Author Topic: Rage Awakened - Let's Play Touhou-A-Live! (Read 47698 times)

Validon98 · « **on:** February 11, 2014, 09:31:43 PM »

Why am I doing this. I haven't even beaten the game yet. Oh well, here goes nothing.

Welcome to Let's Play Touhou-A-Live! This game is a Touhou fangame based off of, obviously, Live-A-Live.

Now, what is that you might ask? Well, it's... an interesting RPG, made by Squaresoft back in its SNES golden age, known for just kind of taking typical JRPG conventions and kinda throwing them out the window in a lot of cases. For its time, it had a lot of aspects that were very, very uncommon, and that has lead to it kind of being one of those cult classics, especially since, like Mother 3, it has not been released in America, yet its English translation has led to it gaining a following in the West.

As for Touhou-A-Live itself, it was developed as a series of betas that have been released, in recent times, as a full length game. It has been fully translated as well by vgboy/vgperson, who of course who also translated a bunch of other things such as Touhou MOTHER as well as writing all of those translation notes raocow has used in a lot of his own LPs of Japanese hacks, so we can be thankful for someone actually bothering to translate this game!

As for how this is all going to go down in terms of me LPing it, well... let's talk some turkey in terms of game flow and such before I actually start working on updates. You see, in both this game and the original Live-A-Live, you had the choice from one of seven stories to start out with. Each story, or Chapter, has its own set of protagonists, antagonists, storylines, settings, gameplay gimmicks, and so on and so forth. In the original game, these represented seven different time periods: Prehistoric, Ninja/Ancient Japan, Kung-Fu/Ancient China, the Wild West, the Present Day, the Near-Future/Mecha, and the Future/Science Fiction. These seven time periods do have their equivalents in Touhou-A-Live, as follows:

Wild/Kedama- Prehistoric
Netherworld/Youmu- Ninja
Gatekeeper/Meiling- Kung-Fu
Wild West/Ran- Wild West (no duh)
Ice Fairy/Cirno- Present Day
Hourai/Mokou- Mecha
Return/Shanghai- Science Fiction

If we're going to do this, I need to pick a chapter. That's where you come in, people who might be reading this! Vote for whatever chapter you want to see first! In order to make this fair, let's show the chapter descriptions so that you have a clue as to what to expect.

Gatekeeper:

Netherworld:

Hourai:

Wild:

Wild West:

Strongest:

Return:

Okay, with that out of the way, cast your votes, and whichever one has the most votes will be the chapter I do first! As a sort of warning, updates won't be super frequent. I might only be able to get a chapter done every two weeks or so, at least until I have more time to do stuff. In addition to that, I'm not an expert on the game. That means I'll probably miss stuff. If I do, well, I'll just miss it. I'm not going for 100% completion, I'm going from A to B... if getting from A to B will be rather... uh... zigzagged all over the damn place.

So yeah. Touhou-A-Live. Let's Play. Yeah.

It shows itself in all places...
From the wide earth...
To the distant netherworld!
Inside those only just born...
And in those promised eternal life!
Among every race...
And in every era!
The impetus of all conflict!!
The eternal sentiment that will not die so long as there are hearts to feel it...
It is anger...
It is Rage!!

EDIT:
Current Vote Count:
"Traditional JRPG-style Chapter/Not Ice Fairy"- 1 (This in my opinion includes Hourai, Wild, and Gatekeeper; Considering how the votes are currently going, this will probably count as Hourai)
Ice Fairy- 1
Wild West/Hourai - 1
Wild West- 1

...I will use that first vote as a tiebreaker if it comes between something like Hourai and Ice Fairy. Otherwise it doesn't really count because it doesn't specifically choose something. :V
Also traditional JRPG is kinda not the point of the game in general. :V
As of this second voting update, it looks like Wild West and Hourai are popular, Ice Fairy kinda lagging behind, and everything else in the void of "we're being played later!"

FINAL EDIT: And we're going with Wild West first! Hurraaaaaaaaaaaaaay I can do something!

FINAL EDIT FOR REAL:

FOR ALL YALL THAT ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING ALONG, THE GAME IS COMPLETELY 100% FREE TO PLAY. HERE BE THE LINK TO THE DOWNLOAD PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE:
http://vgperson.com/games/touhoualive.htm

Keegster2 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2014, 11:11:07 PM »

Either Kedama or Mokou, as those two chapters are as similar to a regular JRPG as you can get in this game (At least in the original game).

In my opinion, Cirno is probably the worst to start with, as her chapter probably has the least story out of all of them. I think her chapter should be played after Shanghai's chapter, which is basically 95% percent story, 5% fighting.

Raitaki · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2014, 03:30:24 AM »

ew regular

STRONGEST CHAPTER GO

Sahgren · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2014, 05:07:34 PM »

Going off of the descriptions: Ran origin story or Mokou+Kaguya vs Giant Robots.

Gesh86 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2014, 06:55:30 PM »

Even though I'm a huge Live-A-Live fan, I never got around to looking into its Touhoufication. Perfect chance to catch up on that!

My vote goes to the Wild West chapter. That poncho suits Ran too well to not pick it.

Validon98 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2014, 01:23:17 AM »

I want to get started on this.
There are literally only two definite votes.
I'm interpreting one of the non-definite votes as a third definite vote.
And there's a fourth vote, but it's split.
I am half ready to RNG between Hourai, Wild West, and Ice Fairy out of sheer eagerness to do something.
Hmm...
*waits a little longer*

Keegster2 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2014, 02:07:02 AM »

Considering Ran has gotten one definite vote and 1 non-definite vote (Could this count as a half vote?), I'll change my vote to her to make sure she wins.

