|
Edward_Tohr posted:
So does this mean we're actually gonna get to see "End of the World" in action before the end of the LP? 
|
#
?
May 28, 2015 07:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 21:29 |
|
|
Huh. There's actually a little undercurrent of panic there. Guido hasn't come back and he's got every free Mogay gathering everything. Maybe he's going to be our final dungeon merchant?
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2015 16:58
|
|
|
Black Balloon posted:Still only 60 level 3 MP. Bufuman posted:That probably puts the kibosh on the whole "All MP gains get directed to non-maxed magic levels" theory, since Feena's gained something like 140 magic levels and only about 64 combined level 2 and 3 MP. Guess she's still trying to send that poo poo to levels 1 and 2 even after they're maxed. Since whenever it was I last updated the stats post (entering Alent?), she's gained 146 magic levels, and a grand total of 65 MP. We have thoroughly proved that yes, MP gains can be wasted on maxed out levels.  nine-gear crow posted:So does this mean we're actually gonna get to see "End of the World" in action before the end of the LP? I was honestly worried she wouldn't have the MP for it, even after the grind. I'll be sure to show off all three of her Icarian spells during the next boss, though. Glazius posted:Huh. There's actually a little undercurrent of panic there. Guido hasn't come back and he's got every free Mogay gathering everything. I will say that, as much as I rag on him for being greedy and refuse to transcribe his accent, Guido really is a neat character. He still has his role to play in the story. Speaking of, I'm sitting on a whole pile of stat boosters that I should probably hand out. How do you all want that done? All to Justin, whoever has the lowest in that particular stat, whoever has the highest in that particular stat? Something else entirely?
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2015 21:19
|
|
|
Ehh, might as well even people out. Give them to whoever has the lowest.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2015 22:10
|
|
|
Your call.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2015 22:23
|
|
|
I also call for give them to whoever has the lowest stat. Also, Edward, you think you'll finish this LP before the Four Job Fiesta starts up?
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2015 23:52
|
|
|
Bufuman posted:Also, Edward, you think you'll finish this LP before the Four Job Fiesta starts up? By the 22nd? I'd have to update a bit more frequently to manage that, I think. Or reduce whole dungeons to "Here's one screenshot, here's a list of loot, here's what the boss does, and now back to cutscene". I'm not particularly familiar with the chunk of the game between the upcoming boss and the end, so I can't really give an accurate estimate of how many updates we have left. Maybe 10? Might be more, I really don't recall how long some of those cutscenes go.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2015 00:18
|
|
|
The Chosen of the Spirits (Justin) requires more fruit smoothies. Unless it increase level 3 mp, then give that to Feena.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2015 18:47
|
|
|
Welcome back!  Last time, we ended on silly slapstick. This time, we're starting with hammy evil.  : Ah, ha, ha, haaaa! Gaia... can you hear me?! : I've finished it... here. Your castle! How long... how LONG it has been!!: The wait for the day you awake! For the DAY...!   Oh, hey Mullen.   : Operation Yggdrassil is now aborted! The Forces will now initiate the destruction of all Spirit Stones and of Gaia! : Well then Fath... Baal! Hand over that piece of the Spirit Stone!: HA!! Don't be a FOOL! Gaia is superior! It is evolution's step up from humanity!!Yeah, Baal gets to keep his double exclamation points. It seems fitting. : But you, with your humanoid blood, you would NEVER understand what evolution has wrought! : Gaia is LORD of ALL!! MY lord, YOUR lord! LORD... of the WORLD!!: IDIOT! What NONSENSE! Your end has come, Baal! So, uh, keep this line in mind for later. : Do you think you can defeat ME!!? AH, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAA!! Oh dear. The ham... it is INFECTIOUS! HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA!!    : Aaaagh! Is everyone alive? : Ah, just barely.... : Where are we? : This is the place you call the "Savanna". : Does that mean we have returned in one piece? : Then, how could this be? Gaia... where is Gaia!?  : Over there. I feel the signs of Gaia up ahead in a place beyond the Luzet Mountains. : Well, shall we go, Justin? : Ah! Without a moment's delay. We have to stop Gaia!And this is when we're normally supposed to visit this part of the Savanna and take care of the Tower of Temptation. But since I already took care of that, we can proceed right to ... Almost. There's one thing we have to take care of in town, first.  Between Sue and Milda, Liete gains 8 mace levels. Yes, seven of them were from Sue alone.  Hitting maces 18 unlocks Liete's final skill, Enchantment Dance. For more than half of her SP total, she can steal 4 MP from one enemy. It, uh... is not the most useful skill, really. Maybe if it were cheaper and more powerful.    Guido's weapon levels were a wee bit lopsided.  We also sell off a bunch of junk to buy the Holy Sword Lorenzo.  As well as a few more Blue Potions, and a replacement Magic Lamp. For old times' sake. Probably overpreparing here, but gently caress it. To the Luzet Mountains!   Even compared to some of the other filler dungeons, the Luzet Mountains are... less than memorable. At least there's stuff to say about the enemies.  Sand Snakes are the annoying ones. Sure, they're weak to everything but wind, but they've got that Sandwave skill, which hits all allies and is decently powerful. They've also got Craze, which causes confusion.  King Horns can use All Together! to summon more of them, or Plague Fluid to cause plague in an area. Less of an rear end in a top hat than the Sand Snake, but still annoying.  Finally, Yeti. They can use Earthquake to deal physical damage in a radius. And that's it. Nothing else noting about these guys. Seriously, this place is so filler even the monsters are boring.  I guess we've got this gate? That's a thing.   700 damage from a level 1 spell on a minor weakness. Liete is a magical loving powerhouse.  But don't be fooled into thinking she has to spend MP to be useful. Redshock can hit 500 damage right out of the gate, without even any skill-boosting gear. What I'm getting at here is that Liete follows in Gadwin and Milda's footsteps.  This is the first interesting treasure of the area, and it's something that Liete starts with in her inventory.  Finally, some excitement! Star Symphony is Liete's level 2 unique spell. It costs 12 MP, and boosts all the stats of everyone in the party by one level. As-is, it's a handy way to open boss fights.  With enough magic boosting gear, though, the effect can be doubled. And then it goes from "mildly useful for tough fights" to "double all your stats in three turns". The only downside is that the animation is... kind of long.  Figured, while I was showing off her other stuff....  Seriously, Liete's stats are lagging behind. Less than half of Justin's strength, less than a third of Rapp's agility, and she's dead last in vitality and wit, too. For the record, Sue had 80 strength back at the Volcano. At least she's got more level 3 MP than Feena.  The eastern part of the mountains has an area where you go through a blind tunnel. Why did I take a screenshot of this?  Because that's where you grab this baby. +1 to both combo and critical. This one treasure here makes up for everything else being agility seeds.  Liete isn't the only one casting magic around here.  Feena's actually been pretty invincible throughout this dungeon. Most enemy attacks are doing less than 20 damage, and so are negated by her tiara.  I dunno, having both BOOM-POW! and DragonZap on the same character seems kinda redundant. At least GadZap has its own niche. Maybe that's an idea for a mod, having the ultimate spells of each element unique to certain characters. Anyway, after spending far, far too much MP....  We get to where we're going. See you next time!  :  +5,  +3,  +1,  +2,  +1,  +1 :  +1,  +3, +2, +4, +1 : +2, +2,  +4, +2, +1, +2, +1: +13, +2, +3, +3, +1
Edward_Tohr fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Jun 1, 2015 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2015 22:34
|
|
|
Edward_Tohr posted:JustinOuch: Aaaagh! Is everyone alive? Missing picture here.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2015 22:46
|
|
|
Oh god, Liete's level up portrait is smug as hell, isn't it? Anyway, it's good to see her being obviously useful in the next dungeon. ...and good to see Mullen trying to take over Garlyle, even though Baal is probably going to mind-control everybody right back.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2015 06:13
|
|
|
