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Well, Lloyd seems a bit... bland as a protagonist. Estelle was amazing and funny, and Rean gets by on his super sarcasm, but Lloyd just seems... needlessly straight-laced.
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May 12, 2018 00:33
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xseed added most of rean's snark
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May 12, 2018 01:00
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Give it time, Lloyd grows on you. This is still very early and Trails loves to take their time with character development.
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May 12, 2018 01:19
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This is like hour 2 of the game at best
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May 12, 2018 02:14
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Logicblade posted:Give it time, Lloyd grows on you. This is still very early and Trails loves to take their time with character development. Tae posted:This is like hour 2 of the game at best Fair enough.
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May 12, 2018 04:50
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Part 7: “...This is leadin’ to paperwork, ain’t it?” Well, that was a good night’s rest. I don’t think any of us expected Lloyd to turn down the position in the first place, since y’know… it’d be a short game. Or a long game featuring Randy’s adventures of debauchery and gambling away the party’s money after Lloyd leaves the SSS. But who’d want to see that? Special Support Section   Heck, you were the one who dragged me down to the department in the first place. Ha! If you want, I can send a letter of recommendation down to 1st Division. You’re no slouch when it comes to a fight, so they’d welcome you with open arms. Bleh… yeah, no. The Guardian Force would still be way better. Me and stiff upper lips get on like cheese and mold.  If you don’t mind, I think I’ll impose on you a little more. It’s nice working with you, Chief Sergei. Well, I didn’t expect YOU of all people to join up with our motley crew… the higher ups in HQ probably dropped you here thinking that you’d be sorting out paperwork. Of course, you know that’s not the case, right? Yes, I know. I’m expecting we’ll be doing difficult jobs from time to time. Hmph. Glad that you have the resolve.  This was what we arranged from the beginning. But other than that… the orbal cables are going to be hooked up this afternoon. Can you entrust me with the terminal configuration as well?That’s the plan. ...Lloyd Bannings. An Academy student with excellent grades in theory and practical. Someone who passed the detective’s exam with flying colors. Frankly, I think your talent’s wasted here. ...You’d thrive in whatever section you went to. If you openly rejected this post, a few offers would find their way to you. Do you have anything to say? ...No. I made my decision after thinking a lot about it.  Booyah!Lloyd… ... Hell, it isn’t fun when you don’t react. A little bit of angst of something. Isn’t that the rage with the kids these days? Hey, c’mon…Tch. Whatever. I’ll give you guys the day off. Do whatever you want. Consider it your last day of paradise before you step into hell.Oh, right. Tio, I’ll leave the terminal’s configuration to you.Roger that. Alright, dismi— no, wait, I almost forgot… Sir!Elie MacDowell... Sir.Randy Orlando…Heya....And Tio Plato. ...Sir.As of 9:00 today, I officially approve of your posting. Expect jobs, jobs, and more jobs.And then Elie’s revolver accidentally discharges a bullet into Randy’s foot, making him hop around the office until he trips on the rug and knocks over the potted plant. Dismissed!  Despite the fact that we’ve barely started our jobs, Sergei is gracious enough to hand us our paycheck early. That’s swell of him. We’ll be using the majority of the mira here to purchase weapons, armor, and a bag of Cheetos from the department store so we don’t get our poo poo pushed in by the first commando squirrel or spike duct-taped rat we encounter. Fade to black.  The funeral scene plays here. Which would be an emotional scene again and all… except that I realized that I forgot bits and pieces of dialogue from the beginning. Cue me going back and editing the last update so it was added in. Gazing at Your Back   We fade back in from that pretty cutscene to find that Lloyd is back at the grave again. Whose grave is it, you ask? Stay tuned for two more screenshots.  Heh… even if I’ll deny, I was still too young back then. Honestly… I should’ve relied more on her… but I just had to be stubborn.Lloyd lays down the bouquet on the grave.   (I’m sorry I didn’t visit until now. It looks like I’m just stubborn.) (But I… I’m back. I’m a detective now, just like you were. I’m back in Crossbell.)(I still have a ways to go before I become like you… And I’ve been assigned to a weird post, but… well, I’ll do my best, as always. Please watch over me.)Fade to black.  Special Support Section  It’s not that hard, but… I’ll give you a cursory explanation anyways. Lloyd, take out the Detective’s Notebook....Yes sir! *whistle* She’s a beaut! Looks like we’re the real deal here. The Detective’s Notebook serves as the badge/ID that the police’s real life counterparts tend to flash or have clipped to their uniforms. We… won’t be seeing it in action too much, actually. It mainly serves to record events and quests throughou— you know what? I’ll just let them explain it.  It even has detailed info on Orbments, so you should use it as a reference. But its main use is to record progress on the investigation. ...This is leadin’ to paperwork, ain’t it?Lloyd, you’re up.Roger that. (I guess we’re going back to Police 101 again.)As a rule, it’s expected that you record every meticulous detail in an investigation, no matter how small. After you begin the investigation, you’ll have to record the status and details in this notebook. Reports are sent daily, so they’re a part of performance evaluations and bonuses in salary or something similar. That’s why you need to make each page as detailed as possible. A logical system.Uggggh… yep, I was right. Sounds like a pain… However, we do things a little differently at the Special Support Section. In addition to the main “Investigation Missions”, we also get “Support Requests”....Tio. Give them the explanation. ...Understood.  Man, remember the days when AOL CDs and VHS tapes were a thing? Yeah, I don’t either.  This terminal is connected to the network, right?Of course it’s connected to the internet. How else would you be able to shitpost on social media? Or torrent Trails in the Sky with a 0.3 KB connection? We have standards here.  After it boots up, a log in screen will appear. Some… system security lock home connectionese just popped up. And… are those the Support Requests?You’ve got that right. Unlike main missions, Support Requests can be received from all over Crossbell. We’ll be getting requests from everyone — citizens, tourists, and even requests from the government itself. You can handle that, right?They aren’t a priority, so you don’t need to do them… However, if they’re left alone, they’ll be handed over to the bracers.Spoilers: we’ll be putting the bracers out of work in this LP. What are they even going to spend the rewards on? Armor polish and Seinfeld DVDs? gently caress that. The Support Requests, as Sergei so eloquently put it, are basically the sidequests of the game. We’ll be doing every single one of them, whether they’re listed or not. And yes, some of the Support Requests aren’t listed directly, which means that you have to go around town and speak to people.  If it draws even a little bit of the Bracer’s Guild reputation to us, that’ll be good.Probably on a small degree. Other than that, you might be called into HQ to lend a hand as well. You know… patrols or desk work. *sigh* You messin’ with me?Ha ha… well, that’s just how it is, isn’t it? Are there any “Support Requests” in already?Hey, that’s your job, not mine. I’ll leave you to it. Make sure you record any Support Requests that you accept into your Detective’s Notebook.Roger that. Stay tuned for more ads about armor polish and Seinfeld DVDs. Next time, we complete our first Support Request and explore the city! No gangs or turf wars involved. Promise! Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Jun 4, 2018 |
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Jun 4, 2018 00:42
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Pyre of Word Salsa posted:[img]https://lpix.org/3039319/Sergei_smile.png[img]...Tio. Give them the explanation. Minor coding issue here.
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Jun 4, 2018 01:56
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Jun 4, 2018 05:35
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congrats to these bad cops steeling bracer valor
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Jun 4, 2018 09:09
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Do you ever see the current date in the Crossbell games? Is it possible to match them up with events in Cold Steel?
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Jun 6, 2018 00:48
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Really Pants posted:Do you ever see the current date in the Crossbell games? Is it possible to match them up with events in Cold Steel? Not exactly, but Zero begins a few months before the events of Cold Steel and ends around the same time Class VII do their second field study, with Ao beginning sometime before the fifth field study of Class VII and ending around the same time Cold Steel 2 does. Selenephos fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jun 6, 2018 |
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Jun 6, 2018 06:17
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Really Pants posted:Do you ever see the current date in the Crossbell games? Is it possible to match them up with events in Cold Steel? Yeah some chapters are guesswork, but some chapters are the exact same event in both games.
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Jun 6, 2018 07:01
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Mr. Fortitude posted:Not exactly, but Zero begins a few months before the events of Cold Steel and ends around the same time Class VII do their second field study, with Ao beginning sometime before the fifth field study of Class VII and ending around the same time Cold Steel 2 does. What a wild year for Zemuria.
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Jun 6, 2018 14:09
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BrightWing posted:What a wild year for Zemuria. It’s also only been about a year since Sky.
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Jun 6, 2018 17:05
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Part 8: "First of all, you will be assigned a special operator. And by “special operator”, I mean Fran." Scene of a Street Corner  Welcome back to Trails to Zero. Last time, we got the whole downlow from El Chief. Today, we’ll be doing our first Support Request and taking in the sights as we explore the city. This update is… a little hefty, given the sheer volume of NPCs we’ll be encountering in Crossbell. But more on that later. First, we have a Support Request to take.  The interface for the system itself is simple. We can check if there are any Support Requests here.    Once we’ve cracked open the UI, a list of Requests will pop up. These will update on a daily basis (in-game, of course), so it’s a good idea to check up on them after a certain amount of time. Like I’ve said in the previous update, there are some Support Requests that aren’t displayed on the list. Sometimes, you just have to… talk… to... EVERYONE in the city. And in every location. On a daily basis. ...Yeah, I won’t be doing that. There’s a walkthrough that I have opened up in my browser that I’m using for a guide. Because any game in which you constantly have to talk to every single cityfolk in existence at every point in time is just terrible and time squandering. Casting a smoldering glare at you, original Radiant Historia.   Sooooo… I guess we’ll head down to HQ and get the goods on this?Looks like it.The “Orbal Network”, huh...? I’m starting to get the whole picture.It’s different from a phone. Other than sound, the network can also transmit image and text. I’ve only heard about it before, but… it certainly does look useful, doesn’t it? Forums, social media, YouTube videos, Photoshopped images… you name it. I feel like Randy would get on that pretty fast. And then shitpost on it all day, because he has that kinda vibe to him.  Same thing with the Guild. They’ve integrated the same system as well. It’s still experimental, but… *sigh*, that’s what we have to contend with.Anyways, why don’t you complete the Support Request that just came in? Understood… But what should we do after that?That’s up to you… or at least, that’s what I’d like to say. After you wrap up at headquarters, several official requests should come in.But first, since it’s your first time completing a request, go down to HQ and finish it. They won’t be able to complain if you do that, right?  (I… don’t think that’s the problem, though.)And Lloyd… do a tour of the city while you’re at it.A tour of the city?I want you to see with your own eyes the city you’ll be protecting from now on. Don’t forget to check out the Weapons Store and the “Orbal Store” located in the square. If you want to succeed as a detective, knowing about those stores will be handy in the future.Understood. Don’t count on me to clean up any spills you make. Try solving problems by yourself as much as possible. Well then… see ya. And so… Sergei bails and goes to slack off in his office, reading an issue of Highlights or something. Maybe he does a crossword puzzle while drinking? I dunno.  But in any case, Sergei’s out! Take your nerdy orange turtleneck and get out of my office, Lloyd! That unbuttoned v-neck you’re sporting in Trails of Cold Steel IV sucks too. Eat it. Go on, get!   