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Octopath Traveler! A game recommended by various friends, while other friends looked dubious. The basic premise seems to be that there are eight separate protagonists you get to play stories for, but they can meet up and you make a party out of three of them.
Which I like as a premise, because it means the whole game doesn't live or die for me based on a particular singular protagonist. (And let's be honest, a lot of JRPGs have terrible protagonists.) Having started watching a friends Suikoden III LP recently, in which you get to see the same world events from multiple perspectives with different protags, I am all the more jazzed about this premise lately, even if the eight storylines are, I think, pretty distinct.
So, on account of finding it amusing to do this sort of low-effort not-really-LP thing, I'm gonna try the same thing with this as I'm doing with Radiant Historia: a sort of running commentary stored here, with enough summary thrown in that it should make sense. Think of it as me live-tweeting my video game playing, except without the 'live' part or spamming everyone who follows me on Twitter.
Which is a lot more than the people who follow me on DW, but I figure at least 50% of my Twitter followers are bots or something anyway. So it evens out.
* It looks very old-school. Which is sort of funny to me, because I never really played the old-school JRPGs; the first Final Fantasy I played at any length was FFX. So I don't really get the nostalgic hit on the more pixel-y look. But that does seem to make it easier for smaller studios to release full length games, so that's good.
* So, my options!
* Ophilia, the cleric, is helping her sister prep for pilgrimage. What could possibly go wrong?
* H'aanit, the hunter, is part of an ancient clan. According to the art, she does not believe in wearing much clothing in the snow.
* Therion, the thief, has a mysterious past and wants money.
* Alfyn, the apothecary, is leaving his village to apothecaze at other people.
* Primrose, the dancer, has a tragic backstory and I've been warned off her.
* Olberic, the warrior, has angst over teaching people to sword instead of swording properly himself.
* Tressa, the merchant, is singing the Moana song about wanting something across the water, until Sudden Boat.
* Cyrus, the scholar, has insatiable curiosity, which always ends well.
* After much fussing, and checking with someone to confirm that H'aanit does actually wear clothes, I decide to start with Ophilia.
* Ophilia and Lianna are blond girls in white dresses giggling as they exchange blessings in a bunkroom. Lianna is gonna make a pilgrimage, just like her dad! Chibi pixel art being what it is, I'm not sure if they're, like, eight years or twenty-eight.
* "As the archbishop's only trueborn daughter, everyone always expects so much from you." Ah, so Ophilia is the natural child. "Each of your sermons is more inspiring than the last." Equal opportunity pseudo-Catholics! Excellent!
* The interface seems pretty nice so far. Basic intuitive movement, and instead of a minimap, a little 'radar' that points to the next plot point, sidequests, items, save points, and so forth.
* Ah, backstory of the 13 gods. That's an unusual num--oh one of them's gonna be Satan, check. 12 gods good, Galdera cruel lord of most infernal magics, Aelfric the Flamebringer won and sealed Galdera away, now we've got a Sacred Flame on the Land of Orsterra. Amen.
* Archbishop Josef wanders in to exposit that it's been 15 years since Ophilia came to the church as a starving orphan. I still say she's his natural daughter.
* Ophilia's nickname is Phili, pronounced "Feely". Okay then.
* Anyway, Josef's daughters tease him about being lousy at housekeeping, and this is a happy and sweet little family unit, What Could Possibly Go Wrong.
* Liana is ready to go to the Cave of Origin! ...okay what are the chances she's going to accidentally unleash Galdera?
* I mean his name sounds like 'Caldera'. He should be sealed in a volcano. But anyway.
* She's supposed to go pick up an ember from the First Flame, and go around lighting the sacred fires in churches across the land. So that's a pretty serious pilgrimage, there.
* This journey has been made without fail every twenty years ever since ancient times! But a lot of the people who made the journey never came back because of all the beasts and villains out there, so I guess 'without fail' just means starting the trip! Good luck! Maybe we should've trained you in swords and not just in being a priestess!
* Dad's got a cough he tells us not to worry about. He's doomed.
* The art style is actually quite nice. They have enough effects on the pixel-based art that it looks good.
* Just wildly misinterpreted 'Press and hold B to skip' as meaning, like, skipping gaily along, and thus skipped a conversation. But it seems to involve me helping this small child find. Someone. Because Ophilia's special ability is to Guide, which lets her lead people around. I now have a child following me! While we look for... someone... he lost.
* Well, this is what quest markers are for.
* I end up outside, and discover first, that we live in a very snowy land indeed, and second, that this boy wanted to find his mother. Which we now have.
* Ophilia is surprised to find someone talk about the archbishop being proud of his 'two daughters'. Kid, you've lived in his house for fifteen years, and you were an 'orphan'. You're his daughter, whether or not biology is involved.
