Vice City Stories is the opposite of perfect!
It's been a long week. A few months ago, I decided to 100 percent the 3D GTA games. I'm in no rush, of course. I have already perfected III, Vice City, and San Andreas, so now it's time to get to the lesser known side games. I have made mistakes.
VCS takes place two years before Vice City. It plays similarly to it, but you're in the role of Victor Vance, the brother of Lance Vance, a friend turned foe in the first game. He's also the guy who dies in the opening cutscene. We experience Vic's attempts to provide asthma medication for his youngest brother, Pete. Victor ends up working for his CO, gets betrayed by his CO, and develops a massive criminal empire as a response. As one does! During the next few months, we kill a redneck, make friends, fall in love, get betrayed, suffer heartache, and see the backstory of the great Lance Vance. It turns out he deserved it. In the end, we accidentally make Vice City a better place...for Ricardo Dias.
Doing so is among the worst things I've done in a game. There are so many gameplay issues that make perfecting VCS a torture device. So many cars feel like they're on ice, and it's not just because the tires are always flat. Even worse, the target shooting is a pain in the ass. Sometimes, it won't lock on, and Vic always needs to take off the safety before firing! Why do I need to press circle twice!? And manual aim isn't fun with one joystick. It's also one of the first games I've ever thought, "there are too many useless side missions here." The vehicle missions are back, but you need to reach level fifteen to finish them. There are checkpoints in five level intervals, but they don't make up for the additional tedium. And there's even more of them! Did we need to airdrop water on burning buildings? As much as I enjoy the racing games, we don't need nine with another thirty two checkpoint ones!
The radio was perfectly fine. It wasn't up to VC standards, but I enjoyed it more than San Andreas. The commercials were the highlights, along with Maurice Chaves again. So many others have been expanded on, and it's neat "seeing" NPCs and DJs "grow" as people. I didn't enjoy the songs as much, but I kinda want to listen to more Phil Collins.
---
Plot: Good enough. Vic is an interesting character. He's relatable, but I feel like his instance of staying away from drug dealing doesn't mean anything. He seems to go into it quick enough. The story has enough twists and heartbreaks, but it does feel rushed. 7/10
Gameplay: Not fun. It's actually a perfectly fine game, but don't master this mess. The controls and gameplay work in small doses, but twenty hours should be your max time. 8/10
Art: Fine. It's a Rockstar game that's just Vice City. It worked then, and it works now. Good luck dealing with the pop ins and twilights. 7/10
Sound: Fine. It's a Rockstar game that's just Vice City. It worked then, and it works now. Good luck dealing with music from 1984. 10/10
Charm: Rockstar. It's a Rockstar game that's just Vice City. It worked then, and it works now. Good luck dealing with excessive tedium. 9/10
All of this amounts to an amazing 41/50. But don't forget the negatives.
The controls are a mess.
The shooting sucks.
Driving isn't fun.
Why are my tires always flat?
Why did they use GTA3 car durability?
They really should have removed the boring missions.
Don't take away my guns for a mission!
And then the bugs: garages don't save cars, and people get stuck under cars a lot.
Between the tedium, the controls, the bugs, and the questionable mechanics, we get -23. A new record! Deduce that from the previous total, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is a terrible 18 out of 50.
I wanted to master the side games, but the excessive amount of busy work made me realize it's not worth it. I 100 percented the main trilogy, so I'm just gonna chillax on the additional content. A BMX checkpoint mission broke me, by the way.
I wasted a week on this nonsense that I could have spent in Carthage!
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Friday, August 18, 2023
Arkkabbean Islands
I remember Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim being pretty mid when I first played it. After replaying it, I can confirm that I was right.
The biggest issue is that there's no fast travel. In a game that rewards backtracking and exploration, making that aspect tedious isn't wise. It's mostly optional, so I won't give it negatives for it, but exploration is a new one point addition to my review process. It's something that I yearn for, and the Ys games are all about that. Except for this one... And it doesn't help that we'll be fleeing a lot. Dungeons are hard! Sketchy jumping puzzles, aerial monsters, massive knockback, and status effects forced me to Alma's Wing out all the time. And the need to upgrade weapons and levels sometimes mandated it. So I often had to go through the dungeon two times at minimum. And then there's the late game side quests that I refused to do because of it. It really made the gameplay not fun.
The music was also pretty bland. I wouldn't call it bad, but there weren't any obvious bangers. I'm also unsure of it fit.
So those were the bad things. Ark of Napishtim had its moments, though.
I enjoyed the story. It wrapped up the first four games in a fun way that even gave us a possible location for Ys XI. We learned the origins of the Darklings, the Eldeen, and many of the bosses. I also found the turmoil with the priestesses appealing. Both Ohla and Isha are top tier love interests.
Gameplay wise, it's a good progression from Kefin and the previous games. It's pretty basic compared to modern games, Ys or otherwise, but it's a step in the right direction.
As for the world...
"The Cannon Islands are where our Eurasian history starts. These islands were once the last refuge of the winged gods that my friends Reah, Feena, and Eldeel came from. I wonder if they even lived here once? And this is where their lineage ended.
It's currently home to a local race with long ears and tails, the Redhan. They're a group of strong warriors, excellent crafters, and prime fishermen. They recall times when they lived alongside side our gods, namely Alma. Alma isn't known to Eurasians, but she saved us all. The Cannon Islands once housed a weather control computer called Napishtim. It went rogue when the Darklings attempted to overthrow their Eldeel protectors. She sacrificed herself for our sake.
Alongside, sorta, the Redhan are, or were, a group of easterners who were dragged here kicking, screaming, and waterlogged by the Great Vortex. They formed Rimorage, which became a trading town. I only hope they've stopped looting the ruins and are living peacefully alongside the locals.
Peaceful may be the wrong adjective because the monsters that inhabit this island are primal and terrifying! Elemental spitting flying insects and bugs who've absorbed metal knives and saws roam the dense forests. Single celled organisms that exist to slowly kill you with fatigue, poison, and mental assaults. Even I don't want to walk through these plains and caves again."
-Adol
---
Plot: Average Ys. The story in early Ys games are secondary to gameplay. VI is no different. And that's a good thing. 8/10
Gameplay: the PSP sucks. Retreading dungeons isn't fun. The mobs inside are tough, and the areas are long. The basic combat can also get boring. 7/10
Sound: Not Ys. Nothing sounded like the typical Ys game. The high octane tracks didn't do it for me, and the peaceful villages weren't as calming. A few dungeons were more atmospheric than anything. 6/10
Art: Perfect. There weren't too many pallet swaps, and sprite numbers were plentiful. And all the sword attacks and spells were unique. 10/10
Charm: oddly disappointing. The world and NPCs are great, but the exploration elements, while there, are not to Ys standards. I feel like the game could have been longer, but I'm glad it was so short. 9/10 (huh?)
Time for the negatives:
Jumping felt off. Even the standard leaps felt iffy, but don't get me started with the long jump.
The lack of fast travel makes the gameplay unfun.
The camera was often too close or too far. And with the need to jump a lot, I often felt like I was doing it blindly. -6
In total, Ys VI: the Ark of Napishtim scores a 34 out of 50. It's only one point higher than the Sands of Kefin. I will say, though, I played the PSP version. The Steam version has fast travel, which would have given four more points to the score. It loses some side content, the Sacred Cavern, but it's a million percent worth it.
AoN was the first game in this engine. And it shows. You can really see how much effort the devs went into perfecting the mechanics between VI and III. The Three Swords engine worked well, but it needed some tweaking. When it comes to story, it's a great ending point for the first half of the franchise. And it even sets up a potential thread down the line. It's a flawed experience, but it's a worthwhile one if you're invested in the franchise!
The biggest issue is that there's no fast travel. In a game that rewards backtracking and exploration, making that aspect tedious isn't wise. It's mostly optional, so I won't give it negatives for it, but exploration is a new one point addition to my review process. It's something that I yearn for, and the Ys games are all about that. Except for this one... And it doesn't help that we'll be fleeing a lot. Dungeons are hard! Sketchy jumping puzzles, aerial monsters, massive knockback, and status effects forced me to Alma's Wing out all the time. And the need to upgrade weapons and levels sometimes mandated it. So I often had to go through the dungeon two times at minimum. And then there's the late game side quests that I refused to do because of it. It really made the gameplay not fun.
The music was also pretty bland. I wouldn't call it bad, but there weren't any obvious bangers. I'm also unsure of it fit.
So those were the bad things. Ark of Napishtim had its moments, though.
I enjoyed the story. It wrapped up the first four games in a fun way that even gave us a possible location for Ys XI. We learned the origins of the Darklings, the Eldeen, and many of the bosses. I also found the turmoil with the priestesses appealing. Both Ohla and Isha are top tier love interests.
Gameplay wise, it's a good progression from Kefin and the previous games. It's pretty basic compared to modern games, Ys or otherwise, but it's a step in the right direction.
As for the world...
"The Cannon Islands are where our Eurasian history starts. These islands were once the last refuge of the winged gods that my friends Reah, Feena, and Eldeel came from. I wonder if they even lived here once? And this is where their lineage ended.
It's currently home to a local race with long ears and tails, the Redhan. They're a group of strong warriors, excellent crafters, and prime fishermen. They recall times when they lived alongside side our gods, namely Alma. Alma isn't known to Eurasians, but she saved us all. The Cannon Islands once housed a weather control computer called Napishtim. It went rogue when the Darklings attempted to overthrow their Eldeel protectors. She sacrificed herself for our sake.
Alongside, sorta, the Redhan are, or were, a group of easterners who were dragged here kicking, screaming, and waterlogged by the Great Vortex. They formed Rimorage, which became a trading town. I only hope they've stopped looting the ruins and are living peacefully alongside the locals.
Peaceful may be the wrong adjective because the monsters that inhabit this island are primal and terrifying! Elemental spitting flying insects and bugs who've absorbed metal knives and saws roam the dense forests. Single celled organisms that exist to slowly kill you with fatigue, poison, and mental assaults. Even I don't want to walk through these plains and caves again."
-Adol
---
Plot: Average Ys. The story in early Ys games are secondary to gameplay. VI is no different. And that's a good thing. 8/10
Gameplay: the PSP sucks. Retreading dungeons isn't fun. The mobs inside are tough, and the areas are long. The basic combat can also get boring. 7/10
Sound: Not Ys. Nothing sounded like the typical Ys game. The high octane tracks didn't do it for me, and the peaceful villages weren't as calming. A few dungeons were more atmospheric than anything. 6/10
Art: Perfect. There weren't too many pallet swaps, and sprite numbers were plentiful. And all the sword attacks and spells were unique. 10/10
Charm: oddly disappointing. The world and NPCs are great, but the exploration elements, while there, are not to Ys standards. I feel like the game could have been longer, but I'm glad it was so short. 9/10 (huh?)
