What if Nintendo made time machines? Let's Play 7th Dragon III Code:VFD

...it has been nearly 80 years since the last game. How the hell are there still ruining buildings!

And don't give me any of that 'oh the world almost got destroyed, cut them some slack,' BS, because you know what is all nice and pretty?

This loving place! You know what they make?

Video games. They're sci-fi Nintendo and they have the fanciest building in the country.

The camera pans over to this '7th Encount' thing.

There's Temp now! You know, for the one update he gets to exist before the actual party gets made.

Jealous Man: Dammittt! I wanna play!

Excited Man: A ticket to this place is the most prized thing in Tokyo! No way you'd be lucky enough to get one!

Jealous Man: What did you just say, you bastard!?

And now we can finally run around!

The touch screen is used as our minimap while we're in the field.

The strangest loving thing about VFD (techwise, mind you, oh my lord we haven't even started on anything else yet) is that there's this... hang(?) for the barest fraction of a second whenever you talk to an NPC. It isn't even as you talk to them either, if you talk to them from behind they have to turn to face you before the text box can come up.

As I'll be talking to NPCs hundreds of times over the course of the game, this will become... aggravating.

It ain't a JRPG without a bunch of people standing around for you to talk to.

Homeless Old Man: Although... the quality is impressive. It makes me sad to think about the past...

...It does feel a bit tasteless to make a video game about the time where humanity was almost driven to extinction, yes.

Pale Young Man: But as long as I'm here, I can forget about all that depressing stuff.

And it looks like the dragons have left their mark, even after all this time.

7th Encount is very clearly where we need to go, so let's not just yet.

Talkative Young Man: *sigh* The 2000s were such a prime era for anime... I'm so jealous of them...

The 2000s??? Is this dude just straight up watching century old stuff? This would be like if I called Steamboat Willie the peak of western animation.

Chelsea is also the canon name for 2020's F-Hacker, by the way, but no clue if there's any relation here.

We're also allowed into Nodens proper.

Just not, you know, much of it.

Job Seeker: D-Don't worry! I'm not trying to be sketchy or anything! I just want to be involved with 7th Encount... That's all.

Aaron: Don't worry, I'll do everything later. I can work very quickly when I need to.

Iori: What am I doing here? Why, I'm on my break, of course.

We're also not allowed to leave.

Alright, there's no one else to talk to. Time to go hit up the arcade.

Music: A Place to Come Home

...Is that the doll from before?

Those who wish to enter must show their tickets to proceed.

This doll is... weird.

By which I mean that it has shown up in a prior game already, namely:

The doll being held by 2020's F-Hacker. Why this doll, 80 years after 2020? Who decided to make it capable of speech?

...poo poo, maybe Magical Chelsea really is F-Hacker.

Ah... I can't let you in without a ticket. Please come back once you get one~!

Temp doesn't have a ticket, so why did he come here to begin with? This clearly isn't the kind of place that allows walk-ins.

...Did Temp come here entirely to try and get someone else to let him tag along?

Like, I want to take a moment to highlight the differences in how the 7D1, 2020, and VFD protagonists got involved with things:

The 7D1 team went out to create their own adventurer team. Standard fantasy fare, sure, but at least it means everyone has proper combat training.

The 2020 team got their start going to an S-Class exam held by Murakumo, so they're already pretty badass.

In VFD? You're a loser who bums around the arcade all day hoping someone takes pity on you.

I was wondering... Do you think maybe you'd like to... join me? Would that be OK with you?

Both choices here give the same result.

Of course! *sigh* I'm so relieved...

Music: The Daily Grind

Oh drat this place is stylish.

And no wonder 7th Encount is so hard to get into, only 9 people can play at a time!

Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!

Temp is one of those 'never speaks out loud, but everyone acts like they do' silent protagonists.

Oh no, our new friend has the Anime Disease.

I'm sorry! I'm alright, I promise. This happens to me all the time!

Should we play the game together?

Really!? I'm glad you asked... Thanks, Temp!

~

Do you have a cold?

No... It's nothing. Thank you, though, Temp.

Bartender: I pray my encounters here at 7th Encount will be the former.

Wait a minute...

Literally 30 seconds ago posted:

The bartender was a different person before! What possible reason made the devs do this!?

Envious Woman: I've heard rumors that the best players are chosen to gain access to the main office... *sigh* I wish they'd choose me...

Skilled Man: Go over to the receptionist and learn the basics of dragon hunting, then we can talk.

A cutscene starts when we walk up the stairs.

So this is 7th Encount... Oh, there's even a navigation mode... I think I can handle that.

Do you want to play?

M-Mhm! Am I that easy to read...? How embarrassing...

~

Are you hungry?

Oh yeah, I haven't eaten anything since� W-Wait, no! I was thinking about playing the game!

~~

How about you take care of the offense while I navigate?

Sounds like fun!

Really? Yay! I'll be the best navigator you've ever had!

~

Will you be OK?

Mhm, it doesn't look like I'll have to move! Ehehe, I'll be the best navigator you've ever had!

~~

Receptionist: 7th Encount can be played with a team of up to four: three party members, and one navigator.

Our prospective party members must have had tickets in order to get in, therefore they are actually cooler than our mooch of a protagonist.

Hyper Man: I wonder if there's a secret dungeon at the end! I'm totally gonna solve this mystery!

We can make a party in a minute, there are a few more people to talk to.

Lonely Girl: He's always trying to tell me what to do. I can think for myself, y'know!

And finally...

The receptionist gives a more in-depth explanation about our starting classes.

Receptionist: Samurais are agile standard units. They're not overly strong. but they have few weaknesses. What makes them distinct is their two fighting styles based on weapon: Sword, and Dual Blade. For the sword, Sheathed skills grant strength vs. single enemies, while Unsheathed damage all foes. On the other hand, the Dual Blade method has a greater number and wider range of available skills.

Picking up where Rogue/Fighter in 7D1 and Trickster in 7D2020 left off, Samurai is this game's weapon choice class. Both weapons do different things, but you can only use one of them at a time in a fight, so you have to choose between picking one and sticking to it or swapping between fights and having to split your resources. Past that, they're fairly unchanged compared to their 2020 counterparts.

Receptionist: Agents are the covert battlefield operatives who use double pistols as their weapon of choice. While Hiding, they can toy with enemies using long-range attacks, status ailments, or traps. Furthermore, they can Hack enemies and even force them to attack each other.

Agents can be best described as, 'what if you combined 2020's Hacker and Trickster's Gun skill tree.' They can hack enemies to shut them down, or put on the hurt by just shooting them a bunch. It isn't all guns and roses, however, as they lost Hacker's numerous buffs in the process.

Receptionist: God Hands truly live up to their names, using fists of steel to attack enemies and heal allies. They also inflict God Depth on enemies, letting them use even stronger attacks on those enemies. Furthermore, they can use chiropracty to restore LIFE, cure ailments, or raise stats.

As attackers, God Hands are just... Destroyers. They punch things, they counter things. But they've also picked up some hefty support options! Heals, cures, buffs, revives, a God Hand can do it all and follow up with a nice pot of tea.

Receptionist: Duelists fight by entrusting their fate to the card decks they carry. They employ great intelligence to determine the best strategy for any given hand of cards. Duelist attacks can range from laying traps to summoning powerful monsters. With proper strategy, their attacks can even overlap and obliterate enemies in one hit.

Duelists are... arguably one of the most interesting class designs in RPGs in general. Every turn they draw a Fire, Ice, or Lightning card, and can then expend a combination of those for various skills. The Duelist has summons, traps, field spells, Pot of Greed, even Exodia. The Duelist can do a lot, but the very nature of card games means they live or die based on what cards they pull and when.

Next time: Party creation!

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ May 17, 2022 14:50

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Bonus: Character Creation

So, now you know what we have for classes, but what do we have for looks? Well...

Samurai A

Samurai B

Agent A

Agent B

God Hand A

God Hand B

Duelist A

Duelist B

As for voices, guys get:

Mamoru Miyano
Takuma Terashima
Tomokazu Sugita
Daisuke Namikawa
Ryota Osaka
Kazuya Nakai
Nobunaga Shimazaki
Hiroshi Kamiya
Keiji Fujiwara
Yuichi Nakamura
Yuki Kaji
Takahiro Sakurai
Daisuke Ono
Akira Ishida
Akio Ootsuka
Kouki Uchiyama
Daiki Yamashita
Ryota Takeuchi
Kaito Ishikawa
Nobuhiko Okamoto

While the girls get:

Asami Seto
Rina Sato
Yuuko Kaida
Minako Kotobuki
Hisako Kanemoto
Miyuki Sawashiro
Aoi Yuuki
Nana Mizuki
Marina Inoue
Nao Toyama
Yuko Hikasa
Yui Horie
Mitsuki Saiga
Saori Hayami
Ai Kayano
Aki Toyosaki
Yukari Tamura
Maaya Uchida
Kanae Ito

...okay, how the hell did they get this many VAs in on this??? They got Light Yagami to do a voice here!

Anyways, pick a portrait, a name, a voice, and a class. Remember, you can use any portrait with any class!

And two notes:

First, only three characters will be chosen here. Due to some mechanics that come into play later on, it'll be much easier to just take three now and grab the leftover class at a later point. Every class will get a time to shine, so don't worry about that, but you'll just have to be patient.

Second, and more importantly, this will not be a narrative LP. VFD's plot, especially by the end of the game, ranges from 'nonsensical' at best to 'absolutely batshit' at worst, and trying to weave in a custom narrative alongside that would A) take focus away from the madness and B) prooooooooobably give me a brain aneurysm or something by the time we reach the final boss. So you don't have to worry about making a backstory for your character or anything, as it would never get used.

# ¿ May 17, 2022 14:50

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

So far our party lineup is looking like:

God Hand: 5
Duelist: 4
Agent: 2
Samurai: 1

I'll keep things open until tomorrow morning, then get started.

# ¿ May 19, 2022 17:39

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Alright, calling it here. We're gonna have a girl's night out with...

Opal, the God Hand,

Yuno, the ~~Six Samurai main~~Duelist and

Inoue, the Samurai.

Updates will start next Tuesday!

# ¿ May 20, 2022 09:49

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

inscrutable horse posted:

This game looks like an absolute trainwreck, and I can't wait to see how it goes

As an aside, when viewing the thread on my ipad, most of the images won't load. Anyone else experience something like that?

That's because all my update images (aside from character mugshots) are in .webp. Significantly smaller filesize, but older hardware can't really work with it.

(I had to buy a cheap chromebook because my work PC is on XP, and shelling out the money was the only way I could keep writing updates while at work)

# ¿ May 20, 2022 13:53

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update II - Featuring: Video games in my video games (and still no dragons)

Doesn't the font look so much better now?

The mysterious shadow lady agrees with me!

God Hand got the most votes, so Opal shall be our new protagonist.

Temp had an unfortunate mishap with a time machine and ended up killing his own grandfather, annihilating him from the timeline.

We're now fully caught up, but first...

I forgot to talk to these people outside.

Careful Gamer: My stats are kinda low... I should learn some kind of defensive skill and approach it more carefully...

~

Confident Gamer: Make sure you heal yourself if you get hurt! You gotta go for the offensive strategy! You're using attack skills, right?

~

Annoyed Passerby: *sigh* Why is it always someone else who wins things? Why didn't I win one of those tickets? I guess it's all about connections... Man... I'd love to get a chance to go in there...

I can't talk to the doll, however.

But it turns to face you when you get close.

...

I swear to god if that thing turns out to be the soul of Chucky's childhood rabbit or something I am canceling my Nodens Online subscription.

Music: UE77 In Ariake

Anyways! New party members!

We got ourselves a Samurai.

And a Duelist. Sorry Agent, you're just a few thousand years too early to join this party!

The Party menu in the Terminal lets you shuffle your people around.

The fact that we have a 1st Team implies that we'll be getting more teams down the line.

You can also change who your Leader is.

Story-wise, whoever you have set as Leader is considered to have always been the Leader. If Inoue's the Leader, then Inoue retroactively becomes the one to have met Mio. This will get exactly as confusing as it sounds if you like to swap your Leader role around.

I'll just keep Opal as the Leader for now.

The Manage menu lets you mess with things.

Status gives the same screen you can get in the normal menu.

While Change is a bit awkwardly worded.

It lets you redo a character's look, voice, and name whenever you want, but they'll stay as whatever class they were made as originally.

Class is the actual respec, but requires a few levels under your belt before you can use it. It also gives a stat boost based on what class you're leaving.

Delete is self-explanitory.

The gang's all here!

Time to play some video games.

For the first dungeon, we're going back to the previous game.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

As a nice little touch, every time you change zones while in 7th Encount it'll throw up this screen filter for a second.

Alright, leave the navigation to me. I skimmed through the manual, so I should be OK! Um... Our mission is: �Defeat the looming monsters and liberate the Skytower!� A battle will start once you encounter a monster, so be careful.

There are two colors of light: blue and green. The blue one only saves, while green also heals.

Hm... I think that just about covers it. Let's take a look at the map and head up the tower!

We then get a quick minimap tutorial.

Repetitive Man: Apparently you subconsciously start throwing them away if you try and pick up more than 15... You can put an item back if you get it from a chest, but you can't give a gift back to a person!

Wise Gamer: Each one has a different set of skills, so be mindful of which weapon type you choose. You might already have both types if you have a Samurai on your team. Check your inventory!

~

Sophisticated Gamer: I watched as an inferior player got a game over earlier. He didn't know the difference between Swords and Dual Blades, and that ignorance ended him. I suppose you could say he learned the importance of weapon choice firsthand. You be careful.

Annoyingly, VFD only allows for three save slots.

The floating green diamond is an exit spot.

Like in 2020-II, we start the game with the Enemy Radar in the top left, albeit slimmed down to make up for the smaller screen size of the 3DS.

And dungeon maps still need to be filled in by hand.

But first, let's check what everyone can do.

For Opal, Jab is a weak but instant move that inflicts God Depth, setting up her better moves. Front Punch needs 1 Depth and hits harder. Quartetto needs at least 2 Depth, gets a damage bonus with 3, and clears all G-Depth on the target after attacking. Chiropractic is a single target heal, and Detox currently cures Poison, Burn, and Paralysis.

An important thing to note is that all of the God Hand's healing moves are exclusively single target, making items a more reliable choice for party aid.

I actually find it an interesting design decision. The actual dedicated healer class is unlocked late in the game, so instead some classes can do some healing work, but nothing on the level of 7D1's Healer or 2020s Psychic. A God Hand has their heals, but those can't help the party, plus a turn spent healing is a turn spent not exploiting any G-Depth you've inflicted.

Agent also starts with Trickster's Trick Hand to boost item effectiveness for the entire party, so unless you intentionally double up on classes you'll always have some way to boost your healing early on.

Inoue, uh, hits things. The single sword skill hits random enemies, the dual sword skill deals effective damage vs fliers, and she can heal herself in a pinch. That's it. Since you can't swap weapons mid-fight, she effectively has just 2 skills starting out.

Meanwhile Yuno is... yeah. Three monsters, two traps, a draw, and a continuous spell all from the word go.

And while Agent got the short straw and won't be joining us today, I still want to point out their starting skills:

Because I consider their initial skills to be a shining example of the powercreep we'll be seeing.

Like, Hack in the 2020s? Was a Tier 2 skill, so you had to go the first dungeon or two before you could actually hack stuff. You start with it in VFD. Hack as an actual skill in the 2020s? Single target, and the multi-target Hack All caps out at half the proc chance. Hack as a skill in VFD?

Hits everything, with the exact same proc chance of the original Hack! And that scapegoat.exe?

In the 2020s this was called noiztank.exe, and was a Tier 2 skill in 2020-II and a Tier 3 in 2020! Here you just get it instantly!

But wait, it gets worse!

code:

Lv1: 1x damage. 10% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 1500 SP.
Lv2: 1.1x damage. 11% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 2000 SP.
Lv3: 1.2x damage. 12% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 3000 SP.
Lv4: 1.3x damage. 13% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 4000 SP.
Lv5: 1.5x damage. 15% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 5000 SP.

These are the stats of noiztank.exe in 2020-II.

code:

Lv1: 2.1x damage multiplier. 10% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Initial skill.
Lv2: 2.4x damage multiplier. 11% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 500 SP.
Lv3: 2.7x damage multiplier. 12% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 1200 SP.
Lv4: 2.9x damage multiplier. 13% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 2500 SP.
Lv5: 3.2x damage multiplier. 15% of damage dealt as Mana restore. Costs 5000 SP.

While this is scapegoat.exe! It hits twice as hard! And since the Mana restore keys off of damage, that means it gives double the Mana compared to noiztank.exe!

And again, Agent starts with this! The 2020s were incredibly stingy with easy sources of Mana healing and VFD just gives it to you with no fuss!

This is just the beginning. We haven't even scratched the surface of the powercreep.

Moving on, Samurai get to start with a free sword of each type, like the gamers outside said.

The starter twin blades are stronger, and they have a better skill, so Inoue will be use them for now.

Mana Water heals 15 Mana, as the name suggests.

Now, those of you familiar with the older games might find this layout a bit familar, and there's a good reason for that!

That's because this is pretty much entirely reused from 2020-II!

Like, I want to make this perfectly clear: The very first dungeon in VFD is asset reuse. We're not even 10 minutes into the game yet.

Music: Battlefield - UE77

Anyways, fight time!

Our first victims are a Rabi and a Blue Grass. The Rabi hits things and the Blue Grass can go for paralysis.

You can also see Yuno's starting hand. A Duelist starts with two cards, going up to four by leveling Draw Bonus, but doesn't draw a card on turn one. If she draws a card while at her hand cap of six, the leftmost card is automatically discarded to make room.

Opal jabs.

Inoue swings.

While Yuno's locked out of most of her moves. Her Summons only need one card of their matching type, while the Traps need two different cards. In the event she gets a dead hand, she can use ~~Supply Draw~~Pot of Desires to get more cards.

Effective damage is strong.

Music: Finish Them Off

...how are we getting paid in a video game?

Mio, did you get us into a play-to-earn game?

Are we on the blockchain, Mio?

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

On we go!

I swear they boosted the encounter rate since 2020.

Yuno gets to try something now!

~~Summon: Ice I~~Elemental HERO Ice Edge lets her actually summon a monster, and throws in a chance of inflicting Freeze to boot!

In the 2020s, Freeze cut enemy Speed by around 10% on top of the DoT it inflicts, which was kinda eh compared to cutting damage dealt and boosting damage taken with Burn.

Freeze got a bit of a buff in VFD.

By which I mean it now cuts Speed by 90%. If Freeze lands on someone, they're going last for the next several turns, end of discussion.

It was at this point I remembered those demo data accessories.

The Nagamimi Charm is a nice bit of starter gear. It makes you a bit stronger, a bit faster, and a bit more evasive.

Nothing in 7th Encount gives SP, but I give the SP Upper to Inoue in advance. She'll need the SP to fuel both her skill trees.

And Yuno gets what's left.

Also, despite not having the other four classes unlocked yet, their icons still show up in the gear menu.

Medi I heals a single target for 40 HP.

Yuno has a lot of stuff to show off!

~~Summon: Fire I~~A-Team: Trap Disposal Unit does the same damage as the other Summons, but inflicts Burn instead. Fancy that.

Burn in VFD also got a buff since the 2020s, but theirs is a bit more intricate. Back then, Burn directly modified the final damage going in or out. Now, Burn directly cuts ATK, MAT, DEF, and MDF by 10%. As it takes place earlier in the damage calculations, it has a bigger impact on the final result.

Everyone gets their first level. Leveling gives a full HP/MN heal, which goes a long way in dungeon crawls.

The place is extremely messed up, as you'd expect from a dragon's nest.

And yes, we will be taking all these items into the real world with us. Don't question it.

Escape Kits let us instantly flee the dungeon we're in.

And that's the first floor cleared!

Heal Aloes are party heals. In the other games they were called Heal Aeros, as in aerosol, but I guess we're just lugging around a family-sized bottle of aloe vera with us now.

Music: Battlefield - UE77

Oh hey, three enemies and a hand full of Fire cards!

I have just the thing!

At first ~~X Burn~~Backfire does nothing.

But at the end of the turn, all enemies take a small hit of fire damage.

One of the changes made to VFD is that all skills can now crit without needing it as an explicit property, which gets a bit funny with AOE attacks. It only rolls the crit once, so every enemy gets crit at the same time.

Now, that barely tickled, but if I follow up by spending a Fire card...

Then the free hit is now much stronger, even without a crit.

~~X Burn~~Sparks is a unique skill in that it gets much stronger as time goes on even if you don't level it. Right now, the three turn limit caps me at two Fire cards. One turn to set, then two turns using one Fire at a time. But as I get better, more expensive, skills, I can use two or even three Fire cards in a single move, drastically improving the damage on ~~X Burn~~Hinotama!

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

Also, if you're wondering why I haven't shown the last summon yet.

Yuno has refused to draw a Lightning card for multiple battles, and fights this early on won't last long enough to last multiple turns.

Anyways, a heal point means something has to be up ahead.

I was right!

Pay attention to how much stamina you have left and fight carefully!

Hey look, ~~Summon: Fire I~~Aitsu!

Music: Battlefield - UE77

As you might expect from a flaming ghost named Hell Cloud that a Duelist can summon for fire damage, it resists fire.

You may have also noticed that Yuno only has Fire cards in her starting hand.

Welcome to Duelist.

Thankfully, I have a solution for that.

Despite Mio's warnings, the Hell Cloud is only slightly stronger than the mobs we've faced so far.

Although it does have the same attack it uses when summoned! Granted, the Hell Cloud's attack hits everyone instead of one target like ours, but still.

~~Supply Draw~~Pot of Greed allows Yuno to draw two additional cards from her deck, and add them to her hand.

...son of a bitch did you draw another Fire card!?

And then another one next turn!?

I don't even care that you haven't used the Lightning summon yet, Opal is getting the kill for that.

Music: None

???: Is her prediction already coming true...? Hmph... Not bad. Time to give them a real test. They'd better not let me down!

Well that wasn't ominous at a-

Why are there suddenly robots???

Next time: Have you ever seen The Last Starfighter?

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ May 24, 2022 03:43

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update III - Featuring: Job opportunities (and a single virtual dragon)

Music: Battlefield - UE77

Killing that Hell Ghost bumped 7th Encount's random encounters up a notch, instantly adding these Sentry Bots to the encounter table, even if we were to backtrack to a lower floor.

Yuno managed to draw into a Trap card, so I try it out for funsies.

Then she never gets hit, wasting the trap entirely!

In fact, Duelist has no skills to boost aggro, so you're entirely dependant to enemies running into you naturally for your traps to go off. This leaves them at odds with God Hands, as their own counter skills naturally draw enemy attacks. The traps can go off on group attacks, at least.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

Anyways, back to running.

Our first standard accessory gives +3 DEF/MDF.

Second floor clear!

See that chest?

We aren't getting it for a good while.

Hell Clouds also become a common mob.

And Yuno finally got Lightning!

~~Summon: Ltg I~~Batteryman D works just the same as the other summons, only inflicting Paralysis instead. Paralysis works much the same as the 2020s, with a chance to cancel an enemy action based on what skill lands it.

In terms of damage, all summons do the exact same per level. The only differences is element and status rider.

Bit hard to make all these samey corridors look interesting.

Especially when the map is on another screen entirely!

Anyways, another heal spot. Here's hoping we get something better than a Hell Ghost.

Oh look, an actual dragon! Here in the game, 7th Dragon!

It isn't even a dragon! Its a pile of 1s and 0s in the shape of a dragon!

And it's way stronger than the other monsters you've fought so far!

How do you know it's so strong?

How...? Well, based on its frame and dermal features, it clearly has both power and mobility, so... Wait, how do I know all this!? Even I'm surprised...

~

Maybe you missed something.

That's impossible... I memorized every page of that manual as I was reading it earlier. Either way, I don't think we'll be able to beat that thing with our stats where they are...

~~

Hm, maybe it's a rare monster... No matter what it is, please be careful!

In older games, your first dragon had ominous names like 'The First Dragon' or 'D1'.

In VFD, you fight an digital baby in an arcade game.

Dragon fights usually last long enough for a hit to connect, so hopefully we can finally see a trap go off.

Opal starts setting up G-Depth.

And Inoue hits it.

This is the first boss, I'm sorta limited on battle strategies here.

Ow.

He then follows up with a second Bite, conveniently not hitting the person with a trap ready.

Until she gets a few more moves, Yuno's the item caddy. Even if she does have healing skills, Opal just doesn't have the Mana to spare this early on when she could be dealing damage instead.

Speaking of Opal, she hits G2.

Oh!

~~Trap: Pitfall~~Trap Hole does... fuckall damage, really. Compared to just using summons, where two cards could deal around 80 damage total, traps are only useful for their status effects. This one in particular has an abnormally high chance of landing Null Action, which can help out a lot.

Also, for whatever reason, this attack has damage scaling based on the target's size, ranging from 0.8x against small targets to 1.5x against giants.

There is a powerful use for traps, but that'll come into play later in the game.

And in more important news: Opal has hit max G.

Of course it hits her.

The Burn means her attack is being cut by 10%, so while I'd prefer to heal it up and have her attack for full damage, the Nagamimi Charm means she'll outspeed the others if I have them heal her and having her do it means delaying the pain by a turn. So I'm attacking anyways.

Worth it.

And Inoue gets the kill.

Music: Finish Them Off

Music: None

???: I think we've found ourselves... the second key. Playtime is over.

Music: A Place to Come Home

We get automatically booted from 7th Encount.

You wanted that chest? gently caress you, go back later.

Congratulations! You have been chosen!

Chosen...?

Now then, come along with me to the headquarters of Nodens Enterprises! Don't worry~! We'll explain everything once we get there!

Um, Opal... What should we do...?

It sounds like fun to me.

Of course it does!

~

Let's go with it for now.

Then it's decided!

~~

This is your chance to open the door to a world you could only before dream about! This way, please! Follow me~!

Skilled Man: Wh-What the hell...!? How did someone like that beat my score!?

Music: The Daily Grind

Funnily enough, the doll's name is suddenly listed while on the field.

But it goes back to Strange Doll as soon as you leave.

Also, what?

Um, Mr. Rabbit... Sir?

...Huh?

We just got scouted in a Nintendo arcade by an arrogant, foul-mouthed not-rabbit.

Welcome to VFD.

I'm not some weird doll, and I'm definitely not a rabbit!

*sigh* This is the real me. I hate having to act all prim and proper for work. Now if you wanna survive here, I suggest you stop treating me like some cutesy little rabbit. Or else you'll regret it. I'll personally make sure of that. Get it? Got it? Good.

We'll regret it...? And I wonder what he means by survive...

How long are you gonna dick around over there? Nodens Headquarters is this way! C'mon, follow me!

Because Opal has the self-preservation of a drunken lemming, we don't have the option to tell Nagamimi to gently caress off and go home, so in we go!

We only just moved from America last month, though, so it's still pretty empty. C'mon, we'll be going to the 3rd floor: the Conference Floor. Get on that elevator and go!

Can you tell what mechanic is being brought over from the 2020s?

The Conference Floor has a new house icon on the minimap.

Which leads to a desk manned by these two girls.

Opal...

*nods*

I don't get what's happening...

God drat, you're a pain. Fine... It's your first time here so I guess I can explain.

~

Can you tell me what's going on?

Grr... Fine, but listen closely. I'm only gonna say this once.

~~

Rather, it's a testing device to seek out those who possess a unique ability.

What kind of ability?

According to governmental specifications, you're the perfect fighting specimen.

~

You mean... I'm unique?

Sheesh... You're a lot dumber than you look. According to specifications, you're the perfect fighting specimen. So yeah, you're unique. More importantly, you possess a very special ability: the power to slay dragons.

~~

There are many kinds of strength. You may be absurdly weak, but you do have key navigator qualities.

Me...? A navigator...?

Back on point, this was all part of the scouting process. We're short on manpower at the moment.

So yeah, 7th Encount was made solely to look for people that are strong enough to murder actual dragons.

Although Nodens must not have an HR department is this is how potential employees are treated.

Wait... Haven't dragons been gone for almost a century now...?

You can ask all the questions you want to the higher-ups. C'mon, they won't wait forever.

On no, it really is them.

These three are the ones running the show.

Wha...!?

I'm the director of the development sector at Nodens. It's a pleasure to meet you.

The only name I have is Julietta! That's it!

I think Jurota's a nice name, too★

*sigh* Moving on... This woman here is�

Despite how she looks, she is the president of our company.

This is a game company, right?

Hmm, is that what we're going with now?

You're correct� Nodens Enterprises is the world's leading game corporation. We craft life-changing experiences for gamers far and wide. However, that is nothing but a front.

I find that a bit hard to believe, actually. Hell, if you look at the official artbook:

Nodens got their start by selling at Comiket! Be a bit of a long con if they were just setting up a front.

~

What do you do here?

Oh my. Nagamimi didn't tell you? My apologies~! I'm sure you're very confused right now.

Nodens Enterprises is the world's premiere game corporation. Game development is just a quick way to build capital, though. Our true purpose lies elsewhere★

~~

Anyways, let's all take a seat! It's time for story time with Julietta★

Yes, yes. Please sit wherever you'd like. Sorry for dragging you all in here like this, but there are important matters we need to discuss.

Um... I think I've heard of them before...

Uh, you think? Humanity was nearly driven extinct, Mio! Twice over! That's the sorta stuff that should be front and center of every history class going forward!

I mean, yeah, this is just an awkward way to shoehorn in some exposition, but still!

I see. I'd expect you have★

It began with the coming of the True Dragons and the spread of a poison flower called Dragonsbane.

'Dragonsbane' is the official translation for Bloom, and honestly? I don't like it.

Like, 'Dragonsbane' sounds like something that would mess with dragons, yes? Wolfsbane can be used to poison wolves, after all. But no, Dragonsbane does fuckall to dragons and instead kills everything else.

Anyways, True Dragons, oh god True Dragons...

See, dragons in 7D are less a unified species like in most media, and more of an evolutionary state. If something can become the undisputed ultimate lifeform of a world, and break past any and all physical barriers in their way, they'll apotheosize into a True Dragon. From there, True Dragons can freely create Imperial Dragons and normal Dragons to do their bidding.

Of course, such growth ends up involves as many mental changes as physical, so the new dragon will inevitably join in on the whole devouring entire worlds thing, regardless of what they were like before.

A planet enveloped in Dragonsbane will become nothing, doomed to be consumed by the True Dragons...

Hence the name, '7th Dragon'.

In 2020 and the year following, two True Dragons invaded Earth. Dragonsbane nearly engulfed us.

However, thanks to a team called Murakumo, we were able to fend both of them off★

My grandpa told me about them... Murakumo Unit 13, the dragon hunters...

We've learned a great deal about dragons from samples taken after the Calamity. Anatomy, ecology... All of this analytical data is assembled into a portfolio called the Dragon Chronicle.

But... Why?

People new to the series (in other words, drat near everyone who bought VFD in the west) would see this and accept it.

That screaming you might be hearing is from everyone who played the previous games.

You know what the Dragon Chronicle did in 2020? It lets you skip past all that self-evolution stuff and immediately turn the user into a dragon. You know how that ended up? One person ended up becoming the penultimate boss in a bid to surpass all humanity, and another stayed good for like 30 minutes before his new dragon instincts started taking over and he ended up needing to be sealed away for several thousand years.

And that was a Dragon Chronicle made from Imperial Dragons! Nodens' goal is to make one out of full fledged True Dragons, which are an order of magnitude stronger!

That's not even getting into the fact that of the True Dragons previously seen in the series, one of them isn't due to show up on Earth for several thousand years.

Finding all of them is a bit of a tall loving order, is what I'm getting at here.

Welcome to VFD.

Fun fact: the game never, ever directly tells you what VFD stands for.

Even in this apparent time of peace, the 7th and final True Dragon will soon awaken. The True Dragon responsible for both creation and destruction... We call this ruler of reason VFD. Once it shows itself, our planet will face its demise.

Are you wondering how we know all of this? I assure you, we are not the only ones. There are others in the know, though primarily just lSDF and world government agencies. This info is simply not publicly available. However, various signs point to the dragons' return. Global warming, disappearance of the Caribbean Plate, and most importantly, Dragon Sickness.

...H-

How does a tectonic plate vanish???

And how do you keep something like that from public knowledge???

Dragon Sickness...

What's Dragon Sickness...?

Have you noticed anyone around with a particularly bad cold, or a violent cough?

Opal nods.

I see... A friend of yours, perhaps?

~

I have a friend who's been coughing...

I see... So your friend has been infected, too.

~~

As much as it pains me to say it, this friend of yours doesn't have much longer to live.

...

Welp, Mio's dead.

Dragon Sickness is an untreatable disease caused by the permeation of dragon miasma. Therefore, the thicker the miasma becomes, the more people will come down with Dragon Sickness. Miasma has been here since the Calamity, yet the patient count has shot up in the past few years. This rise serves as another sign that a True Dragon is again about to descend upon humanity.

I don't expect we have much time. Once the dragons come, this information will spread. The infestation will begin, the Dragonsbane will bloom, and to see out the end of this planet... VFD will appear.

We can't let that happen.

Then let's fight. You have the power... The power to hunt dragons, and complete the Dragon Chronicle.

~

How do we stop it?

We complete the Dragon Chronicle. You, who stands on the threshold between past and future, have the power to do so.

~~

VFD is the ultimate True Dragon. Even while lying dormant, it can bring about global calamities. However, we could turn the tables if we managed to complete the Dragon Chronicle. If we can gain information about the True Dragons and acquire their energy... we'll have a chance. On the other hand, if we fail... humanity will be extinguished.

N-No...

Hence, the ultimate goal of Nodens Enterprises is the completion of the Dragon Chronicle. I'd bet we'll even be able to find a cure for Dragon Sickness if we manage to complete it★ But in order to do so, we'll need a dragon hunter... That's where you come in.

Oh look, there's the title!

So what do I have to do?

Hunt, hunt, hunt!

What we need is for you to hunt as many dragons as you can and collect samples from them.

~

Hm? I sorta dozed off...

My apologies. It must have been boring listening to a girly man and his boss yammer on~.

Just hunt, hunt, hunt! We'll need you to hunt as many dragons as you can and collect samples from them.

I would like to point out that of the three True Dragons fought in the series so far, two of them were final bosses (one of them twice in a row!) and the other was a penultimate boss that required the world's armies to throw troops into a meat grinder just to buy time for the party to find some means of turning the tide.

Again, they want us to make a career out of killing this level of threat.

Where can I find these dragons?

That's, well...

~

I'm not much of a hunter...

*chuckle* Of course you aren't! It's only natural that you'd say that!

~~

U-Um, excuse me... I don't think I can handle all of this... I'm just going to go home.

Oh my, please don't think that way. Your navigation skills are quite advanced.

But there's no way I can do this. I'm not a navigator... I can't save the world... I'd probably just get in the way...

I see... If that's what you wish...

Mio is 14 years old, so her apprehension is kinda understandable. Doubly so when her Dragon Sickness means there might be a very real chance of her keeling over halfway through the mission.

Music: None

I came all the way here to try and find my dad... But... I just can't do it...

Suddenly, explosions!

Next time: Dragons.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ May 27, 2022 05:03

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Epicmissingno posted:

I could have sworn that VFD's name got expanded on at some point. I think it was Latin?

Is it revealed? Yes. Is it revealed in game? Nope.

# ¿ May 27, 2022 13:59

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update IV - Featuring: Dragons

Music: None

*chuckle* You sound like an old man, Julietta★

Ngh... It's all your fault, Nagamimi! Don't scare me like that!

I don't give a crap about that. I have urgent news! A swarm of dragons has appeared outside!

What perfect timing, you just found a team of dragon hunters!

Music: Endless Attack Cycle

... Nagamimi, where is ISDF? Isn't this what an international defense force is trained to handle?

They're heading in this direction, but... it sounds like it'll take a while.

OK. Seal the entrance. We'll wait it out until they arrive.

Nagamimi, could you be a dear and display the entrance camera up on the monitor?

Got it.

Well, in the 30 seconds since the dragons arrived...

...things have gotten kinda bad.

Mio is having the worst possible day today.

I'm going to help her!

I wouldn't. An amateur going out there would just cause trouble.

~

Lend me your strength!

*sigh* Listen, we can't go waving an army around. We're just a game company in the eyes of the public. We'd just get arrested if we came out guns blazing.

~~

All we can do now is wait for ISDF.

ISDF... I hope they make it in time.

A running theme of the game is Opal being physically incapable of not helping someone in trouble.

Besides, last I check we haven't signed an employment contract yet, so they can't order us around!

Hmm, I suppose at times the body acts completely on its own★

Should we go knock some sense into them?

No, let's give them a shot.

Are you sure? If ISDF finds out...

If they truly are dragon hunters, their resolve will carry them through.

I see... Time to see what they've got, then. We should do what we can to provide support.

Sounds like a job for Nagamimi!

*sigh* Fine, fine... I'm going...

But first.

The dragon invasion means that everyone has something new to say.

This is why I hate humans. It's impossible to know how your brains work.

Getting hurt in 7th Encount gets you hurt in real life.

Nodens' liability waivers must be a bitch.

Listen up. This isn't a game anymore. Get cut, and you'll bleed. Get stabbed, and you'll die. This is the real world.

Take this, too. Just pop it on your arm and start it up.

It's a wonderful device that'll let you talk to me no matter where you go. This is how I'll be helping you, so don't you dare take it off. And don't tell me you don't want it! Now listen, don't forget to prepare. I'd rather not have our dragon hunters die out there. If you're gonna help, you drat well better do it right... Eeheehee...

Just try not to get yourself killed.

A terminal materializes out of nowhere in case you wanted to change your party after 7th Encount.

Although Nagamimi is running it now.

Job Seeker: Wait... This could be a great chance to prove my value to the company!

A third dragon invasion in 80 years and this guy is focused on getting a job.

Sounds like Japan, alright.

Aaron: Maybe the gods are upset with me for slacking off at work! I'm such a fool...

Attendant Kureha: I ask that you promptly evacuate the premises.

Oh, that's bad.

Oh, that's worse.

That's a lot nastier than a baby.

Plus all his friends swarming the skies.

Much like before, all I can do is hit him a bunch.

He has a bit more health than the Little Dragon, at least.

Power Charge is the standard signal to block next turn.

Although, bizarrely, the White Dragon only has a single action per turn. Even the baby from before had the standard two actions most every dragon gets.

So despite being an actual dragon, he's a complete joke.

Music: Endless Attack Cycle

Are you hurt?

No, I'm OK... But Opal-

~

Let's get out of here!

R-Right. But... where to?

~~

Ah yes.

The obligatory Giant Red Starter Dragon.

That thing's a High Dragon! It's way stronger than the one you just fought! lt'll tear you to shreds! Get the brat and come back, now!

High Dragons are the official translation for Imperials in the previous games.

What's wrong...? No... Are you going to... fight? Opal, stop! It'll kill you!

I'm going to save everyone!

But... you don't even know these people. Why�

~

I'm going to defeat it!

But... aren't you afraid? How�

~~

Opal!

We are running, Nagamimi!

We're running towards it!

Also there's rubble between us and Nodens HQ, so running at the High Dragon is our only option.

Confident Gamer: W-Wait... This is weird... My legs won't move! Did I spend too long in 7th Encount...?

Occasionally the leader will shout something out in cutscenes, and the localizers were nice enough to subtitle them!

Also

Next time: Opal's first High Dragon.

# ¿ May 31, 2022 03:40

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update V - Featuring: The ISDF

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Time to kill! :black101:

Ah.

Sorta forgot that the Giant Red Starter Dragon always kicks your rear end on the first go.

Also, what's up with his health bar?

I'm almost certainly dead no matter what, but I guard anyways.

Maaaaaaybe Nagamimi and the gang had a point about running...

Music: None

That's enough! Get out of there! Get out right this instant! Grr... You really wanna die here!?

Suddenly, explosions!

But the explosions are ours this time!

Alright, Yuma. I'll leave it to you.

Oh wait, I know how this goes.

Music: Endless Attack Cycle

After the Giant Red Starter Dragon kicks our rear end, it gets beat up in return.

It then becomes our first chapter boss.

This hand of Yuma's is burning... purple?

...or Yuma just straight up one shots a High Dragon??????

To give an idea of how bad the power creep in VFD is, even recurring narrative elements are getting power crept.

Granted, this is sorta an issue with VFD's core plot as a whole.

Music: Re:Vanishment (code：VFD Ver)

In all the other games, High Dragons were the main threat and you spent the entire game building up to a True Dragon. Hell, in any previous game Spectus would have had all of Chapter 1 dedicated to killing him.

In VFD, our initial goal is to kill multiple True Dragons, so High Dragons just can't be a serious threat for the plot to make sense.

All that stuff in the 2020s where High Dragons warped the fabric of space around them to make exotic dungeons? Yeah, don't expect to see any of that in VFD. Our focus is purely on True Dragons, so High Dragons have been downgraded to 'regular dragons but a bit better.'

Yuma is bullshitting so hard here. Opal and her friends did like 20 damage to Spectus. If that.

They look like normal people, but... I cannot be sure. And that girl... Hm...

Music: A Place to Come Home

So yeah, the blood red sky? The literal swarms of dragons? Already taken care of. All dealt with by the ISDF.

The military sure as poo poo got their act together since 2020.

The only proof that anything bad happened today is the cracked floors.

It's sooner than we were hoping, but it can't be helped. They would have found out eventually.

Now, now★ More importantly, what did you think of your first real battle, Opal?

I somehow survived...

Yup yup★ That's a victory in and of itself! I'm glad you all came back safe and sound!

~

I wish I could've won.

Seriously? You did very well for your first battle. Most people would have died out there.

~~

It's a big freaking miracle you're still alive and kicking. Next time try following orders.

Unfortunately, Opal is incapable of following any order that isn't some flavor of 'murder dragons' or 'go save those people.'

But to think you could fight like that on your first try... That confirms my hunch! I knew I'd find my dragon hunters in this city!

Yeah, yeah. You were right. Though it's still hard to believe these cuties are our dragon hunters~!

Anyone would've done it.

No, not anyone...

~

I needed to do it.

It's not that simple, though...

~~

Risking your life to save someone else... That's not something people just do. All I could do was stand around trembling in fear... Why...? Why am I so powerless...? Ah...! I-I'm sorry, I really killed the mood... A-Anyways, thank you again for earlier! I'll find a way to pay you back someday!

I promise! Well, I should probably get going.

H-Hold on a second! You're thinking of going home in that weakened state?

Nodens has a top-grade team of medical staff. We'll have them take care of all of you★

Huh...? But... I...

Don't worry about the details! Let's go, everyone! The medical team is eagerly awaiting us!

Click here to watch the intro video.

I loving told you we were going to Atlantis. As our first serious dungeon at that!

Music: The Daily Grind

You can barely tell the literal apocalypse started yesterday!

For those of you who didn't watch, Opal passed out during the intro video, which is another power crept plot point.

The party in 7D1 was in a coma for three years after their first encounter with dragons. Unit 13 was out cold for several months after getting thrashed by Warcry, and a few days after Fomalhaut showed up.

Opal was out for, like, a single night and she's back on her feet.

Doctor Hori: I think you're good to go.

Phew! I'm glad it was nothing too major!

It's amazing that you're still OK after fighting a High Dragon. This is the will of a dragon hunter...

As I'm sure you've realized, game fighting and real fighting are two very different experiences. You must be able to bear the lives of your teammates. It is quite a heavy burden to carry. Having said that, if we wish to save humanity, we must push forth and complete the Dragon Chronicle. That is why we humbly request that you lend us your dragon hunting powers.

Once you've reached a decision, come to the 3F Conference Floor. We'll be waiting, Opal.

I'm so glad...

I think I am.

I see... I had a feeling you would.

~

I'm afraid, but... yeah.

I see... I had a feeling you would. But it makes me feel better to know that even you get scared sometimes... *giggle*

~~

Hey, Opal... How can you just go along with this so easily? If you cooperate with them, you're going to have to fight dragons. You know that, right? Doesn't this all just make you want to run away? Don't you ever think about that...?

S-Sorry, Opal... I'm only alive because you were there to protect me... I'm so sorry. That was really irresponsible of me to say...

Try not to be too reckless...

Farewell, Mio! I'm sure a girl who got us into the plot, has top-notch Navigator abilities, and has a character portrait will be allowed to go back to her humble daily life.

Sick Employee: Me? I tried to work through my sickness, but my boss made me come here instead.

You know this is a fantasy game when a Japanese company forces their workers to take proper care of their health.

The doctor acts as a heal spot.

Jane: Well... I kinda am a patient. I'm not sure if the doctor can cure me, though.

Job Seeker: Oh, I was just asking around about job openings... Looks like they're not hiring right now.

He stuck around through an actual dragon invasion for absolutely nothing.

Thaaaaaaaaaaat's the economy!

Aaron: That's why I'm skipping work again for now! I'll finish it all later! No problem! Hahaha!

Iori: Hm? How do I not get bored of coffee? It wouldn't be so popular if people got bored of it! Hehe!

Kureha will repeat any tutorials we've seen.

The tone in VFD is just incredibly off compared to the previous games. Like, people died yesterday. The homeless old man who complained about 7th Encount? He's loving dead! Meanwhile you have people like Aaron slacking off to chill at a cafe and this woman complaining about boredom.

And trust me, the tone will get even more lighthearted as we go along.

Pale Young Man: A-Am I OK? Haha... Probably not this time...

Talkative Young Man: Your cosplay is inspired by the hit anime Secret Murakumo Slayer, isn't it...?

Considering they did save the world twice over and all, it makes sense for Unit 13 and Murakumo to get a bunch of shows based on them.

...really exist?

Really exist???

Lady, the dragons laid waste to humanity not even a century ago! The loving skyline is still dotted with damaged buildings! How the gently caress do you not believe in something that annihilated the majority of mankind in the span of a few months two years in a row!?

Bartender: A carefree life is a privilege of youth. I suggest you choose a path you believe in.

Skilled Man: That must mean I can really be a dragon hunter too if I try my hardest!

Lonely Girl: It's not like the same incident's gonna happen twice!

Alright, that's everyone talked to.

Time to go see Allie about that job opening.

Next time: ~~Nintendo~~Nodens-brand Time Machines.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 04:40

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update VI - Featuring: Time travel

Music: UE77 In Ariake

Oh my★

Well, we do have things we can offer them. If we give them that�

Opal! You came! So that means your answer is�

There's something we need to show them first. Isn't that right, Allie?

Of course★ Everyone, gather round! Opal... Do you know what this is?

...Well that's one True Dragon down, at least.

Iod is the True Dragon who planted the Seed of Life onto this formerly barren planet. The Seed of Life became the basis for the entire human race... for all lifeforms in existence. It was the drop that created life in the ancient sea. The beginning of millions of miraculous events. And so, humanity and dragonkind share a deep bond. The specimen from Iod showed us that much. As I've already mentioned, we are collecting specimens from the six True Dragons. In doing so, we plan to complete the Dragon Chronicle and defeat the 7th True Dragon, VFD.

We are also aware that ISDF is in possession of a specimen of the 5th True Dragon Fomalhaut. We only currently know the locations of those two specimens. Therefore, four specimens remain. Your mission will be to retrieve them★

...What about Niara?

Like, he showed up a full year before Fomalhaut attacked, so why don't you have a sample of both? Did it get lost in the mail or something?

This naturally means you will have to defeat the True Dragons. It will be quite tough. Actually, tough doesn't begin to describe how difficult it will be. So, what do you think?

Will you help us carry out our plan... Operation Code: VFD?

I will.

Allie is bit too bubbly considering she's sending us to kill god level threats in order to save the world.

Hooray! How wonderful!

~

I'm not sure I trust you...

*chuckle* That's not a problem★ All we need at first is your cooperation. We'll have plenty of time to gain each other's trust!

~~

Fabulous! Now that that's settled, we'll need to think of a team name for you. How about Opal Squad? Or maybe...

I think they should be called Unit 13!

Well there's no way this can get confusing!

Opal Squad is a bit odd...

VFD is really weird about character focus.

In all the other games, the story treats your party as a collective. Regardless of who you have in front, you're almost always referred to as 'the guild' or 'Unit 13.' Making the team leader The Most Important Person like this both cheapens everyone else you made and makes things get really strange really fast if you're the type of person who likes to shuffle the team leader around.

*chuckle* Then Unit 13 it is!

~

Unit 13?

Oh right... You don't know about them.

~~

Unit 13 is the name of the team that defended the world during the Dragon Calamity of 2020. It might be a bit dated, but it definitely carries good luck. I suppose it's not a bad name.

Unit 13 is a respected name in the modern day and age! It's perfect for you guys★

Alright, from this moment on, you will be known as Unit 13, the newest team in all of Nodens!

Welcome aboard, Unit 13! I look forward to working with you!

All done★

Alright, let's have Unit 13 go for a tour of the building before their first mission.

We'll be waiting for you at the Portal.

Hmm... So, they're calling you guys Unit 13 now, huh? In that case, come with me... Unit 13.

Music: The Daily Grind

Our office is wonderful! Hope you enjoy the tour★ Come meet us on the Portal Floor afterward★

First off are the two desk girls.

Once it's up and running, you'll be able to take quests and get some pretty drat good rewards. She's also gonna be handling any and all construction requests over here. Construction's paid for with this stuff called Dz, or Dragon Zeni. Dz can be used for all sortsa crap: medical research, weapon development, building materials... As any dumbass coulda guessed, Dz comes from dragons. You prolly missed some on your first battle. Just make sure you don't forget to grab 'em from any dragons you beat from now on. Anyways, I'm sure you're gonna be rolling in the Dz once your mission gets started. If you give that Dz to Chika she'll help you build new weapons and expand the facilities here. Try making a Dormitory for yourselves to start. Can't have Unit 13 sleeping on the streets. Hmmm... A Dormitory should only run you about... 3 Dz.

Now, Dz made sense in the 2020s because humanity was teetering on the edge of extinction, so they had to use any materials you could get your hands on, even if you had to cut them out of dozens of dragons.

There's no active threat right now, so why can't Nodens just... pay some regular contractors to make our dorms? Like it makes sense for stuff like improved skills or better gear, but this is a 100% mundane task, there's no real reason to use dragon bits on it.

Also how cheap is Nodens if they're making us pay to build our own drat rooms?

Go talk to her for any consumable items or equipment you might need for your missions. Though it obviously won't be free. Earn some money, and you can buy whatever crap you want. By the way, any weapons you develop using Dz will be available here. Basically you gotta earn Dz to make new weapons, then buy 'em with your well�deserved money... Heh... We're such stingy bastards...

Where we once had five different counters for all these things, VFD consolidates it down to two.

Pretty impressive piece of tech, don't you think? Go on and give it a try later. That's it for the basics... Oh yeah, there are still a few places you need to see before you head over to the Portal. Meet me on the East Hall 2F R&D Floor, and don't dawdle!

And of all the things they felt needed a justification, they picked fast travel?

Teleportation existed in the 2020s, sure, but specifically calling out fast travel as an in-universe thing just feels... off.

Chika's still getting set up.

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

But Rika is ready to go!

Now, I could use that demo money to instantly outfit everyone with the best gear we can buy.

But I'll stick to the first tier of upgraded weapons to keep things fair.

Also all the Duelist weapons use this naming scheme, which I find hilarious. Other people can use the High Derringer or the Hero Fist, meanwhile the Duelist just has to wait for a new set to come out. God help us all when Yuno gets her hands on Zoodiacs or Tearlaments.

Music: The Daily Grind

Our newfound employment gives us access to a few more floors.

The Development Floor consists of the entrance.

And the actual room.

Adachi: Ah, we have one employee who's never in the office. It's hard to find him when you need him...

Did you check the cafe by the entrance?

The top-left door leads to Julietta's office.

The R&D Floor, meanwhile, is hella long.

So long it has conveyors to help you get around!

Mitch, this is the new team I was telling you about.

Researcher Mitch: Hahahaaa! Welcome to Doctor Julietta's lab! If something's improbable, we'll research it! Ohhhh!? You're the new faces of Unit 13!? I heard the most improbable rumor about you! You're human, but you have some kind of supernatural power!? Well, I have a secret for you! We'll help bring out your improbable abilities! I can help with all of your bodily needs!

Uhhh... We're in a bit of a hurry here. Can you just hurry up and give them the drat things?

Researcher Mitch: Ahhh, OOOOOOK! Leave it to moi! It's time for your shots~! Now, Unit 13... Close your eyes... and keep 'em shut tight! No peeking...

You obtained SP Up 200 x2.

Researcher Mitch: It's time for you to get a new skill! Go go go! You can check your skills using the Skill option on the Main Menu! Congratulationsss!

*sigh* C'mon, it's time to go. I'll be waiting on the East Hall 1F Portal Floor. Don't be late!

So, what does everyone get?

Opal gets counters, debuff attacks, a revive skill, and a self-buff.

Inoue gets a single target move for single swords, a fire attack and multi-hit move for dual swords, the 10 turn buffs from 2020, and our first Auto skill.

And Yuno gets her third and final trap, a set of field spells, and targeted searches.

Of particular note is ~~Field: Volcano~~Molten Destruction. First off, it hits everyone, making it this party's first reliable form of AOE damage. Second off, the boost to fire damage means it synergizes nicely with Inoue's new Maple Tear. Thirdly, and most importantly, it effectively double buffs ~~X Burn~~Final Flame, as it both increases the damage it deals directly thanks to the debuff, and lets me spend two Fire cards in a single move for a much larger boost than just slinging summons around!

~

Director Yoshida: I'm Yoshida, the director of 7th Encount. I also head up the weapon development division. Why do I serve two positions? *chuckle* You do know why 7th Encount exists, don't you...? Besides that, I'm also researching these things called EX Skills. They're EX-tremely EX-citing! Ha!

We're a long ways away from getting our EX Skills, but oh man.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh man.

Most of the EX Skills in VFD make the 2020 EXs look like a joke.

Keep these tiny dragon samples in mind for later.

Much, much later.

Researcher Joe: We mainly do research on dragons, but the more we learn, the more confusing things get...

Marco: I'm glad I didn't abandon ship. I get to take part in some incredible research...

Amanda: Soooooo, if you aren't authorized to be touching things, please stay away♪

Lucas: People need our research right now. We'll do what we can to help you guys.

The entrance to the Portal Floor is much the same as the R&D Floor.

ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU

Music: The Daily Grind

Ah hell, I walked into the plot.

Welcome, Unit 13. This is the test site for Nodens's core technology, the Portal System. If you remember, we asked you earlier to retrieve the four remaining True Dragon specimens. Didn't you wonder how you were gonna do that? There aren't any on Earth right now, after all.

*nods*

Opal is shocked, understandably.

Hey! Didn't I say don't be surprised~?

How can you expect them not to be...?

Julietta used so much money to research this that he bankrupted several of our small subsidiaries.

B�But Allie...! 7th Encount is raking in a huge profit!

...

...how the gently caress does a time machine tie into making a video game???

Did they go back to 2021 to make 7th Encount as accurate as possible? Did they watch Murakumo's Unit 13 fight Fomalhaut to make sure they prefectly replicated it???

*chuckle* Don't worry, I don't blame you~. I'm just speaking the truth★

Jeez... Anyhow, you guys will be using this Portal to travel into both the past and the future. In each time period, you'll stop the True Dragon invasion and bring their specimens back to us.

Opal has zero concerns about loving up the timeline.

This will become a recurring theme with her.

That's a great plan!

Wow, your enthusiasm excites me~!

What spirit!

~

This is a joke, right...?

*giggle* I love it when people react like that~!

~~

Well, seeing is believing. Let's get you on there!

Alrighty, we'll be trusting you with navigation, Nagamimi!

Hold on, is that all you're gonna say!? You didn't even tell them where they're going!

It'll be fine~! Practice makes perfect, right?

No warnings about messing with the past or anything. Apparently actual time travel is one of those things you can just do with no real education.

*sigh* Their blood's gonna be on your hands if anything happens. Unit 13, step onto the device.

A reckless dummy like you has gotta be extra careful out there.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Welcome to Atlantis: Where the water falls up and the trees glow.

And they're already mid-invasion.

...Hey Julietta, couldn't you have, I dunno, sent us back an extra year or so? You're already showing a flagrant disregard for established history, so helping a fully powered Atlantis fight back would go a long way towards getting that True Dragon sample.

Hey, Unit 13. Can you guys hear me?

*sigh* We really shoulda explained this all beforehand...

Again, this is our first stop. This far back, any action could have so much of a butterfly effect that it could cause Opal, Nodens, or even Earth as we know it to cease existing.

This is the most prosperous country of the time, smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic... The Sea Kingdom of Atlantis. This particular spot is the capital city, Atlantica.

Oh, and we were plopped down not even 10 feet from some of the locals.

They don't even care that three people with exotic clothing and unusual ears just materialized right in front of them!

Anyways, the 7D1 translation called them the Rushe, but this is their official name.

Historical record states that humans were the only civilization to make tools out of stone, but... That's only because this mysterious race was seemingly lost to the annals of time.

Suddenly, an earthquake! (Seaquake?)

Crap... this... bad! Come... imme...ly...

Music: None

Brave Court Lady: We must protect the queen, even if it costs us our lives!

The screen is shaking a bit for this whole scene.

Ulania's outfit is... yeah.

To make it worse, the artbook says that she's 16 years old.

Tallieri... Another Star Crystal has fallen.

It seems the time is nearly upon us. Please, Your Majesty, come back inside.

Yes...

Next time: Opal is The Worst at time travel.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 7, 2022 03:44

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

EclecticTastes posted:

Nyala doesn't have a sample on-file from 2020 because the extra dungeons in the 2020 games are seemingly non-canon.

except

nyala was the final boss of 2020

and I'm pretty sure

that makes kicking his rear end extremely canon

# ¿ Jun 7, 2022 04:07

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update VII - Featuring: No Dragons

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

The quake finally stops.

C'mon, just respond if you can hear me!

Oh, I finally got through. *sigh* That had me worried... Allie would totally wring my neck if I let you guys die on your first mission...

As we speak, Nyala is on the verge of bringing Atlantis to its end.

...We're here to deal with him?

Nyala, the guy who was on Earth 80 years ago? You had to send us back 13,000 years for that?

Also, Niara being translated as Nyala makes me think of a cat.

Nyaa~

In other words, the people of Atlantis lost their battle against it. Although Earth is still intact, so maybe it would be better to say it was a tie. Nyala was even wounded when it showed up in 2020. That must've been the work of the Lucier.

Your mission's gonna be to figure out how to get your hands on that. Understand?

...That's the reason why you don't have a Nyala sample? Because of the severed wing?

That makes zero god drat sense! That'd be like if Ancestry couldn't run a DNA test on someone just because they lost an arm in a tragic mining accident! How picky is the Dragon Chronicle when that disqualifies a sample, but it was perfectly okay with Murakumo Unit 13 beating Fomalhaut to death, because I'm pretty drat sure that he didn't count as 'uninjured' after they finished with him!

Try hunting down three dragons. That'll give you some training, and even a few materials as well.

You can go back to Tokyo whenever you want from here. I'll even put some relay points around the city. Then with that... Oh, wait! I forgot about this. I've got something to give you before you head off into the great unknown. I'll send over the manual. I'm sure it'll be tough for idiots like you, but give it a read.

Field Skills are just like the 2020s. Hit Y, get 9 free heals with every dungeon dive.

For the time being, you can use the Medical Floor for that. I'll let Hori know. You're gonna need to use every little thing at your disposal if you wanna stay alive. Stubbornness is just gonna get you killed quicker... Eeheehee...

With that, we finally have control.

Now, you know how most time travel stories put at least a token effort into not messing around too hard with the timeline?

Strange-Eared Man: People have been on edge lately. They'll all direct their anger towards you foreigners.

Yeah, Opal is ignoring that and is chatting up every soul she sees.

Strange-Eared Lady: I know you just arrived, but this country is doomed. You should return home before you get hurt.

Also, there was no mention of translator microbes or any sci-fi stuff like that, so presumably ancient Atlantean is identical to modern Japanese.

Despite being in the tail end of the dragon invasion, we actually have to go a good distance to find normal enemies, let alone an actual dragon.

Guard: The civilian populace is up in arms thanks to that dragon. Try to avoid any major conflict.

Restless Merchant: Both my business and my life are over... but one must never leave a mess behind.

Calm Civil Official: That is the only option that remains for us...

No wonder Atlantis got wiped off the map, they're just rolling over and taking it.

At the end of the area are two guards.

Stern Captain: Those clothes... You are not one of us. What reason does a foreigner have for coming here?

Opal isn't even trying to keep a low profile!

I'm here to kill Nyala.

Stern Captain: Kill Nyala? Hahaha! What utter foolishness!

~

I'm here to save this country.

Stern Captain: A foreigner thinks they can save this proud kingdom when its own guards cannot? How arrogant!

~~

Stern Captain: In honor of the former king Utrello, we proudly await our end. You foreigners must leave. Although... your insolence cannot be overlooked. I shall turn you into shark bait!

Yep.

Unit 13 was sent here to hunt dragons, and not even five minutes later they get into a fight with the locals.

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

Well if they want to volunteer as punching bags...

I certainly won't stop them!

Counter Stance draws hits, same as 2020.

Unlike 2020, the whole fang/claw/breath system for attacks have been scrapped. God Hands get one counter for attacks, and one for ailments, that's it.

Compared to the single sword's Whirlwind, Cyclone Dance deals half damage but has twice as many hits to compensate.

This also means that Whirlwind is completely obsolete for dealing with Bloom Seeds, which was the main use case it had.

~~Field: Volcano~~Molten Destruction is good.

And remember, this would boost ~~X Burn~~Final Flame by a ton if I combo'd them together!

Music: Finish Them Off

I'm sure beating up what few guards Atlantis has left will endear us to the populace.

And that's not getting into the fact that anyone these guards would have saved in the original timeline are now super boned.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Eeheehee... You gotta be mindful of your actions. You guys are basically heretics around here. But I guess there's not much reason to worry. The soldiers that are left are all super weak. Now then, let's get back to our search.

~

Guard: Y-You're so strong... Just who are you...?

Strangely enough, the camera shifts to this angle when we approach the door.

You'd think that the angle and the ornate crystals above it means we're meant to enter, but no. We will never find out what's behind this door.

Enemies finally show up in the next area.

We got...

Blossoms and Helm Crabs. Blossoms can hit you with stat debuffs, and Helm Crabs can hit the party.

There's a heal spot here.

And some loot just beyond.

Oh no, a monster is harassing a local!

Opal cannot let this stand!

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

The enemy is just two crabs.

Since there's a heal spot just 10 feet back, I just hit the Auto button, and Inoue ended up dying as a result.

But that just lets me bring up an important point:

Music: Finish Them Off

In VFD, dead party members get full rewards. If I didn't slap that EXP Upper on Yuno, these three would remain perfectly synced for the entire game. This lets you go with much more aggressive strategies without having to worry about someone getting taken down on the final turn and getting nothing.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

I always find it funny when normal human features get treated as exotic in fantasy settings.

???: Milra! Milra!

Milra: Oh, that's my grandmother! Heyyy!

Milra: This nice person saved me!

Milra's Grandmother: You did...? Even Atlantica guards have trouble handling these monsters. Just who are you...?

I'm researching Nyala.

Milra's Grandmother: Are you perhaps planning on hunting it...?

*nods*

Milra: Woahhh, that's incredible!

~

Can you tell me about this place?

Milra's Grandmother: Do you mean... Atlantis?

~~

Milra: So like, Atlantis used to be suuuper big, but then when Nyala showed up, most of it sank to the�

Milra's Grandmother: Milra, quiet down.

Milra: I...

Milra's Grandmother: ... This place is too dangerous for you, Milra. It would be best if you return home.

Milra: Ok...

Milra's Grandmother: This country's fate has already been decided, so I guess there can be no harm in enlightening you... Eleven wards have already fallen due to Nyala's invasion. Only a few remain intact... Our former king Utrello and the Atlantis elites attempted to fend off Nyala... but none returned. Many citizens have died since to the poisonous flowers... Our demise is fast approaching. But before that happens, our consul Tallieri will carry out his final plan...

Nyala effortlessly killed the best warriors Atlantis had to offer.

Again, we were sent here to fight Nyala.

That's probably how Nyala lost his wing.

Also, this puts us on a time limit to deal with Nyala before the city gets sunk.

I repeat: We are on a time limit. When we have a time machine.

Milra's Grandmother: All that is left for the people of this land is to come to peace with their inevitable end. Please, refrain from disturbing our kingdom any further.

Opal will disturb your kingdom as much as she drat well pleases.

Suicide is quite the interesting plan. They'd never beat Nyala through military might alone.

Opal 7thdragon: Gives even fewer shits about the timeline than Julietta.

We can't let them kill themselves.

More importantly, we can't let them take Nyala from us. We're gonna need that specimen.

~

Let's help the Lucier.

What we need is the specimen from Nyala. Nothing else matters. What's the point in saving these moldy guys, anyways? I thought you wanted to help people in UE 77.

~~

*sigh* Nothing I say is gonna matter, huh... Just try not to forget about your mission. C'mon, let's get moving. There are more dragons ahead.

These Spiral Cannons are the second last normal enemy type in the area.

Now.

You may be noticing a distinct lack of something.

Namely: Dragons. On this mission to specifically murder some dragons.

For whatever reason, Atlantica just... backloads their dragons.

By which I mean all of them are at the very end, all in the same area.

VFD's pacing can be absolutely bizarre at times.

A new symbol is on our map.

Just like 2020, we have a game-spanning sidequest to rescue people.

Huh, some kid got left behind.

Well-Bred Boy: Where are you...? *gasp* I'm... already... *gasp*

The Dragonsbane's got him. He's not gonna last much longer. Leave him.

Take a guess what Opal's response is.

Go on, guess.

*shakes head*

This is pointless! There's no medical technology in that era that can help him!

Oh, Nagamimi said the magic words!

Now Opal knows he can be helped!

Please, Almighty Nagamimi!

C'mon, what's all this about!? Praising me isn't gonna� *sigh* Don't gimme that face. I guess it's not impossible...

~

What about modern technology?

Modern...? Wait, don't tell me you wanna bring him back to Tokyo!?

*nods*

~~

Sure, the Nodens medical team can treat minor cases of Dragonsbane poison, but... Julietta has strictly prohibited rescuing people from other time periods. My paws are tied.

*hangs head*

*sigh* Fiiine, you can bring him back for emergency treatment. Discreetly! This isn't a show of mercy, I'll have you know. That kid seems pretty well-bred. Mmm, he looks quite tasty... There's a good bit of fat on him...

C'mon, it was a joke! I'm offended you thought I was serious. Just hurry up and save him before I change my mind.

This also kills most of the threat the dragons pose to us.

What can a dragon, even a True Dragon, do when our base is in another time period? Nyala himself could drop in on us right now and all we'd have to do is pop an Escape Kit and there's literally nothing he could do to us. Having a completely unassailable safe place kills any tension that the dragons could start targeting home.

Also, unlike the 2020s that kid isn't going to show up in Nodens proper, on account of the whole keeping it hush hush thing.

At least until Opal inevitably convinces Julietta to allow it. You know it'll happen, you saw how many empty floors Nodens has! There's more than enough space to take in the Atlanteans!

Atlantica has a few homes we can poke into.

I'd like to mention that there are monsters in the house.

The formations inside are actually scarier than the ones outside, too!

I finally remember to use Inoue's other new move.

A tag team with Yuno would be nice, but pulling two Fire cards with a starting hand of two is understandably rare.

Of course Atlantis has teleporters.

Next time: Unit 13's first dragons.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 10, 2022 04:02

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update VIII - Featuring: Royalty

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Right off the bat, we can see a heal spot and someone in need of rescuing.

So I go to grab them.

But first:

This Spiral Cannon buffed itself up.

Which gives him the same health bar Spectus had.

I'm sure the game will tell us what it means eventually.

Oh look, loot!

However, I ended up running out of uses on First Aid (S), and I am nothing if not a stingy bastard.

Plus there were some spots I didn't check in Nodens before getting sent here, so I still need to visit them.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

Oh, and Atlantica has 5 dragons in total, which is utterly pitiful.

Like, I think the first dungeon in 2020 had at least twice that, and they started showing up early in.

The top screen map also changes to match whatever time period you're pointing at.

Music: The Daily Grind

~

Kino: Are you Unit 13? I heard you've been secretly saving people that you find out in the dungeons. Such lifesaving efforts are truly wonderful! I fully support you from the bottom of my heart! Honestly, we're short on manpower. It's been months since I've gone home at a regular time... Hence, any and all newcomers are welcome! They'll take a huge load off our shoulders here. Anyways, do you think you guys could keep rescuing people you find in the dungeons?

Wow, it's almost as if you can't sneak someone through a time portal where there's only one way in or out!

Not even the employees assigned to watch the Portal give a poo poo about the timeline!

Kino: Thanks in advance!

The 2020s gave out rewards for every 15 people rescued, so even the reward intervals have been buffed.

There were two other doors on the Portal Floor.

They both lead to this giant storage room.

There's no one in here, just a bunch of boxes.

I make a quick stop to Medical to restock my field skills.

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

And we got enough cash to prop-ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU-erly outfit ourselves.

I'll di-ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU-p into that star-ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU-ting 10K later.

The downside to consolodating all the shops together is that I'm forced to listen to that every time I need to buy something.

This has to do with the fact that we can't alter our coordinates once� Hm, I think I'm boring you~.

Gotta get back.

Back to the past.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

Samurai ~~Jack~~Inoue.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

But since we haven't found any access points, I have to run all the way back to where I was.

Our damage is much nicer, at least.

Here we are.

And there's that chest from before.

The exit is on the top left.

But there's a chest on the other side of the area.

And another house.

You know what can show up inside a house?

A formation of four Helm Crabs.

I'm fairly sure they could wipe a party in early gear if they all decided to use their AOE move on the same turn.

On the way to the exit, we meet the final normal enemy in Atlantica. The Screw Shark can use a powerful single target move that also inflicts Bleed.

This puts us at, what, 6 people in one dungeon? We'll have that first reward in no time.

Oh look, layered paths!

Talkative Scholar: Now did my encounter with you young foreigners happen by chance? Or was it fate...?

And just past her is a heal spot and a access point.

Oh look, an actual dragon! On this dedicated dragon hunting expedition!

We only had to reach the final area of the dungeon to find one, is all!

Wounded Guard: I don't know who's there... but it's all up to you now...

Out of the way, loser, we got a dragon to kill!

The guard must have taken me seriously, as he vanished once the cutscene started.

It's hard to tell exactly from here. Just focus on the dragon for now, OK? It's way stronger than normal monsters. Make sure you're ready before you fight it.

Before warping back in once the cutscene ends.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Our scheduled dragon fight? Another Wyvern-type.

Did you know that the breath skills are actually good now?

I know, I could hardly believe it myself!

And strangely, the Wyvern still only gets a single move.

Like, why? Double actions are kind of a dragon's whole Thing. Why does a baby dragon in an actual video game get two moves but the real things don't?

Opal finally has an enemy that lasts long enough to hit G2.

Now, Yuno is one of the slower people on the team.

But then why does she go first to heal Opal?

Because in VFD, items have priority. There is zero risk of going to patch someone up only for an enemy to snipe them before you can move.

Ow.

Opal teaches Mr. Wyvern the importance of having at least one HP left.

We got our first Dz!

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Alright, this area should be safe now. Let's continue on.

Hey, Unit 13! Get closer and check it out!

A good chunk of 2020-II was spent trying to get enough orichalcum to make a Dragonslayer, so having a massive hunk of it just floating around is a bit of a mindblower for everyone.

Music: Stops

Oh look, those guys!

Music: Chant for Sanctuary (code:VFD Ver.)

Girl could you get some, like, actual clothes on.

...

However, we do not have the time to waste on you foreigners. Leave this place, immediately.

...

Well it looks like someone is having second thoughts.

Opal shakes her head.

...What is the matter?

Let's destroy Nyala together!

Both give the same result.

...!

Such foolishness... There is no need for you to sympathize with those who wish to die. Guards!

Tallieri, wait!

I wish to speak with that one...

Please consider your position, Your Majesty. You are all that remains of the Royal Family.

I am well aware, Tallieri. However, I must...

...

This is... my final wish. I beg of you...

Even King Utrello was weak to your selfish demands... Very well.

Thank you, Tallieri...

But this is quite different than what I would have expected.

Your country seems strange, too.

Indeed, we seem to be in a similar situation.

~

The world is a vast place.

Indeed, that seems to be the case. However,

~~

I know nothing of the world outside Atlantis...

Opal gestures for a few moments.

You are from... Toe-ki-oh?

I have never heard of such an odd village.

Tokyo is a nice place.

That is wonderful... I adore Atlantis as well.

~

Do you like this country, Ulania?

But of course. I adore Atlantis.

~~

Both the country itself, and the citizens within... I wish you could have seen the true Atlantis. The wealth, the grandeur, the prosperity... The people of Atlantis are born in the sea, and in the sea they shall die. Despite this catastrophe, I still believe this is truly the greatest paradise the world has ever seen. However... the story of Atlantis shall come to a close here. Traveler... The light within you is equal to that of even the strongest Atlantis knight. I am sure that you will lead the world to greatness after this kingdom has fallen.

Don't destroy Atlantis

Tens of thousands of my citizens have disappeared like mere bubbles in the sea. A great duty has been thrust upon the remaining survivors... We must defeat Nyala.

The first option just skips this part and jumps to...

Little time remains... If we miss this opportunity, Nyala will be unleashed upon the outside world. As the prideful ruler of Atlantis, I simply cannot allow that to happen.

...Your Majesty, the time is almost here.

Ulania nods.

In mere months, Nyala has crushed almost all Lucier cities. Atlantica is one of the last. As we speak, that dragon is inhabiting our most sacred land. It is as though it mocks us. It is truly unforgivable. Even if it means the end of this city, Nyala shall perish.

The resolve of the Lucier was set upon the death of my father... the former king Utrello. I do not intend to live on and ignore the sacrifices of my countless fallen subjects. Atlantis is the shining beacon of this world, and Nyala wishes to plunge it into darkness. All that remains for us to do is destroy Nyala, no matter the cost. That is our purpose...

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Unit 13 is sad.

What the heck's going on? You all look like you just came from a funeral.

*shakes head*

Hey now... Don't overthink this. No matter what we do, Atlantis will fall. There's no point in feeling bad for them.

I know...

Hmph... That's surprisingly reasonable of you.

~

Isn't there anything we can do?

Nope. You're 12,000 years in the past, remember? Did you ever see anything in your textbooks about people with funny ears from a long time ago? No?

*shakes head*

Well, there we go.

~~

Plus, they accept their fate. You have no obligation to help them. Grrrrrr! Stop with the goddamn faces already! You're starting to make even me feel down! I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Our objective here is to obtain the Nyala specimen. As long as we get that, we don't have to worry about all these annoying Lucier people. C'mon, let's get going. You still have two more dragons to hunt. Check the map for signals!

But, we only found one and we've completely covered Atlantica, where the hell could we fi-

Where did all these dragons come from?????

Next time: What do you mean there's no chapter boss??????

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 14, 2022 03:32

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Araxxor posted:

Coddle is nowhere near as strong enough of a word to describe what this game does to the player.

What I find to be a perfect intro to VFD Power Creep is humble Paralysis' proc rate.

In 2020, the best you could get was Trickster's Tarantella, which had a measly 18% chance to cancel a move if it sticks.

In 2020-II, Psychics get Frostburn, which has a much higher 45% proc rate at the cost of being a Tier 4 skill.

In VFD?

This is Summon Ltg I.

Yuno started with this.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2022 13:49

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update IX - Featuring: Government Oversight

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Nine updates and a full dungeon later, we finally have some actual on-field dragons to murder.

~

Atlantis Soldier: Begone! I shall not let you scoundrels through!

Unfortunately, the cost of such a thing is the inability to go pester Ulania some more.

But first...

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

A Bloom Seed!

Sorry, 'Dragonsbane Seed.' They give oodles of SP when killed, but have 999 in both defensive stats and like to run away.

Thanks to having twice the hits of the single sword's Whirlwind, Cyclone Dance absolutely shreds them.

One of the few things to get nerfed in VFD is, surprisingly, chip damage. In the 2020s, any attack that couldn't beat the target's defense would deal a minimum of 1-2 damage. VFD cuts that down to just 1.

Music: Finish Them Off

Now that's a good haul!

And here's our very first field dragon.

And much like every other game...

Starting a fight from behind gives you a free turn.

As babby's first dragon, the Ancientus finally gives us an enemy with two actions, and can try to hit the entire party with Freeze using Frost Breath.

I just use this free turn to get some hits in.

A surprising number of enemies are weak to aerial-type damage! Between that and Maple Tear's fire, Inoue has the advantage on pretty much every enemy here.

Before it could even move, the Ancientus has lost about a full third of its HP.

And to rub salt in the wound, Yuno manages to stick it with Paralysis.

Which then locks out one move.

Which is far more likely than you would think, considering that ~~Summon Ltg I~~Bolt Penguin has a 30% chance to cancel a move if the paralysis lands. In comparison: paralysis rates in 2020 originally capped out at 18% with Trickster's Tarantella. 2020-II could hit 45% with Psychic's Frostburn, but that was a Tier 4 skill. Yuno starts with this, and the odds will only get better as I level it up.

Welcome to VFD.

Our first actual dragon manages to get in one attack.

Before Opal breaks it in half.

Now, the Ancientus has a good plan going, having low Speed but using Freeze to drop everyone even lower. It's just that Quartetto has priority so Opal's Speed doesn't matter.

I run into the next one in an awkward spot.

But it managed to hit me twice, which is more than the last guy could say.

But look at this! Even a dragon can barely put a dent in us!

Even if a fight did go bad and leave the party near death, there's a heal spot in this area I could easily run back to!

Music: Finish Them Off

And that makes three.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Hm...? Hold on, I'm getting some kinda weird signal...

Those legs... could it be?

Ah hell, the army is here.

It seems you've already managed to recover. That was quite an impressive battle.

I'm Yuma Kisaragi of the ISDF Far East Special Tactical Force.

Opal wants to hoard the time machine to herself, naturally.

What are you guys doing here?

We asked your boss Allie if we could observe you today. It's incredible how civilization flourished even in the deepest recesses of history.

~

Stay off our turf!

Calm yourself. We've simply come to observe you today. Things may be a little different the next time we meet, though.

~~

To think Doctor Julietta was able to complete the time machine... His intelligence and clever use of Nodens technology is quite admirable indeed.

There seem to be multiple dragon signals in this area apart from that of the True Dragon.

Sounds like the perfect hunting ground.

Understood.

We'll meet again. Next time, in Tokyo.

So, like, why did no one give Nagamimi a heads up on them? They're our Navigator for this mission, you'd think it'd be good to know that someone else is coming in.

Hey, Unit 13! We're done here. Come on back to Nodens.

Now, I could leave.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

But there's just two dragons left in the entire dungeon.

I never have to come back here for the main plot either.

So the only thing I would get for leaving is having to come back later to clean up.

And I might as well save myself a trip and do it all now.

And that makes 5 Dz.

And that's the entire dungeon! An entire zone dedicated to a measly five dragons! No boss fight or anything! Quite literally the only thing of import that happened was Unit 13 meeting Ulania!

What the hell is this pacing, VFD!?

Music: UE77 Tokyo

Just think, we're 2% of the way to killing every last dragon!

Music: The Daily Grind

Those guys from ISDF are just stomping through all sorts of restricted areas. This better not be a problem.

Is there something you're hiding?

Our number of law violations are at double�no, triple digits. But that's not what matters.

Well, as long as there's no human rights violations I'm fairly sure you still pull ahead of Murakumo.

~

What, you scared?

It seems you still don't understand how you're supposed to speak to me. Watch yourself at night. If you hear my hop hop hopping, you'd better run!

~~

The real issue is that they've discovered our research into the Dragon Chronicle. They're not gonna stay quiet now that they know we have weapons for more than just self-defense. Worst case scenario, they destroy all our work and close off both the Portal and 7th Encount. Well, no point in floundering around now that they're here. Just go build that Dormitory like we talked about earlier. Talk to Chika at the counter on the Conference Floor, and she'll handle the rest. C'mon, hurry up.

Okay, the Portal I can understand, but why 7th Encount? Sure, Nodens is using it to Last Starfighter people, but that won't matter without a time machine to send them after True Dragons.

We get some quick tutorials when we head up to the counter.

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

We have a decent chunk of sidequests starting out, but almost all of them are DLC. Seed Outbreak and Gold Rabi Outbreak are the Obligatory Sega Grinding DLC, the Code missions unlock alternate character portraits, To My Beloved Unit 13 is a postgame quest that gives a fourth DLC portrait, and Allie's Death March is a post-postgame boss rush.

I can do that first quest now, but we're here to build stuff. Plus more quests open up tomorrow so I might as well knock them all out at once.

I'll give Nodens this, our room is much fancier than Murakumo's Unit 13.

The perks of not working in an apocalypse, I guess.

Eeheehee... Now you have somewhere to sleep at night. When you sleep in your Dormitory bed, your LIFE, MANA, and Field Skills are all fully restored. There's even a Terminal in your room. You can use it if you wanna change up your party composition. Ohhh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Come on and show your face in the War Room.

I'm sure that energy bar can't be th-

She didn't lie, that energy bar do be crummy.

Anyways, factory upgrades give a new gear tier.

And some new items.

Music: The Daily Grind

Let's go check out our new digs before we say hi to the bosses.

Right off the bat, the entry part of the floor has a much different layout.

Let's see what's behind door number 1!

As they say in my Japanese animes:

Umi da.

Door number 2 has...

A common room.

With a bunch of beds. Six, to be precise.

And door number 3...

...is locked.

Fiiiiiiiiiine, I guess we'll go say hi.

Music: UE77 In Ariake

This is the decision of the World Preservation Organization. You must hand everything over to ISDF.

I'd rather destroy the data than hand it over to you guys!

Well somebody's mad.

Nice timing! If you come any closer... I'll have to sic Unit 13 on you!

The funny thing is that despite ostensibly being our boss, Julietta does not have nearly as much pull over Unit 13 as he thinks he does.

Hm...? Doctor Julietta let's try and maintain some semblance of civility here. It's clear which side will win. We're an international agency, while you're just a business.

A business with a time machine. And also a complete disregard for the timeline.

We could probably, I don't know, go back and kill you as a baby or some poo poo.

We simply cannot allow you to keep the True Dragon specimen, or continue to employ time travel.

OK, OK. I get what you want. I don't mind handing over the 1st True Dragon Iod specimen.

...Okay, but why would they agree to something like that?

That's the only negotiation I'm willing to take you up on★

I mean, Yuma could solo us, and I don't see any backup dragon hunters around to stop the ISDF from taking the sample by force.

I see. So you seek a trade... Do you really think your vigilante ways will work on the mighty ISDF?

*chuckle* You're not going to improve if you're so overconfident in your organization, you know? Feel free to test us... If you think Nodens is just some private business, that is.

Understood.

Hopefully they agree to our suggestion★

Commander Akutsu of ISDF is a cold and calculating man. I highly doubt he'd sign off on an exchange with a private company like Nodens. And if they do hand over the 5th True Dragon Fomalhaut specimen, they'll want more in return...

You're right. I'd bet they'd ask for free reign over the Portal as well.

Exactly. And that won't be the end of it, either. They'd probably even monitor us when we use the Portal.

Oh, because God forbid the military keep an eye on a private company that has, again, an actual time machine.

Their strength will help us.

Oh my, Unit 13 seems to accept our ISDF overlords with open arms.

Urgh... You're fine with that smelly old man watching over our every move?

~

I'd rather not be watched.

Hmmm, I agree with you on that...

We won't be able to make any kind of progress with that smelly old man watching over our every move!

~~

Besides, they might even snatch back the Fomalhaut specimen! It's an absolute N.O. from me!

*chuckle* But the young one... He wasn't so bad, right?

Are you just basing that off his looks!?

*chuckle*

*sigh* I don't need some young hottie to conciliate me!

OK, OK★ Enough about that. Anyways, thank you for all your hard work!

Oh yeah! Unit 13, you guys finished up the Dormitory, right? I hear the view from the terrace is just superb.

Yup yup★ That's the kind of work I like to see around here!

Alright, you guys are done for the day. Feel free to go back and rest in your Dormitory.

Oh! Hold on, Unit 13. You have a guest waiting for you. Make sure you stop by the Entrance Lobby before you go to bed for the night.

Oh look, Mio came back what are the odds.

Julietta she is 14 years old what the actual gently caress!?

...

Everyone else agrees!

Wh-What!? It was a joke!

Next time: THE! HERO! IS! HERE!

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Jun 17, 2022

# ¿ Jun 17, 2022 01:51

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update X - Featuring: A Hero

Music: The Daily Grind

Nice nice★ Your first mission was a resounding success. I can't wait to watch you continue to grow★

~

Sheesh, Allie... I didn't think she went for the handsome men... She's got it all wrong... It's not about the face! A guy's butt is easily the best part!

Alright, let's go check in with Mio.

Music: A Place to Come Home

She spends a few seconds looking around for us.

I'm fine.

Liar. You look so beat up...

~

Are you worried about me?

Huh!? Y-Yes... I am worried about you, Opal... I mean, you look so beat up!

~~

You've been fighting to help other people again, haven't you? Um, that's actually why I'm here today.

I don't want you to get scars... Here, I'll put it on for you. Just close your eyes...

Oh no, Mio's dabbing on us.

Umm, I think I put a bit too much on... B-But you'll definitely get better quickly now!

It actually helps, thanks Mio!

Do you really want to keep working with Allie and the others, even after all those injuries...?

That's my decision.

Decision...? I see... Even though it was just a request at first, you still had to choose to accept.

~

I want to protect everyone.

You haven't changed from when I first met you... You just go full throttle on everything...

~~

That's it... You believe in yourself, and push on in a way only you can, Opal. I... I need to work harder, and figure out how to do things in a way only I can...

*nods*

*cough* *cough* Hehe... Thank you, Opal. I'm going to go think about things a little more. Well, see you!

Just do what you gotta do and get to sleep already.

Music: The Daily Grind

We finally get our room added to the fast travel menu.

Our room is certainly fancy!

The Nagamimi doll is a bit of free DLC.

Occasionally people will leave a bento for us in our room, just like 2020.

...Thanks, Nagamimi.

Examining the Nagamimi doll will make your leader say a few random lines, with each voice option having different things to say.

I am not checking what each individual voice has to say. Even I have limits.

You can also chat with your other party members.

Look at the size of this TV! Nodens Unit 13 has it made compared to Murakumo's Unit 13.

And now we can finally go to bed.

Music: Destructive Curse

While we sleep, the ISDF are having a meeting.

However, the time travel device... That was beyond even my expectations.

They said the only way they'll hand over the Iod specimen is if we agree to a trade. Continuation of their research into the Dragon Chronicle appears to be their top priority.

The Dragon Chronicle... That fantasy's been floating around for almost 100 years now...

...Fantasy?

Fantasy???

Does no one remember Hikasa? Or Takehaya? How the hell did the Dragon Chronicle get turned into some kind of urban legend?

Hmph... We can leave the dreaming to them. What humanity needs is the absolute power to fight against the 7th True Dragon. Our mission is to make that power into a reality. Yuma, was there anything of value in those ruins?

I hunted a dragon during our observation, but it wasn't even a suitable warm-up.

*chuckle* Impressive. Analyze and back up the battle data by tomorrow morning. Signs of the 7th True Dragon's appearance have begun to spread. The 3rd Invasion of Tokyo will soon be upon us. You understand that by that time...

Yes, of course.

Good. Tougo Yoritomo, Yuma Kisaragi! I hereby command both of you to station yourselves at Nodens! You will begin at 07:00 tomorrow morning! Your aim: a specimen from the 3rd True Dragon Nyala!

Oh, that's why the ISDF is willing to work with us. They want to piggyback off of Nodens' hard work and get their own Nyala sample.

Yuma could still effortlessly solo us.

Do what you must to appease them and gain access to that Portal. Even if it requires that you hand over the Fomalhaut specimen. That is all.

You should rest as well, Admiral. You're getting on in years.

Hmph, such impertinence...

By the way... what did you think of them, Admiral?

You mean the Nodens Investigation Team? Unit 13, was it...? Hm, it's rare to see you hold interest in others.

It's just, their combat abilities have improved drastically since the other day. But how...?

You will see with your own eyes. Our new post will prove difficult, Yuma. 12,000 years in the past...

Music: None

The ISDF certainly aren't keeping quiet about this.

Maniacal Man: And that's an original ISDF combat shotgun! These guys are a goldmine for rare equipment! You can't see this stuff in training exercises!

They're already back, lady. You saw them like two days ago!

Even Mio turned up!

Apparently they're gonna be joining in on our plan from today onward. What a pain in the rear end... They're over in the War Room now. Go and show your face before you hop into the Portal.

Construction is now available for the Reference Room Lv. 1.

Huh, that's extremely early for the Lounge. Normally that shows up in mid game.

Which also makes a bit of sense, really. With no actual threats in the present, Nodens can throw materials at luxury stuff like this without putting anyone at risk.

Nodens Receptionist: Although... that Yuma fellow is quite attractive...

But before we go meet our new coworkers: Talking.

By which I mean just her, everyone else I talked to had the same lines from yesterday.

And while we're here, we might as well check what the new construction gets us.

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

What!?

The Mind Booster was a late game accessory in the 2020s that heavily boosts Exhaust gain! We don't even have Exhaust yet and they're already throwing it at us! What the poo poo is this game balance!?

Welcome to VFD!

The other is completely useless in comparison.

Honestly it's kinda off-putting that you guys accepted our demands. What's the catch?

Hmph... It's better to have options if we want to be prepared for the coming Dragon Calamity. I don't know what you intend on doing, but ISDF will decimate you if you plan on interfering. But more importantly, we both have access to new data. Seems like a fair trade to me.

...

OK OK★ Only four more to go!

Allie even waves at us.

I like Allie.

Let me introduce them once again. This group is our ace squad, codenamed Unit 13.

Starting today, Nodens and ISDF will be collaborating in order to hunt the True Dragons.

There will surely be missions in which we get to fight side by side. I look forward to working with you, Unit 13.

Let's work hard together!

Work together, hm?

*chuckle* I didn't expect such a warm reception... I was worried you'd think of us as vultures waiting to steal your prey. This is quite a relief. I feel that we can become very close, Opal.

~

Don't get in my way.

How assertive of you.

Let us not be so cold to each other. We are not vultures waiting to snatch your prey. We are simply here in order to achieve greater military results, together...

*looks away*

*chuckle* It seems you don't like me much.

~~

Our objective here is collecting specimens. As long as we get them, we won't get in your way.

Hmph... You'd better not. You'll have me to deal with if you interfere with Unit 13.

Now Julietta, let's stay amicable here★

Fine, fine. But don't expect me not to hold a grudge...

*chuckle* You're so strange. Come on, Nagamimi. Let's get this meeting started before a fight breaks out.

Yup. Let's do it.

It could be a miniature robot with some kind of specialized AI...

Not even the ISDF know what's up with Nagamimi.

I am the Almighty Nagamimi! Nothing more, nothing less! Don't you forget it!

...

Holy poo poo they actually salute them.

They know the pecking order, at least.

I suppose this kind of thing is to be expected in the entertainment industry.

Th-They're surprisingly quick to understand...

Gr... What rudeness. Anyways, moving on. Let's review the plan before this collab gets under way. First off, our target will be the 3rd True Dragon Nyala. Given that ISDF has the same goal, we will work together to collect the Nyala specimen. That specimen is the key here, got it? Don't let it just sink down to the sea floor.

I've expanded our transfer path selection by connecting to a new area in the same time nexus.

Julietta pulled an all-nighter making adjustments to the Portal★

You're amazing, Julietta!

Aw, you're making me blush~!

Our genius scientist is amazing, isn't he★

~

Can we please just go kill Nyala?

Hey now... People aren't gonna take a shine to you if you just rush into everything.

It's too early for you to fight Nyala! You'd surely lose.

~~

Anyways, you'll now be able to go to the Lower Ward Cladeon. That place is the foundation of Atlantis's prosperity. It's home to both miners and blacksmiths. There probably aren't many survivors down there, though. It's basically a monster den.

You'll be going there to gather information on the Dragonslayer.

Forging a Dragonslayer was an endgame goal in 7D1 and 2020-II.

Here we just... get started on it in the second chapter. We haven't even fought an actual boss yet.

The Dragonslayer...!? The Lucier used their extensive knowledge of smithing to craft a sword of the mythical orichalcum. A special weapon designed to combat the True Dragons... That is the Dragonslayer.

I heard the former king Utrello used it in his struggle against the dragons. But it was lost when he fell to Nyala...

We know that already. Who said we'd be finding the actual thing? If it's really gone, we'll just have to make another. Sheesh, is stealing all you soldiers know?

*grunt*

What we'll need from you guys now is to find some pure orichalcum so we can make our Dragonslayer. We're also gonna need a Lucier blacksmith who can help forge. If there are any alive, that is.

Defeating Nyala without the Dragonslayer will be impossible given our current military power. To make it worse, there's no way to craft the sword using modern technology and materials.

I see... It seems having the Dragonslayer will turn the tides of war drastically in our favor.

Then we too shall head to Cladeon. We'll be departing immediately.

OK OK★ Have a safe trip!

And make sure you don't interfere with Unit 13's work!

The Atlantis recapture plan will now commence!

ISDF Soldier: Yes, Sir!

But at the end of the day, soldiers are soldiers. You need to stay on your guard.

Julietta used to work in a lab at the American branch of ISDF. But he got into a fight with one of his superiors, so he got the boot. That's when I snagged him★

Eh, the past is in the past. Regardless, be careful. If you see them doing anything weird, make sure you report it to us.

Well then, looks like it's time for you guys to head out, too! Good luck, Unit 13!

Music: The Daily Grind

What comes next is the crucial part.

~

I expect greatness from you, Unit 13★

~

Don't put too much trust into ISDF. They'll do anything if they're ordered to. That's just how the military is. It's also how I am... in the bedroom~...

Julietta, could you chill for like 10 seconds?

His lines also don't change for what leader you have, so you could have him spout off these innuendos to the Duelists, who are actual 10 year olds, which would make Julietta incredibly sketchy.

Now to not do the plot. Not like we can have any tension to make us hurry when we have a time machine, after all!

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

More important are the oodles of sidequests we have!

He comes from a game called Super Blaster that was made by a company we bought years ago... Well, this request is from someone who wants an autograph from this Blaster man. Who would really want an autograph from a character whose game came out thirty years ago...? Anyways, you'll be able to find your client, Joe, on the R&D Floor.

This request comes from Researcher Ami... She'd like you to collect this stuff called Spiral Meat from a snail that can only be found in Atlantis... Anyways, Ami should be on the R&D Floor... She will give you more details directly. Good luck...

I'll just be doing this once to show it off, and I won't even clear it right away.

There seems to have been a large outbreak of Dragonsbane Seeds in Atlantica... We'd like Unit 13 to eliminate them. This is a good chance to accumulate EXP and SP! Ask Yui on the R&D Floor for more details. We'll be counting on you...

This request is from the Developer Ichi. He said he saw a strange girl in 7th Encount! He said she looked like an old member of the legendary Unit 13 from back in the 2000's! I'll need you to go check on that. It'll be very big news if it turns out to be true! Ichi's waiting on the Development Floor. He'll be able to give you more details.

This request is from Kazu, a Nodens employee. I think he saw someone wandering 7th Encount! If his word is anything to go by, she looked like a member of the legendary Unit 13 of old! I'd love for you to go find out! This is really important! Kazu's down in the Entrance Lobby. He'll be able to give you more details.

This request is from Hiro, a gamer. He claims to have seen a mysterious figure in 7th Encount! He said they looked like an old member of the legendary Unit 13 from back in the 2000's! This is massive news if it's true! We'll have to confirm the situation as soon as possible. Hiro's down in 7th Encount. He'll be able to give you more details.

The no requirements thing for all these Code quests are a loving lie.

You'll see why soon enough.

Alright, first on the list is that Blaster Raven fellow.

Researcher Joe: l'll finally be able to get my hands on Ravens autograph... Kouta's going to be so thrilled! One of the heroes from a game my son loves called �Super Blast� is performing in the plaza. I wanted to go and get his autograph, but... I'm stuck here in the lab. They won't let me take any time off from my research. Could I ask you to go instead...?

*nods*

Researcher Joe: Thank you so much! Here, have him sign this. Something quick and simple. I'm counting on you, Unit 13!

Now that we have some paper, we can go talk to the man himself.

...This is Blaster Raven?

...I love him already.

Earth Squadron, Blaster Raven! The! Hero! Is! Here! *chuckle* Yet again I have pierced the hearts of children everywhere... Oh, that paper! Could it be? Does a loyal follower want an autograph from the majestic Blaster Raven?

*nods*

Understood, kids! Wait just one moment! Hm... Pen, pen, pen... What...? I-It's gone...! My pen is gone! Oh...! *ahem* Ah yes, that's correct! I loaned my Blaster Pen to a young girl in need just a while back. It seems she must have taken it with her... If you truly desire a Raven autograph, you must retrieve my Blaster Pen from that hasty girl!

Why can't you get it?

Blaster Raven does not have time to meddle in such trifling matters! There is evil afoot!

~

Leave it to Unit 13!

D-Did you just say Unit 13!? N-No... Now is not the time to be thinking about such matters!

~~

I caught the faintest scent of pharmaceuticals radiating from the girl who took my pen... I suggest you investigate the Medical Floor! Go forth, Blaster Kids! Godspeed!

I'm honestly surprised it took this long for someone react to us stealing the name Unit 13, considering they saved the world and all.

Talking to him after this gets:

Hmm... Maybe if I...

Next time: You had to pay actual money for these.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 10:03 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 21, 2022 03:43

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XI - Featuring: Bizarre DLC Availability

Music: The Daily Grind

Before we go get the Blaster Pen for Blaster Raven for a Blaster Autograph, let's go start all those other sidequests.

This guy in the Development Room starts up Code: Student.

Ichi: Oh? Are you the one who took my request upon their shoulders? My... I am not only extremely humbled, but delighted as well. To be honest, I saw... a member of the legendary Unit 13 at the Skytower in 7th Encount! However, everyone insists my eyes must have deceived me! They refuse to believe the truth! Honorable Unit 13! Please bring her here, and prove my innocence! If that is impossible, the only option that remains is to honorably end my own life.

Well he certainly went from 0 to 100.

*nods*

Ichi: Oh! You will bring her here? I am forever in your debt! She will surely be in the Skytower in 7th Encount! I beg of you, find her!

In the entrance hallway of the R&D Floor is the grinding DLC.

Yui: Um, we have some intel saying there there's been a mass outbreak of Dragonsbane Seeds in Atlantica! Do you know what a seed is? It's like, those things that start off small but then turn into plants! They're really annoying to beat, but they'll give tons of EXP and SP! Doesn't that sound lovely? This isn't really a request, but just some info for you. It'll help you level up quickly! Whadya say?

*nods*

Yui: Watch out for special Dragonsbane Seeds in Atlantica! Hope they ex-seed your expectations!

We were already here for Blaster Raven, but there's a second sidequest in the same room.

This one is Snail Mail.

Ami: Thanks for taking my request. Well, let's get into the details! What I need is... A collection mission! Have you heard of a Spiral Cannon before?

Is that in the zoological record?

Ami: Yes, yes! It's the tender white creature that lives in a large spiral conch shell!

~

What's that, a food?

Ami: Yes, yes! You just pop that shell off, rub butter all over its soft body, and smoke it up on a grill� I-I mean, who would eat something like that!? This is research! Purely research!

~~

Ami: Spiral Cannons form their shells from rare metals, so they help to map out mineral distribution. Unit 13, my request is this: Collect 10 Spiral Meat from Spiral Cannons. Can I count on you?

*nods*

Ami: Thank you so much! Spiral Cannons live in various locations around Atlantica. Good luck♪ Oh by the way, Spiral Meat rots very quickly. Make sure you get the freshest possible meat for me...! *drool*

It's too late to mention now, but Ami is known around Nodens for her... bizarre taste in food. She once tried to eat a dragon specimen, and was sick in bed for an entire month. The mineral survey will probably be useful, but you can bet she'll roast that Spiral Meat later. What a weird request... Sucks for you that you have to go along with it. Well, good luck! Eeheehee!

Sidequests in the 2020s consisted of things like scavenging for resources, saving people from monsters, or stopping death cults and the like.

In VFD, we have to go get a celebrity autograph and get monster meat for a foodie.

But, again, what can you do when there's no threat to Nodens? Everything in the world is business as normal, so there's no real way to have actually serious sidequests.

Up next is Code: Otaku down by the entrance cafe.

Kazu: Nobody believes me, but I totally saw her! Nobody believes me, but I totally saw her! She was fighting a dragon at the Skytower in 7th Encount-o! I was a fan at first sight-o! Those flat eyes, gently curved tails, and long sleeves! I can't resist her... I want her to treat me like a human piece of trash-o! There's no doubt that she's a member of the legendary Unit 13! I must meet her no matter what! Bring her to me, please! It's all up to you-o!

:stare:

A-Anything else you'd like to say, Kazu?

~

Kazu: And then I'll take her crown... She'll probably get mad, but I won't give it back�o... Then I'll be able to taunt and tease her... Her eyes are gonna well up with tears!

I honestly think I prefer the seppuku guy.

Kazu: *gasp-o* I blanked out again... Hm? What you you still doing here? She's surely in the Skytower in 7th Encount! Please, bring her to me-o!

And finally we have Code: Lucier in 7th Encount.

Hiro: ...Go find the cat girl. ...Go find the cat girl in the Skytower. ...Listen. ...The other day I saw a cat-ear girl who looked like a member of the legendary Unit 13. ...She was so fluffy. I have to fluff her fluffiness. You must bring her to me for fluffy time! ...The cat girl should be somewhere in the Skytower in 7th Encount. ...Good luck.

...

Why are they all freaks!?

~

Hiro: Meow meow meow meow meow meow... Meow meow kitty cat meow meow... ...What're you looking at? ...The cat girl should be somewhere in the Skytower.

Aaaaaaand now semantic satiation has set in on 'meow.' Lovely.

This is probably a bad idea.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

But I'm going to go get them.

We run into 2020 Samurai as soon as we walk in.

During this entire trip, I really want you to keep something in mind:

We're in the drat pods. Why the hell can't we just unplug these three from 7th Encount?

Nagamimi booted us out when we proved ourselves to be dragon hunters, so why do we have to go and drag them out by hand?

Another scene starts as soon as we enter the Skytower.

This time with 2020 Hacker.

She glances at us for a moment and walks away.

And about 10 seconds later we get another scene.

This time with 2020-II Lucier.

Oh, and the fights are completely unchanged from the last time we were here, so we get basically nothing from random encounters.

That's it for this floor.

But a scene starts as soon as we enter the next.

Samurai looks around a bit then runs ahead.

Go get her, Unit 13! Do whatever it takes to catch that brat!

Aaaaaand that's it.

For the entire floor.

But yet another scene starts up when we go up the stairs to 3F.

Having all three quests active at the same time really makes this a bit exhausting to do.

Hacker casually strolls away.

You've got to get her, Unit 13! Even if it kills you!

On the plus side, we have a marker down a dead end, so whoever is there won't be able to keep running.

Also, we can finally finish clearing out the dungeon!

Let's go deal with that first marker.

A dragon in a video game.

Unit 13! You've gotta go save Straight Bangs!

Why can't Nagamimi, I don't know, use admin commands to despawn it?

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

They jacked up the encounters and spawned in the baby dragon, after all.

...oh dear.

See, the Megamouth Dragon first shows up in Cladeon, so this is one hell of an early fight for us.

And to make things worse...

This isn't any old normal Megamouth.

The first one are regular Megamouths that we'll be meeting in Cladeon.

The second is this specific Megamouth.

So we're underleveled and undergeared, we're lacking multiple abilities we'd normally have for a Megamouth fight, and it has nearly three times the HP of a base Megamouth.

And even if we ignore the damage it deals directly, the poison it inflicts ticks for 1/4 of our health.

Oh, and he can hit multiple party members.

Winning as I am now is straight up impossible, I just don't have the resources needed to try and brute force the fight.

So what do I do?

I cheat it to death.

Music: Finish Them Off

Because we actually get our second set of classes early into Cladeon, so putting this fight off until I could actually win it would mean none of the DLC portraits could be used in the next chargen vote..

And if you were playing at home, using these portraits would mean either waiting for the final classes, benching someone you already have, or changing a pre-existing party member into them at the Terminal, completely defeating the point of these make-your-own-party type games.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

So gently caress it, I'm calling LP'er fiat, bitches!

Opal nods, then Samurai gestures.

Samurai tilts her head.

Well, where are you from? What should we call you? Just what are you?

Samurai shakes her head and then gestures.

What!? You have amnesia!? What a bullshit excuse!

Having two silent protagonists in the same place is a pain.

Opal gestures.

Grr... Fine! You're way too freaking lenient. Get her back here!

Up next is...

The next Lucier scene.

C'mon! Didn't I tell you to stop!? Chase her down, Unit 13! Don't let her escape, even if you die in the process!

At least we're finally able to grab this chest!

Both Hacker and Lucier have had two scenes, so both of them will need to be saved now.

The closest one is Hacker.

poo poo! Unit 13, go save Goth Eyes!

Bop.

Opal nods, Hacker gestures.

Goth Eyes! Why the heck were you trying to get away from us!? You brat... Just tell us who you are. Or maybe where you're from. Or at least WHAT you are.

Hacker shakes her head and ges-son of a bitch did they make this formulaic???

You've gotta be freaking kidding me! Amnesial? I'm not gonna fall for that poo poo!

Opal gestures.

Grr... Whatever! Just bring her back already! You better be ready to deal with the consequences!

That just leaves one more to go.

There's a heal point at the end of the dungeon.

And the Lucier.

This is bad! Unit 13, get in there and save Cat Ears!

Bop 2: Electric Boogaloo.

And yes, all of these will be showing up in Cladeon.

You know the drill by now.

Hey, you! Why did you run away from us, Cat Ears!?

But in a twist, Lucier steps back a bit first!

And now we get the shakes and gestures.

What!? Amnesia!? A lovely excuse like that isn't gonna work on me! Grr... Fine! Sheesh, you're too soft. Bring her back here!

That's it for the Code quests, but I still need to clear the place out.

And done.

Actually done, even! The top floor is just this small roof!

There's not even a chest or anything to reward us.

Really strange how they just... made half the tutorial dungeon irrelevant.

Oh well.

Music: The Daily Grind

The Code: Lucier turn-in is like 5 seconds away, so I might as well deal with that while we're here.

...I already regret this.

Hiro: ...Fluffy.

What have we done...

A-Anyways, what're you gonna do now, Cat Ears? Do you have somewhere you can go?

Lucier shakes her head.

Hey, this is a problem...

Suddenly, Allie!

Allie. She is, but... She has amnesia. She doesn't even know where her home is. We're all out of ideas...

I have a great idea! How about we have her fight dragons alongside Unit 13?

Ah yes, let's take a girl with zero memories and have her fight for her life. No possible way this could go wrong.

Don't be absurd! This civilian can't fight against dragons!

Well, I looked into the data from 7th Encount, and it turns out she has superb battle abilities! She was hunting dragons before you came along and found her. She even managed to beat a High Dragon!

And yet we had to save her from a normal dragon, which are significantly weaker than High Dragons.

Hell, we haven't even killed a High Dragon yet!

What!? No way!

Also, despite all of that, all the DLC portraits still start at level 1 if you make a new character.

Are you a dragon hunter?

Each one gets a nod from Lucier, natch.

Eeheehee... Looks like she's all pumped up.

Then it's settled! I love getting more teammates! Welcome to Nodens!

And despite being, you know, an actual person we recruited, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from filling your party with nothing but 2020-II Lucier.

Next time: More sidequesting.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 24, 2022 04:05

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XII - Featuring: Sidequests

Music: The Daily Grind

Alright, let's go grab the other two DLC portraits.

Strangely, while the scene for Code: Lucier (and Code: Student in a minute) took place right where the NPC is, Code: Otaku instead teleports everyone to the doors.

I guess they couldn't really cram Unit 13, the quest giver, 2020 Hacker, Nagamimi, and Allie into that tiny cafe.

Kazu: *faint-o* ...

Let's forget about him-o.

And so, the creepy dude with some kind of femdom fetish vanishes into the ether, never to be seen again.

Uhhhhhh... poo poo.

Y-Yeah, but... She lost all her memories. We don't even know where her home is. I don't know what to do with her...

Hmmm★ She can fight dragons with Unit 13!

What are you smoking!? She's a civilian, not a dragon hunter!

About that... I looked into her 7th Encount data, and it turns out she's quite the little pro! Believe it or not, she went and took down a High Dragon in there!

Seriously, where were all these High Dragons hiding out? 7th Encount consists of a single tower that's 95% linear paths.

What!? That's insane!

Will you join us?

Hacker nods.

Eeheehee... Looks like she's all pumped up.

Then it's settled! I love getting more teammates! Welcome to Nodens!

And now to finish up this trio of DLC quests with Samurai.

Ichi: You have my gratitude, Honorable Unit 13! Now I will no longer have to end my life!

...What time period do you think you're living in? More importantly, you have a place you can stay, Straight Bangs?

Samurai looks down.

This isn't good...

You'd think the president of one of the most popular video game companies in the world/owner of the world's first and only time machine would be... I don't know, busy?

Allie. Yeah, but... She's got amnesia. She doesn't even know where she lives! I'm fresh outta ideas...

How about she team up with Unit 13 to fight dragons?

Don't be ridiculous! We can't have a civilian out on the battlefield!

Well, I checked on her 7th Encount data, and surprise, surprise! She has extraordinary strength! Before you had to go and scare her, she was hunting dragons! She even took down a High Dragon!

What!? No freaking way!

Wanna kill some dragons?

Samurai nods.

Eeheehee... I think she's into this.

Then it's settled! I love getting more teammates! Welcome to Nodens!

For whatever reason, this is the only ending cutscene that has the quest giver stick around for the whole thing.

And that's all of them.

While we just get the female portraits, they still get the standard three color options.

With that dealt with, we can finally go fetch the Blaster Pen.

Tina: Sorry, Unit 13! Wait here for a few!

We get a quick fade to black.

Tina: This is probably the pen you're looking for, Unit 13. I was making a poster reminding everyone to wash their hands so they don't catch a cold. That's when this funny-looking man in tights came and started helping me out. I guess his pen got mixed in with the others! I need to go give it back to him right away! Huh? You'll do it for me? That's perfect! I'm actually still waiting to get my check-up. Thank you so much, Unit 13!

...I thought Blaster Raven was joking when he called it his Blaster Pen.

Blaster Pen in Blaster Hand, we can go get his autograph.

To echo the bravery put forth by my loyal followers, I shall pour my heart into this autograph!

And he actually calls it a Blaster Autograph!

By the way, is one all that you require? I have no arrangements for today, so I can sign until�

Anyways, what exactly do you do?

*chuckle* I'm glad you asked! I vanquish dragons in the west! I save people in need in the east!

*sob* That was... beautiful...

:allears:

That's quite alright...

*chuckle* Such modest children! The future of this Earth is bright indeed! Do not be afraid to ask! Blaster Raven will always be here for those in need! Hahaha!

And now to hand over the Blaster Autograph.

Researcher Joe: Thank you so much! This'll help me fulfill my fatherly duties! Here, take this. It's not much, but it's all I've got.

You obtained Healing Aloe I x3.

You obtained SP Up 100 x3.

That was the last sidequest we could do in 2100.

Now, there will almost certainly be a cutscene when we enter the Portal Room...

Music: UE77 Tokyo

But fast travel lets us skip right over it!

Granted, we won't be allowed to actually go to Cladeon until we watch that cutscene.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Back in Atlantica, we're here for snails and seeds.

Some markers have also appeared on the map.

Each marker is a field enemy.

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

Each one is an encounter with at least one Dragonsbane Seed.

Thankfully, Cyclone Dance shreds them.

Music: Finish Them Off

Compared to the normal seeds in this area, the DLC seeds give insane SP at 400 a kill.

The catch is that they just... never scale up.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

We could be at the end of the game where we need over 9000 SP to level a skill, and this DLC (which you pay for, mind) will still be giving around 4000 for a full run through Atlantica.

More spawn in every time we kill the previous set.

The second seed drops... cat food?

Cat food?

What the hell are people feeding their pets in the 22nd century???

They aren't all one seed, however. This fight has two seeds and a Queen Rabi. The Queen Rabi hews more closely to a traditional Metal Slime, having high evasion and giving lots of EXP.

Having multiple enemies on the field really cuts the effectiveness of Cyclone Dance, so the Rabi and one of the Seeds manage to run away.

The next two fights show up on the next screen, but I'd rather not get too strong for where I'm at, so I'll put the rest of this off for another day.

I have a better idea on how to use the rest of that SP, anyways.

Instead, I head inside.

Spiral Cannons have a higher chance of spawning when indoors, and we also have a 10% chance of running into a normal Seed to boot!

The first trip through Atlantica got me 8 units, so farming up the remaining 2 takes no time at all.

Also, for those of you familiar with the 2020s, the jokey item blurbs for monster bits were entirely added by Pokeytax. Junk items here either tell you if something is for a quest, or if you can sell it right away.

Again, why are Dragonsbane Seeds dropping cat food?

And done.

Music: The Daily Grind

Buuuuuuuut since heading back to Nodens puts us in the Portal Room, we're automatically forced into the cutscene.

We sent the other soldiers ahead to Atlantis. I wanted to speak with you guys before starting this mission. I'm sure you have plenty of thoughts about us stepping on your toes... But I'm honestly quite excited about cooperating to fight the True Dragons. I look forward to working with you, Opal.

That's enough, Yuma. Let's go.

A quick stop to turn in that meat, and then we can go to Cladeon.

Ami: You got 10 Spiral Meat, just like I asked you to! Ohhhhhh they look so delicious! I mean, uh... valuable for research! Right! Anyways, here's your reward!

You obtained Steel Wear x1.

The Steel Wear is tanky armor that's a bit better than what we can buy in store for now.

Ami: You guys were so quick on the job... Mmm, meat caught by the most talented hunters around... The texture is probably incredible... *drool*

There, all sidequests (aside from those seeds) done.

Now we can get back to our actual job.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

They didn't lie, that ward really do be lower.

You know, its a good thing OSHA didn't exist in 10000 B.C.

Because I'm fairly sure a drop to... what was that on the map screen, the seabed? Would have them flipping out.

Sheesh, Julietta never tells me anything! What the heck are we supposed to do here!? Watch where you step, Unit 13. Unless you wanna splatter like a blood-filled pumpkin, that is.

Hmph. We'll be continuing whether you want to or not. Find a safer route if you're too afraid.

Well then, please excuse us.

Yuma and Yoritomo start hopping from one floating rock to another.

Hey, Unit 13! Get a move on!

Opal looks around.

You idiot! You think you'll be able to beat a True Dragon if this crap scares you? I won't force you or anything, but just try and figure it out! I bet your footing'll be secure if you follow their path. C'mon, get going!

Next time: Nodens starts a new hiring initiative.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jun 28, 2022 03:36

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

HiKaizer posted:

I think the question is more, what are people feeding the seeds?

Considering the dietary habits of normal dragons: people. :v:

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Jun 28, 2022

# ¿ Jun 28, 2022 07:07

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XIII - Featuring: New friends

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Cladeon is certainly nice to look at, I'll give them that.

The team starts hopping from rock to rock.

And we can see some lights in the ward further ahead.

One civilian, two roaming dragons, and our very first barrier dragon await in the first zone of the dungeon.

It was at this point I remember to slap a Phazer Ring on Yuno, bumping her SPD ever so slightly above Inoue's. That'll let her get off a ~~Volcano~~Burning Spear first and let Inoue immediately follow up with Maple Tear.

Those things are swarming this place. You're gonna have to be careful if you wanna stay alive. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you� Make sure you know when you're fighting near a dragon. They're so hot-blooded they might just ambush you! How rude of them! Eeheehee...

A quick tutorial on dragon invasions. If you get into a battle near a dragon, they'll eventually break into the fight if you don't finish things quickly.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Anyways.

The Aquaria was previously seen in the future present.

On an unrelated note, I hate time travel.

To give an idea on what our damage should be like, now that we're not facing amped up DLC versions of them.

Gross.

Ow.

You know what I'm in the mood for?

Some calimari!

Well that almost killed Inoue.

Twice over.

Shame about that item priority!

Works for me!

We have a few repeat enemies from the end of Atlantica, but the Poison Frogs are new.

They poison you, if the name didn't give it away.

Hey look, another dragon!

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

With that extra SP from the Seed DLC, I got Yuno her searchers.

~~Search: Fire~~Gearbreed as the same animation as ~~Supply Draw~~Pot of Avarice, but with red effects instead.

Inoue is also preparing.

Yuno's next goal is to set up ~~X Fire~~Chain Strike.

This is the base damage on it. Pretty sad, right?

Well let's feed this forest fire.

Yuno outspeeds.

Which gives Inoue a boost.

That nearly outdamaged Inoue.

Inoue had her own ATK buff active.

I still have one turn of ~~X Burn~~Dragon's Gunfire left.

And oh look, Yuno has another Fire card on hand!

Duelist requires a lot more setup to get stuff done compared to other classes, but man they can do some work if things line up.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Yuma and Yoritomo are just ahead.

Having said that... it should disappear if we defeat the dragon guarding it.

*shakes head*

Don't tell me you're planning on fighting it?

*nods*

I'd advise against that. This dragon is far more powerful than the others in this area.

Hmph... Do as you please. However, don't expect any support from me.

Are you sure about that, Admiral?

They'll never be of use to us if they can't manage to beat one as small as this.

*chuckle* True enough. In that case, I will stand back as well. Let's see what Unit 13 can do.

And with absolutely zero fanfare, Exhaust!

It also boosts guarding.

And your attack can't miss.

And doubles ailment infliction rates.

I don't know why they never mention that last bit, it makes status moves much more consistant.

And our very first barrier dragon is...

A Hammer Dragon!

Opal gets started.

And Yuno starts building Fire.

Ah.

Well at least Yuno has two Fire, now!

Ow.

Yuno sets up.

Opal hits G2.

And as team leader of Unit 13, Opal calls dibs on the first use of Exhaust.

The damage is nice, but the real bonus here is having that DEF/MDF debuff land first thing.

My one regret is that there's no way this dragon will survive long enough for Yuno to burn those other two cards and take a hit from ~~X Burn~~Mass Driver.

The Hammer charges again.

But he won't last long enough.

...

That actually feels a bit anticlimactic after Opal slammed him for 400, honestly.

Music: Finish Them Off

You've grown at a far quicker rate than I would have expected. That was brilliant.

What's the matter, Admiral?

Footprints. And they're still fresh.

That means... there are people ahead?

Most likely.

Impossible...! How could anyone survive in this dragon's nest!?

This is a mine, Yuma. With the minerals here, a skilled Lucier could craft a powerful weapon.

...!

Let's save those people!

Unit 13, our mission here is the swift retrieval of the True Dragon specimen. Rescuing locals would go against our orders.

Counterpoint: Unit 13 isn't military, so we can ignore orders all we want! What's Julietta going to do, fire the only team of dragon hunters they have on staff?

~

Do you mean the Dragonslayer?

Indeed. If the Dragonslayer still exists, stopping this invasion may not be impossible after all. In any case, let's continue on.

~~

Hey, Unit 13! Man, this is embarrassing... They've completely taken the initiative from you. You did do quite a number on that dragon in the wall, though. You're no match for these ISDF bitches in terms of experience, but just keep pushing on. Now then, about the survivors... I'm struggling to differentiate between dragon and human signals. There are just so goddamn many. And it's not guaranteed that those survivors are actually gonna be any use to us. Be careful, yeah?

There's a heal spot right after the barrier.

Crybaby Girl: Oh... I thought you were my mommy and daddy...

And the civilian right next to it.

And the chest right next to the civilian.

...wait, dagger?

That's not for any class we have.

Oh well, I'm sure it won't become important in the next 5 minutes.

There's something funny about the devs actually using the dragon field model for this.

The corpse of a dragon. And this laceration is clearly the work of human weapons. The humans responsible should be close by. They seem to be many in number...

Correct. They're most likely some kind of trained militia. This corpse is proof of that.

So, what do we do? The area ahead is clearly their territory. Danger surely awaits if we continue forth. We can either push through, or try and find a way around.

Hey, aren't we here to find people? Preferably one who could forge a Dragonslayer? You'd think a militia would be thrilled to have more hands to murder dragons with.

I'd like to hear Unit 13's opinion on the matter.

Let's look for another way.

Hm... I wonder if we'll be able to find one around here.

We should search the area a little longer and see what we can come up with.

~

We must keep moving!

Hm, I agree.

Seeing what happened here, it's safe to assume any other routes would be dangerous as well. We should prepare for combat just in case. These don't seem like people who can be reasoned with.

Both we and the militia here may have a common goal... but we will not know until we actually meet.

The next cutscene isn't even five feet away from the last.

Jesus Christ!

Music: Stops

Suddenly, dudes from the sky!

Music: Endless Attack Cycle

You guys aren't regular old thieves, are you?

We hold no ill will. Please lower your weapons.

Like I'd listen to you!

And even more guys from behind!

You're splitting into two groups, huh?

Doesn't matter if you're a dragon or a thief... I'm not letting you get through here!

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

All that fuss and Eigur just... gets the normal battle music, huh?

He's also fairly low on health, with 916 LF compared to the 1014 on the Hammer Dragon we fought not even two minutes ago.

Eigur gets two moves a turn, and his normal attacks hit twice.

Hey look, a second Fire card! Yuno's really believing in the Heart of the Cards today!

Offense Stance is his version of Power Charge.

I then make the executive decision that blocking is for chumps.

For the head of the militia, Eigur isn't doing so hot.

Ah.

And then he dies two seconds later to hot rocks being dropped on his head.

Music: Finish Them Off

He can't even deny Opal the XP from a boss kill!

Music: Destructive Curse

Dude, you got bodied. Just take the L.

Hraaahhh!

Wait!

...!?

Young Militiaman: W-We're sorry, Eigur...

I'll say it again� We hold no ill will towards you. Are you the leader of this settlement?

...No. I'm just the commander of the army. The chief is somewhere else.

In that case, lead us to him.

...

Rude Militiaman: There's no reason for you to listen to these fools, even if they try and kill us!

Young Militiaman: Th-That's right! Give it all you got!

Ah yes, provoke the people who just beat you all without breaking a sweat.

Idiots.

Even Eigur agrees with me!

Didn't we promise we'd beat Nyala together? How am I gonna do that if you're dead?

Eigur nods.

Come on... I'll show you guys the way. Follow me!

Let's follow him, Unit 13.

And that's the first zone mapped out.

Music: Chant for Sanctuary (code:VFD Ver.)

...I knew it. You guys are here to steal the Star Crystal, huh? drat thieves, coming in to take Cladeon's most precious treasure during all this turmoil.

We have no intention of stealing anything. We share the same objective.

What...?

I messed up, Chief... I let these guys take me hostage.

lol she doesn't even have a portrait.

We're here to kill Nyala.

...!?

Chief Toglau: What...?

What kinda crap are you thieves going on about!?

I'm sure you gained a good grasp of our combat abilities from our previous battle.

Yeah, I've got a grasp alright. Those guys won't even be able to scratch Nyala's tail!

We'll never know unless we try.

You can't do it. You wouldn't be able to beat a High Dragon, let alone Nyala.

*shakes head*

Tch...

~

And you can?

Shut up! Of course not! But...

~~

It's not like there's anywhere here for us to hide. We might as well try to fight!

What about the Dragonslayer...?

...!

Chief Toglau: How do you know about our treasured sword?

Legend of it has spread in our country as well. The sword that can slice through a True Dragon...

Chief Toglau: Indeed... Knowledge of it was passed along so that we could combat the dragon invasion.

Emille and Aitelle got a bit of a name change for the offical release.

Now, while they were known to have been here since the first 2020, the Sisters will be Miss Not Appearing In This Time Period for VFD.

Considering their MO at the time, they probably hosed off once it looked like Atlantis was lost.

The Hypnos Sisters...

Chief Toglau: So you know of them... They warned us of the dragon invasion and taught us of the Dragonslayer. The people of Cladeon are the descendants of those who were originally taught these secrets.

Does that mean the Dragonslayer is here?

No... It no longer exists.

Chief Toglau: After Nyala appeared, we followed the prophecy and gave the Dragonslayer to our former king.

But instead of Nyala, our king Utrello and his men were the ones to die. Even my father...

Chief Toglau: We lost not only our king, but the mythical sword as well... The prophecy of the priestess Emel is as follows.

Chief Toglau: Currently neither sword nor hero exist. Our hope of survival has already crumbled.

Is there no way to forge another Dragonslayer?

Chief Toglau: We are lacking the materials. Furthermore, many of our smiths have lost their lives in battle.

On top of that, the High Dragon Mayhem is using our forge as a nesting ground. Our Star Crystal protects us from weak dragons, but this is one of the few safe places left. Dammit... That thing knew how important the forge was to us...!

Let's take it back.

We would if we could! But if we went to fight Mayhem,

~

I'll kill the High Dragon.

:black101:

You think you're some kinda hero? Ha, haha... A weakling like you? Don't make me laugh.

Indeed, Unit 13 still has much room for growth. But... you never know what can happen.

Besides, we're here as well. Eigur, your reason for not going after Mayhem is that you need to keep your people safe, yes?

Hey Yuma, you want to mention how you killed Spectus in one hit? Be kinda helpful right now.

Yeah... If we went to fight it,

~~

we wouldn't be able to protect the citizens here.

Hmph, and you want to try and take down Nyala in such a pitiful state...

Shut it! I know the situation's not looking good, but...

I understand. In that case, leave the High Dragon at the forge to us.

...You really think you're gonna do anything to a High Dragon with that few people?

Yes. We're going to kill it.

You're crazy...!

Chief Toglau: Visitors... Do as you please. We will not stop you.

Chief!?

Chief Toglau: Eigur... You're doing very well here. However, there is little more we can do with the strength we have. Let us rely on them for now.

poo poo... Fine. You guys can handle the High Dragon.

Oh yes.

Chief Toglau: You are the commander. You may do as you see fit.

Got it. Look, trying to take on a High Dragon with so few people is just plain reckless. Besides, things should be easier if you have a Lucier who's dealt with the monsters around here. They're all still amateurs, but feel free to bring anyone from my army along with you.

Tactical reinforcements... ISDF is in no position to accept new recruits at this time.

Also I'm not sure what the legality of a international military organization hiring people from alternate points in time are.

However, I'm sure Unit 13 will welcome the suggestion with arms wide open.

Nodens, however, has long since stopped giving a poo poo about the law.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

You're gonna need to ask Allie and Julietta before you can go making any new hires.

Hm? You want to accept a Lucier from Atlantis into Unit 13!?

Fine by me! I'm all for it★

See?

Ohhhhhh yes.

You're too easy to persuade! But I guess having a Lucier would be nice... Those ears...

The Atlantis recruits come with two new classes, with two new sets of portraits to go with them.

We have Rune Knight.

And Fortuner.

Skipping ahead a bit, we also get these.

The bottom screen finally sees some use!

When everyone in a row has one bar, you can drag across all of them to give a one turn buff to the front line based on what classes perform it.

While tapping someone who has two bars filled will give a free attack from them.

This attack usually has some kind of debuff attached, and dispels any buffs the enemy has. Attack? Defense? Regen? Jumping? Doesn't matter, Buddy Skills will wipe it all out.

This is the reason for that glowing health bar we've been seeing ever since Spectus: It signifies that the target has buffs we can dispel with a Buddy attack.

And heading back to 7th Encount, the Receptionist who told us about the starting classes can now give info about our new classes.

Receptionist: The Rune Knight, also known as the guardian of the party, has the highest defense of any class. With healing skills and magic barriers, they can protect both themselves and their allies. They can also use elemental magic attacks to strike enemy weaknesses.

The dedicated tank class, Rune Knights trade in the sheer brute force potential of a God Hand and instead mixes in a higher focus on taking hits and elemental damage.

...Aside from the fact that Rune Knights have some of the best ST moves in the entire game. Atlantis is where VFD's power creep really starts to set in.

Receptionist: Fortuners utilize status ailment spells and support skills to control the flow of battle. In addition to just inflicting ailments, they can also deal high damage to inflicted enemies. They can also support allies by increasing defense, healing, and reviving. Fortuners are the quickest class, but their defense and LIFE are both low, so please be careful.

Fortuners, meanwhile, mix in what bits of Trickster and Hacker weren't taken by Agent, throws in a dash of Idol, and finishes up with, of all things, some tricks from 7D1's Princess!

They also made Sacrifice good holy poo poo.

Anyways, with all that out of the way its now time for-

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 10:26 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jul 1, 2022 04:10

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Bonus: Character Creation 2

That's right, Blaster Kids, a whole new team means another batch of people to make! And wouldn't you know it, we have exactly three classes that need to be filled! This time I need an Agent, a Rune Knight, and a Fortuner.

Everything from before can be found over here, and the new guys come with...

Rune Knight A

Rune Knight B

Fortuner A

Fortuner B

2020 Samurai

2020 Hacker

2020-II Lucier

_{I had to pull the DLC colors from the artbook, don't judge me.}

# ¿ Jul 1, 2022 04:10

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Toyotasomi no Miko posted:

Powercreeping is extremely inbound. But also this isn't even the final creep.

...Am I really submitting the same character again? Yes.

Sorry, but Inoue already has the Samurai slot.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2022 05:49

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

megane posted:

Dang, those F Rune Knight B portraits are, uh, intense.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2022 06:06

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

General Mechanics: How the hell do you manage to buff guarding?

Now, there are a lot of little details in how VFD runs under the hood, and I'd rather have it all in one place rather than sprinkle it in all across the LP.

Priority

Priority in VFD is... strange. Instead of a standard 1-2-3-etc tier system, we instead get:

Its thematically fitting to have 7 be the best possible speed tier, I guess?

Stat Changes

NEW: Buffs/Debuffs now directly affect stats, rather than final damage.

Now, I've mentioned this change a number of times so far, but what does it mean, exactly? What makes this small change so impactful?

Well, in the 2020s, buffs/debuffs got applied at the very end of damage calculation. As an example: if we threw a 250 ATK hit against a 150 DEF enemy, we'd get 250 - 150 for 100 damage. Add in a 30% damage boost, and that bumps up the result to 100 * 1.3 = 130 damage. Pretty decent, right?

In VFD, those changes are now calculated before damage. So suddenly instead of the ending 100 damage getting boosted, we're having our 250 ATK getting that 30% boost for a grand total of (250*1.3) - 150 = 175 damage. That's more than double the bonus from 2020 from a single buff! Now imagine how devastatingly powerful something like Samurai's Motionless or Psychic's Concentrate (2.5x damage increase!) would be under this system.

And this works in reverse too, as it lets defense buffs cut damage by a much larger chunk. Combine it with attack debuffs, and suddenly it becomes possible to make enemies plink against you for 1 HP.

I'd say out of all the changes VFD made behind the scenes, this is the one that causes most of the game's power creep.

Items

~~NEW: Items now have a priority level of 3.~~
Edit: Items do not give priority, instead they give a x2 Speed multiplier.

This was the only change they needed to completely upend the game's action economy. No more worries about someone needing a heal getting sniped before an item can get tossed. No more reviving a guy only for the boss to use an AOE and instantly kill them again. Priority just gives items so much safety that the only way for someone to die is if you either intentionally go for a risky play, or enough damage gets piled on to one person to kill them from full.

e: Future Bisby here. Araxxor dug into the code again after I noticed some inconsistencies at the end of the game, and it turns out that items just make you go really fast, but a big enough gap can still let an enemy go first. It literally only matters in the post-game, however.

Critical Hits

NEW: All attacks can now crit, not just normal attacks and specific skills. The base crit rate is 5% for all players and enemies.
All player crits deal 1.5x bonus damage. Rush Shot is the sole exception, dealing 1.1x damage on a crit.
Enemy crits deal 1.25x damage.

This one is a bit of a double edged sword, as while it lets you nail an enemy with a crit on your biggest moves, it also means they can do the same thing to you. The devs also made one of their very few nerfs to go along with this, as most crit chance boosters are toned down to avoid making it trivial to hit a 100% crit rate.

Guarding

Guarding has a priority level of 3.
Guarding reduces damage taken by 50%.
NEW: Guarding reduces ailment and debuff infliction chances by 50%.
Using Exhaust when Guarding boosts everything to 75%.

Hey, fun fact: in the 2020s the only way to prevent an ailment from landing was to use equipment to block it. There were no way to prevent debuffs, period. VFD just lets you do both with an entirely free action.

Turns out that that's how you buff guarding.

Healing

Items heal for a fixed amount of LIFE.
All healing skills get a bonus equal to (MAT * 0.1).
Using Exhaust boosts healing by 2x, but does not affect revival items or skills.

Using EX-boosted heals has far less importance now, considering items have priority.

Status Ailments

Burn: Deals damage on every action. Reduces ATK, MAT, DEF, and MDF by 10%.*
Freeze: Deals damage on every action. Reduces SPD by 90%.
Bleed: Deals damage every turn. Base damage increases by 20% after the first turn, then significantly less for every turn after.
Poison: Deals damage every turn.
Curse: Deals backlash damage when the unit attacks an enemy.
Sleep: Unit cannot act. Unit suffers +20% bonus damage and wakes up upon being hit.
Paralysis: Unit has a chance of having their actions negated.
Blind: Unit suffers a negative modifier to accuracy.
Stun: Unit moves last for this turn only.
Null Action: Unit cannot act.
Downer: MN costs are doubled.
Hack: Required to use an Agent's hacking skills. Has a chance to cancel the target's actions.
Hack Weakness: Odds of an Agent's Hack succeeding are boosted. Infliction rates are increased by 2.2x if Hack Weakness is inflicted by a TROY, or 1.8x if inflicted by an Agent's Buddy Skill.
G-Depth: Required to use God Hand offensive moves.

_{_{*There is one exception to this.}}

So, I've already gone over Burn and Freeze a bunch, but I'd like to point out that Stun is now even more worthless, as Freeze effectively acts as a multi-turn version of it. Poison has also become the worst DoT, as Venom Boost has been entirely pulled from all classes. I guess that's just a bit too much power for the players to have.

Exhaust

Damage dealt is multplied by 1.5x.
Guarding reduces damage and infliction rates by 75%.
Healing is multiplied by 2x.
Attacks can never miss, unless the target is jumping.
Ailments have their infliction rates multiplied by 2x.
NEW: All actions have a priority level of 2.
Escaping a fight is guaranteed.
EX Skills are usable.

Hey, noticed that one change? Before, EX would only give you max speed for that priority tier. Now, EX makes you Go First, without exception.

EX Gauge Gain

All effects can stack, aside from LF lost breakpoints.
Multihit attacks give EX for each hit that lands.
Being targeted for an attack gives 1% EX.
Being targeted by ailment infliction gives 1% EX, even if the ailment is blocked.
Taking a hit will gives a varying amount of EX based on how much LF was lost:
-Less than 25% gives 1% EX.
-Between 25% and 50% gives 2.5% EX.
-Between 50% and 75% gives 5% EX.
-Losing over 75% LF in one hit gives 10% EX.
Normal attacks (except from Agent) gives 2% EX. Agent gets 1.5% on each hit, up from 1.1% per hit with Gun Trickster.
Skills increase EX by their own amount.
Mind Boosters add 2.5% EX with every attack. Every hit on a multihit attack will give this bonus.
NEW: You can now get a 2nd Mind Booster, these stack for a total of 5% EX per hit.

Two Mind Boosters. Two. Mind. Boosters. Being able to get 5% EX a hit, every hit is exactly as nuts as it sounds. The devs clearly agree, as Cyclone Dance actually has a hidden property that halves EX gain, otherwise two Mind Boosters would make it give 70+% EX in a single turn!

Pre-emptive attacks and Ambushes

There is a base 5% chance to get a pre-emptive attack.
If this chance doesn't succeed, and you have an Agent with Surprise Hunt, Surprise Hunt is rolled.
If Surprise Hunt fails, there is a 2% chance of getting ambushed.
If Surprise Hunt is at level 3 or above, ambushes are negated.
If the enemy fails to get an ambush, the battle begins normally.
You can only get a pre-emptive against a dragon by walking into their back, Surprise Hunt cannot override this.
A dragon can only get an ambush by walking into your back, Surprise Hunt at level 3 and above negates these.
Boss battles always start on even ground.

This is much the same as 2020, but having numbers on hand is always nice.

AUTO Skills

Start of battle AUTO skills have a 25% activation rate, compared to 35% in the 2020s.
Only one start of battle AUTO skill can activate. If multiple roll to activate, one is picked at random and the others are cancelled.
NEW: Mid-battle AUTO skills with a 100% activation rate, however, no longer interfere with any other mid-battle AUTO skills.

A small change, but it means stuff like Samurai's Blade of Rage can go off at the same time as any other AUTO.

EXP Scaling
If a party member is underleveled, the game will boost their EXP gains to let them catch up to the rest of the party. The scaling works by comparing the average level of all enemies in a battle against each party member, and increasing the gains of anyone that qualifies. The EXP boost tiers are:

4 levels or less: 1x EXP
5-9 levels below: 1.5x EXP
10-19 levels below: 3x EXP
20 levels below: 5x EXP

This is almost identical to 2020's tiers, (2020-II is bugged and only gives 1.2x EXP between 3 and 9 levels below, everything else gives normal EXP) with the slight change of the first boosted tier starting at 5 levels below instead of 6, making it kick in a bit sooner.

It is indirectly buffed, however, from the mere existance of the second party. In all prior 7th Dragon games, you're not really encouraged to create new party members unless you really don't like how a class ended up, so the odds of you ever noticing that EXP scaling exists, let alone taking advantage of it, are pretty much nil. Here? Team 1 is already around level 16, so Team 2 is going to start with that x3 bonus, making them shoot right up to Team 1 in a blink and giving the player far more choices in strategy with zero effort involved.

Casual Mode
The difficulty mode can be set at the start of the game, and can now be changed at any time, even in dungeons. Casual Mode slightly reduces** the stats of all enemies.

_{_{**There is one exception to this.}}

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jun 12, 2023

# ¿ Jul 5, 2022 03:51

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

I'll keep voting open for a few more days.

I'll be posting class writeups instead until normal updates resume. After that, and writeups will come out whenever I manage to finish one.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2022 03:53

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Araxxor posted:

Hack Weakness used to be 1.5x, but it triggered only when striking a weakness or dealing a critical hit. Which kind of demanded specific team compositions back in 2020. 2020-II gave Hackers the TROY skills to let Hackers inflict Hack Weakness without having to need specific party members. And then VFD buffed the drat things up to 2.2x for some reason.

My guess is that the intent was that due to Hack Weakness no longer getting applied from weakness/crits, the bump from 1.5x to 2.2x is to compensate for the Agent having to spend a turn to set it up or else it'd math out as being more effective to just use Hack twice rather than TROY -> Hack. In practice it just means you can stack TROY with EX and land a hack pretty much without fail.

The real ??? thing is Hack Weakness specifically being weaker if applied by an Agent's Buddy Skill, as you physically cannot make use of it if you only have a single Agent.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2022 11:08

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

God Hand: Dragon kick your rear end into the Milky Way.

The Destroyer in 2020 was a cross between a dedicated damage dealer and a tank, having both heavy hits and the ability to draw attacks with Counter Stance. The God Hand keeps many of the same moves, but also throws in a number of support options to help make up for the fact that there's no dedicated healer class in the starting lineup.

Stats

God Hands are bulky and durable, being tied in 1st for LF and 2nd for DEF, plus above average MDF. Their MAT is also surprisingly high for a non-magical class, although they only have a single skill that makes use of it. The downsides are that their ATK, while high, is actually the 2nd lowest of all the physical classes, and they're tied for 2nd lowest MN and SPD.

The God Hand's main gimmick is that most of their attacks inflict G-Depth on whoever they hit. G-Depth is required for their stronger moves, stacks up to 3 times, and has a base duration of 3 turns. The duration resets to 3 every time a new stack is inflicted.

A main change from Destroyer to God Hand is that they can no longer inflict G-Depth with their normal attacks, unless they use their God Charge self-buff.

Tier 1 Skills

LIFE Bonus

MANA Bonus

These are generic passives that everyone has, so I'm only going over them once. You got spare SP? Toss it in here! Every class wants more juice!

Jab

Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy. Inflicts 1 stack of G-Depth on the target. Inflicts 2 stacks of G-Depth at level 5. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Now has priority. Can inflict 2 stacks of G-Depth when maxed.

Do you want to use your fancy moves? Get used to Jab. The damage it deals will quickly fall off, but sticking the enemy with two stacks once it hits level 5 will keep it useful forever.

Front Punch

Requires that the target have at least 1 stack of G-Depth to use. Has a chance to inflict 1 stack of G-Depth. At level 5, no longer requires G-Depth to use and will always inflict 1 stack of G-Depth. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy.

Changes from 2020-II: Now loses G-Depth requirement when maxed.

Front Punch is a fun little skill that develops a new niche over time. Early on, it'll be your basic damage dealing skill once you land that first Jab. Once you max it out, however, you get a sidegrade to Jab that trades the extra G-Depth stack for more up-front damage for when you know a fight won't go beyond turn 1.

The strange thing is that Front Punch is the only skill that requires 1 G-Depth, making a single stack entirely useless once this hits level 5.

Quartetto

Requires that the target have at least 2 stacks of G-Depth to use. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy that increases based on G-Depth. Damage is multiplied by 1x for 0 G-Depth, 1.1x for 1 G-Depth, 1.25x for 2 G-Depth, and 1.5x for 3 G-Depth. Removes all G-Depth after use.

Changes from 2020-II: Max damage at level 10 increased from 7.5x to 8.7x.

Oh baby now we're talking! A God Hand's only way to manually reset G-Depth, you'll be wanting to pop this off whenever G-Depth is about to fall off for some extra hurt.

You may be wondering why it has numbers for 0 and 1 G-Depth when it needs 2 to use, and that's just for the edge case where you have multiple God Hands that all target the same enemy. First one land Quartetto and clears it, second one is still able to use their own Quartetto even though the target now has 0 G-Depth.

This is also our first look at VFD buffing things compared to the 2020s. It isn't much, but that extra 1.2x will add up over the course of the game.

Double Hook

Requires that the target have at least 2 stacks of G-Depth to use. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy. Reduces target's ATK and MAT for a set amount of turns. Has a chance to inflict 1 stack of G-Depth.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage at level 5 increased from 5x to 6x.

Spinning Edge

Requires that the target have at least 2 stacks of G-Depth to use. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy. Reduces target's DEF and MDF for a set amount of turns. Has a chance to inflict 1 stack of G-Depth.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage at level 5 increased from 5x to 6x. Speed Multiplier increased from 1x to 1.3x.

I've already gone over just how bonkers stat changes in VFD are, and God Hand having all of them on hand gives them a lot of influence in a fight. And then the devs made these moves hit a bit harder for good measure!

Ambush Stance

Increases the user's chance of being targeted by enemies for the rest of the turn. When the user is targeted by an enemy, they will deal melee ATK-based damage to the enemy. Each counterattack has a chance to inflict 1 stack of G-Depth. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Now costs 2 MN at all levels, up from 0 for levels 1-5 and down from 3 for levels 6-10.

In 2020, Destroyers had Counter Stance as a free, low damage counter and Hard Target to deal more damage and build up D-Depth at the cost of some MN. 2020-II combined the two and had Counter Stance start off free then ramp up in cost and damage in later levels.

In VFD, they decided to split the difference and have it always cost Mana, but slightly less than Hard Target did. Its still a good skill that lets you take your enemy's attacks and turn them into your own, but you can't spam it through an entire dungeon without burning through your MN anymore.

Anti-Ailment

Increases the user's chance of being targeted by enemies for the rest of the turn. When the user is targeted by an ailment inflicting attack, they will deal melee ATK-based damage to the enemy and attempt to nullify the ailment. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage decreased from 5.5x to 2.8x.

Destroyers also had an entire set of counter moves that keyed off of specific animations on an enemy's attack, and this is all that's left of that whole system. And as for what we have...

Why did they cut the damage by so much? Why does this have 0 base chance to inflict G-Depth when Ambush Stance does? You can still use it to skip around ailments, mind, but your God Hand won't be doing much else that turn.

Chiropractic

Restores LIFE for one target. Healing is equal to Base Heal + (MAT / 10). Can be used out of battle. Has priority.

Detox

Cure ailments. Ailments that can be cured are dependant on skill level. Can be used when not in battle.

CPR

Revives one party member. Can be used when not in battle. Healing does not scale with MAT.

Now, I can see what they were going for with these three skills. There aren't any healers in the Tokyo classes, so slap something in to tide players over until something better comes up. But they're all undercut by the God Hand being a bad fit for these kinds of skills, plus some underlying mechanical changes.

Chiropractic as it stands is a decent heal, further bolstered by a God Hand's surprisingly hefty MAT. But their offensive skills are fairly MN heavy, so you can't really afford to spare any when an item would do. Having priority would have given it a niche as a panic button back in the 2020s, but that's undercut by items having priority by default in VFD.

Detox needs three levels to cover everything, four to actually have priority, (which makes it much slower than slinging an item until then, especially when backed by a God Hand's low SPD) is more expensive than Chiropractic until you max it out, and can never target the full party. Early game enemies don't really do multiple ailments, and by the time they do you can just toss a Somanel to clear everything on the spot.

CPR gets the worst of it, however, as it never gets priority, making it impossible to revive someone and then heal them up in the same turn, as the heal would go off long before CPR can. You could technically give it priority by burning EX, but why would you ever waste it on that?

Skip these, items are much better in VFD anyways.

God Charge

Increases the user's ATK for a set number of turns. Also increases base chance to inflict G-Depth for all relevant attacks by 200% for the rest of the battle.

Hey look, a buff to go with those tasty debuffs! Hit this whenever it looks like a fight will last longer than a turn or two.

Tier 2 Skills

Drill Crawler

Requires that the target have 3 stacks of G-Depth to use. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy and heals user for a portion of the damage dealt.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 6x to 8x. Healing is no longer capped.

A God Hand's first dedicated G3 skill, Drill Crawler lets a God Hand stay standing no matter how hard they get hit, plus that whopping 2x boost to damage both makes them hit that much harder, and heal that much more. And as icing on the cake, 2020-II put a hard cap on how much skills like this could heal. They walked this back for VFD, making God Hands significantly tankier. Watch the MN cost, though, it'll run them dry in a blink.

ATK Acupressure

Increases one party member's ATK and MAT for a set number of turns. Has priority.

If God Hand being able to buff themselves wasn't good enough, they can also buff everyone else!

However, before you get any bright ideas, VFD only allows a single buff of each type on a target, so you can't try something like stack this with God Charge to really supercharge your damage. God Charge itself also gives a higher buff, so this skill is pointless to use on the God Hand, but it is great for any party members that lack an attack buff of their own like Agent or Duelist.

DEF Acupressure

Increases one party member's DEF and MDF for a set number of turns. Reduces ailment susceptibility for the target. Has priority.

A God Hand can use this on themselves, however! Throw this on, pop God Charge and Ambush Stance, and laugh as dragons break themselves against the God Hand's iron body. Cutting the odds of any ailment landing in half is gravy.

SPD Acupressure

Increases one party member's SPD and Evasion for a set number of turns. Has priority.

Rounding off the buff trio, SPD Acupressure... exists? It helps patch up a God Hand's middling speed, I guess, but most of their skills either have priority (Jab, Quartetto, the counter moves) or actively want to go last. (Drill Crawler) The only real use I can see for the SPD buff is if you really want one of their debuff punches to land before a big damage dealer.

The Evasion boost can help boost a weaker unit's durability, at least.

Pre-emptive God

The user has a chance to deal melee ATK-based damage to all enemies and inflict 1 G-Depth at the start of battle.

Who doesn't like free damage?

God React

For a set amount of turns, the user has a chance to gain an extra turn whenever they inflict a stack of G-Depth.

Changes from 2020: React chance reduced from 70% to 60%.

Changes from 2020-II: React chance increased from 40% to 60%.

One of the Destroyer's main drawbacks in 2020 was that they had no way to manually clear D-Depth stacks, so Destroy React was balanced around the fact that once an enemy hit D3, you couldn't get another React for several turns until it fell off. 2020-II added in Earth Breaker to reset D-Depth, so they heavily nerfed their React chances to stop you from easily going attack -> attack -> attack -> clear every single turn.

VFD splits the difference, making God React much more consistant than 2020-II, while still not reaching the heights of 2020. Its a good skill.

Tier 3 Skills

Coup De Grace

Requires that the target have 3 stacks of G-Depth to use. Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy. Damage is increased based on how many ailments are on the target. The damage multiplier is 1 + (0.2 * Number of Ailments). The ailments are not dispelled after use.

Changes from 2020-II: Base damage increased from 3x to 7.55x. Hack Weakness, G-Depth, Stun, and Null Action now count as ailments for this skill.

Here, have double damage with zero drawbacks! That base damage is also a bit misleading, as that G3 needed to use it in the first place boosts it to 9x damage. The God Hand alone can only inflict two kinds of ailment, G-Depth in general and Null Action on their EX Skill, so this is definitely a skill that you need to build around if you want to maximize damage, but its still the strongest move in their kit even with just one ailment on.

For funsies, if you were to somehow stick a single enemy with Sleep, Curse, Blind, Paralysis, Downer, Bleed, Poison, Burn, Freeze, Hack Weakness, G-Depth, Stun, and Null Action, all at once, Coup de Grace would hit a 3.6x multiplier for a completely monstrous 27.18x damage. Buuuut actually landing that many ailments before some start falling off would be kinda impossible. :v:

The Final Flame

If the user takes fatal damage, they have a chance to not die and have their LIFE restored to a certain value. As the user does not die, buffs are not lost, and counterattacks will still fire, but any skills that trigger on a party member dying will not activate.

An interesting sidegrade to 2020's Death's Door. The Final Flame is a constantly active passive, so it can activate an unlimited number of times per turn, but in exchange you're gambling on a 30% chance with every death. Rage Bomber got shuffled off to another class, so you can level this up to max without worrying about losing that 1 LF status.

Stardust Press

When the user takes damage, they have a chance to deal melee ATK-based damage to a random enemy at the end of the turn. This included Poison and Bleed damage. Cannot trigger God React, as the counterattack happens at the end of the turn.

Again, who doesn't like free damage?

EX Skill

Earth Breaker

Deals melee ATK-based damage to one enemy. Has a chance to inflict Null Action.

Changes from 2020-II: Base damage increased from 13x to 22x. Inflicts Null Action instead of G-Depth.

22x base damage.

22x base damage. Nearly double the damage of Destroyer's Super EX in 2020-II. That is a ludicrous damage boost, and inflicting Null Action just makes it better!

See, 7th Dragon handles ailment resistances by giving an enemy a resistance between 1 and 0, then multiplying the infliction rate by that for the actual chance to land it. Regular dragons usually have a Null Action multiplier of 0.55, which gives Earth Breaker a 99% chance of stopping them cold for three turns! Not even the True Dragons go beyond a 0.4 multiplier, which still gives a 72% chance of landing!

This is what I mean by power creep! It deals nearly twice the damage, and can reliably shut down practically every enemy in the game! With this level of escalation with the player's power levels, there's no feasible way to make the game actually hard, short of ramping up numbers until using all the broken poo poo becomes mandatory to squeak out a win.

Team Skills

Charge Time: 2 turns

Buddy

Deals 1.5x melee ATK-based damage to the target, and heals buddy for 20% of the damage dealt

The damage is slightly worse than a Jab, but hey, free healing is always nice.

Support

Heals the party for 35% of their maximum LIFE.

A heal that automatically scales and doesn't take one of your frontliner's actions is also nice.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Jul 8, 2022

# ¿ Jul 8, 2022 03:13

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

I'm also calling the vote here.

Say hello to Unit 13's 2nd Team!

Proper updates will resume next Thursday.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2022 03:26

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Samurai: Two swords are better than one.

7th Dragon's poster child ever since the 2020s, Samurai branches out by introducing a new weapon type they can choose from. Single sword has them play much the same as their 2020 counterparts with a Sheathed/Unsheathed stance system, but the new Dual Blades took most of their elemental skills and added some new toys of their own.

Stats

Samurais, being the de facto face of the series, naturally have a lot of good stats, but not the best in any. They're second for LF, MN, ATK, and DEF, but have low MAT and MDF and middling SPD to balance it out.

Tier 1 Skills

Whirlwind

Unsheathed skill. Deals multiple hits of melee ATK-based damage to random enemies.

The same random target multi-hit move Samurais have always had. Its unreliable in big fights, but still works great against Dragonsbane Seeds. Shame Dual Blades have something even better for that job in their kit.

Power Bolt Drop

Unsheathed skill. Attacks one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and a chance to inflict Bleed.

Changes from 2020-II: Base Bleed damage reduced from 103 to 100.

This was a Tier 3 skill in 2020, and the damage it deals is (almost) entirely unchanged. I guess they wanted the Bleed to be a nice, even 100?

Aerial Slash

Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based aerial damage.

If someone's feet are off the ground, odds are they're weak to aerial damage. This gives Aerial Slash a boatload of targets it'll be effective against.

Maple Tear

Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based fire damage and a chance to inflict Burn. Damage of Samurai's normal attacks are changed to Fire for 4 turns. All Samurai skills are treated as Fire damage for 4 turns. (but does not change their actual damage type)

Changes from 2020-II: Burn damage increased from 71 to 141. Now adds elemental effect to all attacks.

A running trend in VFD is attacks having vastly increased DoT damage. That elemental change also gives a Samurai a lot of synergy with an Agent, as it lets all their skills proc TROY: Fire and add in a good chunk of damage.

Cyclone Dance

Dual Blade skill. Deals multiple hits of melee ATK-based damage to random enemies.

And just like that, Whirlwind is invalid. 14 hits just shreds Seeds, but beyond that there are better things to use against normal enemies.

It also has a hidden modifier that halves the effect of Mind Boosters, just to stop you from slapping both on and being able go from 0 to 100 in a single move.

Invigorate

Heals the user. Cures all status ailments starting at Level 5. Has priority.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Items have priority, so just save the SP and invest it into things that will kill the enemy faster.

Red Flame Exhale

Places a buff on the user that increases their ATK every turn for 10 turns.

Changes from 2020-II: Data misalignment bug fixed. Damage ramps up significantly faster.

The buff calculation changes, plus this skill no longer having a dead turn, change Red Flame Exhale to something you toss in during boss fights to something that can actually see frequent use. Starting with a bonus 16% ATK is nuts, and it'll get even better once you realize that this skill isn't treated like a normal attack buff, letting you stack another one for even higher damage.

Black Steel Exhale

Places a buff on the user that increases their DEF every turn for 10 turns.

Changes from 2020-II: Max values increased from an 18% buff to 20%.

Likewise, this one is also useful. Makes your Samurai a little bit tankier, while also killing time to let Red Flame's buff get up to speed.

Blade of Rage

When an ally dies to an enemy attack, the user attacks the enemy responsible at the end of the turn. Death from ailment damage does not activate this skill. Is not affected by, and will not use up, Solid Stance.

There are a few classes (*coughruneknightcough*) that like to play very risky, and teaming them up with a Samurai gives you some extra free damage every time the odds don't land in their favor.

Tier 2 Skills

Garuda Whirlwind

Unsheathed skill. Hits all enemies with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Max damage increased from 1.95x to 2.95x.

This was an endgame skill in the 2020s, and the pitiful damage output combined with late availability made it a waste to invest in. Now, you get it fairly early, and it actually hits hard enough to be worth a drat.

Destructive Sweep

Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage. Attempts to inflict a debuff that increases the chance of status ailments landing.

Changes from 2020-II: Odds of debuff landing have been reduced from guaranteed to 75%.

One of VFD's rare nerfs! What, were status effects too strong for the devs to leave this untouched?*

_{_{*The very existance of God Hand's EX Skill says yes.}}

Windy Canopy

Dual Blade skill. The user prepares to attack at the start of the turn. Any time an ally uses a Fire, Ice, or Lightning MAT-based attack, the Samurai will follow up with a melee ATK-based attack of the same element. Does not activate on TROY or counterhits. The damage dealt depends if the skill used was single target or AOE.

Changes from 2020-II: EX gain from AOE hits increased from 1.5% to 5%.

Do you have someone who can throw out elemental attacks? Well now you can take greater advantage over any weaknesses an enemy may have!

Another indirect buff, as there was a chance you could choose a party in the 2020s that had no valid partner for Woodwind Duet, rendering the skill entirely useless, but the multiple party system in VFD means that you'll have to go out of your way to not have someone to use this with.

Hidden Shadow

Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage with a chance to inflict Stun. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 3.5x to 5x.

Stun was a niche status in 2020, and Freeze's buff makes it even worse. It has priority, I guess?

Fighting Spirit

At the start of battle, the user has a chance to inflict melee ATK-based damage to all enemies.

Free. Damage.

Sheathed Stance

Unsheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and switches user to Sheathed stance. Has a 100% chance to inflict a DEF/MDF debuff starting at level 4.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 2x to 2.5x. Now inflicts a DEF/MDF debuff.

Unsheathed Stance

Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and switches user to Unsheathed stance. Has a 100% chance to inflict a ATK/MAT debuff starting at level 4.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 2.3x to 2.5x. Now inflicts an ATK/MAT debuff.

I really like this change to Samurai! Before, you mostly just picked a stance and sunk everything into it, but adding debuffs gives an actual reason to swap mid-battle! Sheathed Stance's defense debuff also lines up nicely with the stance having harder hitting attacks.

Jinka React

Places a buff on the user. Whenever the user loses a portion of their LIFE in a single hit, they have a 100% chance to gain an extra turn.

Changes from 2020-II: Activation threshold lowered from 30% LF lost to 15% LF lost.

30% LF was fairly easy to hit in 2020 with how much damage bosses do, but there are still a number of times where setting Pain React off could be somewhat inconsistent.

15%, on the other hand? That's trivial! An angry look can deal 15% damage. Jinka React is a straight up guaranteed free turn every time something pokes the Samurai. But wait, it gets better!

Moon Stance

Places a buff on the user that increases their ATK and target rate for 3 turns.

Because you can follow up with this to make enemies hit exactly who you want! You lose an extra 5% target rate over God Hand's Ambush Stance, but in exchange it lasts for multiple turns and stacks with Red Flame Exhale, as they're classified as different types of buffs!

Tier 3 Skills

Serpent Thrust

Unsheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Sixteen Hand Slash

Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 6x to 6.5x.

These two are effectively the same skill, although Sixteen Hand Slash's minor buff gives it a bit more of a lead from Serpent Thrust.

Poplar Admiral

Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage. If the attack kills the target, a random enemy on the field will take damage equal to 36% of how much the initial target was overkilled.

Poplar Admiral, meanwhile, exists between the other two capstone attacks. The splash damage effect... exists, I guess? Like if you happen to have two enemies on the verge of death I guess you could get a double kill, but killing a healthy enemy in one hit means the splash will be nonexistant, and it has no impact on boss fights where there's only one target to hit.

Focus Breathing

Places a buff on the party that increases current and maximum LIFE.

Changes from 2020-II: Now increases current LF, even if target was already damaged.

The change makes it a bit better than 2020's Regulated Breath, but it boosts the threshold needed for Jinka React, and a damage dealer like the Samurai would be better off actually killing enemies instead.

Solid Stance

Increases the user's ATK and infliction rates on their next attack.

Changes from 2020-II: MN cost increased from 7 to 20. Infliction multiplier reduced from 1.75x to 1.7x.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey, remember that math example I used in the mechanics post? Well using this with that 250 ATK vs 150 DEF turns it into (250*2.5) - 150 for 475 damage.

And that's before you throw in Red Flame Exhale.

And Moon Stance.

And DEF debuffs (which Samurai just got, what are the odds!)

And EX.

Samurai can hit some disgusting damage numbers once they have a chance to buff up, and the devs were right to jack up the cost of Solid Stance to try and keep things under control.

I mean, they didn't do nearly enough to reign it in, but it's the thought that counts, you know?

EX Skills

Earth Splitter

Single Blade skill. Hits all enemies with melee ATK-based damage and a chance to inflict Bleed.

Changes from 2020-II: Base infliction chance increased from 60% to 100%. Base Bleed damage increased from 63 to 243.

Fallen Blossoms

Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 8x to 9.5x.

The numbers on both of these are a fair bit lower than God Hand's, but keep in mind that there's nothing stopping you from stacking all those meaty attack buffs and utterly eviscerating anything in your path.

The Bleed buff on Earth Splitter is also :stare:

, as it effectively gives an extra 1000 damage if it sticks.

Team Skills

Charge Time: 2 turns

Buddy

Hits one enemy for 1.5x melee ATK-based damage and a 100% chance to reduce ATK by 20% for 2 turns.

Cutting ATK by a full 20% is good. Doubly so if the very buff you used this to break was also an ATK buff, just to really rub it in. Not as useful against MAT-focused enemies, obviously.

Support

Increases the team's ATK by 1.2x for 1 turn.

This one also needs a bit of team consideration. Agents and God Hands can get a lot from this, but Duelists, Rune Knights, and Fortuners get nothing.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Jul 12, 2022

# ¿ Jul 12, 2022 03:36

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XIV - Featuring: New faces

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

First, we have a bit of cutscene that I skipped over last time.

They might drag you down at first, but they'll catch on quick. I promise.

*nods*

Preliminary research gave us a general idea of the topography. The forge seems to be up ahead through this mine shaft.

It's basically become a breeding ground for monsters because of the High Dragon. If you let your guard down for even a second, you won't make it through to the forge.

*nods*

Music: Endless Attack Cycle

Grr...! They're here again!?

Lookout Girl: Th-There's a large group of monsters coming out of the west passage!

Blockade the surrounding area immediately!

Lookout Girl: Yes, Sir!

Let's go everyone!

Militiamen: Sir!

Chief Toglau: These travelers from a foreign land... Are they our saviors? Or maybe...

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

And to go with our new classes, we have a new tier of items to get them some better gear.

Now get out there and take the initiative back from those ISDF bitches!

Also Nagamimi is here.

Due to the wonders of LP recording, we will not be getting Team 2 here.

Music: The Daily Grind

We'll be doing that at home instead.

Say hello to Team 2!

The backrow teams will show up on the touch screen while in the menu.

And if I do as the game says and press X...

I can swap between teams whenever I want!

Only between full teams, mind. If I wanted to swap someone from Team 1 to Team 2 I'll have to head to a Terminal.

Look at them go!

A small perk with the Atlantis classes is that their default gear is on par with what we have now, so you don't have to deal with outdated gear from the word go.

Aiden will still need a quick shopping trip, however.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

Now, I could just stick Team 2 in the back and push into Cladeon.

But I left the grinding DLC open for a reason.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

I can give the new team some easy levels and SP, so I can use them the moment we go back!

...did the devs really put a fixed encounter behind where you first spawn them in? Wow that is rude.

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

Figures Team 2 starts with a big crowd.

Rune Knights start with two elemental attacks, a taunt that lasts for several turns but has no counter attached, a full party heal, a party MDF buff, and a self-buff for their own LF.

Agents start with an accurate gun attack, a hack that makes enemies hit their allies and themselves, a hack that restores the party's MN, the Hack itself, an item booster, and a self-buff that reduces the odds they get targeted for attacks and boosts their crit rate.

Finally, Fortuners start with two moves that inflict Sleep and Bleed, two moves that hit everyone with a certain set of ailments on and heal the Fortuner, and a generic party defense buff.

Fights like this are a bit rough at level 1, but that'll fix itself soon enough.

The party gets a bit dinged up.

But hopefully Provoke fixes that.

oh god even her model is terrifying

Now, you may be wondering why I don't just have Team 1 deal with this.

Because the backrow gets full rewards, and I already said I don't want them to get too powerful compared to what the game expects. The game forces you to make a leader for Team 2 the moment you unlock it, so I had to make Temp 3: The Original Temp anyways.

Also, Aria is doing a lovely job at showcasing a Fortuner's durability!

Anyways, Buddy attacks:

Whoever's action is being selected the moment you select a Buddy skill will have it tied to their turn.

When they go, the Buddy skill activates.

This happens on any action, even supporting ones, so if you really want to hit someone fast to break a buff you could guard or use an item to take advantage of their inherent priority.

I only managed to kill one seed, everything else ran.

Music: Finish Them Off

On the plus side, Aria gained a level for that fight, reviving her for free.

Music: Atlantica - The Emerald Afterglow

Even this early on, getting 400 SP a kill isn't really doing much.

Anyways, Rune Knight's can learn Substitute, a strange move that lets them redirect single target attacks towards themselves, and a pre-battle AUTO skill that buffs MDF.

Agents get two new offensive moves for their guns, both TROYs inflict Hack Weakness and aid in hacking, and just below this are Withdraw, (flees battle with a massively boosted chance) and Quick Hack, letting them automatically hack things and get some MN in the deal.

Fortuners, meanwhile, get Psychic's old Mana Float, plus two skills that give LF and MN regeneration.

There are a few more fights you have to backtrack for.

The next fight got two Queen Rabi kills.

Which, when combined with VFD's EXP scaling, gives Team 2 a bunch of levels.

And a second kind of cat food.

That one fight pretty much caught Team 2 up with Team 1, so I'll be ignoring any other Queen Rabis.

A few more fights later, and I get to the end of Atlantica, but it looks like I've missed one along the way.

Where is it?

Inside a building.

Hm? Unit 13, go check out the Sanctuary. I'm sensing a big one hiding back in there.

That's all 10 enemies dead, but we're not quite done yet.

After going to the Sanctuary for nothing, we have to head back to finish this up.

Yeah.

It has 20 LF, which is honestly huge for a Seed, but I'm not entirely sure it can run. I think this thing doubles as a pity reward in case most of the Seeds ran away from you.

And despite being that big, it only gives about a third more SP compared to the other DLC Seeds.

Anywho, things should settle down a bit now. Come on home, Unit 13.

So, our total haul for all that?

About this much.

If I wanted to do this a second time, I'd have to go back to Nodens, turn the quest in, retake the quest, go see the quest giver again, then go all over Atlantica while dealing with effortless random encounters. Even if every fight was against 2 Seeds and you manage to kill all of them, you're only looking at 8600 SP a run at most.

So yeah, I'm never doing that again.

Music: The Daily Grind

And now to turn in the quest.

~~Opal~~Valerie nods.

Yui: I'm glad to hear it~! I'll let you know right away next time we have one of these outbreaks! We need you to get as strong as possible, after all! Oh yeah! Here's your reward!

With that quick bit of grinding done, we can go grab Opal and the gang.

I do make some changes to team composition, however.

See, Agents and Rune Knights are the only classes with a backrow charge time of 1 turn. This means that I can break enemy buffs starting from turn 2, but it also means that running them in a team together is a bad idea. If I ever want to use Team 2 in combat, I'd end up having to wait 4 turns to use a Buddy skill.

So I put Aiden in Team 1 with Opal and Yuno.

And Inoue in Team 2 with Valerie and Aria.

This setup will end up having a good bit of team synergy. Yuno can use her heavy focus on fire damage to constantly set off TROY: Fire, ramping up the damage of ~~X Burn~~Ookazi. Inoue, on the other hand, gets both Windy Canopy and Destructive Sweep next tier, letting follow up on Valerie's elemental attacks with Dual Blades or help Aria inflict ailments with Single Sword.

Alright, back to Cladeon.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

As the last hub of the militia here, the town has a lot of people for us to talk to.

Lookout Girl: I wish I could fight alongside him... but all I can do for him is watch over the town.

And by 'we' I mean Team 2 gets to do it.

...Ma'am, you are talking to a Lucier. In fact, there's nothing stopping you from making your entire team Lucier at this point.

This is the chest on the far left.

Chief Toglau: These travelers from a foreign land... Are they our saviors? Or maybe...

~

Rude Militiaman: The hell? You think you're better than me just cause you're a little bit stronger? I still don't trust you guys! Keep that in mind!

Keep in mind that the Atlantica recruits were specifically picked by Eigur to help Nodens out. This guy is a dick.

~

Young Militiaman: No matter how many we kill, they simply do not stop. I wonder if we will ever find peace again...

~

Novice Smith Cub: Even though my master Auroth is blind, he's the best craftsman in all of Atlantis!

~

Blind Smith Auroth: Hm... I am sensing a strange scent. Are you the from the surface?

Now we're at the bit on the right.

And here's the chest.

There are also a few indoor areas in Cladeon.

Longing Lucier: But where can I go? Where can I find a safe haven!?

...You think we should tell her about the time machine?

Up ahead is a bridge leading to the top.

Yuma and Yoritomo are up ahead, so that's clearly the plot.

The bridge to the left leads to this chest, but it has no way to get to the lower area.

So I have to run all the way back to check it out.

The hellish amalgamation of three girls from 10000 B.C., 2021 A.D., and 2100 A.D. can deal with it.

The top left segment has a lot of doors.

Inept Militiaman: Why am I shaking? I'm scared as poo poo! I don't get how you guys can be so brave out there!

...Is that a kid's model?

~

Anxious Old Woman: Wh-What do you want...? Wait, are you going to eat me!? I-I don't taste very good, I swear! ...You don't want to eat me? But I heard you surface people are all savages...

There's another door to the left of the first.

Negative Old Man: Nothing we do is going to save us now... Even if we ask the capital for help...

The chest on the far left.

Another door.

Vigorous Old Man: I'll show them! I'm gonna take these dragons down myse� Ouchhh... M-My hip...

And one final door beneath the Blind Guard chest.

...except the place is empty.

And that's the place cleared out.

Did we really need a 10 second cutscene here?

All set!

Then let's get going. We can't afford to waste any more time.

Next time: The game's balance skews even harder in our favor.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jun 13, 2023

# ¿ Jul 15, 2022 03:21

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Duelist: This deck is not tournament legal.

The first VFD-original, the Duelist is a bit of an odd duck. Their reliance on card draw RNG means that they can do some absolutely monstrous damage if things line up, but they can just as easily end up with a dead hand and require several turns to search out the cards they need to get going.

Stats

Duelists, fitting for literal children, are more on the fragile side with the 2nd lowest LF and DEF. To make up for that, they have the 2nd highest MN, MAT, MDF, and 3rd highest SPD.

Innate Ability

Draws 1 card at the end of the turn.

Tier 1 Skills

Draw Bonus

The user begins battle with a certain number of cards.

You don't really have much choice with this one. More cards means more chances of getting something good. (read: as many Fire cards as possible) Level this up the moment you have enough SP.

X Burn

User applies a buff that inflicts ranged MAT-based fire damage to all enemies at the end of the turn. Damage increases based on how many Fire cards the user plays during the duration of the buff. Damage formula for this attack is [(User's MAT * Total Card Power) - Target's MDF] * Damage Multiplier. Total Card Power is equal to 1 if no Fire cards have been played. Other Duelists cannot contribute to someone else's X Burn. Cannot trigger Destiny React. Initial buff has priority.

The Duelist's first Continuous Spell, X Burn is kinda loving nuts! It needs a hand full of Fire cards to get the most out of it, but the damage it can deal ramps up to an insane degree. It also gets better and better as the game goes on, as the Duelist gets access to more expensive skills to play more Fire cards in the two turns you have available. The most expensive fire-based skill costs 3 cards, so if the stars align and you have a full hand of Fire cards ready, a max level X Burn hits a monstrous 25x multiplier on the Duelist's already high MAT! The flipside of all this is that two turns is a tight time limit, so having to stop and play a searcher or heal someone is going to tank the damage significantly.

Summon: Fire I

Summons a Hell Cloud to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based fire damage and a chance to inflict Burn.

Summon: Ice I

Summons a North Crown to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based ice damage and a chance to inflict Freeze.

Summon: Ltg I

Summons an Air Grass to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based lightning damage and a chance to inflict Paralysis.

All of the Duelist's Summon skills are identical for damage and infliction rate, but on their own merits I'd say Summon: Ltg fares the best with a 40% chance to lock out the enemy if it connects. That's on par with 2020-II's Frostburn, and that was an endgame skill!

Of course, the Summons aren't standing on their own, so Summon: Ice and Summon: Ltg have the crippling flaw of not boosting X Burn. They're still worth using if you don't have any Fire cards in a short fight.

The devs clearly knew just how stupidly powerful X Burn is, as every fire focused skill is pegged at a much higher SP cost compared to their Ice and Lightning counterparts.

Trap: Pitfall

Places a buff on the user. If the user is hit with a melee attack from an enemy not weak to aerial damage, the user will counter with melee MAT-based damage and a chance to inflict Null Action. The target's size influences damage. Small enemies take 0.8x, Medium 1x, Large 1.3x, and Extremely Large 1.5x

Trap: Barbed Wire

Places a buff on the user. If the user is hit with ATK-based damage, the user will counter with ranged MAT-based aerial damage and a chance to inflict Bleed.

Trap: Fire Whirl

Places a buff on the user. If the user is hit with MAT-based damage, the user will counter with ranged MAT-based fire damage and a chance to inflict Blind.

The Traps, meanwhile, are extremely eeeeeeeeeeeh.

They cost two cards to play, but they deal incredibly low damage for that kind of cost. Sky high infliction rates (80% chance of Null Action!) for this early in the game is bonkers, but they all have incredibly specific activation requirements (a lot of things have a weakness to aerial, which automatically locks out said Null Action) and the Duelist has no way to draw enemy attacks to reliably set them off. They aren't entirely useless, as there's a later skill that needs them on the field, but you'll never play a Trap for the sake of playing a Trap.

Also, fun fact: these are the only skills that use different colors of cards to use. All other skills use multiples of the same element.

Field: Volcano

Hits all enemies with ranged MAT-based fire damage and inflicts a debuff that increases fire damage taken.

Field: Glacier

Hits all enemies with ranged MAT-based ice damage and inflicts a debuff that increases ice damage taken.

Field: Storm Cloud

Hits all enemies with ranged MAT-based lightning damage and inflicts a debuff that increases lightning damage taken.

The Field Spells are a great source of early AOE damage (provided you can swing the two card cost) and further boost damage of the same element for the rest of the party! X Burn loves Field: Volcano, as it both feeds it two cards and boosts the damage it deals by 30%.

Supply Draw

User draws a number of random cards from their deck and adds them to their hand.

Search: Fire

Adds a number of Fire cards to the user's hand.

Search: Ice

Adds a number of Ice cards to the user's hand.

Search: Lightning

Adds a number of Lightning cards to the user's hand.

The Searchers do nothing on their own, but are a godsend if you've run your hand dry and need to fill up. There's some data in the code suggesting that the dedicated Search skills originally had 5 levels planned, letting you draw almost an entire hand worth of a single element in one shot, but got cut down to just three. That's why the SP costs suddenly take a massive leap from level 2 to level 3.

Tier 2 Skills

MANA Gain

Places a buff on the user that restores the party's MANA at the end of the turn. If no ice cards are used, the party recovers the base amount of MANA. Otherwise, the formula used is Base Mana Restore + [((Base Mana Restore * Restore Power) � Base Mana Restore) * # of Ice Cards Used]. Other Duelists cannot contribute to someone else's MANA Gain.

X Burn's counterpart, MANA Gain trades off the damage from fire and instead gives ice ludicrous levels of MN restoration. You use three Ice cards at max level? Everyone in the party gets 80 MN, and that's just a single turn. Even at a bare minimum, you're looking at 51 MN over the full three turns to the entire party if you never use an ice card. There's zero risk of ever running dry with this much regen! The 2020s were notoriously stingy with easy sources of restoration, with Hacker's noiztank.exe being the only real way to get some, but VFD just switches track entirely and gives you several methods of turning the party into a perpetual motion machine.

Strangely, there's no Continuous Spell for Lightning. I guess the devs figured the Paralysis chances were good enough on their own.

Summon: Fire II

Summons a Death Worm to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Fire damage and a chance to inflict Burn.

Summon: Ice II

Summons a Snow Familiar to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Ice damage and a chance to inflict Freeze.

Summon: Ltg II

Summons an Alien Luzelo to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Lightning damage and a chance to inflict Paralysis.

These all act exactly the same as the tier 1 summons, but with all the numbers bumped up. They feed two cards to X Burn or MANA Gain.

Lucky Roll

At the start of battle, the Duelist has a chance to roll a die that gives a beneficial effect. The effects and their odds are as follows:

Sun: EXP gain is tripled. (1/12)

Star: SP gain is tripled. (3/12)

Moon: Item drop rate is doubled. (4/12)

Bolt: Party's MN is fully restored. (4/12)

Eh. Eeeeeeeeeeeh.

Like, yeah, boosting EXP/SP/drops is nice, sure, but when you're only allowed a single starting AUTO, I'd rather it be something that can actually kill the enemy and let me move on to the next fight. A full MN heal is also handy, but you also get MANA Gain this tier, which does effectively the same thing.

Also, the animation of throwing the dice and waiting for it to land takes aaaaaaaages, and I'd rather not have to watch it for the rest of the game.

Destiny React

Places a buff on the Duelist that gives them a chance to gain an extra turn every time they deal an odd number of damage. Counters can activate this. X Burn cannot activate this, however, as it goes off at the end of the turn.

That damage requirement effectively gives this a 40% chance of going off every time you attack, which is kinda bad, honestly. That's on par with 2020-II's Destroy React, except a Duelist can't make several attacks a turn like a Destroyer. The Traps can set this off, sure, but why would you ever actually us-

Judgement

When all three Traps are set at once, melee MAT-based damage is dealt to all enemies at the end of the turn. All Traps are dispelled after Judgement activates.

...

This is Tier 2????

What the actual hell are these numbers!? I called God Hand's EX skill insane for having an effective damage of 33x, and Judgement both outdamages it at level 2 (for less SP than an EX Skill!) and nails every enemy on the field! Maxed out, only a very small handful of moves can hope to reach 50x on their own, and those are both single target and have extremely harsh requirements to use.

It isn't all upsides, however, as Judgement requires commitment to bring out. All three Traps need a total of 2 of every type of card to bring out, and each has a 4 turn duration, giving you exactly one turn of leeway if you need to pop a Search to fill out your hand part way through. You're also incredibly vulnerable to disruption throughout the entire process. Need to stop and clear a status ailment or revive someone? Hope your hand is already perfect! Boss uses Power Charge to prepare for a big hit? Hope the Duelist can tank it with their pitiful defenses! Get hit with Null Action, Skill Seal, Paralysis, Sleep, Confusion or just straight up die? Well all that effort you put into it goes right out the window!

Destiny React can give you a little leeway if a Trap sets it off, but that requires the Duelist to actually get hit, which isn't entirely likely if you have a God Hand or Rune Knight on the field.

Tier 3 Skills

My turn!

The Duelist has a chance to extend any buffs on the party by 1 turn at the end of the turn. Does not work on X Burn, MANA Gain, or the Traps. Does not work on any buffs that only have a single turn left.

This is actually a bit of a weird skill, because Duelists just... don't really have any buffs of their own that this works on? I mean, My Turn! is a great skill if you have other people tossing out buffs, but the Duelist themselves get practically nothing from this, aside from, like, Destiny React.

Summon: Fire III

Summons a Criminal Dragon to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Fire damage and a chance to inflict Burn.

Summon: Ice III

Summons a Blizzarus to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Ice damage and a chance to inflict Freeze.

Summon: Ltg III

Summons a Lightning Dragon to hit an enemy with melee MAT-based Lightning damage and a chance to inflict Paralysis.

Same as the first 2 tiers, but holy poo poo that 82% chance on Ltg III to just utterly shut down an enemy! The Fire and Ice summons are also the biggest single turn way to feed X Burn and MANA Gain.

EX Skill

Summon: Titan

Summons a Stun Deku to hit all enemies with melee MAT-based damage.

Capping things off, the Duelist EX is... kinda pitiful, really.

Like, yeah 14x base damage is good, but that only slightly outdamages a level 1 Judgement, and that's been available since Tier 2. Even as an AOE EX Skill, Samurai's Earth Splitter is only a small bit behind, and they can easily overtake it with all their buffs. Duelists just don't have any natural way to boost their own damage. The only thing it has going for it is the fact that it doesn't have a card cost, making it something you can slap an enemy with if your hand doesn't line up.

All things considered, you'd probably be better off using EX on Summon: Ltg III to double the odds of landing Paralysis.

Team Skills

Charge Time: 3 turns

Duelists are the only class that needs 3 turns to charge the support bar, which slows things down a fair bit.

Buddy

Deals 2.1x melee ATK-based damage, and gives 5% of the damage dealt to the Buddy's MN.

A free MN restore is nice, yes, but that 3 turn charge time means you can only break this out once every 6 turns. That's way, way too long to wait for a piddly 5% MN leech off a class that's focused on MAT.

Oh, all the Buddy skills are ATK-based, by the way, so the magical classes deal jack for damage.

Support

Dispels all status effects from the party.

This, however, is much more useful. A full party, full status heal every third turn is extremely handy, as it lets you patch up the party with no action cost, letting you keep the pressure on.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Jun 13, 2023

# ¿ Jul 17, 2022 03:41

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XV - Featuring: Aiden Pearce from the Watch_Dogs series

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Alright, Team 2 can take point on this.

Hey... You're not gonna save that old man, are you!? You idiot! What's the point? His lifespan is almost up anyways! C'mon, just leave him! Grrr... Let me make myself clear. You are here to save the present day of UE 77... It is not to become the mystical hero of Atlantis. Just get the True Dragon specimen so you can save Tokyo. Is that really so much to ask?

I'd like to point out that Nagamimi is telling this to Valerie, who lives in Cladeon. She probably knows this guy!

The game really, really does not like it when you change who the team leader is, but you have no choice but to do that if you ever want to use your backup teams!

Anyways, Valerie shakes her head at the notion of leaving her own countrymen to die.

*sigh* Whatever happens, I'm not involved. I take no responsibility for this poo poo.

Dragon!!!

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Valerie demands your blood.

And Team 1 is ready to assist.

Several turns of MANA regeneration is exactly as good as it sounds.

While Lightning Sword hits hard, has a good chance of inflicting Paralysis, and the Paralysis itself has rather good odds of going off.

I used Aria's share of the grinding DLC rewards to get both her Poetry skills to level 2. This lets Moonlight Poetry restore 6 MN a turn.

If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that nothing this team has costs more than 6 MN. This means that we effectively have infinite MN whenever Moonlight is up.

Forest Poetry, meanwhile, is our first actually useful healing move.

Provoke is extremely handy against dragons.

Now, keep Inoue's damage in mind for later.

This is his hardest hitting move.

And this is how much Forest heals everyone for. The only thing that can hurt the party right now is Poison, and that's only because it ticks after regen.

Unlike Hacker's Regenerator, Forest heals everyone for a fixed amount +10% of the Fortuner's MAT, so it has some power right out the gate and stays useful later on as Aria's MAT gets higher and higher.

Now, you'd think a support class like the Fortuner would have bad personal damage to make up for all their tricks.

You'd be wrong. Aria is dealing 80 damage plus 3 turns of 40 damage from the Bleed. She's outdamaging Inoue backed by Red Flame and hitting a weakness.

The Atlantis classes are where the devs threw what little semblance of balance the Tokyo classes had right out the window.

Oh look, poison.

However, three turns have now passed, meaning Team 1 is ready for a Support.

This notice will pop up at the start of every turn provided everyone has one bar. If you decline to use it at first and then change your mind, you can back out of the first party member's action to get another chance to use it.

And just like that, everyone is fine.

And since the big guy is currently bleeding...

Aria can hit him that much harder.

He then dies to Bleed at the end of the turn.

Might as well show off a few more moves while I'm at it.

Music: Battlefield - Atlantis

You may think that Sleep would be a mediocre ailment to inflict.

But you'd be wrong again. The move itself has surprisingly high infliction rates, and Fortuners are the fastest class in the game. Combined, this gives you a good chance of just locking out a dangerous enemy at the start of a fight while you deal with any flunkies.

And as a bonus, (and never mentioned in-game to my knowledge) all of the Fortuner's Revelation skills have an effect that increases infliction rates if any other ailment is already on the target. This means Aria can land Sleep on turn 1, then seamlessly transition to Bleed on turn 2!

Ice Sword, meanwhile, is sorta pointless when Lightning Sword is right over there. With lower damage (even when I'm not slamming into resists) and a worse ailment, the only saving grace it has is that it costs 3 MN compared to Lightning Sword's 6.

However, we just got Fortuner, and she can easily recover 6 MN a turn, so even that's a wash.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Other than that one dragon, this right side area only has a few chests.

SP Ups are a lot less potent in VFD, now that they have to be split six ways.

With that section cleared out, we now head to the left.

A bit further ahead is the exit to this area, but I still have a dragon here to kill, so I head back.

Oh wow, a treasure chest behind a waterfall, how original.

Ah, the bridge is out.

I'll probably have to loop back from the next area.

Heading left and down sounds good.

Jackpot.

And there's our dragon.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Our next victim shall be...

A Megamouth Dragon, finishing off the set of dragons we fought during the DLC!

This also means that, on top of the DLC Megamouth having 3K HP, you're missing both two classes and the backrow system if you try the DLC as soon as it opened. And that's on top of just having so many less levels compared to now.

Valerie's going for an EX-boosted Lightning Sword to try and land Paralysis.

It fails, but it certainly hurts.

All the random encounters means that the new guys are pretty much fully caught up with the starting members at this point.

Everyone else spends this turn and the next setting up.

Could you maybe not?

Compared to the Aquaria, a Megamouth's poison is much more deadly. That's almost outpacing Aria's regen!

Inoue's damage.

Valerie's damage.

Lightning Sword is stupidly good, you guys.

Hehehehehehehe...

You fool.

You absolute buffoon.

You're not allowed to play by the same rules as me!

So yeah, as if VFD's change to buffs were bad, but at least they were even. I get to buff up and break things in half, but enemies could do the exact same back. The introduction of Buddy skills, however, means that said change is now entirely one sided. I get to buff up all I want, and all my enemy's buffs get instantly broken because I have someone with a 1 turn charge on both teams. The only way an enemy can make use of buffs now is if they do it on the very first turn, and even then they'll only have one turn to use it before I break it.

Welcome to VFD.

That was his big charge move, twice in a row, and I didn't even have to block.

Opal manages to join in.

And it falls.

Music: Finish Them Off

Intelligent Boy: Me? Well, I wanted to research dragons, but I got trapped here instead. Thanks for saving me!

That's the map cleared out.

Oh, more rewards when we get back!

And there's the chest right next to him.

I head back and take a path to the right.

And run into a new enemy on the way.

Despite being covered in grass, this thing isn't weak to fire damage.

Pokemon lied to me.

There's some rubble between us and another civilian.

And a dragon right after it!

Strangely, it's a Hammer Dragon, which we've already fought as a barrier dragon.

Barrier dragons in the 2020s were always their own dedicated thing, letting them be a cut above the normal dragons you fight in the dungeon. Letting them mingle in the general dragon pool means that barrier dragons will have to be a fair bit weaker to account for how they can be fought at any point in the dungeon.

I believe you know how this team works by now.

There's a chest behind some more rubble.

Moving ahead, we get this nice shot of Cladeon's water.

There's a chest at the end of this path, but more rubble forces us back.

We also run into a Crab palette swap on the way.

There's a dragon blocking off a civilian.

Fun fact: Only the front row team can use their skills in the field. No getting cheeky and using Opal as a backline healbot or something.

Let's give Team 1 some fun.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Holy poo poo Aiden, this is your first serious fight!

Clearly being freed from Ubisoft's clutches has given him a massive power boost.

Shame I forgot that madstrife.exe doesn't work on pre-emptives.

And that I got the wrong TROY for Yuno to exploit.

Oh well.

Second time's the charm.

Yuno finally gets a chance to show off her other Field Spells.

While the Hammer is forced to deal 140 damage to itself.

I'm pretty much showing off as much as possible at this point.

Because he doesn't last long.

Music: Finish Them Off

And as an extra level of power creep, the ability to freely swap teams means I can switch from one the moment they start to tire and let the rested backline team take over. By the time the new frontline team runs dry, odds are that everyone in the back has gained a level and fully refilled their LF/MN. So now I can basically ignore attrition in dungeon crawls.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Turns out the civilian was down a different path.

While the dragon was guarding a chest.

And like that, we've circled around to that chest from before.

Oh.

This one's aggressive.

Oh no.

poo poo.

Save me, Aiden!

Okay, I have some distance between us now, everything should be fi-

What.

What is your loving damage, dragon???

Jesus Christ, he's finally calmed down.

Team 2!

Kill.

Thank you, Team 2.

Next time: Unit 13 hits the books.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Jun 13, 2023

# ¿ Jul 19, 2022 03:37

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XVI - Featuring: Studying

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Just past that incredibly angry dragon is the exit.

Retired Blacksmith: Try not to overwork yourselves, alright?

But first, we have to grab this old man and kill one more dragon.

Said dragon.

It dies.

On top of everything else Buddy skills bring to the table, they also deal a respectible chunk of 100% free damage on their own.

Granted, Buddy skills are all ATK-based, so magic classes get screwed on that, but still.

This place is cleared out, on to the next.

A heal spot means that we're probably halfway to the forge.

Hey look, another dragon!

Most of these guys are taking just three turns to kill, and I'm walking out with barely any damage on my own forces.

We haven't even gotten to the really broken stuff yet.

This makes, what, three Guard Rings we've obtained in this dungeon so far?

I guess the devs had to ramp up how many accessories they give you, now that I have to fill out 12 slots instead of 6.

There's not much I can really say about this outing.

7th Encount was entirely ripped from 2020-II. Atlantica, despite its baffling lack of dragons and absolutely no boss, was at least pretty to look at.

But in general, the dungeons in VFD just feel like a step back from the 2020s.

Like, the first dungeon in 2020 was an inverted building, with a bit where you're traversing the exterior while falling 'up'! 2020-II had a transit station trapped in loving hyperspace!

Cladeon is just... generic caves with pretty water.

Oooh, I can have people make bentos now!

Well the Hammer Dragon is already in the general pool, so what's our next barrier fight?

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

A Megamouth.

We've already killed several Megamouths. There was one not even 30 feet back. Why even have barriers if there isn't going to be a challenging fight to take it down?

Aiden gets another Quick Hack proc on a dragon, but it fails to land this time.

He still gets MN for it.

On the plus side, I finally bought the right TROY.

Now when Yuno sets up ~~X Burn~~Mass Driver...

We get the tiny initial hit.

They the TROY goes off.

With an ideal hand, this means that every TROY will get 5 procs from Yuno: 3 from meteors and 2 from Yuno herself. Even with the TROY at level 1, that adds up to a free 400 damage with every TROY.

And then everything was fine.

Totally. Fine.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

Less fine, however, is the return to all these samey caves.

We finished this area, at least.

Oh thank god we're nearly there.

As nice as having the map on the touch screen is, it does make it hard to keep track of where we are with these top screen only shots, which is why I've been showing the full screen every time I hit a point of interest.

Also Land Anglers start showing up.

Poor guys were full on dragons in 7D1, only to get demoted to normal enemies ever since.

And in case you were wondering, despite the map being on the touch screen like 7D1, they did not bring back the ability to tap a dragon icon on the map and have it list what dragon it is.

Which is actually kinda annoying, now that any dragon can be in any spot and have any behavior pattern.

While all this has been going on...

Aiden has been using scapegoat.exe every time Quick Hack goes off.

Which restores 20 MN with every use.

While Aria may have Moonlight Poetry, it still requires multiple turns to make use of. Aiden can slap someone with this on turn 1 if Quick Hack lands. Fortuners may be better at MN restoration while in boss fights, but Agents are the undisputed kings of mid-dungeon recovery.

Ahead is a wandering dragon.

Look at this, we're at the start of the game and the dragons can do nothing to us!

It sorta puts us in an awkward spot where nothing can really challenge us, but all we have to use are the boring starter moves. We'll be getting the actual fun toys later.

Get to that barrier dragon on the left.

This one also chumps.

Wandering Lucier: I hope my mom and dad are OK...

Man, how bad is your luck when a dragon puts up a barrier entirely to trap you?

With all that cleared, we take the right path.

One final barrier dragon between us and Mayhem.

Aiden makes it kill itself with madstrife.exe.

A cutscene starts just past the barrier.

A dragon roars.

Yuma, this dragon shouldn't pose a problem with your power, but don't let your guard down.

I know. Now, let's hea� Ngh...

Oh look, the guy who can one shot High Dragons suddenly falls ill at the 11th hour, forcing the plucky new recruits to face it on their own. What are the odds?

I-It's nothing, Admiral.

... All members, prepare for battle. We've almost reached the High Dragon Mayhem. Press on!

The entire team nods.

We have a save point and two chests, but no warp point to head back.

For whatever reason, the devs want you to use this Escape Kit to head back if you need to, then use the Camouflage to cut down on random encounters while you run back.

Now, I could go fight Mayhem now...

But I got a pocket full of Dz and a reward to go get.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

With that, Mayhem is the last dragon in Cladeon.

Music: The Daily Grind

Kino: Oh! You've saved 13 people! As promised, here's your reward! Thanks a lot!

Oh hello. A second EXP booster will never go amiss.

Now to build stuff.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

The Lounge in the 2020s was pretty much a way to try and unwind while the literal apocalypse and end of humanity was going on just outside.

In VFD, you get to make it for funsies.

All this also opened up some sidequests.

Including a heart quest? This early?

Heart quests are quests dedicated to the quest giver that'll eventually lead to them giving you their number and a great piece of gear in the end game. I guess Nodens is the type of place to not have any policies against bosses and employees dating.

...Considering Allie, that makes a lot of sense.

7th Encount is currently down for maintenance... One of the bug testers has been so overworked that she literally passed out from exhaustion... My stomach hurts just thinking about having to do that much work... Anyways, our profits have gone down 75% since we closed 7th Encount for maintenance. If it stays closed, not only would our research budget get slashed, but our wages would, too... Please log into 7th Encount right away and help out with the bug testing. I need all the money I can get...

Haha you guys get paid? Unit 13 has to harvest the organs of whatever they fight to get pocket money.

This is a request for participation in employee training... To be a resource worthy of working here at Nodens, you must know history... We will start with the basics: the history of this company... Nodens Enterprises began fifteen years ago when President Allie bought a game company... The company had been on the brink of bankruptcy, but with the release of 7th Encount, we had a huge hit... In the blink of an eye, the employee count shot up and Nodens morphed into a multinational corporation. Anyways, for this quest, you'll need to talk to the living history book of Nodens, President Allie... She'll be waiting for you in the War Room...

It's totally leftovers.

Music: Let's Get to Work!!

We get the usual batch of upgrades.

I then realize that I completely forgot about that Rune Knight weapon we got right before we unlocked them.

The price of having to wait a month between recordings, I guess.

Also we get two new items.

And seriously, what is up with the cat food?

Music: The Daily Grind

I'm sorry Valerie, I know we're just a few steps away from killing the dragon that's been making a mockery of your forge and all, but sidequests take priority.

The textbook you'll need is in the Reference Room, so go ask the librarian, Asuka, about it. Do some studying by yourself for a while. After that, come report back to me. But don't slack off just because you don't have me breathing down your neck! *chuckle*

Now that I think about it, why does Nodens have so many unused basement floors?

You do know that there are more accessories than just Guard Rings, right, devs?

~

Asuka: Ah yes, you came for the training. President Allie told me you'd be coming. The first session will involve a book called �The Sunken Kingdom�. Nobody has it checked out at the moment, so it should be somewhere in here. Please go retrieve it.

Minato: Though it'll likely be difficult to clean the blood and dirt off of some of them...

h-

has nodens been robbing atlantis while we aren't looking

And now we aren't even trying to hide all the Lucier we've been taking in.

Mortzich: It's way too difficult for me. I couldn't understand much... Here, you can have it. Good luck.

The door up top is locked.

Asuka: The key parts are Chapters 1, 5, and 8. Please study them carefully over at the desk.

The table glows now that we have the book.

Ch. 1: A Rare Species

System Message: Compared to land-based societies of the time, Atlantis was quite an advanced civilization. However, no genetic discrepancies have been confirmed between the Lucier and the modern man. Some people believe that humans developed a mutation that allowed them to form the sea kingdom. However, some schools advocate the theory that the Lucier are in fact the progenitors of mankind itself.

That doesn't explain why the guys have elf ears and the girls have cat ears, though.

Ch. 2: The Voice of the Stone

System Message: One key feature of the kingdom of Atlantis was their knowledge of minerals and smithing techniques. Their prosperity would have been impossible had they not known the secret of the alloy orichalcum. However, both orichalcum and even Atlantis itself were previously believed to be mere legends. That is, until the Dragon Calamity of 2021, when ancient Lucier genetic data was discovered. Researchers were then able to bring Lucier clones to life using this genetic code as a basis. Their ability to create orichalcum in turn provided the first actual proof of Atlantis's existence. The clones have since joined the World Relief Corps and now assist those affected by the Calamity.

The World Relief Corps is the official translation for Sharon's organization from the 2020s. Nice to see that she pretty much adopted all the clones.

Ch. 8: The Hero and the Queen

System Message: Around 12,000 years ago, Atlantis faced imminent destruction at the hands of the True Dragon Nyala. However, they chose to fight Nyala in hopes of protecting the other land-based world civilizations. Ultimately, though Atlantis was destroyed, Nyala was repelled by Queen Ulania and a legendary hero. Without this sacrifice made by the people of Atlantis, modern prosperity would be impossible.

*nods*

OK OK★ Now then, Valerie... What do you think of Atlantis?

lmao she's asking this to an Atlantis native.

God the multi-team system really could have used some work.

Ancient civilizations are amazing.

Indeed, who doesn't like a good ancient society complete with geoglyphs and buried treasure? I'd love it if we could find other ancient civilizations to study★

~

I appreciate what they did.

...Indeed. Modern civilization was only able to develop to this point because they were able to stop Nyala. But the one who actually defeated Nyala... Who could that have been? *chuckle* What a mystery★

~

Could the hero be...

Did you act according to legend, or was the legend born according to how you acted...? Who can say? It's truly a chicken and egg situation.

...

Di-

~~

You clearly studied quite hard, meaning you've officially completed Employee Training 1! This is your reward! Be sure to use it wisely~!

You obtained Medis II x3.

You obtained SP Up 100 x3.

Let's study some more when we get the chance★

Did we just create a stable time loop???

Next time: Nodens Enterprises creates something from nothing.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Jun 13, 2023

# ¿ Jul 22, 2022 03:59

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Agent: 30 GOTO GUN

A hybrid of 2020's Hacker and Trickster's Gun skill tree, the Agent can choose between dealing high damage with their gun skills, or utterly debilitate enemies with their hacking skills.

Stats

The Agent, as you might expect from Trickster's successor, has middling numbers in everything except SPD, including the lowest MN count out of all eight classes.

Innate Ability

Normal attacks hit twice for 0.55x damage. EX Gain is multiplied by 0.75x per hit.

Tier 1 Skills

Hide

Places a buff on the user that increases crit rate and evasion, and decreases the chances of being targeted for attacks.

Changes from 2020-II: Crit chance buff reduced from 100% to 30%. Evasion buff reduced from 21% to 20%.

An unfortunate casualty of the crit rate rework, Hide's crit chance boost has been cut by 70% to keep it from being a permanent 1.5x damage increase to everything an Agent can do. You'll still be using it to mitigate your Agent's fragility, but it makes any crit-focused strategies much more inconsistent.

Bush Trap

Only usable when Hide is active. When any member of the party is attacked, user will counterattack with ranged ATK-based aerial damage with a chance to inflict Null Action.

Changes from 2020-II: Can now counter if user is attacked. Base infliction rate increased from 20% to 40%. Attacks are no longer guaranteed to crit.

Bush Trap itself, however, is a mixed bag. Going off when the Agent is hit means that bosses that spam AOEs can no longer skip around the counters, but the loss of auto-crits means the damage it deals takes a noticable hit. On the plus side, the 40% chance of landing Null Action means you'll have, at worst, a 16% chance to stop even the strongest bosses in their tracks.

Jump Shot

Targeted enemy takes ranged ATK-based aerial damage every turn. This move is canceled if the user dies or is petrified. EX only applies to the turn an attack lands, and not the initial turn. Attacks have priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage is no longer reduced every turn. Effective damage increased from 11.2x to 16x.

Here, have a nearly 5x boost to a mid-game 2020 skill right off the bat! As the Agent doesn't have nearly as much time to actually attack compared to the Trickster, squeezing this in between hacking attempts can add in a good bit of damage over the course of a fight.

Aiming Shot

Hits one enemy with ranged ATK-based aerial damage. Cannot miss starting at level 5. Can inflict Blind starting at level 6.

Your basic attack skill. Blind has always been a bit of an eh ailment to apply, but not missing once you have it half leveled will give it a use against the evasive Queen Rabi.

Knee Break

Hits one enemy with ranged ATK-based aerial damage and a chance to inflict Stun. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: MANA cost reduced from 6 to 5.

Just like with Samurai, Stun is a trash ailment. Knee Break doesn't even get a token attack boost like what Hidden Shadow got!

Hack

Attempts to inflict Hack on all enemies.

Changes from 2020-II: Now targets all enemies instead of just one.

The real reason an Agent won't have much time to spare for shooting things.

Multitarget Hack is insane! Even if you don't bother setting up a TROY first, throwing out a Hack against a group of enemies has a sizable chance of at least one target getting nailed.

madstrife.exe

Forces all Hacked enemies to target random enemies, including themselves. Does nothing against Sleeping enemies. Effects carry over into any extra turns the target may obtain. Attack is flagged as ranged ATK-based damage. Self-attacks cannot crit, but attacks against other enemies can. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Now targets all enemies. Damage reduced from 7.5x to 6x. MANA cost reduced from 4 to 2.

A small cut in damage from 2020, but being able to lock out a boss' moves for a turn is still just as much of a godsend now as it was back then.

An enemy hit with Null Action or Sleep takes zero actions for the turn, so any turn based strategies the AI has will go on pause for the turn. madstrife.exe, however, lets them choose those moves properly and advance their AI, but still cancel them out. Properly timing a Hack can let you bypass a deadly move a boss has if you know exactly when they'll use it.

Sadly, Curse infliction got shuffled to another class, so an Agent can't inflict ludicrous damage with the old Curse -> luvshock combo on their own anymore. It isn't entirely dead, but you'll have to dedicate two party slots to pull it off.

scapegoat.exe

Deals ranged MAT-based damage on one Hacked target. Restores MN based on damage dealt. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 1.5x to 3.2x. MANA cost reduced from 4 to 3.

I mentioned this earlier, but that damage buff effectively buffs scapegoat.exe twice over compared to noiztank.exe, as doubling the damage also means doubling the MN restoration. This makes it trivial for an Agent to keep a party topped up over the course of a dungeon run.

TROY: Fire

Places a debuff on one enemy that deals ranged MAT-based fire damage with a chance to inflict Burn every time the enemy is hit with a fire attack. Also applies Hack Weakness. (odds of Hack succeeding increased by 2.2x)

Changes from 2020-II: No longer deals fixed damage. Base infliction rate increased from 18% to 75%. Burn damage increased from 61 to 141.

TROY: Ice

Places a debuff on one enemy that deals ranged MAT-based ice damage with a chance to inflict Burn every time the enemy is hit with an ice attack. Also applies Hack Weakness. (odds of Hack succeeding increased by 2.2x)

Changes from 2020-II: No longer deals fixed damage. Base infliction rate increased from 18% to 75%. Freeze damage increased from 61 to 141.

TROYs in 2020-II had a hilarious oversight where they could insta-kill any Seed in the game, thanks to their fixed damage, so the change to a normal damage formula just fixes that. In practice, it actually heavily boosts the damage of every single TROY proc! Granted, you'll need a team that actually makes use of fire or ice to make use of this.

Now, Hack Weakness going from a 1.5x boost to a 2.2x boost looks like normal VFD powercreep, but a big change made to Agent is that Hack Weakness is no longer applied from anyone landing crits/weakness/ailments; the only things that apply it are the TROYs and an Agent's Buddy skill. The intent behind the bump was to make it actually worthwhile to use compared to just using Hack twice.

In practice, however, you can now just combine Hack Weakness with EX to get something like a 400% infliction rate on Hack, effectively making it guaranteed to land.

Withdraw

User attempts to escape with 5x better odds compared to running normally. Boost is applied to all allies that attempt to escape that turn. Has priority.

This basically gives escaping a fight a 100% success rate. And even if it doesn't work the first time, the other two party members can also run!

Trick Hand

Improves the effect of items for the entire party. The increase stacks with EX.

In terms of pure numbers, Trick Hand is unchanged from the 2020s.

However, this is your daily reminder that items have priority in VFD, so anything that makes them better is buffed by default. Trick Hand is good.

Quick Hack

The Agent has a chance to attempt to inflict Hack on a random enemy at the start of battle. Targets all enemies starting at level 4. The Agent restores 15% of their MN per target on use.

Changes from 2020-II: Targets all enemies at level 4. Now restores MN.

Oh, so clearly the multitarget Hack wasn't good enough, so now we get free MANA restoration to go with it. And that's not even considering the fact that you can follow this up with scapegoat.exe for even more MN. Agents have the lowest MANA pools in the game because they don't need more.

Tier 2 Skills

Air Assault

Hits all enemies with ranged ATK-based aerial damage. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 2.1x to 5x. EX Gain increased from 0.5% to 9%. Now has priority.

The damage has been more than doubled, and it builds 18 times more EX. You know, for funsies.

lostpower.exe

Deals ranged MAT-based damage to all Hacked targets and applies a debuff that reduces ATK, MAT, DEF, and MDF. The debuff is separate from other debuffs and can be stacked.

Changes from 2020-II: Now targets all enemies. Damage increased from 4x to 5.5x. ATK/MAT debuff increased from 0.8x to 0.6x. DEF/MDF debuff increased from 0.8x to 0.75x.

Hehe.

Hehehh.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

How many times have I said it!? Stat changes in VFD are extremely important, and this slaps some unlucky son of a bitch with some of the biggest debuffs in the game! The 60% attack modifier alone can push an enemy into dealing chip damage against tankier party members! And that's before you start using other debuffs to drive things down even further! One of the most cracked skills in an Agent's kit, maybe even the entire game.

Surprise Hunt

At the start of battle, there is a chance to force the fight into a pre-emptive attack. Negates ambushes starting at level 3. Cannot force a pre-emptive against bosses or dragons, but ambush negation still works.

Don't want to deal with ambush RNG or ornery dragons? Take this to level 3 so you're always a single Withdraw away from safety.

Cheetah Burst

At the end of the turn, the Agent has a chance to give all allies priority 3 for next turn. Actions above priority 3 are unchanged.

Changes from 2020-II: Gives priority, instead of maximum SPD.

Giving priority is a niche change compared to just maxing SPD, but the end result is still the same. Take this so occasionally you just don't have to worry about speed.

Assassin's React

Applies a buff that gives the Agent a 100% chance to gain an extra turn every time they land a critical hit.

In a sort of reverse Trick Hand, Assassin's React is unchanged from 2020, but is significantly worse in comparison. Hide being cut down to a 30% boost means landing crits is now inconsistant, and you won't have a lot of chances to actually attack if you're focused on hacking the enemy. Considering you need 3 turns for a hacking play, (TROY -> Hack -> any .exe) you're saying goodbye to half of this skill's duration for a single hack.

I honestly would have prefered Hacking React.

Tier 3 Skills

Rush Shot

Deals a number of ranged ATK-based aerial damage attacks to a single enemy. Critical hits from this skill deal 1.1x damage instead of 1.5x.

The crit bonus still being reduced here is weird, considering every other skill gets the standard 1.5x bonus. I guess Hiding makes it almost guaranteed to crit at least once for Assassin's React?

sleepmode.exe

Attempts to inflict Sleep on all enemies. Hacked targets are guaranteed to be afflicted, bypassing immunities.

Changes from 2020-II: Duration increased from 2 turns to 4 turns. Base infliction rate reduced from 80% to 75%. Can bypass immunities again.

You know what's better than shutting down anything in the game for 2 turns? Shutting them down for 4. Want to safely set up? Want to kill time to let your backrow build support charges? There is not a single thing an enemy can do to stop you.

And if you want to get really degenerate, Hack resistance caps out at 0.3x on a single DLC boss, and 0.35x everywhere else. This means you can slap a boss with this, set up a TROY on the now sleeping boss, and have, at worst, a 66%-77% chance without EX of Hacking them again, letting you follow up with another sleepmode.exe the second they wake up!

EX Skill

Indra's Flames

Deals ranged MAT-based damage with a chance to inflict Hack to all enemies.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 7x to 16x. Chance to not act increased from 30% to 80%. Hack duration increased from 2 turns to 3.

So on top of more than doubling the damage it deals, and giving the Agent two turns to hack with instead of just one, Indra's Flames also acts as Super Paralysis.

The boost to Hack's duration isn't that much of a buff, honestly, as losing Hacking React means that this is the only way the Agent can get two .exe skills off in a single Hack aside from Quick Hack.

Team Skills

Charge Time: 1 turn

Agents are unique is that they're the first class to have a blisteringly fast charge rate on their Team Skills. This means that they're ready for a Support in just one turn, and can break buffs with a Buddy skill in two!

Buddy

Deals two hits to the target. Each hit deals 1.5x ranged ATK-based damage and has a base 40% chance to inflict Burn for 5 damage and a base 40% chance to inflict Freeze for 13 damage. Inflicts Hack Weakness. (Chances of Hack succeeding increased by 1.8x.) All ailments last for 2 turns.

So, being able to dispel enemy buffs every other turn is already godlike, but everything else here makes the Agent's Buddy skill the best in the game, hands down.

First, each hit rolls their own chance to break buffs, so stronger bosses with harder to dispel buffs still have a sizable chance of losing them. Second, and most importantly, while the damage on the DoTs are pitiful, it doesn't change the fact that they still apply stat debuffs. That's two chances at cutting all stats by a sizable chunk, and by the time they wear off, the Agent is ready to do it again.

The smaller Hack Weakness, however, is bizarre, as the only possible way to make use of it is if you intentionally run two Agents in your party. An Agent in the front can't use a Buddy skill to inflict it, and an Agent in the back can't use Hack to exploit it.

Support

Increases party SPD by 1.2x for 1 turn.

Their Support skill, meanwhile, is far less impressive. Speed just isn't really a stat that gets a lot out of buffs. Most classes are either fast enough that they'll be going first anyways, or so slow that a 20% boost won't make a difference. Treat it as more of a way to always make sure the Agent is ready to fire off a Support with other, more potent party members.

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Jan 9, 2023

# ¿ Jul 24, 2022 03:39

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XVII - Featuring: Unit 13's first High Dragon

Music: The Daily Grind

Welcome back. Last time, we learned that the reason Nyala lost at Atlantis is because Nyala lost at Atlantis.

This guy doesn't give us our reward for building the Lounge, but he does handle dates.

Since we currently have no numbers to hit up, Unit 13 is limited to dating amongst themselves.

The game has this sort of affinity system between your party members that raises as people fight in the same team. As far as I know, it has no impact on gameplay.

Music: Re:Vanishment (code：VFD Ver)

Behold: The sensual face of romance.

This is the guy who gives us our reward.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

~

Mark: Welcome to the Skylounge. I'm Mark, the manager. I guarantee excellent drinks for all guests.

Maki: I haven't been home for two weeks! It's like they're running some kind of sweatshop here!

And a quick look out the window.

This would have been unnoticable on a tiny 3DS screen, but that sure is a flat texture slapped up just outside.

...How the hell has Julietta not noticed all the Lucier we've been saving?

Kuroki: Oh, I'm not actually playing. I pretend to do stuff, but the sound comes from a hidden speaker.

Up next, before we finally go kill Mayhem, is dealing with those bugs in 7th Encount.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

Time for your enthralling bug check adventure to begin. Doesn't that just sound oh so exciting? You're gonna be doing a bit more than have a staring contest with source code, though. There's a dragon in there that just came outta nowhere. Seems like it's from a bunch of bugs. So... you get to fight it. Just make sure you record the error code so we can analyze the cause. Now hurry up and kick that dragon's rear end!

How do you gently caress up at programming so bad that your bugs combine into a dragon?

Does this take place in the Battle Network universe or something?

7th Encount is the exact same as the last time we were here.

Right down to the enemies that give jack for rewards

The dragon is on Stage 3, for reference.

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator

Sega is clearly implying something here, as we have to kill the embodiment of an old exclusive JRPG on the 360.

And despite showing up in Chapter 2, the Blue Dragon is only about as strong as the dragons in Atlantica.

So it dies like a chump.

If only actual debugging was so ea-How the gently caress did it give Dz.

We are in a video game.

If virtual dragons can just give Dz, why can't Julietta make a batch of level 1 dragons for us to mulch to get infinite Dz?

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals

Hurry along and bring it over to Kirk on the Development Floor. He'll make it all better.

Video: Unit 13 VS High Dragon Mayhem
Music: Battlefield - No. 7 Incursion

Developer Kirk: Hm? Error... code? Ahhh, yes, yes. You must be our new bug tester. Well, can you show me the report? Hmmm... I see, I see... There seems to be an endless loop forming in the battle protocol under particular circumstances. I should be finished fixing up the code by tomorrow. Can you go report that to Doctor Julietta?

Bro, Julietta's office is like 30 feet away just tell him yourself.

*giggle* I'm just kidding. You came to tell me about the bug check issue, no? Thanks for the help. You really saved our butts. Hm, I think I'll give you a passionate kiss as a thank you! Oh, wait! I had spaghetti with garlic in it for lunch today... Alas, it'll have to wait. I'm sure you're disappointed, but how's this instead?

You obtained Paral-Aid x3.

We got 375 Az from the digi-dragon, for comparison.

You obtained High-Grade Bento x1.

But we also get a free 140 LF party heal from Julietta, so it works out.

And since we got those ingredients back in Cladeon...

We can have our teammates make food!

The odds on which bento you get are a simple 6/10 chance for a Low-Grade Bento, 3/10 for a Handmade Bento, and 1/10 for a High-Grade.

And now we can finally complete our mission.

Having no warp point for the forge is infuriating.

Music: Cladeon - An Undersea Shimmer

As it means I have to run all the way back.

And the free camouflage we got doesn't last nearly long enough to get there.

Between the running and the random encounters, it took about 10 minutes to make it.

And there it is.

Since this is her home and all, Valerie gets to do the honors.

Music: None

Is it just me, or are Mayhem's back legs completely off the platform?

Aaaaaand Yuma drops right on cue.

Music: Destructive Curse

Yuma! Is this a side effect of the installation...!?

You have my thanks...!

Valerie's face certainly isn't saying no!

Hey, Unit 13! This thing is gonna harden to increase its defense against your attacks. If you wanna beat it, you'll need to use Buddy Skills to break its defense!

And then we get a random Buddy skill tutorial?

3 months, 17 updates, and 3 dungeons into VFD, and we have finally hit the first actual boss of the game.

Everyone sets up.

Mayhem's normal plan is to poison everyone.

The damage on his normal attacks, for comparison.

Lol his tail is clipping into the ground.

Between the initial hit and the poison, Dragon Fog is nasty. That's outpacing the regen from Forest Poetry!

Inoue uses EX on Maple Tear to land Burn.

While Valerie does the same with Lightning Sword for Paralysis.

And Aria patches everyone up.

Paralysis is so good in VFD you guys.

At the start of turn 3, Mayhem always uses Dragon Action as a priority action. This is the defense buff Nagamimi warned us about.

And by 'defense buff.'

I mean it cuts all damage, ATK and MAT, by 100% for 5 turns.

This is basically the game telling you to use Buddy skills or die. So the High Dragons have been reduced from game spanning bosses to literal tutorials.

Note how Opal is just shy of her second bar. If I didn't keep a 1 turn charger like Aiden in the back for this, I'd be forced to plink for two full turns before I could break Mayhem's shield.

The defense buff also applies to the Buddy skill that breaks it, but Aiden's is two hits. That lets the second shot deal full damage like normal.

And then Aria landed an EX boosted Revelation: Bleed.

Look at that status bar! Burn, Freeze, Paralysis, Bleed, and Hack Weakness all at the same time.

He looked at his status bar too, sadly, and decided to cleanse all his ailments.

Oh no, the entire party got hit with Poison! Whatever shall I do?

Oh wait.

I just keep chipping away at him.

And just like that, I'm back to having my crippling ailments back on.

Mayhem's last trick is a basic single target attack.

Mayhem is nearly dead.

Aiden's current guns have a chance to inflict poison, which can still go off even on Buddy skills.

Did you know that there are only two weapons in the entire game with added ailments? This is one, and we'll be seeing the other next chapter. The devs just decided to practically ditch the whole concept, I guess.

And then Aria steps in and finishes Mayhem off.

Look at our current stats at the end of this fight. Everyone is fully healed and has only lost a tiny amount of MN. Even the bosses are barely a threat in VFD.

Everyone in Unit 13 nods.

Ad...miral...

Ah, right! Where is the High Dragon!?

You needn't worry. Unit 13 handled it.

I mean, we do have six people on the team now.

... I apologize for being useless at such a vital time. I don't know how I can make it up to you...

We're teammates. It was nothing.

Teammates, hm...? Thank you. How strange. I feel... relief.

~

Are you sure you're OK?

You are quite kind... Thank you. Your concern brings me... relief.

~~

However, I assure you... I will never commit such a grave error again.

Heyyy! You guys alright?

The rocks have been making a hell of a lot of noise, so I came to see what was going on. I left the rest of my troops in charge of the town while I was gone.

The rocks were... making noise?

Oh yeah... You're not a Lucier, so I guess you don't hear them. All Lucier have the power to hear the voices in the stone. That's how we're so good at smithing. I grew up in this mine, so I can immediately tell if the rocks are acting up. Anyways, I can't believe you guys actually beat Mayhem... I'm speechless... And all I've done up 'til now is look down on you. I'm real sorry. Please... forgive me for being so rude earlier.

You're surprisingly honest.

D-Don't make fun of me! poo poo... I should never have apologized...

~

The real battle starts now.

You can't be serious...

~~

Oh yeah...! There's something I need to ask you guys.

Hm... That's fine, but let's head back to the village. You surely need to report to the chief.

Oh, that's right. OK, we can talk details once we get back!

Music: None

We then cut to right nearby.

With this fellow watching us.

Such meager experience... And yet, possessing the power to defeat a High Dragon... Could these be... the dragon hunters...?

Who then swiftly teleports away.

Next time: The 'I' in ISDF stands for 'Idiot.'

BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Oct 4, 2022

# ¿ Jul 26, 2022 03:34

BisbyWorl: Jan 12, 2019; Knowledge is pain plus observation.

Update XVIII - Featuring: Probable Ethics Violations

Music: Chant for Sanctuary (code:VFD Ver.)

And with that, our first mission to kill a High Dragon has come to an end.

This was also the only mission to kill a High Dragon. From here on out we're killing All True Dragons, All The Time.

I mean, High Dragons will still show up every now and then, but they'll be more of a momentary roadblock rather than a dedicated chapter focus.

We're still four True Dragon samples short of our quota, after all.

Chief Toglau: *chuckle* This is Cub. He is the last remaining blacksmith in this settlement. As I mentioned, almost all of our experienced blacksmiths lost their lives in battle. The only ones left with any experience retired long ago. That leaves Cub as our blacksmith.

That means...

Chief Toglau: The heart of Cladeon lies in the forge. However... forging the Dragonslayer will be impossible.

...King Utrello entrusted me with it as he died. He said a hero would come along to slay Nyala...

So, where is it?

Once I got back from battle, I handed it over to Consul Tallieri. With it, I passed along Utrello's request... For the Dragonslayer to be given to the hero...

I don't think it'll be that easy. Tallieri's always been skeptical of the Dragonslayer's power. Plus, he hasn't listened to a word anyone's said since King Utrello passed. On top of that, he insists that his suicidal plan is the only way to defeat Nyala. I just can't accept that! poo poo... All these people are so quick to give up on living! I should never have entrusted the will of King Utrello to that coward!

Chief Toglau: I understand why you feel the way you do, Eigur, but you must calm yourself.

Nrgh... Sorry. I got carried away. I guess it's not like getting the Dragonslayer back's gonna help us much anyways.

Hm...? What do you mean?

That thing's no ordinary sword. To bring out its true power, we need an expert blacksmith, too... One with the will to protect this planet at all costs. Then, that will can pass to the hero... That bond is really important. The sword won't have power if it doesn't hold the will to protect. Maybe that's why it didn't work before... Why it didn't respond to King Utrello's wishes. Anyways, it's prolly pointless to ask people from the capital to help us down in Cladeon...

Wait, did they just... skip that step the first time? Did Utrello knowingly walk into Nyala's lair with a half-cocked Dragonslayer?

Chief Toglau: Hm. The blacksmith must wish to defeat the dragon, and the wielder must then inherit that will... Only upon the connection of those two will the Dragonslayer's true power be unlocked.

But if we can find a blacksmith like that... Maybe we can get the Dragonslayer to show itself. There has to be someone in Cladeon who can�

No. Even separate from the will part, we need someone who can hear the voice of orichalcum. But only members of the Royal Family are able to do that. I sure as hell can't...

Chief Toglau: There are none of the Royal Lucier Family who remain in Cladeon... It will be impossible.

No...

We'll just have to find one.

...

Unit 13, I do not believe we have the time for aimless searching.

No, but...

Hm? Do you have someone in mind?

Yeah, but I don't think she'd be willing to help us.

~

What about in the capital?

Unit 13...? Do you have someone in mind?

Wait... There is someone. I don't think she'd be willing to help us, though.

~~

If there's any chance of success, we need to request their aid as soon as possible.

Who is this woman you speak of?

Oh hey, the one noble we already know!

The Atlantis Royal Family is the oldest group in the whole Lucier Lineage. The blood of our ancestors is rich in their veins... Not like the people of Cladeon.

Novice Smith Cub: Back in the day it used to be a sacred task carried out only by the elites.

Chief... What should we do?

Chief Toglau: I doubt the Royal Family will hear the pleas of lower-class citizens like ourselves.

We'll never know unless we try.

You're... probably right. Alright, the tide's turning in our favor. Let's do everything we can!

~

I'm sure she'll listen.

Hm? Do you know Ulania, too? Haha, you guys are full of surprises. That means there's a glimmer of hope now!

~~

Please, Chief. Let us negotiate with Queen Ulania!

Chief Toglau: We must go through Consul Tallieri first. Be sure to honor his word.

Tch... Fine.

We appreciate the help, Chief.

Come on, let's go back home for now.

We will gather here again tomorrow before heading over to the Royal Palace to negotiate.

Sounds good to me.

But you lit a fire inside of me when you went and took back the forge from that High Dragon. I... want to thank you for helping us. Valerie... I think you may be the one to wield the Dragonslayer. Somehow I have a feeling that you are gonna be the one who beats Nyala and saves this country... Is that wierd? *chuckle* Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow!

Sorry, Valerie, but Opal's the one getting the godslaying job.

We're going to leave you behind if you don't hurry up, Unit 13.

Don't forget about tomorrow, OK? We'll be waiting!

Allie and Julietta are thrilled, too. The mission's not over 'til you're home, though. Hurry up!

Now, I could leave...

Rude Militiaman: You're not gonna be so arrogant when I'm done! Got it!?

But killing Mayhem and reclaiming the forge has given everyone here something new to say.

~

Young Militiaman: Y-You are incredible! With your powers... we may be able to return to the peaceful days of yore!

~

Novice Smith Cub: Holy crap! You guys managed to beat the High Dragon without divine protection...! I really underestimated you land dwellers!

~

Blind Smith Auroth: I heard the rumors, surface dweller. It sounds as though you've defeated the High Dragon. I wish I could have witnessed that with my own two eyes...

~

Chief Toglau: We must go through Consul Tallieri first. Be sure to honor his word.

Inept Militiaman: I'm glad nobody's gonna get hurt now. I-I'm still ready to fight, though! I-I p-p-promise!

~

Anxious Old Woman: Y-You really managed to defeat the High Dragon? I just... can't believe that...

Positive Old Man: You young'uns can overcome any hardship! Anything is possible when you still have your youth!

~

Negative Old Man: Even if we can defeat the High Dragon, our fate will remain unchanged... The capital is never going to help us... All we can do now is accept our impending doom...

Vigorous Old Man: I'd check your power levels if my hip wasn't hurting so much.

Determined Girl: I wanna be strong, too! Like Eigur! Can you guys give me lessons!?

Longing Lucier: That means... this place can once again be my safe haven! Now all I need is my fated love...

And done.

Music: UE77 Tokyo

Look at those zeroes!

...why isn't there a notice about clearing out Cladeon?

Music: The Daily Grind

Let's go check in with the boss first.

Music: UE77 In Ariake

Seriously! Such hard work earns you a big sloppy kiss as a reward!

The game actually plays a cartoony kiss SFX as Julietta steps up.

Don't be too hasty. Our chances of success are still only at a mere 50%.

We will still have to convince the queen of a powerful monarchy to lend us her aid. I don't expect she'll be as open to persuasion as you'd like.

*chuckle* So you think we should just give up on going after the Dragonslayer?

No, but it is not as though that is our only option. Well, we can take care of that when the time comes. For now, let us hope she accepts our request.

Now then, it's time for us to head back to ISDF HQ. And as promised, we'll be taking a portion of the Mayhem specimen with us.

Please, go ahead. We like to actually keep our promises, unlike some people.

Stop that, Julietta★ This mission was only a success due to the cooperation of Unit 13, ISDF, and that boy Eigur. That's the kind of synergy I can really get behind!

It was quite successful, I will admit. Plus we got our hands on some precious Dz.

Yup yup! We'll keep working together and take down Nyala!

*sigh* You're seriously too excited about this. I'm heading back to the lab.

OK OK★ Well, that's it for today! Unit 13, ISDF guys, we'll see you all tomorrow!

Excuse us.

I really need to get into the habit of swapping to Opal for these cutscenes, Yuma hasn't known Valerie nearly long enough to request a private meeting out of the blue like this.

Better late than never!

I guess we'll see if that ends up being good or bad... Sheesh... You're such a goddamn softy...

~

Oooh... I heard you and Yuma are going to have a secret meeting? *chuckle* I love watching a young relationship blossom★

~

Look, guys that seem sincere are sometimes the most dangerous. Just be careful, OK?

The terrace is that outdoors area on the Rest Floor, if you forgot.

Music: Re:Vanishment (code：VFD Ver)

*nods*

*chuckle* I'm sure you don't know how to react to that, but... I need you to listen.

Well that, uh, certainly is a way to create a dragon killer.

My body is that of a young adult, but in fact... I was only created twelve years ago. Shocking, no? I'd expect that it's also rather... creepy.

It also sounds wildly unethical.

*shakes head*

The reason for my existence is to kill dragons... and to become the strongest soldier alive. If I were able to achieve that... I would have no need for friends or lovers. Hence, watching you continue to grow stronger and stronger... I...

Yuma's budding inferiority complex is kinda funny when you consider that Unit 13 needed six people to take on a High Dragon, which he can kill in a single punch when he's not dealing with Dramatic Anime Moments.

My apologies. I do not know how to express this emotion... I simply... do not want to lose. The one who will defeat the 7th True Dragon must be me. It must. That is how I feel. Ah... I'm sorry. I don't know what I wished to achieve by telling you all of this. It's as though I cannot control my emotions when I'm around you...

Okay, 1) Rude, 2) I'm still on Tier 1 skills you jerk, say that again once I hit Tier 3.

Hence... I request that you refrain from assisting me from now on. Accepting aid from one who is weaker than you... That is just unacceptable, right? Perhaps I'm strange. You can refuse my wish, but at the very least, do not obstruct my mission.

I won't abandon you.

But... I was so rude to you just now... What...? Th-This response is incomprehensible...

~

Aren't you overthinking this?

Hm...? Overthinking...? ... ...Ah! N-Not at all! That's complete nonsense!

~~

What I wanted to say is... I'm not going to lose to you. Never. Well then...