I'm Here to Kick Souls and Eat Worlds!...Wait... (Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters Blind)

[LinkOnScepter]

​

What is this game?
This game is a Turned Based Strategy RPG developed by Nippon Ichi and published in the US by NIS America. Nippon Ichi are the developers of the Disgaea Series, which this game shares similarities with.

That's it. That's all I know about it.

Didn't you read the Thread Title? When I said this was going to be Blind I meant completely Blind! I have no clue what the fuck I'm getting into outside a bit of gameplay I've seen. The only reason I know the above is because I've played some of the Disgaea games before, though I never really got into them, and recognized the artstyle.

Ok, so what is the game itself?
Well, according to the NIS America Official Site Summary:

Gig, the fearsome Master of Death, is back...and he's pissed off! Taking over your body is just the first step on his quest for global domination. It's up to you to rein him in and use his power, along with your band of fellow warriors, to stop the horrific World Eaters from annihilating everything. But be careful...power always comes with a price.

....So yeah, whatever that means.

How will you be doing this?
Screenshot Let's Play with my own attempts at being humorous mixed into the game itself. I make no promises that my humor will be good. I'll write out the dialogue in certain cases to avoid putting up too many screenshots, while adding in my own commentary in my own way.

Normal Font = Actual Dialogue
This Font = My Added Dialogue/My Commentary.

And yes, this does mean I'll be playing the game through an emulator. However, you feel about those things, this is the best way I see to do the Let's Play.

Spoiler Policy?
As this is a Blind Let's Play ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS WHATSOEVER! Not even in a "Spoiler" Box! I'd like to see where the story goes myself, and I'm sure there will be people who haven't seen/played the game and wouldn't like it spoiled either! Yes I'm this game is 13 years old, but the point still stands.

Any Audience Participation?
Since this is a Nippon Ichi game, yes.

Specifically, I believe it has the feature of the Disgaea games where you can create the characters you recruit into your Underaged Death Squad. But, again, this will be a Blind Let's Play, so I have no clue if that will be true or not. If is, I'll explain more when we get to that part. If it isn't, then no participation.

And that's about everything I can think of. This is my first time LPing something like this, and this game has interested me for a while. Who knows? Maybe this will be the thing to finally get me fully invested in Nippon Ichi games.

But enough stalling! Let's get this show on the road!

 

[LinkOnScepter]

The above is the Intro Movie for the game. If you don't feel like watching it, here's a quick summary:

The continent we're on is named Prodesto.

It's been in a constant state of civil war for years, until some absolute badass named Lord Median The Conqueror beat everyone's ass and united it.

Life was good for ten years. Then Median and his son died, and the whole thing fell apart. Then fifteen years later Median's daughter, Layan, came of age and got everyone's shit together again.

Then fifty years later, some major monsters(likely the titular World Eaters) came down and wrecked everyone's shit. They were led by some guy/thing/evil force/designated bad person of the day.

Layan sacrificed herself to kill the leader, and the monsters went silent. They're not dead, just sleep.

And that's where our story picks up.



More specifically, a supposedly female disembodied voice ask whether we want a boy avatar or girl avatar.

The game is heavily voice acted by the way...at least during cutscenes. It's English dub, but it's good from what I've heard so far.

Not sure how important this is going forward, so I'm gonna go for masculine.



It then ask us to name our character. Again, first time playing so I'm gonna stick with the given name.



Voice: We of this world give you our blessing no matter what path you choose.

You sure you want to do that? You're basically giving me free reign to be a jerk here. I'm not gonna do that, but I could.



Voice: May happiness and good tidings follow you wherever you roam.

Whatever you say, mysterious voice. I'm sure we won't be seeing you later....

Anyway, we cut to the image of a purple crystal and a text crawl that reveals it's been 200 years since old Layan killed herself to kill the big bad.

And the first people we see along with dialogue are:



...This is Nippon Ichi game alright.

Danette: I'm old enough, ya know. We both are! And I've been training forever! I'm totally ready to become a full fledged Sepp Warrior! But Lady Layna still won't make me a Town Guardian!

