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Link To This Update By Itself Hello everyone. Just so you know, I set a new personal record of screenshots taken for a single update, with 337. This update only has 89 images used in it, not counting animations. So when I now say that this update is "dialogue heavy", you now have a point of reference for just how much. Very nearly 3/4 of the screenshots that I took were not used! Also this update has the single greatest bit of dialogue in the entire game, bar none. Trust me, you'll know what it is when you see it. Let's get started, shall we? https://zippy.gfycat.com/FailingFairBedlingtonterrier.webm I love the transitions in this game. Grodus' Room    There's Peach. Looks like she got captured by the X-Nauts.  : O great, exalted Grodus! We brought the Princess Peach you ordered, sir!https://zippy.gfycat.com/IdioticDelayedBrahmanbull.webm The monitor short circuits for some reason. Also now the screen doesn't have that weird CRT border around it.  : Well, well, well my pet... Isn't it about time you told us where the map is? Meet the guy in charge of the X-Nauts, Sir Grodus. Unlike Crump, he's somewhat competent at his job.  : Princess Peach. You will speak when spoken to. : I'm telling you, I don't know.: There's no point in trying to hide it, silly girl. We know you had it. We KNOW this. Trust me, it's very much in your interest to be absolutely honest with us. We X-Nauts are not all rainbows and lollipops, I assure you. We're quite nasty.: ... : Grodus, sir! I have news.If it wasn't immediately clear, the X-Naut on the screen is the one talking. : Report at once.: You know that Crystal Star we thought maybe Hooktail had? Well, someone nabbed it.: What? WHAT did you say? Someone else is after the Crystal Stars? And he defeated that Hooktail creature, you say? SPEAK, soldier!: Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. There's more, too. See, according to the report, it was a mustached dude in a red hat and blue overalls who pulled the job.: Mario!: Excuse me? Mario? : Oh no!: Gaack ack ack ack ack! I see... So you know of this Mario, do you? Hmmm... This fool matters not at all. I'll know all about him before long, that I promise. I grow bored of talking. Take Princess Peach back to the holding room.: Yessir! Well I DID say that he was mostly competent. Obviously the best course of action was to stop interrogating Peach because he grew bored. Like I said in the first update, the X-Nauts are not the brightest bulbs in the drawer. : And men! Take good care of Princess Peach. Understand? She is not to be harmed.: You got it, sir! : Well, Lord Crump... If this Mario character has the map, then it's highly likely he'll find the Crystal Star we're hunting in the Boggly Woods. You must return there immediately and hasten the excavation. It must not fail. : Whuzzat?!? Oh, yeah, sure! Roger, Grodus! And with that... Pow! I'm gone! : I wonder if sending Lord Crump there alone is wise... He is a bit... out there. Hmmm... X-Naut! I summon you! This is a contender for best line. It's certainly up there. These guys aren't very bright. : Shut up. Go get the Shadow Sirens over here. : The Sh-Shadow Sirens, sir? But they...: I don't care how you planned to end that sentence, fool. Go get them. Now.: Gotcha!: The honorable Grodus has need of us? Then we arrive without delay.https://zippy.gfycat.com/DirtyLoathsomeArabianwildcat.webm  Meet the Shadow Sirens. From right to left, you have Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian. We'll be getting to know them better in the future.  : Mmmwee hee hee hee hee... Pray tell, did the princess tell you where the map is?: Still your tongue, Beldam. We would already have it if you'd snatched her earlier... But now, since you missed your chance, some poor fool named Mario has the map.: It wasn't my fault, truly! There were too many prying eyes there. Too many... Besides, a strange old man showed up at the moment of truth, and we had to retreat. Why worry? All we need to do now is find this Mario and steal the map, yesss?: Indeed, that is YOUR duty. Must I remind you? That map is vital to the X-Naut plan. I will have my men prepare all available information on this Mario. For now, hear me, Beldam! You Shadow Sirens must take care of this troublemaker!: Mmmmwee hee hee hee... Fear not, sire. I, Beldam, shall return with what you seek. Let's go, my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! Come! We've got a job to do! : Guhhhhh... : Mmm hm hm hm hm...    Peach's Theme : Oh, dear... Here we go again... I can't believe I'm kidnapped again. Mario and Toadsworth must be worried sick. Again.I absolutely love that Peach is all like "Oh god, not again..." at getting kidnapped. It's kind of like a reverse of that Street Fighter the Movie quote. : But... hang on a moment! Where in the world am I, anyway? It's so unfamiliar... I wish I could at least let Mario and Toadsworth know that I've been caught... We're now in control of Peach. There's absolutely nothing worth looking at in this room, so let's go off to the left instead.   By virtue of being the only thing in the foreground, we can safely assume that we're meant to use this tub.  Also there's a use prompt. : What a lovely shower! No soap scum, even! Wow. I wonder if it works... A cute touch is that Peach is singing something in the shower, though it just sounds like random notes to me.  drat, girl. She's gonna use up all the hot water in the X-Naut base. I like the way she thinks. : Ahhhhhh! Hee hee! : How refreshing! I feel like a new princess! Peach's new hairdo and flushed face only last for this room sadly.   : Hmm? What was that? Hey! How odd... The doors opened by themselves. : Weird... It doesn't look like... anyone's around. : It doesn't work... : How do I keep making these doors open? How odd...I guess that's a pretty good sign that Peach has a soul. I also like all the ordnance sitting around. You can definitely tell that Peach is on a military base.    : Huh? What? Who said that? Where are you?: How amusing. I am right here, before your eyes. : I am this laboratory's main computer. I am the TEC-XX. Many call me TEC. You may. Sir Grodus created me to be a perfect computer, one that is flawless in its reason.: Grodus... Wait, he's that awful dome-headed thing who interrogated me, right?: Sir Grodus is not awful. He is a very great person. He is marvelous. : Well, I don't think so. But I doubt I'll change your mind... So I'm wondering... Why did you lead me in here?: I am unsure. An unusual program deviation occurred when I observed you earlier. My higher-brain circuitry malfunctioned and nearly overheated at your image. Also, an unidentified impulse sped through my processors. These events are new to me. : ...and their solution was... I want to know more about you. I want to observe you. Such a compulsion has no precedence. Cause unknown. I, the perfect computer... I must diagnose this unusual situation. I will not fail. That is why I led you here.: Wait... Did you just say... You want to observe me? ...To know more about me? : Could it be that you... No! Impossible! It can't be. You're a computer...: What has happened to me? If you know my malfunction, you must tell me of it.: Oh, I couldn't, really.... Because... : Please tell me. Please. I am the world's best computer. I am perfect. There should not be anything that I do not understand. Please. : Well, you know, maybe... It's possible that, well... You're... in love... ...with me?: "Love"? What is..."love"? I cannot compute this.: Wait, you don't know what love is? Love... How do I explain? Love tells you when you want to be with a person forever. It makes you happy just to see that person happy, smiling... having fun. When you love someone, you will do anything to help when he or she is in trouble.: Happiness? Fun...? I have definitions for these words, but... My programming is insufficient. There should be nothing I cannot comprehend. I am a perfect computer.: "Comprehend" love? Love's not something you comprehend, TEC. You feel it.: ........................................ In or out of context, this the greatest line in the game. I also want to point out that I successfully restrained myself from linking Haddaway after TEC asked "What is love?" ... ... DAMMIT! : What? You're a computer! Why would you care about love?: I am perfect. There must be nothing that I cannot comprehend. Nothing. That is why you must help me understand this thing called "love." Please. If you have any wishes that I can grant you in exchange, I will grant them. But, of course, I am unable to grant such a wish as letting you escape... : And now you call me in here and ask me to teach you the meaning of love? I should spit on your screen! You'll grant my wishes? Ha! Why should I believe you?: I understand you are angry. That emotion I comprehend. You need not teach me now. But I must learn of this thing. I must. There is no alternative. I must be a perfect computer. That is why, if you would just consider teaching me, I will grant your wishes. Do you understand me, Princess Peach? Now, tell me your wish.: Are you sure? Well, OK... Here goes... Can I contact someone? The sooner, the better...: Yes, of course you may. Use my communicator to send wireless mail to anywhere you want. If you so wish, you can use it right now. It is no trouble. Use the keyboard in front of you. Enter the recipient, address, and message. : You mean this keyboard? All right... Let me give this a shot.A few seconds pass. : OK, it's ready, TEC. Could you send it? : The message has been sent. For the time being, you may return to your room. I will call you in again when I want to ask you something.  : Uh... OK then. Good night. : Good night, Princess Peach. That entire section, covering screenshots 001 to 173, was just the first of three sections we're covering today. For the remainder of the LP, I won't be doing these all in one gigantic update again. Just for this one. It's way too much work to do this eight more times through the LP. With that said, let's head to the second section with another snazzy transition. https://zippy.gfycat.com/FineShimmeringGoat.webm  Bowser's Castle This castle looks suitably final-boss-ish. So we can make a pretty educated guess about to who it belongs. Also, y'know, the music link above. That probably tells you as well.    I'm pretty sure that series of guards made it obvious.     : Gra ha ha har! Bowser, the mighty Koopa king, has arrived! Hold your applause, minions! But now that I'm here... Kammy! You crusty old hag! Why did you summon me? : Uh, Great Lord Bowser... The, uh, crusty hag Kammy Koopa will arrive momentarily. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but please wait at the rear of the room. And we're now in control of Bowser. This is pretty cool. Let's talk to the guards and see what they have to say. : Please, Your Ghastliness... I have to ask you to wait at the rear of the room.: Greetings, Your Huffiness. The hag, Kammy Koopa, will be arriving at any moment.  : So, the other day I saw Lord Bowser gazing longingly at a photo of Princess Peach.: Uh, you may want to put a cork in it, man...: Hoo! I tell you, the look on his face when he was mooning over that thing... Huh? : Well? I'm dying to hear the rest of your hilarious story, Mr. Comedian! Do share!: I'm not funny, sir!: He's not funny, sir! : Lord Bowser! I have been training day and night to help you conquer the world! Should the time come, I shall be ready! Order me as you please, Your Surliness!: Uh... super. In that case, I order you to do some sit-ups, Tubby. : Hail, Lord Bowser!: Lord Bowser! Please, if it's not too much trouble, head to the rear of the hall. We can't talk to these two Koopatrols behind Bowser. Once you get closer to them, the game takes over in cutscene mode.   : Ah! Lord Bowser! : I've just now returned. I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting, my lord.: I bet you are, Kammy Koopa! Now, out with it! Why have you called me here?: Please, Your Grumpiness! Don't be so impatient with your poor servant. Ahem... It's my displeasure to report that Mario, that scum, is off to a town called Rogueport.  Seriously, this game.: Are you going to call me every time that guy blows his nose, or what? Sheesh!: Yes, well, you see, my lord... Apparently Mario is hunting for an amazing treasure.: Tuh-Treasure?!?: Yes, Mario has gone in search of star-shaped jewels known as the Crystal Stars. I'm researching just what they are... but there's no question of their high value.: The Crystal Stars, you say? They sound like good world-conquering tools! I want 'em! Hmm... Yes... Very good... Continue researching this for me, you brainy hag, you.: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Leave it to me. This question has absolutely no bearing on the game. Seriously. : Gag... Ugh! I almost threw up just now! I can't stand fried eggs! But... why do you ask?: Well, during my Mario recon, I stopped in a lovely place called Petal Meadows. I was planning on taking everyone there for a picnic, having some eggs and toast... Of course I wouldn't think of sending out invites without asking you first, Lord Bowser! : A picnic?!? You MORON! This is no time for fun! See, THIS is why my evil plans always derail! Because you clods always goof off! AAARGH! Bowser is throwing a tantrum here. : Oh, dear... Lord Bowser... Please calm down... Remember your blood pressure... : Hm? What's that? : Mumble...: Whaaaaat??? Is this TRUE?!? Lord Bowser! Terrible news! Some bold fool abducted Princess Peach in Rogueport! : HUHHH-WWWHHHAAATTT?!? Tell me you're lying, Kammy! How? When? WHERE? Who'd do such a thing? Besides me?: I'm afraid we don't have that information quite yet... The investigation's ongoing. One thing is most certainly confirmed, however: the princess has been kidnapped. : I will NOT stand for this! I'm going to Rogueport, NOW! I've gotta kidnap her back!   There's no animation of this section, because as soon as Bowser punches through his castle walls, my framerate drops to single digits. That's also why there's no video highlights for this update.  : But... Your Grunginess! Wait up! There goes both Bowser and Kammy, off to Rogueport. Also yet another transition. I love these things. https://zippy.gfycat.com/WildHotAtlanticridleyturtle.webm   : Koops, my lad... Are you telling me that you're going with Mario? : Umm... That's right, Dad... I'm going to continue traveling with Mario. And then I'm... Well... I'm going to come back a strong Koopa like you, Dad!: Nicely said, young Koops! THAT'S my boy! But always remember this: You are my son, Koops... and I am your father! : Koops, my sweet... I'll be right here waiting... for you to prove yourself. : Ahem... May I just add... If anything happens, you can always come home, Koops. Don't you ever forget that. This village will always be your home.: OK! Thank you, everyone. Well, I'm off!Koops turns around and talks to Mario. : Sorry to keep you waiting, Mario. You know... farewells. So, where are we going?  : Let's head back to Rogueport. Remember, Mario? "The bearer of the Magical Map shall unfurl it before the Thousand-Year Door. When this is done, the stars shall guide the bearer to the Crystal Star with pure light." And it didn't stop there... "Each Crystal Star shall point to the next..." That's what the books say. Which means... if we take the Crystal Star we found back to the Thousand-Year Door...: So... that means the location of the next Crystal Star will appear on that magic map?: Exactly! C'mon! Let's go!! Before we start, there's some tattle data for Koopley.  : That's Koops's dad, Koopley. He seems kind of out of it. Are all Koopas space cadets? Then again, Koops is really with it... Maybe that's 'cause his dad is like this... Anyway, Koopley does worry about Koops a lot, so I guess he's a good dad after all.: Take care of young Koops, will you, Mario? I'm looking forward to the day my boy comes home a full-grown Koopa!: Take care of Koops, please.: Hoo, Murphy! I was sure that YOU could get that Crystal Star!In addition to Koops's personal cheerleaders, the entirety of the town has new dialogue after we beat Hooktail. It doesn't take too long to cover it all, so...  : Wait... What did you say? You defeated Hooktail, too? You really are cool, mister! Hey, wait a minute! Could you be... that super-famous guy! That guy named... Luigi? Yeah, you look just like him! I'm right, aren't I?  : Huh?!? You say you beat Hooktail??? That's incredible! Amazing! So I guess that means your adventure is finally over, eh? What? It's only just begun?!? Wow, really? In that case, you'd better stock up on more items. I bet they'll come in handy!  : What do you mean, Koops's father was living inside Hooktail's stomach? Wow, Koopley RULES! Hooktail bit more off than it could chew this time!I think this young lady here has a crush on Koops.  : Sniff... SNIFFFFFFFF... The scent of this grass has healing properties, I swear. No matter what we choose, he says the same thing. : Fair enough.  : Rejoice! The fearful Hooktail is gone, and everyone is of good cheer once again! I truly hope that now people will begin to visit this village once more.  This koopa also has the exact same dialogue no matter what you choose. : Oh, OK... They say the Koopas who perished there cursed the place with their regret. So, anyone who claims the treasure will lose all his strength. Yeah. Nasty, huh? ...So, what do you think? You scared now, or what? Ha! I'm just messing with you! The first toad portrait below is the kid. : Hey, I gotta say, all I do is play my Nintendo GameCube. Best system ever, am I right? Yeah, I think so, too. Anyway, I saved up for a new game... The sequel to "Paper Mario"! I just got started, but it's a blast so far. A BLAAAST! Try it for yourself and see!: Some rumormonger told me you guys defeated Hooktail... That's just a joke, right? Whaaaat? It's true?!? No way! I figured it was gonna crumple you up and throw you in its trash can! : You know, I bet there's a whole world we know nothing about past Hooktail's castle. But... wait! Don't tell me! I want to see it for myself! You know, explore. Like you!That's the spirit! Get out there and explore the unknown and find cool stuff.  : Ahhh! Another lovely day! The glorious sun shines down! My heart sings!https://zippy.gfycat.com/OblongHeftyHellbender.webm This is somehow the first time in the LP I fell into the water. This is what happens if you do so. You also take 1 HP of damage for doing so.   : Something wrong, Mario? You're... um... shaking. Are you feeling all right? Peach's e-Mail The e-Mail theme is, of course, a remix of... Super Mario World Title Theme This means we just got an e-mail! Let's read it.  : That's a new Mailbox SP, isn't it? Wow, neat! Did you get some mail? : My Dearest Mario, I send this letter in the hope that it reaches you safely. I am being held against my will in some strange place. Though I do not know where I am, I remain unharmed and in relative comfort. Those who have captured me seem to be after the map I sent you earlier. They may be hoping to use it to find the objects they call the "Crystal Stars." I do not know what they are planning, but I have a feeling it is not anything positive. Mario, please collect these Crystal Stars before they do. You must! They are already aware that you have the map, so please be very careful. And please... Don't worry about me. -Princess Peach- : Wow... You got mail from a princess. That's so cool! So, anyway, she's unhurt! That's good, at least... But I didn't like the sound of those kidnappers looking for the Crystal Stars as well... This here is the end of the update, however.   So I'll see you guys next time, when we return to Rogueport and start preparing for Chapter 2.  No highlights this time! Though I do have the results for the thread poll.  So it looks like Goombella will be receiving the first upgrade! Having someone around who can deal 4 damage without spending any FP is gonna be so helpful.
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Mar 25, 2016 19:58
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One of the things I liked about the first Paper Mario is that all of Peach's interlude activities could pay off with the occasional powerup for Mario if you did them right. Not sure how you'd work that here. Send out a cargo drop or something? Or does the Mailbox SP support attachments?
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Mar 25, 2016 21:47
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Glazius posted:One of the things I liked about the first Paper Mario is that all of Peach's interlude activities could pay off with the occasional powerup for Mario if you did them right. Because the baby star isn't here to help for the sequel, Peach's interludes tend to pay off more with helpful information. The interludes tend to have some of the game's more bizarre moments as well. So I'm going to be recording Chapter 2 sometime this weekend. The chapter is pretty linear, but all the same I'm gonna ask the question: would y'all like me to show off anything in particular? I'm going to find the secret shop and the friendly enemy bug.
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Mar 25, 2016 22:04
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I love Peach's interludes.
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Mar 25, 2016 22:51
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You can check the statues during the Bowser interlude for some more great dialogue. Ugh, TEC. Not really a great character. Definitely worse than Twink from the first game.
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Mar 25, 2016 23:00
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I just finished recording to the end of Chapter 2. Apparently I engaged in no small amount of shenanigans, because when I checked the footage afterward, I had nearly 4 and a half hours worth. A lot of it was backtracking. Paper Mario TTYD has a metric fuckton of backtracking.
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Mar 27, 2016 08:57
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The wonders of the screenshot format. 
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Mar 27, 2016 09:07
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Yeah, backtracking is TTYD's biggest problem, and the first game is way better than its sequel in that regard. Chapter 6 was only when backtracking got bad in the first game. This game has way more instances of that.
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Mar 27, 2016 09:17
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Paper Mario TTYD, a game in which Princess Peach must help a computer understand the concept of love. It's pretty rad.
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Mar 28, 2016 18:33
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The X-Nauts are probably my favorite characters in the game, they're so dorky and lovable but they still get stuff done. Well...some stuff. I'm so mad because I had an issue of Nintendo Power where they talked with the translator and localizer for this game, but now I can't find it. I'll go looking for it again, because the dialogue in this game is fantastic and I remember the interview being interesting.
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Mar 29, 2016 00:32
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I definitely need to get a copy of this game and play it. I played maybe three chapters before, and don't remember why I stopped.
