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I will say this much for Atelier Iris, it's a game where they have a million and one different mechanics, but unlike other games where they try to cram as many unique mechanics into a game and it just sort of falls apart (FF8 being a good example), the mechanics in this seems to work well together, or at the very least, aren't working at cross purposes. Plus the character interactions and the short skits after making new items are amusing.
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Mar 9, 2014 16:16
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I guess Arlin just doesn't have a lot of experience with alchemists. They get into that kind of weird poo poo all the time.
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Mar 9, 2014 17:26
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Update 10: Bread and Bread Related Things Alright, it's time to head to Arcose. The path there is much the same as the path to Zeldalia's. First, we must cross the waters at Lake Forwel...  ...Make a pit stop at Lector's to make more money (to buy more items to show her to make more money to buy more items to show her to make more money to-)...  ...And make our way through Iris' Resting Place. I stopped by that little power room with the fairy in it from before, but it looks like there's still nothing going on there.  While I traveled, all of my equipped Mana leveled up, so Klein, Lita, and Norn got points deposited into one or two of their abilities. Then I got to Poto's Forest, and almost immediately I was besieged by a new monster...  Music: Dota! Werecat: Purrr...It's not often I meet another one like me...  Meow!? Norn is NOT a cat!Werecat: Sure you are. See? You have ears, a tail...meow. Maybe we can be friends?  Hmm...They DO look similar...Werecat: Okay, it's settled! We're friends, meow. Okay, meow! Nice to meet you. Purr...Werecat: I'm a werecat, meow. I want to do something for my new friend.  ...Uh...huh? Well, presents are good, I guess. Let's go with that. I'm hungry, meow. Can you bring me food?Werecat: Okay, meow. Here is my best food...  MEOW! Thank you, meow!And so the “battle” ends, and we have a Pumpkin Tart! This werecat pops up frequently in Poto's Forest from now on, and she's a helpful source of extra candy. If you ask her to do something, she'll restore your health, but that's not really that helpful since Zeldalia's hut has a safe zone right nearby.  Anyway, Zeldalia's is to the left of the exit from Iris' Resting Place, and the world map (and thus Arcose) is to the right. Let's go!   This mine is important for a few reasons, but we don't have to worry about going there for now.   Music: Anchor and Pickaxe  You could say I'm on vacation. Or, possibly researching new items. Hey, that girl's... Meow? Is there something on my face? She is sooooo CUTE!! Lector lunges forward in an attempt to, um, touch Norn. Norn wisely dodges. Stop that! Hsss! Can I feel your fuzzy ears? Just once? Please! No way, mrow! Only close friends can touch my ears! Aw, c'mon. I wasn't even going to squeeze them or anything... NO MEOWING WAY! ...Fine. But one day I'll feel those fuzzy ears of yours!Lector leaves, to return with this distressing subplot later...   Think of it as a compliment, Norn. She thought you were cute. Hmph! Why do people have to be so pushy, meow? One of the stores has some Karikari and/or Garigari nuts growing on the wall. This is a great place to farm them, and Karikari Nuts are particularly important for something later so it's nice to have an infinite source of them right here.  The item shop has some oddball antique type items. This fellow also sells Pretty Stained Glass, which can be used alongside Mini Pendelooks to synthesize yet another important thing, but I don't need any right now and I'd rather wait for the spot where I can farm Stained Glass, too. Still, some of these items are really cool and will find use in some new and exciting synthesis someday.   And now that we've reached Arcose, the teleport system is open! This list of destinations will grow more as we travel. It's nice not to have to go back and forth through Poto's Forest every time we want to get anywhere. Now let's try the grocer.  This is Villa. She doesn't do shop synthesis, but she does factor in to both the main plot and another shopkeeper's story.  Oh...What am I supposed to do now? Oh, hello there. Are any of you strong? Oh, we're not just strong...We're invincible. Could you find my missing sister? Where is she? She left to gather minerals in the Alexia Cave...but that was days ago. Minerals? Wait, is you sister- She runs a shop near the mine...I wonder if something happened to her. No problem. We'll bring her back safe. This may also accomplish Hagel's errand. Don't worry about your sister. We'll find her. Oh, I'm not really worried. It just gets lonely around here. It was nice at first...but she's been gone too long. At any rate, I'll give you directions to Alexia Cave. Villa also sells things, mostly foodstuffs. She has a different selection than Norman, so it's nice to have an opportunity to stock up on new stuff. And now for the third shop...It is time for...  Atelier Blaire: Night of the Living Bread Music: Fun Shopping in Arcose  Once I've had my revenge, she won't have anything to say... ...?  You're going to fight me!? Huh? … *cough* Welcome to my high class bakery!  What revenge were you talking about? ...Oh, just a girl who's jealous of my position at this bakery. Forget what I said. Oh, I haven't introduced myself...I'm Blaire, the bakery manager. Help yourself to some of our delicious breads!Veola is the best character, but I have to admit Blaire also holds a special place in my heart. Of course, since we're just meeting her, we can't get very far into her story arc, but let's see what stuff she's got for sale and synthesis.  Curiously, Blaire has a few proper baked goods that are all sold out, so we have to synthesize some anyway before she'll have any in stock. Otherwise she has a few cooking goods for sale that will be quite useful for synthesis.  We can synthesis Blaire's three main dishes (the sold out ones), and these two things are completely new. Let's start with Baking Powder. It requires some kind of other powder (Flour) and either Fresh or Old Smoking mushrooms.  It's alive!? But...it's powder. Is it going to move?...Eww! You touch it, Klein. Me!? Heh, don't worry...It's not quite what you're thinking. There's yeast in the powder, and it's technically a fungus...meaning it's alive. Hmm...I never knew that about baking powder.I guess this is the obligatory moment where I say video games are secretly educational. Is yeast technically alive? I never really thought about it. Does that mean any mushroom I eat is alive?   Now that I have access to one of the fundamentals of baking, it's time to make some bread! Let's start with a standard Fluffy Roll.  Hey, I got separate reviews for sweet and sour. How strange.  