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a cartoon duck posted:At the rate this is going, all of Puffoon will blow up with everyone still on it to form a millenium gummy. The real millennium gummy was
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Jan 22, 2019 01:32
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So we have four of the millennium gummies now. Just gotta go to Puffoon, and someone's waiting for us.  You'd better go to the palace.We haven't been to the palace before, since we couldn't get into the entrance.  It's just north of Bena Rikashi, so we could have come here to get a Pizza warp. I even did, to make it more convenient to get back here during our first trip and all.  Now that we've been invited by the King seemingly named after the word "suspicious," we can just enter. I'm sure nothing bad could possibly happen.  One of the folks we briefly met at Space Police HQ is here as well! He got here for being really good at a minigame that we can't even play.  Where are the all-night dance parties? The bejeweled goblets overflowing with bubbling, liquid gold?  Inexplicably, the two Space Troopers here actually have names! They're named after weather phenomena involving wind, for some reason. Sure, why not.  Also hey Suspiro even looks kinda evil how about that. Anyway, he's not named particularly sinisterly. No, he's named after suspiro de limeņa - a Peruvian dessert invented by the wife of a poet, that has meringue as a key ingredient. Suspiro itself is Spanish for "sigh."  Hahaha! Jolly good! Don't worry, I'm not angry. I think it's quite amusing to see them all huffing about like outraged walruses! I have called you here because I need to ask a favor. Would you hear my request? Yes. The Space Police became very powerful thanks to his personal guidance. That must be brought to an abrupt end. It has to end. You see, the Space Police no longer follow my orders. I need you to... deal with him. Do whatever you must. Shame and defeat the villain. There is little point in saying it now, I know... but I fear I was never fit to be king. More than anything, I just wanted to make my kingdom strong. To leave a great legacy. I was so desperate to do good that I made the poor choice of associating with a very evil man. The least I can do is tell you everything I know about him. What would you like to know? How did you meet? He was a gifted and charming mage with a knack for politics. I heard he studied with Madeleine on Kovomaka. He had an easy time persuading people, and his followers grew by the dozens. But that isn't all you need to succeed in politics. He had enemies. They held grudges, envied his success, and ultimately tried to have him expelled from the palace. The tide of public opinion turned, as it often does, and he fell on hard times. Even so, he seemed dedicated to serving his country. He outdid himself in service, eventually regaining his place in the palace. But one day I looked at him and realized the light had gone out in his eyes. They were dark. Very dark. What does he want? I spoke to him at length after that, but I could not steer him away from his course. He controls the Space Police. I knew about his plan, but I was powerless to stop it. Millennium gummy? You will have to find the answers for yourselves. Do you know the village of Honey Mint? You should ask there. That's all I can tell you. It may be a world with a terrible history, of endless war and strife... but it's still worth saving!So, yeah, in a big ol' surprising moment, King Sigh isn't actually evil at all and wants to sort of maybe kind of hire us! To be heroes! Galactic heroes, even. Just think of all the rad exposure we're gonna get from a job like that!  So, we'll just warp on over to Honey Mint. Almost all the residents have updated dialogue, but a couple just... don't. Want a celery smoothie? No? OK then.  The wind millennium gummy, eh? You should probably ask Twigadamus about that.Biggest standout on this is that some folks just straight up do not recognise or remember us at all. How weird.  Although Celery still does remember us, which makes him stand out as well. By not being weird, he ends up being weird.  There is a huge shrine floating up there that was built by our ancestors. I think that mainly 'cause he didn't abbreviate our town name. Honey Mint White Caramel Fudgeflake With Melty Butter and Syrup and Whipped Cream on Top is a beautiful name! Yeah, Cresson just still kinda refuses to talk to us. I get that he might be a wee bit miffed, but it seems kinda silly at this point.  The shrine harnesses the power of the wind to funnel wayward souls there. Anyway, Twigadamus is like a thousand years old. He probably knows something useful!  The wind millennium gummy is sealed in stone and enshrined high in the sky. To get there, you will need to hear the call of the soul. I'm sorry. That's all I can tell you.So this random stick helps, but doesn't tell us anything useful either. Let's check out his crystal ball thing. It helped before after all.  And it does show us something! It shows us... a random bean on a plateau somewhere, near a yellow gummy worm. Doesn't seem like much, but it tells us enough to know exactly where it is. How useful it is remains to be seen, but we'll just warp on over to...  Master Macadameus (you'll get yours one day!), since the bean is right next to him. He does not acknowledge its existence in any way.  This is clearly a plant, so Chai can deal with it.   Ah, this'll work out nicely. We just had a giant in the previous gummy's plot arc, so I doubt there'll be one up this particular beanstalk.  Pizza's up here, of course, along with one NPC and the penultimate mysterious chest for the planet.  ...It, uh, it's easily the most skippable mysterious chest.  This random chick is the only NPC out here. His design is notable for being mostly unique (at this point)... outside the multiplayer content. Yep, that still keeps coming up.  I came here because I heard there were lots of gummy worms. They're pretty much my favorite thing in the world. But I don't see any. The only other thing up here is the entrance to our requisite dungeon. Yes, really. We're at the dungeon crawl this quickly.  So I guess it's time to take a break a-- Okay, yeah we'll just keep on going for now. We've got the... time.    Miss Madeleine?! What is she doing here?That's a fantastic question, and she didn't seem to notice us right now. Speaking of fantastic, most of the enemies here are in fact just... kinda not exciting. We'll be skipping most of them as a result, but there is one worth caring about here:  The Feather Vane. It is a sentient weather vane that fires arrows at you. It's Wind elemental. It's the best enemy in the area. So, we'll just be kinda ignoring pretty much every other enemy here unfortunately.  Plus side is that Sugar gets her fourth tier spell as well, rounding out the team. Prism Barrier gives us the, uh, Barrier buff which is immunity to both physical AND magical damage, albeit with what I'm sure is a lower damage threshold than either Shield or Wall.  So, this area is pretty linear but we'll still be doing the usual and checking out sidepaths too (where relevant). To that end, we'll be taking the right ladder here.  It just leads to some money, but that could be somewhat useful I guess. We have over a hundred grand at this point, so this doesn't make too much of a difference though.  The other route leads us all the way to a small outside area which lets us snag 5 blue frogs easily. Not much else of note here, so we'll carry on the one other way we can go.  Minor divergence here, so we'll take the ladder leading downwards first.  Lets us get a new helmet for Lassi, albeit one that's disappointing.  It does have +50MP which is okay, but it's worse for IQ than what we have in exchange for a bit of Agility. Not really worth it, in my opinion, especially since Lassi already has a lot of MP. So we'll head back and go up the other ladder...  We can find an inexplicable cameo from Bogard, an unimportant nobody from Sword of Mana (one of the most boring games in the whole Mana series)! ...Wait, hang on a second.  You don't look like mirages to this grunt! Umm, we're magic students from Kovomaka. Who're you? Me? I'm just a tired old dog of war. A ghost of the past. Sadly, that "grunt" doesn't really have much to say here. It's fine, though, there's plenty of stuff here. Healing Pot, MP Pot, Pizza and a putty pea. Seems a bit early for a boss fight too, doesn't it?  Fortunately, we just keep going here. The ladder up to the right leads to a dead-end with nothing in it. As a result, we'll head down and follow the path there to...   I just can't let you go any farther. If I have to, I'll fight you. You think we're just gonna pack up and go home?! Forget that. You gotta let us through! This area has been declared forbidden to the public. If the people knew the secrets this place holds, the Space Police would be finished. Yeah, but the Space Police are already a waste of space, aren't they? How can you say that? They need just a little nudge in the right direction. That's it! If we must fight, bring it on! Brie Pourri Space Police Battle So, we're already at our boss fight! This is going incredibly quick, huh? Much like some of her compatriots, Brie Pourri does have a gimmick that she likes to use in combat. Unlike the rest of the police, her Japanese name is not fish based! Her name there is Najo Dorugo, which does still follow the pattern of reversing syllables at least. Jonagold is a type of apple that was cultivated in 1953 by cross-breeding Jonathan apples and Golden Delicious apples, hence the name.  