Before a year ago, I had never played a Breath of Fire game. I stopped playing BoF III, but I completed the sequel. I have to say, "Great experience."
But I suck, so what else sucks?
The camera. Many reviewers agree that controlling the camera in BoF IV is terrible. Not only does it stop your momentum while moving, but it barely helps to see more. Looking down hallways isn't dependent on angle, and peaking in confined spaces is a lesson in futility. There are only a handful of terrible experiences, but chasing that kid in Synestia shouldn't have been that annoying.
I was down on several portions of the battle system. Depending on where you're at in the game, there was only one tactic. Early on, it was to spam basic attacks. By the late game, though, you'll be casting spells every turn. But, for reasons I'll get to in a moment, you'll be using the same handful of combos every time. It's a bit boring.
And I never felt rewarded. Drop rates are garbage, and it emphasizes the downsides of combat. Level ups also felt few and far between. Ultimately, it worked out in the end as I leaned the final spells just before the last boss, and I only did a level grind once for forty minutes.
Overall, I liked the characters, but some felt lacking. Sticking with the battle system for the moment, Cray sucks. His speed is pathetic, so you can't trust him to set up combos. It's why you'll be using fire+wind spells the whole game. And he serves no other purpose besides his earth magic. But his magic stat is so bad that it's not worth it! Ershin is a better tank, and everyone else has better DPS.
But that's in combat. Scias, though, is lacking in two areas. One: a character arc. The moment he shows up, he shadows the group to tattle on them. And then instantly pulls the double agent card. But why? After this, he disappears from relevancy. Two: he doesn't even have a field skill.
I don't like masters. I found all their negatives to outweigh their positives. Stoll could have been great for Cray, but forcing a steal on every attack made our tiger king even more useless.
Why did they cut Yuna's comeuppance?
But that's all the negatives. I'm about to say some positive things about them, so I'm confused.
I liked the characters. Yes, Scias has no value, and Cray sucks in combat. But Scias is great in a fight, and Cray is a driving force for the group. He seems to be the leader, but Nina gets all the credit. As she should. Strong willed female mages are my thing. Who knew? Ursula has plot relevance as a representative of the enemy, but she also offers some low-key humor. Ershin is all over the board, and I'm here for it.
Fou-lu might be one of the best main antagonists in the genre. It's rare we see the inciting incident of the BBG, and it's even rarer that someone else kills the early game target. But he does it. The way BoF IV showcases him is one of the best things I've seen. At the very least, BoF IV has a large number of gods we get to kill.
As much as I disliked portions of the battle system, I liked the basics. If for no other reason than because it's a rudimentary version of Final Fantasy X. Switching party members in combat is just the best. More games need it!
Oh my goodness, the music. Every note on every song fills me with the perfect tinge of emotion. There are so many unique sounds, sections, and loops that I found myself engrossed in with so many tracks. For some reason, though, it's not on Spotify, so I can't add the dozen songs to my playlist. Are any of them magic, though?
I enjoyed the plot. It takes a while to get into gear because we're looking for a person for thirty hours. It is only the final dungeon where there's a clear finality and goal to our actions. It helps that we can view Fou as a playable character for a long time, so there are a number of side plots adjacent to Elina. But Ryu and crew have plenty of reasons to go to Chedo. I was expecting more political intrigue between The Alliance, but that went nowhere, unfortunately.
So Breath of Fire IV has all the important things working for it that more than makeup for the negatives. I had a lot of fun playing the game, but I wasn't wowed by it. It's still worth playing.
Plot: nearly perfect. Honestly, I could agree if someone did find this perfect. The Empire is missing a few things because our party barely interacts with them, but Fou is such a cool antagonist. Despite the flaws, the playable cast is a lot of fun. Who knew you could make a competent silent protagonist? 9/10
Gameplay: missing pieces. There are too many useless techniques and only a few spamable spells. And bosses just boil down to breath attacks. But the basics are here, except in dungeons. The dungeon design was amazing. 8/10
Art: color swaps. Ignoring the camera issues, all the cities, dungeons, and NPCs are unique and variable. There are a lot of animations to see, but the mob variety is filled with paint swatch differences. 8/10
Sound: on repeat. Listening to the OST on YouTube inspired me to play the game on the basis of that alone. It was worth it. 10/10
Charm: utterly disappointing. There are no long term NPCs we get to know, and the world feels really disconnected. I also don't see a reason to pick it up again. 6/10
The only negative is the terrible, awful camera controls. Breath of Fire IV gets a solid 39/50.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
The Unfading Ones
Long dungeon!
There are five floors to this place, and they're all massive. And we're going down. We'll enter the castle and meet with the giant wolf we just killed. A-tur also recognizes Ryu as the other Fou and takes us to the otherside of the invisible water floor before us. We'll come to where Fou jumped on the elevator to face the emperor, but the lift isn't here now. We need to take the long way. There's a key on the top shelf of the restroom that Ershin can bash down, and the gateway down is on the otherside of the room.
From here, I aimlessly walked around the expanse of the castle. There are more dead ends than any other dungeon, and they seem rather corporate. There are plenty of good treasures to be found here, so it's usually worth exploring everywhere. Keep a watch out for colored talismans draped across doors. Later on, you'll find three charms that unlock. Most of the time, it'll contain Ryu'a (almost) best armor. Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this place. It's way too long and winding, and there are no gimmicks besides the locks. The enemies aren't worth the exp, and equipment farming in BoF IV sucks. Most of our characters' best gear are item drops down here, and it's very little fun trying to farm them. I'd suggest finding a guide to get through it all. I got lost on the second set of basements because of a stupid dead end, so I had to break all this into two nights.
The slightly less-than-halfway point is against a boss named Dragoone. It heals every turn, but I think a few fire spells stop that. From there, spam Kaisarbreath. He'll drop the Blue Charm, and it'll be floating where he stood. There's a rest and save point to the north of the guy and an elevator to the east. This is your new base of operations to find the three charms.
After the Red Charm is the final save point. The team will descend a few final staircases and long hallways until they reach the courtyard Yuna tried to imprison Fou. Speaking of who...
Fou is dressed in regal attire. He beckons Ryu to walk up to him and knocks out our mortal teammates. And also Ershin. Ryu walks up to the throne, and Fou asks if they wanna reform. Ryu swings his sword, and it goes right through. It was an illusion. Fou's voice tells us to continue on and bemoans that Ryu has spent too much time with mortals. Nina and the others get up and are just fine. It was just an effective scare tactic. We go behind the curtain behind the throne, take one more path, and ascend one more elevator to reach a fancy cliff.
Fou is waiting for us. There's a quick battle between the two dragon boys that ends in about six turns. After, Fou once again demands Ryu fuses back into him, and he asks Ryu about his journey. Fou speaks about the core of humanity and their terrible actions. We re-see Cray's trial, Rasso's slaughter, and Elina's reveal. Between every scene, Ryu speaks and can say one of two things. Either slightly agree, or say, "I don't know." I'm unsure if it means anything here, but Fou knows everything Ryu's seen. And I assume that road goes both ways. We see Mami's sacrifice and when she saved Fou from the butterfly (in that order). Ryu has another choice here, and it's actually important. It turns out Breath of Fire IV has two endings. After Nina tells our final boss that she likes this world, especially the one with Ryu in it, Ryu makes his choice.
If Ryu agrees with Fou, our MC will be absorbed. Our friends think they can save Ryu from this amalgamation, but the dragon, Ifini, says otherwise. After we, in the position of the villain, kill our old friends, we walk off, knowing "the path I take is correct."
But if Ryu disagrees, Fou summons/transforms into the dragon, Tyrant. This guy isn't hard, but this takes forever. He's weak to fire and Kaisarbreath, but the real tough part is having enough items for the true final boss on the otherside of him.
Astral, Fou's final attempt to absorb Ryu, is the final boss. He's got 75000 HP, the ability Soul Rend, and can one shot my tank with a Lucky Blow. Astral opens with Soul Rend, which brings everyone's HP to 1. So whatever dragon you want to transform into should be done on turn two. I'll be honest: I'm over BoF IV. I had fun, but it's time to end this story. Could I have won without cheating? Probably. Would it have been fun? No. I gave everyone max HP and just went to town. I'm at level forty but lacking wisdom fruits and vitamins. This last section takes forever.
Fou-lu accepts Ryu's actions. Despite humans killing themselves and polluting the planet, he recognizes their right to life. Afterall... Fou's spirit turns into a black ghost and goes into Ryu. His hair turns blonde, and he can speak. Nina asks what happened, and the new figure says they are both Ryu and Fou-lu. At the same time, they are neither of them. And then Fou-Ryu's plan goes into action.
This is the world of the humans. Gods are no longer needed. Fou-Ryu shoots a green aura into the air, and it explodes out into the world. We see the Wind Dragon flying through the air as it slowly disappears. The Mud Dragon accepts the same fate. Blue haired Ryu returns to the party. All the gods who guide this realm are gone. All but Deis, who has decided to stick around and watch. Ryu will join his friends in dealing with the ravages of aging and death, and we'll begin to see the final scenes.
Yuna is still alive and is planning to make new gods with a hooded figure beside him.
Ursula seems to take charge of the recovery of the Empire. She states it's gone, but there's other stuff to do. Besides, she needs to find General Rhum again... Cray offers her a handshake as allies and not enemies. Ursula is confused.
The woman who played the shamisen is seen.
Everyone else is walking a path on the way home. They're preparing to have fun and enjoy peace.
The untranslated credits role, and we can save our progress. We can reload before the final fight in case you stole Ryu's best gear from the boss rush.
This is unrewarding, but it's also...
The End.
There are five floors to this place, and they're all massive. And we're going down. We'll enter the castle and meet with the giant wolf we just killed. A-tur also recognizes Ryu as the other Fou and takes us to the otherside of the invisible water floor before us. We'll come to where Fou jumped on the elevator to face the emperor, but the lift isn't here now. We need to take the long way. There's a key on the top shelf of the restroom that Ershin can bash down, and the gateway down is on the otherside of the room.
From here, I aimlessly walked around the expanse of the castle. There are more dead ends than any other dungeon, and they seem rather corporate. There are plenty of good treasures to be found here, so it's usually worth exploring everywhere. Keep a watch out for colored talismans draped across doors. Later on, you'll find three charms that unlock. Most of the time, it'll contain Ryu'a (almost) best armor. Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this place. It's way too long and winding, and there are no gimmicks besides the locks. The enemies aren't worth the exp, and equipment farming in BoF IV sucks. Most of our characters' best gear are item drops down here, and it's very little fun trying to farm them. I'd suggest finding a guide to get through it all. I got lost on the second set of basements because of a stupid dead end, so I had to break all this into two nights.
The slightly less-than-halfway point is against a boss named Dragoone. It heals every turn, but I think a few fire spells stop that. From there, spam Kaisarbreath. He'll drop the Blue Charm, and it'll be floating where he stood. There's a rest and save point to the north of the guy and an elevator to the east. This is your new base of operations to find the three charms.
After the Red Charm is the final save point. The team will descend a few final staircases and long hallways until they reach the courtyard Yuna tried to imprison Fou. Speaking of who...
Fou is dressed in regal attire. He beckons Ryu to walk up to him and knocks out our mortal teammates. And also Ershin. Ryu walks up to the throne, and Fou asks if they wanna reform. Ryu swings his sword, and it goes right through. It was an illusion. Fou's voice tells us to continue on and bemoans that Ryu has spent too much time with mortals. Nina and the others get up and are just fine. It was just an effective scare tactic. We go behind the curtain behind the throne, take one more path, and ascend one more elevator to reach a fancy cliff.
Fou is waiting for us. There's a quick battle between the two dragon boys that ends in about six turns. After, Fou once again demands Ryu fuses back into him, and he asks Ryu about his journey. Fou speaks about the core of humanity and their terrible actions. We re-see Cray's trial, Rasso's slaughter, and Elina's reveal. Between every scene, Ryu speaks and can say one of two things. Either slightly agree, or say, "I don't know." I'm unsure if it means anything here, but Fou knows everything Ryu's seen. And I assume that road goes both ways. We see Mami's sacrifice and when she saved Fou from the butterfly (in that order). Ryu has another choice here, and it's actually important. It turns out Breath of Fire IV has two endings. After Nina tells our final boss that she likes this world, especially the one with Ryu in it, Ryu makes his choice.
If Ryu agrees with Fou, our MC will be absorbed. Our friends think they can save Ryu from this amalgamation, but the dragon, Ifini, says otherwise. After we, in the position of the villain, kill our old friends, we walk off, knowing "the path I take is correct."
But if Ryu disagrees, Fou summons/transforms into the dragon, Tyrant. This guy isn't hard, but this takes forever. He's weak to fire and Kaisarbreath, but the real tough part is having enough items for the true final boss on the otherside of him.
Astral, Fou's final attempt to absorb Ryu, is the final boss. He's got 75000 HP, the ability Soul Rend, and can one shot my tank with a Lucky Blow. Astral opens with Soul Rend, which brings everyone's HP to 1. So whatever dragon you want to transform into should be done on turn two. I'll be honest: I'm over BoF IV. I had fun, but it's time to end this story. Could I have won without cheating? Probably. Would it have been fun? No. I gave everyone max HP and just went to town. I'm at level forty but lacking wisdom fruits and vitamins. This last section takes forever.
Fou-lu accepts Ryu's actions. Despite humans killing themselves and polluting the planet, he recognizes their right to life. Afterall... Fou's spirit turns into a black ghost and goes into Ryu. His hair turns blonde, and he can speak. Nina asks what happened, and the new figure says they are both Ryu and Fou-lu. At the same time, they are neither of them. And then Fou-Ryu's plan goes into action.
This is the world of the humans. Gods are no longer needed. Fou-Ryu shoots a green aura into the air, and it explodes out into the world. We see the Wind Dragon flying through the air as it slowly disappears. The Mud Dragon accepts the same fate. Blue haired Ryu returns to the party. All the gods who guide this realm are gone. All but Deis, who has decided to stick around and watch. Ryu will join his friends in dealing with the ravages of aging and death, and we'll begin to see the final scenes.
Yuna is still alive and is planning to make new gods with a hooded figure beside him.
Ursula seems to take charge of the recovery of the Empire. She states it's gone, but there's other stuff to do. Besides, she needs to find General Rhum again... Cray offers her a handshake as allies and not enemies. Ursula is confused.
The woman who played the shamisen is seen.
Everyone else is walking a path on the way home. They're preparing to have fun and enjoy peace.
The untranslated credits role, and we can save our progress. We can reload before the final fight in case you stole Ryu's best gear from the boss rush.
This is unrewarding, but it's also...
The End.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Journey's End
After hearing Ershin's displeasure towards humans and Scias' new vendetta against hexes at the camp, we return to the Highway. It's empty, and the only remaining soldier informs us that Commander Rhum, Ursula's CO, has taken all soldiers to the capital in an attempt to retake their home. Further down the path is a fork. Straight takes you directly to Chedo, the imperial capital. The other exit is the long way through Sonne. There's nothing much here, but you can finish the trading mini game (too bad I didn't get Marlok as a master), and we can see Mami's landlord gaslight grieving his tenet. There are some treasures in the forest and Mt. Yogi if you care.
But all roads lead to Chedo. Despite the apparent annihilation, there are still a few people about. Innkeepers and merchants are here, and the gear is among the best in the game. Anything better is dropped or stolen inside the final dungeon. This is the last bastion of civilization. Beyond the gate, opposite the entrance, is the remains of the courtyard of the Imperial Castle. It's filled with assassins and thieves, for some reason, as well as those floating acorn fellas. There's also a cowardly whale? I wouldn't say they're really worth the effort, but they're not very tough. This place is a confusing maze, and I got turned around so hard. There's a door that's super secret on the second story of the building. I'm sure you're smarter than me, so turn the camera around until you notice something. All those doors are just walls (I assume). The second area is big but empty, so just go straight. Make sure you have as much AP and HP as you can.
We'll encounter Fou-yu's other dog, pinning a group of people to the wall. He'll notice us and turn around, and this is A-tur. He likes to spam Frost Breath, and it's pretty deadly. Nina's going to counter spam Vitality every turn. I had Ryu go Kaiser ASAP to cast its breath attack. It did about 4000 damage every use. So eleven rounds of this, and you'll win! Too bad I lack the AP for that. A-tur has a high counter rate, and he always uses Lucky Strike in response. He can also remove all buffs, so take that as a free round to give Nina some AP back. If our opponent uses Resist, have Ursula use Sanctuary. Or whoever you taught it to... A lot of bosses in Breath of Fire IV are attrition fights. A-tur is another. Either that or I'm bad/under leveled, and this is my only option.
Behind A-tur is an elderly man. This is General Rhum, and Ursula completes her mission by bringing Ryu to him. It's kinda moot now, but he's here. Rhum can sense Ryu's aura stream and knows he's the only one who can save the empire and the rest of the world now. After Ursula fills him in on what's happened, he sheds some light on why it's happened. Yuna's actions were to create a new god. Not only that, but the entire empire wished to do away with the old gods altogether.
Behind him is the castle, and he urges us to continue on. As we leave, Ursula hangs back. Rhum asks her to talk to him as she used to, and we learn Rhum is her (adopted) grandfather. She's concerned about her grandpa, but he assures her he'll be fine. It's nothing an old war vet can't handle. Rhum asks her to save the world with her friends and dragon. And she catches up, Rhum falls to the ground and states he's "time to fade away." The screen goes black as we're on the world map. The new location is the Imperial Capital, the final dungeon of the game. I'll end this...
...tomorrow!
Maybe... There's a lot of extra stuff you can grind for down there. I might want them. Also, there's no dialogue with King Wyndia about Elina's death...
But all roads lead to Chedo. Despite the apparent annihilation, there are still a few people about. Innkeepers and merchants are here, and the gear is among the best in the game. Anything better is dropped or stolen inside the final dungeon. This is the last bastion of civilization. Beyond the gate, opposite the entrance, is the remains of the courtyard of the Imperial Castle. It's filled with assassins and thieves, for some reason, as well as those floating acorn fellas. There's also a cowardly whale? I wouldn't say they're really worth the effort, but they're not very tough. This place is a confusing maze, and I got turned around so hard. There's a door that's super secret on the second story of the building. I'm sure you're smarter than me, so turn the camera around until you notice something. All those doors are just walls (I assume). The second area is big but empty, so just go straight. Make sure you have as much AP and HP as you can.