Here are your Fluffy Rolls. Wow, they're really fluffy! It's fun just touching 'em. I've never had bread this soft before. Really? Softness is a key factor in quality bread. Seeing as we're the best bakery, our bread has to be soft. Mmm...eow! The smell's making me hungry, meow! Looks like you impressed them. Oh, I hope not...This is the easy stuff.All right. The Fluffy Roll calls for Flour, Baking Powder, and Goat Milk. But let's try regular Milk instead...  I'm glad I could use all those great ingredients you brought me. This is some of my softest bread yet! I think I'll call it Poofy Bread. Wow, it's incredible! I'm touching the bread, but it feels like there's nothing there at all! Meow, it's like a cloud! And it's even bigger than the Fluffy Roll, meow! Hm hm hm...I like your enthusiasm. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe it's soft because it's completely hollow? All right, it's time to try and bake a nice pie. As you can see, I'm missing an ingredient, the Sour Block. However, Sour Block is a kind of candy, and I happen to have other kinds of candy that I can substitute for it. So, by using the standard ingredients but swapping the Sour Block for a Pumpkin Tart...  And there's the dreaded “Too Hard” again. That's not really a good quality for a pie, is it? Here's something more traditional, a freshly Baked Pie. Oh, it looks so good! Huh? I thought you only baked bread. Well...pie is KINDA like bread...I enjoy making it, anyway. Oh, and I can make different kinds of pie, so try bringing me different toppings. Seriously, I'd like more ingredients.Sure thing, Blaire. Let's see what I've got.  Can you believe this combination of ingredients makes a completely standard Baked Pie? Ugh.  Okay, let's try using a fruit instead of nuts as an ingredient.  ”Relaxing Smell”? Okay, I can live with that. Careful, this Fruit Pie is really really sweet! My tongue's tingling already! Blech...Just looking at it takes away my appetite. You really don't like sweets, do you? Of course not. I like things a little more...spicy. Sorry to hear that...I don't think bakeries are really your thing. Now that we have some bread products, we can make a new ingredient...  Here you are, some Bread Crumbs. High quality bread crumbs can really enhance the taste of foods. If you want to improve the quality of your food, try adding some bread crumbs. Really? Definitely. And if you add a fragrance to the bread, your dish will smell better, too. That's the secret recipe behind my extra delicious fried foods.Oh man, I hope we can make fried stuff. Bread Crumbs are yet another powder ingredient we can add to things.  The last item for today requires a Fluffy Roll, a form of sugar or honey, and a fruit or veggie. Prepare yourself for one of this game's cutest items, it's...  ...the Teddybear Roll! Oh my god I just want to give it a great big hug.  It's adorable! I didn't know rolls could be cute like that... It's a special pastry I make for kids. It's only that cute because I'm skilled enough to pull it off. It's so cute...that I feel kind of bad eating it. Meow! Don't hurt the roll! Yeah, if you eat a teddy bear, you'll be cursed. Some crap like that. That isn't funny! Don't listen to him, Norn. Stop by anytime! There's really nothing wrong with the roll, I promise!This is one of my favorite scenes. I love how Blaire manages to make our team spiral into chaos just by baking something. Well, that's all for today. Next time we'll look for new ingredients, key items, and Mana in search of Villa's lost sister. Overrated Sage fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Mar 11, 2014 |
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Mar 10, 2014 03:53
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quote:I guess this is the obligatory moment where I say video games are secretly educational. Is yeast technically alive? I never really thought about it. Does that mean any mushroom I eat is alive? Yup. It's a fungus. It's alive in the same way plants are alive. And if that blew your mind then listen to how beer is made: You basically brew a gross brown liquid that has a ton of stuff that bacteria (yeast) like to eat. So you put those guys in and seal it up. When the bacteria chow down, they excrete carbon dioxide and alcohol. The problem is that as the alcohol content increases, it becomes toxic to the bacteria. So eventually they produce so much, that it kills them. So yeah. The fun part about beer is actually bacteria poo poo that said bacteria swam and died in. Cheers!
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Mar 10, 2014 04:56
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Blair vs every other shopkeeper in the game is my favorite subplot. There's just something about her that brings out the crazy in everybody.
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Mar 10, 2014 06:16
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SSNeoman posted:Yup. It's a fungus. It's alive in the same way plants are alive. Even better. A lot of times, when you're sending out beer, you need it to continue gaining carbonation, so you have live yeast in it when it's packaged. This is especially true of kegs. So it's entirely possible you're drinking actual living bacteria! (It's worth noting that yeast is basically harmless to people. ANd is also a key ingredient in bread and is more or less the reason sourdough is sourdough, ie delicious. All praise to yeast.)
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Mar 10, 2014 18:30
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Wow, I never knew any of that. It's always interesting when games, especially fantastic magical games, incorporate real science facts into their mechanics. Of course, I guess that's offset by my ability to make an (admittedly low quality) pie out of red peppers and wax. It's a good balance, I think.
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Mar 10, 2014 21:05
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Well, you could make a pie that way. Water, flour, and a binding agent (in real food, this is butter or shortening) to make crust with some sort of filling is pie. At least, without trying it I'm reasonably sure our wax-pie would more or less cook. It'd just taste terrible and probably make you slightly ill because wax isn't really digestible and you just ate a lot of it. Red pepper as a pie filling is... interesting. Allowing that the game is really simplifying the recipe it's valid. It'd be along the lines of, say, a cabbage pie. So put some onion in there, a little bacon to balance it out, maybe some cheese... have a sort of quesadilla pie. This is sounding like a better and better idea the more I think about it.
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Mar 10, 2014 22:27
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CmdrKing posted:Well, you could make a pie that way. Water, flour, and a binding agent (in real food, this is butter or shortening) to make crust with some sort of filling is pie. At least, without trying it I'm reasonably sure our wax-pie would more or less cook. It'd just taste terrible and probably make you slightly ill because wax isn't really digestible and you just ate a lot of it. I think you just developed the breakfast quiche.
