Well shit! That went better than stastically expected! Okay then, time to clean up what's left!
They took big chunk of our health off, but unlike in the other timeline, we're still standing, so that's a win for me.
GG EZ. Oh S-Rank, how I've missed you so.
Alas, our joy is short lived because look what we have to deal with. With only 3 SP. With no restoratives.
Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions.
Watch as I waste this LA on this wave, only for the next one to be ridiculously bullshit.
Holy shit that kills all of them??? Hot damn.
Yeah see what I mean. I'm gonna need like, all the cannons. Even then there's no chance in hell I'm getting that S in damage. Or in speed for that matter. Hoo boy.
Will we be getting the second game over of this chapter? Only one way to find out!
I really should've saved that Heavy Shock huh.
RIP Damage Rank. Only 1 SP left too. Now entering: Shit Creek. Time to make do with what we have I s'pose.
I really should've saved that Heavy Shock.
This thing can fucking one shot us so this needs to go prrrrooooontoo!!.
Hack takes one for the team, saving everyone from the Kriegstier but is now nursing an injury. At least the rest can be delayed now. We may have to reset anyways tho.
OH, OH, ONLY NOW HUH. ONLY NOW DO YOU ENTER HERO MODE INSTEAD OF MUCH EARLIER. GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH i appreciate the gesture tho.
Hey at least finishing them off became a whole lot easier, eh? Where the fuck is that Soul Cannon prompt anyways? Is that only for boss battles or something? If so, wow it's nearly as arduous as Undertale's genocide run requirements.
Only a C? Huh, I was expecting an E in damage given how close we were to dying. Myeh, I'll take it. I went as fast as I could with what little SP I had left. Probably could've gone faster had I not jumped the gun on Heavy Shock. Alas.
i guess i could just die to redo this entire thing
Hoo boy an Intermission has never sounded so sweet.
Battles will be seriously affected if you do not act! Let's use the dormitory in the Taranis to get them back on their feet.
AKA 5 DKP AP Minus for poor performance. At least we get some XP out of it.
The Laundry is now done.
The what? I mean okay, it makes sense but wow, what an odd feature. Like, I don't think even in Persona can you do the laundry. What the hell benefits are we gonna reap from clean clothes, a morale boost maybe?
By doing the laundry with another character, you can further their bond and increase their affinity. However, if you do the laundry it will all be done, and you won't get another chance until the next intermission.
Sounds like a free bond rank increase to me. Let's see if I'm right.
Well, since Mei wants to help with the laundry, let's oblige her. She'll be doing it with Hanna as previously planned to get her up to speed with everyone else.
If they're hanging the laundry outside of the Taranis, that must be a real odd sight for the Berman snipers. Or not, considering the shenanigans military folk get up to, I bet this is banal in comparison. Anywho! Kim Hanna could use the XP and it never said Mei had to be the one in control of the laundry, just needs to be a participant. At least, I'm hoping that's the case.
Okay good it is.
Doing the laundry has given them a boost in affinity, triggering their bond conversation.
totally legitimate screencap btw
Hanna: Oh okay, I'm free for a little while. What would you like me to do?
Mei: Hmm... Ummmm, I dunno...
Hanna: This isn't really a place to play around, no picture books or anything.
Mei: Then... maybe tell me a story!
Hanna: A story...? What's a good story...
Mei: Umm, tell me a story of when I was little!
Hanna: Hmm, when you were little... Okay. You and Malt used to play together a lot back then.
Mei: Heehee! I was cute?
Probably reading way too much into it, but "new" little sister? Is she implying she already had another one but then she died, or like, she considers Mei to be the latest addition to her family? Eh, I think Hanna's an only child so probably not any of the above.
Mei: And I'm happy to have a big sister!
Hanna: Heehee, thank you.
What is there to say other than that it was sweet? I think all the older kids will be treating her very gently, while the younger ones will be able to get more out of her. Yes, even Kyle will be nice. Sure, he may be bit of a jerk, but he's not that bad y'know? (Or is he...?) Well, that sure was a C support alright. Can't expect those to start off deep. Speaking of, Kyle n' Socks are at bond lv 4, yet they still haven't gotten their B support. Maybe at lv. 5?
Expanded the coop per Boron's request.
Hanna wants to sleep, and Hack wants to explore the dungeon. Unfortunately, since he's injured, he can't. Resting up will allow him to do so hey while 5 AP is a hefty price, it's not a total waste.
Note: Do not put the kids to bed if you, yourself, are tired. Everytime you slot one of them in, they make a yawning noise which is quite contagious.
Oh that's just precious.
We're gonna have to do some scrap fishing and spelunking to get some upgrades. That's all we're gonna do this intermission and we need every edge we can get for the upcoming battle.
Socks and Hack are co-presidents of the He-Man Woman Hater Club while Malt just wants some XP. Sure Malt, whatever you say buddy.
I don't think any character has an advantage over each other in expeditions, but just in case, I'm leading with Hack as he probably has a smaller hitbox than the other two. His model is smaller in any case so maybe that'll help.
Well, this is a new wrinkle! So like, the spike trap makes these gear noises you can hear from the entrance, right? For a second, I thought it was the sound of a giant boulder or like a buzzsaw trap winding up to cleave poor ol' Hack in two. Thankfully, the death traps are attuned to the reaction speed of the average turn based strategy enthusiast.
Toy Gun Bullet, in case there's like a scene later on where the player wonders "Why don't the kids just shoot them with the hand cannon they got?" y'know aside from the fact they're kids not hardened soldiers
So yeah, not too tough. The only additional wrinkle was that the bullets were in another room loosely guarded by the armadillo rat thing. Since their reaction time was as good as mine, it was easy to slide into the room, get the bullets, and blast 'em.
After some scrap fishin' we now have enough to upgrade the reactor. Shame we don't get a full SP refill from this, but I'll take any SP I can get.
