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RedMagus posted:I can understand why you'd trick some kids, cause being a pirate is cool. Isn't that right penguin buddy? Okay I'll bite. What game is this it looks 
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Nov 20, 2018 13:40
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Bellmaker posted:Okay I'll bite. What game is this it looks Legend of Mana! My GOTY, every year.
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Nov 20, 2018 14:34
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One of the great classics of the PSX Era, there's a good completionist LP of it here: https://lparchive.org/Legend-of-Mana-(by-Mega64)/
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Nov 20, 2018 14:38
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 So, uh, after we beat Chard and restored Cassia to its natural watery state, we... ended up on the beach nearby, and Beignet flies in. Somehow.  I'm not sure we need rescuing, but at least he's doing something now. Bit late, but I'll take it.   (Palmer) I never thought you'd take down the pirates!(Paul) A new legend has been born in this town! (Janis) Thanks. Seriously, thanks.(Courtney) We owe you big-time!(Tina) Oh, hey! The dwarves over by the pier want to talk with you. Now that it's warm, they're actually in a good mood!There's a fair few things that are a bit different now that it's warm again, but first we'll bother folks. Because we're heroes!   Bleeburp bloop! He is lying! I can detect lies, and that was, as you fleshy ones say, a whopper. Oh! Um... Er... Well... Oh, yes. Speaking of pirates, they've been on a rampage lately, leaving a wake of torn garments and overturned garbage cans.  But what's most alarming is this trend of young magicians much like yourselves being kidnapped, never to be seen again! We at the Space Police have been working night and day to get to the bottom of it. Even though you were just shaking in your boots at the thought of facing those pirates?  You guys! What, Lassi? Do you think maybe those pirates kidnapped Miss Madeleine, too? That's absurd. Hmmm? And this Madeleine person is... She's our teacher, and she's a really incredible magician, too! That's right. She's been missing for three months. Three months, you say? Hmmmmmm. That can only mean... You mean she HAS been kidnapped? Oh, um... Well, no. I wouldn't exactly... Oh, no... Sob. She has... Don't give up hope! You've always got the Something tells me that we just got a big ol' unsubtle hint about where we're going when we finish up here. It could work. I'm sure the force will send an army to Gren to bring the pirates to justice! If you would excuse me, I need to hurry back to HQ. ...Oh, huh. I guess we could be off to Gren next, then, but Puffoon IS closer... Anyway, that's the end of this mini-scene with Beignet. Let's see what else is new in town.  Especially when there's hot cocoa involved. And mini marshmallows.  Uhh.... Well, these are both as gross and bad as they sound.  They're both straight up worse than whatever you'll have available at this point.  Neither of 'em even give anything that makes it worthwhile unfortunately.  The Sage Hat we got from Chard is also worse than everything else we could have at this point. It, however, is the first piece of equipment that's part of a set. Need gloves, body, boots and an accessory to go with it but then whoever wears all 5 gets double EXP.  The three male otters here don't have much to say, unfortunately, and they're all one line long too. Nothing new or interesting there.  Tina's mostly the same, but she at least has boundless enthusiasm.  So, what about these boys? These long johns of ours, they're a sign that we're the descendants of the guardians of the Dragon God. Don't think about it too hard. It makes sense, but... Aw, just trust me on this.  That's a rocket part! If you guys have a rocket, I'll install 'er for ya! Whaddaya say? No.Bechamel's hanging out in town still, and we'll be back to talk to him later. He's interested in that mouse we found, but we'll deal with that later.  Back when the town was frozen, you could, but not now. I know that doesn't make any sense. Just roll with it.  You need something special before you can fly to Razen, the fire planet. It's part of a special cooling system, a peculiar water particle that never freezes or evaporates. The bad news is that special water particle just isn't so easy to find anymore.Oh yeah, we heard about that before! We'll need to find that before we can get to Razen, for sure. Or maybe we just won't ever go to Razen but that's infinitely less likely.  Right, uh, so now that the ice has thawed across Cassia, we can find lots of rainbow shells dotted throughout the place. Getting to 50 still takes more than we can find easily, though.  ...What doesn't help is that the Dragon Road is inaccessible now. No getting back in there, I guess.  We can, at least, find a Mystical Chest just due to south of Port Pescato. It's only accessible at this point, even.  There's also a new enemy around. It might've been around before, but it's pretty rare. We've technically seen them, though they were encased in ice then. They only appeared this one time, here, and they never got a turn so.... There's still one enemy hanging around Cassia that we've not encounters but it's absurdly rare so we'll just ignore it for now.  Indeed, there are now frogs to be had instead. However, because we have access to Mokka there's a nasty trick here...  Some frogs have this nasty trick where they're not nice gummy frogs at all but instead exploding gummy frogs! They're usually mixed in with real gummys to trick you. But, well, if you use Mokka's ability to flip over gummy frogs, it has no effect on the exploding ones so you can just do that.  Since we're making our way back along the beach, we can also open this chest we saw frozen shut a while back. It contains a putty pea, which... doesn't do anything right now but will be important later.  And that's about it, really. Since there's no more ice, it's useful and convenient that Neumann drifted over to this beach. It could've drifted off anywhere, really.  Nothing else to do except grind out rainbow shells, and eh nah. We'll come back and get a Pooka String later on. We're at 40/50 shells after combing all the beaches, and the last 10 would still take a long time to get.  So, instead, we'll let the dwarves work their magic and install this here mystic mouse!   oh i get it Wait, really?! We can zoom around the galazy and go anywhere we want? Hold your ponies there, kid. You can fly the shuttle to the earth, wind, or wood planet. Anyway, it looks like you're in fine shape now, so I'll be gettin' on my way.Thanks Bechamel and friends! For exiled criminals, those dwarves sure were really nice. Good news... for once. C'mon, we're going to Puffoon, the wind planet! We've got to find Miss Madeleine! Why the wind planet? Because that's where she went, right? Plus, the Space Police HQ is there! Won't we need their help? But I thought it was the astro pirates that got Miss Madeleine. Shouldn't we go find heir hideout on Gren and rescue her? Hmm... If we both want to go somewhere different, we're going to need a tiebreaking vote. So it is up to you to decide, Sugar. So, yeah, we CAN go forward to Puffoon or Gren. Could go back to Erd if we missed something of note there (we didn't, don't worry). Could stay on Cassia, even. It's nice enough. Can't go back to Kovomaka, though. So, uh, feel free to cast your votes for which of the two new planets you want to go to.  