-
(http://i.imgur.com/Y9j5iTL.jpg)
I'm not prepared for this. I'm honestly not. I feel more like this is an LP I should wait until later to do. But the drive is there. I've LPed Genius of Sappheiros and Devil of Decline, perhaps not to 100% completion, but damn if I didn't try. It's only fitting to LP the last entry of Strawberry Bose's Origin/Omen Trilogy.
There's a few reasons I wanted to do this LP now instead of later when I got back to college. For the most part, it has to do with timing. I recently got back into playing Strawberry Bose games (Devil of Decline English patch work notwithstanding, still working on that, mind you), and I figured since I only ever gave it one playthrough compared to the three or four I gave Genius of Sappheiros and Devil of Decline (each, not added together), it was only reasonable I give NoR another spin, especially since I was finally able to get my hands on the expansion.
Another reason is to give this game some exposure. Let's be honest, compared to Labyrinth of Touhou, Strawberry Bose's RPGs don't have the same kind of following, and that's most likely why Devil of Decline took so long to get anything resembling an English patch. The interest just isn't there as it was for LoT. Look at how fast it took LoT2 to get a patch compared to DoD, which, mind you, STILL ISN'T DONE, and even worse, the patch isn't even able to be applied to the most recent version. And Nightmare of Rebellion also won't get an English patch because right now, no one who A- can crack the files, and B- who cares enough about the game to work on it is around to help make it a reality. So I want to show off this wonderful game, with the faint hope that maybe, just MAYBE, someone will offer to give it a looksee and we'll finally be able to do work on Strawberry Bose's more recent titles (not just NoR, but Touhou Quest, Marisa's Kirisame Magic Shop, and Phantasmal Summoners 2). This is probably the biggest reason I want to LP this game, after like a year or more of having done nothing resembling an LP and being so out of the loop it isn't even funny.
I've also been working on a spreadsheet for translation-related stuff for NoR. It's nowhere near done, and I'd probably moreso be adding to it as time goes on. I want to work on that alongside this LP, so that I can upload it to a Drive and people can look it over. I was thinking of doing some story translations as well, but my Japanese is nowhere near good enough. I know Tyraxx was doing something like that on the Touhou Wiki, but it's incomplete, out of date, and needs a lot of work. I can probably rip the script and post it somewhere as I play the game, but this game plays havoc with my text hooker, so it won't necessarily be a simple task (mostly because it ends up printing file names and duplicating lines all over the place, so it's a mess to format into something resembling readable Japanese).
But that's like... my reasons and such done. Let's talk about the game proper before I end this post and attempt to start making the actual prologue update. Anyone here familiar with Genius of Sappheiros or Devil of Decline? Congratulations, you have a minor headstart, but a lot of things work differently than before. It's as hard as ever, probably even harsher than Genius of Sappheiros at points. That said, it's got a decent amount of content, really good music, really great visuals, and overall I think this game is probably the best Strawberry Bose will ever make. Devil of Decline is still my favorite, but damn if Nightmare of Rebellion isn't a very close second. There's a lot more to say about it, but I don't want to drag out this opening post.
As for format, I thought of doing voiceless videos this time around, but I'll stick to the classic screenshot style. I'm not going to be listing every little item I get, since there's so many, but I'll try to list off the big ones. I'll also make sure to list out skills I learn or spark, passives, synthesis done, and of course, my death counter, because like with the other two games, wipes are an ever-present danger. For cutscenes... well since I'm going to be trying to rip the text and whatnot, I'll attempt to make sense of it, but I'll probably get something wrong here or there. But hey, that's why I'm going to be uploading the script for others to look at.
That should be everything. I'm honestly nervous posting an LP opening like this at such a time in my life when I'm going to be busier. But, well, I had to do it sooner or later. I just ended up choosing "sooner". That said, welcome to Touhou Genmuyoutan ~ Nightmare of Rebellion!
EDIT: ...In the process of making the prologue update and taking screenshots, I discovered my text hooker REALLY doesn't like Nightmare of Rebellion. I can't get past a screen transition without it spouting lines of code that crash AGTH. So uh... I guess I'm not going to rip the script if it freaks out that badly on me. W-whelp.
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Prologue Act- Part 1: Prepare for Trouble! Make It Double!
As a note the prologue has a bunch of music playing throughout it, but the only link I have on Youtube for the music links them all together. I'll just say when each song would actually start playing. Also I need to upload a better quality OST, the one I have up right now is pretty bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/AeIvfwI.jpg)
Of course, it's time to make a new game. Don't mind the other files, I've... got a lot of backups, not to mention my original run.
Song- Touhou Genmuyoutan (Fly over Hatoyama at Night ~ Power MIX) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KErlsnDolcA&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=1)
(http://i.imgur.com/vWHK2Gj.jpg)
Our first shot is of... a fancy rock with shimenawa around it.
Song - Prologue 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvlMMD61tiA&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=2) (Like I said, the link contains all five prologue tracks, so I'll just note the music changes.)
(http://i.imgur.com/aWhI5Lc.jpg)
Oh hi there Akyuu, how's it going?
(http://i.imgur.com/I1KDfza.jpg)
Wait a minute, the dialogue thing says your name is Saya... that's weird. Regardless, Saya more or less seems to just be doing some chores. There's some mention of her being a shrine maiden of some sort, but not much else.
(http://i.imgur.com/PUl0eCD.jpg)
And it's starting to snow. Well that's going to make sweeping a little tougher. Wonder how Reimu deals with it.
(http://i.imgur.com/uXCmxVs.jpg)
And it's not long before Saya's father tells her to get back inside before she gets a cold or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/rwDAU3T.jpg)
She's too busy looking at the pretty fog to care, though.
(http://i.imgur.com/wJfIuVG.jpg)
A game.
(http://i.imgur.com/FvsNfY9.jpg)
Meanwhile in color, shogi.
Song- Prologue 2
(http://i.imgur.com/Gfb1y3l.jpg)
Along with calling their moves.
(http://i.imgur.com/59ulWqh.jpg)
And also Momiji accusing Nitori of more or less being bored of the match.
(http://i.imgur.com/F2DxAB7.jpg)
"This peace is boring", she says. That sure isn't tempting fate.
(http://i.imgur.com/tAZ6gpJ.jpg)
Speak of the devil, one of the kappas brings up mentions of some sort of rumor.
(http://i.imgur.com/C59UXNR.jpg)
Whatever it is, according to miss tengu over here, is basically that people are seeing copies of themselves and other people. So, doppelgangers?
(http://i.imgur.com/Gfg00hj.jpg)
While distracted by the conversation, Momiji fails to see imminent failure on the shogi board. Pay attention next time.
(http://i.imgur.com/qgTplqK.jpg)
Meanwhile at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Patchouli fills us in.
(http://i.imgur.com/Hw63NVT.jpg)
And Flandre mispronounces "doppelganger" by trying to say it with hiragana... which... okay. Patchouli gives everyone the run down on what a doppelganger is.
(http://i.imgur.com/Bara6JI.jpg)
Prompting Flandre to just want to beat the everliving daylights out of these doppelgangers.
(http://i.imgur.com/7yoVRdy.jpg)
Of course, Patchouli forgot to mention that uh... if you see your own doppelganger, it usually means you're going to die.
(http://i.imgur.com/wdsZXx1.jpg)
Charisma break!
(http://i.imgur.com/bdssYwq.jpg)
Meanwhile meanwhile, Cirno is confused at the concept of being doubles of people running around, especially since this means there's now two of "the strongest". Uh... Cirno you know that's probably the least important thing here...
(http://i.imgur.com/7rSoaff.jpg)
As all the other fairies fail to take Cirno seriously in any way.
(http://i.imgur.com/LV85F2b.jpg)
This just leads to Cirno deciding to beat up her own doppelganger and be the strongest by default. Now, in a fight between Cirnos, which baka out-bakas the other baka?
(http://i.imgur.com/M2HQFMY.jpg)
In the meanwhile, Keine, Akyuu, and Reimu are discussing how to handle the situation, whether the doppels are friend or foe, whether this is even an incident, etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/hMnqf1n.jpg)
Of course, Reimu's decision is to just round them all up and snuff out the problem before it blows over into an incident.
(http://i.imgur.com/BmwOPVh.jpg)
A wild Marisa appears!
(http://i.imgur.com/pnQUt66.jpg)
Pretty sure this isn't the right part of the text, but based off of what happens, Marisa's a bit confused since she just saw Reimu over at the shrine. Which uh... well... Reimu's here. Not there.
Song- Prologue 3
(http://i.imgur.com/uDLRMkk.jpg)
Cue a mad dash to the shrine to get an explanation.
(http://i.imgur.com/of4TcEQ.jpg)
And here's... Reimu...?
(http://i.imgur.com/49Gm4Rk.jpg)
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So I guess that's Reimu's doppelganger?
(http://i.imgur.com/Xtlz0HI.jpg)
Naturally, both Reimus accuse each other of being the doppelganger, claiming themselves to be the one and only Hakurei Shrine Maiden.
(http://i.imgur.com/5tJkCLl.jpg)
Warning: We are now issuing a test of the miko negative alert system. Thank you for your patience, we shall now return to our regularly scheduled argument.
Song- Prologue 4
(http://i.imgur.com/ltyk0L4.jpg)
But before that happens, Reimu (presumably the real Reimu) is sucked into a portal, to the shock of everyone, doppel!Reimu included.
(http://i.imgur.com/36VpWqd.jpg)
In a completely unrelated place, Nue and Mamizou.
(http://i.imgur.com/3rYSPOB.jpg)
Ah crap, looks like they'll have to put off the Bull Head rumor plans for now.
(http://i.imgur.com/WENdQw2.jpg)
Huh, Marisa's here? So was the other Marisa the doppelganger?
(http://i.imgur.com/NDAYyLD.jpg)
Guess so, since this Marisa's on a one-way trip to... somewhere.
(http://i.imgur.com/lB6E6B8.jpg)
Oh right, Yukari hibernates this time of year.
(http://i.imgur.com/gXIczUs.jpg)
And that nap just got cut short.
(http://i.imgur.com/uDcxUQx.jpg)
And so we fade into... some snowy area. Given it's winter, maybe we just got thrown somewhere else in Gensokyo?
Song- Prologue 5
(http://i.imgur.com/uBLM4aJ.jpg)
But Reimu doesn't seem to have an idea of where she is. So... what's going on?
(http://i.imgur.com/9qLl7GW.jpg)
And so we begin.
(http://i.imgur.com/5EqIF4B.jpg)
Meanwhile, back with Saya... class. Also that not-so-subtle reference to Strawberry Bose itself in the dialogue.
Song- Prologue 2
(http://i.imgur.com/igdNEqo.jpg)
And here's Tomoko. Presumably Saya's friend, based off of where she's sitting. Looks like Saya herself is too busy reading something.
(http://i.imgur.com/usGqTb2.jpg)
Looks like she caught Saya not paying attention in class.
(http://i.imgur.com/0qc9sjL.jpg)
The look of shame. Do you feel the shame, Saya? Do you?
(http://i.imgur.com/tWziBO2.jpg)
This segways into a discussion on youkai. No one seems to really care too much for them, so if anything, we're in the Outside World in this scene.
(http://i.imgur.com/W6UReDF.jpg)
This further segways into making fun of Saya for being the "Kurahinata Family Head". So, she's a shrine maiden and the head of her family, huh? Must be quite a busy lifestyle. Least she doesn't seem to have to deal with youkai extermination if youkai simply don't exist here.
(http://i.imgur.com/RIzYjzS.jpg)
And of course, the teacher catches them not paying attention. Whoops.
(http://i.imgur.com/eJJqtmA.jpg)
Super lecture mode go!
(http://i.imgur.com/eJJqtmA.jpg)
Naturally, this gets everyone upset at the two of them. Good job you two. Model students.
(http://i.imgur.com/Qx8yTJv.jpg)
Suddenly, Saya's spider significant sense is tingling.
(http://i.imgur.com/Gu7ldqx.jpg)
...Oh hi there itten-momen. You know, you're a pain in GoS with that evasion buff you give yourself.
Song- Sudden Malice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BXW__cLnD0&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=3)
(http://i.imgur.com/GaLuOhu.jpg)
The teacher figures someone's just trying to pull a prank.
(http://i.imgur.com/M0F7s9Y.jpg)
And gets his ass handed to him.
(http://i.imgur.com/diiPKZa.jpg)
Having forgotten his brown (or yellow) pants, teach runs for the hills. And we'll never see him again.
(http://i.imgur.com/BDX7qVJ.jpg)
Most of the students follow suit. I mean, come on, a being which you believe doesn't exist just popped up, threatened to kill you, and kicked the ass of the teacher. Safe to say shit's hit the fan.
(http://i.imgur.com/TZwQ4Ku.jpg)
On top of it, Tomoko pulled a muscle or something, and she's not going anywhere. Well uh... Saya, you think you can drag her along fast enough?
(http://i.imgur.com/t17JoWb.jpg)
Instead, Saya plays the brave card and tries to throw weight around that she's "the child of Misaki". She... doesn't sound too confident in that.
(http://i.imgur.com/QWc1I2r.jpg)
And the itten momen calls her bluff.
(http://i.imgur.com/vcXE0l4.jpg)
Still, might as well give this a shot, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/jq7v86n.jpg)
BATTLE SWOOSH
(http://i.imgur.com/JliCAce.jpg)
And so we get into our usual "start of battle" screen. A to actually start, B to get a nice cleared screen for whatever reason, and L+R to boldly run away. Turn counter and field effect on the top right, and land meter on the top. You might notice it looks very different from Genius of Sappheiros and Devil of Decline in terms of design. Well, that's because Earth was removed as an element, leaving basically what amounts to Puzzle and Dragons-style (or Pokemon... or a lot of things really) elements: Fire beats Electric, Electric beats Water, Water beats Fire, and Light and Dark oppose each other. More on that later, when it matters more.
(http://i.imgur.com/k8wtrbN.jpg)
As for our main battle screen, you'll notice a few things. One, our MP bar is... pretty small, and two, we have a secondary "P" icon below. That's Power, and it'll come into play once we actually have skills. I'll explain MP and Power and everything in the next update, since all we can really do right now is either whack the itten momen upside the head or defend.
(http://i.imgur.com/0w58RLQ.jpg)
Much like DoD, HP values are displayed, as well as what status effects are on the enemy, etc. So let's beat this guy up!
(http://i.imgur.com/xUojbVl.jpg)
He gets the first shot, but we whack him back for... I guess respectable damage for what's essentially a mini-boss. Notice how there's a large white number and a smaller black number. In this game, every action that has a numerical result, whether it's a physical attack, magic attack, or healing spell, has a number of hits tied to it. Evasion can reduce the number of hits, which also reduces damage. I think by default, Saya has one or two base number of hits, so of course, an enemy like this Itten Momen with decent evasion is going to bring that down to one hit or none. Evasion and accuracy are SO much more important because of this change in how damage works.
(http://i.imgur.com/V8VqLhy.jpg)
After exchanging some blows, Saya's starting to get worn out, and with no healing, this might end up in a game over right from the start.
(http://i.imgur.com/wz6DBjY.jpg)
I missed the prior screen prompt, but after landing her last hit, Saya got her Last Word Chance. As with GoS and DoD, characters have powerful Last Words, which trigger much like Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VIII. The closer to death and more in danger the party is in, the greater the chance for one to display. As far as I understand it, Saya will ALWAYS get her Last Word Chance during this fight. I've never seen it not show up.
(http://i.imgur.com/A8fGqPk.jpg)
Last Words are activated in the menu to the left of your main weapon (this is like the main commands menu of Final Fantasy X, in a way).
(http://i.imgur.com/4BST9ix.jpg)
Let's see what this does!
(http://i.imgur.com/dIk4Bei.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cbXSKXJ.jpg)
That was Child of Misaki. Full party heal, and heals all status effects. I believe this ALSO includes Death, so it's more or less a full party recovery. It's even better than Reimu's Hakurei Yin-Yang Barrier from the previous games!
(http://i.imgur.com/R2yPw1w.jpg)
Sadly, even with the Last Word pick-me-up, Saya's about to drop again. So close to beating it too...
(http://i.imgur.com/hGzksuc.jpg)
Suddenly, the return of question mark girl!
(http://i.imgur.com/vDTZg0j.jpg)
Or it's Yukari. Hang on a moment, what're you doing here? Did that portal thing drop you off here?
Song- Toono Dance 1 (Futatsuiwa from Sado) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvb4TNWyAo&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=4)
(http://i.imgur.com/a2ytRDb.jpg)
Yukari wastes no time chiding "Akyuu" for trying to take on youkai. Naturally confused, Saya just goes along with it.
(http://i.imgur.com/W2oV9Yj.jpg)
And with her mighty umbrella, Yukari fells the Itten Momen. Well everyone, that was Nightmare of Rebellion, we beat the final boss, now on to the credits.
(http://i.imgur.com/ptVsn0q.jpg)
Don't mind us getting XP. Not important. Nope.
Song- Victory (Child of Are) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHizmr65OXY&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=5)
(http://i.imgur.com/dl07Xew.jpg)
Don't even mind Saya getting a level in the Strike element. Totally not meaningful.
(http://i.imgur.com/25RYfWy.jpg)
And ignore all that points and Power stuff too.
(http://i.imgur.com/4MuRH0L.jpg)
The Itten Momen gets some chiding for even trying to go up againt her.
Song- The Incident that Never Ends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8NfkxIU7Uk&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=7)
(http://i.imgur.com/lFusVVz.jpg)
Of course in the meanwhile, our youkai friend's own little friend swoops in to snatch off Tomoko.
Song- Tightening Apporaching Atmosphere (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfsWVoZu6ZA&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=11)
(http://i.imgur.com/mF2fdgG.jpg)
And... there she goes away. Crap.
(http://i.imgur.com/PxGDalY.jpg)
The Itten Momen dies, or at least disappears. A Pyrrhic victory, to say the least.
(http://i.imgur.com/vjX7OJc.jpg)
Saya's first instinct is to go after her friend. Yukari of course isn't going to let her do that.
(http://i.imgur.com/8GbF6Cg.jpg)
More or less, think of it this way: Saya was about to get killed herself. Her own Last Word wasn't enough to save her and defeat that Itten Momen. And where there's one youkai, there's probably more, even if this is the Outside World. Saya's basically off on a suicide mission if she goes alone.
(http://i.imgur.com/EmpTtEF.jpg)
Of course, part of Yukari's concern is that she has mistaken Saya for Akyuu. It's obvious why, hell, I made that mistake before the game even came out. I want to make an "original character plz do not steal" joke if it weren't for the fact the very idea that Saya and Akyuu are so similar to each other is plot relevant. As far as I can understand the plot, at least.
Song- Deepening Mystery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8U45Y-HjQ&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=8)
(http://i.imgur.com/LpWQo4M.jpg)
Saya gets formal introductions out of the way. Saya Kurahinata, shrine maiden of the Kurahinata Shrine and student of this temple school (named, as far as I understand it, Enjo).
(http://i.imgur.com/l6s35QA.jpg)
Yukari does the same. Not that we need an introduction to who she is, but hey, can't fault a youkai for wanting to be proper... even if that's unusual by youkai standards.
(http://i.imgur.com/imD0kz9.jpg)
Saya asked if Yukari could come along, which only amuses Yukari since she's also a youkai. Which naturally almost scares Saya shitless.
(http://i.imgur.com/UfKSjLz.jpg)
But she instead concludes that just as there's good and bad humans, there's good and bad youkai. Dunno if that's exactly true, and I'm fairly certain Yukari is NOT what you'd call a good youkai... but hey, we'll go with it.
(http://i.imgur.com/K8OH0yz.jpg)
With the deal made, Yukari still can't help but wonder why it is she's here of all places.
(http://i.imgur.com/TFZh2D2.jpg)
Yukari joins the party with Saya! So we've got two people now. One less than in DoD to start off with, but we'll make do.
Song- While Gathering Maidens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvioAxdM_2Q&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=9)
(http://i.imgur.com/YMORe3a.jpg)
And with that begins Enjo School, our introductory dungeon of the game. We'll actually start it next time, but hey, we've got a little preview of what to look forward to. Where has Tomoko been taken? Are there other youkai roaming the school? What's with the doppelganger situation? Where were Reimu, Marisa, and Mamizou teleported off to? So many questions, not a lot of answers until next time.
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Prologue Act: Part 2- Schooling Some Punks
How many bad jokes or references can I make in these titles?
(http://i.imgur.com/8DfWkYs.jpg)
And so here we are in Enjo School, our tutorial dungeon for the game. You might notice that ghost looking thing on the right. That's an enemy icon. Like in the prior games, you touch one, boom, battle starts. Unlike prior games, each individual enemy icon starts off enraged at you, and will chase you at high speeds the first time you encounter it. After beating it once, from then on, that specific enemy icon will chase you at slower speeds once you respawn it. This means that encounters are INCREDIBLY hard to dodge the first time around, but once you clear a dungeon of enemies and respawn them, you can dodge around them more easily. Eventually, enemy icons won't even chase you, but I don't know the conditions to make that happen. I assume it's beating it enough times or being a certain level.
Dungeon Theme- Enjo (Japanese Saga) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eiX9KPYjS0&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=10)
(http://i.imgur.com/WlKAnAb.jpg)
We need to go over this way, but right now there's a hole in the floor. Damn, this school is in as bad repair as the one at the start of Defiant of Shrine Maiden.
(http://i.imgur.com/BXDN7Mv.jpg)
And so, enemies. I linked the normal battle theme in the last update, it's Toono Dance 1, a remix of Futatsuiwa from Sado. A REALLY GOOD remix of it.
As for these jerks, up top is the usual Shivers, and at the bottom is a Kandachi. Shivers just kinda lightly smack you with Water magic, and the Kandachi does the same with Electric magic. Complete pushovers, though.
(http://i.imgur.com/T6lNwQ4.jpg)
In order to cross that gap, by the way, it seems we need a key to open up this door.
(http://i.imgur.com/V3Jp09R.jpg)
Ooo, treasure.
(http://i.imgur.com/WSFPGb9.jpg)
And with it, a Small Shield. Much like prior games, shields in this game don't directly add to your defense... actually let's quickly look at the equipment menu before going on to describe that more.
(http://i.imgur.com/F2AD4gw.jpg)
Muuuuch better. In this game, as you might be able to see, you can equip each hand with an item, and can even dual-wield, unlike prior games. This is mostly so you can use more than one weapon type at once, if you don't mind giving up a shield for it. Shields, on that note, work as always, granting bonus defense randomly if the shield triggers during battle. Shields also give resistance. Besides weapons and shields, you can equip armor, two accessories, and... well, those last few slots aren't important yet.
On the right side we have our major stats. Level, HP, and MP are self-explanatory. STR is physical attack damage, VIT is physical defense, DEX affects accuracy and I think induction, AGI affects speed and evasion, INT affects magic damage, and POT affects resistance, magic defense, and possibly critical hit chance. Next to that, in order, is PATK (physical attack power), ACC (accuracy), EVA (evasion), PDEF (physical defense), MDEF (magic defense), IND (induction, which is status effect infliction chance and power like in GoS), and RES (resistance, which is status effect defense).
Below that we have our number of hits chart. From left to right, we have Melee, Ranged, Attack Magic, Healing Magic, Offensive Support, Defensive Support, and Evasion Chances. Melee affects melee physical attacks, Ranged affects ranged physical attacks, Attack Magic affects offensive spells, Healing Magic affects healing, Offensive Support affects mostly status effects and the like, Defensive Support affects buffs and the like, and Evasion Chances... is weird. I think it's roughly how many hits you have a base chance of avoiding.
And lastly, below that, is elemental resistance and element level. Resistance is what you think it is, and level determines the strength of skills and attacks that use that element, along with one other thing we'll get into later. As a general rule, element levels rise faster if there's another party member with a higher level in that element. It allows people to catch up in an element if you want to raise them on multiple people.
(http://i.imgur.com/lRgvI3X.jpg)
Meanwhile, we have a Kedama down there. Nothing really special... at all, really.
(http://i.imgur.com/VwbxbHx.jpg)
Picking up a Wakizashi from this chest gives us a little tutorial on weapon types. In this game, we have six major types: Swords (deals Slash damage and is generally balanced), Spears (deals Stab damage and has high ACC and EVA but lower PATK), Blunt Weapons (deals Strike damage and has high PATK but low ACC and EVA), Rods (deals Strike damage and increases magic attack power, but has no skills tied to it), Bows (deals Stab damage and is ranged, but low PATK and ACC in general), and Guns (deals Strike damage and is ranged, with high PATK but very low ACC, though they often have good AoEs). This run, I'm aiming on letting Saya be the Blunt Weapons expert and Yukari is meanwhile going to be the Spears (and maybe Bows) expert.
(http://i.imgur.com/lxoQc6H.jpg)
Chests also have materials and the like, but I don't have them translated and I'm not going to go out of my way to note all the ones I get down since materials drop very often from enemies, so I'm not tracking them.
(http://i.imgur.com/lw6iVS0.jpg)
And here's the key to open up that door.
(http://i.imgur.com/eB7zKhi.jpg)
...Seiga and Komachi? What're you two doing here?
(http://i.imgur.com/VfrvrXm.jpg)
They've gone into shikigami form... not THIS again...
(http://i.imgur.com/ZI1j58D.jpg)
Yukari briefly mentions the Chaos Incident (AKA Devil of Decline), since the same thing happened then. So whatever's going on, it's causing the shikigami form/spiriting away thing to happen all over again. Since in that game, it was a result of the changing of history Angra was trying to attempt, is something similar happening here?
(http://i.imgur.com/l1AtMkH.jpg)
Dunno what Yukari said, but I imagine she insulted them. Typical.
(http://i.imgur.com/y74nx9y.jpg)
Since we don't exactly have a medium to hold Komachi and Seiga like we did in DoD, Yukari suggests "shikigami possession". In other words, allowing the two of them to possess Saya and Yukari so they can keep up their strength. Sounds reasonable enough, that's the only way to prevent them from fading away.
(http://i.imgur.com/S5KOZdi.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/GUgrOHE.jpg)
Saya feels uncomfortable, but that's possession for you.
(http://i.imgur.com/Npm21qS.jpg)
And then suddenly we get attacked.
(http://i.imgur.com/KjZ3kep.jpg)
Well this thing looks hairy. Seiga calls it a Futtachi... whatever that is.
(http://i.imgur.com/i64Oogf.jpg)
Yukari meanwhile gives us a brief tutorial on how to pull off shikigami possession.
(http://i.imgur.com/WNJyH9J.jpg)
It's right here in the tactics menu.
(http://i.imgur.com/tc6eypk.jpg)
Okay, so, shikigami possession, or as this game will call it from now on, the Doppel system, is this game's version of DoD's Shikigami system. Everyone can equip one main doppel and up to three sub doppels. While we don't have sub doppels yet, main doppels, like Seiga and Komachi, we do have. Main doppels, as you can see, HUGELY affect stats. It's safe to say that main doppels essentially are your major party members, but act as equippables to your master characters (Saya and Yukari, in this case). There are five types of main doppel: Melee, Ranged, Magic, Healing, and Special. These names are the literal translation, and those are pretty boring, so I'm going to just Woolseyism some new ones. I'll refer to them as Warrior, Ranger, Magician, Priest, and Specialist. Yeah yeah, those aren't the literal translations, I just want to spice it up a bit. I could also come up with more creative names but they're more like classes than anything.
Anyhow, Seiga here is a Priest, while Komachi is a Warrior. For now, let's give Saya Seiga and give Yukari Komachi.
(http://i.imgur.com/IJAqXtf.jpg)
Now that we're all equipped up, let's take on the Large Futtachi!
(http://i.imgur.com/FcVIbkj.jpg)
One big thing to note with main doppels is that they only get one skill. Komachi's is Higan Retour, which basically acts like a physical Gravity spell (in other words, it reduces one enemy's HP by half, though it can fail since it's technically a status effect). Seiga's is Dao Fetal Movement, which heals everyone and grants a one-shot, one turn only Reraise effect to the whole party. Nifty!
(http://i.imgur.com/Iy3iOsW.jpg)
The Large Futtachi is dispatched in short order. And we level for the first time!
(http://i.imgur.com/KW3jTme.jpg)
As you can see, in this game, the party levels as a whole, rather than each character having their own XP bars. It's weird, but I get why that's how it works in this game. In general, leveling will increase everyone's stats and, eventually, number of hits, which are still affected by main doppels, mind you. Note that the stats gained from doppels are independent of level. That is to say, it doesn't matter if you get a new main doppel that you never used before, it will give you the stats you would have at the level you're at. Because of this, switching in new main doppels won't hurt you too much, since although they majorly affect your stat spread, it will always match the stat spread of the level your party is at. Think of it like all of your main doppels level alongside your party, even though main doppels have their own levels. Speaking of, doppel levels are different from party levels. Party levels are much like how they work in GoS and DoD, with a cap of 99. Doppel levels only grant new passives and skills for doppels, and the cap is 15. Doppels level slower than your party as a result, but this means there's no more empty levels like shikigami had in DoD. Every doppel level WILL grant a passive or an active.
(http://i.imgur.com/3Jpy0R8.jpg)
Anyhow, we put him down in short order.
(http://i.imgur.com/EOaDeKy.jpg)
Looks like Yukari's still a little worried about how this incident has similarities to the Chaos Incident. There might be more people from Gensokyo around that are in the shikigami form, which means they're fading fast.
(http://i.imgur.com/5xmvC0o.jpg)
Due to the nature of the current incident, and the strange way of making sure those stuck in the shikigami form are safe, Yukari decides to call them doppels instead of shikigami, since when they do shikigami possession, it's like Yukari and Saya are copying the powers of the ones possessing them, rather than just simply calling upon their power from a seperate medium. Not to mention it fits alongside the current incident.
(http://i.imgur.com/Zndrqva.jpg)
I don't know what's going on in a lot of this dialogue, but for now, Seiga and Komachi are coming along with us. More heads are better and all that. Now, there's some stuff about main doppels I haven't mentioned yet, and neither have I mentioned what Komachi and Seiga have for their passives and whatnot. I'm saving that for when we get our next batch of main doppels, so I can do it all at once. They're the only two we have, so there's not much choice.
(http://i.imgur.com/PfEiO2m.jpg)
Moving along, now we've got Sways. They do Fire attacks but are otherwise not threatening.
(http://i.imgur.com/pGFED51.jpg)
First item drop! In this game, enemies drops items much more often. They can either drop screws, which are materials, or chests, which are weapons or accessories.
(http://i.imgur.com/4wFXpuA.jpg)
In this case, we got a Bamboo Spear, which I give to Yukari to set her on the path to Spear mastery. As you might notice, there's two other values up top on the victory screen. On the left is points. That's basically our money for the game, and we earn it after battle. On the right is how much Power we used and how much we have left. This is as good a time as any to explain Power and MP. Skills in this game often cost either MP, Power, or both. Unlike prior games, MP is restored to full after every battle, and is generally-speaking single digit. Everyone gains 1 MP at the end of every turn, plus another 1 MP if they defend instead of acting. Power, meanwhile, doesn't restore at all, and is shared between all members of the party. If the party runs out of Power, then no one can use skills that take up Power at all, but can still use skills that only take up MP (since MP is per-person and not shared amongst the party). It's essentially a party-wide MP pool that works more like how MP worked in GoS and DoD.
(http://i.imgur.com/kEItkkm.jpg)
We finally get to the other side of this hole to where that floating Yin-Yang Orb was. Speaking of, Yin-Yang Orbs are one-time Power restorers. You have to spend Points equivalent to the amount of Power you're restoring. No Points, no Power restore. Since Yin-Yang Orbs don't refresh until you use a different kind of healing point we'll see later on, they don't reset enemy encounters.
One last thing to note with Yin-Yang Orbs. They also revive downed main doppels. When a character is KOed, their main doppel is also KOed and can no longer be equipped. Healing at a Yin-Yang Orb, or the other kind of healing point we haven't seen yet, will revive all downed main doppels. Getting KOed in this game is much more punishing as a result.
(http://i.imgur.com/UnBB6dw.jpg)
Further ahead, we have Oshirasamas. Weak to Slash, but otherwise not really noteworthy.
(http://i.imgur.com/pNPivWP.jpg)
Eh?
(http://i.imgur.com/HuI16vO.jpg)
Hey, Saya used a skill!
4(http://i.imgur.com/qg0zkWM.jpg)
Apparently, something just flashed into her mind, and her body just moved on its own and followed.
(http://i.imgur.com/sE4p8Y0.jpg)
According to Yukari, unlike the doppels, they, as "masters", have the ability to "spark", which she says is like that moment where your body is in the midst of life and death and your mind "surges with life", or something like that. In other words, "sparking" is the ability to learn new weapon skills. It's the same as how it was in DoD. You level your elements enough, and you'll be able to spark new skills for those elements. It only works with your physical elements and weapons, but hey, it's something.
(http://i.imgur.com/ynv5zdc.jpg)
We also get a special gun here that has some enhancements on it. I'm not going to go over enhancements just yet, since we don't have the ability to do weapon enhancements yet, but to summarize, weapons can be granted special effects. If I'm reading this right, this Dreyse Needle Gun has an HP up and Quick Status Resistance up effect tied to it.
(http://i.imgur.com/AjXtpp5.jpg)
MR. GHOSTY, otherwise known as a Bakebake. Undead, weak to Light and Fire and whatnot, but otherwise unnoteworthy.
(http://i.imgur.com/5fXHoOp.jpg)
I forgot to equip the Bamboo Spear on Yukari, so she learns Strong Slash in the meanwhile. Saya also learns Bone Crush off-screen.
(http://i.imgur.com/wo8nXtn.jpg)
Oh hey, Last Word!
(http://i.imgur.com/bA9kwI9.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7Hk7n9k.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Fo0JkjM.jpg)
That was Quadruple Barrier, which nulls all damage to the party for a turn. There are some enemy attacks that can bypass it, but they're far and few between. It can otherwise completely protect from most cheap nukes and the like, though I don't think it protects against status effects.
(http://i.imgur.com/Tt6QOdG.jpg)
This way here's to the boss, but I didn't explore the bottom part yet.
(http://i.imgur.com/F87afVQ.jpg)
Okay, THIS way is really to the boss. Past this door, specifically. I'm going to stop here, mostly because I want to keep update length small and I'd rather not have more than one cutscene/scripted fight per update. So next time, we take on the boss of Enjo School!
Summary:
New Doppels: Komachi (Warrior), Seiga (Priest)
Major Equipment: Small Shield (Saya), Wakizashi (Yukari), Bamboo Spear (Yukari), Dreyse Needle Gun, Javelin, Battle Shovel (Saya), Buckler (Yukari)
Sparked Skills: Hard Hit (high ACC attack, Saya), Bone Crush (reduces VIT, Saya), Strong Slash (stronger than a normal attack, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
-
Time slipped away from me these last couple days. Been distracted, been tired, been busy. Also means this update is shorter than usual. Also, I had to reupload two of the songs introduced today, and the image quality of the original image I used is worse because I just tried to directly copy it from the old videos (since I lost the original in a hard drive crash). However, the audio quality should be on par with the uploads juonryu2nd made (I'm only doing this since the original versions I uploaded years back were directly recorded from the game audio, while juonryu2nd's are the OST versions, he just never uploaded Challenge from the Unknown or Snow-Covered Road 1).
Prologue Act: Part 3- Urban Legend in Toono
So, some corrections from last time. Bone Crush does not inflict VIT Down, but rather All Down. Also, shout out to Ikari, who was better able to describe the difference between doppel level and party level. It's a lot like in Bravely Default, just replace regular levels with the party's level and job levels with doppel levels. The way stats scale when you swap doppels, etc. work the same way as when you swap jobs in Bravely Default.
(http://i.imgur.com/WZV1KEr.jpg)
Looks like we finally made it out of the school.
(http://i.imgur.com/0jgg7wa.jpg)
Saya goes to check a door and it nearly crushes her. Fortunately, Yukari gaps her away in the nick of time.
(http://i.imgur.com/FM3Lzy8.jpg)
Uhh... who's there?
(http://i.imgur.com/enqL9TI.jpg)
...Oh. Surprised we didn't notice a Demon Wall.
(http://i.imgur.com/M6CJ3Zd.jpg)
Apparently this is the "Red Door", one of the seven mysteries of the school. I see as usual, the seven mysteries are creepy and weird.
(http://i.imgur.com/ETkG1cN.jpg)
Looks like we have to take it on!
Event Theme- Two Rivals Square Off 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHteYW6XZII&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=23)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZIVYHB4.jpg)
Boss Theme- Challenge from the Unknown (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3YKH5OG3AU)
Alright, so the Red Door is our first boss of the game. He's honestly unimpressive. Wail away at him, use Dao Fetal Movement if you're desperate for healing, and there we go. A complete waste of using Challenge from the Unknown, which is our new regular boss theme for this game.
(http://i.imgur.com/KpVv2ys.jpg)
Looks like urban legends are easily dispatched of. Then again, this was before Urban Legend in Limbo.
(http://i.imgur.com/GYhyaYz.jpg)
And away he goes.
(http://i.imgur.com/ezdRyfc.jpg)
Saya, how'd that fight take ANYTHING out of you? He was pretty dang easy.
(http://i.imgur.com/YGFW4t8.jpg)
And out the doorway slides... hey, isn't that Rinnosuke's alchemy pot?
(http://i.imgur.com/8CjbyN3.jpg)
Looks like with this, we'll be able to do synthesis. Rinnosuke doesn't seem to be around to take care of it, so I guess it's fine if we take it along. I'll explain synthesis after the end of this cutscene.
(http://i.imgur.com/cwrpmqF.jpg)
And we're out on the roads now. Wonder where we're going to first.
Dungeon Theme- Snow-Covered Road 1 (Paradise ~ Deep Mountain) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJgMbHLvX3Y)
(http://i.imgur.com/4lPrch5.jpg)
Yukari wonders if we're just somewhere else in Gensokyo entirely, but as far as I know, that school doesn't exist in the Human Village or anything, does it?
(http://i.imgur.com/IHlJDkR.jpg)
Saya clarifies that we're actually in Toono, as in Toono, Iwate Prefecture, a real-life town in Japan. Guess that means we really are in the Outside World.
(http://i.imgur.com/rYKJBh2.jpg)
Of course, Saya herself is confused as to what Yukari means by Gensokyo and the Outside World. Time for explaining I guess?
(http://i.imgur.com/bJoEcfk.jpg)
Apparently she recognizes it after a bit. Dunno what triggers this, but I guess she's heard about it or something?
(http://i.imgur.com/2NFG3mi.jpg)
Yukari I believe gives the low-down on the current incident happening in Gensokyo, and wonders what that has to do with being transported to Toono.
(http://i.imgur.com/F8WZSMh.jpg)
In any case, if we were teleported here, apparently the Hakurei Shrine isn't that far away. I mean, Yukari, can't you just warp to the Hakurei Shrine? Or past the Hakurei Barrier just so you can check up on Gensokyo? Or do we really have to do things the hard way and enter through the shrine?
(http://i.imgur.com/f6nsegp.jpg)
Since Saya's the shrine maiden of the Kurahinata Shrine, she's aware of the Hakurei Shrine on the other side of the mountain from her.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZWwDRlo.jpg)
We're closer to the Kurahinata Shrine anyhow, so we're going to stop in there first of all.
(http://i.imgur.com/4P9HiAY.jpg)
And so we're here at the Snow-Covered Road, which is essentially the replacement for the Chaos Plains/Makai areas from DoD. It serves more as a transitory series of areas between major dungeons. There's another transitory area we'll see later, but for the most part the Snow-Covered Road is what we'll be seeing a lot of between dungeons.
Also, you'll notice on the right there's a little stone monument. That's a Fantasy Hiemata Monument last time I checked, but I'm just going to refer to them as Waypoints. Waypoints, like Yin-Yang Orbs, serve to restore Power and revive doppels for a fee of Points. Unlike Yin-Yang Orbs, they serve as fast travel locations, but also respawn all enemies when used to heal as well as restoring all Yin-Yang Orbs. Just be wary of that.
(http://i.imgur.com/Yubba9P.jpg)
Let's take a look at our main menu now that we have a chance. We can see the amount of XP until the next party level, as well as how much Power and Points we have right now. In order, the menu items are "Overall Map", "Inventory", "Warehouse", "Synthesis", "Formation", "Enchant", "Bestiary" (which is greyed out), and "Party Setup". Party Setup can also be accessed by pressing the X button, much like prior games.
(http://i.imgur.com/P61qJts.jpg)
This is the map, which currently only has Enjo School on it. The clouds will vanish as we explore more areas, but all we can see is the school, some trees, and a small bit of a wall on the bottom right. Toono was a castle town, last time I checked, so I think that makes sense. I think.
(http://i.imgur.com/yqQ68Y0.jpg)
Inventory is, well, just that. See everything you have. Not too important, but handy for looking at your materials and key items.
(http://i.imgur.com/edCxHIG.jpg)
The Warehouse is kind of like the Bottomless Box in Dark Souls, and is primarily used to keep clutter out of your inventory. I never used it really, just as I never used the Bottomless Box.
(http://i.imgur.com/6aZXFAZ.jpg)
The Synthesis screen lets you perform synthesis. Just get the materials you need for something, pay a fee of Points depending on the item, and bam, you get sweet new armor, accessories, and other things. Right now, we can only synthesize a few basic armor pieces. I'll list those in the summary at the end of the update.
(http://i.imgur.com/0MC6jRv.jpg)
Formation is what you'd expect. Unlike previous games, there is no innate formation bonus. It works a lot more like Final Fantasy 4, in that you can have either three front-liners and two back-liners, or two front-liners and three back-liners. It's dumbed down, which I think is pretty unfortunate, especially since in Marisa's Kirisame Magic Shop you basically had to experiment and come up with formations yourself, which I thought was pretty cool.
(http://i.imgur.com/aoLn060.jpg)
The Enchant menu allows for weapon enchantment. This I think is a bit of a holdover from Touhou Quest, where in order to get new weapons, you had to fuse together weapons of the same level to make a weapon of a higher level. In this game instead, each weapon has a star rating, representing how many slots are open on it. In order to get slots on a weapon, you have to fuse other weapons as materials. You can get up to five slots on a weapon this way, but the only weapons eligible to be used as materials are ones with the same number of slots as the existing weapon, one less slot than the existing weapon, or a duplicate of the weapon regardless of how many slots it has.
Right now, since we have no materials for enchantments, this is pretty useless, but we can get all kinds of different effects, from PATK, PDEF, magic attack, and other stat increases to increasing breath damage reduction and deflection rate. You can even add status effect resistances and status effects to inflict, like Blind, Silence, Paralysis, etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/C3iMUQi.jpg)
We only find one new enemy in the first screen of this area, being a Skeleton. Strike attacks rip him apart, but he is incredibly resistant to Stab. Sorry Yukari, you won't be doing too much damage with that Bamboo Spear of yours.
(http://i.imgur.com/dXzyk0n.jpg)
It's not much further before we find a rather odd statue. Sadly, we have reached my "one cutscene sequence per update" limit, so we're stopping here. A bit of a shorter update, but that's what I'm aiming for. Next time, we'll see what's up with that strange looking statue that's rather suspicious just standing here.
Major Equipment: Short Bow, Short Sword
Synthesis Recipes: Robe, Mantle, Leather Armor, Sailor Suit, Breastplate
Synthesis Done: Breastplate (Yukari), Sailor Suit (Saya)
Sparked Skills: Leg Sweep (quick attack that can stun, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
-
I actually wanted Touhou fangame that is set in the outside world.
That statue looks suspiciously like Colossal Titan from Shingeki no Kyojin. Guess this game was made when it's still popular
-
Prologue Act: Part 4- Futatsuiwa from Toono
So, we had a statue to check out. Of course, I decide to ignore it and look at everything else in the room. Also I had to redo the whole first screen because I stopped in front of the statue and the game, even if it auto-saves, sends you back to the last Waypoint you saved at. Which isn't too bad, I just refought the encounters and gained an extra level.
(http://i.imgur.com/bmm9j8w.jpg)
I also found an enemy I missed, a Viper. They know Coil, which inflicts Paralysis. Their normal attacks can also inflict Poison. Not too dangerous.
(http://i.imgur.com/1U7M9H7.jpg)
Meanwhile in another part of that place with the status, we see this sign. Strong snow or something ahead, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/wzTA2Z8.jpg)
...Yep, very strong snow. Apparently we can't go this way. For now. Remember this path for later. Much, much, much later.
(http://i.imgur.com/OEdljTG.jpg)
And Yukari won't let us leave without examining the statue. But that status is suspicious!
(http://i.imgur.com/56Kgt02.jpg)
Well, time to examine it.
(http://i.imgur.com/T2lr7P1.jpg)
Event Theme- Obviously Suspicious Strange Statue... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_utZgiVok8&index=15&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
So uh... yes, there is a statue here.
(http://i.imgur.com/Aopperp.jpg)
Yukari immediately fingers out Mamizou. Must be the scent, even in canon she can't disguise it. Which, if that's the case... shouldn't Kosuzu know she's not human just from her scent?
(http://i.imgur.com/wiUbKAl.jpg)
Poof she goes.
(http://i.imgur.com/svvf80U.jpg)
As usual, Saya's surprised. What, never heard of a tanuki? Though to be honest, I'm more used to them transforming into Jizo statues than uh... whatever the hell she transformed into.
(http://i.imgur.com/zyzqTLQ.jpg)
...And apparently she just remembered why she was trying to disguise herself.
(http://i.imgur.com/lA7T8kI.jpg)
Apparently there's some sort of assassin or something after her.
(http://i.imgur.com/witKqbD.jpg)
...Oh hi.
(http://i.imgur.com/qEMzDmx.jpg)
So this Otoroshi is another mini-boss, and possibly one of the most dangerous encounters of the entire prologue, barring one other. He can use a multi-target earthquake move that deals a fair amount of damage to everyone. Dao Fetal Movement can help you back on your feet, but the cooldown on it is pretty harsh for this part in the game. I have legitmately game overed to him on a prior playthrough. Fortunately, having an additional level from reclearing that area helped out.
(http://i.imgur.com/Kye5S1r.jpg)
Not giving me an early game over this time.
(http://i.imgur.com/4uIgFFl.jpg)
Okay this time I don't blame you for being tired this time, Saya.
(http://i.imgur.com/odav9LP.jpg)
Mamizou also makes the mistake of calling Saya Akyuu. To no one's surprise.
(http://i.imgur.com/5akyLJ3.jpg)
After a laugh at Mamizou's expense, she accuses her of just being a doppel. Sigh... doubly wrong, huh? Yukari in a later speech bubble explains that, as she has a history here in Toono, she can't be a doppel, merely her own self.
(http://i.imgur.com/8Yfg9Qb.jpg)
With that nonsense cleared out of the way, Mamizou gives her introduction.
(http://i.imgur.com/EQ04s7C.jpg)
And Saya regives hers. I misread her introduction to Yukari before, she merely introduced herself as the Kurahinata Shrine Maiden there, but here she's also saying she's the family head. This of course confuses the others, and she explains it's sort of a hereditary thing.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZSZrkLp.jpg)
Alongside that, she is also the "Child of Misaki", as it's said in her family that each new family head is possibly a reincarnation of the original head. Odd, isn't that how it works with the Hiedas and the Child of Miare? Strange...
(http://i.imgur.com/W8Zqw7t.jpg)
Well, no use thinking about it TOO hard. We still have to get to the Kurahinata Shrine.
(http://i.imgur.com/Hmx3Oqp.jpg)
And with that, Mamizou joins the party! We are forced to have either 1 in the back or 1 in the front, the rest in the other row, so I keep her in the back and give her the Dreyse Needle Gun with the HP enhancement we got back at Enjo School. Without doppels, she's best at long ranged attacks, so guns are perfect for her. I'd give her a bow if I didn't think bows are absolute garbage in this game.
(http://i.imgur.com/fZfCR08.jpg)
Further ahead, we run into a Deuce. They're our first Foreign God type (yep, after DoD seperated the race into Angels and Demons, NoR recombined them), but fortunately they're small fry and only use Shadow Bolt at worst.
(http://i.imgur.com/Vkm6W3z.jpg)
Kurahinata Shrine to the right, Hakurei Shrine to the bottom. We'll be back for the Hakurei Shrine later, so we'll head right.
(http://i.imgur.com/jicdVVJ.jpg)
And stumble upon... the Velvet Room? Well, not exactly, but it reminds me of the Velvet Room's door.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZJTgeXp.jpg)
Well if that isn't some sort of dimensional hole I dunno what is.
(http://i.imgur.com/sLRMzGR.jpg)
According to Mamizou, there's some sort of world on the other side, but at the same time, the door is otherwise just... freely standing there. Weird.
(http://i.imgur.com/gJjRNL2.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: Precognitive Dream (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3w08cq-zPs&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=16)
Whoa, this place looks weird as hell. And there's some sort of gap there.
(http://i.imgur.com/4SBtCtD.jpg)
Let's open it up and see what's inside.
(http://i.imgur.com/9P98gCr.jpg)
Eirin, Suika, Yuyuko? What're you guys doing here?
(http://i.imgur.com/FxNLV0t.jpg)
Looks like they're in shikigami state too, and extremely weak.
(http://i.imgur.com/9GNgKOI.jpg)
We take a moment to let shikigami possession take hold.
(http://i.imgur.com/3ZfkXE7.jpg)
Looks like whatever the gaps are in this strange space, they connect to Gensokyo, and the people who are undergoing shikigami state are falling through them. Things must be getting pretty bad on Gensokyo's side, huh? Are the doppels somehow replacing their originals and the originals are falling through into this space?
(http://i.imgur.com/X6NWhX4.jpg)
Whatever the case, we still have a goal to head to Kurahinata Shrine. We'll just have to keep an eye out for other gaps like that.
(http://i.imgur.com/L5sCWfC.jpg)
Game gives us our whole mini-tutorial on the five types of main doppel. I already explained the five main types as Warrior, Ranger, Magician, Priest, and Specialist. Alongside the five main types, each doppel individually will affect the stats of the master they're equipped to in different ways. Warriors mostly focus on Melee number of hits, Rangers focus mainly on Ranged number of hits, Magicians focus mainly on Attack Magic number of hits and occasionally Offensive Support number of hits, Priests focus mainly on Healing Magic number of hits and usually Defensive Support number of hits, and Specialists may focus on a variety of things. That out of the way, let's talk about the five doppels we now have, including the ones we picked up back at Enjo School.
Komachi is a Warrior type with a focus mainly on Induction and Accuracy, making her the status infliction Warrior of choice, if that's what you're aiming for. Her skill is Higan Retour, which can half an enemy's HP, but it isn't something to be relied on. Other Warriors have better skills, not to mention she only has two hits base for Offensive Support, so landing debuffs and the like will be a bit tricky.
Seiga is a Priest type with a focus on the power of healing magic as well as how much HP revival skills restore. She also offers a few boosts to attack power, accuracy, and resistance and her number of hits for Melee is the same as her Defensive Support, at a base of 3 (Healing Magic's at 4 to start with). Dao Fetal Movement, her skill, restores HP to all allies, and grants a one-turn Reraise.
Eirin is our first Ranger, and she's a pretty decent one with focus on both Accuracy and Certain Hit. Certain Hit is what I consider a "half critical", in the sense that all hits will land on the opponent if it procs. The same thing happens with critical hits, but the damage per hit is boosted by 1.5x or 2x depending on the attack. She also passively boosts the number of hits on Ranged attacks eventually that are counted seperately from her regular number of hits for Ranged attacks, and has a surprisingly high number of hits for Healing Magic, making her a good healer in a pinch. Her skill, Omoikane's Device, is a single target attack that drains HP from the enemy.
Yuyuko is our first Magician, and she's an odd one. While some deal with pure magic damage, Yuyuko focuses on the casting speed and success rate of Quick effects. These include Stuns and, more importantly for Yuyuko, Instant Death. With a high number of hits in both Attack Magic and Offensive Support, Yuyuko's your go-to if you need to inflict Instant Death and similar effects, but otherwise she's not as great on the magic damage side of things. Other doppels later are better if pure damage is your aim. Her skill is Resurrection Butterfly, an all-targeting Dark magic spell that can also inflict Resistance Down.
And lastly, we have Suika. She's another Warrior, but whereas Komachi focuses on Induction and status infliction, Suika is all about critical hits. All of her number of hits in everything but Melee (and, surprisingly, Ranged) are garbage, save Evasion Chances, but she gains HP PATK, and critical hit chance bonuses all over the place. Her natural STR is pretty high too, so she's a very able fighter all-around, and probably one of the overall most useful Warriors. Her skill, Missing Purple Power, is a high-power physical attack with a very, VERY good chance to critically hit, which will deal double damage and land all hits instead of merely dealing 1.5x damage per hit. Combine that with a low cooldown, and it's a boss killer.
So yeah, that's all the doppels we have for the time being.
(http://i.imgur.com/JeUxnO8.jpg)
I left and reentered so the little area opening thing can show on the top left. We are in what's... well, currently called ???, but as we proceed through the various Snow-Covered Road areas, there'll be blue doors like the one we saw in the cutscene that'll lead us to this unknown place, which for now (until the plot reveals their name), I'll refer to as Blue Door Areas.
(http://i.imgur.com/6UC3wV9.jpg)
Blue Door Areas have a variety of different potential prizes, mostly rare materials, recipes, and gaps that contain new doppels. A couple even have Power Extensions, which raise our maximum Power by 50 each. In theory, Blue Door Areas are optional, and there are some good treasures in the regular dungeons, but exploring them is necessary in order to get every main doppel and every recipe set. As a general rule, Blue Door Areas are harder than the area they're found in, and none of the Blue Door Areas have an on-screen map, which means you have to memorize the layout as you go. The rewards are worth it, but if you are unable to deal with the enemies, you can always come back later. It's an interesting way of changing how the open world nature of this game works. It's a mostly linear game, to be honest, but these little side dungeons give a reason to explore the transitory areas fully. I like the idea.
(http://i.imgur.com/875SRNp.jpg)
We leave the Blue Door Area offscreen and finally make it to another Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/3OoIHTL.jpg)
Which just so happens to be the one for the Kurahinata Shrine. We're going to stop here, though, and enter the shrine next time. Is the shrine okay? Or will we simply chill out?
...I made a bad HCBailly end-of-episode joke. Why did I do that?
Major Equipment: Type 26 Revolver, Magic Shield (Yukari), Crossbow
Synthesis Recipes: High Magic Kimono, Incubus Armor
Synthesis Done: Incubus Armor (Mamizou)
Sparked Skills: Zero Fighter (high accuracy attack, Mamizou)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
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So a couple of the screenshots ended up getting Skype notificationized in the corner. Shouldn't be too distracting, but uh... that's what I get for trying to do an update with alerts turned on? I'm a professional screenshot LPer.
Prologue Act: Part 5- Hail Mary
(http://i.imgur.com/h7XgIOW.jpg)
Looks like we're here at last.
(http://i.imgur.com/MVHp3P2.jpg)
Damn, the snow's already covered the roof of the shrine and all, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/jhn2Zq2.jpg)
I'm going to assume this means about 1200 years this shrine's been around. That's... a damn long time. Though I suppose the Hakurei Shrine has been around pretty long itself.
(http://i.imgur.com/pPexTJQ.jpg)
Saya went off into the shrine to check up on stuff, so Yukari and Mamizou go and discuss stuff about the shrine and the current situation. There's some awkwardness along the way but since I can't read 100% of all this I don't know what they end up arguing over.
(http://i.imgur.com/XPmsydP.jpg)
Oh hey, it's that stone we saw from the intro. Looks like Yukari's curious.
(http://i.imgur.com/7RXALCx.jpg)
Apparently one of Saya's ancestors, Satoru, sealed away some sort of snow spirit here. Guess that's why the shimenawa is around it.
(http://i.imgur.com/gWGYdAb.jpg)
What the? Who's that?
(http://i.imgur.com/3wvtyol.jpg)
Event Theme: Two Rivals Square Off 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0NS0cMP9zE&index=12&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
Apparently an assassin. He has a name. I don't care to know it because I know he's otherwise a red shirt mook trying to kill us.
(http://i.imgur.com/mFeKioh.jpg)
Whoa damn, that's hot.
(http://i.imgur.com/5AARgjf.jpg)
Saya arrives just in time to stop him from burning the crap out of Yukari and Mamizou anymore.
(http://i.imgur.com/OI1Ymq1.jpg)
Unfortunately, he gets the brilliant idea to blow up the monument.
(http://i.imgur.com/8BgKUrQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zIOlQQY.jpg)
...Uh-oh. It's getting all snowy.
(http://i.imgur.com/SyfLnPx.jpg)
And it's... a yuki-onna?
(http://i.imgur.com/LZC5yEv.jpg)
500 years or so of being sealed away, or something like that. That's even more time than Angra had to wait for an interesting battle to happen.
(http://i.imgur.com/JuieJxV.jpg)
Not really happy with the fire wheel dude, our mystery yuki-onna freezes him to death.
(http://i.imgur.com/zDKV1de.jpg)
Arare Yukiduki's her name. Means something along the lines of hail or snow or something. Seems about right for a yuki-onna.
(http://i.imgur.com/hz7J4CR.jpg)
Apparently she's just about to wander off to find the one who sealed her away... when Saya decides to speak up.
(http://i.imgur.com/ezZYrlY.jpg)
Oh hey she's doing the Child of Misaki thing again. Hey, look, Saya, I know you're supposed to be a hero and whatnot, but leave the boasting to Reimu... if she ever catches up to us. She has the power to back it up, you're out of your league, shrine maiden or no.
