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Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!


7th Dragon 2020: Sympathy for Chisa Inomiko
(an LP EOV Anniversary Project)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNlKNddRDmM
Watch the game's opening movie here.

What's 7th Dragon?

The 7th Dragon series is the weird offshoot brainchild of Kazuya Niinou, the director of a game you might have heard of called Etrian Odyssey (and none of its sequels). Both series, as a result, are create-your-own-character dungeon crawlers. Where 7th Dragon stands out is its heavier emphasis on storyline and characters, and starting from its second game (this one), a unique sci-fi aesthetic to contrast with other, more high fantasy dungeon crawlers.

Oh, and also, only the last of the four games in the series ever got an English release, so barely anyone has heard of the series.

Okay, then what's 7th Dragon 2020?

7th Dragon 2020, and its sequel, 7th Dragon 2020-II, are the second and third games in the series, forming a duology with several recurring characters and mostly the same gameplay, barring a few additions in II. Since they essentially tell one continuous story about the same people, this LP will be covering both games.

Why do the protagonists look different from everyone else?

This is a narrative LP—since the protagonists in the original game are silent, blank slates, in the grand tradition of dungeon crawler LPs, I've taken the liberty of creating a cast of characters who will be going through this story with you, the viewer, and acting as the heroes. I dearly hope you'll enjoy their stories as much as you do the game itself.

The art for the characters is wholly custom-made, by the amazing Kat Langomez, AKA KiraKiraKat, whose Twitter you can find at this link here.. Thanks, Kat. Appreciate you.

Chisa seems a little familiar.

You may recognize some continuity from a previous LP that I helped on: Etrian Odyssey V. I would, of course, never ask my audience to read an entire other LP to read mine, but if you have read it, you'll likely recognize some continuity and references here and there. It's that LP's fourth anniversary, you know. Happy birthday, LP EOV.

Who are you?

I'm Kinu, and I'll be your host through this game. I'll also be joined by my cohost, Rea, the author of the aforementioned EOV LP.

Basic gameplay commentary will be formatted like this.

My personal comments will be formatted like this.

Rea's comments will be formatted like this when I'm not using her commentary like some sort of freaky flesh puppet.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

-2020: Chapter 1-

Update 1: The Murakumo Entrance Exam
Update 2: The Dragon-Elimination Strike Team, Murakumo Unit 13
Update 3: Matte! Black Bullet (Tokyo City Hall, 1)
Addendum 1: Chisa Inomiko (Unit 13's Captain, Class: Samurai) Tactical Overview Part 1
Update 4: An Express Delivery (Tokyo City Hall, 2)
Update 5: Women of War (Vs. Warcry)

-2020: Chapter 1.5-
Appendix B: The Boy's Got Wings (Regarding the Events of Eight Years Ago)
Update 6: Tiny Village in the Desert
Update 7: Dancer in the Street (Shibuya Flowersea, 1)
Update 8: SKY and the Others (Shibuya Flowersea, 2)
Update 9: Working Today, Too
Update 10: Smash Up! (Shibuya Flowersea, 3)
Update 11: The World Beneath Your Feet (Kokubunji Subway, 1)
Addendum 2: SATSUKI (Unit 13's Treasurer, Class: Trickster) Tactical Overview Part 1
Update 12: Watch Your Step! (Kokubunji Subway, 2)

-2020: Chapter 2-
Update 13: Steel Myself for Battle
Update 14: Lost in Green (Toshima Sewers)
Update 15: Even Towards Death, Valiantly (Ikebukuro Railcage, 1)
Update 16: Prayer (Ikebukuro Railcage, 2)
Update 17: Triple Laser Phase (Vs. Jigowatt)
Update 18: All My Pride
Update 19: World is Mine
Addendum 3: Richter Esslinger (Unit 13's Secretary, Class: Hacker) Tactical Overview Part 1

-2020: Chapter 3-
Update 20: Demon Ruination
Update 21: The Place Where I Used To Be (Yotsuya Evernight, 1)
Update 22: Unruined Reason (Yotsuya Evernight, 2)
Update 23: She Walks Ever Onward (Yotsuya Evernight, 3)
Update 24: Trembling Heart (In Your Belief) (Vs. Lore-A-Lua)
Addendum 4: Youka Fudoji (Unit 13's Vanguard, Class: Destroyer) Tactical Overview Part 1