We'll encounter Fou-yu's other dog, pinning a group of people to the wall. He'll notice us and turn around, and this is A-tur. He likes to spam Frost Breath, and it's pretty deadly. Nina's going to counter spam Vitality every turn. I had Ryu go Kaiser ASAP to cast its breath attack. It did about 4000 damage every use. So eleven rounds of this, and you'll win! Too bad I lack the AP for that. A-tur has a high counter rate, and he always uses Lucky Strike in response. He can also remove all buffs, so take that as a free round to give Nina some AP back. If our opponent uses Resist, have Ursula use Sanctuary. Or whoever you taught it to... A lot of bosses in Breath of Fire IV are attrition fights. A-tur is another. Either that or I'm bad/under leveled, and this is my only option.
Behind A-tur is an elderly man. This is General Rhum, and Ursula completes her mission by bringing Ryu to him. It's kinda moot now, but he's here. Rhum can sense Ryu's aura stream and knows he's the only one who can save the empire and the rest of the world now. After Ursula fills him in on what's happened, he sheds some light on why it's happened. Yuna's actions were to create a new god. Not only that, but the entire empire wished to do away with the old gods altogether.
Behind him is the castle, and he urges us to continue on. As we leave, Ursula hangs back. Rhum asks her to talk to him as she used to, and we learn Rhum is her (adopted) grandfather. She's concerned about her grandpa, but he assures her he'll be fine. It's nothing an old war vet can't handle. Rhum asks her to save the world with her friends and dragon. And she catches up, Rhum falls to the ground and states he's "time to fade away." The screen goes black as we're on the world map. The new location is the Imperial Capital, the final dungeon of the game. I'll end this...
...tomorrow!
Maybe... There's a lot of extra stuff you can grind for down there. I might want them. Also, there's no dialogue with King Wyndia about Elina's death...
Friday, April 21, 2023
That Which Passes
This got depressing.
? is a rocky cliff area with two exits. One will take you to meet Bunyin, and the other is the highway. Take your time here, as the enemies are nice and easy. But they're also really great to grind on. The nut guys can appear in a group of five, and Nina's Cyclone kills all of them. If you're lucky, you'll get over 5000 exp for next to nothing. If you're unfortunate, you'll only get 3000. Still pretty cool.
The highway is blocked by imperial soldiers, so bring out Ursula. She'll ask the guy in charge about her CO, and he'll tell her he went to Astana. So it's back to the gun. Keep Ursula out and find the less-than-secret path to the back of the town. It's the new army HQ, and Ursula can get us in. There have been a few scenes where Cray's been suspicious of Ursula. Nina agrees but also knows she's our best bet to the other Ryu. We can visit the Cannanode controls, but the proper path takes us to our stealth mission.
Remember the house we broke into via the aqueduct? We're back! We get to explore the other half, but we're attacked first! A warlock, who's a nightmarish combination of a caterpillar, a human, and the head of a penis, is joined by various undead mobs. Despite feeling like a boss, this is a normal fight. I don't know if there's anything new in the old area, but we're supposed to explore the otherside now. The few soldiers around tell us how mobs started appearing recently, and they kinda blame Yuna. Take the elevator down to a strange siluce/containment area. Don't bother fighting things down here. The sleeping crabs are easy, but they're not worth it. It's just tedious. We'll have to raise one gate to enter a room with an eldritch abomination in it. Climb up its gooey ligaments to get close to a beating heart. There's a vein in our way that we, apparently, can't step around. Ryu can cut it, or at least try to. Nothing happens. A ghostly woman appears above us to tell us we need the Dragonslayer sword to cut it. Nina and Cray recognize this as Elina. It's the woman we've been looking for for thirty hours! We should tell our dad... They try to speak to her, but she encourages us to find Yuna, the user of the sword. So what did the emperor have? As we leave, some soldiers tell us Yuna should be here, but the rampage probably delayed him.
Head to Kwanzo, and Ursula can get us in. Yuna is hanging around, but the conversation quickly gets heated. We recognize each other, and Cray's angry. He wants to see Elina. Yuna says something about being peaceful before our gunner asks for the Dragonslayer sword. Yuna moves, but Ryu, not in the mood, strikes the blade out of Yuna's hand. He says more about being an artist before teleporting away again. We'll pick up the sword and return to the chateau.
The music has changed. As has the lights. It's really purple and freaky now. The mobs have also changed, so good luck. Return to the abomination, equip the sword, and climb up. Yuna is waiting and says more of the same, but he also states Elina is kinda here. Collect the treasure behind the hut and enter.
After thirty long hours, we finally meet Elina. She's lying in bed, and the three Alliance leaders have a quick reunion. But there's something melancholic in the air. Elina asks Ryu, who she shouldn't know the name of, and her sister to leave the two lovebirds alone. Well, one love bird and a tiger. As we leave, she requests Ryu leave the Dragonslayer here. Elina knows about the Endless aura streams. And she knows for a terrible reason. While Cray prepares to take her back to Wyndia, she informs him that isn't possible. Elina sits up and takes the bedsheet off herself to reveal she's the abomination we've seen through this facility. Yuna teleports in and tells us this is his doing. He had planned to make Elina a sacrifice for the hex cannon, but that gun runs off misery. Elina is too optimistic like her sister. Because of this, Yuna tortured her. He's found that such acts tend to kill the subjects before they can be fired, so he learned to combine the human with an immortal entity.
We cut outside to hear that Ershin/Deis sensed Endless energy from Elina. We also get some backstory that Eliba was to be married to the Ludia prince.
We return to Cray chasing after Yuna, but the creature teleports away. Elina asks Cray, the man she loves, to kill her. She wants the last thing she sees to be him. We see him pick up the blade, and the screen goes black.
Nina does a quick soliloquy about Cray not saying anything when he rejoined the group, but she knew she'd never see Elina again. We jump outside the chateau and prepare to go to what remains of the capital. As we leave Astana, we're taken to the camp. Ryu and Ershin are with Nina in the tent. Her usual optimism is gone, replaced with confusion and emptiness. Ershin does his best to relate by telling her how he felt when Deis left him. Nina knows she feels alone, but she has friends all around.
Outside, Ursula, and even Scias, tell Cray that they would have done the same thing.
Maybe we'll finish tomorrow.
? is a rocky cliff area with two exits. One will take you to meet Bunyin, and the other is the highway. Take your time here, as the enemies are nice and easy. But they're also really great to grind on. The nut guys can appear in a group of five, and Nina's Cyclone kills all of them. If you're lucky, you'll get over 5000 exp for next to nothing. If you're unfortunate, you'll only get 3000. Still pretty cool.
The highway is blocked by imperial soldiers, so bring out Ursula. She'll ask the guy in charge about her CO, and he'll tell her he went to Astana. So it's back to the gun. Keep Ursula out and find the less-than-secret path to the back of the town. It's the new army HQ, and Ursula can get us in. There have been a few scenes where Cray's been suspicious of Ursula. Nina agrees but also knows she's our best bet to the other Ryu. We can visit the Cannanode controls, but the proper path takes us to our stealth mission.
Remember the house we broke into via the aqueduct? We're back! We get to explore the other half, but we're attacked first! A warlock, who's a nightmarish combination of a caterpillar, a human, and the head of a penis, is joined by various undead mobs. Despite feeling like a boss, this is a normal fight. I don't know if there's anything new in the old area, but we're supposed to explore the otherside now. The few soldiers around tell us how mobs started appearing recently, and they kinda blame Yuna. Take the elevator down to a strange siluce/containment area. Don't bother fighting things down here. The sleeping crabs are easy, but they're not worth it. It's just tedious. We'll have to raise one gate to enter a room with an eldritch abomination in it. Climb up its gooey ligaments to get close to a beating heart. There's a vein in our way that we, apparently, can't step around. Ryu can cut it, or at least try to. Nothing happens. A ghostly woman appears above us to tell us we need the Dragonslayer sword to cut it. Nina and Cray recognize this as Elina. It's the woman we've been looking for for thirty hours! We should tell our dad... They try to speak to her, but she encourages us to find Yuna, the user of the sword. So what did the emperor have? As we leave, some soldiers tell us Yuna should be here, but the rampage probably delayed him.
Head to Kwanzo, and Ursula can get us in. Yuna is hanging around, but the conversation quickly gets heated. We recognize each other, and Cray's angry. He wants to see Elina. Yuna says something about being peaceful before our gunner asks for the Dragonslayer sword. Yuna moves, but Ryu, not in the mood, strikes the blade out of Yuna's hand. He says more about being an artist before teleporting away again. We'll pick up the sword and return to the chateau.
The music has changed. As has the lights. It's really purple and freaky now. The mobs have also changed, so good luck. Return to the abomination, equip the sword, and climb up. Yuna is waiting and says more of the same, but he also states Elina is kinda here. Collect the treasure behind the hut and enter.
After thirty long hours, we finally meet Elina. She's lying in bed, and the three Alliance leaders have a quick reunion. But there's something melancholic in the air. Elina asks Ryu, who she shouldn't know the name of, and her sister to leave the two lovebirds alone. Well, one love bird and a tiger. As we leave, she requests Ryu leave the Dragonslayer here. Elina knows about the Endless aura streams. And she knows for a terrible reason. While Cray prepares to take her back to Wyndia, she informs him that isn't possible. Elina sits up and takes the bedsheet off herself to reveal she's the abomination we've seen through this facility. Yuna teleports in and tells us this is his doing. He had planned to make Elina a sacrifice for the hex cannon, but that gun runs off misery. Elina is too optimistic like her sister. Because of this, Yuna tortured her. He's found that such acts tend to kill the subjects before they can be fired, so he learned to combine the human with an immortal entity.
We cut outside to hear that Ershin/Deis sensed Endless energy from Elina. We also get some backstory that Eliba was to be married to the Ludia prince.
We return to Cray chasing after Yuna, but the creature teleports away. Elina asks Cray, the man she loves, to kill her. She wants the last thing she sees to be him. We see him pick up the blade, and the screen goes black.
Nina does a quick soliloquy about Cray not saying anything when he rejoined the group, but she knew she'd never see Elina again. We jump outside the chateau and prepare to go to what remains of the capital. As we leave Astana, we're taken to the camp. Ryu and Ershin are with Nina in the tent. Her usual optimism is gone, replaced with confusion and emptiness. Ershin does his best to relate by telling her how he felt when Deis left him. Nina knows she feels alone, but she has friends all around.
Outside, Ursula, and even Scias, tell Cray that they would have done the same thing.
Maybe we'll finish tomorrow.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
The Path Ahead
The fishman who speaks broken English doesn't take us to the Empire. Instead, he just tells us to follow the river south. Ya know? All I did was give him a pot, so I got what I paid for. He asked for the dragon stone first, but I doubt that would change anything.
This place is simply called "River," but it resembles more of a canal. Man made embankments, floodgates, and floating shipping crates are the visuals here. The puzzle includes pushing the floating boxes around to make a bridge. Cross those bridges to open the gates and continue down the path. I have no idea what's in the chest at the bottom of the river. There's a guy along the route who can tell us about a strange rock. He'll ask about dragons, and you should respond that they look like plants and rocks. We now have access to the Quarry.
As you'd expect, the Quarry is where the seventh and final dragon resides.
Down the unsecret way is the town of Pauk. It's here where we learn the capital is destroyed, and the gates to it are closed. If we want to reach our goal, we need to find an alternate route. And "gramps" might be able to tell us. Too bad his favorite chicken ran off. His granddaughter was making a chicken pen, but she was slow. Off to the west is the plains, where this new side quest takes place. We'll need to act like a sheep/chicken herder and get the brown fowl in the cage. There are bonus points for any others. I found this to be really stupid. Fortunately, I got lucky, and the bird ran into the cage on its own. With that done, Gramps tells us about the path to a strange pyramid...
En route is an optional forest. One of the mobs rewards you with 10000 zenni, and there's a dragon crystal in here I need to go back for.
We return to where we (the player) first met Fou-lu. Still guarding the tomb is the lion, Won-qu. He senses that Ryu is an endless but refuses to kneel before anyone but Fou. This battle takes s long time. I changed into two dragon forms, but that might just be because I didn't want to use Kaiser form. Kaiserbreath chunks Won, but I used fire form first, and it kinda sucked. Won's main attack is an ice breath, and his physical attacks really hurt. After the battle, return to camp and rest. This next dungeon is a long one.
We climb down the pyramid. The first bit is simply going downwards. Eventually, we'll reach an elevator that takes us to a large room. There are three rooms forking from this, and each contains a puzzle guarding a rock. That rock will open up the next room.
The first puzzle is us moving blocks around with a crystal around the "arena." We'll need to align three blocks of the same color to reach the middle. The treasure in the back, which we'll need to align both colors for, has a gun for Ursula.
The second has us flipping a block beneath us around the room. If we stand on the red eye, we take damage, but it's negligible. I just ate it. The extra chest is 5000 zenni.
The final is a boss. Or, uh, two of them at the same time. I and II are massive dice. They toss themselves every turn, and whatever number they land on determines their damage. At least, I think? Their actual attacks didn't seem dependent on what was cast. I just went Kaiser form again and won in three turns. Ryu had just enough AP to do this. Won-qu returns and recognizes us as Fou's other half. He knows we're essentially his master and hands over the Won-qu Stone, which opens up the exit in the large room. Fresh air never felt so good. We break a monolith, and there's a cave nearby. For reasons I'll never know, this cave was empty. Regardless, head to the exit.
We can return to a place we've already been, Astana. This is where the gun is. There's a bit more to explore this time, and you might want to upgrade your gear. The teleportation gate is still broken, so go to Kwanso. The gate is still locked, and the guards reiterate what the other guards said had I not skipped the other entrance from Pauk. The capital is destroyed, and refugees are fleeing here. We can't enter, but we can go around. ? is to the south, and we'll explore there...
...tomorrow!
We're getting close to the end. This is the penultimate chapter title, but I'm kinda torn. I still feel like we're in the first act. The party hasn't met Fou-lu yet, and their other BBG died offscreen before being a proper antagonist. And we still haven't met Elina.
This place is simply called "River," but it resembles more of a canal. Man made embankments, floodgates, and floating shipping crates are the visuals here. The puzzle includes pushing the floating boxes around to make a bridge. Cross those bridges to open the gates and continue down the path. I have no idea what's in the chest at the bottom of the river. There's a guy along the route who can tell us about a strange rock. He'll ask about dragons, and you should respond that they look like plants and rocks. We now have access to the Quarry.
As you'd expect, the Quarry is where the seventh and final dragon resides.
Down the unsecret way is the town of Pauk. It's here where we learn the capital is destroyed, and the gates to it are closed. If we want to reach our goal, we need to find an alternate route. And "gramps" might be able to tell us. Too bad his favorite chicken ran off. His granddaughter was making a chicken pen, but she was slow. Off to the west is the plains, where this new side quest takes place. We'll need to act like a sheep/chicken herder and get the brown fowl in the cage. There are bonus points for any others. I found this to be really stupid. Fortunately, I got lucky, and the bird ran into the cage on its own. With that done, Gramps tells us about the path to a strange pyramid...
En route is an optional forest. One of the mobs rewards you with 10000 zenni, and there's a dragon crystal in here I need to go back for.
We return to where we (the player) first met Fou-lu. Still guarding the tomb is the lion, Won-qu. He senses that Ryu is an endless but refuses to kneel before anyone but Fou. This battle takes s long time. I changed into two dragon forms, but that might just be because I didn't want to use Kaiser form. Kaiserbreath chunks Won, but I used fire form first, and it kinda sucked. Won's main attack is an ice breath, and his physical attacks really hurt. After the battle, return to camp and rest. This next dungeon is a long one.
We climb down the pyramid. The first bit is simply going downwards. Eventually, we'll reach an elevator that takes us to a large room. There are three rooms forking from this, and each contains a puzzle guarding a rock. That rock will open up the next room.
The first puzzle is us moving blocks around with a crystal around the "arena." We'll need to align three blocks of the same color to reach the middle. The treasure in the back, which we'll need to align both colors for, has a gun for Ursula.
The second has us flipping a block beneath us around the room. If we stand on the red eye, we take damage, but it's negligible. I just ate it. The extra chest is 5000 zenni.
The final is a boss. Or, uh, two of them at the same time. I and II are massive dice. They toss themselves every turn, and whatever number they land on determines their damage. At least, I think? Their actual attacks didn't seem dependent on what was cast. I just went Kaiser form again and won in three turns. Ryu had just enough AP to do this. Won-qu returns and recognizes us as Fou's other half. He knows we're essentially his master and hands over the Won-qu Stone, which opens up the exit in the large room. Fresh air never felt so good. We break a monolith, and there's a cave nearby. For reasons I'll never know, this cave was empty. Regardless, head to the exit.
We can return to a place we've already been, Astana. This is where the gun is. There's a bit more to explore this time, and you might want to upgrade your gear. The teleportation gate is still broken, so go to Kwanso. The gate is still locked, and the guards reiterate what the other guards said had I not skipped the other entrance from Pauk. The capital is destroyed, and refugees are fleeing here. We can't enter, but we can go around. ? is to the south, and we'll explore there...
...tomorrow!
We're getting close to the end. This is the penultimate chapter title, but I'm kinda torn. I still feel like we're in the first act. The party hasn't met Fou-lu yet, and their other BBG died offscreen before being a proper antagonist. And we still haven't met Elina.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Levent
The fishing is automated!
While Nina and Ryu have a date, Fou walks into the house he built. He easily defeats two guards that block the main gate and walks into the magical elevator. Waiting for him is that summoner fella. He still owes his allegiance to the current, Thirteenth Emperor, Soniel. Because of this, he attacks us.
We need to fight two straight bosses, and this can get rough. I probably didn't need to, but I waited for the last moment to change into a dragon. The first I used was Serpent, which evolved into something stronger. I only used the breath attack, and it went smoothly. The second fight was against another moth, and I used Behemoth with the same tactics. I had just enough AP to do this. The summoner, whose name is Yohm, finally accepts defeat. Fou-lu has regained all his strength. As penance for standing before the true leader of the Fou Empire, Yohm sets himself on fire. Fou remakes again on mortal thoughts. There's a bedroom to rest and save in if you go around the elevator, and I suggest you use it.
We (the player) see a scene where we finally meet the current emperor, Soniel. Yuna enters, and the two discuss what's about to come. They believe they're ready for Fou. Soniel has the Dragonslayer, and Yuna has an anti-magic field.
After Fou kills two more guards, Yuna locks him in his field. But Fou puts up a fight. You have to transform to do any damage, and I used Astral's Eraser. It breaks the barrier, and Fou quickly wins. Yuna, knowing he's beaten, poofs away.
Fou meets the current squatter. I don't remember the specifics, but the two get close, and Soniel plunges the Dragonslayer sword into the side of Fou. Soniel claims victory, but Fou laughs...