So, her gimmick is one that makes itself apparent very quickly. She opens with it, even.  She just picks someone on the front row and kicks them out of the fight for several rounds! She can send 2 people out of bounds like that at a time, even.  Beyond that, she just uses MT Wind spells. They're pretty powerful considering she has Aura right now and all. Sometimes she'll take two actions back-to-back and sometimes she won't.  She also has a physical attack. She kinda likes to use it twice in a row.  It's just a straight forward single target thing. It's not super exciting or anything, but it sure does exist.  If she picked Chai to use Cyclone Waltz on, I'd just reset personally. As you might have gathered from how he's temporarily switched places with Sugar, and how Brie has the same Aura as Lassi, Brie Pourri IS Wind elemental.  As a result, that means Briar Patch can just kinda destroy her. She only has 18,000HP even, so she's slightly weaker than Magnus Muzzleflash was.  End   Father? Father? I should be proud to see you after all these years, but look at what you've become. It's a disgrace. Father, no! I came here to see you! Hah. Don't you mean to arrest me?Uh, yeah, so turns out that Puffoon's second plot arc might just be a soap episode. I am oddly okay with that. Nobody's here to arrest you. King Suspiro has rescinded that order. I am here to ask for you to come back to the Space Police. We need you. We can change it, you and me. The king is different now. If you come back, I'm sure we can get the officers to change. You need a reality check, Brie. You don't even see what's slapping you clean across the face. There ain't a single thing you, me, or anyone else can do about that kind of corruption. No, Father! Don't go!So as the scene ends with ＧＥＮＥＲＡＬ ＫＮＵＣＫＬＥＳＴＯＲＭ leaping from the plateau, we'll give Brie Pourri a second to get over being ditched by her dad.  Puffoon's last mysterious chest is right here and it has... less money than the one we found before. Yep. Thanks, Puffoon. As far as I know, there are only two mysterious chests left across the whole (acknowledged) universe!  Anyway, where were we? Yes. There is nothing for you here. Go home. You tried to stop us earlier. What's up ahead that's so important, anyway? This doesn't concern you. Well, we're not after just any old gummy. We're looking for the millennium gummy!Brie Pourri is ostensibly our enemy. Why are we just telling her this? Millennium gummy? It's a naturally formed crystal gummy that contains extremely powerful magic. Yeah... duh.I guess it IS kinda weird that she didn't know this already, since the rest of the police seemed to. Doesn't mean we should be telling her though! There's nothing like that here. Huh-whaaat?!  Insect!?It does show a pan of Kale's lab back in Bena Rikashi here, but there's nothing particularly of note there. Could go back and look at it with actual content if you really wanna see it.  Only mentioning this because it's a screen-transition, which means it's night time now. What? Who? A woman. She looked a bit older than you. Miss Madeleine! Oh, she was your teacher? Miss Madeleine was here? What happened? It was... not good. Not good? What do you mean, not good? Biek Fowler? He is one of the most feared men in the galaxy. Now, he is the Space Police's master of martial arts. She may even have been more powerful, but her opponent was wily and fast. That dwarven armor probably didn't hurt either.I guess dwarven armor is just a thing high ranking officials in the Space Police get, considering Magnus Muzzleflash had it as well. Didn't help him in the end though.  They took her away. That's all I know.So now we know how Miss Madeleine got captured at least. She engaged Biek Fowler in honorable combat and was beaten, through Wily Tricks.  And as we continue into the second half of the Couscous Ruins, we get another scene that lets us see Madeleine and... Master Kale?!  You will find them on Razen. But they will go to the sun... eventually. The sun? I won't allow you to do that! Yes, of course, please make every attempt to save them. Then you too will be nothing but food. Food for the worm. Miss Madeleine! Beepbleepbloop... My sensors indicate that it is only a mirage. Miss Madeleine is not here.It would be weird if she was here, honestly. The Couscous Ruins do kind of have a clear time theme with its design after all. Plus. the chick outside told us that time piles up here. Guess we know what that means now.  Anyway, we've got some more dungeon to crawl through. The ladder to the top right leads to one (1) Wakey Tail. The top left ladder...  ...lets us get yet another Putty Pea. We'll be putting these to use eventually, I swear.  Aww yeah, Mokka got his fifth tier spell! Everyone's fifth tiers is a pretty powerful damaging move. They're also incredibly expensive and have a shared sort-of gimmick (that Chai really draws the shortest stick on). For an idea of how expensive this is, Mokka currently has 81MP max without using +MP gear. Bellowing Rock costs 80MP. Yikes!  We'll use it on something meaningful later, but the cost means that we can't just throw it out whenever want anytime soon. If we get to fight something Water elemental, it'll just destroy it though.  We're actually nearly done with the Couscous Ruins, and we finally get to properly see Biek Fowler! Albeit as an illusion that shows us a fragment of the past. Biek Fowler! You are the bait. Soon, more fools will come to rescue you. They will be drawn to you like children to peanut butter and chocolate. Ah hah hah hah buk buk buk! Did your master plan depend on me playing along? Because there's simply no way I'll let that happen!I can't believe this is the first time in this game we get to see Miss Madeleine do something! At all!  And she just casts Reverse Gravity! That's a 7th level spell! Hah hah! I see that you are indeed your teacher's student. Miss Madeleine! Sheesh, it's just a mirage. Don't get all fired up over nothin'! Just past here, we have an array of 9 ladders. 8 of them lead to... this room. It loops back on itself if you use any ladder except this one, the third from the left.  That leads us back outside again, where we can find another HP Pot and MP Pot. No Pizza here though, but this is enough to raise a question or two about this. We already beat Brie Pourri and she was a Space Police boss battle even!  Heading further into the ruins, we can find a random yellow worm at the end of the area. Huh, odd.  Knucklestorm! You bet we are. We're after the millennium gummy. And why are you here, huh? That's a lot of attitude, kid. Normally, I'd make you drop down and give me 150, but I like your spunk. I came here to warn you. You aren't safe. Just forget about the gummy and run. It's coming... Steel yourself, it's coming! It?! This is gonna be ugly... Hooooooooooorah! Brie! What are you doing here?! Leave this to me! Go back to the Space Police. Lead them back to glory! Brie! Stop talking gummy flop, girl! Get out of that armor! There's gotta be an emergency release! There's a button on the right shoulder! It's the emergency release! Hit it! Odd Beetle So, yeah, surprise, to make up for being really short, we have TWO boss fights in this dungeon! ...And neither of them is difficult!  Odd Beetle notably does not cast any magic at all. It's also almost entirely single-target focused.  It does have multi-target attacks but it's kind of gimmicky.  And this ties into it. In itself, Sleeping Cocoon is a bit similar to what Brie did before. It just takes someone and removes them from the fight for a bit.  But it's also a required set-up for its only other two attacks.  Which IS its multi-target physical one. It has a second MT attack that involves the cocoon, which does the exact same thing but destroys the cocoon and damages the person as it releases them.  Anyway, Odd Beetle has 18,000 HP much like Brie did. It's pretty much only noteworthy for being the first Light starsign boss! That does mean we can't just nuke it, but its otherwise kinda... just here. End  General... Brie... Why? Why? For me? Just... why... ... I've lost my best friends to war. My own king betrayed me. And now I lose my daughter... Huh?! Aha! Did you see his face!? The general looked surprised! Sir, yes, sir! Preposterous. What could you be thinking? Her marks are exceptional. She's on track to make general!  This is no longer any place for me. Wait! Father, don't go! ...  Omigosh! The millennium gummy! The wind millennium gummy! That's it!  What? How did--? What is this!? What's happening? I detect a pulse. Her heartbeat is returning to normal! What! WHAT?! Do you think... it's the power of the millennium gummy? The same scene kills off and revives Brie! Bam, gotcha, it was a fakeout! This really is just a soap opera. The only way it could be moreso was if Brie died for real, and then several   Brie! YOU'RE ALIVE!  And that makes five!  It's going to be like slogging up a muddy, enemy-infested land-mine-sprinkled hill in the driving rain. I know, Father. But we'll get through it, I promise.Best to just give them some privacy with this, I think. We've kinda overstayed already, really.  Miss Madeleine! Huh? It's... a mirage. It's like we're all seeing the same dream. Stupid mirage. I hate mirages! They're always gettin' people's hopes up! Let's get out of here. We need to go see Grenadine on Razen. This just hits too close to home.That sounds like a fantastic plan to me. We've finally completed our return trip to every regular planet in the solar system after all. Back to Grenadine we go, so we can fly into the sun!