I'll just be ignoring them, because we're off to Puffoon. It's next in the list and all. Plus, well, maybe we can find a competent member of the Space Police there.   Those kids back on Cassia, they, er, gave Cap'n Chard a right proper beating. Laid him lower'n a seasick sailor. What would ye have us do? Now that we've finally seen Master Kale for the first time, he's... not quite what I'd have expected from an evil mastermind. (He wasn't in Magical Vacation either.) Gave it to him good, they did. He's a bit weathered an' worn, but he made good his escape, so there's that at the least. Heh heh heh... This is getting interesting. I'm not sure I follow yer meanin', sir. Yes, yes... This will be a grand show... But we can't have the finale just yet. Best to keep them at bay for now. Welcome folks to Puffoon, which is also commonly referred to as Cotton (as in Cotton Candy), the Wind Planet. It doesn't immediately look like a wind planet, but what would that really even look like anyway? Other than almost literally Jupiter, I mean.   and we'll be back at the academy in time to get mystical omelets and magical OJ in the cafeteria. Odd... That rocket looks familiar. Unsurprisingly, we'll find one of our other three friends soon I see. Now, is it Pico, Chai or Sorbet? Hmm, we'll find out later I guess.  For now, we'll just check out what Puffoon has to offer and see if we can determine the naming schemes.   Ehh, whatever. You survived. No explosion, no foul.Molybdenum and Nickel are both elements that are also metals. Hm... Aren't many other engineer-y types around, unfortunately.  A woman named Polymer runs the store, though.  It's not a particularly great store, mind. The Cat Suit is on par with the, uh, Old Sweater in terms of stats and an Agility boost isn't a super-great set bonus honestly. Tentacles are just an MP recovery item that's too expensive for what it does (restores 20MP... but not always) and the Clock/Antiwhistles just rotate your party lineup in combat. It has very, very niche uses that don't really matter overly much in practice.  Swing nearby is our first Felin and he's a master planner. ...Actually, real quick, we don't have a Felin party member this time around but there WAS one in Magical Vacation. Sadly, she doesn't appear in this game:  So, Lemon Airsupply (yes, really, Vacation mixed foodstuff and music for character names semi-often) is a fantastic name and she was rad too. She was a martial artist who specialised in Thunder elemental attacks. She decided to join Will-O'-Wisp Academy after being punched (...in her stomach) by her brother by accident, and had a sensible reaction and decided to become the strongest in her family. Also her penultimate skill is called Double Tesla. There's just no way for her to not be awesome. ...Not gonna lie, I just wanted to mention that she existed and would take any opportunity for it. At all.   Must be nice for people who have time to jaunt across the galaxy and while away the days while the rest of us do REAL WORK. Bossa, huh? And Swing's just over there... I see Felins are named after musical genres.  Well, I don't wanna spell it out for you, but let's just say it was a spell-castin' salamander! Well, that was kinda spelling it out for you. Dang it! Well, he's not here. He's hidden. So it doesn't even matter. But if it were true, you could make a bundle, am I right? What do you think he'll sell him for?A salamander that can cast spells? And there's one of the school's ships parked here? I see we're going to find Sorbet here then. Makes sense since we just came from the Water planet and all.  Poor Canard's stuck in his car and crushed under a boulder? There's no other cars around, this road exists just for this and where did that boulder even come from?  I think we absolutely have to free this guy from this weird nonsensical situation.  I, uh, hope that boulder didn't land on anything important.  I don't know what's weirder... that you're more worried about the car, or that you can tell when a machine is in pain. Of course I can. Or had you not noticed, I AM a machine. Yesssss! I'm SAVED! You guys are the best! I'm finally free! That looked... unpleasant.I genuinely cannot tell you where Canard went, what he crashed into or anything.  I also don't know what, if anything, Bena Rikashi is meant to be referencing. At least we know now that this city is where our main destination is.   Then if they DO buy something, they complain about its quality! How annoying is that?Since this is a big city, I figured things'd be a bit more expensive than from like the spiny moles but... that's worrying.  Nice to meetcha. I'm a traveling putty. I'm on a journey to find all my putty buddies. See ya 'round!The Traveling Putty in the inn (which at 200 Bira is one of the most expensive in the game by the way  ) is less informative that the one at Cassia. Shame, that. Anyway, let's step into this house (map included for reference) for just a sec. Yes. Well, I could just tell! There used to be a mage who lived here. A real powerful one, it seems. His name was Kane or something... What was it? Well, whatever. He was super powerful. I hear he was good friends with King Suspiro.Kane, you say? I guess we might be en route to getting a lesson in Razen Economics.  Anyway, this guy's a few houses over and is very important.  The questions are about status ailments, so you might just learn something. Get seven questions right in a row and I'll give you 10,000 bira. But if you miss even one question, I will dub you all losers of the weakest sauce. Well, how about it? Wanna try? Yes. All right! You ready for the first No HP recovery. Dinga linga ding ding ding! You got that one. All right, next question! What happens when you try to do something while thorny? Take damage. Right again! OK, now for question three. What exactly happens when you're dizzy? Stats reduced. Right again! You're startin' to catch fire. Question number four coming your way! What can't you use when you are sick? Magic. Good choice! On to question number five. What CAN'T you do when petrified!? Can't do anything. That's right! Excellent choice! Question number six! What goes down when you are blind? It's odd that this is the first question with blatant joke answers. And there's two of 'em, even. No good responses to them, unfortunately. Chance to hit. Whoa... you got that right? You're on the final question! Now we find out which burrito has the weakest sauce! Get this right, and you get 10,000 bira! All great, hearty sauces will point their fingers and laugh! Now, without further ado, on to our last question. Question number seven! What doesn't come around when you are scorched?You might reasonably have expected the last one to be a trick question or something, but nope. I guess I'm taking that 10k then. Turn in combat. Gah! You're right! I can't believe I lost to you chumps! Hold up. Does this mean that now I'm the weakest of sauces? Noooooooo! Fine! Here's your 10,000 bira! I may be the weaksauce now, but I keep my promises! And, sure enough, he DOES give us 10,000 bira. We're pretty rich now, all things considered.  