(http://i.imgur.com/GLTJGLR.jpg)
Of course, since Arare can't deal with Satoru since she's, well, long dead, might as well murder the hell out of the most recent Child of Misaki, right?
(http://i.imgur.com/N8Ge8Vk.jpg)
Saya isn't that the same frightened announcement you made against the Itten Momen?
(http://i.imgur.com/LnwJGnb.jpg)
I swore I took a regular picture of Arare here, but uh... yeah, she's actually dangerous if you don't make use of Suika, who as you can see here, critically hits pretty damn hard with Missing Purple Power. Critical hits are represented by red and black hit numbers, instead of a red flash like in prior games.
(http://i.imgur.com/CnBHqz3.jpg)
Well that wasn't too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/dzM3Fsg.jpg)
And Saya nearly passes out AGAIN. Well, I suppose channeling the power of an oni and then punching the crap out of her would take it out of you.
(http://i.imgur.com/0jWcYQp.jpg)
She swears revenge, yadda yadda yadda.
(http://i.imgur.com/qARPOAh.jpg)
And away she goes. Well we'll probably run into her again or something down the road.
(http://i.imgur.com/lULynsW.jpg)
Anyhow, she took the time to grab the Kurahinata Origin from the shrine. I think this is what unlocks the bestiary, but I could be wrong.
(http://i.imgur.com/7hR2KVE.jpg)
Once more, Yukari is baffled by how similar something like the Kurahinata Origin is similar to the Gensokyo Records kept by the Hieda family.
(http://i.imgur.com/33fdWx1.jpg)
Regardless of that, time to head for the Hakurei Shrine, hopefully so we can check on what's going on in Gensokyo.
(http://i.imgur.com/g0rW7yR.jpg)
Taaru~! Taaru~! Taaru~! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klqaY55DWY0)
(http://i.imgur.com/4nYirel.jpg)
Barrels aside, on the way to the Hakurei Shrine we come across a Fairy Soldier. Much like how they appeared in GoS and DoD, they can wield all the different types of weapons you can (except for guns), so they end up being able to do use some basic weapon skills. Weak to Dark as is the usual for Warrior-type monsters.
(http://i.imgur.com/Lr1kXxA.jpg)
In the back there is a Fairy Maid, the mage equivalent of the Fairy Warriors. They can cast the basic elemental spells, but they aren't too dangerous.
(http://i.imgur.com/NSqgQJ0.jpg)
A regular Futtachi this time. Not really a threat at all, although they can hit kinda hard.
(http://i.imgur.com/iJgPFk8.jpg)
I get another Dreyse Needle Gun with some nice enchantments. As a note, when it comes to shields, people with ranged attacks, including magic, cannot make use of shields. In their case, it's usually better to wield a second weapon to gain some variety. I've tried dual-wielding a bow and gun before and it works decently well, given the kinds of weaknesses you can exploit with each. As a note, any enchantments that affect PATK, ACC, etc. will affect both weapons regardless of which weapon it's on. Fairly handy, and it allows silly things like having an off-hand weapon purely used as a stat stick while the main weapon is the actual killer.
(http://i.imgur.com/VYrzyjJ.jpg)
And so a Pu appears. As usual, it can inflict Paralysis on the party with its Bug attack, but other than that it isn't as bad as earlier versions of Pus.
(http://i.imgur.com/lZHo7AF.jpg)
Another Waypoint found.
(http://i.imgur.com/5U0HszT.jpg)
Looks like we found the Hakurei Shrine. We're going to stop off here, though. Next time's going to be a fairly long cutscene, plus we'll finally be done with the prologue and everything and actually start getting into the real meat of the game.
Doppel Levels: Komachi (Level 2, ACC +3)
Major Equipment: Mage Staff, Flail (Saya)
Sparked Skills: Boring Attack (single target attack that inflicts Strike weakness, Saya), Armor Crush (single target attack that inflicts DEF Down, Saya), Flashing Pierce (high speed high accuracy single target attack, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
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Prologue Act- Finale: The Tale that Took Place 3153600000 Seconds Ago
My calculations for the number of seconds might be off. But I'll go with it for the sake of the pseudo reference.
(http://i.imgur.com/NP0a5QP.jpg)
Event Theme- Another Hakurei Shrine (Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyv9R5ul2Xo&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=17)
Finally made it to the Hakurei Shrine, the border between the Outside World and Gensokyo. Saya a bit later mentions something about wondering why the shrine is always empty.
(http://i.imgur.com/SkGH7T2.jpg)
Yukari, of course, explains how the Hakurei Shrine Maiden lives in Gensokyo instead. The version of the shrine in the Outside World, as we all know, is decrepit and abandoned, overseen by no-one, though visited rarely.
(http://i.imgur.com/Hyxh6fB.jpg)
Mamizou is quick to have a laugh or so at Reimu's expense for one reason or another, probably because it's topical. Reimu can't catch a break, can she?
(http://i.imgur.com/rorUqR1.jpg)
Oy? Marisa?
(http://i.imgur.com/lvYaDBM.jpg)
Hey, Reimu and Marisa, a sight for sore eyes if I haven't seen one!
(http://i.imgur.com/iOx2gMs.jpg)
...W-wait, why are you attacking us!?
(http://i.imgur.com/uU4Qi5Y.jpg)
After some dialogue, it sounds like Reimu and Marisa think we're just fakes. What, you think we're doppels or something? Get a hold of yourselves!
(http://i.imgur.com/GI6RaPh.jpg)
Anyhow, this fight is the last for the prologue. Reimu has plenty of Light attacks while Marisa brings out plenty of Mystic ones. Their magic hits hard, so knock 'em out as fast as possible with Missing Purple Power or whatever you have. Somehow, Saya manages not only to one-shot Reimu with Missing Purple Power, but after Marisa gets hit a couple times, she almost one-shots her as well with a critical hit off of Hard Hit. Not bad, Saya, not bad at all.
(http://i.imgur.com/faoyWhM.jpg)
And both sides just sorta fling each other back.
(http://i.imgur.com/erfxTV2.jpg)
Yukari, of course, has no idea what's gotten into Reimu or Marisa. Hell, neither do I. Well I mean, I do know, but details.
(http://i.imgur.com/6ta3tT0.jpg)
Apparently Reimu and Marisa have been jumped on by tanukis ever since they got here. Guess they thought we were just another posse of them disguised as people they knew.
(http://i.imgur.com/UArFN2E.jpg)
And Saya kinda shakes her head at the general behavior of Gensokyians. You're going to have to get used to it, it's all "shoot first ask questions later".
(http://i.imgur.com/dXYobEy.jpg)
Marisa thinks perhaps tanukis are behind the doppels, but it can't be that simple. With the real deals being forced into the same shikigami state from the Chaos Incident, there's manipulation of history at play here. No way the tanukis of either Gensokyo or Toono have that much power.
(http://i.imgur.com/v4zDQGA.jpg)
Of course, the usual confusion of "this is actually not Akyuu" comes up upon mentioning Saya's name.
(http://i.imgur.com/9hfYNDu.jpg)
Reimu thinks it's funny to try to get Saya to say she's Akyuu. Yukari, unusually for her, stops the messing around. Awww, no fun.
(http://i.imgur.com/HwUalar.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ilQmrhy.jpg)
Reimu and Marisa get their introductions off. The Hakurei Shrine Maiden and Gensokyo's top magician, respectively. The two strongest humans in the world, at this point at least.
(http://i.imgur.com/THCXvXg.jpg)
Anyhow, we have a lot on our plates. Between the doppels, Toono, all the youkai running rampant in the Outside World, and now the problem of potential tanuki attacks, there's too many different leads to follow, and not a single one might lead us to whatever is going on with this incident.
(http://i.imgur.com/LRmv3r0.jpg)
Apparently before we came, Reimu and Marisa checked back in with Gensokyo. Guess they've good with crossing the barrier, although to be fair, we're right at the shrine, one of the weak points, so I imagine it's not too hard to cross.
(http://i.imgur.com/uD5ayDn.jpg)
The both of them go back and forth mentioning some rather odd things they noticed. The doppel rumors have completely died down, as if they never happened at all.
(http://i.imgur.com/rl5hKxa.jpg)
Reimu points out a couple other things. The Moriya Branch Shrine that's been by the Hakurei Shrine has completely disappeared and the shrine looks oddly old, a strange thing since it was rebuilt as of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, plus a few other things in Gensokyo are either missing or changed. This sets both Yukari and Mamizou off, and they ask Saya to give the year.
(http://i.imgur.com/fzdqFNG.jpg)
...Which is only the first year of the Taisho Era. Now uh... the Taisho Era... isn't the current era of Japan's history.
(http://i.imgur.com/U7qrVyz.jpg)
We've not only been sent to Toono, Iwate Prefecture, we're in the year 1912, the first of the Taisho era, 100 years before the "present" time of the Gensokyo we know.
(http://i.imgur.com/FycoOS0.jpg)
And once again, Saya's baffled that basically everyone around her is 100 years ahead of her time. I mean, stranger things have happened, but this is beyond strange. Why were we sent back to this point in time?
(http://i.imgur.com/kFsrk4A.jpg)
In theory, Yukari could bring us back to the present, but it's a dangerous prospect, and she's never attempted to manipulate the border between past and future to allow it. So, for right now, we're stuck here until we can find out exactly what dragged us to the past to begin with.
(http://i.imgur.com/pPmYYtL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YFgvuZY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/DWs8Dvq.jpg)
Saya, Reimu, and Marisa are all fired up to resolve the incident regardless, but Yukari leaves us with a warning. Since we're in the past, interacting with things could very well screw up the future. Returning to Gensokyo especially would be risky, our arrival might very well cause an incident. A second Yukari would be unusual, for one, plus people would probably be confused why there's another Hakurei Shrine Maiden other than, presumably, Reimu's grandmother or great-grandmother. So we'll have to stick to Toono, where we're relatively unknown.
(http://i.imgur.com/puh28G3.jpg)
Whelp, other than that, we get Reimu and Marisa into the party! With this, we have five party members, and are ready to start the real meat of the game. For this LP, I'm not entirely sure what to do with Reimu and Marisa. In my original playthrough, my setup was as follows:
Saya- support/bows
Yukari- swords
Mamizou- guns/support
Reimu- blunt weapons
Marisa- mage
And in my more recent replay of the game (which isn't finished, I'm nearing the end of the second-to-last act of the game, though), my setup is:
Saya- swords
Yukari- fire/electric/water mage doubling as support
Mamizou- blunt weapons
Reimu- light/dark/mystic mage doubling as support
Marisa- spears
I think this time around, my setup will be as follows:
Saya- blunt weapons
Yukari- spears
Mamizou- mage/support/guns
Reimu- swords
Marisa- mage/support
I think that'll work out. I can always swap things up given that element leveling can be easily caught up to, but skill sparking isn't as easy to catch up on. Regardless, I'm going to stop the update here. Mostly story today, but now that we have our full party, the prologue is over. Next time, we begin our search for the culprit to this incident. And perhaps find some strange things that don't exactly belong in Toono in the year 1912.
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
Hey, I finished the prologue without any game overs! Usually the Otoroshi is what causes at least one, but scot free this time around.
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Wonder how long does it takes for the game to pull out its bullshit trial-and-error bosses?
In NoR, those 5 main characters is all you get isn't it?
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Compared to GoS, I'd say there's less overall trial and error. Most bosses generally are hard due to sheer power, but it's nothing like "oh this attack the boss uses upon death will one-shot you unless you know about it ahead of time". Not to say a few bosses aren't bullshit, but overall it's less than GoS, maybe about as much as DoD.
And yes, these are our party members for the game. The only party members we'll be getting from now on are doppels.
EDIT: Oh, might as well make a mention of it here and everything, since it'll free up some space in the update proper. As it stands, we're starting to get to the dialogue not covered by Tyraxx's kinda not really super great translation. This is a little problematic for me, since now I'll have no idea how to react to the story or... anything, really. I thought, you know, maybe I could use my text hooker and see if that'll work, but for some odd reason, it completely stopped working for NoR. I don't know why this is the case, but I'm stuck up a creek without a paddle when it comes to understanding what's going on.
So I'm going to be making a change in format for this LP. It's now going to be both a screenshot and video LP. Gameplay and the like will still be screenshots, since I don't want to bore anyone with me running around like a chicken with his head cut off, plus I can't do recorded voice commentary due to being at home with a bunch of loud people who would probably scream at me if I try doing something silly like record a video. So videos are going to be cutscenes only, with no commentary. The reason being is that I already don't have anything to say about the cutscenes, I could summarize them up in a sentence or two at most from what little Japanese I can read unassisted. This is moreso that people who CAN understand the Japanese could be able to read the dialogue themselves, and, if you would be so kind to post in the thread, give the rest of us an idea of what the characters are saying. There was another LP that did something like this, the problem being that he stopped uh... at the end of this act and somewhat at the beginning of the third act. So there isn't a full playlist of all the game's cutscenes. I'm aiming to fix that. Whoever is reading this thread who might be able to help out with what's being said in the cutscenes, I owe you one.
I was originally going to post the above in the update I'm working on now. So starting with the next update we're going to move to the new format (I already have the screenshots and the one video for the cutscene made, it's a matter of writing up the actual update and uploading everything).
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This game is surprisingly pretty!
I admit, I've kinda been scared off by the stories of bullshit in GoS and its descendants, though.
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Kinda sad to hear you're getting scared off by the stories of bullshit, Purvis. Of the three major games of the series, Genius of Sappheiros is kinda the only bullshit one. Devil of Decline and Nightmare of Rebellion are way, WAY better about it.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Part 1- Catch and Release
Before linking the cutscene, after recruiting Reimu and Marisa, if you had put in certain reward codes, this is where you can get up to potentially three doppels. I have all the reward codes punched in, so as a result, we get Meiling, the Three Fairies of Light, and Kasen as main doppels. Let's talk about them quickly.
Meiling's another Warrior, and one that's all about defense, shield activation rate, and counters. Her passives increase counterattack chance and "physical deflection". Some doppels and other things can grant deflection, which is a base chance that you completely negate a physical attack, and Meiling focuses on this and counters for high defense and decent-ish offense. Her skill, Extreme Color Typhoon, draws enemy attention for a single turn and pretty much counters everything during that time. Not the most useful skill, but it's there.
The Three Fairies of Light are a collective doppel, specifically a Ranger, who focus a lot on Stunning enemies. With them equipped, regular attacks have a chance to inflict Stun. They also passively reduce equipment weight, which means they're also pretty speedy, and they can offset the weight from heavier guns and bows. Their skill is Fairy Overdrive, an all-targeting attack that can inflict Stun. Compared to Sunny's Last Word from Devil of Decline, which was essentially this, but reliant on uh... you know, proccing a Last Word Chance, this is a WAY better version.
Finally, Kasen is a Priest type. Right from the get-go, she reduces all Defensive Support skill MP costs by 1, and otherwise focuses on making single-target buffs stronger and faster. Her skill, Dragon Power, raises the power of an ally's next attack by 1.5x, which gets higher and higher as Kasen is leveled.
Cutscene- The Skyscraper, Hakusen, and Ino-Shika-Chou (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeKustrM1eU&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNJw-VO8CGRarvlhsmb8rHvI&index=1)
So, a lot of stuff happens in this cutscene, it's a fairly long one, but to summarize what I know, we uh... ran into a skyscraper. Which you know, doesn't belong in the year 1912. Reimu suggests we "enlist" the aid of local youkai on our quest, before we cut away to poor Isohime and Nobou (I think that's who they are) get fried by Hakusen Tatsumi, a tanuki from the looks of it. Perhaps she's the one behind this incident? She might very well be, especially since she seems to be sending her top assassins after us, Ino-Shika-Chou (boar, deer, butterfly, as in the Koi-Koi hand, not necessarily the Naruto group or thing from Dragonball, but close).
The fiery red-head we see is Hagino Inodzuka, the spry looking brown-haired girl is Momiji Kogakura (oh no let's not get mixed up with Momiji Inubashira, although the way Momiji's name is written in kanji is different from the Momiji we're familiar with), and the purple-haired girl is Botan Futabachou. Looks like they're after us one way or another. This, of course, is why I called this act the "Ino-Shika-Chou" act. Interestingly, they each have their animal type in their last name (Momiji's is a bit weird, but "koga" is another way to say "koshika", or "small deer").
(http://i.imgur.com/H1I8wYm.jpg)
Anyways, while I was fumbling with OBS, I got punched by an encounter, and so we meet the Traveling Schoolgirl. She mostly buffs the enemy up a bunch and does little else herself. Notably, she is a recruitable doppel. And this is where we get into the concept of sub doppels, which I'll explain more below when we actually get one.
(http://i.imgur.com/wDSbx2P.jpg)
And so we're in the front of the first of the two Skyscrapers of this area. This is moreso a side area, the real Skyscraper dungeon is up ahead.
(http://i.imgur.com/aZzIqHy.jpg)
Dungeon Theme- Anachronistic Skyscraper (Gensokyo Millenium ~ History of the Moon) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bglklcCUJuc&index=19&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
Oh boy, it's an office building with some weird boxes of some company. Wonder what they're supposed to be referring to.
(http://i.imgur.com/MRfi3zb.jpg)
Ame-no-Hoakari is that new monster up top. She's uses a bunch of Light attacks on you, nothing dangerous. As a Transcendent, she's weak to Pierce, and being a Light-based monster, she's weak to Dark as well. She's also recruitable.
(http://i.imgur.com/5IZ7vvs.jpg)
I captured a little too late, but a Sway joins the party! When you defeat enemies that can be recruited, they have a chance of being recruited, much like monster recruitment in Devil of Decline. Unlike Devil of Decline (or rather, unlike the original version of Devil of Decline, the recent Banquet version changed it to how it works in Nightmare of Rebellion), the chance for a monster will be recruited actually increases for every monster you kill. If you kill a monster enough times, this will eventually make the monster a 100% recruit. This takes out some of the RNG for getting certain doppels, which I think is nice, and I'm glad they changed the most recent version of Devil of Decline to use this system instead.
So, let's talk about sub doppels now. They're much more like how shikigami were in Devil of Decline, in that they give smaller bonuses and a variety of skills that increase in number as you level. Bonuses range from stat boosts to resistances, generally speaking weaker in strength than those given by main doppels. There are six types of sub doppel: FIR/ELE/WTR type, LGT/DRK/MYS type, Multi-Elemental type, Healing/Support type, Offensive Support type, and Physical type. I kinda want to Woolseyism some names for these too because again, boring literal translation. So Elementalist, Spiritualist, Ravager, Medic/Synergist, Saboteur, and Commando. Yes I am using FFXIII role names besides for the first two. Yes I do not care if I am, they fit.
As for the Sway itself, it's an Elementalist with a focus on Fire attacks, giving you some of the basic Fire attacks in exchange for a crippling weakness to Water. I don't care much for him, since we get a way better sub doppel for this sort of thing soon anyhow. I only ever use him for the Fire resistance if I'm lacking other things to give it.
(http://i.imgur.com/aVdv8Jo.jpg)
Kedamas are your first Medic/Synergist sub doppel, who grants the basic skills like Water Recovery and the like for healing. While we'll get a better sub doppel for healing later, he's our first step to having actual healing other than Seiga's Dao Fetal Movement.
(http://i.imgur.com/V0hMifP.jpg)
We got a Toono-san there in the middle. Like the Gensokyo-san and Makai-san from the prior games, they inflict Poison and it kinda hurts hard, dealing 40 damage or so per turn when we have like 100 or so HP at best at this point. Etrian Odyssey-like levels of poison, but thankfully if you kill them fast enough, it's not a big deal.
(http://i.imgur.com/F6FOcwT.jpg)
They are also recruitable, and are a Saboteur type that focuses on inflicting Permanent status effects like Poison, Blind, etc. Not really super useful, but hey, it's there, and it does grant Clearance (which heals an ally of whatever Permanent status they've been inflicted by), so if you really need someone other than your main healer with Clearance and you have a free sub doppel slot, might as well.
(http://i.imgur.com/lfiJTs2.jpg)
And this is one of my favorite early game sub doppels, the Fairy Maid. Our first Ravager, she can use the first tier Fire, Electric, and Water attacks (so Fire Arrow, Ice Chill, and Plasma Ball), and passively boosts the casting speed of FIR/ELE/WTR attacks. Put on your mage of choice and exploit those weaknesses!
(http://i.imgur.com/TiAog1u.jpg)
Shivers here is another Elementalist, just with Water instead of Fire. Grants the basic Water attcks, but grants a crippling weakness to Electric. Like before, I just use it for the Water resistance.
(http://i.imgur.com/OQgIYr0.jpg)
MR. GHOSTY/Bakebake here is a Saboteur that does more status effects and the like. While Toono-san has row-targeting ones, the Bakebake has single-target ones and grants Induction passively. Throw on your status inflictor of choice if you care.
(http://i.imgur.com/eiK9h0O.jpg)
There's another Blue Door Area here, but I just need to finish up exploring the rest of the first Skyscraper, which... isn't that big, to be honest.
(http://i.imgur.com/JU5IqJy.jpg)
Once we do get into the Blue Door Area, you might notice this drop that appeared during a battle here. A lot of encounters in Blue Door Areas drop what are kinda like the Bullion items in Fire Emblem Awakening. They only exist for you to convert into points, and the "recipe" for doing that is known from the beginning. From what I've heard, these items didn't use to drop at all, but were patched into the expansion. As if you didn't get enough Points ever.
(http://i.imgur.com/ESPy5UE.jpg)
I was a little slow on this again, but we got a Kandachi. Basically the Electric version of the Sway and Shivers. Nothing more to say on that.
(http://i.imgur.com/rYRf4lR.jpg)
Also yeah, might as well show off the whole "coin" item thing. Notice how the Point cost is negative, hence the gain of points. Odd way to show it, but I mean, I suppose it's a negative cost, so it's a gain...?
(http://i.imgur.com/kcJhaVQ.jpg)
And here's another gap, which grants us five new main doppels: Rumia, Sakuya, Sanae, Suwako, and Koishi.
Rumia is a Magician who focuses on dealing damage with all the elements, and is the first Magician that boosts element power. Element power is not quite the same as spell power. Element power moreso determines how much skills are impacted by weaknesses and resistances. Having high element power meaning hitting weaknesses with those elements does a lot more damage. On top of it, Rumia boosts the success rate of skills that inflict weaknesses. Her own skill, Moonlight Ray, is a single-target, high power magic attack that targets the magic weakness of the opponent. If the enemy has no such weakness, it deals Void elemental damage instead. It's a very good skill.
Sakuya is all about raw physical power. Her passives give flat PATK and boost the power of Slayers. Her skill, Killer Doll, is a four-hit physical attack that boosts the power of Slayer effects.
Sanae is another Priest, and much like Kasen, she focuses on buffs, though unlike Kasen, her passives buff the power of buffs that target all allies, and otherwise buff the casting speed of Defensive Support spells. Her skill, Yasaka's Divine Wind, grants All Up to all allies (meaning a buff to STR, VIT, DEX, AGI, INT, and POT).
Suwako is another Magician that focuses on status effects, but while Yuyuko focused on Quick effects, Suwako focuses on Permanent effects, increasing the success rate, casting speed, and duration of Permanent effects. Her skill, Mishagujisama (did I spell that right) is just a row-targeting Water elemental attack, nothing special.
Lastly, Koishi is a Ranger, and sorta the Ranger equivalent of Suika in that she focuses on Critical Hit Chance. She also has some RES bonuses and resistance to Instant Death. Her skill is Release of the Id, which, much like Missing Purple Power, is a high-power physical attack with a high chance to critically hit for double damage instead of 1.5x damage. Unlike Missing Purple Power, it ALSO gives everyone else who has yet to act during the turn a higher chance to critically hit for the rest of the turn. It's an interesting little skill, and very useful for a fast character.
(http://i.imgur.com/sZqYZcy.jpg)
Another thing to note that I forgot to, if a weapon you have equipped has an empty slot during battle, there's a chance for it to be filled in by a random effect. Here, Mamizou gained Control resistance on this Crossbow. Speaking of, I actually swapped some things up. Mamizou is going to use bows from now on, and Marisa is going to be the gun master here.
(http://i.imgur.com/1l51d5t.jpg)
Here we get a Power extension, one of the things a few Blue Door Areas have. +50 to maximum Power get.
(http://i.imgur.com/kJiMUGv.jpg)
Back outside, since we're done exploring the first Skyscraper and its Blue Door Area, we run into a Suneka, who has quite a few dangerous Slash attacks. Weak to Slash himself, as well as Light, but he can easily kill an underarmored character, particularly if he lands Samidare Slash.
(http://i.imgur.com/URtGIac.jpg)
The Ame-no-Hoakari joins us here! Our first Spiritualist, she grants basic Light attacks, but unlike the Sway/Kandachi/Shivers, she DOESN'T have a weakness to Dark. Equip on whoever for a nice Light resistance bonus if you don't care for the skills.
(http://i.imgur.com/KTCZ9Zy.jpg)
The Traveling Schoolgirl is a Medic/Synergist and is the first sub doppel to grant buffs. She has a few status effects she can inflict, but I use her mostly for her offensive buffs. If you need buffs, give her to your Sanae user.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZjDh7hi.jpg)
There's another Blue Door Area here, but I've actually spent a LOT of time exploring and writing stuff down and figuring stuff out, so we'll explore it next update.
(http://i.imgur.com/itPKszi.jpg)
We finally make our way to another Waypoint, in front of the second Skyscraper, the site of our first real dungeon of the game.
(http://i.imgur.com/OYlRYqv.jpg)
There's actually a few places we can go from here. There's another path to the left from the map with the Blue Door Area that's right nearby, which leads to the second major dungeon of this act.
(http://i.imgur.com/HNgbNsW.jpg)
There's also another path here, which leads on to the next major area, and to the third major dungeon of the act. We'll be exploring each of those areas in turn soon enough. My plan is to explore all the areas I possibly can before taking on the bosses of each of the dungeons. Much like Devil of Decline and the Clock Towers of the End, it's a good idea to finish the dungeons, but save the bosses for last, since otherwise all they do is grant some experience and Power extensions. So yeah, that's how the first act is going to go. Next time, we'll explore the Skyscraper and its associated Blue Door Area we passed by.
New Doppels: Meiling (Warrior), Three Fairies of Light (Ranger), Kasen (Priest), Sway (Elementalist), Kedama (Medic/Synergist), Toono-san (Sabetour), Fairy Maid (Polyelementalist), Shivers (Elementalist), Bakebake (Saboteur), Kandachi (Elementalist), Rumia (Magician), Sakuya (Warrior), Sanae (Priest), Suwako (Magician), Koishi (Ranger), Ame-no-Hoakari (Spiritualist), Traveling Schoolgirl (Medic/Synergist)
Doppel Levels: Suika (HP +5), Eirin (ACC +5), Seiga (Power of Healing Magic +5), Three Fairies of Light (Equip Weight -3), Kedama (POT +1), Toono-san (DEX +1, Pitch Dark, Mist, Hypnosis)
Major Equipment: Longsword (Reimu), Long Spear (Yukari), Uchigatana (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Stun Blow (single target Paralysis inflicting attack, Saya), Sword Force (all-targeting attack, Reimu), Strong Slash (single-target attack, Reimu), Silent Arrow (single-target attack that inflicts Silence, Mamizou), Zero Fighter (high accuracy single-target attack, Marisa), Instant Arrow (high accuracy single-target attack), Pole Swing (row-targeting attack, Yukari), Bird Strike (single-target attack that slays Beasts, Mamizou), Counter Aiming (slow single-target attack that does more damage when hurt, Yukari), Sonic Blade (ranged, high speed, high accuracy single-target attack that slays Spirits, Reimu), Surprise Gunfire (high speed single-target attack, Marisa), Vital Heartbreak (single target attack that slays Giants, Transcendents, Magicians, and Warriors, Reimu), Distracting Arrow (single-target attack that inflicts Blind, Mamizou)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 0
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What is the nature of the bullshit?
Like, is it "You must have exactly and precisely the correct party and skills or you are 100% fucked?" style? Is it "You must survive a 50% save or die repeatedly" style? Is it "If you don't get this specific easily missable thing, you are effectively dead ended" style?
How bullshit is bullshit, I suppose? Can you plan around it if you're pre-informed? Do you have to devote the whole game to specifically countering it, or do you have some freedom to do what you want?
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None of the Strawberry Bose games are of the "you are dead ended if you miss a thing" type. There are no missables in any of the games. Genius of Sappheiros specifically has the "boss is really hard unless you use some x or y strategy that isn't obvious, then it becomes slightly less hard" kind of bullshit, as well as "boss has attack that activates on death and is supposed to be a party wipe unless you know how to counter it". You never have to spend the entire game preparing to counter any part of any of the games. The worst thing I think is the party split sections in GoS, which punish you using only one set of party members, but since low level characters gain XP faster in high level areas, catching up isn't hard. There's some RNG bullshit, I'd say it can get worse than, say, Etrian Odyssey, but it isn't unbearable. You can get through it. And that's mostly just Genius of Sappheiros that's bullshit. Devil of Decline has almost no bullshit except, in my opinion, the final boss of the expansion, and Nightmare of Rebellion only has like... slightly more bullshit?
Long story short, yes there's bullshit, but it's only really unfair in Genius of Sappheiros. DoD and NoR are way better about it.
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Don't forget in GoS: Final Bosses that requires everyone (all 12 of them) at optimum level and equipment. In RPG like FFVI, X, Star Ocean whatever, Tales of Whatever, and many more, you just use the guys that you favor most while leaving everyone underleveled and be done with it. Not that game. And also RNG bullshit, to quote your words: if bosses uses x attack at the wrong time, RESET.
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These are the kinds of things that make me hesitant to plunge in.
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GoS actually has an Easy Modo that makes it a lot less BS, iirc it literally like halves damage taken and doubles damage dealt? Even then it wouldn't be an EASY game by any means but it'd probably mostly take care of it? I haven't actually played Easy Mode. (IF that sounds like it'd make the game a picnic, no, for an average person going in blind it really wouldn't)
That being said, I wouldn't say it's BS. I'd just say it's heavily strategy oriented. Your party is incredibly customizable and if you set it up for each area/boss (of which there's plenty of flexibility if you've figured out good setups, there's plenty) you will slaughter each area/boss without issue (although it's very typical that you'll have to fight a boss once or twice to see what to do). HOWEVER, most people aren't going to be "slaughtering each area without issue", because most people aren't making awesome parties before they even know what's in the area, etc, past just generally good setups that... most of the time are totally good 'nuff :V But again, easy mode was added specifically so that non-rpg-nerds can actually play the game without struggling too badly.
Having played twice, I don't really agree with GoS having "rng bullshit" bosses :S I can't think of any bosses like that. Any attacks that are powerful enough for that either stick to a strict pattern and/or get explicitly declared the turn before use. I mean, of course, fights can go south, but only to the degree that they can in any non-trivial rpgs.
MEANWHILE, Devil of Decline is not a hard game. The final dungeon starts to be a challenge but it IS, after all, the final dungeon, and apart from a few BS random battles you'll probably just run from (the rest of the fights being normal difficulty) it's pretty much fine, just a few hard puzzle bosses that are pretty reasonable considering it's end of game. If you're worried about strawberry-bose games being cruelty-level hard it's mostly just GoS.
I'd love to play NoR but japanese is hard. I'll live vicariously through Validon I guess. :3
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Having played twice, I don't really agree with GoS having "rng bullshit" bosses :S I can't think of any bosses like that. Any attacks that are powerful enough for that either stick to a strict pattern and/or get explicitly declared the turn before use. I mean, of course, fights can go south, but only to the degree that they can in any non-trivial rpgs.
I might have exaggerated on that point. The only boss that I feel is somewhat RNG-ish is the final boss if you decide to tackle it the "first phase you make everyone a dodge tank with Aya" strategy. Which I didn't even do first time I played because I beat it with only one party the first time (yay putting all my stock on said one party). Mostly bad luck more than anything I guess. I dunno, I just don't like the final boss fight tooooo much.
...On another note, I passed out last night while only at the first parts of the Skyscraper, so instead of "getting everything on imgur and posted" like usual, I'm still at "screenshotting and then writing up everything and then linking things". Sob sob.
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I might have exaggerated on that point. The only boss that I feel is somewhat RNG-ish is the final boss if you decide to tackle it the "first phase you make everyone a dodge tank with Aya" strategy. Which I didn't even do first time I played because I beat it with only one party the first time (yay putting all my stock on said one party). Mostly bad luck more than anything I guess. I dunno, I just don't like the final boss fight tooooo much.
I had one hell of a time beating the lunatic version before reaching expansion in my second playthrough of 100% item drops. I haven't seen videos of anyone doing it after Alice's london dolls exploit was patched out. But in other news, my friend misinterpreted my advice and used Alice phase one, Aya dodge tank phase 2, I have no idea HOW THE HELL HE WON THE FIRST TIME HE REACHED FINAL PHASE PROPERLY? There was hella luck involved there.
...On another note, I passed out last night while only at the first parts of the Skyscraper, so instead of "getting everything on imgur and posted" like usual, I'm still at "screenshotting and then writing up everything and then linking things". Sob sob.
LPing is hard~
(I remember when I tried and gave up because like 5 updates in, there had been all of one or two fights, and I just wanted to play the game and stop transcribing dialogue forever without any gameplay. I should have just started heavily paraphrasing.)
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I feel a bit more encouraged now. Normally I blanch at easy mode in RPGs, but on the other hand...
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The only caveat with Easy Mode in Genius of Sappheiros is while you deal more and take less damage, status effects are easier to land... on both sides, for some odd reason. That's the only issue, but otherwise it should make it more bearable.
On another note, I FINALLY finished screenshotting the next update. Writing it up and everything is probably going to take awhile and I might not get it done until tonight because of other IRL stuff I gotta do. Probably should have split the Skyscraper into two parts but oh well. It's not a big problem.
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Holy hell did I take forever to do this and I feel sorry for that.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Part 2- They Go Up
...Man, that's kind of a dated reference. Before we start, I forgot in addition to the three reward code main doppels, we got two reward code sub doppels, the Asking Price Book, and Hell's Ika-bose-chan. Two Commandos with some physical skills and some status resistances, I don't care too much for them. Anyhow, we went back to that one Blue Door Area I ran past before the Skyscraper.
(http://i.imgur.com/x9QYZLd.jpg)
First off, Alternative at the bottom, and High Deuce in the back. Alternatives are weak to Light and kinda don't do a whole lot other than try to debuff you. High Deuces are just stronger Deuces. Not too special.
(http://i.imgur.com/xQIaAy9.jpg)
At the bottom is a Slime, which can try to heal back itself and I think it can reduce our defenses, plus they resist most physical attacks. Hitting them with magic works like a charm. It's literally because of the Slimes and whatnot that I decided to swap Mamizou over to being a mage for the time being. The weird looking things are uh... uhh... I translated them as Zebra Volnehems (their Japanese name is ゼブラヴォルネヘム... if anyone can help me out on what that actually means, I'd appreciate it). They have some Light and Dark attacks, and are otherwise weak to Electric.
(http://i.imgur.com/XhPd9Gr.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nJV8mJz.jpg)
Yukari gives us a little tutorial on how Land works, since it got shifted a decent amount. At the top we have the Land Meter, which determines the power of elements. When elemental skills are used, the Land shifts towards that element. For Light and Dark, it's just a sliding scale back and forth like in the prior games, but with Fire, Electric, and Water, using an element will increase that element's meter while reducing both of the other two's meters (the element it is strong against is shifted more than the one it is weak against). The more filled a meter is, the more damage that element will deal. If it's less filled, that element will do much less damage. Manipulating the Land is a key to dealing with enemies that prefer a certain element.
(http://i.imgur.com/fpJVAiB.jpg)
Meanwhile, we get Reimu's Last Word going.
(http://i.imgur.com/EdLRz41.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gvgmVP7.jpg)
And that's Fantasy Seal, a high-powered multi-target Light attack. Since Reimu's a physical fighter in this run, it's not too useful except on random encounters, but there'll be a way to circumvent that later in the game.
(http://i.imgur.com/W1VNyBH.jpg)
New gap, new doppels. We get Flandre, Mokou, Hatate, Orin, Aya, and Yuugi from this.
Flandre is another Magician, who gives a lot of passive boosts to the casting speed of all-targeting skills as well as increasing the power of her own skill and Fire skills in general. She also has a surprisingly high amount of Melee and Ranged number of hits for a Magician, but her low-ish STR makes it not so great. Her skill, Laevateinn, is just a row-targeting Fire attack, nothing too major, but very powerful.
Mokou, like Meiling, is a Warrior that's more of a tank. Her passives grant a lot of PATK and PDEF, plus she has the ability to auto-revive, the chance of which improves over time. Her skill, Phoenix's Tail, is an all-targeting physical attack that restores HP AND grants Reraise. It's a pretty good skill, all in all.
Hatate, another Ranger, is all about speed and evasion. She passively grants PATK, physical skill speed, and EVA, boosts the expected number of hits for multi-hit attacks, and her skill, Tengu Field, boosts the AGI of all party members. It's not a terribly great field, but if you have little else, or you need to overwrite a field effect in a pinch, Hatate's got your back.
Orin is a Priest with a major focus on speedy and discounted healing. With massive bonuses to healing casting speed, a reduction in healing and revival MP costs by 1, and some nice bonuses to PATK, ACC, and RES, Orin is good for when you really want to get heals off as soon as possible. Her skill, Blazing Wheel, is a row-targeting physical attack that gets stronger for every enemy and ally who was killed, meaning it's a good way to finish a battle or otherwise turn the tide when there's few people left alive.
Aya is our first Specialist, and she's all about turn order manipulation. While her attacking skills are pretty much on par with those a character has without any doppels equipped, making her somewhat weak physically, her casting speed for turn order manipulation is very high, and she grants bonus Evasion Chances and number of hits on Defensive Support eventually, while granting a decent amount of PATH, ACC, and EVA too. Her skill, Illusionary Dominance, is a field that greatly increases the speed of all party members starting with the turn after the skill is cast, making the whole party almost always go first.
Finally, Yuugi, another Specialist, is all about hitting hard and strong. She pretty much only grants PATK, ACC, and boosts to both Critical Hit Chance AND the power of critical hits. She also has high number of hits in both Melee and Ranged, so she's good all around, not to mention since she's a Specialist, you can put her on a bow or gun user and have them be able to wear Heavy Armor as a result (since Warriors and Specialists can wear all types of armor, Rangers and Priests can wear only Light Armor and Clothing, and Magicians can only wear Clothing). Knockout in Three Steps, her skill, is just a really strong physical attack, but its cooldown is very, very, VERY nasty, at least compared to Missing Purple Power.
(http://i.imgur.com/glJbXEf.jpg)
With the Blue Door Area out of the way (and a recipe chest found), off we go to the Skyscraper for real.
(http://i.imgur.com/pcUvmxh.jpg)
Huh, this is a neat little place. Looks like an office building or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/t72pzsH.jpg)
This door, and several others, require Level 2 keycards. With the whole keycard thing, maybe I should have made a Metal Gear Solid reference in the title instead, but then again Shadow Moses wasn't a skyscraper.
(http://i.imgur.com/1AylCx7.jpg)
The priest looking dudes are Shugenjas (which could more literally be translated as "Mountain Ascetics", but I went for the original title). They can buff their own party members and fire Mystic spells at you, but being Magicians, are weak to Dark and to Gun attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/D7SWrXi.jpg)
Getting them isn't too bad, they're another Spiritualist who focuses on Mystic attacks and granting INT bonuses. Later on I believe they grant the ability for magic attacks to critically hit.
(http://i.imgur.com/KJ8OAXd.jpg)
Saya's wondering what these weird balls are around these desks. Hell if I know. Seriously, I actually don't know.
(http://i.imgur.com/h98znI8.jpg)
...You know Saya, you could uh... try pushing the boxes out of the way. Maybe that'll help instead of just letting them block your way up.
(http://i.imgur.com/grh2ii7.jpg)
One of the treasures I got from enemies was this nice Mace with the Double Attack enchantment. Whenever you use a normal attack with a weapon with this enchantment, you attack twice instead of once. It's actually a very good kind of enchantment to have, but they only rarely get applied on weapons when they drop, and I don't know if empty slots can gain that effect.
(http://i.imgur.com/hQDdN7T.jpg)
...Don't ask me why these Magicians aren't wearing a whole lot on the bottom, but they fight with a lot of magic attacks of all kinds. Fortunately, they aren't that fast, so hitting them with Dark or Gun attacks will take them out quick.
(http://i.imgur.com/YrPqzeH.jpg)
Damn, got one on the first try. As Ravagers, they know the first-tier multi-target FIR/ELE/WTR skills, get the first-tier single target Light and Dark skills, and grant some minor bonuses here and there.
(http://i.imgur.com/HubPIfd.jpg)
This elevator requires a Level 1 keycard. Wonder if it's lying around somewhere.
(http://i.imgur.com/0pt8mLM.jpg)
!
(http://i.imgur.com/gVyB7R4.jpg)
Huh, this monster ran off to the next floor.
(http://i.imgur.com/WCIrDfo.jpg)
We corner and attack now!
(http://i.imgur.com/ZMf5dSB.jpg)
This encounter happens to have an Infant Demon in the back and a Hinoenma up front. The Infant Demon could be tricky with some of its Dark attacks, but it falls easy to Light attacks. The Hinoenma is also weak to Light, but it can Curse you with its Dark attacks, so be careful.
(http://i.imgur.com/6MAQEfI.jpg)
Beating this encounter gives us the Level 1 Keycard. Nice, let's head back to that elevator.
(http://i.imgur.com/2sIVipW.jpg)
On the way back, we run into a Raichu Raijuu. It has Electric attacks, of course, but is no match for Fire attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/0qCNf4W.jpg)
We get back to the elevator and have a couple choices to make. We can go to whichever floor, some of them have treasures we can only access from here, others lead to progression.
(http://i.imgur.com/XfZ2sv2.jpg)
Zounds, a trapped floor!
(http://i.imgur.com/XPMrPOY.jpg)
Ohhhhh dear. This encounter is bad news. Up front are Happy 99s, stronger versions of the Alternatives from earlier. They can hit hard, regen health, and take a punch. Weak to Light, but good luck killing them. In the back is a Phantom Building. Remember how annoying it was to kill Mining Villages back in DoD? Phantom Buildings are even worse. They can act twice, hit hard with Dark attacks, and even though it's weak to Light and Fire (being Undead and all), hitting it physically is quite tricky, and it's fairly tanky.
(http://i.imgur.com/9uDodI2.jpg)
Safe to say, FIRST BLOOD.
(http://i.imgur.com/VRdJmvv.jpg)
Try number 2 on the Skyscraper now gives us a Slime. A Commando type, he grants some resistances to physical attacks (Strike, mostly) and a variety of other minor things. Not too great but better than nothing.
(http://i.imgur.com/AeVsPIw.jpg)
Our second trip on the elevator gives us this encounter instead. Muuuuuch easier without the damn Happy 99s.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZkAl6bq.jpg)
Some exploration leads to the Level 2 Keycard. We can go to most parts of this dungeon now, actually.
(http://i.imgur.com/i5vNn7p.jpg)
The Succubus here of course tries to inflict Charm on you however possible. Weak to Light and Stab, thankfully, so kill her quick before she gets those Charms off.
(http://i.imgur.com/lfdLJk4.jpg)
This dungeon is also where we get our first accessories, including elemental resistance accessories, status effect accessories, and stat boosting accessories.
(http://i.imgur.com/GJik2pY.jpg)
Nice, the Hinoenma joins. She's the Dark equivalent of the Ame-no-Hoakari, being a Dark-based Spiritualist. Always nice to have around, truth be told.
(http://i.imgur.com/cUSBtqY.jpg)
We also get a Succubus, an odd combination of Medic/Synergist and Saboteur. She mostly can inflict Charm and comes with some of the basic debuffs like Melt and Acid. Not bad to have around.
(http://i.imgur.com/rQccwkm.jpg)
Zebra Volhenem or however you call it is a Ravager that focuses on Light and Dark skills. He gets the first-tier Light and Dark breath attacks, which are multi-target attacks that are influenced by how much HP you have. He's pretty good to keep around.
(http://i.imgur.com/rUEdIBE.jpg)
And a Raijuu, our first Elementalist that doesn't suck. Resistant to Electric and possessing fairly strong Electric attacks, he's good for boss fights that either require Electric resistance or high damaging Electric spells.
(http://i.imgur.com/6rZBOhN.jpg)
The last elevator requires a Level 3 Keycard. Wonder where one is...
(http://i.imgur.com/ulOwnVd.jpg)
Maybe near this Yin-Yang Orb?
(http://i.imgur.com/Mgv38iy.jpg)
Aha, exactly!
(http://i.imgur.com/7Fn3hT3.jpg)
Of course, on the way back, they kill the lights in the room before the elevator and repopulate it with enemies that try to sneak attack you. How vile!
(http://i.imgur.com/IY7yppl.jpg)
Our final elevator will take us up to the tenth floor. Least we don't need the stairs!
(http://i.imgur.com/fYdaCHs.jpg)
And here we are, right before the boss. In the room below is another recipe chest, so that's good to pick up. Otherwise, we're stopping here. Next time, we won't be fighting the boss, but rather head off to the west of the Skyscraper towards the second major dungeon of this act. Whew. This was a long update to make...
New Doppels: Flandre (Magician), Mokou (Warrior), Hatate (Ranger), Orin (Priest), Aya (Specialist), Yuugi (Specialist), Shugenja (Spiritualist), Magician (Ravager), Slime Commando), Hinoenma (Spiritualist), Succubus (Medic/Synergist/Saboteur), Zebra Volnehem (Ravager), Raijuu (Elementalist)
Doppel Levels: Meiling (Deflect +5), Fairy Maid (INT +1; Control Land, Fire Casting Speed +5), Bakebake (IND +2, Insanity, Poison; IND +3), Traveling Schoolgirl (Active Mental, Counter Magic), Ame-no-Hoakari (Star Shining, Light Land Regen (5); Light Land Regen (10)), Yuugi (Critical Hit Power +5), Hell's Ika-Bose-Chan (Normal Attack Instant Death Chance +1, Energy Hand), Mokou (PDEF +3), Asking Price Book (Magic Reflect +1; Fang Crush), Hatate (Physical Skill Speed +5), Shugenja (Magic Blast, MDEF +3; Water Recovery, INT +3), Sakuya (PATK +5), Flandre (PATK +3), Magician (Star Blaze, DEX +1), Koishi (RES +5), Kedama (HP+2), Toono-san (AGI +1, Mass Bind), Rumia (Weaknening Success Rate +10), Suika (Critical Hit Chance +6), Hinoenma (Shadow Burst, Dark Element Power +10), Eirin (Certain Hit +7), Slime (Poison, VIT +2), Komachi (○ Instant Death), Succubus (Melt, POT +1, Acid), Zebra Volnehem (RES +3, Light Breath, Dark Breath), Raijuu (Electric Land Regen (5), Stepped Leader)
Major Equipment: Longbow (Mamizou), Large Shield (Saya), Mace (Saya), Protection Staff (Mamizou), Flame Rod, Water Rod, Schiavona (Reimu), Ice Ring, Monster Hunter's Bow, Restraint Charm, Keep-Away Muffler (Yukari), Strength Necklace (Saya), Dark Ring
Synthesis Recipes: Magician's Robe, Magic Sealing Mantle, Defense Robe, Studded Leather Armor, Glancing Armor, Poison Serpent Armor, Chain Mail, Ring Mail, Pigeon Blood Mantle, Cat's Eye Mantle, Opal Luminous Mantle, Poet Armor, Chesterfield, Lemellar Armor
Synthesis Done: Leather Armor (Marisa), High Magic Kimono (Reimu), Chain Mail (Reimu), Lemellar Armor (Yukari), Chesterfield (Saya)
Sparked Skills: Meteor Shower (all-targeting attack, Reimu), Razor Wind (row-targeting attack, Reimu), Escape Slash (penetrating attack, Reimu), Brandish (row-targeting skill that can influct Stun, Yukari), Spitfire (high power single-target attack, Marisa), High Velocity (penetrating attack, Marisa), Heavy Charge (penetrating attack that reduces PATK for a turn, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 1 (!)
Total Death Count: 1
The death count begins in earnest.
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From a traditional japanese school to a modern skyscraper? I'm liking this game version of the Outside World.
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It was only today I noticed that I forgot that "Water Recovery" was my old crappy translation for the skill that I used back in the DoD LP, but when I went through and did skill translations, I retranslated it as Healing Water. Well I'm bad.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Part 3- Like Talking to a Wall
So, last time we finished up the Skyscraper. On the path between the first little miniature Skyscraper with the Blue Door Area and the second Skyscraper that made up the actual dungeon, the path split off. We went east last time, so now we go west at that fork.
(http://i.imgur.com/YWHWFto.jpg)
One of the first things we run into is, naturally, a Blue Door Area, one that's actually fairly tricky if you do it before the Skyscraper. Good thing we went east first, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/UkggTPE.jpg)
Oh hey there's stairs this time around.
(http://i.imgur.com/gs90HvF.jpg)
Four new enemies right off the bat. Up top is a Great Beetle, who... exists. Just punch it with Water and Strike attacks. Below is an Angel, who can hit with Light attacks and is considered to have a shield. Dark attacks are effective, but his decent magic defense means one Shadow Bolt alone won't be a one-shot. Below him is a Schwarze Katze (Black Cat in German), who's all about buffing her allies, and can also use Hellclaw Assassination, which can poison you, but the poison is nowhere near as strong as Toono-san's. Finally, we have... I went with the Chinese name for this one, and called it a Shuihu (there are a lot of enemies in this game that prefer the Chinese name over the Japanese name, for some odd reason). Lots of Water attacks, but weak to Light and Electric.
(http://i.imgur.com/aIEZMHz.jpg)
I started on this update so late last night that I quit early and finished it up today, hence why we're back outside. We run across a Yuki-onna, a fairly dangerous enemy with a lot of Water attacks. Electric and I think Light do the trick here, but watch out, her attacks are deadly.
...That reminds me, the artist who did the portraits for all the characters also did a little drawing with Arare and the Yuki-onna enemy. Not necessarily the one I have as my avatar as of this post, but it was in the same post.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ktjazds.jpg)
Back in the Blue Door Area, we run into... this monster gave me trouble in terms of translation. Literally, his name is Byouki, or Nekooni depending on how which reading you use (the furigana does say Byouki though so that's the actual name). In Chinese that's Maogui, which is a type of Chinese youkai. We could be simple and just call it a Ghost Cat, but for particular reasons I'll just go with the Chinese name even if the furigana calls it by its Japanese name. Anyhow, it focuses a lot more on the whole Hellclaw Assassination thing, but it's no better at it than Schwarze Katze's are. Light is the way to go here.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ktjazds.jpg)
In the back we have a Crazy Undine, which I think is some sort of reference. As a Warrior, she's weak to Dark and Gun attacks but she tries to slap you silly with Water and Stab attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/wVEv3eA.jpg)
And so we get a Schwarze Katze, one of the most important doppels in the entire game. A Medic/Synergist, she has all of the basic multi-target buffs, much like Lyrica did in Devil of Decline. As such, she's your go-to for both offensive and defensive buffs of all kind, especially the mighty Wind Shield, the EVA up buff we get soon.
(http://i.imgur.com/CMZ8ai6.jpg)
This Blue Door Area just has a gap as its ultimate prize, giving Patchouli, Remilia, Eiki, and Keine.
Patchouli is basically the master of Elementalist-type sub doppels, as well as Ravagers that focus on FIR/ELE/WTR attacks. A Magician at heart (not a warrior as ChefMKT tends to use her as), her skills focus all on boosting the power, element power, and casting speed of FIR/ELE/WTR type spells. Her skill, Philosopher's Stone, is a multi-target spell that deals Fire, Electric, and Water damage all at once. If an enemy has a weakness to any of those, even if it also has a resistance to the others, will still get hit by its weakness over the other elements. It's a good screen clear spell as a result.
Remilia is a high speed, high evasion Warrior who is well suited for spear users. The evasion bonuses she gets are insane, and she even gets more Evasion Chances later on. Her skill, Scarlet Destiny, is a very high speed single target attack that grants EVA Up after it's used for three turns.
Eiki is the last of the trinity of Magician doppels that focus on status effects, in her case Variety effects. Granting similar bonuses that Suwako and Yuyuko give to Permanent effects and Quick effects respectively, she also has a simple skill, Guilty or Not Guilty, which is a row-targeting Light spell.
Keine is another Specialist who deals with Field effects almost exclusively. While her focus in number of hits is on Defensive Support, she also has a decent amount of Melee, Healing Magic, and Offensive Support skills, and she even later gains an extra Melee hit to give her a more offensive edge. Otherwise, her bonuses range from buffing PATK, PDEF, IND, and HP, to reducing the MP cost and increasing the duration of Fields. Her skill, Three Sacred Treasures, increases the damage done and reduces the damage taken by all allies. Quite the useful skill, if you have nothing else to put up. And to think Emerald Pentagram was so late to get in Devil of Decline.
(http://i.imgur.com/PdQrW8N.jpg)
On the way out, we get a Crazy Undine. She's an odd Commando with a variety of offensive and defensive skills, with a focus on granting Deflection. She's also one of the first doppels to have a Chaser skill. When you use a Chaser, that character will follow up attacks of the same element to the same targets. I don't know whether Chasers are as good as they were in GoS, or as bad as they were in DoD. I never really used them, but maybe once I get one of the main doppels that focus on boosting Chasers (because there's three that do that, I kid you not), I'll try it?
We leave the Blue Door Area only to come upon...
Cutscene- The Great Wall of China (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gVzpKxSuvY)
...the Great Wall of China. No I am not joking. Though the literal translation of the area name is something like "wall that is one thousand miles long", the dialogue does refer to China at one point, so it's certainly that. Why the hell is the Great Wall of China... I dunno, not in mainland China?
Also I apologize in the video for the random Windows sound, dunno what I did for that to happen, and it's too late to reset and rerecord it.
(http://i.imgur.com/npNAkBr.jpg)
Well, we're here, at least, and there's a Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ey82LBM.jpg)
Based on the looks of it, the Great Wall of China runs around the whole of Toono right now. I mean, I know Toono was a castle town, but I don't think it was uh... like that.
(http://i.imgur.com/Yai2GOE.jpg)
Dungeon Theme- The Cage that Surrounds the Town (Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMkhZwcmEBE&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=21)
Well, welcome to the Great Wall of China, the second of three major dungeons for this act.
(http://i.imgur.com/Yg7h9A0.jpg)
New enemies immediately. The Agar up top can use Strong Acid and reduce the whole party's defenses, but is Transcendent, so Stab attacks work well, plus Lightning too. Down below is a uh... Zeni. I dunno what it's supposed to actually mean or be, but regardless, weak to Electric, and all it does is try to Blind you and whatnot.
(http://i.imgur.com/z75fZcP.jpg)
Up front we have a Phantom Dream Taoist. Like a similar type of enemy in Devil of Decline's postgame, these guys try to debuff you to hell and back. Not too dangerous, plus Dark and Gun attacks murder them.
(http://i.imgur.com/KFSopNI.jpg)
Yashas are a fairly rare enemy here, and come with dangerous physical attacks, including Falling Leaves, which if it doesn't one-shot a person, will most likely Blind them. Weak to Slash and Light, but with roughly 1000 HP, it's tougher than Phantom Buildings or Happy 99s.
(http://i.imgur.com/voUrSJu.jpg)
In the back is the Crossbow Soldier Company, a fairly common enemy here. Uses a variety of Bow-type attacks, but is cripplingly weak to Dark, Gun, and Strike attacks. Guns tear them to shreds since they count as Strike damage, and combine that with a Slayer, and, well... yeah. I nearly did 800 damage to one with a critical hit once.
(http://i.imgur.com/uk5LTxP.jpg)
Huh, wonder why this room is purple-ish on the mini map?
(http://i.imgur.com/ouhEBFH.jpg)
This is why. This green crystal thing here is a Barrier Stone, which is a key component in the puzzles of quite a few dungeons. This dungeon serves as an introduction to the concept, and later dungeons make the process of using them much trickier. They're kinda like the Sealstones from Valkyrie Profile 2 in how they interact with the nearby area. Any area under the influence of one is colored that pinkish purple color on the minimap.
(http://i.imgur.com/lkP0HYV.jpg)
See these crystals that appeared back in this room after we took the Barrier Stone? When a Barrier Stone is in an area, all crystals like this disappear, but if the Barrier Stone isn't active, then they show back up. Most of the puzzles have to do with figuring how what paths you're allowed to take in order to swap a Barrier Stone into another dais.
(http://i.imgur.com/HbrqsRP.jpg)
Looks like this part of the dungeon over here needs one. Just need to find the dais.
(http://i.imgur.com/HMqWPot.jpg)
Whelp, here it is, on the upper floors.
(http://i.imgur.com/MrGl8Bf.jpg)
With that out of the way, the crystal downstairs is gone. Progression!
(http://i.imgur.com/9NYNLcf.jpg)
I wonder what the point of this little wall area is. It goes nowhere, and doesn't even have enemies on it. Weird.
(http://i.imgur.com/vG9eDvD.jpg)
Another crystal here. Time to find another Barrier Stone. Also for areas like this where you pass through doorways into secret darkened areas, they also won't fill in on your minimap. It's kinda weird.
(http://i.imgur.com/VHYj6bh.jpg)
Well, here's the dais, but where's the stone?
(http://i.imgur.com/Eucawaa.jpg)
All the way over here, apparently. Before taking it, you actually want to explore downstairs and to the right first. You can't go that way if you take it, because crystals show up. I suppose this is in case you crossed from the right to this area up here, to try to teach you sometimes you can't always just go back the way you came. There are some puzzles later on that make use of this.