Edward_Tohr posted:But don't be fooled into thinking she has to spend MP to be useful. Redshock can hit 500 damage right out of the gate, without even any skill-boosting gear. Except that not only does Liete have a lot more tactical options (due to not being limited to half or no elements). Not to mention that by this point Justin and crew are at the same level of power. Sure, they had to train for it, but really, so did Gadwin and Milda. And Liete probably has some kind of power inheritance thing going from all the previous Lietes, so that's a couple centuries' worth of power. Well, either that or she was kicking ghost monster rear end whenever she wasn't busy writing down history or observing the world or whatever she was doing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2015 06:35
|
|
|
Bufuman posted:Except that not only does Liete have a lot more tactical options (due to not being limited to half or no elements). Not to mention that by this point Justin and crew are at the same level of power. Sure, they had to train for it, but really, so did Gadwin and Milda. And Liete probably has some kind of power inheritance thing going from all the previous Lietes, so that's a couple centuries' worth of power. Well, either that or she was kicking ghost monster rear end whenever she wasn't busy writing down history or observing the world or whatever she was doing. Yeah, I miscommunicated there. I was trying to emphasize that Liete is capable of putting out damage like the rest of the team in addition to her access to formerly-exclusive buffs and status effects. Instead, I babbled on about the numbers she can put out and mentioned nothing about the latter. Thankfully, the upcoming boss should give me enough time to correct that. Once I fix the audio desync caused by Feena's new spells and cut a video together.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2015 20:23
|
|
|
Welcome back! By my count, this should be the big 100th episode spectacular!  Update's content is not guaranteed to be meaningfully different from other updates. Side effects may include growing a tentacle spider-crab-scorpion monstrosity for an arm and referring to everyone as "worms". If grinding persists for more than four hours, consult a doctor.   : This is quite different from what I had expected. It seems to be a separate edifice constructed on top of an Angelounian ruin. I sense the powers of Gaia inside. I do have to wonder what the soldiers stationed here thought of the spikes out front.   : If Colonel Mullen in the Tactical Command Center can arrest General Baal, our mutiny will have succeeded! All personnel stand by! Until there are new orders from Colonel Mulen. All personnel stand by! : Mutiny!? What is Mullen up to now!? What about Gaia? What's going on with Gaia? Come on you guys, let's go!There's actually quite a bit of the base to explore, and people to chat with, but we've got other things to take care of right now. Mullen is over in the TACOM Center, so let's check that out.  : Ungh... un... reinforcements? Too late for me... the Colonel... help the Colonel.... The Colonel chased Baal.... Baal had a secret... passageway... in the corner... statue.... Man, it would suck if the only way to get to Baal was via an airship or something.  : Mullen! Are you OK!? What happened to Baal!? : Justin... why? Why did you give Baal the Spirit Stone?! : ....!: By giving him the Spirit Stone, you gave him the key to eternal destruction! Didn't... didn't you realize that?!: B-but... I...! : Y'know, Mullen, if you had told me this back in Zil Padon instead of just pulling your sword on me, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess right now! : What?! : You heard me! And it took you this long to realize that Baal was evil? What, you were okay with sacrificing people for Gaia when Cafu got petrified?! And I suppose telling the little orphan girl that she'll never see her family again was all part of the greater good!?: We don't have time for this! Hurry! Baal must be stopped... or the world...! Gaia... he's going to...! : Mullen! Mullen! Are you all right!? : Don't worry. He has just lost consciousness.:.... Dammit, I wasn't done yelling at him yet.: The Gen... Baal has gone through this passageway to where Gaia is kept. He means to unite the Spirit Stones and awaken Gaia! Please! Justin... Feena! You MUST stop him! : And it seems to have been used to build some sort of facility. : BAAL! I won't let you get away with this!Yeah, in short, Mullen is still a douche, even though he's now on our side. Anyway, that passage leads to our next dungeon.  Much like with the End of the World, it is its own destination on the world map, even though going through the secret passage warps you there, and it gets sealed off once you beat it. Unlike the End of the World, though, the dungeon is short, and there's a boss waiting for us at the end.   Still better than Luzet, that's for drat sure.  Hyena Men are probably the most common enemies around. As you can see, they're weak to everything, and with their low vit, that includes non-elemental physical attacks. They've got two skills: Bite, which is a fairly damaging single-target attack, and All Together!, which calls more Hyena Men. They can be mildly dangerous if you're out of MP and SP, haven't upgraded your armor since the first time you went to Zil Padon, and you let them summon a bunch of friends. Otherwise, they're basically free XP.  Stuttles are a bit more hardy than the Hyena Men. Howlnado can put the hurt on if you let a large group spam it all the time, but since you can buy complete wind immunity for a few thousand gold....  Finally, the scarab. Earth Attack hits a small radius, slightly larger than a Burn! spell, for non-elemental damage. Other than that, they're pretty resilient against physical attacks, but weak to all elements.  "Underground Railway" isn't just a name, by the way. There are ancient Angelounian trains scattered about.  That is a terrible level, Rapp.   Liete gains her first level with the group, pulling up alongside Rapp in vit. And bringing her max HP up above Justin's max SP.  Ostensibly, this is intended for Liete. But gently caress that noise, auto-Regen all the way.  Eventually, you come to the station.  And we've got a save point, stashing place, and a blue potion waiting for us. A word of advice: make sure you save on a different slot here. There's kind of a lot that happens once we go through that door.  And, in preparation for things to come, I decide to heal everyone up to full using my items. What is to come, you ask? Well, that's easy!  First, I'm gonna go bug a Hyena Man, and wait for one of them to summon allies.  Then, I'm going to cast snooze until Feena runs out of MP.  Then, I'm going to run the gently caress away, heal up at the save point, and repeat the process from the top.  It's worth noting that the results screen will only show up to 999 XP gained. I mean, this is pretty much the only situation that you'll ever run into that, but it's worth noting. Anyway, after slightly less than two hours, Feena gained the 71 water levels she needed to hit 99. And now for the fun bit.  Reviving everybody, and keeping them clustered together for 99 castings of Runner per battle. Thankfully, this went a bit quicker than expected, only about two and a half hours to get 66 wind levels.  But the results.... Feena, in addition to her massive defense from her equipment, now has nearly 300 HP, and casts all of her water, forest, wind, blizzard, and lightning spells at max speed. ... Her agility is through the roof, too, but that really doesn't matter. Especially not with the warp shoes equipped.  So, Time Gate. Costs a full 99 MP, and freezes everyone but Feena for a few rounds. Seems broken as poo poo, right? Well, for starters, since it's literally impossible to gain any more water or wind levels, it's stuck at the slowest casting speed, so that kind of sucks. Secondly, while it does let Feena get a few turns in uninterrupted, it also stops the rest of the party. No matter what, Feena isn't gonna be pushing the same numbers alone that Justin and Rapp can together. So, Feena's best off using it to buy time to heal up the party. Except the only stat buff spell she has that isn't level 1 is Speedy, and if she needs to restore HP or cure status effects, she has Tree of Life, which is cheaper, quicker to cast, and learned much earlier. The real kicker, though, is that the spell wasn't always like this.  Using the debug menu to have access to it on Disc 1, we can see a few interesting changes. What sort?  How about being learned 81 levels earlier?  Or costing a quarter of the MP? Along with the lower requirements was a lower power, though. The cheaper version was a 600-power skill, while the final one has a power of 2000. Granted, I can't say for certain whether the disc 1 version of the skill was how it was originally intended or if it was modified to make it easier to test or something. But I can say for certain that a weaker, cheaper, easier to get version of Time Gate would have been more interesting, tactically. Anyway, enough  . Time to go stab Baal until he stops twitching. And we finally get a name for the room there.   : You again... boy.: You're too late. As we speak, the great power of Angelou will revive itself thanks to your Spirit Stone! Can you not FEEL the breath of GAIA!? Y'know, just in case you forgot about the demonic electric spiky pinecone of death. : Hah, hah, haa! AS WE SPEAK! Our roots are growing everywhere on the Earth!: You will destroy YOURSELF TOO! STOP IT! STOP GAIA NOW!: No one... NO ONE! : No one can stop me now! We shall feed on ALL LIFE!: What the...?! What is he TALKING about? Yep, it's becoming unclear whether Baal has a leafy crab-scorpion-spider thing for a right arm, or Gaia has a green-haired weirdo growing out of its left side. : HA, HA!! So... the Icarian is here, too!: ...!: Do you think to trap me again? Hah, ha, haaa! Impossible! Oh hey, finally we get a callback to the Gadwin stew incident! ... Yes, I am going to continue to believe that it's an intentional reference, and not just somewhat weird wording.  Of course, we already know his secret. He has no need to hold back. : NEVER! Gaia WILL be STOPPED!  Here he is, in all his glory. Let's take a look at his stats, shall we?  The first thing to notice is that he's given up all the spells he had back on the Grandeur. In exchange, his sword inflicts a random status ailment with each swing. Needless to say, Move or Magic Block can gently caress up your day right quick. Sleep and Paralysis can take a character out for a short while, but they're probably the least annoying ones to get. Poison is, as usual, more annoying for the IP stun each tick inflicts than for the small bit of damage it does. Plague can continue to inflict random ailments or stat debuffs, and Confusion will either wreck your face or wear off harmlessly, depending on how close the victim is to getting their turn.  The next thing to notice is that he has access to Vanish, but as a skill rather than a spell. I'm not entirely sure why, but Baal is the only enemy in the game to use the skill instead of the spell.  : Resistance is futile! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!Finally, he's got Gaia Power, which heals him for 400 HP. As expected of a major boss, he's resistant to all magic, immune to all statuses, has a hefty chunk of HP and a decent vitality to protect it. That 230 wit means that he gets his turns often enough to keep the pressure on. But wait! There's more!  Yes, the Gaia Tentacle is a separate target in this fight, and if you want to end things quickly, it's the one to go after. It has more HP, true, but that's offset by no elemental resistances and a lower vitality.  : There! Ha ha ha ha ha!The tentacle is also the offensive half of this fight. Gaia Strike is a 130-power attack on a single character that leaves them stunned.  : Ha! Try this on for size!Gaia Fang hits a large area around Baal for about 70 damage, as well as debuffing defense by two levels. Both of these also fling their victims around. Now, what about Hoist Heel? Certainly sounds like some sort of awesome axe-kick.  : Ha ha ha ha ha ha!It's not. It's the Tentacle's way of healing itself.  It recovers 700 HP, though, so just one can undo all but your heaviest hits.Oddly enough, both Gaia Power and Hoist Heel are defined with a power of 350. Both parts have separate HP totals, but the fight ends when either of them are defeated. The "smart" strategy would, therefore, be pick one to blitz down and end the battle before the status effects and stat debuffs have a chance to get you. If you do spread out the pain, though, Liete is a godsend. Not only for the damage she can do, but also because she has access to a lot of the spells that used to only have one caster, like Cold or Poizn. The latter isn't much help here, granted, but it does mean that a single Magic Block isn't going to remove your access to a basic spell. But, I figure if you're gonna be fighting a big boss like this, might as well try and end it with some style, right? So, to that end, enter Feena.  Step one, damage both of the parts to critical HP. This makes the fight much longer, especially with both parts being able to heal themselves. But once that's accomplished....   : Oh, Spirits of blue, halt the bells of time that peal forever!  And just like that, everyone but Feena is frozen in time. Only for a few rounds, granted, but more than long enough for Feena to do what she needs to.  : Oh, Spirits of green, bring the sparkling blessings of the Tree of Life!  Tree of Life is an excellent panic button. It restores all HP, cures all ailments including death, and restores any debuffed stat level back up to zero. It's the only way to cure status or revive multiple people at once, and it's the only Icarian magic usable from the menu. Best of all, it only costs 28 MP. A hefty price, sure, but more than reasonable for what it does. So, time is frozen, and Feena and her allies are restored to tip-top shape. What's our final move going to be?  Why, dropping an apocalypse on Baal.  : Oh, Spirits of red, use the furious flame to crush evil into dust! These images only show for about a second or so, but there's a lot of detail to appreciate in them. Like that face in the middle of those wings.  Anyway, Feena calls upon the red Spirits....  To engulf the whole battlefield in a sea of flames. End of the World's 33 MP cost is quite hefty, especially if the RNG decides that Feena doesn't need any level 3 MP. In exchange, though, every enemy on the field takes 999 damage. No saving throws, no resistance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l68KIkDPq0 (Polsy link) The video is worth watching, both for the animations on Feena's spells, and for Baal once again chewing the scenery like a goat at a school play. Granted, none of that is necessary. Between Redshock, Zap! Whip, Demonball, and Thor Cut, it's not that hard to focus the tentacle down in two or three rounds, as shown here.  Well, we did it! Eleven thousand XP, and ten thousand gold for saving the world. The extra five thousand is from the Miraculous Scales.  Wow, Justin is only a single point of HP behind Feena. Who, you may recall, recently gained 70 or so while acquiring a certain spell. But think how far Justin's come since Parm. In fact, let's go take a look at how he was then, shall we?   Justin actually turned out pretty balanced, levels-wise. His fire/wind is a bit higher than his water/earth, but seven levels isn't much at this stage. His weapons are even closer, all within a single level of 40. His strength and wit have skyrocketed, being a minimum of 100 points above his other stats. His defensive gear isn't up to snuff, but with that 90 vit and nearly 300 HP, he doesn't need to care about that anymore. Justin started his adventure swatting flies with a wooden stick. Now he's defeated the single most powerful swordsman in the world, who himself was using the powers of the evil that brought the advanced civilization of Angelou to ruin. Standard JRPG fare, I know, but seeing just how much the characters grow, in personality as well as numbers, is important to any story. Doubly so when it's one that focuses on adventure like this. Yep, there is nothing quite like enjoying the feeling of peace and accomplishment, knowing that the world is safe forever, thanks to you. Safe forever.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpXljtc3-y0 (Polsy link) (Video plays through end of update. It has voices and an FMV. Watch it!)  Everything is good and safe. Nothing can go wrong now, right?  Baal's voice seems to come from everywhere. The party forms up, trying to find him. : B-B Baal?! You...!: I can hear the great will. I'll devour it all! The world! EVERYTHING!!: O' Gaia! Grand your boundless power to me! Become one with me!! Uh-oh.  And from here on out, Baal no longer has a portrait. There is a reason for this.  Of course the villain can't have their big powering up scene without striking the heroes with lightning.  Thankfully, Leen shows up to bail us out. Also, I like that Rapp was the only one to make his reflex save.  Without the Spirit Stone to protect us from Gaia's power, Leen uses her Icarian abilities.  : LEEN! : Sister!? : Everyone RUN! HURRY! Baal's voice seems to be coming from Gaia.  Or, maybe, Gaia is speaking to us though Baal's voice. Maybe there is no longer a distinction between Baal and Gaia. Maybe there never was, and "Baal" ceased to be as soon as he received that arm. Who can say? Regardless, Gaia has no portraits, and when I did the subtitles on the upcoming FMV a year ago, I had forgotten quite a bit of the nuance, so he's going to be labeled as Baal for the time being.  : Come! Look! : This is the form of your new God! And the demon pinecone splits down the middle.   Oh dear.  Gaia's roots are growing fast. Fast enough to damage J Base.  And worse than that, they're spreading.  Spreading far. : Ah... ha ha HA ha ha.... : AH HA! AH HA HAAAAAAAA!!