So let's check out that store, then. I'm sure we can get some nice upgrades here.  Which, yeah, we can get a nice upgrade. Singular. We can't afford the Star Ring so we can't see that it also gives a massive IQ bonus (+11). The Gold Circlet is +8 from base stats, for what its worth.  There's even more absurd stuff on the next page. We're not buying anything here, but quite notable is that even if we COULD afford it we can't use the Aroma Coat. It's only usable by someone with a Wood Starsign. And it has a lot of stat boosts.  Aqua Studs are Hairpins (+1% MP Regen) but with a +3 Agility boost for good measure. Also the Falcon Coat is only usable by someone with a Wind Starsign. If we could afford it, it would give Lassi a buncha stuff too. Along with some status immunities because she's not good enough already, I guess.  In the northern part of the city, we can find Pizza hanging out by this fountain. We can't go further north since that's where the King Suspiro lives.  Anyway, how about that Space Police HQ? Let's see what sorta help we can get with finding Madeleine!  We'll get to that in a moment, but first...  ...there's some interesting restrictions around these parts, I see.  There's also some folks hanging out here that reference a minigame that doesn't exist. Don't worry about it.  Alright, so, let's report space crimes!  Please provide your name, date of birth, home world, blood type, hobbies, favorite movie star, credit card number, names of any and all interstellar space treaties to which you may be a signatory, known contagious diseases, pager number, and for the gorgeous females, whether you prefer candlelight dinners or long walks on the beach. Take this packet to the counter all the way on the left. That's the bureau of Astro-Pirate Affairs.Sure, that's just right there after all.  Wait, it says here on page 27 of your questionnaire that you're from Kovomaka. Kovomaka? Is that even a planet? Well, you're a foreigner. That's a big red flag in our system. You'll have to show some ID at the immigration counter. Oh, and think LOTS of paperwork.Welp, there's always something. Sure, it's just next, uh, door so...  Why are you seeking permanent-resident status? Wait, you're not? So you're a tourist? Why people insist on wasting my time, I have no idea. Go to the Intergalactic Family Fun Tourist Center desk. They're the second counter from the right.O...k... that's just over there.  You don't need an ID if your a tourist. That's what tourists do. They TOUR around. You seem confused. Or stupid. Either way, you should head to Informational Inquiries....at least its immediately right here  So you've got pirate problems? Join the club. The Deep Space Swashbuckling Division. They're the rightmost counter on the second floor.Okay, fine, upstairs we go!  ...And Bossa's been arrested for trying to sell that salamander he mentioned. Good job, Bossa.  Sorry. We only deal with white-collar pirate crimes. Mostly lootings. Occasionally, we get some  You better go to Violent Crimes Division next door.At least it's the next counter over...  from Victim's Consultation on the left....are you kidding me...  You see, you haven't sustained any significant bodily harm. If you're looking for someone, try Missing Persons. They're over on the left.*bureaucracy intensifies*  And now they've gone...missing! HAHAHAHA. Oh, man... Anyway, you should probably go talk to Cosmic Patrol next door.i... i can't...  Go up the stairs and hang a right. That's where Gren Security is stationed. The supervisor up there should be able to help.Fine! Fine. Upstairs to the third floor we go.  Yes, absolutely! Anything that is not this neverending stream of red tape! Felt like I'd never be promoted... But then a sorcerer taught me a little spell. "Whatever you say!" When your boss gives a weird order, when irrationality rules the day, if they tell you black is white just chant this spell, and your career's all right! "Whatever you say!" "You got it!" "Comin' right up!" It's the way to get promoted. "Whatever you want!" ......Sure. Sure. Moving on!  I guess we should have put a guard on him. You know, since he can use magic and all. The fugitive may still be in the area, so I want every patrol in the city hunting him down!So, uh, Bossa tried to sell a salamander, the salamander... got arrested? Or taken in as evidence? And then escaped, somehow, for... some reason. I'm sure that's not gonna be relevant. Anyway, there's nothing else here so where were we?   Hmm... That sounds awful! I'm sorry, I really am. But I can't help. Maybe you'll have better luck over at Public Relations next door?Even a named character with a unique sprite, who's definitely never turning up again, is just part of this. And sends us off elsewhere. ...Her name is two-for-one, dang. Brie cheese, and pourri is a French word that means "rotten." So, yes, her name means "rotten cheese."  Whoa, that's terrible! I wish there was something I could do, but my hands are tied here. It's against Space Police policy to release information to civilians that aren't authorized by the chief. If I were you, I'd go to the chief's secretary and see if I could get authorization. The secretary is through the door on the left.oh good at least we're basically done   Did I just say that out loud?The... bathroom, huh? It's just by the stairs so..  ...The Lieutenant is Bobby Zilch? Man. Maaaan. (mugwort is a herb, though i'm sure you knew that) Anyway, uh, since we won't see it again you see that green thing on the left toilet? That's not part of his portrait. If you come here before now, Mugwort's not here... and neither is that. Once we come back, it's also gone. What is it? What does it do? What is it for?   Toilet paper? Sure, just ask the maintenance dude for an expense report and then... You know what?  Thank you!  It's even a key item. Beautiful.   Ahem! Well, then. We're all friends now and all, but why were you talking to me while I was in the stall? You need to talk to me? Yes, well, meet me in my office.Fortunately, this is all part of the same scene so we don't have to walk back there manually.  You can file a report if you want. If you bring us the villain, we'll arrest him. Otherwise, forget it. Space Police have families, you know.  I'm sure you understand. For everyone's continued safety, we have instituted an all-paperwork policy. I will file this report for you.Thanks, Lieutenant Zilch.  If they aren't going to save Miss Madeleine, we'll do it ourselves! That was SO helpful. It sure is a good thing we navigated that bureaucratic obstacle course.I'm glad that Mokka's portrait already makes it really easy to read everything as sarcastic, because sometimes its by design. Anyway, before we leave, Lieutenant Mugwort! You got anything else to say?  ...Yeah, okay. I guess we'll be leaving then. Problem is, well, now what do we do? Heading off to Gren to enact vigilante justice seems logical enough. Can't go anywhere else here after all.
