a new ichigo-bose game: 東方幻想魔録 ～ The Devil of Decline

[Battler]

It seems like most people picked Reimu to start, as I suspected. I decided to go with Byakuren just to see what was up.

So a couple notes:
-4 out of the 5 starting shikigamis are identical: Wriggle, Minoriko, Letty, and Rumia (the order you get them in seems to be different)
-Byakuren's unique shikigami is Ichirin, who gets physical elemental attacks (and just recently she learned Lance Chaser)

Her starting party members are Byakuren, Remilia, Yuyuko (final boss party whatup), then Sunny Milk and Sanae.

[Saber Nero]

I simply wasn't able to pick any other starting character, unless I forgot to try the L and R buttons as well.

[Battler]

Ah, weird. The whole b/x/whatever fiasco just made me pull out my PS3 controller and play the game with that, which bypassed the issues entirely.

Oh, and I just accidentally wandered into

Spoiler:

Yuuka

. You didn't miss anything, just a few incidental lines of dialogue and her joining. Only semi-important looking thing was

Spoiler:

the clock ticking upwards to 1:00

.

e: and behind that was an area with a new battle theme. I get the distinct feeling I've wandered into an area beyond my level. Not having any indication of where I should be going is kind of annoying. I think I actually preferred GoS's more structured layout, though I can appreciate this style too.

[Vilkni]

The funny thing about the starting teams is all of them reuse one, two, or three party members and plenty of shikigamis are reused as well. Only one Shikigami is unique for each path and they can be gotten later anyways.

Spoiler:

Reimu's Path:
Reimu (Starter: Komachi)
Marisa (Starter: Letty)
Youmu (Starter: Minoriko)
Mokou (Starter: Rumia)
Utsuho (Starter: Wriggle)

Yukari's Path:
Yukari (Starter: Chen)
Patchouli (Starter: Rumia)
Youmu (Starter: Minoriko)
Utsuho (Starter: Wriggle)
Yuyuko (Starter: Letty)

Byakuren's Path:
Byakuren (Starter: Ichirin)
Remilia (Starter: Wriggle)
Yuyuko (Starter: Letty)
Sunny Milk (Starter: Rumia)
Sanae (Minoriko)


Meiling's Path:
Meiling (Starter: Tewi)
Sanae (Starter: Minoriko)
Mokou (Starter: Rumia)
Nitori (Starter: Wriggle)
Sunny Milk (Starter: Letty)

Like I said, they reused so many characters. No, these aren't really major spoilers unless you really don't want to know the starting teams considering you can view all of them up to the fifth final starting members. And yes, all characters not in your main party actually do show up later in certain spots.

Also, I was able to choose the other starting characters, too, Syanas. Try doing F1 to see if it fixes glitchy controls, then start a new game and skip most of the opening. You're stuck waiting out the last part with Reimu before the title screen shows up, though, and the skip key doesn't work there. See if f1 worked for you in fixing the can't choose starting character problem.

I must repeat the last thing - F1 fixed the b button but only temporarily - apparently f1 is check gamepad/key button.

[Saber Nero]

Well I'm already far enough into the game that it would probably matter a bit if I restarted now. And besides, I don't mind my current setup anyway. I'll keep that in mind for if I want to try a new starter though.

Edit: I find it interesting how they changed treasure chests. Silver ones no longer need keys to open them, instead they contain recipes. And the treasure chest sprites from the GoS expansion now require a code input from the title screen to be unlocked.

[Battler]

Actually, that makes me wonder: is there any huge point to different characters? Skills are largely tied to shikigamis, and the ones that aren't are apparently learned by just attacking over and over (as far as I can tell). The only thing that really seems to set characters apart is their stats, and Last Words.

Unless characters actually do learn unique skills eventually, and I just haven't gotten far enough to learn any.

[Vilkni]

Not to mention ALL characters start at level 1 when they join up with you. Which becomes somewhat a pain in the ass grinding up everyone. However, the shikigamis are fine since they're not actual main party characters and just skill sets/stats boosters with passives that can improve as you level AND you can equip 3 per main character. Main characters that use up the actual party slot, on the other hand? You have to put one of your already trained characters away just to grind up the said character who may not be able to use most shikigami skills due to low MP until sufficient levels in shikigamis and/or main characters are achieved.