(http://i.imgur.com/PGoIqG7.jpg)
The aforementioned blocked stairs, but as you can see, I explored over to the right, so no problem, I can just go back the other way.
(http://i.imgur.com/9J8Syo2.jpg)
And there we go. Almost done!
(http://i.imgur.com/PLy5nZu.jpg)
Oh dear, two more enemies. The Wall of Ice in front is pretty tanky, and can throw Cold Breath at you over and over. It's pretty dangerous, and even its weakness, Electric, won't instantly gib it. In the back is a Dragon Maid, our first Dragon-type enemy of the game. Comes standard with all the three basic elemental breaths to screw up your day.
(http://i.imgur.com/jx7ZMS5.jpg)
And not much later, we come to the last part before the boss. I think there's one more room where it's safe to walk into before triggering the actual fight, but I don't risk it. Next time, there's only one more direction we haven't explored in: the cave right near the Skyscraper. I'm probably going to just do the Cave next time, since there's like... two or so Blue Door Areas in that general direction, and I'll probably do those before I head into the last of the three dungeons, which I'll do in the update after the next one. I say we're about almost two-thirds through this act already. Not bad.
New Doppels: Schwarze Katze (Medic/Synergist), Patchouli (Magician), Remilia (Warrior), Eiki (Magician), Keine (Specialist), Crazy Undine (Commando)
Doppel Levels: Magician (Shadow Bolt, Fire Element Power +5), Mokou (Auto-Revive 12), Hinoenma (INT +1), Three Fairies of Light (Normal Attack Stun Chance 12), Slime (Strong Acid, DEX +2), Succubus (DEX +1), Flandre (All-targeting Skill Casting Speed +25), Meiling (Shield Activation Rate +6), Raijuu (Electric Land Regen (10), Discharge Breath), Zebra Volnehem (POT +1), Schwarze Katze (Accurate Weapon; ○ Sleep, Wind Shield), Crazy Undine (DEX +2, Healing Water; STR +2, Magical Defense), Remilia (Physical Skill Casting Speed +10, EVA +15), Sakuya (Slayer Power +12), Bakebake (IND +4), Fairy Maid (Electric Skill Casting Speed +5), Kedama (Shield Wall, POT +2), Traveling Schoolgirl (Healing Water), Ame-no-Hoakari (Light Breath, INT +1), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Skill Casting Speed +5), Asking Price Book (◎ Blind)
Major Equipment: Murata Rifle (Marisa), Zaret (Yukari), Great Broadaxe (Saya), Mage Masher (Reimu), Danmaku Guarder (Marisa), Flame Ring, Nerve Charm, Fiber Guarder (Reimu), Keen Pendant (Mamizou), Pilum, Variety Charm, Light Ring, Perseverance Rosary (Marisa)
Sparked Skills: Thor's Hammer (Single target Electric elemental attack, Saya), Burst Shock (all-targeting attack, Saya), Sturmovik (all-targeting attack, Marisa)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 1
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I've been pushing these off at night from tiredness and wanting to play other games. By the way, Shining Shooting Star's a pretty fun game.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Part 4- Pluto's Cavern
I'll be legitimately surprised if someone knows what game I'm referencing.
(http://i.imgur.com/0d8RDuX.jpg)
Once again, I fiddled with OBS upon loading my save, and once again it stuck me with an encounter. Xianglui here is uh... a mini-boss, to put it bluntly. A Dragon with 4000 HP, high damaging attacks, and no real weakness, it's either a long, hard fight, or death. I sadly thought of swapping Marisa to Sanae too late (since right now she has the fortunate distinction of having Schwarze Katze on her as of the moment), and I nearly wipe before deciding to book it. Since this is a rather rare encounter, I'll probably not run into another one unless I specifically try to hunt it down.
(http://i.imgur.com/l4g6nF0.jpg)
But that's enough of messing around the Great Wall of China, time to go into this cave.
(http://i.imgur.com/x8MA1RH.jpg)
And it's... just a cave. No new music either, just the Snow-Covered Road theme (actually on that note, I retranslated it as Snowy Road and, like with the Healing Water mistake, I went with my older translation over my newer translation, good job self).
(http://i.imgur.com/JFwsT94.jpg)
This place is all about Light and Dark, and that's plain as day with the Ghosts and Mikos (Shrine Maidens) here. Ghosts pretty much can't be touched by physical attacks unless they have an element tied to them (so attacks like Flame Whip, Thor's Hammer, and Icicle Javelin will hit). Otherwise weak to Light. I make use of these ones to proc some sparks, but otherwise isn't too useful for that purpose.
Otherwise, the Mikos are weak to Dark and Guns, but can Silence you and blast you with Light attacks. Be wary of them.
(http://i.imgur.com/Brhvsw2.jpg)
...Damnit, Skype notifications strike again. Anyhow, that weird looking thing is a Murei, who uh... just kinda is there. Weak to Light as per usual for Undead, and not really much of a thing.
(http://i.imgur.com/fSTTJ6T.jpg)
In the back we got a Fighter, an upgrade to the Fairy Warriors we saw earlier. Coming in sword, spear, axe, and bow types, they're weak to Dark and Gun, but are not too much more powerful than Fairy Warriors.
(http://i.imgur.com/gNyNwKW.jpg)
So Murei here is a Medic/Synergist who has a variety of healing spells, and pretty much nothing but them. The passives are weirdly all over the place, but they're one of the few doppels to give the almighty Moonlight healing spell.
(http://i.imgur.com/5fGaEd5.jpg)
Mikos are also Medic/Synergists, who have their own healing spells. They are the first to grant you a resurrection spell, get the Sunlight spell (I don't think it's as good as Moonlight but it can be fairly handy), as well as getting Dispel, which allows you to rid either an ally or enemy of all Variety effects, both buffs and debuffs.
(http://i.imgur.com/EBgOZPP.jpg)
And we find one of the two exits. This one leads to the third dungeon, and there's still another exit that leads to an optional area.
(http://i.imgur.com/TdpUpuB.jpg)
We're all the way over here in the east now, but there's a cave exit up north too.
(http://i.imgur.com/55ajUCs.jpg)
On the way further east, we have a Blue Door Area. I'll deal with it soon.
(http://i.imgur.com/F4FsGW7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bgKHk4W.jpg)
This over here is the Volcano Road... because you know, there's just random entrances to the PITS OF HELL in Japan.
(http://i.imgur.com/V9JRmv6.jpg)
We find another Waypoint over here.
(http://i.imgur.com/c5F5DW1.jpg)
Looks like another part of the Great Wall of China, but there's a large gate. Going up the hill triggers...
Cutscene: The Large Gate (https://youtu.be/hmj3R0s5Crs)
...a cutscene that more or less spells out that "we're stuck for the time being, gotta go back".
(http://i.imgur.com/pt5VNe1.jpg)
There's three images above the door. If you look carefully, you can see a boar, a deer, and a butterfly... hmmm... I wonder what it is we have to do in order to get through?
(http://i.imgur.com/zj2E2Qj.jpg)
Back in the Cave, we get our first upgrade to our number of hits. In this case, it's our best number that's getting upgraded from 4 to 5. Later levels will increase our not-so-high numbers, as well as our Evasion Chances across the board.
(http://i.imgur.com/dCbcNON.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1Z85hXp.jpg)
Looks like we found the other exit. This is the last Waypoint we can get that isn't inside a dungeon for this act (technically there's the end-of-dungeon Waypoint in the Volcano Road, but again, doesn't really count).
(http://i.imgur.com/UftksAV.jpg)
Our ultimate reward for taking this path is a Blue Door Area, which is probably one of the larger ones of this act.
(http://i.imgur.com/UftksAV.jpg)
Of course, we sneak around up top to grab a Power Extension. Niiice.
(http://i.imgur.com/AIxDAci.jpg)
Inside ye ol' Blue Door, we find Creepers and a Pink Agar. Creepers are... kinda unnotable. Throw Fire at them and they just sorta vanish. They can self-destruct, but you should have an all-targeting Fire attack from the Magician. That can wipe every Creeper out in one shot. The Pink Agar is just a stronger Agar, otherwise weak to Electric and Stab as usual.
(http://i.imgur.com/f7wL2fd.jpg)
No need for this, buuut
(http://i.imgur.com/KhPugWK.jpg)
As you would expect, Marisa's Last Word is Master Spark, which is a penetrating Mystic attack. It doesn't do as much since she's right now a gun user, but it's still there.
(http://i.imgur.com/pfmcTQU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/T0mGWEu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xFKBCIB.jpg)
Mamizou Danmaku in Ten Transformations, Mamizou's Last Word, is a lot like Kappa Camoflauge from GoS and DoD. It gives all allies a barrier that prevents one attack. This cannot be bypassed in any way other than having it being dispelled beforehand, so it's a good way to take a nuke that Quadruple Barrier otherwise wouldn't.
(http://i.imgur.com/MnRl5Wz.jpg)
Niiice, a Dragon Maid. A Ravager, she starts off with the three basic breath attacks and later on gets the three basic Hand skills. The Hand skills aren't nearly as good as in DoD, and they cost a lot of Power to boot, but the breath attacks are pretty solid. A good doppel to have around for the early game.
(http://i.imgur.com/TRuRVBD.jpg)
Recipes, yaaaay.
(http://i.imgur.com/q4qsx4i.jpg)
And a gap on top of it, giving us Kanako, Utsuho, Kogasa, and Momiji.
Kanako is a Ranger with a big focus on power and attacks that hit multiple enemies. Her passives grant bonuses mostly to HP and MDEF, and otherwise boost the power of all-targeting or row-targeting attacks. Meteoric Onbashira, her skill, is just a high-powered all-targeting attack.
Utsuho, a Magician, is the LGT/DRK/MYS equivalent of Patchouli, granting every possible bonus to those elements. Her skill, Mega Flare, is just an all-targeting Mystic attack that hits hard.
Kogasa is a weird Magician, with high MP and a focus on single-target spells, mostly on making sure they come out really, really fast. Otherwise granting bonuses to EVA and Weight reduction, her skill is Umbrella Cyclone, which is an all-targeting Water attack that restores MP on hit.
Finally, Momiji is all about chasers, boosting the speed, power, and number of times chasers can activate, alongside some nice ACC bonuses. Her skill is Rabies Bite, which just is a full-on "chases all physical attacks" skill. I never really used Momiji since I don't know how good chasers are. The big problem with her also is that her number of hits on Melee and Ranged attacks are not too good, and it's in fact her Defensive Support number of hits that's high. After some quick tests I did after I otherwise finished screenshotting (which ended up in accidentally getting a doppel I missed, which I'll append to the end of this update), I've concluded that they use Melee/Ranged number of hits and are otherwise not that strong. Maybe her passives make them relevant, buuuut I'm not willing to give it too much of a shot.
(http://i.imgur.com/dmNtoBx.jpg)
We transition to the Blue Door Area that was near the Volcano Road. Wanyudo down there can stun your party and otherwise screw you over with Fire, but can be taken down by Light and Water. Up top is a Fallen Angel, which, oddly enough, is still weak to Dark. It uses Light attacks and can Blind your party members, which make it a high priority target. Too bad they're a bit tough to kill.
(http://i.imgur.com/OqhoVSv.jpg)
Oh boy, a Caviar. Possessors of the infamous HDD Crash, they can inflict Removal on your party. Removed party members cannot be revived, but all that happens to their main doppel is they get unequiped, but not KOed. At the same time, all sub doppels won't get any XP after the battle. Caviars can thankfully be taken down by Electric attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZxQoKb4.jpg)
Uggh, a Nashorn. They have Main Cannon, that good ol' dangerous as all get out attack, and while they can be taken down by Water, being too slow on the draw can really screw over the party.
(http://i.imgur.com/pt8uZnn.jpg)
Up top there is an Amikiri, who uh... exists. He has Drill, which can debuff defense, but otherwise he's not too bad. Weak to Light, and possibly something else I don't remember.
(http://i.imgur.com/89T6Hrq.jpg)
Moar recipes.
(http://i.imgur.com/gjSa78N.jpg)
And our last gap for the act. We're actually almost out of gaps in the entire game, there's only... I think two or three left, and they're all in the next act. Anyhow, this one gives Nitori, Kaguya, Byakuren, Nazrin, and Alice.
Nitori, much like Momiji, focuses on chasers, but she works mostly with FIR/ELE/WTR chasers and elemental attacks. She boosts the power of chasers as well as the power and element power of FIR/ELE/WTR attacks, and on top of that, she shores up an... interesting thing related to sparking weapon skills. I'll describe it after I finish listing this batch of doppels. As for Nitori's skill, it's Ghost Cucumber, which chases all FIR/ELE/WTR skills. Eh. Not too great but at least she can shore up that weakness I'll talk about later.
Kaguya is a Magician who is all about Land manipulation. When she casts spells, the Land will change extremely rapidly. In fact, it might be a good idea to start off certain battles that rely on Land manipulation and have her use, say, the Fairy Maid's Land Control to basically shunt an element extremely far. After that, you can switch back off to, say, Patchouli, Utsuho, or Rumia to keep up on the damage. Her skill, Tree Ocean of Hourai, is an all-targeting magic spell of the same element as the highest Land power. It otherwise is Mystic elemental if the Land is fully neutral.
Byakuren is your answer to a general use status effect Magician with good things all around. She focuses mainly on boosting IND, and later on she raises Offensive Support number of hits passively, which ultimately makes her a good buffer and debuffer. Her skill is Star Maelstrom, an all-targeting Light elemental spell that can inflict Silence.
Nazrin is more or less Sanae, but with single-target buffs. Another Priest, she boosts the casting speed of all Defensive Support skills, and otherwise grants high bonuses to single-target buffs. Her skill, Pendulum Guard, reduces the amount of damage done to a single ally by 75% for a couple turns.
Finally, there's Alice, a Specialist with a focus on tanking magic. Right off the bat, she gains a passive that doubles the activation rate of shields against magic attacks, and otherwise boosts the casting speed of skills that defend against elemental attacks, and also gets some hefty MDEF. Her skill, Marionette Parrar, reduces all magic damage done to the party by 90% for that turn. A very, very, VERY good skill against big magic nukes.
Right, so that thing I was going to mention. All skills that can be sparked have a type, a number from one to eight. Much like in DoD, each character has a hidden proficiency or weakness to what skills they can learn. If a character has a 0 associated with a type, they cannot learn skills of that type... UNLESS they have a certain doppel equipped, which will convert that 0 to a 1. We haven't gotten all the doppels that can do that yet, but we actually have quite a few. For example, Nitori shores up type 7 skills, which Marisa and Mamizou are bad with. As for the eight types of skills, I'll try to describe them as best as possible.
Type 1- General skills and Slayers
Type 2- High powered single-target attacks, sometimes ignores defenses
Type 3- Penetrating attacks and defense piercing attacks
Type 4- Row-targeting attacks
Type 5- All-targeting attacks
Type 6- Permanent Effect inflicting attacks
Type 7- Elemental attacks
Type 8- Other attacks (usually have special effects or otherwise high powered); the "ultimate" attacks of each weapon type are usually this type
Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses with different types. People have a 0, 1, or 2 in each type. 0 means they can't learn it, 1 means they can, 2 supposedly means they have a better chance of learning that type, but according to the blog I get all this information from, there's no real difference between 1 and 2. Each character has the following strengths/weaknesses:
Saya: Can learn- 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8; Can't learn- 2, 5
Yukari: Can learn- 1, 2, 3, 5, 7; Can't learn- 4, 6, 8
Mamizou: Can learn- 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8; Can't learn- 2, 7
Reimu: Can learn- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7; Can't learn- 6, 8
Marisa: Can learn- 1, 2, 4, 5, 6; Can't learn- 3, 7, 8
Long story short, everyone can learn type 1 attacks, while Saya and Mamizou pretty much get type 8 attacks to themselves. As it turns out, Yukari, being my spear user, is in a bad spot, because there are a good amount of type 4 attacks that spears have. Fortunately for her, if I really wanted to, I can give her Komachi to shore up that weakness. On that note, all of the seven types that people have various weaknesses to have both a Warrior and a Ranger that shore up a weakness to that type. They're as follows:
Type 2: Suika/Hatate
Type 3: Remilia/Eirin
Type 4: Komachi/???
Type 5: Sakuya/Kanako
Type 6: ???/???
Type 7: Nitori/Koishi
Type 8: ???/???
When we get the doppels that are missing from that list, I'll make sure to note them down when we get them.
(http://i.imgur.com/B5EUcES.jpg)
Also, nearly forgot to add this, but when testing some chaser stuff briefly after I thought I was done, I ended up getting a Yuki-onna. Like the Raijuu, it's a Water-based Elementalist that doesn't suck. She'll be useful for the upcoming area.
...That said, we're actually done with this update. Lot of explaining here near the end, CJD2524 if you're around, if you've got anything else to note on what you've found out about sparking on your end (since I remember back before the expansion came out, you were doing a lot of testing all over the place), feel free to mention it. Next time, we're heading into the Volcano Road, the last dungeon for this act. After that, we'll be taking on the three bosses of this act, which will be a mostly video update (I'm planning on making a video of my winning run of each boss fight).
Summary:
New Doppels: Murei (Medic/Synergist), Miko (Medic/Synergist), Dragon Maid (Ravager), Kanako (Ranger), Utsuho (Magician), Kogasa (Magician), Momiji (Specialist), Nitori (Warrior), Kaguya (Magician), Byakuren (Magician), Nazrin (Priest), Alice (Specialist), Yuki-onna (Elementalist)
Doppel Levels: Shugenja (Penetration, MDEF +5), Sanae (Defensive Support Skill Casting Speed +5), Suika (PATK +4), Magician (Electric Element Power +5), Slime (Physical Defense, POT +2), Hinoenma (DEX +1), Succubus (Temptation, POT +2), Raijuu (INT +1), Zebra Volnehem (VIT +1, Alignment Shelter), Miko (...Empty level? Really? Okay then; Sunlight; Dispel), Murei (Moonlight; Clearance; DEX +2), Rumia (FIR/ELE/WTR/LGT/DRK/MYS Element Power +20), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Element Power +10; FIR/ELE/WTR Power +15), Eirin (ACC +7), Crazy Undine (AGI +2), Schwarze Katze (DEX +1), Remilia (PATK +3), Sakuya (PATK +8), Dragon Maid (HP +5; ○ Stun, Element Shelter)
Major Equipment: Battleaxe, Gale Boots (Marisa), Soul Charm, Lightning Rod, Daihannya (Reimu), Fluid Axe (Saya), Type 38 Rifle (Marisa), Nambu Pistol, Joukahainen, Sniper Anklet (Marisa), Steropes (Yukari), Surukuku Neri, CD-ROM
Synthesis Recipes: Sacred Down Feather, Wicked Cardigan, Hide Armor, Fascination Armor, Hero Armor, Glacis Robe, Strength Obi, Joseon Dynasty Armor, High Class Sailor Suit, Ice Chain Mail
Synthesis Done: Hide Armor (Yukari)
Sparked Skills: Weak Point (single-target attack that inflicts Stun, the chance to stun increases if the enemy is inflicted with a Variety effect, Yukari), Flame Whip (single-target Fire attack, Reimu), Power Hit (single-target attack, Saya)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 1
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What the hell is that dragon?! JRPG really can be scary sometimes.
Can't you put the game right in the very center of the screen?
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What the hell is that dragon?! JRPG really can be scary sometimes.
Can't you put the game right in the very center of the screen?
The dragon is based off of a mythological being, so uh... that's something that exists in folklore.
And by center of the screen, do you mean center align all the pictures? I mean, I can do that, it'll take awhile to do it for every single picture, but I can do it... I think. Might as well test in this post with the Xianglui picture from last update.
(http://i.imgur.com/0d8RDuX.jpg)
...Looks like I can. Huh. Well, I can try. Probably not now, I've been busy working on the translation spreadsheet (I've actually put off working on the next update until I can finish up translating everything related to sub doppels, since that's been one of the most annoying things to do). Speaking of, I just finished up translating every active skill each sub doppel gets, just need to work on their passives. I should start posting parts of the spreadsheet at some point, but it's so unformatted and messy I'd rather wait until I can get things done and cleaned up.
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Ah, no. I meant put the game window on the center of the screen on your monitor so that Skype notification doesn't get recorded as well. Dammit, my english can be shitty sometimes.
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So I somehow both got a lot of progress done on my translation spreadsheet, AND I have an update ready to go. How about that? Also, noted on that, Your Everyday NEET. I do have it centralized, mind you. It's just that the game window actually takes up most of my screen (1280x720, the pictures are just smaller since I have to conform to MoTK's image size limits and 640x360 is the highest I can go that's the same aspect ratio), so I'd have to put it at the top or something.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Part 5- Highway to Hell
I'm pretty sure I've used that title for either Genius of Sappheiros or Devil of Decline for the Hell of Blazing Fires.
(http://i.imgur.com/GSl90E4.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: Volcanic Cavern of Scorching Heat (The Bridge People No Longer Cross) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kLgc8rtLQ&index=20&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
The only Subterranean Animism song in the game, of course, goes to the underground fire-based dungeon of hell. Then again this kind of area's been in every Strawberry Bose game up to now... barring Phantasmal Summoners (although the Palace of Earth Spirits is a dungeon in that game). Either way, onwards through the Volcano Road!
(http://i.imgur.com/7AGjImZ.jpg)
Right off the bat, there's a Barrier Stone. It's actually safe to take it without getting screwed by crystals. The Barrier Stone puzzles in this place are even more straightforward than the ones in the Great Wall of China.
(http://i.imgur.com/wuY4WNi.jpg)
...IT BEGINS AGAIN. So that Mind Flayer down there. Weak to Stab, but otherwise can use Mind Blast, the good ol' "deal damage and inflict Paralysis on everyone" move no one really loves. Fortunately, Yukari has Flashing Pierce, which can one-shot them and has the same sort of speed as Falcon Slash did in the prior games (sadly Falcon Slash isn't a skill in this game), but if they show up in groups, uhhhhhh... you might want to be fast on the trigger. Up top is a Hellhound, who can use Flame Breath, but otherwise isn't too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/RrUg6d4.jpg)
The weird cloud thing is a Akurojin-no-Hi... which I guess is some sort of fire spirit from the little bit of research I had to do to come up with the name. Weak to Water, and otherwise not too dangerous, all it does is spam fire attacks at us. Mostly Fire Arrow. Not even something scary like Detonate.
(http://i.imgur.com/lG95K1h.jpg)
Yaaaay, we get a Mind Flayer. Another Spiritualist with a focus on Mystic, it grants a weakness to Stab, but in exchange boosts Mystic casting speed and gets a few really nice Mystic spells, including Rainbow Ray, one of the earliest tier two spells we can get (theoretically the Raijuu can get one too, but at like... level 7).
(http://i.imgur.com/MsdBwmW.jpg)
A Dragonfly lurks in the back. Quick on the draw, it pelts you with Flame Breath unless you can nail it quickly. Weak to Water, as with most things in this dungeon.
(http://i.imgur.com/U4LPatS.jpg)
And this is as far as we go this way. Might as well grab that Barrier Stone and try to find a dais.
(http://i.imgur.com/sEn44pI.jpg)
The Hellhound joins us, and he isn't that bad. The first Fire-based Elementalist to not suck, he is actually slightly better at being a Fire Elementalist than the Raijuu and Yuki-onna are for their respective elements.
He also gets Detonate fairly early, and it's our first second tier spell we'll get.
(http://i.imgur.com/4a0D1Fg.jpg)
Ugh, a Land Turtle. Much like turtle type enemies in prior games, they can defend allies and are otherwise tough to bring down. Not nearly as bad as the Xianglui, at least, and Saya thankfully got the Fluid Axe (a weapon I never really got before), so she can actually basically half their health with Power Hit alone, even when they trigger their shield.
(http://i.imgur.com/azPptxP.jpg)
And here's the dais. At this point I did leave the Barrier Stone here, but I remembered there was a doppel I wanted to get back in one of the Blue Door Areas. I missed two up to now. I don't really want to 100% doppel collection, but the ones in this act are so easy to get if you put even just a little effort in, why NOT get them?
(http://i.imgur.com/HbtpzQH.jpg)
So, I got the Nashorn, and this is the only run of this game I've ever gotten it, mainly because this enemy ONLY appears in this one Blue Door Area. If you miss it here, well good job, you'll never get it elsewhere unless you come back. Had to grind a bit for it, but it was worth it, I feel. Anyhow, it's another Electric Elementalist that boosts Electric casting speed and gets Thunderbolt as early as level 2. Mind you, Thunderbolt is a tier two spell. At this point in the game, tier two spells are pretty much one-shots against enemies weak to that type. It's like how in Devil of Decline, once you got Thunderclap from Aya, you steamrolled the first half of the second stratum. The power difference is THAT big. It'll be the same way once we get our first tier three spells near the end of the next act, and tier four spells near the end of the game and/or in the postgame.
(http://i.imgur.com/W2IxsQv.jpg)
Back in the Volcano Road proper, we grab a Akurojin-no-Hi. Just like the Hellhound, it's a Fire Elementalist. This one is the actual equivalent of the Raijuu and Yuki-onna from earlier, being the one that actually has the Fire Land Regen and the like. It also gets Detonate fairly early too. Note we're getting our first tastes of tier two spells left and right now. Hint hint, make sure you have second tiers of all the elements coming up, we'll need them. They make the act's bosses easier to deal with.
(http://i.imgur.com/CMskWMf.jpg)
In the back we got a Togakushi Kureha. I think the name refers to some sort of Japanese legend with falling leaves I'm not too familiar with. Anyhow, she's a lot like the Swordmasters from the Netherworld in Genius of Sappheiros, and brings rather dangerous physical attacks to the table, including the very dangerous Gale Sword. Since they're Giants, they're weak to Light and Slash. The Sword of Light I got back over at the Blue Door Area on Reimu can make these things a joke... if Reimu could go faster than they could. Which she can't right now. Heavy armor will do that to you (to note, even Saya goes faster due to her having light armor on).
(http://i.imgur.com/pY5GJRN.jpg)
Ah crap, a Fire Giant. They're the mini-boss like enemy of this area, but nowhere nearly as difficult to deal with as the Xianglui. As a Giant, he is weak to Light and Slash, plus he's also hugely weak to Water, so spells like Cold Wind and the like will help. Sadly I don't have access to Cold View yet, so tier two spells are mostly out of the question. Otherwise, he kinda hits you with attacks that can more or less kill you. Have fun with that.
(http://i.imgur.com/RvhiuNB.jpg)
FIRST YUKKURI OF THE GAME AND IT RUNS ON ME BY THE WAY. NOOOOOOOO.
...Ahem. Anyhow, Yukkuris, as with the prior two games, are our Metal Slime enemy type. High XP, low HP, insane damage resistance, and will run away like it was nothing. Kill them while you can.
(http://i.imgur.com/j6ZfrdZ.jpg)
Yet another blockade.
(http://i.imgur.com/xsNDiFV.jpg)
And there's a dais. We just need the Barrier Stone.
(http://i.imgur.com/7cudBr0.jpg)
Here it is. It won't cause any crystals to block our way to the next dais. Like I said, fairly simple puzzle.
(http://i.imgur.com/g3283qW.jpg)
Second level to increase our number of hits. All number of hits that were previously 3 now go up to 4 (last time it was the 4s going to 5s). So now our second-best stuff is as good as our best stuff was at the beginning of the game. It's pretty nice for the doppels for which this matters.
(http://i.imgur.com/WK80FLG.jpg)
And our last new enemy for the area, Principality. He's another upgrade to the angel type of Foreign God, and of course that means he's weak to Dark but otherwise he's a pain to deal with. You know how it is with Foreign God enemies.
(http://i.imgur.com/aysUgRB.jpg)
Circling around this way also leads to another crystal, on the right side of the same room we saw the prior crystal in.
(http://i.imgur.com/MNgWOry.jpg)
We finally found our way over to that dais, so we'll finally be able to get past those crystals.
(http://i.imgur.com/1Fl98M6.jpg)
On the other side is a recipe chest. I don't have a list of material names, so I didn't bother translating them. I could theoretically try like... say... using the screw or treasure chest drop tables to try to figure them out, but I'm not going to. Anyhow, unlike previous games, most materials don't require other materials to craft. Instead, you just have to pay a sum of Points. The cost for later materials can get very, VERY hefty, so you can't rely on it too much other than for, say, equipment you REALLY want.
(http://i.imgur.com/lorZZyt.jpg)
In any case, we're finally done with this dungeon. That's pretty much it for all the non-boss things for this act, believe it or not. Next time is pretty much going to be all cutscenes and boss fights. My plan is to post a video of my winning run for each fight, leaving screenshots for deaths and interesting things that happen during failed runs, as well as noting down my party's equipment loadout for each fight. This is how I'll handle boss fights from now on, I think.
Summary:
New Doppels: Mind Flayer (Spiritualist), Hellhound (Elementalist), Nashorn (Elementalist), Akurojin-no-Hi (Elementalist)
Doppel Levels: Yuki-onna (Water Land Recovery (5), Cold Breath; Water Land Recovery (10), Snow Wind; INT +1), Kaguya (RES +3; Land Change +35), Hellhound (Fire Skill Casting Speed +5, Flame Burn; AGI +1; STR +1), Dragon Maid (STR +1, Heat Hand, Lightning Hand, Cold Hand), Kogasa (EVA +3; Single-target Skill Casting Speed +15), Kedama (Resurrection), Ame-no-Hoakari (Starlight Whip, POT +1), Fairy Maid (Water Skill Casting Speed +5), Traveling Schoolgirl (POT +1), Magician (Water Element Power +5), Nashorn (Thunderbolt, HP +5; Lightning Chase, ○ Paralysis; Thunderstorm, Electric Skill Casting Speed +10), Suika (Critical Hit Chance +7), Akurojin-no-Hi (Fire Land Regen (5), Fire Chase; Fire Land Regen (10), Detonate; INT +1, Clearance), Slime (Tongue, VIT +4), Zebra Volnehem (RES +5), Raijuu (STR +1), Hinoenma (Dark Lure, POT +1), Kanako (HP +5; Row and All Skill Power +13), Meiling (Physical Counter +5), Crazy Undine (DEX +4), Remilia (EVA +20), Mind Flayer (RES +5; Rainbow Ray, ○ Paralysis), Rumia (Weakening Success Rate +15), Miko (INT +1)
Major Equipment: Claymore, Sword of Light (Reimu), Ahlspiess, Weighted Chains of Youkai Extermination, Dragon Lance, Thunder Ring, Barrier Earrings (Reimu), Quick Charm, Snake Mace, Magic Ring, Protection Anklet (Reimu), Shiranui, Morning Star, Muscle Belt (Saya), Fire God Shield (Yukari), Death Charm
Synthesis Recipes: A bunch of basic materials
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 1
That death count is a bit low I feel. Next time I'm fairly certain it's going up.
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Note to self, don't do three boss fights in one update, the amount of video cutting and the like is insane. Ten videos just for this one update, apologizes about that.
Ino-Shika-Chou Act: Finale- Hold the Door
...I'm not one for Game of Thrones to be honest, but even I've heard that. Anyhow, this update is mostly cutscenes, so we start off back at the Skyscraper for our first boss fight.
Cutscene: The Recklessly Rushing Comet Girl (https://youtu.be/_bafPtPcqzY)
So uh... we ran into Ino-Shika-Chou, and what a troublesome member to run into too. Hagino Inodzuka, the boar of the group, with the ability to... uh... rush ahead recklessly. That's seriously it? Okay then. Also, poor Marisa, they thought her dead. I think she's kind of the butt monkey in this game.
(http://i.imgur.com/m625Lbn.jpg)
Regardless, Hagino is our first real boss of the game, and isn't one you should take lightly. Her skills are all Strike or Fire elemental, and they pack one hell of a punch. However, since they are Strike elemental, using an EVA buff like Windshield will get a lot of heat off your back, which is really, REALLY nice. Otherwise, gear up for Fire protection and do your best to not get screwed over by her physical attacks. As she's Fire-based, she's weak to Water, as well as Stab attacks. Each member of Ino-Shika-Chou has a magic and physical weakness, and the physical one is roughly the reverse of the Fire Emblem weapon triangle in what you'd think they'd be weak to. Instead of Slash beating Strike, it's Stab beating Strike, in this case.
(http://i.imgur.com/xuzWQ1k.jpg)
Oh dear.
(http://i.imgur.com/fJvJJ12.jpg)
And that's Reckless Rush, her spellcard. It deals a pretty hefty amount of damage and can stun. Fortunately, it's mostly negated by an EVA buff or an ACC debuff on her.
Boss Fight: Vs. Hagino Inodzuka, The Recklessly Rushing Comet Girl (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wUYiqWUcZ8&feature=youtu.be)
This fight was pretty down to the wire, and poor Saya got knocked out early, but I managed it without wiping. You might notice that after the fight, we get another Power Extension. Most bosses from now on will drop one, so hey, that's good. Also, I'm going to post my setup that I used after each fight.
Saya: Fluid Axe, Large Shield, Chesterfield, Strength Necklace, Muscle Belt, Suika, Crazy Undine, Miko, Hellhound
Reimu: Sword of Light, Fiber Guarder, Chain Mail, Barrier Earrings, Protection Anklet, Sakuya, Mind Flayer, Hinoenma, Dragon Maid
Marisa: Type 38 Rifle, Danmaku Guarder, Leather Armor, Sniper Anklet, Gale Boots, Sanae, Akurojin-no-Hi, Schwarze Katze, Traveling Schoolgirl
Yukari: Steropes, Fire God Shield, Hide Armor, Keep-Away Muffler, Flame Ring, Remilia, Slime, Ame-no-Hoakari, Raijuu
Mamizou: Water Rod, High Magic Kimono, Keen Pendant, Perseverance Rosary, Kaguya, Fairy Maid, Yuki-onna, Sway
Cutscene: Hagino Rushes into Defeat (https://youtu.be/R899foonBRk)
Hmm... Hagino was mentioning something about 1400 years ago or something. But I can't read enough Japanese to understand what she means. Hmm... well, anyhow, we activated the first mechanism to opening the Large Gate. Two more to go. Next up, the Great Wall of China again.
Cutscene: The Evil Butterfly that Brings About Disaster (https://youtu.be/YPcTEql5Pfw)
Damn, looks like we fell right into a trap set by Botan Futabachou, the butterfly of Ino-Shika-Chou, who has the ability to bring about ill omens. Is it just me, or did we somehow embarrass her partway through the conversation? Given in the omake, it says while she has no mercy for her enemies, yet she cares much for her friends, maybe we brought that up somehow and it's embarrassing? Reminds me of one of my own characters a little.
(http://i.imgur.com/UIDPXcU.jpg)
Regardless, Botan is not an easy fight either, and worst of all, you start this fight poisoned. I made the mistake of bringing NO doppels with Clearance. At all. Oops. Otherwise, she's weak to Electric and Slash, but good luck hitting her with magic. I'm using Thunderbolt in the video, which, mind you, is a TIER TWO spell, and it barely even dents her. Physical attacks are the way to go. Also, have Counter Magic up, because she will constantly be trying to Poison, Sleep, and Berserk you. I forgot to screencap it, but her spellcard, White Rainbow Beams, is an all-targeting spell that tries to Berserk you. Even with Counter Magic, it's rather likely to hit, so be wary.
Boss Fight: Vs. Botan Futabachou, The Evil Butterfly that Brings About Disaster (https://youtu.be/wVJyFFATjqU)
That was a fairly teeth-clenching fight. Without that Land Regen or even being hit by Sleep, Yukari wouldn't have clutched the fight as she did. First try again, not bad. Setup was as follows:
Saya: Fluid Axe, Large Shield, Chesterfield, Strength Necklace, Muscle Belt, Suika, Crazy Undine, Miko, Hellhound
Reimu: Sword of Light, Fiber Guarder, Chain Mail, Barrier Earrings, Protection Anklet, Sakuya, Mind Flayer, Hinoenma, Dragon Maid
Marisa: Type 38 Rifle, Danmaku Guarder, Leather Armor, Soul Charm, Gale Boots, Sanae, Shivers, Schwarze Katze, Traveling Schoolgirl
Yukari: Steropes, Fire God Shield, Hide Armor, Keep-Away Muffler, Ice Ring, Remilia, Slime, Ame-no-Hoakari, Raijuu
Mamizou: Lightning Rod, High Magic Kimono, Keen Pendant, Perseverance Rosary, Kaguya, Fairy Maid, Nashorn, Yuki-onna
Cutscene: Botan Brought Disaster to Herself (https://youtu.be/NPW5MX8Pauo)
Well, there she goes too, and that's the second mechanism down. To the Volcano Road for the last one!
Cutscene: The Careful of Disaster Deer Youkai (https://youtu.be/UgJbyzui7wE)
No trap or sneak attack this time, looks like the third member of Ino-Shika-Chou is willing to meet us openly. This is Momiji Kogakura, the deer of the group with the ability to sense danger. Maybe we should have "can freaking dash at the speed of light" to the list? Regardless, looks like we managed to hit it off a bit before actually fighting. Maybe when this is all over we can be friends or something? That's usually how it works in Gensokyo, right?
(http://i.imgur.com/OXZYVZS.jpg)
Regardless, we'll have to fight her here and now. Momiji is a dodge tank, and that means physical attacks are going to either miss, or not deal a whole lot of damage. She's weak to Strike, Fire, and Water, curiously enough, but again, good luck hitting her. Accurate Weapon helps out with the evasion issue, but meanwhile we have to deal with her high powered Electric attacks. I know she can use Thunderbolt, and I think, though I'm not sure, she can also use Mega Stroke if the Land is pointed enough towards Electric. Mind you, Mega Stroke is a tier THREE spell. It's bad.
Boss Fight: Vs. Momiji Kogakura, The Careful of Disaster Deer Youkai (https://youtu.be/abkJPB-JRbc)
And once again, done on the first shot, but not as much of a do or die battle. The one thing she didn't get to do during the fight was use her spell card, Phoenix Tree's Leaf. It's a field that reduces all Melee/Ranged number of hits against her, which you don't want up. Get rid of that as soon as possible if you can, it makes hitting her practically impossible without an EVA down effect on her and an ACC up effect on you.
Cutscene: Momiji Wasn't Careful Enough (https://youtu.be/xMmb-imPJ6Y)
I apologize about the random jump cut in the video, I got interuptted while recording, so I just cut out the part where it's just showing the same dialogue for like five minutes. Regardless, Momiji also mentions something about 1400 years ago or something. Or maybe she means the year 1400... I dunno. Regardless, with her down, we've hit all three mechanisms and now we can head through the Large Gate!
(http://i.imgur.com/r5EfmUl.jpg)
And here we are, let's cross!
Cutscene: Crossing the Gate, Enter Mengniang (https://youtu.be/-EVwK5Tdt7Q)
...So, a lot happens in that cutscene. A lot I don't understand, but the little I can make out, Arare's back and decided to break down Hakusen's door, only to get her ass kicked by a new arrival, Mo Mengniang. It seems like Hakusen answers to her, and she manages to convince Arare to help her deal with our ragtag bunch of misfits that's trying to find the culprit. Looks like this is who we're aiming to take down, but Hakusen and Arare are going to get in our way. With Mengniang's arrival, the resurfacing of Arare, and Hakusen getting directly involved, things aren't going to be easy from now on. Next time, we'll see what's on the other side of the Large Gate, and make our way to the mastermind's headquarters, in the next act: Dream-eating Tapir Act.
Doppel Levels: Shivers (Blizzard, Water Element Power +5), Kandachi (Lightning, Electric Element Power +5)
Update Death Count: 0 (!!!)
Total Death Count: 1
Man, I didn't think we'd only have one death the whole act. Almost a perfect run! Also, if anyone who sees the videos is able to read the Japanese in them, it'd be nice to learn what everyone is saying in the cutscenes and everything.
-
After an update of almost nothing but videos, going back to a completely screenshot-filled update is kind of like returning home.
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Part 1- Welcome to the Velvet Room
So, last time we beat up all of Ino-Shika-Chou in one fell swoop, and although our group doesn't know it, we're on the trail of Arare, Hakusen, and Mengniang in an attempt to finally end the incident.
(http://i.imgur.com/t3siPO0.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: Snowy Road 2 (Child of Are) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuG-VMHkHZA&index=32&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
So from now on, the Snowy Road areas will have this song playing instead of the Paradise ~ Deep Mountain remix from before. Sounds like things are getting more serious, even in the transitional areas.
(http://i.imgur.com/bI5WE4l.jpg)
We already have two ways to go. To the left is progress, but to the right...
(http://i.imgur.com/RdycQhu.jpg)
...We run into a Kong. They're really annoying, having the ability to do what I believe is Enervation from the prior games. Hits everyone, and reduces your attack power. It's these enemies that made me finally go back to the party setup I had in my last run: having a FIR/ELE/WTR mage and a LGT/DRK/MYS mage. Mamizou's the former, Marisa's the latter. Hitting these guy with high powered Fire and Light spells works wonders.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ldf5Kmj.jpg)
And an Ochre Jelly. Pretty much just an upgraded Slime, nothing really to see here.
(http://i.imgur.com/jMNZDd3.jpg)
The ultimate prize of the right-hand route is a Blue Door Area. Would you believe there's only three more of these in the entire game? No, really, I'm not joking.
(http://i.imgur.com/svJ1F5j.jpg)
Katawagurumas are a pain. They can use Hit and Run and it REALLY hurts the person with a Mind Flayer on. They are weak to Water and Light, but otherwise... ughhhh...
(http://i.imgur.com/rXe8HA7.jpg)
We start getting higher values of those bullion items now. Nice, these give about 1000 Points per.
(http://i.imgur.com/btNOkG8.jpg)
The Weiss Katze up top is just a stronger Schwarze Katze, but otherwise isn't too big of a threat compared to some of the other enemies in the area.
(http://i.imgur.com/3dGaadj.jpg)
IT RETURNS. AND IT IS KINDA SPOOKY. The Laughing Tire also loves its Hit and Run, and otherwise is fairly tough to take down. Pelt it with Electric attacks to bring it down.
(http://i.imgur.com/doelCIu.jpg)
And our third-to-last gap of the game, only two more after this. We get Ichirin, Futo, Nue, and Reisen from this.
Ichirin is more or less the LGT/DRK/MYS equivalent of Nitori, being a Warrior who focuses on granting bonuses to those elements and chasers. She also gets a little bit of Land Influence bonuses as well. Her skill is An Unarguable Youkai Punch, which chases Light and Dark attacks as you'd think.
Futo is another Ranger who deals with boosting the power of critical hits. She also gets some basic resistance to attacks that inflict percentage damage. She's also the Ranger that shores up the type 6 weakness for sparking, which works mostly well with Bow skills, given how many Bow skills are type 6 ones. Her skill is Rainy Iwafune, which is just an attack that restores MP on hit. I guess that's useful in a pinch, but otherwise not really a great skill.
Nue is an odd Magician who figures you don't just need a tiny boost to MDEF. Her whole deal is granting insane MDEF bonuses, alongside some HP bonuses. She's basically the "tank" of all the Magicians. Her skill is a one-turn MDEF buff to the whole party that, at the end, releases an all-targeting magic attack of the highest Land power's element. For every magic attack you tank during this one turn, the damage increases, similar to Counter Aiming.
Reisen is one of the last few Specialists we'll be getting. A lot like how she works in Genius of Sappheiros, she gets special Slayers against enemies that are inflicted with Permanents or Varieties. The issue is mostly that she doesn't have a huge number of hits in melee or ranged, so she can't use that special Slayer to her fullest potential. Her skill is Mind Shaker, which is a single-target attack that inflicts Dispel, but deals a lot more damage for each Variety effect that gets dispelled.
(http://i.imgur.com/pQatndF.jpg)
Oh hey, a Vorpal Bunny. All the Devil of Decline postgame enemies are hanging around. Weak to Fire as a Beast, they're rather dangerous since they can Blind you and inflict Instant Death. Fun to deal with.
(http://i.imgur.com/rOQjM6k.jpg)
A huge amount of armor recipes here, on top of upgrades to all the status effect resistance accessories we've been picking up along the way.
(http://i.imgur.com/NWTYXS5.jpg)
Back on the way to the other path, I grab a Togakushi Kureha, the only remaining doppel from the pre-Large Gate areas that wasn't added as a doppel in the expansion (there's otherwise the Maogui, which I'll probably go back to get in the next update, since it's not a particularly hard doppel to get). Anyhow, she's got a lot of various Slash skills, starting off with Branding Iron, but sadly she never gets Gale Sword, that's not until way later on another doppel altogether. She also grants Slash resistance, if you're into that sort of thing.
(http://i.imgur.com/elT0MUf.jpg)
Looks like we're reentering the Great Wall of China. The theme of that dungeon even plays here.
(http://i.imgur.com/S3NqeJA.jpg)
Just another Power Extension lying around. That happens.
(http://i.imgur.com/Hdy6Dhj.jpg)
And another Blue Door Area. Second-to-last of the game!
(http://i.imgur.com/SlKftol.jpg)
Right in the back is a Thunder Volnehem. Whatever that might be. Like the Zebra Volnehem, it usually goes with breath attacks, but this one is weak to Fire instead of Electric.
(http://i.imgur.com/aGMVKHR.jpg)
The Botan Dourou in the back is yet another reference to a more regional Japanese folklore story that I'm not too familiar with. Undead and weak to Fire and Light as a result, she... isn't too notable. I don't even remember what she does.
(http://i.imgur.com/maXHuWv.jpg)
Two new monsters here, the Thunderflies and a Metal Solid. Thunderflies, like the Dragonflies, are fast, just replace Flame Breath with Discharge Breath. This means they're weak to Fire instead of Water. Meanwhile, the Metal Solids are fairly tough to take down, only Strike is going to do any real damage, although it's also very weak to Mystic. Getting Rainbow Ray and Energy Riot from the Mind Flayer doppel is very useful for dealing with these guys.
(http://i.imgur.com/cO66PFK.jpg)
Next-to-last gap in the whole game. We actually have most main doppels we'll get in the game now. This particular gap gives us Youmu, Lyrica, and Satori.
Youmu is basically the Warrior equivalent of Eirin, in that she grants ACC and Certain Hit bonuses left and right, with a few PATK bonuses. She also is the Warrior that shores up the weakness to type 8 skill sparking, making her the main doppel to rely on if you want some of the best attacks in the game (especially since, naturally, only Saya and Mamizou can even learn that type). Her skill is Slash of Eternity, which hits 4-6 times.
Lyrica is one of the last Priests we'll be getting, and she mostly focuses on granting casting speed bonuses to all Defensive Support skills. She also reduces the MP cost of all-targeting Defensive Support skills by 1 right off the bat, plus she gets some nice RES bonuses. Her skill is Bosendorfer Divine Performance, which is an all-targeting attack that otherwise boosts the damage of the rest of the party for the rest of the turn. Good for setting up a series of large nukes one after the other.
Finally, Satori is a Magician with a focus on MP regain. She gets Meditation bonuses as well as a few defensive bonuses like MDEF, RES, and EVA. She even gets some small magic casting speed bonuses here and there. Her skill is Brain Fingerprint, which just restores 1 MP to all allies. Not the most useful skill. Neither is she the most useful Magician, to be honest.
(http://i.imgur.com/i6jnHY7.jpg)
Ho boy, a Cave Guardian. He's not the trickiest Dragon to deal with, but he still is a Dragon, so there's not much in the way of weaknesses to exploit. Just hit him with your hardest attacks before he hits you with his breath attacks and otherwise nasty physicals.
(http://i.imgur.com/7pGMa91.jpg)
And in the back we have a Silk Spider, who I swear we should have ran into earlier. Like most spider types from prior games, she can use Spider Net, which reduces ACC/EVA, and Paralysis Zapper, which hurts rather hard for a physical attack. Weak to Water, and you should try to kill her quickly.
(http://i.imgur.com/pgeYReS.jpg)
This recipe chest is all of the +1 versions of the stat boosting accessories we've been picking up. I haven't missed one yet, so we'll be able to upgrade them once we get the materials to do so. Unlike GoS and DoD, you don't find better versions of these accessories, you have to upgrade them one tier at a time whenever you get the recipes.
(http://i.imgur.com/8i2NFCq.jpg)
And that's all she wrote when it came to those Blue Door Areas. We've now got another new area to go to.
(http://i.imgur.com/cmrZfgy.jpg)
The Station, huh? Well, I would love to catch a train, but we'll leave that for next time. Are Hakusen and Arare lying in wait for us here? Or will someone else try to give us the cold shoulder?
...Validon you did the HCBailly thing again. Please stop it.
Summary:
New Doppels: Ichirin (Warrior), Futo (Ranger), Nue (Magician), Reisen (Specialist), Togakushi Kureha (Commando), Youmu (Warrior), Lyrica (Priest), Satori (Magician)
Doppel Levels: Sakuya (Slayer Power +15), Mind Flayer (Mystic Casting Speed +10; Energy Riot, RES +7), Schwarze Katze (STR +1), Dragon Maid (HP +10), Three Fairies of Light (Weight Reduction -6), Eirin (Certain Hit +10), Komachi (IND +10), Utsuho (LGT/DRK/MYS Casting Speed +10; LGT/DRK/MYS Power +10, Mega Flare Power +10), Nitori (Chaser Power +5), Yuki-onna (Polar Blast, DEX +1), Nashorn (Magic Heal, VIT +2), Nue (HP +10), Togakushi Kureha (The Law of the Jungle's Final Strike, STR +2; Samidare Slash, DEX +2; Dark Hand, VIT +2), Hellhound (Fang Crush, Fire Casting Speed +10), Kaguya (Tree-Ocean of Hourai Power +10), Patchouli (Philosopher's Stone Power +10), Meiling (PATK +3)
Major Equipment: Tragedy (Yukari), Launch Goggles, Compound Bow, The Slicer (Reimu), Enfield, Lightning Amulet, Light Rod (Marisa)
Synthesis Recipes: Brilliant Mantle, Life Robe, Cursed Robe, Crest Leather, Shadow Cloak, High Close Armor, Segmentata, Brigandine, Restraint Amulet, Nerve Amulet, Soul Amulet, Variety Amulet, Death Amulet, Quick Amulet, Strength Necklace +1, Keen Pendant +1, Protection Anklet +1, Barrier Earrings +1, Sniper Anklet +1, Keep-Away Muffler +1, Launch Goggles +1, Perseverance Rosary +1, Gale Boots +1, Muscle Belt +1, Magic Ring +1
Synthesis Done: Wicked Cardigan (Marisa), Shadow Cloak (Saya), Brigandine (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Splashing Charge (penetrating attack that decreases PDEF temporarily), Ice Crush (Water elemental single-target attack, Saya)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 1
I usually game over pretty hard in those Blue Door Areas. Maybe I'm a little higher leveled than usual. Or I'm playing it smarter than usual.
-
Instead of just doing one update as planned, I ended up doing like one and a half or so updates before actually posting this one, so I'm probably just going to post both updates today, one now, one later tonight. Sometimes it's hard to hold myself back from continuing on with playing the game to work on doing the actual writing and then this happens. Mostly because we're getting to one of my favorite areas of the entire game.
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Part 2- The Train is Late!
Thankfully, this next area isn't as maddening as Radical Train. Hahaha... haha... haaaaaa...
Cutscene: Arrival at the Train Station (https://youtu.be/yDlN0OGplh4)
Once again, Saya can only marvel at stuff that doesn't belong in this place. Granted, it's not like train stations didn't exist in 1912, just not in this location at that time. It's just something more out of place than actually anachronistic.
(http://i.imgur.com/9fP3fXf.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Train Station which Leads to Hell (Dark Side of Fate) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8hhauOXD9k&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=22)
Oh hey there Hina's theme. You might not be in this game like the last two, but you're with us in spirit... right? Anyhow, time to head through the Station!
(http://i.imgur.com/2lQ8h2U.jpg)
I'm sure it's fine to board this train. It's just sitting there, right?
(http://i.imgur.com/pcJX82p.jpg)
...So uh... yes, an enemy is just a set of train tracks. Yes. This is the Closed Railway Crossing. It uh... tries to debuff you, and the like. Weak to Electric. Not questioning it. Nope.
(http://i.imgur.com/vZUTQ81.jpg)
Down there is a Jason. Looks like it's more doggie than machine unlike the previous game. Anyhow, it uh... does stuff. It's not really too threatening, and Fire and Electric both sort of knock it down a peg or two.
(http://i.imgur.com/Oq0eRDv.jpg)
A Yin-Yang Orb already? What, expected us to completely die just from the first few encounters? I end up saving this for later.
(http://i.imgur.com/A0qdNnA.jpg)
Jasons are considered a Saboteur by the game, which doesn't really fit. He really focuses more on using shield skills and other barriers to protect the party. Yeah, he gets Hellclaw Assassination later, but given one of his first skills is Shield Wall, shouldn't he be a different kind of doppel? Ah well.
(http://i.imgur.com/G2muIRZ.jpg)
Down on bottom is the next magician type, the Sorcerer. She can pelt you with tier two elemental skills, so you'll want her gone as fast as possible. Dark and Gun, as always, gets the job done.
(http://i.imgur.com/RTgIbwe.jpg)
And the Closed Railroad Crossing joins us. Remember the Succubus? It's kinda like her, just with more focus on debuffs. It also has Gutless, an all-targeting one, so that's not too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/NiBKbXw.jpg)
Stay classy Strawberry Bose.
(http://i.imgur.com/vV1nDs7.jpg)
Ugh, a Yato no Kami. Another Dragon type, he loves to reflect magic back at you, and is otherwise a huge pain to take down.
(http://i.imgur.com/wZ6uzEw.jpg)
Nice, an Amethyst. Remember those +1 versions of those accessories? We need these to craft those, so stockpile them whenever you can. Fortunately, enemies in the area can drop them, and I manage to craft a couple +1s as a result.
(http://i.imgur.com/ME6DiVR.jpg)
Another number of hits level, this time it boosts Evasion Chances that were already 3 to 4, and boosts all 2s to 3s. This ought to help with evading hits coming up.
(http://i.imgur.com/CqMupBQ.jpg)
Down at the bottom is a Genin, who enjoys his critical hits, instant deaths, and Blinding your party. Weak to Light and Gun (not Dark and Gun as per usual for Warriors), but fortunately not too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/VWADYBt.jpg)
Man, this sure is a useful little jump here. Yup. Totally.
(http://i.imgur.com/9VNTbNX.jpg)
We make it in front of the boss door, but there's still some exploration before we take her on.
(http://i.imgur.com/Lb8JHPy.jpg)
Mostly to find this recipe chest. More armor!
Cutscene: The Strongest Attacks! (https://youtu.be/OOjz8-uIN10)
Damnit, is EVERYONE we know going to assume we're tanukis or doppels right off the bat? Ugh, guess all the convincing in the world can't stop Cirno from going after us.
(http://i.imgur.com/cKbJ1nj.jpg)
Boss Theme: The Fierce Battle of the Fantasy Maidens (Heian Alien) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2owqzKJeIE&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=24)
I wish I could say that this boss theme is wasted on Cirno. It's not, she's actually a fairly rough fight if you're unprepared. She flings Water attacks left and right, and can use Perfect Freeze, which hits everyone and stuns them for a turn. Even worse is her other special attack (whose name I don't know). She hits someone with Ice Chill, then that whole row is targeted with another attack that has a rather high chance of Instant Death. She's fairly tough to hit with physicals, but Electric works well on her. The best way to go for this fight is to spam her with Electric skills, while keeping up Windshield, Accurate Weapon, and Counter Magic whenever possible. Of course, I failed to use Counter Magic at all during either of my two attempts.
(http://i.imgur.com/QSTjeMM.jpg)
Safe to say, attempt 1 went poorly, although I ALMOST beat her. If Yukari had just done a tiny bit more damage, she would have done it.
Boss Fight: Vs. Cirno (https://youtu.be/VbXE1EiQdwM)
This fight went a lot better the second time around, thankfully. Still a lot of cheap shots against Mamizou, but otherwise not as bad.
Saya: Fluid Axe, Icehouse Shield, Shadow Cloak, Strength Necklace +1, Sniper Anklet +1, Suika, Crazy Undine, Hinoenma, Magician
Reimu: Flame Sword, Fiber Guarder, Metal Bikini, Barrier Earrings, Protection Anklet, Sakuya, Togakushi Kureha, Jason, Dragon Maid
Marisa: Light Rod, Danmaku Guarder, Wicked Cardigan, Ice Ring, Gale Boots, Sanae, Miko, Traveling Schoolgirl, Schwarze Katze
Yukari: Tragedy, Lobster Scutum, British Warmer, Keep-Away Muffler, Drizzle Amulet, Remilia, Slime, Mind Flayer, Closed Railroad Crossing
Mamizou: Sage Staff, High Magic Kimono, Keen Pendant, Perseverance Rosary, Kaguya, Fairy Maid, Yuki-onna, Nashorn
Cutscene: The Strongest Admits Defeat! (https://youtu.be/03XkDnfbYwM)
Well uh... looks like we beat her up a little too bad, and now she's in shikigami/doppel form. At least she joins our party?
Cirno is a Magician main doppel that is rather odd. She gets what's called "Self Resistance", which uh... I don't know what that does. I assume it's "resistance to one's own attacks", which means she won't murder herself if her attacks get reflected back at her. Overall, she's not quite as tanky as Nue, but her stat spread leads one to think that, plus she gets some bonuses to Water and Stun-type spells. Perfect Freeze, of course, is an all-targeting Water attack that can Stun.
With that done, we move along. Let's finish up the rest of the Station in one go, ey?