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Nov 21, 2018 01:17
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i know "space bureaucracy" isn't that unique a gag but it's still funny to me that this scene was in a game that came out several years before jupiter ascending
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Nov 21, 2018 01:39
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I usually go to Puffoon first too. Puffoon has weak random encounters, but a higher level boss. Gren has tough random encounters, but weaker bosses.
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Nov 21, 2018 01:40
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Space bureaucracy is a pretty high-level boss.
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Nov 21, 2018 01:52
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Should have gone to Gren for all the 
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Nov 21, 2018 01:57
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Is that entire sequence mandatory? Or can you just climb to the top of the building and talk to Mugwort to short-circuit it?
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Nov 21, 2018 01:57
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I remember seeing a similar sequence in another game. Maybe it was in a LoZ romhack?
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Nov 21, 2018 02:15
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At least they don't want to read you poetry before throwing you out an airlock?
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Nov 21, 2018 02:53
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Dragonatrix posted:It's a cyclone, if that helps you see it as the wind planet better.
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Nov 21, 2018 03:09
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Zanzibar Ham posted:I remember seeing a similar sequence in another game. Maybe it was in a LoZ romhack? I'm sure it's been in many games. The overly long, strict, and nonsensical bureaucracy is a very common thing in general.
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Nov 21, 2018 03:14
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 Jesus christ. gently caress Space-bureaucracy. At least this wasn't Futurama level Space-bureaucracy.
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Nov 21, 2018 03:15
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I admit I was having a hard time remembering things in this game. Then Mugwort showed up. AND IT'S ALL COMING BACK NOW 
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Nov 21, 2018 05:03
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Space bureaucracy! It's filling forms out, in space! If this were regular Bureaucracy, our blood pressure would have killed us by now.
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Nov 21, 2018 05:14
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Glazius posted:Space bureaucracy! It's filling forms out, in space! That was a reference, by the way. To a game in which, yes, interacting with the bureaucracy can make you fatally aggravated.
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Nov 21, 2018 05:37
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There's also the end of MadMaze, in which the ultimate domain of madness ruled by an insane deity is... a space bureaucracy on the moon.
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Nov 21, 2018 08:13
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Materant posted:It's a cyclone ...So it is. Somehow I genuinely never noticed that's exactly how its shaped.
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Nov 21, 2018 10:31
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So it's been a while but the reason you actually fight enemies in Dragon Road is that one of the enemies (I think it's a Stalactite) drops a piece of set equipment that boosts Bira gain. Slippy Oils make it pretty painless Space Police are basically The Department of Redundancy Department given form.
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Nov 21, 2018 12:56
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I found the game I remembered. It wasn't a romhack per se, rather it was a fangame of Legend of Zelda (Mystery of Solarus XD to be exact).
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Nov 21, 2018 13:49
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Well, there is always the A38 permit stratagem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI5kwSap9Ug Ah, bureaucracy, such an easy target, and sadly because it needs to be targeted...
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Nov 21, 2018 21:48
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The joke was cute at first then it got annoying then it got funny by the sheer determination to keep it going as long as humanly possible.
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Nov 22, 2018 16:09
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Man, that all-paperwork policy makes it take forever to get authority to do anything nowadays, huh? Hope you've filled out your Update Reading Form in triplicate already! As soon as we leave the Space Police HQ, we get accosted by a mysterious cat.  ...While, yes, Will-o'-Wisp Academy DOES have a uniform, we conspicuously aren't wearing it. How does she know this? Yes. I knew it! I need your help. It's a lot to explain, so I'll just show you. Follow me! We haven't been over to that side of town yet, thinking about it, so I guess we can follow her thataway.  This seems easy enough to manage after all. Maybe you could help me look for it! Would you? Yes. Really? Thanks! I'm gonna make the sensible presumption that you already know what a parfait is.  It is a bit odd that Parfait's House gets a separate area name on the map. And that it's five question marks. I'm sure there's nothing suspect about any of this, nor that she's looking for the Book of the Darned. Probably just a library book or something.  There's not much in totally-her-house-honest, really. There's the obvious book that stands out and three chests.  I'm sure she won't mind if we... uh, borrow these parts of the Sage equipment set. I'm sure we can use them better than she could at least. We're just missing gloves and an accessory now. Not gonna be using these until then, mind you, because they're flatout worse than anything else we've got. Set bonus aside.  The third chest just had some Sugarstars in it, by the way.  STOP! Don't read that! Listen... that book is cursed. People have died from just skimming a line from that book! What?! There are only two people alive today who Did you say Miss Madeleine!? You know her!? Let's just say we've met. Ahh, I owe you a reward! Go ahead and take anything in this house you want. Anything you like! Uhh...see you later!I think we're a bit ahead of her on that one.   It must have passed really close, 'cause it sounded like it came from inside!Eh, I'm sure it's nothing. Once again, we're out of stuff to do on Puffoon, though.  ...And once again we're interrupted as soon as we step outside!  Master Kale? What are you talking about? Isn't this Parfait's house? Parfait!? Ah, I see how it is. Looks like someone pulled a fast one on you. All right, you kids are going to have to come down to the station.Although, we get a bit lucky here...  