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Mar 10, 2014 22:37
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Nah, that would involve copious amounts of egg too.
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Mar 10, 2014 22:52
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I am both intrigued and repulsed at the possibility of "adults only" bread.
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Mar 11, 2014 04:17
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Glazius posted:I am both intrigued and repulsed at the possibility of "adults only" bread. Eh. I just think the fruit used in the Pie was old to the point that it had fermented itself and the pie made is alcoholic because of it. That is why it would be "Adults only"
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Mar 11, 2014 14:48
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Update 11: Stone Okay, I guess we'd better find that shopkeeper's sister or something. We need to go to Alexia Cave, but there's a brief stop on the way there...   Music: Inferno Watch your step. That's a river of lava. It's hot hot hot! Meow...Can we go? This isn't the right way. Alexia Cave is over there – follow me.Like the sewers, this is an area we can kind of but not really explore right now. I think if you're really good at platforming (in a game that's not really oriented around platforming) you can get a decent ways in, but I think I'll just wait until I have more exploration abilities before I try and proceed. At any rate, we can just head left along the very bottom of the screen to safely exit towards Alexia Cave.   Music: Hot or Cool  Look up there!...She's the one? Hmm. How do we get up there?We start immediately below where this lady is standing, but unfortunately that's much too high to jump. Looks like we'll have to find a way up and around...  The enemies here aren't too bad. They hit decently hard (then again, I am using my frailest party setup) but they are no match for Super Lita.  First, let's follow the different-looking path to the right to find a familiar statue. ??? Hey, what gives!? I was having a great dream...and some jerk wakes me up. Oops, I'm sorry... Uh, okay. Man, it seems like forever since I saw an alchemist...I waited here so long that I turned to stone! Ha ha! … … ...Just a little Mana humor, there. Well, since I'm up anyway, guess I'll help you out. That would be great, actually. Sounds good. You can call me Deimia. I'm a Mana of stone. You can't always depend on the younger Mana...so I'm glad to help. Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture  Allow me to introduce everyone to the mana of stone, Mr. Deimia! … … … … ...Where is he?  Sorry, sorry...I wasn't late, was I? Phew...That was close. I was almost a magic pancake... So, what's your deal? Uhh...I can be a step ladder. … ...That's all. A step ladder? You heard me. By standing on my back, you can reach high places. Here, allow me to demonstrate. Not even close. So...try summoning me in front of the ramp. Set the action dial to my face, like so, and press the square button. As long as there's room, I'll show up! You can walk all over me until I disappear. Because of me, you can pass ramps like those. That's pretty much all I do. That was great...right, Klein? What else does Mr. Deimia have to say? ...It's a good thing that ramp was exactly my height... That's all for now! We'll see you later!As mundane as Deimia's effect is, he's still vital to getting to all sorta of places and items and things. Perhaps we can use him to help us reach the trapped woman.  Being a Mana of stone, Deimia really likes rocks. I have a bunch that I've collected – Fest Stones, Fest Rocks, and Red Legien are all pretty common, so they make decent gifts to gain his approval.  On my way further into the mine, I found a new weapon for Arlin (minor stat boost + poison attack)...  ...And Lita got an excellent levelup. I also had her equip Deimia right before this (he boosts Stone Blast, and he gives her enormous HP and defense boosts to counterbalance her all-out offensive nature) and passed Uru on to Delsus.  Hmm...I can feel a cold wind blowing in from somewhere. ...Hey, there's a door over here. The wind might be coming from the other side. ...That's strange. It won't open. We need to keep moving. She's still in danger.And here we have yet another thing that doesn't matter know but we need to remember for later. I'd forgotten just how much of this goes on throughout the game.  All right, here we are. Hey, this is the very ledge featured in the tutori- I know I saw her around here somewhere! It'd help if we could climb up there... Too bad there's nothing to boost us up.Right, but I just got-  oh for gently caress's sake. They actually keep talking but I think we all get the point here.  Check out that gold rock. I bet that'll be nice for some synthesis later. We can also extract Air and Light elements from those funky crystal formations, both of which are rare elements for this point in the game.  Music: Dota!  Who are you guys? We came here to rescue you, but it looks like you're doing just fine... …The woman, Hute, suddenly moves very very close to Klein.  Whoa- I was so scared...I didn't know what to do...Thank you for saving me! Oh, it's no problem...Heh, you can let go now. Jerk... Come on, let's get you home. Ohhh...I think I sprained my ankle...Here, I have a bandage. Could you...help me put it on? Oh...Okay... Enjoying yourself, Klein? Wha-huh? Lita's acting strange, meow. Is she hungry or something? It's complicated. ...Man, what a drama queen. Meow? … ... We should return.Klein and Lita's relationship angst can get on my nerves at times, but I love that the game practically mocks itself for it here. Thankfully, through the magic of falling down we can get out of the cave quite quickly.  ...You look fine. You had me worried for nothing. Why are you being like that? I didn't ASK you to worry. Nevermind. It's good to have you back. Stop treating me like a child! Well, maybe if you stopped running off and getting lost, I wouldn't worry! ...Sisters are hot. I think they fight like that because they really care about each other. We still have an errand to complete. Oh, right. We came here to pick up an order for Hagel. AH, here's his order. And here's a special gift. Thianks for helping me.We get two Comet Stones, another nice synthing item. Come on, Hute. We can finish this argument back at the shop... Ohhh, you're on, sister!And that wraps up this mission! Let's head back to Arcose.  Yeah, it's my favorite too.   Music: Anchor and Pickaxe Hute operates her store out of the mine between Arcose and Poto's Forest. This is my personal favorite spot for farming Mini Pendelooks – they spawn frequently here, and you can respawn them quickly by entering and exiting the shed at the bottom of the area. Sooner or later we'll get to the point where I actually need them.  I also found a ton of Red Legien and maxed Deimia's love/energy out with them.  