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Jan 23, 2019 00:56
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quote:We can find an inexplicable cameo from Bogard, an unimportant nobody from Sword of Mana (one of the most boring games in the whole Mana series)! Rude. Some people like Sword of Mana! (Look, I liked it enough I tried twice to LP, okay? I may be slightly insane.)
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Jan 23, 2019 23:01
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Serifina posted:Rude.
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Jan 24, 2019 00:12
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Pico with the sick burn on the space police.
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Jan 24, 2019 19:53
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What a heartwarming planet! It's nice to have a planet without genocide or mass murder! 
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Jan 24, 2019 23:27
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Finally, time to go walk on the sun. And maybe meet some ogres that are like onions.
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Jan 24, 2019 23:28
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Holy poo poo, a king that isn't a complete douche (at present), AND no horrible sacrifices were needed? Neat.
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Jan 25, 2019 02:17
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Bellmaker posted:What a heartwarming planet! The millennium gummy arc has been a turn for the dark, but ending it this way on Puffoon helps show that happy endings are still possible in this universe.
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Jan 25, 2019 02:37
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Welcome back, everybody! I think it's time we formally begin the endgame and complete the Millennium Gummy Arc. It says we need to dock on the top level. Mokka, can you do that? Are you talking to me, Sorbet? Huh? Well, yes. Why do you ask?   Now I can build you a ship worthy of flying into the heart of the sun itself, straight on to Nova! Oh, eh... Did I tell you that part already? No? Well, the light planet's actually, eh, in the heart of the sun. It's like this: pretend the sun's a peach, and right at the middle, there's a rock-heard pit.I'm really not sure I like this analogy. Peaches, being a stone fruit, do have a pit and all. The thing there is that they contain amygdalin, which... if ingested breaks down into cyanide. That's Nova, surrounded by superheated pulp. Apparently they were able to fly through that pulp-plasma without any ship or protection at all! You guys, though, we gotta etherealize your ship and launch you into the heart of the sun if you don't wanna get cooked!As you may have expected, however, this isn't all that straightforward...  Because the pirates have decided to return and invade!  Right! Let's get the work started! And send a message to Cassia! Tell the dwarves there they are officially unbanished, and have 'em head back to Condimen Tower pronto!Can he do that? I guess he can, because he just did. Oh right, before we did get two unique pieces of equipment for Lassi. Might wanna put 'em to use here, maybe.  The Airy Sleeves that Brie Pourri dropped for us are really, really good. +10 IQ, +5 Agility and increased dodge rate? Don't mind if I do!  The Fairy Tiara might seem like a piece of equipment for Sugar, but it's just for Lassi again. +8 IQ and +2 Agility isn't bad at all, but the +2 Agility is considered its added effect, so it's a bit lacking. Basically combining these two ends up putting Lassi's IQ where it was with just the Star Ring, but she loses 2% MP Regen and gains 7 Agility. I'll just keep the Comsat Dish on instead of the Fairy Tiara, honestly.   The third otter here never gets a line of dialogue, since they notice the party here and immediately attack.  They're the same as they've always been, unfortunately for them. They have bigger numbers than before and I think the green ones are meant to be stronger than even the red ones... but there are no red ones here and the blues here are stronger than the reds we fought last time, so it's kinda just an arbitrary distinction.   (Cardinal) Those pirates are under the direct command of Kale! They're not just your run-of-the-mill pirates!(Aurore) And they've brought out their most vicious weapon, it looks like! Even if we can launch a ship, they'll shoot her down before we can make orbit! Someone's gotta take that weapon out!(Anglaise) You've got that right. Well, you heard 'em! We ain't goin' nowhere unless you get that thing out of commission! Sadly, we can't just take an elevator and skip all of this.  Every floor has a couple fights on it that are optional and respawn every time you leave the floor and come back. This is okay for grinding if you care (but they're worth sub-10EXP each already so don't).  The dwarves here do all have dialogue for while they're being harassed and also when they're safe. Needless to say, we'll save everyone at least once.  There's only two possible fights here, and they're based on whether or not the otters on the map are green or blue. Blue otters have this fight. That anchor is new and it does make that otter a bit more interesting...  Because it has a little quirk that it can sometimes do.  It destroys a random item! I think it's just healing items it can affect, though, and if you do a successful timed guard it prevents the sunder.  Other than that, they're not really all that different. Notable is that no otters here drop anything at all, unlike every other previous fight.  So those are the blue otters, but what about the green ones?  They're a bit worse because that guy has a fishing rod!  In itself that doesn't seem all that much worse, but it theoretically is.  The item destruction is inconvenient and costs us maybe a couple hundred bira at most. This guy just steals thousands outright. We cannot get it back from beating them down, either. You CAN prevent that with a successful timed guard, but there's no visual or audio cues for the timing NOR who's being hit, so good luck with that.  But they're not exactly difficult, so it's still not really that big a deal.  Anyway, let's just quickly rush through the rest of these guys. We don't need to worry about the fights from hereon in, since they're the same on every floor and their formations don't change in here.    We do manage to get Chai up to level 46, where he gets his fifth level spell at least. It's the least interesting one, in my opinion, but we'll see it eventually.  Just not worth using right now, since it costs 60MP. Which does make it the cheapest fifth tier spell, which is something I guess.     A bunch of kids come and beat the snot outta ya! This random dwarf has at least an unexpected bonus thing, that lets us learn one more pirate otter name.   What a happy reunion ...Shame it reverts back to combat as soon as we leave the screen, but we'll just ignore that.   I'm guessing it was science friction. We're done in the tower now, but as soon as we leave three final otters decide to pick a fight with us.  This is the only one that switches things up here and gives us two fishing rods and two anchors! That's about it, though.  Back in Macaroon, everyone's closed themselves up in the two regular houses that were empty before. They all have stuff to say for good measure... All right, it's not so much a story as it is food for thought. See, Grenadine's always saying that space doesn't exist. Me, I look around, I see stuff, and between me and stuff? That's space. But what do I know? Point is, we can't prove it one way or the other. But we gotta deal with it, because even if all this is just a figment of our imaginations, we still believe in it. It still has an effect on us. Are you following me here? You got a real glassy look goin' on... Anyway, the point is that space is, like, this big, scary void, and it's either somethin' or it's nothin', but we still gotta try to understand it. You know what I'm sayin'? And when you live a long time, you see lots of stuff. Nothing really shocks you, know what I mean? Anyway, what I'm sayin' here is that when you get to be my age, you don't really throw a fit over a buncha pirates.  Pirates, I can handle, know what I mean?...So why are you hiding out in here, then?   Just another day at the office, right? At least Mornay is honest about things. Some dwarves could learn something here...   Everyone says it. The otters had parachutes on. Well, that's that. Nah, I'm pretty sure Grenadine's not picking fights with anything except maybe physics. Nothing else for us here at Macaroon, so we're off to Paella! Gotta walk there, but it's not too far so it's not a problem.  Fortunately for us, Detective Beignet is here and is more than willing to help us out here.   Sugar, if you're going to strike, do it now!Yeah, the conspicuous giant open area to the west of Paella is where we should go. But first, there's a bunch of cops hanging around.  They're mostly just Sr. Patrolmen, but the dude in a jacket is new!  Crime Scene Investigators aren't really fighters, per se. They just use this to buff the Patrolmen.  I think it's meant to increase their evasion, but it works so well that I don't really notice a difference. The issue with accuracy/evasion buffs is that they deal with something that's luck based anyway, so changes aren't really tangible. I'm sorry, CSI man, but Sukukaja just is not that good.  The good news here is that the fights in Paella give really good EXP! So much so that it's kinda tempting to just give folks the Sage set and hang out here for a while. I'm not going to do that, but I nearly did. Nearly.  