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Glazius posted:Has Baal's theme ever been appropriate? I mean, it's a great "this guy heads up the Evil Empire" theme, but it just feels kind of weird for an increasingly tentacled increasingly monstrosity. Funnily enough, Baal doesn't really have his own theme song. Which makes sense, really; he's either acting as the General of the Garlyle Forces, and is associated with their theme, or being Gaia's meat puppet, and using Gaia's song instead. I might be reading too much into it, but hell, that's half the fun of doing a Let's Play.  That said.... I dunno, I think they both work well enough. The Garlyle theme is very militaristic, and Gaia's theme is dire and bombastic, which all seem to fit Baal well enough. Granted, if he did have his own theme, it'd probably fit him quite a bit better.
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Aug 5, 2015 00:34
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So, today's update was just supposed to be a short "here's a few unused things" bit before we wrap this up. It, uh... It wound up being a bit longer than I expected. ---- Welcome back! Before we wrap this up, let's take a look into disc 2's unused content, going roughly in order of the game's map files. For starters, it contains the Sea Dragon and Pirate Island maps. While the Sea Dragon ones work perfectly fine (including the one that tells you to switch to disc 2), Pirate Island seems to be missing some data elsewhere on the disc and selecting either of those maps crashes the game. Just imagine screenshots of the end of disc 1 and a black screen with "this is on disc 2, honest" written out below them. In Laine, there's a conversation with Nicky that goes unused.  : Rapp's having a hard time, huh? : Looks like they won't let that old broad from Laine into the village... : OLD BROAD? Who taught y'all to say such a thing?! : Huh? Um... Huh? Uh... Rrr... Rapp did. He says you're a gorilla girl.... : Uh, well... actually, uh.... : Heh heh. Let's forget about it.... : OK, I'm sorry. I did it. I taught him.: I'm sorry. I should never call Rapp's guests sleazy chicks or gorilla girls or anything like that. : Well, what's said is said. Are y'all sure you understand now?: Yes! And thanks for talking to me again, Miss Milda!The Petrified Forest has text for another section of petrified village. Much like the included section of Petrifed Cafu, though, the translation wasn't looked over and so the grammar is very awkward. Also, it has Rapp literally breaking down in tears when he sees the statue of a mother holding her child. And optionally getting teased by Milda about it if she's in the party. There's a few other stories, too. Like the guy who got petrified right as he was getting stung by a bee. Or the woman who was putting fruit in jars, looked into one, saw a cockroach, and screamed right as Gaia hit. And Nitto who was planning on leaving town anyway, and Samark, who was playing hide-and-seek. .... Let's skip on ahead to the Tower of Doom, where there's a few text boxes asking if you want to rest. Probably unused because of the save points. There's also text in the first floor where... well... : Hmm... Hey, I can feel a breeze here. : Is this wall coming apart?: Heh, heh. Gimme some room here....And Milda has some more dialog for smashing the console.  : IT'S TRASHING TIIIIIIME!! There's nothing exciting in the lab. The next bit, though, is far more interesting.  Maps 9C10 and 9C14 bring you to an unused variant of the North and South Zil Deserts, respectively.   Yes, there exists on the disc a Gaiafied version of the Zil Desert, complete with some otherwise unused enemies!  They have a pretty decent chance of dropping MP boosters, and their skills are pretty powerful. Especially prickle, which deals ~90 damage to everyone. If a group of four all decides to do that at once, you're pretty much toast.  Both of their skills are physical, and thus get their damage reduced by armor. Poison Quills poisons (imagine that), and Scissors Attack causes Move Block. There are also Gaia Snakes in the area, but we've seen them before. Another thing to note is that you can enter the Castle of Dreams and Soldier's Graveyard from here. Unfortunately, when leaving, they send you back to the pre-Gaia version of the desert. It may be based on the plot flags you have set, but you can only access the debug menu screen from the main menu and so none of the plot events have actually been triggered yet. Both variants of the Savanna are pretty much set, except the West Savanna has a location label for a place called "Protection Park 1". Moving onward, to Zil Padon! There's a few unused location labels scattered around, including a few older ones for the hotel and apartment building. More interestingly, there's also one for a casino, and one for the Teleportation Room. There's also some dialog about splitting up and searching a house for the Mogay Elder. Maybe the Mogay Embankment was originally one large interior area? Also in Zil Padon, when the doorway to the Spirit Sanctuary appears, there's some more text associated with a few of the NPCs that never seems to get triggered.  : Good news everybody! Good news! The city, she get rebuild more and more, and people, they smiling too! Beautiful Zil Padon she's gonna be even MORE beautiful than before! I'mma see it with my OWN EYES! Mr. red-haired adventurer boy, you gonna LOVE it! 'Cause it's SO beautiful! We working very hard. So you to, eh? Adventuer boy! I know you can DO IT! : We better get going so we can finish rebuilding Zil Padon by the time you get back. So we gonna be working at our job while you do yours. Do a GOOD job, OK? Justin... you leave things up to us. Just keep going forward, OK? OK. : You know, Justin? It just occurred to me... you might be a REALLY big adventurer, you know? I mean you went over the End of the World and the Spirits like you and all.... : And so you gotta go and save Feena, and show her how BIG an adventurer you ARE!Milda and Gadwin have nothing new, and there's enough generic NPC chatter left over that it certainly seems that you were originally intended to be able to come back here after the Spirit Sanctuary. It all follows the same vein as Gina and Guido's extra bits, though. Oh, and Rapp and Liete have some dialog here, too.  : OK Juss. Let's get going! No reason to get butterflies NOW. : Wait! You're not going ALONE, are you Juss? Can't do it alone, right?: I'm comin' too!: I won't take no for an answer! : I know, Justin. I know that humans need a time of rest. Right now... you are very tired. But I don't know what will revive your strength. So I have decided to wait. Justin... I'll wait by your side until you can stand on your own again. I am used to waiting. I have waited in Alent over the ages. : I shall follow. For I have finally met the Embodied One. : Rapp! Liete! Let's go! As long as there is a future an adventurer never stands still and never gives up! Come on! For the sake of the people of the world!Really, it's unsurprising that most of the cut content comes from a big, important cutscene like this. They tend to be made before the rest of the game is finalized, and so leave bits and pieces behind as the rest of the game changes around them. Speaking of big cutscenes in Zil Padon, there's very little unused in the Zil Ruins. That said, there is one juicy line in the underground Justin solo area.... : What is this stone tablet? It has 5 different colored gems in it. Guido? Do you know anything?: Who knows? But I think for sure the ancient Angelounians have some purpose for this.Anyway, next up is Laine. There's a small dinner conversation with Liete that's not triggerable. : You know, it's strange if you think about it. Liete, what did you eat when you were in Alent?: Actually, there was little need.  : Alent is a Sanctuary. The effects of time are not felt there.: The presence of the Spirits supports life, so only a slight replenishment of energy is necessary. : So you mean that even if you don't eat you can just keep on living? : Then if a human were to go to Alent he would live forever?: No, it's not like that. All life ends sometime.: It is true that I, Liete, have lived for many generations. But I am not immortal.: But you can see that there are many things on the ground that are strange to me. Eating is one of these things.There's also another conversation with Milda and Darlin that was cut for pretty obvious reasons. : Well what's wrong boy? Y'all look like a squirrel in a dog pound. : That fiend Baal is still alive! And he's using Gaia to get at Zil Padon!: Gaia! That scum! After Zil Padon is he?! Well he won't get away with it...!: Hurry up Justin boy! You want to save Zil Padon, don't you? Strike while the iron is hot, boy. Don't lose the moment! You can do it! The folks here won't take this lying down either. Hurry off to Zil Padon, before it's too late!Let's see... next up is the Grandeur. For starters, there's a text-only version of the cutscene where Justin gives Baal the Spirit Stone. There's also a second copy of the escape catapult map where you fight Baal, for some reason. Alent has some unused text in the Gondola room. It may seem somewhat familiar.... : This'll take us back?: Yes. All we need to do is get on board, and it will fall to the planet immediately.: Fall...? Hey, are you telling me this thing's gonna drop like a stone!?: Yes. Like a stone. : B-but just a minute! Falling from HERE...!? : WOOOOOOOOAH!!: EEEEEEEEEK!!: YAAAAAAAAAAARGH!: I don't know why you're so worried. It will stop without any problem when we hit the planet.: ARE YOU CRAZY!? LET ME OFF THIS THING!!: Why Rapp, do you want to fall and hurt yourself? : I mean... YAAAAAAARGH!!Kinda glad they scrapped that to go with the FMV, honestly. Next up is the Luzet Mountains. : This is all army facilities from here on. No reason to go this way.Next up is J Base. Remember all the troops there and how they had dialog that changed, like, all the goddamn time? Well, it turns out that there's even more dialog that goes unused. Pretty much every room has text defined for NPCs who don't appear. There's probably enough to do an entire update on just that, if I felt like transcribing all the dialog. Instead, I'll summarize: There was a sentry out at the entrance who you snuck past by claiming to know Mullen. There were more injured guys in the TACOM Center, with the statue and entrance to the secret passage. There were some dudes in the Officer's Quarters. Nobody has anything new or interesting to say, though the dialog from the Officer's Quarters does seem to indicate that the people there are the ones populating the field base. ... Well, okay, there is ONE interesting conversation.  : What are you civilians doing here? I haven't heard anything abou this from Colonel Mullen. : Umm... well... you see... we are associates of Colonel Mullen, and he told us to come... yep.: Oooh... my... so the Colonel plans to use civilians, too. Well, he knows best. Carry out your orders. Enter the large door halfway down this corridor. Someone will attend to you when you get there.: Heh, heh. Now we know where Mullen is! Thanks!: Say! Halt there, you!: Erk! Ah, um... yes?: You man be civilians, but here we refer to him as COLONEL Mullen. Don't forget that!: Uh...? OH... Oh, of COURSE!! COLONEL Mullen... why, yes! Heh, heh... Colonel Mullen... Right.: That's better. Off you go now! Complete your mission!Next up is the Spirit Sanctuary. There's a second copy of both maps, but they both crash when trying to load. The second map only has the save point text, too, so it's unlikely that the cutscene was planned there. Possibly the area was originally four rooms long. The Ancient City didn't lose much, except for Feena yelling for Justin in the area with the Gaia Battler. And all of the Gaia and ending maps have all their content in-game properly. Honestly, there was more than I was expecting, but it's disappointing that none of the extra maps would load. And that the cutscene-only maps always triggered their cutscenes properly, so we didn't get to go exploring any of them like we did the Field Base on disc 1. Oh well, at least there's still a bit more juicy content....  There's a few unused key items in here. This one is the only one kind enough to let us know that it's unused.  The jail key was seemingly intended to be a proper inventory item, but canned at the last minute.  Alent also had its own key at one point, which keeps with the whole rainbow theme it has.  Pretty sure this knife isn't used anywhere. On account of being way too powerful for Dom, and way too weak for the Tower of Temptation.  This probably wasn't used on account of being nearly twice as strong as Feena's starting knife, despite being rusty and dull.  A knife counterpart to the Gil Sword.  Perhaps hammers were originally distinct from maces?  