Are we… going to be okay? This doesn’t bode well…W-Well… anyways, this is our first job. This will be our first time going around the city, so let’s tackle the requests slowly and introduce ourselves as we go around.I agree.Understood.Alright, alright, alright! C’mon, let’s hit the road!  At this point, we’re given free reign to explore the city as we see fit. We can peek back in the office to find Sergei doing a sudoku puzzle. It’s work if no one’s looking.   But in any case, before we do any exploration, we need to hit up the weapons shop first. If we ignore the shop and march up the stairs, Tio chimes in with a “But thou must!” prompt. For some reason, I couldn’t locate the shop for like fifteen minutes when I first played the game...  The shop itself is completely devoid of customers. I mean, maybe you should move to a new location? Considering you’ve been sitting next to what was essentially an abandoned warehouse before the SSS moved in, you should probably move so you’re more visitable in the square. Maybe rework the interior a little. I’m pretty sure the barrels on the left are a safety hazard since barrels ALWAYS explode in video games.   Kids, this ain’t Liberl. I can’t give weapons to any ol’ mackerel off the streets with a jug of sepith and a penny. If you’re messin’ with me, there’s a crate in the corner that’ll listen.N-No, we’re from the police…Yer from the police…?Ah, I remember now. You’re the ones Sergei was spoutin’ his hat off about. *grunt* Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. Go ahead and take a look around. When you buy from here, just flash your Detective’s Notebook, alright? That’ll have ta do. Meet Gironde, a slightly grumpy shopkeep who hypnotizes people into becoming repeat customers by way of his moustache. We’ll be seeing him from time to time, since he’ll be our main source of weapons and armor in the game, barring endgame equipment, of course. So let’s chat him up and see what he has to say, shall we?  He said it’s a new weapon straight from the factory, but I ain’t so sure… heck, it’s suspicious as all heck. Reeks like my mother’s cooking back in the days… who’d I sell it to anyways? ”Orbal Staff”... isn’t that the weapon you use, Tio? Isn’t it still in the testing phase?How’d it get put up for sale…?An engineer, huh…? Sounds suspiciousDon’t be so judgmental, Lloyd. For all you know, he could be a 9-5 salesman who has a wife and two kids. He probably has a dog too. What next? Are you gonna accuse a man taking a smoke break outside of a bar of being a lollipop thief?  Huh…? Your… boss?*nods* I think he may have delivered an improved prototype of the staff here. He could have just given it to me… *grumble*  Whatchu youngsters talkin’ about…? Ah, whatever. Look, it’s fine if I offload this here weapon on the missus, right? Don’t need to check for a license or nothin’? Then buy it. It’s been collecting dust in the back.So an engineer delivers a weapon despite Gironde’s protests, who in turn, forces Tio to buy it? Uh-huh...  Enough of that, though. We have a shopping spree to attend to! As per usual of an RPG shop, we can buy and sell stuff. Of note here is Exchange…  While we don’t gain any money from beating up sewer bats and slimes, we can exchange the sepith that they drop for mira. Handy, but we won’t actually go into shops very often to exchange.  I went ahead and purchased a straight up weapon upgrade for everyone. On the other hand, the entire party has the full deluxe Leather Armor set already, so there’s no reason to dip into our savings account just yet. Also, Solid Shocker is a pretty good name for a Halberd.  Gironde also sells a couple of accessories that block status effects. We won’t be needing those too much, especially on Normal difficulty, so we’ll be passing up on them for now.  But for now, our business with Gironde has concluded. We just need to head up those stairs, and...     The world is now our oyster! We’ll be taking in the sights once we’ve finished with our little business at the police department. Maybe we can even go gambling! But fingers crossed.  It’s the heart of Crossbell. There are way too many shops for it not to be where everyone wants to be. And… not only that, the square is where all the other locations in Crossbell are connected to.It’s become even more busy ever since orbal vehicles were introduced.Heh, yeah that’s true… You talkin’ about that orbment factory the old man was talkin’ about earlier, right? Ya know, I remember hearin’ about a new renovation or somethin’.It’s a new factory that emphasizes the commercial side of the business. Since they signed a contract with the police, we can modify our tactical orbments there. They even supply quartz.We’ll make good use of it, then. Should we go introduce ourselves to them before moving on?That’s a good idea. It should be the building over there.  Genten will be our supplier for quartz and orbment related technical stuff for the rest of the game. I’ll be popping back in here from time to time to grab quartz and unlock stuff for our orbments. Lloyd Bannings and his crew will introduce themselves to the Crossbell posse for now. We can always fine tune our fancy, magic spouting cellular devices later. I swear, kids these days with their horribly unsafe fireball apps…  From the latest cars to the orbments for use in day-to-day life… it looks like the very epitome of what society can achieve. It was just a normal workshop three years ago… but, uh, wow.Anyways, let’s try asking about our orbments. Let’s see…If there’s a customer service desk, let’s try asking there. The person manning it should be able to provide whatever it is we need.Alright… let’s go with your idea.  ...Wait, I messed up. I mean, “Welcome to the <Genten> Orbal Workshop!You can’t see it, but pink-haired employee on the left is giving her such a stink eye right now.  Say… isn’t that you, Lloyd!?Wendy!? What are you doing here?Wow. Rude. Do you really need to ask? Obviously I’m the store’s engineer. Nah, I guess I’m surprised. That’s all.Who’s this, Lloyd? Your childhood friiiiiend~? Good for you, man. You’ve got taste. How ‘bout goin’ on a date with ol’ little me?...Don’t make me file a restraining order against you.Good day, ma’am. I’ve heard rumors about this store, but I’m glad it is good as it was made out to be.Oh, are you one of Lloyd’s coworkers? Ha ha, well the store’s appearance was because of the manager’s tastes. I didn’t have input in it.But anyways, this is the customer service desk. Can I help you with something?Unfortunately for Lloyd, there is no Best Girl Wendy route in this game. Shame.  Alright, so if we ask you to tune these up, you’d be able to do so?Oh. Wait. Our orbments are the new ENIGMA type… will that be all right?Oh, so you guys have the new types? Yeah, leave it to me. We’ve got quartz for the new types as well, so check ‘em out! See, the thing is… a Bracer’s been coming in for a while now.R-Really…?It looks like even the Bracer’s Guild have gotten ahold of the ENIGMAs.Man… competition. Competition never changes…It’s not something to laugh about, though. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, though. Anyways, I think you’re going to be our main mechanic from here on out. Thanks for working with us, Wendy.Yeah, same here! And if there’s something you don’t understand about working with your orbments, just gimme a holler, alright? I’m a professional, after all. If you synthesize new Quartz and set them in your Orbments, you’ll be able to use new arts. (Select [QUARTZ] from the menu.) If you open orbment slots, the number of Quartz you can set will increase, and your maximum EP will increase as well. (Select [SLOT] from the menu.] Eventually, once we start unlocking tier two Quartz that can’t be equipped in our regular slots, we can unlock tier two slots. Unlocking slots are… incredibly important for everyone, especially our spellcasters since they rely on the EP boosts that it grants. Of course, Lloyd and Randy, our two physical bruisers, want their slots unlocked in order to equip more quartz that can boost their combat capability as well.  But that is for another day, once we get going with everything. Right now, Lloyd Bannings and the rest of his pals need to arrest a criminal. Or… just walk around and talk to the people at the police’s receptionist desk. There’s that too…   I suppose this is where all the public offices are gathered. The governmental district…It’s peaceful here… it’s even got a fountain and long benches.This area is one of Crossbell’s source of pride… even if it’s quiet.Well, the CSPD is situated here, so I’m sure we’ll be coming back from time to time. We should memorize the route to get here from the SSS building. Okie dokie, boss. Didn’t we get a Support Request tellin’ us to go there? Let’s drop in, then. The CSPD is located on the other side of the map. Despite what Lloyd Bannings has decreed, we won’t actually be visiting the police all that much. The CSPD is just another location where Support Requests might be located. I think Dick Donovan and his Rush Hour sidekick might have a request for us in the future, but hell if I remember what it was about. But in any case, let’s waltz right in, shall we? C.S.P.D. −Crossbell State Police Department−  Fran stops typing and notices the party. She walks over to the front desk.  Ah, Mr. Bannings, sir!Hey, morning. We decided to come in after we saw that request on the computer… That is correct. We were waiting for you to arrive.It’s nice to meet you. My name is Rebecca. I’m in charge of the CSPD’s reception desk. And I’m Fran! I’m also in charge of reception. ...But we’ve all met yesterday, so you know who I am.Heh, yeah… sorry about the mix-up. That must have been embarrassing.Well, if anyone was embarrassed, that would have to be us. All the credit was taken by the bracers yesterday, remember?Ugh…T-Tio, please…Ha ha… yeah, that was a disaster, wasn’t it? You’re still new to the force, so you’re bound to make mistakes in the beginning. Please, allow us to assist you as much as we’re able to.T-Thank you very much!Weeeeeell, thanks for the heads up ladies!It’ll be nice to work with you. So… we should receive a supplementary explanation on how Support Requests work, correct?That is correct. Allow me to explain.First of all, you will be assigned a special operator. And by “special operator”, I mean Fran.I look forward to working with you!Operator…?Does that mean you’ll give us support through ENIGMA? Um… no? Sorta? Not really. I’ll mainly deal with writing the reports when you send a complete Support Request through the network....My head hurts....In other words, when we complete a request, we will receive a report through the orbal network once we’ve confirmed its completion.Er… so…It means we’ll be able to make our reports without needing to come into HQ every time? I like how the party’s work ethic is entirely dependent on how often you do sidequests. You do all of the Support Requests? Good job Bannings, here’s a raise. You done gently caress up? Bannings, this is going on your quarterly performance review. Get out of my office.  Eh he… I’ll be in charge of doing the division’s paperwork.I see…So, that means all the paperworks, staples, signatures, and whoop-di-whoops can be taken care of by the computer, right? I can imagine Lloyd at the 54:32 minute mark, sweating his pants off as his mouse starts to hover over the Solitaire icon before switching over to the Internet Explorer icon, as he wonders which one is the correct program to send the reports.  Yes, that is correct. It can report to you whenever.Understood. In that case, allow me to reiterate the explanation regarding Support Requests. If there is anything you don’t understand, please do not hesitate to ask. So we get yet another explanation on how Support Requests work. But we already had a pretty thorough tutorial on them, so let’s just jump ahead, shall we? [How should we report them?] When you complete a “Support Request”, please “report” it from the SSS computer. It will allow Fran to make the proper arrangements immediately. Since you will be compensated proportionally depending on the request, you should always report immediately. [”Detective Rank”?] After performing investigations and completing Support Requests, everyone’s achievements will be noted by the higher-ups. These are called “DP (Detective Points)”, and there are even more bonuses awarded, depending on how you’ve performed in every mission up until that point… When your “DP” has reached a sufficient amount, your “Detective Rank” will rise. There are fifteen ranks, presently, and each one has their own bonuses. Putting “report” in quotations makes me think that Fran and Rebecca don’t want the SSS to send them any more paperwork than what’s necessary.  When you arrive back at the Special Support Section building, please try to “report” from the computer. I will send you new requests after that.Understood. We’ll give it a go. And that’s our first Support Request out of a lot completed! Hell yeah! Whooooo!  But, we’re not done yet. Once we’ve finished a request, we need to report it in to the Special Support Section’s computer, like the receptionists explained to us. Like so:  Let’s report about the request at once. So, once we’ve completed a request, we’ll be able to gain the rewards for our hard work. Just one press of a button, aaaaand…   Alrighty, then! Here’s the report! My report of this has concluded~! Please contact me again once you’ve completed some more requests!Payday, boys!  Whenever we finish a request, we should report it in the same fashion. Ah…
Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jun 28, 2018 |
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Jun 28, 2018 01:23
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It's probably not intentional, but with the tiny icon and name for Tio's new staff I am left wondering how they got their hands on a Midchildan Device. Actually, her S-Craft looks kinda Starlight Breaker-y too. Albeit not nearly as pink.
