Lia's BK tweets archive - 2020-11-10: Duke's Manor, Coccolith

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:18 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Today was beating up blobs until I got a Small Fire for another combo, then more chatting in Balançoire, and finally “Will it emulate correctly, Labyrinth of Mirrors edition”.
It doesn’t! But in a really weird way!

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:21 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, we’re off to the Manor, where we’ve been invited since we did save the Duke’s heir, after all.
Some randos are jerks to Kalas on the way.

Random NPC 1, offscreen: “Why did that one-winged freak come back anyway?”

Random NPC 1: “Malformed wings are the direct result of a malformed heart.”

Random NPC 2: “Yeah, what a miserable cursed life. That fire two years ago, he must have caused that, too.”

Kalas, to Xelha: “I’m used to it. People say those things all the time...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:24 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

While this has a layer of Fantasy Silliness, it’s an argument you’ll hear a lot IRL: the body reflects the heart / soul.
Fighting against that is a cornerstone of fat / disability liberation theory, especially when facial differences are concerned.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:24 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Sure would be nice if the game was consistent in that direction, instead of, notably, making the Evil Emperor fat and classically ugly.
Moving ooooooon

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:28 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

To the manor! The Duke seems kind, and apparently we have a “friend” who arrived earlier?
And Meemai makes friends on the piano. I kinda wish the thing went PLONG PLONG as the Greythornes bounce on it.

Calbren: “Welcome, travelers. I heard it was you who rescued my Melodia!”

Calbren: “Your other friend arrived a bit earlier.”

Meemai and another Greythorne bouncing on the piano keys, going squeak.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:31 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Off to the audience room, where Mizuti 1) is here 2) promptly scolds us for taking so darn long 3) drops a whole lot of words we don’t get yet (unless we’ve finished the game already, of course).

Kalas, shocked: “It’s you! What are you doing here?!”

Great Mizuti: “The Great Mizuti be here to protect the very important Bo.”

Great Mizuti: “Knew you be coming. Knew because she has the Earth Sphere.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:36 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Much blabbing ensues.
Xelha’s probably wrong here: number 3 should still be with Mélodia at this point, not yet handed to the Empire.

Xelha: “I have reason to believe you may know something about the End Magnus in this land...”

Mélodia: “I was just asking Grandfather that same question.”

Calbren: “Melodia told me what happened, but is Emperor Geldoblame really trying to obtain them?”

Xelha: “Three of the five End Magnus are already in his possession...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:39 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

We get a two-for-one explanation for why the End Magnus was gone from Détourne, and how Mira ended up floating between dimensions. A nice complement to the legend from last time.

Calbren: “The End Magnus sealed here was discovered by one of my ancestors, a historian. He found it in the [cont]”

Calbren: “[cont] Mystical Garden, and unsealed it by accident.”

Calbren: “This was what shifted Mira to waver across the boundary between the dimensions...”

Calbren: “The End Magnus now lies under this manor, heavily protected.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:45 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Mélodia is rightfully surprised to hear this, but gracefully accepts her duty as heiress of the Duchy of Mira.
DEFINITELY NO FURTHER PLANS, NO SIR

Mélodia: “In the basement? I would never have thought!”

Calbren: “It is a dark legacy, handed down from generation to generation by the Dukes of Mira.”

Calbren: “I wish we could simply forget about it, and just leave it sealed underground forever.”

Mélodia: “If this is the duty and birthright of our lineage, I will gladly take over the responsibility.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:47 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

You know the cliché about dotdotdot dialog in JRPGs?
Well, sometimes it looks like nothing on first go, but makes you yell a lot when replaying.
“DON’T WORRY”, SHE SAID, RIGHT BEFORE WE FOCUS ON OUR PROTAGONIST FOR NO REASON

Mélodia: “Please don’t worry. I will bear the burden of my heritage.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:51 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Giacomo, who apparently can just punch his way in silently then teleport out, was eavesdropping and now knows where to go.
Literally, he disappears in a stack of glowing circles, that looks like teleporting to me. Why.

Calbren: “The entrance is in our ancestors’ shrine room.”

Giacomo, off-screen: “You should have told her earlier. Things would have been much easier...”

Giacomo, at the entrance of the audience room: “I’ll be relieving you of your precious End Magnus.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:52 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

We rush to the museum room - lovely collection by the way - where the secret passage has been opened.

Great Mizuti: “This not be good! They’re trying to wake it! The Great Mizuti must hurry!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:54 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

File one more thing in the large “No time to explain” box, and here’s Party Member Six.
We’re now a full team and will definitely not go back down at any point no sir.

Kalas: “Wait! What in the world are you?!”

Xelha: “Kalas, that can wait! We have to go after the End Magnus!”

Kalas: “Yeah... right! Okay then, Mizuti. Let’s go together!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:56 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Mizuti comes in at Class 3 and more than 20000XP behind the rest of the crew, OUCH. I didn’t grind /that/ much.

Camp menu, showing the character roster. Mizuti has 25000XP, the rest of the party over 53000.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:59 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

And then, we enter Coccolith, the Labyrinth of Mirrors. Which is unquestionably doing fucky rendering things as you can see but WHY IS THE FINAL BLIT THE WRONG ASPECT RATIO.
It fixes itself in combat, too, then breaks again!

The image broken like a shattered mirror, showing various angles in the different shards. Aspect ratio is widescreen and distorted.

Combat against a spider-like creature, correct 4:3 aspect ratio.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 01:00 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Every room does something different, so we’ll see what other fun glitches happen and whether I can be arsed to tweak settings until it behaves, or whether I just push through.
Definitely gonna have to step through this code at some point, I’m so curious.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 01:01 AM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Next time: likely more graphics coder complaints and possibly some tech tweaks, or nothing until the boss.
Mostly this hinges on the boss room not being fucked. We’ll see!