Also, isn't Ran's chapter the second shortest in the game? I don't know if the chapters are like they were in the original game, but if they are, then you should finish her chapter in about a week.

Validon98 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 13, 2014, 02:20:48 AM »

Ran's chapter is like ridiculously short. I'd say she's actually the shortest in the game considering it's so freaking easy (seriously, from what I understand of the original game, the Touhou version doesn't entirely do the original justice). Ice Fairy would probably be second-longest, not in the sense that it has more battles (it has like one or two less), but in the sense that difficulty-wise, Ice Fairy is a bit tougher.
But if that's the case, I'm probably going to go with Ran's chapter, then. I am seriously predicting, like... three to four updates for this chapter, tops. Maaaaaybe five. It depends. It really does.

Hanzo K. · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2014, 02:36:10 PM »

Well, the original Western Chapter wasn't all that long either. Maybe 2-3 fights tops. The bulk of that chapter was gathering and setting traps. That said, yeah, it'll work.
Incidentally, where the heck did you FIND this? I've been looking all over!

Validon98 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 13, 2014, 04:45:53 PM »

http://vgperson.com/games/touhoualive.htm

Literally, just look up "touhou a live" and you'll find it.
Also, yes, the original Western chapter I know is short, but the Touhou version doesn't have the trap setting, and is instead more of a fight gauntlet inter-dispersed with gathering items which probably will end up being useless anyways. Out of all the chapters, this one does not entirely do the original justice. At least that's the way I've seen it.
Also, update is screenshotted and written up, just gotta upload the music from the game, then I'll upload the update.

Garlyle · « **Reply #10 on:** February 13, 2014, 04:49:55 PM »

Yeah, the original Old West chapter was either super easy or super nasty. There was only a couple fights, with two being easy and the last being exceptionally variable in difficulty depending on the entire chapter's gimmick.

I will support Ran even though my actual vote is for Mokou because massive original game bias.

Validon98 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 13, 2014, 05:16:45 PM »

Note: There is a soundtrack for this game on the creator's site, but since it is on Skydrive and the thing says it can't scan for viruses, it's essentially the equivalent to a broken link. Good thing I took all of the MIDIs from the game and converted them to MP3s! I'll be uploading them by chapter or as needed as the game goes on.

Wild West- Prologue- Lone Fox

So let's start this thing off! Have the usual chapter selection theme: Select-A-Live.

This be okay.

And we start... right in town. Also, you know, if someone offers you a free inn stay in a JRPG, things are probably about to go to shit.

He's probably worried for you, staying out in the cold desert night.

...?!

...Considering there was a gunshot fired... we can all guess what happened.

It's okay Watanabe... oh wait it's not, your dad is dead.
Random aside: In each chapter in the original game, Watanabe is a recurring character whose father somehow gets killed. The running gag repeats here as well.

Cut to a kitsune just wandering in the desert. Nothing to see here. Also have a remix of Wanderer and The Fantastic Legend of Toono: Wandering Wonderland.
...Speaking of Toono, that's kinda where Nightmare of Rebellion takes place. Funny how looking up that song made me realize it even before the omake for NoR confirmed that. But I digress.

Something wrong, Ran?

Well hey there guy. You sound slightly perverted by the sound of your laugh.

Uhh... did Ran ever have a boyfriend/husband? You'd think youkai don't really need to worry about something like love...

Uh... yep, perverted. As I thought.

You tell them.

What, she was being honest!

Can't handle the ugly truth, can you?

Ran, speak up, I don't think they heard you~!

Screw etiquette, you're just pissy she insulted you.

Oh man, you're seriously thinking of taking on a NINE-TAILED KITSUNE IN A FIGHT?! How freaking dumb are you?

Okay, battle system right off the bat! Touhou-A-Live, just like Live-A-Live, works off of a turn-based tactics-esque system. It's like a combination of your typical JRPG turn-based, a rougelike turn count system, and a tactical RPG battlefield.
Also battle theme for this chapter is Wild Evening, a remix of The Wilds and Night Falls ~ Evening Star.

...So Ran is nameless?
...I'll go with it for now.
Anyways, when it is your turn (as it is right now), you'll see a little target over your active character, as well as your active character's current HP count. You can move around on the grid one step horizontally or vertically at a time. Doing so will essentially let time pass like in your typical rougelike. Pressing the Shift key (as this is a RPGMaker game thus it relies on a keyboard) will let you spin around to face different directions, which also serves to let you skip time forward.
Pressing the Z key...

...Opens up this menu. You'll always have four commands: Attack, Pass, Use Item, and Run. Attack lets you use one of your skills, Pass will pass the turn to your next character (seeing as we don't have any other characters in the party right now, this command won't see any use... yet), Use Item will let you use an item, and Run lets you escape battle. Seeing as we can't run, we can't really Pass the turn, and we have no items, let's attack!

