Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Age 27
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen today
Sometimes I regret playing big games because that means a lot of my time will be devoted to that one. Oh well, at least I like FFTA.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter 5 (Normal) - Bell of Victory[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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I haven't shown this law off yet, have I? Missile is pretty much every ranged weapon in the game - guns, bows and greatbows. It's pretty ludicrous because I happen to like ranged combat on the sole virtue that I can play keep-away with these idiots.
Funnily enough, the reward for beating that skirmish was a goddamn Chaos Rifle. Badass purple rifle with an intimidating name, yet it's only the third one you could buy in the game. There are ones that make this look like garbage.
The shop has now upgraded to the second tier! Let's see what we have here.
The Judo Uniform and the Brigandine are the best pieces of armor we can buy in the store without a doubt. Counter is universally helpful for Melee fighters while the Judo Uniform teaches Damage to MP.
Damage to MP being the uber broken skill that negates damage no matter how much MP you have.
I love being overpowered no matter what.
The Rondell Dagger is the closest we'll get to a Cinquedea in this timeline, so we might as well buy it.
: "Oh, um, I was just thinking about the next mission... Wondering what's in store for us.
: "Looks like you're enjoying this, kupo!"
: "Yeah, missions are kind of fun aren't they? I could never do stuff like this where I come from. I've always wanted to use magic and fight monsters... and now I can!"
Beating up people twice your size, catching bandits and fighting monsters? Yeah, that's a big leap. It's amazing that he's even adapted so well too, because he was an elementary school kid back in the real world.
I'm just trying to imagine how it would have been like if he was a professional mercenary in the real world.
: "So you should stay in this world! We could make our clan the strongest clan ever, kupo!"
Oh, you can bet that we're gonna do that. The thing is, the Super Optimized Clan Crimson is already like 4 steps ahead of you.
: "... Montblanc?"
: "You've got to be one of the nicest people I know... Were you like this in the other world too, kupo?"
: "Huh?"
: "Or... maybe you don't trust me that much yet, kupo?"
Montblanc is catching on to Marche's doubts. He's sharper than you'd expect.
: "You can be honest around me, kupo! We're friends! And I know you're still getting used to our world."
: "... When I met Ritz in the Nubswood... All I could think of was 'now I could go home!'. I was sure that Ritz would help me find a way back. But I was wrong."
Really, we can't look over the fact that as cool as Fantasy Ivalice is, Marche suddenly has to change gears from "elementary school kid" to "hardened adult". Like think about it, he has to supply an entire team of people, fight bandits and monsters day in and out, deal with the law system and all of this other stuff.
It's not that he doesn't want to have fun - it's just that the change is so massive to him and having to deal with it is overbearing. Honestly, I can't blame him for wanting to leave.
: "Marche is Marche, and Ritz is Ritz! All you can do is what seems right to you, kupo!"
: "I know that, it's just... it's hard to accept sometimes. Will I ever be able to find my way back home? What'll I do if the world stays like this forever?"
* Implying that Fantasy Ivalice is not a world of its own.
But yeah, I feel for you, dude.
[Montblanc taps Marche's shoulder]
Montblanc is a cool guy.
We're getting to work on these skills.
The different types of combos aren't just for show. Mages tend to get ranged combos, which can allow them to join combos from a distance but at the cost of being able to miss when everyone chimes in with their attack.
Randorf puts "Learning" under his belt, which allows him to snatch the moves of monsters for his own. However, it may be disappointing to note that Blue Mages don't learn every monster attack, just specific ones.
They have to strike him so he can learn them, which sort of explains the existence of Damage to MP. They need to take a hit to be able to learn the spells, you know.
This guy needs to chill. It's just homework.
Although that Black Thread is a very convincing reason to help.
Wow, really? I can't imagine how it'll be when we actually go to help him, because he sounds absolutely kooky.
Don't worry though, we'll pimp your home to be like the Batcave.
This lady is being stalked by a Floateye, which can't be good for the nerves. I get nervous enough trying to sleep at night even without giant eyeballs with wings around.
Borzoi's up to no good? Well let me at em.
Galor scared them away with some magic tricks. In the process he got a shield made from chocobo skin and a kunai, which makes me question who was even giving these out anyway.
His efforts attracted the attention of another Black Mage Nu Mou, but I rejected them because Galor is good enough.
Nobel smashed his way through the cave and, thanks to his previous job as an interior designer, made a fancy home for that crazy guy.