Pico gets his fifth tier spell (it costs 90MP!) just from the couple of fights I bother with here. Just gonna rest at the inn for a hot second before we run over to the west...  Parfait's here now too. She really gets around the galaxy, huh?   Parfait! I'll act as a decoy! You guys go after that Space Police monster! What are you talking about? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Humph! Clearly, you've never seen me in action! Dang, Parfait is stone cold and just killed a cop. Well, if she didn't we would have. I get it... She really is the cat's meow. OK! We're going, too! We'll just thread around all these guys, since they're all fights and I can't really be bothered to fight more than I need to. They'd just respawn anyway.  (2) It's 16 degrees right now... A little low, but it'll do! So, uh, our boss fight for this particular area is making a surprising entrance here, before eventually returning for Mother 3! Cybersaurus; Space Warden Disappointingly, this does not get the rad Space Police music. Oh well. The Cybersaurus is a dinosaur that is a cyborg. This is objectively awesome and cool. Also it's very strong and powerful.  Like usual, this is offset somewhat by it preferring to use single-target attacks. Also like the Odd Beetle from before, it can't cast any magic.  It has a few physical attacks to compensate, and this one seems like it might be an MT one.  It's not. It's just a single-target that's harder to block, since it's not obvious who's being targeted. I gambled on Sugar here, since it kinda hated her a lot and all.   We'll get to the Warden in a second, but if we take him out the Cybersaurus replaces his attacks with MT ones. Cry of the Soul is a really cool name...  For what is just Yell But Multi-Target. At least this one can inflict Defense Down pretty often, which makes this thing even more dangerous.  The Space Warden is pretty much just here as a support role. It uses weaker-than-normal Red frogs to heal the Cybersaurus for 600HP.  And, uh, that's basically it. He does have this other skill called Domination that presumably does something but what that is, I have no idea.  It seems like it's probably meant to be a buff of some kind, but... it just doesn't make any difference at all that I've noticed.  Mostly it's just used whenever he gets hit, and it's better than him constantly healing the Cybersaurus at least.  The Space Warden is mostly therefore just kinda here. He's Light elemental, has 8000HP and will run away if he's left alone. That's a problem because the money here is all from this guy. The Cybersaurus meanwhile is Dark elemental, has 20,000HP and is the real threat by far. Still, best to just get rid of the Warden first, both so he can't heal the Cybersaurus and so we get paid. Oh, and the entire reason I didn't grind Sugar to her fifth tier spell here is because she has to be level 52 for it. That'd take a bit too long for my liking and it's massively overleveled for this too. End I hope Parfait's OK...As tempting as it is to warp to Macaroon, we can't right now and that's for the best anyway.  We'd miss that while we were fighting a dinosaur, Parfait beat up every cop! All of them!  She's pretty tough, even without magic. We should get going! The dwarves must have finished upgrading our rocket by now. Fortunately, Parfait knows that Beignet is not a Bad Cop so he got to live.  What!? We finally properly get to meet Biek Fowler ourselves. It's taken a while, but here we are. Face to face, at last. So, we have a traitor in our midst... You shame the Space Police with your actions. Oh! What in the world? It's Biek Fowler, finest fighter in all of the Space Police! Yes, Pico. We all know who Biek Fowler is. We've heard a lot about him. We've even seen a mirage of him not that long ago! Leave this to me! You all go back to Macaroon! No! Sorbet! We're staying together! Don't worry about me... Go quickly! Oh my God. Sorbet, please. This is really not the time! ...I know that's not how depression works. Sorbet is (to the best of my second-hand knowledge) a really good depiction of that, in a way. It's just unfortunate that being really well done makes it feel annoying when it flares up at the worst moments. Like, say, right now.  Stop saying that!! Watch out!! Ah ha ha.. So, that dwarven armor is not all it's cut out to be, I see... Very interesting. Heh heh buk... Fortunately for us, Brie's had a change of heart after reuniting with her father, dying and being revived. She didn't seem all that evil, really, to begin with though her brief appearance with Mugwort didn't help her much. Remember that guy? He's too low-ranking to stay relevant, but him being a comedic recurring figure would've been nice in the second half of the game, huh...  Anyway, Brie's not really here to help us fight Biek Fowler. Oh no, she's here to help us escape. Probably for the best, considering he's one of the strongest people in the galaxy.   Tell those dwarves to hurry up! I'll hold Biek Fowler here, but I don't know how much longer I can last! What do you mean? I mean this isn't the time for idle chitchat! Now get moving! I wonder if Parfait is safe... And that policeman, too... I hope he's all right. I suppose it is time we got this party under way, is it not? Inside Condimen Tower nothing is different from before, so we'll just skip up to the top of the tower.  The whole Space Police army is heading this way!(Moutarde) Condimen Tower will stand strong, no matter how big an army we face!(Tyrolean) There must be, oh... 2,000 of 'em at least. Tough as Condimen Tower is, I ain't too confident it'll stand against an army of that size.(Smitane) Wait, how many? Are you serious!? Oh hey, Rogan Josh is here now. His timing could have been better, admittedly...  But there is no reason to fear. Your next destination is waiting for you. You are not to worry about this place. This situation will be dealt with. Oh, it seems the work is done. Rightio! She's all finished!! Where is Sugar!? Ooooh, ah! There you are!! Well, that makes things easier! Come on, this way! Nah, you don't gotta worry about us. Look, we've got Rogan Josh, and he ain't small potatoes. He's one of the top ten--well, maybe top hundred--magicians in the whole Baklava system. ...Hopefully Rogan Josh can at least manage to hold off Biek Fowler for a while. I'm not expecting him to last super long, unfortunately.  Oh, I did mention "recurring comedy bad guys" earlier...  However, it does have quite an interesting design flaw... I hope for your sake this isn't another one of your tricks. The cover opens up for a short time And if it doesn't work? Listen to me. These children are more powerful than you realize. Do not attempt to face them head-to-head. Best to set a trap for the and watch them squirm. You haven't answered my question. What if this "design flaw" of yours doesn't work as advertised? Well... Just hope it does. Otherwise, you know what they say: the brightest candle burns twice as fast. And you will be very bright indeed. "Hope" it works? Fat lot of good it does me if it doesn't, friend... I've wasted enough time on this. Get to it! Sure enough, Caldarroste just climbs onto our ship from the outside just before we take off. He's hanging on tight...   We've got to help Miss Madeleine get back to school! Of course. Anything less would be suboptimal. ... But everything's different now. When we get back, I'm the only one of us who's not going back to school. Once this big, crazy adventure is over, you're all just going to forget about me. Nahhh, not a chance! Just because you're not going to be at school anymore doesn't mean we're gonna stop being friends, right?A good question, though one that doesn't get answered right now. It's hard to believe that we're seemingly so close to being done, but we've finally made it. We're going to land on Nova at last... Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Feb 2, 2019 |
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Jan 28, 2019 00:20
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This is one of my favorite RPGs (I think it was one of the first I bothered to play all the way through) and I'm super glad it's getting LP'd. My last playthrough was stifled due to a misplaced save, though. It's so good.
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Jan 28, 2019 03:02
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Dang it Sorbet, just pay the drat school fees yourself. Just pawning a single piece of your equipment would probably suffice
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Jan 28, 2019 13:49
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Slaan posted:Dang it Sorbet, just pay the drat school fees yourself. Just pawning a single piece of your equipment would probably suffice Or get the King of of the wind planet to pony up the school fees as reward for saving the solar system or whatever. We know Brie Porri's loaded. Alternatively, the whole lot of you are probably graduating from magic school one way or the other after this. Either with honors for saving all the wizards, or with demerits because you've been absent for so long.
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Jan 29, 2019 00:14
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Space Pirate Otters: still great 
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Jan 29, 2019 01:40
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EponymousMrYar posted:Alternatively, the whole lot of you are probably graduating from magic school one way or the other after this. Either with honors for saving all the wizards, or with demerits because you've been absent for so long. It would have been fine, except we all forgot to ask for a hall pass before leaving.