In Live-A-Live and Touhou-A-Live, each character will have their own unique set of attacks and skills, each with their own properties, etc. Note this: There is no MP, mana, TP, or whatever kind of "spend this much X to use this skill" system in this game. You can use each skill as much as you want. The only thing each skill might have is a charge-up time, but other than that, there's essentially no cost to using skills.
As for what we've got, we've got four skills to start out with:

Single Shot: An attack that can hit one tile up to three spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Double Shot: Deals more damage than Single Shot, but can only hit up to three spaces diagonally. Diagonal-only attacks, by the way, seem to be pretty powerful overall in this game.
Arm Snipe: Same range as Single Shot, but can inflict Broken Arm, which prevents the use of some skills, as well as causing a debuff to... some stat. Not sure which.
Leg Snipe: Practically the same as Arm Snipe, but it inflicts Broken Leg and I think a speed down debuff. Broken Leg prevents the afflicted target from being able to move at all until it wears off.

With that out of the way, let's take these guys down!

Right in the head!

This battle was not hard at all. This entire chapter is not hard at all.

If you consider youkai to be monsters, then yes!

You didn't notice them? Should we shove them in your face so you can see them?
...Actually, let's not. They might touch them inappropriately.

Err... probably not.

Right, right, and you're going to attempt taking on the youkai with a gun? Yeah, no.

Yup, lots to do and see. Or not. It's a desert, there's not much in the way of landscape.

Which makes no sense timewise because... I'm pretty sure Ran was not in the American West prior to becoming Yukari's shikigami.

And pushed the people originally living there further and further into reservations and such. Don't forget that little detail.

Well, when the government gives a bunch of land and says "go nuts" and then backs off, the law is kinda moot.

Well, said roughness would probably be needed to survive anyways, so...

Like ourselves.

Hint: Go to Japan. Pretty sure someone might want someone like you as a shikigami.

Not much, I imagine. America kinda isn't a gathering spot for powerful people who can go "A nine-tailed kitsune? Shikigami please!"

Oh hey, towns exist.

Yay, chapter intro screen.

Not much for talking, are you?

Probably a ghost town. Figures, there's bound to be some here and there.
Also remix of Sancho-de-Los-Panchoz and Paradise ~ Deep Mountain: Mend-En-Utopia.

Right, before we end off this introductory update, let's look at the menu!

Equip let's you equip things, such as headgear, right-handed equipment, left-handed equipment, body armor, and accessories. We've got nothing to equip right now. Also, the Equip menu shows off your stats and the amount of XP you need to get to the next level. Experience in this game works kind of like it does in a lot of tactical RPGs: Get up to 100 experience, then you level up. Enemies give out experience based off of the difference in level between you and them. Obviously, stronger enemies will give out more experience, but of course as you level, said strong enemies will end up giving less and less experience. Hence you go kill harder shit. Don't worry about experience in this chapter, though. You won't gain any.

As for stats, there are five major ones:

HP: Do I have to explain?
Atk: All-around damage. Most skills use this to calculate said damage.
Spd: Determines how quickly the character does things. The highest your Speed, the less time it will take for charge-ups and the less time will pass when you take actions that take up time.
Def: Determines damage reduction, as usual.
IQ: I'm not completely sure what this determines. I think it determines healing strength (including that of items) as well as the strength of certain attacks, but other than that... yeah...

Skills lets you look at each character's skills. Kinda obvious. We can't do anything really with Form (which determines which position each character in your party takes) and Sound (which contains the music of the game, which is added to after you complete each chapter, meaning it's currently empty).

And Save is saving. You can save anywhere you want, with complete disregard to the situation. Save often in case you fuck up. Also, I'm not showing the first save slot because that's my original playthrough I'm not done with, and thus SPOILERS.

And there we go! Saved and ready to go for next time. Will Ran find a master... and an actual name? Who or what killed Watanabe's father? Will the battles become more difficult, or will I have to wait for a later chapter for that to happen? Most of that will probably be answered next time.

Yookie · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2014, 10:02:09 PM »

I'm both looking forward to the Shanghai/Return chapter and not.
It is really good but this kind of story always gets to me...

Either way, voting for Kedama/Wild as second cause it kinda sorta already has a vote and I like it.

Validon98 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 13, 2014, 10:43:38 PM »

I know what you mean by that. Trust me, going into it I was like "How bad could it be?"
Coming out of it, I was like "IT'S OVER IT'S OVER AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THANK YOU THANK YOU COME ON YOUMU LET'S GO MURDER PEOPLE."

Also, got another update ready to go. Expect it soooooooooooooooon.

Keegster2 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 13, 2014, 11:26:18 PM »

Well, this chapter certainly changed!
By the way, is the game free? Also, is it normally English?

Validon98 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 13, 2014, 11:32:17 PM »

For the sake of not posting dialogue every freaking five seconds with little inbetween, guess who is going the "let's put dialogue in quotations" route? :V

Wild West- Part 1: I Ain't Afraid of No Ghoul

Well, seeing as we're in town, let's take a look around.

And all of the doors are locked. Odd.

We can't exactly leave thanks to invisible plot walls as well.

Of course, the bar is open. Yuuuuuuup.

Oh hey there human, how's it going?

"Welcome to our town, I'm so depressed..."

Wanted posters, eh?

Odd name. Then again, the Wild West can be an odd place.

Too bad money doesn't exist in this game as a system!

What about this one?

He still has that bounty on his head, eh?

Apparently so. Well... at least he saved a town from O. Dio, but other than that... I guess not everyone knows what he did.

And you're damn proud of it, aren't you?

Visible silence seems to be a running theme in this chapter.

Yeah, I am. What about it?

Sure thing.

Nothing, really. We kinda just ran across this town.

And by looking in a pot, we get BOOZE. LET'S DRINK.

Hey, you sound slightly more self-confident than just about everyone else!

Barkeep: "What'll it be...?"
: "...Gimme a drink."
: "And... you got any Inari sushi?"