He's gonna learn Counter and Air Render while he's at it. Plus, this is pretty good for his speed because White Monk is one of the fastest Bangaa classes if I'm not mistaken.
Awwww. That's so sweet.
I swear this "No Knives" thing is gonna get on my nerves. But at least Randorf gets rewarded for using his fancy new saber.
"I just have to get rid of these giant desert ants that are here for some reason!"
Goblin Punch and Magic Hammer are the moves I had neglected to mention for the Goblin family, but how convenient that they're both here.
... I'm curious. Does Steal: Ability work with monsters you can learn the moves of? Like it's pre-programmed to be part of Blue Magic, so does it count?
Probably not, but imagine if it did.
Randorf gets smacked in the face and walloped by a mystical hammer. The results?
Yep! Too bad there's only like one Blue Magic skill in the entire game that actually uses magic power. It's funny - Blue Mages are supposed to be mages, but they put more emphasis on their towering physical strength than anything else, if my favorite non-busted weapon is of any indication. (Aka. the Talwar, an insanely powerful saber made for duels)
Like it'd make more sense to raise a Fighter and give them Blue Magic just so they can benefit from the MP shield.
Sigh. I can't help it if I want to stab things!
Thankfully, No Award just takes away the money for a mission instead of everything we need.
We get... five duplicates of the Holy Grail? Nah, not really.
It removes the Zombie condition from a unit, which essentially turns them into an undead unit complete with damage from healing and three-turn revival on death. You can still control a zombified unit, which makes it all the more horrifying because they're probably still sentient.
Sonia tells the guy to stop freaking out and do their homework. In return she gets the Black Thread, which I must stress is an incredibly valuable quest item due to there being only two in the entire game.
If you throw either Black Thread away, say good bye to 100% completion.
You need some paint, huh?
Good thing Sonia was on the case. I love that you get bonus items whenever a clan skill goes up, but who is giving us all of these fantastic gifts? I guess we'll never know.
* Glares at Montblanc
A legendary Moogle's village, you say? Although how would they know it's hidden...?
If I can give shields one thing, some of them provide elemental coverage. That's neat.
We're going to root out an entire nest of antlions. Professional pest exterminators is gonna look good on our profile.
45 / 32 / 115 / 120 / 96 / 96 / 110
Coeurls are the kings of the Red Panthers and it shows. Not only are they the second strongest monster in terms of physical strength, but they have a nasty ability known as Blaster that can petrify whoever it hits. Getting petrified in this game is the same thing as death, as you can't do anything and there's no way to lift it without a Soft (petrification removing needle bought in stores).
Hastebreak slows down the opponent, which is the same thing as the Soldier's Speedbreak but removes haste from opponents. Not that great, but hey it's another spell to add to the list.
What would have been impressive is if you could learn Blaster just so you can troll the shit out of enemy units. Then again, the Assassin class already exists...
[Glares intently at Montblanc]
: "... What do you want out of me, kupo?"
We get a shiny knight's helmet for discovering a moogle village...
Meanwhile, Ardin not only killed the Floateye but he also gouged out its eye as a reward. I mean yikes, don't you think that's pretty gruesome?
We turn Montblanc into a Time Mage now that he's learned enough skills to do so.
Alright, I'm down with being a substitute.
... Excuse me? Why the hell does it have to be combat? Just what were we going to show off over there if that's the case?
Ah, there's our culprit. So a some creepy jilted guy sends off droves of winged eyeball monsters to bother women around the area.
The only answer for that is a punch to the temple.
This is the plot-progression mission, by the way.
Capture allows us to... well, capture a monster and add them to the monster bank. There are certain restrictions, though:
The boss is a Beastmaster, by the way. That explains how he's able to send out these guys at us at least.
31 / 48 / 105 / 90 / 112 / 96 / 112
Ahrimans outclass their lesser cousins by quite a bit. Not only are they pretty mobile (flying units can pass over any terrain regardless of height), they come with a nasty new ability called Roulette. What it does is picks a random unit, allied or not, and slams them with instant death. (Undead units fully recover when hit with instant death moves, which can't be good.)
To even learn Roulette, you have to be (un)lucky enough to let it hit you and hope you have Auto-Life because that's the only way you're getting it.
Elementalists are primarily debuffers. They cover all of the elements that Black Magic can't and more, including the rare Water, Air, Earth and Dark techniques.
Fire Whip disables an opponent, which easily makes it my go-to for first skill to learn.
