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AltaBrown posted:Changing my vote to whomever needs it to get their endings. 
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Sep 11, 2021 17:46
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| # ? May 22, 2024 08:40 |
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"All the endings" is impossible, there aren't enough slots for everyone and there is a pair of mutually exclusive mcguffins. So just vote for your favorites.
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Sep 11, 2021 18:26
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My bad on that then, mustve done that tiny step and put it in my mind as done for you too.
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Sep 11, 2021 19:51
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Wait so Alfsonse just dies like that from Vesters attack in the original route? On the one hand that’s lame as gently caress and I’m super glad it can be changed, on the other hand I’m a sucker for heartbreaking reactions and seeing his brother react to his death would’ve been cool.
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Sep 11, 2021 23:59
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Red John posted:Wait so Alfsonse just dies like that from Vesters attack in the original route? We'll see the alternate fate once we get back to No Angeles. I don't remember how heartbreaking it is. Chris does learn about the death (as seen in that CG), but it’s after Alfonse is already gone, so there are no last words shared between the two brothers. That's either a lamer death or a more heartbreaking death depending on your view of it. It is lame for him to get offed by Vester for such little gain, though, I agree. He didn't seem to be buying time for us to get through or anything, since Vester was soloing him. There’s also very little build up to it, unlike Muntzer's potential death. Then again, some people may argue that the suddenness of it is more impactful. Ardeem posted:"All the endings" is impossible, there aren't enough slots for everyone and there is a pair of mutually exclusive mcguffins. So just vote for your favorites. I'll make it work with however people want to cast their votes, but I would recommend just doing what Ardeem is saying. That's why I went the voting route in the first place, to give the thread some participation options. Like Mythos said a ways back, there are guides I could have followed for a "perfect" run, but I felt like that wouldn't be as fun for people following along live. There will be plenty of ending options for the thread to vote on, so don't worry about that. We already have 5 or 6 that I consider locked in. Just vote for characters that you want to see events with, just like the thread has been doing. That said, I will not waste any time on characters whose stories are already done. I'll make the most of our remaining vacation time and target the characters that I think we can finish, while doing the ones that people actually voted for. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Sep 12, 2021 |
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Sep 12, 2021 03:02
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Even the perfect guides have a "drop a save here for route splits" step before the second to last furlough.
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Sep 12, 2021 03:11
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TBH, I wouldn't have minded the perfect guide route, now I'm just wondering how hard I'll gently caress up when voting.
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Sep 12, 2021 03:11
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Ardeem posted:Even the perfect guides have a "drop a save here for route splits" step before the second to last furlough. Only for mutually exclusive ends.
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Sep 12, 2021 04:04
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Magnus, Eliza, Hien, Sidney, and then Leona and Meline because I have to troll somehow. 
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Sep 12, 2021 08:55
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Let's go with whoever's endings we can still get.
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Sep 14, 2021 07:50
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Furlough #7: Ticking All The Boxes (Part 1) We blew up the spellcannon, saved Alfonse, and freed Zombie Regina from Vester’s control. I think that calls for a little time o--  drat it!  It is agreeable to see you, Meline. How are you? Um, I have something to ask you… With everyone out there fighting, I feel useless just sitting here. I don’t have the same power I did before, but I can hold my own. My hatred for Meline is conflicting with my desire to acquire party members…  We’ll be unbeatable.Technically that’s true, since we were already unbeatable due to Crevanille. Thank you! From now on, I’ll be the most reliable member of the team you’ll have!*Meline joined the party!* Yay…   You seem tired. Perhaps you’d care for a furlough? If anything happens, I will let you know immediately. Please, take some time to relax.We’ll look at Meline’s battle potential at the end of the update (and the start of the next main one). We’ll need a new party anyway, so that’s the best time to do it. Now, this furlough is going to be a little different than the others. There are only two furloughs left (including this one) where we can actually hang out with people, so this will be the last time I use thread voting. I’ll need the last furlough to do cleanup work on characters that are “ending viable.”  Before I expand on that, however, we need to drop some things off with Maggie. First, we’re going to give her the Ancient Book that we won in the Arena long ago.  Whoa, is this the Ancient Book!? Where did you get it!? I won it at the arena. Huh… I never expected a tome of ancient knowledge to be in some place like that hole… Use of homunculus technology has always been ethically questionable to the public. What do you mean? Well, a homunculus is a man-made soul. Basically, it’s a technique to create a person. At least, that’s what people thought in the distant past. Nothing bad will happen.Technically, meddling in God’s domain is what will save humanity from summoned monsters and “The Darkness.” If Akyel and Uriel weren’t created, then there’d be no way to change the timeline. I wonder if that’s really true. Regardless, some people would put this knowledge to evil use. Hmph… Still, there are some very interesting things in here… There’s something scrawled in the margin here… “6, 4, 3.” Numbers? In any case, I’d like you to take a good look at that book if you get the chance. Next, we give her the Life Stone we collected from the safe inside the ruins. What do you say? Would you like to make one? Yes. Leave it to me. Oh, but I’ll need to borrow the book and the Life Stone. Go take a walk. By the time you come back, I should be done.Finally, we give her the Spellcannon Drive.  The Spell Nullifier uses the same principles of spellcannons, so this should be perfect.And that’s it. Now we just leave and come right back, and…  Presto! Homunculus Machine! The Homunculus Machine has a few uses. Some of these are character story related, but one of them is to expand the Arena to include special new battles. We’ll explore those when we go to do our endgame cleanup.  With that done, let’s talk about the furlough. The thread voted for Vallery, Meline, Magnus, Regina, Sydney, and Remus. Over the course of this furlough, we will be able to complete Remus and Vallery’s character stories. We’ll also make solid progress on Magnus, Meline, and Regina (since they have very short character stories, due to joining late).  But aside from the people the thread voted for, we’re also going to be looking at events for characters whose endings are still viable, such as: Yuni Eliza Pamela Hien These characters only have one or two vacation events left to qualify for their endings. Yuni has quite a few, but they can be completed in rapid succession without any special key items or whathaveyou. By the end of this update, the thread is also going to have to make a decision between some specific characters.  Anyway, I’ll explain more as we go. For now, once we have gotten up in the morning and headed downstairs, we’ll see Meline sneaking by us towards the stairs. The thread voted for her, so let’s see what she’s up to, I guess.  Looking for Crevanille, it seems. You came at just the right time! Do you have any time today? If so, I was hoping you’d come with me… Yes. All right! If that’s your decision, then hurry up and say so! Come on! Over here! Meline, you refer to Master as your “big brother.” I understand why this question may seem peculiar, but I must know: why do you say this? Heh, I guess it’s because I’m so surprised at how well he actually fits the role. Call me whatever. I’ll continue doing just that!*We fade transition to the dining hall*  This… is a lot of food. Meline, did you prepare all this? Of course I did! Levan taught me how. Well? Let’s get to eating! Mmm, looks scrumptious. I hoped you would think so! I really gave it my best, and I’m confident you’ll love every bite. Open wide…! *open your mouth*You have no idea how much this is killing me inside. … How does it taste? Heavenly! Yes, I knew it! My hard work really paid off! Well, if you don’t mind, I’m going to join in! Delicious! I just want one more bite. I’ll let you eat. Ahhhhhh… You know, it’s weird. Each bite I take tastes better than the last! Eating together, and smiling together… This is what I wanted. Thank you for helping me through this. I’ll never to [sic] able to say it enough. *pat her head* Not head pats! Haha, I’m really happy! The Crevanille I remember is just like the brother I had in my dreams… Strong, dashing, kind… I want Cynthia to try this dish someday. She probably forgot everything, too. Cynthia… Meline… Gah! Forget that stuff. If we don’t hurry up, the food’ll get cold! Come on, one more bite! And that’s all for that. There, you got your Meline event. Hope you’re all happy. She has one more in order to unlock her ending, but I’m saving that for the last (real) vacation. I’ve got too much to do in this update to spend another time slot on her.  Oh, Crevanille.After that, I talk with Remus in the hallway near the stairs.  I keep thinking that she really is my sister. …I’ve been searching for so long. Remus… I need to go.*Remus leaves* I don’t know how to proceed. It may be best to speak frankly with Remus, but there is that prophecy to consider. Regardless, I know my opinion has no bearing on this matter. I will follow whatever you decide to do.And now we’re done with Remus. Well, we’re done with him until after the vacation. His last character story event requires us to have him in the party and go to Marquelay Castle. We’ll do that near the end of the update.  Next is Eliza. The thread didn’t vote for her this time, but she has been voted in consistently since vacations started. There’s only one last vacation event left to her character story, so I consider her to be locked in.  I want to thank you. Despite what I’ve said, you’re as dependable a man as I have ever known, and I… I like you. The people in the thread who were calling for Yuni to wear the I Costume were right. I love seeing Yuni, Fish, and the Dog/Bear all sharing a pissed off expression whenever somebody tries to edge in on Yuni’s Master. W-Well, hold on. I mean… That’s not what I… I mean… I didn’t mean that. Could you please rephrase, then? I only meant that I can trust you. And relax around you. And… er… Oh, hey, our client’s going to be here any minute!*Someone enters the villa*  Ah, Sworv! Any good scoops lately?[Sworv]: No, but I’ve got a request, if you’re up for a job. I need a letter sent to my good friend Cronkite. A letter? I mean, I can do that, but why me?[Sworv]: Well… several reasons. I have to send it with someone I can trust. But mostly, it’s because I’m not quite sure where he is. Might be in Riesel, but there’s no way to know right now. He hasn’t checked in with the office for a while. Riesel? That’s a ways off. Why can’t you make the trip yourself? [Sworv]: I didn’t think about him a lot when I was still focused on Catalina, but now… He isn’t usually this quiet for this long. Would you mind looking into this for me? I don’t like this… If I do this, you’ll have to tell me why he was in Riesel, and why the letter’s so secret.[Sworv]: …All right. But listen closely, and keep this quiet… Cronkite and I were partners, and one of our last assignments together was the Trockmere disaster.  Go on…[Sworv]: There’s no record of them anywhere… not with the police, and not with the military. And they’ve got their hooks into Dulkheim’s politics. And that isn’t even the worst of it; they may be responsible for the deaths of several key figures, all in the name of preserving the government’s power. A group like that really exists?[Sworv]: We wanted to prove that. We wanted to let the people know what was really happening in their own government. So, we split up. I followed up on some leads from the flood, and Cronkite kept after eyewitnesses of the organization.  Why would you go so far for a story?