Wait....Layna?

As in the same name as the former Queen of the Kingdom Median established?

...Please don't tell me these people don't see the connection?



Based on my bare bones knowledge of NI games, and my extensive knowledge of JRPGs, I deduce that the masculine looking person on the left is the PC.

And based on that same knowledge, the girl named Danette is likely a close relation of ours. A sister or childhood friend.

Meaning we start this game proper with our close relation calling us weak and blaming us for her not getting into an important position in the village.

Great start.

Danette does a twirl...slash...thing before talking again.



JESUS! What are we, DBZ characters?

Danette: Or, wait, lemme think....Maybe it's the 1,542nd....No, no, 931st...Hmm.

While she's trying to figure out how many times we've beaten the living daylights out of each other, we get to make our very first choice in the game. This opening dialogue will allow us to see at least a little bit of what our character is like so that we may learn...



...That we are just as much of a battle junky as she is.

Well, at least we'll be enthusiastic when the murder starts.

Danette: Oh like you could even remember that! Let's just say it's the thousandth time, okay?

And now she's calling us stupid! Please tell me the first thing we get to do is prove her wrong?



That is one of the most basic names for an attack I've ever read.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

Split the post because I reached the Image Limit:


Danette: You'd better give me all you've got! Or else I'll make you pay!



And we're knocked right into the tutorial battle.

I have played up until after this point, so I'm going to choose the second option. In the future, I'll show this screen but not put up any screenshots of the actual tutorial so save time and space.

Picking the second option prompts Danette to ask if we're sure, then say it's fine and to start the fight.



Here's the menu you get once you select a character on your team. If you've played a Turn Based JRPG or any of NI's game's before, this all likely seems familiar to you. For those that don't know what any of this means:

LV: The selected character's Level. The Higher the better.
HP: How much Health they have. It hits 0 and they're out of the fight...possibly dead.
STM: Your Stamina. Not sure what this does yet.
POT: No clue what this does yet. Nor anything in that box with a plane in it.
Move: You move your character across the squares on the field a certain amount of spaces. You can move then do another action, or do an action then move.
Attack: You attack your enemy. Though there is a bit more to it, in that you can choose what attack you use against your enemy. Right now we just have "Basic Blow", but we'll get more as the game goes on.
Defend: Self-Explanatory.
Tactic: No clue yet.
Status: Shows your stats.
End Turn: Ends your turn.



A few more things to note with this screen, which is the standard screen you see...save for the panel of Revya in the bottom right. That's up because I'm holding down L1 which is LB for me cause I'm using an Xbox Controller.

Scandalous I know.

The bar in the top right shows off what the Terrain you're on will do, the red boxes show where Revya can move, the bottom right panel shows his stats and such, and the Turn Order is in the top right. It moves from left to right in terms of Turn Order.

Right now the only thing we can really do is either attack or defend....let's attack.



This is what the combat screen looks like. At the bottom of the screen are the different spaces for your/the enemy's troops (F = Front, M = Middle, R = Rear). Based on my JRPG knowledge, I deduce that placing different units in different spaces will produce different effects later.

Either way, when battle starts your unit will rush to the enemy's side of the field...



...Proceed to beat their ass...



...Then rush back to their side and let the enemy have a go.

Whoever takes the other's health out first, wins.



However, that was not a good trade. We hardly did any damage to her while we took 2 damage already. As it currently stands, hitting the enemy and actually dealing damage seem to be pretty difficult. Hopefully this changes as the game goes on.



This is the menu you get when you hit the Triangle, or Y, button. As you can see it shows the Victory and Defeat Conditions. For this fight, we can win or lose...but I'm going to try to win.

There's also a sub-menu in the top right:

End Turn: Ends the turn.
Characters: Look at all the different characters on the field.
Help: Info for people who need a better understanding of the game.
Give Up: Be a coward and purposely lose the fight.
Options: Change things for the game.

There's also GP, which I'm guessing is this game's Money.

With nothing more to do, we end the turn.



Every time an attack is made, by us or the enemy, the other side gets to counter-attack.