Montblanc demonstrating Haste. Haste doubles your speed, so effectively it takes less time for the "clock tick" turn counter to go by.
For example, if Sonia had a speed of 126 and she got boosted, it would only take her four turns (more or less) before it's her time to go again. It's great.
It's not like this guy was much of a threat to begin with, but okay. Beastmasters are not known for fighting.
Given the job description and what he's saying here, I can't help but imagine this guy being a crusty old perv.
Oooh, nice. The Vesper is a mace that just looks pretty and doesn't really teach any moves while the Bless Staff teaches LIFE.
By that, I mean it brings back a fallen unit and gives me a reason to put White Magic as the second slot.
Aaaay! Nice to hear it. How much of a discount do we -
You lyin' motherfucker, the prices haven't changed a bit. The 10% decrease is only because humans can wield katanas.
Anyway, let's get to katana talk. My friend says:
"Kikuichimonji - Refers to the famous imperial collaboration between Emperor Gotoba and the 13 best smiths in Japan in the early Kamakura era. Usually the first name to be mentioned regarding the history of the katana, Emperor Gotoba was not just a pivotal figure during the early warring days of the Genji and the Taira, but also a conesieuur of the arts, and especially of the sword. Summoning the best smiths in the land to honor their work, their call to the court was also done in the wishes of learning the ways of smithing.
With such free time after having been exiled to the Oki Islands, he spent that time also wanting to create some of Japan's best swords. Blades of the Kikuichimonji are said to be the first pivotal move in establishing the Golden Age of Katana, and were said to be inspirationally and impecabbly beautiful; many of their blades are said to feature mirror like utsuri on their blades above the hamon and hardened edge, which appears to be almost holographic and gives off the impression of a morning silver lined panorama of clouds over the country as seen as atop a mountain. Being related with Metal Jutsu is something that already should be known, but is in line with bringing out the beauty and strength of steel."
Nice, nice. It helps that Kikuichimonji is a pretty good sword in of itself - Nightmare both sets the opponent to sleep and dooms them for three turns. When the counter goes down, the reaper comes to take their eternal soul.
Heaven's Cloud, also known as Ame no Murakumo, is based off of a legendary sword in Japanese Mythology that Susano'o discovered after he stole it from the tail of a vile serpent known as Yamata no Orochi. It's also one of the three Imperial Regalia used in the ritual of imperial ascension.
Unspell removes all buffs from a unit, which isn't that useful because you'd be more pre-occupied trying to attack than anything else.
Here's Kotetsu, so -
"A swordsmith who is the most lauded in the Shinto (post 1600s) era of katana. Originally Nagasone Okisato, Kotetsu was once an armorer and maker of tsuba, before the age of 50 saw him go down the path of a swordsmith; the tale behind this lies in a contest between him and another fellow swordsmith, Kiyomitsu, in which one of his helmets was to be pitted against one of Kiyomitsu's swords. His blades are most famous for being saijo o wazamono, or exceptionally great cutting swords, and such an attribute was possible due to his experience of knowing in and out the workings of armor and helmets.
However, Kotetsu's works are said to be vastly limited- to about 31 blades- and forgeries of his name upon his fame became extremely prevalent over the 265 years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The relation between his blades and Wood Jutsu likely stems from how it was the support of the wood post that prevented his helmet from being cut apart so easily, but also lead Kotetsu to make swords as his shame from repositioning his helmet and having sensed the improper position immediately before the cut could be landed, saw him lose face in himself regarding the craft of armor."
The veils/jutsus are much like Elementalist spells but less effective in terms of damage output. Rockseal, on the other hand, is one of the few petrifying spells you can learn in the game. It is as awesome as it sounds.
Here we have the Murasame and the Ashura. Let's cover the latter first:
"Such a name refers not to the name of a smith, but of a race of beings found in Buddhism. Finding its way to Japan, Buddhism has long been influential in Japanese society, and none more so influential than that of the samurai. May it be their own race, or a metaphor for humans lost of the path of violence and competitive egotism, Ashuras are considered as powerful beings, with as many as several arms and faces, but are plagued with jealousy, anger, and violent tendencies, with an addiction to carnal pleasures, materialistic pursuits, and fighting.
Due to these factors, Ashuras are feared as one of the 4 Unhappy Births- The others being the life of an animal, a preta, or in hell -and come to gain this reputation from coming from a world where peace and resolution are not attainable, possible, or existent. In the context of samurai, there are two ways stressed regarding one's life as a warrior; one being the already popular and well known, and honorable way of Bushido, the other, the way of Shurado, or, the way of an Ashura.