We return to Ryu, who sucks at fishing, too. Nina opens her heart to him while he goofs off, but it's nothing directed towards him. Nina loves Cray. But she's always seen her sister marrying Cray, so she stood back. She also wonders if it's love or respect. During the journey, Nina's seen Cray struggle with normal human emotions, but she doesn't say how that's affected her feelings. Either way, Ryu's fishing skills are embarrassing, so she suggests they return to camp. Scias is enjoying the island, and Ershin is relaxed, knowing Ryu can't die before completing his fate. Ursula is absorbed in her gun and knows worrying about the tide is pointless. Cray's the only one worried. Inspect the blue book to rest.
In the morning, we all wake up to see the tide is out! We can continue on to the mainland, north Hesperia! Koshka is, for the moment, tertiary. You can upgrade some gear but continue to Shan River. The gimmick here are the gondolas. On the "third" screen, bump your gondola into the passing logs to reach the treasure. You'll need to backtrack to leave. Chiqua is next, and the boat to the capital is here. But the boatman won't work for free. He's into the Antique Roadshow, so he wants something ancient, rare, or fishy. I ain't fishing, so I went looking for the relic. Return to Koshka, and someone will tell you the location of the ruins.
En Jouh is a hell of a maze. We'll have to climb down, through the growing tree roots, until we reach the bottom. There's a dragon stone here to let us change into the Mutant Dragon. But I don't want to part with that, so I'll use the other viable path forward. Return to Khaska and talk to the weapons dealer. He can make a pot for us, but it'll take time. I've read it's about twenty fights. I used this time to grind and farm firage swords. I didn't get any, but I did gain two levels, 40000 zenni, and my fairy village grew a lot! I also did some stuff for the masters, but whatever. Anyway, I have the pot, and I'll hand it to the fish man...
...tomorrow!
Apparently, Soniel died in that scene. After laughing, Fou chopped his head off. Why was this scene edited? Was it to build tension and make us think Fou really did die?
While Nina and Ryu have a date, Fou walks into the house he built. He easily defeats two guards that block the main gate and walks into the magical elevator. Waiting for him is that summoner fella. He still owes his allegiance to the current, Thirteenth Emperor, Soniel. Because of this, he attacks us.
We need to fight two straight bosses, and this can get rough. I probably didn't need to, but I waited for the last moment to change into a dragon. The first I used was Serpent, which evolved into something stronger. I only used the breath attack, and it went smoothly. The second fight was against another moth, and I used Behemoth with the same tactics. I had just enough AP to do this. The summoner, whose name is Yohm, finally accepts defeat. Fou-lu has regained all his strength. As penance for standing before the true leader of the Fou Empire, Yohm sets himself on fire. Fou remakes again on mortal thoughts. There's a bedroom to rest and save in if you go around the elevator, and I suggest you use it.
We (the player) see a scene where we finally meet the current emperor, Soniel. Yuna enters, and the two discuss what's about to come. They believe they're ready for Fou. Soniel has the Dragonslayer, and Yuna has an anti-magic field.
After Fou kills two more guards, Yuna locks him in his field. But Fou puts up a fight. You have to transform to do any damage, and I used Astral's Eraser. It breaks the barrier, and Fou quickly wins. Yuna, knowing he's beaten, poofs away.
Fou meets the current squatter. I don't remember the specifics, but the two get close, and Soniel plunges the Dragonslayer sword into the side of Fou. Soniel claims victory, but Fou laughs...
We return to Ryu, who sucks at fishing, too. Nina opens her heart to him while he goofs off, but it's nothing directed towards him. Nina loves Cray. But she's always seen her sister marrying Cray, so she stood back. She also wonders if it's love or respect. During the journey, Nina's seen Cray struggle with normal human emotions, but she doesn't say how that's affected her feelings. Either way, Ryu's fishing skills are embarrassing, so she suggests they return to camp. Scias is enjoying the island, and Ershin is relaxed, knowing Ryu can't die before completing his fate. Ursula is absorbed in her gun and knows worrying about the tide is pointless. Cray's the only one worried. Inspect the blue book to rest.
In the morning, we all wake up to see the tide is out! We can continue on to the mainland, north Hesperia! Koshka is, for the moment, tertiary. You can upgrade some gear but continue to Shan River. The gimmick here are the gondolas. On the "third" screen, bump your gondola into the passing logs to reach the treasure. You'll need to backtrack to leave. Chiqua is next, and the boat to the capital is here. But the boatman won't work for free. He's into the Antique Roadshow, so he wants something ancient, rare, or fishy. I ain't fishing, so I went looking for the relic. Return to Koshka, and someone will tell you the location of the ruins.
En Jouh is a hell of a maze. We'll have to climb down, through the growing tree roots, until we reach the bottom. There's a dragon stone here to let us change into the Mutant Dragon. But I don't want to part with that, so I'll use the other viable path forward. Return to Khaska and talk to the weapons dealer. He can make a pot for us, but it'll take time. I've read it's about twenty fights. I used this time to grind and farm firage swords. I didn't get any, but I did gain two levels, 40000 zenni, and my fairy village grew a lot! I also did some stuff for the masters, but whatever. Anyway, I have the pot, and I'll hand it to the fish man...
...tomorrow!
Apparently, Soniel died in that scene. After laughing, Fou chopped his head off. Why was this scene edited? Was it to build tension and make us think Fou really did die?
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Fools and Men
Damn it. We're fishing...
But before that, we have to walk through the jungle. There are more lumberjack logs here, but the real interesting thing here is in the first area. There's a red fur ball sitting on a stump, and it doesn't seem healthy. It speaks in a strange language that we can try to decipher. The correct response is to assume it's hungry. From here, feed it a bunch of stuff. Eventually, the options we'll get are to think it's satisfied. At that point, we can continue. Behind this is a fork. One takes us to a fishing spot, and the other leads us deeper into the jungle where the puzzles are.
Pabpab is next on the map, and we're instantly attacked with arrows as we enter. The red ball we fed earlier comes running and stops the onslaught. This is the village of puff balls! There's a human here, and he invites us in. This is Beyd, a former adventurer. He stopped when he met his wife, Poko, the red puff ball we fed. Now, look. I often state I'm happily married to a stuffed dalmatian, but even I think this is strange. But Poko seems sentient and consenting, so I'll just not assume a lot. Regardless, Beyd translates his wife's people's words. After we let him know our plan to walk the shallows, he confirms it is possible. But only when the tide is low. He opens his home to us until then, so take a look around "town." Across the tree house is a sick pabpab, the fur balls. Beyd says this race has the idea of "pokopoko," whatever will be will be. If it dies, it dies, so the group isn't concerned. But Nina is. Beyd suggests seeking medicine in Lyd.
A person there says mosweed can be found at sea. Jumping on the boat gives us an idea of where we can find the mosweed, the purple pin, so go there. Have Ryu cut it and shift back. Give it to the fur ball, and we'll rest. In the morning, everyone is healthy! Maybe dancing saved it, but whatever. Poko will tell us the tide is low and escorts us to the shallows. There are some clues about the furry's language in a book next to the dying furball. I think speaking to them now will reveal clues to treasure somewhere. I didn't care to translate.
The shallows don't have any puzzles or gimmicks. I'm a bit bummed, but I'll take a simple path every now and then. Ultimately, we're walking until night falls. Cray suggests continuing through the night, but Nina is tired. So we rest. In the morning, we're stranded. The tide rose, and we're stuck on the island. After a few days of walking back and forth with Nina, she makes Ryu go fishing. I spent thirty minutes doing this stupid minigame, but I caught a puffer fish. It fed the whole group! But we have to do it again (maybe)... But I'll do that...
...tomorrow.
Assuming I don't stop because it sucks.
There were also two scenes that didn't involve Ryu. Fou-li is still alive. He limped to the Imperial Capital and forced his way into the castle. A mythical dog recognized him and told him how disrespectful the emperors have been. Fou instructs the dog to destroy the town. Fou's gonna become god-emperor again and bring down his creation. But what about the world?
But before that, we have to walk through the jungle. There are more lumberjack logs here, but the real interesting thing here is in the first area. There's a red fur ball sitting on a stump, and it doesn't seem healthy. It speaks in a strange language that we can try to decipher. The correct response is to assume it's hungry. From here, feed it a bunch of stuff. Eventually, the options we'll get are to think it's satisfied. At that point, we can continue. Behind this is a fork. One takes us to a fishing spot, and the other leads us deeper into the jungle where the puzzles are.
Pabpab is next on the map, and we're instantly attacked with arrows as we enter. The red ball we fed earlier comes running and stops the onslaught. This is the village of puff balls! There's a human here, and he invites us in. This is Beyd, a former adventurer. He stopped when he met his wife, Poko, the red puff ball we fed. Now, look. I often state I'm happily married to a stuffed dalmatian, but even I think this is strange. But Poko seems sentient and consenting, so I'll just not assume a lot. Regardless, Beyd translates his wife's people's words. After we let him know our plan to walk the shallows, he confirms it is possible. But only when the tide is low. He opens his home to us until then, so take a look around "town." Across the tree house is a sick pabpab, the fur balls. Beyd says this race has the idea of "pokopoko," whatever will be will be. If it dies, it dies, so the group isn't concerned. But Nina is. Beyd suggests seeking medicine in Lyd.
A person there says mosweed can be found at sea. Jumping on the boat gives us an idea of where we can find the mosweed, the purple pin, so go there. Have Ryu cut it and shift back. Give it to the fur ball, and we'll rest. In the morning, everyone is healthy! Maybe dancing saved it, but whatever. Poko will tell us the tide is low and escorts us to the shallows. There are some clues about the furry's language in a book next to the dying furball. I think speaking to them now will reveal clues to treasure somewhere. I didn't care to translate.
The shallows don't have any puzzles or gimmicks. I'm a bit bummed, but I'll take a simple path every now and then. Ultimately, we're walking until night falls. Cray suggests continuing through the night, but Nina is tired. So we rest. In the morning, we're stranded. The tide rose, and we're stuck on the island. After a few days of walking back and forth with Nina, she makes Ryu go fishing. I spent thirty minutes doing this stupid minigame, but I caught a puffer fish. It fed the whole group! But we have to do it again (maybe)... But I'll do that...
...tomorrow.
Assuming I don't stop because it sucks.
There were also two scenes that didn't involve Ryu. Fou-li is still alive. He limped to the Imperial Capital and forced his way into the castle. A mythical dog recognized him and told him how disrespectful the emperors have been. Fou instructs the dog to destroy the town. Fou's gonna become god-emperor again and bring down his creation. But what about the world?
Monday, April 17, 2023
Awakenings
I got lost in Fane. Stay above the water (once you get the chest) until you reach the cave. I barely saw this, but there was a path down into the water next to it. That leads to another cave system that's the correct path down. The only offshoot here leads to a wetsuit armor, which is great for Ryu, and the other cave has a sea stone in it. Throw that into the puddle in the first room of this cave system and go to the dead end. The Sea Dragon will be standing there. This isn't the official meeting, so he doesn't give Ryu his power. But he does give us a Salt Stone and wishes us luck. That stone is the Blessing of the Sea.
And with that, the captain will allow us to cross the only ocean in the world. Well, some of us. Sailing is hella sexist, so Nina and Ursula can't come. Ershin's fine, though. Fortunately, neither of our official females (I know...) are pushovers. They demand access and are willing to fight for it.
The captain thinks women are too weak, and they're willing to prove themselves. We hear a roar from atop the basketless crow's nest. It's our old friend Kahn! Ursula shoots him.
The captain meant fighting on said crow's nest, so Nina has a sumo match up there. We have two minutes and get bonus points for finishing fast. Jump on the guy's head and push him off. Remember to use the direction buttons to move. Nina wins, but the skipper really sucks. There is one more test.
Nina and Ursula have to spend the night at the bottom of the hull. Kahn could barely do it, and he's a man. During the night, several creepy things happen. A ghost attacks them, which they deal with with ease. Nina confuses Ursula's fox tail for a mouse, which turns into six. Finally, the rocking of the boat triggers sea lice to fall, and that almost breaks them. But they don't. Sea lice phobia aside, all of us can cross the sea!
It's not too long before our first mishap takes place. Ryu and Nina walk around the ship and end up at the bottom. Nina recalls her night, but the ship starts rocking, and we hear a knocking. Ursula almost shoots the two as they return to the deck. Everyone's aware we're under attack. But by what?
Kahn! It's our third fight against him, and this is the hardest. He has more AP and status ailments. I managed to poison him with Chlorine, and that did more damage than my team. We spent a lot of time on defense, but it was pretty manageable with the passive damage. Kahn falls into the water and drifts off. The captain believes he'll be fine.
At about the halfway mark, the wind dies. Sailors speak of a sea god who can affect the area. It's located in a cove nearby, and we head there.
The dungeon here is dark but quick. The first part is annoying as we're guided by a will-o-wisp. It changes color as we approach and look at a floor panel that could collapse on us. Go slow and hope the terrible controls don't ruin you. The second area is just dark and hard to see. The third area contains a boss that looks like the volcano god Fou killed. It fights like it too. I spammed combos all battle, and it went well if you ignore the moment Scias got one shot. Deis goes into more detail about these fake gods, expanding on what Fou thought, and we return to the ship.
The rest of the journey is peaceful, and we reach the city of Lyp! From here, we can walk across the shallow waters to eventually reach the Empire. But first, take the ship back to the ocean. It's another mini game where we get a certain amount of time to manually navigate the sea. I don't know how much is out here, but find the rocky shoals with mud in the middle of them. Stick your ship's nose in the triangle of rock, mud, and sea, and press triangle on the controller. This is the real Sea Dragon's place. Ryu gets stronger, apparently, and I'll head south from Lyp...
...tomorrow!
I feel like we're just getting started, but we're over halfway through the game. According to the chapters, at least.
And with that, the captain will allow us to cross the only ocean in the world. Well, some of us. Sailing is hella sexist, so Nina and Ursula can't come. Ershin's fine, though. Fortunately, neither of our official females (I know...) are pushovers. They demand access and are willing to fight for it.
The captain thinks women are too weak, and they're willing to prove themselves. We hear a roar from atop the basketless crow's nest. It's our old friend Kahn! Ursula shoots him.
The captain meant fighting on said crow's nest, so Nina has a sumo match up there. We have two minutes and get bonus points for finishing fast. Jump on the guy's head and push him off. Remember to use the direction buttons to move. Nina wins, but the skipper really sucks. There is one more test.
Nina and Ursula have to spend the night at the bottom of the hull. Kahn could barely do it, and he's a man. During the night, several creepy things happen. A ghost attacks them, which they deal with with ease. Nina confuses Ursula's fox tail for a mouse, which turns into six. Finally, the rocking of the boat triggers sea lice to fall, and that almost breaks them. But they don't. Sea lice phobia aside, all of us can cross the sea!
It's not too long before our first mishap takes place. Ryu and Nina walk around the ship and end up at the bottom. Nina recalls her night, but the ship starts rocking, and we hear a knocking. Ursula almost shoots the two as they return to the deck. Everyone's aware we're under attack. But by what?
Kahn! It's our third fight against him, and this is the hardest. He has more AP and status ailments. I managed to poison him with Chlorine, and that did more damage than my team. We spent a lot of time on defense, but it was pretty manageable with the passive damage. Kahn falls into the water and drifts off. The captain believes he'll be fine.
At about the halfway mark, the wind dies. Sailors speak of a sea god who can affect the area. It's located in a cove nearby, and we head there.
The dungeon here is dark but quick. The first part is annoying as we're guided by a will-o-wisp. It changes color as we approach and look at a floor panel that could collapse on us. Go slow and hope the terrible controls don't ruin you. The second area is just dark and hard to see. The third area contains a boss that looks like the volcano god Fou killed. It fights like it too. I spammed combos all battle, and it went well if you ignore the moment Scias got one shot. Deis goes into more detail about these fake gods, expanding on what Fou thought, and we return to the ship.
The rest of the journey is peaceful, and we reach the city of Lyp! From here, we can walk across the shallow waters to eventually reach the Empire. But first, take the ship back to the ocean. It's another mini game where we get a certain amount of time to manually navigate the sea. I don't know how much is out here, but find the rocky shoals with mud in the middle of them. Stick your ship's nose in the triangle of rock, mud, and sea, and press triangle on the controller. This is the real Sea Dragon's place. Ryu gets stronger, apparently, and I'll head south from Lyp...
...tomorrow!
I feel like we're just getting started, but we're over halfway through the game. According to the chapters, at least.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Streams
We went to Shadis because that's where the sand boats are. But they're, apparently, way out of our tax bracket. But Cray had one, and Nina's royalty. But, oh well. We're humble. So the next plan is made by Ursula. Just as a sandflier passes through the gate, she and Scias jump onto it. We hear cries of "pirates" and "brigands" from the owners, so everyone else gives chase.
It's Marlok! Nina and Cray humbly beg for aid in reaching the Empire again, but Marlok can't spare the time. But he does help us in his own way. He hands us a bond, an IOU, which we can return to the flier seller. Later on, we (the player) see a scene where Marlok explains his actions. A good merchant knows where history is made, and he expects good things from us. When we're at the top, he'll come to collect our debt. We now have a boat! To reach the gateway again, we have to go through a new minigame that's actually pretty fun! We have to navigate the sandflier through a small maze with hills and narrow canyons. We can ramp off the hill to skip areas or reach new entrances, which I'll get to in a moment. Before leaving, though, speak to the kid on top of the boat merchant's house. He'll teach us how to fast travel between locations. We'll have to walk back over them on the map, but it's probably worth it!
The party lands at a familiar site: the teleporter gate we went through before. But it's broken... Our battle with Rasso's summon knocked it out of commission. Ursula is shocked and annoyed that we caused this, but there's another way to get around...
Before doing so, I went back to where we saw that strange woman and her shamisen. There's a kobold fella there now, and it's the mud dragon. Ryu is now stronger. I also spent time digging in the sands where we found the flier parts before. I was looking for two iron parts because the Sword of Kings blacksmith can make armor for Ershin. Three irons make the mithril rig, which is their strongest armor in terms of pure defense. There are more specialized stuff to make, but the efficiency in getting a tank was just too easy to pass up.
To reach the new area, we'll talk to a thief/merchant just before our boat. He'll tell us about Shikk. There's another boat race maze to get there, but we'll reach the destination in time. Our new friend can walk ahead as we make camp, and we should return to Kyojin. There's a different map to get back, and there's an unconnected area at the bottom. There's a hill we can jump off to reach it, and it takes us to another dragon. The Grass Dragon is a jet engine. Why is the Grass Dragon in the desert?
To reach Shikk, we need to pass through Mt. Gigas. There's no real puzzle here, but the gondolas and stuck camera are the closest we get. There's a dragon crystal here, as well.