We aren't doing very well right now. Danette has damaged us twice, while we haven't hurt her at all this turn.

New turn and I'm gonna Defend. If you Defend, you can't move.



Hmm. Apparently, if you defend you take less damage but also don't get to counter-attack. Good to know.

Gonna attack this turn.

Next Turn we get lucky and Crit Danette, putting us in the lead health wise. Deal a total of 27 Damage (8 + 19).



This time when Danette attacks, she uses a Combo. Based on what I've seen from some gameplay, Combos are basically extra attacks/special moves that normally hit the enemy multiple times for big damage.





And DAMN was that big damage. She nearly killed us with that. And we only did 3 damage on the counter.

We need a miracle crit to win this one.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

We get it.





As per usual, we get stuff for winning fights. I don't know what any of it does though. Here are my guesses:

Map Bonus: A bonus for beating the Map/Stage.
Casualty: How much damage we took. It looks like it's taken away from our total reward. Guess that means I shouldn't be too reckless.
Kills: Number of kills. Self-Explanatory.
Total GP: How much money we get in the end.
Round Bonus: Items and otherwise that we get from winning. The better we do, the more we get. Guessing some of those are moves.

And with that, allow me to say: In your fucking FACE, Danette! Who's weak now bitch!? Who's weak now?!

At the end the game offers to skip the cutscene, but I'm not doing that.



As the two stand there after the fight, bells start tolling. Hopefully not for us.





Excuse me? Where the hell did that come from. How hard did we hit her?




...Not hard enough it seems. Can we have a rematch?

The screen starts shaking and the ground rumbles after this.



Danette: What are you talking about? There's always been lots of earthquakes. Let's go! I don't wanna be late.

Well Danette has done nothing to endear me to her. Let's hope not every character is gonna be like this.

But either way, while that's not the end of the prologue, that is the end of this first post of the Let's Play.

Join me next time as I figure out what that bell was, hope to god these people can make a simple connection based on names, and try to comprehend how this game works!

 

[Khona Moshr]

oh yay, this was a fun game. I eagerly await your reactions.

 

[Rolen von Keng]

The first image in the first post is not working.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

The first image in the first post is not working.

Click to shrink...

Thank you. I think I know why, and will fix it.

 

[Iceblocks]

The only Nippon Ichi game that I played through more than once. Was introduced to it by wiki-walking on Tv Tropes and then I found a Let's Play of it on the Something Awful LP Archive. Looking forward to see how this goes for you.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

We're back and this is the screen my Save State sent me to (yes, I use Save States. Sorry if that bothers you, but I haven't been given the option to Save yet, and the website I use to upload these images doesn't let me easily grab my screenshots).

Judging the by the icons, the Altar, Central Field, and Leave The Village options will have NPCs talk at us and give us some exposition, while the Exclamation Point at Layna's Room will likely continue the story.

In true JRPG fashion, we are of course going to start with pestering all the NPCs for info. Note that I will summarize NPC dialogue at certain points to avoid this Let's Play being too long, and to limit the screenshots. With that said, I'm going to choose the Altar...



And that brings us to this screen where we can choose which NPC to talk to. Let's go down the list!




OCD: If it weren't for her, you would've been kidnapped, or carried off by a bunch of dingoes or something. Or maybe the World Eaters would've come along and gobbled you up!

Yeah and you should never forget that in tough times people tend to abandon the sick and elderly first, Old Crone. I'm sure those dingoes would love to get a taste of your bony flesh.




Having birth issues, eh? What are we low on?



CN: It's understandable that the men would want to leave and see new places, rather than stick around here. But that runs the risk of revealing the secret of our village. I don't want a bunch of strangers showing up here. And if the World Eaters ever found us..that would be the end of everything.

So we're low on guys and have no want to let new people into the village? Simple solution. Polygamy is back on the menu boys!

Nei goes on to mention someone named "Gadius", who is apparently alright and loves his unborn child. Judging by how he's actually been referred to by name, how our characters clearly know the man, and how his motivation has already been established, I deduce that he will be important later.

