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Without going into detail (since... y'know, I'm sure Id will get to it), yes, there are definite mechanical benefits to doing the Key. Truth be told I actually didn't really bother changing crests at all. I think maybe I gave Karin an upgraded healing spell at one point? But mostly I just ran with everyone's natural skillsets. This makes Gepetto even more obviously the worst PC than his stat line. Edit: Update on previous page!
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Jul 30, 2019 22:26
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| # ? May 23, 2024 21:31 |
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Leraika posted:On the contrary, I loved Solomon's Key, because it made me feel like an occult badass. This was how I felt about it too, I usually like text puzzles. Oh, and welcome back, Dark Id.
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Jul 30, 2019 23:21
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Cardiovorax posted:Calvados! The Frenchest booze, right after wine. It's a type of apple brandy. Imagine the flavour of apples with none of the sweetness and all the burn of hard alcohol. It's kind of like that. There are very few things better than a good Calvados.
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Jul 31, 2019 00:27
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The Dark Id posted:It is mostly a damage race between Veronica and Joachim. Veronica is a Water element affiliated dominatrix with a none too impressive 220 HP. Did dominatrices (?) actually exist in 1915? I guess she's just blazing bold new trails of fashion. And... other things. Cute frog. 
StandardVC10 fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Jul 31, 2019 |
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Jul 31, 2019 01:03
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quote:Did dominatrices (?) actually exist in 1915?
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Jul 31, 2019 01:09
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Man, wrestle vampire is great, every rpg should have a wrestle vampire.
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Jul 31, 2019 02:13
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I do appreciate that they made a "Yuma without her
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Jul 31, 2019 03:04
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.jpg)
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RIP Granny, she gave away something she coulda sold for millions. Oh well, it’s ours now. enjoy your dive bar, old woman!
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Jul 31, 2019 03:29
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The Dark Id posted:
Could you imagine taking in an injured bat and nursing it back to health, only to wake up one morning and Joachim is just there. How much has the old lady been through to just say this like it was completely normal.
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Jul 31, 2019 05:31
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<nods> ...All right, Joachim. I remember you when you were just a dying bat, but you've certainly turned out fine. Off with you, then! Build up your skills then come back and show me how strong you've become!
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BisbyWorl posted:Could you imagine taking in an injured bat and nursing it back to health, only to wake up one morning and Joachim is just there. Also yeah, Solomon's Key was fun. I forgot if I used a FAQ or not but I did do all of it. Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Jul 31, 2019 |
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Jul 31, 2019 05:45
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Cardiovorax posted:Sort of. Leather fashion is probably more of a modern thing but, well, there's a reason sado-masochism is 50% named after French Revolution-era Marquis de Sade. Gentlemen getting flogged by ladies was an insanely common fetish - hell, that's half the reason Gardner founded Wicca. The Internet didn't make people freakier, it just made it easier to notice. And count me as one of those people who actually enjoyed Solomon's Key.
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Jul 31, 2019 06:09
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Kemix posted:RIP Granny, she gave away something she coulda sold for millions. Oh well, it’s ours now. enjoy your dive bar, old woman! Given how things usually go when a normal person finds a powerful, ancient magic document, Granny can rest assured she dodged a bullet, there.
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Jul 31, 2019 06:21
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Welcome back, TDI. I'd like to point that if the scroll is actually from Solomon's time then calling it a book is fairly appropriate, not that Yuri would understand that. It's not like they had paper or printing presses at the time. I mean, what do you think the books in the library of Alexandria looked like?
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Jul 31, 2019 07:50
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Cardiovorax posted:Doesn't it have practical benefits too? I think I remember something about your crests getting better if you can complete a full set. part of my family lives in the calvados region of normandy, can confirm
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Jul 31, 2019 10:24
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I wonder if Meursault isn't also a reference to Camus's The Stranger? that's what the name evokes to me anyway (that's the name of the main character).
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Jul 31, 2019 10:25
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wouldn't surprise me, Shadow Hearts pulls some surprisingly obscure references.
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Jul 31, 2019 15:20
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I appreciate that the boss of a wine cellar is Earth element. Feel the terroir!