Uh... you do realize this is America, right? I doubt in this time period they'd have Japanese food here...

Raw fish, generally served with some sort of side. Tastes alright, although beware possible food poisoning.

It is!

Never hurts to ask, although yeah, why would there be sushi here...?

...I spoke too soon.

Apparently so.

I accidentally skipped past the rest of it, but she says:
[/i]"This town's...
Real quiet..."[/i]
Pretty sure it's just a self-confidence issue, Ran.

: "Something... happen here...?"
Barkeep: "N-nothin' of the sort..."

...Okay...?

Barkeep: "Town's usually bustlin' with travelers..."
"...Just so happens nobody's stayin' at the moment..."
"Haha, ha... fancy that."
"Might you...
stay here, too...?"
"It's free of charge..."

...Ran, do yourself a favor, and gently decline. For your own sake.

Are you questioning me or him?

: "Why...?
For a traveler like me...?

...We just barely met, and you've taken a liking to me?
Uh...
...
No response.

...?

Well hello there random guy at the bottom right of the screen. How's it going?

...Wait a minute, weren't you the guy on the wanted poster?
...Are you suicidal or just overconfident? You've got a bounty on your head, and you're just going to waltz into a bar, which is GENERALLY FULL OF PEOPLE CARRYING GUNS, and say "WHO WANTS A FUCKING CRACK AT ME BITCHES."

Pretty sure he did!

Yuuuup.

You've got me.

What's the problem, crazy-head?

James: "Those... pistols ya got hangin' from yer hips?"

Why yes. We shot some scoundrels with them earlier.

James: "Nah... MUST be toys!"

...What did you say?

James: Prettyboys like you... ain't much for anything louder than a squirtgun!"

...Ouch...
You get a choice here to either go "..." or "Get lost." Saying the former...

...Just gets you this.

So let's tell him to get lost!

She only said two of them. Geez, people overreact to everything around here, don't they?

You and what freaking army?

Alright, so James here is... not that tough. Honestly. Spam Double Shot and you'll be fine. He can use Ricochet, which has a diagonal range and can hurt a bit, but not enough to cry over.

Yeaaaaaaah that was easy.

Oh, did you get some "water" from my "squirtguns" in your eyes?
...Oh god that can be so misread.

James: "Y-Ya stupid varmit...
GRRR!
I AIN'T gonna forget this!"

And he leaves. Well bye!

Yeaaaah, about time to hit the hay, huh?

: "I'm really... tired..."

Odd choice of breaking point in your sentence, but meh.

Barkeep: "Of course...
Please, take the room on the right upstairs.
And, uh, don't you worry about the cost..."

Well thanks... although again, free inn stay in a JRPG. This doesn't sound like it will go well.

Don't need to apologize. You drove away an outlaw. That's something, right?

And off to bed we go.

...You came back quickly.

"Kinduva ruckus"? You started a gunfight in the middle of a freaking bar. That's not just "kinduva ruckus".

James: "Heard it's free of charge here...
Wouldn'tcha let me stay?"

After causing a fight like that? Hell n-

Barkeep: "C-certainly..."

...OKAY THEN.

Barkeep: "The room on the left upstairs is open..."
James: "'Sankya very much."

Odd way to say thanks...

You stuck or something?

James: "Ehhh...
Which way's left, again...?"

...YOU SERIOUSLY DON'T KNOW YOUR LEFT FROM YOUR RIGHT?

Granted, I think you could hold chopsticks either wa- wait how come you know about chopsticks? Did they even have those in the Wild West?

...No James. That's your right.

No, really? You're just a guy who DOESN'T KNOW HIS FREAKING LEFT FROM HIS RIGHT.

AND THAT'S YOUR CONCERN? NOT BASIC DIRECTIONS?

...

...THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IN THIS SITUATION?

I think it's too late for "Wait up."

James: "Just made a lil' mistake, 'sall!
D-D-D-DON'T SHOOT!"

James, when someone cocks a gun, I'm 99.9% sure they did so to fire.

James: "I a-apologize... r-REALLY hard...!"

Not fast enough, apparently.

You dead, James?

...Apparently not. Well then, you undead, youkai, something like that?

Meanwhile, downstairs...

Yup, nothing to see here, carry on!

Green-haired guy: "...Just the usual. Two of 'em today."
Red-haired guy: "Hey... You plannin' on keepin' this stuff up forever...?"

...What do you mean?

Green-haired guy: "You shush! What if they heard, what then?
Ain't no other way about it if we wanna survive..."

...I don't like the sound of this.

Did one of them get attacked?!

...Nope, apparently Ran and James got 'em... whoever "'em" are.

Picky about who attacks you how, huh James?

...Oh that's wonderful.

: "...Are they ghouls?"

Hell if I know.

James: "...Oh! Man, you too?!
...Yeesh, something about this town... stinks bigtime..."

You said it. First Watanabe's father, and then... well, ALMOST us. This town apparently has a thing for being attacked at night or something.

We killed some sort of ghouls. What's it look like to you?

Well no freaking duh, we were fighting for our lives!

James: "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't..."

It's kinda obvious you did though, James.

James: "You the one in charge here?
'Cause whoever is has got some splainin' to do as to why these guys are lyin' here..."

Well technically, we shot them dead, hence the "lying on the ground" part.

...?

Alright, spit it out.

Green-haired man: "And let me ask your help... In saving it!"