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Mar 30, 2016 03:40
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Link To This Update By Itself Hello everyone. Today's kind of a low-key day. We're not gonna get up to a lot besides some exploration.  We start off in the sewers beneath Rogueport.  We're on our way to the Thousand-Year Door to see where the next Crystal Star is. However, there are some places we can poke around while we're down here.  If you think way back, you may remember this doorway. We can now go in here.  Of course, we can't do anything in here quite yet. Those spikes raise and lower at a set rate, and we will never be fast enough to make it to the far end of the path before we get skewered. So we'll have to be back later on when we can avoid the damage floor. Everywhere we can get to is blocked by another thing we can't pass yet. Indeed, the vast majority of the places we can explore down here won't be fully open until the back half of the game.  Moving on, we're back in the Thousand-Year Door room. Somewhere we can get is that jump pad. Let's do so.      4/42 Shine Sprites!Now, if we drop down and squeeze through the bars below...  There's a door over here. This door leads to a fairly dangerous place.  We will not be exploring in here yet. This is the infamous Pit of 100 Trials. In the OP of this thread I mentioned that I would not be completing the optional bonus dungeon. This is it. This is a gigantic gauntlet that is 100 floors deep. There are no save or healing blocks inside, and the enemies get gradually stronger as you descend. As soon as we're able to survive long enough, we will dive halfway down into this pit. On the 50th floor, there's a very useful treasure. If we were Also it would unbalance the game a bit because the enemies getting harder also means that we would be leveling up like crazy. We'll probably go for the 50th floor after Chapter 3. : This is the Pit of 100 Trials. That pipe just seems to lead down forever... Still, the air seems kinda fresh here. I guess it's flowing down from above, huh? : Umm... All right, Mario! Hold up that Crystal Star!    I'm skipping all the animations because I've already shown them all once. No use in doing it repeatedly. https://zippy.gfycat.com/OfficialImaginativeDeinonychus.webm Looks like the second Crystal Star is in a big forest behind Rogueport. Grodus did mention the Boggly Woods. I guess that's where they are.  https://zippy.gfycat.com/ThisSadIndiancow.webm Not sure why I didn't show off this animation before. It's a neat effect if nothing else!   : Hey, uh, Mario, look there. The next Crystal Star showed up on the map. But... I'm sorry, but I don't have a clue where that is. : ...: Um... I think maybe we should take it to Professor Frankly and let him look at it.   : Hrmm... Mmmm HRRRRMMMM... : I see, I see. Crystal clear!: Um... So, can you tell us where the next Crystal Star is or not?: It's in the Boggly Woods. The second Crystal Star is inside a great tree there.: A great tree in the Boggly Woods, huh? : If memory serves, there's a pipe beneath town that leads to those woods.: Um... Professor Frankly... You should probably know... It's about Princess Peach... Mr. Mario got an e-mail from her just recently. Her Highness said that the guys who kidnapped her are also hunting Crystal Stars. Oh, and she said she doesn't even know where she's being held. ...Yeah.: Uh-oh. If Princess Peach's kidnappers are also looking for the Crystal Stars... What could they hope to achieve? Could the treasure be... Ugh! Too many unknowns! Unfortunately, the only clues we can rely on are the Crystal Stars and that map.: *nods*: Um... I guess all we can do is head to Boggly Woods to find that next Crystal Star!: Yes, I recommend you do just that. And find it before the princess's captors do! But don't be hasty! If you're low on items or health, drop by the shop and inn first. I'll keep researching to learn more about the Crystal Stars and the ancient treasure. See this trash can? You should always check it after each chapter. This game is incredibly forgiving for a variety of reasons. The one relating to this trash can is that you can never miss any tattles. Say that I forgot to use Tattle on Hooktail. I could still get the tattle data from this yellow wastebasket. It's currently empty, which means I didn't miss any "missable" tattles.  After we step out of Frankly's house, we find this handsome fellow. Let's see what he has to say for himself. : Who's this guy? ...Come on, you really need to ask me that? Gimme a break! That's your brother, Luigi! But... I wonder why he's here? I'm sure he'll tell you if you ask him.Luigi is part of this game's charm. I... I'll let him explain it. Luigi's Theme  : Well, hey, big brother! Fancy meeting you here! What a co-inky-dink!: ...: Eh? Who, me? Well, Bro, I'm on an adventure. I have to rescue Princess Eclair of the Waffle Kingdom. Yeah, it's a bad scene, all right. She's been kidnapped by the evil Chestnut King. If you gotta know, I met with some Waffle Kingdom cabinet members the other day. : Hey, sounds good to me! Which part of my story do you wanna hear, Bro? Luigi's adventures are seriously one of the best parts of this game. : Well, like I said, it's a really long story, but here goes... : My big brother -- that's you, Bro -- got a letter from Princess Peach and took off. Left behind as usual, I was cooking a snack at home when another letter arrived. We don't get so much mail, so I was thinking: "Huh?" This is what the letter said:: "Sirs! My name is Crepe. I am a cabinet minister in the far-off Waffle Kingdom. Our land has been attacked by the Chestnut King, who took our Princess Eclair. I ask, nay, BEG for your assistance! The Waffle Kingdom needs your skills. I humbly request your prompt response, sirs. Sincerely, Crepe": ...Well, I don't remember it exactly, but I think it went something like that. With Mario -- that's you, Bro -- gone, it fell to me to answer this plea! Hesitating only a teensy bit, I headed to the Waffle Kingdom to investigate. Oh, no, first I wrote a note to myself about what I was cooking. Then I left. Once I reached the Waffle Kingdom, I met Minister Crepe, who filled me in.: The Chestnut King had kidnapped Princess Eclair and vanished. Apparently, though, some oracle said a Marvelous Compass could locate her. This Marvelous Compass had been broken into seven parts by an ancient curse and those parts had been scattered across the land. Can you believe it, Bro?: Each part of the Marvelous Compass was said to point to the next. And since one of the parts was embedded in the tiara worn by the princess... I surmised that once I collected all the parts, I'd find her! Smart, huh?: The minister gave me the compass base spoken of in Waffler fables... When it activated, the entire thing lit right up, indicating the deep south... It was pointing me toward Rumblebump Volcano on the Pudding Continent! So yeah, here I am! I'm sailing out of Rogueport for Rumblebump Volcano. It's probably gonna be pretty dangerous, but... I gotta rescue that princess!Luigi's adventure is gonna run parallel to ours. As we finish chapters of ours, so will he finish parts of his adventure. Something funny you may have noticed above is that Mario and Goombella both almost instantly fall asleep while listening to Luigi's long-winded stories. : If you wanna hear what I've been up to, just come find me, OK? I'll be around. Over in the town square, we can find the manager of the toad shop hanging out. : Hey, valued customer! Your contact lens is in! Please drop by our shop.  10 coins is pretty cheap to get Zess T. off of our back. So it's worth the price. Anyway, back outside let's see what's on the bulletin boards.    : While looking for badges in Hooktail's castle, I ran into a spiffy mustached fellow... -The Heart-Stealing Thief : That guy's Charlieton. He's a salesman from way far away. His prices are steep, but he's normally got rare items and pretty unusual badges. He might even have a few completely unique items that he dug up somewhere...This guy turns up in town after each chapter, and he has a bunch of expensive, although useful, badges. His stock changes with each appearance he makes. He'll also randomly show up in the Pit of 100 Trials, where he will price gouge you on much-needed healing items.  : Hey hey HEY-YO! I've got ALL the hottest new products right here. Look no further!     No lie, if I had 360 spare coins, I would totally buy the W Emblem badge. It costs 0 BP and... well, look at the description! I also thought awful hard about buying Mega Rush before deciding against it. I'm sure you all can imagine how useful it would be to a Danger Mario build. Anyway, because he's so expensive and because I'm not buying one of the awful FX badges, we're not buying anything today. : What? No more shopping? Sorry to hear that, my man! This is a limited-time offer! I change the goods I offer from time to time, so come back real soon, all right? Now let's deal with Zess T.  : Did you bring me my contact lens, Mr. Squishy? : A contact lens! Oh, sweet relief! Thank you! Finally, the world is crisp and clear again! I can see! Oh! I'm so happy!   : Be careful from now on. People don't generally like having their stuff stomped on. : Oh, so it's you again, huh, Mr. Stomp-a-lot? Well, my name is Zess T. I may not look like a chef, but I'm actually quite good. If you bring me ingredients, my cooking skills burst to life and culinary magic happens. : Oh, what a complete letdown. I thought I could put my skills to the test...There's little point to using Zess T.'s services quite yet. Like in the first Paper Mario, there's a cookbook item that lets her use two ingredients at once, and that's when all the really good stuff unlocks.  Anyway, now that she's not being spiteful, we can finally get to the final screen of Rogueport!  : This is Rogueport's west side. This is totally the friendlier face of Rogueport. Not that it's, y'know, a great place to raise a family, but it's good for Rogueport. The corner with the fountain is definitely the most restful spot in Rogueport. This area is controlled by Don Pianta, head of the Pianta syndicate... Yeah. The shop and parlor here are totally fronts for his "business."We can have a lot of fun over here. In fact, we will do just that next time. But for now let's meet the natives.  : That's Goomez, the Goomba. He must be totally tired. He's ALWAYS resting here. Who can blame him, though? We could all use some downtime, am I right? : Ahhh... How refreshing... This is my favorite place. It's the only peaceful area in all of Rogueport.Over to the right we can find a huge bomb and an explosive billboard.  :---Bob-omb Lottery Rules--- JACKPOT: All Numbers Match 2nd Prize: 3 Numbers Match 3rd Prize: 2 Numbers Match 4th Prize: 1 Number Matches This is the Happy Lucky Lottery. You spend 10 (initial) coins and the bomb, Lucky, will give you a four-digit number. You then check the number against the number posted on the bottom of the board. You can even use the same number repeatedly. If you want a new number, you have to spend 100 coins to draw again. The number on the board changes every night at midnight, going by the internal Gamecube clock. If you immediately though to try and cheat it Animal Crossing style, don't. Sure you can set the clock ahead and force the numbers to repeatedly change, but you will get caught the first time you check the board. Lucky will get super pissed and charge you 500 coins for the privilege. Also if you cheat and win? You make Toadette cry. You monster. That's the long and short of the lotto system. I just saved you a gigantic speech from Lucky. Speaking of which...  : Dum-da-da-dum-da DOO! Every day's a lucky day... with Happy Lucky Lottery! With new numbers every day, this lottery's fun and exploding with excitement! I already explained the system, so we can skip this. I seriously took 10 screenshots of this guy's speech. That's 10 very full speech bubbles. No thanks.  : Oh, happy! Thank you! Here's your number! You can use the same number until you win the JACKPOT! Play lucky and happy! Go right ahead and check the board now to see if you've won! 3197 feels lucky!   : Sorry! It's an unlucky day! No matches today... But every day brings a new chance, so try again, OK? Here's a consolation prize! : Come again tomorrow!I'm not aware of any way to cheat the system without Lucky getting upset. So I've never actually won this beyond getting one or two numbers correct. Going down the list of what you can win... Match all 4 numbers to get... Power Plus Badge takes 6 BP to equip and causes you to deal 1 extra damage with your hammer and jump attacks. It's as good as it sounds! If you match 4 numbers a second time, you will get a... Zess Dynamite. This item is incredibly powerful and you can't even make it until chapter 5. When you use it in battle, it deals a flat 7 damage to everything on screen. Match 3 of the 4 numbers to get... The Lucky Day Badge is even better than our Pretty Lucky badge. Pretty Lucky gives you a 10% chance to dodge any incoming attack. Lucky Day? It gives you a 25% chance to dodge any incoming attack. It also stacks with Pretty Lucky. The downside? You need 7BP to equip it. Match 3 numbers a second time to get a... Zess Special. This healing item restores 20 HP and 20 FP at the same time. It's not as hilariously absurd as the Zess Dynamite, but the quick pick-me-up from this item could be the difference between victory and failure. Match 2 numbers to get... An Ultra Shroom. This item restores 50 HP. While it sounds too good to use, there's a pretty easy way to get an infinite amount of them. Match 1 number to get... A Life Shroom. We found one of these in Hooktail's Castle. They're also for sale in a shop we can find on this screen. Finally, match 0 numbers to get... A mushroom. Hey, it's a pretty useful consolation prize.  Anyway, let's move on and continue meeting the locals. : A new day, a new chance! That's Lucky, who runs the Happy Lucky Lottery. He's a real stickler for the rules, so if he catches you cheating... Well, just be careful, Mario! : That's a neighborhood kid. He seems to like going out and exploring new places. ...But he does seem to have a gripe about his family... I wonder what it is...: I almost fell down that grate! MAN, that was close! I know where that things leads to, too! All too well! And I don't wanna go there! : This guy really likes... No, he totally LOVES the Happy Lucky Lottery! He wakes up each day with one thing on his mind: that day's winning number! : Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... Another day... Another stupid LOSING LOTTERY TICKET! But I'm sure I'll win tomorrow. Yeah. I'll be back tomorrow. I... I'll be here until tomorrow.Gambling addiction is pretty heartbreaking.   : That's Rocko, of the Piantas. He's the muscle that keeps the parlor moving smoothly. He's new to the Pianta syndicate. I think he's still low man on the totem pole. : Da boss told me to look after dis place. You do anythin' funny, I'll toss you like DAT! : That's a Toad from the west side. She's a big theatergoer, and apparently she's also a raving fan of Flurrie's.For some reason the game assumes we wouldn't come over here until after Chapter 2. So minor spoilers: Flurrie is the partner we get in chapter 2. : Wow! This town may be full of rogues and punks, but this part sure feels safe! Don Pianta does such a good job of managing things, I feel totally safe shopping here.There's also a couple of houses in this part of town.   : I think this kid lives here. He's afraid to go outside, so he spends all day in here. He's got some family issues, I think, but it's not our place to stick our noses in. Kids this age tend to over-dramatize their problems anyway, know what I mean?: My dad's writing a novel. But it'll never sell. It's terrible... : That guy's a frustrated novelist. He's got great ideas, but he ruins them on paper. I think he just psyches himself out. I mean, he's got the talent and all...: Grr... My wife spends all day in the parlor, so I never get ANYWHERE on my novel. I need to go off to places I've never seen to get inspired to write. Or SOMETHING!Moving on...   : That Koopa lives here. He must've been born lucky, 'cause he ALWAYS succeeds. He has all the money he'll ever need, but I think he's still unfulfilled somehow. Hmm... Then again, that doesn't surprise me, since he spends all day in bed. It just goes to show, you can't buy happiness, and you should occasionally leave bed.: Yet another day dwindles away while I loaf in bed, doing nothing... Oh, well... I AM rich, after all! We could skip this upcoming screen for now, because we can't do a single thing back here. But no reason to skip it yet, you know?  : That's Stewart, the blimp conductor. His job is to check blimp passengers' tickets. I hear he loved the sea even as a child and wanted to become a sailor... But now he's sailing the skies instead... I guess his dream sorta came true, huh? He's like an air sailor, or something...  : We look forward to your next flight on Cheep Blimps. : That's Laki, a train-loving Lakitu. All this guy does is sit here and watch trains. I'm sure he'd love to ride the Excess Express, but he can't afford a ticket. It'd be cool if he saved up enough to ride it just once in his life, y'know? : I tell you, I like just standing here gazing at the train more than I would like riding it. 'Cause if I were to ride, I wouldn't get to see how cool its main engine looks! ...Yeah. Looking at it's better. But if I could just afford a ticket, I might ride it once... : This girl's always here. She's fixated on romantic scenes in train stations. I see where she comes from... Train-station platforms do have that romantic air...: Ahhhh, you gotta love train platforms, man! I bet this place has seen as many dramatic encounters as there are stars in space! Wow, the thought of it all! I just love it! : That's Porter, the station manager here in Rogueport. He checks train tickets. I hear he loves trains so much that he has like, a billion model trains at home. Maybe he's just using his adulthood to buy all the things he wanted as a kid...  : I hope you'll consider us for your future travel options, sir.This screen alone is the departure point for two of the game's seven chapters. Anyway, we've done all the damage we can do on this screen. Time to head to one last destination...  The item shop in West Rogueport is as far left as you can go on the screen. We'll talk to the lady boo here next time. But until then...  : (Thunder Bolt) Drops lightning on an enemy and stuns it. 10 coins. : (Dizzy Dial) Makes all enemies dizzy, decreasing their accuracy. 12 coins. : (Life Shroom) Restores 10 HP when Mario or his partner falls. 50 coins. : (Dried Shroom) A less-than-tasty dried mushroom. Replenishes 1 HP. 2 coins. : (Volt Shroom) Electrifies you to damage direct-attackers. 10 coins. : (Super Shroom) A feel-super mushroom. Replenishes 10 HP.An all-new crop of items. Let's just start from the left, shall we? The Thunder bolt deals 5 damage and, contrary to what the game claims, does not cause a stun. Attack items are always useful, as I've shown. Though you should never use it on electrified enemies unless you want to heal them! I haven't used the Dizzy Dial very much. The dizzy status effect sucks when you're hit with it, but I'd rather use attack items or buff items instead. We've adequately covered the life shroom. 50 coins is a pretty good guard against a game over, but remember that your partner will use it automatically if they go down. That somewhat decreases its usefulness. The Dried Shroom is almost useless. Later in the game you can use it to gain infinite money, albeit extremely slowly. We've already seen what the volt shroom can do, thanks to that stray light fixture in the Hooktail fight. Enemies that touch Mario will take damage, and Mario can also jump on electrified enemies if he is also charged up. Oh Super Shrooms.... We'll deal with these a lot in the next update. Restoring 10 HP is pretty handy if nothing else.  Anyway, that's enough for now. Next time we'll explore the sewers of West Rogueport and a whole lot more.  See y'all then. The Second Crystal Star, talking to Frankly, and meeting Luigi DoubleNegative fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Mar 30, 2016 |
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Mar 30, 2016 03:51
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DoubleNegative posted:
Missed two T's there. And how the hell did they expect anybody to win the jackpot TWICE?
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Mar 30, 2016 04:22
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The flavor text in this game makes me both happy and frustrated. Happy because I love me some flavor text and frustrated because there's so much of it, and the dialogue for NPCs changes often. Luigi's adventures in this game are so cute. I wish they came with visual aids.
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Mar 30, 2016 04:47
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Level Seven posted:Missed two T's there. Considering that the alternate prizes are consumables I imagine it's less expecting you to and more a failsafe to make the prizes unique.
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Mar 30, 2016 06:44
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Dude, gently caress this game. I want to play Paper Luigi and see what's shakin' in the Waffle Kingdom.
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Mar 30, 2016 18:28
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Leavemywife posted:Dude, gently caress this game. I want to play Paper Luigi and see what's shakin' in the Waffle Kingdom. yeah, I always wanted to see that as an actual game; the Year of Luigi got my hopes up but I should have known it wasn't gonna happen
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Mar 30, 2016 20:25
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Carlosologist posted:yeah, I always wanted to see that as an actual game; the Year of Luigi got my hopes up but I should have known it wasn't gonna happen Luigi's adventure does kind of lend credence to what we're doing here, in its own weird way. Like these aren't even weird circumstances we find ourselves in, the Mario Bros. just go on weird quests and rescue people on the regular.
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Mar 31, 2016 02:32
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Leavemywife posted:Dude, gently caress this game. I want to play Paper Luigi and see what's shakin' in the Waffle Kingdom. Carlosologist posted:yeah, I always wanted to see that as an actual game; the Year of Luigi got my hopes up but I should have known it wasn't gonna happen Someone mocked up what the box art for such a game would look like. http://i.imgur.com/wcAhk.png The URL is under the spoiler tag because it shows off the partners Luigi gets on his journey.
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Mar 31, 2016 02:44
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That is both really nifty and kind of perplexing because they used super paper mario instead of this one for the screenshots. Because he was already in that one maybe?
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Mar 31, 2016 03:00
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Hello everyone. Are you ready for yet another update where we spend most of our time in Rogueport? After today we'll have met 99% of the NPCs in Rogueport. Also after today we'll finally start Chapter 2! So we pick back up where the last update left off. You may remember that there were some odd shapes last time. Yeah, those. That was the Dolphin emulator messing up for no readily identifiable reason. I finished recording the first Chapter like 3 weeks ago, shut down Dolphin, and when I ran it again to record all this good content, those blue silhouettes started happening when I held the R button down.  For the record, upgrading to the newest version of the emulator fixed it. Still no idea what changed between then and now, but oh well. Let's resume the update.  Let's explore the sewers under this grate.  : We're down below Rogueport. You could spend a lifetime studying secrets down here. We can't get at that tantalizing star piece in the background. So it'll have to wait for now. Anyway, we want to duck in this door before we explore down where Goombella fell.  We're now on the other side of this room we first saw many updates ago. If you kept heading right from here, you'd eventually hit the part of the sewers under Frankly's house.  : Say... I've never seen your face around these parts. Who are you? Ha! I get it! You're a wanted man aboveground and can't be seen in town, eh? Huh? No? Oops! Sorry! Sorry about that...: That's a subterranean Goomba. I think he just moved down here recently. Even so, he sure seems to know a lot about these ruins. What's he do for a living?  The Mario Wiki tells me that Soft Stomp will lower an enemy's defense by 3 points for 3 turns. A reusable Mr. Softener sounds pretty handy to me! We don't equip it straight away, but we have it for a rainy day. It only costs 1 BP to equip, and the move costs a mere 2 FP.  You can tell we're under the main screen of Rogueport. This must have been quite the pretty city in its heyday. It definitely looked a drat sight nicer than the gallows directly above the fountain.  : Oh, did you come here to do research, too? Excuse me? You're an "adventurer"? Really! Wow... That's the first time I've ever heard anyone describe their occupation as "adventurer"...: This Squeek seems to be an archaeologist... and she's here to research the underground. But it sounds like she lost her partner down here... I feel like, SO bad for her... Oh come on! Dazzle did that on purpose! We can't talk to him and trade star pieces for badges because he's on the other side of a currently-impenetrable barrier. Kind of a dick move, to be honest.   : Yo! Eddy the Mask here, sports fan extraordinaire! Know about Stylish Moves? <snip> Sound hard? Well it ain't easy! That's why you gotta practice, yo!I took the liberty of cutting out like eight pages of text explaining something we've been pulling off since day 1 of this LP. Once you get the timing down, it's quite easy to do stylish moves. : That's Eddie the Mask. He's some kinda health nut... Lots of nuts down here, huh? This one's a health nut, though, so he knows about Stylish moves. Ask him!  Up the elevator and into the building on the left. : Oh, a visitor, eh? Hey man, this dude knows EVERYTHING! He'll give you some seriously good advice! Of course, you'll have to pay him for it. Yeah. That's the way it goes.: That's a Bandit who lives underground. He seems to come by this shop often. He must like talking to Wonky and the shop owner, huh? Go figure. : HOWWWWWWWWDEEEEEEEE!!! My name's Wonky, and I just know stuff! I may not look like much, but I know a thing or two, you'd better believe it! And who knows? The stuff I know may even be stuff that could help you! So, if you want to ask me a question, just speak up, and ask away!: That's Wonky, the go-to guy for useful info. He looks nuts, but I think his tips are OK. Just make sure you get your money's worth... Not that you'll know until you pay...Wonky's tales cost 5 coins each, and they all are incredibly useful. More stories will open as you progress through the game. I'd post a few here, but I honestly forgot to check him when I was down here. I'll put it on my list of things to do between Chapter 2 and 3. Just remember that he's here, as he can tell you all sorts of neat stuff.  : I know stuff, too! Seriously! Like... When the wind blows, the cradle will fall. I just don't know WHY it falls. ...'CAUSE NO ONE TELLS ME!: This Bob-omb lives down here. That pink color's really cute... but I think this is a dude. He's got his own ambitions of being an info guy like Wonky, selling tips for cash... But his tips don't make even a tiny little bit of sense. Hello? Can you say "stupid"?  : This is a special refuge for all where we cultivate information: Herb T.'s place. Sit back and enjoy yourself...: That's the cola bar owner, Herb T. He's a middle-aged guy with a wild mustache. He may look like just another glass-polisher, but he's an old-school cola bartender. He's hilarious, but I'm sure he's heard his share of super-depressing stuff, too. Over on the right side of the upper level, we can find this door. The sign has fallen down, but this is a shop and what a shop it is!  : That's the manager of the Deepdown Depot. She seems to be pretty courteous. Hey, and there are some super-classy items on display here, huh? But jeepers creepers, what sort of person buys gold bars, anyway? Freaks, that's who!Oh Goombella, if only you knew. Anyway, let's take a look at the items on sale here.  : (Slow Shroom) Makes allies recover HP gradually for a brief period. 15 coins. : (Gradual Syrup) Makes allies recover FP gradually for a brief period. 15 coins. : (Ultra Shroom) A feel-great mushroom. Replenishes 50 HP. 200 coins. : (Jammin' Jelly) A highly nutritious snack. Restores 50 FP. 200 coins. : (Gold Bar) A gold bar. 110 coins. : (Gold Bar x 3) Three gold bars. 350 coins.Starting from the top... The Slow Shroom restores 2 HP per turn across 10 turns. A guaranteed 2 HP per turn regeneration is pretty powerful. Gradual Syrup does the same thing, but for FP. Given that many skills only cost 2 FP to use, this means you can use them with impunity for 10 straight turns. I should mention that, as always, I'm getting my information from the Mario Wiki. It has lied to us before, so take everything I'm saying with a grain of salt. I haven't used many of these items because this game is pretty easy for the most part. The Ultra Shroom is the best tier of healing item. It's pretty much gonna be a full heal for the vast majority of the game. To get to the point where you aren't fully healed by it, you'd have to take only HP level ups for 10 levels. As above, Jammin' Jelly does the same thing but for FP. I know it's a joke to say that items like these are too good to use, but in our case they really are. The jelly restores 10x the amount of FP we currently have! Finally we come to the gold bars. Goombella was down on these because they don't seem to have any use. The single bar can be sold for 100 coins, while the stack of bars can be sold for 300 coins. This means we can effectively store more than the game's maximum number of coins! You lose a little bit in the transaction, but it's absolutely worthwhile. If I weren't doing this LP, I'd probably spend about 3 or 4 hours at this point just grinding up coins in the casino up above so I can turn them into gold bars for use later. I'll show off how to do that later on.  Anyway, we have a lot of ground to cover yet. So let's get moving.    Spanias are just Spinias, But Better. They have the same amount of HP and attack, so it's kind of strange to see them here. The game doesn't expect you to come down here until you're almost ready to go to Chapter 4. These guys are really weak, even for us. How weak?  They give the bare minimum amount of star points: 1 per enemy. Anyway, if you look a couple screenshots above, you can see a pipe to the left of the platform we initially landed on. That pipe is what will take us to the star piece we saw earlier. The door next to the pipe will eventually take us to Chapter 4. I wasn't kidding when I said the game didn't expect we would come down here so early. We potentially could have come here as early as getting the Paper Mode ability from Hooktail's Castle!  : We're down below Rogueport. This corridor connects to the area above. Nice, huh? By the way, you know you can pass through iron bars in Paper Mode, right?This room is a pretty neat mirror to its counterpart.   There's even two item boxes in the same location. The only difference is, we can't continue down from this point. However, we can go right.  : This is just another part of the underground corridor. I bet tons of people passed through here a thousand years ago. Coooooooool.See that gigantic stone block? We can't clear that until drat near the end of the game. Yes, this passage connects to its twin on the other side. If we could jump just a tad higher, we could hit this huge blue switch. Guess we'll have to jump on it from the ledge above. At the end of the game. Anyway, we're actually stonewalled here, so we have to backtrack all the way up to where we were.  The exit pipe from the western half of the sewers drops us out here. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure there's a hidden item box nearby. One that we can only hit with Koops's shell. I'll have to check for that later.  Jumping ahead some, we're behind the doorway that Gus was guarding. If you look closely, you can see some footprints leading into the tiny crack between houses. If we turn into paper we can squeeze through it and find a new part of the screen.  : If you've come all the way here, you must've seen some serious, dangerous action. That's good. Danger's good. Believe me, I know.: That's Pierre. He sure does seem to have a lot of free time, doesn't he? Word is, he's been busting his tail lately to catch the eye of the crime boss, Ishnail. Can't quite get up there yet. But there's a consolation prize nearby.   That's two shine sprites that have been out of our reach this update! The first, in case you were curious, was near the Chapter 4 door.  The last place worth checking out is the door we saw next to Pierre. This is the lair of the gang leader, Ishnail.  : Hey. We don't have much here, but make yourself at home, if you want.: That's Garf, part of the Robbo gang. I'm pretty sure he's related to Gus. He looks pretty gnarly, but he's actually pretty cool. Don't judge folks on looks!Our old "friend" Gus is over on the far end of the room. He's still bitter that he got his rear end beat in a fair fight when we were at our weakest. : Where do you get off, talking to me like nothing happened? Like there was no "beating"? Yeah, guys like you act real cool when you win, but when you lose, you're all "WAAAH!" : What do you want, chump? If you ain't got business here, then beat it!: That's Ishnail, leader of the thief band called the Robbos. He REALLY hates Don Pianta. I guess that's to be expected, since they're bitter rivals and everything. He's got some issues about money, but he's OK otherwise. Who knew? Are you guys ready to get to the actual meat of the update? All the stuff we've covered up to this point has been a very long preamble.  Those of you who have played this before now understand exactly what we're doing. The rest of you, just hang on a minute. All will be made clear! : Hey. Is this your first time in the Trouble Center? If you plan on using our services, I can explain them for you first. I'll just cover this faster than he could. The Trouble Center is basically the game's hub for sidequests. Various characters in the game world will post a sidequest, and if we choose to take on their "trouble" then we need to go talk to them. They will explain to us the details, and it is then up to us to help them out. We can only take on one trouble at a time, and if we want to abandon our current sidequest, we must pay a penalty first. Once we finish a trouble, we are given a reward. Simple enough, right? : You got that? Well, good. Then go help someone out! Nine troubles seems like a lot at first. We can clear six of them without even leaving Rogueport, however. : They call me Garf. I have lost my key and, thus, cannot get into my house. It should be somewhere in Rogueport. I just need someone to find it! I'll be waiting for you at the house at the very back end of east Rogueport.  We met Garf just a minute ago. But he has since come over next to the trouble center.  : You took on my trouble? You? OK. Then please find my key and be quick about it! If someone else finds my key, they'll be able to get in my house, so I'll stand guard. I think I dropped my key when I went to the badge shop, but I'm not sure... Right over next to the Howz of Badges we can find Garf's key now. Back across the town again...  : Did you find my key? : Yes! My key!!! I can finally get inside my house again! Home, sweet home! Thank you! Please take this as payment for your efforts, all right?   One trouble down, eight to go.  Garf's house is a nice little place. His dialogue is the same as it was back in Ishnail's place. So let's return to the Trouble Center.  : This is McGoomba, and I have a simple task: I need to have something delivered. Unfortunately, for reasons I won't mention, I can't be seen walking around Rogueport. Meet me behind Zess T.'s house on Rogueport Plaza. : You never know who'll be watching, so let's do this thing quick. Take this package to Goomfrey. You'll find him in front of Frankly's place. And try not to be seen.   : The package... Yep, that's it. I'll dispose of this in a way no one will ever find it. Tell McGoomba I said so. And do me a favor: forget all this. You hear me? It never happened. For your sake. We never spoke! Forget everything! And when you give McGoomba my message, he'll give you your compensation. Remember: this deal won't be done until you give my message to McGoomba. : Did you deliver it? Phew! You saved my neck, buddy. Oh! I almost forgot your compensation. You saved my neck. You get something good.   : This is Arfur. I want to open a new shop, but I need help setting my prices. But since I can't go into a competitor's shop, I need some research done. I need the price of Fire Flowers, Sleepy Sheep, and Tasty Tonics in Rogueport. I'll meet you in front of this building to make the exchange. You can tell Arfur literally anything and it'll complete the trouble successfully. But there's no point in lying to the poor fellow. : Perfect! OK! I'm ready.   : ................................ ................................ ...Wow! That's rough! Those are some low prices. I can't believe they're selling that low... Hmm... Even if I try to compete with them, I don't think I can profit. But it is certainly helpful information. Here's your reward. Good work.  