[Sworv]: The only way to stop atrocities is to shine the light of truth on them and hope people care enough to do something. They don’t. Gonna pop that bubble for you right now. [Sworv]: We’re journalists. That truth is our responsibility, no matter what.  Let’s take the job. All right, Sworv, you’ve got yourself a courier.[Sworv]: Great. I’m counting on you. *We get “Sworv’s Letter”* [Sworv]: Be careful. “They” might try to make a move. You never know. *Sworv leaves* And now we’re done with Eliza’s vacation events. The last step to her character story involves taking her with us to Riesel. Unfortunately, we can’t get back to Riesel at the moment, since the war is still going on. So, let’s put a pin in this.  Next is Magnus. We can do his events in No Angeles or Marquelia. Sure am. Great. Making the most of your R&R is important. Has this furlough been satisfactory for you thus far, Magnus? Well, I’ve had something on my mind, so maybe I haven’t really been able to relax much because of that. I mentioned that I was defeated by a man named Otter before, right? I was devastated. I left Valkania, but I remembered the conversation I had with Master Hien. What do you think about what Master Hien said, Crevanille? He was right. You really think so? I figured he was just trying to make me feel better.As long as you’re alive, you haven’t truly lost. That’s why I advocate for killing all enemies; to make sure that they don’t cause any future problems. Since I left Valkania, I couldn’t ask what he meant, and Master wouldn’t tell me at the time. All he said was to “become someone who can understand what I mean”. To this day, I have no idea what he was talking about. If I fight that man again, I think I’ll understand what Master meant, but I haven’t seen him since… Let’s spring a trap! A trap? You mean give him some kind of target to go after? Oh… What is wrong? I was just… considering the idea of using Master as bait… No, though… It’s not my call. Doing that would put Master Hien at risk. Thanks for hearing me out. I’ll think about the situation a bit more.*Magnus leaves*  We’ll discuss this with Hien a little later. For now, I advance a day and set the furlough location for Marquelia.  Pamela wasn’t voted for at all, but her character story only has 2 vacation events. The rest of her character story is stuff I can do outside of furloughs. She’s essentially a space-filler, to make the most out of the available time slots. I’d love to! *giggle* That’s the right answer. Would you like to go to the port with me? We could go take a look at the ships. Ignore Magnus. He just happens to hang out here on furloughs. Have you been busy lately? Mmm, well, there’s a lot that needs to be done, and a lot of books I need to pore over… But it’s nice chatting with Maggie all day about our research. Just like old times. Come to think of it… This is where we all parted, isn’t it? Hard to believe it’s already been so long… That’s all in the past now. Of course. No turning back. All this traveling’s made me realize… As you walk, you leave a lot of your belongings behind. Life’s a long journey. Parting is just one more step along the way. You can’t keep up the journey by carrying everything with you. But you meet new people. You do. But then someday, you’ll part with them. Every meeting has a parting. That’s how it works.Way to be a bummer, Pamela. Well! This walk got a little gloomy, didn’t it? Thanks for coming with me. My head feels nice and clear now. Ready for research.*Pamela leaves* All right, that fills some empty space with an event that won’t be a waste. Now that we’re in Marquelia, let’s go advance Vallery’s whole guilt subplot thing.  We need to go and talk with the kid from before, but Crevanille has to be flying solo. Do you really want him dead?[Boy]: Obviously! How would Vallery’s friends feel?[Boy]: Friends? Vallery has friends…? ….. Your dad wouldn’t want that.[Boy]: Papa… Remember, while you were here wishing for Vallery’s death, there was probably some kid out there that was cheering at your dad’s…. I assume. There’s also a chance that your dad was a crappy soldier and didn’t beat anyone before he got offed. [Boy]: You’re right. I was wrong. But I want Vallery to apologize.  *The kid closes the door, and then Vallery approaches us from behind*  …I heard. I’m sorry… I… I can’t decide whether an apology would be appropriate or not. Give me some time to figure it out.*Vallery leaves* We’ve given Vallery some food for thought, so let’s give him some space to reach his own conclusion. In the meantime, let’s talk with Hien about the whole bait thing.  It has to do with Magnus… We wished to discuss a matter with you. It’s about Magnus’s defeat. Previously, when Magnus fought Cargill and was defeated, you told Magnus that he wasn’t defeated. Why? I’m sorry… I simply do not remember. I wonder, might you fill me in on the details of this fight Magnus had?*We explain* I see… I assume that no amount of reasoning will convince Magnus of that, however. This may be something he will need to figure out for himself. Was there anything else? Affirmative…*We ask if Hien would be a bro and act as bait* Ah, now I see… You want to use me to draw this Cargill out, correct? Lost memories or not, I am still his master. I know in my heart that I owe him this much. This should increase the chances that Cargill will reveal himself.He would be a massive idiot to fall for such an obvious trap, considering that Marquelay port is right in the heart of enemy territory. But hey, that technically didn’t stop him when he went after Hien in Klasdahl, so never underestimate a moron, I suppose. Are you in agreement with this course of action? I have no objections. I apologize… Whether I remember it or not, I know he is my pupil. Please help him however you can.Are you kidding? Of course we’re going to help him kill Cargill. My only hesitation with doing so is knowing that Crevanille won’t get to do the deed himself.  The next day, we inform Magnus. *Crevanille explains* Did you just say what I think you said!? He’s putting himself in a dangerous situation just to help me… I owe him my thanks! And you, too! I swear I will defeat that man!*Magnus then runs off to do… something* Oh, Magnus! Master, Hien asked that we help Magnus. We should assist him.That’s it for Magnus for now. At the moment, we don’t have the means of luring Cargill out. Hien needs to be involved in some kind of battle that would realistically result in him getting injured. We’ll get back to this once an opportunity presents itself.  Back to Vallery. It’s time to finish up his character story completely. The instant the person I follow is gone, I lose sight of my goal, and this is the results [sic] of my actions. I can’t believe that I’ve caused these people such heartbreak… You should apologize. I understand… You’re probably right. Look, I know that this is cowardly on my part, but could you come with me? I think it might be easier for me if I had some company. Let’s go…*Vallery joins us, and we head back to the kid’s house*  …I’ve come to apologize.[Boy]: Huh? What are you apologizing for? The man named Vallery… The one that killed your father. I am he. I will not ask for your forgiveness. If you want to strike me, then I will not defend myself. I’m sorry… I didn’t realize that my actions would hurt people like you this much…[Boy]: Well… that strong guy already talked to me about everything.  [Boy]: You didn’t kill my papa because you hated him, right? Of course not! I was fighting for the sake of peace. At least that’s what I thought…[Boy]: Mister, are you and Vallery friends? We are friends. A friend…[Boy]: I get it now. You’re fighting to make everybody happy, aren’t you, mister? Is that what you want, too, Vallery? You’re going to end the war? Yes. I will defeat those who want to keep fighting, so I can bring an end to the war.[Boy]: Okay! Good luck, Vallery! Uh… Thank you.[Boy]: See you soon!  I didn’t really need to be afraid of anything. Sorry to drag you out for this.*The boy then comes back out* [Boy]: Wait, Vallery! Hm? What is it?[Boy]: I’ll give this to you!  Completing a character’s substory will unlock their unique ultimate armour (the characters that can fight, anyway). Th-This is… You really want me to have this…?[Boy]: Yes, but promise me something! You have to stop the war! Okay. You have my word.*The boy heads back inside and then Vallery leaves* I believe this problem is not Vallery’s alone. We, too, share it… Best not to think about that, Yuni. I killed a shitload of Dulkheim and Valkanian soldiers for the sake of ability learning. Is this really an unavoidable situation, just because it is war? We fight until the day war is ended. …I understand, Master. If war ends quickly, the casualties end quickly, as well. Until that day, please allow me to serve you, Master.And that’s it for Vallery… mostly. There’s a short scene at night, but other than that, he’s done with. Who else is left on the docket?  What is the matter, Hien? A while ago, I acquired a pendant from the prison. Looking at it seems to bring something to mind… Some of your memories are returning? That is good news. A dim spark is not enough to light a great fire. Shadows are not enough to fill a mind. Unknown dread…? On what may be a related topic, when I was being chased by some people of Dulkheim origin, I… It is possible that I saw something that I should not have seen. You think so?Was it the crimes against humanity prison? Because we lived that. The more I think on the matter, the more I am certain of it. For all our sakes, I will try to remember… During the night after Vallery’s last event, this scene will trigger. You may enter.*Vallery enters* So, it is Vallery… …Are you still awake? There’s something I want to tell you. What is it, Vallery? Do you remember earlier, when I was trying to discover my goal? I think I found it. I want to fight to end this war with my own will. And in order to do so, I think the best way is to go with you guys. One more thing… When you told the child that I was your friend… Did you mean it? Of course. That settles it… I’m officially one of you guys. Let’s give it our best from here on out.*Vallery leaves and Crevanille gets back to bed* That’s Vallery done with. For the next few days, we’ll stay in No Angeles. Yuni has been voted for in the past, but her character story was late to start compared with other Familiar types. Nonetheless, I believe hers is still doable without any convoluted side stuff, so we will work on her ending as well. But before that, Regina was also voted for. One of the steps in Regina’s character story is going to introduce us to an item of critical importance for 3 different character endings, so we’re going to start there.  First of all, we invite Regina to join us. After that, we head over to Mel’s shop.   Ah, I’m looking for something. Do you happen to carry talismans? Of course, of course! A wide selection! Please take a look around. Hrm, this isn’t… this is different than… …Than what, dearie? Tell me, what are you looking for? Is that the one that means you will always make it home? No matter how far away you go? Ah, yes! That’s the one! I was a mercenary…. So that’s why I want something like that. I want to fell like no matter who or where I’m fighting, I’ll be able to return safe. Oh, you mercenaries and soldiers… An awful superstitious lot, ain’t ya?Listen lady, do you want to make a sale today or not? Perhaps. So… do you have one? Oh, right! …No. Not as such. Hmmm… Once you find it, you prune the branch, manipulate it into a flat piece, and give it as a present. What, a present? You don’t use it yourself? Are you kidding? The “Lovers” Oak? What part of that don’t you get? But, I mean… You said it. It’s a charm to help ensure safe returns. Okay, look. It basically means that you don’t want whomever you give the charm to to be apart from you. This whole thing started from girls giving part of the charm to their men when they would go off to war, with the hope that the charm would return them safely. …Ah. How quaint. The tree is native to Valkania, though, so if you ask a shopkeeper around Ordinale, you might get lucky. Well, if it’s primarily a silly lovers’ charm, then I’m not really interested, anyway. Really? If you wanted, you could always get one together with him.You realize that the two of them are basically brother and sis… wait, never mind. That’s considered a plus in Anime. Oh, be quiet. Stop joking around. Heeheehee… Either way, though, if you do stumble across a Lovers Oak, bring it here. I can make the charm for ya. Yes. Oh, I see… I certainly hope you’re not searching on my accord. But I wish you luck in finding one. Anyway, I should be going. I’ll talk to you later, Crevanille.*Regina leaves*  Okay, so here’s the deal with the Lovers Oak: It is used to unlock the endings of two different characters and requires the key item that unlocks the ending of a different character. In order to get the Lovers Oak, we have to trade a Sunset Quartz for it. Sunset Quartz is an item that makes the perfect gift for a certain someone…  If we bring Leona along with us to Marquelay Harbour and talk to this guy, he mentions a little something to us. [Random Dude]: Have you ever heard the legends of the sunset-colored stone? I’ve searched for one myself, but never seen one. A sunset-colored stone… The optimal gift for Sydney, by all appearances. Perhaps he can provide us with more information. Where could I find one of these stones?