This would have been nice to find just outside Sult.  The Zero Equipment also originally had a shield and boots, as well.  Pretty sure this is unused, but either way, it has a different description on disc 1, where it's the horns of a Big Horn instead.  This is used, it's one of the treasures you get from the Castle of Dreams, but it actually increases IP loss by two levels. Or decreases IP loss resistance.... ... Everything else that says that it slows IP loss has a positive power for Parameter Type 16. There.   Not sure if I just missed it, or if this is actually unused.  This is a fun one that actually works. It casts a 0-power Howlnado.  Tower of Temptation also had a key at one point.   +7 magic power on the accessory slot is kind of insane. There's a full set of stat reducers, too. They all work as advertised.  There's also a +1 and +5 manual for each skill type. Sadly, these don't work as advertised.    Finally, the 100 weapons. Oddly enough, Liete can only use the one with the morningstar icon, and not the one with the rod icon. Just a bit of trivia. The other items past the 100 Fire Mace are all garbage data, so we'll be skipping over those. Finally, spells and skills.  Lacosta is the unused skill that still has it's learn-at data intact: Wind level 12.  Milda has a few unused skills that, unsurprisingly, all boil down to "Hit an enemy really freaking hard".  Rage here is barely more powerful than Milda Kick.  And Milda Hit 2 is actually 100 power weaker than Milda Hit 1.  The actual icons there belong to Protection and Diggin'. Sanctuary could have been very interesting, depending on how it was implemented.  The spells numbered 100-117 are all "behind the scenes" spells that handle effects like MP/SP restore, the Bond of Trust thing, cause or cure ailments that normal spells don't, etc. Essentially, if there's an item that does something, and no spell that mimics it, it's found in the 100+ range.  Though they all have proper names and descriptions. And finally, a few more unused enemies that aren't used on any maps that actually load.  Pretty obviously a palette-swap of the Squid King.  Likewise, it's very clearly an upgraded Ganymede. It's possible they were originally the guardians of Alent, or perhaps you had to fight your way past them to leave, based on their stats and such. Probably would have been more fun to fight these two than go for another two rounds against Gaia Battlers, that's for drat sure.  He's found just after the Gill Newt in the enemy data, and they both have two skills: a spore attack and a slime one, so it seems to fit that mold. Not quite sure why this guy was unused. Guess they just couldn't fit him in anywhere. Anyway, that's the unused crap from disc 2. Maybe I'll figure out how to rip the graphics and palettes for the unused enemies at some point, or scour the map data for more than just text, but that'll do for now. See you next time! Edward_Tohr fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Aug 12, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 21:52
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Now that I think about it, it's odd that there's so much unused data from a game that had already been out on the Japanese Saturn for years before it hit the PSX. Was this all originally unused data for the Saturn version that got ported over with everything else, or was it supposed to be extras added to the PSX version to convince owners of the Saturn version to buy this one too? Regardless, this is some neat stuff and we appreciate the work you put into it.
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Aug 6, 2015 03:00
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Always neat to see the stuff they couldn't pull off in the game but left on the disk.
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Aug 6, 2015 03:55
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Welcome back! Like most villains, Baal here refuses to accept defeat.  : No one surpasses me! And he flees upwards.  The only way to go is to follow him.   And here we are, at the core of the beast. We've got a couple of potions to help top us off after Baal, including a Spirit Potion, two Gold Potions, and a Crimson Potion. Since the final battle is up next, there's no point in hording them.  Nor anything else you might have laying around in the Stashing Place. Also, Gaia apparently has a picture of itself in its own floor. I'm not even going to pretend to understand how that works.  Even without using the save points, the game throws more than enough consumables at them that you can still have a bunch sitting around uselessly by the end of the game.  Whoops, forgot to feed this to Feena before fighting Baal. All right. We've got our prep out of the way, so let's take one last look at the gang before we finish this off.  I probably should have tried to even Justin's weapon levels out a little, but stashing places have been few and far between and I needed all that inventory space for potions. Which I then had to chug to make room for more potions. Magic-wise, he's doing pretty well. Earth level is a little lower than usual for endgame, but there's only so much you can do when you're not spamming Dragon Cut all the time. Amusingly, he's exactly equal in strength and wit, and he's one SP shy of being able to pop off his ultimate skill twice in a row. Oh well.  Feena is as lopsided as ever. She'll almost always have way more whip levels than dagger ones, owing both to the fact that whips boost wit, the god stat, and that there's nobody to compete with her for them, unlike daggers. Magic-wise... well, Time Gate kinda threw things for a loop there, but I'd imagine that without it, her wind and water levels would be in the low to mid 20's. Oh, and with that Fruit of Magic, she finally has enough MP to cast End of the World twice.   Much like Feena, Rapp's weapon levels are dominated by the one he has no competition for. His naturally high wit keeps him speedy enough that he can afford to focus on boosting his strength, and he gets good weapon options. He's a single point behind Justin in strength, though, which is really amusing to me. Magically... Well, anyone who gets Fireburner is going to have a lot of Fire levels, on top of Fireball being a good way to gain fire XP.  Finally, Liete. She's easily the most balanced in terms of levels, owing to, y'know, only one weapon type. Her MP is also pretty fairly split, which helps when she needs to bust out the big guns.     