The last NPC, Hamatz of the Dark, is actually a blind man who keeps praying to the various memorials around the village. He mentions how he wishes he could teach Danette more (never mentioning exactly WHAT he taught her) before another earthquake happens. He says it's a sign of the End Times and that we need to pray for salvation.



In the Central Field we find, what I'm guessing are a bunch of fighters going by those weird names. The first mainly talk about what they are, RedFlanks, which are basically the Village/Lady Layna's Guardians. Though one interesting thing they point out is that they can live for over 100 years, with Layna having lived for 200. They can still die by age, but still they live that long? Are things really that bad if people can live for over 100 years? At our worst time in the Real World, you'd be lucky to live to 30.

However, Winged Marlene (does she have wings or is she just fasted or something?) does say something interesting:





Huh.

An actual, in-game explanation for why a close relation doesn't call you by your name.

Don't think I've seen that yet. That a thumbs up from me NI.

After that I try to Leave the Village but, as expected, am told now. Apparently the village is invisible to the outside, but people aren't stupid and will think someone appearing out of thin air after leaving the village will be pretty sus. Also, we'll likely end up "like the other villages", suggesting that there are others out there but bad shit happened to them. This will likely be relevant later.

Alright, enough stalling. Time to meet Lady Layna who totally isn't the same Layna as the daughter of the old King! No sir!



....Why did I expect the Village Leader to look any different in a JRPG?



WOW WHAT THE FUCK!?!?

That picture DOES NOT match with that Model!

I mean, yeah, she would look like that after 200 years, but I think her model should reflect that.

...She's gonna be de-age at some point during this story. Calling it now.



Granny Layna wants us to get to the murdering ASAP.



And Danette is all too happy to oblige.

Danette: Does that mean...you're finally gonna make us real Town Guardians?!

No she's just going to give us instruments of violence for shits and giggles.

Layna: That's correct.



Revya: Should probably start thinking about some battle cries then....this'll take a bit.



Revya: Wait why does she get to go first!?

Layna: She was the first to speak up.

Revya: Oh that's bullshit and you know it! It's not my fault the game made me mute. Besides she's just gonna pick the double daggers anyway.

Layna: What's that? You want me to grab one of the rusty swords we keep in the outhouse around back instead of getting to pick one of these awesome floating weapons?

Revya:....Wait why do you have rusty swords in an outhouse?

Layna: You never know....



Judging by what that Old Crone said, you've waiting for this for Ten Years. So I think Layna has a very good idea of how long you've been waiting for this.



....Ok, I'm starting to think that my joke about her being a battle junky ain't a joke.

The green twin daggers float down into her hands and she pockets then...somewhere. She says that she has chosen "The Sickle Sword". Which is a bad name considering it isn't a sword but two daggers.



Revya: Strange name for a pair of daggers that kill people.

Layna: Legends say that those who die by these blades, do so with naught but a whisper, and a smile on their face.

Revya: There we go.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

Danette: I'm going to gut soooooo many assholes with these babies.

Revya: Wonderful. Now she can actually act out her murderous fantasies. Might want to give me my weapon before-



Revya: Oh that looks fucking sick!

Layna: What did I teach you to say when Grandma Layna does something good for you?

Revya: Yeah, yeah, thanks and whatever gimme gimme gimme gimme!



Revya: Shut it, Danette! Don't ruin this for me!

We walk forward, grab the blade...then this happens and the music changes.



Revya: OH FUCK YOU GRANNY! YOU GAVE ME A CURSED SWORD! OH GOD THIS HURTS!

Onyx Blade: That's right, fucko! You're mine now!

And I just now realized that the voice of the blade is the same as Yosuke from Persona 4. Neat.



Onyx Blade: So this is my sacrificial lamb, huh? Heh. It's sorta soft around the edges, but it's definitely got potential.

Revya: If...if there's a moment....where I can kick your ass....I am SOOOO taking it!

OB: Whatever! Just quit squirming and let me do my thing!



OB: I can finally scratch my ass after all this time! Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to do that when you're trapped in a sword!?



So this is that "Gig" they mentioned in the Summary? I thought he'd be taller.