Whoa whoa whoa, tall bargain there, mister. We're just passing through. By tomorrow night, we'll probably be god knows where.

: "...?"

Confusion's mutual, Ran.

You could have said so earlier, but I digress.

Gibson: "And this is Sheeld Town...
Uh, not the best name, I'll be the first to admit... But like the name implies, I started it up to protect travelers and others wanting shelter."

And that's when shit hit the fan, wasn't it?

Well, that's no good. Let me guess, we're going to have to take on this "Rei Jenova," aren't we?

So... why haven't you exactly fought back?

James: "I geddit.
We beat 'er up and we get to scamper off alive, is that it?"

I guess? I mean, if that's what we have to do, we do it.

James: "But there's gonna be a lot of 'em, ain't there? I mean, so long as we're fightin' this fair, we can't change OUR numbers, now can we?"

Pretty much. There's just the town versus a pack of ghouls. Sounds legit.

James: "Ya don't wanna die in a hole like this either, do ya?"

Oh hell no we don't. We're still looking for a master.

James: "Well, first off, we'll ask around about this ghoul gang..."

Yeah, it's Startropics Syndrome time.

Gibson: "But THESE guys ain't even human... So how in blazes we gonna pull this off...?"

If just plain ol' dakka isn't enough to bring them down, you just need to apply more dakka until satisfied.

Oh wonderful. I bet she's a wonderful person to hang around. Hint: She's not.

Youkai hunters, I imagine?

Dick: "But then it happened... they got injured. Then the attack squads caught up to 'em, and they were goners..."

Note to self: Don't get overly wounded.

Yeaaah, the way things work in this chapter instead of the original? We'll have to deal with a bunch of attack squads sent out by Rei. They're not too hard, honestly, but it changes the gimmick from "set traps" to "just survive."

Harry: "If I remember right, they got 27, all told. And those two down from earlier makes 25...
The squads come in by fours, so if we tough it out six times, we could have a shot at this..."

Yup, because at that point, Rei Jenova would be the last one standing? We gang up on her by herself, and she's a goner.

Well, hopefully we'll find stuff like that.

At least you have plenty of food, right?

Ouch. Hopefully that wasn't Sundown...

Yup. Let's just face down those attack squads, and we should be good to go, right?

James: "'Cept, first..."

Hmm?

Yeah, you've got a point. It's not entirely fair for us to do all of the work while they sit on their asses...

James: "Tell me you're gonna fight, too! Yer livin', breathin' humans, so ACT like it!
I'm just sayin', even I could appreciate a lil' help in savin' yer butts.."

No kidding. Two against twenty five is kinda a lot... we need to even the odds.

Hey, a person!

Considering you are one of the three guys in the badass ponchos, you'd figure you'd be the ones going out and being freedom fighters.

If you can put a bullet through the head of a ghoul, then you're good enough.

By...?

BY GETTING EVERYONE DRUNK.

Can't you just bring them from your farm to the town...?
Oh wait, the ghouls would probably be patrolling nearby... right.

Pretty much.

James: "And what'll you do? Mister head honcho..."

Gotta love that visible silence.

Gibson: "I remember now... from back then...
Right... This town is a shield for travelers.
As the head of the town... I gotta help too!"

Well, we got everyone on our side!

James: "I'm trustin' ya all to back us up in this fight.
They're gonna go for us 'til either side drops dead, right?
Then here's what we gotta do.
Me and this... lady'll search for stuff to make into weapons."

"This... lady"? Why the freaking pause?

James: "And I'm gonna need ya all to do the same, and not overlook a thing!"

Right then, let's do this!

We've got no name.

Figured you were some kinda youkai, judging by your earlier comment.

...To be a bit fair, wouldn't most youkai name themselves at least after a little while?

It's the West, there's not much in the way of "normal" around here.

James: "Right, well...
Since ya got those foxy, er, "kitsoony" tails 'n' all...
How's about... The Fox Kid?"

...One, how the hell do you know what a kitsune is, and two, that's a little... uh... okay? Hopefully no one will confuse us with the Sundown Kid...

James: "I mean, at a glance, could've sworn you were a boy... er, no offense or anything... Anyway, not bad, eh?"

I guess?

James: "Now we gotta hurry, alright? Gotta gather materials 'fore these ghouls attack...
And that's that, Fox! Nice to meetcha, hope we get on!"

I hope we do as well, considering we're going to have to work together to save this town.

Indeed we have.

Right, so with the newly named Fox and the somewhat gentlemanly James, can we save the town?

Also, here I am making two save files. There is a reason for this. I will explain a bit more as to why I am doing this later. For now, we're going to wrap it up here. Next time, we're going to start gathering materials in order to prepare for Rei Jenova's attack squads, and eventually Rei herself.

@Keegster2: The game is completely, 100% free. It is not normally English. It was translated by vgperson/vgboy, hence you can find an English download link on her page. I already linked the game in an earlier post. I'll add the link to the OP as well, for anyone interested.

Yookie · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2014, 10:09:17 PM »

Something that came to my mind is if the "Jelly Donut" is a joke of the translators or is actually called jelly donut in the non-translated version and if then if it is a joke of the developers in response to the great 90's anime translations.

Also:

Spoiler:

Validon98 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2014, 10:35:51 PM »

Spoiler:

Yookie · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2014, 11:07:02 PM »

Spoiler:

Validon98 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2014, 11:49:02 PM »

Spoiler:

Yugian · « **Reply #20 on:** February 15, 2014, 02:13:42 AM »

Spoiler:

Validon98 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 15, 2014, 10:04:50 PM »

And for some reason I screenshotted the entire rest of the chapter. Expect it within... maybe an hour or two? It's going to take me a while to reduce 162 or so images down to like... hopefully no more than 100. As well as uploading the music and everything.