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2015 04:24
|
|
|
Well, I'm certainly glad to see that Time Gate isn't even close to worth the effort. Now I don't feel bad for never bothering to make the grind. I think I tried once in the final dungeon and got bored around level 55 for both elements.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2015 05:28
|
|
|
Bufuman posted:Well, I'm certainly glad to see that Time Gate isn't even close to worth the effort. Now I don't feel bad for never bothering to make the grind. I think I tried once in the final dungeon and got bored around level 55 for both elements. Tree of Life and End of the World, on the other hand? So very much. I remember the first time I cast it in game, pretty much going "Hmm... 'End of the World'? That sounds like it should be a neat spe--  "
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2015 05:37
|
|
|
It certainly lives up to its name, at least in terms of animation. The damage-to-MP ratio, though, is where it falls flat. EotW can never benefit from magic-boosting gear, nor can it ever hit an elemental weakness. True, it isn't hampered by resistances or immunities, but a boosted DragonZap or BA-BOOM! can easily break 1000 damage, and for half the MP. It does make a really flashy way to finish off bosses, though. Unfortunately, it also fucks up the audio sync on the emulator's recording. But you're not here to listen to me  about the game's numbers.---- First things first, I forgot to post the NPC chatter for the last update, so, uh.... here we go, right.... right in the middle of that dramatic cutscene.  With that said.... Welcome back! Last time, things... didn't quite go as planned. : Ha ha ha! You struck me down, only for me to become more powerful than you could POSSIBLY IMAGINE! Ah ha ha ha ha!Yeah, that.  Thankfully, Leen's there to bail us out.  Hey, it's the Grandeur! Only with a purple coat of paint! And not exploded!   Rapp is the only one who thought to bring something to fidget with.  Although this soldier guy doesn't make us wait long. : What? CORPORAL Feena!?: Wait a minute.... You must be joking.: No Ma'am! As of today we all have strict orders to treat you as corporal. Colonel Mullen has briefed us on the details. Hadn't you heard, Ma'am?: "Hadn't you HEARD, Ma'am...?" NO! Of COURSE she hasn't! What is Mullen up to? Unfortunately, the soldier splits before he can give us any info about Feena's new job.  : Gaia's back, everything's a mess! Hey Juss, so what do we do now, huh? : I don't know.... OK! The only thing to do is ask Mullen ourselves! Sadly, Mullen secures his statues more tightly than Baal did.  Although he does still leave piles of gold laying around. Fun FactTM: This map is literally the same map we fought the Sergeant Trio on. The only actual Lyonlot map is for Mullen's quarters. Everything else is just a different event state of the corresponding Grandeur map.  We're not allowed to blow it up again, though.   : Colonel Mullen. At this rate there will be extensive collateral damage. : Hmm... Gaia will consume a great deal of energy in order to resurrect and evolve. Oh no, not the place with all the NPCs that I have to transcribe dialog for!  : But the Spirit Stone is gone. Now there is no way left for us to save Zil Padon.: Battleship Lyonlot preparing to land. Destination--Luzet Mountain Camp.: Hmm.... : As you all know, Gaia has revived and the situation is grave. We have evacuated J Base and are now heading to the Luzet Mountain encampment to regroup. The Garlyle Forces are now left with only one possibility of victory.: That is to re-enact the myth. We must blow up the Spirit Stones that Gaia has assimilated. Using a giant cannon in an anime JRPG? Nothing can go wrong here! : But the destruction of the Spirit Stones cannot be done by humans. We must use Icarian power for that.: Can we expect your cooperation... Corporal Feena?Before she can answer, though, the ship lands.  Justin seems more angry at Feena's promotion that he does at her being drafted.  : How should I know? Where IS Feena, anyway...?: Someone said Feena has her own Officer's Tent in the encampment up there. Maybe we could talk to Leen, too. She might do something about this Corporal business.: Lieutenant Leen said she would go to the TACOM Center encampment later on.: Let's just go and see.Oh, wait, hang on, I think I left my axe back on the airship.   : I don't wanna waste any time. I'm gonna find Feena. There's some more gold scattered around the landing site here, but there's also this.   Sult, the Twin Towers, and now here. That seems to be the official Garlyle Field Base theme. Still, it's just dire enough as a town theme to remind you that yes, poo poo is still real.  Oh hey, Feena'll like that. There's also another agility seed, which I guess Liete will like? She does have the lowest agility. Anyway, since this counts as a town, there's something we've gotta do.  : Procure the items you need by taking them in hand and verifying. The counter will register procurement. The Battle Saber has no special properties, just +45 attack. And I think we have one already? Not sure. The General's Staff here, though, is a great addition for a tanky Liete or Justin.  Some interesting things here. The Warrior's Mail and Battle Helm we got back on the Grandeur, and give +3 move and magic block, respectively. The Charisma Helm actually does boost action like it says. Sadly, the girls can't equip it. Well, Milda can, but I don't think you can have one of these while she's in the party. Finally, the Battle Boots give some defense and also prevent instant death. It's a rare enough thing, and everyone has some other special property on their footwear, but I buy a few anyway because I routinely make poor decisions with my money.  The item shop, though, is more interesting. The Relief Amulet boosts defense and grants auto-regen. The Combat Anklet boosts attack by 20, and the Elite Badge boosts Act by 33. Rescue Sets we've known about since the beginning, Eye Drops cure sleep, Smelling Salts cure confusion, and Paralysis Ointment cures... wait for it... paralysis. Lightning Scrolls are still inferior to the Zap! Scrolls we should have stocked up on back in Luc, and Grenades... well, they're the same they've always been. I do like that they're finally for sale, though. The Culture Medium, though, is a bit more interesting.  Dirt cheap, and it's the only way to inflict Plague. Pretty drat wide area, too, according to the data. Larger than Burnflame. Sadly, no bosses are vulnerable to it, and a lot of upcoming enemies resist it, but hey, it's plague! All right, let's get to Feena's tent. After chatting with literally everyone else first.  : Really? They can talk? Cool! Let's teach him something! .... Y'know what? I'll leave this one up to a vote. See you next time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2015 05:22
|
|
|
DORK
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2015 05:56
|
|
|
If memory serves, the second option is pretty dull, so BESTOW UPON MULLEN THE TITLE OF "DORK"!