Layna: I, too, have long awaited this day.

Danette: Lady Layna? Wh-what is this? What's going on with that sword?!

Revya: Oh...yeah...don't mind me...just fighting for my FUCKING SOUL OVER HERE! DON'T HELP OR ANYTHING!



I don't see how vaguely referencing modern philosophers is relevant to the current situation.

Layna: It threatened to destroy everything. But I hunted it down. And this sword was the trap.



Layna summons...this floating toilet seat out of thin air. Danette calls it a red crystal and asks what it is while saying it "feels familiar".


Layna: I ordered it off Fantasy Ebay for just this occasion.

Revya: DON'T CARE! HELP ME! HE'S TRYING TO GET INTO MY BRAIN!

Gig: Woah, dude. There's like...a bunch of stuff about combat maneuver and strategy shit in here. Have you even gotten laid yet?

Revya: NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!



Danette: Fusion?!

Revya: Gattai!?



Meanwhile....in Revya's head I supposed, we find who I believe is Gig. Judging by how he's on the front of the game's cover, this guy is the actual Protag. We actually get a choice after this...well another one box choice where we can only ask who this guy is.



Revya: Yeah, sure you are.

Gig: You fucking doubting me?!

Revya: This is a Nippon Ichi game so...yeah. There are likely at least five people out there who could curbstomp in a second.

Gig: ...I am so removing your ability to speak once I take you over.



We proceed to ask why he was in the sword.

Gig: Oh, that. Well, thanks to that old wench, I had to abandon my body 200 Years ago. I killed her first, of course. But that tricky witch must've had another soul up her sleeve or something.

Revya: You know for a destroyer of worlds you're not making yourself sound or look very good.

Gig: It was a one time lapse in judgement! Fuck off!





Gig proceeds to talk about how he's stayed in the sword for years, and now he has us. We proceed to ask what he's gonna do...as if it's not already obvious.



Gig: What, you still don't get it? I'm taking over your body, stupid!

Revya: You mean...you're going to kill me?!

Gig: ....Are you really this stupid?

Revya: Blame the game for making me mute!



Gig: Then I can just beat this meat puppet to hell until I'm done with it! Hahahaha!

Revya: Ok, when you say "beat" and "meat" do you mean-

Gig: In both senses of the word!

Revya: ....Granny if you're gonna do something, do it now!



We get an actual choice here, and I'm betting it's going to affect the story going forward. Since this is a Blind Playthrough, I'm going to make my own decision here. And, I don't know about you all, but I don't like the thought of letting some stranger do what he wants with my body without a fight. RESIST IT!



Revya: Happy to disappoint.

Gig: Whatever, it doesn't matter. I knew things weren't gonna be easy. *sigh*. Ok, here's the thing. We have to make a deal so I can use your body.

Revya: Wait...I have some leverage here?!

Gig: Yeah.

Revya: I thought cursed weapons were supposed to jus take you over.

Gig: Oh, I would if I could. But the old hag's stopping me from doing it.

Revya: Reminder: Apologize to Granny later.



Gig: That should keep you happy for a while. But maybe you're really greedy. Maybe you'll need even more power. That's when you give me a call. I can lend you all the powers of a god....for a price. The more of my power you use, the more control I gain over your body. You use your power to get what you want. And I come a little closer to my own goals. You scratch my back, I crush yours. Pretty sweet, huh?

Revya: So....I get super powers....but if I use too much of my super powers, you'll take me over completely? Yeah....not sure about that.

Gig: Look it's either take the deal or this game never starts.

Revya: True, but...

 

[LinkOnScepter]

Gig: Hehe. Fine, if you say so. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me. I'll be waiting, my little soulmate~....



Revya: No thanks to either of you! Granny, what the fuck!? Also, sorry for yelling at you earlier.

Layna: Tell me....how do you feel?

Revya: What happened just now?



Revya: Great, just what I've always wanted. Another dude inside me.

Danette: ...And those are some new fantasies in my brain.

Revya: *Scoots further away from Danette*

Layna proceeds to explain that Gig, indeed, was the leader of the World Eaters...more specifically, their puppetmaster. Confirming that he is, indeed, immensely powerful and they've been trying to find someone who can contain his power.