Validon98 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 16, 2014, 01:33:59 AM »

Wild West Chapter- Finale: Rage at High Noon

Doing the rest of the chapter in one update because I can!
As for where we left off, we have to go look for weapons. But first...

You have to examine James's wanted poster. Trust me on this one.

James: "Heh, don't mean nothin'."

James, it's your WANTED poster. Of course it means something!

James: "I'm out here to fight with the strong, help me improve, ya know. This thing's a tad showy for my taste, though..."

It's a hell of a lot more than "showy"...

James: "...Say, if we got time, ya wanna hear my story? I'd kinda like to... clear things up, spit out all the junk that's been buildin' up in me.
...No, I don't mean barfin'..."

...Did I imply I thought that way?

James: "Oh, and the story ain't got much to do with the bounty, but anyway..."

We're not exactly your psychologist, but, hell, I think we might have the time to listen a bit.

Okay... that might be useful at one point. Maybe.

Well no duh. If you talk around to people, they'll give advice and stuff.

Indeed. You open five boxes? They attack. The time you have is dependent on your actions, not actual real time.

Not quite yet, Gibson.

Saying "..." will just keep things normally.

We will, we will!
You DO want to say you've got weapons, regardless if you have some or not, because that changes everyone's behavior from "let's talk about what to do" to "gimme a weapon!" mode. Being in "gimme a weapon" mode also allows you to go listen to James's story.

Most weapons are outside in other houses. Also, the theme Under the Face plays here, a remix of Under the Fake and Satori Maiden ~ 3rd eye.

Nuts, looks like we ran out of time before the first fight.

Let's do this!

Alright, the first two attack squads will consist of this enemy type. They aren't that strong, and James can one-shot them with Ricochet.

Speaking of James, let's go over his skills.

Lone Shot- Same as Ran's Single Shot
Abrupt Strike- Hits only a space three tiles away in any direction and can cause turn around
Ricochet- Hits either two or three spaces away diagonally, probably James's most powerful attack
Head Strike- Hits either two or three spaces away in any direction and can inflict Instant Death

Essentially, use either Ricochet or Head Strike with him.
We beat this group easily.

You mean "we" as in "Ran and James," right?

Yup.

James: "Right! Guess it's time to get back to work! Let's roll, Fox!"

Right, right.
Anyways, if you tell Gibson you have weapons, then you go to the Barkeep and ask him for a drink...

James will begin his story. Let's listen.

James: "'Crost the sea, waaay east from here, there's a teeny group of islands called "Japan."
I was born into a famous family there... I'm somethin' they call a youkai."

I bet you were a famous youkai, then, at least if you were born into said famous family.

James: "I was born... and tossed."

...Oh.

James: "Youkai power's weak in the men. I couldn't be heir to nobody, so I got ditched in the mountains."

...Ouch.

James: "'Twas a little girl born after me that got to be the heir, in fact..."

Damnit, we spoke for so long, we didn't get any weapons!
Well, kind of as a general piece of advice for those who are attempting to hear all of James's story: You need to spend the equivalent of five attacks listening to him to get the entire story. This means you can only afford to gather weapons for one. It makes things a little more difficult, since you can't give too many weapons to people to help out against the attack squads, but hey, they aren't too hard.

Indeed, let's continue. This is after the second attack.

James: "I lived all 'lone in the mountains for years.
Then I heard 'bout the family's successor... My lil' sis got a kid born, my niece."

Oh, so you have a niece? I suppose she would have carried on the Eightclouds legacy herself... or something.

James: "Sweet lil' niece was born with some real strong powers, 'pparently. So they brought her up careful as could be.
And I dunno why, but I felt it in me I just HAD to go see sweet lil' niece's face for myself..."

OH COME ON STOP WITH THE INTERUPTIONS.

The third and fourth attack group has one of these Ghoul Riders. They have a lot more HP and their attacks kind of hurt a bunch, but they're overall not too bad.

Something about seeing your niece?

James: "I'd've done anything to meet 'er. So I managed to sneak on by the guards into the mansion.
Thanks to them guards bein' stupid, see-no-nothin' monkeys, I got to meet my lil' niece.
Kinda self-conscious kid, I s'pose, but really, friendliest girl you'll ever meet. I loved 'er straight away, and so'd she."

Sounds like a caring relationship. I wonder if she really is that nice...

James: "I was happy just to be doin' things for her. I made money sellin' fruit from the mountain and bought her, I dunno, hats, all this stuff...
...Thinkin' back on it, that was a load of fun."

Ghouls, can you let me freaking hear the story? Please?

...I can tell this is where the story goes south.

James: "Well, those happy tinmes went fast.
After all the times I snuck in, they improved their security, I blundered, I got caught.
They made a huge deal of it, and in the end just tossed me on a rickety ship to nowhere."

...Talk about overprotective...

James: "That's how I washed up in this country. ...Life's funny like that, huh?"

Oh yeah, the universe has a really fucking nice sense of humor.

We get interupted by four Ghoul Riders. This fight and the next are these guys. Try and use Head Strike in order to hopefully off a couple of them early, if the instant death procs. Otherwise, Double Shot and Ricochet them to death.

Doing?

James: "I'm just drifting 'long while my time runs out..."