That's kind of something I wished to see changed, but apparently isn't. However, the differing stats kind of becomes a problem - Okuu doesn't start with any other shikigamis other than Wriggle, which relies on inflicting various status problems. And apparently is prone to dying every other battle, at least for me.

Also, only one pre-order code may be used per game, so you're stuck with one pre-order shikigami until you change the code to another of these shikigamis. In an act of mercy, the old shikigami keeps its level, which means if you grinded up the shikigami, it doesn't weaken itself instantly.

[Pesco]

Took Meiling for Tewi starter. I have no idea what's going on in the dialogues but it looks hilarious :V

[Saber Nero]

The level 1 characters catch up pretty fast, actually. I'm not exactly sure how exp is calculated in this game (it seems to differ slightly in battle as well, probably depending on the amount of damage each character dealt), but when I got Nitori, my party was level 7ish, and Nitori pretty much caught up by the time everyone was level 11. If you really intend on using the same 5 people over and over, let me remind you that the creators of this game liked splitting up your members into 2 or even 3 groups at a time. There's really no harm in grinding new characters when you get them, because it's really not that hard at all.

In terms of stats, they do sort of matter a lot. Especially the HP and MP, some characters are simply falling behind on them, and so their survival rate isn't very high. They don't even seem to have much of other stats to redeem said drawbacks, and so I left them in the roster as soon as I got some new characters. I do agree that what character you use makes little point, as Last Words don't activate incredibly often, and other than that they have no special qualities in battle.

In fact, there is a lot of advantage in using the same 5 characters over and over again. The more characters use their weapons in battle, the more they master them and learn new skills. I'm sure there's an upper limit somewhere, but my Youmu's got her 5th sword skill, which has a slayer effect against Angels and Demons, and with each skill she learns, the more bonus stats she gains from equipping a sword. I'm sure that given enough grinding, a single character could "master" all 4 weapon types in the game. 3, actually, because I don't think using a staff gives you any special skills to learn. However, the skills you learn and the stats that go with them only apply to the weapon type, so you can't just blend them all together, unfortunately. I have a sneaking suspicion though, that characters that are using weapons that are not their specialty will not be able to learn all of the skills that go with the weapon type. I'll have to do some testing to make sure.

The characters I left behind are

Spoiler:

Mokou, Nitori, and Okuu

, and my current active party is

Spoiler:

Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, Yuuka, and Patchouli

. I've cleared the entire top strata aside from the inside of the tower, and I have the following Shikigami:

Spoiler:

Komachi, Letty, Rumia, Wriggle, Minoriko, Mystia, Aya, Orin, Lunasa, Merlin, Lyrica, and that princess thing that you get from an event

. I'm wondering if there's anyone I'm missing.

I also found some sort of event item that looked like a glowing Suppository. I thought it would be an event for Reisen, but apparently not. Any idea what it does?

[Battler]

My first thought was that it was the Hook item, but apparently not since I still can't cross those gaps.

Earlier on I encountered

Spoiler:

Orin and a red demon dude possessing her

but I got my ass handed and then completely lost track of where that happened. The wasteland areas all kind of blend together until you get a good feel for them. Actually, I could probably beat it by now, I'd think...

Other than that, the only shikigami I'm missing I think is

Spoiler:

Aya

so far. Haven't encountered her yet, but then I've been spending most of my time getting completely lost, so that might be why.

[blabla1994]

Information everyone should know, as I spent pretty much the entirety of the First Strata not knowing it. If you press W you can open a map, then if you click on an area of the map, you can warp to parts of that area you've been too before.

[Saber Nero]

If there's one thing about this game I don't like, it's the fact that I have to make a list of places I've fully cleared (as in, made every single map entirely visible and walked through all the yellow portals). So if I end up stopping halfway somewhere, I'll have to spend a while trying to remember where I've been and where I should be headed.

The only boss I had trouble with was the one guarding the tower, and I found out that trying to brute force it wasn't the answer. It's actually quite easy otherwise, if you can keep your MP reserves up.

The demon bosses usually have 2 weaknesses, one to light, and to another element. If you know what those weaknesses are, it's that much easier.