Though Buddhism stresses that all can be saved, even to those of criminals and murderers, most samurai nevertheless believed their karma saw them reborn as Ashura themselves. Being related with Fire Jutsu is nevertheless most appropriate for their imagery, dancing about fiery backdrops to show their intensity, or on battlefields ablaze with carnage."
... Damn, son. Fire Veil confuses the opponent instead of disabling them, which is far less applicable.
--
"A katana based on a fictional account, being that of the Hakkenden, which is one of the world's oldest pieces of literary fiction and an epic done for a fantasy tale. Named after what the other side of the world would call autumn rain, Murasame is a blade made from ice that never melts, which allows it to splash water any which way it is wielded, and summons rain itself. On a side note, this humble one has yet to read the Hakkenden, which has not been published overseas. Its relation with Water Jutsu is as obvious as the blue sky itself."
Water Veil inflicts Silence. Silence prevents mages from using their spells, but you can use Sonic Boom and all those skills just fine.
The Cure Staff teaches Cura and Kirin, the latter being a mythical hooved chimera from Chinese mythology.
Sages use Maces as opposed to rods and staves, and they're also one of the few classes that can use other elements than Fire, Ice and Thunder. The Battle Mace is the cheapest one you can buy and starts you off with servicable attacks.
Borzoi needs to learn to fear the name Crimson. That way they'll leave everyone else alone.
[Current OST: Beyond the Wasteland]
There's only three enemies while we get our entire team. This won't take long.
The thief here gets an immunity ribbon which I assume he stole/bribed off of the judge. Borzoi may be a part of the corruption, you know...
That said, he gives a generic loss quote while he and his band of idiots get blasted away.
Diamond Armor teaches Weapon Defense+ to Paladins. It's okay, it's not like I needed to be even more unkillable.
Scarabs provide defense against immobilization and Don't Act. Cool, but I think we're never going to fight an enemy that does that to us in favor of more unbalanced bullshit.
We find a new friend for Montblanc! Welcome to the team, my boy.
Sweet. I wonder, though, do the other areas exist before we put them on the map as icons? The game seems to act like they do.
Oh hey, would you look at that? My chore boy from the Super Optimized timeline made it over here. Too bad even this Marche won't show mercy to him.
It is completely possible to skip every other mission in the game and just do the plot ones, although that makes it a terribly short game in hindsight. Good thing I'm going for 100%, huh?
[Current OST: Battle of Hope]
"Maybe the monsters around here really have gone mad..."
Not much of a set-up to this one. We're just gonna fight a bunch of monsters.
16 / 52 / 87 / 320 / 86 / 48 / 88
Creams are the electric member of the Flan family. They're still rocking that sky-high defense, but their overall magic capablities are slightly less than their siblings. Oh well.
Despite being a plot-important mission, there was nothing much to the actual gameplay. The Coeurl didn't even have Blaster for pete's sake!
(Although to be honest, that would be a real dick move.)
[Current OST: Confusion]
I'm intrigued too. Mostly because monsters already seem to be hostile and territorial by default.
: "Kupo... We get jobs like this every once in a while."
: "Really? I wonder what causes it."
: "There are a number of theories, kupo. I, for one, believe in the crystal theory."
Oh god, Montblanc is gonna get all
on us, isn't he?
: "They say the palace made these magical crystals, kupo! Their magic is so strong it affects the animals."
: "So you think a crystal is nearby?"
: "I don't know, kupo! It might just be a rumor after all. How could you make anything in a wrinkle in space?"
Alright now this is getting into some cosmic shit. I do not gel with this kinda talk.
Then again, Montblanc is a Black Mage (currently Time Mage) by default so maybe he's dealt with this kind of dimension shit before?
Marche forms a dastardly plan.
We get a Broadsword that nobody is ever going to use and a generous amount of cash. I guess I can't really argue.
For clearing Desert Peril, we get the Ulei River. It's the largest river in Ivalice and winds through various swamplands.
... How does it go from desert to swamp anyway? Geography is hard.
... Well I guess we finally got to the title drop of this chapter, snrk
This is cool though, because this allows Rodrigo and Galor to get combo potential too. I am curious as to how a Mythril Bell would sound compared to a normal one.
We finish off this chapter by giving Ardin the Combat Combo. Team attacks are the way of the future, don't you know?