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Jun 28, 2018 06:08
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Part 9: "...Lloyd, if you run into any problems at your dorm, let me know right away! I’ll… clean up any nuisances that mess with you!" Scene of a Street Corner  Really, how long do you think people have known that the Special Support Section was going to be a thing? Considering that we have not one… but three Support Requests that came in, I’m pretty sure the answer to that is a hearty, “Yeah, someone at the CSPD leaked the info to the Crossbell Times.”  In any case, we have some hearty contenders here. You can see that three new requests have popped up, with various status messages next to them. “Reported” obviously means that we’ve reported the mission to Fran. “New” means that they just came in. And while you can’t see it since the Request’s name is blocking the status indicator, it says Urgent. Or rather, “Urgented” to the English speakers in Crossbell. On another note, let’s actually check out what the sidequests for our Tuesday in Crossbell entail. Search Request for Lost Articles (Medium) posted:Client: Tront Vacant Units Verification Request (Medium) posted:Client: Crossbell City Hall Wanted Monster: Geofront - A1 Division (Short) posted:Client: The Crossbell State Government  It looks like the Bracer Guild carries out exterminations on a daily basis... ...Hey, guys. Why don’t we take the “Wanted Monster” request?You mean…Like… takin’ out our revenge on ‘em for yesterday?Yeah. Last time, we ended up getting saved by Arios MacLaine but… Not to rain on your parade, but… no you couldn’t. That slime boss is a Wanted Monster towards the end of the game when you’re in your mid-30 levels or so. Pretty sure we would’ve been immediately stomped on in an unwinnable boss battle if that was the case.  ...You’re right.It’ll be a pain, but you have a point.Why not? I, for one, wouldn’t mind doing some PR for our lowly selves. Yeeeeah, I don’t think so, Randy. We’re gonna hit up the other two Requests first, and explore the city a little. Crossbell is massive as it turns out, and I’d rather get it out of the way first so I don’t have to be incredibly vague about where we are in terms of location.  These are marked as “urgent”, and must be completed in order for the story to progress. While the other Support Requests are optional, they will vanish if the timeframe to complete them expires.  So, Crossbell City…  ...Is loving MAAAAAAASSIVE! As a whole, Crossbell State is a much more confined setting than Liberl, but there’s still a hell of a lot to explore. For the Prologue and some sections of the game, I’ll be mapping out which streets we’ve taken to get to our destination, so rest assured that you won’t get too confused as to where we are or how we got there. Hopefully. To give you an idea about how we’re going to go about this, we’re going make a direct left towards West Street, and start exploring the streets clockwise from there, doing Support Requests and talking to some of the more notable minor characters along the way.   We can hang a left down here to head down to West Street. You can actually get to West Street from the Special Support Section building’s back door, as well. I’m honestly not sure where the backdoor is on the map, but hey… it exists.   That little mapping session aside, heading down here leads to the quaint little neighborhood of West Street. Not to be confused with South, East, or North Street… even though two-thirds of those locations don’t exist. I’m no expert on how the Crossbell State Government organizes street signs and locations, but I’m sure they’re organized in a neat fashion.  Yeah, this is where all the apartments are located. Apparently, people commute to work from here a lot. I have a couple of friends here, but… I’m not sure we should visit while we’re on the job.Oh, yeah! I remember you saying something about that! You’re from around here, aren’t you? I think it’s fine. Let’s take our time and flir- I mean, hang out with your buddies.Indeed, it’s been a while. We’ll come along too.Ha… thanks. That means a lot to me. Oh, look! Time to embarrass Lloyd in front of all his co-workers. Maybe Cecil’s parents have baby photos stashed away somewhere. I’m sure Oscar has some embarrassing stories to share from their childhood. Of course, since this is a Legend of Heroes game, we have a couple of familiar faces here...   Dad got really mad at us...Ha ha, really? Well, the most important thing is that you’re safe.Please continue doing your best, okay?  What, are you patrolling right now? Bleeeeh!Well, we’re police officers. We don’t have a lot of free time. More importantly, don’t go down in the Geofront ever again, all right?O-Oh… I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! Alright, enough of that. Let’s just head inside already! Randy’s probably sweating buckets off under this heat.  Hey, Oscar! It’s been a while, hasn’t it!? Whoa… for real, is that you, Lloyd!? Ha ha, it’s about time! ...Oh, bother. You know that we haven’t seen each other for three years. Right? You haven’t changed at all. I STILL don’t think you sweat the details, even after all these years.Heh… it never felt that long at all. We’ve been exchanging letters all this time, so it didn’t really feel like you moved. You’ve grown a little taller, huh? Buuut you still have the same old baby face as always.Ugh…...Pfft, heh.*chuckle*Are you an old friend of Mr. Bannings…?Yeah. Name’s Oscar, by the way. I’m an apprentice baker here Morges Bakery. I’m guessing you guys are… Lloyd’s coworkers?Yup. I’m Orlando. Randy Orlando.It’s nice to meet you. I’m Elie....Tio Plato....Cool beans. It’s nice meeting you guys! (...We weren’t even wearing uniforms. How did he guess we were coworkers? He hasn’t changed one bit. I can’t tell if he’s sharp or if he’s just that oblivious.)Hey, Lloyd? Earth to Lloyd! You’re looking a little weird there.Oh, right. You still cook, Lloyd?...Huh? I mean, yeah, I guess. I had to help my uncle with chores, so I had to cook occasionally. Why?Heh heh… well I’ll give you this as your “Welcome back to Crossbell!” present. I’m sure you’ll gain some use out of it. Oh, good. Now we can die from food poisoning, because someone put in vinegar and worcestershire sauce instead of flour, and now the purple fumes are suffocating Lloyd and the rest of the party and this is going to end up like one of those closed room mysteries in Umineko after Mystery Food X has up and disappeared into the ether like a proper murder suspect. ...I’m placing my money on Elie for this disastrous scenario. Don’t ask me to repeat it in red.  A… a sandwich!? As in, honey ham topped with lettuce and tomato before getting wedged in between two buns slathered with copious amounts of mayo!? poo poo… we’re moving up in the culinary world here, boys!   Cooking in this game is pretty much the same as how cooking is handled in the Tales series. We need to unlock the recipes and procure the required ingredients first. But after that, it’s just a matter of deciding how many you want to make, followed by choosing someone to cook in the first place. Unlike Tales though, there are two differences when it comes to cooking. The first difference is that any recipes you cook aren’t consumed immediately - they’re stored for future use. The other difference is that depending on how good (or bad) the character is at cooking the recipe, we may or may not unlock different variations of the recipe under the [Obtain Item] section. Happy Ham Sandwich here recovers 20% of HP, in addition to curing Faint and Poison. Not too shabby.  ...Huh, this is interesting. There’s even a section where you can jot down variations of the recipes you’ve modified.Since it’s supposed to be used by a lot of people, the intended purpose in mind was to share recipe variations that others might have formed. Give it a try!A-Ah, I suppose… The only experience that I have is from making cookies. What about you two?Um… the only way I know how to cook is by roasting or boiling ‘em. You know, like how you eat when you camp in the wilderness.If the recipe contains a protocol I can follow, then I think I could…Ha ha… if you guys are interested, I’m sure I could teach you.Unfortunately, we get no Rocky montage of Randy almost burning down the whole SSS building with an oven roast. Alas, that would be too devilishly delightful to witness.   All that aside, our business with Oscar has concluded. We could go back and talk to the lady on the right side of the screen for a bit of fluff on how Oscar is the best apprentice in the bakery and how she wants to beat him one day, but frankly I won’t be talking to every bystander in my way. There are like a gajillion recurring NPCs in Crossbell that change their dialogue on a daily basis, and going out of my way to transcribe all that would be a nightmare.  But enough of the bakery. Our next stop is the very original sounding Bellheim apartments. Also, it could just be me, but I feel like those stairs are going to collapse on Randy and send him careening into the unprogrammed abyss at any moment right now…  We can actually find Ryu’s dad in one of the rooms, who goes on to complain to random strangers about how he didn’t want his son’s hobby of sewer diving exposed to the media. Shame… I was more disappointed that his name wasn’t Gouken, but that’s just me.  What we’re really here for though, is a tête-à-tête with Cecil’s parents. Nice sort of avant garde you’ve got going here, pal. Where did you get the furniture? Ikea?   Oh…? Aren’t you… Lloyd!? You used to live next door to us, right? Ha ha, what a pleasant surprise! I heard you came back to Crossbell… but I didn’t think you’d have grown this tall! I hardly recognize you now!Heh… I might’ve grown taller, but I’ve still got a bit of maturing to do.Oh? I don’t think so. You passed the Detective’s Qualification Exam, didn’t you? Guy would be proud of you....Would he? ...It’d be great if he was here to say it.I’m sure he’d be patting your back if he was here. Drop by and say hello to my wife, by the way. She’ll be happy to see you again after so long.Ha ha… yeah, I’ll go and greet her now.  Hm? Oh, my! Aren’t you…!?Ha ha… I’m back, Mrs. Leyte. Sorry it took so long for me to drop by.Lloyd…! My, my, you’re finally back! I’ve heard you managed to join the police without any issues… how is your workplace? Are you on the clock already?Yeah, my workplace is alright… it’s a fairly nice (*cough*incredibly laidback*cough*) environment… Our chief is… there.My, my, is that right? That sounds fun. I’m happy to see you safe and sound in body and spirit. Perhaps it’s all due to Aidios’ guidance....Lloyd, if you run into any problems at your dorm, let me know right away! I’ll… clean up any nuisances that mess with you! Y-You don’t need to do that! I got used to dormitories in the Police Academy, so…...No! That’s unacceptable! You finally came back to Crossbell! Let Auntie Leyte spoil you a little!U-Um… I’ve gotta go, Mrs. Leyte! Duty calls! I’ll bring desserts next time!(Well, well… Lloyd does have a weakness after all.)(...Mrs. Leyte is hiding a lot of steel under that silk of hers. They aren’t blood relatives though, I think.)(*giggle* But they’re like a real family… I’m a little jealous.) I can imagine Lloyd slowly backing up, before rushing away with tiny cartoon dust clouds kicking up behind him. And then Leyte activates her Super Mom powers and somehow catches up to him and drags him away kicking and screaming.  Alright. To continue our grand extravaganza Crossbell tour, we’re hitting up the West Street General Store next. We have some business to attend to here, even if it’s not much. In particular…  ...We need to keep up with the media. The Special Support Section can’t be seen out in the streets as some slobs who don’t keep up with the newest and shiniest pieces of information, can they? So we’re going to keep up on the news  Welp, there goes a bit of our paycheck for this month. If a paper on Earth costs fifty cents to a dollar, I can only assume that we have twenty five bucks right now. Guess we’ll have to earn money the old fashioned way… via beating monsters until they explode gems like a jewelry shop piñata.  Now, let’s talk about books. Throughout the Trails series and the Gagharv Trilogy (Legend of Heroes III-V) there’s usually a series of books you can collect and read. This is… not the case for Zero, but even so we still have newspapers to read, which have been a thing since Trails in the Sky. Enough of that, though… We may as well start with Crossbell Times Issue no. 1!  The urban planning that started 20 years ago embarks on its fifth period. Announced together with the economic growth estimates for the next 10 years, comments in favor can already be heard on the streets. “Frankly, I’m happy”, said a woman running a street stall. “A high growth rate will bring stability to neighboring countries”, said an international economist. There are no doubts that alongside economic growth, close ties with the surrounding regions will develop.  Careless Management System Questioned The urban planning has reached its fifth period after having begun 20 years ago. It has given brilliant results year after year, but on the other hand the Downtown development has been slow and is of poor quality. Considering recent incident circumstance, insufficient security measures regarding children, who easily wander in, and monsters wandering around inside the facilities can be perceived. Is this not a management problem? A rapid response from the government is expected.  [Leisure] Crossbell Gourmet Report The <Old Dragon Inn>. At the store located on East Street, cuisine typical of the Eastern cultures of the Republic can be enjoyed. You should absolutely try their <Old Dragon Stir-Fried Vegetable Noodle Soup> popular among citizens and tourists. [Society] For Legal Advice, Come To <The Grimwood Law Firm> Lawyer Ian Grimwood is a reputed man who set up his law office on West Street and advises single-handedly from debt-arrangements to corporate legal advice. Have you heard his nickname “Mr. Beardy Bear” in your social circles? Give him a call if you find yourself in legal trouble.   