Are you getting the feeling that these troubles were meant to introduce us to the various aspects of the game as sly tutorials? I checked right before Chapter 1 started and we couldn't get into the Trouble Center. So I'm not entirely sure when they expected you to do these.  : Please find the guy that pulled off credit card fraud on me. I'll be in Rogueport Plaza, so some talk to me! : Hey! You're here to handle my trouble, aren't you? Then listen up! Larson the Bandit pulled some credit card fraud on me and took my dough. I want to rough him up for it, but the guy is too wise, and I can never catch him. He's hiding somewhere here in Rogueport, so I want you to find him. Do this, and then you'll get your reward. I'm counting on you!There's only a handful of bandits in Rogueport anyway, so by process of elimination we can eventually find Larson...  In the little hidden alley next to Merlon's shop. : You got a problem? What are you looking at/ Unless you got business with me, scram! ...What? You want me to return the money I swindled? What are you, the fraud police? Sheesh! How'd I let myself get caught?!?  Larson is pretty slippery, but process of elimination will eventually lead you to check the harbor.  This is the first time we've been back here since the opening minutes of the game. So it's time to do an NPC roundup before we talk to Larson.   : Hey! You're Mario! Wow! This is so cool! I never thought I'd meet a celebrity out here! Ooo! I know! Do you want to make an investment, Mario? My name's Lumpy, and I'm heading out to Dry Dry Desert to prospect for oil! I've lived my life hoping to get rich quick... and now my chance has come! But I still don't have enough start-up funds. Could you please lend me some money? This may seem sketchy, but this is a ridiculously good investment. Lumpy takes some time to pay off, but when he does, he does so at 3x whatever you put in. So put in 100 coins and you get 300 back. 200 gets you 600, and if you somehow find 300 coins to invest? He'll pay out with a  999 coin return! He leaves sometime after you depart for Chapter 3, so you don't need to find all his money at once.: Thank you so much. You won't regret it!: That's Lumpy, a Ratooey. His dream is to strike it rich by finding oil. Gotta admire the dedication! Guys like this make me want to chase my dreams harder! Still... When I talk to him, it seems more like he's just up for whatever, you know?  : No matter 'ow much I work, it seems like I'll never get filthy rich... 'Course, ain't like I got a choice. Gotta work to live! Which means... Huff! Hoof! Harf! Horf! Haff! Outta the way, bilge pump! Move your bloomin' buns!: That's Pa-Patch the Bob-omb. He's a real salty sailor type. Totally active guy, huh? Yeah, he looks pretty burly, too. Gotta love strong go-getters, huh?  : You know what I've learned? The world is full of strange and mysterious places. Yup. I sure would love to go see them all one day. That'd be a logistical nightmare, though.: That's a Toad sailor who works here at Rogueport Harbor. I hear he loves his family so much that it's hard for him to go on long voyages.: Lissen, mate... You'll run into all sorts o' trouble if you don't keep your eyes peeled. This is ROGUEport, after all. The town's rotten wif crooks, thieves, an' 'ooligans.: That's a Bob-omb sailor. He does basic harbor work, like loading and unloading. He's kinda gruff, but he seems to have decent advice. Pretty OK guy, all around. : Who, me? Well, I'm a bit down. My older brother left port just the other day. I wonder how he's doing now? I just hope he comes back in one piece...: That's a Toad sailor. He seems pretty freaked out to be a sailor, but hey. I always hear him worrying about his brother, so maybe that's why he's so tweaked. Y'know, speaking of which, you don't exactly worry about Luigi much, do you? : Ooh, yeah, we got ships from all over the bloomin' world comin' in an' outta 'ere. We're, whatta ya call 'em? Longshoremen, like. We load an' unload cargo all day.: That's Bomberto, a Bob-omb sailor. He's small, but he's a super-hard worker. He doesn't just sail, either! He loads and unloads stuff, too! Look at those muscles!: Not that you care, but I gave up all my life's dreams. Now I just stare at the sea. I walk around... alone. I wait for a ship that never returns. Life stinks, you know that?: By the sound of it, something bad happened to this sailor, and now he hates the sea. Sounds so sad... I wonder what he thinks about when he looks out at the ocean... Nobody ever accused this game of having flat characters. Well, actually I'm pretty sure folks HAVE said that. You know what? Nevermind. : Cripes! The fraud police! You don't give up easy, do you? You can't make me pay! Once again, we eventually track down Larson. This time he's hiding in the town square.  : Cripes! The fraud police! Huack! Wheeeeeeeeeeze! Shoot! You're serious! Pfft! Fine! I'm a man! Do with me as you will! : Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Looks like you caught him! Nice! Here's your reward. : So... Since it looks like you're all out of dough, I'll take it out of your hide!: Eeeeeeeek! No! Pleeeease! No animation because it's just the goomba model repeatedly bumping into the bandit model as they walk off screen.   : Mousimilian here. I need some help jogging my memory. Meet me in Rogueport Square in front of the shop. : Sniff sniff! SNIFF! You accepted my trouble. I smell it! Thank you. I found a good lead on a way to make money, but I sort of forgot about it. So! I want to use shock treatment to try to remember it, yes, indeedy! Just keep hitting me in the head with that hammer until I remember! But be careful... If you hit me after I remember it, I'll forget again. OK, let's do this.  It took me 11 hits before Mousimilian remembered. I also checked to see if there was special dialogue for hitting him after he remembered, but it just booted me out of the "minigame" and made me start over again.  : That's it! I remember now! I have to buy a Sleepy Sheep at the shop in Rogueport... And sell it for a two-coin profit in Petalburg! Heheheheheh... I'll let that tip be your reward. Don't spend all those profits! Each Sleepy Sheep costs 3 coins. We have an inventory limit of 10 items. So if I spent 30 coins on sleepy sheep and took them over to Petalburg, I'd only wind up with 50 coins total. 20 coins per full inventory of Sleepy Sheep is a really awful and slow way to make money. I'll show off my method later on.  : This is Bomberto, an' I need you to do some shoppin'. Please come right quick, 'cause I'm starvin'! Meet me in Rogueport, out at the docks.Before you head out to talk to Bomberto, ensure you have a recovery item of some description. I had a regular mushroom laying around so I used that, but honey syrup will also work.  : Move it, ya landlubber! Huh? Oh yeah, right, right. You took on my trouble, 'ey? My wife brought my lunchbox to me, but it was empty when I opened it! I'm so 'ungry, I could eat walrus whiskers! You gotta bring me somefin' to eat! How 'bout a, um, lessee... Ah, whatever! Anyfin'! So long as it's food! Now get to it!: Move it, ya landlubber! Huh? Oh, it's you? Did you bring me somefin' to eat? : Hey! That looks right tasty. Chomp nomp gromp snorp... Yum, that hit the spot! Now here's your reward! : Thanks, mate! ------ THIS UPDATE IS BEING SPLIT IN HALF BECAUSE IT'S TOO LONG FOR SA OTHERWISE ------
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Apr 2, 2016 09:20
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------ THIS IS PART 2 OF THE UPDATE ------ All the guides and FAQs about the trouble center that I look at list Bomberto's as the last of the "Before Chapter 1" troubles. The last three on the list are "After Chapter 1." They are also where the troubles start being really freaking annoying. : It's me, Koopook, the wandering hide-and-seek champion. I'm hiding somewhere in Hooktail Castle right now. Hiding like you read about! If you find me, I'll give you something good. Think you can do it? Reeeeeeally? So now we're off to Hooktail Castle.   Just a few updates ago I was covering this in detail. Now we're just cutting past 99% of it.    Of course I show off when something notable happens. I'd say level ups are pretty notable!  Speaking of notable things. File this one under the "DoubleNegative has no idea what they're talking about" category. Several updates ago I made the claim that this purple block leads nowhere. I even remember riding up to check it. I guess I just wasn't paying attention, because this hole is pretty blatant.  A free star piece, though is pretty good.  We need to be on the second floor to find Koopook.  Speak of the devil!  Just to give you an idea of how deep into this dungeon we had to travel, the door to our left is the treasure room, where we met Ms. Mowz.  : Blast! So... you found me. Curses! I felt sure that none would ever find me here... I'm a master, you see. I love sneaking and hiding so much, I just never stop! It WAS a hobby, but I kept hiding... and soon I was known as the Hide 'n' Seek Koopa!: Koopook! I thought it was you! We used to be neighbors back when we were barely shell-high!: ................................ ................................ ...Koops? Is that you? Yes! Koops! The same Koops who always had to be it when we played hide 'n' seek! ...But you never found me. Not even once! I can't believe you finally did it!: Yeah, I remember back then... That one day, you hid, and no one ever found you...: Right! That was the very day that I decided to become the Hide 'n' Seek Koopa! Ever since that day, I've hid and snuck and snuck and hid my way through life.: ................................ ................................ ...Yup. That was a crazy day.: But... since you found me this time, I'll give you a reward like I promised. : I found this while I was traveling and hiding around the world. I don't need it. Well, I'm off! Time to go look for a new hiding place! Wish me luck! I guess I've still got a lot to learn about hiding if YOU found me, Koops. It was nice seeing you again, though! See you later. Something about the Koopa casually walking over the edge is funny as hell.   : Will someone please come talk to me? Please? I'm waiting at the pink house in Petalburg. I want you all to do me a favor real quick and mentally imagine all the screens that I've skipped over while doing these troubles. The recording for this update alone was more than an hour long.  This could be helpful in the rare occasion that our partner is in critical health. I should also point out that this badge (and the one from last update) both specify Peril status, which only happens when you have 1 HP remaining. This makes both badges something of a back-against-the-wall-and-this-is-the-last-stand kind of deal. Anyway, let's go listen to Kroop ramble.  Koops somehow got trapped outside. He's lucky.  Though when I start talking to the mayor, Koops starts running super hard and jumping to get inside. Then he abruptly gives up.  : Well, well... Murphy! You must have gotten my request. Good, good. Truth be told, I've been a touch lonely here with no one to talk to. Since you're here, why don't you relax with me for a bit. Indulge an old Koopa. Hoo... To tell you the truth, I've got a few things to say about kids these days. Their tempers are too short for their own good, for one! Makes me want to smack 'em! For twelve years, you have been asking, who is John Galt? This is John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. Why, I was shopping at the Toadstool Bros. Discount Super Shop the other day... I was trying to pay, and my coin purse was stuck closed, and the kid behind me said "Hey, geezer, wanna pay so we can get out of here before the sun goes down?" Now I may be a geezer, but sundown was clearly taking longer than I was. Clearly! You have heard it said that this is an age of moral crisis. You have said it yourself, half in fear, half in hope that the words had no meaning. You have cried that man's sins are destroying the world and you have cursed human nature for its unwillingness to practice the virtues you demanded. ...Speaking of sundown reminds me of dating the missus back before she was the missus. Always had to have her home by sundown, yessir. Her pa was an absolute maniac. Yep, I'd keep my eyes on the sun and off the face of my missus. Gentlemanly, eh? Actually it was sort of awkward. Kind of blinding, in a painful sort of way. Heh! Just thinking about it makes me feel awkward! Heh! Isn't memory grand? But that's not what I was talking about. Now where was I? Hrrrrrmmmm... Oh! That's right! Kids today! They know nothing about patience, I tell you! I want to stand up and yell: "HEY! YOU PUNKS! BE MORE PATIENT! RIGHT NOW!" That world is not the product of your sins, it is the product and the image of your virtues. It is your moral ideal brought into reality in its full and final perfection. You have fought for it, you have dreamed of it, and you have wished it, and I-I am the man who has granted you your wish. Speaking of which, I think I proclaimed my love for the missus in a loud voice... Yup! She was leaving on a train, and I yelled it from the platform! Like in a movie! Now, err... What was it that I yelled to her? Something about her shell, maybe... ...Oh. Wait. I think I've strayed from my main point again... Or wait... did I? Anyhow, me and the missus were madly in love! Head over shells, I tell you! No... Wait, my point was something about kids today, right? Awwww, whatever... Oh, my dear, sweet missus! The way you combed my eyebrows! Such tenderness! You have destroyed all that which you held to be evil and achieved all that which you held to be good. Why, then, do you shrink in horror from the sight of the world around you? ...Huzzuh? Oh, sorry! I got distracted, there. Anyway, you get my point. Sorry you had to listen through all that. Wasn't too boring though, I'd wager. I'm just happy to get a little face time with the youth of today! Oops I forgot to set out the tea! Aren't I an old ninny? My apologies. In fact, I haven't even added the hot water part. Awful sorry. : Yeah, boy, if you cook a Turtley Leaf, you can make some amazing tea... Oh, and if you change your mind, you can come back and listen to me yap anytime. Kroop likes to talk. Now, before we head back to Rogueport, let's save ourselves a whole bunch of time by dropping by Petalburg's item shop. We're gonna need 5 Courage Shells.  They only cost 5 coins each, and we already had 1 from earlier. Now, time to go all the way back over to the Trouble Center.  : Our shop inventory is low, and I need someone to help me restock. Please come to the shop in Rogueport Square! : Welcome! Yes, welcome to the Toad Bros. Bazaar! Ah! You've accepted my trouble, huh, fella? We're having a really hard time finding Courage Shells! I need you to bring us five from anywhere you can find them, OK? That's 5 Courage Shells. I'm counting on you! We need to hand these in one-by-one for some dumb reason. At least it's only five items and the dialog box pops back up immediately. : Ahh, thank you! That's five... You're done! Well, here's your reward! I hope you like it! : Thank you so much! Really! You really helped me!  Plenn T. just rewarded us with an item that, if you remember earlier in the update, is worth 200 coins. That's one hell of a reward. I'll be sticking that in storage for a rainy day. Now that we've done all the troubles, it's time to show off the Pianta Parlor. This is the game's casino and it has such minigames as: a slot machine, and a slot machine.  : I love checking my scores on this machine after playing games. I'm here all DAY! What? My husband is worried about me? Oh, don't be silly! He doesn't mind. As long as he's writing, he doesn't notice what anyone else does~!: That's a parlor customer. I think she leaves her hubbie home with the kids so she can play here all day long. Yeah, that's healthy.: Hey, how ya doin'? What? Me? I'm on top of the world, baby! Yeah, I'm just fan-Goomba-tastic!: That's a Goomba who really likes this parlor. He always seems to be in a good mood. I wouldn't mind winning like he does every now and then. Lucky stiff. : That's a parlor customer. She's a Squeek, it looks like. Good to see a girl in here. It's a good sign if this place is safe enough for regular folks to go to.I didn't actually think to get the Squeek's dialogue, and it would take me a while to get back to Rogueport from where I saved the game.  : Welcome to the parlor! Hey! Hey! You're Mario! Like, the one and only! I know all about you! Rescuing Princess Peach is important work, but even heroes need relaxation!: Oh! Mario! That card! You got a Member's Card! OK. I'll prepare the mini-game you can play with that Member's Card. How exciting! We can now play a minigame where we fly as a paper airplane for distance.  : You can trade in the piantas you've won for prizes. And some of our prizes can't be found anywhere else!: That's Lahla, a Boo cutie. She works the desk at the Pianta Parlor. Her sister's Peeka, the Boo who works in the shop. I hear they both used to be models. We now have access to an infinite number of HP and FP increasing badges. I will not be abusing that, as tempting as it may otherwise be. The number of prizes you can earn goes up with each member's card you find. The second card will let you buy for 234 points. But we sadly don't have the second card yet. We won't earn that until we've finished Chapter 2.     Power Jump looks tempting. I'll grab that before we head to chapter 3. It will be quite useful there! Anyway, we can't buy anything yet as we have no Pianta Coins. So let's fix that. The ugly-as-sin machine behind the Squeek lady will let us buy those.  : I AM THE PIANTA CHANGER CHANGING MACHINE. I AM CALLED PIANTA CHANGER. Time to buy as many points as we have coins to support.  : THANK YOU VERY MUCH. COME AGAIN!Now, the slot machines may seem like a bad way to earn coins.   But it doesn't take a lot of effort or skill to earn a bunch of coins. I pressed A randomly and on my third attempt I got 13 coins back with Triple Star.  Triple Don Pianta Heads gets us 3 coins, which isn't too shabby.  It takes a lot more skill to get the Triple 7s. The results aren't random as you might imagine. The spinners inside the slots actually do have several faces and you can eventually predict where the 7 will appear. Furthermore, you can easily see the 7 coming up, as it's the only red icon in the reels. Someone on GameFAQs suggested listening to the noise the slot machine makes and hitting the button at the end of the tune. That seemed to work more often than not. Anyway, the point is that it's pretty easy to rake in massive profits in this casino.   If you manage to land on 777, however, you get rewarded with 100 Pianta Coins. There are also the other minigames, the ones that the cards unlock. I'll show off the paper airplane game real quick, but it's not particularly fun, nor is it a great way to make Pianta Coins.   : The Plane Game? In this game, you turn into a paper airplane and compete to see how far you can fly. The farther you fly, the more piantas you win! And, if you land on one of the moving platforms, you'll get a bonus! If you land on a penalty platform, you'll lose piantas, so be careful when landing. The best way to boost your winnings is to collect lots of piantas while flying! Good luck! : Good luck!  At the start of the game, Mario automatically becomes a paper airplane.  There's floating Pianta Coins in the air, and we need to control Mario's descent while collecting a bunch of coins.  There's moving platforms on the ground that offer various bonuses.   The digital clock shows how far we've traveled.  So for that, we earned a whole 4 Pianta Coins in profit. That's a pretty lousy return.  The paper airplane game is not really all that great and I doubt I'm gonna try to set a high score. I honestly doubt I'm even going to play it again. : Thank you for playing! Come again soon! But don't forget to rescue Princess Peach! So another look at the prize pool. The Super Shroom is the best bang for your buck here. It has the best Piantas-to-Coins value at 1:1. The Maple Syrup also sells for the same amount, but costs more Piantas, leaving you with less profits.    At the time I didn't realize that, however. So I spent 56 Piantas on Maple Syrups. But that's the basic loop for Literally Infinite Money in this game. You go into the parlor, play the slots until you have a bunch of Piantas, and then cash out the fake money for items, which you then sell for real money.   That's 7 Super Shrooms in my inventory. So I spent 70 Piantas and am getting 70 coins back in return. As you might imagine, this adds up ridiculously quickly.   So here's where I do a quick jump until I've finished taking a Criminal Syndicate for a bunch of money. The Piantas aren't very bright. They're kind of like the Robigo Syndicate in that regard.  226 coins doesn't seem like much, but remember what I said earlier. We've got two very important donations to make.  : Ah! Mario! You come again!  : Thank you so much! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks to you, I'm ready to go! So let's save real quick...  Join me next time when we finally leave for Chapter 2. Are you all excited? No highlights this time!
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Apr 2, 2016 09:21
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I tried to look up something myself on the mario wiki, and found a mario wiki, a mario wikia, and a paper mario wiki. Are all of them at war with each other or something?DoubleNegative posted:I AM THE PIANTA CHANGER CHANGING MACHINE. I AM CALLED PIANTA CHANGER.
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Apr 2, 2016 09:55
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Was that an Atlas Shrugged reference in a Nintendo game?  Also the infinite money loop is funny because that's the loophole Pachinko uses in real Japanese gambling. They can't give you real money for your tokens, but you can exchange them for mundane prizes that a  totally unrelated place nearby will buy off you.
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Apr 2, 2016 11:12
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AlphaKretin posted:Was that an Atlas Shrugged reference in a Nintendo game? I decided to throw several quotes from the John Galt speech in the middle of Kroop's ramblings. Just to see if anyone caught it.
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Apr 2, 2016 11:15
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AlphaKretin posted:Was that an Atlas Shrugged reference in a Nintendo game? Yeah, that was my thought, it's so clearly a take on the loophole Pachinko Parlors have to get around gambling bans
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Apr 2, 2016 17:59
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I think Chapter 2 is a fun chapter, can't wait to see you get into it
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Apr 3, 2016 17:54
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Oh, huh. So you really can convert BP to HP or FP in whatever quantity you want, as long as you keep feeding the casino?
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Apr 3, 2016 20:36
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Funfact: The boo girls had a design change from Japan to the rest of the world. Nice playboy bunny ears.  This messy room (this shot is from the 2nd update) also had a design change.  ...!?!? And TEC's eye is red in Japan.  Perhaps they changed it because he looked too obviously much like HAL-9000.
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Apr 4, 2016 00:36
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One star point per enemy is not the minimum. You can actually get no star points from enemies if your level is high enough. If you complete a battle with no star points, you'll get one point for completing the battle, so you can still grind on easy enemies if you have the patience.
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Apr 4, 2016 01:15
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I love that Grodus is completely aware that his minions are idiots, but doesn't stress over it or abuse them like most villains. He just sighs, then tries to work around them the best he can.
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Apr 4, 2016 03:28
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Geostomp posted:I love that Grodus is completely aware that his minions are idiots, but doesn't stress over it or abuse them like most villains. He just sighs, then tries to work around them the best he can. It's because he knows that as stupid as they are they really are trying their best. I don't think he can bring himself to hate them all that much
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Apr 4, 2016 20:48
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I really do enjoy how the Mario side-games (Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi) get the opportunity to invent their own villains. We wind up with stuff like the X-Naut's duality of bumbling and aloof but also strikingly competent; also, it's one of the few chances to see Bowser in a role other than "antagonist". But the last two M&L games fell back on Bowser being the big bad, plus Sticker Star did and it looks like the new Paper Mario will too.
