, everyone is at the town. Granted, it would be tricky for the transporter to get back, but that's what the overhead and price charged would cover. Of course, that would be even easier once the Menu update starts applying to Wyvern Wings and you can travel to any town you've been to. That would be even more profitable. Tricky part, go to all towns. Once that's done, have an adventurer join your party; and go to each town with them, thus unlocking it for the adventurer. There would be a charge for each town unlock. Andyzero fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Jun 8, 2018 |
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Jun 8, 2018 01:46
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Andyzero posted:Of course, that would be even easier once the Menu update starts applying to Wyvern Wings and you can travel to any town you've been to. That would be even more profitable. Tricky part, go to all towns. Once that's done, have an adventurer join your party; and go to each town with them, thus unlocking it for the adventurer. There would be a charge for each town unlock. There actually is something like that in Might and Magic 6. There's a fast travel network of stables and ships but they won't go to certain towns until you've reached them the hard way. But there are also a variety of NPCs with special abilities you can hire, including one type called Gate Masters. They can teleport your party to any of the major towns once per day which will unlock the fast travel routes to those places. You can also abuse this to complete a major quest concerning the stable network early and get a ton of gold and XP before you even start the main quest.
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Jun 8, 2018 02:15
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RickVoid posted:If this is directed at me, I apologise. I figured I was fine posting that much, given that we already know it's a location we can go to. It's not a spoiler as such, but explicitly mentioning something we'll actually see for the first time next episode is a liiiiiittle borderline. We cool though, no beef. Flavius Belisarius posted:I just want to be the chosen hero and go from town to town and hear people hope that I will save them. I know it's cliched but that romantic simplicity was what I liked so much about DW1. There's certainly a charm to it, it's the foundation of heroic fantasy for a reason. It's okay for the medium to evolve and subvert its tropes, but that doesn't mean the tropes themselves can't age well.
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Jun 8, 2018 15:43
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Flavius Belisarius posted:I just want to be the chosen hero and go from town to town and hear people hope that I will save them. Sometimes that's just the best part.
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Jun 8, 2018 16:12
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  So, the Northern Dragon's Horn.     It's very similar to the southern one, with a bunch of identical empty floors leading to a balcony to jump off of. The only difference is in how it's not hollow, so it's a much shorter climb.  Oooh, there's a monolith in the northwest here. We could probably sail to it, but I want to map out the region on foot.   This is a recipe for disaster; we do not want to be put to sleep while a pair of Demighosts cut us into ribbons. Magic Ants have no resistance to magic damage or Stopspell though, so it's worth putting both Glynn and Gwen to work neutralizing them. Gwen levels from this battle, earning 1 Strength, 3 Agility, 5 HP and 6 MP. Not bad!   That was shorter than I expected.  Oh, that's a travel gate behind a golden door; nothing for us here yet.  : Yeah, I figured.We leave for Lianport again.  Huh, Metal Slimes show up here too. It's nice to see they're no longer tucked away in one annoyingly remote corner of world.  Not that it does us any good. We rest up at the inn, but before we leave, we get one Dragon's Bane for Gwen.   It's taking up a valuable inventory spot, but I'm sure making her vastly more resistant to Sleep and Stopspell will pay dividends. I'm tempted to get one for Glynn as well, but it's still a chunk of change, and being silenced is not quite as devastating for him as it is for Gwen.  Music: Riding the waves  : Alright, Captain Glynn, take us west!: Aye aye!     The world map wraps around west-east as well as north-south, so we end up on Midenhall's eastern coast without incident. We couldn't cross it through this river if we wanted to though, as bridges count as walkable terrain and cause us to disembark.     : Color me impressed, Glynn. You got us all the way here in one piece!: Impressed enough to call me captain?: Ehhh... Maybe a fifth of the way there. Music: Prophecy  : The Eye of...?: Who's Malroth?: Whoever it is, we definitely don't have their eye. Or... Have you guys been collecting eyes?: Not me. Glynn?: Perish the thought!: Once thou hast the Moon Fragment thou may enter the island cave where the Eye of Malroth is kept in darkness.: That sounds like bad mojo to me.: I agree. We should leave such an ominous artifact well enough alone.: Either way, thank you for the information, my good man. : Alright then. Care to take us to Alefgard, Captain?: Anytime!  We fight our first battle at sea within sight of the Midenhall coast! Three Magidrakees are nothing to worry about, but I'm sure we'll meet tougher creatures before long.  Ah, right, we saw those in the Dragon's Horn, in smaller numbers.   : So, this is Alefgard. If I remember my castle's maps correctly, this would be the region of Hauksness.: Better take us to land, then.: Actually, there's no reason I couldn't sail us right around the south and straight up to Tantegel.: The old capital? That's a halfway decent idea.: Fair enough. Captain, make it so!  Ah, this would be where Metal Slimes used to hang out. Memories!  : That's the bridge the to Cantlin area. The river to Tantegel should be a bit east of here. This would be the swamp where we found Erdrick's Token, way back when. : It's... smaller than I remember.The scale of DW2's overworld map is much larger than DW1's, so Alefgard definitely looks smaller here, and a lot of the details are gone. But it's still recognizable!  Sea Slugs are comparable to Medusa Balls in stats, if a little more fragile. They come with a smorgasboard of abilities, though. They can call for help, they have a poisonous attack, they can roll for crits, they can breathe sleeping gas, and getting hit by them has a chance to cause "fainting", making you lose your next turn. They're also nearly immune to Sleep, but only slightly resistant to spell damage and Surround.    : This must be the Isle of Dragons! There's the Rainbow Bridge in the east, and on that peak there...: Charlock.: I'm surprised it's still standing.: It should be a hollow shell by now, but...: Do you think Hargon could have set up shop in there?: Maybe, if he can tolerate the Dragonlord's old failure stank. If I was an evil wizard, I'd prefer to build my own dark fortress. Men O' War have unremarkable stats and are weak to magic across the board, but they do have a "fainting" attack, and often come in large numbers. Not this time, though!    As soon as we set foot on this ancestral soil... Music: Kingdom of Alefgard This is such a cool touch.    : Oh! Um... Thank you.: She's certainly a lovely young woman.: I don't disagree, but... come on. : Is that so?: Yeah, that's us.: Pleased to meet you!: Ah! So it was true. Thou art truly welcome. With a flash of the screen, this old man replenishes of MP for free. Glorious! Nostalgic!  Hmm, they've replaced the eastern portion of the castle with a House of Healing. : Good riddance, it was death traps and key merchants. : Um, it's "descendants". Oh, this dude is performing kingly duties in the true king's absense; he'll also add to the Imperial Scrolls of Honor. : Although there is no king here, I can save thy deeds.  : Oh we have indeed! Do you have any information to share?: The pirate ship sank in the wide seas of the north.: Yes, we... Yes. Alright then. Thank you.If we say we haven't heard, he just tells us to speak to a merchantman in Lianport.  Welp, good to know there's no Red Key to find.   : Hi. So, we're descendants of Erdrick. What can you tell us about the king's disappearance? : ...: ...: ...: ...: ...: Well that's one mystery off the list.: One can hardly blame the man, I suppose.: I'll blame him all I want! He's deserting his people!: Ah... that's true.  Tantegel looks small, but that's because they've squeezed in Brecconary in the same map.  I suspect this man will uncurse us for free, saving us the HoH's fee.  : Eh, if you say so. Ha, the inn is 2 gold per person, so if you come in with your full party, it's the same price as one room here used to cost in DW1.   Pretty standard item store.  The old equipment shop has an upgraded inventory, though! : If that's what this place sold in my time, I would have had to go through half my quest bare-handed.The Giant Hammer and Iron Helmet can only be equipped by the Prince of Midenhall. The former only offers a 5 point increase over the Broad Sword, so I'm in no hurry to drop 4k on it. The Iron Helmet has only 6 defense, but it would take up our empty helmet slot, so we'll probably want it sooner or later.   : ...really?: Good grief, Lorik's dick genes are alive and well. I'm beginning to think we never should have returned to Alefgard.  : I'm not convinced this'll lead to anything special... but how about we walk in our ancestor's footsteps for a bit?: Well, this is a land rich with history. I'm for it.: Lead the way then, and tempt not the Fates!  