* Back in the cathedral, a strange man identified as ???? and dressed mostly in black says hello. Mattias! A trader! Wants to talk with the archbishop. He's here to get Liana kitted out, so maybe she /has/ been learning swordplay.
* Nun Interrupt! The archbishop has collapsed!
* Dad insists the Rite must be carried out, and then is "only resting." I know what that means when it happens to parrots, lady.
* Now I need to go find my Anxious Sister on a hill. I tell a random cleric to follow me, because, hey, since I can...
* I thought I was talking to a small child with a sidequest, but actually it's a book on a pedestal that lets me save. In my defense, with all this snow and people in wooly hats, it's an easy mistake to make.
* The hill Liana is chilling on is more like a giant cliff. I assume a lot of switchbacks are involved.
* Chilling! Ha ha! But seriously I assume it's midwinter, because even if these are the 'Frostlands' we gotta support our ecosystem at some point.
* Anyway, Liana is not so much chilling as having a meltdown because her father collapsed, she's supposed to go on a pilgrimage, and she can't show weakness in front of anyone because she's the fallback leader for the community.
* Flashback to tiny orphan backstory! Ophilia's family was lost in the war. I feel a tiny bit bad about the 'natural child' comments. Especially since Lianna's work to help her new sister adjust is very sweet.
* Ophilia decides that if she does the Rite, her sister can stay home with dad. The church may be upset! But someone has to do it, and her sister's helped her so much. (Presumably the cleric I have trailing around behind me doesn't know what I'm planning.)
* I have acquired a healing grape! And a random encounter! Oh, good, they're explaining basic combat.
* Fortunately, ice lizardmen are weak to staves.
* Also, you get one BP per turn, and you can spend up to three BP to boost your character by that many levels for an attack (and then not get BP the following turn). Nice.
* Oo, the cleric I'm guiding acts as a summon. Neat.
* I almost got a level! I got no items! I got 2 JP, whatever those are!
* Next up: ice squirrels! Okay, technically they're snow marmots.
* Oh, hey, my heal spell is pretty good. Leveled up twice! Still no loot!
* Swapping from my cleric to one of the guys guarding the cave, since that way I get a fresh set of summons to pull someone in to help me with battle. Let's hope Prayer is as good as Ice Storm.
* Okay who puts a single Healing Grape in an entire treasure chest anyway. Or are these also full of cash, and I'm ignoring all that worldly treasure?
* Inside the cave: an ice wolf! And--oh heck Prayer /heals me/, I am pleased.
* An Inspiring Plum? Is this cave just a big fridge?
* Oo, I can learn skills now.
* Refreshing jam. This is totally what the village uses as a fridge.
* There's a peddler, but I'm good; I already have two Olives of Life on hand.
* Look, it's the First Flame! It's talking to me in all "Of thee who dost treaden in these halls" bad oldie-timey English!
* "If thou wouldst call thyself the Flamebearer, thou must prove thyself worthy!" And now there's a giant ice golem to fight. Okay maybe Lianna /was/ training in combat all these years.
* Wait, the Guardian of the Sacred Flame gets stronger as we fight it? This is worrisome.
* I'm running out of summons on this Knight Ardante who's been following me; he keeps retreating from battle! I guess it's technically my battle, not his, after all. He's got another job.
* "Three more turns..." "Two more turns..." UNTIL WHAT.
* Until 'Flame of Heavens' damn near murders me. I wish I could see a hit point bar on these guys.
* Good god that was a long fight. ...and I didn't even level from it.
* But I got an Inspiriting Plum Basket! Yum!
* "Thou hast been judged worthy to bearen the Sacred Flame." If this is how the gods speak, I don't wanna be a priestess anymore. But now I'm supposed to take up Aelfric's Lanthorn.
* Is... is a Lanthorn like a lantern?
* It's a lantern.
* Thank god I got to warp straight back home, since my companion was out of summons.
* Dad's awake! Time for an awkward conversation! Starting with Dad pointing out that it is 'a grave sin' to go into that cave without permission. But it moves on to Dad worrying about how we went in without any real prep, and just to keep Lianna less stressed. Also, he has to speak to the pontiff about the change in plans, so I guess an Archbishop is not a Pope.
* Apparently when he took us in, he had a dream of us toting the Flame, so maybe we really should've been the one training all along. Ah well.
* And apparently he feels Lianna "has given up much of her true self to be who she must be for the church," so maybe we should've addressed this years ago, Dad, and you could've let her become a blacksmith or something instead.
* Also, he's pretty sure he's dying.
* Jump cut to... Setting out! Lianna is much happier staying home with Dad, and Ophilia is apparently destined to take the flame places, so there we go. Lianna confesses she's relieved she's not doing the journey, which is good; I was worried she would feel robbed, or betrayed, or like all her training was wasted. I wouldn't want to leave on a bad note. She's my beloved sister.