You're a youkai, you've probably got a long ways to go before death.

James: "Wish I could go back someday, show 'em I could be strong... Just wanna make that girl smile 'gain...
But I'm guessin' lil' niece has forgotten all about me anyway..."

Maybe she hasn't! You know, you could try getting to Japan again. If she's a youkai, she's sure to be in Gensokyo, eh? If you can get in, I'm sure you can see her again!

James: "...Can't stand the thought of it..."

...Yeah...

Crappily ever after, all right.

Once the six attack squads are down, we get a save prompt, and Gibson kinda lets us know what's up.

Gibson: "Meanin' Rei Jenova's the only one left."

Right. Let's just go ahead and get this over with, then.

Gibson: "It's been real great havin' you as allies."
James: "Thanks for them kind words, I guess."

Indeed. It's not every day you ask an outlaw to help save your town.

James: "So this comannder chick, Rei Jenova... what kinda person's she?"
Jessie: "She was the daughter of a mayor from a town that... used to be a little ways off from here."

What do you mean "used to"?

James: "Used to be...? WAS?"
Jessie: "Couple years back, a gang of hoodlums attacked and wrecked the town... killed all the people there."

...Well shit.

James: "...Yer awfully knowledgable, ain't ya?"

Indeed...

Ohh... well then. Looks like the Rei you used to know is long gone, eh?

Jessie: "Why only Rei survived, I don't know. And why she became a monster, I don't know...
But it might be that Rei aimed for this town because I was here..."

I highly doubt it. If she really used to be your friend, wouldn't she show some sort of pity?

Jessie: "Please, just put her at rest!"

No problem. We have guns to do that for us.

Right. Well then, time to go out guns blazing, eh?

James: "Right, so we'll be savin' the tragic damsel from her agony, huh..."

That's one way of putting it, I guess.

Hmm?

Fox: "...Don't blame yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. But it's the ones who constantly regret them that can't move on...
Look forward, and live."

Good advice, Ran. You live in the past too much, you won't be able to focus on the present, or look ahead to the future. After this, Ran and James start heading for the door.

Jessie: "...
Hey! ...Do your best!"

Hell yeah. Let's do this.

There she is... Rei Jenova.

If it ain't high noon, someone set the clock. There's going to be a showdown, and only one side's making it out alive.

Well, at the very least those raiders who destroyed your town did.

Rei: "Monsters have taken my humanity from me...
Everyone, everyone takes from me, never to return a thing...
And so, in return, I take lives...
If it is your goal, too, to take from me...
If you wish to stand in my way... I shall take your life as well!
With..."

I'm not going to back down! For boss time!

And our oh-so-present boss theme for this game? Megalomania, same as it is in the original game. That "fuck yeah!" feeling it gives you. Hell, I'm even listening to it on loop as I am writing up this update! ^^;
As for Rei Jenova herself, she is not overly hard, but STAY OUT OF HER DIAGONAL GODDAMNIT.

Otherwise... she'll use this on you.

OWWWW.
Okay, also, while I have the time, one little other detail about the combat system: If a character is knocked out, and there is at least one other person still alive on the battlefield, that person can use any sort of healing item on the KOed person and that person can be brought back. However, if a character is attacked again while KOed, they are removed from the rest of the battle. Ran sadly bites it hard in this fight.

Fortunately, James is kickass enough to beat Rei by himself!

We got her.

She disappeared... huh.

...Ohh... That sort of explains things. The undead tend to hold grudges pretty well. And if powered by anger or rage, well... watch out.

Hmm? What's the matter, James?

James: "Wanna chat some with this lil' lady. That alright?"

Oh, errm, okay.

Gibson: "...
Sure, I don't mind."

You okay, James?

James: "I've got just two favors to ask ya...

Alright...

James: "Would seem you're searchin' for a master."

That would be right.

James: "My niece lives over on them Japanese islands, and she's lookin' for someone reliable.
...Wouldn't ya go and fill the role for her?"

Oh? But doesn't Ran end up becoming...
...Ohhh...
Yeah, yeah, if you haven't figured it out by now, the niece is Yukari. "Eightclouds" is just a literal translation of "Yakumo." Nice job with keeping it kinda hidden via translation, vgperson.

James: "That's the first one...
And the second..."

Whoa whoa whoa, what?! No no no, James, you've still got something to live for! Can't you try getting back to Japan so you can see Yukari again? Even someone like her wouldn't forget one of the few people who she ever apparently truly liked. No way I'm going to kill you!

Fox: "...?!?"
James: "Yer still a youngster..."

You call 900+ years of existence "youngster"?
...Granted, if he is Yukari's uncle, he must be hella old himself.

James: "Ya can't let yourself end up like me.
So kill me, take the reward, and just do whatever ya wanna do!!"

How about no?

...What are you going to do, Ran?

No, we can't.

Whoa whoa whoa, James, settle down!

Okay, so we have to fight James now? Hell no, if we fight him and beat him, he dies. I am not kidding. This is what happened the first time I went through because I did not listen to his story.

If you DID listen to his story completely, though, you can flee the battle.

And there we go. No way I'm killing you this time, James!

Shocked I didn't listen?

James: "HEH! So that's how it goes... Nuts to any of my help... you're out to do it all on yer own!"

...Okay...?

James: "THAT'S my missy! See ya... 'til we meet again, that is!"

And he walks off. Huh... so was he testing us, or what...?

Well yeah, of course. Even if we broke James's second promise, we're not going to break his first. Yukari is waiting for us. Also say hello to Warm-A-Live. It's a nice song.