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Jan 29, 2019 01:42
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Magic Detention, once again I'll go get my quill 
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Jan 29, 2019 03:23
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Slaan posted:Magic Detention, once again dude, just enchant a whole box of quills, knock those lines out in no time, and then sneak out with us and throw bang berries at the sidewalk next to the playground
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Jan 29, 2019 03:32
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 It's taken a while, but we've finally made it all to the way to Nova. Or, as it's alternatively known... Nova. As you probably already guessed, Nova is clearly named after the astronomical phenomena.  As soon as we land, Caldarroste climbs off Neumann and runs away. Oddly enough, it is still possible for there to be a night time on Nova. Complete with it being dark and everything. This is clearly just so a Dark starsign main character is not left in an unfair situation and all, but it's still funny to think about. Just don't try and figure out how it makes any sense.  Devouring... the sun? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You saw what happened in Couscous Ruins, didn't you? Don't you remember the insect that ate those gummies and then gave birth to the wind millennium gummy?I feel like that's an incredibly generous interpretation of what happened with the Odd Beetle but sure. If you say so, I guess. Hey, check out the brain on Dr. Science here! What? So I did a little extra homework. What's the big deal?Sorbet has explicitly stated at least twice before now that she read the Book of the Darned. I don't know why she's suddenly being so coy about the whole thing. Ooo... Extra homework? I don't like the sound of that. I don't mind telling you, this is all a bit too much for my floppy ears. We should get going.I agree, we should.  We'll talk to the Broker in a bit. First, there's some stuff on the ground here.   Dancing Fruit are disappointing, because they're almost all dead so none of them are given names. Not even the living ones.  This also means most of them aren't worth talking to. There's some exceptions though.  They've all been crushed, and now they're dead! So we'll just take a moment to talk to Bear. He has some good stuff for sale!  Namely some great new equipment. The Planet Ring is the only piece of arm equipment with a higher IQ boost than the Star Ring, and for a lower price even! We'll buy 3 of them (the third is for Mokka, since the Gaian Brace isn't really great). Heaven Boots are the only other thing here of note, and they're Very Good. +1% MP Regen and +10 Agility is fantastic. Buying 5 of these, so everyone can have a pair... except Sorbet. She's keeping the Sandals; losing 3 IQ and the Critical stat boosts for 1% MP Regen and 4 Agility is not a worthwhile trade.  This is also where the only Mysterious Chest on Nova can be found, by the way.   You are welcome to visit our palace, but you may only look at it. You may not enter. Incanda is an unusual name, but it's most likely derived from "incandescent." You are free to look at it from outside.Well, with an offer like that how could I possibly refuse.  I'm worried about the seeds in my belly! I hope they're not hurt! Waaayaiyai!  corona is a beer sure but it's also the name for the field of plasma that surrounds the sun Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to get into Sparklin Palace. We'll just have to leave the palace grounds and begin our proper exploration of Nova, which means we're off straight south.  What's going on here!? Beeboobeebobeep! It was an explosion! There has been an exceedingly large explosion somewhere nearby! Are you serious!? An explosion!? What's going on here!? Ooooh! I hate loud noises, and all this shaking upsets my stomach!Alright, so before we explore any further let's wrap up the few noteworthy enemies!  There aren't many of 'em, though. As you might expect, Nova is mostly filled with Light elemental enemies. There are exceptions, however, but they're hindered by the fact that they... don't get turns. Whoops. The little monkey digimon with a heart wand is the interesting thing here. Their name is Marilyn.  They cast Light spells, which includes Love Shower. The multi-target healing spell we last saw on... Cassia when a Hula Dog as casting it. Yep, really.  The wood mage at the back here is the only other thing particularly noteworthy rihht now. His name is Jamari and he's Wood elemental.  That he drops Holy Incense is really what we're after here. It's an accessory.  Specifically, it's an accessory for Chai and it gives +3% MP Regen, +3 Defense, +3 Spirit and gives Spirit Up when Chai has Aura. Yeah, just Spirit Up not even Trance. Actually that reminds me!  I totally blanked on the Loincloth that we got from Magnus Muzzleflash (rest in pieces). It's for Pico and has an underwhelming +5 Power. It only gives Trance when Pico has Aura as well, so he doesn't even get a stat boost! Arguably he does not need one, but that's not the point.  During our trek, Sorbet hits level 48 and gains her fifth level spell. The name does not make it immediately obvious what she summons, but if you think about it you can still guess.  Similarly, Lassi hits level 49 and she gets hers as well. It's the most straightforward of the bunch with what her summon is, I reckon. This just leaves Sugar without her final spell, but we've still got a ways to go for that one.  Anyway, Nova is a big ol' open area that is very straightforward. There's a chest with 5500 bira to the west of where we got the previous cutscene, but other than that we just head south a lot.  After a bit, the path turns east and we find many Dancing Fruits.  They all run past us and we'll just keep going where they came from for now. We could double back to talk with all of them, but we'll do that shortly.  First we have this Brownie to talk to. A lot. He says every single line as a new text box. That we have to talk to him again to get. It's a bit tedious, but I did it anyway.  an otter... an enigma... and a wizard... went together... to the east... into the sun's navel... It's a cave... Its real name... is Phunnel Pit... They went there... I saw it... They seemed... so menacing... Yeah... That's... not so good, huh... I mean... you guys... sure are persistent... Well... That's that... and this is this... It just keeps going...He says at the exact moment where it loops back around to the beginning again.  Ah well, let's take a moment to enjoy this shot and how we can see Sparklin Palace from here. It looks pretty neat at least.  Further east from there, we find a path leading around to the north but if we ignore that for a second...  We can find a free Star Ring. Bit late, but it might be nice all the same. Probably not though.  Also Grenadine's here now. ...Wait, what? There you are! We been lookin' for you. You're OK! Well, yeah. I mean, I'm here, ain't I? And Condimen Tower's fine, too.(Bechamel) Mm-hm.(Worcester) We protected it, we did.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) You got that right. (Bechamel) You heard the man.(Worcester) Ain't no lie.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) Real problem, that. We're gonn try and run 'em off and keep goin'!(Bechamel) Push 'em right back.(Worcester) Yeah.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) 'Strue. But... ehh! It's nothin' ta worry about!(Bechamel) Yep.(Worcester) Nuttin' at all.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) Ain't no worry. We etherealized a convoy of pots and dwarven ships!!(Bechamel) 'Strue.(Worcester) What he said.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) Aw, yeah. Hey! I got an idea!(Bechamel) Mmyah.(Worcester) Yep.(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) Yepyep. (Bechamel) Mmyah.(Worcester) A piece o' his mind!(Oyster) Hayup.(Gravy) Right in the eye.Well, that sure was an... unexpected schtick for the dwarves from Port Pescato to have now. We'll follow in a second. First, we'll set up Pizza here...  ...grab these frogs and then warp back to Neumann for an easy heal.  Oh and all the Dancing Fruit that ran away from that cave are hanging out here. That's probably sorta important too. I was so sad to lose my dear friends. There's a big hole in Phunnel Pit now. I don't know what's happening. Now there's nothing left for us to do but dance. Some dark humans trampled on my friends and then left. We'll be fine, though, don't you worry. We have seeds. There's nothing left to do but dance, dance, dance. Two seeds lie in the heart of the sun. One is light, and the other is dark.Something tells me some of their lines are more important than others. Ah well, healin' up and warping back to were we just were.  So we can head on in to the Phunnel Pit. It's, well, it's not a dungeon. Not really. It's three screens long and there's no treasure or anything.  There are new enemies but the Golden Bat is the only one that matters. Because it's so fast it goes first (before even Chai and Lassi!) and casts Blinding Light which is a slow animation MT attack that has a high chance to inflict Blind.   As promised, at the end of Phunnel Pit's corridor there is a giant hole in the ground. It sure is a pit! (Bechamel) Yup. Sure looks like a deep hole.(Worcester) Yup. Fall dwon there, and there won't be no reason to waste time lookin' for ya, that's for sure.(Oyster) Hayup. That's one deep hole.(Gravy) What we've got here is a real pickle. Before we can even consider what the deal is with this gigantic hole, some pirates decide to turn up. I'm sure this is fine.  