* "And so my journey begins. To Saintsbridge, Goldshore, and finally back to Flamesgrace." ...what, there are only two stops? I was picturing, like, a dozen cities. That's not so bad. Take a cleric.
* I've been released to wander the town, while they suggest I check out other characters. It turns out some people I can't guide until I'm higher level. 15 more levels until I can guide the Drunken Soldier with the special move Noisome Breath...
* I can pick up side quests, but I suspect I'll need other characters to complete them. No clear way to figure out if ice giants are real, or clear the name of this kid's dead dad, so far.
* Out into the wilderness between cities, with my beloved follower, uh, Random Dude Whose Designation I've Already Forgotten. I think he was from the tavern and does wind attacks. We'll find out.
* I've met... Kit! He needed a healing grape! He's searching for his missing father! He does not join my party. That was barely a sidequest. Good money, though.
* Hm. I rapidly hit plains, and giant poisonous frogs. Time to fast-travel back home, and pick up someone with a bow, since these things aren't weak to wind or punching.
* You know what's vulnerable to bows? Snow foxes. And now I know.
* My next chapter is a long, long way away, and I'm suppose to be level 23 for it. Current level: 6. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take the whole land route to that, or start someone else's chapter, meet up with another person in their city, or what. Hm. Well, I'll head to the nearest dude, and figure it out as I go. If nothing else, I'll get some grinding on me.
* After consulting a friend: since you can't get a new protagonist without starting a new game, what you do is go to the city of the person you want to add to the party, get a little bit of intro for them, and then team up and move onward. Cool! Anyway, now I'm fighting what looks like a tiger balanced on its tale and carrying a backpack.
* It is not vulnerable at all to arrows, and it uses a move called 'Grooming' to restore HP. It is a Cait. I wish I could just buy stuff from it instead.
* ...it went poof at the second attack. I got a ton of money, a ton of XP, and a ton of JP. I went from level 6 to level 14. The hell.
* Newest enemy: a zombie pig called a Meep. I worry about anyone living on these plains.
* I have finally reached Atlasdam! Everyone is talking about books! I have swapped my companion to a dude saying he just cares about his cows. His special skill is Healing Grape. He says, as he joins me, "Greeting, Sister. Fine cows, are they not?" They are, brother. They are.
* I have found Cyrus! He's a prof at the Royal Academy. Apparently he spends his time in the library. Legit.
* I have agreed to hear the beginning of his story. Cut to... Cyrus lecturing two people in a very large room for three people total.
* Atlasdam was founded two centuries ago, and "our fair city-state is among the longest-standing on the continent of Orsterra." For once, a fantasy setting where things aren't thousands and thousands of years old everywhere!
* Pop quiz! What other well-established city-state fell eight years ago! One student, Therese, does not know the answer. For shame, Therese! (Cyrus insists "There's no shame in not knowing an answer, so long as you have a desire to learn.")
* Hornburg! It was a monarchy! I dunno if this will be important. Anyway, he asks the next question of 'Your Highness', which helps explain why he's lecturing to exactly two students.
* Princess Mary is /prepared/ for her question.
* Anyway. Clans at war, invasion of Grandport, unified Flatlands, there goes the bell.
* Cyrus Albright finally has permission to enter the /special/ archives. This will end well.
* Therese and Princess Mary both try to intercept him on the way. Naturally, the Princess wins. She wants to know what the Hornburg monarchy worshipped! Turns out all the books that said that were burned and lost in the fall of the city. That... that was eight years ago! I guess they /really/ didn't proselytize. This is the problem with mystery religions, dammit. Very hard on scholarship.
* Therese's courage fails, and she does not ask her question. Aw.
* The university has, like, five rooms, if you count the headmaster's office. I am not sure I'm impressed.
* At least the library is impressive! Especially for a pseudo-Renaissance city. Good shelves. Well filled. Brightly lit. Big checkout desk. Approve.
* "When I heard that an original copy of The Church of the Flame: A Complete Historie had been donated to our archives, I simply had to be the first to see it." Uh-oh.
* Cyrus is a bit pompous, but he's so happy, I can't hold it against him. And he's "titillated" by the prospect of new books, so that's a point in his favor.
* The book is...not in place. He even checks the shelves nearby in case it was returned to the wrong spot! Gasp! How could it go missing? But the headmaster wants to talk, so he asks the librarian to look while he's in yet another faculty meeting, ugh.
* The headmaster is unhappy because of Cyrus's recent publication. This is what tenure is for, man! You run things past your advisor or supervisor until then!
* Specifically, he's angry that a publicly available treatise uses info from the Special Archives, because that's not for just everyone. Hm. So much for the 'Oh, the university is open to all!' gushing from outside.
* So, it's a freedom of information academic slapfight. Excellent.
