Capitalism is non-negotiable! Let's play Recettear

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Capitalism is non-negotiable! Let's play Recettear

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Oh heck yeah, Recettear LP. Love this game, even if I never finish it because the later dungeons are tedious bullshit and getting any of the high-tier fusion weapons or armor is *excessively* tedious bullshit..

I have a bit of a bad habit when playing this, that is, missing the debt total for the week by about 150pix because I accidentally splurged a little too much on the new shiny weapons in the shop. (Or accidentally forgot that only Louie is free.)
"I literally have 49,000 of the 50,00 payment, and my shop is full to the brim with items worth several thousand each, can't you take one of those instead?"
"No, gently caress you, go live on the street."
My first time 'round, I did get duped by Tear's bullshit tutorials, though, and repeatedly failed due to breaking my chain.

Omobono posted:

Bigger budget is an understatement.
One of the most hated customers is the grade school little girl, because she has an allowance of like 100 pix and she will try to buy the 10k pix sword she can't afford and thus break your combo.
Level her up and she'll buy a 100k gold chalice as a gift to grandpa on her allowance. Actually buy, with actual cash flowing into Recette's coffers.

I never understood the hatred for the little girl. Stock up on a bunch of candy. She will, without fail, buy some candy every time you open the shop. Level her budget up to insane levels within days. She and the old man are my best customers.

Scalding Coffee posted:

Getting Adventurers to equip items you want can be such a pain in the rear end.

It is the worst thing in this game yes. This game really should have had a "recommend" or "gift" or "please for the love of god take the fancy god drat dagger it has been sitting in this shop for 3 weeks" mechanic.

Slaan posted:

Louie was the only adventurer I was really able to use. None of the others seemed as easy to use.

My first run through of the game I used Charme a lot, primarily because A: She had the ability to run, and dungeons are such a dang slog, and B: She was the only one who bought her damned weapon.

Crystalgate posted:

Anyway, it seems to me like the adventurers would have been better off partnering up with each other and take turns doing the monster fighting and being safe in the force-field, then just split the loot 50/50. I have no idea why they need the merchants.

My guess is A: Regulations�, and B: the Merchants are the only ones who can supply them with high-end gear, and anyone caught trying to get one over on them would find themselves blacklisted. Union politics are cutthroat.

Truthkeeper posted:

As much fun as evil capitalist fatcat Recette memes are, I blame Tear for this. Recette's all "You're such a big help I'd like you to have this so you'll be better protected from the slimes!" and Tear swoops in all "NO! ADVENTURERS PAY FULL PRICE!"

loving faeries! :argh:

_____________________________________________

Truthkeeper posted:

Okay so I (and a lot of other people) overstated the issue with customers wallets in our griping. Normally, a customer�s budget won�t impact a sale, because customers on their own won�t pick out something they can�t afford. This mechanic is where the actual problem is. A customer will ask for an item category (an actual category like �swords�, a more general category like �weapons�, or a descriptive category like �something to keep warm�, and you have to provide an item that fits. They�ll accept any item that fits the request, even if they can�t afford it, and it�s your fault if your reasonable request price breaks the bank. And of course the game never actually tells you what a customer�s budget is, it�s up to you to figure that out yourself. It does tell you when their budget increases via some hearts floating above their head, but that� s only helpful if you play video games like I do with a wiki open on your other monitor at all times. This is why we hate that little girl with such passion.

Everything else there is correct, but it's not that customers will only pick something that matches their budget, it's that their budget isn't calculated at all when it comes to items on the shelves. I've had housewives come in and ask for my <<+5 Sword of Demon Smiting>>, and gladly pay the cost, and then the next day turn up their nose at me for the sheer gall of breaking their budget by offering them a moderately priced <<Bowl of Pot Roast>>.

Truthkeeper posted:

Is something wrong, ma�am?

Oh, just wondering what to do for dinner tonight.

Wrong face on the second one.