-2020: Chapter 4-
Update 25: the quiet rooms
Update 26: one thing reality
Update 27: lily in desert
Update 28: electric chair
Update 29: Crimson Fighters
Chisa Inomiko's Reminiscence, I ~ The Farmhand and the Young Lady
Chisa Inomiko's Reminiscence, II ~ The Girl Genius of Hibikino Academy
Chisa Inomiko's Reminiscence, III ~ The Farmhand, the Young Lady, and the Monster
Update 30: You Are Not Part Of The Control Group
Addendum 5: Koron Nagataka (Unit 13's Vice-Captain, Class: Psychic) Tactical Overview Part 1

-2020: Chapter 5-
Update 31: Atheistic Love
Update 32: A God's Beast
Update 33: Destruction
Update 34: Saluting the Fallen

-2020: Chapter 6-
Update 35: You'll See Out The End Of Tales
Update 36: self regulatory party
Update 37: A Little Heart to Heart
Update 38: Always Doing Things My Way
Koron Nagataka's Reminiscence I ~ The Fool On The Hill
Koron Nagataka's Reminiscence II ~ Good Morning Good Morning
Koron Nagataka's Reminiscence III ~ Cry Baby Cry

-2020: Chapter 7-
Update 39: dry fish
Update 40: you can't fxxk me (In My World)
Update 41: No Cake For You
Update 42: Beloved World, Beloved People

-2020: Chapter X-
Update 43: Material Delights
Update 44: A Raging Empress's Banquet
Update 45: Project NEW GAME
Update 46: death from above 4098
Update 47: One Who Spins Samsara

-2020: Postgame-
Update 48: Opus 13
Update 49: Bang! Bang! Big Hornes Explosion!
Update 50: Takehaya Gets Trolled
Youka Fudoji's Reminiscence I ~ Intelligence for Violence
Youka Fudoji's Reminiscence II ~ Smile Venomously
Youka Fudoji's Reminiscence III ~ Bad Fortune Flower

-The Year Between-
I ~ A God's Beast
II ~ Heavenly Town
III ~ Unbearable Atmosphere
IV ~ Reckless Blade

-2020-II: Prologue-
Update 51: A Small Journey
Update 52: Sunny Spot
Update 53: Thousand Wings

-2020-II: Chapter 1-
Update 54: Flapper Girl
Update 55: OVER THE WORLD WALL
Update 56: A Warring God

-2020-II: Intermission 1-
Update 57: 15 Acres of Broken Glass
Update 58: Haunted Fortress 2
Addendum VI: Chisa Inomiko's Tactical Overview Part II
Update 59: Turismo
Update 60: Soaring Dragon
Addendum VII: Koron Nagataka's Tactical Overview Part II

-2020-II: Chapter 2-
Update 61: Self Esteem Fund

Appendix A: Regarding the Backgrounds of Unit 13
The Story of Chisa Inomiko: "The Young Lady and the Cloaked Man"
The Story of SATSUKI: "The Camera Girl and her Cats"
The Story of Youka Fudoji: "The Haggard Woman and her Family"
The Story of Richter Esslinger: "The Hitchhiker and the Waiting List"
The Story of Koron Nagataka: "The Hermit and the Rabbit Doll"
The Story of Mio Akaneno: "The Otaku and the World that Wasn't"
The Story of Homura Akaneno: "Homura Akaneno and her Old Friend"

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Oct 17, 2022

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Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 1: The Murakumo Entrance Exam


This was the day their crusade began. Welcome to Tokyo 2020.

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Sep 11, 2021

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Fanart Collection


-An artist's rendition of Agent Nagataka, by 'hutiaweta', an off-site reader.

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Sep 11, 2021

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Links to the updates will be mirrored on Rhematic from the TOC, and from here on, Rhematic links will be linked with future updates.

Omobono posted:

Raven and Mio should be out because they're in another corner of the multiverse, hopefully one without a 7th Dragon's dragon infestation;

about that

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Oct 14, 2020

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Good news, you'll get to find out now!


Part 2: The Dragon-Elimination Strike Team, Murakumo Unit 13


I changed my mind, because otherwise every post of these is gonna have to be split in half. Anyway, today, Chisa meets some new friends.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Clarste posted:

Oh wow, I can't believe it's been 4 years since the EO5 LP.

It's been a long four years. I'm really glad to have the chance to revisit the storyline and gently caress with it like this. Also hi Clarste. Thank you for not fully draining my energy with your shoggoth powers and allowing me to continue living. I am in your debt.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Clarste posted:

Incidentally, I have nothing whatsoever to do with the translation of this game, but I thought it was pretty interesting how the chapters have titles in both English and Japanese, and the English is not quite a translation of the Japanese. In this case, "Senjou no Yobigoe" is more like "call of the battlefield" and sort of has that nuance of being invited to battle. Pretty much every chapter has a double meaning like this, iirc.