While I hope I won't have to make heavy use of the dormitory, my insistence on never healing runs counter to that. Yeah, turns out keeping your HP up is important outside of not getting a game over.
So, I'm gonna use the last of the AP to tend to the moosheep and clucken. BTW: The farm has been expanded thanks to the shit we found in the dungeon.
Alright, let's go.
Jesus Christ I forgot the state we were in. HOO BOY.
Okay this is a lot more manageable. Hey, wasn't 60 SP roughly what we started with? Oh yeah, we got this.
Hey Red 2 somehow made it out alive!
Man is it unnerving how these guys stare directly at you, unlike the other castmembers. I like that though, makes them more unsettling. BTW: Stollen is constantly jittering in his chatbox.
Woof, the lazy eye on that guy.
Nah, more of a heavily armed daycare frankly.
Stollen: U-unbelievable... In all my years on the battlefield, I've never seen anything like it!
Wait is this even the right camp? I thought they'd be held a lot further away. I figured this was just some shitty outpost that's basically a speed bump in the grand scheme of this plot.
Socks: I-I'll never forgive you if you ever hurt everyone!
Okay so maybe this is one of the many camps then.
The Berman Generals marvel at the user friendliness of the Taranis.
I was about to say "Oh this guy doesn't look too bad when he's smiling. He kind of looks like an endearing old doggo." but then I looked closer and no, his eyes are not closed, smiling in a genial manner. That's his fucking O-face.
Chick: I'm not sure about this, but I'll fight, too!
Guys plural. Hooray, dual boss fight! Are ye ready?
Y'know they may be awful old farts who are a little too into genocide n' all, but like, I'm hoping they pull a "Power of Friendship" card on us when on their last legs. Villains being buddy buddy with each makes for a nice dynamic I'd say. Although I bet you the moment you kill one of them, the other is gonna be like "Yeah I never really liked that guy actually lol"
Stollen gets a cool custom flier model, while Baum is stuck with a slightly modified Zykkon. Paint job is pretty baller on the both of them tho.
"Kill the medic first" gotcha. That being said, I wonder what happens if you kill Grobian first? Maybe there'll be some special dialogue or hell, maybe Stollen sees that, gets cold feet, and flies off. I mean, what is the Taranis gonna do about it. Crawl at it slowly? That'd be a neat reward for doing the boss fight the hard way.
Okay so here's the plan: Much as I'd like to use Cheer Storm, I think Pyro Storm is the better call here. That way, Kyle can delay the flier, allowing Chick to defend. Or I could try for a cheeky stun grenade... ahh it's a boss maybe that's playing too risky. Then again, we do have those Risky Grenades which, supposedly, increase the chance of status ailments. Pyro Storm has a chance of inflicting burn, so maybe we can combo the two together eh?
Let's try it!
Bad luck inflicted, hope this gambit pays off. Kyle softened the flier up for Mei to hammer on her turn BTW.
Okay either rate up is a lie or the chance of burn was slim to begin with. Let's see what the stun rates are. Also goddamn that flier sure is quick eh? The delay only allowed Kyle to move ahead of it. Well, formation is ready sooooo...
Only 70? Well, it is a boss, so getting the usual rate is pretty good in this instance. At least it can be effected by status ailments. It's been a while since I've played an RPG where status ailments meant a damn.
Heh, guess Baum's bad luck is rubbing off on Stollen!
Burn is only a 40% chance, and that's WITH bad luck. Geez, how bad is it usually then?
Oh, that bad huh. Okay Pyro Storm failing totally makes sense. All is forgiven. Bad Luck gives a flat 30% chance to status ailments I take it then?
Okay now may not be the best time to experiment, not when this is gonna take at least 15 SP to make the most out of. We've got other ailments to inflict on Baum anyways. Man, I really wish Formation was ready so that I could cast Encourage, boosting everyone's speed. Alas.
Went with the crit increase as it's the fastest thing I can cast.
Oh right I forgot I had this. WOOPS there goes 3 SP!
C'est la vie. Gonna introduce Baum to a Dale Province Classic, then hopefully by Hack's turn, Formation will be ready and we can delay Stollen.
Baum and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Now in select retailers.
Well hot diggity dog, Kyle just leapt right ahead of Baum! Speaking of, the old guy can move again. Let's kick his cane out again.
I'm starting to feel bad for this guy.
Y'know as they say, misery loves company~
Oh hey, Kyle also gives a boost to not just accuracy, but to status ailments as well? Man, Socks with Smart Storm up is going to be absolutely d i s g u s t i n g.
Twin Sparks may be a little cost inefficient...but I really want to get some burn on. Plus we need to kill this thing anyways so damage is damage. Highly cost inefficient damage, but nonetheless.
Okay the burn didn't land. What about the stun?
LOCAL CHILDREN HARASS OLD MAN. MORE ON PAGE 11.
In other news: Stollen apparently has stealth capabilitiy on his choppa. Y'know, for a long time I thought stealth literally made a plane invisible. So you could imagine my disappointment when the movie Stealth wasn't about an invisible plane. Throughout the entire film I was like "When does the plane go invisible???"
Okay so with stealth activated, our chances of hitting gone down to 90% for machine guns. I bet the cannons have a hit chance of like, 2. No matter, we'll swat him down, however long it'll take...
Good thing machine gun attacks roll for every individual shot, as otherwise I'd be quite miffed to see a 90% shot miss. TBF, given my XCOM experience, I should've seen it coming.
We're all out of SP, so we have to actually pay some attention to Baum. Talk about a pain in the ba- I was just informed I'm on my last strike, so I won't finish that sentence.
I could defend... but then again it's a dinky little flier. A boss flier to be sure, but how badly can it hurt, huh? ever get that feeling of deja vu
About 500 damage worth got it. Hey, remember when I said Smart Storm would be hypothetically disgusting? Let's put theory into practice!
I swear these AOE status ailments are a fucking lie.