Gibson: "No, I won't hold ya back. You've discovered a purpose for living... haven't ya?"

In a sense. There is a master we can serve after all.

Carl: "Yo, the town was saved all thanks to you. Now it'll be prosperous and full of travelers once more!"

No problem. Filling things full of lead is kinda the job of someone who doesn't like seeing bad things happening to good people.

What do you need to be sorry for, Jessie?

Jessie: "You've done all this for us, but we have nothing we can give to thank you..."

Errm...

In a sense, you have.

Jessie: "Huh?"
Fox: "People...
The joy of sharing in an accomplishment with them...
You've... shown that to me..."

And off she goes...

Jessie: "Fox..."

"Although we will never meet again, we will always remember each other." That sort of thing, right?

Barkeep: "What was that?"
Gibson: "Oh... just talking to myself.
Just like her...
We, too, want to walk through life in search of hope..."

And we continue to wander. Wandering now with a purpose, at least, or more of one than before.

Creeeeeddddiiiitttsss.

Moar credits.

Even more credits.

Can't forget those credits.

Hey, James! You look like you're doing fine!

James: "'Sbeen some time!
Whoa, don't lose yer temper, now. Just noticed ya nearby, figured we could have a lil' chat."

Oh? Something exciting happening in your life now?

James: "Heh...
Well, I'm chasin' down a reward at the moment."

Don't tell me your own. You've still got a bounty on your head too, you know.

...Oh no... uh... James...

James: "Heard he's some kinda invincible, world-wanderin' gunslinger... much like myself!

Yeah, but James, you don't have a 999 damage dealing attack. I highly doubt you can take down the Sundown Kid. I mean, he freaking fought Odio. How are you going to beat someone who took down essentially the embodiment of all hatred?

James: "If ya got information, I'd appreciate..."

Uhh... sure thing...?

Whoa, there he is! And... is he riding O. Dio?

James: "!!
That's the GUY!!
GRR! Hold UP yer sorry butt!!"

And off he goes.

And off we go. If you end up killing James, this little cutscene doesn't play. Ran just stops in the middle of the desert after the credits before walking off screen.

Yaaaay, we finished our first chapter of the game!

And to represent that, Ran/Fox has been sepiaed out. So, we've got six chapters left to go! Now, I know what you're thinking: "Which oneare you doing next?" Well, considering the popularity of this chapter in the first vote, I decided I'd gowith what seemed to be the other popular vote...

The Hourai Chapter! Yep, next time, we'll see what exactly is going on with those kidnapped humans the description for the chapter mentioned.

Summary (Because I forgot to last time):

Treasure: Fried Chicken (x2), Empty Bottle

TPKs: 0 this update, 0 this chapter, 0 total

Keegster2 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 16, 2014, 02:18:56 AM »

Well, that was certainly different! Also yay, we're doing a traditional(?) RPG chapter!

By the way, does this game require Applocale? If so, then that's sad, because I like to be able to understand my computer.

Validon98 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 16, 2014, 02:34:43 AM »

It does require Applocale or Japanese locale... although how that means you can't understand your computer, I have no clue. Applocale only makes a temporary switch. You'll be able to understand everything fine. :V

Yookie · « **Reply #25 on:** February 16, 2014, 01:27:07 PM »

I've completely missed james' backstory. Should have bothered checking his poster again after teaming up I guess. Wonder what I've missed in the other chapters. :V (But I feel like I've been more thorough in the others.)

Also:

Spoiler:

Validon98 · « **Reply #26 on:** February 16, 2014, 01:56:08 PM »

I've missed a lot in my original run through of the game myself. Such as every bonus boss in every chapter that has one as well as James's backstory and letting him live. I was not so thorough myself. I am going to change that for this LP because hurray for showing off a bunch of stuff. :V

Spoiler:

Also, first Hourai chapter update is screenshotted, but I won't be able to finish writing and uploading it until later.

Keegster2 · « **Reply #27 on:** February 16, 2014, 08:33:23 PM »

Quote from: Validon98 on February 16, 2014, 02:34:43 AM

It does require Applocale or Japanese locale... although how that means you can't understand your computer, I have no clue. Applocale only makes a temporary switch. You'll be able to understand everything fine. :V

I worried that my entire computer would be Japanese until somehow managed to change it back. I was even considering buying a new computer so I can play all these Japanese games, as this is the first computer I've ever owned, and it's an expensive laptop.

On a game related subject, which chapters have Bonus Bosses? In the original I recall there being 1 in two of the first seven chapters, and four in the final one (Unless you count those optional fights in the future chapter as bonus bosses). Considering how the games going so far, I wouldn't be surprised that there are more than in the original.

Validon98 · « **Reply #28 on:** February 16, 2014, 09:18:31 PM »

Spoiler:

Yookie · « **Reply #29 on:** February 16, 2014, 09:27:53 PM »

So I've encountered a bug where whenever my last team member takes a turn the health "bar" gets its lower number removed, the other team members appear to get hit and I can't do anything anymore. I've tried several things like shoving the savefile onto another slot, reinstalling, changing the turn-order but nothing works. It also only happens in a certain chapter. (

Spoiler:

)

Has anyone heard of that and is there a fix besides replaying the chapter? And even then, i don't know what caused the bug so it might just happen again.

About the bonus-bosses:

Spoiler:

Author Topic: Rage Awakened - Let's Play Touhou-A-Live! (Read 47698 times)

Sahgren