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Apr 4, 2016 22:10
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Link To This Update By Itself Hello everyone. Today we get started on Chapter 2. Let's not waste much time, yeah?  So if you remember several updates back, Professor Frankly mentioned a creature called a Puni. Yeah, that. This little guy looks like one of those. Maybe he can help us.  : Mario! Did you see that? That was one of the things Professor Frankly described!: Hey! Mario! You see that? That was one of the things Professor Frankly mentioned!: *nods*Last time he ran away, we had to watch. This time, we can give chase. You might also notice that I'm now showing off all partner dialogue. I found an actual text dump online, and while it's not laid out in a fashion that's remotely coherent, at least all the text is there and readable. For the most part, a lot of the dialogue is almost exactly the same between partners, just swapping around a few words for personality.   : We're down below Rogueport. I never knew this room was connected like this... If you see a similar entrance in another area, you should totally check it out. You know, this probably doesn't reflect well on us. We've chased after this tiny little guy and cornered him in a remote part of the sewers.  The Punies  : Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!! D-Don't eat me!!!: ...: Huh? Uh... You didn't come to eat me?: ... Oh come on, as though I'd choose the "nice" answer here. : Noooooooooo! Leave me alone, you big meanies!: Mario! How could you?!? Don't you say that to him! ...That wasn't very mature.: Um... Mario, that was uncool. Don't say stuff like that. I thought you were...nicer.: Hey, don't worry! Really! We're not here to be mean to you, honest.: Relax, relax, little guy. We're not bullies, I swear.: For real? Phew! Boy, that's good. I thought for a second I might have an accident.: You're one of the creatures from Boggly Woods, right? What are you doing here?: Wh-What?!? Why do you know about me? NOOO! Y-You must be... You guys are working for those X-Nauts, aren't you?!? You chased me here! Noooooo! It's the end!!!I know of a device that Punio could stand to make more use of. : X-Nauts? Easy there, kid. What in the world are you freaking out about?: X-Nauts? What the heck are those? Sounds like tissues... to the extreme or something.: We're not gonna do anything to you, so chill for a sec'! Just tell us what's going on.: Well...OK. This gang of bad guys who call themselves X-Nauts came to where I live. They came inside our Great Tree and started tearing it apart and causing trouble. So...I've come all the way here looking for help.: Mario! That sounds like those guys who attacked us in Rogueport. Right?: If those are the same guys who kidnapped the princess, they want the Crystal Star!: Now that you mention it, they did say something about some Crystal Star thingy... But we Punies don't know anything about any crystals or stars...: Say, could you guys help us out? Maybe chase them off? If you do, we'll give you, uh... What was it? The Crystal Star? If you do, we'll have the Puni elder give you that! I don't know what it is, but if it'll help us reclaim our tree, I'm sure the elder will agree! So what do you say? Let's not waste any more time. I'm begging you!: *nods*: Really?!? You aren't joking?!? You'll do it?!?: I guess... I mean, we can't just ignore them, right?: Um... I guess we should... I'd feel pretty bad if we didn't do anything. Plus, we do need to get the Crystal Stars before those X-guys do.: Oh, thank you so much! This is great! I'm so happy! My name is Punio. leased to meet you! I'll take you to where I live. Follow me, OK? That was a lot of dialogue, huh? I probably should have taken  : It's this way. : Wait, hang on a second.: I'm sure the Puni elder said some button around here opened the secret entrance... AH-HA! You all remember that badge sitting on the ledge to the left? If not, scroll back up past all that dialogue and look again.  Anyway, we can go left here.   I'm sure I don't have to describe how useful this badge is. It does take 2 BP to equip, though. So be sure you have a few extra. I also equipped the Mega Rush P we found in Kroop's backyard. By the way, there was an easter egg in that gigantic speech Kroop gave in the previous update. If you didn't find it, you should go back and look.  : You can get to the woods we Punies live in by going through that pipe there. OK! Hurry! Hurry! You can see that some of the Boggly Woods have started to creep in around the wooden pipe. Anyway, on to Chapter 2! https://zippy.gfycat.com/CaninePolishedKingbird.webm  Boggly Woods  Chapter 2 is probably one of my least favorite chapters, and the apparent drabness of the landscape is a large part of why. I'm looking at these screenshots and I'm honestly surprised at how much color is in them, because all my memories of this chapter are of it being largely black and white. Not helping matters, I'm sure, is that the psychedelic colored forest floor is for the most part hidden by a sea of white and gray brush. : These are the Boggly Woods... They sure look...boggling. Ooh! I've got butterflies!: Um, OK, just a bit further and we should be able to see the Great Tree. The elder and her friends are waiting for us there... Oh, and my little sister, too! Come on, let's go!: These are the Boggly Woods. Pretty surreal, huh? Looks like it's out of a picture book. It's pretty... but in an eerie sort of way, y'know? Seriously, look at all that color!  : These are the Boggly Woods. Kind of a dreamily pretty place, isn't it? It'd be nicer if it weren't crawling with enemies... But, whatcha gonna do?  Shadow Sirens : Mmmmwee hee hee hee! Time to go to work, lovelies! Vivian! You understand what we've got to do, yesss?: Mm-hmm! A) Find that Mario guy and B) steal the map to the Crystal Stars, right? We can just do away with Mario and his friends, can't we? Or is that bad?: Oh, bad things happen all the time, Vivian. But you're right about our goals. If my information is correct, Mario should be coming down this road quite soon. You must ambush him here and get that map!: Hmmmm? What's this, now? Vivian! What's that you're fawning over there? : Oh! What, you mean this? found it near that tree over there a while back. Isn't it a gorgeous necklace? It was so lovely... I just HAD to pick it up! : Hmph! Vivian! For shame! Picking up someone's scraps? Disgusting! Greedy! But enough about that! Vivian, my dear pack rat... Bring out the sketch of that Mario guy that you got from Grodus! Mmmmmwee hee hee! : Eeep! Wh-What? I... I don't have that! You said it was way too important, so you took it. You should have it...: Don't be ridiculous! I don't have that thing. You were in charge of it! You wretched little worm! Blaming me for something you probably screwed up!: But, I...  : Guh! Guh!: Oh, what IS it, Marilyn? ...Huh? What's that? A mustachioed fellow? This is no time for such nonsense, you great oaf! Save your games for later!: Now, now, where was I? You! Vivian! Don't tell me you lost our precious sketch!: But... Listen... I... Look, it's not my fault... I never had the sketch...: SILENCE, YOU DITZ! Such impudence! How dare you talk back to me like some rebellious child?!? It's clear to me that the only rationale your type understands is force... : For your punishment, I'll be taking that necklace you just found. Yes, so sorry.  : But... But, Beldam... Oh, you're horrid!Wow, poor Vivian. Beldam is kind of a jerk. Anyway, let's proceed to loot everything not nailed down.  I'm sure we can find a use for this sleepy sheep later. Oh I should also probably mention at this point that I forgot to get my stuff out of storage after taking the Pianta Casino Parlor for several hundreds coins. So this Sleepy Sheep is the only item currently in our possession.  Let's see what this trio of knuckleheads has to say for themselves. : What is it, Mr. Mustache? Leave us! Scram! Right NOW! I have no business with you!: This shady woman is certainly selfish and mean! I mean, what a total meanie! You see how cruel she is to her own sister? I wonder what went on between them...: Uh... Guh! Guh?: I guess that's the middle sister. She seems like the strong, silent type to me. Hmm... I can't get a good read on this girl at all...: Sniff... Sniff... Sniff... Oh, what am I to do?: This is the youngest sister of the three. The oldest one REALLY picks on her, huh? I don't know whose picture they're talking about, but you think she really lost it?You know what? I-I'll just come back later. You guys seem kinda busy.    So here's the Anyway, here's an opportunity to show off Earth Tremor. Nothing about the Clefts have changed from last time, which means that we need to burn some FP to kill them. Or, in this case, some pips on our star gauge. This is way too long to capture an animation of, so if you want to see it in action, I have the full thing in the highlight video at the end of the update.  Anyway, there's a bar that fills, and on each circle on the bar we have to press A. The timing is oddly precise for this, and can be pretty finicky.  The more stages of this you complete, the larger the star gets, and the more circles get added. There are 5 different bars to fill, and each one you complete adds 1 damage. So if you mess up before finishing the first stage, you only deal 1 damage. However if you nail all 5 of the stages...    Mariowiki.com, which is the wiki that I've been using, also mentions that if you complete all 6 stages, then Earth Tremor will hit everything on screen. Not completing any stages only causes it to hit ground-based enemies, and so on and so on. The wiki claims (and my screenshot above corroborates) that the damage pierces through defenses. So if you can complete the minigame with any regularity, you can deal a flat 6 damage to any enemy in the game for a mere 2 dots of star power. Earth Tremor, for pretty obvious reasons, is gonna be our bread-and-butter star power.  : You see that big tree over there? It's REALLY big... It's kind of otherworldly, actually. Wild... : There! Can you see it? That big tree... : That's what I was telling you about. That's where we Punies live. That's home. Uh, of course, it's not just us in the tree. Lots of Jabbies and Piders, too. Well, anyway, Mario... Follow me! Perspective in this game is completely screwed. Punio is way in the background, but has barely shrunk. You can also barely see an item sticking out of the underbrush right in front of the tree. It's an Inn Coupon. Even in this chapter, and even with our current state of being wholly without items, it's still a waste of space. Unless I accidentally walk across it at some point, it will still be sitting there come the end of the game.  Seriously, look at how big Mario is in this shot, and compare it to how bit Punio was. I dunno why that bothers me so much. I mean, I get why Punio was so big. They wanted you to see where he went. But it still bugs me.  : The base of the Great Tree! It sure is big up close... I mean... Wowser. Seriously. It must have watched over the Boggly Woods for over 1,000 years. That's insane... Punio can chill by that oddly out-of-place red blast door for a while. There's something over here to the right. Something that is long overdue.  See there behind the waterfall? It's a badge. What kind of badge is it?   Like I said, long overdue. We now have quite a bit more breathing room with regards to actually using some of our badges. : ...Uh...: What's going on?: Uh, well... Take a look! This door wasn't here before! Someone just installed it! And...I can't open it. I thought I could finally save everyone... I'm a fool.: Oh, quit being melodramatic! Although...it does look thick. What are we gonna do now?: ................Uh................: ................Um................: ................Hmmmm.............: ................Ermmm.............: .............Mmmmmmmm.............: .......Hrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm...........: GOT IT! : We can get in through there! I'm completely sure of it! Uh, problem is... I doubt finding it is going to be easy. I mean, it won't be labeled "Secret Entrance"! What should we do?: Not to be a worrywart, but how in the heck can we find somebody's secret entrance?: Well, it's hidden by this invisible...thingy. We need to find and remove the thingy. Boy, but removing a normal thingy sounds tough enough, let alone an invisible one!: Uh... : Oh! Got it! Flurrie! Surely Madame Flurrie's powers can help us! Flurrie is a refined and dignified lady who lives in these woods. The elder says she's a wind spirit who can wield the powers of the air with ease.: You see where I'm going with this? She can use wind power to blow the thingy away! Well, it won't hurt to try. Flurrie lives in the deepest corner of the woods, so... Let's head back in the direction we came from. Sure, why not. The path did continue off to the right past the pipe we took. Back we go!  : Ahhh! These woods are the most wonderful in all the world. Yes, indeed! Building a house here was just the FINEST idea I ever did have. Oh, my, yes!  : This place is so different from the bright flashbulbs of the world I'm used to... Such peace... This negative image of the real world soothes my body and soul. But what's even better... is that I, Madame Flurrie, grow ever more lovely here! Plus, those squishy, adorable little Punies that live in that tree are SO nice to me! : But...I suppose if I stay here too long, I'll begin to crave hustle and bustle before long! Oh! Oh, my! It's happening even as I speak! Already I feel the need for drama! That moment of exhilaration when the spotlight shines down on the stage...on me! Surely I was born to be... an actress for the ages!  : It's settled, then. I shall rise again! But...before I make my stage comeback... I simply must whip my body and mind into shape. I'll just have to put on some makeup and make my beauty even more beautiful. Wait a moment... : Noooooooooooooo! It's gone! Gone I tell you! My... My... And with that, this update draws to a close. Next we'll actually meet the much-vaunted Flurrie and see just what it is that she's lost. Video: Chapter 2 Intro, The Shadow Sirens, Earth Tremor, Secret Entrance/Flurrie DoubleNegative fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Apr 9, 2016 |
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Apr 5, 2016 19:50
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Flurrie is one of the best partners in the game, using her ability is a pretty funny moment
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Apr 5, 2016 20:01
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I thought the Boggly Woods were beautiful and surreal. I love how peaceful they are. Maybe it's the music. I love that music.
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Apr 5, 2016 21:06
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I'm not really a fan of the Boggly Woods. The chapter doesn't have much charm and it's very similar to chapter 1 in terms of structure, whereas other chapters mix things up a bit more.
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Apr 5, 2016 21:30
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They installed a blast door? I'll give the X-Nauts credit for tossing up an actual obstacle instead of just a jumping puzzle.
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Apr 6, 2016 03:07
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Chapter 2 is probably my least favorite chapter of this game. It's visually uninteresting, I dislike the new parter we'll be getting soon, the gimmick we'll be seeing later is aggravating... and there aren't any good points to compensate, except the chill music out here (which, sadly, can't stay, either). The ending is pretty good, though, and of course it contributes to the main plot by virtue of Hey Here's Those Bad Guys. AweStriker fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Apr 6, 2016 |
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Apr 6, 2016 04:28
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Teddles posted:I'm not really a fan of the Boggly Woods. The chapter doesn't have much charm and it's very similar to chapter 1 in terms of structure, whereas other chapters mix things up a bit more. I agree that the similarity is a problem, but I think a pattern needs to be established before it can be broken.
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Apr 6, 2016 15:47
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