There's a Chkpnt in our way, but it's closed. Ludia is causing trouble for us again, and Cray is a wanted man. He can't pass through the gate, and he's attacked by guards. To get past this, he needs to push the carts. Leave the one closest to the inn where it is, but push the one next to it into the guards. Shove one across from it into where it was and then climb to the roof. Physics be damned, our party trampolines across and over the guards, and we can reach Shikk.
But stop at the question mark and turn off in the area. This takes us to the Tree Dragon.
Shikk is important because it's the only seaport in the game! Everything else is mud. There's a ship here, and we'll need to make use of it. The captain is in the bar, but he hates us. He refuses to take us because we lack the Blessing of the Sea God. So we need to find that! The area of Fane is to the north, and I suspect the fake god is there. Which we'll do...
...tomorrow!
Does the time mean anything? The kid who taught us fast travel seemed to indicate the minigames power up Ryu's dragon breath, but how?
It's Marlok! Nina and Cray humbly beg for aid in reaching the Empire again, but Marlok can't spare the time. But he does help us in his own way. He hands us a bond, an IOU, which we can return to the flier seller. Later on, we (the player) see a scene where Marlok explains his actions. A good merchant knows where history is made, and he expects good things from us. When we're at the top, he'll come to collect our debt. We now have a boat! To reach the gateway again, we have to go through a new minigame that's actually pretty fun! We have to navigate the sandflier through a small maze with hills and narrow canyons. We can ramp off the hill to skip areas or reach new entrances, which I'll get to in a moment. Before leaving, though, speak to the kid on top of the boat merchant's house. He'll teach us how to fast travel between locations. We'll have to walk back over them on the map, but it's probably worth it!
The party lands at a familiar site: the teleporter gate we went through before. But it's broken... Our battle with Rasso's summon knocked it out of commission. Ursula is shocked and annoyed that we caused this, but there's another way to get around...
Before doing so, I went back to where we saw that strange woman and her shamisen. There's a kobold fella there now, and it's the mud dragon. Ryu is now stronger. I also spent time digging in the sands where we found the flier parts before. I was looking for two iron parts because the Sword of Kings blacksmith can make armor for Ershin. Three irons make the mithril rig, which is their strongest armor in terms of pure defense. There are more specialized stuff to make, but the efficiency in getting a tank was just too easy to pass up.
To reach the new area, we'll talk to a thief/merchant just before our boat. He'll tell us about Shikk. There's another boat race maze to get there, but we'll reach the destination in time. Our new friend can walk ahead as we make camp, and we should return to Kyojin. There's a different map to get back, and there's an unconnected area at the bottom. There's a hill we can jump off to reach it, and it takes us to another dragon. The Grass Dragon is a jet engine. Why is the Grass Dragon in the desert?
To reach Shikk, we need to pass through Mt. Gigas. There's no real puzzle here, but the gondolas and stuck camera are the closest we get. There's a dragon crystal here, as well.
There's a Chkpnt in our way, but it's closed. Ludia is causing trouble for us again, and Cray is a wanted man. He can't pass through the gate, and he's attacked by guards. To get past this, he needs to push the carts. Leave the one closest to the inn where it is, but push the one next to it into the guards. Shove one across from it into where it was and then climb to the roof. Physics be damned, our party trampolines across and over the guards, and we can reach Shikk.
But stop at the question mark and turn off in the area. This takes us to the Tree Dragon.
Shikk is important because it's the only seaport in the game! Everything else is mud. There's a ship here, and we'll need to make use of it. The captain is in the bar, but he hates us. He refuses to take us because we lack the Blessing of the Sea God. So we need to find that! The area of Fane is to the north, and I suspect the fake god is there. Which we'll do...
...tomorrow!
Does the time mean anything? The kid who taught us fast travel seemed to indicate the minigames power up Ryu's dragon breath, but how?
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Dragon Hunt
But Ershin needs a solo adventure first!
She (or he, as the characters later call him) steps outside. Two guards are standing there, and this ends up in a fight. The Mecha Bomb weapon can one shot both of them. We see the Abess was standing behind where the guards were, so I guess they were harassing her. The two want to get out of town, but there's a chance for more fights. Being a suit of armor, Ershin removes his head and asks Abess to climb in. He'll protect her. And good thing too. The guy from Sarai, Rasso, is in charge of this operation. He notices Ershin and remembers him being a companion of Ryu. He sicks three more guards on us, and they're just as easy as before. Rasso sees nothing of importance in the armor and point blankly shoots poor Ershin. He's knocked over, and we cut to Nina.
Nina sees the body of Ershin, but Abess is fine next to it. She informs the group what happened, and everyone is worried about the citizens of Chek. The Empire went after them. Not only them, but Nina is concerned about Ershin. Deis reminds her that Ershin was just an empty suit of armor: it was never alive. This does not sway our princess, and she questions if all we experienced along the journey were real emotions or not.
En route to "?," the group is ambushed. The Empire found us! A woman named Ursula is leading this group, and she seems more suited for the job than Rasso. She and her men manage to subdue the group, but we ask about the citizens of Chek. Nina convinces her to let them investigate.
We'll reach "?" shortly, and it's totally desolate. All that we see is Commander Rasso. He's as cocky as your typical video game psychopath, and one of the children limps out from behind a stone wall. Everyone is dead. Rasso notes that Ryu is getting mad, and he summons another creature.
Ight is immune to all damage until his shield is destroyed. Sadly, we can't destroy it. However, seeing his friends beaten before him triggers a change in Ryu. He automatically changes into a new dragon form, Kaiser. We can't control him, and his only move is a breath attack that wipes out Ight's shield and most of its HP in one attack. The second turn vaporizes it. By dumb luck, Scias survived, and the two of them split the 3600 EXP.
The Kaiser and Ryu are two different entities now, but neither of them are in control of their senses. Ryu gets his first text box, and it's just him screaming in rage. The dragon butchers Ursula's men before turning towards Rasso. He gets what he deserves. The dragon prepares to kill Ursula, but Nina wraps her arms around Ryu...
Welcome to Act 3: Streams
Fou-lu is overlooking the Empire roost through Sonne but leaves in time. The landlord tells him to go through a shrine on the otherside of the forest unless he wants Mami's sacrifice to be in vain. As Fou leaves, the lord gives him an accessory. Fou returns to the forest but exits through a different place. The world map leads to a shrine, which the lord said would take him to a different city. But this shrine is locked. A voice tells him he'll need a sacrifice to enter, and Fou remarks on the possibility of another false god. And then, the beast he felled a few days ago appears. It starts to bash its horns into the talking rock, and blood spurts out every time. After a few bashes, it dies. The door moves, and Fou asks why it would do that? Is this the power of the aura of an Endless? The path through is straight, and Fou learns a new dragon form. Beyond this tunnel is Soma Forest. We don't get to explore much because we (the player) see a scene in the Empire. While Fou-lu gets an uneasy feeling, we see his pursuer and Lord Yuna load up the hex gun. Was that Mami? Whoever it was, they're used as the hex bullet that is launched at Soma Forest. It lands directly on Fou. It greatly affects him, and he discusses the folly of man and how idiotic this is. Something shiny falls from the sky near him, and he starts to laugh. But I don't think it's a humorous giggle. He passes out, and we return to Ryu.
Ryu is resting on Nina's lap while Cray and Scias are with a tied up Ursula. She asks her captors if they plan to use Ryu against the Empire, and Cray yells. The world doesn't revolve around fighting the Empire. In fact, Cray is no longer willing to trade Ryu for Elina. There's no way they should have that power. Ursula still wants to bring them there, and Nina kinda agrees. She believes Ryu lost control because he's incomplete. Reuniting the two might make it so that never happens again. And that became the plan. This will solve Ursula's orders, and she joins the team.
We return to Chek first and see Deis asleep. We speak to Abess about the plan, and she agrees it's an idea. Ursula tries to remind them that Fou died long ago, but Nina tells her he's alive. I think this scene is to bring Ursula up to speed. Abess reminds us to see the dragons first, and Cray tells us we should go to Shyde to get a sandflier. Remember when Cray crashed his? Before leaving, talk to Deis. As we get close, Ershin wakes up! Deis has returned to her empty armored suit because it's more fitting for battle. Rhem gets her body back! The armored part of her is also conscious again, and it's thrilled! The two discuss the name differences. Deis doesn't want to confuse everyone, but Ershin plans to keep calling Deis Ershin. It means master in an ancient language.
The team passes through Mt. Ruft, and we get to float down a very not lazy river. We now have access to the Wyndia region again, and there's a dragon to be found. On the Golden Plains, Cray's mom tells us to follow the glowing birds. It'll take us to Ch'o Ryong, a tall stick woman. She'll grant Ryu the Grass form, and we'll go looking for others...
...tomorrow!
There's a group of monsters at the Rasso sight where you test your combos on. There are six trees that regain 15000 HP per turn but never attack. My new max is just over 6000 damage.
She (or he, as the characters later call him) steps outside. Two guards are standing there, and this ends up in a fight. The Mecha Bomb weapon can one shot both of them. We see the Abess was standing behind where the guards were, so I guess they were harassing her. The two want to get out of town, but there's a chance for more fights. Being a suit of armor, Ershin removes his head and asks Abess to climb in. He'll protect her. And good thing too. The guy from Sarai, Rasso, is in charge of this operation. He notices Ershin and remembers him being a companion of Ryu. He sicks three more guards on us, and they're just as easy as before. Rasso sees nothing of importance in the armor and point blankly shoots poor Ershin. He's knocked over, and we cut to Nina.
Nina sees the body of Ershin, but Abess is fine next to it. She informs the group what happened, and everyone is worried about the citizens of Chek. The Empire went after them. Not only them, but Nina is concerned about Ershin. Deis reminds her that Ershin was just an empty suit of armor: it was never alive. This does not sway our princess, and she questions if all we experienced along the journey were real emotions or not.
En route to "?," the group is ambushed. The Empire found us! A woman named Ursula is leading this group, and she seems more suited for the job than Rasso. She and her men manage to subdue the group, but we ask about the citizens of Chek. Nina convinces her to let them investigate.
We'll reach "?" shortly, and it's totally desolate. All that we see is Commander Rasso. He's as cocky as your typical video game psychopath, and one of the children limps out from behind a stone wall. Everyone is dead. Rasso notes that Ryu is getting mad, and he summons another creature.
Ight is immune to all damage until his shield is destroyed. Sadly, we can't destroy it. However, seeing his friends beaten before him triggers a change in Ryu. He automatically changes into a new dragon form, Kaiser. We can't control him, and his only move is a breath attack that wipes out Ight's shield and most of its HP in one attack. The second turn vaporizes it. By dumb luck, Scias survived, and the two of them split the 3600 EXP.
The Kaiser and Ryu are two different entities now, but neither of them are in control of their senses. Ryu gets his first text box, and it's just him screaming in rage. The dragon butchers Ursula's men before turning towards Rasso. He gets what he deserves. The dragon prepares to kill Ursula, but Nina wraps her arms around Ryu...
Welcome to Act 3: Streams
Fou-lu is overlooking the Empire roost through Sonne but leaves in time. The landlord tells him to go through a shrine on the otherside of the forest unless he wants Mami's sacrifice to be in vain. As Fou leaves, the lord gives him an accessory. Fou returns to the forest but exits through a different place. The world map leads to a shrine, which the lord said would take him to a different city. But this shrine is locked. A voice tells him he'll need a sacrifice to enter, and Fou remarks on the possibility of another false god. And then, the beast he felled a few days ago appears. It starts to bash its horns into the talking rock, and blood spurts out every time. After a few bashes, it dies. The door moves, and Fou asks why it would do that? Is this the power of the aura of an Endless? The path through is straight, and Fou learns a new dragon form. Beyond this tunnel is Soma Forest. We don't get to explore much because we (the player) see a scene in the Empire. While Fou-lu gets an uneasy feeling, we see his pursuer and Lord Yuna load up the hex gun. Was that Mami? Whoever it was, they're used as the hex bullet that is launched at Soma Forest. It lands directly on Fou. It greatly affects him, and he discusses the folly of man and how idiotic this is. Something shiny falls from the sky near him, and he starts to laugh. But I don't think it's a humorous giggle. He passes out, and we return to Ryu.
Ryu is resting on Nina's lap while Cray and Scias are with a tied up Ursula. She asks her captors if they plan to use Ryu against the Empire, and Cray yells. The world doesn't revolve around fighting the Empire. In fact, Cray is no longer willing to trade Ryu for Elina. There's no way they should have that power. Ursula still wants to bring them there, and Nina kinda agrees. She believes Ryu lost control because he's incomplete. Reuniting the two might make it so that never happens again. And that became the plan. This will solve Ursula's orders, and she joins the team.
We return to Chek first and see Deis asleep. We speak to Abess about the plan, and she agrees it's an idea. Ursula tries to remind them that Fou died long ago, but Nina tells her he's alive. I think this scene is to bring Ursula up to speed. Abess reminds us to see the dragons first, and Cray tells us we should go to Shyde to get a sandflier. Remember when Cray crashed his? Before leaving, talk to Deis. As we get close, Ershin wakes up! Deis has returned to her empty armored suit because it's more fitting for battle. Rhem gets her body back! The armored part of her is also conscious again, and it's thrilled! The two discuss the name differences. Deis doesn't want to confuse everyone, but Ershin plans to keep calling Deis Ershin. It means master in an ancient language.
The team passes through Mt. Ruft, and we get to float down a very not lazy river. We now have access to the Wyndia region again, and there's a dragon to be found. On the Golden Plains, Cray's mom tells us to follow the glowing birds. It'll take us to Ch'o Ryong, a tall stick woman. She'll grant Ryu the Grass form, and we'll go looking for others...
...tomorrow!
There's a group of monsters at the Rasso sight where you test your combos on. There are six trees that regain 15000 HP per turn but never attack. My new max is just over 6000 damage.
Friday, April 14, 2023
Prophecy
There's a lot of jumping around tonight, so let's see how much information I miss. Also, don't get the items during Fou's turns.
Speaking of Fou-lu, he's in the farming village of Sonne. The inhabitants speak like they're Scottish but live in a village inspired by the East. The music gives me Chinese vibes. This is a short segment, as he's quickly told to go back to bed by Mami, the girl who's been nursing back to health. The Emperor obliges.
Deis is asleep, but we have so many questions. Most of them are about Ryu's other half and where he is. To get our inquiries answered, we need to wake her up. So the Abess sends her back into her world. It's a straight path to a Greek temple. Inside are a bunch of buff dudes with shiny teeth that sprinkle just like the stars in space. Deis is upset we're here and remarks that mortals always ask so much of gods. She offers to answer our questions, but she needs to wake up first. So we leave, and the body of Rhem wakes up. Deis asks about the summoning technique and if there's a specific place. Deis is down to help Ryu meet with Fou, but there's one thing she's worried about: Ryu's disappearance. Ryu and Fou are one and the same. If they meet, then they will fuse together. Should this meeting happen now, Fou, a centuries old master of his divine powers, will be the survivor. Not only that, but we learn the two may be separate both in space and time as well. However, Deis' plan might solve this. We have to summon dragons!
Fou is still the in the village, and he's more daring than before. He goes to look for Mami again, and she's off in the fields. When he sees her, she gets upset. Not only that, but her landlord is furious. Who's this guy "shacked up" with Mami? Mami introduces Fou as her cousin, Ryong, and it soothes the lord. At the very least, something new alters the conversation. A loud roar is heard from the forest, and Fou gives chase. In the back is a giant, furious boar. If you attack every turn, you won't need to transform. The boar transforms into something smaller and runs away. When Fou returns to the village, they're amazed Mami's cousin can do such a thing.
Nina and crew are off to Sinchan. As we pass a crevice, Ershin comes running towards us. She's still sentient? Deis believes her power rubbed off on the armor, and now the suit of armor is a real girl. Ershin wants to join us and her master. But Deis suggests it act like a suit of armor. Ershin asks Nina what this means, and she suggests that Alphonsa protect Deis. We're confused now, though, so Nina tells Ershin to return to the village.
We continue to Sinchan, and it's pretty short. You'll have to double back if you want all three chests, with two using this dungeon's puzzle. Inspect the painting in the pillar room after taking the bottom stairs. It'll raise the two other pillars beside us, so quickly return to the previous room and go up. Jump across the pillars but let the time run out while standing on the left pillar. This gives you access to the two chests in the next room. Do that all again but go through the upper door to advance. Deis and Ryu call forth all the dragons in the world, but we jump back to Fou.
This scene seems to be taking place alongside Ryu's calls of the dragons as Fou hears the thing too. But he can't go... A similar sound as before happens, but the inciting incident comes from the volcano. It's about to erupt, and everyone worries about the god. An actual god is here, and Fou wants to meet this so called deity. Fou climbs the volcano and enters the cave. In the back is a large rock man with a plant on its head. Fou believes it has come in close proximity with a god, and some of the power has rubbed off on it. Kinda like Ershin? Marl doesn't understand, so he attacks Fou. Turn into a dragon and use Eraser every other turn. Marl summons two pets that get wiped out with the move and use basic attacks when he's alone. Fou leaves, and Mami's landlord is angry. There's no way this guy is Mami's cousin.
Deis is speaking to all the dragons in their "human" form. Deis requests that the dragons grant Ryu a portion of their power to prevent Ryu from disappearing. The dragons are mere watchers now and don't care to get involved. Especially because Deis wants to use Ryu to return to the otherside. The dragons have accepted their fate and are down to be neutral entities on [world name here]. Deis scorns them for believing in fate, especially as gods. Her words seem to trigger something, but there's a catch. If Ryu comes and finds them, they'll grant him their power. The Wind Dragon gives Ryu the ability to turn into a wind form and wishes us luck. And it's back to...
Fou! But the Empire has shown up. One of the scenes tonight had Fou tell him a story about himself and how he came to power. During this, he said his name... The soldiers peacefully march to Mami's house, and Fou thinks of a way out. One that won't cost Sonne. But there's nowhere to go, so he hangs out in the house. The soldiers are knocking on the door, but Mami pushes them aside. She quickly locks the door and tells Fou to leave through the broken wall in the oven. The moment she saw him, she knew he was special. Fou obeys, and the soldiers open the door. Their target is gone, but the soldiers are angry at Mami. They'll use her for the Carronode - the hex cannon.
We cut again, but not to Ryu. It's armored Ershin. Something is knocking on her armor, and it's the Abess. The Empire is here too. All the children have gotten away, and now Abess is worried about Ryu and his friends, including Ershin. We see the guy we met in Sarai roaming the town, so we'll figure out what's going on...
...tomorrow!
Akin to nothing, I 100 percented Grand Theft Auto 3. It kinda sucks.
Speaking of Fou-lu, he's in the farming village of Sonne. The inhabitants speak like they're Scottish but live in a village inspired by the East. The music gives me Chinese vibes. This is a short segment, as he's quickly told to go back to bed by Mami, the girl who's been nursing back to health. The Emperor obliges.