Next time on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the plot finally unravels before us. See you then.
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Missions completed: 25 out of 300 (+10)
Freed Areas: 3 (+2)
Team setup:
(Marche, level 10,
,
) - "Given all of the magic stuff we've already seen and are capable of doing, I don't feel the crystal theory is too outrageous."
(Montblanc, level 9,
,
) - "You have a point, kupo! Although, I can't help but feel it's something we shouldn't look into..."
(Ardin, level 9,
,
) - "So Nobel... you're a chocobo farmer and an interior designer?"
(Nobel, level 8,
,
) - "Ah yessss. I used to have multiple hobbies to keep me busy before I became a clan member..."
(Galor, level 8,
,
) - "The idea of these 'crystals' fascinate me to no end. Perhaps we could... utilize them for ourselves."
(Randorf, level 9,
,
) - "Whoa hey, don't get too ahead of yourself. We'll do just following Marche, heheh..."
(Sonia, level 8,
,
) - "I am deeply uncomfortable with what everyone is talking about."
(Rodrigo, level 9,
,
) - "Oi! Nice to meetcha, guys. So, when do we get to snatching things?"
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter 5 (Normal) - Bell of Victory[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
I haven't shown this law off yet, have I? Missile is pretty much every ranged weapon in the game - guns, bows and greatbows. It's pretty ludicrous because I happen to like ranged combat on the sole virtue that I can play keep-away with these idiots.
Funnily enough, the reward for beating that skirmish was a goddamn Chaos Rifle. Badass purple rifle with an intimidating name, yet it's only the third one you could buy in the game. There are ones that make this look like garbage.
The shop has now upgraded to the second tier! Let's see what we have here.
The Judo Uniform and the Brigandine are the best pieces of armor we can buy in the store without a doubt. Counter is universally helpful for Melee fighters while the Judo Uniform teaches Damage to MP.
Damage to MP being the uber broken skill that negates damage no matter how much MP you have.
I love being overpowered no matter what.
The Rondell Dagger is the closest we'll get to a Cinquedea in this timeline, so we might as well buy it.
Beating up people twice your size, catching bandits and fighting monsters? Yeah, that's a big leap. It's amazing that he's even adapted so well too, because he was an elementary school kid back in the real world.
I'm just trying to imagine how it would have been like if he was a professional mercenary in the real world.
Oh, you can bet that we're gonna do that. The thing is, the Super Optimized Clan Crimson is already like 4 steps ahead of you.
Montblanc is catching on to Marche's doubts. He's sharper than you'd expect.
Really, we can't look over the fact that as cool as Fantasy Ivalice is, Marche suddenly has to change gears from "elementary school kid" to "hardened adult". Like think about it, he has to supply an entire team of people, fight bandits and monsters day in and out, deal with the law system and all of this other stuff.
It's not that he doesn't want to have fun - it's just that the change is so massive to him and having to deal with it is overbearing. Honestly, I can't blame him for wanting to leave.
* Implying that Fantasy Ivalice is not a world of its own.
But yeah, I feel for you, dude.
[Montblanc taps Marche's shoulder]
Montblanc is a cool guy.
We're getting to work on these skills.
The different types of combos aren't just for show. Mages tend to get ranged combos, which can allow them to join combos from a distance but at the cost of being able to miss when everyone chimes in with their attack.
Randorf puts "Learning" under his belt, which allows him to snatch the moves of monsters for his own. However, it may be disappointing to note that Blue Mages don't learn every monster attack, just specific ones.
They have to strike him so he can learn them, which sort of explains the existence of Damage to MP. They need to take a hit to be able to learn the spells, you know.
This guy needs to chill. It's just homework.
Although that Black Thread is a very convincing reason to help.
Wow, really? I can't imagine how it'll be when we actually go to help him, because he sounds absolutely kooky.
Don't worry though, we'll pimp your home to be like the Batcave.
This lady is being stalked by a Floateye, which can't be good for the nerves. I get nervous enough trying to sleep at night even without giant eyeballs with wings around.
Borzoi's up to no good? Well let me at em.
Galor scared them away with some magic tricks. In the process he got a shield made from chocobo skin and a kunai, which makes me question who was even giving these out anyway.
His efforts attracted the attention of another Black Mage Nu Mou, but I rejected them because Galor is good enough.
Nobel smashed his way through the cave and, thanks to his previous job as an interior designer, made a fancy home for that crazy guy.