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Jul 31, 2019 15:29
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Considering they find him in a wine cellar, it seems more likely that he's named after the winemaking town.
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Jul 31, 2019 15:30
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Cardiovorax posted:Considering they find him in a wine cellar, it seems more likely that he's named after the winemaking town. to be fair it's a mutant frog, so it's not like it makes much sense either way 
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Jul 31, 2019 15:34
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Kurtofan posted:to be fair it's a mutant frog, so it's not like it makes much sense either way
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Jul 31, 2019 15:35
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I did enjoy Solomon's Key, but also I had a FAQ to tell me where all of the crests were. I did the rest of the Solomon Key stuff without it, though.
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Aug 2, 2019 19:59
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The word "book" is also a synonym for "scroll." People calling scrolls books isn't exactly uncommon.
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Aug 4, 2019 19:10
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...! posted:The word "book" is also a synonym for "scroll." People calling scrolls books isn't exactly uncommon. If you want to unambiguously specify a series of pages bound on one edge, the correct term is "codex".
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Aug 5, 2019 00:25
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Aug 5, 2019 01:26
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I've never seen anyone call a scroll a book.
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Aug 5, 2019 01:30
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You can book a scroll, but you can't scroll a book. Unless it's a PDF.
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Aug 5, 2019 01:44
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This is quite literally the most boring derail I've ever seen
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Aug 5, 2019 08:32
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the book wheel
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Aug 5, 2019 09:52
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Cardiovorax posted:I've never seen anyone call a scroll a book. And yet that's what the word means, your personal experience aside. The word book originally only meant scrolls because modern codices didn't yet exist. For example, the subdivisions of the Christian Bible have always been called "books" even though they were originally written on scrolls. Today the word "codex" has fallen out of fashion since people don't really use scrolls. Given how "ye olde time"-y this series tends to get, it's not a complete shocker that they'd purposely use the word "book" to refer to a scroll.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:04
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I'm pretty sure they didn't call them that a hundred years ago anymore, either, but sure, if you say so. I'll just go grab my sestertii and go down to the taberna to have a few cervisia, then.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:10
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Or it's a silly translation thing and we don't need to get snippy with each other.
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Aug 5, 2019 22:38
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Amazing av/post combo.  I'd say this is like I never left uni, but not even English majors gave enough of a poo poo about this to spend time on it.
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Aug 6, 2019 01:34
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It wouldn't be a TDI LP without a heated derail over something incredibly stupid.
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Aug 6, 2019 01:41
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IfzH9ieJYM
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Aug 6, 2019 10:37
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Episode XX: Busta Wolf! Music: Deep Meditation ~ Title .jpg) Before we undertake the next bit of optional content, let's take a closer look at this whole Solomon's Key business. .jpg) A new menu option has unceremoniously appeared on the second page of our menu. I'll admit it took me a little while to even notice this the first time I played. .jpg) Popping in here brings us to the Solomon's Key or the Key of Solomon. The menu itself cannot seem to make up its mind. Either way, it is a reference to the Lesser Key of Solomon an actual compiled 17th-century grimoire about demonology. It's interesting to take a look at that closely and realize like half the weirder Castlevania/Final Fantasy and what have you monsters that weren't stolen from D&D were derived from that. Proper terminology aside, we're presented with a map slotted with UI elements that look hauntingly akin to the Final Fantasy X Sphere Grid. .jpg) Taking a closer look at the Crest List will present us with a multitude of regions on the map we can examine more closely. They are:
.jpg) The game is actually nice enough to just highlight the areas where we currently have available Crests. Also, it auto-sorts the crests to the correct area. I could see a version of this system where you just have 72 things to click on and GOOD LUCK! .jpg) At this point in the game, we actually have all the crests of one region -- The Forest of Passion. Furfur is lingering at the end of this list. As such, we can now complete the first part of this sidequest. .jpg) For each region, we need to properly place all the crests in their designated locations based on a vague description of the crest in question so we can place it on the As an example, Furfur's description is: "A deer with a lightning tail. All who hear him fall in love with one another, man or woman. Lives by Gremory in the north forest." So we can deduce it goes in the northernmost part of this map. .jpg) OK. So then Gremory only has one possible space nearby. That is at the edge of a lake to the south. .jpg) Nearby we have a place that if you squint looks like some sort of arena. And maybe Andras belongs there, eh? .jpg) Well, there's only one mansion looking thing on this map so Zepar goes here. .jpg) And between that and the fact, there is a forest right next to the ocean where there be dragons, Vassago goes there. .jpg) So this Sallos creep hangs out in a weird rape tent in the woods so... here we go! Stay clear of that mess. .jpg) And finally we have... boy a lot of these are kind of rapey, huh? Old mythology is kind of hosed. Oh well, this is the only space left and it is a lake so... .jpg) The game will immediately confirm when all the crests on the Solomon's Key are in their correct position. If not, we can just reset the region and try again. There's no penalty for a goof-up. So what's the point of doing this? .jpg) Not much... Just ALL the Crests in that region getting an additional magic spell added to them free of charge (no DCP increase or anything.) Namely the crests gain:
So basically a new elemental spell for all of those Crests. And another person able to use Cure if we so chose. Not bad for taking the time to complete some light word puzzles for a couple of minutes. Music: Old Smudged Map ~ Europe .jpg) That's about it for the Solomon's Key for the time being. We'll check in on that later when more regions get filled out. What's not yet sorted out is the Wine Cellar. The wayward kidnapped orphans and the demon summoning dominatrix may have been dealt with. But a couple of new challenges have moved in since the party's last trek through these musky halls. Music: In Darkness of a Labyrinth ~ Dungeon .jpg) .jpg) All the random battle pools are still the same as ever. Particularly the large concentration of hostile thugs. I guess the mayor never sent word he was reforming. Oh well. Our first destination is to the western part of the earlier half of the dungeon. Heading into the back room of this segment of the cellar presents us with... .jpg)  What do you say, Mister? Give it a whirl?  A whirl? What kind of business is this? This better not be some kinda drug deal sting. Are you a cop? You gotta tell me if you're a cop. No, sir! I am a legitimate businessman. ...Operating out of the back of a shady mobster goon hangout? It's a grassroots start-up. We all need to start somewhere. But as for my business... Glad you asked! I thought it up myself. I call it "Lucky Chests"! You pick two out of the eight treasure chests lined up here. If they have the same thing in them, you get it! You get two chances! And the first person that gets all the chests open gets a special prize. The rules are simple and it hardly costs anything to play! Only 100 Cash for one game. So how about it? Oh, goody! Let's do it! Here we go, then! Let's play Lucky Chests!!.jpg) .jpg) Lucky Chests! Do you know that card matching mini-game from Super Mario Bros. 3? It's just that. Pick two chests and if they have the same thing you get the prize. .jpg) .jpg) Simple enough. We're allowed to screw-up once before the game is over. The prizes themselves aren't very compelling. Just basic restorative items. .jpg) However, the real prize is obtained from matching ALL of the chests correctly. What that occurs... .jpg) Come back and play anytime!.jpg) .jpg) Our grand prize for completing Lucky Chest is our second Stud Card. At a glance, this guy looks like Buff Hitler wearing a chef's hat and I think I'd pass on that cuisine offering, personally... .jpg) That's it for our first order of business. The second one requires... running all the way to the back of the dungeon again. I'll spare you all that dull ten-minute trek. .jpg) .jpg) Before we head into the former boss arena, let's take the time to rejigger Blanca's load-out. Particularly, we're gonna slap the Pocket Watch on him and the Focalor (contains Hail Break) and Zepar (contains Shield) Crests. .jpg) Heading into the Wine Cellar boss room, we find a new opponent has replaced Veronica. The Legend of the Hungry Wolf is about to begin... .jpg)  Awroo, awroo! (Well, what do you know? I'm