Deis is asleep, but we have so many questions. Most of them are about Ryu's other half and where he is. To get our inquiries answered, we need to wake her up. So the Abess sends her back into her world. It's a straight path to a Greek temple. Inside are a bunch of buff dudes with shiny teeth that sprinkle just like the stars in space. Deis is upset we're here and remarks that mortals always ask so much of gods. She offers to answer our questions, but she needs to wake up first. So we leave, and the body of Rhem wakes up. Deis asks about the summoning technique and if there's a specific place. Deis is down to help Ryu meet with Fou, but there's one thing she's worried about: Ryu's disappearance. Ryu and Fou are one and the same. If they meet, then they will fuse together. Should this meeting happen now, Fou, a centuries old master of his divine powers, will be the survivor. Not only that, but we learn the two may be separate both in space and time as well. However, Deis' plan might solve this. We have to summon dragons!
Fou is still the in the village, and he's more daring than before. He goes to look for Mami again, and she's off in the fields. When he sees her, she gets upset. Not only that, but her landlord is furious. Who's this guy "shacked up" with Mami? Mami introduces Fou as her cousin, Ryong, and it soothes the lord. At the very least, something new alters the conversation. A loud roar is heard from the forest, and Fou gives chase. In the back is a giant, furious boar. If you attack every turn, you won't need to transform. The boar transforms into something smaller and runs away. When Fou returns to the village, they're amazed Mami's cousin can do such a thing.
Nina and crew are off to Sinchan. As we pass a crevice, Ershin comes running towards us. She's still sentient? Deis believes her power rubbed off on the armor, and now the suit of armor is a real girl. Ershin wants to join us and her master. But Deis suggests it act like a suit of armor. Ershin asks Nina what this means, and she suggests that Alphonsa protect Deis. We're confused now, though, so Nina tells Ershin to return to the village.
We continue to Sinchan, and it's pretty short. You'll have to double back if you want all three chests, with two using this dungeon's puzzle. Inspect the painting in the pillar room after taking the bottom stairs. It'll raise the two other pillars beside us, so quickly return to the previous room and go up. Jump across the pillars but let the time run out while standing on the left pillar. This gives you access to the two chests in the next room. Do that all again but go through the upper door to advance. Deis and Ryu call forth all the dragons in the world, but we jump back to Fou.
This scene seems to be taking place alongside Ryu's calls of the dragons as Fou hears the thing too. But he can't go... A similar sound as before happens, but the inciting incident comes from the volcano. It's about to erupt, and everyone worries about the god. An actual god is here, and Fou wants to meet this so called deity. Fou climbs the volcano and enters the cave. In the back is a large rock man with a plant on its head. Fou believes it has come in close proximity with a god, and some of the power has rubbed off on it. Kinda like Ershin? Marl doesn't understand, so he attacks Fou. Turn into a dragon and use Eraser every other turn. Marl summons two pets that get wiped out with the move and use basic attacks when he's alone. Fou leaves, and Mami's landlord is angry. There's no way this guy is Mami's cousin.
Deis is speaking to all the dragons in their "human" form. Deis requests that the dragons grant Ryu a portion of their power to prevent Ryu from disappearing. The dragons are mere watchers now and don't care to get involved. Especially because Deis wants to use Ryu to return to the otherside. The dragons have accepted their fate and are down to be neutral entities on [world name here]. Deis scorns them for believing in fate, especially as gods. Her words seem to trigger something, but there's a catch. If Ryu comes and finds them, they'll grant him their power. The Wind Dragon gives Ryu the ability to turn into a wind form and wishes us luck. And it's back to...
Fou! But the Empire has shown up. One of the scenes tonight had Fou tell him a story about himself and how he came to power. During this, he said his name... The soldiers peacefully march to Mami's house, and Fou thinks of a way out. One that won't cost Sonne. But there's nowhere to go, so he hangs out in the house. The soldiers are knocking on the door, but Mami pushes them aside. She quickly locks the door and tells Fou to leave through the broken wall in the oven. The moment she saw him, she knew he was special. Fou obeys, and the soldiers open the door. Their target is gone, but the soldiers are angry at Mami. They'll use her for the Carronode - the hex cannon.
We cut again, but not to Ryu. It's armored Ershin. Something is knocking on her armor, and it's the Abess. The Empire is here too. All the children have gotten away, and now Abess is worried about Ryu and his friends, including Ershin. We see the guy we met in Sarai roaming the town, so we'll figure out what's going on...
...tomorrow!
Akin to nothing, I 100 percented Grand Theft Auto 3. It kinda sucks.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Mysterious
I don't like a snow dungeon!
The Highlands have us descending a mountain. We can walk on certain frozen rivers, but the biggest gimmick is the snowball pushing puzzle. There are a handful Cray can push to create a bridge we can pass over. I had no idea how to reach the chest just before the exit. I didn't enjoy this place because of the mobs. The tanky birds attack in groups of three, and it's time consuming to kill them. And why does my team feel so fragile?!
The Village of Chek is to the south. It's inhabited by children. There is one adult, an old woman in charge, and she's the Abess. She recognizes Ryu as the Yorae Dragon immediately, even though she's blind. Sorta. She can't see physical objects, but she can sense auras. She also understands how everyone's aura is unique and how they interact with everyone around them. And the Endless have auras so powerful they suck the whole world into them.
The Abess reminds us that the Endless are summoned to this planet by humans. She goes on to answer my question from last night and admits it is this village that has summoned the dragons. Only a certain few people can summon, and most of them are in Chek. The Chekians brought forth the Endless to keep their powers away from those who would abuse them. But she'll tell us what the Wind Dragon wanted us to hear tomorrow.
Ryu wakes up alone and walks outside. It's a bit pink out here, and only the Abess is here. She cast a spell to put everyone to sleep. I don't remember why... Regardless, Ershin is still awake. Abess senses a light aura from the armor, but it's definitely that of an Endless. Ershin is a sealed Endless.
The actual next morning has us finding Cray and Nina outside. Cray is talking about giving the Empire Ryu in order to get Elina back. But Nina, hopefully, talks him out of it. Abess next to Ershin, and Scias watches on. She wants us to venture into Ershin's mind to free our fellow god from her imprisonment. A strange black hole appears, and we're sucked in. The path to Ershin is straightforward and only involves a few jumps. After you control the mountain, taking the second bottom path, we wrap around and see a woman sealed in a pyramid. She asks us to break the pillars, and a hard boss fight begins.
We're against four elemental pillars. Magic is questionable, so I went with physical attacks. I also worked backwards, and I think that was wise. The red pillar seemed to have more HP than the other three and was the only one Ryu, Scias, and Cray couldn't take out in one or so rounds. Cray seems very vulnerable to magic, though, and he's painfully slow. I assume there's a good strategy with Nina out there somewhere.
The real Ershin is freed, but there's another complication. She has no body. She'll ask us to find a medium in town, so we go back. The Abess calls forth the best in the village and begins to perform a spell. Ershin will now live inside this poor girl. Ershin's armor opens up, and a black shadow emanates from it. With a loud roar, it goes into poor Rhem. She's now a totally different person! Armored Ershin was eccentric, but child Ershin is kinda rude. Abess asks her some questions, but our fellow god demands food first. The village obliges, and we skip forward. A bloated Ershin is done eating and is grateful for the tribute. Finally answering questions, she reveals the Empire has developed a new type of summoning. But it kinda sucks. They tried to call forth both Ryu and Ershin, but it was an incomplete summoning. Ershin had to possess the armor, and Ryu was split into two. I wonder where his other half is? Akin to nothing, we cut to Fou-lu. He was saved by a woman a few days ago after the butterfly battle, and he's finally awake now. The girl's cooking woke him up, so we'll explore the village of Sonne...
...tomorrow!
Gee...I wonder...
The Highlands have us descending a mountain. We can walk on certain frozen rivers, but the biggest gimmick is the snowball pushing puzzle. There are a handful Cray can push to create a bridge we can pass over. I had no idea how to reach the chest just before the exit. I didn't enjoy this place because of the mobs. The tanky birds attack in groups of three, and it's time consuming to kill them. And why does my team feel so fragile?!
The Village of Chek is to the south. It's inhabited by children. There is one adult, an old woman in charge, and she's the Abess. She recognizes Ryu as the Yorae Dragon immediately, even though she's blind. Sorta. She can't see physical objects, but she can sense auras. She also understands how everyone's aura is unique and how they interact with everyone around them. And the Endless have auras so powerful they suck the whole world into them.
The Abess reminds us that the Endless are summoned to this planet by humans. She goes on to answer my question from last night and admits it is this village that has summoned the dragons. Only a certain few people can summon, and most of them are in Chek. The Chekians brought forth the Endless to keep their powers away from those who would abuse them. But she'll tell us what the Wind Dragon wanted us to hear tomorrow.
Ryu wakes up alone and walks outside. It's a bit pink out here, and only the Abess is here. She cast a spell to put everyone to sleep. I don't remember why... Regardless, Ershin is still awake. Abess senses a light aura from the armor, but it's definitely that of an Endless. Ershin is a sealed Endless.
The actual next morning has us finding Cray and Nina outside. Cray is talking about giving the Empire Ryu in order to get Elina back. But Nina, hopefully, talks him out of it. Abess next to Ershin, and Scias watches on. She wants us to venture into Ershin's mind to free our fellow god from her imprisonment. A strange black hole appears, and we're sucked in. The path to Ershin is straightforward and only involves a few jumps. After you control the mountain, taking the second bottom path, we wrap around and see a woman sealed in a pyramid. She asks us to break the pillars, and a hard boss fight begins.
We're against four elemental pillars. Magic is questionable, so I went with physical attacks. I also worked backwards, and I think that was wise. The red pillar seemed to have more HP than the other three and was the only one Ryu, Scias, and Cray couldn't take out in one or so rounds. Cray seems very vulnerable to magic, though, and he's painfully slow. I assume there's a good strategy with Nina out there somewhere.
The real Ershin is freed, but there's another complication. She has no body. She'll ask us to find a medium in town, so we go back. The Abess calls forth the best in the village and begins to perform a spell. Ershin will now live inside this poor girl. Ershin's armor opens up, and a black shadow emanates from it. With a loud roar, it goes into poor Rhem. She's now a totally different person! Armored Ershin was eccentric, but child Ershin is kinda rude. Abess asks her some questions, but our fellow god demands food first. The village obliges, and we skip forward. A bloated Ershin is done eating and is grateful for the tribute. Finally answering questions, she reveals the Empire has developed a new type of summoning. But it kinda sucks. They tried to call forth both Ryu and Ershin, but it was an incomplete summoning. Ershin had to possess the armor, and Ryu was split into two. I wonder where his other half is? Akin to nothing, we cut to Fou-lu. He was saved by a woman a few days ago after the butterfly battle, and he's finally awake now. The girl's cooking woke him up, so we'll explore the village of Sonne...
...tomorrow!
Gee...I wonder...
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
What a twist!
There's a forest that I'll never be able to pronounce, and the Wind Dragon's priestess resides here. It's a fairly quick trek through the dense underbrush, but there are two gimmicks! One is a simple damage floor, thorns, but they're easy to avoid. The second, and more meaningful, are rolling logs. The party has to pretend to be lumberjacks and take their downed trees downriver. It's more across a small pond, but you get the idea. It's a little tricky if you're trying to get all the treasure and/or are dumb and don't realize the last log is pretty much already at the target. Fun, easy puzzle. In the back is the ancient woman who tells us to return to Wyndia. There's a Wind Flute in the basement, which'll allow us to access the Wind Dragon's house, Pung'tap. Back at the camp, Cray realizes that Scias is gone. He can't be reporting us to Ludia, can he?
Go back to Nina's house and talk to the King, who'll give us access to the basement. The wind priestess has more power than royalty. Wyndia Dungeon's thing is the wind gusts that blow you back. For the first part of the area, the weathervanes guide you. The second part, though, prevents you from advancing. You'll need to time it correctly or find the safe places where the gales won't throw you back. There is no boss here, and we'll have to walk our way out after picking up the flute.
As we leave, we (the player) see Scias reporting us to Ludia. They know Ryu is a dragon, and they even state his name. I don't remember it... Scias is given his money, and his bosses leave the room. They're coming for us.
We enter Pung'tan and automatically play the Wind Flute. An elevator drops to let us in. Most of this tower involves letting the wind take us higher up. If the breeze blows, then we're thrust to a platform higher. Sometimes it's several floors above. If it doesn't, we usually fall to the nearest wooden plank. The angle of our jump is important, and there was a room I couldn't reach. At the top is a gondola that'll take us to the dragon. But... Heal up first
Ludia is here. The guy in charge reiterates that Ryu is a dragon and wants to turn him over to the Empire. He assumes Nina and Cray will do the same, but he's their friend! It doesn't matter because they're gonna fight us.
If you're not fully healed, this battle will start rough. Assassin C seems to begin the fight with Sleep, which has annoyingly high success rates. I spent too much time trying to heal while fighting a nap that I had to run defense for far too long. I went after C to make sure that wouldn't happen again once I could fight. But Ludia isn't done. Three more assassins emerge, ready for round two. I am not ready.
But we have backup! Scias has returned, and he drops the money his boss gave him. He's breaking the contract. When asked why, he says, "I don't know." What fantastic character growth!
Technically, round two has us fighting Scias as well. He's targetable, but he acts as an ally. So don't use spell combos. He attacks them or heals us, so he's pretty invaluable. C is still the worst. I don't know what happens if Scias dies... I wonder if the King saw this from the castle in the distance?
Ludia leaves, and the teams all together. Despite being upset at Scias' betrayal, Cray says nothing, but Nina thanks him. To speak to god, the group climbs into a basket. Physics be damned because the windmill we're on spins all the way around the clock radial twice, and it launches the basket into the air. A paraglide wing deploys, and we sail further into the sky. We're above the clouds, and sky dolphins start to jump out. Can everyone see this from the ground? Is this just a common thing?! After them, P'ung Ryong appears. Compared to the dolphins, he definitely looks like a whale.
Ruong gets terrifyingly close, but he speaks to us. He confirms what the Ludia guy said but goes into more detail. Whatever type of dragon Ryu is, he's the Endless of Time/Future and appears once every several hundred years. Dragons might be gods of this world, but it is still the humans' realm. It is they who summon the Endless, and it is the summoners who decide the alignment chart of the dragon. So who summoned the whale? Ryu is still young, so his fate is still to be found. If we want to find more, we'll need to discover Evocation. One such is near us, so Ryong smacks us down to the surface. We crash land on a mountain that's enduring a blizzard. The "human" form of Ryong tells us there's a town nearby we should visit. And we'll do that...
...tomorrow!
One of my fairies died...
Go back to Nina's house and talk to the King, who'll give us access to the basement. The wind priestess has more power than royalty. Wyndia Dungeon's thing is the wind gusts that blow you back. For the first part of the area, the weathervanes guide you. The second part, though, prevents you from advancing. You'll need to time it correctly or find the safe places where the gales won't throw you back. There is no boss here, and we'll have to walk our way out after picking up the flute.
As we leave, we (the player) see Scias reporting us to Ludia. They know Ryu is a dragon, and they even state his name. I don't remember it... Scias is given his money, and his bosses leave the room. They're coming for us.
We enter Pung'tan and automatically play the Wind Flute. An elevator drops to let us in. Most of this tower involves letting the wind take us higher up. If the breeze blows, then we're thrust to a platform higher. Sometimes it's several floors above. If it doesn't, we usually fall to the nearest wooden plank. The angle of our jump is important, and there was a room I couldn't reach. At the top is a gondola that'll take us to the dragon. But... Heal up first
Ludia is here. The guy in charge reiterates that Ryu is a dragon and wants to turn him over to the Empire. He assumes Nina and Cray will do the same, but he's their friend! It doesn't matter because they're gonna fight us.
If you're not fully healed, this battle will start rough. Assassin C seems to begin the fight with Sleep, which has annoyingly high success rates. I spent too much time trying to heal while fighting a nap that I had to run defense for far too long. I went after C to make sure that wouldn't happen again once I could fight. But Ludia isn't done. Three more assassins emerge, ready for round two. I am not ready.
But we have backup! Scias has returned, and he drops the money his boss gave him. He's breaking the contract. When asked why, he says, "I don't know." What fantastic character growth!
Technically, round two has us fighting Scias as well. He's targetable, but he acts as an ally. So don't use spell combos. He attacks them or heals us, so he's pretty invaluable. C is still the worst. I don't know what happens if Scias dies... I wonder if the King saw this from the castle in the distance?
Ludia leaves, and the teams all together. Despite being upset at Scias' betrayal, Cray says nothing, but Nina thanks him. To speak to god, the group climbs into a basket. Physics be damned because the windmill we're on spins all the way around the clock radial twice, and it launches the basket into the air. A paraglide wing deploys, and we sail further into the sky. We're above the clouds, and sky dolphins start to jump out. Can everyone see this from the ground? Is this just a common thing?! After them, P'ung Ryong appears. Compared to the dolphins, he definitely looks like a whale.
Ruong gets terrifyingly close, but he speaks to us. He confirms what the Ludia guy said but goes into more detail. Whatever type of dragon Ryu is, he's the Endless of Time/Future and appears once every several hundred years. Dragons might be gods of this world, but it is still the humans' realm. It is they who summon the Endless, and it is the summoners who decide the alignment chart of the dragon. So who summoned the whale? Ryu is still young, so his fate is still to be found. If we want to find more, we'll need to discover Evocation. One such is near us, so Ryong smacks us down to the surface. We crash land on a mountain that's enduring a blizzard. The "human" form of Ryong tells us there's a town nearby we should visit. And we'll do that...
...tomorrow!
One of my fairies died...
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
The Wind Dragon
I fell asleep writing this two nights ago before I finished, so let's jam two of these together!
We return to the Wychwood and find a kaleidoscope of colors. It's a fairy! We tell her we need a Fairy Drop, and she's a little taken aback. But she does know where to get one. Unfortunately, it's not gonna be an easy thing to get. Some time ago, the Fairy Village was attacked, and the fae became homeless. So, as a fair trade, if we beat the invaders, we get the Fairy Drop.
There are five creatures around the small level. There are slight differences between them, but they're mostly negligible. There is one who's strong against physical attacks, so bring your mages! Once all five are dead, a larger nose will drop from the sky. Seriously, what the hell is this? At any point during the "dungeon," you can leave the fairy realm. I did so to rest at an inn before the boss. Fantam is a rather unique experience. Its body changes size based on what it's been hit by, and its stats switch accordingly. A small body means high magical defense but low physical. And vice versa. My trick was to get him tiny. After that, let Nina start with a Sever, and then Ryu and Scias can attack. Occasionally, Ryu's gonna need to cast Burn, but you'll be doing nearly 1500 HP a round with this strategy. Fantam lacks any power. With the Fairy Village saved, one heads off into the bushes, grunts, and gives us a rock. ...is this fairy poop? Later at camp, Scias confirms it. What the hefl, Capcom?