He's gonna learn Counter and Air Render while he's at it. Plus, this is pretty good for his speed because White Monk is one of the fastest Bangaa classes if I'm not mistaken.
Awwww. That's so sweet.
I swear this "No Knives" thing is gonna get on my nerves. But at least Randorf gets rewarded for using his fancy new saber.
"I just have to get rid of these giant desert ants that are here for some reason!"
Goblin Punch and Magic Hammer are the moves I had neglected to mention for the Goblin family, but how convenient that they're both here.
... I'm curious. Does Steal: Ability work with monsters you can learn the moves of? Like it's pre-programmed to be part of Blue Magic, so does it count?
Probably not, but imagine if it did.
Randorf gets smacked in the face and walloped by a mystical hammer. The results?
Yep! Too bad there's only like one Blue Magic skill in the entire game that actually uses magic power. It's funny - Blue Mages are supposed to be mages, but they put more emphasis on their towering physical strength than anything else, if my favorite non-busted weapon is of any indication. (Aka. the Talwar, an insanely powerful saber made for duels)
Like it'd make more sense to raise a Fighter and give them Blue Magic just so they can benefit from the MP shield.
Sigh. I can't help it if I want to stab things!
Thankfully, No Award just takes away the money for a mission instead of everything we need.
We get... five duplicates of the Holy Grail? Nah, not really.
It removes the Zombie condition from a unit, which essentially turns them into an undead unit complete with damage from healing and three-turn revival on death. You can still control a zombified unit, which makes it all the more horrifying because they're probably still sentient.
Sonia tells the guy to stop freaking out and do their homework. In return she gets the Black Thread, which I must stress is an incredibly valuable quest item due to there being only two in the entire game.
If you throw either Black Thread away, say good bye to 100% completion.
You need some paint, huh?
Good thing Sonia was on the case. I love that you get bonus items whenever a clan skill goes up, but who is giving us all of these fantastic gifts? I guess we'll never know.
* Glares at Montblanc
A legendary Moogle's village, you say? Although how would they know it's hidden...?
If I can give shields one thing, some of them provide elemental coverage. That's neat.
We're going to root out an entire nest of antlions. Professional pest exterminators is gonna look good on our profile.
45 / 32 / 115 / 120 / 96 / 96 / 110
Coeurls are the kings of the Red Panthers and it shows. Not only are they the second strongest monster in terms of physical strength, but they have a nasty ability known as Blaster that can petrify whoever it hits. Getting petrified in this game is the same thing as death, as you can't do anything and there's no way to lift it without a Soft (petrification removing needle bought in stores).
Hastebreak slows down the opponent, which is the same thing as the Soldier's Speedbreak but removes haste from opponents. Not that great, but hey it's another spell to add to the list.
What would have been impressive is if you could learn Blaster just so you can troll the shit out of enemy units. Then again, the Assassin class already exists...
[Glares intently at Montblanc]
We get a shiny knight's helmet for discovering a moogle village...
Meanwhile, Ardin not only killed the Floateye but he also gouged out its eye as a reward. I mean yikes, don't you think that's pretty gruesome?
We turn Montblanc into a Time Mage now that he's learned enough skills to do so.
Alright, I'm down with being a substitute.
... Excuse me? Why the hell does it have to be combat? Just what were we going to show off over there if that's the case?
Ah, there's our culprit. So a some creepy jilted guy sends off droves of winged eyeball monsters to bother women around the area.
The only answer for that is a punch to the temple.
This is the plot-progression mission, by the way.
Capture allows us to... well, capture a monster and add them to the monster bank. There are certain restrictions, though:
- It cannot be the last monster on the field
- It cannot be knocked out
- It cannot be an undead, fairy, rockbeast or a tonberry monster (we'll see them in a bit)
- The highest percentage you have for catching a monster is 24%, so you better pray that you get it right
The boss is a Beastmaster, by the way. That explains how he's able to send out these guys at us at least.
31 / 48 / 105 / 90 / 112 / 96 / 112
Ahrimans outclass their lesser cousins by quite a bit. Not only are they pretty mobile (flying units can pass over any terrain regardless of height), they come with a nasty new ability called Roulette. What it does is picks a random unit, allied or not, and slams them with instant death. (Undead units fully recover when hit with instant death moves, which can't be good.)
To even learn Roulette, you have to be (un)lucky enough to let it hit you and hope you have Auto-Life because that's the only way you're getting it.