I could probably give Feena's spare Revival Stone to Liete, and dig the other Bonds of Trust out of the Stashing Place, but eh. I should be fine like this.  That looks like a place for something important.    This big pulsating thing just kinda grows up in front of us.  And, for the first time, we hear Gaia's voice.  : We know that all humans : were born to hate what is richer than ourselves: and strive to TAKE it.It also has some pauses when it prints out the text which make it seem a bit creepier. A nice, subtle touch.  : if you: were to: take all: the riches that are: left in: the world your greed will: NEVER: be: satisfied. But Justin isn't having any of that.  And, without any further banter, the final battle begins. But before that, let's discuss some of the themes of the game. We'll begin with the obvious "humans are selfish, greedy assholes" message. If the game were darker, I'd probably point out that it's been using loot as the carrot to entice the player, appealing to the player's desire for more stuff and how that proves the point. But the game's tone, as well as Justin's speech there, contradict that. While greed certainly motivates Baal, note that none of his plans really kicked anything off until halfway through disc 2. Until we were at Alent's doorstep, and Justin's original quest was about to end. Also note that Baal's ultimate fate was to turn into a worm, the very thing he called everyone he looked down on. Greed also indirectly motivated Mullen, in that "I watched a lot of Captain Planet and realized my dad was literally Hoggish Greedly" way. In a different story, Mullen may have been the hero, but here he's pretty much just there to get in Justin's way. Why is that? Because he's afraid to do anything new. Think about it. Whenever you bump into him before Gaia awakens, he always draws his sword, threatens Justin, and demands the Spirit Stone. He never thinks to try a new path. Similarly, once the Spirit Stone is complete and Gaia needs to be stopped, his only plan is to use the ancient Angelounian Steam Cannon and re-enact the myths of how the ancients sealed Gaia. Even after Leen mucks up his plans, he still travels down the same roads as before. Even when trying to convince Feena to go along with him, he makes the same "it's your duty as an Icarian" argument that he did with Leen. And how does he get in Justin's way? What does he do that makes him an antagonist, instead of an incompetent hero? He tries to restrict the group's ability to explore. Whether by keeping them out of an area, throwing them in jail, or pursuing them so that they have no time to explore, Mullen's actions always take the form of "you can't go where you want until you deal with me". Which brings us to Justin and why he's the hero. Justin has no history with Baal or Mullen. He's not some destined hero, or the greatest fighter from the village of swordsmen, or any of the other clichés. He's just some kid. And yet we're told that he's the one who embodies truth, from the Spirits' point of view. But he doesn't embody truth as humans see it. Sure, aside from Lilly, he doesn't go around lying all the time, but his truthfulness is never really tested. There's no trial where lying would be the easier path. No, all of the difficulties Justin faces test two virtues in particular: his desire to explore, and his generosity. The exploration one is obvious, it's been Justin's main motivation since the very beginning. He wants to explore, to see new places, to try new things, to discover and have all sorts of new experiences. This is tested by the nature of exploring itself, the physical obstacles and how much easier it is to just stay home, and comes to a head in the Spirit Sanctuary where, not only does he get to explore a place that hasn't been seen since the beginning of time, but he also rejects the creation of a new Spirit Stone, charging headlong into an unknown, and unknowable, future. His generosity isn't as obvious at first glance, but there's hints of it early on, especially on the Steamer when he becomes a sailor to help out Sue. But all throughout the game, Justin is putting himself through hardships to either discover something new, or to help someone in need. And that is the truth, according to Spirits. Not honesty, but kindness. Not knowledge, but discovery. Justin isn't the Chosen One because of some prophecy, but because of his actions over the course of the game. He isn't just granted the title of hero, but he earns it. By being open to new paths and discoveries, unlike Mullen. By helping others instead of himself, unlike Baal. So yeah. Long, messy red hair, and a penchant for exploring never-before-seen areas with a small group. Justin is basically Ms. Frizzle with a sword. ... Oh, right, I was in the middle of something, wasn't I? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDc2AF1gqWE   (It's the final boss music! You really should give this one a listen.)   HP aside, the main boss doesn't look too threatening. But that's just because his spells aren't listed. He can toss out some powerful spells, including Fireburner, BOOM-POW!, Crackling, and Howlslash, so keep an eye out to avoid getting caught by surprise. He can also pop off an Alhealer+ to cure 500 HP Like most other bosses, he can also pull out Vanish if you start playing with stat levels. Still, he's pretty slow and his damage spells pack a whallop, so busting out Star Symphony every so often goes a long way towards making this fight more managable. Sadly, Liete can only get +2 magic power, which isn't enough to boost Star Symphony's effect, even at max level.  The Mega Gaias are a little more interesting. To start with, the only skill they can use is Multiply.  Which summons up one of these guys.  Practically immune to magic, but very weak to physical attacks. Which is good, because the more of these guys there are on the field, the more dangerous the Mega Gaias (Mega Gaiae?) become. With just one tentacle, each Mega Gaia gains the ability to use Tentacle Attack, which causes the tentacle to go attack someone. It's this boss's version of a basic physical. Two tentacles enables Spin Strike, which hits a radius around the target. Three allows Death Tornado, which is a powerful attack on one ally. Finally, with four tentacles on the field, the Mega Gaias can unleash Ray of Ruin, which hits all party members. In theory, this battle is a strategic affiar where you mow down the Tentacles and chip away at the Mega Gaias while the Gaia Core blasts you with magic. In practice, you can usually just go nutso on the core and end it quickly. Maybe save a charge of Neo Demonball or some other non-elemental wide-area attack in case there's too many tentacles around.  