(http://i.imgur.com/cIVczIS.jpg)
Oh boy, a Lesser Demon and a Hell's Gatekeeper. By this point, the Foreign God types, like Lesser Demons and such, are rather dangerous to face. You can kill one off in like two turns or so, but expect to get clocked in the face hard before then with strong physicals and Dark attacks. The Hell's Gatekeeper down below, like with a lot of birds, can use Nose Dive/Swoop and otherwise throws a lot of Water attacks at you. Weak to Electric at least.
(http://i.imgur.com/26tOxTn.jpg)
When crossing the door between trains, we got warped or something to another one. That's... odd, but okay.
(http://i.imgur.com/YDZ8W68.jpg)
FIRST YUKKURI I MANAGE TO KILL.
(http://i.imgur.com/yjSBzBQ.jpg)
Down below (alongside another Yukkuri) is a Leaf Tengu. I think he uses Electric attacks but otherwise doesn't do much. Light does away with him just fine.
(http://i.imgur.com/9sN4iV8.jpg)
We're right before the actual boss of this place, which we'll take on next time, but first things first, we missed some things.
(http://i.imgur.com/22NuEoP.jpg)
Like these Dragon King Palace Messangers, or just Oarfish if you prefer that. Oddly weak to Electric themselves, they spam Electric at you all day every day. Sadly we don't have Iku with us to tell them off or something, but she's an expansion-only reward code doppel, so we won't be seeing her for a loooooooong time.
(http://i.imgur.com/4MWpBv6.jpg)
And finally, some more armor pieces alongside some upgrades to some accessories that start dropping around this time. I've never gotten a lot of these accessories, and some of them have heavy tradeoffs, but they're around. I believe the expansion made their drop rates not abysmal, so you're more likely to grab a drop or two here and there. That said, next time, we'll take on the boss of the Station and proceed ahead to the enemy's headquarters.
Summary:
New Doppels: Jason (Saboteur), Closed Railroad Crossing (Medic/Synergist/Saboteur)
Doppel Levels: Komachi (ACC +6), Jason (Physical Defense, VIT +2; Magical Defense, VIT +3; Element Shield Wall, VIT +4; Hellclaw Assassination, VIT +5), Closed Railroad Crossing (Mist, Snare, RES +2; ACC +3, Paralyze; RES +4; ACC +5), Utsuho (LGT/DRK/MYS Power +15), Togakushi Kureha (STR +4), Ame-no-Hoakari (Starlight Shower, Light Land Regen (15)), Traveling Schoolgirl (VIT +1), Youmu (PATK +3; Certain Hit +7, ACC +5), Slime (HP +10), Hinoenma (Dark Riot, Dark Element Power +15), Magician (Flame Burn, Polar Blast, Thunderstorm, DEX +2), Crazy Undine (Freeze Impact, Physical Deflect +15), Suika (HP +10), Miko (Healing Magic Power +5), Rumia (FIR/ELE/WTR/LGT/DRK/MYS Element Power +30), Dragon Maid (DEX +1), Kaguya (Land Influence +50)
Major Equipment: Heat Wave Amulet, Flame Sword (Reimu), Crimson Bow, Icehouse Shield (Saya), Lobster Scutum (Yukari), Sage Staff (Mamizou), Mantis Gauntlet, Drowsy Dagger, Drizzle Amulet, Winchester Trench Gun, Elf Bow, Purified Hammer (Saya)
Synthesis Recipes: Salamander Bolero, Undine Bolero, Sylph Bolero, Sunflower Armor, British Warmer, Hard Shell, Metal Bikini, Plate Mail, Exorcism Robe, Morion's Stone Robe, Chose Shave Armor, Rebellous Spirit Armor, Magic Plate Mail, Grendel Gauntlet, Oversoul Ring, Ninja Gauntlet, Murderous Mantis Gauntlet, Platinum Gauntlet, Mystic Ring
Synthesis Done: Strength Necklace +1 (Saya), Sniper Anklet +1 (Saya), British Warmer (Yukari), Metal Bikini (Reimu), Keen Pendant +1 (Mamizou)
Sparked Skills: Armor Crush (single-target attack that inflicts PDEF Down, Saya), Sonic Boom (penetrating attack that Slays Stunned enemies, Reimu), Magical Hammer (single-target attack that inflicts Resistance to FIR/ELE/WTR/LGT/DRK Down, Saya), Burning Lance (Fire elemental single-target attack that temporarily reduces PATK, Yukari), Life or Death Charge (single-target attack that inflicts Dispel, Yukari), Explode Fang (row attack that makes weapon effects more likely to proc, Reimu), Demon Bane (single-target attack that Slays Foreign Gods, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 1
Total Death Count: 2
The sad thing is that Cirno really isn't that hard and I should have won on the first shot, but ah well.
-
I find it sad that I went ahead and basically got enough screenshots/videos/progress for two more updates after this one. I don't know if that's me being overexcited to get through this section or what.
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Part 3- Tanuki World Order
You know you've been watching too many "This is How You Don't Play" videos when you make a KWO reference in the title.
Regardless, before the next boss fight, I wanted to go around and deal with some of the potential doppels I missed here. There are quite a few, and some of them are rather rare. There was only three I was aiming for, and I missed a couple, but they're rare and hard to get anyhow so I'm fine with that.
(http://i.imgur.com/RgKh6PB.jpg)
First off is the Hell's Gatekeeper, another Water-based Elementalist on the level of the Hellhound and the Nashorn. I'm going to try to level this guy and those other two as fast as possible to grab their best skills, since they all get the third tier single-target elemental skills (Disintegrate, Zero Kelvin, and Mega Stroke) at roughly level 7 or 8 before a certain upcoming boss fight. I've never managed to do that in prior runs, but then again I didn't know they had those skills until later on.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZMYQrCC.jpg)
Here's one of the other doppels I want to recruit, the Power. Another angel-type Foreign God, he can pretty much one-shot you with a lot of his physical attacks. Weak to Dark otherwise, you have to take him out quick. Oddly enough, he is one of the few doppels that require only 4 kills to guarentee recruitment. You'd think it'd be more like the Lesser Demon, who I think requires 16 like most doppels we can get at this point in the game, but nope.
(http://i.imgur.com/uwhYhd3.jpg)
Another rare encounter here is the Minotaur, who also hits like a truck, but is otherwise weak to Stab attacks. They can be recruited, but they only appear in the last parts of this dungeon, are rare, and take quite a few kills to guarentee recruitment, so I don't end up picking it up. I don't think I've ever gotten one in any playthrough ever.
(http://i.imgur.com/HLb8v23.jpg)
Finally got the Sorcerer. Another Ravager, she's your replacement for the Fairy Maid (other than if you need Land Control, of course). Starting off with the second tier elemental single targets (Detonate, Thunderbolt, and Cold View), she gets the third tier elemental skills much later on. I'm still going to level her as best I can, but the Hellhound/Nashorn/Hell's Gatekeeper are probably going to get their third-tier elementals first, especially since most of them are level 6 by now and will hit level 7 uh... hopefully within the next area or two.
(http://i.imgur.com/qI5X7IB.jpg)
Aaand Power get, that wasn't too bad. While he grants a huge weakness to Dark and resistance to Light, he'll eventually learn Divine Gate, the third-tier Light elemental single-target, which is pretty damn handy. I went into the last parts of the game with practically no high powered Light skills the first time I played, so I'm aiming to correct that for this playthrough. Also, if you're going to use the Power, bring along some way to negate that Dark weakness, it's pretty painful.
But with that out of the way, I have everything I want from here. I could have spent more time and gotten the Lesser Demon and the Minotaur, but I don't need them. There'll be a better replacement for the Lesser Demon coming up anyways, and the Minotaur... eh. He would have granted a bunch of shield skills, but those skills aren't particularly as good in this game as they are in GoS or DoD.
Cutscene: The Tomboyish Tanuki's Grand Entrance (https://youtu.be/PHgJTWllMH4)
Looks like Mamizou knows Hakusen from past experiences, whatever they were. From what I can make out from the text, I believe that right now, Hakusen first off claims herself the mastermind (which we know she isn't, because she's taking orders from Mengniang), before stating the current incident is basically a bid to increase the power of youkai. I can see the point there: youkai in the Outside World are basically dying, and if they can't get to Gensokyo, well, they're screwed. But at the same time, why not just head to Gensokyo? The Hakurei Barrier has been up for about... almost 20 or so years by 1912? This seems a little strange to not want to just head to Gensokyo, but I suppose that they want to reclaim the Outside World as a haven for youkai. I mean, that's great and all, but look, there were decisions made by some of the elder youkai to try to create a place for youkai to live on while the rest of the world was starting to forget about them. Gensokyo was already filled with youkai before the barrier went up (as a reminder, Gensokyo has always existed, all the Hakurei Barrier did was seperate it from the rest of the world and left the place it used to be to humans).
So naturally, we oppose this idea, since again, the Outside World was left to the humans, and Gensokyo was meant to be a youkai haven. As it stands, Toono has been turned into a second Gensokyo, but right smack in the middle of the Outside World, which means if they decide to roam, all hell will break loose internationally. That'd be a horrific incident we'd be unable to solve, so we're going to have to nip it in the bud here and now.
(http://i.imgur.com/pm4o3kt.jpg)
So... Hakusen. She's not an easy fight. First things first, Dark resistance, have it on everyone. She will just spam a bunch of Dark spells, debuffs, and the like at you. She has two different spellcards, one that I have no idea what's the name of, but does a high amount of Dark damage that you basically will die to without having good Dark resistance on everyone and inflicts All Down, and another one, Tanuki's Train Transformation, which basically runs you over flat and deals a set percentage of your HP. It uh... pretty much hurts like hell and it can kill you pretty hard I think if you have a debuff on.
Boss Fight: Vs. Hakusen, The Tomboyish Tanuki (https://youtu.be/30RcyaPxILM)
This is probably the best I ever have done on this fight. The main reason mostly is because I never really used Kaguya to help with Land manipulation so that you can get far away from Dark Land. Also having Starlight Whip helps.
Saya: Purified Hammer, Icehouse Shield, Shadow Cloak, Strength Necklace +1, Sniper Anklet +1, Suika, Crazy Undine, Nashorn, Hinoenma
Reimu: Flame Sword, Fiber Guarder, Metal Bikini, Barrier Earrings, Protection Anklet, Youmu, Togakushi Kureha, Jason, Zebra Volnehem
Marisa: Light Rod, Danmaku Guarder, Wicked Cardigan, Keen Pendant +1, Gale Boots, Kaguya, Mind Flayer, Ame-no-Hoakari, Fairy Maid
Yukari: Eagle Spear, Lobster Scutum, British Warmer, Keep-Away Muffler, Dark Ring, Remilia, Slime, Sorcerer, Closed Railroad Crossing
Mamizou: Sage Spear, Morion's Stone Mantle, Quick Charm, Perserverence Rosary, Sanae, Miko, Traveling Schoolgirl, Schwarze Katze
Cutscene: The Tomboyish Tanuki's Grand Exit (https://youtu.be/chd3OUUBMV4)
Hakusen fesses up that she's only one of the three involved in the incident, and mentions that the others are back in a place known as the "Castle of Dreams", which Yukari seems to recognize. While the others simply go on ahead, it seems Yukari knows something about the Castle of Dreams and the people who live there. Hmm... ah well, it's probably nothing.
(http://i.imgur.com/b5daxJt.jpg)
And we're back into the Snowy Road. Not for that long, though.
(http://i.imgur.com/LPz6kaG.jpg)
The Sunflower Fairy in the back isn't too much of a threat, she just buffs her allies and kinda dies to Dark easily.
(http://i.imgur.com/FYAKBbK.jpg)
"Hey Saya the Castle of Dreams is the other way, where the hell are you going?"
(http://i.imgur.com/p8X2SGK.jpg)
Bacteriophages are uh... there. I don't even think they do much, just kill them with Light and move on.
(http://i.imgur.com/gIbAdYw.jpg)
Nice, we got the Sunflower Fairy. While the Schwarze Katze focuses on multi-target buffs, the Sunflower Fairy focuses on single target buffs, which are stronger but of course are only applied to one person. They do have their uses, especially if the people using her has Nazrin equipped.
(http://i.imgur.com/KFngE2a.jpg)
The final Blue Door Area of the game, so let's get it out of the way.
(http://i.imgur.com/2VVIKHg.jpg)
In the back is a Hell Amikiri. It's not that much stronger than the original Amikiri. Weak to Light, it just tries attacks like Drill and the like.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZWzbk4p.jpg)
The Otoroshi returns here as a semi-rare encounter around here. It's not that much more stronger than the original, and it's probably one of the easiest of the rare enemies around this part of the game. Just punch it with Light and whatnot and you'll be fine.
(http://i.imgur.com/F6IV5ms.jpg)
The Improved Crossbow Soldier Company in the back is just a stronger version of, well, the Crossbow Soldier Company. Punching it in the face with String, Gun, or Dark will more or less destroy it, but its attacks can hit pretty hard, so be careful.
(http://i.imgur.com/uvDrmKX.jpg)
And we finally get the last number of hits for the whole "cycle" of levels that upgrade them. This time, all the 1s go to 2s, and all the 2s that are Evasion Chances go to 3s. The next level that increases number of hits, if I recall, should increase all the 5s to 6s, etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/pLOj8Cd.jpg)
And here's the final gap of the game. There's still some other main doppels we can get, but they're all gained from cutscenes and boss fights. Anyhow, from this last gap with get Yoshika, Miko, and Murasa (or Minamitsu... I still can never tell which of her names is her first name).
Yoshika is the last major "tank" Warrior we get, who focuses on tanking magic damage. She has a set chance to null magic that climbs all the way to 50% at level 15 (the expansion level cap for doppels, before it was 10), and that's pretty much all she's for. Her skill is Magical Eater, which is a row-targeting attack that nulls all magic against her for the rest of the turn. It's pretty nice.
Miko is much like Yoshika, just a Magician instead. A combination of Magic Null, IND, and HP bonuses, she's another tank-like doppel. Her skill, Falling Stars on Divine Spirit Mausoleum, completely restores her MP, which is a pretty nice skill I guess. Otherwise Miko is a sort of not the most useful doppel.
Finally, we have Murasa, who I think is the last Specialist we get pre-expansion. She's all about fields, granting bonuses of all sorts, plus she also gets some bonus Ranged number of hits later on. Her skill, as always, is Final Anchor, which is a field that blows up after two turns, dealing damage to enemies. It's... not very good of a skill in this game. I guess it might get better later on but it's otherwise not that good.
(http://i.imgur.com/Nx9Xoac.jpg)
And here's another recipe chest, which gives the usual armor and a few more accessory upgrades. With that out of the way, we can move on to the next area.
Cutscene: Arrival at the Castle of Dreams (https://youtu.be/ogSjB2VgnCc)
So, this place looks pretty interesting. Also it rises out of a bottomless hole in the ground, kinda like the Demon Castle of Chaos or the Clock Towers of the End. It's probably been summoned here with magic or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/Q0BgnCj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/mUi9itc.jpg)
It also looks like a Chinese-style castle, which... is a little out of place. I suppose since the owner is Mengniang, or at least I assume it's Mengniang, that makes sense. She is a tapir, after all, and before they were adopted as the Japanese "baku", they were a Chinese youkai. Next time, we enter the Castle of Dreams, which is probably my favorite dungeon of the game, but be wary: the boss fights from here on only get tougher.
Summary:
New Doppels: Hell's Gatekeeper (Elementalist), Sorcerer (Ravager), Power (Spiritualist), Sunflower Fairy (Medic/Synergist), Yoshika (Warrior), Miko (Magician), Murasa (Specialist)
Doppel Levels: Yuki-onna (Glacial Javelin, Water Land Recovery (15)), Youmu (PATK +5), Hell's Gatekeeper (Polar Blast, Water Casting Speed +5; Nose Dive, AGI +1; Healing Water, ○ Sleep; Water Casting Speed +10), Nashorn (STR +1), Schwarze Katze (Defensive Support Casting Speed +5), Hellhound (Melt, AGI +2), Mind Flayer (DEX +2), Sorcerer (Star Shining, POT +1; Shadow Burst, Fire Power +2; Electric Power +2; Water Power +2), Sanae (All-targeting Defensive Support Skill Level +30%), Togakushi Kureha (HP +10), Patchouli (Philosopher's Stone Cooldown -1), Zebra Volnehem (POT +2), Power (Light Element Power +10; Starlight Shower, STR +1; Alignment Shelter, Light Element Power +15), Remilia (PATK +6), Closed Railroad Crossing (DEX +3), Jason (Healing Water, Shield Skill Casting Speed +10), Meiling (Shield Activation Rate +8), Yoshika (RES +5; Magic Nullification 15), Fairy Maid (Detonate, Cold View, Thunderbolt; INT +2)
Major Equipment: Broomhandle, Tlahuizcalpantechuhtli, Eagle Spear (Yukari), Springfield, Imitation Slayer, Magical Booster, Silence Bow, Stella Maris (Reimu), Huherdei Mergen, Youkai Hunter Bow
Synthesis Recipes: Spiritual Robe, Exorcism Mantle, Golden Bamboo Armor, Death Armor, Flame Scale Armor, Strongest-er ZUN Hat/Super Ultimate ZUN Hat (whichever translation you prefer), Red Beret, Gold Silk Hat, Rune Cap
Synthesis Done: Morion's Stone Mantle (Mamizou), Keep-Away Muffler +1 (Yukari), Gale Boots +1 (Marisa), Plate Mail, Magic Plate Mail (Reimu), Protection Anklet +1 (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Force Through (attack that ignores defense, Reimu), Sudden Slash (all-targeting attack, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 2
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And so my daily update chain is broken because I felt like taking a break. On the flipside, though, I have everything figured out for the rest of the updates for this act.
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Part 4- Idolmaster Celestial Girls
A friend of mine is going to probably kill me because of this reference, but it kinda wrote itself given one of the cutscenes in this update.
(http://i.imgur.com/LDlOKhp.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Bewitching Youkai Castle 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEJr7HlzM0s&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=25)
And so, this is a Castle of Dreams, my favorite dungeon of the game. I love its theme, I love its look, and it's a final dungeon of a sort. Let's forge ahead!
(http://i.imgur.com/DsmpyGS.jpg)
Our first new enemy here is the Otohime, who, like previous games, throws debuffs of all kinds at us, particularly all-targeting ones that we don't even have access to for awhile. As a Dragon type, she also has no weaknesses. Fun, right?
(http://i.imgur.com/Rg8ROiR.jpg)
So you know how I said this was a Chinese-themed castle? Well, a lot of Chinese-themed youkai appear here, the Xing-Tian up top and a Zhenniao down below. The Xian-Tian mostly focuses on hitting you with some Blunt skills like Venom Strife and the like that can hit pretty hard. I think it can also use Burst Shock, which actually hurts pretty hard and hits everyone. Thankfully weak to Light and Slash, and since we have the Power, we can use Royal Flash, which can Blind them. The Zhenniao is yet another bird type enemy, so it uses Swoop. A lot. Just whack it with Stab and/or Electric.
(http://i.imgur.com/FQq3eaj.jpg)
Oh hey, three new enemies in one. The Gargoyle is weird, being pretty much a bird-like enemy (Swoop and all) that pretty much can't be hurt by anything but Strike attacks and Water attacks. Everything else doesn't work too well. Water works the best, of course. The Daolaogui up top loves throwing Poison at you, and multi-target Poison at that. It's pretty dangerous, but otherwise it's Undead, so Fire and Light will just completely blow it up. Finally, there's the Lycanthrope down below. Weak to Electric and Stab, it will pretty much slam you with Hellclaw Assassination. I forget if it has the ability to Berserk you like it did in DoD.
(http://i.imgur.com/3Sdz1qO.jpg)
I'm no master of Chinese mythological creatures, but what is this thing? A Shisa? Something else?
(http://i.imgur.com/oa1F7nu.jpg)
Woo, got an Otohime. She's got a large variety of skills she gives, mostly debuffs and stuff like Dispel. She also grants resistance to all Permanent Effects, which is pretty nice. Even if you don't want her for the skills, she's wonderful for the resistances.
(http://i.imgur.com/4lnahKt.jpg)
I don't think this area even needs a Yin-Yang Orb, it's fairly short.
(http://i.imgur.com/BvSUNeh.jpg)
I mean, we're already here at the Waypoint before the boss. Before that, I went back and filled out the map, of course.
(http://i.imgur.com/BM6HOz7.jpg)
And I end up running into the last new enemy, the Will-o'-the-Wisp. It has very, very, VERY high Evasion, and is more or less immune to magic. Killing it is an exercise in frustration. If you have the chance, use Accurate Weapon or something, you basically need to in order to kill it, or otherwise use high accuracy attacks.
After getting all the treasure and the like, I head off into the boss fight.
Cutscene: Gensokyo's Very Own Celestial Idol (https://youtu.be/1x_UOuFmVPY)
So this cutscene somehow manages to be a double-callback to both Genius of Sappheiros (remember when we found Chen basically knocked out on the Youkai Mountain because Anastatis kinda went nuts? Yeah, this is similar, just a tanuki instead), and Devil of Decline (I'm pretty sure someone mentioned the Chaos Incident, or specifically how Tenshi acted during then). Also, Tenshi seriously called herself an idol. Yes. Yes this is why I named the update this. The idea of Tenshi being anything like an idol is uh... yes. That's a thought. Anyhow, blah blah blah, she wants to solve the incident herself and has no room for us, so we fight. Exactly like Devil of Decline, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/MwWulYd.jpg)
So, our third match with Tenshi in the Strawberry Bose games, and as usual she's all about high power attacks and generally requiring you to be well on your guard. Like in Devil of Decline, she wises up to you trying to exploit her weakness to Dark and uses Alignment Shelter on herself, instead of Jammer, which makes it even harder to deal with. Yukari has Life or Death Charge by this point, but if she somehow doesn't, Dispel can also work (both the Miko (as in the sub-doppel) and the Otohime get it). All of her attacks are high-power, so you better get Windshield up and fast, and even THAT won't save you. Defending will help in this fight more than you'd think.
(http://i.imgur.com/SvMCHML.jpg)
First attempt was a fairly big bust.
Boss Fight: Vs. Tenshi, Gensokyo's Idol (https://youtu.be/J1eDqlYnRBg)
We get it on the second try, thankfully. Whew, this fight is pretty tricky, huh? Also, this was the point where I decided to stop writing down my setups, because they're fairly apparent from the video and my descriptions.
Cutscene: Gensokyo's Celestial Idol Gets Shooed Offstage (https://youtu.be/27Z_etQuTU0)
I love how Reimu compares Tenshi to Cirno only for Tenshi to go doppel form... just like Cirno. Seems like Tenshi isn't overly bothered by this, but then again this happened back in Devil of Decline when she went shikigami form. I guess she just cares more about playing hero than whether or not she's near a state of death. Either way, Tenshi joins our party as a main doppel!
Another Ranger, Tenshi shores up the type 8 weakness for sparking skills just like Youmu (I find it fitting, she's such a chunni that she'd obviously want to try doing all the flashy high-powered skills). Her passive bonuses are mostly for ACC and for boosting the power of her skill. That skill, speaking of, is Kaname Funnel, which is a 100% guarenteed hit that ignores all evasion. It's like a guarenteed Certain Hit proc, so it's nice on enemies that have high evasion.
(http://i.imgur.com/Pfj3zMK.jpg)
So, looks like we can finally head inside what might be the main keep. Next time, we'll head in and see what lies inside the main part of the Castle of Dreams.
New Doppels: Otohime (Medic/Synergist), Tenshi (Ranger)
Doppel Levels: Yoshika (○ Poison), Murei (Healing Magic Power +3), Power (PATK +5), Slime (VIT +6), Hinoenma (Decompose, INT +2), Crazy Undine (DEX +6), Utsuho (Mega Flare Cooldown -1), Keine (Field Skill MP Cost -1), Seiga (PATK +4)
Major Equipment: Pedersen Rifle, Uncompromising Flail (Saya)
Sparked Skills: Saint's Cross Slash (single-target attack that Slays Undead and Youkai, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 1
Total Death Count: 3
Why is it the bosses that are technically supposed to be midbosses the ones that are killing me? I guess I underestimate them.
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Alright... I'm getting too tempted to go ahead and play this considering that the resources are out there, you've clearly got enough working knowledge to fill in any difficult gaps in understanding (along with the basic shikigami overviews we're getting, and probably provide like, a translation of the character stat screen so that I know what the heck is doing what), and that a translation is likely never going to happen for this game.
So if I was gonna play this myself (I totally check for updates on the LP daily <3 I am a strawberry bose addict, these strategy-based RPGs are my JAM) what resource links would I need to have? Like the jp wiki(s) or whatnot :D
The biggest "BLAH" is probably navigating the sea of weapon skills and their effects (Wait, do you still have to equip certain weapon skills to use inbattle? I'm not sure if you're just selecting from a list of all of them or not, now, because you've got a bigger selection than in other games) and certain accesssories, but I assume elemental resist ones (and basic stat boosts) will show on the status screen, I won't need status resist -too- often for it to be a huge pain, and when it comes to skills they're elementally color coded and have range shown and, best, organized by shikigami so it's easier to not mix them up. The main thing -there- is just keeping straight which buffs and debuffs are which on the shikigami with lots of 'em.
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Alright, so, sources and information and whatnot. I mainly use the Japanese wiki here (http://www59.atwiki.jp/touhou_genmu/pages/1.html), and the blog by the guy who also wrote up a bunch of information on Devil of Decline, Phantasmal Summoners, and Marisa's Kirisame Magic Shop here (http://blog.livedoor.jp/maroku/archives/35682725.html). The wiki is somewhat incomplete, while the blog has way more technical information that's spread about quite a bit. I have been trying to compile all of this information into a spreadsheet that I've yet to upload (mainly because I want to finish some translation work on it, also partially because it's formatted super weirdly and doesn't have quite everything done yet), but I might upload the incomplete version just so that there's some sort of basis that can be worked off of. Lot of work left on it but I think I can at least get it somewhat thrown up, mostly so that someone could populate the wiki with the information.
As for weapon skills and whatnot, the menu's at the bottom of the status/equipment screen:
(https://i.gyazo.com/3f7d7227c095e122e4e8dd65d4afd0d1.jpg)
You just pick up to six skills from any category you want. Unlike Devil of Decline, you can have up to six skills per weapon type equipped, in case you want to dual-wield (reminder that dual-wielding, while allowing for a variety of options, also weighs you down and makes you slower, so unless you think you can afford to throw on a bunch of Weight Down enchantments, it's not 100% recommended).
As for the stat screen, well... I did post it earlier, but I can post it again with some translations on it. Gimme a few minutes, my laptop just told me it needs to restart for updates, but I'll throw up a translated stat screen once that's done. Also, I need to upload my images and videos for the next update and that'll be coming out in like 1-2 hours. So there's that. :V
EDIT:
(https://i.gyazo.com/4a45ab761537d8ba02c1d8019e47bf1e.png)
And stat screen translation. Sorry about some overlap and whatnot, there's not a lot of room to put in the text and everything. Also, if a translation were to be done for this game somehow, I think this font I used would work perfectly. Viner Hand ITC, for those who care.
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Neat C: I can probably wait until the spreadsheet is done if you're working on it, as I'm not in a rush. But meanwhile a BARRAGE OF QUESTIONS (this will probably be almost all the ones I have to ask, as most of the mechanics are familiar from previous games... like shields. Jeez, shields. XD Them and their support skills are a doozy all by themselves.)
(http://puu.sh/pxbx6.png)
What do the /0s (and /29) mean here?
And one thing I'm not quite clear on, what do offensive/defensive support hits actually... do? Do buffs become stronger with more hits...? I figure more offensive support hits means a higher chance of landing your debuffs/statuses on the enemy. And, does Weight do anything other than make your turn come later because you're weighed down and slow? (Sorry if you've gone over any of this already, there's an awful lot of text to try to backtrack through- I cut out a few questions by skimming back through with /find )
Hmmm, when it comes to dual-wielding... there's six weapons, but AFAIK the standard three physical types. So a person can swap between Blunt/Gun/Staff (not that there's staff skills- huh, is dual-wielding one or two just easy bonus magic power?) and Spear/Bow as needed without toooo much trouble other than needing to spark more skills? (And, obviously, melee/ranged having different hit numbers, so not all characters are suited to using both) And speaking of sparking, I heard you can spark new Last Words, too. Hmm... and other than using different Hit numbers and weapons, is there any real difference between Melee and Ranged?
edit:Oh, the wiki says the base value of Hits for each character is completely dependent/overwritten by your main doppel. Is this true for all of your stats, e.g. you can use any of the 5 characters for any job and it only matters what doppels they have on? (Apart from, of course, their proficiency levels and spark abilities)
Last thing is just that I went back and checked, and you didn't seem to really talk about how swapping Main Doppels mid-fight works. I figure that's because it's really Just That Simple and there's no restriction or penalty other than you can't use dead ones.
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Going to post the update right after I answer these questions, so sorry if it gets lost behind an update. X_X;
The 0/0/29 are PATK, ACC, and EVA for your off hand weapon. Since Saya has a shield in that picture, the PATK and ACC values are, of course, 0.
Offensive/Defensive Support number of hits... I think they mostly affect the strength and duration of buffs/debuffs/status effects. I noticed people with lower number of hits on offensive support inflicted status effects for less turns than ones with higher number of hits. Of course, there's also Induction and the influence from DEX, so I dunno all the specifics on that.
As for swapping between Blunt/Gun/Staff and Spear/Bow, yep, you can totally do that and keep the Strike/Stab element levels, all you have to do is spark the skills again, which is simple since with an already high element level, the sparks should come easily, especially as you go later in the game. In the next update, for example, I swapped Saya to Guns briefly, and she learned skills pretty fast. You can spark new Last Words, but we haven't gotten to that point yet, since a lot of them require an element level of 20 (yes, 20, it's a pretty dang high requirement and the chances of sparking are very low even then).
There's otherwise no major difference between Melee and Ranged number of hits other than whether you're using Sword/Spear/Blunt/Staff or Bow/Gun. Also, I don't know if dual-wielding staves will grant a double magic boost. I'll have to try that out, I'll let you know next chance I get (I don't have a huge amount of time).
Finally, for swapping Main Doppels mid-battle, you can only swap between doppels of the same armor class (Warriors and Specialists, Rangers and Priests, and Magicians only with Magicians). Also, once you swap your Main Doppel, the one you swapped out of becomes "tired", and you can't swap back to it for the rest of the battle.
Anyhow, posting update right after this. :'D
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Double post goooooo!
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Part 5- OUT in a Blizzard
Subtle foreshadowing, courtesy of Validon.
(http://i.imgur.com/9Zh6MXs.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Bewitching Youkai Castle 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofkFXJ29zJM&index=26&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
Well, this dungeon theme is pretty intense, and it looks like we're in the actual halls of the Castle of Dreams. Mengniang ought to be around here somewhere, so let's find her!
(http://i.imgur.com/LPTdwT4.jpg)
Oh hey, a tapir statue. How relevant.
(http://i.imgur.com/ar1XiJE.jpg)
Barrier Stone puzzles oh no how horrible.
(http://i.imgur.com/kNxRVTn.jpg)
Those Maleficent looking women are Baigujings, who are all Undead and thus weak to Light and Fire. They spam Dark spells all day but generally speaking your mages should be able to outspeed them. At the top is... oh god... oh no... DAMN COCKATRIIIIIIICE.
Sigh... as usual, Petrification attacks abound. Weak to Electric and Stab, but you better wipe them quick, they're even worse than Mind Flayers in my opinion.
(http://i.imgur.com/EoC3ofo.jpg)
This floor pattern sorta dazzles my eyes for some reason.
(http://i.imgur.com/iR15j2M.jpg)
Down below is a White Snake (in Japanese it's just "white lady", but in Chinese it refers to the story of Lady White Snake). She can use a bunch of attacks like Venom Zapper and the like. Reminds me of one of my characters who... well, is also a white snake.
(http://i.imgur.com/2xsrhp3.jpg)
Hi there Barrier Stone, you're coming with me.
(http://i.imgur.com/pM3Zq0b.jpg)
...Or not. I guess I ought to go around another way.
(http://i.imgur.com/n0K6UPY.jpg)
I believe it's this one we need to pick up for another place.
(http://i.imgur.com/ErgVrBL.jpg)
Up at the back is a Bunsha, who is actually fairly rare and a bit tough to kill. Weak to Fire, she mostly just spams Fire skills. She is a recruitable doppel, but, well, getting her is a minor bit of an exercise in frustration.
(http://i.imgur.com/gCza45p.jpg)
MEGA STROKE YES. THANK YOU.
(http://i.imgur.com/O3C3VrF.jpg)
Also we got a super rare material that helps me craft the Exorcism Mantle, which grants resistance to Fire, Water, Electric, Light, Dark, and Mystic. I've never gotten it before, but now I can make it. Nice.
(http://i.imgur.com/KCnj5Ln.jpg)
I think this is where that other Barrier Stone has to go.
(http://i.imgur.com/WY6j55A.jpg)
Now we should be able to grab the other Barrier Stone from the other direction and put it here to do... something?
(http://i.imgur.com/5EZdBwU.jpg)
To be honest I completely forgot half of what I did to solve that puzzle, but some shifting later and we get up to the Waypoint either way. Time to see who's ahead.
Cutscene: The Embodiment of Blizzard and the Child of Miare (https://youtu.be/q_7ewNGPA38)
Looks like we found Akyuu. She has a habit of finding her way into the final dungeons on her own, doesn't she? Too bad her similarity to Saya combined with, you know, Arare, causes a bit of a problem. Thankfully we're there to intervene. On one hand, we're a lot stronger. On the other hand, so is she, having finally shaken off the effects of the seal Satoru put on her. That's no good, but regardless, we have the Child of Misaki on our side. If she sealed Arare once in a past life, she can do it again. Let's go!
(http://i.imgur.com/3xoAs7s.jpg)
Boss Theme: OUT ~ Embodiment of Blizzard (OUT) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZBNpCQpOl8&index=28&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
...Yes. Yes it's back. Hachikuma, the legacy of this song carries on, even if it's only used for fighting Arare. Kinda sad but hey, at least OUT has a place.
Anyhow, Arare. She's, as you'd expect, weak to Electric and tries to punch you in the face with Water attacks. So naturally, Water resistance and tilting the Land as far away from Water as possible helps. The fact we got Mega Stroke earlier also helps, since it's more or less the strongest single-target Electric spell in the game for... well, most of it, at least until we can get doppels who learn the fourth tier of spells (but I don't think that's until expansion content). She can also use Element Shelter set to Electric on herself, but of course, we have Yukari with Life or Death Charge. Dispel that crap away and let the damage roll in.
(http://i.imgur.com/uplYZ3P.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Tjw5sbY.jpg)
She also has Dance of Hail, which is the typical Strawberry Bose "all-targeting Water attack that usually screws you up bad" attack. I don't think it can inflict Instant Death like with that one octopus boss in GoS or Zhuli in DoD, but it CAN inflict Water Weakness. That isn't good at all. Mind you, if you have a Shivers on, you can like... use Water Wall and block the damage. But look at that Electric Land, that attack isn't going to do crap.
Boss Fight: Vs. Arare Yukidzuki, the Embodiment of Blizzard (https://youtu.be/0oNiwd2-ee8)
First try, first go, whew. This boss generally gives me a lot more trouble than this, but with Mega Stroke and the usual "Kaguya tilts land like crazy" strategy, you can't go wrong.
Cutscene: The Child of Miare and the Child of Misaki (https://youtu.be/z7Z1EUHTeN4)
Looks like we scared off Arare for now, and that just leaves dealing with Akyuu. In the sense of her, well, being around, in doppel form, probably about to fade from existence. But hey, this is the same Akyuu who infiltrated the Demon Castle of Chaos and saved our skin after Chloe beat us to near death, and in shikigami form no less. From what I understand, Akyuu and Saya share a connection as the Child of Miare and the Child of Misaki, respectively. I kinda know what that connection is, but I don't think it's touched upon here. Regardless, Akyuu joins our party as another main doppel!
A Priest, and a damn good one too, Akyuu's main passive is always being restored to full health from any healing spell, meaning you can always keep Akyuu alive even with a crappy healer. Otherwise bringing some EVA, RES, and magic casting speed bonuses to the table, she's fairly decent, not necessarily the best Priest, but that's mostly made up with her skill, Gensokyo Origins/Gensokyo Omen (whichever translation you prefer). In DoD, it just blocked out all your weaknesses, but in this game, it raises everyone's resistance to all magical elements, which is REALLY good. This skill is very crucial for keeping your party from getting overly killed by magic of any type, barring Void elemental magic. There's one other special thing about Akyuu, however. Equipping her on anyone just makes them a regular Priest type, as usual. However...
(http://i.imgur.com/VBI5IBj.jpg)
Equipping her on Saya gives Saya the unique class type "Hereafter Are" (Jikon Arei), which grants +1 to all number of hits specifically for Saya, since Akyuu and Saya share a particular connection. No other character has this kind of synergy. Main character powers and all, I guess. That said, we're done here for now. Next time, we'll head deeper into the Castle of Dreams, and finally face the one behind it all: Mo Mengniang.
Summary:
New Doppels: Akyuu (Priest)
Doppel Levels: Tenshi (ACC +3; Kaname Funnel Power +5; ACC +6; Kaname Funnel Power +10), Hell's Gatekeeper (AGI +2), Sorcerer (POT +2), Nashorn (Mega Stroke (!!!), VIT +3), Sakuya (PATK +10), Schwarze Katze (STR +2), Hellhound (STR +2), Mind Flayer (RES +10), Rumia (Weakening Success Rate +20), Shivers (Cold Hand, ◎ Water), Alice (Elemental Guard Skill Casting Speed +25)
Major Equipment: Ashoka's Hammer, Galaxy Amulet, Greataxe, Dream Evil, Meteor Amulet
Synthesis Done: Exorcism Mantle (Mamizou)
Sparked Skills: Zero Fighter (high accuracy attack, Saya), Sweeping Shot (row-targeting attack, Saya), Surprise Gunfire (high casting speed attack, Saya), High Velocity (penetrating attack, Saya), Quickfire (hits 1-5 times, Saya)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 3
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Huh.
It turns out this game actually has a full Korean translation patch for 2.0.9.
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Huh.
It turns out this game actually has a full Korean translation patch for 2.0.9.
...Huh. I... kinda wish I knew Korean so I could ask the people behind it how they did it. It means it's possible I guess?
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I know right? Theoretically, past the language barrier, if they're nice, they'd give away an unpacking tool for an english translation effort. (This might be a very naive statement. I wouldn't know.) Now, I'm not saying there's any actual initiative to get the game translated in english anyway, but maybe instead of making a spreadsheet, you/me/we/someone/etc could use your basic translation effort in the lp and spreadsheet to make a very basic grade gameplay patch :V (Even solely weapon skill names translated would make things easier, for example!) Is google translate functional enough for an awkward "I'm sorry I don't know korean but I wanted to ask you a question" email?????
By the way, a google translate of the site in question for curiosity's sake or whatnot. (https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ko&u=http://blog.naver.com/chlehd0509/220331688637&usg=ALkJrhhU0Hs68mvo0RPYOlnk2yrFLa2oZg) It does list the email of what seems to be the person behind the translation. <.< (Before I get smacked by any piracy rules, this download is significantly smaller than even the non-expansion game, so it's only the files necessary for the korean language patch AFAIK.)
But yeah I'll drop the subject unless someone is actively interested in this train of thought.
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We can certainly try to email the creator of the patch in some way, I just don't or think that person would be entirely willing to give us unpacking tools, and neither do I think Google Translate would be sufficient for a quick email. However, if somehow the patch maker was charitable enough to give the tools to allow this to work, I'd completely throw the LP on standby for awhile if it meant I could work on a gameplay patch. As for I'd ask him, it'd probably go as follows (in English, if ANYONE can translate it into Korean it would be so helpful).
Pocoman10,
Hello there, I found out recently that you were able to translate Touhou Genmuyoutan ~ The Nightmare of Rebellion into Korean. We've been trying to figure out how to do the same for English, but no one has been able to figure out how to open up the files. If you were able to make a Korean patch, then an English patch is also possible. It is rather rude to ask this, but could you provide the tools you used to open up the .TARC files and edit the files within? That's all, the work of translation and the work of making the patch will be on our shoulders. I understand if asking for those tools is offensive and you might not want to, but we would appreciate any help you could give.
Validon98
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Yeah, I recall translators generally not wanting to give out their unpacking tools, which is pretty understandable! But maybe for the sake of another region's translation, it's at least worth an ask. I can think of a couple people (on and off motk) that I know who I think know Korean, I'll ask 'em if they wouldn't be too bothered (or if they uh, actually do know it in the first place)
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That'd be appreciated. X_X;
That said, I'm going to try to quickly get the next update uploaded now before I get called away for the rest of the day, since I have it mostly prepared and all. Just need to get the videos on Youtube and whatnot.
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Just the idea that an English patch is in the realm of possibility is exciting, but at the same time I shouldn't get my hopes up too much.
Dream-Eating Tapir Act: Finale- A Never-Before-Seen World of Dreams
I preferred "A World of Nightmares Never Seen Before" to the current translation, to be honest.
(http://i.imgur.com/kH8yN3M.jpg)
Our first thing we see back in the Castle of Dreams is... another hallway. Left or right, left or right?
(http://i.imgur.com/cVcvGKq.jpg)
Either way, we run into Raijins, one of the only things we will run into here. As you'd think, they love their Electric attacks, meaning also that Fire (and surprisingly, Light) will take them down. I think Slash might also as well? I think they're Giants, so that would make sense. Key word is "would".
(http://i.imgur.com/36pyV2d.jpg)
What's that odd orb there?
(http://i.imgur.com/dQUUxZC.jpg)
Well, flipping it on makes it glow with the kanji for "dream" inside. I guess that's all we can do, so let's head back.
(http://i.imgur.com/CKm9CVW.jpg)
...And doing so throws us... here? This is a Blue Door Area, why are we here?
(http://i.imgur.com/Nt78NTj.jpg)
Crossing through that area leads back to another part of the Castle of Dreams. More or less, turning these orbs on will let us travel to different areas via Blue Door Areas unique to this place. Unlike prior Blue Door Areas, these ones are part of the dungeon, so the enemies aren't harder or anything. Looks like this place has a strong connection to those Blue Doors, but why?
(http://i.imgur.com/rhK9Q5V.jpg)
Oh nice, we got a Lesser Demon in one of the Blue Door Area places. Much like the Power, it's heavily weak to Light and strong against Dark, and will learn some really good Dark spells. Make use of them!
(http://i.imgur.com/Oss89Pn.jpg)
There's a Barrier Stone puzzle mixed in with the whole Blue Door Area nonsense, but it's easier than the last one. The main difficulty is figuring out how to make good use of the passages in the Blue Door Area and figuring where they connect to.
(http://i.imgur.com/tvHB9u5.jpg)
The only other new enemy we see here is the Izanami up top. Huh, thought she'd be rotting, but she looks pretty still, so I dunno what Izanagi's problem was. Anyhow, they're weak to Light and Stab. She can also be recruited, and is way better than the Lesser Demon, but I miss her. And I miss the rare enemy here that I never ran into. I'll try going back and see if I can't pick one or two of them up.
(http://i.imgur.com/onnYQqZ.jpg)
Oh boy a three way place.
(http://i.imgur.com/yQiJ8QA.jpg)
We also get a Cockatrice. You can probably guess what kind of skills it gives you. Do I even have to bother?
(http://i.imgur.com/P9WxOCo.jpg)
The Waypoint's right there, but the dais is blocking the way. Damn you dais Saya refuses to climb over!
(http://i.imgur.com/X1FgquS.jpg)
Oh nice, we can finally craft all the elemental shards and one other material. That'll be helpful for the future, trust me.
(http://i.imgur.com/JdoGjX1.jpg)
And we make it over here after a lot of messing around. It's finally time.
Cutscene: The Dream-Eating Youkai that Oversees Reality (https://youtu.be/j0ujG-zNIPM)
A... lot happens in this cutscene before we take on Mengniang. First things first, we find Tomoko, so she's still okay. Second, we learn that she is a baku (or tapir, whichever term you prefer), a denizen of the Dream World, with the ability to eat and manipulate dreams. Reminder that Nightmare of Rebellion came out way before Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, so Strawberry Bose called it being canon, more or less, even if they didn't mean to. It's kinda funny how everything presented about dreams and the Dream World could fit easily within the canon explanations behind it. Makes me wonder if Mengniang would know Doremy and such. Regardless, she reveals that the true power behind this incident isn't necessarily the doppels, or the tanukis. It's all a result of using the power of dreams and the Dream World to manipulate Toono in such a way to give the local youkai more power. It's also why there're things that don't belong in Toono appearing here and there. By connecting the locale with the Dream World, youkai are becoming more powerful, but things are coming into reality that don't belong here. If this keeps up, Toono will be entirely transformed into a realm of fantasy. Of course, that's where we come in, to stop Mengniang from causing this transformation, and to put everything back to normal. Not to mention, this whole incident is occurring 100 years in the past. If this happens, wouldn't the future change too? Toono in the present is a completely normal place, not to mention Gensokyo's right on top of the region. If the doppels were also produced by manipulating history through dreams, then Gensokyo would be in the hands of a completely alternate version of everyone we know. To save Gensokyo, and to save Toono, we have to put a stop to this here and now.
(http://i.imgur.com/9WnZYL6.jpg)
Boss Theme: Battle Against the Dream-Eating Tapir (Child of Are) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvxTU1ue7Pc&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=31)
Here we go... the battle against Mengniang. This fight is not easy, in fact it's probably one of the top three hardest fights in the game. She will spam Bow-type attacks at you, mostly ones that inflict Sleep, can hit the whole party with a spellcard that inflicts Sleep, can use a spellcard that inflicts Instant Death against one person, with an almost guarenteed chance if they're inflicted with Sleep, and has a very powerful skill, Bakuki Veda, which is not only INCREDIBLY powerful, but also can inflict Sleep. On top of that, she can buff herself, and use spells of every element, particularly those the Land is tilted towards. You can take advantage of that by shifting the Land in a direction that you have heavy resistance to. Gensokyo's Origins and Akyuu as a whole is highly recommended for this fight. Keep yourself alive, keep yourself fighting, because this fight is brutal.
(http://i.imgur.com/k100Sqh.jpg)
The first shot was a no-go, though I survived fairly long. Second shot, however...
Boss Fight: Vs. Mo Mengniang, the Dream-Eating Youkai that Oversees Reality (https://youtu.be/VyHpPg8AK_A)
...I get it on the second try. This is the least number of attempts I've ever had to take against her, in the three times I've fought her across my playthroughs. Dear god this fight is a nightmare, but I suppose that is the point.
Cutscene: The Mastermind of the Incident...? (https://youtu.be/chuln8Rp9aU)
...And so, we discover that despite taking Mengniang down, the incident isn't over. Her power is entirely responsible for everything... but this wasn't her idea. The true mastermind lies elsewhere, and meanwhile, Mengniang escapes. Tomoko's finally been rescued, but Saya sends her off, saying that right now, saving Toono and finding the true mastermind comes first. We don't have many leads right now, and in fact, we don't even know where else to go. The only pathways we've yet to explore are the one north of the Castle of Dreams, and that one that's experiencing heavy snowstorms way back over by Enjo School, but that path is still blocked for the time being. Looks like we'll have to head north of the Castle of Dreams. Next time, we begin our search anew for the one who is really behind it all, in the next act: Youkai of Toono.
Summary:
New Doppels: Lesser Demon (Spiritualist), Cockatrice (Saboteur)
Doppel Levels: Akyuu (Magic Casting Speed +3; RES +5; Magic Casting Speed +5; EVA +5), Sunflower Fairy (Aiming; ○ Paralysis, Quick; VIT +1; Alignment Shelter), Togakusha Kureha (STR +6), Lesser Demon (Dark Lure, Dark Land Regen (10); Dark Hand, STR +1; Darkness, Dark Land Regen (15)), Power (VIT +1), Jason (STR +1), Closed Railroad Crossing (Roar, RES +6), Yoshika (Magic Null 20), Nazrin (Defensive Support Casting Speed +5; Single-target Defensive Support Level +24%)
Major Equipment: Aurora Amulet, Jarnsaxa, DVD-ROM, High Magic Rod, Fairy Bloomers, Cockatrice Crest, Slaughter Dart, Lunae Noctis (Saya), King of Beasts (Yukari)
Synthesis Recipes: Elemental shards and another material
Synthesis Done: Barrier Earrings +1 (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Thunder Break (Electric elemental attack, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 1
Total Death Count: 4
...Whew. I still can't believe how that fight ended up going. That was the most anime fight I've had in a Strawberry Bose game... probably ever.
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Pocoman10,
Hello there, I found out recently that you were able to translate Touhou Genmuyoutan ~ The Nightmare of Rebellion into Korean. We've been trying to figure out how to do the same for English, but no one has been able to figure out how to open up the files. If you were able to make a Korean patch, then an English patch is also possible. It is rather rude to ask this, but could you provide the tools you used to open up the .TARC files and edit the files within? That's all, the work of translation and the work of making the patch will be on our shoulders. I understand if asking for those tools is offensive and you might not want to, but we would appreciate any help you could give.
Validon98
안녕하세요, 내가 얼마전에 당신이 東方玄夢妖譚 ～ The Nightmare of Rebellion를 한글어로 변역한거를 봐서 연락을 하고있어요. 우리도 이게임을 영어로 변역하고싶은대, 우리는 아직 파일을 여는방법을 찾을수없었습니다. 당신이 한글패치를 만들수있었으면, 영어패치도 가능할겄같은대 우리는 어떻게 할지를 몰라요. 미얀하지만, 혹시라도 당신이 .TARC 파일을 열기위해 사용하신 프로그램을 우리한테 보내줄수있으새요? 변역이나 패치만들는것은 당연히 우리가 혼자서하죠. 당신이 사용하신 프로그램을 우리한테 보내기 싫으면 당연히 이해자죠, 하지만 도와줄수있으면 너무 감사하갰습니다.
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Dormio is the best <3
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Thank you very kindly, Dormio. Sending out the email now, here's hoping I get a response. X_X;
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Man, I just watched the bossfight, and Suika's damage is absolutely crazeballs. Not that it ever wasn't, but... is that all just Suika being Suika, or does Saya's equipment/other doppels have somenthing to do with it, aka she's just the person you've loaded all your P.Atk/Str ups on? She puts everyone else to shame even with attacks other than giant suika tackle.
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Yeah, Saya was who I dumped all my PATK stuff on, not to mention she's using the Uncompromising Flail, which naturally has high PATK as a Blunt weapon. Crazy Undine gives some fairly high STR bonuses, not to mention getting a crit on Missing Purple Power means all hits connect and deal double damage. Combine that with Kasen's Dragon Power, which boosts the power of the next attack, and it can get pretty ridiculous.
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It's incredibly early in the morning to be posting this, but I finally got a response back from the guy.
初めまして。
東方玄夢妖譚の翻訳を手伝ったカインラピスともうします。
Erik Gundersonさんの連絡はもらいました。
私は英語が出来ませんので日本語で失礼します。
東方玄夢妖譚の翻訳で力になりたいとは思うのですが、
残念ながら、私は一人の翻訳者として参加しただけで
TARCファイルの解凍方法は知らない状況です。
ただ、その時、解凍プログラムを作った方のメールは知っておりますので、
そちらのメールアドレスで連絡を取ったほうが早いと思います。
==================メールアドレス===================
＊マンマミーア(chlehd0509@naver.com)
================================================
以上となります。
良い返事がもらえるよう、こちらからも応援します。
Long story short, he just did some of the translations, but he provided the email of the guy who did work on the tools, and I think he wished me luck on getting help from the person who made the decompression program. Well, at least we've got some semblance of support from one of the translators!
EDIT: Might as well get the ball rolling on this, since I'm not exactly great at writing in Korean or Japanese, but uh... if Dormio or someone else would be so kind as to help translate another message for me to send, it'd be appreciated. *wishes he knew how to write in Japanese and/or Korean better than he does*
Thank you very much for the help and support, and good luck to you on any other projects you might work on in the future.
That's for pocoman10, just to give him a note of thanks.
chlehd0509
Hello, my name is Validon98 (Erik Gunderson), and I've been attempting to translate Touhou Genmuyoutan ~ The Nightmare of Rebellion into English. While the translation effort itself is no issue, there is the problem of opening up the .TARC files, something I've been unable to do with the tools previously developed for translating Touhou Soujinengi ~ The Genius of Sappheiros and Touhou Gensoumaroku ~ The Devil of Decline, due to the .TARC file type and the .pak file type being completely different. I've heard you were able to crack open the .TARC files for a Korean patch for Nightmare of Rebellion. I know it is very rude to ask someone for their tools if they are not publicly shared, but our efforts are at a deadlock, and we need help. If you still have the tools you used for making the Korean patch, could you please share those with me so I can attempt to work on an English patch? I understand if the answer is no, and I'll appreciate a response either way. Thank you.
Validon
And that's for, well, chlehd0509.
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Something about an english speaker sending an email in korean and getting a response in japanese is amusing to me. I could PM Dormio again if he would translate the next email, although- technically isn't it just the same as the first email with slightly different wording? I feel somewhat guilty asking Dormio multiple times since he isn't actually interested in these games AFAIK >.> (This is my way of also asking to not be the third party, I guess XD; he very well may not be checking in on the thread to see how the email went and it's not entirely impossible we'd need a third email, so you may wish to PM him yourself.)
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Right right, that's totally fair, I'll PM Dormio in a moment and ask him myself. I do find it funny about that, though I suppose since the guy was translating a Japanese game into Korean, he's bilingual in both. And meanwhile I still struggle with Japanese despite being exposed to it for like three years. How I even consider myself good enough to translate basic gameplay information, I dunno.
Also, there is an update coming. I was going to finish writing it up last night... and then I passed out. Oops. To be fair, the second half of the game is the usual "hey difficulty spike" part, so updates might come out sliiightly less often. It'll be worse in the postgame, trust me, the difficulty is one hell of a spike compared to the postgame of, say, Devil of Decline (not Genius of Sappheiros because starting with only Reimu and Lithos is kinda brutal).
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Translating skill names/effects and passive effects is way easier than translating whole sentences. (Especially as effects have much more limited vocabularies >.>) Even google translate is mostly sufficient for those, when copy-pasting is an option.
Losing your party in GoS Ex was neat, it changed things up for a bit. <3 Plus it meant you got to do boss fights with several of them.
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At least Lithos' level scales with everyone's level instead of starting at level 1. It'll be a massive pain if we had to level her with only 2 person. Wanna talk brutal? Gorgon sisters would like to say hello. The first few bosses at least can be beaten with brute forces alone, plus it's a load of fun using final boss' skills against them.
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Oh god yeah, if Lithos started at level 1, that would be ridiculous. Strawberry Bose had some very odd and bad ideas for GoS (yellow text items I'm looking at you), but at least making her level not 1 at first when you otherwise only had Reimu is a relief. Kinda sad that wasn't carried over to DoD, but I suppose in that case you could level Angra with four other members of your endgame party easily, the same with Mima if you wanted to use her (despite having half the expansion still to go so her use is even more limited than Angra).
Update's almost ready, by the way, just need to get one cutscene uploaded and it's more or less good to go.
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Angra isn't so bad off, but Mima, ugh. Their level up stat gain is heavily loaded to the front end so their stats catch up fairly fast, but Mima is just... dang she comes late, she won't -really- catch up until the final boss of postgame. Plus at least Angra has an amazing last word, Mima's is a physical last word on a very clearly spellcaster character- ontop of joining so late her weapon levels are going to be awful.
My main other issue with DoD is like... hitting lv97 grinding final area for a long time and you're still hours upon hours away from even getting close to sparking a -single- skill from the last tier of weapon skills- much less any of the others from that tier.
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Oh god yeah no, the last tier of weapon skills is impossible to get, and Mima has a godawful Last Word for her type, but I guess you can experiment around that. I remember watching a little of ChefMKT taking on Shinki (I think the strongest form of Shinki too), and seeing Patchouli with Chaotic Flowerfall (AKA Full Moon Revenge) kinda made me a little jealous. Also, I find it weird that all the mages got the really nice weapon skills, but I guess that's why they're defined as type 4s.
Also, might as well throw the text of my update below anyhow so I don't need to double post. :V
Youkai of Toono Act: Part 1- Comb the Desert
So, last time, we went up against Mengniang and found out that she's... well, both responsible for the incident yet isn't the true mastermind.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ht5c9nW.jpg)
So we're going to go up through this path now that Yukari stopped us before at.
(http://i.imgur.com/tUAWUBy.jpg)
Which leads to... another section of the Great Wall of China. Transitory areas!
(http://i.imgur.com/7Vzb6Rc.jpg)
Armor armor armor.
(http://i.imgur.com/3u5gbss.jpg)
And another tier of the stat boosters. There's no new enemies here, just ones we've ran into before at the Castle of Dreams, and the Great Wall of China section isn't too big. However, once we leave...
Cutscene: Toono's Desert (https://youtu.be/OJV6mH6KQmE)
...So uh... welcome to basically Egypt. Man, the power of dreams is even altering the landscape itself. Hopefully the rest of Toono isn't getting messed up too much. There's also...
(http://i.imgur.com/bneIEZK.jpg)
...Some Pyramids in the back, as we see in the cutscene. It's as good a place to investigate as any, so let's go!
(http://i.imgur.com/3UtCr3E.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: Desert of Heat Rays and Intense Cold (Greenwich in the Sky) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCV2nFYCH-k&index=34&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
Here's our Waypoint for the beginning of the Desert.