* Cyrus goes off to get his research done, and... Therese is there to see the Headmaster!
* The book is still missing. Has it been.... STOLEN?!?!!?
* Ooo, Cyrus's special ability is Scrutinize: press Y in front of a person, and instead of following you around, you can analyze them for Helpful Clues and Testimony.
* He does a little dramatic twirl with his cape and then rests his chin on his hand. Oh, Cyrus, you're really growing on me.
* Can't follow plot, too busy getting backstory on all the unnamed NPCs and then looting hidden items from the bushes based on doing so.
* Anyway, we are putting together CLUES, and suspect the tome has been stolen by a scholar we interviewed who has serious gambling debts and knows the books are valuable.
* Russell. How could you.
* It turns out that when Russell is rumored to do underground research, they mean that literally.
* Cut back to: Cyrus explaining this to Ophilia. Now the three of us--Cyrus! Ophilia! Guy who likes cows!--can take on the dungeon.
* This is very classic cave. Rocks, stalagmites, etc. The humidity in here can't be good for books.
* Cyrus also starts with 'Study Foe' and picks out one of their weaknesses. Okay. We're never taking him out of the party.
* Man. Dude With Cows does more damage than anyone else in the party! ...to be fair, the rest of the people in the party are Young Priestess and Bookish Professor, so.
* To be fair, Cyrus does a lot better once I realize he has Fireball and Icewind, multi-hit elemental spells.
* Combat also goes better once I realize that party members track their Battle Points separately.
* Oh no, Russell! What illicit magics are you getting up to in your cave lab?
* "It was the perfect plan! If not for your bloody meddling, I could have had it all!" ...a single rare book?
* Russel is weird and giant and in a different art style from all our pixelated heroes in the boss fight. It's sort of unnerving.
* But don't worry, Guy With Cow is here to help us!
* Taking down Russell took forever. I can't believe Cyrus didn't level off that. The fight must be a nightmare if you do it alone. Unless they adjust the level if you bring in a party... Hm.
* Anyway, now that Russell is down, Cyrus is lecturing him about Freedom Of Information.
* Back in the library, the librarian says there's a full confession, all the missing books can be purchased back... oh, except for _From The Far Reaches of Hell_. That one's been missing for fifteen years. Not Russell's fault.
* The headmaster wants to see us again! Is it for congratulations? Probably not.
* Guy With Cow is out of summons, so I pick up a merchant. "Despite what you think, I am particularly devout," he says.
* ...then I swap him out for Elderly Woman, who has a higher strength, and casts Fire Storm.
* An anonymous source claims that Cyrus is in an illicit relationship with the princess! ...which seems pretty unlikely to be true, given Cyrus's clear bibliophile nature. I don't think he's interested in anyone who doesn't have pages.
* The headmaster notes that even a /rumor/ could mess with the princess's reputation. Which would be terrible. But firing Cyrus would make people think the rumor is true! Even worse! So how about a nice long research sabbatical, somewhere distant?
* Screw it, says Cyrus, I might as well go look for that book.
* Outside, Therese is full of apologetic "...!" sounds. Cyrus is mostly confused as to her motive. "I just wanted you to...pay more attention to me." Kid, did you ever consider his /office hours/?
* Cyrus admits he has, in fact, been neglecting Therese in favor of Princess Mary. Dude, you had /two students/!
* Therese thinks he's realized she's in love with him! He has, in fact, concluded that she's actually a passionate scholar, just shy. He should've noticed that Therese didn't ask as many questions, and adjusted his teaching style accordingly! (It never would've worked, Therese.) "Yes, if only I had seen you for the ardent and devoted young scholar that you are!"
* This is genuinely hilarious. Poor kid.
* "Professor, perhaps you're not quite as sharp as I thought you were."
* By scrutinizing the right person, we unlocked "The residents of this city will be more receptive to your guidance." Huh. Scrutinize someone else, we got Better Bargaining, and a better chance of getting a discount on purchases. Man. Cyrus needs to look at ALL THE PEOPLE.
* Scrutinizing the Guy With Cow gets us an inn discount. Sweet.
* Ooo. Now using my Y actions gets a failure chance, and if I fail too often, my reputation suffers. Reputation gets too low, people stop responding. So I can't just tell people to follow me indefinitely, or constantly stare at folks. Good to know.
* Good god, the Old Woman just flame-punched ice lizards for 380 damage.
* Anyway, off to find myself a hunter!
* What a lovely swamp I've found. I must almost be to the hunting village.
* These forest ratkin have rather fetching grass skirts. I feel bad about killing them, but they did shoot me in the face with arrows first.
* And after getting lost in the swamp for a while, I have finally located S'warkii.
* "Oft doth our hunters venturen unto the Whisperwood to honen their skills." I... I need sleep before I can deal with this accent.