Alright. With our information gathering session done and over with, we’re going to skip over to the next destination in our tour. Specifically, the area wedged in between the Governmental District (where the police headquarters is) and West Street. Exiting the General Store and exiting northwest leads us to…   ...Your typical suburban neighborhood. Rife with people mowing lawns at 7:00 AM and vampire slayers.  From what I recall, this has been a high class residential area for a long time.I see that. Nothin’ but mansions the eye can see. H-Ha ha..? Right?... (Ms. MacDowell?) There really much worth noting in this area. But let’s shop around while we’re here and get some down low on some noteworthy characters. In particular, this area has a couple of residents with portraits.  Eh? You look familiar. Like that hair and that choker… nah, it’s probably nothing.   If you have a message you’d like to leave, I can can convey it to him at the earliest opportunity.Huh…? Uh.O-Oh, my apologies. I suppose you aren’t my husband’s clients? *giggle* ...I see. I thought it was strange that my husband had clients such as yourselves. Is he in the trade business?Ah, yes. He is a trader, even if it’s only locally. My apologies for my wrongful assumptions. If you should be in need of a good or an item, you only need to call. And upstairs, we have… oh GOD! That is a terrible haircut! Bleh… run away. RUN AWAY! Maybe Crossbell has one of those “margarine may not be substituted for butter in restaurants unless it is requested by the customer” sort of laws that we can exploit. Except replace the butter with a bad haircut and the rest of that law with “arrest immediately”.  Finally, to wrap up our walkabout around the Residential Area, we have this mansion tucked in the corner. Not that it’s all that vitally important, but hey… have some flavor dialogue.  It looks like the gate’s closed.H-Hey, Lloyd… if we don’t have any business here, we don’t need to bother them. Riiight?You’re right. It looks like someone of high standing lives here. We shouldn’t visit them without due cause. ... But for now, that’s a wrap on the Residential District. We’ll be back here from time to time for plot related stuff and support requests. And maybe to talk to the two characters with portraits for a bit of background fluff. Arc en Ciel   Well, well… I’m liking this area already. Maybe we could hit up the slots while Tio waits outside? Pay no attention to the Wicked poster on the top of the screen. Definitely not Broadway, no sir.    Oh, so THIS is Crossbell’s famous troupe, “Arc en Ciel”!? Oh ho, I’ve heard their tickets were expensive, b-but… Is everyone enjoying themselves? ...For our next destination, we will go to…Awww, we can’t take a sneak peek at their public performance? Just a little?*giggle* Truth be told, today’s public performance will be tonight only. You can spend your time tonight as you like, so if you would like to attend the performance, feel free to do so! Now then, our next destination is…  It does seem that way lately… they’ve been coming in from other countries, right?Well, this is the Entertainment District. It was built for the tourists in order to draw in revenue. If something severe were to happen to the tourists, it would be an international incident. Our line of work is important, isn’t it?Yes. Casino House <Barca>... this is the place where I jam. Awright, let’s celebrate our new post by hitting the slots! What do y'all think!? ...No. Please cease and desist.H-Hey! C’mon… just one spin of the slots is all I’m askin’!Just grin and bear it. We’re here on the job, so not today at the very least.From the Residential Street entrance, the first building that we bump into is the casino. By exchanging some of our mira for play coins, we can gamble  Next to the Arc en Ciel (as well as several nonexistent customers), we have an ice cream vendor. We can purchase ice cream from her for various effects in battle. But more importantly…    ...Talking to her nets us the Condensed Vanilla Au Lait recipe. The normal variation of the recipe heals 30% of someone’s HP and cures blind. A little weak, but not too shabby otherwise.  Vanilla ice cream aside, we can actually drop inside the Arc en Ciel for a quick scene. Fun fact: “arc en ciel” means “rainbow” in French. So maybe you could take this as fact that Crossbell is actually Bizarro France, despite having the makings of 1940s America.  Hm…?Two women emerge from a door up the stairs.   You can stay as long as you want.  Please don’t worry about me. I’ll find a cheap and comfy condo to settle down in quietly. I can ask any questions at the City Hall, right?That’s probably for the best. You can sign off on the application while you’re at it~.Ah ha ha… yeah. Um, I’m sorry that I’m bothering you with all my issues, especially after the advice you’d given me during practice... Ilya Platiére? Oh, her? I think I’ve seen her on a couple of magazines before…  My sincerest apologies, but tonight’s Arc en Ciel performance begins at six… If you are a fan, we would appreciate it if you would return here at a later time. I did!  With that, we’re physically ushered out of the Arc en Ciel by the manager. You’d think we’d have an actual reason to drop by here, but nope. That’s just how the Special Support Section rolls.  ...Well, THAT was a mistake. I thought it was open to the public....Who is that Ilya Platiére? She’s pretty.W-What!? How could you not know who Ilya Platiére is!? My, my, someone’s been livin’ under a rock for far too long!*grumble*How should anyone know*grumble*.Ha ha… she’s quite famous in Crossbell. The door slides open, revealing purple-haired girl from before. Yeah, we all know who it is. Play nice and don’t spoil it for the others.   Oh, sorry. We didn’t mean to get in the way.The party parts towards the sides, leaving enough room for “Purple-Haired Girl” to get through.   Looks like she’s from the troupe, ain’t it?I’ve never seen her before… Perhaps she’s a new member who recently joined? Guess we’ll find out in the future. The only other area of interest to note in the Entertainment District is the Hotel Millennium, which functions as you’d expect a rest area to function in an RPG. The main difference between Hotel Millenium and say the inn on East Street is that Hotel Millenium is high class - that means that instead of recovering 100 CP like any other old hotel, we’ll recover 200 CP instead. Handy if there’s a long segment coming up.  Heading down towards the east leads us to the Back Streets (and by relation, Crossbell Square on the other side). I’m sure there’s someone dealing drugs there right now, so let’s drop in. Alternatively, someone’s getting shanked. Trinity   ...Where are we?...It’s what we call the “Back Street”. It’s more or less an extension of the Entertainment District, but it features chic bars and cabarets more prominently. You’ve been around these parts a lot, huh?Lloyd, we’ll need to talk later. There’s some sexy ladies ‘round these parts…...I think we get the point.Ha ha… (It looks like Randy goes here often…) Well, what’s the worst that could possibly happen? Let’s dig around a bit. Maybe there’s some shady backroom dealings around here…    #1: ...What business do you have here?#2: Past here is private property, see? You ain’t gettin’ in.
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Oct 5, 2018 01:26
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WHOOOOOOOO! It's back! I just finished Cold Steel II a couple weeks back so I need my fix
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Oct 5, 2018 10:44
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Thanks for waiting. Sorry it took so long for this to come out. Next update should be in a couple of days.
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Oct 8, 2018 09:19
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Trails fans are nothing if not patient.
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Oct 8, 2018 15:12
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Part 10.1: “You guys the police? Woo! I didn’t think you’d actually come!?” Trinity  Well, it’s a bit early in the game to start dunking redshirts, but I’m game. Let’s do this thi-  ...Oh. Or we could just politely excuse ourselves and back out of the alleyway. There’s that too.  If we get a chance, I’d like to investigate… but right now, all we’d do is instigate conflict. Oh, well. At least we know we’re going to be coming back here inevitably, because what police drama ends with “and then we bought the mafia a few rounds and hashed it out”? Next to the alleyway, we have a little antique store that sells two, and only two accessories we won’t be hitting up until much later, because uh…  ...I feel like the crack that some of the drug dealers peddle around in the back alleys of Crossbell might be cheaper. It might be just be… that all said and done, we’ll definitely be grabbing a couple of these accessories when we return later. Especially a pair of the Passion Rouges, since they’ll buff Lloyd and Randy’s attack power a hell of a lot.  (...There’s something fishy about this store…)...I feel like this is going to be like Persona 2, where you spread a rumor about weapon peddling, and then the Dollar Store next door suddenly starts selling Uzis and sawed off shotguns. Could be just me.  All that said, once our business in Back Alley has concluded, we can continue our exploration of Crossbell by heading in the other direction that we entered. Exiting out this way leads us back to… Scene of a Street Corner  ...Central Square. Groovy. But let’s double back and head in a different direction, shall we? The Support Requests that came in were designed to help us get familiarized with the eastern sections of the city, so we might as well start on them now.  The request we’ll start off with is by some nerd called Tront, who lost his items in the city, apparently. What a fool. Also, I kept misspelling his name as “Trent”. Republican names are weird.  We can find Tront on the second floor of the Millennium Hotel. He’s just kind of idling around, and panicking about the car keys he dropped down the drain or something. I don’t know… have you checked your pockets yet? Or whether or not you’re currently holding your car keys? I know I’ve done that a couple of times.   Should I just pack it up and go home…?Excuse us for the intrusion. Are you Mr. Tront? We received your request at the Special Support Section. Oh, hey! You guys the police? Woo! I didn’t think you’d actually come!Ha ha… at your service, sir.You said that you’ve lost some of your belongings. Can you please describe the situation in more detail?Well, it was frustrating. I’m not even sure that I have enough energy to cry over it anymore… Shopping is my life, you see. If I couldn’t shop, I’d probably fall over and die. So I wandered around Crossbell without a set destination in mind. Then… I suddenly discovered that there was a hole in my backpack! But by then, it was already too late. Everything in my backpack had disappeared!I searched for my possessions for a long time, but…Yeah, I gotcha… but y’know, it’s been a day already. Kinda unlikely to expect your items to be in the same place where ya dropped ‘em.There are people who may have picked them up and decided to keep them. Could you inform us as to your whereabouts during your shopping frenzy?Of course! Well, my first destination would obviously have to be the department store! All the newest brand name products are sold there! I took my time and browsed their selection at my leisure.After that, I decided to look at the streetside market on East Street… but it wasn’t until I approached the Waterfront Area that I noticed that there was a tear in my backpack…… *sigh* As a result, I couldn’t find any of the items that I’d lost.My wallet, a souvenir, and something else that I can’t remember… I’m fairly certain I only lost those three items, but… We understand your predicament now. In any case, we’ll search for clues around the destinations you provided to us.Central Square’s Department Store, East Street, and the Waterfront Area… Those are all commercial sectors, so it’s probably more efficient if we start by asking the clerks in the department store.I’ll leave it to you, then! Despite that the label on the quest depicted it as Medium length, it’s actually pretty short. We’re just going around and asking people about Tront’s possessions. Easy-peasy. Like I said, the quests on this day are more about making us familiar with Crossbell’s layout more than anything else. You’d think  Going off of Tront’s information, we’ll be heading towards the department store first. It’s located smack dab next to the bell in Central Square. So one short trip through Back Alley, and we’re there.    Bracers:  Cops:     As you might expect from a department store in a role-playing game, there are a multitude of shops located on both floors of the building. The first floor mainly consists of trinkets that decorate our rooms back at the SSS, and healing items that we can purchase. The second floor mainly consists of armor and accessories that eventually do peter out late game. But it’s not all that bad for early game if we want to gain a little boost to our stats. I end up buying a pair of Fine Sandals (Def +6, Mov +1, Agl +5% Men Only) for Lloyd and Randy, and a pair of Flower Pumps for Elie and Tio. On the accessory side of things, I manage to exchange enough sepith in order to purchase a Silver Chain for Elie, and a Mewnderful (pun intended) Tail for Randy (Mov +2), since imagining Randy with cat’s tail in battle makes me giggle like a tortoise with some phlegm in its throat.  But before we proceed with Tront’s request, let’s talk to this butler rear end looking guy here for a bit of background foreshadowing on Elie. Is it just me, or does he look like that one Fire Emblem Fates grizzled knight character…? I don’t remember. I just hacked in one of those Faceless punching guys in my party, and turned him into a Jojo character.  