That's rad. This game rules.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Pokeytax posted:

Emphasizing here that it's totally okay to critique my work on this game (i.e. the translation and game text). Please, just treat the game the same way you'd treat EO5 or any other release, as the source material for a rad narrative LP.

I didn't help out at all with this project and it is a surprise I am jiga amped for, so I am going to step back quietly and listen to the story.

Holy loving poo poo

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

NHO posted:

Main character looks and feels like awkward Utena escapee, in best possible way.

I spent six months in the process of designing these characters and hanging out in Kat's Twitch stream to direct her art. Seventy-seven total pages, I wrote. I hate Twitch streams. And every second, no matter how many times I said—"lol who's the Kill la Kill OC?" "she looks like the girl from Kill la Kill!" No matter how many times Chisa showed up on stream, it was always Kill la Kill, Kill la Kill, just because of that hair swoop and the shoulderpads. No matter how many drat times I said it, nobody actually listened to me when I said, no, you loving rubes, she's supposed to be designed more in the style of, say, Revolutionary Girl Utena. It was always Kill la Kill! Kill la Kill! Nice Kill la Kill OC! No! It's not loving Kill la Kill, you bastards! You ignoble kisama!

Thank you. This is the first time anyone's brought up Utena. Thank you. I'm so glad someone, finally, understands my soul. I'm going to have Chisa go up a thousand stairs in your honor.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Oublietteer posted:

I’m excited to read this, but none of the pictures are loaded. Is it just me?

This is a noted issue for some people on mobile that I don't really know what to do about! "Try to read it on desktop" feels a bit dismissive but I'm, technically speaking, a dumbass who does words good, and I honestly have no idea how to fix it.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Rea posted:

Update: rhematic now falls back to PNGs/JPGs if your browser doesn't support WebP. It's not perfect—I don't know what to do about animated WebPs yet, so those just show a placeholder image—but it should be fine until Apple gets off their asses and makes the versions of Safari that support WebP more widely available.

Apologies for the inconvenience, anyone who was affected!

I just want everyone to know, by the way, that Rea is handling basically all of the programming aspects here. I don't know how to program or, for that matter, do LPs outside of piggybacking off of the method she helped me set up. My troubleshooting method is screaming "GOMENASAI, POSTER-TACHIIIIIIII" really loud. This LP is held together by spit and dreams.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

NHO posted:

KlK characters do not possess the sheer teenage lesbian... yeah, what Chisa just radiates. Why the gently caress would I mention it?

A question I dearly wish every single one of those loving bastards in Kat's Twitch stream would've asked themselves. Anime was a mistake. :negative:

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Sorry about the delay—an illness on our artist's part slowed the earlygame down a bit. With that said?


Part 3: Matte! Black Bullet
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

Chisa's gun finds an owner in this one.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Addendum I: Chisa Inomiko (Unit 13's Captain, Class: Samurai) Tactical Overview Part 1


The story's first bonus update. This one goes over Chisa's skills.

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Oct 24, 2020

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Battou's better against aerial enemies and sometimes you gotta get that Motionless Battering Gale.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
My brain is currently on the fritz, so I can't come up with an actually coherent argument. Since I will be obtaining both skills, I will shout you out, my acquaintance Clarste, in the LP itself if I ever find myself having Chisa unsheath her flashing blade to return to mare-mare-maware'ing like a moron. These are the vicissitudes of Kabuki life. Se, no! Ichi ni san hai!

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Junpei posted:

I'm not experienced with this game, but if Battou has the AOE skills, it could be worthwhile to switch back to Battou if you have a boss that doesn't start off with adds/mooks/minions, but summons them later in the fight at a specific HP threshold or after a certain amount of turns or something.

man by the way junpei i haven't posted in LP or like at all on SA in like two fuckin years or something, so when people told me you were a good poster now i was like "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat" but sure the gently caress enough, without losing your particular deep lack of irony you have in fact become Cool and a poster whose power I can respect. I'm proud of you. I wish only that when I joined SA at the ripe young age of far, far too young, that I had become cool as fast as you have, instead of taking until uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

oh, gently caress, wait, I'm not cool yet. no! poo poo!! the self-own!! no... nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 4: An Express Delivery
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this part, we are befuddled by mapping.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Shimatta, there weren't any posts between these two updates! Oh well!! I guess there are just going to be two updates in a row!!! Gyeaaaahhh!


Part 5: Women of War
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

There's a boss fight in this one.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
Appendix A: Regarding the Backgrounds of Unit 13

During the runup to the LP's launch, I posted short stories about each of the characters' backstories in Rea's server. These are canonical to the LP, so you might find them interesting.