* Man. 4 hours, 15 minutes. I need sleep.
Which I like as a premise, because it means the whole game doesn't live or die for me based on a particular singular protagonist. (And let's be honest, a lot of JRPGs have terrible protagonists.) Having started watching a friends Suikoden III LP recently, in which you get to see the same world events from multiple perspectives with different protags, I am all the more jazzed about this premise lately, even if the eight storylines are, I think, pretty distinct.
So, on account of finding it amusing to do this sort of low-effort not-really-LP thing, I'm gonna try the same thing with this as I'm doing with Radiant Historia: a sort of running commentary stored here, with enough summary thrown in that it should make sense. Think of it as me live-tweeting my video game playing, except without the 'live' part or spamming everyone who follows me on Twitter.
Which is a lot more than the people who follow me on DW, but I figure at least 50% of my Twitter followers are bots or something anyway. So it evens out.
* It looks very old-school. Which is sort of funny to me, because I never really played the old-school JRPGs; the first Final Fantasy I played at any length was FFX. So I don't really get the nostalgic hit on the more pixel-y look. But that does seem to make it easier for smaller studios to release full length games, so that's good.
* So, my options!
* Ophilia, the cleric, is helping her sister prep for pilgrimage. What could possibly go wrong?
* H'aanit, the hunter, is part of an ancient clan. According to the art, she does not believe in wearing much clothing in the snow.
* Therion, the thief, has a mysterious past and wants money.
* Alfyn, the apothecary, is leaving his village to apothecaze at other people.
* Primrose, the dancer, has a tragic backstory and I've been warned off her.
* Olberic, the warrior, has angst over teaching people to sword instead of swording properly himself.
* Tressa, the merchant, is singing the Moana song about wanting something across the water, until Sudden Boat.
* Cyrus, the scholar, has insatiable curiosity, which always ends well.
* After much fussing, and checking with someone to confirm that H'aanit does actually wear clothes, I decide to start with Ophilia.
* Ophilia and Lianna are blond girls in white dresses giggling as they exchange blessings in a bunkroom. Lianna is gonna make a pilgrimage, just like her dad! Chibi pixel art being what it is, I'm not sure if they're, like, eight years or twenty-eight.
* "As the archbishop's only trueborn daughter, everyone always expects so much from you." Ah, so Ophilia is the natural child. "Each of your sermons is more inspiring than the last." Equal opportunity pseudo-Catholics! Excellent!
* The interface seems pretty nice so far. Basic intuitive movement, and instead of a minimap, a little 'radar' that points to the next plot point, sidequests, items, save points, and so forth.
* Ah, backstory of the 13 gods. That's an unusual num--oh one of them's gonna be Satan, check. 12 gods good, Galdera cruel lord of most infernal magics, Aelfric the Flamebringer won and sealed Galdera away, now we've got a Sacred Flame on the Land of Orsterra. Amen.
* Archbishop Josef wanders in to exposit that it's been 15 years since Ophilia came to the church as a starving orphan. I still say she's his natural daughter.
* Ophilia's nickname is Phili, pronounced "Feely". Okay then.
* Anyway, Josef's daughters tease him about being lousy at housekeeping, and this is a happy and sweet little family unit, What Could Possibly Go Wrong.
* Liana is ready to go to the Cave of Origin! ...okay what are the chances she's going to accidentally unleash Galdera?
* I mean his name sounds like 'Caldera'. He should be sealed in a volcano. But anyway.
* She's supposed to go pick up an ember from the First Flame, and go around lighting the sacred fires in churches across the land. So that's a pretty serious pilgrimage, there.
* This journey has been made without fail every twenty years ever since ancient times! But a lot of the people who made the journey never came back because of all the beasts and villains out there, so I guess 'without fail' just means starting the trip! Good luck! Maybe we should've trained you in swords and not just in being a priestess!
* Dad's got a cough he tells us not to worry about. He's doomed.
* The art style is actually quite nice. They have enough effects on the pixel-based art that it looks good.
* Just wildly misinterpreted 'Press and hold B to skip' as meaning, like, skipping gaily along, and thus skipped a conversation. But it seems to involve me helping this small child find. Someone. Because Ophilia's special ability is to Guide, which lets her lead people around. I now have a child following me! While we look for... someone... he lost.
* Well, this is what quest markers are for.
* I end up outside, and discover first, that we live in a very snowy land indeed, and second, that this boy wanted to find his mother. Which we now have.
* Ophilia is surprised to find someone talk about the archbishop being proud of his 'two daughters'. Kid, you've lived in his house for fifteen years, and you were an 'orphan'. You're his daughter, whether or not biology is involved.
* Back in the cathedral, a strange man identified as ???? and dressed mostly in black says hello. Mattias! A trader! Wants to talk with the archbishop. He's here to get Liana kitted out, so maybe she /has/ been learning swordplay.