Truthkeeper posted:

Did a barrel kill your mother or something Tear? I don�t like whiskey either, but this is bordering on a grudge or something.

I'm going to imagine this is a roundabout joke about faeries in zelda getting shoved into bottles. Tear doesn't like them because she tried to tutorialize to the bartender about proper shelf optimization, and he shoved her in the nearest empty barrel for an hour or two.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2018 10:42

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 07:41

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Glazius posted:

It was a different housewife. There's like three copies of each generic NPC out there and their wallets all level up separately.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2018 04:13

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

My assumed ages for the characters was:
Reccette: 12
Louie: 16
Tear: Faerie equivalent of early 20s?

# ¿ Nov 18, 2018 22:53

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

zonohedron posted:

And I also really enjoy that the reasons customers have for buying an item are randomized totally separately from the random choice of item...

"I need to sell my prized heirloom ham sandwich" is still the funniest loving part of this whole game

# ¿ Nov 22, 2018 03:30

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

CommissarMega posted:

Nah, my vote is for the housewife bringing along a schoolgirl uniform and saying "I found this in my husband's wardrobe. How. Much."

Ahahahaha

fun fact: in my last run, the only people who wanted to buy the schoolgirl uniform were Louie and [unseen yet male adventurer] (Caillou). Which is both hilarious - because now I can't not imagine them crossdressing - and the perfect example of how damned frustrating it can be to get characters to buy the equipment you set out specifically for them, only for them to pick out something completely different.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2018 09:38

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

� I� � We should get home, then.

I think this is the first time it�s been established that Tear is living with Recette right now. On the one hand, this is rather sweet, Recette being so happy to have somebody, anybody, at home.

On the other hand, this means the mafia enforcer is constantly looking over her shoulder, ready to end things and seize the house the moment Recette isn�t dedicating her every waking minute to paying back the debt.[/i]

See, I always read that line as "Tear is reminded she's basically the mob, and feels really guilty about this whole situation, because the girl she's extorting won't even be mad at her about it."

Truthkeeper posted:

Rather than his bidding farewell to poverty, I fear we will be bidding farewell to him. In a casket.

Louie� you kind of remind me of� � Papa�

There�s a ringing endorsement.

Truthkeeper posted:

Some of you guys were harping on me for hating Tear. But never forget that Tear will give Recette the boot the second she fails to pay by even the tiniest amount.

And this is how it ends for Recette. At least she�s got a nice big box to sleep in. Plenty of leg room.

was crushed by the cruel bitterness of reality. Waaaahaahaaah� Why�d it have to end in a box?!

Ah well, it was a fun try, but I guess that�s the end of the LP. Clearly I�m just too horribly incompetent to properly play this game.

Oh hey, it's the ending I got the first time I played this game! I saw it 3 times in that run, lol :downs:

# ¿ Nov 23, 2018 14:02

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

And then there�s this rear end in a top hat.

Caillou's a character who manages to both be a giant rear end in a top hat, and (in some of his later in-town appearances) surprisingly adorable. Honestly, I kinda just want to noogie him.

...but seriously though gently caress his fetch quest, I have to run that dungeon like 4 times to get his damned items because the RNG hates me. And the items are pretty cheap, so you don't even make a profit from all the time you have to waste getting them.

Truthkeeper posted:

No amusing quips, this time I totally hosed up. And so back to start again. Last time, I promise. Probably.

Zedd posted:

Really enjoying the LP, especially since your experience so far was p much like mine. I understood Tear's advice sucked fairly early on, but I still kept investing too much in stock/plot and kept missing deadlines. .
Regarding the character you dislike most I'm not sure if you imply Alouette or Euria, they both got under my skin for different reasons.