Okay my initial plan was to try to finish off Stollen with a cannon, but look at that hit rate. Yeah it ain't happening. I'm gonna stall Baum instead, even if he does have 4 armor.
How long is this fucking stealth mode dude? Fuck it, I'm just gonna roll the dice. Not like I got anything much better to do.
Holy shit that hit. Damn, just one more of those and Stollen is doneso! Alas, just gonna have to eat two hits.
Eyy everybody look who's here! Screw you game I'm doing just fine.
As much as I'd like to show off the new dialogue, I have no idea if I can back out of it so I'm not gonna bother.
"Don't cry Mei, that was just the robot pilot who blew up. Look! I can see his parachute! He's okay." Alright, time to finish off of our plate.
Make sure to properly chew your food before ya swallow.
Boron's Injury Resistance may not protect the Taranis, but it will cover for Chick.
Not that it mattered though, as when Baum tried to unleash his super attack, he missed, thanks to smoke. Oh, smoke~
We are running a goddamn marathon around this guy aren't we?
No SP, no smoke, just a straight bare knuckled brawl. I think we got this.
AH FUCK I FORGOT HEAVY SHOCK NEEDS CHICK NOT BORON SCHEIßEEEEEEmaybe weakness can help us who knows
why do i even bother with status link attacks. Oh well, this thing is about to die anyways.
We're actually both hanging by the skin of our teeth here. We wouldn't be though if I only had I remembered Heavy Shock requires Boron to be in the support position gaaaahhhhh. Failure is a harsh, but effective teacher, I say, aggresively huffing copium.
I swapped in our benched members in the hopes that maybe by actively participating in the fight, they'll get more EXP. Y'know, despite the blurb, the only time any fear was inflicted was due to natural causes. i.e Any of the kids getting hit while the Taranis is on the brink. Then again, we did basically stunlock Baum for like, 90% of the fight.
Hanna finishes.
Bah! Could've been an S. If only I wasn't so forgetful and more conscientous about my use of SP. I'm surprised we still got an A in turns though.
Well, if that boosts everyone's attack, Malt can take a brief siesta from the bench.
"4 Hit Attack On All Enemies" On a cannon. Geez, no wonder the most commonly given tip about this game is "Level up Boron ASAP". Is this how you get S ranks in speed?
So it is level 5 for B supports! Good to know.
I could ask the same: How are you still alive??? Didn't you blow up? I swear if they go "Muahaha that was just my body double!" this actually happens in an entirely different game. its framed in such a way that it looks like the corpse is saying it
Oh come on, these fuckers get to live while Pretzel goes to the big Wetzel in the sky? Ughhh. I hope we get to finish them off by just running them over in the next fight.
Socks: They are withdrawing! Victory is ours!
Not until they're 6 feet under kiddo.
Kyle diagnoses the Berman Empire with Letma.
Boron: Where'd you take them?
Hack: Where are Mom and Dad?!
O, praise be to Yevon, they didn't get very far. I thought these guys were going to be reoccuring villains.
"The factory" please be talking about an actual factory, not an euphemism.
Oh okay, good.
Trusting in this new information, the crew pressed onward.
Rematch incoming 3..2...
TBF, what were they gonna do outside of killing them eh? I mean they could lock them up, but I feel like that'll cause more issues than just turning them loose. I'm rather looking forward to the rematch, if only to see how far I've come. Or more to the point, how much easier the fight would be if I wasn't bumblefucking my way through the entire chapter.
Mei: Grandma, Grandpa... Where did you go...?
Hanna: We'll find them soon, I know it. So, let's hang on a little longer, okay?
Socks: Regardless, we should follow what those Berman generals said and head south!
...I swear if this reveals the villagers were actually hiding in some ditch and they come out of the hole going "It's safe to come out guys! Wow, I wonder where they all went???"
Oh good. Oh hey, it's the Allied Nations/Allies/Federation/Good Guys R Us! Okay I know Welkin isn't the most unique anime dude ever but I swear, give the dude on the right the proper hat and he could pass off as furry Welkin. Speaking of dudes, I appreciate that they put one of them on the left to show scale. Dang, the Taranis is a mobile, chest-high cover maker.
I think I've read that they actually do try to help but then they get annihilated thanks to Hax or some other shenanigan. Or am I confusing Fuga with Valkyria Chronicles again?
I believe this is one of two times you see Muscat, right? Like, her popularity far outweighs her role in the story, which is to say very little. Then again, my source is the YMMV page on TvTropes. I may as well be going off a Youtube comment.
Lieutenant Muscat: I see. Good work, soldier. Everything suggests that the Berman crossed paths with an unknown third party. We may be able to discover more if we follow these colossal tracks left behind.
I doubt they're gonna help us out much. Just always gonna be one step behind the protagonists is how these things usually go. Especially for this one, as unless the story is gonna paint the Allies as being morally grey, I expect their immediate reaction upon encountering the kids is to assume control of the Taranis. Not because they're jerks but like, dude, it's kids operating a war machine. The only place more dangerous for them to be in would be like in a microwave or some shit.
So y'know, they'll be like that Inspector guy from the Sucre comics: At most they'll provide some guidance but otherwise, saving the day is entirely up to the kids.
And, ladies and germs, was Chapter 3! Definitely a step up in difficulty. Well okay, I did deliberately throw myself into the extreme difficulty routes cause I was like "Man Fuga's super easy, give me a real challenge." And lo, it did. I'm guessing the hard route also only gives you loot, not consumables on the assumption that hey, if you feel like a big dick G, you don't need items, right?
It's why I was super cavalier about using them because I'd figure I'd be bathing in them. As we all found out, that was not the case! So next chapter, gonna play a lot more conservative. That and take more than a second to make any moves because a number of my mistakes were just me going "Ahh I got this I don't need to confirm what I'm doing! OH NO"
Other things I should consider: Pump up Chick's support with Boron to get dem reduced SP rates. Or just don't get scammed by the Great Energy Cell trade. Gods, what a rip! The GEC give you like, what, 30 SP? Compared to the smaller one's 21? And they- wait I've already ranted about this. Man I'm still butthurt 'bout that.