Of course, this is probably the best time to bust out Feena's Icarian magic. End of the World doesn't care about elemental resistances, and that 999 damage is nothing to sneeze at, especially on the tentacles.  And the world is safe.  Or is it?  Of course not! You can't have a JRPG without a multi-part final boss!  This is it! The final enemy of the game. The big boss. Defeating this will end Gaia for good. ... And you're just putting the poor thing out of its misery. Evil Gaia can do a few things: cast Cold, cast Snooze, cast Poizn, cast Stram, cast Freeze, and wobble about every time you smack him. It can also toss out Burn! and Howl, but if you got past the first form, the occasional 20-damage hit really shouldn't be an issue for you. His debuffs don't even lengthen the fight any. Whether by glitch or intentionally, they have a power of 0, meaning they'll never connect. Also, he loses access to Vanish, so if you had any buffs up when you finished off the last form, they'll stay in effect all throughout this one.  But all things must come to an end, and I've been meaning to end this one with a bang.  A Big Bang.  Heaven and Earth Cut is Justin's final skill. Non-elemental, strength-based and with a whopping 500 power, this is the skill to use if you absolutely, positively must annihilate every last motherfucker in the room. It costs 90 SP, though, so unless you're just using it to end a battle in style, it'll probably need the Energy Charm.  And keep in mind that this 1500 damage is after a single WOW!, while armed with the Wooden Sword.  And what would a final boss be without an overly elaborate death animation? See you next time, for the ending! ... Of course, you all knew I wouldn't just leave it at that, didn't you? So let's try something else. Think back, way back to Disc 1, on the Steamer. Back to when Feena was the competent, talented, legendary great adventurer. .... Oh, gently caress it, you all know where I'm going with this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0e4RbHckss (Polsy link) Huh. Twenty minutes? I think I can do better than that. In fact.... How Rude posted:The only downer this game has is you don't get to bring the murderous 8 year old girl to the end of the game so we could watch her solo beat down Gaia like Feena I thought so, too. Which is why I have.... corrected that oversight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvz7VkJLYnE (Polsy link) Edward_Tohr fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Aug 17, 2015 |
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Aug 9, 2015 23:32
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Welcome back! Gaia has been defeated. All that's left is to destroy the Spirit Stone.  Perhaps across that bridge made of light.  : We'll be waiting outside. Go in and take care of business!: From here on you can feel the energy waves of the Spirit Stone. It must be Gaia's core. Justin... Feena. You have broken the ring of your own destiny. Now break the ring of destiny for all life in this world! It's no "Discrimination comes from the heart", but "I'll break it all" is silly enough when taken out of context to make me laugh. : Sheesh! He gets ALL the fun.: When Gaia gets busted up this'll all fall apart, right?: I think we'll just wait down there in a safer place. Whaddya say, Liete?: Yes. Let's. The final destiny should be changed only by the Hero and the Icarian. : Shall we go, Justin? Together with everyone's hopes! : OK. Let's GO!And we're given control again. With Rapp and Liete not in the party. It just feels right to end this whole thing by chatting with NPCs, you know?   : When I inherited the name of Liete, I inherited the fate of waiting. Waiting for almost an eternity. : I have guarded the remembrances of Alent. I thought my duty was to observe the great ring of destiny.: But it seems I was wrong.: Because I have seen a world freed from a tragic destiny, and people building their own future.: Thank you, Justin. You have brought me joy.: Over the ages the Lietes have wanted only to record, but I have seen and felt things for myself. Look Justin! The door to the new world is opening. Seize this moment!: I'd like to go with you, but I'll let you have this one to yourself. Get goin'. Mr. big-shot Hero.: Come on, come on, come on! Can't you take a joke!?: It's been my honor to fight beside you, Juss. Forget this Hero business. All I know is I had the pleasure of fighting with a guy named Justin!: Come ON! Take care of BUSINESS!: My buddy. Justin the Hero! They even textured the wall here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHh4hbVgim0 (Polsy link) It's the ending! Watch it! ... as tempted as I am to cut the update here, I suppose I should transcribe the whole thing.      : It gave power to the people... it drove the people to ruin. All in a sad chain of myths. : When you think about it-- this Spirit Stone has taught us many things. This light has always illuminated the way for us to go. : But now, the light is of no more use. From now on, we will illuminate the path to our future with our own light. : Come, Justin, our long, sad fate is now at an end.: With your sword there....: Yes... O' Spirits! We will start a new age! Please, watch over us! My first time through the game, Justin barely had any magic, so he wound up using Midair Cut religiously. I thought it was neat to see him pull it out one final time in the ending here.     Gaia, it seems, is turning to stone. And cracking.  Or not.    Once again, Spirits in a black void.   : Hey there. So, for whatever reason, Justin doesn't seem to have a portrait during the ending.     Whaddaya know. Operation Yggdrasil wound up creating a giant Tree of Life after all. ... Sure, that's not at all what Baal was intending on doing, and Mullen officially canceled the operation during the mutiny, but it's the thought that counts.   : Everything seems to have been born again.: Not only Gaia, but this whole world.    Zil Padon has seen better days, true.  But it looks like things are suddenly getting a lot better.  Even Cafu is back to normal.  : Yes, even Gaia. The sad chain of fate has been broken at last.  