We return to the smith, and he hammers that poop. In short order, he's made a Sword of Kings. The Alliance is based on crap! So it's back to Ludia.
We confront the guy in charge, but it appears more things have changed. Our blade doesn't mean anything because the Empire has revealed more information. They also have a Sword of Kings. They've returned it, but there are conditions. The treaty will change. We don't know what that means, but I doubt it's in our favor. But this means we might as well break our Cray in a traditional way. The team leaves, but Scias hangs back to talk to his boss. Boss is annoyed Scias didn't inform him Nina left, but Scias is a very literal dogman. He was told to watch but not report. Scias' orders now change to inform.
We sneak in later at night because the guards are asleep. But that's only the first one. We have to sneak around now. There are a few guards in our way, and we only get one round to knock them out. No killing! They block that turn, so use magic. If we fail to "kill" them, everyone escorts us outside, and we (presumably) begin again. It's a short dungeon, and Cray at the top. We break him out and quickly leave Ludia. We're told to return to Worent, but they just tell us to see Tahla.
Her plan is to speak with the wind dragon in Wyndia. They'll know what's going on and can tell us whatever it is we need to know. So that means returning to Nina's home. Tahla gives us a Jadestone, which we can use to open the shrine I kept finding last night.
This dungeon is odd. There's more to it than I experienced, but I messed up the light direction puzzle and locked myself out of the extra treasure. The only path in the new section of the map is north to Ahm Fen.
It's a swamp with a skittish snake in it. We never fight it, but we have to walk on its back to reach new platforms and chests. One of the random encounters is against a guard who patrols the area. Occasionally, they'll Heal us. Too bad Ershin long range punched him...
After this is a fork in the path. Right takes us to a house inhabited by a man and his naked fairy wife. To the left is a forced camp scene. While the party is sitting around the campfire, a fairy flies up to us. They've been homeless for so long that they don't know how to live anymore. It's relateable... They've come to ask us to be their benevolent overlords and tell them everything to do. I think I'm doing it right, but I'll find out in a few days.
Much further north, after a new path back to Ludia, is the castle town of Windia. There's a merchant in the inn, but our destination is the floating castle in the sky. We have to take a lift up because the windmills keep Nina's home aloft. The guards inside let Nina through, and we meet the King in his personal bedroom. He thanks Cray for trying to find Elina and assures him he's on the woren's side. He feels like Ludia is colluding with the Empire, so something big is about to unfold. But then Nina brings up the wind dragon. We (the player) see him flying through the sky above the clouds, and he looks like an Eastern dragon. Despite being King, the King has no say in how a mythical beast acts. So no one can be sure if P'ung Ryong will meet with us. But the only way to find out is to speak to his priestess in the forest east of Wyndia. Pung'tap is our destination, and we'll talk to a god...
...tomorrow!
One of the optional camp scenes has Ershin revealing that Deis speaks to her. Hmm...
We return to the Wychwood and find a kaleidoscope of colors. It's a fairy! We tell her we need a Fairy Drop, and she's a little taken aback. But she does know where to get one. Unfortunately, it's not gonna be an easy thing to get. Some time ago, the Fairy Village was attacked, and the fae became homeless. So, as a fair trade, if we beat the invaders, we get the Fairy Drop.
There are five creatures around the small level. There are slight differences between them, but they're mostly negligible. There is one who's strong against physical attacks, so bring your mages! Once all five are dead, a larger nose will drop from the sky. Seriously, what the hell is this? At any point during the "dungeon," you can leave the fairy realm. I did so to rest at an inn before the boss. Fantam is a rather unique experience. Its body changes size based on what it's been hit by, and its stats switch accordingly. A small body means high magical defense but low physical. And vice versa. My trick was to get him tiny. After that, let Nina start with a Sever, and then Ryu and Scias can attack. Occasionally, Ryu's gonna need to cast Burn, but you'll be doing nearly 1500 HP a round with this strategy. Fantam lacks any power. With the Fairy Village saved, one heads off into the bushes, grunts, and gives us a rock. ...is this fairy poop? Later at camp, Scias confirms it. What the hefl, Capcom?
We return to the smith, and he hammers that poop. In short order, he's made a Sword of Kings. The Alliance is based on crap! So it's back to Ludia.
We confront the guy in charge, but it appears more things have changed. Our blade doesn't mean anything because the Empire has revealed more information. They also have a Sword of Kings. They've returned it, but there are conditions. The treaty will change. We don't know what that means, but I doubt it's in our favor. But this means we might as well break our Cray in a traditional way. The team leaves, but Scias hangs back to talk to his boss. Boss is annoyed Scias didn't inform him Nina left, but Scias is a very literal dogman. He was told to watch but not report. Scias' orders now change to inform.
We sneak in later at night because the guards are asleep. But that's only the first one. We have to sneak around now. There are a few guards in our way, and we only get one round to knock them out. No killing! They block that turn, so use magic. If we fail to "kill" them, everyone escorts us outside, and we (presumably) begin again. It's a short dungeon, and Cray at the top. We break him out and quickly leave Ludia. We're told to return to Worent, but they just tell us to see Tahla.
Her plan is to speak with the wind dragon in Wyndia. They'll know what's going on and can tell us whatever it is we need to know. So that means returning to Nina's home. Tahla gives us a Jadestone, which we can use to open the shrine I kept finding last night.
This dungeon is odd. There's more to it than I experienced, but I messed up the light direction puzzle and locked myself out of the extra treasure. The only path in the new section of the map is north to Ahm Fen.
It's a swamp with a skittish snake in it. We never fight it, but we have to walk on its back to reach new platforms and chests. One of the random encounters is against a guard who patrols the area. Occasionally, they'll Heal us. Too bad Ershin long range punched him...
After this is a fork in the path. Right takes us to a house inhabited by a man and his naked fairy wife. To the left is a forced camp scene. While the party is sitting around the campfire, a fairy flies up to us. They've been homeless for so long that they don't know how to live anymore. It's relateable... They've come to ask us to be their benevolent overlords and tell them everything to do. I think I'm doing it right, but I'll find out in a few days.
Much further north, after a new path back to Ludia, is the castle town of Windia. There's a merchant in the inn, but our destination is the floating castle in the sky. We have to take a lift up because the windmills keep Nina's home aloft. The guards inside let Nina through, and we meet the King in his personal bedroom. He thanks Cray for trying to find Elina and assures him he's on the woren's side. He feels like Ludia is colluding with the Empire, so something big is about to unfold. But then Nina brings up the wind dragon. We (the player) see him flying through the sky above the clouds, and he looks like an Eastern dragon. Despite being King, the King has no say in how a mythical beast acts. So no one can be sure if P'ung Ryong will meet with us. But the only way to find out is to speak to his priestess in the forest east of Wyndia. Pung'tap is our destination, and we'll talk to a god...
...tomorrow!
One of the optional camp scenes has Ershin revealing that Deis speaks to her. Hmm...
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Broken Sword
I don't know what that random fork in the road was, but it wasn't the haunted forest. That's the Wychwood!
The Wychwood is, as far as I can tell, a straight path. It's through a thick forest that eventually opens across a ravine. And as we cross... Nina disappears! We (the player) see that she actually shrinks, but the characters don't see anything. Ershin knows she didn't fall off the cliff, though. Nina isn't sure what happened either. But there's no time to think because a bird picks her up and carries her off! The others leave to find clues, and they quickly hear strange voices. Lights flash over the ravine, and they turn into fairies! They plan other nefarious things they want to do to us, but then they notice we're looking at them. We're not supposed to know they're here, but *someone* has the Dragon's Eye. Knowing they're found, they come clean. They shrunk Nina. She'll grow again later on, but she's at the mercy of the avians for now. So everyone is off to find her.
Ershin can bash trees through the area, and the ficus we're seeking is just after a jump. But before we find that, we see Nina be treated like a baby bird. Her wings confused the bird, and now it's trying to feed her a caterpillar. She isn't fond of eating bugs, so a battle begins. The parent bird tries to scold its child, leaving Nina in the driver's seat of this fight. By the time it's over, Ershin headbutts the tree, and Nina falls out. She begins to change size just in time to provocatively land on Ryu. With the group back together, we go to the actual capital of the woren, Worent.
The elders live in the back of town, and they're prepared to go to war with Ludia for imprisoning their chief. Fortunately, one of the three has just enough of a brain to know that's a bad idea. A better idea would be to find the wife of the previous chief, Taryn. This is Cray's mom. She's a nomad now and lives in the Golden Plains. She's wise and can figure out a better plan than murder. We'll need a horse first...
As we leave, an old friend appears. Marcel's guard, Kahn, is here to train for his revenge against us. And now's the time! His first act is a powerful technique. His second act is learning he doesn't have enough AP to use it again. From here, it's a standard battle. His new mentor comes out to scold us because Kahn isn't as strong as he thinks he is, and we're picking on him. She settles the situation, and we go our separate ways. If we return, we learn Kahn is gone, and his mentor can be our master.
Let's go look for a horse! None of us know how to ride, but a nearby snail has taken a liking to Ryu. Ershin joins in its dance. This floating whelk will be our horse even though it can only look backwards.
Ryu has to go alone, so everyone wishes him luck. He promptly falls off the snail. As our blue haired MC leaves, Scias shows some personality. He asks why we're doing all this if the odds of success are so low? Nina will always fight for her friends!
The Golden Plains is a precursor to modern world maps. It's a far too vast area of emptiness. All the mobs are hard to hit, but magic works well. There was a guy who knew how to find Taryn, but his advice didn't work for me. I don't know how I found her, so maybe find the rock in the middle of the area and go north. North East brings you to the Shrine. Taryn's camp can be spotted by the smoke.
Ryu tells mama Taryn about the situation. It's late, though, so we go to bed. We, for some reason, see a part of Cray's pretrial, and it seems everyone is more upset he lost the Sword of Kings, the weapon we broke over the imperial soldier. The sword represents the Alliance, so it's very important. Ryu gives this information to Taryn, and she suggests finding a new version of it from the guy who lives in Mt. Glom. We return to our camp to reconnect with the rest of the party. They suggested returning to town, but their advice is how to find the volcano. Find the rock again and go directly south. For some reason, the snail is gone, and we're walking it. This undermines the whole point of the horses!
Glom is an active volcano in a JRPG. I'm sure you already know that means lava floors. There are a few you can jump over and an interesting gimmick in the third room. To advance, you'll need to fight battles. Doing so will cause havoc in the area, and several platforms will move. This creates a bridge to the area we need to reach, but there's a second hidden room with a great weapon for Ershin in it. There's a house in the correct area that contains a dwarf looking fella who's a blacksmith. We tell him about the Sword of Kings, and he knows what it is. He's the one who made it! He offers to reforge it, but we'll need to obtain a mythical Fairy Drop that can only be found in the Faelands. Take the secret exit from his basement to return to the world map, and we'll look for the fairies again...
...tomorrow!
Glom has a fun monster to fight. If you run into a tree, set it on fire. The wyd will transform and give more exp on defeat. It's a rad mechanic!
The Wychwood is, as far as I can tell, a straight path. It's through a thick forest that eventually opens across a ravine. And as we cross... Nina disappears! We (the player) see that she actually shrinks, but the characters don't see anything. Ershin knows she didn't fall off the cliff, though. Nina isn't sure what happened either. But there's no time to think because a bird picks her up and carries her off! The others leave to find clues, and they quickly hear strange voices. Lights flash over the ravine, and they turn into fairies! They plan other nefarious things they want to do to us, but then they notice we're looking at them. We're not supposed to know they're here, but *someone* has the Dragon's Eye. Knowing they're found, they come clean. They shrunk Nina. She'll grow again later on, but she's at the mercy of the avians for now. So everyone is off to find her.
Ershin can bash trees through the area, and the ficus we're seeking is just after a jump. But before we find that, we see Nina be treated like a baby bird. Her wings confused the bird, and now it's trying to feed her a caterpillar. She isn't fond of eating bugs, so a battle begins. The parent bird tries to scold its child, leaving Nina in the driver's seat of this fight. By the time it's over, Ershin headbutts the tree, and Nina falls out. She begins to change size just in time to provocatively land on Ryu. With the group back together, we go to the actual capital of the woren, Worent.
The elders live in the back of town, and they're prepared to go to war with Ludia for imprisoning their chief. Fortunately, one of the three has just enough of a brain to know that's a bad idea. A better idea would be to find the wife of the previous chief, Taryn. This is Cray's mom. She's a nomad now and lives in the Golden Plains. She's wise and can figure out a better plan than murder. We'll need a horse first...
As we leave, an old friend appears. Marcel's guard, Kahn, is here to train for his revenge against us. And now's the time! His first act is a powerful technique. His second act is learning he doesn't have enough AP to use it again. From here, it's a standard battle. His new mentor comes out to scold us because Kahn isn't as strong as he thinks he is, and we're picking on him. She settles the situation, and we go our separate ways. If we return, we learn Kahn is gone, and his mentor can be our master.
Let's go look for a horse! None of us know how to ride, but a nearby snail has taken a liking to Ryu. Ershin joins in its dance. This floating whelk will be our horse even though it can only look backwards.
Ryu has to go alone, so everyone wishes him luck. He promptly falls off the snail. As our blue haired MC leaves, Scias shows some personality. He asks why we're doing all this if the odds of success are so low? Nina will always fight for her friends!
The Golden Plains is a precursor to modern world maps. It's a far too vast area of emptiness. All the mobs are hard to hit, but magic works well. There was a guy who knew how to find Taryn, but his advice didn't work for me. I don't know how I found her, so maybe find the rock in the middle of the area and go north. North East brings you to the Shrine. Taryn's camp can be spotted by the smoke.
Ryu tells mama Taryn about the situation. It's late, though, so we go to bed. We, for some reason, see a part of Cray's pretrial, and it seems everyone is more upset he lost the Sword of Kings, the weapon we broke over the imperial soldier. The sword represents the Alliance, so it's very important. Ryu gives this information to Taryn, and she suggests finding a new version of it from the guy who lives in Mt. Glom. We return to our camp to reconnect with the rest of the party. They suggested returning to town, but their advice is how to find the volcano. Find the rock again and go directly south. For some reason, the snail is gone, and we're walking it. This undermines the whole point of the horses!
Glom is an active volcano in a JRPG. I'm sure you already know that means lava floors. There are a few you can jump over and an interesting gimmick in the third room. To advance, you'll need to fight battles. Doing so will cause havoc in the area, and several platforms will move. This creates a bridge to the area we need to reach, but there's a second hidden room with a great weapon for Ershin in it. There's a house in the correct area that contains a dwarf looking fella who's a blacksmith. We tell him about the Sword of Kings, and he knows what it is. He's the one who made it! He offers to reforge it, but we'll need to obtain a mythical Fairy Drop that can only be found in the Faelands. Take the secret exit from his basement to return to the world map, and we'll look for the fairies again...
...tomorrow!
Glom has a fun monster to fight. If you run into a tree, set it on fire. The wyd will transform and give more exp on defeat. It's a rad mechanic!
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Act II: Endless
Fou-li thanks Bunyin for helping him, but it's time for the first emperor to leave this quiet mountain hut. Before he does, Bunyan asks a simple question: is war approaching? Bunyin was a soldier in a previous war, so he has a second sense about these things. He states his disdain for such acts, to which Fou merely remarks on the thoughts of mortals. I don't recall what his answer was.
Fou plans to return to the capital, but other forces quickly block him. The man from the forest has found him. Fou's name is so powerful that even uttering the word sends ripples through space. The man has been tracking Fou since he introduced himself to Bunyan. The man quickly summons a giant moth, which Fou can easily handle in dragon form. It seemed weak to ice. The man is shocked that Fou has regained more of his power in such a short time, and then he brings up Fou's "other half." He's just woken up... The man summons another moth, but Fou flees. He has more important stuff to do. He turns into a dragon and flies away. The moth gives chase, and the oversized insect catches up to the mythical beast. A few eye lasers bring down Fou, and we cut to a sandflier passing through a gate.
Marcel's plan succeeded, and we're at the gate of the Empire. We have to climb three floors of a tower, and there are mobs for some reason. At the top is an old friend.
As the team gets to the summit, a warp gate appears out of nowhere: the way to Elina. The elevator behind us raises, and it's the guy from Sarai. He's angry that Ryu scared his face and wants revenge. He also can't let foreigners into his country. He summons a boss for us to fight.
The trick to this guy is making him dizzy. Doing so will cause him to skip its turn and show us its weak spot. I went with Ryu's Wild Swing and Ershin's Flame Strike. It doesn't look like a combo attack, but it gets the job done for some reason. I used that because it procs every time, unlike Burn + Server. Burn and Earth Strike rarely work, either. You'll only get one free shot at the seal, so I had Cray hit him. He has the highest attack, so it makes sense. The boss can so a lot of damage, so stay on the offensive. Despite not actually blocking us from the gate, we can run towards it now. It's closing, so the team rushes through. The dude remakes that someone is a dragon, even if no one shows it.
We get through just in time, and the gate closes. There will be no pursuers. The other side of the gate is a mirror of before, but we'll need to take the elevator down to floor one, or else the final lift won't be there. There's a chest on the second floor. There's nothing to see at the base of the tower, but we can learn the name of that guy. Head to the new world map and go to Astana. It's blocked by a giant gun, the one that launched the hexes, but an NPC tells us about the aqueduct. It's a quick vertical maze, and a guard asks if we're repairmen. We totes are, so we dive into the water at the end.
We're in the room where Ryu's dream started. This section plays out the same as it did before, but we can see how it ends this time. After the curtain sneaking, Lord Yuna spots us and teleports before us in the midst of his conversation with his attendant. He's surprisingly welcoming to intruders who he's technically at war with. Cray's more gentile than he was with Marcel, which helped. Yuna is so kind that he answers where Elina is: he doesn't know. Elina was here, but she left some time ago. Despite the cordiality, Yuna calls the guards on us. Fortunately, they don't attack us or even toss us in jail. They escort us back to The Alliance lands, and we serve our punishment there.
Welcome to Act II!
Cray, the leader of the Woren clan, is in a high tower awaiting his trial. A storm is outside. Apparently, what we did was illegal. Ryu, Ershin, and even Nina are under a weird house arrest in the mining town of Ludia. We're being watched by a giant dog named Scias, but we can move freely around. We can even leave town! But Nina wants to see Cray. The three of them, including Scias, all head to the castle. But the guards don't let us in. The main character, Nina, decides we should visit the woren capital, so we head out of town. Upgrade your gear at the fish man in the house next to our prison. There's a forest that we can't enter and a town we can trade fish at for great rewards. Too bad I hate fishing! I expected to explore the haunted forest, but we couldn't enter it, so I got bummed. So we'll visit Wychwood...