In hindsight, I should've used Hanna to inflict weakness on one of the bosses, but the allure of the stun grenades was too strong. Holy shit that attack is so good. Whoever we pick up next gotta really step it up if they want their chance in the spotlight.
I wonder what Chapter 4 will have in store for us. A bullet hell minigame? Fuga Kart? Fuga Battle Royale? What a curveball that sidescroller segment was huh? ...that being said, given the chibi models, I would not be averse to playing a platforming mini game. Hey, it's as tonally appropriate as the dungeon crawler. I'm still boggled by that inclusion.
Chapter 4 Pregaming:
Oh don't mind me, just doing some lil' shopping in preparation for the next chapter. I came prepared this time around as I screencapped what we were missing. So, come chapter 4, we'll be fully locked n' loaded! minus the machine gun dont have enough rusty barrels (s) for that.
I think the hard mode routes gave us a lot of premium upgrade materials...which we didn't need at the time as we were still in basic upgrade territory. Hey, at least they're coming in handy now eh?
Ah you have Chick now, aka the Debuff queen. Unlike most games, debuffs are quite useful.
And good management of the boss fight, that combo attack mentioned in their descriptions, its name is Checkmate and it deals 24 HITS. That's the most hits any attack in the game. If you see it and you weren't defending and they don't have weakness, you are in a world of pain.
Ah you have Chick now, aka the Debuff queen. Unlike most games, debuffs are quite useful.
And good management of the boss fight, that combo attack mentioned in their descriptions, its name is Checkmate and it deals 24 HITS. That's the most hits any attack in the game. If you see it and you weren't defending and they don't have weakness, you are in a world of pain.
WOW alright! Dodged that bullet, yeesh. If they do get the attack off, does it mean it takes both of their turns or could the other one do a follow up attack?
Also: Is there anything unique dialogue/anything for killing Baum first, or is it just for the challenge?
Well, its really 20 hits, which is still a lot. I misremembered and no it doesn't use up both of their turns. And no unique dialogue, its just the challenge.
Well, its really 20 hits, which is still a lot. I misremembered and no it doesn't use up both of their turns. And no unique dialogue, its just the challenge.
Well, most boss have different dialogue for using the soul cannon on them. As for more special dialogue, I think maybe two bosses have things a bit different depending on some steps but it has been a while.
Ayoooooo nice! So like, are you gonna play ahead or along with this playthrough? I'd recommend the former as I think it's gonna take a minimum of 8 weeks to beat this game at the pace I'm going. So technically I'll be able to finish before Fuga 2 comes out but I'm sure if you were playing at your own pace you could beat it within 3 days.
Anyways yo I'm ecstatic someone else got this game! It's been real fun so far which is why it's a shame it didn't so hot. So like, unless the game shits the bed near the end, I wholeheartedly endorse any and all sales.
Ayoooooo nice! So like, are you gonna play ahead or along with this playthrough? I'd recommend the former as I think it's gonna take a minimum of 8 weeks to beat this game at the pace I'm going. So technically I'll be able to finish before Fuga 2 comes out but I'm sure if you were playing at your own pace you could beat it within 3 days.
Anyways yo I'm ecstatic someone else got this game!
So not only can I not read, I can't count either as Chapter 1-4 is missing. I even wrote it up and formatted it too so maybe I accidentally deleted it at one point or forgot to hit post reply. Well, irregardless, it has been restored!
Okay so the images do cycle after all. Add that to the ever growing list of "Things O'Malley Was Wrong On" I'll just start a counter right now: 1
Even strong armies have their weaknesses. If the Gasco Army focuses on that, we might have a chance... You should exploit their weaknesses to defeat the weaponry of the Berman Army...But why bother telling you that...?
We've got a Great Energy Cell from that dude. I've learned my lesson from last time: Trading that GEC for 3 ECs ASAP. Well, outside of lacking any sort of moral fiber, I'm not sure what weaknesses the Berman Army has. Logistics perhaps? Maybe half of this game is just going to be the kids blowing up supply depots n' ruining railways. BTW: That dude is lookin' rather spiffy with that outfit no?
I'd better gather up my things and prepare to escape... Here, we've got no more use for this. Who knows if there's a safe place to run to, though...?
I guess if worst comes to absolute worst, they could take their chances with whatever's below them. Y'know, since this game canonically takes place on a floating continent. (You can even see floating islands in the game's cover art.) Like, maybe they're hovering over water and there's an entire sea based civilization down there? Or it could be the void or literally hell. Anywho, we secured a Great Repair Kit from this guy. Wish I could sell it but alas, barter economy.
You can't either, right? He annoyed me in the last episode, too... What? You haven't read it yet? Then here, read this!
Well there goes my theory of Sucre Comic Girl being the secret bonus boss.
"If villain evil, why sexy"
This Count fellow is clearly morally grey.
Gonna head to the library to do some reading!
Ah, so they've got bit of a friendly rivalry thing goin' on eh? Baum really didn't have much in terms of skills other than "hit hard" and "hit harder", while Stollen had a bunch of tricks up his sleeve so their bios check out. It'd be neat if that gets reflected later on when we inevitably encounter them, or hell maybe this tidbit shows up in Comedies of Steel. If they were a meme format, Stollen would be that guy who has a wall of text while emoting rapidly with his hands meanwyhile Baum just says one word. i may blight this lp with gigachad baum one day
"I must suppress their rage if only to aid the reconstruction after the war..."
I'm surprised we're still getting Pretzel's journal entries. Figured we'd be getting like, Baum n' Stollen stuff. Would've been interesting if it was like a transcript or a record of them trying one up each other in how awful they can be.
"I gathered all the children in single file and ran them over with my tank!"