And it looks like everyone's been putting aside their differences and enjoying the new world. ... Though I do have to wonder how that guy from Luc got all the way out here. : We may sometimes travel down a mistaken path. But... In the end, Justin finally got through to Mullen.  : It seems that my work here has ended.  : A Spirit...? Are you calling me? We've seen this before. Back in the Typhoon Tower.    : Unh...! Um....  : .... He-Herr... Mullen...?       : I'm so glad. Leen... I can't believe it.... : Miracles do happen.: The Spirits carried her... and happiness here... for everyone.: Uh, uh. No, Justin.   And here we are at the credits. You may wish to click that Tindeck link down there.   Of course, the graphical issues that have plagued this LP return in full force for the credits. Ahh well. Not quite sure what "sub programmer" means, but it must be a fairly important position to be listed this early in the credits.  It makes sense that a game this pretty would have so many graphics artists. Though only one monster designer? Huh. Also: Kenichi Niwano and Hiroshi Asano, I'm sorry I wound up undoing so much of your work over the course of this LP so that I could get actual numbers.  I can see why they had so many people writing this thing, with all that dialog and all.   A lot of people involved in the music, too. And even more graphic artists.  Still photography and film developing? Huh, I didn't realize they digitized actual photos for this game.  Quite a fair few CGI artists, too.  And here's all the voice cast that gets credited. According to IMDB, none of them did much more after this.  ... And Scott Beers voiced both Baal and Guido? Huh. Dude's got one hell of a range. For the sake of completion, Wikipedia lists Snazin Smith as Justin's voice actor, but leaves Gadwin's as uncredited. I'm also not sure who the "etc." refers to in Angela Anderson's credit. The PA on the Grandeur? Probably not Angry Shed Guy.  Fairly small Special Thanks section. And I have to give the music team here props. A lot of the random crowd murmuring noises are stored as music in the game, and so they had to update them all so the hubhub sounded English instead of Japanese.  And now we're into the Sony credits.    ... Y'know, I didn't notice Noriyuki Iwadare in there at all, and he's probably the person most commonly associated with this game.  But with that, finally, we-  : This ends the story of Justin and friends, and our adventures with the Spirit Stone and Angelou. The story of Justin the Adventurer became known throughout the world.Post-credit stingers: not just for Marvel movies!   Parm's certainly looking more vibrant, and with a few people from the other side of the wall, too.  Guess it's been a while. : The pie isn't done yet. Sorry, dear. : I'm afraid you're going to have to go without me, OK? : OK. See you!  : Puff-puff! : The world we live in has changed so much. For those not watching the video, Angry Lainian Man is voiced by Angry Shed Guy.  : Don't you ever get tired of mischief like that!? : This is no mischief. We're in training -- to become adventurers! : You just don't understand!: Yeah, that's right! So, a lot of the voices here have no text associated with them. : Do that somewhere it won't bother people! Are you listening? : Ha ha ha! Well, maybe things haven't changed much. But you know, it has certainly gotten busier. : Today's the day I've been waiting for so long! Justin and Feena are coming home after ten years of adventures! : Tee hee hee! I wonder what Justin will say when he sees I've become such a beautiful lady? : He might be just so surprised that his tongue will be tied! I'm looking forward to it!   : There's yummy food there, right? I'm hungry! : Hey, what's that?  : Hey! It makes noises! It makes a neat sound!: Yay! Let's get it! : Neat! It's so soft!: Oh! This must be Puffy! It's just like Daddy said.: Looks kinda like a lamb.: Huh? No it doesn't! : Hey, are you...? : Where is your Mommy and Daddy? : Puff-puffff: Ah. It's running away! Gonna catcha!: Yaay!   Parm sure is looking bigger and better.  But as for us? That's where the story ends. And that's that! I hope you all, whether you participated in the thread, just lurked, or read through this on the archive, had at least half as much fun as I did with this. It's been a wild ride, this past year and a quarter, but it's given me new insight into one of my favorite games. Both in terms of the plot and themes, as well as mechanically. Those of you who have played this game, I hope you learned something new, and for those who haven't, I hope I've piqued your desire to have a go yourself. Either way, thank you for sticking with me the whole way, and I hope to see you again for my next project, whatever and whenever that may be.
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Aug 9, 2015 23:54
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Five kids? Merciful Gaia.
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Aug 10, 2015 00:24
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I guess we know what kind of adventures Justin and Feena were having. This was a fun game. Thanks for LPing it.
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Aug 10, 2015 00:25
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Ten years having passed since the end of the game, five kids isn't necessarily THAT outlandish. Except all five of these brats are visually the same age. So uh... ow.
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Aug 10, 2015 00:35
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This LP has been amazing! I loved this game but I never finished it because I was terrible and got completely stuck on the evolved Baal fight, so it was cool to see him get what was coming to him. Thanks Edward_Tohr!
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Aug 10, 2015 01:06
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This is one of those old classic RPGs that I missed out on, back in the day. It was good to finally see it. Thank you!
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Aug 10, 2015 03:56
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That was a fun game to watch. Thanks for showing it off.
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Aug 10, 2015 04:19
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I like that in the end Justin didn't even destroy Gaia, he just killed the evil out of it. Boy's hella precise with that sword.