Time for the negatives:
Jumping felt off. Even the standard leaps felt iffy, but don't get me started with the long jump.
The lack of fast travel makes the gameplay unfun.
The camera was often too close or too far. And with the need to jump a lot, I often felt like I was doing it blindly. -6
In total, Ys VI: the Ark of Napishtim scores a 34 out of 50. It's only one point higher than the Sands of Kefin. I will say, though, I played the PSP version. The Steam version has fast travel, which would have given four more points to the score. It loses some side content, the Sacred Cavern, but it's a million percent worth it.
AoN was the first game in this engine. And it shows. You can really see how much effort the devs went into perfecting the mechanics between VI and III. The Three Swords engine worked well, but it needed some tweaking. When it comes to story, it's a great ending point for the first half of the franchise. And it even sets up a potential thread down the line. It's a flawed experience, but it's a worthwhile one if you're invested in the franchise!
Thursday, August 17, 2023
The fall of the Eldeen
"Something echoed through the winds of Cannon. A few of the local monster lords have challenged me to a battle. They were barely a challenge, but the emolas rewards they guarded were gear I made use of in the ancient ruins. They also dropped enough of the magic stones to allow my blacksmith, Leav, to forge an armor of pure emolas. He also maxed out the sword Ord gave me.
So I returned to Windseeker Heights. You can really see how many and how large the dreaded black pillars are from here. I placed the Wyvern Medal in a pedestal, and the relief on the ground behind me shifted. It revealed a stairwell down to the ruins of Kishgal.
Kishgal, the shining ruins of a city that was the final realm of winged gods, is inhabited by brutal versions of what we've seen on land. The elemental spiter is a stationary boil, the one insect has an impervious saw blade to charge with, and the flying insect shoots water. They're often joined by a healer for oddly advanced tactics. Along the way are creatures that resemble and act like the door guards from Colonia Artifact Laboratory in Celceta. The sword the Reda Tree gave me must have been emolas. There were purple switches here and there to open new paths, including the one that took me to the Ark.
I had been followed. As I entered the Wyvern Road, Ohla made her presence known. It turned out she's known about this place all along and even knew something Ord never could. Priestesses speak of a way to control mythology beasts. And that beast is the only way to reach the center of the Ark. If I continued on, though, I may never come back. But I had no choice. Ohla played her flute again. It was the same song, but it sounded slightly different. Maybe it was the echo or the mood we were in. When she finished, a four winged wyvern appeared at the end of the path. As I was about to walk forward and end this, we learned Olha was followed.
Geis needed to join me. Ernst is his brother, and he came to Cannon to stop the older brother's plans. But we're here, so... Ohla gave him the okay, so the two of us went towards the center of the Ark. We came to a large open room. Geis said something, and a transparent elevator appeared. It was small, so Geis took it first. As he ascended, a monster followed. Galba-Roa, the original galbalon, was my opponent. It didn't seem to battle with the same ferocity as the one in Felguana, but maybe that's because I killed it so fast? Geis assumed it was the creature that sunk the Romn Fleet. The lift returned, and I went up.
Geis was bleeding. Ernst did a number on his little brother. Before he passed out, he informed me that the two of them are some of the final descendants of the beings who led to Alma's death. They tried to control white emolas, which only the Eldeen could do. Ash emolas was terrible, and it led to a global catastrophe. When their ancestors took control of the black key, Napishtim went crazy and caused the Atlas Continent to flood. Erasia would have followed if not for Alma's sacrifice.
Ernst and his homunculi were waiting. The fairies he made did their job, and he was about to become a god. All he needed was a priestess of Alma. Isha was unconscious behind him. After an introduction where I learned he's been tracking me through his Romn contacts, he pulled out his black sword. It began to absorb Isha's powers, turning him into something that resembled the evil Eldeel. The final battle was on!
He was joined by his fairies, but they didn't contribute much. Magic did a number on all four of them, and I knocked out the fae a few times. And Ernst stood no chance against me. I've fought so many gods and wannabes by now...
He was done for. I woke up Isha, and Gies joined us. Ernst's defeat caused him to go mad, and he tried to absorb the entirety of the black sword. The blade broke. A voice rang out in the halls. A warning call shot out, telling us that all control mechanisms were gone. Napishtim tried to find a new master but found none. It would go into manual mode, and it wouldn't end well. The facility began to shake! Ernst's dying words were an apology. He knew this could happen on his ascent to godhood, but he hoped it wouldn't. He gave his brother the fairies before turning to dust. The shaking grew stronger, and Geis urged me to climb to the mainframe. Isha pled with me to go with her out of fear, but Geis dragged her away. So I climbed one more long set of stairs.
Napishtim thought sinking Erasia would return the Eldeen. I don't know why this was the default programming, but I knew I'd have to destroy this.
In form one, I had to defeat the three crystals that circled it, dodging lasers the whole time that increased in speed at each defeat. In its second form, it deployed new crystals that shot more lasers at me. These were much easier to avoid. I had to focus its "eye," which would occasionally hide from sight before shooting a massive doom laser! Its best defense was to electrify the floor. Ord's sword was wonderful at this. I'm a big tan of wind magic!
I was told that a large explosion happened at the top of the central pillar. Something fell out of it. The rest of the Central Sea black pillars began to split from the middle like an overcooked hotdog. They all fell apart. Geis and Isha made it to Ladoc's boat and saw another light erupt from nearby. That shockwave stopped the tidal waves. They said it came from me and my newfound wings.
All I remember is this ended the same way it started. I washed ashore on the Moonlit Shore. Isha and Ohla found me as I woke up, and we all went to Redha Village.
They had planned to postpone the Alma festival, but there's something about surviving a world ending event that makes people want to celebrate!
Ord was much better, which I was glad to see.
I had hoped Geis would have stayed, but he took his dinghy and fairies and left quickly.
Dogi and I enjoyed a little of the festival, but Ladoc wanted to return to the mainland soon. I convinced him to sail close to Redha, and my final vision of the Cannon Islands, at least for now, was waving goodbye to the smiling faces of Ohla and Isha.
But I know there's another continent to the west. I suspect that I'll sail back here one day..."
-Adol
---
Did I enjoy Ys VI?
So I returned to Windseeker Heights. You can really see how many and how large the dreaded black pillars are from here. I placed the Wyvern Medal in a pedestal, and the relief on the ground behind me shifted. It revealed a stairwell down to the ruins of Kishgal.
Kishgal, the shining ruins of a city that was the final realm of winged gods, is inhabited by brutal versions of what we've seen on land. The elemental spiter is a stationary boil, the one insect has an impervious saw blade to charge with, and the flying insect shoots water. They're often joined by a healer for oddly advanced tactics. Along the way are creatures that resemble and act like the door guards from Colonia Artifact Laboratory in Celceta. The sword the Reda Tree gave me must have been emolas. There were purple switches here and there to open new paths, including the one that took me to the Ark.
I had been followed. As I entered the Wyvern Road, Ohla made her presence known. It turned out she's known about this place all along and even knew something Ord never could. Priestesses speak of a way to control mythology beasts. And that beast is the only way to reach the center of the Ark. If I continued on, though, I may never come back. But I had no choice. Ohla played her flute again. It was the same song, but it sounded slightly different. Maybe it was the echo or the mood we were in. When she finished, a four winged wyvern appeared at the end of the path. As I was about to walk forward and end this, we learned Olha was followed.
Geis needed to join me. Ernst is his brother, and he came to Cannon to stop the older brother's plans. But we're here, so... Ohla gave him the okay, so the two of us went towards the center of the Ark. We came to a large open room. Geis said something, and a transparent elevator appeared. It was small, so Geis took it first. As he ascended, a monster followed. Galba-Roa, the original galbalon, was my opponent. It didn't seem to battle with the same ferocity as the one in Felguana, but maybe that's because I killed it so fast? Geis assumed it was the creature that sunk the Romn Fleet. The lift returned, and I went up.
Geis was bleeding. Ernst did a number on his little brother. Before he passed out, he informed me that the two of them are some of the final descendants of the beings who led to Alma's death. They tried to control white emolas, which only the Eldeen could do. Ash emolas was terrible, and it led to a global catastrophe. When their ancestors took control of the black key, Napishtim went crazy and caused the Atlas Continent to flood. Erasia would have followed if not for Alma's sacrifice.
Ernst and his homunculi were waiting. The fairies he made did their job, and he was about to become a god. All he needed was a priestess of Alma. Isha was unconscious behind him. After an introduction where I learned he's been tracking me through his Romn contacts, he pulled out his black sword. It began to absorb Isha's powers, turning him into something that resembled the evil Eldeel. The final battle was on!
He was joined by his fairies, but they didn't contribute much. Magic did a number on all four of them, and I knocked out the fae a few times. And Ernst stood no chance against me. I've fought so many gods and wannabes by now...
He was done for. I woke up Isha, and Gies joined us. Ernst's defeat caused him to go mad, and he tried to absorb the entirety of the black sword. The blade broke. A voice rang out in the halls. A warning call shot out, telling us that all control mechanisms were gone. Napishtim tried to find a new master but found none. It would go into manual mode, and it wouldn't end well. The facility began to shake! Ernst's dying words were an apology. He knew this could happen on his ascent to godhood, but he hoped it wouldn't. He gave his brother the fairies before turning to dust. The shaking grew stronger, and Geis urged me to climb to the mainframe. Isha pled with me to go with her out of fear, but Geis dragged her away. So I climbed one more long set of stairs.
Napishtim thought sinking Erasia would return the Eldeen. I don't know why this was the default programming, but I knew I'd have to destroy this.
In form one, I had to defeat the three crystals that circled it, dodging lasers the whole time that increased in speed at each defeat. In its second form, it deployed new crystals that shot more lasers at me. These were much easier to avoid. I had to focus its "eye," which would occasionally hide from sight before shooting a massive doom laser! Its best defense was to electrify the floor. Ord's sword was wonderful at this. I'm a big tan of wind magic!
I was told that a large explosion happened at the top of the central pillar. Something fell out of it. The rest of the Central Sea black pillars began to split from the middle like an overcooked hotdog. They all fell apart. Geis and Isha made it to Ladoc's boat and saw another light erupt from nearby. That shockwave stopped the tidal waves. They said it came from me and my newfound wings.
All I remember is this ended the same way it started. I washed ashore on the Moonlit Shore. Isha and Ohla found me as I woke up, and we all went to Redha Village.
They had planned to postpone the Alma festival, but there's something about surviving a world ending event that makes people want to celebrate!
Ord was much better, which I was glad to see.
I had hoped Geis would have stayed, but he took his dinghy and fairies and left quickly.