"Barbaric and inefficient: I poisoned the groundwater to ensure that not only will this village die of disease and dehydration, but to rob future generations of this precious resource! You have to think long term about these things, Baum ol' chum."
Eh, that would come off as being too comical to be taken seriously. Wonder if the other entries are just going to be the game rubbing it in how we killed the only guy who was holding back how awful the Berman Army could be. Pretzel's death line really should have been "YOU FOOLS! I WAS HOLDING THEM BACK!!!"
Watch as in Fuga 2 it turns out the main bad guy in that game only seized power thanks to Pretzel being gone. At this rate we're gonna have to time travel back into the past and save the dude aren't we?
Les Aventures de Sucre - Le Mystere De La Cle Disparue 3
Only 8 chapters left to go, Kyle. Hang in there buddy!
Socks: A factory... Perhaps they are being forced to make something...
Huh, this girl again. Weird, I figured they'd be stretching the mystery of this chick (Not that one.) out across the game, but here she is again! Is she going to be recruited this chapter?
You know at this rate, I think I'm just going to give up on the Author's Note sections as I'm seriously doubting my knowledge of the game's plot. I thought she was the Radio Woman who has been, up until this point, been extremely pushy to rip n' tear until it is done. That, or the Taranis itself.
Who was she? Why didn't she want them to fight? The children wanted to know, but she only kept repeating the same words before disappearing. The girl's words shook their battle-hardened conviction to the core...
Socks: Perhaps we should wait for the Gasco Army to come...
Or more pertinently: Who knows if there'll even be a Gasco Army? They didn't seem to be doing so hot, what with their capital already under siege at this point. On one hand, that was happening when Pretzel was alive so who knows what the sitch is now. On the other hand: Sieges typically last longer than my average attention sp
Don't give in... Just a little longer, and you'll have your families back...
Ok I straight up don't know what's happening. I sincerely doubt that Bermans have hacked the Taranis or they have cyber fairies running their psyops campaign, so it won't be that. ...probably.
It could be a Bravely Default scenario where, despite all evidence to the contrary (All the villains you meet are on the same level as Bulk n' Skull Baum n' Stollen.) somehow, the bad guys aren't evil, but good all along and it's the MCs who are wrong. I highly doubt that they're gonna go "The Nazis were secretly good all along!" though.
Y'know, I s'pose the kids could just sit in their RV and wait out the war. But like, it doesn't seem like the Gasco Army is going to win soon, if at all, so unless they want to promote to War Orphan (+5 to all stats) they kind of have to break a few Berman shaped eggs to save their families. What are the odds of this game pulling a "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" type story?
Well, all I'm going to say is, if the story tries to pull a "You were the villain all along", the writers better have won gold medals in the Tokyo 2020 Mental Gymnastics event.
Oh thank goodness, SP restorative events, how I've missed you so~ Wish I could peek ahead of the map but alas. So far, we're on easy street, but I know how things went down last time so definitely gonna play a bit more conserative. But before we can murder innocents in cold blood HEROICALLY PROTECT OURSELVES FROM THE VILE MONSTERS IN SELF DEFENSE UNDER THE BANNER OF RIGHTEOUS JUSTICE we've got an intermission to tend to.
Fun fact: If you press X while the tank is in motion, the guys will talk. But if you press circle, then the girls will. Neat, innit? I was wondering why I never heard Hanna during any of these sections.
Huh, I'd thought there'd be some dialogue but nope. Well, let's see here what's on to do our list today...weird, so like, does Hero Mode status carry over in between chapters or something? If so, neato. Unless anyone gets hurt, ain't no one getting any rest here if I have anything to say about it. Other than that, yeah I guess we could do some scrap fishin', we do need to upgrade our shit, and planting is cheap so I think I can get everyone* happy. We'll do some chatting too.
*Everyone who matters that is. Hanna and Malt are our benchwarmers.
Doing some upgrades with Hanna. I don't want her to be too behind, lest there's some enemy that can consistently inflict like, halitosis, and the only way to cure that is with a level 11 Hanna. Kind of hoping Chick can just take over her job as support healer so I could permanently bench the former.
Speaking of! Yo, Chick truly is the combat medic! Alright, that should help with those elite enemies/bosses with the wrath status! ...shit we could've used this for Stollen's stealth huh. Arrrrrghhh!!! I guess that's one flaw of this game: Dispelling and healing statuses being entirely tied to characters who may or may not have that skill yet, or possibly never due to coming down with a bad case of the deads. Wish they'd just give you an item that could do either of those things.
Probably goes against the entire idea of sacrificing someone to the Soul Cannon, but it'd be nice of them to throw ye a bone by giving you items that could make up for the lack of said character. Like how in Sweet Home you get items that basically perform the function of a dead character. With the trade off being it's an item in a game where you can only carry 2-3 at once. So, losing dudes means a hella lot more backtracking in a game with random battles and permadeath. Anyone up for a game of Disaster Dominoes?
Hm, so you can't do the laundry at the start of chapters, huh? Seemns that quip about it being an necessary feature due to needing to wash the blood of Bermans off has some legs to it.
Yo dope! Just what we needed! Since these things are pretty much upgrades, I wonder if you break one, you're guaranteed to get another the very next intermission?
Behold, The Taranis's TRUE Ultimate Weapon: LE PEBBLE. I should get Hack a lil' wooden sword so he could bonk the Bermans with it.
Mates, peep this tech. of this stationary image I don't know if this was always possible from the start or if you can only use the dash after doing an expedition, but yeah, you can run in the Taranis by holding B now! NO RUNNING IN MY WAR MACHINE
We've unlocked apples apparently so I planted some, then tended to the Moosheep to make Mei happy. But enough of that, it's time for Kyle n' Socks!
With that attitude, tone, and damn smile, I don't think things are gonna go so hot for poor ol' Socks.
Socks: You will!?
"-this is really important."