(http://i.imgur.com/8wMrymC.jpg)
It's right in the north part of Toono, huh? Looks like we're going to go up and around to the east if we continue exploring. We're clearing up a lot of the world map now.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sh51yrn.jpg)
Battle Theme: Toono Dance 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T36dxLFYdQM&index=33&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
Completely new battle theme for the second half of the game. Compared to Genius of Sappheiros' second battle theme, I think I like this one more. I dunno.
Anyhow, new enemies here. Up top is an Intermediate Fairy Warrior, who is more or less just a straight upgrade from all those other types of enemies. Down below is a Sidewinder, who can poison you pretty harshly.
(http://i.imgur.com/6tIoon1.jpg)
Up top is a Draught, who is fairly tough to fight. Weak to just Light, despite what you'd think based of of his appearance as a floating fireball with a face. Haha. Down below is a Toono Cactus. Who uh... is weak to Fire and otherwise I don't think he's overly dangerous.
(http://i.imgur.com/6lwYxCk.jpg)
Moudoku-san up top, Red Skeleton below. Moudoku-san is, like Toono-san, going to try poisoning you. Over and over. Electric I believe is the way to go there. The Red Skeleton is otherwise just going to try beating you upside the head with Strike attacks. Strike, Fire, or Light will rid you of it easily.
(http://i.imgur.com/HCn50Yb.jpg)
Oh hey, this part of the Desert has no map and has a few wraparound sections. I remember when I first saw some teaser stuff for NoR that I thought the Desert was actually Makai, and that it would tie in a little more with Devil of Decline. How wrong I was, though I suppose they do reference DoD given how similar the doppel state is to the shikigami state.
(http://i.imgur.com/qRvZObM.jpg)
The Intermediate Fairy Maid up top can be a real pain. She knows all the tier two single-target elemental spells. Those usually hurt us really badly and can easily one-shot us without any form of MDEF. Take them out very quick to avoid unneeded death.
(http://i.imgur.com/vUJu1BK.jpg)
That scorpion looking thing is a Deathbringer, whose attacks inflict a VERY mean Poison. It can do like... roughly 200 damage per turn at a point in the game where breaking 250 HP is lucky? Water takes it down, and you want it down FAST.
(http://i.imgur.com/GxU02gE.jpg)
Pyramid's north, but let's go west.
(http://i.imgur.com/1TuZ11Y.jpg)
To the west is another Waypoint and another Great Wall of China section. That leads to another dungeon, but we'll handle that after we deal with the Pyramid.
(http://i.imgur.com/JXmxPR9.jpg)
Niiiice, another number of hits level. All of our 5s now go to 6s (and in the case of Saya with Akyuu, all 6s go to 7s), making us even more effective at our best abilities.
(http://i.imgur.com/hjMdZ1v.jpg)
Huh, a red door? I thought all those doors before were blue.
(http://i.imgur.com/stn9Dvj.jpg)
Not quiiite sure what this says, but I think maybe these doors don't necessarily connect to Gensokyo like the Blue Doors did, so there won't be any doppels inside. Regardless, let's go in, it can't be that bad, right?
(http://i.imgur.com/ijdAPRe.jpg)
From here on out, the game labels all Blue Door Areas and Red Door Areas as the "Dream Corridor", and I'll be referring to these areas as such from now on. Makes sense, these doors must lead to the Dream World, and it's how Toono and Gensokyo have been connected. Anyhow, red door Dream Corridor areas don't have any gaps with doppels inside, just treasure and tough enemies, and these are the only form of door we'll be seeing for the rest of the game. These are practically bonus mini-dungeons at this rate, but they can contain Power Extensions, Recipes, and rare materials. Explore them just as you would with the blue door Dream Corridors. I back out quickly after this to go ahead and find one last Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/n46D2wb.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Q8iMltr.jpg)
There we go, we got the Pyramid's Waypoint. There's quite a bit left in Toono to explore, but we're going to explore this Pyramid too.
(http://i.imgur.com/MOBCjbm.jpg)
There's a sneaky Dream Corridor over here too. We'll do both this one and the one in the main part of the Desert and call the update there.
(http://i.imgur.com/FajxN7o.jpg)
Inside the first one are some Yegouzis, who are... I guess there. I believe they can use attacks like Fang Crush but they are fairly weak to Fire and Light, so they kinda die before they're a real threat.
(http://i.imgur.com/RpBHfkt.jpg)
Yaaaay Power Extension.
(http://i.imgur.com/CixV7DW.jpg)
The Red Volnehem is yet another one of the Volnehem group. This time its going to use a lot of Fire attacks, which can be verry dangerous. Weak to Water and otherwise can only reasonably be hit by Strike attacks as usual.
(http://i.imgur.com/gOnlbPf.jpg)
The Desert Soul up top is... not really a threat. Just hit it with Water or Light and let it die.
(http://i.imgur.com/aZMGdQM.jpg)
Even more recipes. I think this is the most amount of recipes I've gotten up to now.
(http://i.imgur.com/0xvPD5Q.jpg)
ZERO KELVIN GET.
(http://i.imgur.com/F8YnwqA.jpg)
Back in the Dream Corridor over near the entrance to the Pyramid, we have Bloodhounds. Basically more powerful Hellhounds, they can murder you fairly badly with Fire attacks, so be quick on countering with the Water attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/pEl5TFE.jpg)
Ohhhh god, an Iron Turtle. He's pretty damn bulky, physical attacks more or less do nothing to him other than Strike attacks and Water attacks. Thankfully we just got Zero Kelvin, so that'll help. Otherwise, he'll use a bunch of shielding skills and be a general pain in the ass.
(http://i.imgur.com/RkPO3Ks.jpg)
The last new enemy for today is a Horned Devil, which is a more powerful Gargoyle who I believe can also use some Fire attacks. Weak to Water as usual and otherwise nearly immune to physical attacks that aren't Strike elemental. In a way, they're just stronger Red Volnehems. Be wary of them.
After this point, I had explored everywhere. No deaths, no problems, but I decided to go back into the first Dream Corridor to hunt Izanamis for doppel recruitment.
(http://i.imgur.com/TkKXR4H.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/MjFodnJ.jpg)
...I got wiped twice for my troubles and just gave up, remembering that the expansion added a new doppel that more or less replaces the Izanami anyhow and gets some of the same attacks, so eyy, we'll get that doppel instead later. Next time most likely too, since it's an enemy in the Pyramid. Speaking of, next time, we'll head into the Pyramid and see what awaits us there.
Summary:
Doppel Levels: Succubus (Ether, Variety Effect Casting Speed +7), Remilia (EVA +25), Lesser Demon (Physical Barrier 5%, Magical Barrier 5%, or in other words, Divine Barrier 5%), Flandre (Fire Power +5), Ame-no-Hoakari (INT +2), Miko (HP +5; Magic Null 15), Hell's Gatekeeper (Zero Kelvin, INT +2), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Power +20), Utsuho (LGT/DRK/MYS Skill Casting Speed +15), Sorcerer (Fire Power +3), Youmu (Certain Hit +10), Komachi (IND +15), Succubus (◎ Charm)
Major Equipment: Springflut Guarder (Reimu), Non-Disclosure, Violent Epsilon, Rune Staff (Mamizou), Lentis Bipennis, Guardian Sword, Darkness Bow
Synthesis Recipes: Crimson Robe, Firesnow Mantle, Maelstrom Mantle, Volcanic Mantle, Royal Leather, Magical Capper, Beast Scale, Large Armor, Southeast Asian Armor, Tight-Sleeved Armor, Mana Stone, Skill Stone, Strength Necklace +2, Keen Pendant +2, Protection Anklet +2, Barrier Earrings +2, Sniper Anklet +2, Keep-away Muffler +2, Launch Goggles +2, Perseverance Rosary +2, Gale Boots +2, Muscle Belt +2, Magic Ring +2, Star Ocean Ring, Reckless Robe, Jet Black Robe, Sanctus Dress, Malum Dress, Aquascutum Trenchcoat, Ninja Costume, Hermit Kitsune Armor, Transcended One's Armor, Oni Armor, Plate Armor, Silver Plate Mail, Fairy Lingerie, Cowardice Drawers, Surprise Attack Baby Doll, Super Sexy Underwear, Cockatrice Crown, Basilisk Eye
Synthesis Done: Tight-Sleeved Armor (Reimu), Launch Goggles +1, Perseverance Rosary +1, Muscle Belt +1 (Mamizou)
Sparked Skills: Tenacious Edge (penetrating skill that increases status effect duration by one turn, Reimu), Law of the Evil (attack that temporarily inflicts All Down, Yukari), Sweep Gunfire (row-targeting attack, Saya), Sea Hurricane (single-target attack, Saya), Slate Maruader (penetrating attack that inflicts Stun, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 2
Total Death Count: 6
AND SO THE PARTY WIPE COUNT GOES UP BY 1.5 TIMES DUE TO IDIOCY.
EDIT: Oh, and I just tested while beginning work on screenshotting, but equipping a second rod does not apply a second damage bonus. I used Zero Kelvin on a Deathbringer with one rod equipped and with two rods equipped, and both times I dealt about 3800 damage. Slightly more on the second hit, but that could have been damage variance. Mind you, that's just from the innate magic damage bonus rods give. If you enchanted the second rod with Attack Magic Damage Up enchantments, it would apply because enchantments are an overall buff (the same would happen if you dual-wielded weapons and put an ACC or PATK buff on the off hand weapon, the enchantments will also apply to the main hand weapon).
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Thank you very much for the help and support, and good luck to you on any other projects you might work on in the future.
도움을 주셔서 감사합니다. 미래에 하는일에 행운을 빕니다.
Hello, my name is Validon98 (Erik Gunderson), and I've been attempting to translate Touhou Genmuyoutan ~ The Nightmare of Rebellion into English. While the translation effort itself is no issue, there is the problem of opening up the .TARC files, something I've been unable to do with the tools previously developed for translating Touhou Soujinengi ~ The Genius of Sappheiros and Touhou Gensoumaroku ~ The Devil of Decline, due to the .TARC file type and the .pak file type being completely different. I've heard you were able to crack open the .TARC files for a Korean patch for Nightmare of Rebellion. I know it is very rude to ask someone for their tools if they are not publicly shared, but our efforts are at a deadlock, and we need help. If you still have the tools you used for making the Korean patch, could you please share those with me so I can attempt to work on an English patch? I understand if the answer is no, and I'll appreciate a response either way. Thank you.
안녕하새요, 내이름은 Validon98 (Erik Gunderson)입니다. 제가 東方玄夢妖譚 ～ The Nightmare of Rebellion 를영어로 변역하는중인대요 문재가생겄습니다. 일본어에서 영어로 변역하는대 문제가없지만 .TARC 파일들을 못열어서 어떻개 할줄을몰릅니다. 전에 東方蒼神縁起 ～ The Genius of Sappheiros 랑 東方幻想魔録 ～ Devil of Decline 를 변역했는대 그게임들은 .TARC 대신 .pak 파일들을써서 전에쓰던프로그램를 더이상 사용할수없어서 새로운 프로그램을 찾고있었습니다. 찾을동안 제가 당신이 한글패치를위해 .TARC 파일들을 열는방법을찾았다고 들었습니다. 미얀하지만 혹시라도 당신이 사용하신 프로그램을 저한태 보내주던가 이름을알려줄수있는 가능성이있나요? 싫으면 당연히 이해를하죠, 하지만 도와줄수있으면 너무감사하갰습니다.
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Thank you very much, Dormio, I'll get these sent off soon.
On another note, I'll have to take a short hiatus from the LP, my laptop charger finally gave out and my replacement won't come in the mail until Thursday. I can theoretically use my remaining battery life to get one more update up, but I'll just wait until I get the replacement charger. Thankfully I have my phone, so I can still send and receive emails about the .TARC file unpacker.
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So, I have two pieces of good news. First, I'm getting my new charger today, so that'll mean I can get back to working on updates. But more importantly, I have gotten a positive response about the unpacker tool.
マンマミーアさんの事情により、私が代わりに連絡します。
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
I'm the main patch maker of Touhou Genmu Youtan.
I saw the mail from my online aquaintance.
I'm glad that my program can help your translation progress.
But, as a matter of fact, my program isn't perfect.
There's a little lack in my program,
so if you try to extract 'game.tarc' and repack as it is,
maybe you'll see the error while playing game.
Similarly, you would not be able to replace image in 'img.tarc' or 'img2.tarc', because of memory error.
First problem can be solved if you just replace data file.
Ex) genmu.exe -r game.내 PCtarc [the file you translated] [original file path]
if you want to change the body of 'taisyou_uraki_0101.srsdb' in game.tarc to 'taisyou_uraki_0101_changed.srsdb', you can execute
genmu.exe -r game.tarc taisyou_uraki_0101_changed.srsdb data\database\taisyou_uraki_0101.srsdb
Second problem can be solved if you just extract 'img.tarc' or 'img2.tarc' and repack.
If you extract TARC file, there will be created another text file, that has same name.
you can repack with this file.
Ex) genmu.exe -x img.tarc -> (files and txt file will be created)
-> genmu.exe -c img.tarc img.txt
At last, you'll see '.srsdb' file if you extract 'game.tarc'.
These files can be converted using '-xs', '-cs' option.
Ex) genmu.exe -xs taisyou_uraki_0101.srsdb -> taisyou_uraki_0101.txt file will be created. (You can edit this file using notepad.)
-> genmu.exe -cs taisyou_uraki_0101.txt(you edited) -> taisyou_uraki_0101.srsdb file will be recreated.
Img files are almost .png file or .dds file.
I think that you can edit these files.
So...good luck!
This is the breakthrough. I have the extractor as I speak, I'm going to mirror it on my MEGA just in case some freak hard drive accident occurs (I'm using what remains of my laptop's battery to do this, haven't touched it in a couple days and it's still got a decent amount left), and I'm going to do a quick extraction and translation so-as to test if it works. If it does, then an English patch is very possible. I'm damn excited to get to work!
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ho shet ho shet ho shet
Massive hype.
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So, initial testing for just messing around with the item.srsdb file has lead to the following:
(https://i.gyazo.com/54d711b7ba036255fa55062074bbb9e5.jpg)
More or less, it'll perfectly reinsert any edited text, but the original text is going to get messed up pretty bad. So, this will work, but the entire file has to be done all at once. That's no issue, tbh. I'm going to work on a complete runover of the item.srsdb, and then test it with my expansion file (it's all the way at the expansion final boss which I have yet to beat, so I have... what, most items in the game other than those you only get from the last Dream Corridor which is really stupid hard?).
But hey, it's PROGRESS AND POSSIBLE AND AAAAAAAAH I'M SO HAPPY. ;~;
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Probably an issue with our computers/programs not being native japanese. If you edit it with notepad, for example... well, you can avoid these issues, in my experience, by getting Notepad++ instead. (It has a fairly different interface you might like more or less.) This could be relevant if a table you want translated includes other junk you aren't planning on translating now/ever or whatnot.
edit:Wait you don't edit table spreadsheets with notepad DERP
But yes. Hype.
I DON'T MEAN TO BE GREEDY, but, super vague estimate on time length until basic gameplay patch, so items and skills and shikigami passives? I'm talking in the realms of "Is this gonna be a few weeks or a couple months or"
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A reasonable estimate based off of my previous experience with the DoD patch is "within two weeks if I don't slack off, one week if I really crack down and rush". I don't need to do much more translation since I already have a basis down, so that saves a LOT of time. All skills and most equipment I already had done, so it's stuff like materials, the last couple of equips I didn't translate, and item descriptions and whatnot are all that'll need translation. I can't work on it much more today until my charger comes in, but my goal today is to get as many item names done as possible. Mind you this is without doing images and whatnot, which I want to do but I know given my crappy Photoshop skills won't be done for uh... awhile, not that I could translate a whole lot other than, say, the menu and map names without it getting into the territory of "oh god I need to edit around this background help it's too complex oh god why". I also have another full update to upload and half of another done but I'll probably wait on that, it's just the one for the Pyramid which doesn't have too much interesting going on since I'm waiting out on the boss until I finish the other dungeon.
tl:dr- One to two weeks if I really put the pedal to the metal.
EDIT: Speaking of the DoD patch, while my focus right now is NoR, I will be trying to see if I can't work on the Banquet version of Devil of Decline and get that going. If I can, that opens up every .TARC using game (Touhou Quest, Nightmare of Rebellion, Marisa's Kirisame Magic Shop, Devil of Decline ~ Banquet and Phantasmal Summoners 2).
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I was just thinking along those lines (in reference to the other games), cracking .tarc really opens things up a lot.
You have my endless gratitude. <3 I love Bose's games to death, given I've played both GoS and DoD from start to post-finish twice. It's nice that I've been as important as I have been in getting them translated despite a complete lack of hacking or translation skill. (GoS's patch was in the throes of stalling out because the game incessantly crashed at an unplayable grade 'til I found how to bypass that (And weekend works without a hitch, no workaround! <3), and DoD was frozen apart from me chatting up the translation thread with the situation enough you showed up and took real initiative.)
Also I sent your youtube a message before you posted that :V (No rush 'cause I know you don't have your charger yet)
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So, got my new charger, it works like a charm (thank you people who sell new chargers for way less than the company that actually makes them because holy hell I was not about to drop $55ish on a charger when I could get the same thing for $17ish plus shipping and handling), so I'll be able to work on English patch stuff, updates, and the like. I should probably make a separate thread for the translation, but I just want to get a quick opinion since I'm busy with dinner and other stuff at the moment.
I looked over the images that need translation, and a lot of them have the background practically welded onto the text, so unlike DoD, there's not going to be any straight-up replacing the text, I'm probably instead going to overlay the English onto the Japanese and call it good for the time being until someone can figure out how to do some very, very good image cleaning. The biggest offender would have to be the pretty fade-in for each new area. They look nice, but are a several frame long animation with the text welded right to the rest of the animation. It doesn't just fade in separately. In order to get around this, I had an idea as to how to layer it so it works out.
(https://i.gyazo.com/01d9522624eadfa208b89343b5acfbb1.png)
Does that look good? I think the font is a really good fit for this game, kinda gives the English enough of an Oriental feel without it being dumb (I could use Monotype Corsiva, but I think that fit DoD better, Viner Hand ITC fits this a bit more). It's just positioning I'm worried about.
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I like that text Validon no seriously I like it a lot, here's hoping for a translation.
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The overlap with the japanese is slightly janky, but that's still a really good solution for what you've got to work with. The only thing I could possibly suggest is fading the jp beneath the english portion with just a bit of darkness, but in practice that might -actually- just look really weird? It's hard to imagine whether it would or not without seeing it. But in any case, yeah, that looks pretty nice.
Also, just in case, I do want to politely request the doppel classes are kept as the original and not the LP's flavorful versions! I don't think you'd do that on the actual translation patch anyway but just in case :V
Other translation oddities... hmm. The hits list doesn't have a lot of space... Melee/Ranged/Magic/Healing/____/Support/Evasion... I think shortening Defensive Support to just Support would be sufficient as that's intuitive (otherwise, this category does like... exclusively cover buffs, doesn't it? So Buff/Buffs could work), but I don't know what sort of description is short enough to communicate "Offensive Support" in english. It matters for the sub doppel class name too. Hmm... it's not JUST debuffs. Going the other way with status effects and using "Status" is too vague and is just worse. Debilitate/Debilitation is sort of long and looks rather out of place with all the other words. I guess Debuff could still sort of imply statuses?? There's probably a better word somewhere.
HMM. Suppress could be good. That's also the opposite word for Support. Hmmm, I like this, yes, I like this one c: Pairing up Support and Suppress makes it pretty clear which category is covering which, since it's realistic someone could mistake Support for debuffs and such.
The only other awkward thing I could think of is the multi-elemental sub doppel class which could probably just be shortened to "Multi". It's right after the other two groups, I suppose, so it's understandable... <.< There may be a better word, but I'm not as sure.
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To give you an idea of what the original file looks like for area transitions: https://gyazo.com/9e24723f382e2d837004878ac956f5c6
And yeah nah, I'm not going to use my flavorful names for doppels or anything, I'll stick to the literal. :V
Did make a lot of progress so far. Names for all weapons, all shields, all materials, all enchantment-related things, all key items, and all armors are done, I'm working on accessories now, and I'll be doing the skills after. Then once names are done, it's on to the description text and effects, and then after that I'll probably move on to doppel stuff.
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Sweet :D
...also, jeez, that's a lot of frames... do you have to add the english text onto every single frame manually...? >.> That sounds like a pain in the neck. At least it's not a high priority thing.
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Yeah, you'd have to add it to each frame seperately. It's... a pain, but yeah, low priority.
All item names are now done, now working on skill names. I also did some testing and as it turns out, the usual circle/double circle/star symbols for resistances... won't get transferred. No idea why, but they just appear as blank space, probably because of some encoding problem. Of course, if I change the encoding of the file I'm working on, it'll break the game upon insertion, so for the time being, I'm going to do something like "[MYS Resist+++]" instead of "[☆ MYS]", and such. + for circle, ++ for double circle, +++ for star, ++++ for filled star, - for x, and -- for skull.
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Huh?
So what does the JP version do for them then? o.o You could probably swap ++++ for *, at least. It might be hard to do anything past that unless we could get an easier idea what symbols -are- usable. What does it use for the resistance chart on the stat screen too, then...? (I guess they might just be images, though, so not technically usable.) It's harder to change the used symbols for equipment if the stat screen has it's own list, after all. XD
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I mean, the JP version uses the original symbols and all, but for some reason they just won't work upon insertion. I kinda want to see how it was dealt with in the Korean version, so I'll quickly look that over (I still have the Korean game.tarc, but none of the other ones).
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Do you think it might be that the program you're using to edit it just garbageizes the symbols upon saving, kinda like what I experienced with notepad? Not that I'm sure if there's a realistic way to get around that, what sort of program do you use? I assume you already have jp system locale, after all.
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I use Notepad++ in Japanese locale. If I at all try to swap the encoding to, say, Shift-JIS, when reinserting the file it trashes it. The Japanese shows up completely fine when editing, oddly enough, but not-so with the Korean. Makes me wonder if I have to have a Korean language set installed or otherwise I need to do this in Korean locale. I'm just worried if I swap, then I won't be able to run the game in Japanese locale unless I, say, use LocaleSwitch or something. Which is not a problem, but I dunno what is the exact encoding problem causing this.
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Hmm.
(http://puu.sh/pEkYe.png)
If the file starts in ANSI encoding then the checkbox on the right might be messing things up, (this is the program's default setting) but not bad enough to crash the game, by changing encoding to something not incompatible but still not good. That's probably the only guess I'll have though.
But yes if you aren't in korean locale the korean won't show up right :V It's not as though you're building the patch off the korean files though, are you?
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Oh no I'm not, I'm doing it off the original files. I mean, I can try doing what you suggested and checking if that preference is on, but I am doing that with a backup of the file I'm using. If changing the encoding breaks stuff, I'll be a little upset since that was quite a few hours put into the names alone. X_X
EDIT: Okay, the only encoding that seems to work is UCS-2 LE BOM, the encoding the files are generated with by default. I can't swap it to anything else without it saying "we can't convert this back to a .srsdb file"
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Save another backup before you do anything then! :D
Backups backups backups!
The easiest thing is probably checking what encoding it's in -now-, though. If it's not "UTF-8 without BOM" then this proooobably isn't it. If it is, there's a decent chance this IS the issue.
Oh, but if you just mean "Oh, if that's the problem, the file I've made is bad now..."... well, hopefully you can just convert it back to ANSI and then it's fine.
Edit response to edit:Oh. Well, that does that, then. Time for me to do some more digging and get some characters to use!
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I can't figure this out no matter what I do, so I'm just going to have to do the + thing. I can't even look into the Korean files to see how they did it, the encoding's pretty screwed up even in Korean locale to be basically unreadable garbage. It should be fine, it's not like using one thing instead of the other will make it any more or less understandable. It's somewhat how it's handled in Phantasmal Summoners and other games too, in terms of how resistances and the like are affected. Not a huge game-breaking problem.
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Oh no, I've figured out what to do.
We just need some new symbols, and now that I know the encoding, I can do that! Here's a double circle for you! ʘ ...hmm. That doesn't look quite as good as I expected in this font. WELL. I've only been looking for like 15 seconds so far.
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(https://i.gyazo.com/9bb52e7859a42950ec582ee57fa9ccf7.png)
Well... it was an attempt?
EDIT: I've tried out a couple other symbols on my own end. None of them work, I just keep getting ?s instead. I think the way it's encoded, it's not exactly playing nice with some of the expanded Unicode characters, sooooo symbols are out.
EDIT 2:
(https://i.gyazo.com/185231e475857d115ee581b01e4c668e.png)
This'll just have to work...?
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ߡ / △ / ▲ - Triangle weakness ~
☠ - SKULL
✕ / ✖ - Do we even need three weaknesses? It's usually triangle but you said x and skull so I GIB YOU BOTH
Օ / ◯ - Smaller circle or BEEEEEG CIRCLE. It might be -too- big. The small circle looks... normal size.
◉ / ◎ - I found a much better double circle.
☆ - empty star~
★ - filled sta٭r (this weird not-asterisk is really buggy and I seriously can't seem to get rid of it, the star is fine though)
I grabbed these right from the character set sheet for this encoding, so they REALLY SHOULD BE FUNCTIONAL
Cut:Oh. :T
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I think I figured it out. The font for the game is defined in a special font file, which contains the usual symbols and their corresponding Unicode (Japanese Unicode specifically). I'm wondering if I fix the font file to ensure it uses the right symbols, I can fix the font. It'll take some work, but I think it'll work out?
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Oh. So me blaming the font, and then deciding that I should shut my mouth and edit that out of my post, was actually correct!
Well figuring things out is always nice :D
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I tried to change something in the font files, reinserted the changed files, and... no dice. I dunno what to think at this point. I give up at this point, and I'm just going to go ahead with my backup. I want to get back to skill names and the like and banging my head against a problem that just won't get fixed is not helping. X_X;
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Yeah just don't worry about it right now.
edit:although wait, huh, if the game uses it's own font then
huh.
I recall problems with a couple other fangames where on english computers it didn't actually manage to load the game's special font unless you specifically installed the font on your system. Is it like a normal font file where you can realistically try that? (Since that'd either magically make it work next time you opened the game, or the situation hasn't changed and you can keep not caring for now)
edit again:Well, no, that'd not be it. Because the files work BEFORE you reinsert them. How peculiar.
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It's a built-in png with .csvs. It's all defined in the style.css file, which I fiddled with a bit to go back to the font used back in DoD.
(https://i.gyazo.com/199d9b5e6acca29977e2ccaef8eff428.png)
At this point I'm thinking it's a problem with converting back to a .srsdb file or something. I don't know what else to do really other than just shrug and give up.
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Yeah. In the end it's not a big deal.
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Just posting quickly to say I want to move all further translation talk over to the new thread over here (https://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,19674.0.html). I have about two or so updates worth of stuff to post, and I'll probably take a break later tonight from working on the "bare basics" patch to work on the update for the Pyramid, and possibly the one for the first half of the dungeon after the Pyramid. After that, all further updates will be made using the bare basics patch while I work on a full gameplay patch, including images and other stuff.
Still... I can't really believe that a translation is possible.
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So, this update and the next one were created before I started working on the English patch, but after that it'll be English all the way (except for story, area names, most messages, and some menu options, those are still in Japanese). Maybe that'll make the boss videos easier to understand what's up? Also holy damn is it easier to type up an update than translate a huge table of information.
Youkai of Toono Act: Part 2- Pyramid Power
(http://i.imgur.com/fPe5o50.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Cat's Dream Pyramid (The Hall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MnTr-zpH0&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=35)
A Ten Desires theme was the last thing I expected for this place, but I think it works out.
(http://i.imgur.com/5t09f6J.jpg)
What's a pyramid without Mummies? Weak to Fire and Light as you'd imagine for Undead, they can use stuff like Dark Hand and Drain Touch, so be careful. Up top is a Plasma, who is uh... very, VERY weak to Fire. More or less, I'm pretty sure even Fire Arrow could one-shot it.
(http://i.imgur.com/VchE4Ey.jpg)
Mind Flayer Elites up top are just more dangerous Mind Flayers. Smack them about with Stab attacks. Below is a Lesser Vampire, who can hit you with some pretty dangerous Dark attacks. Light works on it, despite it being a Transcendent (most Transcendents usually aren't weak to Light, but exceptions can be made I suppose).
(http://i.imgur.com/LlzAgDH.jpg)
Aaand we recruit her! Way easier to get than the Izanami in terms of a Dark sub doppel, she'll grab Abyss and Inferno eventually, the third tier Dark single and all-targeting spells. She also grants some Regen, so that's pretty nice.
(http://i.imgur.com/vsxxihW.jpg)
Trying to open these treasure chests... ended up locking the door behind us and unleashing some enemies into the room. Zounds, a trapped floor?
(http://i.imgur.com/aGe9qya.jpg)
Remember Saladins from Devil of Decline? Mamluks are kinda like them, possessing some of the more dangerous sword weapon skills. Not quite on the level of stuff like Acala Sword or Quick Break, but moreso stuff like Comet Assault Slash, etc. Weak to Dark and Gun, as would be expected.
(http://i.imgur.com/1yY5fsU.jpg)
I guess the Pyramid will have traps like this, huh? Least it's not as bad as Final Fantasy V's Pyramid. Although with a Bard you can kinda melt that place into paste.
(http://i.imgur.com/IopsGts.jpg)
In the back there is an Isis, because even the Egyptian gods need to get in our way. Weak to Dark and Gun as befits a Magician, she'll use some of the second-tier spells on you, so be wary of that as always.
(http://i.imgur.com/4rI0fQX.jpg)
Ohhhhh dear... there's a Sylph up top. So, she's the first of the three elemental tough enemies, and is possibly the hardest of the three (even Undine isn't as hard to kill). High EVA, so physicals don't do so hot, and fairly good MDEF, so even Disintegrate (which is Fire, so it hits her weakness) can't one-shot her. Getting a crit helps, but still... good luck. Oh, and she's recruitable, but with a 32 kill requirement and the difficulty of killing her... ahaha... good luck.
(http://i.imgur.com/Nf6wgj1.jpg)
I went back and basically said to myself "yeah I need to fully deck out two rods in MATK Ups and pray".
(http://i.imgur.com/x5zpVfq.jpg)
Also, back to Guns for Saya. For now. She goes back to Crushers eventually.
(http://i.imgur.com/DCQk4d5.jpg)
It's hard to see with the mini map in the way, but that button I pushed opened a door. Magic!
(http://i.imgur.com/CwO2U5f.jpg)
All the new enemies. Beholders are fairly quick, can cancel your magic spells, and are a general pain in the ass. Stab gets rid of them just like with Mind Flayers. The Pyramid Messenger basically spams even more Electric attacks, including Breath attacks, but I believe Electrics with them just like with the Dragon King Palace Messengers.
(http://i.imgur.com/lS5tYAM.jpg)
Man, a Yin-Yang Orb already? This place is full of them.
(http://i.imgur.com/80ZiW0c.jpg)
This room traps you in, but defeating the enemies won't open the way back out.
(http://i.imgur.com/P3cmMhV.jpg)
You actually have to find a switch hidden in one of the sarchophagi. I'd say this was descerating the dead if this place wasn't just pulled out of someone's dreams, so I guess we aren't ACTUALLY invoking some pharoah's curse or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/UEiybNt.jpg)
So these holes. You can fall down them to another floor below. No fall damage, since this is a JRPG and we can survive falls of infinite height.
(http://i.imgur.com/5LbT8vb.jpg)
I kinda forget what Dryades can do. I think they inflict status effects and the like, but are generally weak to Fire so they're not toooooo bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/K4GkR9O.jpg)
And we got a Dryades, something I didn't get first playthrough. They're actually supportive in nature, and have quite a few barriers that prevent damage and status effects, but only to single targets and so. Situationally useful, certainly, just mind the Power costs.
(http://i.imgur.com/dqfDxmL.jpg)
Oh hi there Alastor, you were a Gorgon Barrier enemy in GoS, no? Anyhow, he'll also throw all the Electric at you, and I don't remember if he has any weaknesses or not. I know he isn't weak to Fire, but given he's a Youkai, maybe Light?
(http://i.imgur.com/tfTs7Ec.jpg)
Oh hey, a Ruby. These are the next tier of accessory boosting materials, so let's stock up on as much as we can.
(http://i.imgur.com/R1anrBU.jpg)
There's another Dream Corridor here in the Pyramid too. We'll deal with it soon enough.
(http://i.imgur.com/2Oito4V.jpg)
Falling through the floor on the right-hand side in that other room leads over here, which is a nice shortcut to the beginning and opens up the next part of the dungeon. Note that the Dream Corridor is not accessible from this shortcut, you can only get to it from the room you can fall out of.
(http://i.imgur.com/RtrpJNt.jpg)
Ah crap, an Ace Power. These guys, as you'd think, have some pretty hefty Light attacks, plus their spear attacks can basically murder you flat in no time. While Dark is effective, you'll want stuff like Abyss or Slayers to deal with it, and while I do have Demon Bane, I haven't gotten the Lesser Vampire high enough to learn Abyss, soooo this is a problem.
(http://i.imgur.com/V6JFQu1.jpg)
Like I said, a problem.
(http://i.imgur.com/lAD8So8.jpg)
There were seriously two Sylphs on the field. I tried running. That uh... didn't work out too well.
(http://i.imgur.com/nkNrXCN.jpg)
The Stone Golem up front just tries to bash you as hard as it can, and it's weak to Electric. The fact it has a bird on it and it's all old and worn reminds me a bit of Bastion... if Bastion were a golem and not a robot.
(http://i.imgur.com/wodKlgP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xgYveBY.jpg)
WHY ARE THESE ENCOUNTERS A THING?
(http://i.imgur.com/n0JITcm.jpg)
GOOD WE MADE IT OUT LET'S GO TO THAT DREAM CORRIDOR AAA.
(http://i.imgur.com/WNwDlO0.jpg)
So in this Dream Corridor are enemies that would have appeared in the Great Wall of China section on the west side of the Desert. The Barbarian below is the next upgrade to the Fighter, which only spells trouble. Weak to Dark and Gun, but beware the high power weapon skills they'll be bringing to the table. Up top is a King Raijuu, who is... not that much different than a regular Raijuu. His Electric attacks just hurt that much more. Weak to Fire like before.
(http://i.imgur.com/MkVQc4Y.jpg)
DISINTEGRATE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE USEFUL EARLIER AGAINST THE SYLPHS GAME.
(http://i.imgur.com/JtOGx1A.jpg)
...Why do I try.
(http://i.imgur.com/QMDM1Xt.jpg)
Grey Oozes! Weak to Fire I think. And they still try to drain HP and use Strong Acid to melt your defenses.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZCe7WRe.jpg)
The King Raijin in the back just means more Electric fun for the whole family. Weak to Fire as you'd expect, but the Electric attacks can't stop won't stop.
(http://i.imgur.com/mncY0Qx.jpg)
Last new enemies are the Great Tengu. Weak to Light like before, they're fast, will debuff you, and I think use Electric attacks?
(http://i.imgur.com/ujgQvPn.jpg)
Well I only have myself to blame there. Unless she used Cage Weave. In which case screw Cage Weave that skill hurts.
(http://i.imgur.com/DUAo7Uq.jpg)
Our ultimate reward for this Dream Corridor? Another Power Extension. With that, we're done with the Pyramid for the time being. Next time, we'll head to the west of the Desert and see what lies beyond the Great Wall of China.
Summary:
New Doppels: Lesser Vampire (Spiritualist), Dryades (Medic/Synergist)
Doppel Levels: Lesser Demon (VIT +1; Abyss, STR +3), Lesser Vampire (Regen +30; Charm; Star Resistance to Charm; Temptation; Magic Heal), Suika (Critical Hit Chance +8), Power (Divine Gate, STR +3), Dryades (Darkness, RES +2, Snare; MDEF +2, Permanent Barrier; VIT +1; Invincible Barrier), Kogasa (ACC +3), Three Fairies of Light (Stun Chance on Normal Attack 14), Slime (DEX +4), Crazy Undine (STR +4), Nashorn (STR +2), Mind Flayer (Double Circle Paralysis Resistance, Destruction Nova), Hellhound (Disintegrate, AGI +3), Kanako (MDEF +5), Flandre (Lavaeteinn Power +10), Togakusha Kureha (Dark Zapper, DEX +4)
Major Equipment: Hellfire Ring, Masamune (Reimu), Lunatic Morian, Thunder God Shield (Yukari), Soul Cutter (Yukari), Wizard Rod (Mamizou), Raijin Ring, Shingeki Warhammer, Exhatio Guarder (Reimu), Schutzengewehr (Saya), Blizzard Ring, Rapture Waste, Quickfire (Yukari)
Synthesis Done: Strength Necklace +2 (Saya), Magic Ring +1, Aquascutum Trenchcoat (Saya)
Sparked Skills: Flying Bird Charge (single-target attack that inflicts Stun, Yukari), Rudel Cannon (penetrating attack that partily ignores defense, Saya), Emperor Slash (row-targeting attack that Slays Warriors and Magicians), Twin Lightning (single-target attack that hits twice), Mesocyclone (all-targeting attack that Slays enemies inflicted with Permanent Effects, Reimu), Comet Assault Slash (single-target attack that Slays Beasts and Insects, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 4
Total Death Count: 10
So I think I made up for the relative lack of death in the first three acts.
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I got a boatload of gameovers before I even got the full party (At first I thought it was just because I was stubborn and wanted to give Saya and Yukari both stab-type training, but even after I give Saya a sword back for a little while, I still game overed constantly for a couple screens ;_;) so don't feel bad, at least yours are... more legitimate.
I can't help but read the LP but I'm probably going to pause sometime soon now that I'm actually playing the game myself. That being said, I'm a sponge who hungers for these sorts of things on games I like, so I'm -definitely- coming back and reading anything I don't once I pass those areas in the game myself.
Plus this is a nice list for, say, which monsters are recruitable doppels, and any boss help I may or may not end up giving up and needing to look for.
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On one hand, my deaths are somewhat more legitimate, but on the other hand, holy hell are some of the possible encounters stupidly overpowered. Getting stuff like two Ace Powers or multiple Sylphs is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Youkai of Toono Act: Part 3- Lullaby of Flooded Hell
(http://i.imgur.com/oCf1kCS.jpg)
So this time around we're at that Great Wall of China section on the west side of the Desert.
(http://i.imgur.com/o3EsdxR.jpg)
I have the Quickfire on Yukari, which gives a preemptive chance. For some reason in this game, surprise attacks, preemptive attacks, etc. don't happen naturally, and you need special items to allow for preemptives. The accessories that give Caution, as a result, are utterly useless. Don't waste the materials on them. Ever.
(http://i.imgur.com/f5GUKJ9.jpg)
In the back we have a Unicorn. Weak to Fire, but forget trying to hurt it with magic, you'd be better off using elemental physical attacks. It'll meanwhile try healing itself and using some Stab attacks that hurt pretty hard.
(http://i.imgur.com/0m260gV.jpg)
Eh? What's this?
(http://i.imgur.com/G0uyMqn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/UYX3rgj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/GWY9HMs.jpg)
That was Fantasy Nature, our first Sparked Last Word! Past an element level of 20 in certain elements, your party can learn new Last Words altogether, with each character possessing a physical, magic, and supportive Last Word. While Fantasy Seal is Reimu's magic Last Word, Fantasy Nature is her physical one, being a high-power single-target attack that grants invincibility for her for the rest of the turn.
(http://i.imgur.com/89XPfqu.jpg)
The Unicorn joins us! More or less, he's just another healing doppel, and I believe he's the only one to grant Complete Cure, the all-targeting (but very Power expensive) version of Clearance.
(http://i.imgur.com/NPOth0J.jpg)
Once we get outside onto the Snowy Road again (goodbye Desert, we won't miss you), we run into an Ogre Lady. She'll basically try to murder you with high-powered Strike attacks, but since she's a Warrior, Dark and Gun will do her in just as well as before. Also recruitable.
(http://i.imgur.com/rnUbhxC.jpg)
Yet another Dream Corridor, there's no shortage of those around.
(http://i.imgur.com/j30kyIU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/67RBvcb.jpg)
And here's our next dungeon, the Underground Lake. if you look carefully past the clouds beneath the entrance, there's another exit to the south, so it's going to be like the Cave in that it'll act as transition, but unlike the Cave, the Underground Lake is a full-on dungeon. Before that, though, Dream Corridor time.
(http://i.imgur.com/11aSg6S.jpg)
Good god why are there so many Mind Flayer Elites. Also, in the back is a Wizard. Another Magician, she can actually hit with some pretty hard all-targeting magic (second tier specifically, which still does a number on us). Weak to Dark and Gun as always.
(http://i.imgur.com/xKYSWbD.jpg)
It's the return of Zenies as Frozen Hell Zenies. Weak to Electric like before... uh... they exist? And kinda hit hard with Incisor last time I checked?
(http://i.imgur.com/OFh7fFW.jpg)
GOOD GOD WHY. But uh... up top is an Undine, the Water equivalent of the Sylphs. Recruitable, but just as painful to kill, they'll use high power Water and spear attacks on you. Weak to Electric, but good luck. Also, I don't think the Undines here are as based off of their Puzzle and Dragons appearance as the Sylphs are, just quickly looking over at the PaD wiki (the Sylphs are closer to their second form, but the Undines don't really look like any form barring having a giant spear). I only say this because I remember reading off the Japanese wiki they're based off of them. How I didn't notice given I've played enough PaD to have fought them before, I dunno.
(http://i.imgur.com/0rWh3YU.jpg)
What did you think was going to happen, honestly?
(http://i.imgur.com/MswSxCE.jpg)
Yukkuri Sisters! The next tier up of Yukkuris, they have not that much more HP, but they're still as hard to kill as ever, and try to spam first tier magic at you. Not too threatening, but good luck trying to kill them before they flee. One thing I've learned: Double-Edged Curse works wonders against Yukkuris in general, if you can get it to land. They'll kill themselves with their own attacks easily (since Double-Edged Curse ignores defenses and is based off of the power of the attack, which normally isn't a big deal on most enemies, but is ESPECIALLY big on Yukkuri).
(http://i.imgur.com/2IbxgWu.jpg)
And Wizard get! Basically, they're to the Sorcerer as the Magician was to the Fairy Maid, able to use the second-tier all-targeting FIR/ELE/WTR spells and eventually getting the third-tier versions. They also grant reflection for FIR/ELE/WTR attacks, so even on your front-liners she can be pretty useful.
(http://i.imgur.com/zhYJ7YI.jpg)
Another POW Extension, but that's not the only thing here.
(http://i.imgur.com/e4oPg2o.jpg)
Crazy Primas are also a thing. Like the Crazy Undines before, they love to pepper you with spear attacks, but these ones hit even harder and will probably murder you. Dark and Gun as always will work on them.
(http://i.imgur.com/kjdMFsQ.jpg)
The Iceberg down below is an upgrade to the Wall of Ice from earlier. Still is going to slam you with Water attacks, but since I have Mega Stroke, it's no big deal. Man, having third-tier magic is pretty good at this point in the game.
(http://i.imgur.com/52psmD3.jpg)
Moar recipes I can't do anything with.
(http://i.imgur.com/XzSZlEt.jpg)
I don't even remember how I screwed this up.
(http://i.imgur.com/VvJNX9H.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: A Drop of Water in the Unusual Cave (Loose Rain/Ruse Rain/[whatever it's actually called]) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPPpaJ-uUD8&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=36)[/url]
With the Dream Corridor out of the way, we're on to this place. It's hard to tell that the music is Loose Rain since it doesn't have as much of the melody there, but it definitely is Loose Rain.
(http://i.imgur.com/pZIfLVj.jpg)
Up top we have an Empuse (with no brass leg I notice, I thought that was a thing they had), an upgrade to the Succubus. Of course, this means Charm. And Temptation. All the time. Stab her or Light her up quick. Also in the back is the final variant of Volnehem, the Melty Volnehem. Weak to Electric, but it uses a lot of the physical Water moves. Be wary of that.
(http://i.imgur.com/ptD53j3.jpg)
Backbeards return! Oddly, they don't reflect physicals like they used to be able to. Unless the chance is just really low. Otherwise it... doesn't do a whole lot. Just kill it with Water and move on.
(http://i.imgur.com/7yYv1rw.jpg)
The Water down below is just a weak Spirit that can possibly even die from just a casting of Plasma Ball. They're a threat how again?
(http://i.imgur.com/E2X1bDz.jpg)
Barrier Stone puzzles, oh how you appear everywhere (this is I believe the second-to-last dungeon that makes use out of Barrier Stones, I know for a fact the next dungeon doesn't use them).
(http://i.imgur.com/c5KUTtF.jpg)
Winter Wolves in the back are like the Hellhounds, but they now breathe Water attacks. Cold Breath is what they start out with, but they can also use Freezing Snowstorm, the second-tier Water breath attack. It hurts. A lot. Kill them with Electric and fast.
(http://i.imgur.com/rKoFu7w.jpg)
Basilisks are weak to Light, but they love attacks like Poison Breath (the poison from it can tick off 100+ HP per turn, ouch) and Death Breath (instant death procs much?). Get them dealt with as fast as you can.
(http://i.imgur.com/Nftq6xS.jpg)
Here's the way forward, on another raft (not over blood this time... speaking of, where DID Zhuli get all that blood in DoD for her Clock Tower?). But first, Barrier Stone finding time.
(http://i.imgur.com/1XCsbmK.jpg)
Seven-Caped People would be scary usually, but I have Disintegrate and Divine Gate by now. They're one shot before they're ever a threat, so I don't even remember what they do.
(http://i.imgur.com/tNzAXDZ.jpg)
And here's our Barrier Stone.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ft6Ck7n.jpg)
Putting it on that earlier dais means we get on the raft, which has just as much a lack of animation as it did in DoD. Never change.
(http://i.imgur.com/UFWDXvA.jpg)
The rest of the dungeon is a combination of working with the various docks spread across the place and another Barrier Stone puzzle that isn't really a puzzle.
(http://i.imgur.com/nT3oZaw.jpg)
...Yes, yes you are looking at that right, there is a giant freaking truck on screen. The Hell Truck is a fun enemy that kinda serves as an upgrade to Creepers, actually. Weak to Water, they will usually use Sacrifice Bomb the turn after they are damaged, so you might want to kill it off in one shot.
(http://i.imgur.com/nWXRU0K.jpg)
For some odd reason, there's a Waypoint here that serves as the midpoint of the dungeon. Odd, but I'm not complaining, especially given the Dream Corridor we had to do earlier. With this, the update ends, and next time, we have our first update with the English patch as we finish off the Underground Lake and prepare for the bosses of the Pyramid and the Underground Lake.
Summary:
New Doppels: Unicorn (Medic/Synergist), Wizard (Ravager)
Doppel Levels: Dryades (RES +5), Nue (MDEF +15; Danmaku Chimera Cooldown -1; MDEF +20), Jason (DEX +1), Closed Railroad Crossing (ACC +7), Unicorn (Complete Cure; empty level; POT +2; Elixir, HP +5; Pitch Dark), Eirin (ACC +10), Kogasa (Single-target Skill Casting Speed +20), Wizard (Starlight Whip, AGI +1; Dark Lure, Fire Reflection +7; Electric Reflection +7; Water Reflection +7), Hell's Gatekeeper (Freezing Snowstorm, AGI +4), Hatate (PATK +3; EVA +3; Physical Skill Casting Speed +10), Sorcerer (Disintegrate, Zero Kelvin, Mega Stroke, Electric Power +3), Traveling Schoolgirl (Pain Bond), Power (Weapon Bless, VIT +3)
Major Equipment: Volcano Staff, Darkness Ring, Schnellfeuer, Thundercloud Staff, Raijin Sword, Magma Spot Axe, Minotaur's Axe (Saya), Angel Ring, Turkish Bow, Raiden
Synthesis Recipes: Nosferatu Mantle, Witchcraft Cape, Reproduction, Armored Lining Sailor Suit, Maximillian, Lightning Plate Armor
Synthesis Done: Keen Pendant +2 (Mamizou), Sniper Anklet +2 (Saya), Keep-Away Muffler +2 (Yukari)
Sparked Skills: Insight Arrow (single-target attack with slightly more power and casting speed than a regular attack, Yukari), Planet Break (single-target attack that reduces EVA, Saya), Unstable Shooting (all-targeting attack with low power and ACC, Yukari), Blind Walker (single-target attack that inflicts Blind, Saya), Psycho Slayer (single-target attack that Slays Transcendants, Yukari), Boring Buster (single-target attack that ignores some defense, Saya), Shockwave Bind (penetrating attack that inflicts Paralysis, Yukari), Bird Strike (single-target attack that Slays Beasts), Mind's Eye Bow (single-target attack with very high ACC, Yukari), Cage Weave (all-targeting attack that doesn't suck like Unstable Shooting, Yukari), Cyclone Bow (all-targeting attack that inflicts AGI Down, Yukari), Big Arrow (penetrating attack, Yukari), Zero Kelvin Slash (Water-elemental single-target attack, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 2
Total Death Count: 12
To be honest, Undines are easier to handle than Sylphs, especially since Undines don't have freaking Cage Weave. Seriously, screw that attack, it's probably half the reason for my game overs against them. That and failure to run.
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Hmmm... when it comes to dual-wielding rods, it seems that the 25% magic damage boost stacks, but side effects (like the Water Boost on a Water Staff)... don't, I think? Hmm, or maybe they were both working, but they were at half effect? Damage results are slightly inconsistent because of changing doppels from deaths and gaining levels in general. z.z Dual Wielding, say, an IND-boost staff is obviously working since it boosts your statistics, at least, and you definitely get -something- from dual staff; damage goes down for sure if I don't have two on.
Peeked at Last Word sparking stuff, it sure is goofy :V At least physical words (which no one starts with) are all consistent- with 20 weapon skill and under 25% HP, use a single target attack (or maybe it was just normal attack, I forget). Except Marisa's Blazing Star- under 50% HP, use an all-target attack. The magic-elemental and support ones are all weird, though. Use an all-target dark magic attack as Yukari with at least 12 skill???? Defend as Marisa???? And some of them say you need to have LW up during, like, use a single-target fir/wtr/ele as Mamizou with LW up. So goofy.
It's too bad the more in-depth wiki only seems to list the physical ones, as I'm sure it'd have more clear data than the general one about the others.
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IIRC, CJD2524 posted stuff about the Last Word sparking in the old pre-expansion NoR thread, right? I kinda want to try to spark some of the others that I haven't. In the update I'm working on now, I got Mamizou's Magical Transformation to proc somehow, the rest I still need to figure out. Mostly because it'd be nice to have some Last Word variety (only sparking two of ten possible sparks is pretty bad especially since everyone by now should at least be able to spark their physical one, even if some of them don't really need it right now).
Speaking of the next update, it probably won't go up until later because I'm fairly busy today and I still need to cut up and upload the two boss fights and all the associated cutscenes. Just as a little preview: the second boss fight kinda killed me twice and made me reset three times. Most attempts on a fight yet and I haven't even hit one of the hardest fights in the game yet.
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Man, I have quite a few things to fix for NoR and DoD right now but I'm getting pretty burnt out on the translation effort, so let's have an LP update instead. Probably will focus on it and clearing the air with some other games for a couple days (I still have another Four Job Fiesta run to do, eheh...).
Youkai of Toono Act: Part 4- Animal Planet
...When you think about it, most of the main antagonists are based off of some form of animal, with Arare being the only exception (even Mengniang is a baku, which is based off of tapirs).
Anyhow, we have some reason to celebrate, especially since...
(http://i.imgur.com/yIwWmVI.jpg)
First release of the English patch and all! So from now on, battles and the like will be mostly in English, barring the field effect names on the top right.
(http://i.imgur.com/4hBW2Wc.jpg)
Also not this page because good god trying to edit those images would be a night, although the item drops are in English.
(http://i.imgur.com/pkdoBua.jpg)
And treasure names (also yay another Ruby).
(http://i.imgur.com/3zcW2x9.jpg)
Doppel levels...
(http://i.imgur.com/Kdd40WG.jpg)
Oh hey there guy. Lieutenant Demons are the next step up for the demon-type Foreign Gods, which means lots of powerful Dark attacks. Shift that Land towards Light and smack him down with Light attacks and Slayers. Thankfully Divine Gate exists.
(http://i.imgur.com/lERr6bS.jpg)
The only other new enemy here is the Flood Worm, who uh... does stuff. Once again, I typically deal with them before they have time to act, so I don't think they've really killed me or anything.
(http://i.imgur.com/cGdReQf.jpg)
Nice, we got a Backbeard! It focuses a lot on debuffs and the like, whilst also granting things like Physical Reflection. Which is pretty good if it procs on your front-liners.
(http://i.imgur.com/yTI39zg.jpg)
Oh yeah, element levels are a thing too.
(http://i.imgur.com/AlFrTlW.jpg)
This is the way out, but we need a Barrier Stone... somewhere.
(http://i.imgur.com/Na2AIYW.jpg)
...Remind that Winter Wolves suck when they use Freezing Snowstorm.
(http://i.imgur.com/KZBXfzo.jpg)
Hell Trucks are also recruitable, giving Strike resistance and a bunch of attacks. Including Sacrifice Bomb. Which is totally useless. Why would you ever attempt it? Ever?
(http://i.imgur.com/0NokkGG.jpg)
Now this just looks ridiculous.
(http://i.imgur.com/iWF0cIX.jpg)
There's our Barrier Stone. We can just warp back to the Waypoint and put it there without having to backtrack too much.
(http://i.imgur.com/H3iqySp.jpg)
As such!
(http://i.imgur.com/qc87Fmu.jpg)
Really? Again?
(http://i.imgur.com/8zaRdQT.jpg)
...Well, the animation didn't fully play out, but Mamizou sparked a Last Word, Magical Danmaku Transformation. More or less, a single-target magic attack of your choosing. I assume it sparks a Void and/or dummy version of the spell, since uh... this ended up doing no damage. Oops.
(http://i.imgur.com/ujp7O3K.jpg)
But enough of that, we have at last reached the end of the Underground Lake. Guess what that means? That's right, back to the Pyramid!
Cutscene: Guardian of the Pyramid (https://youtu.be/DqdyQA0bEeU)
Naturally we ran into a Sphinx. And... Chen for some reason. Why is she here and why is she attacking us?
(http://i.imgur.com/jYX20EX.jpg)
Well, no questioning it now, we need to go to work. Chen and the Sphinx (who has various forms) are not too bad if you know what you're doing, but frustrating otherwise. While the Sphinx is alive, Chen nullifies all damage against herself. The feet of the Sphinx are seperate targets, which are weak to Fire and aren't too bad, but you want them out of the way. The pharoah-looking head (I forget the names of all the forms off the top of my head) is sort of the "Priest" kind, who has high-powered Light attacks and such. I think it might be weak to Dark, but I forget. There's also a bull who has no weaknesses and focuses on status effects, a bird who is weak to Electric I believe and does physical attacks, and a woman who focuses on magic but is weak to the three basic elements. Chen herself has no weaknesses, and at worst could hit you with Hellclaw Assassination. In general, this fight really isn't that tough.
Boss Fight: Vs. Chen and the Sphinx (https://youtu.be/wlAmBPsKV6I)
First boss fight in English, hopefully it's understandable enough? Noooot too harsh a fight.
Cutscene: Fall of the Sphinx (https://youtu.be/byX1UJT2l-Y)
From the looks of it, Chen got somehow goaded into attacking us by some mysterious enemy she refuses to speak about, and it seems she's been doppel-ified as a result. Either she knows and can't tell us who the mastermind is, or she doesn't know and she got duped pretty hard. She also gives us a strange gear, that for right now serves no purpose. But on top of that, we get Chen as a doppel!
A Warrior that shores up the type 6 weaknesses, Chen is kind of a weird combination of Remilia and Satori, in that she gets a decent amount of EVA and PATK bonuses while also getting Meditation (passive MP regen), so if you want to spam skills without worrying about MP costs, Chen has you covered. Her skill, Soaring Bishamonten, is a high-speed single-target attack that raises AGI for three turns after use.
That said, let's move on to the boss of the Underground Lake.
Cutscene: Ambushed by a Familiar Foe (https://youtu.be/U15YE8b4ylc)
...Whelp, looks like Ino-Shika-Chou got the drop on us. Seems that even after defeating them, they don't want to give up the good fight. I suppose if the goal of the incident is to increase the power of youkai in the Outside World, they'd be all for that. Theoretically they could always enter Gensokyo, but they're too stubborn and would rather throw their lot in with Hakusen and Mengniang. So, no choice but to fight!
(http://i.imgur.com/2uHg6hb.jpg)
...Good god this fight is a pain in the ass. So, these three have all their old weaknesses and the like (Botan is weak to Electric and Slash, Hagino to Water and Stab, and Momiji to Fire, Water, and Strike), but also all their old tricks, plus some new ones. When you defeat any of them, they revive into a second form that's more powerful and will tend to spam either their original spell card or a new one. They're not all showed off in the final fight, but Botan's is basically the old "Water attack that can inflict Instant Death" type attack Strawberry Bose just LOVES in every game, Hagino's is like a more dangerous version of Reckless Rush, and... I don't think Momiji ever uses her other spell card. Which is weird, because she has one that isn't Phoenix Tree's Leaf.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZDWLEo3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/B1KZIw9.jpg)
My two deaths to this fight. I also reset three times, meaning we have our first resets of the game. Yaaaaaay... booooooo...
