The party returns to Cafu, but while we bring good news, good news doesn't follow.
The party sees the Elder waiting for us, but he's not happy because, ya know, outsiders. Justin and Feena are one thing, but a Lainian is something different altogether. He doesn't allow Milda to enter the village, so we're stuck out where the inn and general store are. Rapp is upset as he no longer sees the reason for the rivalry between the two tribes and goes out of his way to insult the Elder. Milda calms him down, and we all head into the inn to rest. That night we have a big meal! Milda mentions how the Cafu cuisine is great. Rapp keeps on being against the Elder. Feena, though, is uneasy. She won't give us a straight answer and keeps to herself. Her mind won't stop, so she gets some air.
Justin leaves the table to talk to her, and we head to a new area of the village, Home Tree Plaza. The sun has set, so I expected some pretty scenery. Sadly, it's just a boring tree. Fenna tells us she wonders about Leen and her role in the creation of Gaia. Justin tries to convince her that her sister can't be evil. There's no way a relative of Feena can be bad. It, kinda, helps. Then he gets a little casually sexist when he tells her that a smile is much for beautiful. "Just smile" is the stupidest thing to say to a person ever. There is no event or emotional issue that a smile can solve. Faking a grin doesn't help you overcome depression, Sarah! Where was I? Right! Before anything else happens, we hear sounds of clatter from the village. Rapp and Miluda come running in and tells us the Garlyle Forces are attacking the village!
The four of us rush back and get attacked by Green Berets. Closer to the gate is the Elder and more Green Berets. Rapp tells the Elder that no matter what he says, we're going in. The Elder "feigns" age related sensory degeneration, and we enter the town the save the villagers. What few I found blame us for the attack! In one of the side areas, behind more Green Berets, is Leen and two soldiers. She's not surprised to see us because who else could constantly defeat the world's only superpower but two teenagers? Rapp and Milda yell at Leen for a second before Feena tells them to stop. This is her sister, and she'll take care of it. Feena asks Leen to stop. After several long moments, Leen tells her troops to get Gaia out of here. Despite commanding that, she then tells us she wants us to live our lives peacefully. Leen, however, has no choice but to do this. Gaia then sprouts from its remains, and the green glow of the Spirit Stone surrounds us. The two soldiers become petrified, but Leen's okay! She then says she doesn't want to do this, and triangular wings sprout from her back. Some words about Icarians between her and Justin are said before Leen teleports away with Gaia and the stoned soldiers. "The Leen you know doesn't exist anymore." When we speak to the Elder, everyone is still mad at us, and he agrees. The Elder is angry Rapp broke the law by bringing outsiders into town. Rapp defends himself admirably, but what can you do in backwater towns? Milda doesn't like the disrespect Rapp is showing, but it's not an important point. The Elder says one of the dumbest lines I've ever read: "Our laws may not be able to save our village but they've prevented trouble." We return to the inn and have another meal. We make plans to go to Laine to eat their food and learn more about Milda. She's married to a village wiseman who may know of Alent. After that, we go to sleep.
In the morning, the Elder is waiting for us. He says all three non Cafuians are no longer allowed in the village. Rapp protests to no avail, and we all remember the plan they made last night. We're off to Laine, and Rapp even comes along. He's too upset at the "old fogey" to stay. Nicky and a few see us off, and I'm glad to see he thinks highly of "Aunt Milda.' Being only nineteen, she doesn't like the name. To reach Laine, we need to traverse the entire continent. How are these two civilizations at arms against each other if they're so far away? Why was Milda at the Tower of Doom? Let's get ready to walk three dungeons. Oh, boy!
First is the Zil Desert. It's two sections of open desert that are easy to get lost in. The only mobs are cactus men and scarabs. The scarabs are more powerful versions of stuff we've fought, but the cactus men are new. They're boring, but they're new. CM can use a move called Fire Song where they play a guitar and damage the whole party, which is cool. A small army of them guards some good stuff in the middle of section one. Section two is a winding path of not obvious cliffs and lowlands that make this a maze. The music is more, I guess, Australian stuff. There's a dronny humming instrument I don't know the name of that plays a melody over an annoying ping with a maraca involved. It's fun for a minute, but if you stay too long, it sucks. There are two optional dungeons in this area. I didn't try them, but I might, depending on how long I want this playthrough to be. So I probably won't. Is the music better?
When we exit to the world map, we're nearly a third of the way there. Before us lies Zil Padon, the desert oasis. This may be the biggest city in the game. Parm gives it a run, but I think Padon's got it beat. It gives me a Jerusalem vibe because three different types of people live in this desert city, and none of them really get along. There are also camel people in the world? The Mogay live here, but I didn't explore around to find Guido because there's enough to do already. The music here has this strange porn jazz to it with a terrible oboe playing over it. The worst thing about Grandia is the music. Upgrade your gear if you have the money, head to the inn next door, talk to the counter camel, leave and see a fight brewing, head back it, and rest. In the morning, we return to dungeon crawling.
I hope you liked the Zil Desert theme because here it is again. The last two Mana Eggs we'll ever need are found here. One is to the east of spawn, and another is to the south of the eastern exit. Don't listen to Milda trying to tell you the take the easy way out. Keep going westward! There are also several stat upping foods, one of which increases every stat. This place is another maze, with much of it blocked by canyons we can't see past. I got lost and accidentally left the screen several times. There are two types of scorpions, and there's a new moth. Flap Birds are new and form in large numbers, making them prime things to grind magic on. Feena only needs one more level in Earth before I only need to spam water spells the rest of the game to learn everything (except the unknown ones I know to be bugged). I don't think I care much to grind Rapp. Maybe I'm almost done grinding? I know I hate this dungeon! The west exit takes us to...
...Brinan Plateau!
Yeah, I'll do it tomorrow. Rapp is slightly better as a character than he was yesterday, which is a definite plus. He's third best in combat, though, and I doubt that will change unless the final permanent character is better than him. I think she is, so that's good. I miss Sue. They let you level her magic so much only to replace her with someone so terrible. That's not fun game design! Between that, the music, the dungeons, which are numerous, I, kinda, think I hate the game? Man, I took a two week break to come back to this? I'm still going, for now, don't worry...
No comments:
Post a Comment