Dogi and I enjoyed a little of the festival, but Ladoc wanted to return to the mainland soon. I convinced him to sail close to Redha, and my final vision of the Cannon Islands, at least for now, was waving goodbye to the smiling faces of Ohla and Isha.
But I know there's another continent to the west. I suspect that I'll sail back here one day..."
-Adol
---
Did I enjoy Ys VI?
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Double Escort Quest?!?!
Every dungeon is bad.
"I caught up with Dogi, speaking with Rada and Ur, but I let the two old friends talk. I had a mirror to fix. Basham was planning a trip to Zemas, so he was busy anyway.
I returned to Redha Village and spoke to Olha. Everyone was preparing for the upcoming Alma Festival, so I just went to Olha. Isha and the kids were at the beach practicing a song, so I got a taste of it. Olha asked me if I was going to do anything for the festival, and I quickly pulled out the mirror fragment. Two birds; one stone! She broke down and started to cry out of happiness. Isha joined us just as Olha fixed her mother's memento. And then it started glowing.
A scene played out before us on the mirror. Basham, Rada, and two flunkies were at the white goddess statue on Zemolas Island. Basham wanted to investigate the colored orbs because he thought they were the key to stopping the Great Vortex. Rada objected. He had a feeling Geis placed them, and he trusted the guy in black. There must be a reason. I wish Geis had told me. It would have saved a lot of trouble and headache. Basham ignored Rada and told his underlings to remove them. This worried me, so I started the long walk to the island.
Everyone was knocked out. Temporarily paralyzed, actually, but they were on the floor. Unfortunately, the three fairies were mobile. They called themselves keys and floated around their representative colored orb, shutting them off in the process. Suddenly, everything changed. A shockwave erupted from the island, and the great winds that surrounded the Cannon Islands shut down. The Great Vortex ending is a good thing, but I felt that this wasn't how it should happen. Something ominous felt forthcoming. Rada, still stuck on the ground, told me to leave them here. They'd be fine.
I wanted to see what Ord felt about this, but...I couldn't. Radha was empty. Only Kevin was here, and he told me the Romn Fleet abducted everyone. Ord was around, but he wasn't doing well. His face was grievously scarred, and he was losing a lot of blood. I managed to get him to bed and patch him up as well as I could. It took a while, but his sheer force of will should keep him alive. That's what Rada said when he joined us. Once again, he told me to leave. He'd take care of Ord, and I had to free the Redhan.
Rimorage was fine if you ignored the Romn occupation. All the Eresians/Altaginians were free, but no one important wanted them here, Basham included. He, Terra, Dogi, and myself quickly whipped up a plan to free Olha and Isha. Basham would throw a welcoming feast for the gluttonous general. This would remove most of the guards from the fleet, giving Terra and myself time to find them. To split the invaders more, Dogi, Ladoc, and the remaining Redhans would keep the guards at bay. It worked.
Terra and I found most of the villagers on the first ship. Olha and Isha were nowhere to be seen, though. Terra assumed the admiral must have been keeling his favorites for himself. There was another ship, so Terra and I went there while the Redhans went home. I found Isha in a birdcage. She was glad to see me, but we almost became frog food before getting her out. Elizabeth, the lanaluna, is a three story toad. It spits green grease around and uses its tongue to attack. It also turns into a ball and rolls around. Its invisibility wasn't very invisible. I didn't find her particularly hard, but the admiral took her death pretty heavily. The banquet ended, and he showed up. He ordered his men to kill me and Ohla, but Geis stopped him in their tracks. It was time for us to escape. Terra wasn't thrilled to be with Ohla for some reason, but the three of us eventually got out. ...
As we reached land, all hell broke loose. Another shockwave broke through the islands, and a massive number of black obelisks rose from Zemolas Island. And then the Romn fleet exploded. Something in the waters destroyed the ships in mere seconds.
That night, Dogi and Ladoc talked to us in Baslam's house. They tried to stop the Romn CO, Ernst, from doing whatever it was he was doing. Ernst had kidnapped Isha, so that's reason enough. The three fairies flattered Ernst with their affection, even after he pulled out a long black emolas sword. That blade and the three I've been using aren't swords. They're keys. They control the emolas, stones from Alma. The black key destroyed the statue of Alma, and that's what caused all of this trouble. It summoned, what Dogi called, Napishtim, which wreaked the fleet. What is Napishtim, and who is Ernst?
More importantly, I returned to Redha with Ohla. She cared for her uncle, who was on the mend. He told Ohla and Ur to leave while he spoke to me. He told me a legend passed down between chiefs. There was a city beneath the Cannon Islands where all the Redhans descended from. They lived with Alma, a winged woman who came from the west, until tailless people ruined it. Did Duren and Frieda have long ears? They caused chaos on the planet, but Alma saved everyone. But she used her body as the seal, which Ernst broke. Ord handed me the Wyvern Talisman and instructed me to place it on a pedestal at Windseeker Heights. He didn't want Ur or Olha to know this, so I quickly left to save Isha."
- Adol
---
The two girls who love Adol suck at staying alive against Romn troops. And Adol kinda sucks protecting them, so that part wasn't fun. If you're planning on playing, ignore the 30000 gold in the hard to reach chests. I do suggest picking up what was in the admiral's room, though. Final dungeon tomorrow?
"I caught up with Dogi, speaking with Rada and Ur, but I let the two old friends talk. I had a mirror to fix. Basham was planning a trip to Zemas, so he was busy anyway.
I returned to Redha Village and spoke to Olha. Everyone was preparing for the upcoming Alma Festival, so I just went to Olha. Isha and the kids were at the beach practicing a song, so I got a taste of it. Olha asked me if I was going to do anything for the festival, and I quickly pulled out the mirror fragment. Two birds; one stone! She broke down and started to cry out of happiness. Isha joined us just as Olha fixed her mother's memento. And then it started glowing.
A scene played out before us on the mirror. Basham, Rada, and two flunkies were at the white goddess statue on Zemolas Island. Basham wanted to investigate the colored orbs because he thought they were the key to stopping the Great Vortex. Rada objected. He had a feeling Geis placed them, and he trusted the guy in black. There must be a reason. I wish Geis had told me. It would have saved a lot of trouble and headache. Basham ignored Rada and told his underlings to remove them. This worried me, so I started the long walk to the island.
Everyone was knocked out. Temporarily paralyzed, actually, but they were on the floor. Unfortunately, the three fairies were mobile. They called themselves keys and floated around their representative colored orb, shutting them off in the process. Suddenly, everything changed. A shockwave erupted from the island, and the great winds that surrounded the Cannon Islands shut down. The Great Vortex ending is a good thing, but I felt that this wasn't how it should happen. Something ominous felt forthcoming. Rada, still stuck on the ground, told me to leave them here. They'd be fine.
I wanted to see what Ord felt about this, but...I couldn't. Radha was empty. Only Kevin was here, and he told me the Romn Fleet abducted everyone. Ord was around, but he wasn't doing well. His face was grievously scarred, and he was losing a lot of blood. I managed to get him to bed and patch him up as well as I could. It took a while, but his sheer force of will should keep him alive. That's what Rada said when he joined us. Once again, he told me to leave. He'd take care of Ord, and I had to free the Redhan.
Rimorage was fine if you ignored the Romn occupation. All the Eresians/Altaginians were free, but no one important wanted them here, Basham included. He, Terra, Dogi, and myself quickly whipped up a plan to free Olha and Isha. Basham would throw a welcoming feast for the gluttonous general. This would remove most of the guards from the fleet, giving Terra and myself time to find them. To split the invaders more, Dogi, Ladoc, and the remaining Redhans would keep the guards at bay. It worked.
Terra and I found most of the villagers on the first ship. Olha and Isha were nowhere to be seen, though. Terra assumed the admiral must have been keeling his favorites for himself. There was another ship, so Terra and I went there while the Redhans went home. I found Isha in a birdcage. She was glad to see me, but we almost became frog food before getting her out. Elizabeth, the lanaluna, is a three story toad. It spits green grease around and uses its tongue to attack. It also turns into a ball and rolls around. Its invisibility wasn't very invisible. I didn't find her particularly hard, but the admiral took her death pretty heavily. The banquet ended, and he showed up. He ordered his men to kill me and Ohla, but Geis stopped him in their tracks. It was time for us to escape. Terra wasn't thrilled to be with Ohla for some reason, but the three of us eventually got out. ...
As we reached land, all hell broke loose. Another shockwave broke through the islands, and a massive number of black obelisks rose from Zemolas Island. And then the Romn fleet exploded. Something in the waters destroyed the ships in mere seconds.
That night, Dogi and Ladoc talked to us in Baslam's house. They tried to stop the Romn CO, Ernst, from doing whatever it was he was doing. Ernst had kidnapped Isha, so that's reason enough. The three fairies flattered Ernst with their affection, even after he pulled out a long black emolas sword. That blade and the three I've been using aren't swords. They're keys. They control the emolas, stones from Alma. The black key destroyed the statue of Alma, and that's what caused all of this trouble. It summoned, what Dogi called, Napishtim, which wreaked the fleet. What is Napishtim, and who is Ernst?
More importantly, I returned to Redha with Ohla. She cared for her uncle, who was on the mend. He told Ohla and Ur to leave while he spoke to me. He told me a legend passed down between chiefs. There was a city beneath the Cannon Islands where all the Redhans descended from. They lived with Alma, a winged woman who came from the west, until tailless people ruined it. Did Duren and Frieda have long ears? They caused chaos on the planet, but Alma saved everyone. But she used her body as the seal, which Ernst broke. Ord handed me the Wyvern Talisman and instructed me to place it on a pedestal at Windseeker Heights. He didn't want Ur or Olha to know this, so I quickly left to save Isha."
- Adol
---
The two girls who love Adol suck at staying alive against Romn troops. And Adol kinda sucks protecting them, so that part wasn't fun. If you're planning on playing, ignore the 30000 gold in the hard to reach chests. I do suggest picking up what was in the admiral's room, though. Final dungeon tomorrow?
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Is this the worst dungeon ever?
"Before seeking the whereabouts of this mysterious plank, I wanted to give Ohla the second mirror piece. The guard informed me she went to another sacred spot, Windseeker Heights. I have no idea how a small, feeble little girl reached the scenic vantage point, but I had to battle through some of the toughest mobs on the archipelago. More pollen spewing plants, tank beetles, and breaching fish constantly struck me with various ailments. I barely got to the heights. Did Alma guide her through a secret passage? Either way, the sound of her ocarina echoed through the overlook. I thought it was a beautiful song, but she was embarrassed and thought it sounded bad. Ohla learned the melody from her mother. She pointed out all the locations from this peak, and these islands really are stunning. I handed the priestess the mirror fragment, and she began to cry. This really means something to her, and now I need to get the last piece.