Boss Fight: Vs. Toono's Ino-Shika-Chou (https://youtu.be/mhbmYT9hYbs)
This boss fight is just a nightmare. There's a few ways to do it, but I tend to stick to focusing them down one at a time. Getting rid of Hagino or Momiji first is a good idea (Hagino can theoretically just be shut down with Windshield, so you don't HAVE to get rid of her, plus the longer Momiji stays in the fight, the more she's willing to spam Phoenix Tree's Leaf, and you can't overwrite that field forever). Botan is a constant danger with her spell cards, but a good shot of Counter Magic SHOULD deal with it and allow for you to take her on last. Keyword "should". As for resistances, prioritize Water resistance, Electric resistance second, and don't even worry about Fire resistance, Hagino shouldn't even be able to touch you with a good EVA buff.
Also, the ending of this fight with Reimu essentially going all "Eleventh Hour Superpower" and grabbing the almighty Quick Break was pretty damned badass. I'm glad I get to keep that move, and Heat Tomahawk on Saya as well (having the Magma Spot Axe helps spark that, obviously).
Cutscene: Ino-Shika-Chou's Last Stand (https://youtu.be/Oz0ThwJshkE)
And... looks like we beat them back for good this time. No worries, we won't be fighting them again, we've taken care of them. Now, originally I was just going to stop the update here, buuut I figure since I went out of my way to do it, might as well append some additional things I tried out, since they were mentioned (thank you Serela). For this, we head back to the Cave.
(http://i.imgur.com/GfU0oUt.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/hh7bvO6.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/q0IOTyc.jpg)
Last Word sparking time, starting with Marisa. Miracle Hakkero is a field effect sparked by defending while Marisa has her Last Word Chance active, and it causes all MP costs to fall to 0 for the duration. This is a REALLY good spell, and if Marisa isn't using Master Spark or her physical Last Word (which I will not be sparking this playthrough unless I end up getting some stupid luck and/or somehow manage to get her Strike level to 20), it's probably a better choice for Last Word.
(http://i.imgur.com/svUTnzU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/VgnRArJ.jpg)
Sukima Strash, like everyone else's physical Last Words, is sparked by using a single target skill while under 25% HP (I had Mamizou smack Yukari with Detonate while Yukari had some Fire resistance on so it didn't one shot her). You only have one chance per battle to spark a physical Last Word from what I understand, so if you fail to do it first turn, run away and retry the fight. Anyhow, Sukima Strash is a high-powered Penetrating attack. Pretty damn useful, and if you have a good, high powered weapon on Yukari, it can pretty much murder encounters.
(http://i.imgur.com/PJiyK3M.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zyi9CLN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/mwlAiXm.jpg)
Lastly, I manage to spark Kurahinata God Palms, meaning I've now sparked a new Last Word for every character (I can still spark others, but I'm fine with just the ones I did now). This is a high-powered single target attack with a chance to inflict Instant Death. For Saya, who is my physical powerhouse, this attack is REALLY good.
But that's it for Last Word sparking for now. Next time, we cross the Underground Lake and head to the final dungeon for the act (yes, already, it's amazing).
Summary:
New Doppels: Backbeard, Hell Truck
Doppel Levels: Koishi (Critical Hit Rate +6, ○ Instant Death), Nitori (FIR/ELE/WTR Element Power +10; FIR/ELE/WTR Power +20), Wizard (AGI +2), Hell Truck (POT +2, Drill; VIT +2, Strong Attack; DEX +2, Mute; POT +4, Alignment Shield Wall), Schwarze Katze (DEX +2), Rumia (FIR/ELE/WTR/LGT/DRK/MYS Element Power +40), Three Fairies of Light (Fairy Overdrive Power +5), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Casting Speed +10), Sanae (Support Casting Speed +10), Alice (MDEF +10), Murei (empty level)
Major Equipment: Annwn, Fainting Bow, Arondight, Ochain (Saya), Passion, Muddy Stream Bow
Synthesis Recipes:
Synthesis Done: Brilliant Mantle, a bunch of other armors from earlier in the game I forgot to note down, Gale Boots +2 (Mamizou), Barrier Earrings +2 (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Armor-Piercing Shot (Penetrating attack that reduces SLA/STA/STK resistance, Saya), Surprise Gunfire (high speed attack, Yukari), High Velocity (penetrating attack, Yukari), Sturmovik (all-targeting attack, Yukari), Zero Fighter (high ACC attack, Yukari), Heat Tomahawk (fire elemental attack, Saya), Quick Break (attack that partially ignores Slash resistance, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 4
Update Reset Count: 3
Total Death Count: 16
Total Reset Count: 3
New counters, yaaaaaaay.
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Youkai of Toono Act: Part 5- Castle Crashers
Yet another game I have not played that I probably should. Eventually.
(http://i.imgur.com/tDwoHv6.jpg)
After taking the boat that appeared after beating Ino-Shika-Chou, we end up here, near another Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/jELVphz.jpg)
Looks to be some sort of castle? It also appears to be the next-to-last area, there's only one more covered by clouds.
Cutscene: The Castle of Bygone Days (https://youtu.be/phFKLtoscZI)
Looks like we ran into another castle...
(http://i.imgur.com/Bg3fcr7.jpg)
And it appears to be Japanese too. From what little I can understand, I believe Saya says this is an old castle, specifically "Toono Castle". I'm guessing it used to be a big part of the town, but otherwise was lost to the ages, only brought back via this whole incident. I include the next cutscene right after, where we make use of that Gear that Chen had to open the drawbridge to the castle. If you somehow had not beaten Chen before now, you wouldn't be able to get through into...
(http://i.imgur.com/9ZhoXje.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Famed Castle of Bygone Days (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L9FEjkSrKQ&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=37)
...Toono Castle, the next-to-last dungeon of the game. No, really, I'm not joking, we're getting pretty close to the end now.
(http://i.imgur.com/I3hiEK7.jpg)
The first area of the castle is basically charging the front gates, and with it comes enemies. The Iron Futtachi up front will be throwing some Strike skills at you, ones that can and will basically one-shot anyone without some decent PDEF or EVA. Fire works on them, but not so much on the, well, Fires in the back. Weak to Water as you'd expect, they... don't do a whole lot.
(http://i.imgur.com/sTBm6Jp.jpg)
Oh hey, it's a palette swap of one of the very first enemies of the game! The Ka-no-Kijinjou can use Colosseo and Magic Drain (which bar HP and MP recovery respectively) to screw you over, but it's not a major deal unless you're fighting some other enemies that are extremely dangerous.
(http://i.imgur.com/cKAJ12T.jpg)
Oh hey it's a Manuscript. As usual, they can hit you with Incisor or Branding Iron to try Blinding or Silencing you, and are notorious for being nearly immune to magic (even Disintegrate can only deal about 1000 damage to it, and Detonate can't do a thing). Weak to Fire and Slash, so your physical damage dealers with type seven skills (which I have one of the three basic elements for all three of my front-liners by now, yaaaay) can do some good damage. CJD2524 wasn't kidding when he said they were really good skills. Plus now I have a use for Nitori when I never really used her before!
(http://i.imgur.com/KgiVVx3.jpg)
In the back there is a Goby, who can breath Fire and whatnot at you, but otherwise isn't too dangerous. Electric will be good for this.
(http://i.imgur.com/HQKV5o5.jpg)
Those are some pretty imposing statues. They aren't tanuki I imagine, but I don't recognize what they are supposed to be. Or maybe they are tanuki.
(http://i.imgur.com/pNYeKFv.jpg)
There's a Yin-Yang Orb already? Well, if you insist. I keep it around for later, instead of immediately using it. Tip to people playing this game: save your Yin-Yang Orbs. If you end up game overing after using a Yin-Yang Orb in the dungeon, you can always use one from another dungeon to prevent enemies from respawning while you make it back.
(http://i.imgur.com/hAUGgFL.jpg)
Up top there be a Fire Crow, which I assume is supposed to be a Yatagarasu or something. It can hit hard with all the Fire attacks in the world, including the tier two Fire breath attack. Naturally, Water and Stab will take it down.
(http://i.imgur.com/CIEu8Fe.jpg)
The En-no-Ozuno there, for the most part, isn't too dangerous, mostly using the all-targeting versions of debuffs like Acid Storm, Haze Mist, etc., but they can also use Cosmic Liner. Which can basically one-shot anyone. Dark and/or Gun, as you'd expect.
(http://i.imgur.com/UPYZ8v0.jpg)
There's a locked door here, so we'll need a key or something, which I completely forgot to screenshot getting. It's down below.
(http://i.imgur.com/Yo1u4Ry.jpg)
COCKATRICESSSSSSSSSSS.
The Elite Cockatrice, of course, can use Petro Gas and otherwise completely screw up your party if you don't kill it fast enough. Electric and Stab, as fast as you can.
(http://i.imgur.com/dIoQGd0.jpg)
And we got the Manuscript! Grants a good amount of physical skills and FINALLY gives us Magic Barrier, the all-targeting MDEF Up spell. That spell is going to see some good use in the future.
(http://i.imgur.com/Hv3S39x.jpg)
We got a Black Key below, which breaks upon opening the door. The item description says it was pretty fragile looking, but geez, really?
(http://i.imgur.com/D7kIuMC.jpg)
The Salamander up top is the final of the three high-powered elemental Spirits we've been running into, obviously being the Fire version. His attacks are fairly dangerous, but if you can bring him down fast enough (and bring Fire resistance), he's actually easier than even the Undine to take down. It helps I have third-tier spells by now.
(http://i.imgur.com/huqZaKL.jpg)
The Hipporit up there is kind of what happens if you combined a Zebra Volnehem with a Cockatrice, boasting Petro Gas and various breath attacks. Kill it with Light as fast as you possibly can.
(http://i.imgur.com/EtivyYV.jpg)
Number of hits level yet again! All 4s to 5s this time, nice nice nice.
(http://i.imgur.com/tj0dTwI.jpg)
The En-no-Ozuno is the first doppel to grant us all of the basic row-targeting debuffs (previous ones only granted some of them, he grants more or less all of them). He'll see some use in the future (especially since I've more or less failed to use debuffs this whole game... which is kind of a mistake, in fact I'm fairly certain I only won the Ino-Shika-Chou fight due to debuffs, not to mention they do line up in a row, as if screaming "USE YOUR DEBUFFS YOU DUMB PLAYER").
(http://i.imgur.com/LjgRJVB.jpg)
He kinda gets cutoff at the top by the screen, but that's a Miage Nyuudou, which is a pretty tough monster to deal with. Weak to Slash and Light, he can use some very dangerous Strike attacks, so expect to lose a person or two before taking him down.
(http://i.imgur.com/1zRMSJb.jpg)
The Shisa in the back is weak to Fire, but he has the rather dangerous Moonlight Mirror, which can reflect magic back and has some fairly high priority. It's dangerous to use magic while they're around.
(http://i.imgur.com/kNyBt4A.jpg)
Oh hey, this look familiar? We're going to be doing something similar to that endless corridor in Genius of Sappheiros, but a little less confusing.
(http://i.imgur.com/9zsebMu.jpg)
That there is a Virtue, who of course is the next tier of angel-type Foreign God. Weak to Dark, but pretty resistant to physical attacks (plus he has a shield), he can be fairly hard to take down, not to mention he can basically blast you with things like Silent Judge and other high powered Light attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/tCV0Bgt.jpg)
...I somehow, on a 1/32 chance, got the Virtue on the first try. I have NEVER gotten this doppel before. Well uh... that's that, I suppose? He grants a few buffs as well as Silent Judge. He'll later get Sanctuary, the all-targeting third tier Light spell (which I have never gotten on any prior playthrough... good god I screwed myself so hard on the expansion since I lacked good Light and Dark spells).
(http://i.imgur.com/dPqtk9T.jpg)
The way this works is that you move through the doors and try to find the right ones. If you find the right one, there's a ding and the door stays open, otherwise it closed behind you. Even if you get a door wrong, all the correct doors will stay open, the the room loops back on itself infinitely. Once you get all the right doors opened on each row of three, you get teleported out.
(http://i.imgur.com/bm5jo9E.jpg)
And get another Black Key. No idea why it's in Japanese here when I translated all the items. Must be another case of a Global.srb string.
(http://i.imgur.com/nymhkgY.jpg)
Oh nice, a Shisa! I... forget what kinds of things it gives you. I know Perfect Resist is one of them, among other buffs and shields.
(http://i.imgur.com/6ZvpA5y.jpg)
Finally made it to the next Waypoint. Time for a boss fight.
Cutscene: A Yakumo Family Brawl (https://youtu.be/v8e2H8zryG4)
So... Ran's also here, Ran is also under orders to have us killed. Now, Chen never mentioned who it was that gave that order, but Ran is a tiny bit more loose-lipped, saying it was... Yukari who ordered the hit. Wait a minute, Yukari's with us, why would she want us stopped? We ask if she means the Yukari that would normally be in Gensokyo right now (AKA the Yukari of 1912, since we're in the past), but Ran confirms it isn't. So... hang on, if the Yukari of 2012 (our Yukari) doesn't want us dead, and the Yukari of 1912 isn't involved, then... how does this make sense?
(http://i.imgur.com/WoWqX89.jpg)
Confusing explanations aside, Ran here can be a fairly tough boss fight if you don't prepare according, but nowhere nearly as bad as the rematch with Ino-Shika-Chou. She uses both Royal Flash and Silent Judge, which means Blind and Silence galore, plus she can hit with arrow normal attacks, which... don't do much. Her most dangerous attack is Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser, a row-targeting Light attack that inflicts Dispel. If you have Light resistance going into this fight, it won't be too harsh, but debuffing her and keeping up your defenses is a must.
Boss Fight: Vs. Ran Yakumo, Shikigami of the Gap Youkai (https://youtu.be/U44sStT3y-g)
Yeah, this went fairly well, I'd say.
Cutscene: The Yakumo Family Reunited (https://youtu.be/Ekbfko_7cQ4)
Ran's been defeated, and now it appears as if she's also hit doppel form. Despite her prior mission, she decided to ally herself with her true master instead, reuniting with Chen and Yukari. And with that, we have the final main doppel we'll get for the rest of the game (barring the expansion content, of course).
Ran is our final Ranger, who shores up the type 4 learning weakness. Much like Tenshi, she's what I consider a "selfish" doppel, that focuses mainly on buffing her own skill, while also providing some very sizable PATK bonuses. Her skill, speaking of, is Descent of Izuna Gongen, which is a Penetrating attack that boosts PATK for three turns after. It's a pretty nice skill for anyone using a ranged weapon, and she's possibly one of the stronger Rangers you'll ever get.
But with that said and done, we're done for now. Next time, we charge headlong into the second half of Toono Castle, and attempt to find the ones who've barred themselves within in the finale of this act. Also yay, I managed six updates with this act as well.
Summary:
New Doppels: Manuscript, En-no-Ozuno, Virtue, Shisa
Doppel Levels: Sakuya (Slayer Power +17), Nitori (Chaser Power +10), Lesser Demon (Dark Breath, VIT +3), Remilia (Evasion Chances +1), Chen (EVA +5, Physical Skill Casting Speed +4; PATK +2; EVA +10; Physical Skill Casting Speed +6), Youmu (ACC +10), Lesser Vampire (Regen +40), Yuugi (PATK +5), Sunflower Fairy (VIT +2), Manuscript (Energy Hand, INT +2; Blood Suck, STR +2; Fang Crush, DEX +2; Rune Chase, MDEF +30), En-no-Ozuno (Variety Casting Speed +3, Gutless; Melt, IND +2, Acid, Mist; RES +2, Darkness, Snare; Variety Casting Speed +5), Dragon Maid (STR +2), Virtue (LGT Casting Speed +5, Starlight Shower; AGI +2, Earth Wall; POT +3; Sanctuary, LGT Casting Speed +10), Magician (FIR Reflection +10), Shisa (VIT +2; ○ Petrify, Perfect Resist; POT +4), Suika (PATK +6), Byakuren (○ Silence; IND +13)
Major Equipment: Saint George, Alien Slaughter, Magnet Gun, Blade Cusinart (Reimu), Midwinter Staff, Potato Masher (Marisa)
Synthesis Done: Magical Capper (Marisa), Reproduction (Reimu), Launch Goggles +2 (Yukari)
Sparked Skills: Large White Cudgel (single-target attack that inflicts RES Down, Saya), Falling Leaves (single-target attack that inflicts Blind, Reimu), Flint Trap (row attack that inflicts EVA Down, Yukari), Plasma Trident (ranged Electric elemental attack that inflicts ACC Down for one turn, Yukari), Berserk Maiden (single target attack that Slays enemies with Permanents, Slays Giants, and inflicts Berserk, Reimu), Nightmare Stab (single-target attack that inflicts Sleep, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 0
Update Reset Count: 0
Total Death Count: 16
Total Reset Count: 3
A deathless run of the first half of Toono Castle isn't that bad.
-
On that "endless corridor"-like room, the player can open the doors from one side but not from the other (the dungeon uses that gimmick in general). It seems that you are allowed to open all three doors, and if you didn't hear the "ding" sound effect, you can simply turn back and try another door, i tried that in my playthrough.
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My Mamizou sparked her physical last word at 17 proficiency during a boss fight when I tried to use Eirin's Omoikane Device. huh.
Also I was looking at the wiki... apparently number of hits for support/impair directly affects how powerful the status is, but how it affects the time was weird and didn't make any sense, so I don't know how that goes. Also apparently if you dispel a bosses Concentration they don't use their super move?! rofl. It said something about using Last Strike from Kedama lv10... I guess that'd be important if it was a fast move. What a nifty move, if it isn't just resisted by most enemies like it was in GoS (Aya, why can't you be useful for anything other than sometimes-evasion, breath reflection, and your 3-bomb commander skill?!)
I'm currently trying to stop killing yukkuris in the train station. I got hooked whilst hunting for Power (the doppel) took way too long and I ran into like ten yukkuris. I kept saying I'd stop when I got the minotaur, but it turned into "I'll stop when I also get the Lesser Demon". Minotaur has provocation, neat. Alignment Element Wall would've been nice for that dumb needle attack... (The real problem with that boss was her evasion. Even Accurate Weapon wasn't quite enough. She seemed resistant to debuffs, though.)
Kaguya's land manipulation is crazy holy crap. You cast her special skill and it just wipes the field almost 100% towards that element if she's at least lv4. Turn 2 full light with no effort. Ichirin doesn't hurt either, I was surprised to find her getting a big land manip boost on lv3 as well. I've been swapping on chaser doppels for just a moment at a time whenever I want their special all-chasers and then toss them off, the results are pretty nice. (Plus I'm using sword god marisa and sparking elemental attacks is hard. :T I try to use Koishi more than Nitori though, her melee hits are just fine.)
...spears true value is in their evasion, I've learned. Yukari with spears faceplants waaaay less than my sword Marisa in the front with her. Granted, I capitalized on it via her armor and accessory.
-
That's... huh. Maybe Mamizou's is weird like Marisa's?
I figured number of hits for Support/Impair worked like that, I just wasn't sure on that.
I am extremely jealous you got the Minotaur, but then again I just spent a bunch of time in the final dungeon grinding for Backfires so I guess it's all a matter of patience.
(https://i.gyazo.com/84692c9edd976895b8e0da0254b2c516.jpg)
Fun fact, they require 64 kills and don't easily spawn. Also, this is like... three or so updates ahead of what I'm going to actually post tomorrow, but I got so excited after finishing Toono Castle that I just had to jump into the final dungeon.
Also I gave up on spears. I had them on Yukari for most the game, but now I think I've permanently swapped her over the Guns. I can never get them to stick, even if the EVA is really good.
And yeah, Kaguya is nuts, her Land Influence is so stupid good that bosses that rely on one element can be entirely screwed over. Tomorrow's boss fight video demonstrates that very well (especially since I was of the opinion before that it was one of the hardest fights in the game... and now I think it's easier than the Ino-Shika-Chou rematch).
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Also I gave up on spears. I had them on Yukari for most the game, but now I think I've permanently swapped her over the Guns. I can never get them to stick, even if the EVA is really good.
Is it the damage? I suspect they're like DoD and, from what I've seen of NoR, the bows- you have to spark the protagonist-only skills (so in this case, type 8 rather than DoD's 1. Mach Pierce was pretty good in DoD even postgame despite sucky spears.) to deal real damage. If I want high numbers out of the bow I gotta use Random Shot, but it's pretty dang solid. I feel like if I didn't have Saya using bows as with her type-8-ness I'd be a little underwhelmed.
But I haven't gotten Chaotic Thrusting to spark yet. Hmm. The fire elemental attack is holding me through for now... for now. With Mami and Saya using their multihit type 8 skills and Marisa/Suika using Sakuya/Youmu skills I can slay yukkuris super easily, at least- Reimu can wipe the rest with some magician skill before the multihits go off. I'm totally overleveled and getting tier 3 magic attacks :V Why does it seem like the lesser demons went extinct after I killed 13?! (I really got in a grinding mood whilst praying against odds a yukkuri might join, I'd never have done this just for a lesser demon that's gonna get outclassed. At least Powers drop a lot of amethysts.)
edit:I just ran from a yukkuri fuck
edit again:Lesser Demon #15 sparked Chaotic Thrusting and holy crap the damage is SO REAL. And it only costs 10 power so I can SPAM it in random fights yessssss
edit more:I read the wrong number. I've only killed 10/16 lesser demons. </3 Also I'm preeeetty sure I died on the boss attempt where Mamizou learned her physical last word, but she still has it. Huh. I guess you get to keep those.
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...I'm fairly certain I missed out hard on Chaotic Thrusting, but ah well.
On another note, I just realized I made a stupid translation blunder (like I haven't already, but this is a really stupid one). So Akyuu's skill, Gensokyo Origins as it's called now, and the item Kurahinata Origins... they should be Gensokyo Chronicles and Kurahinata Chronicles. Which is incredibly dumb on my end since I should have known that 幻想郷縁起 is the original Japanese name for the Gensokyo Chronicles, it's mostly that since other people have translated 縁起 as either "origins" or "omen" in regards to GoS (which means that Touhou Soujinengi should be "Eastern Blue God Chronicles", not "Eastern Blue God Omen"), I got mixed up.
Well I'll add that to the list of "things I have to fix".
EDIT: I went back and did try to spark Chaotic Thrusting on Yukari.
I may or may not have been a little quick to judge, especially if Yukari has Sakuya on to boost multi-hit attack rate. I'll give it a go... again... goddamnit just when I thought I had escaped.
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demon get
I can move on now!!
the suffering will continue as you realize you've got the upgraded version of chaotic thrusting to get now, and it only has 1% spark rate. (At least Chaotic Thrusting is amazing to spam in randoms anyway, in terms of trying to learn it. Meanwhile I've outfitted Marisa to speed her the hell up so she moves first and gets more chances to learn -her- type 8s from youmu. And later, those dang elemental swords. At least I got the fire one ultra fast earlygame.) I wonder if Blood Lance is any good. Sounds like it's a drain move, which could be nifty... the bow's World Is Mine is sorta weak to try to get much draining off. It's too bad it's all-target instead of just being a one-target with good power. Too expensive to spam in randoms and not strong enough to want to either. But it's got such a hype name!
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More or less something like that with Yukari. Mach Stab's not until later at level 40 (read: final act of the game/final dungeon, since the only level 40 enemies are there), so... yeaah... and I have to make up for the Stab element levels I didn't get. Fuuuun.
Also, I just uh... beat the first third of the final dungeon, and now have roughly material for three+ updates and the beginning of the fourth. I might have gone overboard. Help.
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The end-game hype is powerful, Validon.
Ooo. Lesser Demon has phys+mag barrier passives. I wonder how high they go. (Don't tell me off the wiki or something this is half of my hype in playing the game. Thankfully the exp curves are super steep so it's totally fine that I'm leveling a lot of the doppels. KOISHI TELL ME YOUR FINAL PASSIVE ALREADY) But yeah, Tenshi was sort of... pathetic? It might be because I got myself some sweet evasion but she just... never really did much. I guess she did get really close to killing Yukari once with a single target move, but her big always-stun keystone move did like no damage and she mostly either used that or, uh, spammed shelter and land control, whoops maybe I got really lucky :V I just let her keep it up since I did plenty of damage.
Thank goodness Tenshi is good at magic too, non-magicians that can do so are exceedlingly rare, it's like... her and Orin, but Orin is more suited for melee users than ranged and they can't swap to her or keep their heavy armors. (Granted, I'm mostly using light armor at this point because Yukari's evasion...) So it'll be nice to have a sub-mage when I need it. Like when sylphs come around. >.> Hmm, Flame Lance skill, two magic users, Marisa can swap to Nitori and use monster cucumber when one shows up (I might need to put an actual fire chaser on her I guess), that leaves Mamizou for element shield wall if that's necessary... yeah, I think I'll be okay.
edit:although tenshi's INT is ass despite having good magic hits. I really am just gonna have to quickswap a ranger to Orin each time I want to fling spells, huh? Well, that works, I guess. (Tenshi is probably fine when I don't need every drop of damage, at least.)
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So I have like... a bunch of stuff to do updates with. Like... I have two full updates worked on for the next act, and I started on the third part of the next act. Someone please tranquilize me or something.
Youkai of Toono Act: Finale- Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
I've come to talk with you again...
...Yeah I'm going to hell for this one. Oh well~.
(http://i.imgur.com/Vh51q6V.jpg)
So... right after the midpoint, immediate Yin-Yang Orb... because yes, you totally don't just have a Fantasy Hiemata Monument outside.
(http://i.imgur.com/YNCz9PS.jpg)
So this is going end well. Most of the rooms in the second half of Toono Castle are darkened out like this.
(http://i.imgur.com/NxdcEyM.jpg)
These lit-up enemies are non-hostile, and just roam about. If you follow them...
(http://i.imgur.com/n4U2BHa.jpg)
...They'll reveal some hidden passages. Phantasmal Summoners had something like this with Eientei, but you could reveal the passages yourself. Here you have to let the enemies open them up. In this first hallway, if you wait a little after it enters this room, he'll exit and go back, opening another passage to a treasure you can only get by having this happen.
(http://i.imgur.com/Yzs10rS.jpg)
...I hate Petrify.
(http://i.imgur.com/oqcrTDg.jpg)
Niiice, a Hipporit. He's basically the upgrade to the Zebra Volnehem, getting the second-tier versions of the Light and Dark breath skills. I think it also gets Neutral Breath, but I forget.
(http://i.imgur.com/6TF1zwH.jpg)
In the back there is a Hatamoto, which are pretty damn dangerous. They can throw basically all sorts of high powered Slash attacks at you, which you'll want to shut down ASAP. Dark and Gun as always will work.
(http://i.imgur.com/pry5hIW.jpg)
Oh god a Locomo Dragon. As always, these guys are fairly powerful, can thwack you upside the head with powerful attacks like Tail Chop, and some high powered Breath attacks. No weaknesses, so just murder his face.
(http://i.imgur.com/xKS01wc.jpg)
I think this enemy is trying to learn magic from Spekkio. Or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/waPwz5V.jpg)
That Lich in the back... or top, rather, is another tough to kill enemy with no real weaknesses, not to mention he's fairly resistant to magic. I think his most dangerous attack is Power Suction, which is still a very dangerous spell like it was back in DoD.
(http://i.imgur.com/aurjHdQ.jpg)
Two Salamanders, this totally will end well.
(http://i.imgur.com/oNJkkUN.jpg)
...Apparently it did because I didn't die, and we just get another free POW Extension right here.
(http://i.imgur.com/Y4z6ydF.jpg)
And some material recipes. We can FINALLY craft Adamantite and Orichalcum now, but we don't get shards until the next dungeon.
(http://i.imgur.com/0rqxo8P.jpg)
But yeah, boss is ahead. I went back to do a bit of grinding before this fight (because this is the point in the game where having good levels kinda really helps make the tougher fights not mind-meltingly silly).
(http://i.imgur.com/lGpb7cZ.jpg)
And during that I run into a Behemoth. Kill them as FAST as you can, else they'll use Meteor, a high-powered Void attack that can basically wipe your party without any form of magic defense. Otherwise he has some fairly powerful physical attacks. Weak to Fire, as usual for most Beasts.
With that, we head into the boss room.
Cutscene: Keepers of Toono Castle (https://youtu.be/Obvrc5K5Zxk)
Hello there you two, it's been awhile since we last met. I suppose if Ino-Shika-Chou was able to come back and challenge us one last time, so can Hakusen and Arare, and this time they're double-teaming us. I suppose half of it has to do with them having their orders to shut us down and prevent our finding the true mastermind, the other half because Hakusen still has her rivalry with Mamizou and Arare still wants to get even with the Child of Misaki. Also, Arare notices something incredibly strange from Saya. With Akyuu's prescence, it's as if there are two Children of Misaki. Their souls are otherwise completely identical, as if Akyuu were a later reincarnation of Saya. Which... makes no sense, right? Akyuu is the Child of Miare, not the Child of Misaki, so they shouldn't have the exact same soul, right...?
(http://i.imgur.com/UCMZtus.jpg)
So... this fight. This fight is kinda one of the harder ones if you decide to ignore mechanics like, say, debuffs, or the Land meter. The first time I played this, also, I didn't have Divine Gate, or other kinds of high powered elementals (well, I had Mega Stroke, but killing Arare is only half the fight). But otherwise, this is sort of the "Eirin/Kaguya" fight of this game, but a little easier than those respective fights in GoS and DoD. You need to kill them at roughly the same time, else one will revive the other with Elixir. So be a little careful of that. Otherwise, Hakusen will attempt to debuff you and thwack you with Dark attacks, while Arare will hit you with Water attacks, cover her Electric weakness with Element Shelter, and the two will get really spell-card spammy as the fight goes on. As long as you can shunt the Land towards Electric and Light, you should have this handled.
Boss Fight: Vs. The Embodiment of Blizzard and the Tomboyish Tanuki (https://youtu.be/ouT53eEYUMQ)
I can't believe I got this done on the first shot. And without casualties. I had to reset once at the beginning since I accidentally left combat effects off (I turn them off when grinding), but I'm not counting that in the reset counter since it was just for putting the combat effects back on. I end up doing the same with the next boss (in like a couple updates, so I won't count the reset I did there either).
Cutscene: The Two Incarnations of Are (https://youtu.be/CgLYslP08ZM)
We finally beat them for good this time, and Hakusen just sorta disappears. I suppose meanwhile, Arare has gained some sort of respect for us (she's totally being tsundere about it though), and decides to open the way to the mastermind's lair, back where the snowstorm was behind Enjo School. At last, we finally can get through there. On top of that, the truth behind the connection between Saya and Akyuu is revealed. So, this following explanation is a bit of a mix of the actual canon stuff related to the Hiedas and the Child of Miare combined with this game's concept of the Child of Misaki.
Basically, we all know the Child of Miare is a constant reincarnation of Hieda no Are, who, from generation to generation, continously updates the Gensokyo Chronicles, but lives for only about 30ish years or so before death. Inbetween incarnations, the soul of the Child of Miare does work for the Yamas in exchange for being constantly reincarnated with his/her memories intact. This is canon within Touhou. As for how the Child of Misaki plays in, essentially he/she is the other half of the Child of Miare, a human incarnation that doesn't have access to the memories of his/her existence as the Child of Miare but, as part of his/her service to the Yamas, does work as a human, typically as a shrine maiden in order to gain virtue, sorta similar to how reincarnation in Buddhism works where constant cycles of life are needed to prepare one's soul for Nirvana. In other words, Saya is merely a past incarnation of Akyuu, and a possessor of the soul of Hieda no Are, just without the memories or powers of the Hieda line. So, as the Hiedas work on the Gensokyo Chronicles and serve as Gensokyo's recordkeeper, the Kurahinatas serve to do the same, keeping the Kurahinata Chronicles and serving as peacekeepers in the Outside World as service to the Yamas, even if they don't know or remember it. This is also why Akyuu and Saya working together grants Saya additional power, since it's two versions of one soul working in tandem.
With that out of the way... we finally have access to the final dungeon of the game. Next time, we begin the final act of the game: Nightmare of Rebellion Act.
Summary:
New Doppels: Hipporit
Doppel Levels: Backbeard (IND +1, Release Barrier; POT +1, Melt, Mist; IND +2; POT +2), Utsuho (LGT/DRK/MYS Power +20), Hipporit (Holy Breath, Dark Breath, RES +3; ◎ Petrify; Neutral Breath, STR +2; Star Hand, VIT +2, Dark Hand); IND +5, Energy Hand, Crazy Undine (AGI +4), Manuscript (INT +4; MDEF +35), En-no-Ozuno (IND +4, Moonlight), Virtue (Sunlight, AGI +4), Hellhound (STR +3), Nashorn (HP +10), Togakushi Kureha (VIT +4), Kaguya (RES +6), Sanae (Yasaka's Divine Wind Cooldown -1), Meiling (Physical Counter +8), Lesser Vampire (Abyss), Shivers (◎ Water; WTR Element Power +10), Nazrin (ACC +10 and other things I think), Shisa (Counter Magic and other things I think)
Major Equipment: BD-ROM
Synthesis Done: Ninja Costume (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Soul Release (all-targeting attack that inflicts MATK Down, Saya)
Update Death Count: 1
Total Death Count: 17
Update Reset Count: 0 (technically 1 but it doesn't count)
Total Reset Count: 3
Toono Castle is usually a fairly tough stumbling block for me, but I guess this time I was a bit more prepared. Experience helps!
EDIT: Since it's been a subject of conversation before, I THINK I know how to make dual rods work. They work on the same principle as all other dual-wielding weapons. When you dual-wield, the game defaults to your main hand weapon for all skills, etc. This includes rods for magic. However, you can swap the offhand weapon to your active weapon by selecting it to do a skill, then canceling (you don't actually have to attack with it, just select it to attack, cancel, and there you go). With this, you should be able to swap between elemental rods based off of which one you need to do certain attacks (I currently have Marisa with a Light and Dark elemental staff, so I can boost both elements at once). Also on that note, your two weapons have separate cooldowns, even for the same skills. So if you have, say, two swords, you can swap between one and the other to use Quick Break without worrying about the cooldown (I assume that when you use differing weapons, which one is active is the one that determines your ACC and EVA, since EVA differs based on weapon type).
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Not really a new update, but I just need to highlight a thing that just happened while working on another update.
(https://i.gyazo.com/fe8769f383054db14515312f770e3612.jpg)
*SCREAMING INTENSIFIES*
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holy shit congrats. For those unaware, yukkuris, apart from being pretty rare and not easy to kill due to escaping and metal slimery, they also only have 1/256 recruit rate. (I killed 17 of the basic one in my farm session >.>)
I beat Arare's face in, meanwhile, because I'm overleveled and max land mega stroke is lulz. When she doesn't have element shelter up (which can be dispelled...) I could do almost half her hp in one turn, so, uh... don't have to worry about her spellcard when I only need a single Marionette Parrar. Mo Megniang or w/e her name is, should be less trivial, because she actually doesn't have a weakness to murder with. (I wonder if I can induce one? Probably not, but...)
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All Yukkuris except for Stray Yukkuris have a 1/256 chance to drop, and instant drop after 256 kills. Stray Yukkuris instead are a 1/1000 drop, and thus require 1000 kills. You know, because that'll ever happen.
Mengniang is a nightmare, at least the first time you fight her, because yeah, no weaknesses, your magic actually is pretty awful against her (she resists all magic elements, sooo), so it's a fight of attrition no matter how you slice it, especially since other than Yuugi, you don't have any of the really stupidly powerful attacks like Deplorable Hit, Acala Sword, Quick Break, etc (especially since those are all really only sparkable from the elite enemies of Toono Castle and/or any of the Tower of Babel's enemies). I suppose if you get something like Release Barrier to stick, you'll be able to hit harder with magic (Release Barrier nulls resistances or otherwise reduces them majorly IIRC, so it's the only way to make certain enemies even remotely damagable with certain abilities).
Speaking of, I should be getting an update up. I've been really busy rushing to the final boss (I just spent a lot of time grinding around the area right before the final boss so that I'm prepared, plus grabbing some earlier doppels to get a Fast Strike/Damage Net combo to make Yukkuri King killing doable, etc.). Sooo yeah.
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The fact I'm right before the final boss and there's like... three or so more updates to write up after this is kinda scary. I spent way too much time yesterday blowing through the final dungeon.
Nightmare of Rebellion Act: Part 1- Where it All Began
(http://i.imgur.com/KztDPp5.jpg)
We are indeed going back to where it all began, over at Enjo School. The pathway to the final dungeon lays there.
(http://i.imgur.com/4ZlJNDp.jpg)
And here we are, at that pathway right at the beginning blocked off by the storm.
(http://i.imgur.com/W3m0Q1o.jpg)
New area, new enemies, as always. High Fairy Soldiers are the next step up for this particular type of enemy, possessing some of the weapon skills from the "requires level 30 enemies" tier that we've been learning from ourselves. Deal with them quick or lose a party member... or more. Dark and Gun as always is the solution.
(http://i.imgur.com/EYdtkSJ.jpg)
High Fairy Maids provide that same worry, still possessing tier two magic, but they have enough power behind them to be instantly fatal. Deal with them even quicker than the Soldiers.
(http://i.imgur.com/kGyNhSC.jpg)
Atoms... great. Upgrades to the Pus, they'll just throw Bug in your face over and over, and can use Toreno Levin (or is it Torrental Levin? I dunno), which hits a row. Electric deals with them as well as always, and having Blue Starter at this point would be nice. Buuuut I forgot to level my Wizard, so I don't have any of the tier three multi-targets, just the single-targets. Oops.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sb8YRsJ.jpg)
Given all the anime references in this game with enemy designs, it's no surprise there's also a Magical Girl. Weak to Dark and Gun as per usual, they're just a tiny bit more dangerous than the High Fairy Maids, and are recruitable, buuuut they only appear on the pathway to the final dungeon. Pick them up here or nowhere, it's up to you.
(http://i.imgur.com/TLDAnaw.jpg)
From that path, there was a path here to this left area, but it's just a dead end. Remember this for later... well, you don't have to, it's not really too important now.
(http://i.imgur.com/BtcEeZV.jpg)
The real pathway leads over into another cave.
(http://i.imgur.com/E6YS0r9.jpg)
Which has another Dream Corridor. I'll deal with this one shortly.
(http://i.imgur.com/JxyfEfu.jpg)
Cutscene: The Tower that Challenges Heaven (https://youtu.be/A_qVMl2pTDg)
So uh... that's quite the imposing tower there, and of such ridiculous height. According to Mamizou, it's the Tower of Babel, that same tower built to reach Heaven, and it sure does look like it has. I suppose if Mengniang was able to pull pyramids, the Great Wall of China, skyscrapers, and all sorts of other nonsense into Toono, even the legendary Tower of Babel is no problem for her. It still looks a bit unfinished up near the top, but I guess it makes for an imposing base of operations. No one would dare climb it to the top... except for us.
(http://i.imgur.com/msdSstN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5E6eKg2.jpg)
But yeah, this is the final dungeon, the Tower of Babel. We're not entering it this update, that'll be for next time. We'll deal with the Dream Corridor back in that cave and then call it.
(http://i.imgur.com/yJwMh3K.jpg)
Not a lot of new enemies here. The Silver Turtle is a better turtle than prior ones. But it isn't that impressive. Just Water it away and move on.
(http://i.imgur.com/jbHuMzN.jpg)
Yet another POW Extension. We're getting close to getting every POW Extension pre-expansion.
(http://i.imgur.com/o6uQKKx.jpg)
King Mummies are just stronger Mummies, just fry them with Fire or Light and move on. Damn, this Dream Corridor's unimpressive.
(http://i.imgur.com/dMUhNMW.jpg)
Bloodworms. Like Flood Worms... they do things. Breath attacks mostly. Water I think is their weakness this time around.
(http://i.imgur.com/CAOOQcs.jpg)
Oh hey, we're getting another tier of the Point items. And a rare accessory to boot. Niiiice.
(http://i.imgur.com/azIelDm.jpg)
HELP.
(http://i.imgur.com/0DN7WkH.jpg)
And the last thing we get here that's actually super important is this set of synthesis recipes. That's more or less all the interesting stuff here. Next time, we'll enter the Tower of Babel proper, and begin the endgame for real. Yes this was a short update. The next one is not.
Summary:
Doppel Levels: Ran (PATK +3; SLA/STA/STK Power +12; PATK +6; SLA/STA/STK Power +14), Hell Truck (HP +20), Hell's Gatekeeper (INT +3), Shisa (empty level), Virtue (Wind Shield, POT +4), Slime (POT +4)
Major Equipment: Benefit Axe, Sagittarius Bow, Brunhild, Slaughterer, Element Guard, Heat Blaster (Yukari), Regeneration Ring
Synthesis Recipes: Sage Robe, Vengeance Robe, Victory Mantle, Variant Mantle, Scarlet Apparel, Schneller Pant, Nature Reserve, Academic Dress, Duelmaster, Gothic Armor, Blazing Hell Ring, Permafrost Ring, Roaring Thunderclap Ring, Absolute Sanctuary Ring, Evil Spirit Ring, Great Magic Spirit World Ring, Dragon Mail
Synthesis Done: Schneller Pant (Yukari), Academic Dress (Saya), Sage Robe (Marisa)
Sparked Skills: Dead Men Tell No Tales (attack that inflicts Silence, Reimu), Violent Earthquake (all-targeting attack that inflicts PATK Down, Saya), Rudel Cannon (Penetrating attack that ignores some defense, Yukari)
Update Death Count: 0
Total Death Count: 17
Update Reset Count: 0
Total Reset Count: 3
EDIT: I know I posted this up like awhile ago, but uh... so, I finished the game, all the updates are screenshotted/recorded... holy crap I feel exhausted now. But hey, I'll have the rest of the game's updates up over the next couple days. Maybe I'll start the expansion too right after, I might take a break to work on updates and fixing things for the English patch. But yeah, look forward to the end of the main game!
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especially since other than Yuugi, you don't have any of the really stupidly powerful attacks like Deplorable Hit, Acala Sword, Quick Break, etc (especially since those are all really only sparkable from the elite enemies of Toono Castle and/or any of the Tower of Babel's enemies)
OH YES?
(http://puu.sh/pPo0l.png)
(I got izanami after winning this fight, pretty great timing. taking a break now but gonna beat some tapir face later/tomorrow morning/idk, it's busy because holidays ;_;)
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...Okay, I was wrong. I guess the Lesser Demon is just above that level requirement required for the tier Quick Break is on.
On another note, slightly updated patch is over in the translation thread now. I was going to add some more image translations, but settled for just fixing some stuff that's been mentioned. I need to fix a few things with the Global.srb too, but I'm saving on that because trawling through that file is a nightmare.
...Also, despite saying "hey self take a break you finished the game just work on writing up the updates don't worry about the expansion", I've already starting doing expansion stuff. Calm down self, your backlog for updates is already big. X_X;
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That was kinda rather quick. I guess this game is shorter than GoS? I want to ask a question: what is your current play time right now?
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It's moreso that GoS is incredibly long of a game. NoR is still longer than DoD, from what I can tell so far. (Of course, grinding for optional junk changes these numbers drastically, but they both take a fraction of the time GoS takes.)
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When I beat NoR, I was roughly at 69 hours of playtime, give or take like five for leaving the game running by accident while multitasking or something. So probably more around 60ish. My expansion file, at endgame was roughly around 130ish. So it's shorter than GoS, but not by that much, but it's also longer than DoD.
EDIT: Oh, and if you want to add the expansion stuff onto that, I'll just give a very brief summary of how long that is. It's five dungeons, divided into two halves each (with a boss at the end of each half), for ten bosses. There's also two Dream Corridors in the final area that serve as the equivalent of the bonus dungeons in GoS (the one at the end of the Depths of Resentment) and DoD (the sealed off areas in the Clock Towers of the End and the fourth stratum's part of the Demon Castle of Chaos).
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Jeez, Mo Megniang even seems resistant to Void; Rumia did a whopping 27 damage. Although she's pretty vulnerable to all forms of debuffs (including resist debuffs if you INSIST on casting magic- mega stroke hit for 600. not worth the hassle) if you've got decent IND. With one person on full debuff duty and one on full buff/heal duty, the rest of my party was more or less safe; her physicals almost always missed as long as buffs didn't go down and her magic wasn't too terrifying... usually. Of course, with her special attacks, the fight did get scary towards the end and I only won because of Saya getting Child of Misaki to cast when only her and the debuffer were alive >.>
Quick Break and Critical Thrusting sparked off the lesser demon helped cut the fight time down a lot more than it would have been, but it was definitely still quite drawn out. This was the first fight I didn't aggressively swap doppels. Helps that the most easily aggressive-swapper is usually my magician using lots of main doppel nukes (and magic does not work here...) and that my physical attacks had such good weapon skills I mostly was fine with waiting on main-dop cooldown.
I'm starting to see why Satori can be a good doppel >.> Before I was swapping mains enough that I wasn't worried about mp. But with increasing average skill mp cost and longer fights... yeah.
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Hey, at least you're past Mengniang, that's sorta the big hurdle to the second half, the other I'd say being the Ino-Shika-Chou rematch. Most other boss fights pre-Tower of Babel aren't too bad with proper preparation, but to make up for it, random encounter difficulty spikes hard.
Today's update is going to take some time, I forgot to write it up last night and today's Fourth of July, so I've been doing all kinds of cleaning and cooking in the meanwhile. Not to mention pretty much every update for the rest of the main game is fairly long (nearly 50 images on each one barring the finale, which is only shorter since it's mostly the final boss and cutscenes, and even then I think I'll split the finale in two, one for the boss fight and immediate cutscenes, and another for the epilogue cutscenes/credits which would conveniently make it six parts again.
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Happy 4th of July, it's clearly a good time for some final dungeon-ing.
Nightmare of Rebellion Act: Part 2- Peace in Gensokyo is Like Babel Upon Sand
Although I suppose the Tower of Babel is right now upon snow... eh, the line works maybe.
(http://i.imgur.com/86OlrhW.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Tower that Challenges Heaven 1 (Child of Are) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hfQRLOaBuI&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=38)
Not quite sure how this is supposed to be Child of Are, but at last, the final dungeon of Nightmare of Rebellion. Let's climb the Tower of Babel and find the true culprit!
You might also notice those weird faces with the jewels. Those are the gimmick of this part of the Tower.
(http://i.imgur.com/d4U41Q4.jpg)
Babel Raiders are yet another tier of the Fighter-type enemies, and have some fairly dangerous attacks of their respective weapon types to match. Expect much death and sorrow. The Taisai in the back isn't too bad until it throws stuff like One Million Volts at you. Because losing like 95% of your max HP is fun. Babel Raiders are weak to Dark and Gun as usual, Taisai are weak to Fire and Light.
(http://i.imgur.com/W2GVGli.jpg)
Hey there Ashinaga-tenaga (or Long Arms Long Legs, as earlier translations used, I decided to go with the original Japanese on this one). While he's partially cut off by the top, he's otherwise a fairly dangerous Giant who can crush anyone with powerful Strike attacks. Light and Slash ought to cut him down to size. Thank you Marisa for having Divine Gate by now. I remember my original playthrough where I only had one mage (Marisa) and no Light attacks more powerful than Starlight Whip. I was bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/YqoPG2j.jpg)
This is one of those jewels for those faces.
(http://i.imgur.com/F0qsekb.jpg)
Each face needs three jewels of the same color to open. You can pass through the door freely after this, and if you pass through it from the back, you are given back all the jewels that were in the face, but it closes again. In theory, if we put the red jewel in this face, then came back through, we could put those jewels in the other face and go the other way. That's more or less the gimmick, and you'll have to find the jewels spread across the Lower Stratum to make your way up to the Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/I0Rz6ni.jpg)
Another jewel tier, the last for the main game too.
(http://i.imgur.com/gTUophH.jpg)
Voids are, like prior games, incredibly weak to physical attacks, but immune to magic. They'll keep casting the Void elemental spell Void Cutter on you, which more or less can do consistent damage and sorta murders squishy people, or at least people without any MDEF. Plus, you know, Void elemental, so it cannot be resisted.
(http://i.imgur.com/OvxBDm5.jpg)
Doing Sukima Strash with a gun looks silly.
(http://i.imgur.com/S3LkUab.jpg)
All the enemies. Meretsegers are those snakes, they can Poison you, I believe. Not too dangerous, Water kills them dead. The Backfires are another question, having some pretty dangerous Fire attacks that you probably won't survive without either Fire resistance or MDEF. They're weak to Dark, Gun, and Water. And also one of the first 1/64 chance doppels we've run across. Yeah have fun recruiting one.
(http://i.imgur.com/fKZ9rT6.jpg)
That large glowing blue orb thing is a Tonner Meister (likely the same as Donner Meisters from DoD, but with a letter change for... some reason, especially since Tonner Glossmeisters, like in DoD, show up later). They have stupid powerful Electric attacks, but will pretty much fall easily to Fire.
(http://i.imgur.com/07rFrsg.jpg)
Looks like there's blue jewels as well to take into consideration.
(http://i.imgur.com/WS6eY9Q.jpg)
...And yellow ones.
(http://i.imgur.com/DyWDhfZ.jpg)
First instances of Adamantite Shards and Orichalcum Shards show up here.
(http://i.imgur.com/xzoP1b8.jpg)
Also a Yin-Yang Orb. This dungeon is one that kinda requires you make the most of Yin-Yang Orbs scattered around the world map. There's so many encounters that respawning them is risky. Besides, since we beat the entire rest of the game, it's easy to just quickly grab some of the easier to get ones. Recommended locations are the one near the entrance of Toono Castle, the one after the room with the fight against Ran, the one near the beginning of the Volcano Road, the one in the building near the Hakurei Shrine, the one near the beginning of the Station, and the one inside Enjo School.
(http://i.imgur.com/quoHIUD.jpg)
Hraesvelgrs are a bit of a problem. Weak to Stab and Dark, but otherwise fairly evasive, they can both swoop down with regular physicals or throw Light attacks at you. Be just a tad wary.
(http://i.imgur.com/yIQaLIr.jpg)
This, I know, is the next-to-last Dream Corridor in the main game. We'll handle it after we reach the Waypoint.
(http://i.imgur.com/OGSfgEA.jpg)
Unicorn Legends, like Unicorns, are pretty much immune to magic, but are otherwise weak to Fire and attempt to use a lot of Electric attacks on you, especially the rather dangerous Lightning Stab. Your poor back row members might get hit hard.
(http://i.imgur.com/KQT8Hqn.jpg)
Wolf Heddins in the back are just better Lycanthropes, possessing Hellclaw Assassination as always and the ability to inflict Berserk on your party. Weak to Electric as would be the norm for them.
(http://i.imgur.com/FUcm5Wp.jpg)
Oh hey, a Patriot Beholder (not the American kind, though, despite it being Fourth of July when I'm posting this). Resistant to magic yet weak to Stab as always, they''ll more or less try to drag down your magic casters through interupts and can use some of the most powerful spear attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/OJ4KYxK.jpg)
The Luminescence is somewhat the Light equivalent of the Sylphs/Undines/Salamanders, being a high-powered Spirit. Weak to Dark, but its Light and physical attacks will leave you hurting. Take it down like you would with those other Spirits.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ae6MsQi.jpg)
Technically, I was supposed to have gotten a picture of the Shining earlier, but I forgot to do it. Ah well, they're just the low-powered Light Spirit, barely a threat. The Dominion up top is another story, and they can pretty much wreck your face with powerful Light attacks. Weak to Dark, and recruitable.
(http://i.imgur.com/iUVB7Ro.jpg)
That Elephant below almost looks like it's carrying a chunk of the Demon Castle of Chaos' town on it, but it probably isn't. Weak to Fire as fits a Beast, it can use such attacks like Nose Fencing, and charge up to presumably use Face Smash (not quite sure, I never let one live long enough for that to happen).
(http://i.imgur.com/YnvPM6d.jpg)
The dragon that's being half hidden is a Shen, which can pretty much pepper you with insanely powerful Breath attacks, including the very dangerous Neutral Breath, which might as well be a party wipe if he uses it. No weaknesses as far as I know, so just blast it with what you've got, although Light and Dark will work much better than the other elements.
(http://i.imgur.com/5nG02ta.jpg)
...Yeah I think I got Neutral Breath-ed.
(http://i.imgur.com/gEooyXS.jpg)
Yaay, +3 accessories to spend Sapphires on.
(http://i.imgur.com/yoNMXZw.jpg)
And Trapezohedrons. Alongside Adamantite, Orichalcum, and Dream Shards, this is one of the four endgame rare materials needed for some of the best gear.
(http://i.imgur.com/u7nTg5w.jpg)
That Officer Demon is a tough customer, being the demon-equivalent to the Dominion in terms of general power. Weak to Light, but boasting some dangerous Dark attacks, don't take it lightly, as per usual with mid-to-late game Foreign Gods.
(http://i.imgur.com/rB8EBlQ.jpg)
Speaking of those rare materials, this is what you spent them on.
(http://i.imgur.com/7xtF81T.jpg)
Oh hi there Yukkuri Medal, you're a rare sight.
(http://i.imgur.com/dVuaH4h.jpg)
The hell did I even screw up here?
(http://i.imgur.com/ice9A92.jpg)
Hraesvelgr here is pretty much another healing-based doppel, being I think one of the only ones with Repulsion Heal, and it later gets Refresh and Raise Dead (aka "Resurrection but not shit"). Of the healing-focused doppels, it's the last we get before expansion.
(http://i.imgur.com/2Y46QqS.jpg)
Finally made it to the boss room. Let's not do that now.
(http://i.imgur.com/CWpxP5a.jpg)
Over in the Dream Corridor, we've got a Vampire Girl and a Death Bible. Vampire Girls are even more dangerous version of the Lesser Vampires from before, but are just as weak to Light as always. Death Bibles meanwhile are INCREDIBLY more dangerous than their Manuscript counterparts, as they possess Molecular Breakdown, which is a percentage damage spell that is set to 100% HP, and since it's a percentage damage attack and NOT Instant Death, you can't stop it with Instant Death resistance, only either Quick resistance or specifically Percentage Damage resistance, which is extremely rare. Otherwise, weak to Fire, but practically immune to magic.
(http://i.imgur.com/iVdt7RK.jpg)
Elitebeards are... nothing special. I kill them faster with Fire or Water than they can do anything other than stare at me with that blank eye.
(http://i.imgur.com/NdD0CyS.jpg)
Yet another POW Extension. Three left to go.
(http://i.imgur.com/oHKseRW.jpg)
Yukkuris why
(http://i.imgur.com/Gvj4rf0.jpg)
Heeey, Taisai. He's a weird doppel with an assortment of Impair and Support skills, mostly barriers and the like. Not too great, to be honest.
(http://i.imgur.com/1tvB4ke.jpg)
Since I was done with the Dream Corridor, I spent a lot of time grinding and the like for some of the rarer doppels. Here we ran into a Stray Yukkuri, who uh... pretty much will run nearly instantly. The only real way to kill one is to use Damage Net and pray. Sadly, the only way we can get Damage Net is from the Magical Girl doppel... which we didn't get. Guess who gets to grind for those in two updates from now?
(http://i.imgur.com/yEVe1Bk.jpg)
Oh shit, an Illyankas. These are basically like the Hydras from GoS, and possess the incredibly dangerous Tsunami, which inflicts Water weakness. I don't think they're necessarily weak to Electric either, soooo... have fun.
(http://i.imgur.com/PdVDvQz.jpg)
Yeeeeep.
(http://i.imgur.com/VtTVirb.jpg)
Oh hi there number of hits level. you're a sight for sore eyes. 6 -> 7 (7 -> 8 for Hereafter Are), 3 -> 4 (4 -> 5 for Hereafter Are), and Evasions 4 -> Evasions 5. A very much needed level for the upcoming fight.
(http://i.imgur.com/DHPEk8R.jpg)
And we get the Dominion, the best of the Light elemental doppels pre-expansion. Possessing Divine Gate, Sanctuary, and Holy Breath, they're what you want if you want to blow people up with holy power.
(http://i.imgur.com/OVry04s.jpg)
That should be Tonner Meister (it's fixed in the most recent patch), but this is the best Electric elemental doppel pre-expansion, possessing Mega Stroke, Blue Starter, Lightning Stab, and... Refresh, for some reason.
(http://i.imgur.com/u8mO5Vh.jpg)
Since Backfires are the last doppels I want from here, I believed they might be back here, and I ended up against a Midnight. These guys usually appear in the Middle Stratum of the Tower of Babel, but I guess they can show up here. More or less, the Dark version of the Luminscences. But possibly more dangerous.
(http://i.imgur.com/mxSbpnW.jpg)
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah.
(http://i.imgur.com/cSQBd9Q.jpg)
And there we go, we got the Backfire, who is the best Fire elemental doppel pre-expansion. Gotta have that Disintegrate and Explosion!
But that's it for now. We'll deal with the boss next time, actually, mostly because of how long this update was.