You mean that magician? And he got away with some secret documents!? ? You kids run along and stay out of trouble. And don't listen to any thieving cats! Consider this a warning! Here, take this. And don't tell anyone about this! Time to hunt salamander!  So despite how we've been (successfully?) bribed by the Space Police, we kinda still don't have anything to do. There is that thing about a salamander, but that came up before too and I doubt we could do much about tha--    WHOA! Sugar! Lassi! Mokka! They're after me! I've been looking for you, and now, they're looking for me! There he is! Over there!  Okay, so techically, we could just... leave. Right now. Nothing bad would happen, but Chai is our friend so we should probably help him out.  First through, we'll go back to the Space Police HQ and... oh. Well, never mind then. Guess we were lucky to finish our paperwork when we did.  Now that the fuzz are busy chasing Chai around, we can leave town through the south and finally explore Puffoon proper. We can't do anything to the north of town still, though.  brioche is a type of french pastry that's pretty similar to bread really Yes. Well... You're friends with Chai, right? I've got a message from him. He says he found something really amazing. He wants you to come meet him down in my village. Thanks! Where's your village? It's way south of here. Quite a mouthful. We locals just call it Honey Mint. We tried saying the whole name for a while, but it just gave everyone a sugar high. So, uh... see ya!We can't really go anywhere but Honey Mint right now, to be fair, so we'll do just that. There's plenty to do while we're en route though.  For starters, the first area here where Brioche and Pizza were hanging out has two things of immediate note. There's the first Mysterious Chest just kinda hanging out here and we can collect a few bean pops in the area too.  The chest continues the trend of being either cash or a putty pea. We'll be able to use these eventually, so I'm cool with that.  Oh and there's random encounters now too. That's a thing.  The litle chipmonk-esque critter is pretty straight forward really, and only has the one attack.  It's allegedly a tackle, but I haven't seen many tackles that involve bouncing off the target like that.  It, uh, it's still better than what their bug friend does though.  Sure, it's not a lot of damage but it also inflicts a Defense debuff which should be very inconvenient. But, well, it's a random encounter. It's sort of a non-issue, really. Both these guys are inexplicably Wood elemental, by the way.  There are, obviously, Wind enemies though. Like this... thing who's blocked by his own attck indicator.  Anisoptera isn't really a big threat either, though. That it also inflicts Def Down just sorta shows how meaningless that is in practice. Funnily enough Lassi is the only person who can oneshot them right now. That she has a synergy boost helps, admittedly.  There's a couple more Wind things, of course, and Slashback might be the most relevant and interesting.  Its just inexplicably strong, and simple. Just this goofy lookin' dude on what looks like an inflatable duck. Then he throws that sword, catches it and cuts you open with it dealing more damage than pretty much everything else to date.  Last enemy in the area is the adorable little rabbit-like thing that inexplicably has crawled right outta Digimon.  It keeps up the general generic trend of having a physical attack called Tackle. That manages to not resemble anything else's Tackle that we've seen. It doesn't do much else though.  So, I don't talk about drops much but Slashback drops that there Bronze Ring. It's a very good upgrade for us if we can snag more, really.  It's a glove/wrist type piece of armor and it gives us a decent IQ boost over what we already have. Gonna give this one to Sugar for sure, and if we get more then hey bonus.  And before we're done here, Mokka hits level 12 and learns his second spell. It costs 20MP and is decently more powerful than Gravel Pounder at least. It's not immediately obvious, but Stalagmiter has a 20% chance to Petrify things. Petrify is, uh, it's Petrify. You know what it does. A lot of spells have extra effects like that, by the by. They're not super relevant a lot of the time, though. More of a nice thing if they happen, but don't count on it super much.  Anyway, one last thing before we follow after Brioche. There's a few signs around telling us about a tourist trap, complete with helpfully telling us that it's a tourist trap.  Odd that Pizza is hanging out here, but there sure is a chest over to the far east.  If we approach the edge of the main area we're on, the camera'll pan over and show us that there sure is no way to get over there.  Of course, it's right at the edge of that platform so I reckon Lassi could do something about this.  That sends it flying off that platform and sending it somewhere far below.  We actually do want to do this at some point, even though we won't be able to get to it for a while.  Headin' back to before and going further south, we can snag another Mysterious Chest. This one just gives us a bit of cash, which is always helpful really.  There's also a couple tails here and the only way to proceed now is climbing down a vine ladder. That feels more like a Gren sorta thing, but I guess we gotta have something.  If that thing fell on us, we'd be splatterated!Once we're down one level, we come to this... very unstable giant boulder. We'll just move away from the precarious rock for now and do nothing that could disturb it.  Brioche is hanging out here as well, though.  The Space Police have blockaded the road to Honey Mint! Now what are we supposed to do?There's something we could probably do but we won't worry about that just yet. We'll see what the Space Police have to say about this first though.  (2) We'll be investigating the Honey Mint road area for some time.Not much of anything from those guys, unfortunately. That sign is oddly conspicuous though so we'll check it out.  We should go to Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top but that Master Macadameus is oddly intriguing. Let's go see what that's about.  It's just a big, open area with Pizza off to the side here, a few worms and... this guy who's presumably Master Macadamia.  Oh, he's a Tengu!  Now my mortal apprentice bears that grand title. If you adventurers agree to deal with my wayward apprentice, I will lend you my power. What do you say? Yes. What would you know about? We came to talk. What would you speak of? Fighting strategy is just basically more tutorial stuff, so we'll gloss over that. Figurines are... they're special but we don't have any right now. We'll cover those when they're more relevant. That just leaves... Bean pops. Bean pops are mysterious items that awaken the body's suppressed inner powers. You can use them in battle, but there is a secret to their use. If you use them on one who has the ancient spirit of war within them, you will earn experience as if you defeated an enemy. But who is this foe who wields the ancient spirit of war? Here's what you do: 1. Challenge me to a fight. 2. Use a bean pop on me. 3. Receive EXP!Sounds easy enough, and there's a couple other things about Macadameus but we'll get to those in time.  Let's try out these bean pops and see how good they work in practice!  Consider this, because if you try to injure me, I will respond in kind. You will feel great pain and shame. But if you choose to flee, I will allow it. This battle is, more than anything, an opportunity for you to use the bean pops you have found. We still don't have any of these, so we'll see what this does when we finally get one. How are they the same!? Do not ask such things! Feel the answer for yourselves! Feel my power flowing to you! Use a bean pop or a figure and learn the answer, apprentices! Macadameus is a fight that serves three purposes at once, and we do sorta already know all of them. Bean pops for easy exp, figurine use for whatever that does and something else that we'll get to later.  Bean pops are very easy exp since whoever uses them just gets 5EXP on the spot. It's not a lot, but it's pretty good for one turn honestly, and since we always need 100 to level up... I'll probably do this a few times offscreen to catch folks up if there's ever a level disparity. Doubt I'll bother otherwise though. Anyway, Macadameus is noteworthy for being the only fight you have a 100% chance to Flee from. Which, well, is good because it's probably the only fight I will be using that option in.   The other thing that Macadameus does that is generally helpful is that afterwards, he gives you a full heal for free. He always does this, so it's not a bad idea to use it if you need to. Pizza is right there after all, and it's sometimes more convenient than Neumann because of that.  ...Okay, but let's pretend for a second that we actually attacked Macadameus.  You can't see it super clearly, but a successful timed hit did 56 damage.  Since he promised to respond in kind, Macadameus is gonna show that he's so fast he laps the entire party. Several times over.  So, uh, yeah... that's... that's a lot of damage.  And that's why you don't pick a fight with a tengu master of war, I guess.  That he is a level 99 superboss doesn't help, that's for sure. We can, and inevitably will, be back to fight Macadameus for real way, way down the line of course. But for now, I'm just gonna pick the dirt of the Quinoa Plains out of my teeth and then we can head on over to Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top.
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Nov 23, 2018 01:35
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I found Bean Pops/the Sage gear to be pretty useless, with the way you earn less XP per battle as you level, anyone you give them to will be caught by other characters quickly anyways. I guess if you really want to hit a level for a new spell?
Bellmaker fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Nov 23, 2018 |
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Nov 23, 2018 06:23
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Nov 23, 2018 06:33
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Okay, so I'm pretty sure i own a copy of this game, but never got around to playing it, so this is SUPER interesting to see how everything plays out so far. I think Mokka might just be my favorite character. Granted, they're all the best, but Mokka is my fave so far. And good grief, the food names. ALL THEY DO IS MAKE ME HUNGRY, AND IF THAT'S THEIR INTENTION, THEN DANGIT IT'S WORKING. 
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Nov 23, 2018 08:43
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I can't believe Sugar is loving dead. This is what happens when you pick a fight with a Tengu.
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Nov 23, 2018 16:05
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Music Junkie posted:And good grief, the food names. ALL THEY DO IS MAKE ME HUNGRY, AND IF THAT'S THEIR INTENTION, THEN DANGIT IT'S WORKING. You mean you get hungry from something like Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top? Now I think you're just being silly.
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Nov 23, 2018 16:17
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Dragonatrix posted:You mean you get hungry from something like Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top? Now I think you're just being silly. Yeah, that's honestly way too sweet. It needs, like, a pancake or waffle or something in there to catch all that flavor.
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Nov 23, 2018 21:04
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How dare you
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Nov 23, 2018 21:10
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Speaking of, they had some new candy bar flavors at the grocery store when I went yesterday to grab some emergency baking supplies. They had a Birthday Cake flavored 3 Muskteers bar and a Milky Way with Fudge. Haven't opened them yet, was too full...
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Nov 23, 2018 21:21
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Good morning, class. Today's your allotted day for a nice sugar high as we visit Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top. First, though, we do need to open the path to it. Gonna see if we can't have Mokka dislodge the boulder that he may have put here in the first place.   Well, that worked out a lot better than expected. Brioche just runs off ahead again, so we'll just follow a bit behind.  En route, we can pick up a pair of Cat Feet boots. We saw the shirt before, so we already know this is part of a set that just sorta sucks in general unfortunately.  Just to the north, we can find Pizza and a Brownie that's... sky-fishing?   No need to hide it. I can see it in your eyes. Look, I'm not gonna go blabbin' to the police about it, but maybe you should stay outta their way. Know what I mean? No. Nothing to be done then. Here, take this. Show it to ol' Macadameus up north. Nice enough that we snagged our first figurine here. There's a lot of figurines but they're, uh, all just... gated behind the multiplayer stuff. So we can't get any except this one. Fortunately, they're all in the games item data and we can just pull them out later. Won't do all of them, because there's so many, but we'll do a few of the more interesting ones later.  If you want to fight the demon imprisoned within the figure, I can release it for you. Here's how it works: 1. Fight me! 2. Use a figure on me! Sounds easy enough to me. Let's give it a shot!  Monocorn Just gonna immediately use that Monocorn Horn to see what happens here.  So, this replaces Macadameus with the Monocorn. Figurine enemies are kinda like optional bosses in a way, so I'll just treat them as such.  The Monocorn itself is a very straight-forward enemy, since it only has like one attack. It can also cast a healing spell on itself sometimes, though it never got the chance here.  It's pretty strong, but we're used to dealing with stuff like this by now.  Not really much else to the Monocorn, really. Since it's a Wind elemental enemy, Mokka's spells aren't gonna be as useful against it. The Monocorn's level 13 and has around 2500HP.  End The Antenna it dropped is a fantastic hat that gives +1% MP Regen and +5 IQ for good measure. It's pretty great, but this is the only one we're gonna get for a while.  That in hand, we'll warp right back to Pizza by the fishing Brownie. Just gonna go north from here...  And we're at Honey Mint! It's kind of a shantytown, which makes sense really. Remember, Bena Rikashi is absurdly affluent and all.  Arugula is another name for rocket. Doesn't really match with Brioche, huh?  Stu's probably named after stew, though it's weird that it'd be normalised into a real name like that.  Oh and he runs the store. Of course we can buy Carrot Shakes here which are remarkably cheap, but only good for making our physical attacks better. Just gonna grab some equipment upgrades though.  Celery tells us... lore stuff. Huh. You'd think he'd have something else to say about that, but nope.  Blech! Aww, don't be like that, sweet thang!The guy called Carrot is the one that's inexplicably a womaniser. It's kinda oddly clever in a way, but it also feels very backwards.  Hutch breaks from the vegetables pattern, since he runs the inn you see. It's kinda clever like that, even if it is more of a general "do you get that they are rabbits" thing.  I'm going to save money and open a restaurant in Bena Rikashi. I'll serve up the most mind-blowing, savory snacks the galaxy has ever seen! Oh, sorry! I've just been talking about myself! Yappity yappity yap yap. Let's go see your friend. Follow me!Brioche doesn't really run very far, so we'll just finish looking around first.  Parsley of course is a nice, small herb. It's Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake with Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top! It's an OUTRAGE! I won't stand for this aggression!  When we are born and eventually die, it's like our souls are breathing this planet's warm, breezy atmosphere. Yeah... think about THAT.Cauliflower's oddly existential and is bringing up the Lifestream for some reason. Between this and the Tree that Celery mentioned, you might be expecting things to undergo a major shift very soon.  Just as the wind is the breath of the planet, the wind is also the sighing of our souls. Deep, huh?Romaine is a variety of lettuce that's better for you than iceberg lettuce and is relatively more tolerant to heat.  The all-knowing Twigadamus is out at this time. There's this large green crystal in Twigadamus' house, though we can't do anything with it.  And that's Honey Mint. Let's go talk to Brioche and finally catch up with Chai.  Sugar, is that really you? I... I missed you guys. Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. I swiped these from Space Police HQ. This looks like... a list of all the wizards that have been kidnapped by the pirates! Right. Now keep reading. Torta Sammich... Guava Joos... Lobsta Biske... See? She was piratenapped! There's just no way! She can't really be piratenapped. Wait, keep reading! Check out the name of the arresting officer! My database lists him as the Space Police's resident master of martial arts. So... HE kidnapped her? All I know is that he's the one who arrested her. But... why? Why would the Space Police be after Miss Madeleine?It seems like things were getting mixed up a little here, but the general implication is that Madeleine got arrested for [insert reason here] and then ended up captured by the pirates afterwards. That or the Space Police and the pirates are working together or something, but that'd be silly. We know that the Police deal with white-collar pirate crimes to the point of having an entire division for it! Sorry to barge in on your conversation, but are you guys OK? Don't worry! I'm sure Twigadamus will clear everything up. Twigadamus? Who's Twigadamus? He's the village fortune-teller. C'mon, I'll take you to him. Just wait outside for a bit. I have to talk to my dad first. As if they were actively waiting for their cue, Brie Pourri and Lt Mugwort fly in at this exact moment. Fantastic timing, that.  There's no running away this time, reptile. ACK! cresson is very obviously named after cress and is french for watercress  Chai! Lt. Mugwort, please deal with the others.   You little cheese weasels are subject to immediate punishment! Lt. Mugwort  Space Police Battle  So, right off the bat, Mugwort uses a special spell that immediately solidifies him as a tougher opponent than anything we've faced to date. (macadameus does not count obviously)  He moves Gren so that it's just before it moves into celestial alignment. Yes, he moves a planet. And positions it so that he maximises the time he spends benefitting from it. Turns out despite being an incompetent stand-in, Mugwort is clever and is kind of a difficulty spike!  Oh and yeah, he moves Gren because he's Wood elemental which means Lassi's not gonna hurt him much. That's fine though!  We're doing this during the day so Sugar can pick up that slack.  Like most enemies, Mugwort doesn't have much in the way of variety for what he can do. He... doesn't really need it though.  Briar Patch is a pretty drat strong Wood elemental spell. It has a 20% chance to inflict the Thorny ailment, which mercifully never proc'd on anyone. It just makes folks take damage at the end of their turn, but we don't have any way to cure it and we need to heal enough without it. The guard timing for this is when the thorns have shot off-screen, just before they come back down. The window for it is very, very tight though. If I missed it, Lassi would've taken over 200 damage and nearly been one-shot. Yikes!  So, uh, for reasons that'll make sense in a moment I'm gonna put her in the back row for the rest of this one.  That it helps her avoid this is a minor benefit, since hey Dancing Baby is a physical attack and all.  It's the least threatening thing he can do, and not just because it's single target. It's a nice reprieve when it happens, really. Guard timing is even pretty easy to get.  But that's not his only physical attack. Jungle Coaster's way more interesting and cool.  So, y'know how enemies sometimes use both screens for attacks and stuff? Mugwort's here to do it in style. Just casually uses the background as a giant slide, to build moment like a rollercoaster and crash into the entire party. Timing for this one is pretty tough too, since it's when he's transitioning from the top screen to the bottom which sounds easier than it is.  So, Mugworth has 2 pretty powerful MT attacks. Lassi's more in the backrow to use Healing Wing like this.  It's significantly weaker (front row version can easily recover over 3000HP at this point which is absurd), but it's MT so it balances out somewhat. Unfortunately, since the amount healed is dependant on how much MP Lassi has when she uses it, it's not something you can use every turn without it being a waste really.  The fight will probably take a while, honestly. So much so that we start the fight during the day and finish it at night! It really shows just how much celestial alignment makes a difference to damage dealt, huh?  Mugwort is a fantastic fight that I adore. He's pretty difficult compared to what we're used to, he will easily drop people if you're not careful (Lassi especially!), he has rad attack animations and he even gets a sweet battle theme. He's level 15 and has 4500HP for good measure. End That is not supposed to happen. Planets don't just... move!   Can't we work this out? These naive kids made a mistake, but they're just kids! Kids do stupid stuff! Can't you let them off with a slap Donation, eh? I don't know... These are clearly hardened criminals. But... Dad! You can't!Seriously, they bribed us with 2 bira! You can't bribe them back with 2 million! You be quiet, Son. This is all your fault! Wait. You did say two million bira, right? You've got to let 'em go! Sob... They're too young for prison! Sob... Sob... Can't you see how sorry they are?I'unno, if Mugwort's as good a fight every time I'd gladly do it again. Dad... Sob... Sob... No... Or maybe it's just the stench of this disgusting shantytown. Sob... Wahhhhh! ...Well, this ended on a thoroughly sour note. We should probably just go after Brioche, huh?   