Euria is terrible because she breaks your chain, but her cutscenes are all pretty great. Allouette is great all around because she's an idiot with too much spending money. :10bux:

# ¿ Nov 24, 2018 23:24

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

zonohedron posted:

I dunno, I'm always concerned that an adventurer will buy something technically better, but not what I want them to use, and lose the thing I sold them, so I typically bring everything with me. Not a great use of inventory space, but it makes me feel better.

if they pick out something you don't want them to have, just jack up the price to 500% and take the hit for that time slot

# ¿ Nov 26, 2018 09:09

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

T-man posted:

how do slimes see without eyes

they do have eyes though!

# ¿ Nov 27, 2018 00:16

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

The Update posted:

Rich customers asking for "metal things" is the most broken god drat thing in the endgame and I love it to death. Those who've played this game already should know why. because you can sell loving vending machines to people

# ¿ Dec 16, 2018 00:45

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

I mean, deliberately squeezing every possible penny out of your customers is in the spirit of the game, after all. Capitalism, ho!

# ¿ Jan 9, 2019 21:03

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

The Sandman posted:

Vending machines.

still slightly sad they patched out the bug that let you stock vending machines with more vending machines

# ¿ Jan 17, 2019 00:14

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

The fusion mechanic

Oh hey, that. The worst part of this game. Occasionally I want to replay this, and then I remember that it's a thing, and I hate it so much.

Truthkeeper posted:

In this case, fusing an iron armband with five insect traps of various + levels made a Maiden�s Bracelet +3, being significantly better than the bracelet that went into it, but not as good as the ones I can currently buy, because I focuses on grinding my merchant level instead of lots of dungeon runs.

And here's one of many reasons why. Not only are several of the fusion items worse if you have access to higher-tier stuff, but in order to fuse stronger stuff, you need your merchant level up anyways. By the point you can fuse stuff better than the current marketplace stock, the marketplace stock has gone up. For the entirety of the story, fusion is worthless.

But then, in the post game, surprise surprise, fusion goes from "basically worthless novelty" to "if you want to beat the final dungeons, you're gonna sit here and grind, motherfucker." Because in this game about being a merchant, you can't buy half the weapons in the game. Every single weapon recipe is [rare item from chest] + [10 rare drops from a monster who only spawns on 5 floors]. You'll spend hours trying to get one of the post-game weapons, and not even one of the last post-game weapons. (Which are, generally, [crafted item] + [rare drop] + [rare drop]) It's more grindy than Disgaea, and that game is built around grinding! :argh:

Blaziken386 fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Feb 4, 2019

# ¿ Feb 4, 2019 17:13

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

But� it�s yummy, right?

Of-of course it is. S-silly plebian�

Still pretty sure Recette is smarter than she lets on. Also pretty sure she�s only putting up with Al�s poo poo out of pity.

I like the idea that Recette is both humoring Alouette, and also trying to goad her into admitting that she's eating gross crap because "it's an expensive delicacy."

"Rich people are dumbasses!"

# ¿ Feb 28, 2019 23:42

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

zonohedron posted:

I don't remember who you think the worst character is. Is it Ms. "Ha ha I have the prices of everything memorized and I want to buy it at 0% markup" or Ms. "Hi, do you want to waste money or make a customer sad? Pick one!!!"?

it's less "do you want to waste money" and more "she attempts to rob you by trying to sell obscene treasures at 300% price"

she has some of the funnier cutscenes in the game, though

# ¿ Mar 6, 2019 09:46

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

My favorite adventurer is hands down Griff, but he's literally the second to last one you can recruit

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 09:40

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

just had a run of this game where I basically had a recession during the final week of debt collection. Clothes, armor, weapons, metal, precious items, etc. were all decreased in value, so I couldn't sell anything.

and then I forgot that bad end NG+ starts you off with $1,000, not however much you had left. I still had a decent amount of stock, but I lost $280,000, in addition to Recette's house. :negative:

# ¿ Apr 18, 2019 07:13

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

I love that, through the power of trade unions, an 11 year old girl can freely trade artifacts and merchandise outlawed by the church. Socialism, ho?