And ye think ye've got the steel to stop Master Kale? Well, ye be too late by far, so mnyeh! And with that, I say... good day! Disappointingly, the unnamed pirate otter means he's going to sacrifice himself and his buddies by trying to fight us. For some reason. It's just the same fight as when we left Condimen Tower.  (Bechamel) Yup. I heard him!(Worcester) Talkin' 'bout the dark planet. The dark planet?(Oyster) Hayup. Listen, do you kids ever sit around and get all philosophical about stuff? (Bechamel) Nah. Never thought much about it.(Worcester) Well, that's yer problem right there. Ya gotta think more and talk less!(Oyster) Hayup. So, here's the story. There's a planet inside the sun, right? And that's where we are right now, you follow me? But it's really sorta like two planets: a planet of light and a planet of darkness. Yeah, so, the thing is, the balance of power between 'em is always shifting.(Bechamel) A dark planet? (Oyster) Hayup. It was written in the accursed Book of the Darned. The two worlds share space, but you can find a passage between 'em.(Bechamel) What, this hole?(Worcester) Yup, that looks like the one.(Oyster) Hayup. Yeah, I'm purty sure this here's the spot. I mean, just look at it! You fall in there, and you're yesterday's beard wax.(Bechamel) So, uh, what, we got nowhere to go now?(Worcester) Yeah, yeah.(Gravy) It's like a big ol' checkmate starin' us in the gob. Well, I hate to bring it up when we're (Bechamel) Oh, yeah, you mean... Wait, who?(Worcester) Who?(Oyster) Who that? (Bechamel) Whoa, yeah? So, think she'll help us?(Worcester) Let's go track this queeny down! We'll persuade her to help us outta our predicament!(Oyster) Hayup!(Gravy) Yeah, yeah!Whew, okay, so now we're off back to Sparklin Palace to see if we can somehow get in I guess. We can't warp back there right now, though...  Mostly because en route we see a buncha ships flying here! Are those... They almost look like dwarven ships...One of them is shaped a like a teapot, so I'm pretty sure that one's from Paella. Grenadine DID tell us he etheralized both potfolk and dwarven ships after all. Now we can warp back to next to Neumann. This'll bring us nicely back to Sparklin Palace...  (Radia) It is by order of the queen. The queen's word is absolute. Wait, the robots are here? That can't end we--  Oh! The spiny moles! Their triumphant return!   And we hear you have need of a master digger, do you not? (Asiago) Huzzah for King Gorgonzola!(Havarti) You can do it, Kingy! ...I, uh, mean Your Majesty! My liege, promise me you will be careful! Hmm... Ha! Yes! We are ready! Ready to dig!One swift fade to black later...  (Worcester) Look at that... That's the power of unity right there. Yeah.(Oyster) Grenadine! Grenadine!(Gravy) Tell the queen what's what!! Give her the business!! Quiet! Shut yer traps! This ain't the meal hall back home, ya jerks! I'll follow Sugar's lead on this one! Hey, mole honcho, you're down with that, ain'tcha? We are indeed, my brusque little friend! Lead on, Sugar, and we shall follow! King's Road is... it's important. That side path with an "x" on the map? It's empty right now, but something will be there later.  But that is then, this is now. Sparklin Palace seems pretty large, but most of it is stuff we won't be getting to just yet.  So we'll just wander around talking to luminites.  Oh, yeah, this is what originally made it really obvious (even to me!) that the light people on the light planet are named after things related to light.  Our planet must seem tiresome to you, who have seen so much in your journeys.  It will work only when the whole planet's energies are channeled into it. The Starway? What's that? Think of the Starway as a bridge that connects the planet of light to the planet of darkness. Whoa, hey! That's it! That's perfect! That's what we'll use to get to Shadra! I had already thought exactly that, thank you. So, it's off to the dark planet then! See? That's what I'm talkin' about! Except for that bit where you rubbed it in my face how smart you are. I mean, jeez! I do not know what's happening, but nobody else needs to know that. Pretend that I know all, please. The Starway connects the planet of light to the planet of darkness, but I do not think it works anymore. Suon, embarassingly, took me a moment to realise that they're named after the Sun. Whoops.  Nothing but evil can come of this, though I hope it is not so. Gather the honey of the earth in a silver cup. Set a red fire to the white candle. The bird alights on the wind and finds a forest seed... This old luminite song inspires all who hear it. Perhaps it will help you in your time of need as well.I dunno, as a song it seems... really bad. If it worked for luminites, then it worked for luminites I guess.  There's a bunch of doors in the main antechamber, but three are useless right now. Let's go meet the queen!  Although she has been gone from us for nearly a hundred years, her presence still fills this room. Wait, what? All this nonsense, and she's not even alive anymore!? ... In a sense. She is no longer with us. She returns only in the intervals between lifetimes. At those times, we must follow the customs exactly as they have been handed down to us. That doesn't make any sense! Can someone explain to me what all that effort was for!? We cannot open the Starway for people from other planets. This, the queen has decreed. She also said to give her blessing to those people who come here. Those were the words she left us. I now grant you access to all parts of this palace.Hm, so the luminites can't directly open the Starway for us... but the implication here is that if we open it, that's totally fine. We just gotta figure out how first.
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Jan 30, 2019 01:45
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(Oyster) Hayup. Oyster seems very agreeable.
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Jan 30, 2019 02:16
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What is this name referring to?
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Jan 30, 2019 18:38
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It's a mnemonic for the optical spectrum - basically the reverse of Roygbiv
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Jan 30, 2019 18:41
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I twigged on it being the rainbow in reverse, but I didn't really make the conclusion that it's also the optical spectrum. Clearly I don't remember high-school science all that well any more. Vil posted:Oyster seems very agreeable. Hayup.
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Jan 31, 2019 13:59
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Isn't cyan suppose to be in that spectrum?
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Jan 31, 2019 14:51
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Mraagvpeine posted:Isn't cyan suppose to be in that spectrum? Probably, but then you couldn't say Roy Gee Biv. For similar reasons, indigo really doesn't belong in there, but it makes the thing pronounceable.
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Jan 31, 2019 15:30
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cyan isn't a spectral color usually though I'm not exactly sure on the mechanical reasons of why.
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Jan 31, 2019 16:31
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So what's the betting pool on which character dies only to be revealed to be the queen of Nova?
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Jan 31, 2019 16:54
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a cartoon duck posted:So what's the betting pool on which character dies only to be revealed to be the queen of Nova? It's totally going to be Mokka. (probably Sorbet)
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Jan 31, 2019 17:19
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"you can't enter the palace" "oh, you've entered the palace anyway. by breaking a hole in its floor, no less. we have no problem with this"
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Jan 31, 2019 18:42
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fluffyDeathbringer posted:"you can't enter the palace" No no, the rule was that no one but Lumites could pass through the door. The orders said nothing about not letting non-lumites dig a hole into the palace in clear view of the front door. Their instructions were very clear.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:24
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Ryushikaze posted:No no, the rule was that no one but Lumites could pass through the door. The orders said nothing about not letting non-lumites dig a hole into the palace in clear view of the front door. Their instructions were very clear. Likewise, the lumites can't start the starway, but if you do it that's OK.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:54
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a cartoon duck posted:So what's the betting pool on which character dies only to be revealed to be the queen of Nova?
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Jan 31, 2019 21:59
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Yeah, the lumites feel to me like they were given instructions they don't really like, but also don't want to (or can't) disobey so they're following them to the letter.
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Jan 31, 2019 22:05
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I got the impression the queen just left them intentionally contradictory instructions like "don't let anyone enter the palace" and "show hospitality to anyone who enters the palace" and they're just kinda winging it from there.