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2015 05:58
|
|
|
Mullein is a dork, so how about we make sure everyone knows it?
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2015 18:29
|
|
|
Gotta make sure that people know who is the real dork.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2015 10:47
|
|
|
I have a feeling the dork path will get us told off by a parrot, so let's go to that. Also kind of props to Mullen here for dealing with the apocalypse the best way he knows how.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2015 18:02
|
|
|
Whee, more NPC chatter updates again. Welcome back! Last time, we had that cliffhanger with the avian creature that's either a myna bird or a parrot, depending on which NPC you talk to. I'm just going to assume that Rapp is an idiot and that the soldier who's actually taking care of the thing knows what it is, so it'll be a myna from here on out. Anyway.  : So, ah, what are you gonna teach him? : Whoops...!: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! That's too much! He's right! You ARE a dork! : Justin's a dork! Justin's a dork. Dork. Justin dork.Entirely predictable, but a good reminder that the game is still willing to be silly even at a time like this. Anyway, I suppose we should get the main event underway.   : Justin...? I want to talk to my sister.: That's a good idea. You'll be able to talk straight to Leen without this "Corporal" stuff. They said she'd be coming later to the TACOM Center.Of course, "later" means "once you talk to Feena".  : I was waiting for you. Leave us alone, please.  : Yes Ma'am. By your leave Ma'am.And they haul rear end out of the tent.  : I have something to tell you Feena. Colonel Mullen has worked hard to prevent General Baal from obtaining the Spirit Stone. He has gone without rest or even sleep to remain in charge of the army and save the world from destruction.: But...: You know as well as I do, that in order to save the world from Gaia's revival, the Spirit Stone must be broken. Our powers are needed! : Feena, please, HELP us! The Colonel needs help more than ever! We need to HELP him!: Now WAIT a minute Leen! Mullen's ready to desert Zil Padon and let it be destroyed! How can you expect anyone to help THAT!: Justin is right, Leen. I'm going to help save the people of Zil Padon. Together with Justin.: According to the speed observed for Gaia's growth, Zil Padon might be overcome any time now. How can I allow you to go into such danger? No, I won't. : I can't agree with any plan that is willing to desert the people of Zil Padon. Even if it IS supposed to save the world. WAKE UP Leen! Don't let Mullen FOOL you!: What do YOU know about Herr Mullen!: FOOLED by him!? Fooled by his pledge to protect our Mother Earth with his LIFE!? I have made the same pledge MYSELF! I am ready to die too if need be!: If need be...!: Leen, NO! It's WRONG! What sense does it make to trade LIVES to save the world?! Before we head out, though, Leen has some semi-important dialog for us.  : I have always wished that I had been born without these wings. : But... the Colonel once told me he thought my wings were beautiful. My two, red, glimmering wings.: He saved me with those words. Yes, he saved me from my pain. And now I must save HIM!: Leen...! Forgive me... my sister... but I cannot desert the people of Zil Padon.: You said once yourself that I never go back on my word. So you know more than anyone....: I'm going with the others to Zil Padon. Boy, it sure would be awkward if I had forgotten something from the Tower of Temptation and had to go back through it, huh? Yep, it sure is a good thing there wasn't a hidden passageway on the seventh floor that I missed. And that that passageway didn't hold the Spirit Staff, which casts Halvah when used as an item. It would be mighty embarrassing if I had to go all the way up that tower again just to grab an item I wouldn't be using much anyway. Yep. Really glad I didn't have to waste any time at all doing that.  : What's up, Juss? All of a sudden, you stopped talking. Huh. : It's too quiet.... : It's too quiet! I don't hear a single thing!: Hey! Maybe everybody kicked the bucket!?: It couldn't be. The town would only be like that if Gaia had attacked.: At any rate, I'm worried about Guido. Quick, let's check it out!However, before we're even given a chance to move, the screen starts shaking.  : Oh, no! Are we too late!?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AllSmckQONc (Polsy link) As always, skip down to "FMV ends".  Hey, that's a nice shot of the Alqada section.  Oh. Oh dear.   This is another of those scenes that the attract mode FMV spoils. Still, the shot of the trees getting petrified is pretty neat.  Of course, if just turning everything to stone isn't enough, we also have Gaia's tentacles running through the place.   Including that one rear end in a top hat that just pops up through the ground, as the FMV ends.  Yep, that's our field map music.  : How could we have known that Zil Padon would be swallowed up so quickly? : Juss... do you think the whole town... everyone...?: No! It CAN'T be that bad. Let's see who we can find! Quickly popping back out to the world map... yeah. It's gotten bad.  Since Cafu and Laine are sealed off forever, you only get to see the middle part of this map in-game. Which is kind of a shame, because it means that you'll never see little details like the Rainbow Spring losing its rainbow, or that Gaia is also spreading from the Tower of Doom. Anyway, back to what we were supposed to do.    A lot of the destruction is visible, even in the overhead map view.   : WHY!? If I had only KNOWN that this would happen when I gave Baal the Spirit Stone!: We CAN'T allow any more people to be petrified! We MUST destroy Gaia!Even as he's beating himself up for allowing it to happen in the first place, Justin still isn't giving up and is fighting to fix it.  Oh no, not the cafe! All right, pack your poo poo, people, we're heading home. See you next time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2015 02:56
|
|
|
That is a nice world map. Well, a fitting world map. But drat, what's left of the world now? Aren't there Garlyle bases across the sea, too?
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 01:47
|
|
|
I'm pretty sure all of Gaia's development was taking place on this continent. There were no specimens or cursed villages up until we got to Cafu and Laine.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 03:56
|
|
|
Guys. We're glossing over the most horrifying development of all: MULLEN CLEARLY PRE-PROGRAMED THE PARROT! 
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 04:44
|
|
|
nine-gear crow posted:Guys. We're glossing over the most horrifying development of all: MULLEN CLEARLY PRE-PROGRAMED THE PARROT! Truly, an act which only further proves his dorkiness. ---- Welcome back!  Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. : ...! Someone's alive! Over there!: Let's hurry! Oh good, more palette-swaps.  Stats are a little higher, and resists fire slightly more than the King Horn, but nothing really notable about these guys. I guess try to cure it if you get plagued?  : Where is everyone else? Have they all been...? : Oh no! Most of the people escaped to the Mogay section. We were on our way there too but we were attacked by that monster that you saved us from. : Good then, people did get away!: OK you guys! Let's keep looking for more people in trouble! : Please hurry and take shelter as soon as you can!: Yes, we certainly will. Thank you again! Not everyone got away, though. : If we don't DO something, EVERYONE will be petrified! We MUST destroy Gaia! : Justin. This is only Gaia's extremities. It won't do much good to fight here. Let us hurry forward.Since the bridge to the Mogay section is destroyed, the way forward is to the Alqada part.  Oh gee, I wonder who this could be.  There's a few seconds here where Leen just stares at us. : Leen...?: .... .... : Shoot, I blinked. How are you doing, Rapp?: No sweat, I got this. ...: ACHOO!: Aww, nuts.: Attention! Operation number 01025, codename Operation Earth Swell will be put into effect today at 14:00 hours! Corporal Feena and Lieutenant Leen are to report to J Base Cannon 3 and await further orders. Repeat! Operation....: Leen!: Leen... I guess you just don't see it our way.: Feena! This is an ORDER! You are under direct orders from Colonel Mullen.: Leen! Wake UP, will you! Oh good, a kid's getting mauled by Gaia, now we have an excuse to blow off Leen again.  : Someone! PLEASE! Someone help my boy!: What? Is someone being attacked again!?: Hey, Juss!: Right! I'm going! We'll have to talk later, Leen!... Eh, if I don't talk to her again now, I'll have to do it for an NPC update later. Fine. You can say your piece, Leen. : This town will soon be swallowed up by Gaia.: Feena! Please! There's still time! Come back with me to Colonel Mullen.: Leen! Are you still on that?! We TOLD you already! We will not leave these people to DIE! : Leen... I can't see things the way you do.: Please understand, Leen.: Feena....Alright, time to go save a kid.  Oh hey, the mom was Rafane 5! I was just kind of guessing when I put that graphic in there. Anyway, more Gaia Horns. They continue to do both jack and poo poo.   : No! I'm OK! Gee, you sure are tough!: You BET I'm tough!: And we're gonna pummel that Gaia thing till it screams uncle! Behind the group, the Gaia goop has been gathering. It'd be better if it wasn't partly behind the text box.  Its back is turned! Quick, we can get a surprise round! : Huh!? What's wrong!? : Hey Juss! Look behind you!: Was it still alive...?!: I know about this. It was the same in Cafu!: That's right. You cannot defeat Gaia.: Leen!: Leen?!The Metal Gear Solid joke would be too obvious here, so I'll spare you. : The only ones who can...: are those who have the wings of power. Only we Icarians can! Psh, I could've done that if I felt like having Feena spend the MP. : Do you understand now, Feena? What our purpose is?: We were born to fight Gaia.: ....: The Colonel is waiting, Feena. We must go to him.: But Leen, wait! Look at these people here. Are you going to just LEAVE them!? : It doesn't make sense. Happiness isn't real if it is bought with the misfortune of others!: No! You're WRONG, Justin! The Colonel... Colonel Mullen... in case anyone was alive...I guess finding out about her ~mysterious past~ didn't change that whole "is literally incapable of thinking negative thoughts about Mullen" thing, sadly. : ...!  : Leen! Are you all right!? Open your eyes, Leen!: Hey you guys, shouldn't we be getting away from here?: Oh, you're right, Rapp. Let's take her to a safe place. Help me, Rapp.Dammit, Justin, your strength score is above 200. Pretty sure you don't need help to carry someone who can't weigh more than 120 pounds. : HELP you?! Save HER?! No way, Juss. She's the one who wiped out our village!: Hey Rapp! You're not being fair! Don't forget that Leen has HELPED us too!: Please, Rapp!: ....: Well... I guess you're right. You take that end, Juss.That seems like a good place to leave off for now. See you next time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2015 00:41
|
|
|
I guess Rapp never learned what a coup was? I mean, cows are notoriously not politically astute, so I don't blame him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 00:14
|
|
|
I like Rapp and I like this game. In any other jRPG they'd belabor the point for something like eight more text boxes as Rapp goes on and on about how much he hates Leen.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 00:21
|
|
|
Glazius posted:I guess Rapp never learned what a coup was? I mean, cows are notoriously not politically astute, so I don't blame him. Most cows aren't, but if a Lainian man starts thinking about political science, all bets are off. bathroomrage posted:I like Rapp and I like this game. In any other jRPG they'd belabor the point for something like eight more text boxes as Rapp goes on and on about how much he hates Leen. Yeah. It's easy to think of him as just the hot-blooded angry one, but Rapp is perfectly capable of swallowing his anger and going along with his friends when they have a good reason. His growth is more sudden and subtle than Justin's, but no less important. ... Also, today's an update day, isn't it? ---- Welcome back!  Good thing, that. Otherwise we might have to use healing magic on her. : The doctor said that Leen had just fainted and she would be herself again shortly. : Everyone... thank you for taking care of my sister. Rapp... thank you.: Huh? Oh, right, it was nothin'.: Now we have to figure out what to do about Gaia. Looks like even if we beat it, it still comes back.: I think it is just as Leen said. Only the power of the Icarians can destroy Gaia.: But... I don't think I have as much power as my sister. Justin, there's a button you need to hit. Left edge of the keyboard, between shift and tab.  : We can only wait for it to die!: Once it attacks, it's all over and you know it. We'll all be squashed like bugs. : WHY?! Why do we have to die like this? : It's all over. Look at this place. We might as well be dead.: Hey...! Hey, wait a minute everybody!: You're not giving UP, are you? I can't BELIEVE anyone would give up without even TRYING!: We'll protect this town! Count on it! We'll help you. So come on! As far as motivational speeches go, this one is pretty short and to the point.  : Oh, Justin.... : Is everyone OK?! : Thank goodness. It looks like it's still safe here.And we're given control here to go speak to the NPCs. ... What, you thought that the city getting wrecked and people getting turned to stone would stop us from being able to chat with them? Pfft. Anyway, talking to Gina lets us actually advance the plot.  Get used to this, it'll be the default sad music pretty much until the end of the game. : Such a big surprise! How come YOU here, Mr. red-hair adventurer boy? You get stuck in attack too?: We didn't get stuck. We had heard that Zil Padon was being attacked by Gaia so we hurried over.: Whadda-you say!? You come HERE when all this terrible thing happening?!: Well... YEAH.: But it looks like we weren't in time. Sorry Gina.: You no gotta say sorry for NOTHING. My problem is the old man, he leave on business before the attack, so I don't know WHAT to do! You all show up now, so I feel MUCH better!: OK then, I hope Guido's OK.: It's NOT OK! Everywhere it's monsters making trouble! Maybe they come HERE!: Don't lose HOPE Gina! We won't LET them come here! We'll protect you! Don't worry!: But... Justin, if the powers of the icarians are used, Gaia is sure to return.: The powers of the Icarians...? From the wings that Leen spoke of? Is it our purpose to fight?: Justin... I... maybe it's my purpose to fight. Can we fail to use the powers that Leen and I have?: Feena...!? : Protect you, Justin. And protect my sister. Everyone! I want to protect everyone!You can tell this text box is important because the camera zooms in on Feena beforehand.  : Feena. Wings... wings of light.: Feena... there is a strength that is beginning to well up inside you. Now, I'm sure that Liete wasn't implying that the ancient Icarians didn't give a gently caress, and just sorta accidentally stopped the world from dying as a side effect of stopping Gaia, but that interpretation certainly makes the circumstances surrounding the fall of Angelou much more interestingly ambiguous. Did the humans steal the Spirit Stone and doom the world because they were greedy jerks, or because they were trying to give the power to those who could care about others? : You are trying to find the key that will release this power from within you.: The power... of caring...? Unfortunately, before she can finish her thought, the Gaia Lightning pops up again. And the background music goes back to this. : LOOK OUT!: Stay away from it! Whoever touches that light will turn to stone! : The only thing we can think of now is destroying Gaia! Come on! Let's go!Before we get to that, though...  I love old-school freakout animations.  Anyway, our next target is hanging out at the entrance to the Mogay section.  : Here it comes! I hope you're ready Juss! : Justin! Let's go!: I'm ready! It won't get one step past us!Oh boy, I hope you're ready....    ... For yet another Gaia Battler. The hands have a 1/3 chance of inflicting either sleep or poison with their melee attacks, and the Right Hand has swapped out Grand Heal for Ray Spread. The main body can use Rust Gas, which is just Poison Gas only with a defense debuff instead of poison. Lightning is only very slightly more powerful than it used to be, and the group has far more HP, healing ability, and resistance to lightning. There's really only so much that can be said about these guys at this point. So have some numbers instead.  Right Hand is still weak to all elements, so Thor Cut can really tear into it.  As can a +5 skill power Zap! Whip. Also, no, the boss didn't Plague me, that was from the first group of Gaia Horns.  An unboosted Redshock can still do decent damage to the Left Hand, though not quite up there with Demon Ball or what Midair Cut would have done if I had remembered to give Justin a non-elemental weapon.  Rapp growing a third arm to dual-wield swords while Justin spins through the air still doesn't make the fight exciting enough to keep Liete awake. Y'know what? Let's try something else. Take two!  This time, we're all healed going in. We're also going to bring all the parts down to low health and finish them all off at once.  It's a strange feeling to be using Zap! because I know that it's not powerful enough to kill anything.  Because the stat debuff spells have an elemental affinity, they can be reduced or enhanced by the enemy's resistances. Not sure if I've mentioned that before, but here's a screenshot that sums the whole thing up nicely. But with no ability to heal itself, the Gaia Battler and both its arms get brought down to low HP without much incident.   Dragon Cut can put out quite a bit of damage if Justin has his strength buffed and the enemy has their defense lowered.  Justin still has the Scales of dropping extra shinies.  And Feena finally breaks 300 HP. Justin isn't far behind, though.  Looks like we killed it so hard it became a puddle of goop. Good job! ... wait, no.  Oh well, that's not so bad, we can take i-  Okay, six at once might be a little tricky. : It just keeps coming at us! Like there's no END to it! What are we gonna DO Juss?!: We sure can't retreat. We've GOTTA protect these people!: I'll fight! Again and again!: Justin! Keep hoping with me! We'll protect everyone! We won't let Gaia prevail!: FEEEEENAAAAA! Feena busts out the glowing green magic again.  Oh hey, Leen's up.  Just in time for Justin and Feena to drop a ball of green magical energy on the city.  See you next time! .... oh, right, boss videos. Take One and the canon one.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 00:52
|
|
|
Well, of course Leen wouldn't know about the awesome power of the traditional adventurer's greeting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 01:16
|
|
|
Wasn't it established way earlier already that Gaia can only be stopped if you kill it's core? Why are they having such a hard time just going out and killing it? 
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 01:44
|
|
|
Iretep posted:Wasn't it established way earlier already that Gaia can only be stopped if you kill it's core? Why are they having such a hard time just going out and killing it? Gaia's core is the Spirit Stone, which has already been shown to be impervious to all but Icarian magic. And even then, shattering it requires the Icarian twins to sacrifice themselves. Which brings us to Mullen's plan. Save the world by using Garlyle's ancient and modern technology to distract and weaken Gaia, then re-enact the ancient myths and destroy the Spirit Stone, once again sealing Gaia away. Neither Justin nor Feena are particularly willing to do things that way. Both on account of it only being a temporary solution, and also because of the whole "Feena and Leen have to die to do it" thing. Also, it's been, like, an hour since Gaia's hatched, and we've been busy trying to keep Zil Padon from getting eaten any more than it already has.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 03:05
|
|
|
Congratulations, Feena, you learned how to give a drat!
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2015 09:41
|
|
|
Welcome back! Today's update was delayed for suspense purposes, and not at all because I've been distracted by roguelikes or anything like that. : Yeah... that BEAST Gaia....: JUSTIN! HELLO! WAKE UP, JUSTIN! Rapp isn't even standing over Justin, he's just yelling at him. : What about Gaia!? Is Feena OK?!: Huh? Thankfully, Feena's mystical ability to give a poo poo allows her to wake up. Also, the background music here is one of the many, many ambient wind tracks this game has. : Every part of Gaia that attacked this city has ceased functioning, thanks to Gaia's new powers. : Justin... Feena...: Leen...?: I have an apology to make to you. For trying to force you to agree to abandoning the town to Gaia. Well, that's not ominious in the slightest! : I'm going back to the Colonel. Stay here as long as the Forces are on the move. Leave everything to me.: But Leen....: Good-bye Justin, Feena. Rapp, unlike Feena, has not yet mastered the power of caring. : Oh right. I almost forgot. The Mogay have pitched a tent for us to stay in near the Rafane Gate. It's real colorful so you'll spot it right away. Let's go there and relax.: I'm a little tired Jusitn. Let's go.Before we do that, let's scope out the city a bit.  Things are kind of a mess, yeah.  On the other hand, we've got this semi-hidden store in one of the ruined Alqada buildings.  Most of the attack items we've either seen before, or are pretty obvious what they do. I don't recall if we've seen the Freesia Flowers before, but they restore 8 MP for all levels to one ally. Pretty helpful. The Magic Lipstick and Black Nail Polish give +3 to wit and attack, respectively. But the Telescope....  "Extends the attack range" is a little bit of an understatement here. Brief technical info: Every single weapon has an attack range parameter. Daggers, being the smallest weapons, have a range of zero. Shortswords, maces, and most axes have a range of one, longswords and whips (and the Earthen Axe) have a range of two. The long range weapons are more variable, but most throwing weapons have a range of 10-12, while most bows are in the 15-20 range. The Thunder Arrow, which has the notable "long range" trait, has an attack range of 25. The Telescope takes whatever value the weapon has, then adds 128 to it. No, that's not just a quirk of the engine where a range modifier of 128 is a magic value to do something special, the telescope literally makes the attack range of any weapon cover the entire battlefield. Needless to say, I find this hilarious and buy four of them. .... Granted, most of the party still has some form of teleportation gear on, so they warp next to the enemy when they attack anyway, but still.  There are actually two Mogay tents by the Rafane Gate. The one closer to the street is the one Rapp was talking about. The one tucked away behind it, though....  Is another store.  Sadly, Mink Coats are now lost forever, but at least they stocked up on Lafa Flower shields from Cafu. Devil Robes are new, though, and +2 resistance to all elements would be great on its own, even without it being more defensive than current armor. I only have the gold to afford one, though. Thankfully the Telescopes were cheap enough that buying four didn't matter too much. Nothing new in the item shop, though it still includes HP, MP, and SP potions, as well as the "no status effects ever" Talisman. But I suppose we should go advance the plot.  : That beast Gaia has wiped out everything. Guess I'll take a rest here too.What's this? A voiced cutscene again? Video will last through the end of the update. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VAUrRF4fYQ (Polsy link)  We fade in on Leen, sitting at her desk in silence. No, seriously, there's not even any background music for this cutscene. Not until later, anyway.  : Your orders were to convince Feena to participate in our operations.: .... Colonel Mullen, are we not mistaken?: What do you mean? : The power Feena used to protect the people of Zil Padon was clearly different from my powers. That power... that was not the power of the Icarians. It was much greater.: ....  Honestly, it's worth watching this scene in motion. Mute it if you need to, but the sprites convey so much more body language than the portraits do. ... Actually, on second thought, mute it even if you can stand the voices. The voice work kinda ruins the tone.  : Th-then!: No change in operations! Get Feena to cooperate by tomorrow morning! Understood?!  : Try to understand what I have to say!  : Ah.... : In order to fight Gaia we need the power of two Icarians!  : Don't you understand?!Mullen's been backing Leen up further and further with each text box.  Thankfully, he backs off before anything bad happens. : But even if this world is filled with sin... This right here is the crux of Mullen's character. Even though he thinks humanity is the sole cause of all that is wrong with the world, he still is willing to fight to protect it. I mean, he's still a friggin' dork, but at least he's in it for someone other than himself, which is why he gets to not be the villain. : .... "Hey, you know those wings? You know, the ones you were ashamed of until I came along and said I liked them? Yeah, they also represent how all humans are terrible, vile beasts."   After a whole bunch of "standing around talking in our default standing pose" scenes, it's refreshing to have one that's actually animated like this. : I understand... Colonel. Tomorrow morning... as scheduled.  See you next time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2015 01:14
|
|
|
quote:Ugh. I'm hoping this is just a minor mistranslation and it's meant to be closer to "those wings are a reminder of humanity's sins", referring to the way the last Icarians were sacrificed to stop Gaia the first time around. Because otherwise that's just needlessly douchey.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2015 05:49
|
|
|
CmdrKing posted:Ugh. I'm hoping this is just a minor mistranslation and it's meant to be closer to "those wings are a reminder of humanity's sins", referring to the way the last Icarians were sacrificed to stop Gaia the first time around. Because otherwise that's just needlessly douchey. Mullen really thinks this whole world is rotten, and so is everyone in it. Maybe someday there will be people who don't suck, but today is not that day.
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2015 03:07
|
|
|
CmdrKing posted:Ugh. I'm hoping this is just a minor mistranslation and it's meant to be closer to "those wings are a reminder of humanity's sins", referring to the way the last Icarians were sacrificed to stop Gaia the first time around. Because otherwise that's just needlessly douchey. Yeah. Mullen's basically white guilting over Leen's wings because of what happened to the Icarians thousands of years ago. Glazius posted:Mullen really thinks this whole world is rotten, and so is everyone in it. Maybe someday there will be people who don't suck, but today is not that day. You just about hit the nail on the head here, with one minor caveat. All humans are horrible, rotten and evil, but Feena and Leen are Icarians, and therefore bastions of purity, righteousness, and just, in general,  .I'd go into more detail, but the game will be doing that for us eventually. ---- Welcome back!  That's a line for the resumé, right there. : But I... I don't know WHAT to do with it.: Justin! Tell me! Why was I born an Icarian?! To fight Gaia as my sister did? Or....: Feena, I'm sorry. I don't know why either.: But don't worry, Feena. Neither the Forces or Gaia have shown any movement. We have time.: .... : What? That CAN'T be! Without Feena they have no strategy!: Oh no...! Do you think Leen plans to do it alone?: Justin! Please! STOP her!: You BET I'll stop her, Feena! Everyone! We're heading east through the Luzets to J Base! Let's go! We're given a few choices of destination here. The Savanna's still open, in case you need to hit up the Tower of Temptation, as is Brinan Plateau. For some reason.  The Savanna has seen better days, though, what with the pouring rain and Gaiafied enemies and all.   Mostly nothing new. The Gaia Bird can cause paralysis with its normal attack on occasion. Let's just head for Luzet.  : Monsters? Effected by Gaia? What does that mean!?: It means that Gaia's energy is entering other beings, making them like Gaia.: You mean they're getting stronger?: Yes. I believe that, here on the planet, you refer to this phenomenon as "palette-swapping".: Gaia is a monster that evolves. We must stop it before it can....I... I'm pretty sure powering up other monsters doesn't count as "evolving", but I'm no Gaia-ologist. There's really nothing new to mention about this place. Technically it's a different map from earlier?  The enemies are all Gaiaized? We've already seen Gaia Horns, but there are a few new guys.   Same poo poo different day.  Liete learns how to blow poo poo up good. She's still quite a few levels away from what I'm really after, though.   Closer, but still not quite it.   Howlnado is another spell that I think would be much less useless if it weren't learned so late. Still, it means that Rapp is done with his Wind and Fire levels, and only has Water left.  I've been using so much magic that I need to stop and refill my MP a bit. Yes, this counts as "exciting".  She's getting very close to her final spell. And this is all in the western area. But we've run out of monsters to kill, so let's head east.  : WHAT!!?   The camera does some sudden cuts here, making it easy to determine where to take the screenshots.  Oh. When Liete said "evolution", she literally meant Pokemon-style "change into something else when you get more powerful". Anyway, things are looking bad. Gaia is on the move and growing more powerful, and neither Leen nor Feena are willing to follow the ancient myths of Angelou. Mullen is getting desperate. He has only one option left.  : Is he...?: They say it's the source of his power. That it's the last vestiges of the humanoid magic he inherited from his mother.: Whoa, really?: Pfft, of course not. It's Colonel Mullen! Dude's even more of a dork than that red-haired kid with the goggles strapped to his hat.... Ahem. Anyway.  : BATTLE STATIONS!! : ...!? What's going on!?: Sir! It's Lieutenant Leen! Lieutenant Leen was heading for Turret 3!: WHAT!?: I haven't given the attack order yet! What is she doing!?But before we can get an answer to that one....  (Acceptable alternate)   Gaia begins to stir. See you next time!
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2015 01:52
|
|
|
Edward_Tohr posted:I'd go into more detail, but the game will be doing that for us eventually. How much more eventually is there at this point?
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2015 02:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 21:29 |
|
|
ultrafilter posted:How much more eventually is there at this point? Many more cutscenes' worth of eventually. Also a few dungeons. We're past the big point of no return, but not quite at the end just yet.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2015 02:41
|
|