[Random Dude]: Well, if I knew that, I’d already have one. They’re valuable because they’re so rare. And their rarity makes them excellent luck charms for… special people in their finders’ lives.   Mrow? I have a tail![Random Dude]: Yes, of course. Are you the one who saw the stone? Please, tell me where you found it. Oh, where did I see that…? It was… I don’t know. Oh, wait! It was in the place where I first met you! The location of your first encounter with Master. Ah, that would be… And Christopher was there, too, wasn’t he? In a place with lots of ruins?The first time we actually saw Leona was on the way to Iglesias back near the beginning of our time in Marquelay. It was at the hill with all the ruined structures on it, where we picked up the first Resonator. [Random Dude]: Ruins, you say… Sounds a bit dangerous for me. We can’t get back to that place right now, as there is a war still going on. Once we are able to get there, however, we’ll be able to snag a Sunset Quartz. The problem is, they are so rare that there is only one of them in the game. So, you know what that means, right? Sydney’s ending is unlocked by giving her the Sunset Quartz as a present. Regina and Maggie’s endings can only be unlocked by giving them a Lovers Oak Charm. There is a dude that has a Lovers Oak branch, but he will want something just as rare in return, namely: Sunset Quartz. It isn’t possible to get Sydney, Regina, and Maggie’s ending at the same time. The thread is going to have to make a decision right now as to who they may want an ending for. I might be able to make Maggie’s ending work in the time we have left, but there’s no guarantee. Regina and Sydney’s would be easy to accomplish, however. So, who is it going to be, thread? I need to know this right now, because I’m not maintaining two parallel timelines until the end of the game just in case everyone wants to change their mind (or vote for some other ending entirely).  Ultimatum delivered, we turn our attention back to the furlough. We’re taking Yuni out for accessory shopping. I speculate that this equipment serves no practical purpose and exists only for ornamentation. ….. Ah, I understand. The shape of this makes it so that it does not fall off as easily as with other similar models. Weight has also been considered. ….. What is this? Interested in my accessories? Buy some! You won’t be disappointed! Negative. I serve at Master’s pleasure as a willing tool. I have no need to decorate myself in any way. What if he wants you more decorated? Just a thought. Come, it can’t hurt to look your best and try on some charms. You’re cute, but a little extra is always nice! Don’t you think so, too? You bet I do!Hell yeah we would accessorize Yuni if given the opportunity. She’d look great with a little monocle or hat, maybe some sweet shades. Of course ya do! You can’t argue with your master, now can ya? Go on and try one o’ my items. Hmmm, the size is wrong… Oh, I got an idea! How about placing a ring on her head? It would look just like a tiara, eh? That’s certainly… one philosophy. I’ve always been of a mind that an accessory is whatever the wearer makes of it, though. This is the mentality I take when I create them, anyways. Ah, I had forgotten that all items in this store were made by your personally. No, that sounds about right. What is marriage, if not the auctioning of your kid to a willing buyer? The payment presumably being grandkids and them getting the hell out of your basement. Children? Are not accessories simple items? Means to an end? You’re really keen on this idea, ain’t ya? That items can be no more’n what they were originally intended for.She has a whole complex about that, yeah.  You say that with derision, but that is what a Familiar is. I exist to be of use to my master. That is all. If I am not useful, then I do not deserve to live. *sigh* If this is really what you want, I won’t continue to argue with you. Crevanille, are you okay with this? I’ve never liked this idea.Me neither, because it’s a super creepy mindset when you think about it. Even creepier is the fact that there’s definitely people out there who played this game and were secretly like “Yes, I’m totally okay with her treating herself as my tool. But I have to say the opposite of that if I want to romance her, so…” Be that as it may, I cannot change my purpose as a Familiar. You Familiars sure are a complicated lot. Simple’s always been the way to go for me. Hey, here’s an idea. Why don’t you try to make something for me? For what purpose? An intriguing offer, but I am honor-bound to stay by Master. I know you have little respect for this belief, but I am still property, and it is not for me to decide. Eesh. Crevanille? Would you help me out here? Tell her that it’d be okay to do this. As funny as that bottom option sounds, we need to try and break Yuni of this unsettling “property” belief. You should do this, Yuni. All right! Understood, Master.*We fade out for a moment as Yuni does her sum learnin’* Well, that’s all for today. I’ll see you later! Before we start wrapping up the furlough events, let’s chat with Hien one last time. He’s got one remaining philosophy/life lesson for us.  Were you successful? I was, but only once… I stepped up to the bottom of a waterfall, and, holding my blade aloft, I swung it downward. Nothing happened. But my master assured me it could be done, so I repeated the motion, over and over, testing my true mettle. For the briefest of seconds, the water’s surface split vertically. It was in that moment that I understood that the sword’s strength is in not only its sharpness, but in how forceful the user’s will is. I only wish that I had remembered this sooner. Indeed, it still feels as though I am forgetting something else. This means that I should train further.And that’s it for Hien’s vacation events. In order to finish his character story, we need to include him on the team for a particular battle that is coming up. I’ll be swapping him in regardless of the next party vote for that purpose.  After heading to bed, a scene with Yuni will start, since we brought her to Mel’s shop earlier. …... What are you doing?*Crevanille gets up*  I was looking at the ring that Mel and I made earlier today. It is a ring made for me specifically, and only I can wear it. I was admittedly skeptical, but I believe that I have a better understanding of Mel’s words. I know that this ring is still a simple item, but… I find it incredibly important. Do you feel the same way about me, Master? More than you know. Yes, the costume has a blush expression as well. Master, please forgive me for waking you. Return to your rest. I will go to bed after I examine my ring a little longer. Now then. We’ve finished all the furlough days, but there’s still a little more to follow up on. Specifically, there is an event with Remus and one with Regina that we can only do outside of a furlough. I skip the story stuff and put both of them in the party, then head to our first destination: Marquelay Castle. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 15:41
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Furlough #7: Ticking All The Boxes (Part 2) The Princess will be chatting with someone outside of the throne room. It’s time to straighten everything out with her and Remus.  Well, Crevanille and… What brings you here today? It concerns Remus. *gasp* What have I done? It would not do to discuss this here. Please follow me to the audience chamber. *Everyone leaves* …Crevanille, I realize what you want to do… There is no more need to continue this deception. Why would you mention me…?Shut up, Remus. We’re getting to that. Well, you see…*The Princess removes her veil*   I am your sister… Alicia Marquelay, the princess of this country. How could that be? It may be hard to believe, but it is the truth. We could not tell you about this until now… We kept silent for your benefit. For me… I figured there must be some reason. …Remus, let us bring everything into the light. You have to know why our father took you from this country, and why I’ve been avoiding you.*We fade out for a moment as Alicia explains everything* To be blunt, there is a prophecy speaking of Marquelay’s annihilation. So that’s why I was taken away from this land. To prevent whatever prophecy from occurring. But, why do you suppose he left the country with me? Our mother told me something. …I knew he loved me. Even if it meant losing everything he’d had in his life, he chose to stay by my side… …And, while I told myself it was for the good of the country, I hid everything from my brother. There is nothing to be concerned about. If the words of this oracle are true, then I cannot stay here. Um, Crevanille, I… Perhaps you shouldn’t. But at this rate, Marquelay… Yes, it is as Crevanille says… But… It’s all right, Remus, I’ve relied far too heavily on this oracle. Now, I must fulfill my duties as a princess. Welcome home, Remus. Ah… *Success! Remus’s fate has been changed!* Unlike other characters, Remus’ alternate fate doesn’t result in him dying. He just never learns of his lineage or that Alicia is his sister. The scene is so short that it’s really not even worth showing.  Alicia puts the veil back on as everyone returns to the hall. Remus heads up the stairs and starts chatting with her. We should make ourselves scarce, since they probably have a lot to discuss. To think that Remus was part of the Marquelay royal family… I couldn’t see it. But it’s great that he was able to meet his real family. *Remus rejoins the group* Sorry to keep you waiting. Remus? Why are you… “Why” what? Is it so strange that I would return here to be with you? But… Aren’t you staying here? Ah, so that’s the issue, is it? It may come as a surprise, but I want to keep my current life. Sitting around in a castle all day isn’t for me. I may be royalty, but I would like to keep traveling with you. Welcome back. Thank you. I look forward to fighting by your side. Speaking of which, Princess Alicia gave me something…*Fenrir Garb obtained* It’s said that my father left it in the castle. Since Remus is currently in the party, we have a chance to see his ultimate armour in action. An increase of 72 Defence is excellent. On top of that, it also boosts all of his spell resistances. With Remus’ character story finished, we’ve also opened up the possibility of an ending with Alicia. We can’t do it now, though, as we need to be in a furlough for it. In addition, we need to have scored a Mission Complete on the three Marquelia missions (defending the harbour from Dulkheim, recovering the treasure from Valkania, and rescuing the hostages from Simmons).  One last thing for us to do. In case you’ve forgotten, Regina isn’t quite out of the woods yet when it comes to her ultimate fate. We need to go speak with Deligne about finding a way to resolve that.  [Deligne]: This conflict has damaged a countless number of lives, either through direct combat or the destruction of property. Healing these wounds takes precedence. Do you suppose this war has left its mark on all of you as well? Of course it has. I have wounds that will never heal.[Deligne]: …What do you mean?  Despite freeing Regina of the Purple Dildo Monster’s control, it’s still stuck inside her chest and acting as her heart, since, you know, Vester turned her original one to pulp. That wouldn’t be a major issue (although it would be gross), except for one particular fact. If you can’t draw a conclusion, then it will be spelled out for us in a little while. [Deligne]: I see… It may be possible to transplant a new one, but… A heart transplant…? But, the donor will die once his own heart is removed.Fun fact: The first heart transplant in our world was in 1967. Christiaan Barnard performed it in Cape Town, South Africa. Growlanser’s medical technology level is apparently way ahead of everything else, considering they still use swords and arrows, as well as sailcloth vessels. Not so fun fact: The first person to receive a heart transplant only lived for 18 days afterward. But hey, perfection is rarely achieved on the first try. [Deligne]: Worst-case scenario, yes. It’s only one possibility, though it isn’t an easy one.  Apparently they can do heart transplants, but haven’t developed anti-rejection drugs. Well, then, it’s hopeless, isn’t it?[Deligne]: Not if, for instance, you had a recently deceased twin. Or perhaps an exact duplicate of yourself. It’s possible that the reaction would fail to occur in those situations. …Would you be in the mood to search for a heart? Yes. Can we Kano it out of somebody?![Deligne]: Is that so…? There are some conditions that must be met first. They must have the same blood type. What is your blood type, Regina? Type O.Positive or negative? O- can only receive O-, but O+ can receive O+ or O-. [Deligne]: In that case, you can only receive a donor heart from another Type O person.  [Deligne]: How much do you weigh? …That’s not the kind of thing you talk about right out in the open!Do you want a new heart or would you rather keep the Purple Dildo Monster? [Deligne]: Really? I’m a doctor, Regina. And we need to find you a donor! …120 pounds… What!? It’s mostly muscle! Nobody’s arguing.[Deligne]: So, we’re looking for a Type O person weighing between 95 and 160 pounds as an acceptable donor for Regina’s heart. Nothing to do now but start looking! Easier said than done. Finding someone within that weight range with that blood type who isn’t particularly attached to their heart is a tall order. Luckily, we know an easier way.  I want you to make a heart. …Just a heart?Well, I mean, if you’re offering… I wouldn’t mind a new liver. Maybe a fresh large intestine. Why not go all the way and build an entire body? I see. Creating a homunculus heart would be easier than searching for a donor for Regina. Well done, Master! That’s no problem, but I can’t make just a heart. The entire homunculus is cultivated from the cells. I must point out that this would entail killing the new life.Hoo boy, that’s actually one of the least hosed up things we could do in this game. You aren’t even aware of the alternate timeline where we degrade and emotionally torture a new Familiar until she kills herself in order to bring you back to life, just because we aren’t emotionally mature enough to handle the death of a loved one. Oh, I just made a simple body today without bringing it to life.Are… are you playing with the homunculus machine? I wouldn’t say it was the same as killing it. But I can’t make Regina’s homunculus. Why not? The homunculus is created according to the principles of ancient science. According to the texts, it requires the life form’s body chart and DNA. …Never mind, it would take too long to explain. The important thing is to find a heart that matches Regina’s. We’ve already heard about this from Deligne… Yes. All right, then tell me. Deligne gave us two requirements. The first was blood type…I have a feeling like Maggie’s explanation was poorly translated, but I can’t find this scene in Japanese. She makes it sound like it’s a very difficult or nearly impossible task, but telling her Regina’s blood type (which Regina already knows) and body weight is apparently all that’s needed? Type O.Whatever. We need to remember the details ourselves for this part. We’re given the choice between Blood Type A, B, O, and AB. I concur. The other thing to remember was the donor’s weight in relation to Regina’s…This choice is between “-20% and +30%”, “-30% and +20%”, “-30% and +30%”, and “-40% and +40%”. Between -20% and +30%. Are you sure? Yes. Well, that should be fine. I’ll be able to make one, somehow. Thank you very much. Master, we should go tell Deligne about this.We have no reason at all to wait, so let’s head back to Deligne.  [Deligne]: You didn’t… do something horrible to get it, did you!? We were gone for like 5 minutes, Deligne. …Actually, I guess that wouldn’t really do much to reassure you. That would probably raise further suspicion, all things considered. Negative. Maggie will use homunculus technology to create one.Right. Rest assured, we didn’t go outside and murder a hobo. This time. [Deligne]: A homunculus… I see. I’ll prepare for the operation right now. Come back here once you’re ready. Once I have a schedule, I can start at any time. At any time…? But it will take time to create the heart…[Deligne]: If Maggie said she could do it quickly, I expect it would be very fast indeed.  [Deligne]: Will you go forward with this procedure? I hope I didn’t blank out on the heart options, because we’re pulling the trigger on this. Let’s do it.[Deligne]: I understand. Let’s begin early tomorrow morning. I’ll tell Maggie myself. Regina, I want you to go to bed early today. Surgery can sap the body’s strength. Master, I suggest we rest, as well. We should also inform the others at the villa of recent events. We’re automatically sent to bed, but Regina will arrive a little later to talk about what’s about to happen.  …I’m a little uneasy, though. I thought I might not see your face again, so I figured I’d drop by… …If all spells were to vanish from this world, the parasite in my chest would disappear, as well.Here is the wrinkle in the whole “Yay! We changed Regina’s fate!” thing. The parasite’s mind control is broken, but it’s still acting as her heart. That parasite is not a creature of this world. It was summoned here/slipped through an open gate. Since our current goal is to erase all spells and summoning in order to stop “THE DARKNESS”™, that means we’re going to eventually cut off the parasite’s connection to the world it came from. When it dies/gets sent back to its world, that is going to leave Regina without a heart and send her right back to the grave she rose from. Obviously, that would mean my death. It… it scares me when I think about it.The good thing about this side quest is that you can do it independently of the Lovers Oak thing. You can make sure that Regina will live without sacrificing Maggie and Sydney’s endings. The lovely thing about this side quest is that there are very few hints about it. After seeing how simple it was to save Meline, it is easy to forget that Regina’s heart is gone. You may also not be thinking about the fact that the parasite is a monster from another world that will disappear when the gates are sealed. Regina’s Access Psyche moment certainly makes it seem like the parasite was completely eliminated and she’s totally fine. The only hint you get that this is something that needs to be done for Regina is if you just happen to have her in your party while talking with Deligne; a very minor NPC tucked away in a part of your city that you almost never have reason to visit normally. After that, you need to track down the Ancient Book, which can only be obtained by winning it in the first match of the 4v4 Arena Battles. After that, you need to remember the location of that safe that needed a combination. Don’t remember ever interacting with a weird square thing on the wall that asked for a combination? Well, I guess you'd better get to scouring every inch of every location you’ve ever been to.  Anyway, I’ll stop distracting from this emotional moment where Regina reveals how vulnerable she feels before a major operation that could (re)kill her. *Regina walks up to Crevanille* If this operation is a success, I might not have to die at all. Now that I have a hope of life, the risk of failure becomes more and more terrifying… It’s scary… being separated from everyone else. Will you… promise me? Promise me that if I live a long life, you won’t leave me alone…? I promise. Really? Thank you. Can I sleep here tonight? Together with you, like in the old days…*We fade out for a moment. When it fades back in, Regina is already gone*  *When we leave Crevanille’s room, we’re taken directly to the clinic*  Calm down…*Deligne comes out of the operation room* [Deligne]: The anesthetic is working. I will start the operation shortly… Is it okay for us to be here?[Deligne]: You made the heart. Do as you please. …Very well, I’m going to begin. Deligne…[Deligne]: Simmer down, little one. With Maggie and I working together, we can’t fail. Stop calling her little one! I refuse to let that catch on as a nickname. Do you trust me?[Deligne]: If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be using a heart you created, and we wouldn’t be here now. Hahaha… Good point.*Deligne and Maggie head in for the operation*  We can walk around and chat with some of the party to reassure them. We don’t have enough time for everyone, so I just talk to them in rough order of when they joined the team. Deligne is a master surgeon. Put your faith in him. I’ll have faith and wait. Yeah. Even though he does have his own little way with words… Don’t be so stressed. You’re going to cause yourself a lot of unnecessary grief. I am not. It’s good that you’re calm. There’s no need to worry, right? Everything will be fine. Indeed. It will all turn out okay. It would be good if the surgery succeeded… I trust in him. Yes… You are right. It’s like a health ceremony! Ooh, mystical! So, after this, Regina will be all better? Wow. A heart transplant… I don’t even want to think about it… That’s why we need doctors. No kidding. Opening someone up to put them back together isn’t an easy job. That guy has some amazing skills…I was tempted to answer with “You should try it sometime”, but now doesn’t seem like an appropriate time for levity. *After talking with enough party members, we fade out for a bit*  Doctor, the operation…[Deligne]: The transplant was a success. Regina fought hard, as well. That’s a relief… No worries on that front, Doc. Its days in this world are already numbered. [Deligne]: But, she’ll be okay. She did well to pull through the surgery like she did. She has a lot of fortitude, I’ll give her that. *Maggie comes out* Hey, send some compliments my way, why don’t you.[Deligne]: Ah, you make one heck of a heart. It makes me want one myself… In any event, she should return to her room for some rest. Thanks to the monster’s healing powers, her scar cleared up quickly, too. She should be back to form in no time. Thank goodness, Master. I feel really tired. As do I. Just waiting around was exhausting. That’s because the operation took the better part of a day.[Deligne]: The length of the procedure was a factor for concern, but there’s always worried in any operation. Now you understand the kind of strain I was under in having to concentrate for that long. No, [sic] go back to your rooms and get some rest. I’ll be going to sleep soon, myself. *We fade out for a bit, then find ourselves back in Crevanille’s room some indeterminate amount of time later*  *Regina walks down the hall behind Crevanille* Oh, good morning. Shouldn’t you still be in bed? I feel fine, actually. Deligne did say that the parasite was healing the wound far faster than normal. Sorry to bother you. We didn’t do anything. I disagree. Everyone was deeply concerned about Regina, and stayed through the whole procedure.Not to mention we found the Life Stone for the homunculus machine and the ancient book that let us make her a new heart. Though I must say that Master was the most resolute. Of course! Haha… It’s thanks to you that I feel this well. From here on, we’ll be fighting together again. We have to avenge Dad and the others.There, now Regina’s fate has been changed. With that, we’ve taken care of everything that needs taking care of as far as character story stuff is concerned. We have things to do for Eliza, Magnus, Hien, and Sydney/Maggie/Regina, but we need to advance the story a bit more first. Before we finish, we need to briefly discuss the two new fighters we have on the team, so that the thread can vote in a new party.   I already covered Regina’s fighting style way back at the beginning of the LP. She’s a ranged attacker, like Remus and Vallery. Her stats are kind of a midpoint between those two. Her range is better than Vallery’s, but worse than Remus’. MP is better than Remus and on par with Vallery. INT is better than both of them, but HP is much worse than Vallery and only on par with Remus. DEF and ATK are both better than Remus, but also worse than Vallery. Her starting Limit Ability is Multi-Shot, which is the same as Remus. It lets her attack multiple times when low on HP.   Meline uses a Scythe as her Ring weapon. As mentioned when we fought her outside Trockmere, this weapon is somehow a ranged attack, since she throws it. Meline is, by default, more of a Magic Knight. She has solid INT and great MP with good DEX for spellcasting. Her physical attack is all right, but I think her attack range is only on par (or perhaps a little shorter) than Vallery’s. She has better HP than Regina and Frayne, along with DEF that is mostly on par. Her major strength (when compared to Frayne, anyway) is in ATW. Frayne’s ATW is an abysmal 78 at the moment, while Meline’s is 51. In addition, Meline is able to (naturally) learn Quick Attack, while Frayne cannot, so that 51 can be brought down even further. Even if we taught Frayne Quick Attack using a scroll, it still wouldn’t compete with Meline’s. Other than that, Meline is able to learn just about every ability through spellstones, with the exception of some attacker oriented kinds like Soul Smasher and Circle/Pierce Strike. --Penultimate Party Vote-- This will be the second-to-last time I poll the thread on party composition. The next party vote (held after the final character joins the team) will be the one we use for the endgame and all endgame content (arena/bonus dungeon/etc.). Vote for up to 3. Keep in mind that Magnus and Hien will be temporarily swapped in during two specific moments, for the sake of character story completion. --Sunset or Lovers?-- In addition, the thread needs to decide on what we do with the Sunset Quartz (once we’ve acquired it). Vote for Sunset Quartz if you want Sydney to be eligible for a character ending. Vote for Lovers Oak if you want Regina or Maggie to be eligible for a character ending. Note: This does not make both Regina and Maggie eligible. Only one of them. If Lovers Oak is voted for, then another vote will be held immediately after on whether Regina or Maggie should get it (assuming I can actually complete Maggie’s story in the time left). Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 15:42
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I don't care about party composition, so I'm just going to say that we give the Sunset Quartz to Sydney. As great as Regina is, I don't cotton to siscon fuckery, and Maggie obviously needs to hook up with Delgrin...Delginne...the good Doctor.
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Sep 14, 2021 17:35
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Meline, Remus, Magnus I can't really decide between quartz or Oak, though, as you're not sure if we can finish Maggie's storyline. I feel a little strange that Regina is a choice given by the game, considering their relationship in the Merc brigade.
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Sep 14, 2021 17:36
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Space Kablooey posted:Meline, Remus, Magnus Here's the thing with Maggie: I'm following a guide for the character stories, because I never completed the vast majority of those during my personal playthrough, and some of them have obscure steps involved or steps that are time sensitive. The guide says that Maggie has 5 steps involved in her character story. We've already done 1 (that time we took her to the museum) and the others seem doable with the time available to use in Vacation 7 and 8. But it also says to use the Lovers Oak during Vacation 7. I'm not sure if it has to be during Vacation 7 or not. If someone could clarify this, then that would be great. Outside of that part, we would just need about 3 or 4 days of vacation time to finish up her story, which is easily doable. If we need to delay Vacation 7 in order to make it happen, though, then that's going to be a problem, since we needed to get the ball rolling on stuff like Hien/Magnus. AltaBrown posted:I don't care about party composition, so I'm just going to say that we give the Sunset Quartz to Sydney. As great as Regina is, I don't cotton to siscon fuckery, and Maggie obviously needs to hook up with Delgrin...Delginne...the good Doctor. I don't get a vote, but I just want to say that I agree with the "not down for siscon" sentiment. That stuff drives me up the wall in Japanese media. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 17:44
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Magnus, Regina, Meline and Lovers Oak.
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Sep 14, 2021 17:49
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I see. I will vote for lover's oak then.
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Sep 14, 2021 19:01
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When I was pondering doing an LP of this game, one of the subtitles I considered was "Tokemeki (sister) Complex." You think I kid, but out of the 14 girls with endings, only 6 don't have a sibling of some sort. And that's counting all of the familiars as one character.) Five if you count both Magnus and Diana looking up to Hien as a father figure I'm going to vote for Sunset Quartz ultrafilter posted:Magnus, Regina, Meline. Forcing you to find niches for all three midrange characters at once sounds hilarious, and I hope you can pull it off without just sworddancing everything down.
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Sep 14, 2021 19:23
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Ardeem posted:Forcing you to find niches for all three midrange characters at once sounds hilarious, and I hope you can pull it off without just sworddancing everything down. Not concerned about Magnus, since I could always make him a counter-stance/brick wall character (Brick Wall is what I was considering for both Hien and Vallery at different points, before giving them their current builds). Regina and Meline would be much tougher. There's only so much you can do with ranged and spellcaster characters. But, I'll rack my brain about that once voting is done and I'm positive about who I've been saddled with. I knew I was going to end up getting stuck with every character at least once after promising not to reuse builds, and yet I openly promised it anyway. I'm a glutton for punishment in that sense.
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Sep 14, 2021 19:46
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Oh wow, I brain farted and though that vote was Vallery, Regina Meline. Still, Magnus needs to strut his stuff so I'm not going to change it.
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Sep 14, 2021 19:58
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ultrafilter posted:Magnus, Regina, Meline and Lovers Oak. Yeah, this. Let's take our newest party members for a spin. Psycho Knight posted:I have a feeling like Maggie’s explanation was poorly translated, but I can’t find this scene in Japanese. She makes it sound like it’s a very difficult or nearly impossible task, but telling her Regina’s blood type (which Regina already knows) and body weight is apparently all that’s needed? I can try looking for it in the script part of the Character & Scenario Collection, but I'm not sure where it would be or if it even covers optional side quests. If it is there and I can find it, I'll take a picture for you to compare.
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Sep 14, 2021 23:25
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Remus, Meline, Hein and Quartz to Sydney.
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Sep 14, 2021 23:55
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Gonna miss Grandpa Hien's Sword Story Hour. Oh well.quote:Bear costume. 4lyf.  I think we should give Sydney the Sunset Quartz, we don't want engage in practices that are strictly forbidden for obvious reasons. Bring Remus, Hien, and Leona!
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Sep 15, 2021 00:16
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Eliza, Frayne, Remus because I'll be taking Meline, Regina, and Magnus lol. Sunset Quartz looks to be a shoein, so I'll take Lover's Oak. Personally, I can't even begin to consider Crev a person, so the sister angle doesnt bother me in the least. Growlanser gives us the fun personality nonsense in exchange, but it doesnt change the fact that Silent protag is still a general flaw.
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Sep 15, 2021 00:22
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I meant to say this a while ago, but I thought this game was going to have more time travel in it. Like, I was hoping for Chrono Trigger levels of time travel. Anyway, Magnus, Regina, Remus and Lover's Oak. I like Maggie and want to see where that goes. marshmallow creep fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 04:52
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Melomane Mallet posted:I can try looking for it in the script part of the Character & Scenario Collection, but I'm not sure where it would be or if it even covers optional side quests. If it is there and I can find it, I'll take a picture for you to compare. So this turned out to be much easier than I was thinking; the end of the script section has parts specifically for character's side stories! I just needed to find Regina's section and look for the part where she talks to Maggie.     Tried to get the best pics I could. If what I got isn't what you need, let me know. I know the section, I can go back and get other/better pics if needed.
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Sep 15, 2021 05:19
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marshmallow creep posted:I meant to say this a while ago, but I thought this game was going to have more time travel in it. Yeah I thought it was an odd choice. My pick of "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY LADY!" isn't much better though and probably goes over a text limit lol.
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Sep 15, 2021 06:31
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Melomane Mallet posted:Tried to get the best pics I could. If what I got isn't what you need, let me know. I know the section, I can go back and get other/better pics if needed. Thanks. Those pics should be fine. It's clear enough that I can still make out the stuff in shadows. I'll look it over when I get the chance and see if that’s the part of the conversation I was looking for. marshmallow creep posted:I meant to say this a while ago, but I thought this game was going to have more time travel in it. Yeah, there is surprisingly little time travel given the title. The To be fair, the title of the game is still fitting. A wayfarer is primarily someone who travels around by foot. In other words, slowly. That's what the Ruin Children are. You could also apply it to the Angels, since they time traveled, but also spent thousands of years in real time wandering the earth.
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Sep 15, 2021 15:34
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Eliza, Magnus, Frayne Figured you could use a balanced party. Then again a completely unbalanced party would be amusing. Also, Sunset Quartz.
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Sep 16, 2021 05:46
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This image seems to be the part I'm looking for, but it cuts off halfway through Maggie's explanation for why. I think it should continue on the bottom right of the same page. If not, then it's on the next page. From this page, all I can make out is that Maggie does say something about ancient technology/information being needed. She says: 「ホムンクルスの細胞に与える情報は古代の技術でないと取り出せないものがほとんどだ。ホムンクルス作成のための書類。。。」 Which is: "Most of the information sent to the homunculus cells can only be extracted with ancient technology. Documents for homunculus creation..." which is where it cuts off. I think, based on this incomplete explanation, that Maggie is saying roughly what she does in the English translation. She can't get the information she needs about Regina (Blood type) without ancient technology. But that still leaves us with the problem of "Well, Regina already knows her blood type and body weight, so that information must be easy to discern with present-day technology. You would assume that Maggie is aware of that, considering her intellect." FalloutFan56 posted:Eliza, Magnus, Frayne I'll make it work somehow, I'm sure.
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Sep 16, 2021 13:21
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Really Only the final parts of the game and the colosseum are a challenge now. With dash a team of all melee can ace it, and magic spamming should even be viable unless there's another treasure puzzle I can't remember.
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Sep 16, 2021 15:30
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Psycho Knight posted:This image seems to be the part I'm looking for, but it cuts off halfway through Maggie's explanation for why. I think it should continue on the bottom right of the same page. If not, then it's on the next page. Here we go: 
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Sep 16, 2021 17:06
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MythosDragon posted:Really I've been restricting myself for balance purposes, but once I have held the final party vote, I'll be taking off all kid gloves for the purposes of the stuff you mentioned. The bonus dungeon and exhibition matches pretty much require me to break the game over my knee, so Blessing Bells, Sword Dances, Invisible, and M2 stones will be on the table once we hit endgame. The exhibition matches are a special kind of bullshit that I'll want broken stuff for because of the sheer amount of ATW buildup there is if you try and do it normally. Melomane Mallet posted:Here we go: Okay, so it's not really a mistranslation then. I guess I'm just not understanding what Maggie is driving at. The Japanese part has her talking about gene pairs. Apparently Homunculi only have 11 pairs, according to what she's saying (humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes). She cuts herself off by saying that it's a long story and we should instead just focus on finding a heart that suits Regina. So again, I'm not sure what the supposed stumbling block that she mentioned is supposed to be. In both versions, it sounds like she's going "I can't make Regina a homunculus because I don't have the genetic information and it can only be obtained from ancient technology. But if you tell me her blood type and body weight, then I can make it... somehow." 
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Sep 17, 2021 02:44
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Starting sorting my screenshots and this game's writing is good lol. Conrad is also in Trockmere right before and after the flood talking about his fiancee. MythosDragon fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Sep 17, 2021 |
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Sep 17, 2021 19:39
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ultrafilter posted:Magnus, Regina, Meline  You gotta field all your troops at least once, right?I have a question about the character endings; namely, are they just "who Crevanille ends up with", or is there actual story or character development in them? Because if all the Amber and the Lovers Oak or whatever enables is deciding who Crevanille romances, I honestly don't give a poo poo. But if there's additional content gated behind these character endings, I'm probably going to vote for the Oak because honestly Regina and Maggie are more interesting to me as characters than... uh, what's her name, the assistant lady.
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Sep 19, 2021 14:06
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Commander Keene posted:
Ehhh, it's hard to say. Like a lot of the things in this game, some stuff is more involved than others. Vallery's final character event took up barely any space. Remus' was longer, but still managed to fit into a vacation update. On the other hand, I'm currently finishing transcribing Eliza's and that is going to require a separate mini-update, since it's taking up almost half of the next main update (leaving me with no room for, you know, story). I haven't gone through Maggie and Regina's character endings before, but in Regina's case there's only one step left to unlocking her ending and it involves giving her the Lovers Oak charm. If I had to guess, I would say that it's just going to be a short dialogue scene where Regina hints that she loves Crevanille, but remains noncommittal in order to keep the door open for other endings. In terms of the endings themselves, they aren't deeply involved. The final vacation has us spending time with the character we want an ending for and then there's another little 1-on-1 moment around the time of the final boss. If you are looking for character development and the like, then most of that stuff happens throughout the game and during the vacation events leading up to a character's ending unlock.
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Sep 19, 2021 14:44
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Yeah, then just put me down as "I don't care" for the Amber vs Oak vote.
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Sep 19, 2021 15:13
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There's say 5 minutes of story and a CG for each(most?) ending, and considering there are 46(split across routes) there's definitely a solid amount of content behind them. Awful shame you have to redo a solid chunk for each ending though, its why I've only ever seen like 2 despite 4 playthroughs of the game, I always lose steam towards the end.
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Sep 19, 2021 18:56
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Update 30: Cleaning House We’re back from Furlough 7 and ready to… do something… maybe? I kind of forgot what our plan was besides “stop all summoning”, which is more of a general goal.  Oh, everyone is gathered near the entrance. That must mean…  There we are. The messenger from Marquelay can always be relied upon to get things moving again. Sort of. What’s this noise all about?[Marquelay Soldier]: I’ve come to ask you to take command of our soldiers, sir. The Dulkheim Army has passed Aida Bridge and is advancing toward Marquelay! It seems Christopher’s intuition was correct.[Marquelay Soldier]: The Ordinale Army is currently in battle near Sunsail Village and will only be able to fight back on the Marquelay side. Mm, I understand. Crevanille… Please choose who you’d like to take with you on the next mission. The rest will come with me. This is really serious. Who’re you going to bring with you, Crevanille.We’re forced to select our party here. The thread voted for Magnus, Remus, and Meline. A surprisingly balanced choice coming from a group of internet randos. It’s decided, then.[Marquelay Soldier]: We’re currently preparing to intercept them near Sunsail. All right. That is where we will head. Come there if anything happens!*Hien then leaves with all of our other party members* Master, isn’t there something we can do to help them, too?There certainly is, Yuni! But we’ve got other matters to attend to, first. Priority #1: Coming up with a build for the two new party members. The thread really enjoys sticking new party members on the team. Can’t tell if that’s just a natural desire to test out new people, or if it’s because I promised not to reuse character builds and they enjoy making me suffer. Remus also squeaked in, after winning a coin flip against Regina due to a last second vote from Commander Keene.  Anyway, a build for Magnus was thankfully simple. Despite considering it multiple times, I’ve never actually created a “Brick Wall” party member. So, that’s what Magnus will be. Magnus starts with a Knack called HP Drain, which is something that I’ve wanted on Master Vampire Crevanille for a long time but haven’t been able to get (I think the scroll is an arena award or something). It’s only Level 2 right now, but that will do. I also level his HP Up, Shadow Dodge, and Quick Attack. Magnus also picks up his second Limit Ability: Satisfaction, which has a 25% chance of activating upon killing an enemy and will heal Magnus’ HP (usually anywhere from 125-250). In terms of Spellstones, I give him Luck Up+3, Interceptor, and Skill Effect +3. Interceptor gives him a 25% chance of countering a melee attack and halving the amount of WT added from it, while Luck Up and Skill Effect will improve his odds of countering (and boost his overall stats through skills like HP Up). I considered giving him that stone that grants a full revive upon death, but between his second Limit Ability, HP Drain, HP Regen, and nearly maxed HP total, he’s unlikely to ever hit 0.  Meline was a little tougher because there’s only so much you can do with a primary spellcaster. In the end, I opted to turn her into a Status/Insta-Kill Mage. She also gets Luck Up and Skill Effect spellstones, but gets Petrify Attack instead of Interceptor. I also level up her Silence/Bind/Fear/Atrophy spells along with Death/Death’s Curse/Fatal Strike. This results in her (ranged) melee attacks having a chance to Petrify an enemy. Whenever she’s not using her melee, she’ll be standing around throwing 1-HKO moves like Death. The result is that she should be brutally effective against single targets (as long as I’m lucky, anyway), while being generally useless against bosses (since they are normally immune to insta-kill). Still, she’s got a scythe. What else was I supposed to do with her other than make her a Reaper?  Priority #2: There’s some side stuff we can do now that we’re finished with the Furlough. We teleport to Ordinale first, then hook around to the north. Even though we haven’t pushed Dulkheim back yet, Valkania is largely on the ropes. That means we can reach a few places that have been blocked to us for some time.  Along the way, we pop into the Ruined Village for a quick hidden scene with Meline. Crevanille, if you have some time, I’d like to peek into that house. I’ve got a feeling there might be something inside. That’s something Cynthia drew. It’s a picture of Mama and Papa. I didn’t know they held onto it. But if it’s this well-preserved, they must have… For Cynthia’s sake, and Mama’s and Papa’s, I won’t let Vester get his way any longer. I’ll just have to become strong enough to face him. That’s what I’ll do.And that’s all for that. Let’s get back to the main road and continue North.  Keeping to the road will eventually lead us back to the crossroads near Klasdahl. In addition to setting up a much needed Transgate here, there are some things in the village itself that we can do.  Show me what you have.[Trava]: Hm, but I can’t simply show you what I have. What I have is love--love for this exquisite collection of valuables! I could only consider selling them to one whose love for such trinkets and treasures stands equal to my own! What are we supposed to do?[Trava]: A simple test of the heart! For what brave and radiant love could possibly shy from a bit of danger? Danger? Why not?Nothing is a danger to us anymore… except certain matches in the arena. [Trava]: Magnificent! I shall await you beside the sign at the outskirts of the village! *Trava then leaves* The guy is a pain in the rear end, but No Angeles is still short on an item vendor, so we’re going to have to play along if we want to recruit him. He’s basically the only candidate we’ve run into. Before we leave, though, we check back in with Latika.  [Latika]: Daddy went to the capital, so I’ve been lonely… Plus, um, I wanted to tell you something. The other day, Miss Diana…   Worried… Well, yes, I am. It’s about a friend. You know him, as well. The mister with whom we bought a gift together.[Latika]: Oh, mister! What about him? …Circumstances have made us enemies. And yet, he is such an exceptional man… He does not merely dominate by force. Everything he does, he does to save others. That doesn’t sound like us. I mean, yeah, we spared Muntzer, but we killed the poo poo out of Simmons. We also spared Vallery a few times, but that was only in service of reacquiring him as a party member. …Maybe that was a bit too complicated for you.[Latika]: …No, I get it. Daddy said it before. Real great men don’t defeat people; they save them. Lord Muntzer said that? He’s right. Your friend is truly a great man. But now, he and I are enemies…[Latika]: Are you going to fight him, Miss Diana? I have a duty. Listen kid, we’ve spent roughly half an hour, total, with Diana. “Friends” is a bit of a stretch. [Latika]: You don’t hate him or anything, do you? I do not. In fact… ….. …I respect him greatly.[Latika]: Then you shouldn’t fight! …We shouldn’t. You’re right. But it’s not that simple. I am a military officer. I cannot simply ignore my obligations in favor of my personal… feelings.[Latika]: Miss Diana…  [Latika]: You two were the best of friends. You’re a great person, so you can save her too if she needs it, right? No promises. Also, you keep upgrading the status of our relationship. “Friend” was a stretch, but “best of friends” is outright delusional. Anyway, now that we’ve checked in with Latika, who in this timeline was not made a double orphan, we chat up the guy to the left of her.  He’s looking for a place to settle down and we’re looking for more workers in No Angeles, so we offer to hire him. That opens up Valkanian cuisine in our restaurant back home. Sweet.  With that done, we can proceed with Trava’s stupid challenge thing. Make sure you save beforehand, though. [Trava]: Now, let us put your love of trinkets to the test! Fear not. The test is simple. I shall journey north, to Riesel. On my way there, I shall drop five items, each imbued with a crimson glow. You, in turn, shall retrieve them all. But each item has a scent that attracts and enrages monsters! If you fail, the monsters will destroy them!  [Trava]: And so, I place these wonderful items in harm’s way, all to test your courage and commitment! There you have it! Shall we begin the trial? Yes! I’ll show you my love![Trava]: Wonderful! Remember, the fate of these treasures is in your hands! *Trava then leaves to the north and a timer immediately pops up on screen counting down from 25*  The good news is that this mission is not an escort mission. The game will also show you when you enter a new field exactly where the item is located. All we need to do is run up to the item and grab it before any monsters manage to reach it. No more items here, Master. We have 4 of Trava’s items left to find.Yuni will also inform us of whether or not there are any more items on the current field. That saves us from frantically scouring the entire area looking for nonexistent items.  It’s a refreshingly easy mission. You don’t have to fight the groups of nearby enemies, but if you do happen to get pulled into a battle then you shouldn’t have much trouble clearing them out quickly. That said, you obviously should be trying to avoid fights.  On the next screen, the item is to the left of this rock.  Next is under the bridge.  Next is right near the exit to the next screen, on the patch of dirt.  The next screen doesn’t have a Trava item, but it does have the Sunset Quartz we have been after. Sunset Quartz won the vote, so this will be going to Sydney during the next Furlough. The stone’s hue does indeed resemble that of a sunset. But how could the hue of a stone affect matters of chance? Perhaps “luck” is simply a matter of perception. In that way, the stone may function through belief alone.We don’t really care, Yuni. We just want it as a gift.  The final item is right outside Riesel. You’ll need to race a bunch of other enemies to it. Be aware that enemies will continue moving towards the item even if you get into a battle.  Yuni will also set up another Transgate when you approach the town. After you get the last item, head into Riesel.  *Crevanille explains that we collected them all*[Trava]: Ah, you protected them all! Your love is a treasure in itself. I see that now. As promised, my wares are now for sale. And something else… Would you consider employing me? Long have I traveled the world, searching for someone who shares my first love. And that someone is you, without question. I shall go wherever you command. So please, allow me into your service! Master, what do you think? Sure, come to No Angeles.Just shut up and run our item store, please. [Trava]: No Angeles… A new town near Marquelia, you say? Then there I shall go, to vend these most venerable valuables! I’ll see you in No Angeles. Come and visit when your travels take you there again! *Trava then leaves* Finally, our shopping district is complete! Let’s go che--  …Huh. Haven’t we seen this person before…? [Well Lady]: Oh, hmmm… This isn’t quite what I had in mind… It’s too lively. I thought it’d be more desolate. This is harder than I thought… But you can’t lose heart, can you? *If we try talking to her again, she turns around*  [Well Lady]: You’re travelers, too, right? You understand. I know you understand. Right. We met this weirdo back in Sunsail a long time ago. She’s still strangely passionate about well design, apparently.  Whatever. For now, we check on Trava. Trava will now sell us pretty much all the standard items in the game from No Angeles. We no longer have to teleport to the most recent town (in our case, Rebrant) in order to restock on stuff like Sacred Elixirs and Star Shards.  With that done, we head North of Sunsail for a quick moment. Just in case you rethink your party formation, you can head North from Sunsail to find the rest of your group wandering around the road. From here, speaking to any of the party members will allow you to reorganize. We’re not going to be separated from them for long, but it’s still nice to know you can swap members around even after they’ve split up.  Once we’re ready, we teleport to Trockmere. Yuni wondered if there was something we could do to help fight off Dulkheim. Well, we have access to something that Dulkheim doesn’t: Transgates. Using it, we can easily dip behind enemy lines and pincer attack them on the Aida Bridge while they are busy fighting the rest of Team No Angeles.  But first: Valkania stuff.  Though he turned against us, he always thought of his citizens first, and was a man of honor.Friendly reminder: Alfonse is faking his death. It’s not a writing copout to account for his addition to the Fate system, either. We will actually see him again. Indeed… We lost the spellcannon and they lost their commander… It seems his brother, Christopher, has taken over for him, though. What do you make of this man? I heard he dropped out of the military academy. Hm. In other words, he has the mind of a Royal Guard, but not the strength. Seems like that would favor you, doesn’t it? Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll use Rebrant as our base to block Ordinale’s advance. With Dulkheim in front of them, they’ll be caught in a pincer attack. I will leave this in your capable hands, then, Dame Silverneil. Thank you, Your Majesty! Looks like we’ve got another snag to untangle. Diana will have to wait, though. We need to deal with the southern bridge before worrying about the northern one. Chris will just have to hold out on his own. Outside Trockmere, we take a short jog northward towards the border checkpoint. Dulkheim soldiers have reappeared and are scattered everywhere. Not much to worry about, but try not to get overwhelmed by their sheer numbers (there can be upwards of 15 on this single field screen).  Keep fighting your way to the North until you reach the checkpoint. There’s no way to sneak through this, so you’ll have to clear it out. Head through the next screen past the checkpoint, which will have groups of monsters instead of soldiers for some reason. After that, the next screen will trigger a scene.  [Dulkheim Soldier #2]: Someone… Heal me… [Dulkheim Healer #1]: I’ve got you!  [Dulkheim Soldier #3]: All right, I think I can fight again, thanks! [Dulkheim Healer #1]: Good luck!  If we incapacitate them, that will give Marquelay forces a chance. I will go scout the area since I am the least likely to be seen. We can use Yuni to scout out our approach. There are swordsmen wandering around the boulders on either side of the road, but there is a gap in their routes we can slip through if we time it right (carefully follow that guy near the center of the screen while he is walking away from you). A word of caution: Do not get too close to that main group of soldiers on the right. Remember: Regular people can’t see Yuni, but those with proficiency in spells can. It should be obvious that the Dulkheim healers are proficient in magic. If Yuni gets too close, she’ll be spotted, and the battle will start. We don’t want that.  They have located us.[Dulkheim Healer #2]: Eliminate them! [Dulkheim Soldier #4]: All right! [Dulkheim Healer #2]: You have to report this!  This is why we want to get as close as possible before triggering the battle. We need to stop the Dulkheim Captain from escaping and alerting the frontline forces before we’ve had a chance to eliminate their support casters. Have your fastest character (or your ranged characters) focus on the Captain. He isn’t that hard to stop, as long as you can catch him. Once he is dealt with, turn your attention to the casters and swordsmen.  Once you’ve dealt with a majority of the enemies, Bauer will arrive to find out what’s going on. He shows up with a bunch of reinforcements. B-Bauer!? You guys! Ahhh, that makes sense. Only you’d be this good. The good news is that Bauer and his reinforcements enter the field in a big cluster. If you know this is going to happen, as I did, then you can have your spellcasters ready and waiting with a Level 4 or 5 Joint Spell. In our case, Remus and Meline have a Level 4 Death Cloud poised to fire. It doesn’t work on Bauer, but it does wipe out nearly all his reinforcements.  After Bauer eats enough damage from Crevanille, Hien and the rest of the team arrive to back us up. Hien! Huh? More enemies from the east!? We’ve secured the bridge! Here is all that’s left. Bah, is this because I left the front line?At this point, your victory should be assured. Hien arrives with three of your reserve party members (in our case, it was Frayne, Leona, and Eliza).  *Bauer flees after a bit more damage and leaves behind 7000 Ril… or possibly an item of some sort that I’ve maxed out on. Either works for me* Now we just need to clean up the remaining Dulkheim soldiers.  This poor guy. Can you imagine seeing that storming across the field at you? But you know what? He had the balls to stand his ground, even after seeing his commander get the poo poo kicked out of him. You’ve gotta respect that level of dedication... or stupidity. Your choice, really. Superlative, everyone. This should make the Dulkheim Army retreat. You all did well! Though, I must admit to some fatigue, personally. Let’s all head back to the villa. Let’s do that. I decide to take the Aida Bridge route. It’s a little farther to the nearest Transgate, but there are less creatures and soldiers in the way now that Marquelay-Ordinale controls the territory.  When we return to the villa, there’s another battlefield update waiting for us. [Narration]: Dulkheim attempted an invasion by sending troops to the two bridges on the border of Valkania. But the army faced great losses when they were beaten by Christopher at Eizenvant Bridge and by Crevanille at the Aida Bridge. Dulkheim was left with no choice but to stop their assault.  [Narration]: This would put Christopher’s forces in a tight spot, facing the Dulkheim Army on one side and the Silverneil-led Valkania Army on another. So, Christopher’s main force is under siege at Fort Baltrick. Meanwhile, a separate force is keeping him and his frontline forces pinned near the Eizenvant Bridge. The easiest way for us to help him escape his predicament is to cut off the head.  It’s time we dealt with the final member of the Royal Guard. Make sure to buff before entering Rebrant.   [Valkania Soldier #1]: Dame Silverneil! The enemy has entered the city! …Just four of them? Maybe they’re shock troops leading a bigger force? Use the geography of the city to your advantage, and just stay calm. Draw your weapon and fight for what you believe in, if you think your way is what’s just! Begin the attack!We only need to deal with Diana in this mission, but there are a number of spellcasters and archers overlooking the center of town from both sides. You should devote one or two of your units to thinning that herd a bit, while your melee fighters charge at Diana and her guards. Unfortunately, ranged units like Remus don’t seem to be able to hit the archers or spellcasters from the ground floor. The enemy archers can fire down on you, but you can’t fire back at them (I guess because they have the high ground and can duck behind the walls?). You’ll have to rely mostly on spells, since the stairways leading up to the second level of town are far in the back, near Diana.  In our case, I send Crevanille after Diana. Magnus attacks the two heavy soldiers near Diana, then heads to the right stairway to deal with the spellcasters on that side. Remus snipes at the soldiers at the top of the stairs (since he can actually hit those from his ground level position). Meline spends the entire fight casting Level 2 Death spells, which end up wiping out 7 soldiers of the 13 initially on the field. Death charges very quickly, and a Level 2 is enough to give you a 50/50 shot at instant killing a normal enemy. It’s pretty busted, as long as you get lucky and are not facing off against a boss.  Like the other Royal Guards, Diana is able to strike up to 3 times in a single turn. She dishes out about 160-190 damage to Crevanille. In a normal playthrough, you should be sending at least two melee characters against her. Reinforcements will also slowly trickle in behind her, so you can’t afford to draw out the fight with her. In our playthrough, Crevanille is simply too strong for her to beat 1-on-1 (unless she had gotten lucky with stun). That’s why I sent Magnus off to do something else.  [Valkania Soldier #3]: Dame Silverneil!  N-No… This can’t be… Ngh! All personnel, retreat!Once Diana is defeated, the mission will end and all the remaining soldiers will retreat. For a Mission Complete, I believe you just need to finish it with a positive bonus gauge.   [Ordinale Captain]: The Valkanian forces on the southern end were thrown into chaos, and that led to our victory. We knew something must’ve happened, but we never imagined it was that you defeated a Royal Guard! You are truly worthy of being called heroes! We will take over the defense of this city, so please rest easy tonight. Can do, boss man. With Diana defeated, we pop outside of Rebrant for a second to meet up with Chris.   The enemy’s command structure fell to pieces, and we used that opportunity to take back Fort Baltrick. I wondered what might have done it, and I thought it might be you. I didn’t think you’d be attacking their main forces, though! But it all worked out. Thanks.Yeah, we’re kind of reckless, but we get results. What will you do now, Christopher? I’ll stop advancing the army here and return to Rebrant to see how things play out. Afterward, I’ll contact Marquelay and reexamine [sic] our course of action. Chris heads back into Rebrant and we’re left to our own devices. The city is now back under Marquelay-Ordinale control, meaning that Valkania has basically been contained to just their capital.  Also the weird Well Lady has appeared again. [Well Lady]: There’s a weird statue here, too… I could set up there… It’s a better idea than the fountain, but I don’t know… I can’t… here… can I? I mean. It’s not a well. …Right? WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! [Well Lady]: I don’t know what to do. A well… a well… Oh, can’t I find a well anywhere? People are weird. Anyway, let’s head back to No Angeles. With Diana out of action, a major change is about to happen in Valkania.  I am truly sorry. I take full responsibility for their lack of proper training. Mm. We are currently reorganizing our troops. In the name of the Royal Guard, I will protect this capital and Your Majesty no matter the cost! No, there will be no need for that. You’ve done well, Silverneil. Y-Your Majesty? Knowing you as I do, I know you would fight until you’re the last soldier on the field. But that won’t accomplish anything.  That’s one down, baby! You’re next, Dulkheim! But, sire… Since the Marquelay alliance is fighting a war on two sides, they should be willing to talk. I will offer myself over to them as a sign of good will. That will surely put an end to this war. Then I will offer myself, as well! B-But-- And besides, when I am gone, who will there be to lead our great nation? Ngh… I entrust the future of Valkania to you…You know, despite him being an rear end in a top hat and a pompous idiot at points, I have to give King Valkania credit for knowing when to fold and shouldering the responsibility for the loss himself.  That’s more than we’ll be able to say about these two dipshits.  So, it’s come to this… If they’d done that sooner, they wouldn’t have lost so much of their strength. Were you their king, things would not have turned out so poorly. Hm. Have you ever considered becoming the king of Dulkheim? The reason for this country’s greatness is that it lets the people choose who is best to lead. I won’t be the one to end that.”I’ll simply be President for Life, and then, once I am getting old and feeble, I will appoint the biggest rear end-kisser to replace me! It’s totally different than being a King or Emperor because the people can still vote for parliament! Note: I stripped Parliament of its lawmaking powers and gave them to the President, who is me.”  I’m relieved to hear that. That was the answer I was expecting. You truly are worth risking my life for. It’s wrong to test others like that… Things are going to get a lot tougher. I’ve heard they have some kind of elite squad even the Royal Guard couldn’t best. God, I can’t wait to kill at least one of those two. I don’t care which, just give me at least one of their heads soon. It’s already been too long since Simmons. I need more named character bloodshed.   When we head to bed, another scene kicks off. Looks like Dulkheim has found out about Vester’s two-timing. [Dulkheim Soldier #1]: We know you went behind our backs to teach summoning spells to Marquelay! You come with us! [Dulkheim Soldier #2]: We’ve been ordered to kill you if you don’t comply! So, which is it? Come with us, or die!?  Come with you? Ahahahaha![Dulkheim Soldier #1]: What’s so funny? Hahaha… Ignorance truly is a sin. You? You’re going to kill me? I invite you to try![Dulkheim Soldier #2]: You bastard!  *Then Vester gets that black cloud around him again and the Dulkheim soldiers just kind of blip out of existence as he approaches them*  You still wish to continue?[Dulkheim Soldier #1]: Ngh… Farewell, then.*Then Vester just leaves*  Kind of weird for him. I mean, not when it comes to us. He runs like a wimp when it’s us. But it’s weird for him to just leave that one dude alive for no reason.  This guy really seems like he loves his job. Official Messenger to No Angeles. Welp, let’s go see what Alicia wants this time.  Diana, you can’t blame yourse-- Don’t try and console me. You saw how Alfonse acted, and now look at you. You two would never be able to understand me… …All right. But let me say this: what were you fighting for? Huh? My brother fought for what he thought was right. What was your reason? To follow the King’s orders? …… Or have you lost sight of that because your own sadness is clouding your judgement? …… Sorry… Would you leave me for the time being? Right, of course. Sorry, Diana. Just remember that the King wouldn’t have put you in this position if he didn’t think you could handle it. Why did you quit the academy? I always thought you’d have made a worthy Royal Guard member. I don’t have a particularly good reason to share with you. I’ll say this much, though. I am who I am today because I didn’t become a Royal Guard.*Chris leaves*  Not everyone has your strength.I guess we better go and butt into this whole thing.  Ah, it’s you. ….. Hey, Crevanille. There is something special I really must ask of you. In that case, we should go to the throne room.*The rest of the party leaves for the throne room* You see, Diana is over there. …She seems really down, you know.And? It might not be much, but can you talk to her? I don’t think it’s best to leave her. Why not you? I can’t make her smile… I have to leave it to you.What the hell do you think we can do about that? She barely knows us! I’ll let everyone know that you’ll be running late. …See you later.*Chris leaves* Hey! Don’t just… Oh, come on.  Seriously, what the hell kind of history do Chris and Latika think that we have with Diana? Ugh… Protagonist Powers activate, I guess… You…? What are you doing here? Because you’re here. …So you’ve come to see me. In this state… Great, it’s going to be like this, is it? I can’t leave you alone. ….. …Have you come to mock me? Look at this pitiful excuse for a Royal Guard. I’ve failed to protect my country, and betrayed the ruler I swore my allegiance to. I am a horrible human being! That’s not true. …Please, stop. I don’t deserve such kindness. I didn’t want to be seen like this. At least… I didn’t want you to see me like this. You are accomplishing things beyond the scope of nations, and yet look at me… I failed to protect my country. For me to live so carefree, while being unable to save people… You’re not horrible. I’m… I’m… Check out the cutscene: Tears Cutscene time! For some reason!     That was technically part of Silverneil’s character story. We could have just left her, or we could have ignored Chris and let him deal with it. Comforting her ourselves is how we get closer to a character ending with her, however. Let’s hurry to the throne room.With our Protagonist Powers having done their work, we can return to the important matters at hand. Let’s go see Alicia.  We could not have done this without you. As a representative of Marquelay, thank you. So, all that’s left is Dulkheim. And even they grow weary of the fight. Don’t forget they fought Iglesias before us, too. Their primary forces have come close to being annihilated to boot. That’s why, after conferring with the princess, we’ve decided to ask for Dulkheim’s surrender. They’d never go along with it.Yeah, you’re crazy if you think God Emperor Ludwig would even entertain that idea. Yeah, that conclusion would be most likely. Uhh, I don’t think that’s the issue here, Chris. Dulkheim isn’t going to surrender because Ludwig is a delusional fool that thinks he’s one step away from conquering the entire continent. It’s got nothing to do with systems of government. It’s true that democracy has its advantages. It allows every citizen to have some say in their rulers. But as you implied, Christopher, the downside is that if an ambitious ruler takes control, he might be less loyal to his people than a sovereign might. President Ludwig, however, is somewhere in-between. He acts as both legislator and military leader. A dangerous combination. The ship sailed on the “keeping him in check” boat ages ago. That went out the window around the time that he passed the emergency measures which gave him the ability to bypass parliament and write laws himself. The most important part of any country is its people, no matter the kind of government in place. Taking all these things into account, we’re thinking about forming a new system of government that combines imperial and democratic rule. As Marquelay is currently set up, it would be impossible to unify the other countries under our system. A brand-new system? Would that mean no more imperial rule? That’s correct. No kingdom, and no more royal family. Give me all the details! Yes, please. I’m ever so interested in hearing about this wonderful new form of perfect governance. Each state will have a law-forming group called a “House of Representatives.” This will let each state be able to keep a check on the other states, ensuring a lasting peace.Ah, yes. Federalism! We all know how peaceful and harmonious that is. That sounds like a pretty secure system, since everyone will have an equal say. Of course… half the Senate will be made up of Marquelay and Ordinale for a little while. That doesn’t sound right! It wouldn’t be that way forever. Once the states prove they can function in harmony, we’ll split the Senate appropriately. But until then, I feel like we’ll need the extra control just in case anything goes wrong. Marquelay and Ordinale would be out-numbered significantly, allowing us to be controlled by the states we just defeated.Right, so instead you’re going to create a system where the will of a few will determine the course for everyone. Iglesias, Marquelay, and Ordinale could agree on any number of things that Dulkheim and Valkania (presumably the largest countries on the continent by population) don’t like. That’s true… It also stands to reason that the Senate wouldn’t be able to do anything for a while, since everyone would be trying to create laws that would only benefit their own home sate.That’s what they’re going to do anyway. This is one part where I feel like Growlanser IV’s script really stumbles. The game has been good about highlighting the pros and cons of different systems of government. Democracy has received an equal share of criticism to Monarchy. I like that about this game. But here, it really feels as though the game is trying to portray a USA-style government as the perfect solution, while entirely ignoring the fact that it shares some of the flaws of both.  Right, I’m ranting again. I’ll save the rest for either the thread or for the LP wrap-up post where I scream into the void as everyone is packing up and going home. If you could, we’d like you to refrain from any actions until we hear back from Iglesias and Dulkheim. As the “heroes of Marquelay,” any actions you take will be seen as representing Marquelay. Fame has its price. Understood. We should not leave the country.Yeah, yeah. We do all your dirty work and don’t get any say in the future of the continent, then you stick us on house arrest because you’re afraid we might run off and poo poo on Dulkheim’s doorstep or something. You got it. After leaving the castle, we’re stopped by the sight of Silverneil. We’re not done with the pep talk, apparently. Diana… Crevanille, I know this is a selfish request, but would you speak with her again? She acknowledges your strength, after all, so I think you’d be the best person to talk to her. We’ll wait for you over there.*The rest of the party heads down the left staircase*  I feel as if we’ve had this conversation before… Not that this is a bad feeling. It’s thanks to you that I’ve come to a conclusion. My Royal Highness may be gone, but I will continue to serve Valkania from this point on. You finally smiled. …Am I smiling? …I see. It’s no doubt due to your powerful spirit. Can I speak with you again, soon? Even if only for a short time, I’d like to try to talk with you some more. I look forward to it. As do I. I shall contact you when I am free. Until then.*Diana leaves* That about does it for this update. We’ve got an extra update coming up, and then it will be time for the last Furlough (where we can actually do things, I mean). Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Sep 20, 2021 |
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Sep 19, 2021 20:27
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the way it gets talked up and she even has an anime cutscene makes me wondered if Diana originally was supposed to have a larger role in the game. As now we've spent more time with Syndey whose role in game is a glorified vacay menu.
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Sep 19, 2021 20:53
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