Hute mostly sells rocks and ore and things, but I believe she's also the first (if not only) merchant who sells Machine Oil, which we'll need for some of Veola's stuff. We can also use it in place of some oils in food dishes (and I think it's even required for one...no, really).  Okay, time to start heading back. I could have teleported via the fairy's house, but I wanted to pick up a few things. Back at Iris' Resting Place, we can reach this neat-looking handle, good for synthesis  There's a second one, but it looks like we'll need the ability to shrink or fly or morph ball or something to get there. Oh well.    Oh hey, I can actually make these. To be honest, I forget about a lot of Klein's Alchemy Items that aren't straight damage/healing, but I'm going to try and be good about using all this stuff someday.  Zeldalia's house has a teleporter as well, although I think it's one-way. Let's head back to Hagel and give him his ore.   Great, this is exactly what I ordered! We were glad to help. Now it's time I do you guys a favor. There's only one way to thank you properly...Time for a song! You've gotta be kiddi-  Music: Hagel's Song Make him stop! Meow! Hssssssss! What in the world? I can't take much more of this. It's not that bad, guys...Nope, nevermind. STOP! Hagel! You can stop now! Hold on, guys, there's a second verse! Uh...Hey, why don't you save that for next time? Not a bad idea, actually. Here, you can have this Star Piece, too.I don't know what they're on about. The song is actually pretty catchy. (In case anyone is wondering, Hagel's VA doesn't actually sing anything along – the song link is everything we hear)  Well, we have to keep trying. Lita's correct. Well, any bright ideas? We're running out of time. True. We should decide our course of action quickly. I'm sweeeepy, meow. Norn, you're always sleepy. Well if I'm sleepy meow, I can't not feel sleepy. Norn has a point. Maybe it's time to rest.  Soon...This world shall bear witness to the truth.'kay.  Music: Town Where the Bells Chime Once again, we have to run around town to find the event flag. But first, there's an optional conversation with Norn. You look really sad. What's wrong? Meow. I'm worried about Zeldalia, Klein. Is she really alright without me, meow? I'm sure she's fine. It's not like you'll never see her again, you know? Meow? Can we visit? Can we, can we? Well, we can't just drop what we're doing. But if we're in the area, we'll stop by. Promise, meow! I want to go see her soon!It's a little odd having this conversation since we just came to Kavoc through the teleporter in her house. It does actually pay to check up on Zeldalia now and again, though, so let's try and do that. Now let's leave the house and head to the central area of Kavoc.   How come you can't trust me? Something isn't right...The lady knight storms away from the rest of them.  Marietta! Let her go! She is no longer Alkavana. Whoa! I didn't know she was with the Alkavana! Looks like something's wrong... Now I'm hungry, meow! I'll fix you something nice when we get home. Since when can you cook? There are a lot of things you don't know about me, sweetheart!  Oh, by the way, there's a crossbow for Delsus up around here near the Square of Elemental Extraction. We can reach it now that we have Deimia to help us climb up here. This is the only item I couldn't get in my last file, cheating me out of my precious 100% completion, so I'm making sure to grab it now. (oh and I guess it also has merits as a weapon upgrade for Delsus. Nothing special, but it's still a step up and it didn't cost me anything money)  It seems he really can cook. I'm impressed. There's no secret to it...You just have to practice. Hiss. Less talking, more cooking...I'm hungry, meow. I'm almost done, Norn. The finishing touch is the most crucial ingredient... Okay, meow... … … Is it done yet? Almost. … … Norn rushes offscreen and out of the house. Wait a minute, Norn! Meh. She probably went to grab a bite somewhere else.   A letter?-If you ever want to see your little cat again, come to the sewers... -Beggur ...We should hurry. Dammit, Norn. Oh well, I guess more Beggur isn't so bad. Join me next time for another battle with the good ol' Knights of Alkavana. Oh, and feel free to vote on who gets to fight since Norn's not available. See you then!
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Mar 17, 2014 23:10
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Arlin and Lita, Beggur needs to learn not to mess with our candy machine. Also, somewhat amused by your attempt to advance a sideplot getting blocked by the main plot.
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Mar 18, 2014 00:00
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Atelier Iris in a nutshell: "yay Veola pl- oh dammit main plot again"
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Mar 18, 2014 00:22
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Heh, nice to see Delsus finally stepping up. He as kind of starting to blend into the background compared to the other characters.
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Mar 18, 2014 02:48
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CmdrKing posted:Atelier Iris in a nutshell: "yay Veola pl- oh dammit main plot again" I couldn't have said it better myself. New avatar ahoy! SSNeoman posted:Heh, nice to see Delsus finally stepping up. He as kind of starting to blend into the background compared to the other characters. He was actually my favorite PC the first time I played, largely because he's so low key compared to the others. I know what you mean, though, it can be easy to forget he's there, especially since he doesn't have as clear a role in battle as the others do. Oh, just a heads up to everyone - my life officially started getting busy again as of last week, so I might have to space these out a little more. I'll definitely try to keep up with at least one update per week, and in all honesty it will probably be closer to two, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. Fortunately, this game is a pretty good one to unwind to, even if it's just destroying the town square for the 577th time, so I'm sure I'll come back again and again to it.
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Mar 18, 2014 06:11
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Remind me again why we're letting Norn tag along?
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Mar 18, 2014 14:10
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Glazius posted:Remind me again why we're letting Norn tag along? Because she turns enemies into delicious candy?
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Mar 18, 2014 15:20
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Randalor posted:Because she turns enemies into delicious candy? It is this reason that makes me wonder why she isn't the main character or have her own game.
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Mar 18, 2014 15:48
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Atelier Norn: The game where you use alchemy to combine your enemies into delicious snacks, while travelling the world to find the greatest patch of sunlight to nap in.