* Nun Interrupt! The archbishop has collapsed!
* Dad insists the Rite must be carried out, and then is "only resting." I know what that means when it happens to parrots, lady.
* Now I need to go find my Anxious Sister on a hill. I tell a random cleric to follow me, because, hey, since I can...
* I thought I was talking to a small child with a sidequest, but actually it's a book on a pedestal that lets me save. In my defense, with all this snow and people in wooly hats, it's an easy mistake to make.
* The hill Liana is chilling on is more like a giant cliff. I assume a lot of switchbacks are involved.
* Chilling! Ha ha! But seriously I assume it's midwinter, because even if these are the 'Frostlands' we gotta support our ecosystem at some point.
* Anyway, Liana is not so much chilling as having a meltdown because her father collapsed, she's supposed to go on a pilgrimage, and she can't show weakness in front of anyone because she's the fallback leader for the community.
* Flashback to tiny orphan backstory! Ophilia's family was lost in the war. I feel a tiny bit bad about the 'natural child' comments. Especially since Lianna's work to help her new sister adjust is very sweet.
* Ophilia decides that if she does the Rite, her sister can stay home with dad. The church may be upset! But someone has to do it, and her sister's helped her so much. (Presumably the cleric I have trailing around behind me doesn't know what I'm planning.)
* I have acquired a healing grape! And a random encounter! Oh, good, they're explaining basic combat.
* Fortunately, ice lizardmen are weak to staves.
* Also, you get one BP per turn, and you can spend up to three BP to boost your character by that many levels for an attack (and then not get BP the following turn). Nice.
* Oo, the cleric I'm guiding acts as a summon. Neat.
* I almost got a level! I got no items! I got 2 JP, whatever those are!
* Next up: ice squirrels! Okay, technically they're snow marmots.
* Oh, hey, my heal spell is pretty good. Leveled up twice! Still no loot!
* Swapping from my cleric to one of the guys guarding the cave, since that way I get a fresh set of summons to pull someone in to help me with battle. Let's hope Prayer is as good as Ice Storm.
* Okay who puts a single Healing Grape in an entire treasure chest anyway. Or are these also full of cash, and I'm ignoring all that worldly treasure?
* Inside the cave: an ice wolf! And--oh heck Prayer /heals me/, I am pleased.
* An Inspiring Plum? Is this cave just a big fridge?
* Oo, I can learn skills now.
* Refreshing jam. This is totally what the village uses as a fridge.
* There's a peddler, but I'm good; I already have two Olives of Life on hand.
* Look, it's the First Flame! It's talking to me in all "Of thee who dost treaden in these halls" bad oldie-timey English!
* "If thou wouldst call thyself the Flamebearer, thou must prove thyself worthy!" And now there's a giant ice golem to fight. Okay maybe Lianna /was/ training in combat all these years.
* Wait, the Guardian of the Sacred Flame gets stronger as we fight it? This is worrisome.
* I'm running out of summons on this Knight Ardante who's been following me; he keeps retreating from battle! I guess it's technically my battle, not his, after all. He's got another job.
* "Three more turns..." "Two more turns..." UNTIL WHAT.
* Until 'Flame of Heavens' damn near murders me. I wish I could see a hit point bar on these guys.
* Good god that was a long fight. ...and I didn't even level from it.
* But I got an Inspiriting Plum Basket! Yum!
* "Thou hast been judged worthy to bearen the Sacred Flame." If this is how the gods speak, I don't wanna be a priestess anymore. But now I'm supposed to take up Aelfric's Lanthorn.
* Is... is a Lanthorn like a lantern?
* It's a lantern.
* Thank god I got to warp straight back home, since my companion was out of summons.
* Dad's awake! Time for an awkward conversation! Starting with Dad pointing out that it is 'a grave sin' to go into that cave without permission. But it moves on to Dad worrying about how we went in without any real prep, and just to keep Lianna less stressed. Also, he has to speak to the pontiff about the change in plans, so I guess an Archbishop is not a Pope.
* Apparently when he took us in, he had a dream of us toting the Flame, so maybe we really should've been the one training all along. Ah well.
* And apparently he feels Lianna "has given up much of her true self to be who she must be for the church," so maybe we should've addressed this years ago, Dad, and you could've let her become a blacksmith or something instead.
* Also, he's pretty sure he's dying.
* Jump cut to... Setting out! Lianna is much happier staying home with Dad, and Ophilia is apparently destined to take the flame places, so there we go. Lianna confesses she's relieved she's not doing the journey, which is good; I was worried she would feel robbed, or betrayed, or like all her training was wasted. I wouldn't want to leave on a bad note. She's my beloved sister.