Back on the Cannon Plains, I dared to venture into the cave I was warned about. The guy was gone, but his warning was correct. I hope he's fine. Inside are a bunch of bastards. Everything in here exists to inflict status ailments on intruders. Confusion, poison, slow, and curse are the stuff I had to deal with. And it's so dark! Most of the mobs are tiny and hide in shadows. It makes it easy to sneak up and instantly deplete their targets' stamina. I've never been so excited to fight werewolves that spit locusts at me. And I ran into flies that are immune to all damage. I'd tell you how I got through this place, but I was randomly running around in the dark. I was only sorta screaming. And it turns out, I was only halfway through.
The second part has much of the same, but new green fire spitting chess knights teleported in and out. And the mollusks...the goddamn mollusks...
Geis made it down here, but he came to a dead end. There was a small lake down here, inhabited by wired spitting plants, and Geis couldn't swim. But Baslam's gift let me do it. On the otherside was a third and final mirror piece. As well as a naked blue fairy girl, Xisa. Similar to her sisters, she didn't want me to have it, so another ancient monster was summoned.
Orgujan's head was on the otherside of a deep pool. His hands were next to me, and all I could attack. He started by just sitting there, launching artillery at me. I destroyed his left hand, but it did nothing. I had to wake him up. He wasn't fond of fire, so I used my red emolas sword to shoot some at him. And, boy, did it upset him. The hands grew a mind of their own, and the artillery became more frequent. And he learned to use a laser! Org was still across the water, so I had to keep buying time until my sword's mp was restored. It took all I had, but the blue fairy vowed revenge and left. I climbed the rotting arm of my opponent because a new tunnel was behind his head.
It took me to a dead end. Dejected, I had to walk away. But then I heard a voice, and it blew down the wall. And there he was. Dogi lives! He and the rest of the pirate crew survived. He brought me to Terra, who had a unique way of welcoming me back. We then spoke to the leader, Ladoc. It's now I should tell you what happened before I was washed ashore. After finishing up in Seiren, Dogi and I found the Ibur Gang. Moma hooked up with Captain Ladoc, and I convinced him to take me to the Great Vortex. En route, the Rumn Navy started attacking us. We tried to hide in the Vortex, but it didn't go well for our wooden ship. Terra fell off the deck, and I saved her. Sadly, sorta, I couldn't get back on. But with the group back together, we tried to figure out what to do. The Tres Mares was out of commission, so me, Dogi, Terra, and Ladoc took a lifeboat to Rimorage.
Ladoc wanted to speak to Baslam. They made a deal to repair the Tres Mares on the condition the pirates become a cargo transport back to the mainland. No one thought about the Vortex until after the fact, though. But that's not really my jam. I have a mirror to repair."
-Adol
---
The Steam version has fast travel. I knew I should have bought that during the summer sale...
Back on the Cannon Plains, I dared to venture into the cave I was warned about. The guy was gone, but his warning was correct. I hope he's fine. Inside are a bunch of bastards. Everything in here exists to inflict status ailments on intruders. Confusion, poison, slow, and curse are the stuff I had to deal with. And it's so dark! Most of the mobs are tiny and hide in shadows. It makes it easy to sneak up and instantly deplete their targets' stamina. I've never been so excited to fight werewolves that spit locusts at me. And I ran into flies that are immune to all damage. I'd tell you how I got through this place, but I was randomly running around in the dark. I was only sorta screaming. And it turns out, I was only halfway through.
The second part has much of the same, but new green fire spitting chess knights teleported in and out. And the mollusks...the goddamn mollusks...
Geis made it down here, but he came to a dead end. There was a small lake down here, inhabited by wired spitting plants, and Geis couldn't swim. But Baslam's gift let me do it. On the otherside was a third and final mirror piece. As well as a naked blue fairy girl, Xisa. Similar to her sisters, she didn't want me to have it, so another ancient monster was summoned.
Orgujan's head was on the otherside of a deep pool. His hands were next to me, and all I could attack. He started by just sitting there, launching artillery at me. I destroyed his left hand, but it did nothing. I had to wake him up. He wasn't fond of fire, so I used my red emolas sword to shoot some at him. And, boy, did it upset him. The hands grew a mind of their own, and the artillery became more frequent. And he learned to use a laser! Org was still across the water, so I had to keep buying time until my sword's mp was restored. It took all I had, but the blue fairy vowed revenge and left. I climbed the rotting arm of my opponent because a new tunnel was behind his head.
It took me to a dead end. Dejected, I had to walk away. But then I heard a voice, and it blew down the wall. And there he was. Dogi lives! He and the rest of the pirate crew survived. He brought me to Terra, who had a unique way of welcoming me back. We then spoke to the leader, Ladoc. It's now I should tell you what happened before I was washed ashore. After finishing up in Seiren, Dogi and I found the Ibur Gang. Moma hooked up with Captain Ladoc, and I convinced him to take me to the Great Vortex. En route, the Rumn Navy started attacking us. We tried to hide in the Vortex, but it didn't go well for our wooden ship. Terra fell off the deck, and I saved her. Sadly, sorta, I couldn't get back on. But with the group back together, we tried to figure out what to do. The Tres Mares was out of commission, so me, Dogi, Terra, and Ladoc took a lifeboat to Rimorage.
Ladoc wanted to speak to Baslam. They made a deal to repair the Tres Mares on the condition the pirates become a cargo transport back to the mainland. No one thought about the Vortex until after the fact, though. But that's not really my jam. I have a mirror to repair."
-Adol
---
The Steam version has fast travel. I knew I should have bought that during the summer sale...
Monday, August 14, 2023
Back to Ys?
"I spoke to Ord about his son. Family is a bit more of a universal thing to be concerned about, so I figured he'd like to know. He seemed disappointed his son was so feeble, but at least he was alive. I also told him about the broken mirror. Ord became far more open to the Eresians now that we know a fairy stole the mirror. I then described the same things to Olha. She began to cry when I showed her the mirror. It wasn't out of sadness towards its shattered state, but because it reminded her of her late mother. The mirror has been passed down through priestesses for generations, and I think that title is hereditary. Before leaving, she asked me to befriend Isha. Olha believes herself a bad sister because she can't be there for her struggling younger sibling.
Isha was at the beach and was surprised but happy when I showed up. I don't know if she's a priestess, but Isha has a special power herself. She has visions. She saw me fighting the crab-moth and even described moments during the battle. And it was her second time doing that. When I washed up on the beach, Isha saw the wandering calamity battle. But she's never shared this power with Olha or anyone else. She really has been suffering alone. I told her about the mirror as well and went on my way. She wanted to stay at the beach, but I had other plans.
Before moving on, though, I found a Redhan Feather sometime. It's another sacred thing to my new friends, but it's only supposed to be used by warriors to train. It takes the user to the Inner Sanctum, where Olha prays. Inside are visions that represent your past. For me, it took me to three obstacles and mental tasks. Terra, a member of the pirate crew that brought me here, had me do a ninja warrior path. Olha had me finding monsters hidden among people. Isha tasked me to find stuff she lost on the beach. But I did it and brought 1000 emolas back to the real world. Cool!
So I was free to roam again, and I remembered something in the Mythos Pass. There was a wall with a gem on it that was actually a door. To enter it, I had to hit it with the blue sword. There was a similar wall where I fought Geis that was red. I struck that door, and it opened. On the otherside was the Ruins of Amnesia.
This place really sucked. The mobs were tough and defensive, and they loved to knock me into pits. The laser shooting plants, the fire spinning wasps, and clowns were abundant. There was also another thing that I'd guess is a relative to the shuriken plants. I had to make a number of long jumps that I, in theory, could do. But I'm not very reliable at it. If anyone evil is reading this, turn your life around because this is where you'll go when you die. After wading through the most lukewarm lava I've experienced, I saw another piece of mirror on the floor. A golden naked fairy, who was far calmer that the red one, appeared. But I had what she called a "key" and brought forth another monster.
Ud-Melyu, the Guardian of the Cradle, was a jumping four legged spider. It leaped into the ...sky... so high that I lost sight of it. If I was too close to its landing spot, I'd be blown away or squished. I had to time my run aways, jumps, and leaping strikes to defeat the creature. Sera, the fairy, spoke more about the key and said we'd meet again.
The fight broke open a secret path to Zemeth Sanctum. On the way were giant scientific beakers that held some things inside. Only one was glowing. But behind that was a grand garden that reminded me of something I saw on Ys. Their Goddess Palace was inhabited by monsters, but this one was empty. But there was another thing that made me recall it: the statue in the center. She had wings like Feena and Reah. And I think she spoke to me. She warned me of the Black Key, which made me wonder what the keys were. Are they the swords? Are they controlling the emolas? She kept trying to speak to me, but her voice tailed off. I'd find the third yellow sword in a room behind her.
As I left, Geis walked up to me. He confided that he'd never be able to defeat the guardian, so this was his only way. He then placed magical talismans on the colored spheres in the statue room and referred to them as keyholes. I wish someone would fill me in!
But we both left, and I went to Rimorage. I upgraded the Ericcil and learned the bridge was fixed. A few Redhans were in town, including Isha. She was with Ur and Rada. She and Ur seemed to be close friends because he teased her before Rada shut it down. It's disrespectful to poke at a priestess. Ur left, and I told the remaining of my actions. Rada knows of Geis, but he's only seen him around. Both spoke about noticing a plank of wood travel beneath the new bridge. Isha saw my face as it went by. I spoke to Basham about the path to Zemolas, which he hired me to find. He gave me a necklace to let me swim better. I think I'll need it and the light necklace I found in Amnesia to see where that wood floated too."
-Adol
---
These dungeons are rough! I expect the tough bosses, but I actually think they're on the easier side compared to Felguana. But getting to them, man...99999999999
Isha was at the beach and was surprised but happy when I showed up. I don't know if she's a priestess, but Isha has a special power herself. She has visions. She saw me fighting the crab-moth and even described moments during the battle. And it was her second time doing that. When I washed up on the beach, Isha saw the wandering calamity battle. But she's never shared this power with Olha or anyone else. She really has been suffering alone. I told her about the mirror as well and went on my way. She wanted to stay at the beach, but I had other plans.
Before moving on, though, I found a Redhan Feather sometime. It's another sacred thing to my new friends, but it's only supposed to be used by warriors to train. It takes the user to the Inner Sanctum, where Olha prays. Inside are visions that represent your past. For me, it took me to three obstacles and mental tasks. Terra, a member of the pirate crew that brought me here, had me do a ninja warrior path. Olha had me finding monsters hidden among people. Isha tasked me to find stuff she lost on the beach. But I did it and brought 1000 emolas back to the real world. Cool!