Summary:
New Doppels: Hraesvelgr, Taisai, Dominion, Donner Meister, Backfire
Doppel Levels: Hipporit (RES +5; STR +4; VIT +4), Sorcerer (WTR Power +3; POT +3), Tenshi (ACC +9; Kaname Funnel Power +15; ACC +12), Ichirin (LGT/DRK/MYS Element Power +10; Land Influence +25; LGT/DRK/MYS Power +20; PATK +3), Hell Truck (POT +6; VIT +4; DEX +4), Chen (PATK +4), Shisa (Starlight Barrier, VIT +4; Power Suction; EVA +5), Closed Railroad Crossing (RES +8; ◎ Sleep/Paralysis/Petrify), Lesser Demon (Dark Land Regen (20); ? LGT), Rumia (Weakening Success Rate +25), Manuscript (Magic Heal, STR +4; INT +6), Ran (PATK +10; SLA/STA/STK Power +16), Nitori (FIR/ELE/WTR Element Power +20), Kanako (Row/All Physical Skill Power +16; HP +10; Row/All Physical Skill Power +20), Komachi (PATK +4), Virtue (LGT Casting Speed +15), Youmu (Certain Hit +15), Lesser Vampire (Inferno), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Element Power +20), Nue (HP +15), Utsuho (Mega Flare Power +20), Suika (HP +20), Crazy Undine (Physical Deflection +20), Sakuya (Multi-Hit Rate Up +1), Togakushi Kureha (◎ SLA), Nashorn (ELE Casting Speed +15), Dominion (VIT +2; Sanctuary, STR +2; LGT Power +7; Holy Breath, VIT +4; LGT Power +10; STR +4), Hellhound (FIR Casting Speed +15), Tonner Meister (STR +2; Blue Starter, INT +2; ELE Element Power +15; Lightning Stab, DEX +2; ELE Element Power +20; INT +4), Kogasa (Equipment Weight -3), Hell's Gatekeeper (WTR Casting Speed +15), Slime (Double Circle STK), Backfire (FIR Element Power +10; Explosion, INT +4; FIR Element Power +15; Heat Weapon, INT +6)
Major Equipment: Devil Staff (Marisa), Daedalus Axe, Diffusion Maser Gun, Dark Shield (Reimu), Blizzard Sword, Body Bunker, Mesocyclone Axe, Garter Belt (Saya), Merlin Staff, Nature Tremble, Dispel Rod, Boreas Amulet, Agni Amulet, Angel Staff, Sanctuary Bow, African Throwing Knife, Nitocris, Yukari Medal, Thor Amulet, Heat Pistol, Sharp Penetrator, Great Worm Rifle, Ils Cacant, Xiuhcoatl, Princess Fascination, Hauteclaire, Linnunrata
Synthesis Recipes: Strength Necklace +3, Keen Pendant +3, Protection Anklet +3, Barrier Earrings +3, Sniper Anklet +3, Keep-Away Muffler +3, Launch Goggles +3, Perseverance Rosary +3, Gale Boots +3, Muscle Belt +3, Magic Ring +3, Reflect Mantle, Head Priest Robe, Barrier Mantle, Manitou Manliness, Hiliger Alba, Anti-Releaser, Mystic Cloak, Latent Amplifier, Cantrip Guardian, Gravity Executor, Mental Promotion, Prince of Evil, A. Muscle Suit, Master Armor, Saint Garb, Sky Stone Shield, Automata Machina, Aegis Shield
Synthesis Done: Strength Necklace +3 (Saya), Keen Pendant +3 (Mamizou), Head Priest Robe (Mamizou), Adamantite, Orichalcum, A. Muscle Suit (Saya), Master Armor (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Starburst (Light elemental attack, Reimu), Chain Slash (hits 2-4 times, Reimu), Sweeping Shot (row attack, Yukari), Sea Hurricane (high power single target attack, Yukari), Bermuda Attack (inflicts ACC Down, Saya), Ion Tail (all-targeting attack that increases chances of weapon effects landing, Reimu), Heartbreak Shot (inflicts Binding Curse, Saya), Schrage Musik (low ACC high power attack, Yukari), Twin Lightning (hits twice, Yukari), Baryon Bond (ACC boosted against Permanent effect enemies, inflicts Paralysis, Reimu), Triumph Dragon (slays Dragons, Reimu), Sweep Gunfire (row targeting attack, Yukari), Zerstorer (high power attack, Slayer damage is boosted, Yukari), Super Heavy Shell (attack that partially ignores Strike resistance, Yukari), Heartfelt Blow (high power single target attack, Saya), Wiles Hit (hits 1-6 times, Yukari), Chaotic Thrusting (hits 1-6 times, Yukari), Iai Slash (Penetrating attack that Slays Giants and Transcendants, Reimu), Crest Edge (row attack with a high crit chance, and further boost's a weapon's innate crit rate, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 4
Total Death Count: 21
Update Reset Count: 0 (1 technically, I ran into the boss room forgetting that the boss triggers at the threshold of the door and not the stairs up, but this doesn't count)
Total Reset Count: 3
Yay I suck.
-
Today's update is going to take some time, I forgot to write it up last night and today's Fourth of July, so I've been doing all kinds of cleaning and cooking in the meanwhile. Not to mention pretty much every update for the rest of the main game is fairly long (nearly 50 images on each one barring the finale, which is only shorter since it's mostly the final boss and cutscenes, and even then I think I'll split the finale in two, one for the boss fight and immediate cutscenes, and another for the epilogue cutscenes/credits which would conveniently make it six parts again.
At least it's just 50 images. Mine can reach around 300+ images per update, and 2/3 of it were dominated by the pre and post boss battle dialogue. Plus I have to type every single one of the dialogue. Of course I've only used 1/3 of it.
I don't remember Long Arms and Long Legs being THAT huge!!! I guess when the game list the enemy as giant species, they really mean it.
-
Hmm... chaser + elemental slash + two spells + element wall is sufficient for the high grade elementals, it seems (Sylph, Undine, etc. Could use just two spells if I had two powerful magicians, but one is... not powerful :V) but the bigger issue is in the later areas (desert, even the snowy ones) I have really, really big stuttering issues on the overworld (aka, moving around when not in battle). I dunno why. I messed with all the settings in the launcher but the only one that changed anything just made it way worse. I have very minor stuttering in the early snowy areas but that was pretty much it and it was totally ignorable. On the later ones it's like, screen freezing for a couple seconds when I start moving. Gross z.z I can deal I guess, though, since nothing I try seems to help... not sure why this is happening, I have a vaguely modern video card and zero issues playing, well, anything else. Weirdest because I have no issues in the earlier areas of the game, even going back to them now. The hope is that it should only be certain places so once I get past them I'm theoretically fine?
In other news, now that weapon skills are getting really nice, the game is getting funner. :D Not that it wasn't already fun. But, you know, options fleshing out and party configuration maturing, etc. I've got all the lv30 and under skills except type 8s ('cept for the gun's 8, which is earlier to learn), which I need 1 more skill level on each party member to get. The physical last words were really easy to inspire, too, I got all of those a good while back. Bows and spears don't have a lot of truly strong skills, so exploring the options is important there >.> Bows have like... Random Shot (from tier 1) and maybe Deadly Arrow so far, so I'm hoping Agincourt will be nice.
-
Late update provided to you by a light-headed Validon (allergies hit me hard this morning, so I ended up napping and feeling super out of it when I woke up). Also holy crap I've been doing some of the expansion content for further updates and I forgot how brutal the Dream Corridors are in the expansion.
Nightmare of Rebellion Act: Part 3- I Dream of Mengniang
I'm not being subtle with that title, am I?
Cutscene: The Dream-Eating Youkai Who Oversees Reality... for Real This Time (https://youtu.be/k7u5sUDQXr8)
Well, here's Mengniang again, but according to her, this is our first actual meeting. The Mengniang we saw back in the Castle of Dreams? Merely an illusionary copy with a fraction of the power of the original. Well that's not good. Another thing she mentions is that while she is helping the culprit of the incident, the two don't share a goal. The battles before, including the one about to happen, are all "cogs in a machine" for her, and this battle is yet another cog towards the incident's ultimate resolution. All she cares about is seeing how the final battle plays out. Whether the culprit or we win doesn't matter, as long as there is a conclusion. Yeah, because that's real fun for us, especially since whoever the culprit is certainly isn't messing around like before.
(http://i.imgur.com/AzQDG1A.jpg)
So... Mengniang, the real one this time. She'll basically spam everything she has at us. Dream, Dream Bite, and Bakuki Veda will be at play from square one, and her powerful magic is still in the forefront. This time, at least, we have MDEF buffs, and way more powerful physical attacks, so get buffed up and hit her as hard and fast as you can. It's ultimately a damage race before she wears you down.
(http://i.imgur.com/U32RxbA.jpg)
And... yeah, a death happened. Apparently only one but I don't actually remember how many times I reset. I definitely had only one death, though.
Boss Fight: Rematch Vs. Mo Mengniang (https://youtu.be/xkoUTlZttkA)
I... melted her. Holy crap even I impressed myself.
Cutscene: One Must Fight Against Their Own Fate (https://youtu.be/JBjkq_Ft72E)
So... we defeated Mengniang, for real this time. Impressed, she lets us go, only leaving Yukari the words "One must fight against their own fate," before vanishing. With this in mind, Yukari believes she has finally figured out who the culprit is, but keeps it to herself. With nothing else but forward to go, it's time to head to the next part of the Tower of Babel.
(http://i.imgur.com/45VR43M.jpg)
Dungeon Theme: The Tower that Challenges Heaven 2 (Child of Are) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtroe82Kkng&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC&index=39)
Okay I really love this song, it's probably one of my favorite dungeon themes of the game. Still don't know what part of it is Child of Are exactly, but I can sorta hear it a little more than with the first version?
Anyhow, this next part of the dungeon has no boss, but is completely a puzzle section all about Barrier Stones. This is the final usage of them in the game, so let's get through it, eh?
(http://i.imgur.com/7OfHwWh.jpg)
Shadows and a Velociraptor show up at first. Shadows... not really bothersome as per usual for these kinds of enemies, while the Velociprators still have that dangerous HDD Crash, so getting rid of it with Electric might be a good idea.
(http://i.imgur.com/nv3B9nZ.jpg)
Valkyries! They... sorta have no weaknesses, buff themselves up quite a bit, and then rain all kinds of sword attacks on your face.
(http://i.imgur.com/BDOKCVB.jpg)
Nice, first try get! Valkyries have a decent combination of offensive buffs, attacks, and Physical Deflection. Combined with the Crazy Undine... you'd probably get a lot of Deflection. Can you say "never get hit by physical attacks half the time"?
(http://i.imgur.com/o8pvjyY.jpg)
Eesh, a Mind Flayer Lord and Hell Stairs. Not much to say about the Mind Flayer Lord that isn't already apparent, but Hell Stairs can use Death Slip to stun you and can use Damage Net to prevent escape. A lot of wipes in my original run happened because I was underleveled and constantly running from enemies, only for these guys to screw me up. Weak to Electric, of course.
(http://i.imgur.com/1OOTa3l.jpg)
So many armors to get!
(http://i.imgur.com/WqmDbki.jpg)
Oh hi there Ryu Hayabusa... or just a Ninja. Weak to Light like the Genin, they're fairly dangerous and can inflict Instant Death with their regular attacks, but otherwise if you target their weakness, it shouldn't be too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZERf7yX.jpg)
Oh hi there straight up Adamantite. There's another piece of Orichalcum around here to match this one.
(http://i.imgur.com/9TzSnlV.jpg)
Hi there Yin-Yang Orb, you're here already.
(http://i.imgur.com/opmszIj.jpg)
At some point I went back to grab a Magical Hat from the Sorcerers from earlier, since they're a REALLY good mage accessory, that upgrade to a Rune Hat. It boosts the Element Power of all magical elements, which in other words means you hit weaknesses much, much harder. It's a +30 boost when upgraded, which is like... either a mid-level Rumia or a high level Patchouli or Utsuho.
(http://i.imgur.com/3HSQixS.jpg)
Chandras are fairly dangerous Magicians. Though weak to Dark and Gun, if you don't wipe them out fast enough, they'll pepper you with high power Mystic attacks like Cosmic Liner. They are recruitable, of course, but have that 1/64 curse that most doppels... actually ALL doppels from here on out have. Which is an issue for rarer enemies.
(http://i.imgur.com/1birjqH.jpg)
The Enkidu there is kinda problematic if you let it live long enough. He'll throw all kinds of sword attacks at you, but as a Giant, he's weak to Light and Slash.
(http://i.imgur.com/NDfAy9p.jpg)
Well, here is a dais. Should come in handy?
(http://i.imgur.com/km3eczJ.jpg)
The Dullahan in the back... I think it uses some of the Zapper-type attacks but it's not too bad if you can murder it with Light quickly enough.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZWNfyg8.jpg)
That Great Basilisk is fairly dangerous to let live, having all kinds of nasty stuff, particularly Poison Breath. Light once again can take it down quick, so get off Divine Gate or Starburst or something.
(http://i.imgur.com/VfC0kxH.jpg)
So this puzzle in general, since I'll skip a decent amount of the pictures I took tied to this, is that there's a certain configuration of daises you need to put Barrier Stones on, WHILE having another Barrier Stone on you before getting to a certain room on the third floor of this section.
(http://i.imgur.com/DFlDAeb.jpg)
Gelatinous Matter, a familiar face... kinda. While it doesn't exactly drop Ostracon like in DoD (speaking of, apparently the drop rate got increased in Banquet... on top of all the boss buffs holy shit why did they buff Zhuli when she's painful enough to beat?), they still got the nasty things like Strong Acid and Digest, kinda like the Slimes from before. Weak to Fire, not sure if they are weak to Electric though.
(http://i.imgur.com/cHyv4f9.jpg)
Remember that whole "rare enemies with 1/64 chance to become a doppel" thing I said earlier? Well, this Crocell is a prime offender. The best Water doppel in the game, but otherwise a rare and hard to kill Foreign God who can murder you fairly hard with Water attacks. Thankfully, she's weak to Electric and Light, so both Marisa and Mamizou can get in on the fun.
(http://i.imgur.com/1Zh2LW9.jpg)
Not sure how I survived this one, but I got the Ninja. He provides a variety of special attacks like Law of the Jungle's Final Strike, etc. as well as a chance to inflict Instant Death with regular attacks. Not bad for your physical fighters just for the stat boosts, to be honest.
(http://i.imgur.com/dlBG6Xo.jpg)
This is that room you need a Barrier Stone for. I didn't remember how to do this before, so I had to solve it all over again. It's not a particularly hard puzzle, but compared to the prior ones, it requires a little bit of care.
(http://i.imgur.com/pvI3AtJ.jpg)
ACALA SWORD YAAAAAAAAY
(http://i.imgur.com/6fhWqTW.jpg)
RARE DROPS YAAAAAAY
(http://i.imgur.com/hdJ0I0w.jpg)
YUKKURI SISTERS YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY~!!!
Like in Devil of Decline, they drop your HP quite a bit, but grant resistances to EVERYTHING. The HP penalty drops as you level (from -50% to -33%), and the resistances are really good (☆ to magical elements, ◎ to physical ones). They go on Reimu for the rest of the main game, and are actually still on her right now despite being like... 1/3rd through the expansion or so?
(http://i.imgur.com/SqJg6HV.jpg)
There we go, last floor achieved!
(http://i.imgur.com/M9C2AS2.jpg)
Death Riders are undead with fairly dangerous spear attacks, but can be taken down easily with Light and Fire attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/3b2tlMj.jpg)
Genbus are yet another turtle-like enemy. Which means Benevolence Wall. All the time. Prepare to have your offenses screwed up pretty bad due to these guys. Weak to Water though, if you can preempt them.
(http://i.imgur.com/zrxgLjY.jpg)
Metal Shisas are thankfully less annoying than their regular cousins, in that they won't spam Moonlight Mirror every turn and screw you over. They will use Starlight Barrier and other buffs I think? Weak to Fire like before.
(http://i.imgur.com/yoczKo2.jpg)
Ah crap... a No Life King. Resistant to practically everything but Light (but not weak to Light), they're like worse Liches. You might just want to run from them the first time you find them, they're not worth it until it's a little easier to deal with them.
(http://i.imgur.com/5NUvnt1.jpg)
We just need to get a Barrier Stone here and the puzzle's over and we're done.
(http://i.imgur.com/27GzbhD.jpg)
Also, I have to say, it's kinda cool this area is certainly on the outside of the Tower, where the construction is like... half finished near the top. We must be pretty high by now.
(http://i.imgur.com/UnUNocM.jpg)
Finally made it through. There's no boss though, this place is just a puzzle dungeon.
(http://i.imgur.com/3P7EoGg.jpg)
This teleporter will take us to the top, the final area of the game. Next time, we'll deal with it and prepare for the final boss.
Summary:
New Doppels: Valkyrie, Ninja, Yukkuri Sisters
Doppel Levels: Otohime (Spell Seal; ☆ Temporary Stat Drop; EVA +3; Healing Water, DEX +2), Succubus (POT +3; Magic Heal, DEX +2), Dominion (LGT Power +12), Backfire (FIR Element Power +20; INT +8; FIR Element Power +25), Traveling Schoolgirl (POT +2), Lesser Vampire (Regen +50), Donner Meister (ELE Element Power +25), Taisai (Variety Barrier, VIT +1; Mist, DEX +1; Physical Barrier, AGI +1; INT +1; One Million Volts, POT +1; STR +2), Komachi (IND +20), Utsuho (LGT/DRK/MYS Power +25), En-no-Ozuno (RES +4; Variety Casting Speed +7), Patchouli (FIR/ELE/WTR Power +25), Yukkuri Sisters (HP -49%, HP -48%; HP -47%; Detonate), Mokou (PATK +3), Crazy Undine (Acid Storm, Physical Deflection +25), Ninja (Poison Mist, AGI +1; Law of the Jungle's Final Strike, STR +1; AGI +2, Samidare Slash; Normal Attack Instant Death Chance +7, Curse), Hipporit (Concrete, IND +10)
Major Equipment: Hercules Longbow, Kutune Shrika, Beam Pistol, Magical Hat, Lost Eyesight, Invisible Guarder, Oboro, Kishin Axe, Laser Rifle, Folgore Guarder, Satan Amulet, Yahweh Amulet
Synthesis Recipes: Vajra Robe, Ignis Dress, Glacies Dress, Fulmen Dress, Variety Inspector, Permanent Inspector, Quick Inspector, Evil Death Goliard, Mistral, Light Full-Body Armor, Dark Full-Body Armor
Synthesis Done: Restraint Amulet (Marisa), Barrier Earrings +3, Sniper Anklet +3, Gale Boots +3, Launch Goggles +3, Rune Cap (Marisa), Duelmaster
Sparked Skills: Critical Thrust (attack that inflicts Instant Death, Yukari), Silent Fortress (inflicts Silence, Saya), Surging Wave Spear (row attack that inflicts PATK down, Yukari), Blitzkreig (Penetrating attack that reduces resistances temporarily, Yukari), Deplorable Hit (high-powered single target attack, Saya), Whirlwind (attack that inflicts Stun, Yukari), Poison Serpent (inflicts Poison, level of Poison increases per negative Variety on the enemy, Yukari), Dimension Slash (increases power of Slayers on hit, Reimu), Acala Sword (single target ranged attack that ignores defense and always hits, Reimu), Devil Guillotine (Dark elemental attack, Saya), Quick Fire
Update Death Count: 1
Total Death Count: 22
Update Reset Count: 0 (1 because once again I forgot to turn back on combat effects, but once again it's not an actual rage quit reset so it doesn't count... screw it let's make it a new counter)
Total Reset Count: 3
Update "I Forgot to Turn Combat Effects Back On" Count: 1
Total "I Forgot to Turn Combat Effects Back On" Count: 2
So many counters now.
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Pfft the counters.
Also I spoke too soon, Sylphs are still nightmares. I might need to turn Saya into a full-out magician after all. I'm sorry, bows, I'll come back for you.
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I think I know who the culprit is. This LP title is Dreaming of Doppelgangers, the real perpetrators must be a doppel... made with a dream. Or is it the other way around?
Also, Yukari as a main character? That's like... A dream come true isn't it?
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Technically speaking...
Yukari was a main character in DoD as well, if you chose her, and even if you didn't, she joins you near the end anyhow.
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Whooops..... Forgot that Yukari's also one of 4 main characters in DoD.
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I actually had a lot of trouble with the sphinx >.> Every time I had Chen just about dead, I was entirely out of POW, and the magician head kept reviving before I got a turn to damage Chen at all on every fight- especially if she was one turn from death. Only won the last fight because I got Sukima Strash to deal 6k to that head (Annwn for weakness~) and get it the hell out of there whilst I was on my last turn's worth of POW. @.@ Plus it turns out the feet do dumb stuff like cast Toreno Levin to more or less instant kill an entire row, if you let them get a turn, jeez. :T
And that triple rematch fight is coming up now... along with the decision of "Okay, I can kill undines and sylphs, am I going to bother actually recruiting them?" They've got a pretty high encounter rate in one of the dream corridors, so I suppose it wouldn't be too bad...
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Oh yeah no, the whole issue of POW is pretty bad in some fights. There used to be a Last Word Saya got for boss fights (Dawn Norito, which upgraded to Beginning Norito or Advent Norito or however you wanted to translate it) that not only made it so main doppels could be revived with you, but once it upgraded to Advent Norito, it granted a POW regen effect for the entire fight. It was removed as-of the expansion, which is kind of a shame, but I can understand why it was removed.
As for Sylphs and Undines... you can if you want to, but you can entirely skip that tier of FIR/ELE/WTR doppels if you don't feel like dealing with them, the Hellhound/Nashorn/Hell's Gatekeeper tier can hold you until the Tower of Babel, at least, and that's when you get the last tier of FIR/ELE/WTR pre-expansion anyhow.
Update is coming, I've been busy and will still be busy with IRL stuff so it's slightly delayed. I might actually post both the penultimate and final updates today, but the amount of video editing and uploading needed for the final boss and ending is going to take a bit, so if I do end up doing it, it's not happening until way later.
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Nevermind, I'm uploading the finale tomorrow. Whew though, so close.
Nightmare of Rebellion Act: Penultimate- World Terminus
(http://i.imgur.com/aBKxXrP.jpg)
Dungeon/Battle Theme: The Tower that Challenges Heaven 3 (Maiden's Cappricio, Child of Are, Necrofantasia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rWxHtAodQw&index=40&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
At last, here we are at the top of the Tower of Babel. Looks like the very top was converted into some weird pathway by the culprit. Let's chase her down!
(http://i.imgur.com/NoabJZJ.jpg)
Much like the theme of the Gorgon Barrier in GoS, the area theme overrides the battle theme, which is pretty nice. Less nice is this encounter with Zhuge Liang and a Queen Flayer. Though the idea of multiple of one of the Three Kingdoms' famous strategists being present at once is a scary idea, they're not too bad... unless they use Moonlight Mirror. Weak to Dark and Gun as you'd think. Queen Flayers, meanwhile, are just weak to Stab as per usual, but in addition to Mind Blast and their Instant Death inflicting normal attacks, they can use Time Stop, which inflicts Binding Curse (and yes, it does say "Binding Curse" in the description).
(http://i.imgur.com/NPwRWkY.jpg)
Man, a death already. This'll end well.
(http://i.imgur.com/J9XOFdu.jpg)
Ziggurats aren't really a big deal. They can use barriers on themselves to block magic damage, but otherwise aren't too bad to take down. Weak to Electric, as weird as that would be.
(http://i.imgur.com/K4mMksQ.jpg)
This Juggernaut looking dude is a Gold Sumi, and he actually possesses Magic Deflection, meaning most of the time magic spells will just bounce off of him, but the deflection isn't 100%, so you might be able to hit them with some. Weak to Slash and Light I believe. Also possesses some pretty heavy attacks, so watch yourself.
(http://i.imgur.com/AZnkNW4.jpg)
Like most Dragons, Lesser Dragons can throw all sorts of high power attacks like Tail Chop at you, and are otherwise resistant to the major three elements and have no weaknesses. LGT/DRK/MYS are pretty effective as a result, and some physical attacks are pretty good against them too.
(http://i.imgur.com/7uhFExJ.jpg)
Two more enemies, Gilgamesh and Lu Bu (oh crap). They both have a variety of physical attacks that can destroy your party in seconds, especially Lu Bu, since he has some fairly high speed. Both are weak to Dark and Gun, and the Lu Bu is recruitable.
(http://i.imgur.com/zUujdFu.jpg)
Another recruitable monster, Ambivalences are immune to magic and weak to all physical attacks, but they can use Meteor, a powerful all-targeting Void attack that will probably one-shot the party with no MDEF.
(http://i.imgur.com/helRoxL.jpg)
Silver Sumis are the opposite of the Gold Sumis, possessing Physical Deflection, but otherwise works the same way. Weak to Light and Slash.
(http://i.imgur.com/K6w0ugc.jpg)
The Pangu here is another Giant who is weak to Light and Slash, and uh... I forget what it does. Mostly powerful attacks that punch you in the face, but they're not too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/4j1WRYn.jpg)
In the back is a Beidou Xingjun (geez there's a lot of Chinese figures in this game), who is weak to Electric, but can throw some fairly dangerous attacks your way, including Cosmic Liner.
(http://i.imgur.com/2ZbmS4p.jpg)
One more POW Extension to go.
(http://i.imgur.com/xSxl204.jpg)
This is the portal to the final boss, buuuut we're not doing that yet. Still a lot we haven't seen yet.
(http://i.imgur.com/ocIUF0K.jpg)
I still have no idea what the Falak is weak to, but it throws a bunch of Fire attacks at you, so it's prooobably weak to Water. Probably.
(http://i.imgur.com/CAaOopR.jpg)
Huh, do Murder Licenses only drop here? Makes me wonder how you're supposed to upgrade the accessory it upgrades earlier.
(http://i.imgur.com/2mhcYqK.jpg)
King Jiangshis aren't too bad. They're so weak to Fire or Light that killing one will take no time at all. Barely a threat.
(http://i.imgur.com/KbjtC4r.jpg)
One last Dream Corridor.
(http://i.imgur.com/TprmRfH.jpg)
Pain and suffering.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZHkidh6.jpg)
But some synthesis recipes to make up for it.
(http://i.imgur.com/1180Cdx.jpg)
Inside the final Dream Corridor is mostly some palette swaps. Predator Dragons are stronger Locomo Dragons, Red Dryades is a stronger Dryades, and the Fantasy Taoist is a stronger version of that other Taoist enemy from way back at the Great Wall of China.
(http://i.imgur.com/qgXO3Ml.jpg)
Niiice, some recipes for rare materials.
(http://i.imgur.com/WTFDv3m.jpg)
Genbus are I believe one of the best shield-based doppels, but I don't remember which skills they get other than Shield Wall.
(http://i.imgur.com/Z8J9DQa.jpg)
And here's the final POW Extension, bringing us to our final POW maximum of 2000 pre-expansion.
(http://i.imgur.com/iLPiTKp.jpg)
Death Riders have quite a few good attacks, and grant some VERY high STR and HP bonuses, so they're good to put on any of your melee users.
(http://i.imgur.com/2AE8yS6.jpg)
In the back is a Ronin, who has quite a few dangerous sword attacks. Kill them ASAP or get killed yourself, Dark and Gun both work but I usually prefer Dark since Abyss exists.
(http://i.imgur.com/sqVWlXh.jpg)
Oh hey, some enemies drop Gold here. That's pretty rare, and that's really good since we can make accessories with them.
(http://i.imgur.com/PDxH8aZ.jpg)
The Great Demon is the final major demon-type Foreign God, and the best Dark doppel. I kinda wish I could grab it, but alas, 1/64 chance on a rare enemy. I'm more likely to pick up a Royal Duke in the expansion since they're more common where they show up (speaking of, I have started running into those, and they're actually fairly easy with the setup I have, go Reimu and your stupidly powerful Light elemental sword). Weak to Light, it has some Dark attacks, but by this point they're not too bad.
(http://i.imgur.com/mZKqqfn.jpg)
Owwwwww. I think I ran after this.
(http://i.imgur.com/02wrp0w.jpg)
Ryuus are kinda like Lesser Dragons, and they use breath attacks a little more, but they're also not too bad if you slam them with physicals and LGT/DRK/MYS attacks.
(http://i.imgur.com/yXTx7N0.jpg)
YUKKURI KINGS. The strongest type we'll see in the main game, they can run away as usual, but they also have Face Smash, which... well in prior games it's pretty harsh, but for some reason in this game, the ACC of Face Smash is worse than usual, so it doesn't even one-shot anyone. Them charging up for it will actually just give you a better chance to kill them. While they're fairly rare here, in the expansion they're more common in Dream Corridors (and can show up in groups of three). Also here, I somehow ran into three in a row. Don't ask me how.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZODiE9U.jpg)
Zhuge Liang has so far been the ONLY field-based doppel we've recruited up to now... somehow. We missed every other one (including the Cave Guardian, Fuguruma, and Magical Girl from earlier). His are mostly focused on Land manipulation and elemental boosting.
(http://i.imgur.com/CysWqtH.jpg)
2s to 3s, and 3 Evasions to 4 Evasions. Not the greatest number of hits levels, but hey, it'll help the mages who have worse Evasion Chances.
(http://i.imgur.com/a0tjlHH.jpg)
NICE, I can make the High Garter Belt, which is a pretty good accessory.
(http://i.imgur.com/cauK5Jx.jpg)
I went back to recruit a couple doppels, including the Maogui (Byouki in the newest version of the patch). They have a variety of attacks, and grant a nice ACC boost.
(http://i.imgur.com/reQB7Uf.jpg)
Magical Girls are another field based doppel, who I get for the all-mighty Damage Net.
(http://i.imgur.com/pgCeHCL.jpg)
While looking for one last doppel, I run into a Kirin back in the Castle of Dreams. I don't even remember what it does, since I missed it the first time.
(http://i.imgur.com/Zxr3YNC.jpg)
And got the Bunsha (Furugumi), another field-based doppel who also happens to have Fast Strike, which is something I want for a very specific reason.
(http://i.imgur.com/uVElwa1.jpg)
Not a death, though.
(http://i.imgur.com/z25OtPn.jpg)
This is why, the classic "Fast Strike to Damage Net" strategy. Unlike Devil of Decline, where Yukkuris would counter Damage Net with Regeneration and then run away right after, they don't counter Damage Net, leaving you to kill them at your leisure. Heheheheh... oh sweet, sweeeeeet revenge for all those escapes.
(http://i.imgur.com/IlcdYTV.jpg)
Yup, I jumped quite a few levels during all this. I got all the way to level 63 by the end of this, which I believe is actually higher than my original run. Niiice.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ou2dH3z.jpg)
And one more death for the road. That's about all there was in terms of interesting stuff in the final area and my grinding for the final boss. Next time... we end this thing and prepare for the expansion.
Summary:
New Doppels: Genbu, Death Rider, Zhuge Liang, Maogui, Magical Girl, Bunsha
Doppel Levels: Togakushi Kureha (HP +20; STR +8; DEX +8), Youmu (PATK +8; Certain Hit +20), Yukkuri Sisters (HP -46%, HP -45%, HP -44%; Disintegrate, Mega Stroke, Zero Kelvin; HP -40%), Ninja (STR +2; AGI +3; Raise Dead, AGI +4; AGI +5; Normal Attack Instant Death Chance +10), Ran (SLA/STA/STK Power +18; PATK +15; SLA/STA/STK Power +20), Dominion (VIT +6; LGT Power +15; STR +6), Donner Meister (Refresh, DEX +4; ELE Element Power +35; empty level), Hell's Gatekeeper (AGI +5; INT +5), Sakuya (PATK +15; Slayer Power +20), Taisai (DEX +2), Nue (MDEF +30), Chen (EVA +15), Manuscript (MDEF +40; INT +8; STR +4), Sorcerer (empty level), Hatate (EVA +6; PATK +6; Tengu Field Cooldown -1), Closed Railroad Crossing (Sone Snare, ACC +10), Death Rider (Venom Zapper; DEX +2; Death Chase, STR +6; Death Zapper, VIT +2; STR +8; DEX +4; VIT +4; STR +10; HP +25), Succubus (POT +5), Backfire (Refresh, INT +10; FIR Element Power +35; INT +12), Zhuge Liang (Howling Spirit, INT +1; Fix Land, POT +1; Remove Field, INT +2; Raise Dead, MYS Element Power +10; INT +3; POT +2; INT +4; Healing Water, POT +3), Suika (Critical Hit Rate +10), Lesser Vampire (Accurate Weapon; Regen +60), Maogui (ACC +3; Accurate Weapon; EVA +3; Venom Zapper; ○ Variety; Heat Weapon; ◎ Poison; ACC +5), Magical Girl (Damage Net, INT +1; Regeneration, POT +1; Provocation, DEX +2; INT +2; Active Mental, POT +2; Auto-Revive +5; Refresh, DEX +3; INT +3), Bunsha (Fast Strike, MDEF +3; Breakthrough, AGI +2; Jackpot, MDEF +5; Magical Defense; AGI +3; INT +1; AGI +4; Element Shield Wall, INT +2; AGI +5), Yuugi (ACC +5; Critical Hit Rate +6; Critical Hit Power +10), Crazy Undine (DEX +8; STR +8), Patchouli (Philosopher's Stone Power +20; FIR/ELE/WTR Power +30), Utsuho (Mega Flare Power +30; LGT/DRK/MYS Power +30), Remilia (EVA +30)
Major Equipment: Masterpiece (Saya), Mephisto Amulet, HVD-ROM, Muramasa, Clarent, Soul Link Rod, Deicide Demon Hammer, Hrungnir, Husdrapa, Bountiful Kudzu Crossbow, Molecule Pulverizer
Synthesis Recipes: Magus Robe, Kerestes Dress, Dreadnought Mantle, Legendary Sailor Suit, Dragon Bone Mail, Antimagic Armor, Dragon King Armor, Drake Scale, High Garter Belt, Magic Thread, Nightmare Pillow, Dress Hem, Cursed Shell, Regenerating Cell, Light Alloy, Boost Stone, Clean Ring
Synthesis Done: Protection Anklet +2, Protection Anklet +3 (Reimu), Muscle Belt +2, Muscle Belt +3 (Reimu), Vengeance Mantle, Victory Mantle, Variant Mantle, Dreadnought Mantle (Marisa), Adamanatite, Orichalcum, Gravity Executor (Yukari), High Garter Belt, Murderous Mantis Gauntlet (Reimu)
Sparked Skills: Violent Tengu Rod (high power single target attack, Saya), Painful Demon Cudgel (row attack that inflicts Double-Edged Curse, Saya), Shooting Star Sword (high speed 3-5 hit attack, Reimu)
Update Death Count: 4
Total Death Count: 26
Update Reset Count: 0
Total Reset Count: 3
Update "I forgot to turn on combat effects" count: 0
Total "I forgot to turn on combat effects" count: 2
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You know, i don't remember if you mentioned that you can enchant weapons for various effects.
Did you remember to do so, or did you actually forget entirely about that game mechanic?
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I have mentioned and do use that system regularly across the game, I just don't write down the enchantments I do.
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As for Sylphs and Undines... you can if you want to, but you can entirely skip that tier of FIR/ELE/WTR doppels if you don't feel like dealing with them, the Hellhound/Nashorn/Hell's Gatekeeper tier can hold you until the Tower of Babel, at least, and that's when you get the last tier of FIR/ELE/WTR pre-expansion anyhow.
Yeah I figured so. I don't even use those much because the Sorceror learned the tier 3s early enough (since *cough* I killed 17 yukkuris in the train station) and I don't have Saya playing backup mage much (Although I might to make undines easier to kill in the cave, even if I don't farm them. First I'm gonna see how much damage I can squeeze out of Reimu with some synthesis... AUGH I'd need an exploding yin yang orb :T)
But do they learn like, anything interesting other than attack spells? Even if I get them easy to kill, the 1/32 is... :T (I have a feeling I'll do it anyway because I have too much free time, I may as well stretch out the gameplay to satisfy collection desires) Not too much of a pain since they show up almost -too- often in the dream corridor next to the cave (Two at once, why?!), but still takes awhile. Whilst talking about doppels, I actually like Lesser Demon more than Izanami, Dark Breath is cheaper to spam so long as you've got fast casting speed, and I'm hoping those barrier passives get better. <3 Although Izanami learns her good moves significantly earlier and doesn't have light weakness and's got backup resurrection... so, not bad in the slightest.
Meanwhile, jeez, usually Saya is the one training priest doppels for me so her str is garbage, but if I give her a ranger Agincourt does land some serious pain (7 guaranteed hits). Bows have no single-target damage potential outside of their type 8 skills, but thankfully those pack a good whallop, it seems.
...reading the update, the bunsha is recruitable!? I better grab that, -especially- if it has fast strike because that is one of the best utility moves there is. Also wow the yukkuris don't troll counter the field anymore... that's interesting. Is there a better place to get the Cave Guardian than the fire cavern? >.> It's not exactly common there...
Edit:Eh in the final rooms it wasn't so bad. Grabbed 'em both.
edit more:Got Undine on #20, they're super common in that corridor, but Sylph... actually not so much. I've found -some-, but more yukkuris than sylphs, and they're usually in Bad News battle sets. :T May as well go to the even lower encounter rate pyramid I guess. (Addendum:Dear god they're rare at pyramid's depths. Better off hunting in the first room instead.)
I have a problem:Guan Yu from the top floor of Dream Castle is recruitable? You've got to be kidding me. 1/32 chance too, despite his abysmal encounter rate. Does he appear later too or something!?
more edits:Ogre Lady has benevolence wall... oh my. Less abusable than in other games because POW murder, but still notable. Also grabbed the Backbeard. This just leaves Sylph and Hell Truck until I reach Toono Castle... which has *Counts on fingers* 6 more sub doppels. HO BOY
Okay, checked Guan Yu's skills on the wiki before I even bothered because jesus. And, welp... Rainbow Shield Wall, shield boosting field, Refresh, and up to +20 shield evasion rate passive. Not like "I'm gonna be sad I don't have him" level, but he's not lame.
edit:WHY DIDN'T THE SYLPH JOIN AFTER THE 32ND KILL?! It was a hype fight too. It did the one thing that screws everything up (Psycho Slayer on Reimu) and it took Child of Misaki -and- kedama's Immortal field reviving literally the whole party from Intense Lightning to win and it didn't even join what the heck.
e:or the 33rd... I checked and yes Sylph is definitely 1/32... ;_;
e:34th time's the charm guys... >.>;;; I think what happened is, those times I killed Sylph AND STILL game overed... it didn't count, even though it registered the kill in the bestiary.
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Late responses and stuff I know (last night was TTRPG night, power was wonky, and I was still trying to write up the finale), but uh... the Salamander/Sylph/Undine tier I believe learns a few support skills, but the only one I remember is that Sylph gets Rapid Stream.
I didn't even see Guan Yu in my playthrough... at all. There were a few I missed, the silliest of them being the Obelisk from the Pyramid (just... the fact you get attacked by a giant, living obelisk amuses me). But yeah, he's decent if you want the shield skills, but it's not "make or break the game" worthy.
Speaking of bows and whatnot, by this point in the game I've abandoned the idea of using them ever, but next playthrough (because after this LP with the English patch and everything, I'm completely up for a new playthrough on my own time), I'll try them out on like Mamizou or Saya for type 8 skills and the like. I was thinking of trying to do a "no main doppels" run just to see how it'd go, but I imagine the answer is "not well", so I think I'll skip out on that.
Anyhow, update has been written up, it's just the videos I need to chop up and upload. Roughly 35ish minutes of footage that need to be converted into like six or so videos. Fun tiiimes~.
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Late responses and stuff I know (last night was TTRPG night, power was wonky, and I was still trying to write up the finale), but uh... the Salamander/Sylph/Undine tier I believe learns a few support skills, but the only one I remember is that Sylph gets Rapid Stream.
If Sylph gets RAPID STREAM, the god tier move, then this was worth it. @.@; Based on the edits (34 kills?!) you can see this was an... endeavor. Thankfully I had 13 kills before I even started and got up to 18 whilst farming Undines (even if it turns out that was actually only 16...!) I fought several obelisks trying to find Sylph in the top of the pyramid before realizing that, yes, no, the chance is abysmal and the first room is WAY better. Like I ran into a few Guan Yus and Kirins trying to find Bunsha before realizing it's basically only in the dream corridor, but super common there at least, thank god.
Agincourt is definitely strong enough to go full-beast-mode with Bows if you want to for bosses and stuff, you just have to dual-wield to get around it's 2 turn cooldown (granted it's not like you can spam it until you have Ran). Random Shot is great for earlier. MP costs are 2 and 1 respectively so it's spammable with some doppel skills between and/or Ran. I... might actually swap Saya and Mamizou's roles in bosses and let Mamizou be Sanae Support and let Saya be the offensive healer with Eirin.
I'm over halfway to level 42. :V You were at lv37 at this point. I'm pretty sure it rubberbands the party EXP because my main doppels get way more than me. At least double, but I didn't pay much attention... maybe more.
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...Man, it's Rumia day, the start of Tanabata, and my little sister's birthday today when I'm posting this, and my own birthday's two days away. What a date to post this finale on, huh?
Nightmare of Rebellion Act: Finale- Eastern Strange Rumorous Dream
My translation of the Japanese title is probably incorrect, but... well that's that...?
(http://i.imgur.com/9IZQeC0.jpg)
Finally... the final boss awaits. Let's not keep the culprit waiting, shall we?
Cutscene: The Nightmare of Rebellion (https://youtu.be/dCFGZtnAyZU)
The ultimate culprit, in all that has happened, was... Yukari Yakumo...? Wait a minute... what, why, how...?
So, much gets explained here, things that don't make a lot of sense, but... bear with me here. There are actually, at this point in time, three Yukaris. The Yukari of this point in time, 100 years from the present, currently asleep in Gensokyo/the Yakumo Household. There's also the Yukari in our party... in reality, not necessarily the Yukari we know, but rather a "dream" of the future... if that makes any sense. While she still is our Yukari in a sense, she's a vision of the future the current Yukari is having. And then there's the third Yukari, the culprit of this incident, the "Nightmare of Rebellion"... a result of Yukari's lingering doubts about the creation of the Great Hakurei Barrier and what that meant for youkai. Whether they were to be allowed to flourish, or simply corralled and kept like a zoo... thoughts like that, doubts like that, that formed into a nightmare. And from that nightmare came the dark Yukari we see before us.
Her ultimate goal in this incident is to merge this changed new world of youkai with the Outside World, to raise the status of youkai, and to challenge history itself, the history we know of Gensokyo's creation. If this were to pass, the results could be dangerous, and history is on the brink of irreversibly being altered. What would occur if this were to happen? Nothing good, clearly.
As a result, here we are, five representatives of "official history", here to dispel the "unofficial history" that the dark Yukari wishes to create.
Yukari Yakumo of the future, desiring to dispel her old nightmare.
Mamizou Futatsuiwa, who had promised Hakusen to let this come to an end.
Marisa Kirisame, representative of humanity, whose magic will dispel any nightmare.
Reimu Hakurei, Hakurei Shrine Maiden of the future, and resolver of any incident that dares threaten Gensokyo.
Saya Kurahinata, Kurahinata Shrine Maiden of the present, Hieda no Akyuu's past incarnation, and the current Child of Misaki, who bears the weight of Toono and Gensokyo on her shoulders.
It's time for the five of us to defeat the dark Yukari Yakumo of the past, the Nightmare of Rebellion!
(http://i.imgur.com/QqR6y1h.jpg)
And so the final fight against Yukari Yakumo begins. Like with all Strawberry Bose final bosses, she's got more than one phase. This first one is relatively simple, she'll swap between elemental physical attacks and all kinds of nasty spells. MDEF and EVA buffs are a must, and resistance helps. I've gotten smacked about by an unlucky Lightning Stab or Flame Strike more than once in this phase. I believe she's weak to the elements, but her MDEF is sky high, so don't even bother with spells. Just whack at her with physicals, or elemental physicals if you can. She can also use Vortex to rid you of your buffs, so be wary of that.
(http://i.imgur.com/OeZLD8Q.jpg)
Final Boss Theme: The Decisive Battle of Official and Unofficial History (Necrofantasia) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W30RpE_VgVA&index=43&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNIRRjODBDb1sI-gibCU0FsC)
As for her second phase... it's a doozy. Yukari herself is pretty physically weak at first, but as time goes on, her aura changes color, and I believe her defenses swap from physical to magical, kinda like that one boss from Final Fantasy V in the Ronka Ruins. By the final phase, while physical attacks can still do a decent amount, magic attacks are a bit better. Of course, the entire rest of the fight sorta tricks you into thinking magic isn't good for this. Well, it is. Also, besides Yukari herself, there's several Hundred Demon Night Parades surrounding her, each with different attack types and weaknesses. All they do I believe is throw physical attacks at you, and I don't know all of their weaknesses and resistances off the top of my head (plus, well, no bestiary entries for any of these guys, sooooo yeah).
As for the major forms for this fight, the first one isn't too bad, when she first shifts, she can use her first spell card (which isn't too dangerous). Her second one is very dangerous upon going into third phase, and it revives any killed Hundred Demon Night Parades, but can be at least mitigated through stuff like MDEF buffs. I THINK Marionette Parrar from Alice also works on it. The fourth and last form is her berserk phase. If you don't kill her fast enough, she uses her ultimate spell card... which is fixed 7777 damage to everyone. Instant wipe, the ONLY thing that can block it is Mamizou's Last Word. I am not even joking, it's THAT bad.
You might think, by the way, "why not Yukari's Last Word?" Here's something I noticed... Yukari has a very high Last Word Chance rate in this fight, as if to goad you into using one... don't. Just don't. If you use Quadruple Barrier, Yukari (the boss, not your party member) will penetrate it regardless. Sukima Strash and Danmaku Barrier (her magic Last Word) are simply blocked by Reverse Quadruple Barrier. All of Yukari's Last Words are useless in this fight, so DON'T use them. Possibly using Sukima Strash or Danmaku Barrier MIGHT cause an AI override on spell cards, but I don't actually remember if it does. If it does, then those offensive Last Words, in theory, could negate her turn, but I wouldn't rely on my word here, I actually don't know if that's true.
(http://i.imgur.com/Fnm1sJE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oNnbi2u.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/NqpI6Yd.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8ZLrfwO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/3rltgoI.jpg)
Here's my death/reset collection for this... quite a few, even if I'm slightly overleveled for this fight. It is not an easy fight in the slightest, good god.
Final Boss: Vs. The Nightmare of Rebellion, Yukari Yakumo (https://youtu.be/nrgviRYvWnc)
I don't have much to say, other than holy god I think I barely avoided a wipe at the end. Yukari got the decisive blow against... herself.
Cutscene: Rebellion's Fading Dream (https://youtu.be/IIyVwZuYTZs)
...We did it. We have proven ourselves superior to the wishes of Yukari's nightmares. As such, she allows history to progress as it should, and thus disappears, forever. It's not long before Mengniang comes back to finish things up, getting rid of the power of dreams that have engulfed Toono, and setting things right once more. After all, "official history" won. Plus, with that, the incident is over. And somehow, the four of us that were from the future get to return home... though that also means that Saya is going to stay behind, never to see any of us ever again. Well... here's to a last goodbye, Saya Kurahinata, Child of Misaki.
There's a lot of stuff going on in the epilogue, so I divided it up roughly into a few parts, and I'm just going to post the videos and not really comment on what happens, it mostly speaks for itself and at the time I'm writing up this update, I'm too tired to go into the files and figure out what everyone's saying in all the ending stuff. Anyone more willing to take a look, go ahead, the cutscenes are right there, otherwise I'll just briefly sum up what I understand for each video.
Epilogue (https://youtu.be/9ce1GYdIEZo)
Seems like we're mostly wrapping up things that've been going on with everyone. Saya's back in school with Tomoko, seems like Arare has let go of her rivalry (which Hakusen's going to totally make fun of her over), Mengniang seems to be doing... whatever at this point, probably just going back to her actual baku duties now that the incident's over, Ino-Shika-Chou... well they've got not much to do, so why not mess around in Toono still, the rest of the party's back in Gensokyo in the present. All's well that ends well, right?
Credits (https://youtu.be/f7dYjNp23U8)
We get to see a summary of the game, in a sense here. Lots of stuff happening.
Cutscene: The Grave of Saya Kurahinata (https://youtu.be/w49JwfK4VOk)
...Of course, Yukari hasn't forgotten about Saya. 100 years later... Saya Kurahinata has long since passed away. Yukari pays her respects, before noticing her old flower hair ornament, which she takes and gives to Akyuu. Funny how that works... giving her next incarnation her old possessions. Possibly disgrace to the dead, but in a way, she lives on in Akyuu, no?
(http://i.imgur.com/dpWW0oY.jpg)
"All clear!" indeed... whew...
(http://i.imgur.com/P5vKHqK.jpg)
And that, everyone, was Nightmare of Rebellion... the main story, at least.
(http://i.imgur.com/CmOSL8C.jpg)
We got a neat little star on our file, and we spent... 69 hours, give or take like five for leaving the game running on accident, on finishing it. Not bad, a fairly decently long game, one I'm very glad to have LPed. But, alas, the fun never ends, for next time, we begin the expansion story, in the postgame act: Flooding Dream Act.
Final Results (Main Game):
Death Count: 28
Reset Count: 6
"I Forgot to Turn On Combat Effects" Count: 3
I synthesized a couple things too, like a Skill Stone, etc, but eh, we're good on that I suppose.
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I did peek at a video of the final boss once, back when I thought that, y'know, I'd never get to play this game; based on what I remember, they did seem to use Yukari's LW on purpose a couple times. Might be some credence to it wasting a boss move. Can't say though, and now that I know what's going on I don't want to look at another video myself 'til I'm there struggling against nightmares on my own. ...I do recall they used a weird strat though. Moooostly normal attacks, a good chunk of Meso-cyclone and obviously enough support to not outright die, is all I really remember.
...I'm already at 42 hours. >_> A decent chunk of those were the, in hindsight, ridiculously unneeded Lesser Demon grind (I didn't realize it'd show up way more often later >.>) at the train station where I farmed a ton of yukkuris alongside. That took more time than Sylph took, at least, so Sylph wasn't... so bad? If you did it all in the first pyramid room, even going all the way to 32 kills would only take... a few hours if you killed a decent amount doing the pyramid normally. *cough cough cough*
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Huh, if that's the case with Yukari's Last Words, that's something for me to keep in mind for the Lunatic version of the fight if I end up doing it, which I might do if I like... get really high leveled. Given that right now in the expansion I'm level 80 (which uh... I didn't reach in my original file until the end, and yet right now I'm still uh... near the halfway point), I probably will end up doing that. Not the Lunatic expansion final boss though, that... I think I'll just let slide.
Also, I began another playthrough because I felt like it, with the intention of giving Saya bows. As if the game knew, I got a Short Bow off of one of the first Kedamas (which is somewhat of a rare thing), with like... an ACC and critical hit rate enchant on it. The game knows.
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Congratulations!!! You finally completed this game! Your final boss video definitely gonna get a lot of views.
Thank God I'm not the one who fight the final boss. JRPG final boss can be really scary at times.
I actually liked the fact that you set your avatar to darkened picture of Nightmare Yukari, it makes us speculate who the final boss' going to be (Although I already knew in advance)
.
Now I'm looking forward to actually play it myself, WHEN I get to buy it. This game is so pretty... and awesome... And hard... but mostly hard.
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Yeah, I felt like doing the thing with the avatar because, well, it's fun. I do think it's unfortunate that for people who have never played, the expansion title screen gives away Nightmare!Yukari's existence. Not necessarily that she's the final boss, but it's obvious even to a newcomer that she's important. It'd be like GoS's title screen having Lithos, or DoD's having Angra. Ah well.
...Also...
(https://i.gyazo.com/daea04f8b2f80e08875fa26558e75e47.jpg)
Okay yeah no the game REALLY knows I want to do bows with Saya. Also holy damn I didn't realize it really until I put one on, but crossbow-type bows are incredibly heavy compared to short bows (to compare, most short bows have a Weight of 0, while a Crossbow has a weight of 12, which is comparable to pistol-type guns and most "standard" weight weapons).
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It'd be cool if you could actually see equipment weight. :T
Anyway, I just ran into this guy in the caves depths.
(http://puu.sh/pTBQC.png)
...with 2 yukkuri sisters I couldn't touch because he wasn't pathetic to kill like, say, the elec-weak obelisk. And then he dropped the exploding yin-yang orb I needed holy crud! Glass cannon supermage Reimu is more complete now. She moves first anyway so all I need is DAT DAMAGE. ...also, I think this is supposed to be a tarrasque.
edit:Oh... I just got the Basilisk? I didn't know that was recruitable either. >.>
edit:Made it to Toono Castle up to the Ran fight. Got the hippogrit (Is hipporit a typo?) and en-no-ozuno on the way through, over half the manuscript kills (You can tell you're expected to get this one... thank goodness) and a realization that if I want Virtue I'm gonna have one hell of a time trying to get it considering it keeps appearing with LICHES, maybe there'll be easier encounters in part 2. I can nearly one-hit a salamander just with Zero Kelvin because my Reimu's that good, but he also tends to keep very scary company. :I At least Shiisa is easy with Dark Breath that ignores reflection.
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I've decided to take a breather before doing up the updates for the expansion (I might actually just wait until I finish the expansion on my own time before writing up the updates, so that I'm in no rush to do daily updates), so for now I suppose this can be a general NoR talk thread in the meanwhile.
In the meanwhile, Bow Appreciation run is going better than I thought. I'm still not entirely impressed by bows, but I'm making them work (Saya having the High Class Sailor Suit, which I've NEVER been able to craft before due to Schoolgirl Soul never dropping, sorta helps). Also, I've been trying to actually swap in Priests into random encounters more, and otherwise cycle through all my doppels rather than just focusing on the ones I really like. So instead of my LP where like... Suwako, Yuyuko, and Eiki have no levels, now they're roughly at the same point as everyone else. Sorta like cycling through party members in GoS.
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Bows... aren't particularly impressive other than the type 8 skills. They're more for fast-casting AoE status effects and a couple slayers than anything else. Even when hitting a slayer the damage isn't that exciting, either. >_> The type 8s are really the only saving grace for doing any more than statuses. At least when your bow user isn't a big attacker they can use it to annihilate yukkuris.
Just finished clearing out doppels for Toono Castle, thank GOD I was lucky; Virtue is not common enough and I could have spent several hours of more grinding if I hadn't gotten it on #10; I got Shiisa and Salamander before too long either (certainly before I found a tenth virtue), and the fragrant scarf from the behemoth. By the way, is there any recipe I'd want to save the scarf for, or should I just make the HP Up light armor with it right now? It seems like this game makes drops like these nearly item-exclusive a lot, but I'm not sure. Behemoth isn't that bad when I've got Reimu pumped up so much that Disintegrate does over 10k >.>
Same with the regenerating cell for regen armor, actually. I think it's even in the same armor tier. Wait holy crud am I really using the armor from like the second or third set of recipes at game start still (apart from 0 def +20% magic damage robe and the all-physical-resist light armor because sweeeet)
edit:Holy crud the Hakusen+Arare boss fight is hard. I can get them both down to critical HP but the first time I ran out of power with like 1k~ hp each, and on slightly more conservative runs I keep getting demolished by Arare using her water resist debuff card every other turn several times in a row and picking people off with Zero Kelvin in between. I guess I need to place water resist on everyone in addition to dark resist... magic barrier+ele shield wall+mass element shelter isn't sustainable enough for this onslaught ;_;
edit:Okay I did it. But there was an amazing failed attempt where only Akyuu was alive, she revived Yukari (who has star dark+water from izanami/undine) and they nearly solo'd the last 10k hp of each boss until Reisen's Mind Shaker slayed the concentration status and killed Arare just by a hair, ruining the fight. I almost won anyway because Hakusen concentrated, but Yuugi's Koi3S is somewhat inaccurate and flat-out-missed hakuren. rip.
edit: Fun fact, if you use a draining attack on yourself it'll kill your main doppel (Sorry Eirin~)... but you remain alive because of the simultaneous heal :V I guess if you REALLY wanted to swap to a different doppel class...
edit: I just sparked Starlight Arrow and holy crudmuffins is it powerful, all of the all-target bow skills were just depressing and then WHAMMO
edit:With Chen and a Skill Stone, using Chaotic Thrusting and Blood Lance is actually incredible for bosses... I never thought a spear user would be my boss damage MVP. She did like 6k with a lucky Chaotic on refight Mengniang, without a pdef debuff or weapon bless or dragon power or anything. e:Oh, I just watched your video of that fight... what the hell Saya?! I'm not sure how much that is the damage bonus from str and your equipment... actually, you did make an A.Muscle; I forgot to do this already, nor did I have str doppels or accessories on, needed resists. Okay, she probably coulda been hitting for a lot more.
edit:Okay, at the final boss... now it's just grabbing some doppels (I'll try to at least get a couple more of the 1/32 ones, the 1/64 top floor doppels are a bit lulz even if several of them aren't hard to kill) and finding the couple chests I missed in the top floor maze. With yin-yangs that shouldn't take long, already did the dream corridor.
e:I was not hunting for her but Crocell literally joined on the second kill holy crud thanks game (http://puu.sh/pZ6jQ.png)
OH WOW SHE GETS A LOT OF PHYS/MAG BARRIER, it's already 10% at lv2 or 3
e:Lesser Dragon at 14 kills, Greater Demon within like the next half hour at 10 kills. Luck is real. I won't ever get Ambivalence though, will I? :V Just that left and Zhuge Liang... well, and Lu Bu, but semi-common with 1/32 isn't SO bad. NEVERMIND ZHUGE LIANG JUST JOINED WOW. Ambivalence get the hell over here you're the one I wanted the most anywayyyyy
e:Ambivalence joined after... 57 kills. I have a problem, I know. :C Killed 47 yukkuri kings. All my best sub doppels are lv14 now, one about to be 15. Party level 75. Characters are 43~44 weapon proficiency. The overlevel is real. I got an EMP Pistol, three kusanagi swords (GIVE ME SOMETHING ELSE :C), Murder License, five High Belts (AMBIVALENCE PLEASE), and the Keel. And a boatload of gold. Did I mention Ambivalence is definitely much rarer than every other encounter here 'cept Yukkuri King?!
e:Yukari can freely Last Word the final boss for damage if she's charging up a spellcard (at the least, her final card). Dao Fetal Movement will save you from uberdeath. I didn't try using Quadruple Barrier but, uh, I think that's what I saw someone do in a video for that attack, come to think of it... as an aside, Mach Stab did way more damage than Marisa was doing with swords (until the final phase needed Acala), so if you're willing to use Chen and a skill stone on your spear user they will murderize bosses splendidly just like the other weapons.
e:Based on Lunatic form of the final boss, using Yukari's LW attacks on the earlier cards will nullify them at the cost of making her immune to damage for that turn. ...without doing -anything- and just immediately rechallenging her from the end of maingame, I can get down about a third of her second form's hp, but I just don't have the damage output with maingame stuff to kill her before my POW runs out (plus she can kill people sometimes now) Since you keep sparked skills after game over you can learn lv70 stuff off her first form though lel
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Too many comments I didn't comment on to really answer them all, but... daaamn and I thought I was overleveling in the expansion.