Oh! You are… the young missus, am I correct? On behalf of the store, I thank you for taking the time to visit the store today. Y-Young missus…?A-Ah ha ha ha ha...! (Quiet!). My grandfather is acquainted with the manager. The young missus has been a loyal customer to our humble store since her childhood.There’s a VIP service in this department store…?Haaaah… I told you so. That elegance, her clothing… an elegant gracefulness for a more civilized age. She’s nobility, all right.T-That’s enough, please…...By the way, Ms. MacDowell… I have heard rumors that you have employed your services in the Police after your study abroad?That is correct, manager. I am part of Crossbell’s law enforcement now. So with that in mind… I’d like it if you would refrain from giving me special treatment inside the store…I am sorry for this small degree of selfishness from me. But under the circumstances…...Very well, then. I will do as you ask… however, it won’t change the fact that you are and have always been a loyal customer to us. If you have any problems with our products, feel free to inform me. Unfortunately, Manager Neston is not a playable character in this series. In any case, once we’ve wrapped up our business here in the department store, we can ask the information receptionists at the front desk about Tront’s Wallet or his bagged lunch, or whatever it was he lost here.  Excuse me. Do you remember if anyone dropped something here recently?#1: Lost and found, right?#2: At this counter, we have several items in custody. What item are you looking for? Whoa, hold on a sec. She said “several”, didn’t she? Maybe…Yeah… it’s only natural that there’d be lost items in a department store…Mr. Tront lost his wallet, a souvenir… Man, I’m gonna be legit sarcastic here: Good job, Special Support Section. Ace detective work here. A+ for effort.  #2: Did they lose their wallet due to a hole in their backpack?Yes, that’s him!Thank goodness. It looks like someone has seen it.#2: No, that’s not exactly it… he just stood out a lot amongst our other clientele.#1: He was always smiling and cracking jokes at any person that caught his eye. But then, on the way back, he hung his bag somewhere… and when we were cleaning up, we found his wallet.Ah, I-I see…(...Perhaps we should have directed him to the front desk…)Mr. Tront never paid the department store a visit…Looks like he was feeling the buzz then, and gave up part way through. Welp, that’s what we’re for, right?#1: Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go retrieve the lost article immediately.Fade to black.   Thank you very much for your cooperation.#1: *giggle* Please return the wallet to him. If you recall, Tront said something about losing an item on East Street. So once we’re done picking up his wallet from the department store, we can head down the street next to the Orbment Mod shop in order to reach our next location. Or, you know… it’s the street opposite of the one we went down to reach West Street.    Wow, now that’s some foreign touch.It’s Oriental… I’ve heard about this street before, but it’s nothing compared to seeing it with my own eyes.The outdoor stalls… I’ve never managed to take a closer look before…Why don’t we take a stroll, then? Eh? Eh?Um… we aren’t here to go shopping.Plus, if I remember correctly, the Bracer’s Guild should be somewhere around here… As you can probably guess, this is the Chinatown to Crossbell’s New York. I can practically smell the Dim Sum from a street away.  Much like the department store, East Street’s market stalls sell items that we can purchase. However, unlike all the other stores we’ve gone into, East Street specializes in selling food items that we can cook with. Later on, we can come back here to sell fish that we’ve caught since, spoilers, there’s a fishing minigame. And “minigame” is an overstatement in any case.  That aside, we can talk to the fish vendor (Fish seller? Fishmonger?) here to pick up another item that Tront lost like a goofball. Bleh… how long do you think the fish have been out in the sun? I don’t see any ice in there...  Oh, wait… there was some guy that dropped something here yesterday. He took one look at my stand and made some asinine joke about it! There was this gigantic tear on his backpack, and some package fell out… but by the time I noticed it, he’d already walked away. I tried to catch up with him, but it was too late.Ha ha… Looks like we found our guy.Huh? Are you… the police? I suppose I’ll leave it in your hands, then. Quest Item #2 - GET.  Finally, the last item we need to procure is located in the Waterfront Area that’s connected directly to East Street. We can reach it by heading in the northwest direction, as opposed to the street towards the west that we came from. Nice of the East Street people to build that gateway.   The Waterfront Area… it’s located right next to the Lupinus River, and just north of Elm Lake. This area consists of mainly offices and business.Ha ha, but there’s a nice relaxin’ park smack dab in the middle too. All work and no stress makes Randy a happy man!According to the records in the database, it appears to be called “Waterfront Park”.Ah… Well, well, well… look who we have here. Randy can poo poo fireballs from that cellphone of his, right…? Also, you can’t make out whatever it is on those signs. The perils of not having HD graphics in a PSP game.  (Hmmm… it looks like the city has underwent some changes since I was last here.) Right, first order of business…  Hi, I’d like to file a complaint about the clearly biased news articles your company has been releasing...  If you have any issues with our stories, feel free to make any inquiries at this desk.Huh? ...Oh, not particularly.Is that right? ...If you’re free to comment on a story, feel free to visit us. I can call the editor-in-chief for you. Geez, no respect from these people.  Back to our support request. Next, we need to talk to moustache man manning a spicy noodle stand over here. Unlike the other two, he won’t give us the item outright, but he will give us a clue.  Excuse me, have you seen or picked up any lost items within the past couple of days?Are you looking for something? Ha… that takes me back. There was this one guy who was walking around the park over there. I was serving customers when I heard him yell out something along the lines of “There’s a hole in my backpack!,” and went on and on about it. ...That’s him.But since I didn’t get a closer look, I don’t know what sort of items he lost.I see…Wait, hold on. I’m remembering something… one of my customers this morning mentioned picking up something. She routinely takes a stroll around this area, so maybe you can talk to her for more details. Said woman is idling around on the right side of the park. Talking to her leads to…  Oh, my? Lost items, you say?There was something that got caught on the grass near the park, and well… you know about Crossbell’s ordinances about recycling. I picked it up partly because of that, and partly out of curiosity.It was almost blown away by the wind.Blown away by the wind…?Our client did mention that he forgot what the last item was…What was it?Were you looking for it? I guess I’ll give it you, then. Well, that’s a wrap. I suppose we should get back to our client and return the items. Assuming that he hasn’t gotten himself lost at this point.  We were able to retrieve all of them for you… Here you go. Please make sure you don’t lose them again.Elie hands over his wallet, a souvenir, and a train ticket.  Oh YEAH! This is definitely my stuff! And here I was thinking about packing it up and going home....It would be hard to do that without your wallet or the ticket, wouldn’t it…?...U-Um… Y-You’re right! Ha ha ha… silly me. In any case, thank you for your help. I admit that I wasn’t expecting much from the police. Crossbell is very… cross in that regard. I didn’t think you’d give me the time of day, frankly. I-I see…...And now we know why the SSS is a thing.But isn’t it wonderful. We just helped someone in need. I think we’re finished with this request.Yes, yes, thank you Eliepedia.    For our efforts, we get 1000 Mira and 3 DP. In hindsight, I should have used the money from this to purchase equipment. You’d think I’d be more organized with this, but noooooooo…  One request down, two more to go. The next request on the bucket list is from the City Hall reception desk, so a quick trip to the Governmental District is in order. Along the way, there’s actually familiar face… at least to Lloyd. To you or me, he looks like every other goddamn NPC working for the police.   Hey… look at you! It’s been like a month since graduation, man! You got your Detective’s Certification, right? How did your assignment go? You got into one of the big departments?...I…...Huh? C’mon, what’s with that response? Buck up, man. I’ll be trying for the test too before long. If there’s something I can’t wrap my head around, I’ll be counting on you to explain it to me!Y-Yeah… (Hoo boy… I’m gonna have to break the news… gently… to him at some point, won’t I?) We’re detectives! I can’t believe Franz’s perception wasn’t high enough to see past Lloyd’s bluff roll. But I guess that’s how things are. You’ll notice that we’re in front of the building at the center of the Governmental District. That’s because this is City Hall, of course.  Here are some pamphlets if you want more information… Oh! That’s really helpful. Do you mind if I borrow these?Feel free. But if you’re looking for the really cheap apartments, you should… Alright, I’ll pick a place quickly so I can get back to practice. Ahhhh, there’s not enough time…! ...Don’t mind me. Thank you for the pamphlets. Oh…! Please excuse me!Sorry. We didn’t mean to get in the way. Purp leaves through the door that we just came from. I’m actually not sure whether or not this scene triggers if you haven’t seen the Arc en Ciel cutscene, but there you have it. I know I was surprised when I saw this.  *giggle* It looks like we’ll be passing by each other a lot, if this is any indication. If you are filing taxes or applying to move in or out of the city, feel free to make any inquiries at this desk.Actually… we’re from the CSPD. There was a request that City Hall posted…Oh, are you part of the police? That’s wonderful! I didn’t expect you to arrive so swiftly!Are you the one that posted the request, then? Could you give us more details? I remember that it has something to do with confirming vacant residences...That is correct. If you’ll allow me to elaborate… I believe you’re all familiar with the “Residence Registration” process, correct? When people move to Crossbell, they need to register at our desk.But in reality… there are many citizens who arrive or leave without completing the registration process. It’s difficult for us to keep track of everything.Ah… I see.To that end, we’re enlisting the SSS to verify any vacant homes throughout the city! ESPECIALLY the ones that were falsely labeled as vacant, and our paperwork mixed everything up. The guys up in Citizen’s Affairs have their hands full… so if you could help us, even a little, that’d be great!So to sum it all up, we’re the errand boys for the public office.Randy, that’s rude to the people who work here. From the perspective of preventing crime, vacant residences must not be ignored. It’s critical that proper verifications are performed in a timely manner.Huh… neat. I didn’t know any of that.It won’t be a problem, since we’re still exploring the city anyways.Can you accept this request, then?Accept These are the files you’ll need for the job…Alright, we’ll hold onto them for now. Despite what you’d might think, the Vacant Unit List won’t be used all that much. It’s just there in the Detective’s Notebook as a reminder about which homes you still need to visit. You know… in case you skipped over all the dialogue like you probably shouldn’t have, or you put down the game for a year.   You know, it just occurred to me that it must be hell living next to the Entertainment District. Not only do you have to deal with the drunks and the loud noise, but people who live next to casinos are twice as likely to become gambling addicts than people who don’t. Something to think about…  Right next to the Guild? That should be easy to remember. Where’s the last one on our list?A place that’s now called Downtown. There are three vacancies in the “Lotus Heights” apartment complex… Wait a minute, I’ll record all of this in the Detective’s Notebook. Elie is really getting into this Detective Gumshoe business. Good for her, I guess. Also, is it just me, or does “Lotus Heights” sound like some kind of high end Chinese takeout business? You know, like Han Dynasty, except with more lotus roots.  We’ll be heading out and verifying the residences on the list, then. We just report back to you when we’re done, right?That’s correct. Report back to me after you’ve checked all three places on the list. I’ll leave everything in your hands. Starting us off, we have the home on Residential Street. The incredibly mossed over home on Residential Street… yeah, I don’t think anyone’s home. Not unless if they’re rats.  Lloyd attempts to crack open that son of a bitch. Survey says...  Nope.   ...I don’t think anyone lives here, Lloyd. Look at it. Vines all over the place!There is no signs of human presence.If I remember correctly, this house was abandoned… ten years ago. I remember people calling it a haunted house during my childhood.Oh, is that right? (I didn’t know that. Even though I’m the same age as Elie…) Let’s move onto the next one. Before we move onto the next vacant property, I’d like to stop by another location on East Street. If you remember, the vacant lot on East Street is supposed to be located next to the Bracer’s Guild. Let’s stop by and talk to our competitors and trash talk them.   The Bracer Guild… an international non-governmental organization responsible for protecting and aiding citizens.Or, in layman terms, an ally of justice, and our competitor.Even though we should be on friendlier terms with them…
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Oct 13, 2018 20:46