Aw heck, Mud Men. If you've followed my DW1 LP, you may remember I've said that no monsters in Alefgard could drain your MP. That was then, this is now: Mud Men can "dance a strange jig", reducing one target's MP by a serious chunk. The first one to do this here costs Gwen 16 MP! They're immune to Sleep, and Surround doesn't stop them from dancing, but they are fairly weak to spell damage. Other than that, they're unremarkably strong, with very low defense. Zed can already one-shot them, and Glynn and Gwen can take one down in one turn if they work together.  The cave containing Erdrick's tablet is gone.  This used to be Garinham, now it's nothing. I suspect the bulk of Alefgard's towns are gone on account of memory constraints, but maybe populating them with NPCs and stores would have been far beyond the game's scope. If you have to choose, better make new towns than to spiff up old ones.  Magic Baboons are very strong, but despite their name, their only special ability is calling for help, and they're fairly weak to all spells. Gwen can wipe out all of the Magidrakees here with Infernos, so while things could get out of hand, this is not an extraordinarily difficult fight.   Enchanters have unremarkable stats, but they come with a variety of spells: Stopspell, Firebal, Sleep and Increase. The latter increases the defense power of the entire enemy party by a certain percentage. They're fairly resistant to Sleep, but vulnerable to all other magic. They also have a chance to drop Dragon's Bane, easily one of the most useful and valuable monster treasures. One Enchanter is no immense threat, but they can turn large battles into deadly, resource-consuming slogs.  ...!  ...aw. Just cash this time. Oh well.  : That's the old Wolflord country! Unsurprisingly, Hauksness was also wiped off the map.  Oof, more Gremlins.  Poison Lilies are about as strong as Magic Baboons, and only slightly resistant to spells. They of course have a poisonous attack, but also come with the ability to "exhale a blast of poisonous breath" that does no damage but has a chance to poison our entire party.   And this used to be Cantlin. That's all for Alefgard's western half. We start to return to Tantegel on foot, but repeated Antidote casts and Mud Man jigs reduce our MP to dangerous levels, and Glynn warps us back before anything tragic happens. We save and spend the night, then head northeast.    Oh that's adorable.  This used to be Kol. We fight a Big Rat and a Ghost Mouse here, so the area must share an encounter zone with the nearby Cannock/Leftwyne region.  : We could just get the ship, you know.: Nah, let's do it old school for now.: Oh joy.  : I will always be proud to have financed clearing the tunnel to Rimuldar. There won't ever be another princess trapped in there again! Rimuldar is also gone. It looks like searching the trees at the center of the lake might turn up something, but it does not.   Oh dang! The magic temple of the southern isles is still standing!   : Gah, watch out for this bozo. : At least I'm not the only one he serves this nonsense to.: Now look here, kind sir- : W-what!?: Ugh, let's go. It's not like we need the Rainbow Drop.: Eh, bah. There's a travel gate in here though, that's new.  Huh! The flame here is just a fire, not a spirit. Let's see where we ended up.  : Welp, this is a bust. You guys ever heard of an island like this?: Nope.: Can't say that I have.: Alright then, let's try another gate. Maybe we'll get to continue our Useless Island Adventure!  I remember there being small shrines like these all over the world. The Return spell only takes you to where you last saved, but these can actually be pretty good for quick travel if you know where you're going.  : Aw, crap.: I can imagine errors in judgement on our part leading to all sorts of unpleasant misunderstandings.: Better keep our wits about ourselves before casting accusations.: Thou will not be deceived if thou hast the gift of Rubiss.: We better find out more about this Rubiss fellow, then. : Have you-: Still no, Zed.: I've heard about a continent surrounded by mountains somewhere, but that is the extent of my knowledge. Yikes, these monsters are much stronger than what we've been up against so far. We might be in over our heads. Basilisks are nearly twice as powerful as Magic Baboons, though their defense is unremarkable. Their only specialty is a poison attack, and they're not very resistant to magic, especially to spell damage. Titan Trees are a touch weaker, if slightly more resistant to non-damage spells, but they know the strange jig and that's always devastating. : Whew, that was something else.: We can handle these creatures, but I'm inclined to turn back for now.: Right, we can always come back later. We were busy in Alefgard anyway.   Ah, this is the Lianport monolith. Nothing for us here right now.   No idea where this is either. This network of transport gates being largely blocked off by golden doors seems to be a recurring theme.   