...tomorrow!
Akin to nothing, GTA3 is a terrible game to 100%. I think it's time to focus on RPGs again...
Fou plans to return to the capital, but other forces quickly block him. The man from the forest has found him. Fou's name is so powerful that even uttering the word sends ripples through space. The man has been tracking Fou since he introduced himself to Bunyan. The man quickly summons a giant moth, which Fou can easily handle in dragon form. It seemed weak to ice. The man is shocked that Fou has regained more of his power in such a short time, and then he brings up Fou's "other half." He's just woken up... The man summons another moth, but Fou flees. He has more important stuff to do. He turns into a dragon and flies away. The moth gives chase, and the oversized insect catches up to the mythical beast. A few eye lasers bring down Fou, and we cut to a sandflier passing through a gate.
Marcel's plan succeeded, and we're at the gate of the Empire. We have to climb three floors of a tower, and there are mobs for some reason. At the top is an old friend.
As the team gets to the summit, a warp gate appears out of nowhere: the way to Elina. The elevator behind us raises, and it's the guy from Sarai. He's angry that Ryu scared his face and wants revenge. He also can't let foreigners into his country. He summons a boss for us to fight.
The trick to this guy is making him dizzy. Doing so will cause him to skip its turn and show us its weak spot. I went with Ryu's Wild Swing and Ershin's Flame Strike. It doesn't look like a combo attack, but it gets the job done for some reason. I used that because it procs every time, unlike Burn + Server. Burn and Earth Strike rarely work, either. You'll only get one free shot at the seal, so I had Cray hit him. He has the highest attack, so it makes sense. The boss can so a lot of damage, so stay on the offensive. Despite not actually blocking us from the gate, we can run towards it now. It's closing, so the team rushes through. The dude remakes that someone is a dragon, even if no one shows it.
We get through just in time, and the gate closes. There will be no pursuers. The other side of the gate is a mirror of before, but we'll need to take the elevator down to floor one, or else the final lift won't be there. There's a chest on the second floor. There's nothing to see at the base of the tower, but we can learn the name of that guy. Head to the new world map and go to Astana. It's blocked by a giant gun, the one that launched the hexes, but an NPC tells us about the aqueduct. It's a quick vertical maze, and a guard asks if we're repairmen. We totes are, so we dive into the water at the end.
We're in the room where Ryu's dream started. This section plays out the same as it did before, but we can see how it ends this time. After the curtain sneaking, Lord Yuna spots us and teleports before us in the midst of his conversation with his attendant. He's surprisingly welcoming to intruders who he's technically at war with. Cray's more gentile than he was with Marcel, which helped. Yuna is so kind that he answers where Elina is: he doesn't know. Elina was here, but she left some time ago. Despite the cordiality, Yuna calls the guards on us. Fortunately, they don't attack us or even toss us in jail. They escort us back to The Alliance lands, and we serve our punishment there.
Welcome to Act II!
Cray, the leader of the Woren clan, is in a high tower awaiting his trial. A storm is outside. Apparently, what we did was illegal. Ryu, Ershin, and even Nina are under a weird house arrest in the mining town of Ludia. We're being watched by a giant dog named Scias, but we can move freely around. We can even leave town! But Nina wants to see Cray. The three of them, including Scias, all head to the castle. But the guards don't let us in. The main character, Nina, decides we should visit the woren capital, so we head out of town. Upgrade your gear at the fish man in the house next to our prison. There's a forest that we can't enter and a town we can trade fish at for great rewards. Too bad I hate fishing! I expected to explore the haunted forest, but we couldn't enter it, so I got bummed. So we'll visit Wychwood...
...tomorrow!
Akin to nothing, GTA3 is a terrible game to 100%. I think it's time to focus on RPGs again...
Friday, April 7, 2023
Grating...
The trick to getting the kid is to take to the skies with Nina. Wait until he comes into view and descend when he's near. I floated above the bridge. The chase will begin, so hammer X. He'll agree to return to the orphanage, and we're warped there. While the kids eat, the adults talk about Elina.
A nun confirms Elina was here but doesn't know where she went. Cray is annoyed that that's all she knows, but the kid we caught rushes upstairs. He saw where Elina went! But he sucks, so he challenges us to a game of hide 'n' seek. Without any recourse, Nina agrees. We now have to find six kids throughout the town. They're all scattered in hard-to-see areas, so get ready to spin that camera! Fortunately, they give a clue about another kid, and the first one we can find is cleaning the kitchen. If you're missing one, she's probably in the inn. Once we've got the six, a nun notices we're only missing the kid we tagged. Another orphan says he went into the basement, which is very bad. While the outside of town was cleared of hex, the underground is still affected, and monsters roam the area. This seems like a dumb place to rebuild.
There's only one way down, and it's guarded by a guy. He'll move when the sexy water lady comes to sell him high quality H2O, so head down when his back is turned.
This dungeon is just an advanced tutorial. There are no gimmicks, offshoots, or bosses. Walk through the dungeon until you reach the prison. The kid will be in one, but we can't catch him. Head up another floor and fall through the second hole in the floor to reach him. We'll automatically be returned to the orphanage. The kid tells us he saw Elina leave with her entourage, but two people took her further west - to the Empire Wyndia is at war with. Kid doesn't know who they were, but the nun knows she went on a sandflier, so it was probably the local merchant, Marlok.
We find his house guarded by a bodyguard, who Cray forces a fight with. He's no threat to us. Marlok saw the battle unfold, so he offers us an audience. He confirms he took Elina into the Empire, but he doesn't know why or where she went from there. Cray gets rough, but the sly merchant talks him down. We're gonna need his help to get west.
Cray is upset because we have to do his errands now. Ershin reminds him we roughed up his bodyguard, so we're kinda obligated to repay him. But why did he keep Nina as a maid? Our job is to find a thief who's been stealing Marlok's stuff. A peddler by the gate thinks the thief in question lives on the eastern highway. We have access to a new cave now, so head to it. Don't go all the way! If a question mark or exclamation point appears over Ryu's head, enter the area it's calling to.
We'll spot the possible thief and confront him, but he'll run off. While we give chase, we cut to seeing Marlok ask Nina for a shoulder massage. The others enter the cave, and now we have to corner the thief. I moved two barrels into a wall and chased the guy there. He tells us that he's just stealing his stuff back. Marlok bought them for a pittance, and he wants them back. Cray agrees with our target and lets him go. Nina has to give Marlok a foot massage.
We return to town and get yelled at. Marlok did buy those items fair and square, after all! But he gives us a second chance; one that doesn't require thought. We have to do manual labor at the sandflier wharf while Nina gives Marlok a back rub. Our first task was to clean the store room. We have to put barrels in the barrel section and urns in the urn section with Cray's push ability. Ershin will have to destroy the old barrels with a bash. I got three in each for 1200 points and a 500 bonus for time. Marlok offers Nina a massage now, and we hear her scream... D...do I want to know what this was about?
After that, we have to load the flier. Using the crane, which is a lot too oiled up, we have to place ten crates with a bonus score for putting them on blue squares. I got all of them for 2000 points! Nina comes rushing up to us, and Marlok has decided to ferry us west. For a job well done, we get straw. A drinking straw or hay? What was the point of all this? En route west, Cray complains about our room. All four of us are cramped into one small box because Marlok is technically smuggling us into the Empire. While the flier fades off, we cut back to Fou-Lu. But we'll get back to him...
...tomorrow!
All these mini games in quick succession suck. Especially when they're awful experiences. Please don't diverge back to BoF3!
A nun confirms Elina was here but doesn't know where she went. Cray is annoyed that that's all she knows, but the kid we caught rushes upstairs. He saw where Elina went! But he sucks, so he challenges us to a game of hide 'n' seek. Without any recourse, Nina agrees. We now have to find six kids throughout the town. They're all scattered in hard-to-see areas, so get ready to spin that camera! Fortunately, they give a clue about another kid, and the first one we can find is cleaning the kitchen. If you're missing one, she's probably in the inn. Once we've got the six, a nun notices we're only missing the kid we tagged. Another orphan says he went into the basement, which is very bad. While the outside of town was cleared of hex, the underground is still affected, and monsters roam the area. This seems like a dumb place to rebuild.
There's only one way down, and it's guarded by a guy. He'll move when the sexy water lady comes to sell him high quality H2O, so head down when his back is turned.
This dungeon is just an advanced tutorial. There are no gimmicks, offshoots, or bosses. Walk through the dungeon until you reach the prison. The kid will be in one, but we can't catch him. Head up another floor and fall through the second hole in the floor to reach him. We'll automatically be returned to the orphanage. The kid tells us he saw Elina leave with her entourage, but two people took her further west - to the Empire Wyndia is at war with. Kid doesn't know who they were, but the nun knows she went on a sandflier, so it was probably the local merchant, Marlok.
We find his house guarded by a bodyguard, who Cray forces a fight with. He's no threat to us. Marlok saw the battle unfold, so he offers us an audience. He confirms he took Elina into the Empire, but he doesn't know why or where she went from there. Cray gets rough, but the sly merchant talks him down. We're gonna need his help to get west.
Cray is upset because we have to do his errands now. Ershin reminds him we roughed up his bodyguard, so we're kinda obligated to repay him. But why did he keep Nina as a maid? Our job is to find a thief who's been stealing Marlok's stuff. A peddler by the gate thinks the thief in question lives on the eastern highway. We have access to a new cave now, so head to it. Don't go all the way! If a question mark or exclamation point appears over Ryu's head, enter the area it's calling to.
We'll spot the possible thief and confront him, but he'll run off. While we give chase, we cut to seeing Marlok ask Nina for a shoulder massage. The others enter the cave, and now we have to corner the thief. I moved two barrels into a wall and chased the guy there. He tells us that he's just stealing his stuff back. Marlok bought them for a pittance, and he wants them back. Cray agrees with our target and lets him go. Nina has to give Marlok a foot massage.
We return to town and get yelled at. Marlok did buy those items fair and square, after all! But he gives us a second chance; one that doesn't require thought. We have to do manual labor at the sandflier wharf while Nina gives Marlok a back rub. Our first task was to clean the store room. We have to put barrels in the barrel section and urns in the urn section with Cray's push ability. Ershin will have to destroy the old barrels with a bash. I got three in each for 1200 points and a 500 bonus for time. Marlok offers Nina a massage now, and we hear her scream... D...do I want to know what this was about?
After that, we have to load the flier. Using the crane, which is a lot too oiled up, we have to place ten crates with a bonus score for putting them on blue squares. I got all of them for 2000 points! Nina comes rushing up to us, and Marlok has decided to ferry us west. For a job well done, we get straw. A drinking straw or hay? What was the point of all this? En route west, Cray complains about our room. All four of us are cramped into one small box because Marlok is technically smuggling us into the Empire. While the flier fades off, we cut back to Fou-Lu. But we'll get back to him...
...tomorrow!
All these mini games in quick succession suck. Especially when they're awful experiences. Please don't diverge back to BoF3!
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Missing Princess
The basis of the battle system is top notch. If for no other reason, they let you switch out characters before FFX did. I can go either way on how skills are learned.
Past the dam is a grove of trees. As the party looks out over the ocean at the wonderful sunset, the dragon that attacked last night pokes its head out at us. But it was still. A strange lady with a shamisen appears on one of the trees. She says a lot of stuff I don't understand, and I don't think our party members do either. She plays us a song, but we have to pay her. Ten zenni gets is a song about a frog and a tadpole, but the 100 zenni song is about fate, the Endless, and the dragons' role in this world. Nina realizes later on that the woman ate the money. But the dragon at our side disappears into the aether, and the princess thanks the woman for the song. As we leave the area, she tells the air that we're not just entwined with the dragons, but one of them walks among us.
Further up the road is the village of Kyria. It's a village filled with traps. Some of them are worth triggering for bestiary and exp sake. The hole ones, especially. Ultimately, we need to speak to the mayor because Kyria guards an escape passage to Synestia. Fall into a hole behind the mayor's house and climb up to his house. We'll have to have a stupid conversation with his parrot(s), where you have to select seemingly random responses. I didn't understand it, but the bird(s) tells us the mayor is in the western forest.
A guard there tells us the mayor is here because the village is often beset by monsters, hence the need for the traps. We're given an apple, which will summon a monster we can follow to find him, but I never used it. This place is only a few screens long, so it's unnecessary. The real gimmick here is finding the proper hole in the maze to get all the items in the cave. After a cliffside, we'll finally reach the mayor. He'll tell us to stay quiet because a boar is about to trigger an explosion trap. It does, but it only scares it off. The mayor excessively gloats about his trap skills, but then a shadow appears above it. The boar parent is not happy.
Maman isn't too hard. I insist on trying to guard all the time to see if I can learn something from everyone, including bosses, but I should stop doing that. Body Press can stun a target if it hits, but the stun rarely procs. The one time it did, it wore off instantly. It can also use Cray's earth attack, which hits everyone. Keep your HP above 150, and keep attacking. The mayor thanks us for saving his life, and we return to town. He grants us passage to the cave, but rest at the makeshift inn that night first.
And Ryu has a dream. Fou-lu wakes up in a hut and walks out. He spots a large man who introduces himself as Bunyan. He found Fou in the river, and he's been out for a few days. Fou thanks him and tries to walk away, only to collapse after a few steps. Bunyan takes him back to bed, where he wakes back up. Fou introduces himself to his savior just as Ryu wakes up! We return to the main party, and Cray falls into a hole, but we can go through the Passage to Synesta. It's a straightforward path, but we'll have to climb a rope to get out.
Synesta is a booming village. The party wonders how this is, considering it was also hexed, but they decide to find Elina. There's an orphanage behind them, and it's dinner time. Alas, no one eats unless all the kids eat at the same time. We see a nun chasing after a rambunctious kid, and we offer help. And this sucks! The camera in BoFIV is hot garbage. It's so easy to lose the kid, but it's so hard to refind him. Nina thinks the orphanage has ties to her sister, so we probably have to do this. Regardless, I got frustrated and called it quits. It was getting late anyway, so I'll baptize this idiot...
...tomorrow!
I have no idea how to describe anything I did tonight. I really wish getting that kid would have happened since it feels like it would fit.
Past the dam is a grove of trees. As the party looks out over the ocean at the wonderful sunset, the dragon that attacked last night pokes its head out at us. But it was still. A strange lady with a shamisen appears on one of the trees. She says a lot of stuff I don't understand, and I don't think our party members do either. She plays us a song, but we have to pay her. Ten zenni gets is a song about a frog and a tadpole, but the 100 zenni song is about fate, the Endless, and the dragons' role in this world. Nina realizes later on that the woman ate the money. But the dragon at our side disappears into the aether, and the princess thanks the woman for the song. As we leave the area, she tells the air that we're not just entwined with the dragons, but one of them walks among us.
Further up the road is the village of Kyria. It's a village filled with traps. Some of them are worth triggering for bestiary and exp sake. The hole ones, especially. Ultimately, we need to speak to the mayor because Kyria guards an escape passage to Synestia. Fall into a hole behind the mayor's house and climb up to his house. We'll have to have a stupid conversation with his parrot(s), where you have to select seemingly random responses. I didn't understand it, but the bird(s) tells us the mayor is in the western forest.
A guard there tells us the mayor is here because the village is often beset by monsters, hence the need for the traps. We're given an apple, which will summon a monster we can follow to find him, but I never used it. This place is only a few screens long, so it's unnecessary. The real gimmick here is finding the proper hole in the maze to get all the items in the cave. After a cliffside, we'll finally reach the mayor. He'll tell us to stay quiet because a boar is about to trigger an explosion trap. It does, but it only scares it off. The mayor excessively gloats about his trap skills, but then a shadow appears above it. The boar parent is not happy.
Maman isn't too hard. I insist on trying to guard all the time to see if I can learn something from everyone, including bosses, but I should stop doing that. Body Press can stun a target if it hits, but the stun rarely procs. The one time it did, it wore off instantly. It can also use Cray's earth attack, which hits everyone. Keep your HP above 150, and keep attacking. The mayor thanks us for saving his life, and we return to town. He grants us passage to the cave, but rest at the makeshift inn that night first.
And Ryu has a dream. Fou-lu wakes up in a hut and walks out. He spots a large man who introduces himself as Bunyan. He found Fou in the river, and he's been out for a few days. Fou thanks him and tries to walk away, only to collapse after a few steps. Bunyan takes him back to bed, where he wakes back up. Fou introduces himself to his savior just as Ryu wakes up! We return to the main party, and Cray falls into a hole, but we can go through the Passage to Synesta. It's a straightforward path, but we'll have to climb a rope to get out.
Synesta is a booming village. The party wonders how this is, considering it was also hexed, but they decide to find Elina. There's an orphanage behind them, and it's dinner time. Alas, no one eats unless all the kids eat at the same time. We see a nun chasing after a rambunctious kid, and we offer help. And this sucks! The camera in BoFIV is hot garbage. It's so easy to lose the kid, but it's so hard to refind him. Nina thinks the orphanage has ties to her sister, so we probably have to do this. Regardless, I got frustrated and called it quits. It was getting late anyway, so I'll baptize this idiot...
...tomorrow!
I have no idea how to describe anything I did tonight. I really wish getting that kid would have happened since it feels like it would fit.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Association
It turns out there are two more recent BoF games. Who knew!
Nina and Ryu return to Sarai with the flier parts and head to the black market. But something is there! There's a man in a blue coat accosting a merchant. I think it's the same guy Nina saw in Ryu's crater. The man is from the empire and looking for something. Nina jumps down to the floor to save the poor merchant, and the imperial is annoyed. There's kind of a war going on right now, even if a cease fire has been called. And the princess of Wyndia is right here... The man summons a monster that Ryu lets Nina fight alone. The creature is weak to Wind, which is a spell type Nina has. Don't be afraid to heal, as I'm guessing Flail can do a lot of damage.
The imperial orders his men to arrest Nina, but Ryu finally gets involved. He breaks his sword, which Nina gave him, on the man. It gives the two of them time to leave, and they quickly leave the city. The only place to go is that fork outside of town. Ryu and Nina hide in a crevasse, and a few soldiers run past them. The two hear someone calling them, and it's another merchant. He's thankful they helped him out of that situation, so he tells them about another path. To the north of Sarai is the town of Chamba. The sandflier parts are forgotten about, and Nina thinks returning to Cray is paramount. So that's the new plan.