The Young Lady and the Cloaked Man
The Camera Girl and her Cats
The Haggard Woman and her Family
The Hitchhiker and the Waiting List
The Hermit and the Rabbit Doll
The Otaku and the World that Wasn't
Homura Akaneno and her Old Friend

—hey, you haven't shown up yet, Homura! Fine, you can stay.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Appendix B: The Boy's Got Wings (Regarding the Events of Eight Years Ago)


A summary of the events of how Chisa and Mio met. Satsuki wants those hot deets.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 6: Tiny Village in the Desert
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

We get the lay of our new house. Also, Mom shows up.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 7: Dancer in the Street
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one, we head to the next dungeon and Richter incurs the ire of some slimes.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 8: SKY and the Others
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one, I'm in.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 9: Working Today, Too
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror

In this one, we do some manual work with Counters.Party and Chisa deals with the tribulations of motherhood.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

SpruceZeus posted:

ok hold on its hard to tell how much is the original game and how much is y'all here so,

does 7th dragon 2020 actually have a side quest where you get a blue pill bottle for a 'transfixing woman' and she tells you 'those hormones are important to me'

like for real?

That is completely and utterly legitimate. Everything in the actual screenshots is 100% genuine the game—while we've altered the model colors and character art for the PCs, any text present in the actual screenshots is utterly unaltered.

It has some imperfections, but the 7th Dragon series is occasionally shockingly inclusive—see also Lovestruck Worker and whatnot, and some other things we'll get to. Code VFD, the last game in the series, even has a whole sidequest about an SDF soldier attempting to ask out one of your bosses because he reminds him of his dead boyfriend, and your boss letting him down easy not because he's a dude, but because of that emotional connection making it kind of a bad idea—not to mention mechanically, you can have your characters date NPCs of either gender once we unlock a later facility.

I like it. I like it when things like that happen. I like this series a lot. Thank you.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
way to cramp my style talking about the original japanese text to a game i've never played in the original japanese. i tell ya, why's a philistine like me even running this LP (it's because i'm the only person who likes these games)

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
yeah

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 10: Smash Up!
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one, Richter suffers from job anxiety.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
I don't have an update for you all, but happy new year. 2020 is over now for us. Thankfully, since this LP covers two games, I still have a year to go before I become obsolete and dated and wither into dust. Please wish Unit 13 luck in escaping 2020.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
We're back now.


Part 11: The World Beneath Your Feet
|| SSLP Test Post mirror.

Remember to eat candy, kids.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Addendum II: SATSUKI (Unit 13's Treasurer, Class: Trickster) Tactical Overview
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

Man, now I'm hungry...

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!


Part 12: Watch Your Step!
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one, there’s a big boy.

Kinu Nishimura fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Feb 13, 2021

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 13: Steel Myself for Battle
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one, Chisa wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
I never did get to play Phantasy Moon 4... It was such a shame, it looked cool.

YOOOOOO hey Mama Fudoji you wanna play it? I've got it. Hang out with Rudy and Lyra and Thray and my FUCKIN BOY, Seth?

"I just think it's so cool how you guys can take down monsters" and then he throws a Deathspell at someone

sup y'all i'm just an ordinary archeologist with my casts of CORROSION, BABYYYY

We did just get that Genesis... Sure, why not?

For how long it had been since she'd played a video game, I will say that Youka had a surprising ability to get back into it. She took to Phantasy Moon 4 almost as well as she did Mario Party... er, well, that's a story for another time.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 14: Lost in Green
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this episode, let's talk about our feelings.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 15: Even Towards Death, Valiantly
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

Live your life without any regrets.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
It's a technical issue because I made a typo in the image listing for the update. It's Rea's site the updates are hosted on, so I already know about it but I can't fix it until she wakes up tomorrow. For your benefit, the second image is Jeanne calling in to inform the gang that the recon squad is calling in.

Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!
VFD isn't a (i)bad(/i) game, but it plants itself firmly in this weird place where it doesn't really have what made either 7th Dragon DS or 7th Dragon 2020 special. It's an odd game.

JeffRaze posted:

Got an account in large part because this LP is criminally underrated. I've really grown attached to Unit 13, and I wanted to show my appreciation somehow.


Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:

I'm growing attached to Unit 13 as well.


GodofDiscord posted:

This LP is so good! I'm on the edge of my seat to see what happens next!

Y-y'all are gonna make me cry... :shobon:

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Kinu Nishimura
Apr 24, 2008

SICK LOOT!

Part 16: Prayer
|| SSLP Test Poster mirror.

In this one... well, you know...

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