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Aug 10, 2015 04:44
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I started this game but stopped around Dom Ruins and never had the time to go back. Thanks for finishing it for me, and double thanks for transcribing all the video moments. Those of us reading on mobile appreciate it! Great LP, greater LPer!
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Aug 10, 2015 04:45
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Thank you for the great LP!
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Aug 10, 2015 15:54
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I quit playing this years ago when Sue left the party so I never got to see the ending. Thanks a bunch for finally finishing it.
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Aug 10, 2015 16:28
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I finished this game back in the day, but I honestly don't remember a lot of the later half or so. A very well done, thorough LP; great work and thanks so much for seeing it through to the end.
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Aug 10, 2015 17:51
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Thanks for the great LP.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:28
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bathroomrage posted:I like that in the end Justin didn't even destroy Gaia, he just killed the evil out of it. Well, he was just swinging a more different Spirit Stone at it. Who's to say it wasn't replaced entirely? Anyway, both thumbs up for that post-credits scene. Something really hits me that Sue is absolutely stoked to see that Justin and Feena had kids. Though I suspect there isn't going to be enough crockery at the Seagull Restaurant for all the kids who are suddenly calling Lilly Grandma.
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Aug 10, 2015 21:05
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Hooray for the LP! The Post Credits scene is great for showing a grown up Sue and terrible for not showing grown-up Justin & Feena. In my minds eye Justin's rocking some scruff and Feena's a bit more modest with her apparel. I like that the girls are all wearing goggles despite goggles being Justin's thing aside from the cap. This is still my favorite Grandia since the first half's charm and sense of adventure more than make up for the jRPG world-threatening crisis of the latter half. Glad to see it's gotten a good shake, especially with the debug stuff.
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Aug 10, 2015 21:26
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I really enjoyed reading through this LP. You did a great job, and thank you!
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Aug 10, 2015 23:58
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Man, I love this game, cheesy story/voice acting and easy difficulty and all. It's just such a cheerful feel-good game from an age when a lot of things were going the edgy grimdark route. Great work on the LP. Especially for the monster data pics. You mentioned you did those yourself, yeah? That's nice stuff. Kinda wish I had those for the whole game next time I play through it (though again, easy game, so it's not like I'd need them). Thanks again for this thread.
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Aug 11, 2015 04:09
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Thanks for the LP. Never realized Justin and Gadwin's voice actores are uncredited, that's weird  And Gadwin's is still unknown, who are you, mysterious man?
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Aug 11, 2015 10:34
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Thanks for the LP! Grandia is one of my favorite games, but I never have time to replay it anymore. It was good to see it again.
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Aug 11, 2015 19:30
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Petiso posted:Thanks for the LP. Seeing as this was the era of community theater and college drama student voice acting in lower profile anime and video games, it doesn't particularly surprise me. Hell, a couple of actors are using very obvious pseudonyms in the credits, so they probably didn't want to be associated with the game. One name was even in quotation marks. But that's neither here nor there. This was a fantastic LP, Edward, very well done. I've always had a place in my heart for Grandia. Fine work.
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Aug 11, 2015 21:22
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Five kids? Merciful Gaia. ultrafilter posted:I guess we know what kind of adventures Justin and Feena were having. CmdrKing posted:Ten years having passed since the end of the game, five kids isn't necessarily THAT outlandish. Well, when you're hanging around the uncharted wilderness, it takes a while for the stork to find you, so they combined all the deliveries into one order. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. bathroomrage posted:I like that in the end Justin didn't even destroy Gaia, he just killed the evil out of it. Glazius posted:Well, he was just swinging a more different Spirit Stone at it. Who's to say it wasn't replaced entirely? The canon explanation probably involves some handwavey explanation about the Spirit Sword being infused with Justin's hope for the future or something. On the other hand, Leen removed one of Gaia's left foreappendages. Which gives me all the justification I need to believe that Justin zandatsu'd Gaia with that Midair Cut. Glazius posted:Anyway, both thumbs up for that post-credits scene. Something really hits me that Sue is absolutely stoked to see that Justin and Feena had kids. Though I suspect there isn't going to be enough crockery at the Seagull Restaurant for all the kids who are suddenly calling Lilly Grandma. Well, she has been shipping the two of them since Gumbo. And all the crockery she needs is that one tray. After all, if the kids misbehave, it's really Justin's fault for raising them to be so mischievous, right? EponymousMrYar posted:The Post Credits scene is great for showing a grown up Sue and terrible for not showing grown-up Justin & Feena. In my minds eye Justin's rocking some scruff and Feena's a bit more modest with her apparel. The boys also have Feena's eyes, while the girls have Justin's. It's a nifty little design choice. There's also concept art for grizzled Captain Justin. Not sure if it was supposed to be used for the ending here, or Justin's Dad, or just something silly the artist decided to sketch, but it's there. EponymousMrYar posted:This is still my favorite Grandia since the first half's charm and sense of adventure more than make up for the jRPG world-threatening crisis of the latter half. Glad to see it's gotten a good shake, especially with the debug stuff. It still floors me just how much stuff there is in this game, and I'm always paranoid that I've missed something big or interesting.  