# ¿ Apr 19, 2019 06:06

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Question: is there any reason to do the boss-rush mode of dungeons? It would be worth it if it guaranteed a boss drop, but most times, you get nothing from the bosses, and no drops/treasure chests from doing 5-10 floors.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2019 22:04

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

Particularly if you're the kind of person who's okay with save-scumming.

Fair enough, I always forget that's an option. The past decade of games auto-saving has trained me out of abusing that sort of thing.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2019 04:17

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Cyouni posted:

Playing through this again, I forgot how slow Louie feels in comparison to Charme. Also some price increases are amazing when they line up correctly.

That sword's something I grabbed from the dungeon that isn't purchasable. Suffice it to say, I am now quite a bit ahead of the curve on the way to the next repayment.

speaking of lovely, lovely synergy

# ¿ Apr 28, 2019 06:36

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Voting for Tielle, because I used her a bunch on my recent playthrough, and holy heck strong ranged attacks are useful when you're generally poo poo at dodging. Also, I love characters that're both tiny & adorable but also capable of extreme property damage.

maybe that's why Recette keeps selling her sweets - she's even MORE destructive on a sugar rush :eng101:

# ¿ Jun 12, 2019 10:52

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

i used charme my first playthrough both because she could actually run, and Louie's slowness was aggravating as hell, and also because she was the only character who would buy her drat upgrades :shepicide:

yes louie I know that halberd is very shiny but are you sure you don't want to buy the sword sitting right next to it, you idiot

# ¿ Jun 12, 2019 23:59

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

I actually really like the scene here with Griff. It's a nice contrast to a lot of Tear's dialogue - instead of being in control, she's speechless. Instead of being prideful, she's having some of her worst shames exposed in front of her friend(?).
And then, while she's unable to defend herself, Recette says "None of that matters, she's my friend, gently caress off." It's nice.

Plus, I just like Griff in general. It's hard to tell how much of what he says is him being a demon, him being an activist, or him being overly dramatic.

the update posted:

Illegally forced you to work as a child laborer to pay off a debt you weren�t legally responsible for under threat of taking away a home she probably couldn�t legally seize?

in the context of this scene, I don't think it's entirely fair?
This conversation kinda implies that one of the reasons Tear follows the orders of Terme Finance so rigidly is because she's been raised to believe that "Making trouble for humans" (ie: not doing her job) would lead to some serious punishment, either from her human employers, or from parts of the fae government not happy with one of their "diplomats" painting them in a bad light. It also makes the ending where Tear quits her job at Terme to stay with Recette, even if she's too prideful to admit that's what she's doing, much more poignant. :shobon:

the update posted:

Has anybody actually played Chantelise?

I did! I never finished it, because the fishing/secret items requirements were getting a little annoying, but I enjoyed what I played. I like that "sometimes people get cursed and turned into faeries" is a thing that routinely happens in this world. I've been meaning to play it again at some point, and it's one of the games that I'd probably want to do an LP of on here, if I ever had enough time.

The Devil Herself posted:

You. :argh:

(while terrible from a gameplay perspective, I actually like her alot as a character. She's funny, especially when she gets pissed off.)

# ¿ Jun 17, 2019 08:57

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Section Z posted:

"I, Recette Lemongrass, will order louie to punch you right in the dick. For friendship"

Complications posted:

They carry over. It's easier to list what doesn't, really. Money, shop size, you lose dungeon-clearing access to any adventurers you don't have true cards for until they come back in the story, and anything still in a vending machine though you keep the vending machine. It's the reason that the power gaming strat is to buy up as much inventory as possible before looping back either by NG+ or game over - you won't keep the money but do keep the inventory.

I thought shop size stayed the same? I don't remember getting kicked back down to a small shop, but maybe it doesn't in the bad end?