So I was free to roam again, and I remembered something in the Mythos Pass. There was a wall with a gem on it that was actually a door. To enter it, I had to hit it with the blue sword. There was a similar wall where I fought Geis that was red. I struck that door, and it opened. On the otherside was the Ruins of Amnesia.
This place really sucked. The mobs were tough and defensive, and they loved to knock me into pits. The laser shooting plants, the fire spinning wasps, and clowns were abundant. There was also another thing that I'd guess is a relative to the shuriken plants. I had to make a number of long jumps that I, in theory, could do. But I'm not very reliable at it. If anyone evil is reading this, turn your life around because this is where you'll go when you die. After wading through the most lukewarm lava I've experienced, I saw another piece of mirror on the floor. A golden naked fairy, who was far calmer that the red one, appeared. But I had what she called a "key" and brought forth another monster.
Ud-Melyu, the Guardian of the Cradle, was a jumping four legged spider. It leaped into the ...sky... so high that I lost sight of it. If I was too close to its landing spot, I'd be blown away or squished. I had to time my run aways, jumps, and leaping strikes to defeat the creature. Sera, the fairy, spoke more about the key and said we'd meet again.
The fight broke open a secret path to Zemeth Sanctum. On the way were giant scientific beakers that held some things inside. Only one was glowing. But behind that was a grand garden that reminded me of something I saw on Ys. Their Goddess Palace was inhabited by monsters, but this one was empty. But there was another thing that made me recall it: the statue in the center. She had wings like Feena and Reah. And I think she spoke to me. She warned me of the Black Key, which made me wonder what the keys were. Are they the swords? Are they controlling the emolas? She kept trying to speak to me, but her voice tailed off. I'd find the third yellow sword in a room behind her.
As I left, Geis walked up to me. He confided that he'd never be able to defeat the guardian, so this was his only way. He then placed magical talismans on the colored spheres in the statue room and referred to them as keyholes. I wish someone would fill me in!
But we both left, and I went to Rimorage. I upgraded the Ericcil and learned the bridge was fixed. A few Redhans were in town, including Isha. She was with Ur and Rada. She and Ur seemed to be close friends because he teased her before Rada shut it down. It's disrespectful to poke at a priestess. Ur left, and I told the remaining of my actions. Rada knows of Geis, but he's only seen him around. Both spoke about noticing a plank of wood travel beneath the new bridge. Isha saw my face as it went by. I spoke to Basham about the path to Zemolas, which he hired me to find. He gave me a necklace to let me swim better. I think I'll need it and the light necklace I found in Amnesia to see where that wood floated too."
-Adol
---
These dungeons are rough! I expect the tough bosses, but I actually think they're on the easier side compared to Felguana. But getting to them, man...99999999999
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Mountain Fae
"I looked around the Eresian town of Rimorage. It's a port town, for some reason, that was built off of reclaimed stone from Redhan ruins. There are a few Redhans who have chosen to reside here. But the vast majority suffered the same fate as myself: shipwreck by the Great Vortex. I started my search by speaking to Baslam, an Altagian merchant who doesn't like being called Eresian. He also dislikes the Redhan but will work with them if it earns him money. He denied taking the mirror, and I didn't find anything that said otherwise. Elsewhere in town was an old friend of mine.
I first met Raba in Esteria. He was trapped in Darm Tower, researching local legends. And those legends brought him here. I hope I'm like him when I'm pushing seventy years old. The two of us discussed the islands we were trapped on. Raba had been here for three years and was close to Olha. He told me about several places of interest and even knew where Ur was. Ur was his apprentice and was off picking up stuff in the plains up north. Raba thought Ur would know more about the mirror, so I followed his directions and went to find him on the Cannon Plains.
The Plains are a wide field of gentile slopes. It's inhabited by wolves, spitting frogs, and air raiding insects that drop more tank beetles. I got lost and found a cave that was guarded by someone. He warned me about going deeper in because there was no light and told me Ur came by before going to the north mountain.
Mount Granna-Vallis is not a fun place to spend an afternoon. The fireflies are made of literal fire, and they were assisted by goblins that hucked exploding rocks at me. I was bounced around so often that I became thankful for the plants that tossed their leaves at me like a boomerang. This mountain is filled with crazy creatures.
About halfway up is where I found Ur. He was being stalked by four underground sharks that I managed to down stab to death. He was thankful and wanted to get back home. He noticed I was using the blue emolas sword his dad had and knew that meant I was a friend. I told him his cousin was worried about him, and he informed me a red fairy was carrying something shiny up here, which is why he started this dumb climb. With this information, I escorted him home. I also found Raba's journal up here, and it was a log of everything on the Cannon Islands. I would have stayed to chat, but I wanted to see that fairy. I upgraded the Livart Sword at the nearby Redhan blacksmith and restarted my climb.
Good thing I reforged! I found a piece of a broken mirror at the top, and a naked red fae creature came to yell at me. She (?) spoke in the third person and made me think this was a trap. Juul wanted to play with me and summoned a massive moth. It broke the dias we were on, and we started falling for this entire fight. It didn't make sense, but whatever.
Zonplus fights in two phases. It toyed with me in the beginning by testing my reflexes. It hovered most of the time, only descending to smash me with its crab claws. I'm glad I found new armor up here! When it learned I was a threat, it started spitting pollen at me in between birthing its children onto our stage. I knocked most of them into this infinite pit. I managed to kill the monster just before I found out this pit does have a bottom.
Juul was upset and blamed me for this before flying away. It seems she's working for someone... In the north of this room is another emolas sword. Rumors in town alluded to this being here. I have some control over fire now, so I went back to Rimorage.
After Raba and I told Ur how we met, I showed them the mirror. Both of them thought it was a piece of the Holy Mirror Zemelth. It's supposed to be held by the priestess, so we all decided I should return it to Olha. I had to take the Mythis Path again, but it seems the bridge between the two islands should be fixed soon. Baslam will see to that. I killed the monsters nearby and plan to return to Redham soon. Before, though, I showed a bard at the inn a blue tablet I found on the mountain. He knows the local languages and told me what it said. It was written by the last Redhann alive during the time of the goddess Alma. I'll tell you about all of them later.
- Adol
---
And so we've reached the battle system. Adol can switch between swords, each with its own element and attack styles, in battle. When they're upgraded, they give him access to new basic attack swings and magic. So it's a more manual thing to OiF's bracelets.
I first met Raba in Esteria. He was trapped in Darm Tower, researching local legends. And those legends brought him here. I hope I'm like him when I'm pushing seventy years old. The two of us discussed the islands we were trapped on. Raba had been here for three years and was close to Olha. He told me about several places of interest and even knew where Ur was. Ur was his apprentice and was off picking up stuff in the plains up north. Raba thought Ur would know more about the mirror, so I followed his directions and went to find him on the Cannon Plains.
The Plains are a wide field of gentile slopes. It's inhabited by wolves, spitting frogs, and air raiding insects that drop more tank beetles. I got lost and found a cave that was guarded by someone. He warned me about going deeper in because there was no light and told me Ur came by before going to the north mountain.
Mount Granna-Vallis is not a fun place to spend an afternoon. The fireflies are made of literal fire, and they were assisted by goblins that hucked exploding rocks at me. I was bounced around so often that I became thankful for the plants that tossed their leaves at me like a boomerang. This mountain is filled with crazy creatures.
About halfway up is where I found Ur. He was being stalked by four underground sharks that I managed to down stab to death. He was thankful and wanted to get back home. He noticed I was using the blue emolas sword his dad had and knew that meant I was a friend. I told him his cousin was worried about him, and he informed me a red fairy was carrying something shiny up here, which is why he started this dumb climb. With this information, I escorted him home. I also found Raba's journal up here, and it was a log of everything on the Cannon Islands. I would have stayed to chat, but I wanted to see that fairy. I upgraded the Livart Sword at the nearby Redhan blacksmith and restarted my climb.
Good thing I reforged! I found a piece of a broken mirror at the top, and a naked red fae creature came to yell at me. She (?) spoke in the third person and made me think this was a trap. Juul wanted to play with me and summoned a massive moth. It broke the dias we were on, and we started falling for this entire fight. It didn't make sense, but whatever.
Zonplus fights in two phases. It toyed with me in the beginning by testing my reflexes. It hovered most of the time, only descending to smash me with its crab claws. I'm glad I found new armor up here! When it learned I was a threat, it started spitting pollen at me in between birthing its children onto our stage. I knocked most of them into this infinite pit. I managed to kill the monster just before I found out this pit does have a bottom.
Juul was upset and blamed me for this before flying away. It seems she's working for someone... In the north of this room is another emolas sword. Rumors in town alluded to this being here. I have some control over fire now, so I went back to Rimorage.
After Raba and I told Ur how we met, I showed them the mirror. Both of them thought it was a piece of the Holy Mirror Zemelth. It's supposed to be held by the priestess, so we all decided I should return it to Olha. I had to take the Mythis Path again, but it seems the bridge between the two islands should be fixed soon. Baslam will see to that. I killed the monsters nearby and plan to return to Redham soon. Before, though, I showed a bard at the inn a blue tablet I found on the mountain. He knows the local languages and told me what it said. It was written by the last Redhann alive during the time of the goddess Alma. I'll tell you about all of them later.
- Adol
---
And so we've reached the battle system. Adol can switch between swords, each with its own element and attack styles, in battle. When they're upgraded, they give him access to new basic attack swings and magic. So it's a more manual thing to OiF's bracelets.
Saturday, August 12, 2023
From one Ark to another.
It's the Ark of Napishtim!
I've been playing Pokémon Infinite Fusion this week, and I must say, it was so much fun. I'm not calling it peak Pokemon, but making my stuffed animal family into canon pocket monsters was a dream come true. For future reference:
Lucy: Arcanine/Sylvian
Snoopy: Stoutland (not in Fusion)
Rin: Jolteon/Luxray
Renji: sorry, son
Ushio: Aegisslash/Ursaring
Spike: sorry, son
Schala: Espeon/Lolpunny
I love you!
But it's time to return to my summer odyssey! Adol has more adventures to go on, so let's see what this ark and Napishtim are. I boot up the game and see the wonderful anime cutscene that showcases stuff we're about to witness.
Two young sisters, Olha and Isha, are on the beach. We can see they have long ears and tails while Olha plays a flute/ocarina for her younger sibling. One notices something is off with the winds surrounding her homeland, and the camera pans over to see a young man lying facedown in the sand. Adol washed ashore again...
"I woke up in a warm bed in Redha Village. The sisters who brought me here convinced the village chief, Ord, a massive mammoth of a man, to let me rest here. He couldn't argue too much with the priestesses, so he's allowed me to recoup. I tried to ask more, but the winds that knocked me off my ship wreaked my body, so I passed out.