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Jan 31, 2019 22:29
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Welcome back, everyone. Today we're gonna see if we can't open the Starway and get to Shadra, the Dark planet.  Long time, no see. What are you doing here? Yeah, why are you here? The fortune-teller said it was time for you to face the final battle, Sugar... Farina and I fought our way through a lot of pirates so we could be here. ... Yeah, well, what do you want, a cake? I mean, we've done plenty of fighting ourselves, y'know? Wow, you two are really quite a pair, aren't you... I would do anything to make up for it. So now, I am begging you. Please, let Farina and me fight by your side.There is technically enough space in the formation for two more people. Just move Sorbet to the backrow so Durum can punch dudes, and Farina drops Explosion elemental magic. Durum... Thank you for the offer. But we can't take you with us. Ahh... I thought you would say as much. Then we will support you from the shadows. Farina and Apitos should be able to help you well from afar. ... Durum and co. take up residence in one of the two rooms on the ground floor. It was empty before, so it's as good a room as any. Before we explore the rest of the palace, we'll go visit them in there.   Farina fought off those pirates, and our elder yelled "We're going off into space!" all crazy-like. We hopped in some beat-up old spaceship that we stole from the pirates. so we sent out an S.O.S., and the dwarves came to our rescue. That's how we got all the way out here. They gave us a ride in their ship. And that's just the short version! I wouldn't be surprised if someone wanted to buy the movie rights for our little adventure. Farina, as always, is Farina and so she opts to not talk at all.  So we'll just head on to the room next door, then. Glow here lets us past now that we've gone and talked to Filament, which is nice. The basement is the only place explicitly opened up as a result.  And we'll get to it in a second. There's another ladder here leading further down...  Which leads us to the Starway! A strange door that doesn't visibly connect to anything on a floating platform.  Beyond the door is some strange machinery. I guess it makes sense that the Starway would be a mixture of science and magic, since that's been a recurring trend.  In its own chamber at the end, there's this platform with five spheres representing the five regular elements. Helpfully they're all labelled for convenience.  Can't do anything there right now, since the Starway isn't open and all. We'll head back to the basement of Sparklin Palace and enter the room on the south-west.  Every room here contains a strange pot with unusual markings, a pair of statues and a mural of the Sun. If you recall that song that Vigbyor told us about, it's a clue about what to do in the basement. But that's one random NPC in one room, so that's not perfectly ideal or anything. The murals also tell us the solution in their own way. Each one has a colour in the Sun's rays that correlates with one of our starsigns. This one's white, and the statues are holding mirrors...  Which means we have Sugar use her Wild Magic. This just makes a sphere float in the pot (they all do this), and we get to see a short flashback...  ...of Master Kale talking to someone about Nova. In this case, he's taking to Principal Biscotti, so this is presumably from way back when he was a student. He says there's a beast in the middle, eating the gummy sun from the inside. Eventually, it will devour the entire sun. This is just a fairy tale, isn't it? From there, we'll just follow these around clockwise. This room has the statues holding candelabra and the Sun's rays are a shade of red that blends in with the wall which means Pico gets this one.  And our flashback this time is, appropriately enough, from when Kale was on Razen. And is talking to Sorbet. Huh. No one else can bring back order to the world. My way is the only way to restore perfection... Next up we have statues holding what are clearly bowls. This one could go for either Mokka or Sorbet, really, becuse Vibgyor was not clear about this. The mural comes in handy, though since it's a light shade of brown.  Apparently Kale spent some time on Erd and spoke to Rogan Josh about getting to Nova. Huh, you'd think he would've mentioned that, though it does explain how Rogan Josh knew a lot about the stuff on Razen... Whoever made this must have thought the same way. A great yogart guru designed this apparatus. You do know that, don't you? He escaped to Cassia after the war between the brownies and the Espresso civilization. There, he opened a magic academy. I'm carrying on his great quest: the renewal of the sun.Even though Kale didn't explicitly namedrop Craaken here, we do know that's who he's talking about. Ambergris Prep was founded by Craaken (as Parfait told us originally) which means that he was also a yogart practitioner, interestingly enough.  Next room we have what is clearly the "silver cups" alluded to in the song, so the "honey of the earth" must be water. Plus the mural has very clear blue rays, making it super obvious this one is Sorbet's.  And this means that we get to see a time when Kale was on Cassia. In this case, he's in Ambergris Prep's library, talking to Parfait. Every day you draw breath is another day you draw closer to that endless sleep. It's a step toward the inevitable cycle of destiny. Or is that not death at all? What's the point of a life spent in constant fear of death, spent trembling instead of embracing life's wonders?It's not a particularly common (or even necessarily good) way of showing the villain's motivation and plan, but parts of what Kale has to say during these flashbacks is... hard to disagree with. Key word being "parts" though.  Next room bring us to a pair of statues that the song never really told us about directly. The flowers are pretty telling, though, as are the green rays in the mural. Makes it very, very clear that this one is for Chai.  Apparently Kale never went to Gren, though, since this flashback brings us back to Will-o'-Wisp Academy. He's talking to Miss Madeleine in the room where we found the rockets, so this is probably back when he's a student. Underneath all that searing-hot plasma, I hear there's a little planet. But I doubt you can get there with any ordinary rocket. This brings us around to our penultimate room. The statues here have wings and the mural is the most Sun-like with yellow rays. Between both the decor and process of eliminaton, this one has to be Lassi's.  Which means we get to see a segment of Kale's time on Puffoon, when he was talking to King Suspiro. If we do not prepare for the coming of the new sun, the Baklava system could be destroyed. And yet here you sit, doing nothing.It's not the most extensive flashback, but it still tells us that Kale's primary motivation is... he does not want the solar system to be destroyed. Huh.  The last room has to be for a Dark starsign character. Even if the statues weren't skulls and the mural didn't have purple rays, we'd know this from every other starsign having been used. This presents a bit of a problem for us, though, because we can't have both Light and Dark. Well, technically there is a way but it's not guaranteed and requires using the multiplayer function and filling the entire Tag List with 100 unique characters. Yeah. That might not even actually work, since I don't know if the Egg characters even have Wild magic. Or what starsign you get from that, even. It might just be the same as your main character for all I know.  Regardless, we can't do anything with that. Fortunately, there is this set of doors in the middle of the basement's main room. The other door is shut and can't be opened, but the symbol makes it clear that we'd need to be Spice for that one anyway. The open door on the other hand...  I was getting tired of waiting! The door did that on its own! So, uh, this is weird. Sugar is now a Traveling Putty (which raises some interesting questions on its own) and she's... Dark elemental. Huh. We can't do anything combat related with that, though, since Sugar won't leave the basement like this.  Might as well take this moment to see what everyone else is up, while they just stand here waiting. What are you up to... Sugar... I feel kinda weird all of a sudden... Sugar!! Are you OK!? Sugar, where are you? We'll just return to the easternmost room then. Use this here Dark Wild magic to, uh, light up the final pot.  This flashback brings us back to Puffoon, where Kale is talking to Parfait. In Kale's lab, even. This does explain how Parfait knew that Kale had Ambergris Prep's copy of the Book of the Darned, that it was in his lab and where to find it. Under this new sun, all things will change. All things will be made new. Do you know what that means? The Starway Now that we've empowered all seven pots, like we were implicitly told to do before, the Starway begins to activate. This makes it really clear that part of it is seemingly an orrery, which makes sense.  As the machinery starts to turn, the five spheres by this dais all begin to brim with magical energy.  Even Nova itself begins to really live up to its namesake.  The magical power of the Starway seems to give it an increased gravitational pull, since it moves all the other planets along their orbits...  Until they're all aligned directly with Nova in a straight line. End Meanwhile, back in the Sparklin Palace basement, Caldarroste finally bothers to do something.  Caldarroste! What did you do to Mokka!? Ha ha! Hey, don't look at me like that, friends! I din't do nothin'! See ya! Hey! Come back here, you filthy otter!  That otter's a real weasel! What's he got against us, anyway? Beeboobeeboobeep!! Wires crossed!! Motion relays... short-circuited! Can't move! He sure knows how to make a quick exit. Mokka, are you OK? He says he can't move... Yeah, that a look-see over here! This line's been cut... Mokka, are you OK? Does it hurt? If only one wire's been cut, I'm sure we can fix it ourselves pretty easily, don't you think? What have you done!?  