Oh Kyle, if you're cooking what I think you're cookin'...ah ye can be so cruel~
Ohh, so he's actually taking this seriously and not just gonna troll Socks? Eyy, that's nice of him. I seriously thought he was going to be like "Dude trust me, girls LOVE it if you follow them from a distance, staring blankly without saying a single word. They'll think you're cool n' mysterious."
Socks: I understand, but I fail to see how this has anything to do with conversation...
Kyle: It's got everything to do with it, now listen! There isn't a single girl in existence that hates compliments.
Y'know I was just about to comment "Weird. I never heard you say anything nice to Hanna once. Eh, he probably did off camera." then he drops this. For someone who apparently has no clue, he's pretty on the mark so far. Like, this would just work with anyone in general really.
Socks: S-stupendous! Brilliant, Mr. Bavarois! I would like to put this advice into practice!
I cherish this "fake til' you make it" catboy so much. Anywho, despite not having any conscious idea what he's talking about, subconsiously he gave good pointers. So like, ey, I think Socks will do pretty alright. Gotta say, I thought Kyle was just going to be a dickhead the entire way through by purposely giving bad advice, but nah he gave his best with what little he knew. I think the next one will be the conclusion, unless there's like 4th one, which usually is the S-Support but this is Fuga so they can do whatever the hell they want. Regardless: Can't wait to see the conclusion to this!
This had better mean Smart Storm will actually work as described. Hoping Pierce Shock can outright remove armor now too.
Anywho, since observation is free, let's do that shall we?
No hints as to who we'll be fighting, eh? Unless it's going to be a forest monster or some crap. Hey, there's a shrine to the Forest God, maybe we'll fight that this chapter to get the theme of "He Who Fights Monsters" rolling as the kids kill the forest god, causing the countryside to rot n' decay. I don't think terrain effects exist so the woodlands is just flavor text presumably.
Y'know, I was considering making tomato juice to save up on SP, but like, nah that's a crutch. If anything, it'll enable me to just use more so I went with bread instead to boost everyone's EXP and affinity build rate.
Okie, guy talk out of the way. I'd chat with Hack more, but like, he doesn't need the accuracy buff as much as say, Boron.
Good question. Probably not the way y'all get hungry, but like, maybe she needs to consume batteries to "feed" herself. Kind of weird how I'm running with the theory that she's the Taranis seeing how she doesn't want to fight. If she was the tank, couldn't she like, just not work if she wanted to? ONE WEIRD TRICK TO STOP FIGHTING: RADIO WOMEN HATE THIS TACTIC!
Anywho, why am I investing so much AP into Kyle, you ask?
'Cause of this. So like, during my pregame run where I was upgrading the Taranis to make sure I got all the parts I needed, Kyle leveled up and got this skill. This baby's gonna save us a whole lotta turns. Wonder when Mei will get it, if ever?
Aight, with that, break time is officially over. Time to head back to the ol' grindstone.
Damn, Stollen didn't even get one chapter before he became a generic enemy, huh? Bit of a bulky fellow, but hey, it makes for the perfect target demonstration.
Ooh, 3 SP. Hm, not as "free" as Piercing Shot 1 is but it's a fair trade I'd say. Well, assuming it doesn't do anything spectacular like transforming into robot mode, the gameplan is the same as always.
Could've wasted more SP to get our tech score up I reckon but whatever. S is an S!
Halle-chuffin'-lujah! Okay, okay, I won't let this bounty get to my head. I'll try not to.
I could just disable the big 'un now and eat the hits, but I've a better idea.
If this were a drinking game, you'd have to take sips, not shots, for every time I used Stun Grenade. Unless alcohol poisoning is the goal...
Now ain't this a sight for sore eyes! Boron and Chick are getting along swimmingly, sitting at Affinity 4 now.
Is it just me, or does this chapter have more SP refills than the previous one? Hey I'm not complaining, no siree not one bit!
The Berman seemed to chase after her as she desperately clung onto a small rag doll.
The children proceed to gun down the Berman soldiers who were just trying to help out a little girl on the side of the road. The crew of the Taranis is a menace to society!!!
Squandered opportunity to sneak in a "Come with us if you want to live!" I'd say. Why, if I were on the writing team, I'd be fired immediately because I wouldn't stop shoving in unneccesary references.
Boron: It's okay now!!
Wait hold up, she has blue hair? I thought it was just the lighting. Also is it just me, or does she have, like, some pink shading going on? ...this one is going to be the mentally disturbed psycho child who talks to their doll character isn't it.
Editor's Note: I forgot Hanna existed so I was like "Wow this is the first unusually colored hair character in the game!"
Sheesh, they're rather pissed aren't they! Damn, what did this girl do that they're like "Giant tank who wiped out whole garrisons and our prized general? we sleep. . Associating with this particular child? KILL THEM." Alrighty then, okay hey! New kid is sounding cooler by the second!
Since when did you get so chivalrous Kyle?
Being in the general vicinity of this new kid is apparently punishable by death. Alright I guess. Maybe new kid is meant to be the Darcsen/Jewish stand in? Or it could be that she's actually like some infamous freedom fighter who the Bermans have been trying to corner for years now. Whatever the case, we got a fairly standard formation. Was kind of expecting a mini boss TBH. Maybe that jeep is one?
"Tank" Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say. Well, it's a buffer with Mei's haste skill so I guess we should take it out first.
Okay new rule: Everytime it doesn't land, that's when you take a shot. Augh! I bet if you delay the grenadiers, it's haste skill will make it so that they get a shot off anyways. Alas. Was hoping I could ditch class with that stun grenade, but looks like I'm going to have to learn why you focus fire that thing first huh.
Oooooor it just does riot grenade instead. As someone's chess teacher once said, I believe in gifts.
Hey hey hey man, I'm just showing off the new skill, alright? It's an LP dude, like isn't that the point? Showing off the game?