I woke up and saw the youngest of the siblings return my gear. I think I scared her because she ran away. But I felt good enough to walk, so I took my first steps into this new land! I found Olha lost in prayer in her chambers. She was glad I survived and told me I was out for three days! I then asked her about the area. We're currently on an archipelago named the Cannon Islands. I reached my goal! Her people, the Redhans, lived on a separate island from the many Eresians who've also washed ashore in the area. The two "tribes" never saw eye-to-eye, but the relationship soured recently. The third island is a sacred one, where the local god, Alma, is said to reside. Alma is the one Olha was praying to when I interrupted her. I let her get back to it and started my adventures here!
Redhan Village is filled with people with long ears and tails, and they all hate me. Talking to people gave me plenty of information. Namely that the bridge between the two communities is down. Everyone has a job in this town, and mine's to leave. I found a fellow Eresian, Kevin, who's a merchant from across the straight. The guard out front of the village told me not to go northwest because terrifying monsters reside there. But Ord is at the broken bridge to the northeast, so I went there... After nearly dying in that area was told not to go, of course.
In the Woods of Quatera were squirrels, insects with knives for noses, tank beetles, and flowers that spit poison at you. They're very effective with that. After a painfully long trek, I found Ord. He informed me that the humans across likely burned the bridge. The same day they did that, the village was ransacked. So I was stuck here. I went back to Redha, but Olha left to pray at a different sacred site. To the southeast is The Fountain of Prayer. She was there and said the waters of this area were what healed me. I guess I owe Alma a favor. But the priestess was busy, so I left.
To the southwest of the village is the Moonlight Beach. Isha was there but didn't stay long. She went back home, but she wasn't there when I returned. I was worried, so I followed her to the fountain. Olha wasn't there, but something else was.
The locals told me this was the Wandering Calamity, Demi-Galba. I've already found a galbalon!? As I should have expected, my basic long sword barely did any damage. I did manage to knock it down, but Isha walked up to me as it began to move. My sword was broken, and I didn't have much strength left. Sleeping for three days does that to a man. Fortunately, backup arrived. Olha shot it with an arrow, and the beast fell apart. After everyone thanked me, we went back to Redhan.
Ten years ago, three of these wandering calamities attacked. Many villagers died, including the sisters' parents. But they learned how to defeat these things: Emolas. Olha's arrow as tipped with that metal. Ord took me aside and explained much of this. He also gave me a sword, the Livart. It felt similar to Genos' in Felghana. He also gave me a job. I was to navigate across the straight to reach the human town. The area behind the fountain leads to a road that takes me beneath the waters. He started to tell me something else but opted against it. He did request that I investigate a missing mirror. That was what was stolen when the bridge collapsed. It's not in Redha, so it must be there. As I left, Olha asked me to find Ur. Ur is Ord's son who went missing with the mirror. Isha gave me a bracelet I keep to this day as I left as well. The villagers, hearing of my heroics, were much warmer to me now. I suspect I'll be back here a lot.
Ord was correct. Mythos Path was right where he said it was. Inside were shadow bugs that seemed to suck me in. Avoid them. But I wasn't alone. A fellow human was down here, a black haired man with a halberd. He was shady and knew who I was. He wasn't into my do gooder tendencies, so he attacked me. He was quick and jumpy, but so was I. I had no problem defeating Geis. Ultimately, he seemed fine enough, so we parted. He went towards the village...
But I soon came to the exit. Two men, Xaxon and Lloyd, were looking for stone. Lloyd feared that they'd have to loot the ruins and annoy the Redhans, but the thought was lost when they noticed me. They were amazed that a new face fought through the tunnels and suggested I speak to the Cannon de facto leader. Xaxon went to the bridge and blamed the Redhans for destroying it. I started to walk to Rimorage...
-Adol
---
And so our Caribbean vacation has begun! Adol was washed ashore, looking for answers from adventures past. Will he find them?
Saturday, August 5, 2023
How many people made this game? Too many.
-Actual quote in the game.
After trying to fulfill the Water Guardian's request and getting nothing for it, I went back home. The Water Stone said the Fire Guardian is being held captive under Palencia Castle. The group wonders about the word "captive," but we make our way there. Arc tells the Silver Noah pilot, Chopin, that he's thankful for all the rides. Even Tosh says he's going to miss the ship.
We make our plan on the castle bridge, and it's decided we'll sneak in. Our only lead to go is from the warehouse where we met Tosh. Tosh and Iga knock out the innocent guards for some reason, and we make our way there. Who made them invisible!? But we're in the warehouse and see one man appear from behind two red doors. He goes into a contraption in the middle of the room, and a second man follows him back through the red doors. The team follows them.
We arrive in a room that doesn't work well with these graphics, but a third man, the head scientist, notices us. He tells his underlings to tell Andel, the Minister, of our trespassing before fighting us. He drinks something and turns into a wyvern flanked by red slimes and zombies. Slowly climb up the narrow passage, but I kept Arc at the bottom. Wyvern rammed into him and died.
We'll see the Fire Guardian trapped in a beaker. He'll tell us he was trapped by people, humans, who wanted to harness his power for their selfish gain. Seirya is what it is because they've been draining his life force. FG asks to be freed, which Arc obliges. Despite that, FG refuses to hand over the stone. Humans deserve to die. Arc begins to cry, and Gogen points out the emotions of youth as a potential future. It is the kids who can make amends for their forefathers. The scene changes FG's mind, and he gives us the Power Stone and a summon for Chongara. The camera pans over to reveal the scientist didn't die. He crawled over to a panel and activated the self destruct sequence. We have one minute.
We're on Frieza time because this is longer than one minute. As we take the elevator back up, several mobs attack us from the back. Arc volunteers to stay back, and Kukuru joins him.
Another battle takes place on their way up. Was there a second elevator? Arc's too powerful to be stopped. The party reunites at the top just for the world to start shaking. How's the King? We walk to the throne room to see Andel leaving it. We see our uncle lying behind him and get there in time to hear his last words. He reveals Andel is from Romalia, a nation we've heard about a few times. None of it was good. He also confesses that he's the reason Arc's dad left the castle. Uncle wanted the throne, and that desire was fed upon by Romalia. He tries to apologize, but he dies mid sentence. The castle begins to crumble as the rest of the party yells it's time to leave. But the stairs are gone... Chopin shows up with the airship, and we jet away just as the castle blows up.
We cut to a scene in Times Square. A giant TV news report appears, and Andel is on it. He's declared martial law in the kingdom until Arc, who's being blamed for killing the king, is apprehended.
We return to the airship world map with free reign. There's a new quiz that takes forever to do back at Iga's temple, but return to Seiryu to continue. A scene where Chongara turns us into Hemo-jis to evade the law. Why did we need to land at the skyport? Go to Touvil, and the group will climb to the seal that started this journey. Arc and Kukuru still adhere to traditions, so only they can go up. They reach the shine, and another strange scene happens. Arc gives Kukuru a kiss. This romance had very little buildup for ten hours, so I kinda don't like it. It should have been the other way around. Either way, our new girlfriend puts out the Cion again, and the Ark Demon flies away with the promise of fighting us later. We go back down, but monsters have appeared. Fortunately, our other teammates joined us.
Arc somehow knows the demon went to Sabatico Falls. There are several Ark Demons here, and they like to group up. It's a narrow battlefield, so we do too. We arrive at a skinny waterfall, and Arc gives us a point of no return vibes speech. Gogen activates the Power Stones, and a gateway appears in the waterfall. We go through it and see a stone box before us. Arc meets the Ark! It speaks to us and asks us to cleanse the darkness inside us. We're warped to a fight against our dark selves. Use AoE. Our dark sides can hit hard, but they lack HP. Even their Chongara sucks. Congratulations, this was the final fight.
Cleansing ourselves proves we're heros, and it unlocks the secrets of mankind. Every human can access this power, but it's been forgotten over time. Even Kukuru gets a new power for some reason. We now have to use that power to save the world. The Dark Ones are coming. We're not sure what that means, but Ark suggests Kukuru stays behind to keep the seal binding them together.
We leave, and we're met with Andel and some soldiers. Tosh prepares to kill everyone, but Arc calms him down. Good thing, too, because Andel has the citizens of Touvil in jail. Could have told us that sooner... So Arc is taken prisoner, and Ark is taken away.
As the guards escort us away, the world shakes. It rocks the land we're on, and a cleff is formed between Kukuru and the others. Arc urges her to find the Dark Ones shrine as we start being subjects to gravity.
A CGI scene plays where a massive castle or something rips into the sky from the ground. The final scenes play.
Arc is looking out at the sunset, and the others appear to his left besides the airship.
Andel is informed Arc got away, but he doesn't care. It's all going to plan.
Arc and crew board the Silver Noah and take off. They see Kukuru standing on a cliff before we blast off.
The credits role as we see scenes from the game.
To be continued...
I didn't really like Arc the Lad, but it's only a preamble. The real meat is in Arc II. Unlike Golden Sun, I'm a bit intrigued and want to play it. I'll give it a short rope, but expect to see Arc II eventually! Because it's part one, I'm not writing a full review. As an incomplete (by design) game, Arc I is a 26/50 game.
From one Arc/k to another Ark...
After trying to fulfill the Water Guardian's request and getting nothing for it, I went back home. The Water Stone said the Fire Guardian is being held captive under Palencia Castle. The group wonders about the word "captive," but we make our way there. Arc tells the Silver Noah pilot, Chopin, that he's thankful for all the rides. Even Tosh says he's going to miss the ship.
We make our plan on the castle bridge, and it's decided we'll sneak in. Our only lead to go is from the warehouse where we met Tosh. Tosh and Iga knock out the innocent guards for some reason, and we make our way there. Who made them invisible!? But we're in the warehouse and see one man appear from behind two red doors. He goes into a contraption in the middle of the room, and a second man follows him back through the red doors. The team follows them.
We arrive in a room that doesn't work well with these graphics, but a third man, the head scientist, notices us. He tells his underlings to tell Andel, the Minister, of our trespassing before fighting us. He drinks something and turns into a wyvern flanked by red slimes and zombies. Slowly climb up the narrow passage, but I kept Arc at the bottom. Wyvern rammed into him and died.
We'll see the Fire Guardian trapped in a beaker. He'll tell us he was trapped by people, humans, who wanted to harness his power for their selfish gain. Seirya is what it is because they've been draining his life force. FG asks to be freed, which Arc obliges. Despite that, FG refuses to hand over the stone. Humans deserve to die. Arc begins to cry, and Gogen points out the emotions of youth as a potential future. It is the kids who can make amends for their forefathers. The scene changes FG's mind, and he gives us the Power Stone and a summon for Chongara. The camera pans over to reveal the scientist didn't die. He crawled over to a panel and activated the self destruct sequence. We have one minute.