* "And so my journey begins. To Saintsbridge, Goldshore, and finally back to Flamesgrace." ...what, there are only two stops? I was picturing, like, a dozen cities. That's not so bad. Take a cleric.
* I've been released to wander the town, while they suggest I check out other characters. It turns out some people I can't guide until I'm higher level. 15 more levels until I can guide the Drunken Soldier with the special move Noisome Breath...
* I can pick up side quests, but I suspect I'll need other characters to complete them. No clear way to figure out if ice giants are real, or clear the name of this kid's dead dad, so far.
* Out into the wilderness between cities, with my beloved follower, uh, Random Dude Whose Designation I've Already Forgotten. I think he was from the tavern and does wind attacks. We'll find out.
* I've met... Kit! He needed a healing grape! He's searching for his missing father! He does not join my party. That was barely a sidequest. Good money, though.
* Hm. I rapidly hit plains, and giant poisonous frogs. Time to fast-travel back home, and pick up someone with a bow, since these things aren't weak to wind or punching.
* You know what's vulnerable to bows? Snow foxes. And now I know.
* My next chapter is a long, long way away, and I'm suppose to be level 23 for it. Current level: 6. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take the whole land route to that, or start someone else's chapter, meet up with another person in their city, or what. Hm. Well, I'll head to the nearest dude, and figure it out as I go. If nothing else, I'll get some grinding on me.
* After consulting a friend: since you can't get a new protagonist without starting a new game, what you do is go to the city of the person you want to add to the party, get a little bit of intro for them, and then team up and move onward. Cool! Anyway, now I'm fighting what looks like a tiger balanced on its tale and carrying a backpack.
* It is not vulnerable at all to arrows, and it uses a move called 'Grooming' to restore HP. It is a Cait. I wish I could just buy stuff from it instead.
* ...it went poof at the second attack. I got a ton of money, a ton of XP, and a ton of JP. I went from level 6 to level 14. The hell.
* Newest enemy: a zombie pig called a Meep. I worry about anyone living on these plains.
* I have finally reached Atlasdam! Everyone is talking about books! I have swapped my companion to a dude saying he just cares about his cows. His special skill is Healing Grape. He says, as he joins me, "Greeting, Sister. Fine cows, are they not?" They are, brother. They are.
* I have found Cyrus! He's a prof at the Royal Academy. Apparently he spends his time in the library. Legit.
* I have agreed to hear the beginning of his story. Cut to... Cyrus lecturing two people in a very large room for three people total.
* Atlasdam was founded two centuries ago, and "our fair city-state is among the longest-standing on the continent of Orsterra." For once, a fantasy setting where things aren't thousands and thousands of years old everywhere!
* Pop quiz! What other well-established city-state fell eight years ago! One student, Therese, does not know the answer. For shame, Therese! (Cyrus insists "There's no shame in not knowing an answer, so long as you have a desire to learn.")
* Hornburg! It was a monarchy! I dunno if this will be important. Anyway, he asks the next question of 'Your Highness', which helps explain why he's lecturing to exactly two students.
* Princess Mary is /prepared/ for her question.
* Anyway. Clans at war, invasion of Grandport, unified Flatlands, there goes the bell.
* Cyrus Albright finally has permission to enter the /special/ archives. This will end well.
* Therese and Princess Mary both try to intercept him on the way. Naturally, the Princess wins. She wants to know what the Hornburg monarchy worshipped! Turns out all the books that said that were burned and lost in the fall of the city. That... that was eight years ago! I guess they /really/ didn't proselytize. This is the problem with mystery religions, dammit. Very hard on scholarship.
* Therese's courage fails, and she does not ask her question. Aw.
* The university has, like, five rooms, if you count the headmaster's office. I am not sure I'm impressed.
* At least the library is impressive! Especially for a pseudo-Renaissance city. Good shelves. Well filled. Brightly lit. Big checkout desk. Approve.
* "When I heard that an original copy of The Church of the Flame: A Complete Historie had been donated to our archives, I simply had to be the first to see it." Uh-oh.
* Cyrus is a bit pompous, but he's so happy, I can't hold it against him. And he's "titillated" by the prospect of new books, so that's a point in his favor.
* The book is...not in place. He even checks the shelves nearby in case it was returned to the wrong spot! Gasp! How could it go missing? But the headmaster wants to talk, so he asks the librarian to look while he's in yet another faculty meeting, ugh.
* The headmaster is unhappy because of Cyrus's recent publication. This is what tenure is for, man! You run things past your advisor or supervisor until then!
* Specifically, he's angry that a publicly available treatise uses info from the Special Archives, because that's not for just everyone. Hm. So much for the 'Oh, the university is open to all!' gushing from outside.
* So, it's a freedom of information academic slapfight. Excellent.
* Cyrus goes off to get his research done, and... Therese is there to see the Headmaster!