Why, yes, that is a stick that just walked into the scene.   The crystal showed me a fleeting glimpse of you cooking a fine flank in a world-class kitchen.That sorta raises the question of what "world-class" means when interplanetary travel is a common thing. There's a spaceport at Bena Rikashi, even! You... Really? Did you really see that? Well, if you say so... I wouldn't believe it from anyone else. I guess I do still have my dream, even if I don't have all that money I'd saved up. But what about Sugar's friends? The Space Police are after them! No evil can truly harm those with goodness in their hearts.    I love that Twigadamus is literally a fortune-telling sentient talking stick, as his name implies. But also that he has backstory reasons for being a stick.  So, uh... I can see your future. That is, if that's what you want. That is what you want, isn't it? Why don't you just step into my chamber for a moment?No reason not to, so let's go see how good he is at this.  It's something else that's really bothering you, isn't it? Something even more important? That's right! It's Miss Madeleine! She's gone! Madeleine, you say! Are you pupils of the great Madeleine!? You know Miss Madeleine?! Hehahoo! I wish! She's quite famous in magic circles! Some whisper that she even rivals Let's gaze into the crystal, shall we? Your future will appear in the swirling mists of the crystal ball. You may see many versions of your future at once... like drafts of a story. But they can help you decide the best story line. So, Twiggy here doesn't actually tell us our future? That's disappointing but at least we'll get something out of it I guess. Let's have a bit of a gander then.   So, there's something to do with the Space Police HQ and there's gonna be a treasure chest over by the fishing Brownie at some point. That wasn't there before, so that'd definitely be new.  Weave together all of the possibilities, and you will see a path emerge from the tapestry. Ahhh, yes. I nearly forgot. Take this with you. It will prove quite useful. That tome contains ancient inscriptions that will teach you how to alter the orbit of the planets. I'm sure bright pupils like you will learn much from it. Magic that can move the planets?! Whoa...Mugwort just did that. We've seen it before!  Then you can move the planets to a position that strengthens your magical aura. You can use a tome to teach yourself a spell as many times as you like. You will also find other books that teach you spells, so you should experiment with each. Were you paying attention? Have you got all that? Yes. May the cosmic wind flutter your sails and warm your cheek! Like Twigadamus said, the Sky Book is infinite use and we can use it whenever. Since Celestial Swap is sign agnostic, everyone can learn it. No reason to not do so right now after all.  Since it appears in the bottom-left corner of the stat screen in a separate section, it makes it clear that folks can only learn one unaligned spell at a time. We've only got Celestial Swap right now, so it's not a big deal, but if (when) we get a second we'll have to choose between them. Anyway, before we leave Honey Mint, we'll talk to Twigadamus one last time.  There, I viewed Madeleine being kidnapped by someone who called himself Master Kale. Maybe it's better if you do not learn more about him. Whaddya mean we can't know more about him? That's dumb! Kale does not live by your rules. He doesn't think about right or wrong or any shades in between. Sacrifice?! Why? I find this terribly alarming... With Kale, there is no asking why. No answer could satisfy you. If you intend to save your teacher, then Kale's reasons have no bearing on your rescue plans. There's no way anyone could think kidnapping is right! The universe will never yield its secrets to one who is consumed with these ideas of what is right and what is wrong. Why did he do it? Knowing the answer could plunge your happy souls into inky darkness. Remember this: "Know your own reasons. This is all that matters." You will save the one you love. In time.Twigadamus raises a valid point about why we shouldn't worry about Kale's reasons, it still feels like a weird copout. Ah well, we really should go and rescue Chai from the clutches of the Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Feb 14, 2019 |
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Nov 26, 2018 01:19
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Dragonatrix posted:
Seeing a little bit of a contradiction here.
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Nov 26, 2018 01:30
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Dragonatrix posted:Romaine is a variety of lettuce that's better for you than iceberg lettuce and is relatively more tolerant to heat. well, not always
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Nov 26, 2018 01:36
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I hate Lt. Mugwort. Mainly because he roadblocked me by one-shotting Lassi with Jungle Coaster and then beating up my main character with his melee attack. I tried a bunch of strategies but in the end it came down to being unable to guard against jungle coaster consistently. After 5 hours worth of attempts the coolness and neatness factor of the game was pretty much burnt out of me
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Nov 26, 2018 02:36
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Wait, is Chai male or female?
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Nov 26, 2018 02:59
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”Dragonatrix” posted:Romaine is a variety of lettuce that's better for you than iceberg lettuce and is relatively more tolerant to heat.
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Nov 26, 2018 08:49
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Yeah, uh, I may have written that a tiny bit more than a week ago... EponymousMrYar posted:I hate Lt. Mugwort. Mainly because he roadblocked me by one-shotting Lassi with Jungle Coaster and then beating up my main character with his melee attack. I tried a bunch of strategies but in the end it came down to being unable to guard against jungle coaster consistently. Yeah, that's totally fair. Mugwort is a fair bit tougher than anything else thus far, and he definitely caught me by surprise the first time too. Of course if you do Gren first then Mugwort becomes a gigantic joke.
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Nov 26, 2018 14:44
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| # ? May 5, 2024 00:45 |
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You might want to add that Arugula/Rocket is actually a plant, because until now the only "rocket" I knew of is the space kind! (It's another green leafy plant.) And a hutch, while being a rabbit home, can also be a cupboard dedicated to storing dishes, which is somewhat appropriate for this game.
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Nov 27, 2018 04:42
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