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Part 10.2: "We went around in a bunch of circles because of that, you know?" Are you the boys and girls of the SSS?For some odd reason, the receptionist doesn’t have a character portrait in Zero, but he does have one in Azure. For the sake of having something to represent him, I’ll be using his artwork for this LP.  Do you know of us? The party decides to walk over to the receptionist. I’m assuming that they got tired of YELLING AT EACH OTHER FROM ACROSS THE SCREEN, since proportionally there seems to be a decent stretch between them.  And you are…?The name’s Michel. I’m the receptionist of the Bracer’s Guild in Crossbell. I heard about your little exploit from Arios. Fun fact: the other Michel in the series was this guy in the Gagharv Trilogy (III-V). He was a goddamn omnipotent wizard a la Sarda from 8-Bit Theater. Minus the jackassery, of course. But there you go.  I’m surprised that you recognized us so quickly.Heh heh… it was pretty easy to figure out once I looked at your face and badges. So you’re kind of ripping off of us, huh?T-That’s…...We can’t deny that.Guess you guys have been crackin’ up, huh?Ha! As if. We welcome you with open arms. We’ve been receiving way too many requests, and our Bracers have their hands full all the time. Honestly, you guys are a breath of fresh air. Feel free to help us out as much as possible.I-I see… well that’s a relief. I’m glad you’re not angry about it…...However, that’s only when you receive enough experience. Ugh…...I know it’s harsh to hear that. But our Bracers here are all top-notch. You hear about Arios a lot, but our other Bracers are incredibly competent as well. The SSS was created to regain trust from the people, but can they really say that if its members are all green...?Whether you can shoulder this responsibility is still unknown, right?W-Well…(...It’s hard to argue against that reasoning…)(Harsh…)...Ha ha ha! Don’t worry, I’m just joking. Really though, just do what you can and work past it. Even if you screw things up, we’ll be there to help you out....We’ll work hard and improve ourselves. Man, gently caress Bracers! What a dick. We were supposed to trash talk him, not the other way around. This day just isn’t going according to plan…  Bracers aside, the place we need to check up on next is the building with the fish sign. I can’t say it smells fishy. It looks perfectly inhabitable to me.   It’s not empty at all…Guess we should throw our questions at the guy over there.  Bwah ha ha ha! Now ya gettin’ it! ‘Tis jolly fun, innit!U-Um, excuse me…? Oh, are ya gonna join in on the fun too, matey? Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!Welcome… to the “Fisherman’s Guild”! Boy, am I glad to see young men enrolling in the ways of…...Enrollin’... in the Fisherman’s Guild?Excuse me, but what IS this place?This place here is THE gathering place for fishing… the heart and soul of a tug o’ the rod… the shiny bait that’ll catch the biggest fish - the Crossbell Branch of the Fiiiiiiiiisherman’s Guild!Ah, young man in the jacket. You too have enjoyed the catch o’ the sea, haven’t you!!!?? You can’t hide your talent from this old sea dog… What say you!?W-What...? I-It’s true that I used to go fishing as a kid, but… ...N-No, wait. We’re currently on duty!(Ah ha ha… it looks like guessed correctly…)(...They’re weird. And they smell.)(Whew, they caught me off guard for a moment there.)  According to the records from City Hall, this property should be unoccupied…...What? No way. That’s impossible. As you can see, we’re planning our next outing right now.Hm… speaking of vacancies… there’s this apartment complex two eaves west of here. Under the name of its land name, “Acacia”. There should be a vacant room there. ‘Tis probably the room you are looking for. It’s on the other side of the Bracer’s Guild… you can’t miss it! The actual location is off by two buildings… there was an error in the records?It’s possible.Regardless, it may be prudent of us to verify whether or not their records were accurate. Anyway, we can head upstairs and inspect the bookcase for another recipe. This time, we learn how to Crispy Fry stuff. No awards as to WHAT the Fisherman’s Guild guys were frying. Crispy Fry heals 10% HP, but more importantly it revives a fallen party member. I assume this is probably some of the more important recipes on a Nightmare playthrough, given how expensive revival items are at this stage.  Shockingly enough, the Acacia Apartments are where the fisherman receptionist said it was. Fisherman receptionist… now I’m thinking of one of those fish guys from Lisa: The Painful trying to man a desk while giggling quietly to myself at the imagery.  In any case, we can pop on up the second floor of the apartment to find our vacancy.  Excuse me! Is anyone home!?I don’t sense anyone in there.It looks like that’s the case… A guy climbs the stairs and looks at them oddly. I’d like to think that Lloyd has just been pounding on each door and asking whether or not someone’s there, and the residents finally decided to send a guy up.  I guess we were right.Yeah, he moved away like half a month ago. If you guys wanna move in, you’ll have to talk to the landlord directly. Moustache man leaves. I’m guessing that his apartment was in the other direction. Or he walks off into a black abyss offscreen. Whatever fits your headcanon, I guess.  Did the previous tenant file an application when he moved away?...That City Hall employee did say their records weren’t exact… this must be what she meant.Okay… so the vacant property is Acacia Apartments, Room 202… (...Oh no, I made a splotch!)Alright, onto the next one! That’s it for the second vacant property. The last property we need to sort out is in… Downtown, which we haven’t explored yet. It’s located near the fish stand that we asked about Mr. Tront’s possessions earlier. Tomorrow Is Another Day    Crossbell’s Downtown looks like the city was built on the border of the Sahara, except it still has saloons and run down clay buildings. And cobblestone paths, I suppose.  ...Yes, this is Downtown.Yeah… I never really visited this place either. Apparently, it was a leftover area from the city management project all the way back then.According to the data banks, there are still many residents living here today. What Tio didn’t mention is that most of the people living here are minimum wage workers. Honestly, I’m sure that’s a thing in Crossbell. On the bright side, at least that means the rent here is cheap. Purp could get one here, probably.   Unfortunately, Lotus Heights is not, in fact, a Chinese takeout place. Instead, it’s an apartment complex filled with no fire alarms, people who play loud music at 3:00 in the morning.  ...And drunk hokeys that vomit in laundry machines. In all seriousness though, the people around here talk about the two gangs that have been making a ruckus around this area lately. Except for the one guy on the first floor. He’s too busy studying for his university exams while all this noise is going on around him.   According to City Hall, there should be three vacancies.An old man walks down the stairs and kinda squints at the party.  No, we’re police officers, sir. We’re here to examine vacant rooms for crime prevention purposes. Oh, vacancies, eh? Off the top of my head, there’s only one here.Only one…?Yeah, I think so. Though… the municipal government just can’t keep track of all the people going in and out of Downtown. I guess you could call that the reason why this IS Downtown. Anyhow, go ahead and inspect the room, but please keep the noise to a minimum.Old Man Tantos leaves. Okay, let’s give it a look.Right. Let’s rock!  I don’t sense anyone in there.Yeah, plus… there’s a lot of dust on the doorknob. It looks like the room has been vacant for a while.Right, that makes sense.The rest of the units have been occupied… this is the only vacant one.Lotus Heights… Room 203… (*scribble scribble*).Good. That concludes our investigations of the vacancies on file. Let’s head back to City Hall and report our findings… Yeah, it’s all done. We’re here to report our findings. My, there are even footnotes scribbled underneath the room numbers… Thank you so, so much. I’m sure the people in Citizen’s Affairs will be grateful for your hard work.Ha… that’s nice and all, but I’d rather they worked harder to organize the info properly. We went around in a bunch of circles because of that, you know?We probably don’t have the authority to say this, but the information in the original documents was incredibly disorganized.M-My apologies. Citizen’s Affairs did put in painstaking effort into assuring the accuracy of this information… but at the same time, they’re constantly being pressured by the congressmen. Despite all of that, please accept my apologies…N-No, it’s fine. We just didn’t know that things were that complicated… (Looks like the public office has its own fair share of problems…)(...In Crossbell, congressmen wield a high amount of power…)Anyway, we’re glad that we could help. The work can get overwhelming… feel free to contact the SSS if you require help in the future.We would be able to offer assistance in these matters with no issue.Heh heh… just say the word, and we’ll swing right by!T-Thank you very much… we’ll be counting on you in the future.  Much like retrieving the lost items, we get 3 DP and 1000 mira as our rewards. Honestly, they weren’t too different when they came down to it. But hey, we’re getting paid, so who am I to complain? Wanted Monster: Geofront - A1 Division (Short) posted:Client: The Crossbell State Government Geofront  Remember where we fought the slimes when we rescued Ryu, and #1 Cassius Fanboy showed us up? Yeah, we need to head all the way back there. We can find a batman and his sad little wings putting on weight back here.  Before we wreck his poo poo though, do you remember this ladder? No? It was a ladder we couldn’t access during our first time through, because we were railroaded into rescuing Ryu. But now that there aren’t any unattended children that need rescuing from rabid slimes.  Peekaboo! We pop up under the bell in Central Square. You might notice that there’s a chest there as well. Opening it reveals…  A bunch of sepith that we can probably use to start purchasing quartz. This probably makes up for that moment where I foolishly sold away my elemental crystals like a dunce.  Enough of that, though. Let’s go give a bat a dieting regimen, shall we?   Weight Watchers Bat comes into this battle with four backup wingmen. We’ve fought them throughout this whole dungeon, and well, they aren’t very threatening. Even in this battle, they’re more nuisances than anything.  Their main attack consists of draining someone of their HP, as all vampire bats and their cousins are wont to do.  On the other hand, Big Bat’s whole Pokemon moveset is to bite someone for a decent chunk of health. Sadly, with those stubby arms of his, it’s one of the only ways of attacking that he knows of.  And hilariously enough, he also knows how to butt stomp his targets REALLY hard, damaging everyone for some health. I like to save up Elie’s S-Craft (Large AOE Heal) for this, in case things get really dicey and Mr. Bat decided to do it a few times in a row.  Overall, the strategy for this fight is a lot like the other fights in this game. Debuff, lay on status effects, and give the boss S-Craft hell.  Tio, in particular, has a Craft in which she basically Scans the enemy for their stats. But more importantly is its additional beneficial effect where it lowers the enemy’s Defense and Artes Defense by 25%. Which is pretty good this early in the game!  And if it’s still breathing at the end of all this, pummelling it with artes is a good way to end its life. The one thing I can’t really recommend that you do is to use Randy’s Power Smash on him (delays target’s next turn). Crobat just brushes it off like dirt on someone’s pants, since AT Delay doesn’t bother it.  Overall, it’s a really easy boss. I can’t say the same for Nightmare, since it’s y’know… Nightmare. But on Normal, it’s entirely way too easy to curbstomp it into oblivion. And he gave us some new quartz on top of that! What a gentlebat.   Defeating The Bat earns us 1500 mira and 5 DP, as well as the Brave Emblem accessory (Str +5; Block [Seal]), since we did all the support requests.  Well, it was a lower rank than the one that Arios guy defeated.*giggle* But it looks like we can do it if we cooperate....Right. I just deactivated the lock on the inner gate. There’s a shortcut back to the surface, so let’s use it.Y-Yeah… (Wait, when did she…?)   Poor Lloyd is just out of his depth. Unlike last time, we can head through the door at the end, and hop on an elevator back to the surface. So that’s nice.  Lloyd’s Orbment Device starts ringing.   Hey, it’s me. How is it going over there?Oh, Chief! Well, we finished defeating the monster, as we planned.Alright, perfect. Where are you now?We just exited the Geofront. Why?Heh… well, it isn’t too far away from here.Heh…?This is an urgent investigation. Your current Support Request is postponed, so make this your highest priority....Roger! So… what are we going to investigate!?Get to Downtown, pronto. The residents there have contacted the police.
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Oct 13, 2018 20:48
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Had to split the update again because of the word limit restrictions. I don't think any of you mind, though. I also sharpened the images for this update. I think that it looks better and less blurry, but I'm not sure what you guys think. Let me know! Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 20:49
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They look much better, I agree.
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Oct 13, 2018 22:01
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That Downtown music is pretty great! Otherwise, this is pretty standard early Trails game stuff so far, but the SSS is pretty cool so far.
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Oct 14, 2018 01:12
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It's kinda weird watching this knowing two (presumably of a few more, this is a Trails game after all) major events that happen. Are there any "What the hell is happening in Erebonia?" moments like Class VII has about Crossbell at a couple points?
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Oct 14, 2018 01:25
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:It's kinda weird watching this knowing two (presumably of a few more, this is a Trails game after all) major events that happen. Are there any "What the hell is happening in Erebonia?" moments like Class VII has about Crossbell at a couple points? Probably, though more so In Ao I'd think. By the time Zero wraps up its still fairly early into Cold Steel's timeline.
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Oct 14, 2018 01:45
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For reference, Ao starts at about chapter 3 of Trails of Cold Steel 1.