Here's a tip if you've been traversing every single map and getting completely lost: Pressing the pause button outside of dungeons (like in the tower) opens up the world map, and you're able to select any area you've visited before and go there instantly. You're also able to select which portal you've used to enter said area! Note that doing this also respawns all the mobs in every map.

Also, for those of you that think they've completed the entire first strata: Is there a big gray box in the center of your map? I'm not sure if anything's there, but I'd like to know for sure.

[Vilkni]

Well, the hook is not on the first landmass.

Spoiler:

In fact, it's in a chest in the second landmass somewhere.

Syanas, that doesn't look to me like you found all shikigamis on this land that can be gotten without the hooks.

Spoiler:

In fact, you're missing Hina. Go search for her in the area to the left of the tower on the world map.

Battler, go search the area to the left of where you found the first hook spot.

Spoiler:

Aya

is in that area somewhere.

Also yeah, the W key is absolutely important in saving massive travel times that I somehow forgot to mention it until now.

However, I notice little benefit to the elemental levels, if there's supposed to be any benefit to getting these leveled up.

[Saber Nero]

If

Spoiler:

Hina

's the only one I'm missing, I must've done a decent job for a blind run. However, if you're talking about the left side, do you mean the desert or the plains? I'm almost positive she's not in the desert, but I know I didn't find anyone in the plains.

[Vilkni]

I meant the

Spoiler:

forest area

, since

Spoiler:

Hina

is not in either area. You'll understand why when you get there. Although I should've mentioned it was near the leftmost tower, oops.

[Battler]

Actually, I don't think the world map (which I've got mapped to R2 like a boss) lets you teleport to every area. Or at least, it feels like I've visited more areas than are listed. That said, I imagine nothing's ever too far out of the way, but it's still annoying trying to remember which exits I've taken and which I've yet to explore.

Thanks for the tip about

Spoiler:

Aya

I'll go check around there.

Just beat the blue demon dude (whose name I forgot to write not, it's really weird sounding though). Fuck quick status effects, it's like "say, do you want to actually do stuff this turn? TOO BAD". At least the damage isn't too bad. Remilia with Unzan's fire fist was dealing enough damage to outpace the guy, so it all worked out in the end.

e: Haha oh wow, turns out I explored the entire area except for the map with

Spoiler:

Aya

in it. Freaking game...
e2: Same deal with

Spoiler:

Hina

. Figures!

[Saber Nero]

Ah, I found her. It was quite scary, actually, I scanned this room before and didn't see anything. So I went back and suddenly I flinched when I saw her floating in the trees :3

[Battler]

Alright, now I'm faaairly sure I've gotten all the Shikigami's and characters available.

Next is deciding where to go - I could either head down from where

Spoiler:

Yuuka

was, or up from the tower blue guy was guarding.


e: Oh wait, gotta find

Spoiler:

Rin

again. Damnit, where was she...

[Vilkni]

That reminds me, what would RES stand for in japanese?

Because I laugh at Battler's post about the tower blue guy boss. Although to be honest, the irony is that

Spoiler:

Lyrica apparently gets a RES buff as she levels up.

e:

Spoiler:

Rin

is in the first numbered desert area.

[Battler]

Yeah, I found her pretty easily this time.

Spoiler:

Henenkun

I believe the red guy's name is, though I forgot to actually try to remember it. As I suspected, he was pretty easy with my overlevelled characters. A Lingering Frost from Byakuren/Letty took off over a third of his HP.

Putting some RES-boosting equipment probably would have been smart though, yeah. Ultimately it only took me two tries though, and the first time he obliterated me before I even got to see how much of a pain that was. Oh well!


e: How strange. The minimap in that area suggests there should be an exit at the north end, but there isn't one, even after the battle.

[Vilkni]

About that certain exit, apparently it leads to the middle area which is inaccessible at the moment until a certain event occurs. Sorry, you'll have to wait for the payoff on that exit.

[Battler]

Fair enough. Until then, I'm exploring what I assume is Hakugyokuro, or at least all the zombie enemies and cherry blossom trees would suggest as much. Annoyingly, it seems to be quite maze-like.


e: Woah what. Random

Spoiler:

Kisume

encounter. Seems to be mini-boss level. I wonder if that's fixed, or if that can always just happen at random in this area.
e2: Holy christ I got wrecked. Two attacks per turn, buffs atk/def and debuffs the same, plus full-party Silence. Was not expecting that.
e3: Yep, definitely a random encounter. Thinking I should go to some other places, because I am getting demolished pretty handily here.

[blabla1994]

Fair enough. Until then, I'm exploring what I assume is Hakugyokuro, or at least all the zombie enemies and cherry blossom trees would suggest as much. Annoyingly, it seems to be quite maze-like.


e: Woah what. Random

Spoiler:

Kisume

encounter. Seems to be mini-boss level. I wonder if that's fixed, or if that can always just happen at random in this area.
e2: Holy christ I got wrecked. Two attacks per turn, buffs atk/def and debuffs the same, plus full-party Silence. Was not expecting that.

She is random, you can only get her when you get

Spoiler:

Satori

. Who you get after beating

Spoiler:

either the 2nd tower boss or any tower boss not sure.

[Battler]

Yeah, gave up on Hakugokyuro and I'm instead heading up the tower. The random encounter theme here is completely fucking amazing.

e: Just noticed something - my

Spoiler:

Yuuka

has "learned" Missile Weapon (a spear skill) several times now, even though she already has it. It's not really a bad thing since it basically means she busts out a stronger-than-usual attack occasionally, but I wonder what's up with that.

[blabla1994]

However, I notice little benefit to the elemental levels, if there's supposed to be any benefit to getting these leveled up.

The elemental levels primarily determine your damage with that element, including weapons, go switch a character from one weapon type to another she has never used and you'll find you will gain way less attack. For instance, my Yukari has used spears the enitire game never once using blunt, Swtiching from a spear with 21 attack, to a axe with 36, she gains one extra attack point.

They also might determine what skills you can learn with that weapon.

[Battler]

Oh christ the tower is a water raising/lowering puzzle, with switches spread across multiple rooms. You'd think, considering that I played LoT blind, that this wouldn't bother me, but... damnit I already wish there was a walkthrough.

e: at least the stage and battle themes here are great

e2: Wow.

Spoiler:

For being such a fuck up in-character, I was not expecting Xa (is that how you spell her name?) to completely destroy me like she did.

[Vilkni]

The elemental levels primarily determine your damage with that element, including weapons, go switch a character from one weapon type to another she has never used and you'll find you will gain way less attack. For instance, my Yukari has used spears the enitire game never once using blunt, Swtiching from a spear with 21 attack, to a axe with 36, she gains one extra attack point.

They also might determine what skills you can learn with that weapon.

Would the fastest way to level elemental levels happen to be hitting weaknesses on enemies as usual, then? Because I might test this battle with the tower blue guy, although that guy has high POT, to compare how much of a gain the elemental levels give me on magic.

[homing curvy laser]

Bell of Avici -> Retrospective Kyoto -> Bad Apple...? I don't understand :v
Anyway, I still have too many traumas from GoS to be able to go up the tower, and I've just gotten to the third strata... I'm probably making a mistake somewhere. Maybe I should give it another try, the enemies in there didn't seem hard at all when I gave it a test run.

I'm enjoying the game so far, the main difference from GoS is that now instead of having to complete entire dungeons (GIVE ME BACK MY 12 HOURS OF LIFE, GREAT TEMPLE) I have to explore every single thing everywhere and as such I can't stop playing. Aargh. Now, time to revisit every area because these event items might have unlocked something... sigh. go to hell ocd

[Saber Nero]

Oh christ the tower is a water raising/lowering puzzle, with switches spread across multiple rooms. You'd think, considering that I played LoT blind, that this wouldn't bother me, but... damnit I already wish there was a walkthrough.

Inspired by Golden Sun no doubt.

[homing curvy laser]

The only hard part of that water level puzzle is how the roofs hide pretty much every possible path, I think. Also, uh, I guess you're not really supposed to fight the jiang-shi-like thing until you're level who knows what, maybe after exploring the entire world... but at least that makes sense, seeing how she's one of the main antagonists. Whatever. All I know is that she's somewhat weak to stat debuffing (variety), but debuffing her INT doesn't really do much against her gong. Oh well. Also, I couldn't notice any weaknesses, but she uses Ice spells and recovers 100+ HP on Ice land.