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Mar 18, 2014 16:05
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Glazius posted:Remind me again why we're letting Norn tag along? (...Sheesh, apparently catgirls are so cliche my spellchecker actually recognizes the word.)
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Mar 19, 2014 00:21
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I just caught up to this thread and feel the need to point out that yeast aren't bacteria, they're single-celled eukaryotes. Incidentally, the way yeast make bread is by feeding in the dough and letting out gasses that expand inside the bread and make it rise. Then they burn to death inside the oven. It's possible to make bread without putting yeast or another expanding agent, which is called unleavened bread. E: 
Lobster_Horde fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 04:26
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Update 12: Their Healers Outnumber Mine I recorded way too much footage in my last session and I want to split it into main plot and everything else, so this update will be a shortish one. Let's rescue Norn (or are we rescuing Beggur FROM Norn? Food for thought.)  Music: Waterdrop Waltz First off, I took Plua (originally equipped on Norn) and moved her over to Arlin for now, just so he has someone. None of the Mana really benefit him fully right now, so he's still basically just getting whichever Mana works worst with the others.  Since we're going to the sewers anyway, let's check out a newly accessible area. Deimia can help us get over these indestructible blocks.  Ooh, I bet this is useful for some synthesis. I need to figure out some good recipes to stick some poison in.   Hmm, sounds like a status debuff. Unfortunately my only Spirit Mana and my only Dark Mana are the same Mana (Plua), and one Mana can't handle more than one element per recipe, so this is out of my reach for the moment.  Video: Beggur Boss Time Music: The Name's Beggur! What kind of psycho are you? How could you kidnap a little girl? Shut up! I didn't kidnap her. Oh yeah? Then what are you doing down here? She's a cat, girl! Cats can't resist the smell of fish. She came more than willingly. Ha ha ha...impressed by my ample genius? Very impressive, sir. Your logic astounds me, Mr. B. ...I almost ate the fish, too. BWA HA HA! It's not easy being brilliant. What is it that you want? Oh, that. It's simple, Klein. If you want the cat back, join us. Not this again... It's the only way, boy. So...what's it going to be? Music: The Tower of No Return Arlin? Um, hello!? Didn't you hear what I said?  What the hell? Whaaa!? What just happened? Rumors of your brilliance were greatly exaggerated. How DARE you mock me! Okay, team Alkavanaaaaaaaa... RETREAT! Meow! I knew you'd come, Klein! Meeoow~!I love the Alkavana Knights. They're so silly. Also, it looks like we got Norn back before the boss fight. My bad. Oh well, let's keep Arlin in to test out his anti-boss potential.  We do actually need to follow Beggur, although I'm not really sure why since we achieved our objective of saving Norn. We weren't able to go this way before, but a black block has appeared that lets us jump over the raised bit (which is odd since we just got Deimia to help make that jump).  Bwa ha ha ha! You've got to be kidding me! That trap was so obvious! This is our base! You're nothing compared to Alkavana's full strength! Okay, let's see what you've got! SEIZE THEM! Music: Bullfight All right, this time we're up against Beggur and all of the second-string knights – Drei, Vier, and Neun, as well as Neun's pet pig, Tonta.  Beggur opens the fight by using an ability that knocks Arlin down. This basically makes him lose a turn, but it also makes him take more damage from attacks that hit him. Pretty obnoxious, but not really all that bad in the context of this fight.  I took a lot of advantage of Klein's Wide Item skill, which increases the area of effect of his alchemy, allowing me to bomb multiple enemies at once with Flame (and, of course, heal everyone with one Heal Jar).  Vier is probably the most dangerous of the lot. She can dish out a good 20-30 damage to everyone with Thunder God, and it inflicts Paralysis (attack down) as well.  One thing I remember about this game is that Tonta is a terrifying monster who will bring about the destruction of everything you hold dear out of pure spite. As such, I took great care to kill him as quickly as I could, so he only got one attack in and it was a weak one. I got lucky...THIS time.  Drei likes to spam heals. They're not terribly potent but sometimes he heals twice in a row, and he has lots of HP so killing him can be a bit tricky.  Neun is ALSO a healer. I don't think she ever attacks, she only defends, heals HP, or cures status. As you can see, she can heal most of her allies at once (although it looks like her heal misses Drei).  Personally, I love healers and support characters. If there's a white mage or analog thereof, you can bet they're in my party at all times they are available. Indeed, part of Klein's usefulness is in his healing and support capacity. I like making my team unkillable as opposed to super powerful, sometimes to my detriment – I guess I like taking advantage of the fact that I can heal and enemies either can't or generally don't. My point is this is the sort of fight I'm not used to handling and I sort of screw it up.  Beggur himself hasn't changed much. He can hit a single character for mild damage, or charge up a strong attack to hit all characters for...also pretty mild damage, honestly. Unfortunately for him, Arlin is standing back up and able to use his new skill, Double. This involves Arlin launching his foe into the air...  ...and then smashing them back down. This is a fairly strong attack in itself, but it also seems to have a particularly high chance of Skill Break. I have Arlin alternate between contributing direct damage and interrupting Beggur.  I was also surprised to find that Beggur is susceptible to poison (via Arlin's attacks thanks to his poison weapon) but Neun cured that right up.  Anyway, the reason I say I screwed this fight up is that I insisted on getting rid of Vier first. I wanted to get rid of the main source of damage so the enemy could only really heal. This actually worked just because I could outdamage their healing, but in retrospect I should have changed my target order up.  And here's a picture of Arlin bisecting a little girl.   Jump Kick is really a more practical choice for Lita (similar damage most of the time, much much smaller MP cost) but I felt like being flashy.  Music: Albion We'll beat you again if you don't leave us alone. Grr...You'll pay for this!Beggur and his cronies flee from the chapel. Let's get outta here before reinforcements arrive. Music: Sleeping Reality I'll be fine. Rescuing Norn made me a little light-headed. Which was awesome, by the way. How'd you do that? Teleportation is one of my special abilities.Wait, really? It's not every day a PC gets to teleport in story. That's usually a power reserved for villains and jerks. Then again, Arlin is a Mysterious, Brooding Swordsman, so I guess anything is game for him. Wow! With skills like that, you must be unstoppable.   No...it tends to make me dizzy. Well it looks really cool.Uh huh. Well, now that Lita's done making Klein jealous, let's go home.  Music: Hot or Cool Lineage of Iris and two mirrors...Dawn and Twilight...It's some kind of key. Twilight...There's a deep gorge in the mountains to the north. It's called the Cleft of Nelvia. At sunset, it looks like a solid red wall. You think that's “twilight”? Well, that's the best idea we've had. A hundred man army... Yeah, there's no way the five of us are going to bust through the fortress.They don't actually specify what they mean here; to get to this Cleft of Nelvia, we need to go through Fort Galga, that place I tried to go through earlier until bandits started shooting cannonballs at me.  Music: Popcorn Strategy Suddenly, a non-Popo fairy enters. It's Pilke, the guy who asked us to visit the Puni God.  Hey dudes, I couldn't help overhearing. I think I may be able to help. No offense, Pilke, but I doubt that one fairy is going to make much difference. Oh, I've got friends. My syndicate can bust through the fort defenses, no problem! You...syndicate? Keep dreaming, little guy. I'm serious, man. I ain't sleeping. Wait...I lost track of the metaphor... Don't worry about it. I'll get my boys together – just meet me at the fort, got it? I'll see you dudes later. He may be the only shot we have. Okay, it's your funeral...and mine...and Lita's...drat.Sounds like we've got a lot of fighting coming up. Join me next time as we don't do any of that and go sidequesting instead!