* The book is still missing. Has it been.... STOLEN?!?!!?
* Ooo, Cyrus's special ability is Scrutinize: press Y in front of a person, and instead of following you around, you can analyze them for Helpful Clues and Testimony.
* He does a little dramatic twirl with his cape and then rests his chin on his hand. Oh, Cyrus, you're really growing on me.
* Can't follow plot, too busy getting backstory on all the unnamed NPCs and then looting hidden items from the bushes based on doing so.
* Anyway, we are putting together CLUES, and suspect the tome has been stolen by a scholar we interviewed who has serious gambling debts and knows the books are valuable.
* Russell. How could you.
* It turns out that when Russell is rumored to do underground research, they mean that literally.
* Cut back to: Cyrus explaining this to Ophilia. Now the three of us--Cyrus! Ophilia! Guy who likes cows!--can take on the dungeon.
* This is very classic cave. Rocks, stalagmites, etc. The humidity in here can't be good for books.
* Cyrus also starts with 'Study Foe' and picks out one of their weaknesses. Okay. We're never taking him out of the party.
* Man. Dude With Cows does more damage than anyone else in the party! ...to be fair, the rest of the people in the party are Young Priestess and Bookish Professor, so.
* To be fair, Cyrus does a lot better once I realize he has Fireball and Icewind, multi-hit elemental spells.
* Combat also goes better once I realize that party members track their Battle Points separately.
* Oh no, Russell! What illicit magics are you getting up to in your cave lab?
* "It was the perfect plan! If not for your bloody meddling, I could have had it all!" ...a single rare book?
* Russel is weird and giant and in a different art style from all our pixelated heroes in the boss fight. It's sort of unnerving.
* But don't worry, Guy With Cow is here to help us!
* Taking down Russell took forever. I can't believe Cyrus didn't level off that. The fight must be a nightmare if you do it alone. Unless they adjust the level if you bring in a party... Hm.
* Anyway, now that Russell is down, Cyrus is lecturing him about Freedom Of Information.
* Back in the library, the librarian says there's a full confession, all the missing books can be purchased back... oh, except for _From The Far Reaches of Hell_. That one's been missing for fifteen years. Not Russell's fault.
* The headmaster wants to see us again! Is it for congratulations? Probably not.
* Guy With Cow is out of summons, so I pick up a merchant. "Despite what you think, I am particularly devout," he says.
* ...then I swap him out for Elderly Woman, who has a higher strength, and casts Fire Storm.
* An anonymous source claims that Cyrus is in an illicit relationship with the princess! ...which seems pretty unlikely to be true, given Cyrus's clear bibliophile nature. I don't think he's interested in anyone who doesn't have pages.
* The headmaster notes that even a /rumor/ could mess with the princess's reputation. Which would be terrible. But firing Cyrus would make people think the rumor is true! Even worse! So how about a nice long research sabbatical, somewhere distant?
* Screw it, says Cyrus, I might as well go look for that book.
* Outside, Therese is full of apologetic "...!" sounds. Cyrus is mostly confused as to her motive. "I just wanted you to...pay more attention to me." Kid, did you ever consider his /office hours/?
* Cyrus admits he has, in fact, been neglecting Therese in favor of Princess Mary. Dude, you had /two students/!
* Therese thinks he's realized she's in love with him! He has, in fact, concluded that she's actually a passionate scholar, just shy. He should've noticed that Therese didn't ask as many questions, and adjusted his teaching style accordingly! (It never would've worked, Therese.) "Yes, if only I had seen you for the ardent and devoted young scholar that you are!"
* This is genuinely hilarious. Poor kid.
* "Professor, perhaps you're not quite as sharp as I thought you were."
* By scrutinizing the right person, we unlocked "The residents of this city will be more receptive to your guidance." Huh. Scrutinize someone else, we got Better Bargaining, and a better chance of getting a discount on purchases. Man. Cyrus needs to look at ALL THE PEOPLE.
* Scrutinizing the Guy With Cow gets us an inn discount. Sweet.
* Ooo. Now using my Y actions gets a failure chance, and if I fail too often, my reputation suffers. Reputation gets too low, people stop responding. So I can't just tell people to follow me indefinitely, or constantly stare at folks. Good to know.
* Good god, the Old Woman just flame-punched ice lizards for 380 damage.
* Anyway, off to find myself a hunter!
* What a lovely swamp I've found. I must almost be to the hunting village.
* These forest ratkin have rather fetching grass skirts. I feel bad about killing them, but they did shoot me in the face with arrows first.
* And after getting lost in the swamp for a while, I have finally located S'warkii.
* "Oft doth our hunters venturen unto the Whisperwood to honen their skills." I... I need sleep before I can deal with this accent.
* Man. 4 hours, 15 minutes. I need sleep.
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