We're on Frieza time because this is longer than one minute. As we take the elevator back up, several mobs attack us from the back. Arc volunteers to stay back, and Kukuru joins him.
Another battle takes place on their way up. Was there a second elevator? Arc's too powerful to be stopped. The party reunites at the top just for the world to start shaking. How's the King? We walk to the throne room to see Andel leaving it. We see our uncle lying behind him and get there in time to hear his last words. He reveals Andel is from Romalia, a nation we've heard about a few times. None of it was good. He also confesses that he's the reason Arc's dad left the castle. Uncle wanted the throne, and that desire was fed upon by Romalia. He tries to apologize, but he dies mid sentence. The castle begins to crumble as the rest of the party yells it's time to leave. But the stairs are gone... Chopin shows up with the airship, and we jet away just as the castle blows up.
We cut to a scene in Times Square. A giant TV news report appears, and Andel is on it. He's declared martial law in the kingdom until Arc, who's being blamed for killing the king, is apprehended.
We return to the airship world map with free reign. There's a new quiz that takes forever to do back at Iga's temple, but return to Seiryu to continue. A scene where Chongara turns us into Hemo-jis to evade the law. Why did we need to land at the skyport? Go to Touvil, and the group will climb to the seal that started this journey. Arc and Kukuru still adhere to traditions, so only they can go up. They reach the shine, and another strange scene happens. Arc gives Kukuru a kiss. This romance had very little buildup for ten hours, so I kinda don't like it. It should have been the other way around. Either way, our new girlfriend puts out the Cion again, and the Ark Demon flies away with the promise of fighting us later. We go back down, but monsters have appeared. Fortunately, our other teammates joined us.
Arc somehow knows the demon went to Sabatico Falls. There are several Ark Demons here, and they like to group up. It's a narrow battlefield, so we do too. We arrive at a skinny waterfall, and Arc gives us a point of no return vibes speech. Gogen activates the Power Stones, and a gateway appears in the waterfall. We go through it and see a stone box before us. Arc meets the Ark! It speaks to us and asks us to cleanse the darkness inside us. We're warped to a fight against our dark selves. Use AoE. Our dark sides can hit hard, but they lack HP. Even their Chongara sucks. Congratulations, this was the final fight.
Cleansing ourselves proves we're heros, and it unlocks the secrets of mankind. Every human can access this power, but it's been forgotten over time. Even Kukuru gets a new power for some reason. We now have to use that power to save the world. The Dark Ones are coming. We're not sure what that means, but Ark suggests Kukuru stays behind to keep the seal binding them together.
We leave, and we're met with Andel and some soldiers. Tosh prepares to kill everyone, but Arc calms him down. Good thing, too, because Andel has the citizens of Touvil in jail. Could have told us that sooner... So Arc is taken prisoner, and Ark is taken away.
As the guards escort us away, the world shakes. It rocks the land we're on, and a cleff is formed between Kukuru and the others. Arc urges her to find the Dark Ones shrine as we start being subjects to gravity.
A CGI scene plays where a massive castle or something rips into the sky from the ground. The final scenes play.
Arc is looking out at the sunset, and the others appear to his left besides the airship.
Andel is informed Arc got away, but he doesn't care. It's all going to plan.
Arc and crew board the Silver Noah and take off. They see Kukuru standing on a cliff before we blast off.
The credits role as we see scenes from the game.
To be continued...
I didn't really like Arc the Lad, but it's only a preamble. The real meat is in Arc II. Unlike Golden Sun, I'm a bit intrigued and want to play it. I'll give it a short rope, but expect to see Arc II eventually! Because it's part one, I'm not writing a full review. As an incomplete (by design) game, Arc I is a 26/50 game.
From one Arc/k to another Ark...
Friday, August 4, 2023
Choko isn't a character!
She's a summon...
So I walked out of the Forbidden Ruins with the idea of never returning. I gained ten levels down there, so I'll be cruising through the rest of this, I assume. That took an hour, so I opted to call tonight a wash. I did finished the Amaidar Temple tournament. The red flames were the most difficult. And then I said, "screw it," let's get something in.
The party flew to the desert of Zariban. A local met us there because our dad told him we'd be there. The local took us to a scenic cliff to witness the desolate area of his village. His ancestors founded here when it rich and vibrant, overflowing with water. But now it's just a desert because of a local mining facility. We saw the massive building in the background of the skyport when we arrived. Its contents power the various electrical stuff around the world. But that technological advancement has ruined the planet. Did this game come out last month? The local is ready to leave and takes us to the village proper, but something interrupts that.
A beam of light explodes from the sky. It strikes the town, wiping it out in a blink of an eye. We rush there to see the ruins and the army occupying them. The general, Kasadoll, attacked the place because Seiyu had something he wanted. And the strong deserve everything they want in this world. The general sicks his bugs on us. Poco gets a new weapon from the giant one.
We find the elder on his last legs. I don't remember what he said, but Kasadoll took the Water Shrine Key, so we're going after him.
We see the army again, and Kasadoll is evil for the sake of evil. He and his men turn into monsters, and we kill them.
The Water Guardian says the same things the others said. As does Arc and his "not all humans suck" stuff. We'll get the Water Stone, and Congura has a new summon he's too weak to make use of. WG starts a new side quest involving us killing a certain amount of mobs on the continent. Maybe I'll do it, but I'll consider it...
...tomorrow!
There are so many side quests in this game. Some are better than others...
So I walked out of the Forbidden Ruins with the idea of never returning. I gained ten levels down there, so I'll be cruising through the rest of this, I assume. That took an hour, so I opted to call tonight a wash. I did finished the Amaidar Temple tournament. The red flames were the most difficult. And then I said, "screw it," let's get something in.
The party flew to the desert of Zariban. A local met us there because our dad told him we'd be there. The local took us to a scenic cliff to witness the desolate area of his village. His ancestors founded here when it rich and vibrant, overflowing with water. But now it's just a desert because of a local mining facility. We saw the massive building in the background of the skyport when we arrived. Its contents power the various electrical stuff around the world. But that technological advancement has ruined the planet. Did this game come out last month? The local is ready to leave and takes us to the village proper, but something interrupts that.
A beam of light explodes from the sky. It strikes the town, wiping it out in a blink of an eye. We rush there to see the ruins and the army occupying them. The general, Kasadoll, attacked the place because Seiyu had something he wanted. And the strong deserve everything they want in this world. The general sicks his bugs on us. Poco gets a new weapon from the giant one.
We find the elder on his last legs. I don't remember what he said, but Kasadoll took the Water Shrine Key, so we're going after him.
We see the army again, and Kasadoll is evil for the sake of evil. He and his men turn into monsters, and we kill them.
The Water Guardian says the same things the others said. As does Arc and his "not all humans suck" stuff. We'll get the Water Stone, and Congura has a new summon he's too weak to make use of. WG starts a new side quest involving us killing a certain amount of mobs on the continent. Maybe I'll do it, but I'll consider it...
...tomorrow!
There are so many side quests in this game. Some are better than others...
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Every rpg gets a tournament arc(k).
And then I screwed up.
The Earth Stone tells us to go to Niedal, a small island to the west. But there are a few places we can look around to. Ghongura can get another new summon at his shop. It's a zombie. The Forest Spirit gives us a Throw Scroll. I don't know what it does. And there's a new letter from dad back at home. He sent us a third Romancing Stone and warned us about the Niedal tournament founder. He's shady.
Niedal is about to begin a tournament. He hypes up the Wind Orb and tells us its dark past. A wealthy family was wiped out by bandits who wanted the Orb. What does the Orb do? It's coveted because it is coveted. Is this a metaphor for something? The winner gets the Wind Orb, and we only need to run through five one-on-one fights. At level thirty five, Arc easily wins this. Nothing even poses a threat to him. Rocktol hands us the Orb, but there's a catch. He's been giving this out every year. So how's he getting it back? He kills off the winners. His guards turn into boogie men zombies, and he transforms into another type of monster, Blood Fiend.
At level thirty five, Arc can rampage through this.
But is the Wind Orb actually linked to the Wind Spirit? Gogen tries to magically look into it but finds nothing. ...and then he drops it... Out pops the Wind Spirit! He has been trapped for 600 years inside that Orb and says similar things to the Guardians. Niedal has a new tournament at this point, but level thirty five isn't strong enough to win battle one.
Returning to the Skyport, the Wind Spirit tells us to go to the desert kingdom of Zariban. But I'm dumb. I wanted to try my hand at getting the secret character at level fifty of the Forbidden Ruins. I got to level thirty, and things started getting hot. Do I want to keep treading or fight my way back? Or should I reload from an hour ago? You'll see what I do...
...next time!
I do want to get through this...
The Earth Stone tells us to go to Niedal, a small island to the west. But there are a few places we can look around to. Ghongura can get another new summon at his shop. It's a zombie. The Forest Spirit gives us a Throw Scroll. I don't know what it does. And there's a new letter from dad back at home. He sent us a third Romancing Stone and warned us about the Niedal tournament founder. He's shady.
Niedal is about to begin a tournament. He hypes up the Wind Orb and tells us its dark past. A wealthy family was wiped out by bandits who wanted the Orb. What does the Orb do? It's coveted because it is coveted. Is this a metaphor for something? The winner gets the Wind Orb, and we only need to run through five one-on-one fights. At level thirty five, Arc easily wins this. Nothing even poses a threat to him. Rocktol hands us the Orb, but there's a catch. He's been giving this out every year. So how's he getting it back? He kills off the winners. His guards turn into boogie men zombies, and he transforms into another type of monster, Blood Fiend.
At level thirty five, Arc can rampage through this.
But is the Wind Orb actually linked to the Wind Spirit? Gogen tries to magically look into it but finds nothing. ...and then he drops it... Out pops the Wind Spirit! He has been trapped for 600 years inside that Orb and says similar things to the Guardians. Niedal has a new tournament at this point, but level thirty five isn't strong enough to win battle one.
Returning to the Skyport, the Wind Spirit tells us to go to the desert kingdom of Zariban. But I'm dumb. I wanted to try my hand at getting the secret character at level fifty of the Forbidden Ruins. I got to level thirty, and things started getting hot. Do I want to keep treading or fight my way back? Or should I reload from an hour ago? You'll see what I do...
...next time!
I do want to get through this...
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Is the gang all here?
Ohhhh, secret character?
So I had Arc play much more defensive than before and relied on counters and dodges, which has been Ukukru's strat. I walked back a few steps and buffed my attack and defense before jumping over Iga and stabbing him in the back. I did have to use Max Heal a few times, but I got through it.