famous...) Grrr! Awroo! (I'm Kelly. I travel the world, looking for strong wolves. Call me hungry!!) Awroo, awroo! (You don't look very special.) Grrr! Awroo! (What do you know? I'm on the road to the final victory. The mark of the wolves will be mine.) Awroo! (You've got some wild ambition, newcomer. But be ready. This is going to be a real bout.) Awroo, awroo! (Enough boring talk, Let's let our fangs do the talking!) Sure. I'll take you on.Music: Soul Comet ~ Spirit of the Wolf .jpg) Time for you to get a taste of my legendary skill. Sure you can handle it? You're raring to go, aren't you? I've got plenty of that, myself. C'mon! Get serious!.jpg) Music: Glint of Light ~ War of the Hungry Wolf .jpg) If you're not up to date on your SNK fighting games character references, Kelly here (kind of feel like that one PROBABLY should have been localized as Kerry) is a big ol' reference to Terry Bogard, the protagonist of the Fatal Fury/Garou series and series regular of The King of Fighters. He is a Fire elemental class enemy with 180 HP. Sadly, Kelly doesn't have a Burn Knuckle or Rising Taco in his move list. Indeed... he just has the standard three-hit wolf attack animation as Blanca and Tetsu. .jpg) Kelly's version of the standard wolf attack just has the Fast Ring anomaly attached to it. Which would be a problem if Blanca wasn't wearing that Pocket Watch. As such, the hungry wolf just can do around 15ish HP of damage a turn. .jpg) Or we can have Blanca use Shield and reduce that to around 9 HP of damage. No sense in taking risks. .jpg) Meanwhile, while tanking Kelly's hits we'll retaliate with Hail Break which does a healthy 60+ HP of damage per cast. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) That is... pretty much all there is to the fight. Early Wolf Bouts aren't the most compelling of battles, unfortunately. Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg) .jpg) But a win is a win and nobody got tossed off a skyscraper. Yet. Sadly, there is no Wolf Geese Howard featured in this questline. Music: ENDS .jpg) You got a little overzealous. You've got to keep your cool if you want to win. As it stands, your moves are predictable. It's too easy! *whimper* Awroo. (drat. You're as strong as they said... Stronger, even.) <approaches Blanca> Awroo, awroo! (Okay, Blanca. Here's my pawprint. You earned it!).jpg) One day Blanca will become the King of Fighters. .jpg) Awroo! (I'll be seeing you! And I'll have my fangs sharpened for next time.).jpg) Sure we, will Kelly. (We never see him again.) Another thing we never need to see again is this lousy dungeon! We are officially done with the Wine Cellar for good. .jpg) .jpg) We're also done with Le Havre for the time being. All that's left to do is talk to the first mate of our ride to the UK and set sail. Thus closes our adventures in France. Tune in next time as we near blighted lands of Wales and maybe meet an old friend or two along the way as Shadow Hearts: Covenant continues!   No new characters in this chapter but we did do our fair shake of brawling along the way. Monster: .jpg) I feel like if roach the size of a medium-sized dog has managed to get to your stomach you're already messing up badly. .jpg) I remembered the time my neighbor Henry's orifices just erupted with a mountain of roach hatchlings. Never let that guy borrow a cup of sugar again. .jpg) Mammal flesh only! Get that bird and fish bullshit the hell out of here. .jpg) The Belmont clan got real weird and kinky during that down period of Dracula activity between the late 1800s and the 1999 final battle. .jpg) Wino frogs -- the most despicable of all of god's creatures.   Video: Episode 20 Highlight Reel (C'mon! Get serious!)   Full Solomon's Key Art - Awful commute. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 08:12 on Aug 7, 2019 |
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Aug 6, 2019 19:35
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Kelly, you were a busta wolf.
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Aug 6, 2019 20:29
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Ick, was there any indication you should go back into that dungeon for more content, or is this the sort of game that just expects you to go back through completed dungeons "just in case" random minigames have appeared in them?The Dark Id posted:Thus closes are adventures in France.
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Aug 6, 2019 20:53
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Oh! The giant bug's name is Gregor! I get that reference! I dunno about that Mr. Chef guy, cooking while naked and holding the frying pan so close to your crotch doesn't seem sanitary.
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Aug 6, 2019 21:11
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I could not tell at first if that wolf's cap was edited in by TDI or not.
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Aug 6, 2019 21:16
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yeah that's not a TDI edit, it's in game. There's way more out there wolves in the future.
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Aug 6, 2019 21:26
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