And how did I forget that Dao Fetal Movement was a thing that basically is a one-turn "screw death". That would've avoided at least one wipe. Uggggh.
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WELL NO ONE REPLIED FOR LIKE A WEEK, so they kept building up :V I just posted another comment about my go at the lunatic version of the final boss.
Also holy shit mengiang and arare are silly. I think I'll let Reimu start sparking physical skills now that they exist (so I can see all the blunt ones!), and since she's at 32 proficiency and everyone else is pretty much -done- so they can afford to do magic.
...Ambivalence took literally almost an entire day of grinding. It's shameful. I don't even have the excuse I was grinding multiple doppels because I got literally every other one within a couple hours the day beforehand, miraculously.
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Yeah no, those two are incredibly silly and I'll be going over that a bit of course once I start posting expansion stuff. Speaking of, I think my break from this LP should be coming to a close soon, I'm starting to get restless about getting back to it (not to mention I really want to go back and recruit
a Royal Duke at least, maybe a Yukkuri King
), so probably in the next day or so I'll finally write up the first expansion post. :V
Seriously though good job being able to partially rip through Lunatic!Yukari a bit. I guess knowing how to manipulate and block off those spell cards the rest of her attacks aren't too bad, all her power comes from those cards (in the second half at least)
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Cosmic Liner is actually pretty bad. >_> Most of your resistance sources aren't gonna cover that one...
I'm just learning some weapon skills off refighting Lunatic!Yukari for now. It's pretty fast and easy with the button to skip the cutscene. I don't have quite enough time this morning to really get into expansion, so I'll stick with this for now. I also just noticed Kosuzu and Iku in my list, reward code doppels huzzah :D
edit:Picking up almost all the 70 tier skills (minus the ones that are "have this weapon or you've got 1% chance") was pretty easy, I surprisingly even got all the type 8 ones. I nearly killed Yukari's first form a few times pfft. She's just got... no defense at all, I think. That's one of the reasons I can't kill the second form; once it's def starts picking up, damage drops like a stone since I'm not actually using postgame weaponry. Ah well, easy weapon skill source. <3
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I never thought of using her as a weapon skill thing, but hey, whatever works (I just ended up fighting Death Ghosts in World of Dreams ~ Unexisting for the most part since they've got the same physical immunity that makes them perfect for weapon skill punching bags).
(https://i.gyazo.com/3e2faf7f74cf6780e43cecc832e96e23.jpg)
Also, still haven't gotten a Royal Duke. Yet I got its extremely rare drop after... 43 kills? So close to 64. X_X;
EDIT:
(https://i.gyazo.com/c0be10fe754b8c35d9e33248d145974a.jpg)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA, 64 KILLS, NOW I'M LEVEL 87, WHAT THE HELL I WAS LIKE LEVEL 75ISH AT THIS POINT IN MY ORIGINAL RUN. KILL ME.
EDIT 2: I was curious, since both the regular and Lunatic versions of Yukari do not have a bestiary entry. Turns out she's level 95 in her first form and level 99 in her second form (all four stages), so she can be used to spark any skill, and I've gotten to the point where I can spark practically any skill I want. So hey, I can purposefully game over myself to learn the final tier that requires level 99 enemies. :'D
EDIT 3: Got Hyperdimensional Crushing Slash and Fermion Balancer (both final tier weapon skills) off of Yukari, so that should be good for now. I could try getting the 0.1% chance of getting Flying Wheel for Reimu, but eh, I think I'm good. Hyperdimensional Crushing Slash is already stupidly powerful, and it only requiring game over-ing once. :V
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Yeahh, there's no way I'm going for 0.1% skills without getting their equipment first, even if I can TECHNICALLY spark them right now :getdown: I thought hyper crushing slash seemed underwhelming for what it is BUT that's probably just because I was fighting 0 defense yukari where stuff like shooting star sword does a bajillion damage.
I'm surprised Divine Barrier is still a thing when all the foreign god type sub doppels still just have physical barrier and magical barrier, but I guess that makes it less piercable, assumably. Either that or it's for stacking purposes depending on how it works, kinda like how they divvy'd up some of the deflection types so you can't hit nearly 100% physical deflection... (Or maybe they just wanted to make the equipment sound more varied. Meiling, I've found a purpose for you, lets see what happens despite how empty your jp wiki page is >:V)
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...I looked around on 4chan just now for something to help someone out with installing Nightmare of Rebellion (forgot how what the serial stuff you had to input was, it's been some time and I remembered seeing someone post a translation there), and I see people on there were talking in a thread about the translation efforts for this and DoD and the like. Wow, I... feel a bit weird now having my name being spread around on 4chan. I assume that was you, Serela? :V
Anyhow, LP-wise within the next week I believe I'll get cracking on doing updates. I've done most of the expansion by now other than the final dungeon (so there's like two more bosses and some other stuff), so I might just do it all and then do the updates after. I might, this time around at least, do the Lunatic version of the final boss as bonus, but I'm sure as hell not doing the Lunatic version of the expansion final boss.
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Whew... Hagino was a toughie, but I managed to beat her thanks to using a somewhat carbon copy version of Validon's strategy, although she almost killed Reimu if it wasn't for the EVA buff and having Earthwall up. I'll give my two cents about the other two bosses soon.
Edit: Botan GAVE me no trouble once so ever... well towards the end after she berserk'd my three killers and ended up getting a rod to the face by Marisa which killed Botan.
Edit 2: FUCKING DEER BOSS IS GIVING ME CANCER HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!!!
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I don't remember deer boss much... her physical field was a pain, so just make sure you can overwrite it. Toono-san (butterfly doppel) learns a field at like lv4. Probably want Sanae for both all up and an empowered ACC buff. Mess with the land? Botan's the one resistant to magic, so it should work on her, right? I don't remember the deer being too scary damage-wise, it was just that she'd mess with my ability to damage -her-.
Meanwhile in postgame (Which I finally actually did some of), the red area's midboss... err... on my "let's see what it is" attempt I won because of Acala Sword doing 9.5k damage every time even though everything else barely did a thing. Welp. The boss was so pathetic damage-wise I just had Marisa more or less solo it with Acala. I nearly wiped at the end with leftover summons spamming material x64 (holy what?) and sacrifice bomb but the last bomb missed Marisa. XD No buffs or debuffs or anything... Acala wipes that fight in half, if I'd had some damage buffs and set up so she could cast Acala every turn, welp.
The random fights are a somewhat larger issue because I'm not used to... actually having a need to spend POW and I'm still mostly using earlier skills because of lower POW costs >.> A super pumped mage -slaughtered- stuff with breaths and single target spells for a lot of maingame but that isn't quite true anymore; still awesome damage but not THAT ridiculous. I easily cleared the first portion of Tower of Babel without using outside yin-yang orbs. Mostly through holy/dark breath and normal attacks/the cheapest POW aoes -sometimes-/chaotic thrust. Battles were generally over on turn one or the very start of turn two. Didn't hurt I have 35% pre-empt rate >.>;
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FUCKING FINALLY thanks to some support from Your Everyday NEET I finally toppled the mighty deer! Onward to the central wall!
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We really supported each other, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/KFSopNI.jpg)
This enemy is fucking asshole! I'm running low on POW, and they ambushes me while I'm escaping from the Great Wall. And my L+R don't work against them. At least wipe out only costs you few points.
This game makes you care about not letting yourself killed. Getting killed means your Doppel dies with you as well.
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We really supported each other, huh?
(http://i.imgur.com/KFSopNI.jpg)
This enemy is fucking asshole! I'm running low on POW, and they ambushes me while I'm escaping from the Great Wall. And my L+R don't work against them. At least wipe out only costs you few points.
This game makes you care about not letting yourself killed. Getting killed means your Doppel dies with you as well.
Funny thing the same thing happened to me while I was trying to escape too the other day. ><
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Postgame... I've done all but the yellow area (the beach one with caves and sinkholes) and, upon reaching the midpoint... oh wow this miniboss actually doesn't look trivial. That's one hell of a way to reference Romancing Saga 3 XD I'll... try it seriously tomorrow. I was able to totally cheese through the other minibosses (and two of the big bads, as well- haven't done the red area one yet because it's shield looked annoying and I didn't care to reorganize my build) with very minimal deviance from my stage build, like just a couple doppel/equip changes. At least Ambivalence has turned out to be very useful, considering I spent LITERALLY A WHOLE DAY grinding for it... @.@ I wouldn't have been able to cheese the green area boss without it.
I beat it with a single character.
I'll elaborate more -after- Validon does that in the LP. :3
Also, after seeing a new armor and sub doppel from this yellow area... err... you can hit 100% auto-revive? It must not outright stack, and just roll a seperate chance for each thing that gives it to you, because, uh... obviously if you had 100% reraise that'd be sort of silly, right? You can't... REALLY do that, right!?
I'm not grinding in the dream area with Great Priest and Amukihaha; these are the only doppels after Guan Yu I've given up on (I saw I had the wrong page for it on the jp wiki- he just gets Zappers and even the jp wiki says "DON'T BOTHER, it can take over 6 hours and he's not that good!"). Great Priest's only decent thing is physical barrier (if I really want to use that I'll bring out Taisai) and both of the two just take too much farming to get... I can't do THAT much grinding on -everything-. I got the ifrit on the first kill though so I didn't give up on -him- too, welp V: And I got Seraphim on kill 7. Royal Duke is up at 40 kills, at which point I had just gotten the other doppel in that dream corridor and did the other areas instead... debating whether I want to go back and get it or not. It's not a small trip to get to that corridor and you can't run from enemies there. ;_; It could take over another hour of grinding. At least I'll kill a billion more Kings if I do; I've got over 100 kills >.> Too bad that's still not even HALFWAY towards the auto-join... sigh. I'll continue to pray. Yukkuris really are impossible. I guess it IS because they're super OP, though. :V
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I never thought I would feel so much rage when I lost to Cirno my first time only to beat her the second time using a bit of Validon's strategy and having Saya wail on her with her overpowered axe and proc'd PATK down and then switched over to PDEF while Mamizou and Marisa provided backup with supports and magic... oooooh it felt good NOBODY MAKES A ( 9 ) out of me and gets away with it! Funny the second attempt went swimmingly well... I'm just taking a break now until then to cool my head off.
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Guys, I have a problem, where can I get all those small yukkuris? The game shows that I have more than 64 kills on 2 of those and I still can't get them, might be a bug cause I don't remember killing that many of those small yukkuris. ???
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Those auto-join at 256 kills, unfortunately. Yukkuris are ultra rarity tier (and the only things that take more than 64 kills max) They're also game breaking grade OP.
About not remembering killing that many, dunno what to say about that! o.o My kill counts all seem fine.
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Those auto-join at 256 kills, unfortunately. Yukkuris are ultra rarity tier (and the only things that take more than 64 kills max) They're also game breaking grade OP.
About not remembering killing that many, dunno what to say about that! o.o My kill counts all seem fine.
256? :o That explains alot, luckily I got yukkuri king while exp farming and getting other 1 star doppels. :V Not going to complain about the extra small yukkuris kills then, since back then I don't have anything to stop them from fleeing.
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As much as I don't like GoS, at least it's bosses difficulty increased steadily with sharp increase in difficulty during stage 10 and final stage. In Nightmare of Rebellion, previous bosses I faced only has 2 x 300 HP, which I can one hit easily. And then, next stage's boss has a whooping 8000 HP...
At least it's Boss 1 Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRkGBUHRoVs&index=4&list=PLCrJxmTAGvNJgScn8Uw709nfLF2fdAH_x) is pretty catchy.
Make that 8000, 9000, and 10000 HP. And geez, does that deer is so fucking hard to kill. Validon says that she only uses Mega Stroke when the Land is tilted to electric, that is clearly bullshit (No offense), she use it ON PHYSICAL COUNTER (either Thunderbolt or Mega Stroke), either that or the boss can move 4 times, trust me, I know when the attack is clearly a counter, I Let's Played GoS after all. It took me 0, 2, and 4 tries respectively to beat those three bosses. No wonder MewMewHeart make a huge deal of beating her. I don't how Validon98 can beat them in 1 go, either he's very lucky or he's a God.
EDIT: In the mean time, I compiled the list of Main Doppel and their obtained passives up until the one obtained in Skyscraper's Blue Door in Touhou Wiki: https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/The_Nightmare_of_Rebellion/List/MainDoppel. Please note that the information may be slightly inaccurate. Please inform me if you found any mistake regarding their passives. More to come once I obtained them.
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I think the deer took me two tries, but it was just because I didn't have fields brought with me to reverse the one she laid out, and using main doppel skills wasn't quite enough... or maybe I just barely did kill her on the first try? I don't remember. Might've been a later boss I brought out Toono-san for it's field.
EDIT: In the mean time, I compiled the list of Main Doppel and their obtained passives up until the one obtained in Skyscraper's Blue Door in Touhou Wiki: https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/The_Nightmare_of_Rebellion/List/MainDoppel. Please note that the information may be slightly inaccurate. Please inform me if you found any mistake regarding their passives. More to come once I obtained them.
Seiga's missing some of her levels, not counting the fact that several of them end before lv15 (seiga ends at 15 but is missing several inbetween there, namely on her resurrection hp passive). I assume you're grabbing your data for this off the jp wiki, because that also is missing high levels for a lot of doppels, especially rangers :V I'll be able to supply Nue's lv15 soon at least... I was too tempted with the thought it might be Danmaku Chimera Cooldown -2, considering she learns the first cooldown reduction at like lv6 and only has two other passives.
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Time to make things way easier for everyone regarding passives. The linked file is the item.srsdb (in .csv form) of the current passives list. There is one notable issue in that the passives that grant neutrality to an element show up as errors, but when I eventually get back to working on the translation (I'm personally extending my hiatus until next month, once I get to college and I can get my laptop fixed up), I'll fix that.
Also, Your Everyday NEET has asked me about the story files. I've only half looked at them, but I can upload those if anyone wants to take a look at them for story stuff. Big problem with that is that a lot of the in-battle story text is in the global.srb (same goes for GoS and DoD). I can sort through the text dump I have but it'll take time and I'm particularly busy these next couple days.
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Tested something I've suspected... elemental weapons ONLY are elemental when hitting a weakness. So you don't get a sweet universal damage bonus from Nitori/Ichirin/sub doppels by equipping an elemental weapon with them. (Although, it should work if you're actually hitting something weak to that element. I didn't test, but it would be -so weird- if it didn't work.)
Of course, on elemental weapon skills, it will always function properly. I wonder if this makes Nitori/Ichirin viable for regular use... however, not only are they the squishiest warriors, they're also the weakest, so it probably doesn't make up for it qute enough unless you're actively hitting weaknesses with the elemental skill (as opposed to using it as a higher-powered attack) instead of using other attacks, and sometimes using their multichaser too. :T They have great INT, so it's unfortunate they don't have better Hits in magic or healing. Eirin has good healing hits but rock bottom INT so she can only heal earlygame... z.z From such a good doppel to such a bad one. Even if she turns out to get Ranged Hits +2 at lv15 or something, Ran just pummels her in the damage department anyway and Tenshi's got ACC covered with the wonderful mp cost reduction, so Eirin becomes rather... useless once her healing tapers off.
But yeah like, considering using Nitori/Ichirin, when you can use a much more durable doppel with WAY more patk and an easier to use nuking skill, well... is your elemental attack skill, even boosted and hitting weakness, gonna do a decent amount more than using whichever the ideal nonelemental skill would be with a stronger doppel? (With swords, the answer is probably no, but maaaaaaybe for other weapons...? Tempted to test, but they'd need some leveling z.z Their elemental damage boosters get pretty big in the last few levels.) I say this because I -want- them to be cool for more than the occasional "I'm using 3 elemental attacks so I'll swap to Nitori, chase them, and swap back to a real attacker". I suppose if I used some -actual- chasers... XD
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I think the deer took me two tries, but it was just because I didn't have fields brought with me to reverse the one she laid out, and using main doppel skills wasn't quite enough... or maybe I just barely did kill her on the first try? I don't remember. Might've been a later boss I brought out Toono-san for it's field.
Seiga's missing some of her levels, not counting the fact that several of them end before lv15 (seiga ends at 15 but is missing several inbetween there, namely on her resurrection hp passive). I assume you're grabbing your data for this off the jp wiki, because that also is missing high levels for a lot of doppels, especially rangers :V I'll be able to supply Nue's lv15 soon at least... I was too tempted with the thought it might be Danmaku Chimera Cooldown -2, considering she learns the first cooldown reduction at like lv6 and only has two other passives.
Can you take 2 Mega Stroke to the face? I guess not. It's always fair when boss can one hit you twice.
Yeah, I used the japanese wiki in tandem with Google Translate. Okay, I'll added all of Seiga's passives and Main Doppel obtained from the Fire Cave. Serela, can you assist me in adding the passives for long range and magic type doppel?
Where did I get the Rumia, Sanae, and co?
Time to make things way easier for everyone regarding passives. The linked file is the item.srsdb (in .csv form) of the current passives list. There is one notable issue in that the passives that grant neutrality to an element show up as errors, but when I eventually get back to working on the translation (I'm personally extending my hiatus until next month, once I get to college and I can get my laptop fixed up), I'll fix that.
Also, Your Everyday NEET has asked me about the story files. I've only half looked at them, but I can upload those if anyone wants to take a look at them for story stuff. Big problem with that is that a lot of the in-battle story text is in the global.srb (same goes for GoS and DoD). I can sort through the text dump I have but it'll take time and I'm particularly busy these next couple days.
Whoa, that's a lot of -1s.
Sure, take your time.
I rather use high PATK doppel with elemental chase from Sub Doppel, then wreck shit. Works everytime... unless against boss.
EDIT: I've done listing 75% of the Main Doppel, although Range and Magician type doppel passive is incomplete. I don't know how to describe Akyuu's first passive skill though.
EDIT 2: I've finished listing all of the Main Doppel, all 44 of them (not including 3 DLC doppel). I was thinking of giving them description and their best usage next. Now everyone can look at their skills and all their passives. Magician type doppel seems have the most amount of doppel. Though, magician type doppel can only switch to another magician type doppel (Melee <-> Special, Ranged <-> Support).
I wonder... this game has an expansion, the Ran version was released on May 11 2014. DDC was released in 2013. Of course the expansion wouldn't give out the cast of DDC alongside Kokoro as a Main Doppel right? Right? Leveling them up from level 1 would be a pain after all, hahaha...
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The expansion has a small amount of more main doppels. It does not have DDC characters.
Also, uh, I was looking at the JP cooler-tier wiki... apparently Nazrin's ability boosts both single AND multitarget support (It has a spot that lists exactly what skills are boosted by each priest's passives). That makes her... VASTLY more useful than I thought she was. Probably should be changed in the patch itself because that's big.
After some digging in that wiki I managed to confirm that fields are powered up by "Impair" hits... err... I guess offensive support was slightly more broad then we thought XD (Main doppel only fields are Support hits, but, you'll always have the same hits because main doppel, so, it doesn't really matter)
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That's odd, because Nazrin's passive itself says that it only boosts single-target ones. If it boosts multiple, then... huh. Also, never would have thought Impair was what did fields, off the top of my head, don't they use the orange-ish Support skill icon instead of the purple-ish Impair skill icon?
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The expansion has a small amount of more main doppels. It does not have DDC characters.
Also, uh, I was looking at the JP cooler-tier wiki... apparently Nazrin's ability boosts both single AND multitarget support (It has a spot that lists exactly what skills are boosted by each priest's passives). That makes her... VASTLY more useful than I thought she was. Probably should be changed in the patch itself because that's big.
Oh. Well, that's good then. But those Main Doppels though... And I'm still 1/4 into the game.
So, that should make Sanae and Nazrin roughly equal to each other since they both ended up having the same strength for their support skill.
The moment when you just barely won a boss battle... Cirno has only 100 HP left, she killed 3 of my character, my main doppel's skill are in cooldown, then I switched to Sakuya and use her skill... and deals exactly 100 damage. (Sakuya is useless in boss battle doesn't she?)
I'm wonder if I am underleveled in this game? Cirno is fast and can kill me in one hit, even if I blocked Water element, she just use Sonic Blade to one hit my back liner. And there's also the fact that everyone that is not Marisa is very slow that even they would lose a 4-foot race against a 10-legged turtle. Or is bosses in NoR are that really feels like seven layer of hell itself? I mean, in GoS, the only time I experienced close victory is against Genji and Matsuba and the final boss.
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NoR bosses are still fairly hard like GoS and oftimes require strategizing specifically for that fight, but since party setup is not nearly as involved as GoS, the bar for setting up your party to beat them is a lot simpler to pass. Also year Impair for fields is doofy, thinking of it as the japanese Offensive Support sorta helps...? About speed, equipment weight matters a -lot-. Dual wielding weapons or wearing heavy armor will slow you down a lot, and weapons have varying weight. Other than that it just comes down to main doppel AGI, but casting speed boosters are definitely valuable things in this game.
Whilst I'm talking about fields, the exact ones Murasa's passive boosts are: Malignant Breakthrough GreatWall Immortal DamageNet Regeneration HowlingSpirit ImplantField. Too bad regeneration field sucked eggs last time I tried it.
I think Sanae still has a better character skill than Nazrin, but Nazrin has the edge of being able to dole out powerful single-target buffs without needing another character using a priest (or doppel swaps). They're both pretty great now.
Also, postgame, I passed the checkpoint in the presumably final-final dungeon... What a silly boss you are, Hell Lord or whatever your name was. Your no-doppel-switch field is scary except we can just overwrite it so whatever. Countering a hit to your weakness with Comet for 3k damage is much scarier, except... uh... whoops you just cast a field that reverses resistances and Suika's Missing Purple Power on an elemental weapon did 92000 damage to you which is nearly your max hp? Uhhhh? Thanks for killing yourself? I didn't even do it on purpose, it happened the same turn he cast the field. XD That field... really shouldn't have affected himself. He must be insanely weak to Dark after that. It'd be a pretty scary field if it worked non-suicidally.
Also pfft I don't think anyone on the jp wiki even recruited Darkonium Marisa because she's not on there. Not that I can blame them. Thankfully I got her rare material on the first fight... not counting the one where she killed me ;_; Also sweet, that Fragrant Scarf I got from the behemoth paid off in the end... along with the Schoolgirl Soul I didn't use until postgame.
edit:Dear god the final dungeon is long. The checkpoints are so far between... ;_;
edit:oh my dear holy jesus that is one hell of a final boss
edit:Validon what do these four sparklies at the final boss door do????
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Yeah, the final dungeon is pretty long, I'm before the midboss of it in the LP stuff that was I was doing before going on hiatus. As for the sparkles, they're like the ones in DoD for Shinki and flip between whether the different parts of the expansion final boss are in their normal or lunatic forms.
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That's good to know.
...so how do I tell which is which...? >_> Is the top button for "on" and the bottom for "off" or something? The text is too similar between each one for me to tell a difference. I uh. Kind of tapped them a few times before getting confused.
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・封印する <-- That one should be "seal", as in "make easier". The other one is "release", as in "make harder". In the next version of the English patch, once I get back to it, I'll translate those messages to help out everyone. Should've done it to start with, just ended up being a bit too focused on the more obvious things. X_X;
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Forgive me for asking, but could you do translate the help boxes as well? Since it's the second most important information the players need.
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...the amount of God Idols needed to craft any of the endgame material is too damn high @.@; Why three for one item!? You only GET like three! I haven't gotten a single drop of one I think, and I have like, all the drop rate boost accessories including enchants D;
I fully explored the postgame blue doors, so... I guess all that's left is grinding, super final boss, and the postgame final boss.
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I fully explored the postgame blue doors, so... I guess all that's left is grinding, super final boss, and the postgame final boss.
Catch them all and train them all to max level :V
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Like hell I'm grabbing ~10 1/64 doppels from areas I can't run in :V Most of them aren't even that good, honestly. The earlier elemental doppels are the ones with good passives, the final elemental ones have the multi-target but worse passives and the multis cost WAY too much POW to use much in the final fight(s) anyway.
Stuff like Dragon or Demiurge could be pretty nice, but, unless I get good luck and they join early, ahahahaha no.
I'll do -some- farming probably, but, it's a bit demotivating that I can't run from encounters for most of them (so I have to fight random junk and refresh enemies and run back regularly) and more importantly, that getting the rare drops isn't even amazing because I need to pray for a billion god idols. Siiigh!
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Like hell I'm grabbing ~10 1/64 doppels from areas I can't run in :V Most of them aren't even that good, honestly. The earlier elemental doppels are the ones with good passives, the final elemental ones have the multi-target but worse passives and the multis cost WAY too much POW to use much in the final fight(s) anyway.
Stuff like Dragon or Demiurge could be pretty nice, but, unless I get good luck and they join early, ahahahaha no.
I'll do -some- farming probably, but, it's a bit demotivating that I can't run from encounters for most of them (so I have to fight random junk and refresh enemies and run back regularly) and more importantly, that getting the rare drops isn't even amazing because I need to pray for a billion god idols. Siiigh!
Why can't you run from encounters? I thought only those in the red doors are the only ones that you can't even attempt to run away from? My characters are max level and have no problem running away.
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Almost all the endgame doppels are only in the final two red doors, though, so. The others are... Darkonium Marisa (1/256 lol let's not), Unpolished Mirror, Mahesvara, and Dragon, but dragon seems fairly rare to find outside of the red door. ...it's fairly rare -inside- it too, actually, but. XD
Unpolished Mirror can help make one person nearly immune to magic (Yoshikia + Magic Null armor is 70 null (miko = 60 null?), unicorn 20% reflect, rod 20% reflect (maybe 40%?), mirror 20% reflect), which is alright, but unless you want to be spending 200 pow on Moonlight Mirror it's eh.
Mahesvara is... okay, actually, Mahesvara is -really- nice (Star lgt/drk, divine/diabolic breath, some decent moves, star dispel... but most importantly +1 Meditation?!) and fairly common to find in the final dungeon's future-y area. And Dragon is actually pretty great, but it's kinda rare both in -and- out of the final area. But dragon lifeblood drop makes some nice stuff so farming isn't a bad idea...
Speaking about red doors, they aren't actually too bad. Demiurge takes a little luck that I'm not murdered too fast but I can definitely kill it, and apart from that, Bahamut's the only scary one. I can't kill bahamut z.z Maybe this is the time breath armor is actually worth equipping, put that on my sword user and I'm set. edit:nvm ambivalence is fine
...anyone know what drops scarletite? In DoD it was the Yukkuri Emperor but not here.
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...anyone know what drops scarletite? In DoD it was the Yukkuri Emperor but not here.
Scarletite (ヒヒイロカネ hihi'irokane)
Searching for ヒヒイロカネ 東方玄夢妖譚, i found myself with this one page (http://blog.livedoor.jp/maroku/archives/38052778.html), which seems to have all the possible item drops.
It seems to be dropped by ゼウス (Zeus), アークエンジェル (Archangel), and スリースタージェネラル (Three Star General).
Talking about the wiki, @neet, maybe you would like to make some templates to make everything look more tidy, here's one i created as example to follow (https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Template:DoDSkill), and another one (https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Template:DoDWeapon), or just using vanilla tables. Look at "View Source". Simply toy around with the wiki formatting and you'll learn easily. Or i could do the thing myself if you want, just tell what you need.
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Talking about the wiki, @neet, maybe you would like to make some templates to make everything look more tidy, here's one i created as example to follow (https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Template:DoDSkill), and another one (https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Template:DoDWeapon), or just using vanilla tables. Look at "View Source". Simply toy around with the wiki formatting and you'll learn easily. Or i could do the thing myself if you want, just tell what you need.
Well, I did follow the format given to me by Tyraxx. But yeah, making a table seems to make it looks more tidy, and I reckon it will be useful for listing up Sub Doppel's skills (Well, the sub doppels already had a tidy bullet point for listing both the active skills and passive). You could do it if you want to.
https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/The_Nightmare_of_Rebellion/List/FlashSkill
There are 182 Weapon Skill in total. Sword has: 45, Spear: 40, Axe: 39, Bow: 32, and Gun: 26
. Too bad the wiki only list out 3/4 of them, I guess no one there hasn't be able to spark the weapon's ultimate tier?
I'm curious about this game's expansion story. Is it better than GoS (there's a Generic Doomsday Villain who is even stronger than Gorgon sisters, go beat it up!) or DoD (Shinki: "Wow, that last incident was soooo cool~! We have to make one ourselves!)? Or is it just an excuse to play as Saya again?
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The final 1~4 lv80 skills are tricky to spark since a lot of them practically require having one of the super endgame weapons, which are both rare drops and require even rarer god idol drops in order to forge up to the final form. Or just getting really lucky and having the 1/1000 trigger. (I got two 1/1000 triggers and one with the proper weapon :V)
Their data is all in the file he linked earlier though. either open it in excel and scroll all the way to the right (at the very right is the not-junk data), or scroll down in wordpad and look for the sentences. What's NOT in there was the passives he said he was uploading it for :V Nue only gets +80 mdef at lv15, I wasted my time ;_; She's still one of the better magicians, but 10 mdef is not worth 2 million exp to get from 14 to 15 XD
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Odd thing to post now, but having been going back and forth between GoS and DoD on my own time, I thought a bit about the general idea of party survivability between the three games, and I have to say, for all the bullshit GoS throws at you, most of it can be tanked, both with and without Alice. I daresay of the three games, GoS has the most ways to deal with heavy damage. Second best would be NoR, since EVA buffs, MDEF buffs, and Akyuu's skill are all really good ways of tanking a variety of damage. DoD... doesn't give you much. You can deal with a specific element with Jammer, Benevolence Wall on a tanky character combined with either Physical Defense, Magical Defense, or Aegis Defense can deal with other stuff, but most of the time it's actually fairly difficult to get a good defensive party. Especially since buffs in this game are the worst of the three games. I barely notice much of any difference when one goes up, yet it's very clear there's an effect in GoS and NoR.
Just felt like posting a minor analysis of that kind of thing. Long story short, when it comes to dealing with bullshit damage, GoS > NoR > DoD on that front. Which is funny, because the frequency of bullshit damage is roughly... GoS > DoD > NoR.
As for the ultimate weapon skills, there's information on the blog-like wiki about them, including all the percentages (they're very low), but not so much on their effects. I can post the item.srsdb.csv if you want to take a look at their descriptions, otherwise uh... I dunno. Also yes, still on hiatus, trying to play NoR with a separate monitor that hates high resolution games is suffering.
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DoD doesn't have much difficulty until the final dungeon, and before long at that point you pick up a lot of very silly ways to hard-negate damage. Koakuma and Shizuha regularly let you flat-out negate damage, and regeneration fields (especially if you shell out for Lily White's) do an awful lot of work... and you can make one person ultra tanky and use stuff like Benevolence Wall to just facetank for your whole party.
However, in terms of making the overall party survivable in a conventional manner, there's not much. But your silly-grade protections are RIDICULOUS.
In NoR, it's the easiest to make your party able to take hits in general, and in GoS Alice is crazeballs.
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Oh yeah, definitely, it just gets really silly for certain boss fights. I'm back at the Three Demon Goddess refights and Otoha's whole multi-target nonsense is wrecking me. Actually had to dig up my old LP to remember what I did, but since they got buffed IIRC, it's even harder this time around (I'm playing Banquet version, as opposed to the LP being Festival).
I guess there's no substitution for good ol' grinding in that case. :V
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Almost all the endgame doppels are only in the final two red doors, though, so. The others are... Darkonium Marisa (1/256 lol let's not), Unpolished Mirror, Mahesvara, and Dragon, but dragon seems fairly rare to find outside of the red door. ...it's fairly rare -inside- it too, actually, but. XD
Wait what? That giant marisa yukkuri also needs 256 for auto join? :o It's not even in the same category as the other yukkuris, it doesn't run away and it doesn't takes only 1 or 2 damage per hit.
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It does, yes. It's not even on the jp wiki (the ONLY sub doppel that isn't) because no one who updated the place was able to/bothered to recruit it. (It's on the hacking wiki's recruit rate list.)
It was exactly the same way in DoD. It probably still has yukkuri-tier passives and some great moves like it did there, too.
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I reached the halfway point of the game, and goddamn, Mu Mengnian/Monnyan is really hard. You have to keep your resistance with Akyuu, watch your health, watch the Land, and actually damage her. Serela recommended me to use debuff, but I can seem to only nullified her buff and I can't seem to debuff her because I don't have dedicated debuffer like Byakuren- Oooooh, I should've done that. In the end, my strategy for damaging her is all based around critical. Anyway, I noticed something,
Seriously, who ever thought giving a boss 200 damage multi target attack and to be able to use it twice when my HP's all around 200-300?! I watched in horror and shock as I go from full HP to death in the span of 5 seconds. Truly, this game is just a pinnacle of fairness. Funny enough, all my bullshit deaths are due to thunder based attacks.
She only always use multi target tier 2 elemental spell if the Land is greatly tilted to a certain element. If the Land are tilted too far against a certain element... Instant lose.
The enemies are starting to get really harder. Enemies from Pyramid onward takes 3/4 of my HP and will one hit my mages. I had no choice but to kill them all in 1 turn at the cost of my weapon proficiency and lots of POW if I want to survive (which I am really good at). And escape won't work because if I fail to escape, TPK abound.
I don't know how to kill the Yukkuri in NoR, since the game are all based around multi-hit, that's means your individual hit are very weak and even my strongest attacker don't even deal 1 damage unless I buff her. What's annoying is that Yukkuris are always accompanied by normal enemies. Geez, I had enough trouble staying alive from normal enemies, I don't need Yukkuri to tease me with their massive EXP.
EDIT: And oh, Any magic attack done will be a one hit kill rodeo without resistance, that's fair.
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I don't know how to kill the Yukkuri in NoR, since the game are all based around multi-hit, that's means your individual hit are very weak and even my strongest attacker don't even deal 1 damage unless I buff her. What's annoying is that Yukkuris are always accompanied by normal enemies. Geez, I had enough trouble staying alive from normal enemies, I don't need Yukkuri to tease me with their massive EXP.
Even without buffs, I'm quite sure it's still possible to do 1 damage sometimes depending on your luck. The best way to kill Yukkuri is to get a doppel that can setup the field that prevents enemies from escaping, then slowing attacking until they die. :V
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Any attack with multihits is good for yukkuris, your damage stat doesn't matter much (although an accuracy buff helps some). Type 8s tend to have multihits. Spear and bow ones are the most useful, and some of the best attacks for those weapons in general- the spear ones barely cost any pow -> spammable in randoms.
Yeahh, IND is super important for debuffing, and Byakuren gives a whole lot of it. It only takes a few levels on her to get a good chunk of IND up, though.
The no-escape field isn't until a good bit later, although dear god I never took that doppel off. Not a hard one to recruit- Magical Girl in the area before the final area tower (not postgame).
I mostly killed randoms via magic sweeping helping me take out a lot of enemies on turn 1- weapon proficiencies aren't hard in this game, unlike DoD, you'll get what you need no problem. My magic user had a suicidal damage-based equipment set up for randoms and it worked amazingly, especially with cheap breath skills.
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Any attack with multihits is good for yukkuris, your damage stat doesn't matter much (although an accuracy buff helps some). Type 8s tend to have multihits. Spear and bow ones are the most useful, and some of the best attacks for those weapons in general- the spear ones barely cost any pow -> spammable in randoms.
I mostly killed randoms via magic sweeping helping me take out a lot of enemies on turn 1- weapon proficiencies aren't hard in this game, unlike DoD, you'll get what you need no problem. My magic user had a suicidal damage-based equipment set up for randoms and it worked amazingly, especially with cheap breath skills.
Multi-hit doesn't matter if you just hits 0s. My PATK are already at 100s at I still can't beat Yukkuris.
It's just until Castle of Dream (Where I basically have to hold back and not getting a single level until after I beat Meengniang) that I realized you don't have to actually attack to increase weapon and elemental proficiency, just putting it on standby already increases it.
(http://i.imgur.com/sUfm87E.png)
WHAT IS THAT!? Why is an Obelisk trying to kill me? Geez, that thing almost TPK me had one of my frontliner has more than 300 HP. It can move twice, attempt to petrify you, and can use Paralyze Zapper which can deals 300+ damage to a whole row undefended. Pray that it dob't use it twice. Fortunately, Mega Stroke took 1/3 of its health in one go, so does Suika on crit.
Zapper is just too OP for its own good. I want to use Zapper, but that costs about 120 POW, which is more than most main Doppels' general nuke. I think this game's a little bias against physical skill. Whatever Hand which is just a glorified normal attack with element cost about 50 POW which is twice than 3rd tier single tier magic. I never use physical skills, I only equip physical type doppels just to stand there and look cute.
(http://i.imgur.com/GDpm3rR.png)
That dinosaur is so huge that I think it's impossible to see its full sprite. What is a dinosaur doing in Pyramid anyway? That thing is so merciless to Yukari it leaves her HP at single digit. Thank goodness I only met it once.
Just thinking about the bosses in Underground Lake makes me shudder. I'll be fighting the deer again along with her friends... and I have to kill all of them twice. Oh boy.
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Your PAtk doesn't really do much vs. yukkuris. In endgame my magic user seemed to hit 1 on normal attacks only a little less than my other characters, and come to think of it, that's just because she had a much lower Melee Hit number on her main doppel, and worse accuracy.
It's definitely luckgambles whether you can beat them before you get Damage Net, though. I wouldn't worry about it too much, there's not much you can do if they run on turn one.
Ugh, basically every physical sub-doppel skill other than chasers costs way too much, it's true. z.z I don't know why. They still tend to have nice passives on them at least, or some defensive skills. Gale Sword from Lu Bu is alright, letting you have a... vaguely affordable (for that point in the game... still expensive) good multi-target for any weapon user, and Slime's Digest is a heal for physical attackers (Because the bow one sucks and not everyone can be a spear user for Blood Lance). But holy crud, the zappers and AoE elemental physicals and such are ridiculous.
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The Chen + Sphinx are kinda irritating. What Validon's says is true, it's hard if you don't know what you're doing. I didn't know the Sphinx respawn with timer until Validon told me, so I thought its based on luck whether the Sphinx revives immediately or not. Ironically, I'm having no trouble at all surviving them after I destroy it's legs. Plus, I have 50 POW less during that fight (I somehow didn't notice that there's a Red Door inside the Pyramid itself. Good god I'm stupid).
Deer, boar, and butterfly fight? It's hard. They have almost double the HP of the previous boss (120000 HP total). No boss have that much HP until at the last dungeon. But my victory is strangely similar to how Validon's won (Getting Quick Break at the last second). Damaging butterfly is the hardest because she can't be damaged by magic and if you want to destroy her last, the Land meter will basically be at max as you'll use water as well to kill boar. I got a glitch during my fight against them. I actually managed to connect Instant Death against the deer twice (it's icon showed up and it also says "Beheaded"), but nothing happens. The game glitched in their favor.
Validon's said Ran it's not all that hard. So I went in there with almost no preparation (whereas usually I took a break after I reached the boss room). End result: it took me even longer to beat her (1,5 hour as opposed to 1 hour against deer, boar, and butterfly). All my victory depends solely on Ran not hitting the wrong person with her arrow on the first turn (Anyone without a melee Doppel, seriously, she killed them in 1 hit and takes out half my tank's HP), Ran not using multi target bow skill (Cyclone Bow or Unstable Shooting, poor ATK and ACC my ass! It killed Marisa in single hit), and Ran not using Paraklesis Cannon or Testament (which if you don't know, is a FOURTH TIER SINGLE AND MULTI TARGET LIGHT SPELL RESPECTIVELY), I'm having trouble surviving against third tier, and she has fourth?! Even if I got her doppel, I'll not going to use her (along with Chen) just purely out of spite. Oh well, at least I make a good joke about my loss.
(http://i.imgur.com/7B5eVKj.jpg)
GODDAMMIT RAN! I paid you to serve me! Not to kill me over and over again for an hour!
Next bosses is the second hardest boss in the whole (and one of the few bosses to have a strategy in the wiki). Kill the 2 bosses in a single turn else the survivor will revives her ally back to full health. *sigh* Goodness.
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Ran is probably the only way to make Bow skills powerful, if you've got any interest in using them. When she says she gives +X power, for guns it's a small amount, but for Bows, with how the damage formula works, it's even HIGHER than a straight percentage bonus, and the huge patk she gives is also critical as bows don't really pierce defense (which the power increase helps them do as well). At max level Ran probably makes bows do almost TWICE as much damage as using the next stronger rangers. (More against higher defense enemies, less noticable against ones with almost no defense but still like 1.5x damage minimum)
Chen is also critically important because she gives extra mp regen, and her regen -does- eventually increase as you level her up, so it's more than just +1, even. This lets you spam the heck out of even the most expensive spear skills in boss fights, or sword ones.
Ran isn't so bad because if you give everyone Light resist and have Kaguya throw the land into dark immediately, her magic isn't all that scary. She's not trivial, but her onslaught is pretty one-sided, letting you defend against it easier... provided you don't die on turn one.
For the next boss, even surviving is a dangerous thing, but don't forget about Colloseo World- once one of them is close to dying you can pop that off and have like 5 turns to kill the other instead of... half a turn. Plus they might waste their turns trying to cast Elixir, not sure. Err, I don't remember what doppels have it, but I know the Guardian Dragon thing in the volcano did, at least... there's probably something else, too...
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Ran is probably the only way to make Bow skills powerful, if you've got any interest in using them. When she says she gives +X power, for guns it's a small amount, but for Bows, with how the damage formula works, it's even HIGHER than a straight percentage bonus, and the huge patk she gives is also critical as bows don't really pierce defense (which the power increase helps them do as well). At max level Ran probably makes bows do almost TWICE as much damage as using the next stronger rangers. (More against higher defense enemies, less noticable against ones with almost no defense but still like 1.5x damage minimum)
Chen is also critically important because she gives extra mp regen, and her regen -does- eventually increase as you level her up, so it's more than just +1, even. This lets you spam the heck out of even the most expensive spear skills in boss fights, or sword ones.
Ran isn't so bad because if you give everyone Light resist and have Kaguya throw the land into dark immediately, her magic isn't all that scary. She's not trivial, but her onslaught is pretty one-sided, letting you defend against it easier... provided you don't die on turn one.
For the next boss, even surviving is a dangerous thing, but don't forget about Colloseo World- once one of them is close to dying you can pop that off and have like 5 turns to kill the other instead of... half a turn. Plus they might waste their turns trying to cast Elixir, not sure. Err, I don't remember what doppels have it, but I know the Guardian Dragon thing in the volcano did, at least... there's probably something else, too...
I do know about their strength, after all, I did fill up their information in the wiki. But still... I can't go back from my words, I'll lose my integrity and credibility if I do that. So Ran and Chen will be at level 1 for my playthrough. If I want power for ranged, I go for Hatate. She's fast, has PATK boost, and wreck those 1 hit rodeo Wizard. But she's squishy, and her skill kinda... I haven't found a moment to use it. For toughness, Kanako and Tenshi, Kanako has very high HP, tough, and the only Ranged Doppel who's capable of multi target nuke (albeit, not really as good as Magic Doppel). Tenshi's skill can be spammed quite often, plus its cheap. Come to think of it, I haven't make a comment for the Main Doppel yet. I'm going to make a checklist for that along with Ranged Doppel passives level 11-15 (except for Ran), and making a brand new info on the expansion Main Doppel much later on. Oh yeah Serela, can you PM me Magician Doppel's passive lists at level 15 except for Utsuho and Kogasa? Forgive me if I'm troubling you.
That's what I do, though I must land Kaguya's skill at immediately before Ran turns it into light. If I managed to connect: WOOOOO 100% dark!!! One time Ran managed to tilt the Land slightly to light before she could cast it, I laughed when the Land went to 100% light. First turn, she fucks me 10+ times. At least I'm not afraid to play dirty and just F12 that shit. It took me about 30 seconds to pick up from from where I left off as NoR is much intensive and heavier than GoS (It took me 5 seconds to load after reset).
Well, Guess I can forget about surviving then since my survivalbility still shit. Yep, Cave Guardian, at least I already grinded for it. And I haven't found a good line for when I lost against them. I already make a losing line for losing against any other boss after that. We fight that Cow/Cat/Tapir girl with really good theme again later on right?
EDIT: Oh my God. I just read who all the expansion Main Doppel are: It's all the OC, Arare Yukidzuki, the tapir/cow/cat girl with awesome theme song, Mamizou's rival, Momiji the Deer, Hagino the boar, Botan the Butterfly, and Kozusu Mootori (but she's DLC). Their passives looks sucks though. I thought we could get more Touhou from HM onward or something, but nooo...
The expansion: The world of Past, Present, Future, and Fantasy? That name sounds really awesome!
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Bows are really not notable for actual damage purposes (good for statuses and mind flayers?) if you use -anyone- other than Ran. Kanako can sorta work because she gives a power bonus, but it's a random battle thing... for everyone else, no power boost, no dice. If you're using guns though Ran isn't super important, Hatate's high patk does the job great and the speed is -great- for randoms, whilst Tenshi is great for bosses.
Also I only have like one lv15 magician, unfortunately. Nue I think? Her Mdef improved a little so it really wasn't exciting, I was hoping for another cooldown reduction.
Surviving against Arare/tanuki isn't... super bad...? >.> Erf, I don't remember that fight super well. You need to spec everyone for water resist, for sure, that makes it much easier. I don't remember how important Dark was... mph. Probably a fight you want to have someone using Akyuu the whole time. It's also tricky because you have to sorta worry about POW in that fight, depending on your strat.
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Oh yeah Serela, can you PM me Magician Doppel's passive lists at level 15 except for Utsuho and Kogasa?
Well I have a four of them, one of them is Utsuho, so here's the rest of them. Note: I don't know how to translate them properly so I'm using google translate.
Rumia
1) Attribute force of fire thunder water light darkness magic +80
2) Success rate of weakening +35
3) The duration of the weakening +1
Patchouli
1) Power of fire thunder water attribute +40
2) Casting speed of fire thunder water attribute +15
3) Attribute force of fire thunder water +30
4) Power of Philosopher's Stone +20
5) Delay of Philosopher's Stone -1
Kaguya
1) Land change +150
2) Resistance +8
3) Power of Tree-Ocean of Hourai +50
4) Delay of Tree-Ocean of Hourai -1
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For the next boss, even surviving is a dangerous thing, but don't forget about Colloseo World- once one of them is close to dying you can pop that off and have like 5 turns to kill the other instead of... half a turn. Plus they might waste their turns trying to cast Elixir, not sure. Err, I don't remember what doppels have it, but I know the Guardian Dragon thing in the volcano did, at least... there's probably something else, too...
Let me make a quick (albeit very late) correction. Colloseo World does not affect revives. So you still need to kill both of them at the same turn. Thank goodness I don't learn it the hard way.
And ditt93, forgive me if I don't respond to you after you gave me Rumia, Patchouli, and Kaguya's passive. I do appreciate me your answer. Thank you for that.
Did the game expect you to jump 15 levels over the course of Tower of Babel? 'Cause grinding in major dungeon's kinda hard.
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I didn't have too many issues with Tower of Babel. Upgraded light/dark breath on a suicidally magic-damage-pumped mage did a lot of the work, with other elements as needed.
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I'm pulling all stop on clearing NoR (which is why I don't update my GoS LP currently). Tower of Babel is just so long, it's length maybe equals to GoS Underlake Temple overall. First Tower of Babel is not so bad, only half of the enemies one hit me. But Mengniang is absolute nightmare. I have a video that is 1 HOUR and 10 MINUTES of me trying to beat her. Damage Net in this game is just strong both for us and the enemy, let's take it this way, in GoS, Damage Net is just generous 50-100 per turn, in NoR, it's freaking 170 damage per turn, which will kill you 2 turns. Last part of Tower of Babel, I counted maybe there's only one enemy that didn't one hit me, which is Falak. Speaking of which...
(http://i.imgur.com/ocIUF0K.jpg)
Falak throws thunder around, resists fire and water, and weak to thunder itself.
I never seen any boss that's blatantly cheats (okay okay, there's SMT Strange Journey final boss) like Nightmare Yukari. All of my deaths so far is caused by her attacking the wrong character at the first turn and her 7777 to all nuke. That is so fair, right? Yukari's offensive Last Word may interrupt Nightmare Yukari movement, but she doesn't react to it when she's about to throw 7777 nuke. Seiga's Dao Fetal Movement may also leaves you alive at 1 HP, but she casts it so slow, I won't even get a chance to cast it before she nuke me. Mamizou's Last Word may be able to defend it, but good luck getting it when this game's Last Word chance is so ridiculously low. I also try using Benevolence Wall (cover all) to block it. In GoS, If I use Alice to cover all and defend against multi target nuke, Alice will take all damage, drops dead, and leaving the other 4 person alive. In this game however, if the user takes too many damage and dies in the process of blocking, then all the other damage will got through the Benevolence Wall (which is my main strategy to beat turtle) and hits everyone. So, the only way to defend against it is to get really freaking lucky with Mamizou's Last Word I see.
Or that what it seems to be had I not found a sure fire game breaking strategy to block it: Cheat Engine. Turn her HP to 1 before she even get a chance to use it, whack her with normal attack, and voila! Quick and painless method.
But that strategy is just too powerful for its own good that I won't be using it.
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I never seen any boss that's blatantly cheats (okay okay, there's SMT Strange Journey final boss) like Nightmare Yukari. All of my deaths so far is caused by her attacking the wrong character at the first turn and her 7777 to all nuke. That is so fair, right? Yukari's offensive Last Word may interrupt Nightmare Yukari movement, but she doesn't react to it when she's about to throw 7777 nuke. Seiga's Dao Fetal Movement may also leaves you alive at 1 HP, but she casts it so slow, I won't even get a chance to cast it before she nuke me. Mamizou's Last Word may be able to defend it, but good luck getting it when this game's Last Word chance is so ridiculously low. I also try using Benevolence Wall (cover all) to block it. In GoS, If I use Alice to cover all and defend against multi target nuke, Alice will take all damage, drops dead, and leaving the other 4 person alive. In this game however, if the user takes too many damage and dies in the process of blocking, then all the other damage will got through the Benevolence Wall (which is my main strategy to beat turtle) and hits everyone. So, the only way to defend against it is to get really freaking lucky with Mamizou's Last Word I see.
Or that what it seems to be had I not found a sure fire game breaking strategy to block it: Cheat Engine. Turn her HP to 1 before she even get a chance to use it, whack her with normal attack, and voila! Quick and painless method.
But that strategy is just too powerful for its own good that I won't be using it.
You might want to consider changing your items and doppels to getting more of those increase casting speed or get that doppel that can cast something that let the whole team go first.
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That's odd, my Seiga cast her skill before the nuke and I wasn't specifically built for speed or anything. OH, your Seiga user is probably wearing heavier equipment than mine. Make sure she's in light armor, maybe give her a casting speed bonus gear piece. It's theoretically possible I used the Go First move from Bunsha (or god forbid, murder my POW with Sylph's Rapid Stream, which I never used once ever) but I don't think I even had it equipped.
Also, it it's not Yukari's offensive LW you're supposed to use, it's Quadruple Barrier that stops the 7777. I recall in my fight the offensive LWs do stop the earlier spellcards though (and not barrier), at the cost of not being able to do damage to her that turn (so you want to devote other turns to support or just idle to mp regen)
Her defense steadily rises as you get farther into the fight so make sure to have defense-piercing attacks (acala sword is A+, axe/gun sorta work) or enough pow/mp/maindoppel for use on strong magic at the end.
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Neet and I discussed it a bit, and it turns out he found the "proper" solution to how to prevent that spell card (it's not currently translated because of weird shenanigans with the global.srb, but for the sake of naming it, it's known as "Border of Obverse and Reverse"). It also clears up the mystery behind Yukari's mysterious fourth Last Word, Yakumo Multiplex Barrier.
So, what you're SUPPOSED to do is trigger both dialogues in which Nightmare Yukari nullifies Quadruple Barrier and either Sukima Strash or Danmaku Barrier, BEFORE you get to the last phase where Nightmare Yukari has a purple aura. Then, you have to use Quadruple Barrier on the turn Border of Obverse and Reverse is supposed to happen. If you don't do this, Quadruple Barrier does jack shit and you'll still get nailed for 7777 damage. If you do it right, Yukari will use Yakumo Multiplex Barrier and block the card.
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I got ninja'd. I didn't get to test Multiplex Barrier though because getting 3 Last Words in a row even with Yukari's boosted chance is hard. And if want a rematch... 200000 HP... Yeah, that's not gonna happen anytime soon.
Medium armor with 2 weapons, probably that's why it casts last. Yeah, I just realized now that Bad!Yukari stops reacting to Yukari's Last Word after she enters her last phase.
I won with 0 POW left and have to resort beating her remaining 2000 HP with just normal attack. And Yukari landed the finishing blow with her Last Word before she could nuke me again. Damn it's feel so good winning.
Now that's I'm done with this game for now, I should write all the Sub Doppels, commenting Main Doppels, Sparking criteria, and maybe write a walkthrough in the wiki.
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I would like to make a rant for a minute. Out of 8 initial bosses in the expansion, 3 of them are based around trial-and-error. There's no indication that a certain boss is a puzzle boss from a much better classics. You just see a mob boss and you tried to nuke them. Congratulations, now you get to take 6 x 700 damage to all. Having a boss do Extreme Concentration and IMMEDIATELY nuke you for 1000 damage to all is juuust fair doesn't it? Now I know what Serela means by Ambivalence curbstomping a certain boss. Of course, that boss can nuke you for 5000 damage WITH Akyuu elemental resistance and MDEF (This could be attributed to me underestimating his Extreme Concentration). I guess it doesn't matter if you have Ambivalence to block it doesn't it? There's still no walkthrough for this game at all. I wanted to make a walkthrough for the bosses, but after completing all the multi element sub-doppel, I got hit by a disease called laziness.
I don't want to say I'm sucks at this game anymore, Back then, it took me 30-90 minutes just to beat a boss. Now, unless the boss has a bullshit nuke, my overpowered ass will curbstomp it.
The last 2 bosses are really awesome though. I mean, one couldn't get more awesome than this:
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3033926/3033926_900.jpg)
It makes just as much sense in context.
Another nitpick: GoS expansion bosses don't have anything to say and is too generic. NoR expansion bosses is just too talkative even Po would say: "chit-chat, chitty-chitty chat-chat, chat-chat-chat"
I just gonna leave the expansion preview from my cancelled Let's Play here:
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3032812/3032812_900.jpg)
Water, Thunder, Dark, and Fire.
BGM: Toono Dance 3
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3033407/3033407_900.jpg)
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3033178/3033178_900.jpg)
I really like that oarfish. That thing has a badass and ridiculously over-the-top name. Of course, it's the easiest elemental doppel to recruit by a huge margin. The rest of them is just minibosses or just too goddamned rare
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3033763/3033763_900.jpg)
Do you love pallete swapped enemies? Don't worry, the expansion has a whole lot of them.
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/youreveryneet/76738738/3034190/3034190_900.jpg)
I'm fucked.
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There's no indication that a certain boss is a puzzle boss from a much better classics. You just see a mob boss and you tried to nuke them. Congratulations, now you get to take 6 x 700 damage to all. Having a boss do Extreme Concentration and IMMEDIATELY nuke you for 1000 damage to all is juuust fair doesn't it?
I've seen people complain about this in various games (Not just you) and I don't get it.
Yes, I understand that Yuyuko in GoS casting a death-all at the end is somewhat annoying, especially when this gimmick is used on a couple more bosses even though you just beat it the same way. (The first time it's somewhat novel.) But then someone in the LoT thread complains that you have to use knowledge from defeats to beat a boss most of the time and I'm like, what, you want to be able to clear every boss on the first try?
Having non-straightforward bosses is fun (Especially that mob boss :D) and if you die in the first couple turns it's not as though you've wasted a whole match that was going well. Figuring out how to navigate around the boss's moveset is the point of these games. <3 Besides, in a game with heavy counter options like Alice's 95% magic damage reduction, it's not very unfair for a boss to do things like this. (Alice's move is a little -too- good... maybe shoulda had a higher cooldown...) It's practically being given a free turn. Alice works really well on the mob boss too for getting around that 7 nuke and blasting them for massive damage.
Some of the expansion bosses are seriously hard though, that part is pretty true. I'm not sure how you'd beat Voldemort
without cheesing via all star elemental resists. At least he's pretty cheesable if you set up the resists, though, and Ambivalence isn't the -only- way to do it. Just get someone with Blood Lance (or any drain weapon) up to star in wtf/fir/elec and resist control/variety, throw Chen on, you're invincible.
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There was this 1 mid boss, I was just going in to 1st time to see what skills it has and how much damage I can do with my usual setup. I ended up reflecting it's first nuke and it's was left with just abit of hp for me to finish off next turn. :V