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Mar 21, 2014 04:07
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Yay sidequests! I want to say the Obake Bag was actually an "eject enemy from battle" sort of item, the kind where you don't get any exp or money from it, but I could be wrong. I mean, I barely remember anything that's happening so I dunno why I'd remember stuff like that correctly.
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Mar 21, 2014 04:34
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Oh god, Piikes syndicate, I always forget about them. But first, side quests and more Veola sythasis!
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Mar 21, 2014 06:54
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A... fairy syndicate? That can't end well.
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Mar 22, 2014 02:51
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Boss battles with the Alkavana Knights are always a treat. May I suggest you try using the other Alchemy items and show off what they do? I'd like to see them in action and hear your opinion of them. Also why is the little pig a menace?
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Mar 25, 2014 00:25
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That goddamn pig killed me so many times.
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Mar 25, 2014 00:51
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The pig has an attack and defense self buff and if you're unlucky will spend his first three two turns turning himself into a murder machine and the rest of the fight murdering you.
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Mar 25, 2014 01:24
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paradoxGentleman posted:Boss battles with the Alkavana Knights are always a treat. Pretty much what Ardeem said. I don't remember if he's particularly problematic in this fight - as I said, I got pretty lucky with him deciding to attack and killing him off before he could act again. I know that he is a serious threat in the next fight he's present for, though. We'll get to that when we get to that. (On a more general note, this game just kind of conditioned me to fear pigs) As for alchemy items, I definitely want to show them off soon. I just don't have the Mana and ready element access to be comfortable showing them off. We're going to get another Mana in the next update, though, and I'll try to get around to showing off what I have in the update after that.
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Mar 25, 2014 04:37
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Update 13: Sidetracked Music: The Laughable Pair  !! !? Geez! Don't scare me like that! Well it wasn't my fault! What are you doing, anyway? None of your business. I know you were eating food. Then why didn't you just say that? It looked like you were really enjoying it. I didn't want to bother you... Just leave me alone for a change!*thunk* Oww! Why'd you hit me? I hope this doesn't swell......Right. Um, welcome back to Atelier Iris. We've got a lot of odds and ends to take care of today, so let's start with a new Mana!   A strange statue has appeared there.That sounds promising. ...Wait, did he say the Collector's Caravan? Please tell me that doesn't mean-   Goddammit. Hissss! I am not a cat, meow! Cat girl... Wait, is she a cat girl or not? Well, my cute little Norn, you did come all the way out here to see me. No I didn't, meow! Klein's the one who needed to come. Oh, do you need something? Huh? Oh, it's nothing urgent. Okay, then, I'll help you later. … … Can I touch your ears, Norn? Please? Just a little bit, okay? No way, hiss! Oh, I almost forgot...I made a pocket-sized item list. It will let you check the item list any time you want. Would you like it? Sounds cool, I'll take one. I was talking to Norn. So? What do you say, Norn? ...Meow...Okay, I guess. Woo hoo! Well, then...Just follow me...Come on, over here...Heh heh... Oh wow...this does feel good...So soft... HSSSS! Stop it, meow! BWA HA HA! I've updated all the information in there for you, as well. This should help a lot. I'm giving it to Norn, so ask her if you want to see it. See you again, Norn! … …I honestly managed to forget about this subplot with Lector and Norn. If only forgetting about it could make it stop existing...  Lector also unlocks Bonus Gallery stuff when we hit certain numbers of total items. Most of the stuff I've unlocked so far is music, but I'll try and remember to check up on the bonus menu now and again to show off other stuff.   What good timing. I've been waiting for you! I'm the water mana, Nymph! I'd like to hang out with you. If you treat me well, I can teach you all about water. Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture Today you'll learn about entering damage zones. A damage zone is a place you can't enter without taking damage. This could be lava, a poison swamp, or other things like that. Now it's my turn! I can use water to form a barrier around you. With her at your side, you can go wherever you want! If you need to use my power, just set the action dial to the blue crystal and press the square button! Now for some extra advice from Nymph. My barrier will last until you move to the next map screen. So feel free to move anywhere – even a damage zone! That's all for today! See you again soon! … … Well...there doesn't ALWAYS have to be a funny ending. Music: Cute Witch (The music is going to switch pretty frequently for a while, so I'm linking Zeldalia's house theme because I'm rarely there long enough to link it otherwise) Nymph's power lets us get to a few new places. Once again, we can reach a new area of the sewer. I recall Glowing Mana being one of the rarer ones. I should really try blacksmithing again...   We can also make some progress into the fiery death path (again, I think you can actually do this without her but it involves awkward platforming and blecch). Also this looks like a glorious Mana Item and I can't wait to bust it out.  Unfortunately, even with Nymph's help we can't get all the way through. How are we supposed to climb this, anyway? Deimia isn't tall enough to get us over such a large obstacle...  And we've got one more treat back at Iris' Resting Place. Okay, I think that's enough wandering around for the moment. Let's check up on our favorite bartender.  