Revya: Wait...how many came before me?

Layna: Do you want to be able to sleep at night?

Revya: Yeah?

Layna: Then don't ask that question.



Layna: I was soooo excited once you finally hit puberty. You have no idea.

Layna: You were told this village was meant to hide us from the world. But no. It's our last defense against the World Eaters. In years past, villages like ours existed all over the world. But over the years, they have all been destroyed one by one. We are the only ones left. This is why we have no outside contact, and why you are forbidden from leaving the village.

Revya: !? You mean....everyone?

Layna: That's correct. All the villages were either sieged and killed slowly, or outright annihilated. Considering the scale of these attacks, it must be the work of the World Eaters. Yes, those dark beasts who have been for so long now gather their strength once more...



Layna: Open your mind and listen closely...You will hear the crumbling of our civilization....If things continue as they are, the land will continue to weaken, and eventually all will perish. To change the fate unfolding before us, we need a truly singular power...This is the power of Gig that I have entrusted to you. With it you must reign in the terrible World Eaters.

Revya: Dropping alooooottttt of responsibility on me Granny.

Layna: You're the protagonist, what did you expect?



Layna: Do you understand what I ask of you?

We're given another text box here....and it only has one answer:

Revya: ...Yes, I understand.

Layna: Now, we will go and inform the others of what must be done.

Layna gathers up the rest of the villagers who...get here rather quickly.



Layna: Finally, the day we have prayed for has come. Gig's power has been released.

Revya: Anyone else find it weird that we're basically relying on the actual Big Bad's power to solve a problem created by the Big Bad? No? Just me? Figures.

Layna: This could not have happened without your years of loyalty. And now, we-

Danette: Lady Layna!

Revya: Not now, Danette. Hold your murderboner for a bit longer.

Danette: That's not what this is about!




Revya: Would you have seriously believed her if she told us that she was grooming me to be the vessel for the destroyer of worlds?

Danette: Yes!

Revya: ...Something is wrong with your head.



Revya: But it was smart-

Danette: And that sword...Why coulnd't I have that power?

Revya: Oh. I get it. You're not worried about me. You're just jealous that I have the Main Character sword. Why are we friends again?

Danette: Cause no one else is as much as a battle junky as you are?

Revya: ...Point taken.



That's likely the exact reason why you WEREN'T chosen. Danette proceeds to conclude that it's because she's too stupid for anyone to trust her. Likely completely missing the point.



HOLY SHIT HE SPOKE! These NPCs actually get lines and voiceovers?! Jesus!

And THAT'S Ben!? Damn he's jacked!

Ben: Don't go saying such awful things about yourself.

Revya: Not exactly awful if they're true.

Ben: What was that Revya? Was that, "I want to get punted into the crystal over there?"

Revya: Don't know. Was that, "I want to get the Black Cursed Demon Sword shoved up my ass?"



Everyone apologizes, then Layna continues saying we're gonna stop being defensive and go on the offensive, and that everyone should help us get ready for this battle. Then she dismisses everyone but calls Danette come see her in private.



We FINALLY come to the end of that long ass fucking cutscene. But not the end of the Prologue...still. Instead, we get this screen with a choice that I'm guessing is going to lead to some branching paths.

So far, I'm certainly interested in where this game is going. Not everyday you literally draw on the Big Bad's power to stop his evil machinations. However, the characters themselves haven't exactly impressed me. Gig is an asshole, Layna is an old woman who is basically sacrificing children to fix her own fuck up, and Danette literally said that she was a ruthless bitch who didn't care if we were ok, just that we got the sword instead of her.

Hopefully not all important characters will be like that....then again this is a NI game. Characters that are decent are few and far between, and tend to be the people you fight....from what I know....I don't know if it's actually true.

Oh, and if you're wondering why these post weren't put up at the same time as the last one, SV ate my Pictures even though I Copied them. So I had to go back and insert them.

But since this has already gone on for this long, I'm gonna make a Save State and stop here. See you all next time!