Lia's BK tweets archive - 2021-09-10: Stalker sidequest, Verus, off to disk 2 and Anuénué, Bird Problem solved on first try

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:22 PM · Sep 09, 2021 Permalink

Today: talk to Verus, then head to Anuénué. I’m told I’m about to run into a bird problem. We’ll see how that goes?

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:55 PM · Sep 09, 2021 Permalink

[cw: stalking]
My actual first errand was completing the stalker sidequest and I Do Not Like It.
You have to pester her THREE TIMES! After which she runs away! That’s not okay! This shit had better not end with her realizing she actually likes him.

Frightened Girl: “It’s not that I don’t enjoy [blue text] sweet songs [end blue text], but this is just... ugh! Ugh, just him singing it makes it gross!”

Frightened Girl: “Wh-what gives? Is this guy really THAT desperate?! His sappy-sweet songs make me sick!”

Frightened Girl: “I’m in bodily danger from this maniac! My chastity is at risk!”

Frightened Girl: “I’ve got to run! I’ve got to get the heck out of here!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:56 PM · Sep 09, 2021 Permalink

Boohoo. Go jump in the nearby lava, dude.

Singing Man: “Oh, alack and alaaas! My lady’s gone awaaay!”

Villager: “That obnoxious idiot finally shoved off. The flowers look happy to have him gone, too.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:00 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

The chat with Verus is short and purely functional. Off to Anuénué then.
I wouldn’t expect Her Majesty to be super fond of machina.

Verus: “So Sadal Suud has fallen as well...”

Geldoblame: “The Machina Vanguard has forces in both Diadem and Sadal Suud now. Which leaves but one continent—“

Verus: “Anuenue... Their queen, the fairy guide Corellia, is not an easy person to win over.”

Verus: “Sagi, fly to Anuenue. I want you to start by finding out Corellia’s stance on promachination.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:06 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

On the way there, we get a bit more background on Milly, and Guillo almost softens up.
She commuted by ship EVERY SINGLE DAY, apparently. Way to make the world feel tiny, if she is indeed from Alfard.
(I suspect she isn’t)

Milly: “Anuenue... Wow, it’s been years! I haven’t been back since I graduated from school.”

Guillo: “I thought you said you were a sheltered girl who had never seen the outside world?”

Milly: “Well... I was. My trips to and from the school every day were chaperoned.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:09 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

More background. On top of the brief scare at the end of Sadal Suud, this is clearly the writing pushing her and Sagi closer together.
Knowing this IP that’s just gonna set up for a betrayal of some sort isn’t it

Sagi: “Hey, um... Milly. What’s school like, anyway? I wouldn’t really know.”

Milly: “The school of Magic is supposed to be for people who care about continuing their education.”

Milly: “But I wasn’t like that at all. Sure, I did the work and learned the lessons...”

Milly: “but what I really wanted was to see all the things I’d read about with my own two eyes. So I ran away...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:11 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

I’m yet again on team Guillo

Sagi: “I mean—you’re super smart, and that’s been a huge help.”

Milly: “R-Really? You think I’m smart? Oh, I don’t know... Hee hee hee...”

Guillo: “Please! Stop that offensive giggling.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:13 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

SUDDEN SCREENSHAKE.
I knew that if it was showing us the trip that was a bad sign.
An Imperial ship without weapons sure wouldn’t happen in EW
(Oh also forgot to mention but this is now disk 2, we’ve made it)

Sagi: “It’s a Dark Service patrol ship!”

Sfida Attendant: “No, miss! The Sfida’s not equipped with a weapons system. We’ll just have to try to outfly them...”

The Sfida getting zapped by a giant beam of light from the pursuing ship.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:15 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Aaaaaand crash. Woopsee that sure looks like the jungle you can’t get out of without a magic stone.

Sfida Attendant: “Damn! They knocked out the propulsion system! We’re going down!”

Anuenue island map, showing a smoking ship heading straight for the jungle.

The Sfida, crashed and smoking black. The party and the ship’s pilot are lying on the ground nearby.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:18 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Check that everyone’s fine...
That pilot is really absurdly nice for an Imperial. I’ll be surprised if he makes it to the end.

Sfida Attendant: “I... I’m sorry. It took all I had just to set us down in one piece.”

Sfida Attendant: “When I think of what might have happened if we’d been flying over a city...”

Sagi: “Guillo, are you OK? No broken parts?”

Guillo: “Sagi, how long have we been together? This was nothing. How about yourself?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:19 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

*eyeroll*

Sagi: “Milly! Your sleeve is torn—are you hurt?”