Boron wants big boom. (Also 80% accuracy on that thing. Slippery lil' feller ain't it?)
it basically just called down an artillery strike. It missed once, but not like that it mattered as the three other shots was enough to take everything out. This skill rocks dude.
Der Täglich Bügelhorn says otherwise.
Truly, a knight in shining armor.
Boron: You can call me Boron!
No audio clip as per usual, but Socks talks as if his tongue is actively trying to escape his mouth. Guessing Sheena is about his age since he was super blase with Chick.
Mei: I'm Mei!
Chick: I'm Chick!
Hack: I'm Hack!
Okay so she is the Jewish stand-in. Makes sense, given the Bermans' reaction. Wait, so like, is it a specific type of Felineko they hate, or is it ALL Felinekos?
I thought one of the Berman generals was a Felineko? Must be mismembering again, like always. Speaking of, y'know that other catgirl who's like, the MC's partner in Solatorobo? Was the reason why some groups were out to get her was because she was a felineko too, or was it some other reason?
She and another boy managed to escape together, but they were separated along the way.
Hm, possible new recruit inbound???
Disorientated and shocked during the escape, she couldn't remember the way back to the camp.
Well so far, Sheena hasn't creepily confided to her doll about how fun it was watching all the Bermans bleed out to death, so guess she's just normal girl with doll after all. Okay it is just me or has there been a spate of blue and pink hair characters being ax murderers lately? That's where my suspicion is stemming from.
Hanna: So, you were separated from your family, too?
Chick: Families shouldn't be split up...!
Staying forthright about the many dangers that still lie ahead, the children offered Sheena to join the crew.
Malt: It would have been dangerous leaving you alone there, but coming with us might be just as bad. What do you want to do?
Hol' up: Magic is straight up realin this universe??? Was Hanna actually just singing the Taranis back to full health? What the hell?! Okay, so, uh, Sheena's just a straight up wizard! Meaning the Bermans were engaging in a literal witch hunt. So like, either they're on an anti-magic genocide crusade, or they want the magic powers for themselves ala FF6. And here I thought the plot was going to be a straightforward romp, wow!
Please tell me she just flings fireballs n' shit instead of manning any of the guns.
FUCKING. MAGIC.I'm going to move on I promise, but holy shit were you expecting that!? Okay let's check her stats, see if she has like, a separate MP bar or some other gimmick.
So, her gimmick is that she's underleveled. Goddammit. Like, Hanna, our weakest character, is level 11. Level scaling is clearly not in effect. At least we have another machine gunner now woopee. Not being sarcastic, but not overjoyed enough to give it an exclamation mark. Well, her support effect is a side grade of Hanna's as she heals SP instead of HP with normal attacks. Considering how Piercing Shot only uses 1, having Sheena around means that option will always be available. Maybe that's what so magical about her.
Well, consider me charmed as that Hero Mode sounds stupid busted. Being a machine gunner means she probably can't get too crazy with it, and seeing how she has Lullaby, she's likely not a combat focused gunner, unlike Kyle. Who knows, maybe she'll unlock some crazy lightning powers down the road. Frankly the SP regen is all I needed to make her an integral part of the main crew from here on out. ...wait she doesn't have any affinity with anyone dammit. Oh well, we'll just have to make do.
For the sake of comparison, she has 3 less attack n' speed, but 9 more luck than Mei who is at level 12. Kyle has 22 more attack over her and 11+ luck, but only 1 extra point in speed. Mind you, he's level 13 so hey, Sheena could seriously snowball. Is she the Est? That'd be the cherry on this already delightful sundae.
Man, the next intermission can't come soon enough! Anywho, presumably not as it'd be kind of backwards, but since the Normal Route is a straight shot ahead while the safe one has a number of branching paths, I wonder if the Dangerous Route is on that lane? Again, likely not, it's probably just Safe/Normal route divergences.
Your standard formation. Wait hold on: Are those fliers meant to look like bells on a cat? If so, that's adorable. Anyways! Since there's no major threats, I'm gonna take this opportunity to get the witch situated with Muggle technology.
"Whatever happened to being conservative?" You'll see, you'll see.
It's called exposure therapy, Socks. You'll get over your fear of talking with girls lickety split this way! Also goddamn, talk about a strong start for Sheena as she critted that flier.
Oh hey that's new!
Yowch, that was 500 damage. I really need to stop underestimating these things huh? Well anyways, Kyle takes that flier down no problem.
Through the magic of the druids, I increase my SP!
We only got 1 back, but hey, that's a Piercing Shot and as affinity is built up, the support effect just gets stronger. Sheena is about to be the most popular kid on the Taranis.
...I didn't accidentally feed the kids potatoes, (+Luck) right? Everyone is critting what sorcery is this???
Hey didn't we just fight these guys. Oh wait, no these are jeeps. Eh, same color. I'll deal with them more or less the same way I did last time.
But first, just gonna farm some SP.
I was being facetious earlier but I'm starting to consider if Sheena's magic is getting everyone to crit.
Well, guess magic has it's off days too as Kyle fails to get a crit off. Oh well, where wizardry fails, firepower prevails!
That 80% is lower than it looks as Boron missed twice, letting this one live. Gah. Eyy, we can farm more SP then and change out our formation, so it's not all that bad! shame about our health and speed score
Man, it's going to take a while to get Sheena up to speed huh. Also it may be Chick but like, one of the character's victory cry is "DO DO DOO DOOOO DOO DOOOO!!!" Oh these kids.
Wait this entire path has SP restoratives strewn out why am I being so miserly about this?
We still don't have a machine gun AOE attack but hey this is just a pit stop anyways so w/e.
Hmph, even with delays they're still too fast. At least Mei can cut ahead with Quick Assault.
Took some light damage. Hopefully we can still get an S.
Y'know, I was debating on whether or not I should swap out for Socks to get a cheeky SP restore, but I figured +1 to SP wasn't worth getting an A rank. Maybe I should've as the scoring for these are super lax as I've noted before but then forgot.