# ¿ Jun 17, 2019 20:36

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

man, no wonder Griff hates humans, if even the smallest among them are secretly so bloodthirsty when it comes to capitalism

# ¿ Jun 30, 2019 00:03

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Truthkeeper posted:

Some of these are nearly IMMPOSSIBLE to!... How the flippin� flapjacks did y� Ah, well, ahem! I seem to have greatly misjudged your store, madam fairy! Please accept my most profound apologies.

Okay, I've never seen this scene because my dungeon RNG is terrible and I never have the items, but that's adorable. :allears:

Assuming this goes into NG+2, my vote's gonna be for Caillou just for that.

Truthkeeper posted:

You know, it's times like this that I'm really glad you can set the price as whatever. You want a shittier weapon Charme? Gimme a hundred thousand to even consider it. :argh:

# ¿ Jul 5, 2019 16:05

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

JosephWongKS posted:

Elan is the one person in this game that has less money than Louie, so you do the math.

at the very least, he and Tielle are stupid easy to get their customer rank up so they actually have a budget - make it light, put candy in the windows. Tielle buys it because she has a sweet tooth and a sugar addiction, Elan buys it to give to the orphanage kids.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2019 01:56

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

I really, really wish there was an post-game shop that sold some of the dungeon items. Make them ludicrous prices for all I care!! Make them not have any bonuses!! Just don't make me trudge through the same 10 floors over and over and over again for loving earth crystals!!!!!!!!!!

# ¿ Jul 6, 2019 19:36

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

nielsm posted:

Or even let you put up "items wanted" posters in your shop, e.g. replace a counter with a noticeboard.

see, it's ideas like this that make me wish Recettear had mods for it. But apparently, modding indie games is practically verboten in japan, and Recettear's following over here is even smaller than it is there, so we're condemned to pray to the RNG gods until the end of times.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2019 22:16

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

CommissarMega posted:

Well, I think that Tear was looking for any excuse she could get to stay with her new best friend

no this is pretty much explicitly what it is, Tear is a massive tsundere and has too much pride to admit stuff like that

# ¿ Jul 8, 2019 20:10

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Random_Username posted:

The worst part is that the dungeon loot is designed just right that you probably wouldn't savescum. Trying to get slime liver really early for Caillou? Sure, reset until you get it, it's the first boss. But what if you're grinding Boss X who is halfway through a boss rush? Oh he didn't drop anything? Well sure, but you did get some slime liver and charred lizard, so I guess you might as well finish the run and cash those out.

It's the same reason you don't just ragequit when you die in the super dungeons: You can still bring back 1-3 items.* Recettear makes you live with your shame.

*provided your adventurer actually buys the upgrades and those free slots aren't for holding the +1 Sword of Asskicking and Armor That Isn't Made of Cardboard

# ¿ Jul 11, 2019 20:54

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

mauman posted:

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but a character won't EVER (or if they do it's really rare and I've never noticed it) bring something up for sale that they can't cover with their potential budget. This is why it's important to capitalize on orders.

Honestly, this is a good thing as it prevents you from having to deal with either losing profit or losing combos when you're just trying to meet the weekly loan repayment. It just happens to be annoying when you get the final stretch and you're trying to munchkin your adventurers.

Elan, Louie, and Tielle have the issues here the most. Tielle will grow out of it eventually (her max budget is surprisingly high, not high enough for end-tier stuff of course).

why, developers

# ¿ Jul 11, 2019 23:47

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

i think the real lesson behind this game is that capitalism is soul crushing, and it hates You in particular

# ¿ Jul 12, 2019 00:00

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

nielsm posted:

Busy? Lost interest? I really want there to be more of this.

he's in debt to the faerie mob

# ¿ Sep 7, 2019 19:41

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 07:41

Blaziken386: Jun 27, 2013; I'm what the kids call: a big nerd

Personally, I think the real highlight of the stream is Recette calling out Griff for being a massive, massive dweeb.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2019 21:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Capitalism is non-negotiable! Let's play Recettear