Elementalists are primarily debuffers. They cover all of the elements that Black Magic can't and more, including the rare Water, Air, Earth and Dark techniques.
Fire Whip disables an opponent, which easily makes it my go-to for first skill to learn.
Montblanc demonstrating Haste. Haste doubles your speed, so effectively it takes less time for the "clock tick" turn counter to go by.
For example, if Sonia had a speed of 126 and she got boosted, it would only take her four turns (more or less) before it's her time to go again. It's great.
It's not like this guy was much of a threat to begin with, but okay. Beastmasters are not known for fighting.
Given the job description and what he's saying here, I can't help but imagine this guy being a crusty old perv.
Oooh, nice. The Vesper is a mace that just looks pretty and doesn't really teach any moves while the Bless Staff teaches LIFE.
By that, I mean it brings back a fallen unit and gives me a reason to put White Magic as the second slot.
Aaaay! Nice to hear it. How much of a discount do we -
You lyin' motherfucker, the prices haven't changed a bit. The 10% decrease is only because humans can wield katanas.
Anyway, let's get to katana talk. My friend says:
"Kikuichimonji - Refers to the famous imperial collaboration between Emperor Gotoba and the 13 best smiths in Japan in the early Kamakura era. Usually the first name to be mentioned regarding the history of the katana, Emperor Gotoba was not just a pivotal figure during the early warring days of the Genji and the Taira, but also a conesieuur of the arts, and especially of the sword. Summoning the best smiths in the land to honor their work, their call to the court was also done in the wishes of learning the ways of smithing.
With such free time after having been exiled to the Oki Islands, he spent that time also wanting to create some of Japan's best swords. Blades of the Kikuichimonji are said to be the first pivotal move in establishing the Golden Age of Katana, and were said to be inspirationally and impecabbly beautiful; many of their blades are said to feature mirror like utsuri on their blades above the hamon and hardened edge, which appears to be almost holographic and gives off the impression of a morning silver lined panorama of clouds over the country as seen as atop a mountain. Being related with Metal Jutsu is something that already should be known, but is in line with bringing out the beauty and strength of steel."
Nice, nice. It helps that Kikuichimonji is a pretty good sword in of itself - Nightmare both sets the opponent to sleep and dooms them for three turns. When the counter goes down, the reaper comes to take their eternal soul.
Heaven's Cloud, also known as Ame no Murakumo, is based off of a legendary sword in Japanese Mythology that Susano'o discovered after he stole it from the tail of a vile serpent known as Yamata no Orochi. It's also one of the three Imperial Regalia used in the ritual of imperial ascension.
Unspell removes all buffs from a unit, which isn't that useful because you'd be more pre-occupied trying to attack than anything else.
Here's Kotetsu, so -
"A swordsmith who is the most lauded in the Shinto (post 1600s) era of katana. Originally Nagasone Okisato, Kotetsu was once an armorer and maker of tsuba, before the age of 50 saw him go down the path of a swordsmith; the tale behind this lies in a contest between him and another fellow swordsmith, Kiyomitsu, in which one of his helmets was to be pitted against one of Kiyomitsu's swords. His blades are most famous for being saijo o wazamono, or exceptionally great cutting swords, and such an attribute was possible due to his experience of knowing in and out the workings of armor and helmets.
However, Kotetsu's works are said to be vastly limited- to about 31 blades- and forgeries of his name upon his fame became extremely prevalent over the 265 years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The relation between his blades and Wood Jutsu likely stems from how it was the support of the wood post that prevented his helmet from being cut apart so easily, but also lead Kotetsu to make swords as his shame from repositioning his helmet and having sensed the improper position immediately before the cut could be landed, saw him lose face in himself regarding the craft of armor."
The veils/jutsus are much like Elementalist spells but less effective in terms of damage output. Rockseal, on the other hand, is one of the few petrifying spells you can learn in the game. It is as awesome as it sounds.
Here we have the Murasame and the Ashura. Let's cover the latter first:
"Such a name refers not to the name of a smith, but of a race of beings found in Buddhism. Finding its way to Japan, Buddhism has long been influential in Japanese society, and none more so influential than that of the samurai. May it be their own race, or a metaphor for humans lost of the path of violence and competitive egotism, Ashuras are considered as powerful beings, with as many as several arms and faces, but are plagued with jealousy, anger, and violent tendencies, with an addiction to carnal pleasures, materialistic pursuits, and fighting.