Yeah! I guess everything's under control. I don't know if I shoul be grateful to you for fixing me or embarrassed that you've seen me without my casing. Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about! Just be glad she didn't cross the wrong wires! Semoline's still helping us, even now. I guess she'll always be with us...I'm not sure that's how Durum expected the clip to be used, but I don't think he'll argue with it.  Before we see what going back into the open door here now does, we'll talk to everyone else again. Hmm... Doesn't look too good, does it? I can't believe he followed us all the way here! What an awful otter! Oh, I swear, if I ever get my hands on that otter, he'll be opening clams with his toes! I have a bad feeling about this...Alright, so now we'll go into the open door here...  ...Which returns Sugar to normal. Finally! I was starting to worry that you'd bailed on us! Enough! Let's go already! We're not going to get anywhere if we keep standing around, are we? With the Starway now activated, we can see a purple glow coming from the ladder just above it. It's a nice visual change.   Why are you here!? Ehhhh heh heh heh buk buk buk... So, you think you can use the Starway to gain access to the planet Shadra, do you? I think not. You are fated to die. Here and now. Ehhh heh heh heh bukAWK! Don't count your chickens before they're hatched! We'll scramble you for breakfast! Eh heh heh... This planet and dark Shadra will be under Space Police control in no time. But come, let's see your futile last attempts at resistance. Biek Fowler Space Police Battle So, Biek Fowler is the final member of the Space Police we've got to get past. The master of martial arts. The dude's name is a chicken pun and he even looks like a European rooster. Naturally, then his Japanese name is Bie Maruku which... follows the Space Police trend of being seafood. Reverse the syllables and it's "kuruma ebi," which is a type of prawn found primarily in the Indo-West Pacific.  I don't normally post official art much, but it's noteworthy here because it ties into his role as the master of martial arts. Despite being a top-class magical duelist, what makes Biek Fowler dangerous is that he can and will punch a hole through you. Effortlessly. He is maybe both one of the hardest and yet one of the easiest boss fights, because of this.  He's really good at both Physical and Magical attacks, so having folks with low defense up front is a bad idea. Hell, having Sugar up front is arguably a bad idea.  The big downside to Biek Fowler's combat style is that of his four moves (and also Celestial Swap), three of them are single target. To make up for that, he always gets two actions in a row. Yikes!  Oh and yeah, like his Aura here let us know, he's a Dark starsign combatant. He sure liked to focus on Sugar for understandable reasons.  Shadow Die's an easy enough spell to block, but between Aura and a weakness it'd still deal more than Sugar's max HP through a timed guard. And this is only the tier 1 Dark spell!  Dazzle Darts is the, uh, it's the tier 4 Dark spell. There are a total of two enemies that use it, and Biek Fowler is the first. He uses its multi-target variant which...  Mercifully for us makes it garbage. It's 10 hits on random targets which do very, very small damage but each hit has a chance to inflict a random debuff, along with a 20% chance to inflict Curse, because it's a Dark spell. Curse is what makes this really bad for us, though, as is if IQ Down hits Sugar.  But that's the only real weak move Biek Fowler has. His trump card is this. Lotus Barrage is maybe the single most powerful attack in the galaxy and it is unique to Biek Fowler.  Yeah, so uh, I wasn't kidding about Lotus Barrage being probably the single most powerful attack. He is all but guaranteed to hit the damage cap with this on Mokka, never mind anyone else! And that's with Defense Up and everything for good measure!  So that's Biek Fowler. A very powerful foe, but with the advantage of having "more people" he's incredibly takeable. Good thing too, because he captured Miss Madeleine by being a cheater and definitely killed Beignet on Razen, so getting revenge for those is incredibly cathartic. He only has 20,000HP but still ends up being one of the more difficult and also more fun fights we've had. If he had more MT attacks (that weren't garbage) he might be unfair, so that's a really good weakness. End How did you grow so strong? B-buk... bukawk! Y'know, I'll settle for him running away after getting dunked on by a bunch of school kids. It's a pretty terrible look for one of the strongest people in the known universe already.  So, those boots he dropped. They're... they're not great. They're only for Mokka and have +3 Defense and +8 Agility. That's not too bad, but they're competing with the Heaven Boots and they just lose out. That he gets Defense Up and Agility Up when in critical HP isn't really enough to overturn that. It's not even a great pair of buffs for Mokka, really. Definitely not gonna bother using these, then.  With Biek Fowler dealt with, there's nothing else stopping us from getting to the Starway proper.  Hey, I figgered as much... This must be that passage I read about in the Book of the Darned! Now, this here's some real sweet machinery you've got, boys. Real sweeeet. Despite what Headmaster Sturgeon told us, we didn't find Miss Madeleine here. One could argue that one flashback counted, since he did say we'd "see" her but that's... being very generous. Since we know Kale's gone to Shadra, odds are good that Miss Madeleine is there with him and the rest of the wizards. Yes. Cool beans. I'll just keep an eye on everything from this end if ya don't mind. An' remember, with me and the boys at the rudder, so ta speak, you don't got nothin' to worry about.  Whoa, wait... Deal? Is something not working? Chill out, man! We've come too far to let a little hiccup get in our way now! Now don't move!! I've fully dislocated the dimensional buffering layer! So how's about you just hang tight and let Poppa Grenadine sort this out? Oh... my... Ah great. Biek Fowler decided to come back at the worst possible moment. Can't really do round 2 right now, but if he does step in here to try and grab us, he'll be torn in half. Jesus christ, just saying that out loud makes it sound horrifying. Well, I promise you that they will hang... buk... and I will be the rope that chokes them! BUKAWK! The world of darkness will devour you whole! Buk... You were stronger than I had expected... H-he's here... Hey, Grenadine!! Wanna hurry that up!? Your gripin' ain't helpin'!! Just shaddup and hang tight!! Beeboobeeboobeep!! Energy feedback detected!! Danger!! Danger!! Grenadine! Stop this machine! We have to fight him! That's a real bad idea unless you want to make this trip real short and real deadly, so just sit still! Listen to me, children... Madeleine's so-called pupils... This world will perish... be it a year from now... or sooner. Surely you can see the world's descent into darkness? And that darkness will take the world, mark my words... buk... The end comes because of an idiot king and his foolish subjects. Master Kale... will have... buk buk... his way!! Huh? Who cast that spell!? And Durum's with her, too! So you needed a hand? I had a feeling you might, and we came running!! What's this? Don't touch that! Oh man, this sounds even more terrifyingly dangerous with every new thing that Grenadine tells us about it! Wait, I think I've got this figured out!! Just a couple of ticks, and you kids are off to the dark planet!! So you're finally going, then. Durum... Unfortunately for us, Biek Fowler isn't quite done for just yet. He starts to flash an ominous shade of red, as you do. What is it!? Explosives detected!! The signal is weak but clear. I detect powerful explosives! Whoa there! What? Explosives?! Where?! I hope you're joking!? No way! Biek Fowler's shell! What in-- Durum?! Huh? What do you mean? Durum!? Durum!! Duruuuuuum!!! Goodbye, Durum... !!!! We don't really have time to dwell on this right now, though. We're off to Shadra!
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Feb 1, 2019 08:48
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Said the man who faltered so hard a young girl killed herself to the kids who made enemies of both terrorists and the police without a second thought. At least he went out with a bang, I suppose.
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Feb 1, 2019 21:59
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and now Farina is without anyone who gives a drat about her.
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Feb 1, 2019 22:02
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Robindaybird posted:and now Farina is without anyone who gives a drat about her. Maybe she can go to magic school and become the protagonist of the next game. Nearly mute and explosively violent, sounds about right.
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Feb 1, 2019 22:38
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gently caress yeah
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Feb 1, 2019 23:10
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Maybe she can go to magic school and become the protagonist of the next game. Nearly mute and explosively violent, sounds about right. There's a lot of really cool creepiness to what Farina does that would be lost if she was a main character, honestly. A third game would be awesome, though. It'd be cool to have it on the Switch, especially after Octopath Traveler showed that it can work real well.
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Feb 3, 2019 04:17
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The game's built up Biek to be an unstoppable badass the whole game and he doesn't disappoint The fight shows pretty well that Madeline didn't stand a chance one-on-one.
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Feb 3, 2019 04:41
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