Atelier Norman: The Freshest Fish Music: Fun Shopping in Kavoc  Are you having a tough time with all the monsters? No, we're doing pretty well. Ha ha ha, that's what I like to hear! But it's going to get harder, eventually. You should gather as much information about monsters as you can. Information? Yeah, you know, their appearance, how strong they are...You should play it smart. I know Lita's been compiling all sorts of monster data. Is that true, Lita? Of course. I don't want to go down in history as a loser. Uh... Here, take this. It's handy for Galgazits. Lita knows how to record info, so I'll just give it to her. Just let me know if you'd like to check it out. All right, now Lita and Norn both have special manuals that keep track of stuff. We can view them both at base or in save points.  We also have that Growloon book here in the tavern. Looks like we've made a little progress, at least – Norman hands over some money and a couple of smithing Mana as rewards. Also, I'm always amused by RIP GRWLN  Let's move on to actual synthesis. When we came back from the Puni God, I handed over some Frozen Rain to Norman, which opened up this recipe. Sashimi has a few variants, so let's see what kinds we can make. The recipe calls for any combination of two fish, with the default ingredients being a Fish Island and a Joker Fish, so let's try those first...  Now this is a treat...Red Sashimi! It's a fresh fish platter that's rare in Kavoc. Raw fish, huh? Well...it looks interesting. This one's cut from a red fish, so it's Red Sashimi...but you can make it from others.Uh huh, uh huh...well, let's try some different fish, then.  Devil Fish looks promising...  Hey guys! Good call, using the devil fish as an ingredient. I worked really hard at this one...I'll call it Deviled Sashimi. Cool. It looks so yummers, meow! So...Devil Fish meow?All right, now let's switch gears and combine a Mountain Fish with a Joker Fish...  Check this one out, guys – White Sashimi! It's a fresh fish platter that's rare in Kavoc. It looks kind of simplistic... I suppose, but it's flavor is second to none! Palm Fish are much more expensive than other fish, so here's hoping this turns into a high quality product... Oh, by the way, I don't think I've mentioned this. When you're trying to get a new item out of a recipe, the shopkeeper will tell you if they think you'll get a new item or not based on what ingredients you offer them. So you can tell before you actual start the process (and thus expend your items) whether or not you're getting a new thing. So you don't have to worry TOO much about accidentally expending a rare or expensive item in a recipe that won't get you anything new.  Ah! Here we go! This is Fresh Sashimi! Um...It's still alive. YUM! Meeeeoooow! Isn't that a little cruel?And that's that for Norman's synthesis. Once again, I decided to stop by Lake Forwel to see if I could get any more fish (I was specifically hoping to buy more Palm Fish, but no such luck) and ran into a bit of a detour...  Music: Lakeside … …? Hmmmm... Is something wrong, sir? Leave him alone, Klein. The memory's the first thing to go, y'know? What!? You whippersnapper! I'm not THAT old! Geez...You don't have to yell, old-timer. Is your hearing gone, too? You've been staring out at the lake for a long time...is something wrong? What a sweet young lady...You're so kind to ask. *sigh* Um...what ship? It's RIGHT TEHRE, old man! Pipe down! I wasn't talking to you anyway, so shut yer trap. Calm down, pops...Before your arteries harden. My grandson lives very far away. Each month, he sends me a letter. But the ship never came this month. So I'm waiting here...for my letter. I'm sorry. Sometimes a letter is all that keeps an old timer like me goin'. Hm...I hope nothing bad happened to the ship.Man, Delsus is an rear end in a top hat to old people. Let's check on Gemlis real fast. He wants more Ale, and if we trade it, he hands over a Mountain Fish.  Looks delish, meow! What!? It's raw! Fresh fish is the best fish, meow! ...Well, you're definitely a cat. Apparently thieves from Poto's Forest besieged the ship. There's a hefty reward for anyone who can retrieve the stolen cargo. Will a brave hero emerge to save the day? Stay tuned for the latest news! Could that be... I'll bet that's the ship with the old man's letter. Let's go get those thieves! Uh...we don't even know where they are. Didn't you hear the report? They're probably hiding in Poto's Forest. Somehow I don't think it'll be quite that simple... We might as well try. It's the best lead we have. Fine, whatever. Let's just get this done. We've got a lot of other stuff to do, you know?You know something's awry when Arlin is more willing to go along with an irrelevant sidequest than Delsus is. Well, anyway, let's head to the teleporter in Veola's shop so we can zip on over to-   Do you know anything about the Dragon Gem?oh my god one sidequest at a time please Dragon Gem...I think I've heard of it. Oh yeah! It's a mana item. How do you know about it? I could tell what it was from the name. So...do you have one? Of course not. Shoot...I was hoping you would so I could see one, just once.And that's all we have for that right now. Arcose is the closest teleport outlet to Poto's Forest, so let's head there. But first...  I considered skipping this, but...you know...I think it's missable and I'm going for pseudo-100% completion and all that...  Meow? Are you talking about me????: Of course! Would you like some cookies? I do! Thank you, meow! Uh, Norn... Don't worry, Klein. Thank you, Granny.???: Oh, it's nothing. What would you like, little girl?  ???: Dangit! So close! A flash of light reveals...  I almost touched your ears this time, Norn. I'm wearing you down! Why would you go through all that trouble, anyway? Well, I've gotta touch Norn's ears somehow, don't I? She won't let me near them! Only people I like can touch my ears, meow! Okay, okay...But I'll get them someday! ...Just give up already, meow!This might be the creepiest thing I've seen in a video game that was intended to be funny. The worst part is Lector gives me so much money and unlockables that I find myself unable to hate her despite all this. Let's move on to Poto's Forest.   drat, it's the fuzz! Take 'em out! These guys are a preview of some of the enemies we'll run across in Fort Galga when we get back on the main plot. I should have tried to turn them into candy, but Klein made them explode before it occurred to me.    I got more candy anyway.  My memory's fine! Yeah, so's your hearing. Why...this is my grandson's picture diary! Where'd you get this?...Oh, I get it...You went out of your way to... We were glad to help. Oh, thank you youngin's so much! Here...here, take this. We don't need anything, sir. We didn't do this expecting a reward. I'm giving a treasure to you, you sweet, young lady... ...Oh...Oh-kay... I really appreciate what you did. Here's a beautiful gift for a beautiful girl. Hey, not bad. I bet I can synthesize with this. What's this? NOW whose memory's bad? I told you, it's my treasure!Well, that was a nice little sidequest. We're not done with Zazzy, but the rest of his stuff will have to wait. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...  Atelier Veola: Pendelook Music: Spending the Night Together What's that supposed to mean? How do you have enough time to stop by and pester me? Do you even have a job? Ha! I'm a Galgaz- I wasn't actually asking. You, didn't you say you were an alchemist? … ... Maybe I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Klein. Do...do you know something about alchemy? I haven't met a lot of people who do, actually... Why didn't you ask me!? I never introduced myself, either! I already know who you are. Everyone does – you're Lita the Galgazit. ...You could have told me. So how do you know about alchemy? It's very similar to my line of work. Alchemists handle different Mana – composing and decomposing them to create items. I suppose that's close enough. … …  Sadly, we've only got one new thing to synthesize, but both the item and the scene are very important. I've talked about Mini Pendelooks quite a bit now, and Veola is the only way to make them into proper Pendelooks.. We can create a Pendelook out of two Mini Pendelooks and one variant of Stained Grass. Right now I only have the lowest quality Shatter Stained, but that will work for now. We'll need a lot of Pendelooks later, so we'll be seeing a lot of Veola to make them.  This is a Pendelook. These might vary in size, but they always have the same effect. They're formed from the tears of the dead...So, the more sad the corpse, the larger the Pendelook. … … I hope that when I die, my pendelook is beautiful. Don't talk like that! ...You're right. I shouldn't reveal that to others. Well, that just took a turn for the disturbing. I'm looking forward to more Veola but it looks like we have to advance the plot some more, so join me next time as we take on Fort Galga.
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Mar 26, 2014 21:12
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That collector is so bloody creepy, oh my God. If she was male this game would never have seen the light, not even in Japan. In much more pleasant news, I love that Veola's objection to talking about her death is the fear of other people discovering her commercial secrets.
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Mar 26, 2014 22:48
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To be fair, Norn does look like she has some very soft and fluffy ears. Who wouldn't try to touch them at least once.
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Mar 26, 2014 22:58
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Huh, I could have sworn that you get the book back from the kid around this point so you can give it to Veola for more recipes. Also seconding Lector being a serious creep.
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Mar 26, 2014 23:04
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Ardeem posted:Huh, I could have sworn that you get the book back from the kid around this point so you can give it to Veola for more recipes. I think Yach doesn't actually remove the books from your inventory - the scenes where he borrows a book have a fade out/fade in that suggests that he finished reading it in the meantime. I think we just have to trigger a scene where Veola expresses interest in studying alchemy before we can give her any of the books.
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Mar 26, 2014 23:14
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There's no way to snag that Growloon? Just one more would boost your rank. Whatever that does.
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Mar 27, 2014 08:28
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Overrated Sage posted:oh my god one sidequest at a time please Funny you mention this, because the game can only handle one sidequest at a time. If you have one running, none of the others will start until you've cleared that one off your plate. While it's not usually an issue, getting a sidequest and putting it off can shut you out of events that would open up new crafting recipes until you get around to finishing it.
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Mar 27, 2014 16:16
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Unoriginal One posted:Funny you mention this, because the game can only handle one sidequest at a time. If you have one running, none of the others will start until you've cleared that one off your plate. While it's not usually an issue, getting a sidequest and putting it off can shut you out of events that would open up new crafting recipes until you get around to finishing it. I'm pretty sure I missed most of Norman's recipes the first time I tried to play because of this.
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Mar 27, 2014 17:06
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SSNeoman posted:There's no way to snag that Growloon? Just one more would boost your rank. Whatever that does. You mean the one in the blocked off section of the fiery death path? I might be able to kill it with Destruction Blast, but I also kind of want to wait until I can reach it to ELE EXTRACT it instead. ...It's probably not actually worth waiting for, though. And I didn't realize I was just one kill away from a rank up for more money and Mana. Hmm, maybe I'll run by and get it real quick before I take on Fort Galga. Unoriginal One posted:Funny you mention this, because the game can only handle one sidequest at a time. If you have one running, none of the others will start until you've cleared that one off your plate. While it's not usually an issue, getting a sidequest and putting it off can shut you out of events that would open up new crafting recipes until you get around to finishing it. I never actually knew this, but that makes a lot of sense. Like Ardeem said, I remember having a lot of trouble getting some of Norman's recipes to unlock for me until waaaaay late in the game (which was particularly problematic since this blocked off one of his recipes needed for one of Veola's funniest/most disturbing recipes). I'll try my best to keep up with the sidequests as they come up so I don't get anything postponed for too long. Now that I think about it, this also might explain why I couldn't do any of Zazzy's sidequests until postgame in my last playthrough.
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Mar 27, 2014 20:38
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