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Oct 14, 2018 06:50
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Part 11: “BWAHAHAHAHA! POLICE OFFICERS!?” Break it up before it turns violent… That’s all.Sergei hangs up.  Breaking up a fight? But that doesn’t have anything to do with investiga-...Wait, he already hung up!Who was it? The Chief?Bad news from the sound of it, right?...Well…Lloyd briefly explained the request given to him by Sergei.  ...Did we ever see somethin’ like that when we were down there?According to the database, there are two gangs called “Saber Viper” and the “Testaments” that have made Downtown their turf. Fighting seems to be a daily occurence.All that happened while I was away...? ...Whatever. Anyway, let’s hurry to Downtown.It looks like there’s a need for us to step in before things escalate.Roger that.Well, let’s hit the streets! Hold your horses, Randy. We’re going to do a bit more to prepare for the upcoming segment, first.  Lloyd gets equipped with a Brave Emblem (Str +5, Block [Seal]) that we got from doing all the support requests this chapter, and some bling in the form of a Silver Chain. We’ll be needing these boosts for an upcoming segment in Downtown. Personally, I’ve never felt that they’ve had much effect for the segment, but every bit counts. Meanwhile, Randy attaches a nice Mewnderful Tail (Mov +2) as a keychain for his orbal device. He could use the extra range.  Besides basic equipment upgrades, we also purchase quartz for our orbment devices, just for that extra bit of edge. Every boost counts!  I ended up swapping out Lloyd’s Defense 1 quartz in exchange for a basic Shield and Attack quartz. Having both Defense and Attack quartz on the same device makes it so that they cancel each other out partially (Def -1%, etc.), and I’d rather have Lloyd be a more effective physical damage tank for now. Elie and Tio, on the other hand, have unlocked a slot each and have installed Mind and EP Cut quartz respectively. Mind increases the attack power of artes, while EP Cut reduces the amount needed to cast them. Tio is my healer (for now), so I deemed it more important that she could cast more healing spells in a longer duration. I’ll probably be swapping it around eventually, making it so that Elie is the support and Tio is the magic attacker, but for now this is fine. Oh, and Randy gets nothing because I didn’t want to squander any more quartz to unlock a slot. Too bad, too sad.   Anyway, before we hurry to Downtown, let’s check out one last hotspot within Crossbell City. It’s right down the street from the Crossbell News Service in Waterfront Area, if you were wondering. I guess you could look at the map on the top-right of the screenshot, but that doesn’t exactly tell you much, does it? I’m sure the Downtown gangs will wait for us a little longer. What’s the worst that could possibly happen?  This is… the buidling where the central branch of the I.B.C. is located.The International Bank of Crossbell… the organization that owns countless branches, and is involved in a wide variety of businesses. Its total assets were already at the top of the continent ten years ago… now, the I.B.C. has become one of the core foundations of Crossbell.Especially in the field of finance, constructions, and real estate businesses. The I.B.C. holds a lot of power in all of those fields. It is now pushing forward many public projects in Crossbell… It’s said that the I.B.C. invested a huge amount of money in the Geofront, as well as Orbal Network equipment.Maaaan, this is way too big for a little guy like me. Are you serious!?It’s pretty convenient, since it’s right here in the city. But from the looks of it… I think the bank’s closed today.Ah, that’s because they don’t work on weekends. Let’s come back another time. Unfortunately, I don’t think ATM machines have been invented yet. Speaking to the guard will reveal that it’s a corporate holiday or something. I… didn’t really pay attention, if I’m being honest here. You can tell that the IBC is serious about their hiring practices, by making sure all of their guards have money puns in their names.   Anyway, we might as well check and see if the gangs have beaten each other to a pulp yet. If you remember from last update, Downtown was located on the bottom right of East Street, right next to the Old Dragon Inn.  Over there…!Looks like it’s really heatin’ up…!Critical Situation   #1: Gettin’ too full of yourselves is gonna get y’all killed, y’know…!?#2: Ya pests are gonna get on our nerves if ya keep buzzin’ about! Ya got balls ta pull this kinda underhanded poo poo on us! ...Frankly, I’m astounded that any of them knows what “underhanded” means without consulting the internet. I considered bringing out whatever gang slang there is nowadays to help fuel the white gangster imagery they had going on… only to decide that it wasn’t worth the effort. They do a good enough job on their own, frankly. Sorry you can’t read any street gang impressions from yours truly.   #2: P-Plus, you put our brother in the hospital…! An eye for an eye… I-I hope you know what’s coming to you!#1: Oh, it’s ON! There ain’t any need for Wald to show his face ‘round here!#1: That’s our line! There’s no need for Łazy to get involved in this… prepare for our Holy Crusade! Eliminate the Saber Vipers!  Both gangs get into a fighting stance, but...   Police! Everyone freeze, motherfuckers!The Special Support Section runs in.  #1: I’ve never seen you around before… This is a public space! Both of you are causing a disturbance to the residents around here.#2: Huh…? The hell you babblin’ about?#2: D-Don’t you have any manners? Who are you, anyway?(...We do look like plain joes, don’t we?)(...What should we do?)(Hm…)  We haul ALL of them down to the station, of course! Katsuya Suou from Persona 2 would be proud of us.   We’ve received calls from the residents here to break up your fight. #1: BWAHAHAHAHA! POLICE OFFICERS!?#2: Heh heh heh… are ya kiddin’ me? Where’s da punch line!?#2: T-The police would never come here… there’s no way they’d respond to this…#1: If you’re going to lie, at least come up with a better story…...A-Anyway! Your argument ends here! You’re disturbing the other residents!If you guys wanna argue and fight, you can do it outside the city, you know. It’s good cardio either way.#1: Heh, ya got guts… speakin’ to us in that tone. On our turf! Who the hell do you think we are!?#1:...There are rules here. Rules that you’ve violated. Tossing out words like that can get you killed around here… Dammit…!This ain’t lookin’ peachy, Lloyd.So it’s come down to this in the end…*sigh* We don’t have a choice… let’s do this. #1: ...Now that I got a good look at you shits, the two gals followin’ ya ‘round are pre~tty cute! Are ya tryin’ ta act all cool in front of ‘em?#2: Why don’t ya ditch those bozos and slum wit’ us?#1: ...Are you high? This isn’t the time to hit on girls.#2: L-Let’s deal with them first. And then we can get back to OUR f-fight… Y-You fine with that, Red Bugs?#1: Ha! That’s fine by me! Let’s wipe the floor with ‘em! Okay, first of all: Tio’s fourteen, you fucks! She’s still in the middle of puberty, and I don’t think she’s anywhere near developed enough to be deemed as attractive. Dating maybe, but slumming with gangs is a solid no. Second of all: we’re the protagonists. We can’t lose, idiots. You know what…? I think it’s time we got our police brutality on… Arrest the Criminal  Anyway, it’s time to take on both the Saber Vipers and the Blue Testaments, minus four members. I’d like to think that it’s like a sport where they have to bench two members each just in case someone is injured. Or maybe it’s like our party where they can only have four members out on the field at a time.   You may have noticed that all of the gang members have different weapons in their arsenal. That’s because they are, in fact, different enemy units. They also have different abilities in their arsenal. I’m pretty sure that they’re unit specific, given the descriptions, but don’t quote me on that.   Stun Knife does exactly what it says it’ll do. The Saber Viper turns on an built-in taser in his knife and shivs one of our party for a very meager amount of damage. I could have sworn it had a paralysis effect to it, but no one in my party ever got Sealed.  The slingshot Testaments gang member, on the other hand, will lob bombs full of pepper rudely. Once again, it deals a very small amount of damage, and has a chance of inflicting blind on the party.  All the Saber Viper members also have an ability where they tell “yo momma’s so fat” jokes at the Special Support Section, decreasing someone’s defense and increasing their attack at the same time. Spoilers: it backfires on them spectacularly.  Frankly, there isn’t much in the way of strategy for this fight. The fight has so many minions that it isn’t worth using Tio’s Analyzer to debuff them. The most you can do is use Lloyd’s Accel Rush craft to attack an entire clumped group at once, but that’s really it. Pile on with S-Crafts and Randy’s Power Smash to delay their turn if you’re having a really rough time for some reason.  I had to intentionally hold back from turning all of them (and the better part of Downtown) into fine ash with Tio’s Ether Buster S-Craft, if I didn’t have to capture screenshots. Randy got shived with an electric knife, blinded by pepper, and trash talked for your sins.  All in all, a really easy battle. At least we went through their pockets and took their items and sepith while we were at it. No wonder no one trusts the CSPD in this day and age.  We didn’t even have to move an inch away from our current position. We’re just that good.  #1: T-Those bitches… I thought they were just tagalongs…#1: The hell’s up with that staff…? My body feels numb…!#2: Dammit…! You gently caress with us and you’re dead, Bracers!I keep telling you… we’re the police.*sigh* I don’t think they’ll believe us, Lloyd.#1: Heh… that’s fine by me…! Yo Blue Squirts, let’s rush at ‘em wit’ everythin’ we got! Let’s show ‘em what happens when they gently caress with us!The Saber Vipers pick themselves back up.  #1: Even if our foes are Bracers, it would be shameful if we didn’t show the full potential of the Blue Testaments!Look…  I just want the cutaway to be another Saber Viper and Blue Testament gang members. Fighting ten of these guys would be a challenge, at least. Points and Lines   (Are they…)(I guess the head honchos finally decided to make an appearance...)  Hey… what’s the meanin’ of this…?#1: Um… heh, we were just, uh… We were tryin’ ta put da Blue Squirts in their place, when those guys showed up…Wald lifts Goon #1 up by the neck.   I thought I told ya to think twice before starting poo poo. You loving useless shitsquirters are tryin’ to ruin my street cred by pickin’ useless fights? That it…?#1: N-No, that’s not it! We’d never do poo poo to make you lose face, boss...!Hmph… you’d better remember that.#1: *cough*  Do you intend on disobeying my orders?#1: Łazy, they were… T-They were taunting us! Accusing us of hiding away! That’s why we…  We’re all brothers-in-arms. There is no need for any unnecessary explanations. No Caped Baldy here has a portrait in Azure as well, so once again, I’ll be using his official artwork. I do believe that Michel from the Bracer’s Guild, and No Caped Baldy over here are the only ones who have newly added portraits in Azure.  #2: We will look back and reflect upon our mistakes… Good enough. As long as you guys know what you did…Heh… you never change… you’re as trashy as ever. You make your homies play dress up in that poo poo…? Do ya think you’re some kinda religious leader or somethin’? Ha ha… it’s not like I forced them into it, or anything like that. I can’t say you’re any better. Taking out your anger on your minions will only lead to resentment and anger management therapy.Heh heh heh…Ha ha…(...What’s going on?)(...I can’t tell if they're friends or enemies.)Anyway, putting that aside for now… are you guys really the police? Ha… you don’t look the part. That ginger there… he even has the right build.Hey c’mon, stop flatterin’ a guy. I ain’t any match for you when it comes down to it....And if those two fine ladies are police officers, I’ll eat my bat. I mean, just look at ‘em… I’ve gotta admit, they’re a sight for sore eyes....Thank you. Same.  We are part of the “Special Support Section”, a new division that was formed recently. I think I saw you in the Crossbell Times.Oh… right.That’s the Crossbell Times for you. It isn’t surprising that the news about us already spread. Huh? Did these nerds do somethin’ big?Yup. These guys were formed to copy the Bracer’s Guild. I GUESS they’ve been pretty active… But that’s rude of me. I should give credit where your insignificant contributions in the rescue is due....Ha ha… I’ll stop making fun of you for now. I… suppose I’m the leader of the “Testaments”.Why do you sound so uncertain?You look more like a leader than I do. That shiny, bald dome of yours fits the bill perfectly....Hmph, enough screwin’ around… I’m the boss of the Saber Vipers.Łazy and Wald… Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lloyd Bannings of the Special Support Section division within the CSPD. Since it looks like you won’t be escalating this matter any further, I guess I’ll leave it in your hands…Heh heh…Ha ha… W-Why are you laughing?Oh, it’s nothing… I just thought you were telling the greatest joke in existence.”We won’t be escalating it any further”...? What kinda wuss talk is that?W-What did you say…?The reason why we stopped is because we haven’t finished our preparations… Once everything’s set, we’ll begin our final battle.Plus, it ain’t gonna be no playground like ya saw here… we ain’t gonna stop ‘cause there can only be one!...What did you say!?Woah… you guys want to massacre each other!? Though it’s pretty clear ‘n cut which gang’s gonna get bloodied up, innit?Ha ha… I’ll accept your surrender when we get to it. In any case, it’s none of your business, much less the cowards that populate the police. And much, MUCH less, greenies like you… ...!   Both gangs take their leave and head back to their respective bases, leaving the During Mission Accomplishment  ...How uncouth. It looks like they were serious about their intent towards each other.Yeah. If this continues any longer, a huge fight’s gonna break out. Bloodshed is inevitable at this rate.However, we have completed the task that the Chief assigned us… This isn’t any of our business, is it…?...No, it’s not over yet. If we stop now, our assignment will be left incomplete. If we leave the gangs alone, how will the police regain trust from the people?Well… I guess you’re right.Indeed… Since we already know their next move, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t find a way to stop them.But that’s like tellin’ the sky to stop bein’ blue. I mean, I’m all ears, but they ain’t the type of folk who’ll stop when someone tells them to “get along with each other”.Yeah… So we have another choice here that I’m pretty sure nets us some bonus DP. Given that the average police officer in Crossbell is stuck somewhere between “rescuing a cat in a tree” and “doing paperwork,” I think we’re stuck on our own.  I think we’ll have to deal with this by ourselves....Should we report back to HQ, at least? Maybe they can enforce the laws around here by sending down more patrols.No, as it is, it’s highly unlikely that they’d do something like that. If they were willing to fight us after we arrived, the gangs clearly aren’t afraid of confronting the police. From that reasoning, HQ is leaving Downtown alone on purpose.Ah...According to the database, the number of patrols sent to Downtown have been drastically reduced in the past couple of weeks. Most likely cause is to reduce their budget…Looks like our guess was dead on. But… if that’s the case, ain’t we even more helpless than before? How ‘bout we break down their doors, kick their asses, and make ‘em bow down before us?Look, Randy… Now that I think about it, both gangs wanted to crush the opposition and leave no one standing, was it?In other words, you’re wondering about their “motive”...Ain’t it obvious? They want to expand their territory. Or maybe they're just a couple o’ hot headed rednecks.I doubt it. If there motive was really that simple, their wouldn’t be a point in starting a large-scale gang war against each other. Especially under normal circumstances… it’d make more sense if both sides had a critically important reason. But even so, their isn’t any reason to go all out with each other like this… is there a need to prepare this much JUST to annihilate each other…? The rest of the SSS racks their brains to find a plausible motive for all of this. Not that they can think of one. Hell, I don’t think WE have enough information to go on currently to apply any deductive reasoning to this.  Me too.Me three! Man, I can see why the Chief put you in charge now…W-What’s wrong? Was my reasoning off?No, not at all. I was just thinking that you were definitely qualified to be a detective.Motive…? It’s a pretty good angle to go off of. That’s prolly the heart of the problem. It didn’t look like the relationship of their bosses was all that bad....It is more than likely that there is another reason behind their conflict… a reason only the gangs know that would drive them to attack each other like this.Y-Yeah, my thoughts exactly… Well, I guess there’s only one thing left to do, right?Yup! I’m with ya.Let’s pay the “Blue Testaments” and the “Saber Viper” a visit… which one should we talk to first? We’re going to visit the Blue Testaments first, for the sake of streamlining this (and inevitably ending this update on a cliffhanger). The Saber Viper’s hideout is all the way in the rear end end of Downtown. Meanwhile, the Blue Testaments are nice enough to have their base just west of where we fought the gang members. So the Blue Testaments it is. Trinity   That… is not how you play Tic-Tac-Toe. Unless if Crossbell has a different variant of it that somehow plays in a 2X3 grid.  Oooh, a bar with pool tables? This must be a billiards bar, then. It looks pretty interesting.Trinity… it looks like it has a business permit.So this is the Blue Testaments’ hideout…What business do you have here?Bald Man and two goons march over.  #2: D-Dogs of the police…!?...Thank you for cooperating with us earlier. Don’t mind us, but we’re going to bother you for a bit longer, since you’re still open for business.#1: H-Have you no shame…!?The goons immediately grab their weapons.  #2: Y-You wanna go!? We’ll finish what you started, once and for all!...Hold on.The goons look at Abbas in surprise for a moment, before hesitantly putting away their weapons.  #2: W-Why are you stopping us?This is our Holy Land. Blood should not be shed here without meaning. Łazy, what do you think?Hm… well, isn’t this interesting? ...Understood.Abbas and the goons move aside.  (...I just don’t get these guys…)(...It’s like they’re conducting some sort of ceremony…)The SSS plus Abbas and the goons approach the bar table.  ...Bleh, that bit of text clipping out of the box there. I messed around with the Crossbell Translation Tools for Azure myself. This is what happens when you stuff too much text on one line. Not that I can blame the translator, since from my recollection, the size of the text boxes are fixed.  You may not have anything you’d like to say to us, but WE have something we’d like to ask you. We’d appreciate it if you could cooperate with our investigation.Heh, investigation…? Listen up and let me tell you this first. I have no intention of calling things off with the Saber Vipers. It might be a little inconvenient to the neighborhood, but it’s a small price to pay. They’ll just have to wait until things blow over.We aren’t here to stop your dispute, actually. We just wanted to ask about your motive behind your feud with the Saber Vipers. What was the cause?Oh…?#1: T-That’s none of your bu-!...Silence. Let Łazy handle this.#1: O-Okay…...Based on their reactions, there’s more to this incident than what meets the eye. Would you care to share the details?Łazy stand up ands gets all up in Lloyd’s face.  It’d be a different story if you were Bracers… but you’re the police. What do you think you can do? Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about helping the Downtown bad boys?...I do think that the police haven’t done enough in this regard. And even so, we might not be able to help you after hearing your story… The nature of our work is different than that of the Bracers, in the sense that they protect the citizens while we uphold the law.Hey now…Lloyd, I don’t think…My, my, you’re just not getting it, are you…? You want to extract information from me, correct? Have you ever heard of something called “give-and-take”?Well, I DO have something I can give, as a matter of fact.Oh…?A detective’s job is to help the people by uncovering the light behind every lie, whether or not it’s been shrouded by the darkness of a “truth”... At least, this is how I was raised to understand. So no matter how small or trivial, if you even have a sliver of a doubt on the truths surrounding this case, we’ll help you uncover it. This… is what I can give you....Ah…Pretty impressive speech ya got there…......Heh... ha ha… That… was so good! Do you know how hard it is to come across a corny speech like that nowadays? It’s… Lloyd, right!? Ha ha, I like you!...I didn’t say it to impress anyone. Anyway, can you give us your side of the story, now? Your motive behind annihilating the Saber Vipers...Ha ha… alright. You’ve got me. Since you decided to grace me with that ridiculous sermon, there’s no way I can refuse and not show some sincerity… Abbas, if you could…...Very well. I haven’t introduced myself yet. ...Pleased to meet you. (He’s huge… what does he do?)The incident began five days ago. A member of our gang was assaulted by one of the Saber Vipers in an alleyway.Assaulted…!?...So it wasn’t a simple fight?#1: Ha! As if! He was knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of the head, and they beat him up while he was unconscious!#1: I-It was completely one sided… He’s in the hospital right now…No mercy… harsh....How is the victim right now?According to the hospital’s staff, he has yet to regain consciousness. The doctor finished treating his wound, but blows to the head cannot be so easily shaken off… We are awaiting further developments from the hospital currently.I think I get the picture…...And you never called the police?Even if we did, there was a very slim chance that they would help us. Other than that, it’s obvious who the culprits are. The police would only interfere in our plans for revenge.I see… If the victim hasn’t regained consciousness… how can you be certain that the culprits are from the Saber Vipers?Now that you mention it… don’t tell me that you arrived at this conclusion with subjective evidence?Ha… we’re not complete simpletons. Unlike those bodybuilders, we’re actual intellectuals. Heh heh, now that I think about it, you can’t call a group of delinquents intelligent, right?#1: Łazy…!The reason why we’re so sure the culprits are the Saber Vipers… heh, well I’m sure our resident detective knows the answer already, am I right?...Well… Well, the location of the assault is out of the question, since it’s Downtown, and there are plenty of thugs around. It wouldn’t make sense for us to base our reasoning off of that. And footprints at the scene of the crime would be a valid reason… if it weren’t for the fact that Łazy never mentioned that there were footprints. So by process of elimination…  Ding ding ding! That’s correct! You’re pretty sharp.Although it was mainly blows and bruises, there were a fair amount of lacerations as well… they were most likely caused by something hard and sharp.Lacerations from a blunt weapon, accompanied by lacerations from a hard and sharp object… Ah…!Like one of those nail bats the Saber Vipers use…That could be a decisive piece of evidence… I think I understand the story clearly now… Thank you for your cooperation.Cool, but… you sure this is all the information you need? Aren’t you going to say something along the lines of “Please make amends with the Saber Viper” or something?Personally, I’d like it if you could make peace with them… but the info I have right now is too little to judge one way or another. We’ll need to pay Saber Viper a visit and listen to their side of the story, too. If we uncover any new information, we’ll let you know.Ha ha… I guess you’re pretty dead set on carrying out this “investigation”. Well, let me know about any juicy pieces of information you have. And if you can’t find anything new… well, look forward to a bloodbath, I guess…!...I know. You won’t be disappointed. I’ll be sure to bring you some interesting information.During Mission Accomplishment  That’s it for our visit to the Trinity Bar. No billiards minigame, unforunately… but on the other hand, we can rock out with the Saber Vipers. If we head down all the to the right in Downtown, we can find a rather large door. And with it…  Those clothes… is this the Saber Viper’s hideout?Live House “Ignis”... it’s a remodeled venue that was originally a warehouse. Since they don’t pay taxes, there is relatively little known about it…D-Don’t ignore me! I might be new to this, but I’m still a part of the Saber Vipers!...Sorry. We didn’t mean to ignore you. We came here to talk to your leader… Will you let us in?Y-You here for Wald? Ha! As if people of your stature could speak to Wald!...But we…!Beat it! Get lost!(This might be a problem…)(Awww, he’s adorable…) Say, what’s your name?M-Me? The name’s Dino.Dino, were you assigned to keep guard against any suspicious people who might be trying to force entry inside?T-That’s right! This is a job from Wald himself! I’m supposed to stay here and guard against those Testament losers! I-It’s not like I was forced into it by everyone else…!Yes, it is a very important job, isn’t it? But it shouldn’t be a problem, since we aren’t member of the Testaments. So you can let us pass, right?B-But… you were fighting the other guys just now. If I let you pass…*giggle* We DID beat them up, but a small spar like that is a mere greeting to your gang, isn’t it? Your boss isn’t very bothered by it either, isn’t he?B-But… I… You… Wald…...Well… if you still can’t trust us…
Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Oct 21, 2018 |
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Oct 21, 2018 20:45
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You're the type of person who says "ATM Machine"? There went your 5 vote, mister/missus. A nice thing I like about this series is that the characters actually start off as smart and capable. They do learn, but there are so many games where everyone just lacks basic common sense.
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Oct 21, 2018 21:19
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Ummm... Why does the spelling on the green-haired Testament guy switch back and forth between being "Wazy" and "Lazy"?
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Oct 21, 2018 22:27
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Junpei posted:Ummm... Why does the spelling on the green-haired Testament guy switch back and forth between being "Wazy" and "Lazy"? It's actually Łazy, where Ł is a letter used in Polish that's usually described to Americans as "pronounce it as W".
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Oct 21, 2018 22:40
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I'm surprised he was so easy to track down. There must be at least a thousand men named Łazy Hemisphere in a city this size. And that's not even counting all the Łazy Həmïsphères. Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Oct 22, 2018 |
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Oct 21, 2018 23:12
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:You're the type of person who says "ATM Machine"? There went your 5 vote, mister/missus. I-It's a regional dialect native to Crossbell? 
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Oct 22, 2018 20:20
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But IBC Bank doesn't have ATM machines.
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Oct 22, 2018 20:34
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Well, gently caress. There goes any credibility I had.
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Oct 22, 2018 21:11
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Gotta admit, I am missing some of the localization flourishes XSeed would add to the series here. The character's don't really have distinct 'voices', at least so far. Although that might be partially that Lloyd is supposed to be kinda stuffy and boring? He gives that vibe certainly.
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Oct 22, 2018 21:17
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Pyre of Word Salsa posted:
I think those are wins and loses from playing billiards.
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Oct 26, 2018 02:13
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CmdrKing posted:Gotta admit, I am missing some of the localization flourishes XSeed would add to the series here. The character's don't really have distinct 'voices', at least so far. We already know what Xseed Lloyd would be like. The translation patch is an edited version of a machine translation.
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Oct 26, 2018 02:19
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| # ? May 5, 2024 00:16 |
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Wait, is it pronounced "Way-zee" or "Wah-zee"?
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Oct 26, 2018 02:23
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