Yup. That appears to be all we can reach for now. Let's head back to Alefgard.    ...holy poo poo. This fight is incredibly dangerous. Due to the combat system's quirks, we can't focus our blows on one Slime at a time, and all the while they'll be peppering us with Sleep and Firebal. But... What if we can take out one or two? We gotta try!  Nope, they all ran away after a few turns of dealing copious damage to everyone. Oh well.  Saber Tigers can attack twice and crit, just like Demighosts, but their Strength is much higher. They have some magic resistance across the board but it's not so high as to make it not worth it to cast spells at them. Glynn levels up from that fight, for 3 Strength, 5 Agility, 5 HP, 3 MP, and a new spell: Healmore! His healing is finally catching up to Gwen's. Gwen herself follows suit, for 1 Strength, 5 Agility, 6 HP, 3 MP, and a spell of her own.  Our version of Defence attempts to reduce enemy defense power by a random percentage for 2 MP, and further casts will stack the debuff. It tends to not be as useful as Sleep, Stopspell or Surround, but it always targets the entire enemy party regardless of grouping, and it can definitely accelerate tough fights.  : So, are you guys up to- : Nope.: Aw, come on.: I know it's best to make sure Charlock is unoccupied. But it doesn't make sense to assault it now, from here.: We could feasibly cross the river from Tantegel and enter the fortress with our resources intact.: Look who's making sense today!: Okay, you're right, we're not actually tourists, we don't need to follow an itinerary to the letter. Take us back, Glynn.    : Here's to hoping the place is still empty.
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Jun 8, 2018 16:14
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FrankZP posted:
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Jun 8, 2018 18:19
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On the one hand, I love the trip down memory lane. On the other hand, it’s super creepy that all the towns are gone. 
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Jun 8, 2018 20:52
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Since I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering: I forgot that they killed all of the towns in Alefgard. I could've sworn there was at least one remaining.
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Jun 9, 2018 00:02
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We can only speculate as to what happened, but the Descendant of Erdrick left with what was presumably the King's only child. Issues with succession could have been the cause. Also their only effective monster slayer stopped slaying monsters, soooo...
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Jun 9, 2018 00:07
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ultrafilter posted:Since I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering: There is one technically. Tantegel and Breconary we're squished together.
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Jun 9, 2018 00:08
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My favorite part of every Dragon Quest (or really, most RPGs) is once you get a boat, find out just how lost, or how high level you can get without advancing the plot.
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Jun 9, 2018 00:36
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Andyzero posted:My favorite part of every Dragon Quest (or really, most RPGs) is once you get a boat, find out just how lost, or how high level you can get without advancing the plot. Basically most of DQ3 right there.
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Jun 9, 2018 01:23
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Ramos posted:Basically most of DQ3 right there. Can confirm
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Jun 9, 2018 02:36
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I absolutely love the return of the DQI overworld theme here. It's brilliant and makes you feel like you're returning home.
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Jun 9, 2018 03:33
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RickVoid posted:We can only speculate as to what happened, but the Descendant of Erdrick left with what was presumably the King's only child. Issues with succession could have been the cause. Also their only effective monster slayer stopped slaying monsters, soooo... The previous game specified that all the monsters vanished. A more hopeful take might be that once the monsters were gone people felt like they could go further and went to found the other towns. At least some people had to have gone along with the protagonists of the first game to establish the new towns. ddegenha fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jun 9, 2018 |
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Jun 9, 2018 04:41
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