Iga, with some prompting from Gogan, took us to his boss. We wanted to assure the Archmonk that we weren't after his scrolls, but he didn't care. Kukuru has a strong sense of smell and easily noticed who the Archmonk really was. She pulled out her mirror and shined in his face. He turned into a monster, and we chased after him. He'll be joined by six ads who aren't too scary. The main guy, though, has a lot of HP and even more attack. Monk has a wide AoE that attacks everyone in a diamond around him, but his MP isn't very high, it seems. The dude could punch our squishy party members to death, but it took a few for the others. Tosh can paralyze people, and bosses aren't immune to it. Make use of it.
Iga begins to have doubts about his entire past. He's trained his body, but his mind failed him. Regardless, he's the new guy in charge and offers to take us up the mountain.
The Sacred Monument is being profaned by monsters. And this battle is annoying. There are too many mobs, and many of them have a dumb status effect. Hemo-jis can punch your party and turn them into fellow hemo-jos, making them unable to use their abilities. Five of those guys, seven water slimes, and four magical zombies are up here. Take out the gorillas on the right. The rest of the aggressive mobs should be at your doorstep by the time you're done with them. Silence the zombies. Their magic is a massive AoE, and it hurts. The slimes are slimes. They stay back and occasionally split; not really a problem.
After Iga remarks that he's upset the Sacred Texts have been looted, the Earth Spirit shows up to tell him it didn't matter. The texts weren't relevant anyway. Maybe 2000 years ago, but humans have ignored them. We're supposed to live in harmony with all the other creatures on the planet, but we've ruined it for our profit. But maybe the spirit of a hero can save it. He gives us another stone, and we return to the temple.
Iga tells the remaining monks he's joining us to reclaim the temple's lost honor. But if they want to leave and change their lives, how's the time. But they seem like they want to clean up, so they'll stay here. In fact, two new side quests begin here now.
We can now participate in a tournament. There are sixteen battles, but I don't think we need to do them all at once. In fact, I died at battle seven and got to keep my exp earned in it. Each fight is against sixteen of a basic mob, and we get a new summon for Chongura after the sixth. The red flames are far stronger than us, so any attacks against them give great exp. Arc climbed fourteen levels tonight just by doing this. I don't know if that's a good thing... There's also a quiz game we can participate in. Ten questions get us a Monolith Crest to prevent paralysis. A monk also suggests there's a secret sixth guardian stone out there... But I'm done here for the moment, so I'll see where I'm supposed to go...
...tomorrow!
I'm taking my time in this game. I was hoping I'd be quicker, but that ship sailed.
So I had Arc play much more defensive than before and relied on counters and dodges, which has been Ukukru's strat. I walked back a few steps and buffed my attack and defense before jumping over Iga and stabbing him in the back. I did have to use Max Heal a few times, but I got through it.
Iga, with some prompting from Gogan, took us to his boss. We wanted to assure the Archmonk that we weren't after his scrolls, but he didn't care. Kukuru has a strong sense of smell and easily noticed who the Archmonk really was. She pulled out her mirror and shined in his face. He turned into a monster, and we chased after him. He'll be joined by six ads who aren't too scary. The main guy, though, has a lot of HP and even more attack. Monk has a wide AoE that attacks everyone in a diamond around him, but his MP isn't very high, it seems. The dude could punch our squishy party members to death, but it took a few for the others. Tosh can paralyze people, and bosses aren't immune to it. Make use of it.
Iga begins to have doubts about his entire past. He's trained his body, but his mind failed him. Regardless, he's the new guy in charge and offers to take us up the mountain.
The Sacred Monument is being profaned by monsters. And this battle is annoying. There are too many mobs, and many of them have a dumb status effect. Hemo-jis can punch your party and turn them into fellow hemo-jos, making them unable to use their abilities. Five of those guys, seven water slimes, and four magical zombies are up here. Take out the gorillas on the right. The rest of the aggressive mobs should be at your doorstep by the time you're done with them. Silence the zombies. Their magic is a massive AoE, and it hurts. The slimes are slimes. They stay back and occasionally split; not really a problem.
After Iga remarks that he's upset the Sacred Texts have been looted, the Earth Spirit shows up to tell him it didn't matter. The texts weren't relevant anyway. Maybe 2000 years ago, but humans have ignored them. We're supposed to live in harmony with all the other creatures on the planet, but we've ruined it for our profit. But maybe the spirit of a hero can save it. He gives us another stone, and we return to the temple.
Iga tells the remaining monks he's joining us to reclaim the temple's lost honor. But if they want to leave and change their lives, how's the time. But they seem like they want to clean up, so they'll stay here. In fact, two new side quests begin here now.
We can now participate in a tournament. There are sixteen battles, but I don't think we need to do them all at once. In fact, I died at battle seven and got to keep my exp earned in it. Each fight is against sixteen of a basic mob, and we get a new summon for Chongura after the sixth. The red flames are far stronger than us, so any attacks against them give great exp. Arc climbed fourteen levels tonight just by doing this. I don't know if that's a good thing... There's also a quiz game we can participate in. Ten questions get us a Monolith Crest to prevent paralysis. A monk also suggests there's a secret sixth guardian stone out there... But I'm done here for the moment, so I'll see where I'm supposed to go...
...tomorrow!
I'm taking my time in this game. I was hoping I'd be quicker, but that ship sailed.
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Never ending dungeon.
Allegedly.
A man who speaks with broken English will trade knowledge of the Light Guardian for a Summon Pot in the Forbidding Ruins. The dungeon itself is one long battle that only changes when we end our turn on a stair. The Pot is in a chest on the fifth floor, but I tried to keep fighting down. I opened a chest on floor six and left. There were a few too many tanky mobs, so continuing on would be bad. Unfortunately, you have to walk the way back out, and monsters have returned. Kinda lame... But, ultimately, getting down and out isn't too hard.
Chongara tells us that Azenda Highland houses the Light Guardian. He also asks why we'd even do such an act as there's no personal gain in it. Kurkuru says it's because many people do things out of kindness and a sense of humanity. This triggers a flashback where we (the player) see Chongara treasure hunting in the Ruins. He gets trapped by mobs, but Yoshua saves him. Dad foretells Chon that Arc will one day visit him. Aid provided to the boy will be the debt repaid. He uses very flowery language. Chon tells us to spend the night, and he'll guide us to the highlands in the morning.
The battle in Azenda is against some very strong mobs. The bats can one shot weaker party members, and the stone golems aren't fond of dying. I split my team, and I probably shouldn't have. There are four chests here, but I only managed to get one. The guy in the back explodes when he reaches you... Chongara joined us for the battle, but I didn't find him to be useful. He uses the Pot we got him to call forth monsters inside. He has access to a healer and a creature that spawns floors. He's an interesting concept. You'll only be able to visit this location once, so do what you can.
We'll meet the Light Spirit, and they'll reiterate that humans suck. But if we can listen to all five Guardian Spirits' stories, then we'll save the world with the Power Stone. We then thank Chongara for his help and wish him luck in his future hunts.
Go to the sky port, and we (the player) see Cong feeling some guilt. Our main team is wondering where to go, and Gogan suggests talking to the stone. It tells us the Earth Guardian is in Amaidar. Chon rushes in and joins the group. He informs us Amaidar, Greyshinne, is home to violent, robed monks.
We (the player) see a scene with the Archmonk speaking to three subordinates. They know of our coming and believe us evil. They think we want to destroy the sacred texts. They call forth their best warrior, Iga, and demand he kills us.
The party arrives at Greyshinne and is met by an army of monks led by Iga. He doesn't kill us, but he won't let us pass. Gogan makes a deal with him, though. If Arc defeats Iga in a one-on-one fight, we can travel to the sacred mountain where the guardian lives. If Iga wins, he has to listen to us. I don't know what that last part meant, but it's not relevant. If we lose, then it's game over. Ask me how I know! I got wiped and gained a few levels. Even at 21, I still got beat. Not even close... I'll try again...
...tomorrow!
I think I'm halfway through the game, which is nice.
A man who speaks with broken English will trade knowledge of the Light Guardian for a Summon Pot in the Forbidding Ruins. The dungeon itself is one long battle that only changes when we end our turn on a stair. The Pot is in a chest on the fifth floor, but I tried to keep fighting down. I opened a chest on floor six and left. There were a few too many tanky mobs, so continuing on would be bad. Unfortunately, you have to walk the way back out, and monsters have returned. Kinda lame... But, ultimately, getting down and out isn't too hard.
Chongara tells us that Azenda Highland houses the Light Guardian. He also asks why we'd even do such an act as there's no personal gain in it. Kurkuru says it's because many people do things out of kindness and a sense of humanity. This triggers a flashback where we (the player) see Chongara treasure hunting in the Ruins. He gets trapped by mobs, but Yoshua saves him. Dad foretells Chon that Arc will one day visit him. Aid provided to the boy will be the debt repaid. He uses very flowery language. Chon tells us to spend the night, and he'll guide us to the highlands in the morning.
The battle in Azenda is against some very strong mobs. The bats can one shot weaker party members, and the stone golems aren't fond of dying. I split my team, and I probably shouldn't have. There are four chests here, but I only managed to get one. The guy in the back explodes when he reaches you... Chongara joined us for the battle, but I didn't find him to be useful. He uses the Pot we got him to call forth monsters inside. He has access to a healer and a creature that spawns floors. He's an interesting concept. You'll only be able to visit this location once, so do what you can.
We'll meet the Light Spirit, and they'll reiterate that humans suck. But if we can listen to all five Guardian Spirits' stories, then we'll save the world with the Power Stone. We then thank Chongara for his help and wish him luck in his future hunts.
Go to the sky port, and we (the player) see Cong feeling some guilt. Our main team is wondering where to go, and Gogan suggests talking to the stone. It tells us the Earth Guardian is in Amaidar. Chon rushes in and joins the group. He informs us Amaidar, Greyshinne, is home to violent, robed monks.
We (the player) see a scene with the Archmonk speaking to three subordinates. They know of our coming and believe us evil. They think we want to destroy the sacred texts. They call forth their best warrior, Iga, and demand he kills us.
The party arrives at Greyshinne and is met by an army of monks led by Iga. He doesn't kill us, but he won't let us pass. Gogan makes a deal with him, though. If Arc defeats Iga in a one-on-one fight, we can travel to the sacred mountain where the guardian lives. If Iga wins, he has to listen to us. I don't know what that last part meant, but it's not relevant. If we lose, then it's game over. Ask me how I know! I got wiped and gained a few levels. Even at 21, I still got beat. Not even close... I'll try again...
...tomorrow!
I think I'm halfway through the game, which is nice.
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