Nina knows of the place, but she thought it was bigger. There's only a handful of people here, and one of them is a merchant where we can get Ryu a new weapon. But there's another woman who fills us in on the town. Chamba used to be larger, but most of it is infected with hex, a black mist of negative thoughts and emotions that was used during the war. A group of people are cleaning the mess, and they walk through the gate at this moment. If we want to get back to Cray, we need to get through the hex. We talk to the leader, but it's dinner time. We can either wait or explore the town and speak with the cleanup crew. I talked to people and learned about hex. It's rumored to be made out of human sacrifice, and another hex has affected Synesta.
Talking to the boss again relays most of that, but he won't let us go anyway. In order to pass, we'll need special armor, which no one's gonna let us borrow. There might be a clean way through without the armor, but we'll need a guide. If we can find one, the boss will let us go. Walk around the town again to find a guide, but no one bites. Bossman is outside now and tells us why we can't go through. The area is filled with ghosts. As he tells us this, the camera occasionally cuts to the otherside of the gate. Boss suggests the undead can raid Chamba, and the gate shakes! A robot walks through.
This is Ershin. She speaks in the first person, but she also occasionally refers to herself as "she." I wonder if there's a difference between the woman inside the armor and the armor itself. Anyway, she's weird and instantly offers to guide us through the hex mist.
This area is only three screens long, but it's gonna take a while to get through. It's easy to get lost here as we walk across rooftops over the void.
The first area is a figure eight.
The second room has the party split up. Ershin takes the bottom route, which Ryu and Nina stay up. They have to navigate around a very simple weight puzzle and activate two levers at the very end.
The third area is a path where Ershin tells us more about the stuff in the mist. We hear a roar, and our guide tells us sound is nothing to fear. And then a fish skeleton jumps in the air nearby. Ershin starts to laugh, and Nina asks why. Ershin doesn't know why, either. She also refers to herself as "I" here. Finally, it chases Ryu across a rickety bridge. If we fail the minigame, he starts the next battle poisoned. The next battle, of course, is against the Skullfish!
This guy uses Venombreath a lot, so I suggest getting this over with quickly. It turns out that, like Fou-lu, Ryu can also transform. I did so here and spammed Fire Strike. Have Ershin guard so that she can learn the move for future reference. The two girls are supplementary to Ryu, so let them get basic DPS in or have Nina heal. It'll fade back into the mist, and Ershin tells us it'll return. Luckily, we're at the end of the dungeon! We all leave and thank Ershin for the help. She's taken a liking to Ryu and promises to go wherever he goes.
Cray's Crash Site is down the road, and we fill him in the bad news. And also the good news because Nina's found two weirdos. That night, Nina had a dream. She, Cray, and Ryu are in a castle. Elina is in here somewhere. They walk through the halls and overhear someone named Lady Yuna before hiding behind a curtain and waking up. In the morning, everyone says they had the same dream. According to Ershin, that was Ryu's dream. Everyone experienced it because of the Dragon's Eye. But that dream is as good of a clue as we'll get. Cray tells us we'll head to the coast and travel north.
There's a master on the way, and I'm bummed. I didn't like the master system in III... But the team reaches a dam shortly after. Most people are gone because the dragon that attacked Cray is raging here now. There are some people here, and we'll need to talk to them. Climb down to speak to a guy in a hut. He'll send us to a guy wearing an inner tube. The anomia farmer gives us the Sluice Key, which we'll use to close the dam. The first gate is easy, but the second requires some effort. Spin the d-pad (I went clockwise) until an emoticon flashes over the operator's head twice. We'll get a fishing lure for doing it. On the otherside of the dam, we can lower a shortcut and talk to the tube guy again. He'll tell us about the lift that he'll operate. We need to leave so everyone can get back to work. But beforehand that...
The dragon attacks! Everyone tries to flee, and the tuber gives us a crank to operate the lift before running to safety. Place it in and mash the X button. It's not very intuitive, but whatever. Just as a wave of mud washes over the dam, the lift takes us to higher ground. Nina wonders if everyone got to safety, and the tube guy is seen in the mud wave having fun. All's well that ends well. I don't remember where we're going now, but I'll get there...
...tomorrow!
I tried to play Breath of Fire IV a few years ago. I got as far as the Skullfish battle, but I don't remember if I beat it. Nor do I recall why I stopped. Either way, it's a whole new game to me now!
Nina and Ryu return to Sarai with the flier parts and head to the black market. But something is there! There's a man in a blue coat accosting a merchant. I think it's the same guy Nina saw in Ryu's crater. The man is from the empire and looking for something. Nina jumps down to the floor to save the poor merchant, and the imperial is annoyed. There's kind of a war going on right now, even if a cease fire has been called. And the princess of Wyndia is right here... The man summons a monster that Ryu lets Nina fight alone. The creature is weak to Wind, which is a spell type Nina has. Don't be afraid to heal, as I'm guessing Flail can do a lot of damage.
The imperial orders his men to arrest Nina, but Ryu finally gets involved. He breaks his sword, which Nina gave him, on the man. It gives the two of them time to leave, and they quickly leave the city. The only place to go is that fork outside of town. Ryu and Nina hide in a crevasse, and a few soldiers run past them. The two hear someone calling them, and it's another merchant. He's thankful they helped him out of that situation, so he tells them about another path. To the north of Sarai is the town of Chamba. The sandflier parts are forgotten about, and Nina thinks returning to Cray is paramount. So that's the new plan.
Nina knows of the place, but she thought it was bigger. There's only a handful of people here, and one of them is a merchant where we can get Ryu a new weapon. But there's another woman who fills us in on the town. Chamba used to be larger, but most of it is infected with hex, a black mist of negative thoughts and emotions that was used during the war. A group of people are cleaning the mess, and they walk through the gate at this moment. If we want to get back to Cray, we need to get through the hex. We talk to the leader, but it's dinner time. We can either wait or explore the town and speak with the cleanup crew. I talked to people and learned about hex. It's rumored to be made out of human sacrifice, and another hex has affected Synesta.
Talking to the boss again relays most of that, but he won't let us go anyway. In order to pass, we'll need special armor, which no one's gonna let us borrow. There might be a clean way through without the armor, but we'll need a guide. If we can find one, the boss will let us go. Walk around the town again to find a guide, but no one bites. Bossman is outside now and tells us why we can't go through. The area is filled with ghosts. As he tells us this, the camera occasionally cuts to the otherside of the gate. Boss suggests the undead can raid Chamba, and the gate shakes! A robot walks through.
This is Ershin. She speaks in the first person, but she also occasionally refers to herself as "she." I wonder if there's a difference between the woman inside the armor and the armor itself. Anyway, she's weird and instantly offers to guide us through the hex mist.
This area is only three screens long, but it's gonna take a while to get through. It's easy to get lost here as we walk across rooftops over the void.
The first area is a figure eight.
The second room has the party split up. Ershin takes the bottom route, which Ryu and Nina stay up. They have to navigate around a very simple weight puzzle and activate two levers at the very end.
The third area is a path where Ershin tells us more about the stuff in the mist. We hear a roar, and our guide tells us sound is nothing to fear. And then a fish skeleton jumps in the air nearby. Ershin starts to laugh, and Nina asks why. Ershin doesn't know why, either. She also refers to herself as "I" here. Finally, it chases Ryu across a rickety bridge. If we fail the minigame, he starts the next battle poisoned. The next battle, of course, is against the Skullfish!
This guy uses Venombreath a lot, so I suggest getting this over with quickly. It turns out that, like Fou-lu, Ryu can also transform. I did so here and spammed Fire Strike. Have Ershin guard so that she can learn the move for future reference. The two girls are supplementary to Ryu, so let them get basic DPS in or have Nina heal. It'll fade back into the mist, and Ershin tells us it'll return. Luckily, we're at the end of the dungeon! We all leave and thank Ershin for the help. She's taken a liking to Ryu and promises to go wherever he goes.
Cray's Crash Site is down the road, and we fill him in the bad news. And also the good news because Nina's found two weirdos. That night, Nina had a dream. She, Cray, and Ryu are in a castle. Elina is in here somewhere. They walk through the halls and overhear someone named Lady Yuna before hiding behind a curtain and waking up. In the morning, everyone says they had the same dream. According to Ershin, that was Ryu's dream. Everyone experienced it because of the Dragon's Eye. But that dream is as good of a clue as we'll get. Cray tells us we'll head to the coast and travel north.
There's a master on the way, and I'm bummed. I didn't like the master system in III... But the team reaches a dam shortly after. Most people are gone because the dragon that attacked Cray is raging here now. There are some people here, and we'll need to talk to them. Climb down to speak to a guy in a hut. He'll send us to a guy wearing an inner tube. The anomia farmer gives us the Sluice Key, which we'll use to close the dam. The first gate is easy, but the second requires some effort. Spin the d-pad (I went clockwise) until an emoticon flashes over the operator's head twice. We'll get a fishing lure for doing it. On the otherside of the dam, we can lower a shortcut and talk to the tube guy again. He'll tell us about the lift that he'll operate. We need to leave so everyone can get back to work. But beforehand that...
The dragon attacks! Everyone tries to flee, and the tuber gives us a crank to operate the lift before running to safety. Place it in and mash the X button. It's not very intuitive, but whatever. Just as a wave of mud washes over the dam, the lift takes us to higher ground. Nina wonders if everyone got to safety, and the tube guy is seen in the mud wave having fun. All's well that ends well. I don't remember where we're going now, but I'll get there...
...tomorrow!
I tried to play Breath of Fire IV a few years ago. I got as far as the Skullfish battle, but I don't remember if I beat it. Nor do I recall why I stopped. Either way, it's a whole new game to me now!
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Breath of Fire IV - I: Awakening
I didn't enjoy BoFIII, but I saw something in it that made me interested in the franchise. Unlike the Tales of games, I'm still curious about Capcom's RPG series, so I'm gonna play the last one made!
Words appear on the screen telling us about the immediate past of one person. They left the castle a few days ago to cross a vast desert on a sandflier. They're looking for the city of Synesta, the last village in the desert. It's also the last known whereabouts of Nina's sister, Elina. A shooting star flashes in the distance as we see the two people on the sandflier. Nina, a woman with wings, is speaking to Cray, a catman, reaffirming their goal.
We jump to midday, and Cray notices that Nina isn't dealing with the heat well. She tries to tell him she's fine, but he's the captain, so they decide to continue during the night. During that night, a dragon raises from the ground to obstruct their advance. It looks like a worm and not a wyrm... Cray doesn't know if the dragon is actually attacking them, but he avoids it anyway. He tries, fails, and they get hit.
They wake up, and both of them are okay. Sadly, their sand jet ski is in ruins. Cray can repair it, but they'll need the parts first. There's a settling nearby named Sarai. But there's another problem: they can't leave the flier. Bandits might make off with the whole thing if no one defends it. Nina is a strong heroine, so she offers to go while Cray protects his stuff after a little bit of second guessing.
Nina ventures off alone, and we get the world map. It's not an overworld but a normal, human map type thing where our character walks a planned route between dots. It's very underwhelming, but at least the music is good. Occasionally, a "?" or "!" pop up, and we can enter a sub-area to fight monsters or find items. Nina had to make a pitstop at a recently formed hole in the ground. There's a merchant yelling for help, but he leaves the crater just fine as Nina climbs down. She ponders what happened, but then an actual dragon appears before her. Despite its look, Nina isn't afraid. The dragon recognizes this, sprouts wings, and flies away. In its place, though, is a naked dude! Nina instructs him to put on some clothes, and we finally meet Ryu. Ryu has no memory, nor does he know why he's here or where he's going. Nina decides to bring him along to Sarai in hopes something will jog his brain. At this point, he becomes our main character, as is tradition.
The two come to a cliffside. It's a simple walk down, but we figure out the basics of combat and exploration. The battle system is a traditional turn based game like any other, and every character can do something specific in the field. Nina can fly to get a better look at the surroundings, and Ryu can swing his sword for some reason. Nina teaches us how to jump across small gaps, but then she falls! Ryu jumps down after her, sticking the landing of several jumps until he catches up to his guide. She has wings, so she's fine, but he biffed the last jump and is face down in the dirt. It's getting late, so the two find a cave to face the night.
We skip to an Aztec temple as a beam of light flashes out the top. A talking lion that speaks with an old English accent calls forth his master. They wonder where the adoring crowd is and if this is the correct time. The man believes no one is here because mortals are a temperamental lot. He orders his lion, Won-qu, to stand guard at the temple, and it turns to stone. We now control Fou-lu, a bring far stronger than Ryu. He marches through a forest until he finds a small ball enshrined in darkness. This is a man who knows who Fou-lu is, but he doesn't care. The current emperor has his loyalty, and the first one shouldn't be here. The man summons a fire creature to attack. You don't have to, but Fou-lu can turn into a dragon.
After, the man knows Fou isn't fully awake yet and chases him into the woods, which he promptly sets on fire. They meet up down the path, and the man knocks Fou into a ravine and orders his men to find the body. Ryu wakes up from a nightmare. In the morning, he and Nina continue to Sarai.
They arrive, and Nina goes off to find flier parts. She asks if we'll be fine on our own, and I think it'll be okay... We now explore the town and can upgrade our gear. There are two, seemingly, important minigames we get introduced to here. At the bar, we can feed a dude to get information. He tells us about the information broker outside the inn. Paying eighty zenni will teach us about a secret passcode to get into the black market. A merchant who just left knows it, so we'll have to reach him. We couldn't find any clues about who we are, so let's help Nina. Leave town, and there's a new area between the cliff and Ryu's crater. The merchant gives us the information, and we return to town. Nina is waiting for us, and she has bad news. She's been bamboozled! Her money was stolen, and she's upset at her naïveté. But Ryu's here!
She rejoins, and they head to the black market behind the tavern. The guy there warns us the empire might be starting a war, and sandfliers are likely to be confiscated, so he doesn't have them. But he promises to construct parts if we bring him materials. There's a sand ski graveyard to the south.
After you move the propeller, head into another boat to drop the anchor. That takes us a prospector who loans us his dog and shovel. Using these allows us to dig in the sand to find various items (a new weapon for Nina) and the flier parts! It took two tries, but I got what I needed. But I'm out of time, so I'll head back to Cray...
...tomorrow!
I noticed how middle eastern everything looks and sounds. I wonder if it's just this area or if the whole game takes inspiration from that region.
Words appear on the screen telling us about the immediate past of one person. They left the castle a few days ago to cross a vast desert on a sandflier. They're looking for the city of Synesta, the last village in the desert. It's also the last known whereabouts of Nina's sister, Elina. A shooting star flashes in the distance as we see the two people on the sandflier. Nina, a woman with wings, is speaking to Cray, a catman, reaffirming their goal.
We jump to midday, and Cray notices that Nina isn't dealing with the heat well. She tries to tell him she's fine, but he's the captain, so they decide to continue during the night. During that night, a dragon raises from the ground to obstruct their advance. It looks like a worm and not a wyrm... Cray doesn't know if the dragon is actually attacking them, but he avoids it anyway. He tries, fails, and they get hit.
They wake up, and both of them are okay. Sadly, their sand jet ski is in ruins. Cray can repair it, but they'll need the parts first. There's a settling nearby named Sarai. But there's another problem: they can't leave the flier. Bandits might make off with the whole thing if no one defends it. Nina is a strong heroine, so she offers to go while Cray protects his stuff after a little bit of second guessing.
Nina ventures off alone, and we get the world map. It's not an overworld but a normal, human map type thing where our character walks a planned route between dots. It's very underwhelming, but at least the music is good. Occasionally, a "?" or "!" pop up, and we can enter a sub-area to fight monsters or find items. Nina had to make a pitstop at a recently formed hole in the ground. There's a merchant yelling for help, but he leaves the crater just fine as Nina climbs down. She ponders what happened, but then an actual dragon appears before her. Despite its look, Nina isn't afraid. The dragon recognizes this, sprouts wings, and flies away. In its place, though, is a naked dude! Nina instructs him to put on some clothes, and we finally meet Ryu. Ryu has no memory, nor does he know why he's here or where he's going. Nina decides to bring him along to Sarai in hopes something will jog his brain. At this point, he becomes our main character, as is tradition.
The two come to a cliffside. It's a simple walk down, but we figure out the basics of combat and exploration. The battle system is a traditional turn based game like any other, and every character can do something specific in the field. Nina can fly to get a better look at the surroundings, and Ryu can swing his sword for some reason. Nina teaches us how to jump across small gaps, but then she falls! Ryu jumps down after her, sticking the landing of several jumps until he catches up to his guide. She has wings, so she's fine, but he biffed the last jump and is face down in the dirt. It's getting late, so the two find a cave to face the night.
We skip to an Aztec temple as a beam of light flashes out the top. A talking lion that speaks with an old English accent calls forth his master. They wonder where the adoring crowd is and if this is the correct time. The man believes no one is here because mortals are a temperamental lot. He orders his lion, Won-qu, to stand guard at the temple, and it turns to stone. We now control Fou-lu, a bring far stronger than Ryu. He marches through a forest until he finds a small ball enshrined in darkness. This is a man who knows who Fou-lu is, but he doesn't care. The current emperor has his loyalty, and the first one shouldn't be here. The man summons a fire creature to attack. You don't have to, but Fou-lu can turn into a dragon.
After, the man knows Fou isn't fully awake yet and chases him into the woods, which he promptly sets on fire. They meet up down the path, and the man knocks Fou into a ravine and orders his men to find the body. Ryu wakes up from a nightmare. In the morning, he and Nina continue to Sarai.
They arrive, and Nina goes off to find flier parts. She asks if we'll be fine on our own, and I think it'll be okay... We now explore the town and can upgrade our gear. There are two, seemingly, important minigames we get introduced to here. At the bar, we can feed a dude to get information. He tells us about the information broker outside the inn. Paying eighty zenni will teach us about a secret passcode to get into the black market. A merchant who just left knows it, so we'll have to reach him. We couldn't find any clues about who we are, so let's help Nina. Leave town, and there's a new area between the cliff and Ryu's crater. The merchant gives us the information, and we return to town. Nina is waiting for us, and she has bad news. She's been bamboozled! Her money was stolen, and she's upset at her naïveté. But Ryu's here!
She rejoins, and they head to the black market behind the tavern. The guy there warns us the empire might be starting a war, and sandfliers are likely to be confiscated, so he doesn't have them. But he promises to construct parts if we bring him materials. There's a sand ski graveyard to the south.
After you move the propeller, head into another boat to drop the anchor. That takes us a prospector who loans us his dog and shovel. Using these allows us to dig in the sand to find various items (a new weapon for Nina) and the flier parts! It took two tries, but I got what I needed. But I'm out of time, so I'll head back to Cray...
...tomorrow!
I noticed how middle eastern everything looks and sounds. I wonder if it's just this area or if the whole game takes inspiration from that region.
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