With everyone crewing a machine gun, they're all light speeds ahead of the enemy. All I need to do is kill the grenadier and the flier then that medic can't do shit. Or just kill the tank as the medic can't heal aerial units. Fliers still sting tho, so I can't just ignore it. Hrm. Sure, we'll get our SP topped off after this, but I'm gonna give myself a budget of 16 SP just so we'll come out of this with a net gain.
I guess the pit stop fliers are faster than the mixed formation ones as Kyle can get ahead of this unit. Well, that simplifies things. Socks and Hack are going to brutalize the tank, Kyle shoots down the flier, and then finish off the medic at our leisure. Not gonna do a formation switch as I don't want to end up in a scenario where I could really use one for the next wave, only to have it locked.
Huh, bulkier than I had remembered. ...shit I confused it for the jeeps again goddammit. Clearly it's the game's fault for defining armored cars as tanks.
Gonna withdraw 7 SP to finish it off.
GG EZ.
Yeah I'm going to go over budget for this. Sure, Chick may give us a -1 SP discount, but like, the odds of hitting the heavy choppa without Kyle is probably 40-60% so whatever. What we lose in SP we'll make up for in combat value.
Welp. So much for value. One of the shots on the choppa missed BTW fuckin' ell. I don't know if defending will protect us for two hits, or only one. I'm just going to cut out the guesswork by knocking off one of the tanks.
There goes S rank in damage. Gonna strip the armor off the choppa and then toss a Sock nade, finishing off the tank.
We started this fight with 65 SP and we're gonna end it with 43. Went 6 SP over, but hey not bad. I thought I was gonna blow a whole lot more than that.
Two A ranks, but our tech score was enough to secure an overall S rank. Thanks, tech!
Everyone who matters got a round of level ups, with Boron and Kyle getting to Affinity lv 3.
The Berman Empire is going to rue the day they messed with Petit Mona. Wish Socks got his speed up tho as like, while not cannoneer slow, he's just sluggish enough that a couple of enemies can get ahead of him. Throws a bit of a wrench in my plans whenever that happens.
Ok so like, there's nary a single healing pitstop ahead and my whole "Use SP to save on HP" really bit me in the ass. So, while I'm not gonna do it right this instant, I am going to pop one of these things. Didn't think I'd ever use one, but hey, evolve or die. If the game throws you a ton of SP pitstops but not a single HP one, you've gotta make your own.
This isn't a pitstop formation so I'm just gonna kill it. I don't think I'm gonna get a single affinity attack off with how much I'm swapping the crew around.
Holy shit Kyle almost just smoked that guy in a single round! Damn!
I could burn a formation switch to get Kyle up first to heal, then Socks can finish it off, but like nah fuck that I'll wait next wave.
A tad unfortunate. I was expecting the pit stop squad to show up but alas.
You know how we deal with these. That being said, I am sorely tempted to use Sharp Arrow just to see how much damage it does. I won't, but like, man, I know most turn based games don't have this feature, but it'd be neat if there was a training dummy enemy I could do skills on just to see what it does.
Now, this can get rather unpleasant. But these things are fragile so...
Y'know, I heard these two have been getting chummier with each other as of late. Just a rumor tho~
...entirely unfounded rumors as it turns out.
Miraculously surviving the wrath of Boron, it gets a haste off.
Which didn't help it much as Socks still could move before it could. Now, maybe this is overkill and I could just destroy it with a regular shot, but fuck it I ain't taking any more chances.
Is possible to build up a lv 1 affinity purely through battle, or do you need to talk to get that ball rolling? I do hope it's the former as otherwise this entire venture has been a colossal waste of time.
Rank: A S S
Yeah using 32 SP in one battle is kind of ass huh? Especially since I didn't need to use that stun grenade which would've saved us 7 SP. Better safe than sorry or translated in modern lingo: *huffs copium* The two benchwarmers got a level but no skills so they continue their sacred duty of keeping the seats toasty.
An Intermission is in sight, huzzah! But before Sheena can get acquainted with everyone, we've got some spelunking to do it'd seem.
"Shrine of the Moon God"
Maybe we can get a full moon sorcery here for Sheena.
Why would you ever say no unless you physically couldn't embark on one? It's not like you take damage from exploring.
Sheena needs all the XP she can get and Chick n' Hack haven't been doing much, so I want them to keep up with the others.
RET-2-GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
So this is Sheena's model. Her hair texture is kinda rough isn't it? I know all these models are fairly low poly but like, everyone else is fine enough that hers being slightly lower in quality sticks out. TBF, her hair model is a lot more complicated than the others.
This guy just ate two bullets and is still standing. PANIK
Here's hoping Door #1 has like, a BFG-9000...Nope just a single bullet. Maybe it'll be like Zelda where big foes only take 3 hits to kill.
All hail Zelda rules.
With that beastie down, the only thing left was a vase with a complimentary bullet off to the side. We found some bullshit to expand the facilities. I hope whatever it is is enough to level up the workshop as we've hit the cap on upgrades for the Taranis.
Where is this plot going. Are we going to get Occult Nazis??? Could this mean that cyber ghost thing is just someone fucking with the crew with magic? Fuckin' wizards man.
Where's your science now, huh, Socks?
Holy shit. So like, at the very least the Bermans are aware that magic is in fact, a real ass thing. Like they seem to be able to reliably track down n' gather up mages. Who else knows about magic being real? How commonplace is that awareness? FUCKING MAGIC.
Chick: It's so pretty!!
Hack: It's shiny...
Sheena: Th-thank you...
I get the impression that this scene is going to foreshadow how magic is looked down upon, as Sheena isn't used to being praised for her abilties. But, like, I'm sorry, I can't think of anything other than that in this universe, magic is real. I don't mean it in a demeaning "Ugh muh immersion". way either. Shit, if I was there in-universe I'd be running up n' down the Taranis going "MAGIC IS REAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!" that is so cool!