Milly: “What?! No! I’m fine. Really. You can stop staring already!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:23 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Once Milly realizes where we are, she starts freaking out...
This makes the ship convo feel clumsy, because it immediately puts the “You know stuff, that helps!” and the “I want to see things myself” into action and tension. It’s almost forced.

Milly: “Oh, no. This is bad. Really, really bad.”

Sagi: “Seriously, what’s wrong, Milly? Is this place dangerous or something?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:25 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Obligatory Landmark Stone explanation...

Milly: “They say that even the most seasoned travelers get lost in this jungle.”

Milly: “You need this rock called a [blue text] landmark stone [end blue text] that’s been bewitched by the headmaster of the [...]”

Milly: “[...] School of Magic—otherwise you can never escape!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:27 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

And obligatory Party Tension

Milly: “How can you be so calm, dummy! Go ahead, kick back while you rot to death—“

Milly: “but I’m not ready to turn into Holoholo compost, YOU GOT ME?”

Sagi: “Uh... OK. Why don’t we calm down a little? I’m sure there’s a way out.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:31 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Oh look, a bird!
Guillo sounds completely relaxed and maybe just a tiny bit not super bright. Milly is losing her shit as indicated by her suddenly sounding like a calm teacher.

Milly: “Oh no oh no! Was that a Holoholobird?! We can’t let it find us, or else!”

Guillo: “I think it found us. But look, it’s carrying young. Doesn’t that make it a friendly bird?”

Milly: “Ooh... Why do I bother getting mad? The Holoholobird carries its young when it goes hunting for [...]”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:33 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Aaaand fight! Look at those babies, they’re adorable.

Milly: “Which means, it’s HUNTING FOR FOOD RIGHT NOW!”

Sagi: “Stop arguing! This isn’t the time! Get your magnus ready!”

A large bird towering over a baby chick, facing the party in combat.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:35 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

The babies peck you to hell and can knock you down, the bird’s got an AOE knockout. Kill the adds and the bird lays an egg that hatches after one turn to replace them.
The chicks ALSO have a massive heal, making this a complete Annoying Boss Fight Bingo.

Combat screen, showing the entire party knocked down and a bird looking too proud of itself.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:37 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

Still, the deck eventually gets rolling, the big bird goes down, the adds DO NOT DISAPPEAR - rude - and I end the mess with a ridiculous full-party relay.
Hey this was actually a fun fight for once, I might not completely hate his system?
(Yes, first try)

Combat screen, showing the bird lying on the ground.

End of combat, turn damage lingering on screen: “12 cards, 18 hirs, 1772 damage, +1000 TP bonus”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:42 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

It sure was a big bird.
Also: Guillo apparently has no tastebuds and does not need to eat, probably to keep room for all those ill-behaved children.

Sagi: “I didn’t really have time to notice before, but that is one big bird...”

Guillo: “You certainly won’t go hungry if we end up stranded here. It might even taste like clucker.”

Guillo: “... Not that I’d know the difference.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:44 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

We need to get ahead of the people who keep beating us anyway, and the Sfida Attendant will just do his thing. K.

Sagi: “Stop that. We can’t just sit around, or Shanath and his goons will get a head start.”

Sfida Attendant: “I should stay here and try to repair the Sfida. You continue the operation, Master Sagi.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:46 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

As to how I managed first try, well. Probably a bit overleveled, still running Easy Mode - for the breathing room it provides more than anything else - and since I was warned, you could say I stacked the deck.

Main menu, showing the party level 32 and with more than 2000 health each.

Quest Magnus screen, showing 10 Mountain Apples which boost health and 4 Spark Shroom which boost thunder offense.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:49 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

But I can see how the fight can turn hellish. You can’t stay ahead if you keep killing the ads, so you need to focus on the boss. But then they heal it, so you need them gone. It becomes a tricky clockwork exercise, with the knockouts making it harder.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:51 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

But I had AOE attacks in the deck, which eventually let me build to a turn focused on the bird but knocking both chicks out at once, with enough MP to chain a few things and make it go splat.
Plus a crapton of apples and careful heals to stay topped up, no one ever went down.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:52 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

So, yeah. By far the most interesting fight in the game so far IMO, but putting it in a dead end is... cruel.
Anyhow! Next time, jungle exploration funnytimes?

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:54 AM · Sep 10, 2021 Permalink

PS: Need a Holoholo chick plushie. Adding that to the mesh rip list / project pile