Bufuman posted:Man, I love this game, cheesy story/voice acting and easy difficulty and all. It's just such a cheerful feel-good game from an age when a lot of things were going the edgy grimdark route. Great work on the LP. Especially for the monster data pics. You mentioned you did those yourself, yeah? That's nice stuff. Kinda wish I had those for the whole game next time I play through it (though again, easy game, so it's not like I'd need them). Thanks again for this thread. Yeah, they're nowhere near necessary to get through, but go nuts! I've always found that just having the knowledge makes things more fun. You might also want the items and skills sheets, too. Especially since I think the monster one links to those two to grab the names for spells and drops. And if you've ever been mad at Excel and want to see it suffer, check out some of the cell formulas. I felt bad for the poor program when I was working some of those out. nine-gear crow posted:Seeing as this was the era of community theater and college drama student voice acting in lower profile anime and video games, it doesn't particularly surprise me. Hell, a couple of actors are using very obvious pseudonyms in the credits, so they probably didn't want to be associated with the game. One name was even in quotation marks. Funny enough, she's the only one to have more voice credits listed on IMDB. She's done voices for three games, and apparently has been credited with three different first names. LiquidRain posted:I started this game but stopped around Dom Ruins and never had the time to go back. Yeah, I figure that it should be possible to follow an LP either entirely through screenshots and text, or entirely through videos. And, uh, this is not really a good game for a VLP. LiquidRain posted:Great LP, greater LPer! I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't know if I'd go that far. Octolady posted:This LP has been amazing! I loved this game but I never finished it because I was terrible and got completely stuck on the evolved Baal fight, so it was cool to see him get what was coming to him. Thanks Edward_Tohr! I'm glad you enjoyed it, though I wish I had found a more interesting way to do it, myself. idonotlikepeas posted:This is one of those old classic RPGs that I missed out on, back in the day. It was good to finally see it. Thank you! Tuxedo Ted posted:That was a fun game to watch. Thanks for showing it off. mkwong98 posted:Thank you for the great LP! Iretep posted:I quit playing this years ago when Sue left the party so I never got to see the ending. Thanks a bunch for finally finishing it. Giovanni_Sinclair posted:Thanks for the great LP. ManSedan posted:I really enjoyed reading through this LP. You did a great job, and thank you! Petiso posted:Thanks for the LP. Inferior posted:Thanks for the LP! Geomancing posted:I finished this game back in the day, but I honestly don't remember a lot of the later half or so. A very well done, thorough LP; great work and thanks so much for seeing it through to the end. Glad to hear it, especially from those for whom this is their first time seeing it through. I'm also glad to see so many familiar faces from the initial burst of support when it started. I was worried I'd scared a lot of you off while trying to find my stride. I'm currently doing a quick pass through to fix obvious mistakes and typos before sending it off to Baldurk for archiving, so if there's something any of you have noticed that you'd like me to fix, or if you'd like to see something that I didn't wind up showing off during the thread, now would be the time to say so.
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Aug 12, 2015 02:50
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Edward_Tohr posted:Yeah, they're nowhere near necessary to get through, but go nuts! I've always found that just having the knowledge makes things more fun. You might also want the items and skills sheets, too. Man, you are seriously the best. Many thanks.
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Aug 12, 2015 03:32
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Glad you did this LP, it was cool to see it done so thoroughly, and see the cut content featured. Nicely done
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Aug 12, 2015 04:12
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Hey, I know I kind of sperg'd out about Complete near the start of the thread and then dropped off the face of the earth but I've been following along. I just don't usually post much. Great job and it'll be nice to see a finished Grandia LP back on the archive.
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Aug 12, 2015 06:08
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So, what's next? A Grandia II lp? Got mixed feelings on that game. But it's still Grandia. Also, great job 
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Aug 12, 2015 19:57
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Great job on the LP. I borrowed Grandia from a friend around 15 years ago so it was nice to revisit if after all this time.
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Aug 12, 2015 23:07
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Just binged through your LP here the past couple of weeks, great job! It's cool to see the Playstation RPGs I never played as a kid. The only downer this game has is you don't get to bring the murderous 8 year old girl to the end of the game so we could watch her solo beat down Gaia like Feena
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Aug 14, 2015 21:20
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How Rude posted:Just binged through your LP here the past couple of weeks, great job! It's cool to see the Playstation RPGs I never played as a kid. I thought so, too. Which is why I have.... corrected that oversight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvz7VkJLYnE (Polsy link) (and of course I'll edit this into the final battle update before sending this off to Baldurk) mauman posted:So, what's next? A Grandia II lp? Got mixed feelings on that game. But it's still Grandia. Eh, I think HMS Boromir has already done Grandia II more justice than I ever could. (Obligatory link). I'd like to show off Digital Museum, if I can find some way to decipher the moonrunes. I did the April Fool's update by painstakingly copying each character from Wikipedia, then dumping it all into Google Translate, which seems like way too much effort for way too low-quality of a result. Grinnblade posted:Hey, I know I kind of sperg'd out about Complete near the start of the thread and then dropped off the face of the earth but I've been following along. I just don't usually post much. I'll definitely be giving ReDux Complete a shot once it's finished. Doing this LP has made me want more of a challenge out of this game, but I'm not quite masochistic enough to try the original ReDux. Black Balloon posted:Glad you did this LP, it was cool to see it done so thoroughly, and see the cut content featured. Nicely done I'd've preferred it if I could have gotten the unused text to trigger in-game so it was less of a wall of text. On the other hand, I never knew you could examine so much crap outside Sult, so it kinda evens out. Spielmeister posted:Great job on the LP. I borrowed Grandia from a friend around 15 years ago so it was nice to revisit if after all this time. Glad you enjoyed it!
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Aug 17, 2015 01:54
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Another "thank you for the nostalgia" from me, even if it's late.
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Aug 28, 2015 22:22
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