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I love Wild Arms, and just like Suikoden it’s a series that does not get enough love.
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Jun 2, 2018 21:44
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| # ? May 5, 2024 13:21 |
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Part 6 - Ruined Festival Last time, we attended the town fair, played some games, and learned a bit about history. This time, we find a lost boy.  Well, that was pretty easy. The kid is hanging out in the middle of town. When we find him, he lets go of his balloon. Music - The Sky Is Being Torn Apart  Just as the sky starts to turn nasty.   As the unsuspecting people look up to the skies, they watch the silent nightmare spread over their heads. Uh, I don't think that's supposed to be happening.  Some sort of laser beam shoots downward from the sky.  The [Beginning of the End] is here... A sword of light strikes the land and a wall of fire rushes across the horizon.   More lasers, and those pieces falling down from the crack widen it.    "Rocks fall, everyone dies. Take 20d6 damage and roll up new characters... What do you mean, 'I have enough HP to survive it'?!" Music - World of Loudening Screams  Yeah, everyone around us is dead.  And the monsters on the map are actual encounters. We've already encountered Skeletons back in the Temple of Memory.  They were glass cannons back then, but they're absolutely no threat now. These guys might be buffed a bit; I don't think the Skeletons from back then would still be dealing this much damage to Jack, considering his level has tripled since then and I've upgraded his equipment. They haven't even close to kept up, if so; both Jack and Rudy one-shot them, and damage in the mid-20s is laughable now.  They drop Jack's starting sword, though.  Lizardmen are new, and at least a bit more dangerous.   For once, Jack can't just one-shot them; he needs Rudy's help to chew through their 120 HP. And no, Psycho Crack doesn't deal enough damage to one-shot them, either. Rudy's Hand Cannon could chew through them, even before the upgrades I pumped into it earlier, but I don't want to waste the bullets.  I did get the Confusion effect to proc off it, though.  It didn't help.  They deal just about twice the damage of Skeletons on their basic attack. Still not very concerning, especially since they're around Rudy's speed. They don't have any special attacks, either. They can drop Heal Berries, so even their item drop is boring.  There are a bunch of corpses around. Considering the entire town is aflame, I doubt she would have had much opportunity to cool.   Although, there is no other way out of town.This guy prevents us from entering the fairgrounds.   And the two exits to the world map are also guarded.  We can see Cecilia, and she's surrounded. We'd better go and take care of that!   We go and rescue Cecilia from a bunch of monsters she almost definitely could have beaten solo. Might as well save her MP, though.   5 minutes! We must get everyone into the castle at once! After "rescuing" Cecilia, we get charged with rescuing townspeople, and set a hard five-minute time limit on doing so. The time limit is technically rather generous, assuming you know where all of the people are. She also rejoins the party at this point.  This kid is just to the right of where we found Cecilia.  There's a guy here, in the building we started out next to.  This guy, in the tavern, gets rescued next.  This woman is just out behind Emma's lab.  This man is in one of the warehouses.  There's also the sick/injured man in the hospital.  This man is over by the statue of Zeldukes.  This woman is in the graveyard behind the church.  Speaking of the church, we should pick up the nun as well. She's pretty badass - no "oh no my church is burning down around me" from her; instead its "I can heal, take me to the wounded".  While I'm there, I blow up a large crate outside that I had previously missed and pick this up.  Can you see the NPC I missed in this screenshot? It took me quite a while to find her.  If you guessed "she's down at the bottom left, hiding behind a bed you blind idiot", then give yourself a pat on the back. And with the innkeeper rescued, that's everyone. There's no fanfare or dialogue when you head back into the castle, not even to let you know if you missed anyone or to give you a choice to look for more people. Music - Against the Backdrop of World Destruction   There is nothing for me to do here... Well, I guess my superior power is too good to use on humans. Give this message to one of the humans running into the castle. If they don't give up the [Tear Drop], we will tear the castle to pieces.We do get a cutscene, though. "Belselk" here is obviously supposed to be "Berserk" or possibly "Berserker", and he appears to be the leader of the monsters. A Lizardman runs in from the direction of the fairgrounds.  All junk? Good! We don't want to fight those things... We have the golems now. This is a very interesting situation...So the monsters attacking the town are after the golems and the Tear Drop. That can't be good. Let's back up for a second, though. You can "cheat" this section. Notice how there weren't any timers visible on any of the screenshots of me saving the townsfolk? Yeah, you can do that before you even go "rescue" Cecilia.  of the townspeople. We must go, now.This is what Cecilia says if you have rescued all of the living townsfolk before you go rescue her. You're still given five minutes to get inside the castle walls, but at that point, the only thing left to do is to walk around town and clean up any monsters you left behind. Music - From Anxiety to Impatience   Inside the castle, we discover that the King has been injured. Most of the NPC chatter is some combination of that, "OMG Monsters!", or "I dunno how long we can hold out".   keep the monsters away.Of note are this guard, who is... probably correct, although food would be a concern.   If the monsters find this passage, it will be dangerous.This chef, who tells us about a secret passage which cannot possibly be relevant, especially not in this very update.  This room, which serves as a free inn for now.  The nun, in a room with most of the rest of the refugees, who continues to be badass.  And this guard, who posits that this might be how Arctica was destroyed.  Let's let Cecilia go see her father, though. I'm sure she's worried.   an entire town. What do they want? I've been wounded badly. I was careless... I hope my men got away in time. Urrrrrgh! Let me speak to Cecilia. I need to tell her something before I... Right, an important part of "letting Cecilia go see her father" is... letting Cecilia go see her father.  Listen, Cecilia! The monsters are after you. You must defeat them!A guard walks up to the foot of the King's bed.  that you surrender the [Tear Drop] or they will storm the castle. The [Tear Drop] belonged to my mother. It's very dear to me, but I'll give it up for the sake of my kingdom. The monsters can have my [Tear Drop]... I won't permit it! No... You won't do it! Cecilia, the [Tear Drop] is not just an heirloom. It holds the key to unleashing the power of the ancients. Only a princess of the Adlehyde family may possess it. One who hears the will of the Guardians can use the [Tear Drop] to change the world. But if I do nothing, many will die because of me. Please understand, Cecilia. Life can be cruel sometimes. Cecilia, stay in your room, no matter what happens.And just like that, the scene ends, and Cecilia is sent to her room like a misbehaving toddler. Not that the King is necessarily wrong, per se. It's a pretty thorny issue, and "right" is one of those things that will be determined afterwards by historians oh who am I kidding, we're going to fix it now.  Innocent people should not suffer. In the dungeon, there is a secret passage. It should still be there. When I was a little girl, I remember trying to get into the town from there. We can sneak out from there and give the demons the [Tear Drop].The game is not very consistent with its terminology. Are they monsters or demons? Anyways, there are a few bookshelves in Cecilia's room with tidbits of knowledge seemingly relevant to our situation.  One... know thy subjects. Two... Always lead by example. Truth will always prevail.  Small crystal sphere that fits in the palm of a child's hand. Invaluable. Radiates a subtle heartbeat of pure magical light.  Adlehyde is the [Light]. Arctica is the [Ice]. Both are from the ancient blood of benevolence... Adlehyde looked for the warmth in the heart. Arctica looked for the answers from the past to sing the songs of man across Filgaia. Both kingdoms pledged to world peace. Now, who's up for a stealth section? That's right, we have to sneak out of Adlehyde Castle! If your answer was "gently caress no, not me", rest assured that this isn't so bad. Most of Adlehyde's guards are apparently so blind that you literally need to tap them on the shoulder for them to notice you. The few that actually do have sensory capability though are pretty on-point and will zero in on you with laser focus. Our objective is to get to the kitchens, which are down a floor and on the left-hand side of the castle.  There are now guards stationed at some doors, seemingly arbitrarily determined to force Cecilia to take a circuitous route. I actually liked this section in Alter Code: F better, because it made you do stuff like use Hanpan to distract guards rather than just "there's a guard at this door but not that one, so you have to take the long way".  So the correct way, and the only way we're allowed to go at this point, is to take this door out to the castle walls.  Where the door guard is standing about ten feet from the door, not directly blocking it, for some reason. Note that this guy was, in fact, blocking this door before the King got injured. That guard on the left is one of the ones who always knows where you are and runs directly towards you at all times. This is actually the most difficult part of this entire section by far; you need to run, not walk, out the door, not touch the door guard, run directly for the corner there, and then turn south and run that way, all before the "homing" guard catches you.     I get caught at least four times here. This is the only place I actually get caught in this entire section.  And even when I do finally make it, it's by the skin of my teeth. I'm not convinced that it's possible to do otherwise.  We head south...  ...East...  ...North...  ...Back west a little...  ...And finally north to the door back into the castle.  From there, it's downstairs to the ground floor.  Then north; south is the well-guarded throne room.  Almost there. This guard is one of the "homing" types, but ducking in the inn room seems to reset his position (despite going back inside not resetting the guard above  ), so he's actually pretty easy to throw. At the end of the west corridor is the door to the kitchen.  ...I understand. I'll open the door to the cellar... Please follow me.Once inside, we find the chef who was talking about the secret door earlier and talk to him. No, I didn't skip a dialogue option there.  ...Because it's here, instead.  Yes.  Music - Way of Illusion  Welcome to the Obligatory Sewer Level.  We've had minigames, a stealth section, and a sewer level in close proximity.  I appreciate the game's attempt to get the crap out of the way up front, but I can't help but feel like they could have been spaced out a bit better. I'm joking; the sewer level's just fine. Note the chest in the upper-right corner.  You need Hanpan to get it.  Conveniently, I get all of the enemies in this dungeon in one encounter. Balloons are old friends by this point, but the Jellyblobs and Gomoratoads are new.    Jellyblobs have 60 HP, so the only character unable to one-shot them with a basic attack is Cecilia.  Although not for lack of trying. They don't seem to have much defense, so crits deal very little additional damage.  They're not very threatening. They're weak to Fire, so Cecilia could one-shot them with Flame if I cared enough to waste the MP.  Gomoratoads, on the other hand, have 120 HP, enough to withstand a crit from even Jack. Their weakness to Fire makes him the only character completely incapable of one-shotting them at this point.  They deal a little more damage than the Jellyblobs, but not that much.  They also have a Water Gun attack that deals respectable damage, but they don't use it much.  Now, we could walk all the way around to that treasure chest, break all the boxes, and open it ourselves...  But I'm too lazy. Hanpan, go!  We do need to toss these boxes out of the way to progress, though.  More boxes, more smashing.  Absolutely smashing. This chest is boxed in from the back to prevent Hanpan shenanigans; there is a ledge to the north that you could use to get close enough if the box wasn't in the way.  Heading south from the chest, we find this. I wonder what's hidden here?  ...Oh. That wasn't even worth the time I spent getting here.  After backtracking a bit, we find progress.  More crates. Who's leaving all these wooden crates in a sewer?  Off in a nice secluded corner...  ...We find another chest. At least this one was worth it.  More progress, more empty crates.  Another blocked-off chest, this one containing 120 Gella.    More progress and treasure. Not really that much to say about this dungeon, unfortunately.  A save point; we must be near the end. Music - After the Chaos and Destruction  And that was the final room; we're in town now. This building was always accessible, but those blocks can't be pushed from the other side to allow access to the sewers.  But we can move them now, and doing so allows access to the town proper. Music - The Sharp Edge of an Assault  In the center of town stands Are you guaranteeing the lives of the people? Don't worry, I'm a busy guy. Just give me the [Tear Drop] and you won't see me again. Grab the prize and go through the gate as soon as it opens.  You demon... I don't know how you got here, but... Revenge! This is what I live for! Like I said, I'm a busy guy. Let's make it quick, shall we? No, you can't do that! You're crazy to go after him by yourself. Boss Fight - Belselk Music - Power Fighter  very good toys. We have to be so delicate with you humans. Here, how about a little dance? Belselk here is our second actually intelligent boss, and the first since Nelgaul back in the Sealed Library. He has 2,000 HP and no notable weaknesses or resistances.   His DFP seems about on par with the Magtortous, as well.   Rudy is going to be doing the lion's share of the damage this fight; that 5 ATP from that Hand Cannon upgrade has been good to him. I'm also beginning to suspect that Hand Cannon doesn't give a poo poo about DFP.  Cecilia is going to spend most of this fight on support duty, spamming Shield.  Mostly because even Valkyrie is insufficient to cut through Belselk's surprising MGR.  Belselk himself has three possible actions; this one is "do nothing".   He also has "hit everyone like a truck",   And "hit one person like a god-damned train".    Both Cecilia and Jack spend a bunch of time in this battle healing, even after Cecilia's buffed hers and Jack's Defense twice and Rudy's once.  I feel like I'm being assaulted by a gnat. I'm running out of patience!It's no surprise when Rudy lands the final blow, but it looks like this guy isn't going to let us kill him. In Alter Code: F, Belselk has 999,999 HP, and the fight is "survive for five rounds until he gets bored". I don't think you can win even on New Game Plus. You do gain bonus EXP based upon how much damage you inflict in that version, though, so go ham on him. Music - The Sharp Edge of an Assault   After one final taunt, Belselk fucks off.  Meanwhile, over in the fairgrounds...   We've got to do what we're told... We've got to get this done. Belselk's minions are finally getting around to making off with the Golems. The Tear Drop and three weapons of mass destruction... what could the monsters be planning with these things? Music - A Sorrowful Separation  Back in the King's chambers, Cecilia finishes up the "beg forgiveness" part of her clever plan. ...It's done. But the [Tear Drop] must not be used for evil.I've recently learned that there's a fairly common Japanese phrase that translates roughly to "It can't be helped" and I wonder if that's what "...It's done" was in the original Japanese. While I'll give them props for doing something different, it seems to me like "What's done is done" would have sounded more natural. Although I guess we already have proof that there wasn't much editing done to this game's English script. Please don't talk, father. Save your strength. It's my responsibility to reclaim the [Tear Drop]. Princess! I have made my decision. Our resources must be conserved for the reconstruction of Adlehyde! I have trusty friends. With their help, I will reclaim the [Tear Drop]. I need to reclaim the [Tear Drop] for the future of Filgaia. I understand. I'm sure Rudy is with me as well. We were going to volunteer anyway, but you shouldn't come. You'll just slow us down. about working with you. I don't trust royalty. I never have and I never will. I kind of had an idea, but you still haven't told us from your own mouth. Hide your identity and roam the land...eh? How romantic... You can count me out. That's enough, [Dream Chaser]! If people find out who I am, they become distant. I was lonely... But my passion to save Filgaia is no lie. How can I convince you? Your sword... May I please use your sword? What do you want with it? It's far too heavy for you. Please... the sword!!!  It's not for you! Give it back! Princess, you can't support it on your own.  I plead again, please join me in reclaiming peace. Be strong, Cecilia. Protect what is yours.  And with that, the King of Adlehyde passes away. ...We can't just sit around feeling sad. We must honor the dead... Our beloved king, and the men who fought so bravely. Johann leaves, presumably to begin planning funerals. Not exactly the most enviable job. Opening Credits Music - Funeral Procession  The stage is set for the fall of [Filgaia]... The story starts here.  Minister Johann and the pallbearers carrying what is presumably the King's coffin exit the keep and walk over to Cecilia, dressed in funerary black.  The pallbearers place the coffin on the ground...  ...And some soldiers, possibly the King's honor guard, pick it up.  Cecilia gives the signal for the procession to start.  Outside the castle gates, the King's procession is joined by the other casualties from the monsters' attack.  As the procession continues through the town, the credits roll.  The procession passes by Rudy and Jack, taking shade together under a tree near the center of town.  As the procession turns the corner near the city gates, some children run by.  The children also pass by our intrepid Dream Chasers, and the girl drops her ball.  And, apparently, all of the colors as well.  They pause to watch the procession for a second as Rudy hands the girl her ball. How many of these children lost parents? Such are the ravages of war.  As the King's pallbearers arrive at the church, we get a fade to black.  And the game's title screen. This has gotten kind of long, so I think we'll pick up here next time! We'll take a look at the party's stats next time, because the screenshots I have right now contain spoilers. Whoops! Commander Keene fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Jun 13, 2018 |
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Jun 9, 2018 12:32
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Hell of a credit roll, isn't it?
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Jun 9, 2018 13:41
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Between the people of Adlehyde having someone who works on ARMs, and actual demons not flinching at them, I'm starting to think the citizens of Surf just got their fearmongering from a bunch of old wives' tales and fire and brimstone preachers. On the plus side, they'll never have to deal with the JRPG equivalent of the deep web, so there's that.
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Jun 9, 2018 14:21
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Commander Keene posted:
Small editing issue here.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:06
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ultrafilter posted:Small editing issue here.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:25
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I haven't played this game in a long rear end time, although I did play wa2 recently. I didn't even remember that you could freely move between characters in the intro, or that you had to manually bring them together. Also, maybe it was just me, but I was always kinda disappointed that this game didn't really feel as "wild-west"y as I'd hoped. I mean, that's it's big selling point, except there isn't much aesthetically wild west-y about this game except the music, some character designs, and a few random touches. It feels like it took 'til wa3 for the game to really capitalize on it's promised aesthetic.
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Jun 9, 2018 19:00
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That was uh, not how I expected the festival to start. I do think that the decision to give the Tear Drop away and then immediately want it back was weak. Like, what revelation did Cecilia have in that specific time span?
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Jun 11, 2018 15:37
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I like what they did with the confusion status in WA. It behaves like most games, but every now and then a confused character will jump at nothing and attack an empty spot.
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Jun 11, 2018 16:58
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Shadow225 posted:That was uh, not how I expected the festival to start. I think it's more like she gave up the Tear Drop to get the ridiculously overpowered demon legion to go away without nuking the castle, but she also knows that it's really important and thus wants to get it back.
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Jun 11, 2018 19:23
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Shadow225 posted:That was uh, not how I expected the festival to start. Cerebral Bore posted:I think it's more like she gave up the Tear Drop to get the ridiculously overpowered demon legion to go away without nuking the castle, but she also knows that it's really important and thus wants to get it back.
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Jun 11, 2018 22:29
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Sorry, no update this week. I haven't been sleeping well recently and I've kinda been spending a bunch of what would normally be free time napping, making it hard to get a workflow going. I can't really make any promises until I get back into a more regular sleep cycle. I have 3-4 updates worth of gameplay recorded, but I haven't had the chance to grab the screenshots or put together an update recently.
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Jun 22, 2018 12:27
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No worries, Keene. Take your time. Health comes first and goons can wait. Hell, in my time, we could wait for a year for an update to Fedule's VLR LP and we thought that was a treat! 
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Jun 22, 2018 19:47
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Man, this game is just full of tragedies. It's a good thing Cecilia just got back to town, they'd have burned the place down otherwise.
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Jun 26, 2018 13:32
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I think I'm going to have to call this here. My sleep situation isn't getting any better, and with work gearing due to summer, I just don't have the time or the willpower to write updates right now. I really hate having to do this, because I really was enjoying doing the LP, but between working more hours and sleeping so erratically, I just can't focus enough to sit down and belt out an update.
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Jul 25, 2018 14:31
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Commander Keene posted:I think I'm going to have to call this here. My sleep situation isn't getting any better, and with work gearing due to summer, I just don't have the time or the willpower to write updates right now. I really hate having to do this, because I really was enjoying doing the LP, but between working more hours and sleeping so erratically, I just can't focus enough to sit down and belt out an update. It's alright! I'm glad you're not forcing yourself to continue the LP when you're not in a good state for it, because it should be good healthy fun for everyone, especially the LPer!
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Jul 25, 2018 14:46
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We ended on a credits scene, so as far as I know, that was the end  I hope you get some help in solving the sleep problem!
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Jul 25, 2018 15:16
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| # ? May 5, 2024 13:21 |
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It's all good man. Take care of yourself.
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Jul 29, 2018 00:53
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