Due to these factors, Ashuras are feared as one of the 4 Unhappy Births- The others being the life of an animal, a preta, or in hell -and come to gain this reputation from coming from a world where peace and resolution are not attainable, possible, or existent. In the context of samurai, there are two ways stressed regarding one's life as a warrior; one being the already popular and well known, and honorable way of Bushido, the other, the way of Shurado, or, the way of an Ashura.
Though Buddhism stresses that all can be saved, even to those of criminals and murderers, most samurai nevertheless believed their karma saw them reborn as Ashura themselves. Being related with Fire Jutsu is nevertheless most appropriate for their imagery, dancing about fiery backdrops to show their intensity, or on battlefields ablaze with carnage."
... Damn, son. Fire Veil confuses the opponent instead of disabling them, which is far less applicable.
--
"A katana based on a fictional account, being that of the Hakkenden, which is one of the world's oldest pieces of literary fiction and an epic done for a fantasy tale. Named after what the other side of the world would call autumn rain, Murasame is a blade made from ice that never melts, which allows it to splash water any which way it is wielded, and summons rain itself. On a side note, this humble one has yet to read the Hakkenden, which has not been published overseas. Its relation with Water Jutsu is as obvious as the blue sky itself."
Water Veil inflicts Silence. Silence prevents mages from using their spells, but you can use Sonic Boom and all those skills just fine.
The Cure Staff teaches Cura and Kirin, the latter being a mythical hooved chimera from Chinese mythology.
Sages use Maces as opposed to rods and staves, and they're also one of the few classes that can use other elements than Fire, Ice and Thunder. The Battle Mace is the cheapest one you can buy and starts you off with servicable attacks.
Borzoi needs to learn to fear the name Crimson. That way they'll leave everyone else alone.
[Current OST: Beyond the Wasteland]
There's only three enemies while we get our entire team. This won't take long.
The thief here gets an immunity ribbon which I assume he stole/bribed off of the judge. Borzoi may be a part of the corruption, you know...
That said, he gives a generic loss quote while he and his band of idiots get blasted away.
Diamond Armor teaches Weapon Defense+ to Paladins. It's okay, it's not like I needed to be even more unkillable.
Scarabs provide defense against immobilization and Don't Act. Cool, but I think we're never going to fight an enemy that does that to us in favor of more unbalanced bullshit.
We find a new friend for Montblanc! Welcome to the team, my boy.
Sweet. I wonder, though, do the other areas exist before we put them on the map as icons? The game seems to act like they do.
Oh hey, would you look at that? My chore boy from the Super Optimized timeline made it over here. Too bad even this Marche won't show mercy to him.
It is completely possible to skip every other mission in the game and just do the plot ones, although that makes it a terribly short game in hindsight. Good thing I'm going for 100%, huh?
[Current OST: Battle of Hope]
"Maybe the monsters around here really have gone mad..."
Not much of a set-up to this one. We're just gonna fight a bunch of monsters.
16 / 52 / 87 / 320 / 86 / 48 / 88
Creams are the electric member of the Flan family. They're still rocking that sky-high defense, but their overall magic capablities are slightly less than their siblings. Oh well.
Despite being a plot-important mission, there was nothing much to the actual gameplay. The Coeurl didn't even have Blaster for pete's sake!
(Although to be honest, that would be a real dick move.)
[Current OST: Confusion]
I'm intrigued too. Mostly because monsters already seem to be hostile and territorial by default.
Oh god, Montblanc is gonna get all
Alright now this is getting into some cosmic shit. I do not gel with this kinda talk.
Then again, Montblanc is a Black Mage (currently Time Mage) by default so maybe he's dealt with this kind of dimension shit before?
Marche forms a dastardly plan.
We get a Broadsword that nobody is ever going to use and a generous amount of cash. I guess I can't really argue.
For clearing Desert Peril, we get the Ulei River. It's the largest river in Ivalice and winds through various swamplands.
... How does it go from desert to swamp anyway? Geography is hard.
... Well I guess we finally got to the title drop of this chapter, snrk
This is cool though, because this allows Rodrigo and Galor to get combo potential too. I am curious as to how a Mythril Bell would sound compared to a normal one.
We finish off this chapter by giving Ardin the Combat Combo. Team attacks are the way of the future, don't you know?
Next time on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the plot finally unravels before us. See you then.
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Missions completed: 25 out of 300 (+10)
Freed Areas: 3 (+2)
Team setup: