Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Apr 25, 2024
... Not gonna lie, I was expecting this to get much more hectic and unbearable but I actually like to play and record Trickster more than even some other games.
Fancy that.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - You Call This A Paradise?![/font][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Oh hey, the title screen changed again! That was fast. (I kinda like this one more than the snow girls one, but that one was still hella cute anyway.)
... Hey wait a minute...
Oh shit she actually showed up this early? I didn't expect that.
... If you want an explanation about who she is though, you're not getting one right now. I'm gonna leave you guys hanging on this one for a while.
: "Zzz..."
[Star Heart suddenly wakes up and wipes the drool off her face]
: "Wah! Why's it so cold all of a sudden?"
: "... Oh. Wow, is it really night already? That was one long nap... better get going!"
[My OST for Desert Beach: Lethal Lava Land]
One beach is hotter than the other, and it shows with the monsters because they're a bit meaner than the Coral Beach ones -
Type: Power
Level: 19
HP: 730
AP: 76
MA: 0
DP: 45
MD: 51
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Shell Trap Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Iron Grass (Common / TM Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 20 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A cousin of the Bustshell monster that grew to live on land. Beloved for its juicy clam meat."
I love how these are two different monsters, but they're not palette swaps. The only other game I know that changes up the actual designs of similar monsters is Dark Cloud 2, and that's like my favorite PS2 game of all time. (The Kingdom Hearts games coming in at a close second, of course.)
(... You may have noticed that I don't include EXP or TM EXP in these bestiary entries. That's because hunting monsters quickly becomes obsolete in terms of EXP gain - completing quests fills in this niche after a while.)
Type: Sense
Level: 20
HP: 765
AP: 80
MA: 0
DP: 48
MD: 54
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Golden Mole Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Duck Doll (Uncommon / ??? Item)
* Earthworm (Common / Quest Item for Fox characters)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 20 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A humble platypus-like creature that dedicates their time to cleaning up the beach, hence why it is covered with junk."
These guys are the hard workers of the Golden Moles because they actually clean up the mess... unlike their cousins inside of the cave earlier who just sit around wearing crowns and calling themselves royalty.
I put in ??? Item as something different than "quest item" because sometimes the people who run the game like to include special missions where previously useless items become valuable as quest items. These are cool because they hand out unique prizes to the winners, but I usually miss them.
Type: Sense
Level: 18
HP: 695
AP: 72
MA: 0
DP: 42
MD: 47
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Fanta Slime Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Twinkle Star (Uncommon / Quest Item for Lion characters)
Gear Entry: "Starfish with a slime-like body. Known as Paradise's star animal due to its dance moves."
Fanta Slime is one of those monsters that kinda just... exists. It's pretty hard to say much about it, because the only item from it that's even somewhat valuable is only useful to Lion characters.
Type: None
Level: 40
HP: 10
AP: 170
MA: 59
DP: 154
MD: 150
Aggressive: No
Skills: Faint (Paralyzes opponent)
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: N/A
Worthwhile Drops:
* GM Lucky Bag (Common / Item)
Gear Entry: "A rare penguin of unknown origin that carries goodie bags. Don't let it get away if you see it!"
Oh hey, thanks for showing up! I kinda expected the PinkPink Penguin to show up given that Coral Beach Field 1 is where I go to hunt them, but this is a very nice surprise. (Let's Player's luck, I'm telling you...)
: N-not this time! I'll get you for sure, oooh...
We no longer get one-shot by them, thankfully, but getting paralyzed in this game suuuuucks.
You are not able to move or even defend yourself should you get paralyzed, making it one of the deadliest status effects in the game. Right now it's not a problem because the Rare Penguins just want to get away from you, but later enemies can possibly stun-lock you to death with it unless you have a certain skill.
It's pretty rough, man.
: "Oooooh, fancy bag! I wonder what's inside."
Aw snap, Star Heart managed to overcome her penguin weakness! That was pretty fast, not gonna lie. I was expecting to lose the penguin and give up, but it thankfully stuck around for its demise.
The GM Lucky Bag actually warns you if you want to open it - this is a good thing too, because two of the potential items it can give you is super heavy and bound to increase your Weight by at least 80%. (You can go over 100% in terms of weight, but it's always a bad idea.)
... Damn it, I got the second least useful one. At least 100K Galders is good for in-game shops (because surprisingly, the economy of the setting isn't horribly broken... the same cannot be said for a certain other feature, though.)
Potential list of items the GM Lucky Bag can contain:
* 1x Store-More Ticket (Increases capacity of warehouse)
* A set of five 10,000 galder coupons
* One 100K galder check
* 3x Adamantite Ores
* 3x Alexandrite Gems
* 1x Friend Finder (Teleports to the location of one of your online friends)
* 5x GM Gift Certificate (Used for special items)
* 1x Memory Port Ev (Allows you to record the location you are currently in and teleport back to it later. Extremely useful)
* Mighty Turkey VR (A somewhat mediocre Pet item)
* 3x Portable Port Ev (Allows you to teleport to towns or even dungeons)
The ones marked with the siren are pivotal for me to get should they appear. (This is also the only free way to get these items, because most of them are "MyShop" exclusive otherwise.)
The relevance of the Ores/Gems will be explained in this chapter, so we'll get to them in a bit.
Type: Charm
Level: 38
HP: 1,640 x3 (4,920 total)
AP: 195
MA: 0
DP: ???
MD: 135
Aggressive: Yes
Skills: Cure (Magic skill that restores some health.)
Element: None
Weakness: Guns
Resistance: Water, Light
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Cannon Shell Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Broken Artifact 3 (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A Cannon Shell mutant that attacks anybody that enters its territory. It is aggressive and leads a troop of lesser Cannon Shells."
Ooof, the punisher enemies... So these are special "mutated" versions of normal enemies that have much more health and are always aggressive regardless if you attack them first or not.
They can heal themselves up, can summon minions and are overall a pain to deal with compared to normal enemies.
This looks exciting and all, but Star Heart is gonna get wiped out by this thing.
: "It's too strong! I can't fight it like this... retreat!"
: "Oh jeez... that was a close one... I probably shouldn't mess around and just go into town already."
I love how much style this game has, because each major town has its own special title card when you visit them.
(Ignore the sudden shift into daytime, I had the game running while I was doing some errands.)
Whoa, look at this guy!
He legit looks like he walked off the set of Men In Black. It's nuts just how different each NPC in this game can get - I like that they can change things up in terms of art direction. (Even if it gets... a bit strange from time to time, but whatever.)
: "I'm not exactly what you would call a nice person. However, after receiving special instructions from [Don Giuvanni], I have come here to help guide new adventurers. First of all I'll explain to you what items you will need for the second part of [Don Giuvanni]'s training."
(No wonder, he works for Don Dork.)
: "The second part is getting you used to [Compound Items]. In this game, you are able to acquire items through the shop, monsters and by drilling. However, you can also make items through Compounding."
: "How do I make it?"
He tells us that the guy is up ahead and that there's also… storage and a bank there? Hallelujah!
I can finally put away stuff I don't need.
Alright, should be pretty simple. (Fun fact: the item we're going to make heals even less than a normal consumable HP item, so we might never see it again past this mission.)
You might notice these little houses from time to time - there's a feature in Trickster called My Camp, which is like a "make your own little house" simulator. I don't play around with it because it's not my thing, but apparently people use it for special mini-chatrooms or something.
I don't check because I usually keep to myself, but it sure is interesting.
[My choice for the Shop OST: Digimon World DS - Shop]
... Huh. The Paradise shop is usually more packed than this. Oh well.
(Damn, the fox with the scythe and shield looks sick. You can get your character to look super anime thanks to custom item sets, something that's far beyond our grasp right now.)
This lovely lady is in charge of the Warehouse - a lifesaver in more ways than one. I also love how non-intrusive the cost for putting away stuff you don't need is, too.
Her arguably-even-more-lovely sister(?) is in charge of the Bank. It differs from the Warehouse in that it can transport cash and items between the different characters in your account, so that'll be a great mechanic to take advantage of in the future.
This finely dressed lass is in charge of Timed Items, a... rather unfortunate aspect of Trickster.
They are items with real world time limits that tick down regardless if you're playing or not. Once the time limit is up, the item becomes unusable and automatically comes off your person.
I can see why they did this - you know, microtransactions and all - but it's still really painful to deal with.
The lass in charge of the card shop might be dressed as a hyena, but I'm bad at recognizing animal ears. The card shop doesn't sell monster cards unfortunately, but instead offers these random packs.
They're very important because sometimes they can have skill cards or even rare Arcana cards (used for job promotion purposes), but oftentimes they'll just hit you with empty cards instead. It's kinda a gamble that way, especially since they cost a lot by normal shop standards.
The item lady is in charge of more standard items like equipment, consumables, etc. (Also, look at the tiny little cat inside of her basket.
)
She doesn't sell anything we really need right now, but there's an item I just have to show off:
Empty cards are functionless cards used as throwing weapons for the Raccoon class... since apparently on top of being a Teacher, they also become a gambler that uses razor sharp cards as weapons.
Oooh, he looks pretty cool. Also, I think the job of explaining Compounding will go to me instead.
This is arguably the most simple of these systems and the one that requires the most busy work. See, Compounding has you use materials to make items out of a pre-determined list.
This gets really aggravating later in the game where you have quest-required items that have to be compounded into existence, but that's kinda the bitch of relying on Alchemy, huh?
It may also be influenced by the Luck stat, but that's more the Sense types' specialty.
... Crap. Every time you fail, you get Compound Waste - literal garbage that has no other purpose but to clog up the inventory.
We can increase the amount of materials used, so how about we use three of the materials Bobbert gave us at once?
Oh, okay, three at once somehow works yet just one doesn't. Funny logic there, game.
Ooh, my favorite mechanic is here! He tells us to look for a guy called Alchemist Nate, who is conveniently in the same shop as the other guy.
He may look snooty but god damn if his service isn't the most helpful in the game.
Mature Compounding is practically completely different in that you're applying the effects of items onto equipment. Applying the Hard Scales will increase the defense of the Life Vest by 16 to 33 points.
We can only do it once, but thankfully higher-tier equipment can be matured multiple times.
The maximum possible point increase is pretty rare though, and you can only apply certain types of stat improvements. I love Mature Compounding because it allows me to make up for weaknesses in armor, like... patching armor with Magic Defense boosts to make up for the Power Types weakness to magic!
That and adding more AP to equipment is fantastic. Enemies can drop special items that increase stats, but the most powerful kinds tend to be really rare.
: "Thank you, mister Nate. I plan to make good use out of this!"
: "If I may tell you again, I'm not usually a friendly person. Please do not misunderstand this fact."
Jeez, the least you could do is show a little bit of emotion. It wouldn't kill you, Mr. Robot.
[Star Heart shows him the vest]
: "It looks like you were able to learn and understand [Mature Compounding]! The Mature Compounded [Life Vest] will increased your DP, so make sure you have it equipped. Finally, part 4 of the training will now commence. In Trickster, you are able to [refine] your equipment, like swords, shields and helms, with [Blacksmith Marx]. Using refining, you can increase the AP or DP on the given item."
Now we have to go to the blacksmith and refine the wooden sword he gave us earlier, even though we're not going to actually use it. (Damn duck gear is actually pretty good for this early in the game…)
: ("W... wah... he looks pretty intimidating...")
God damn, he looks badass for a blacksmith. He certainly gives the other two goobers over there a run for their money in terms of style.
: "To [Refine] the [Wooden Sword] to Level 1, you will need 7 [Bronze Gemstones]. [Bronze Gemstones] can be drilled up from the mine in [Desert Beach Field 2]. There is a possibility of failure, so bring as many as you can."
Bronze Gemstones and a chance of failure, huh? (He's lying about the latter, by the way.)
So one of the greatest features of Trickster is not its experience-based quest system or its solid mission structure... no, it's this: Players being able to sell off what's in their inventories.
You'd think this would primarily be used for dumb stuff like selling off a regular wooden sword for 9,999,999 galder (which people have done, although nobody really buys it... I hope), but more often then not you have people selling off pre-collected quest items to other players as a way to speed up the process of getting Stickers.
This makes Trickster go from good if slightly tedious to buttery smooth in terms of pacing: the reason being that if you don't want to collect items, you don't have to - all you need to do is buy them from someone else and get free experience!
It's absolutely goddamn fantastic, but a critical flaw of this is that... well, these inventories are managed by real people who aren't going to be around all the time. If you need quest items but nobody is there, then tough luck.
One area in particular still haunts my nightmares, but that's for another time. Let's move on to Desert Beach Field 2 before I develop a migraine thinking about that place.
Type: Charm
Level: 25
HP: 940
AP: 100
MA: 0
DP: 63
MD: 72
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Hula Octopus Card (Very Rare / Mastery Card
)
* Bouquet (Common / Quest Item)
* Octopus Leg (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A friendly octopus that wanders Desert Beach and greets travelers. Not a fighter."
The Hula Octopus is another Mastery Card holder that isn't quite as necessary for us particularly, but it does improve Cure for the Magic types.
Type: Magic
Level: 21
HP: 800
AP: 84
MA: 0
DP: 51
MD: 58
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Fanta Fish Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Color Pencils (Common / Quest Item)
* Pen (Uncommon / Quest Item for Raccoon characters)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "Magical flying fish with psychic powers and delicate, rainbow-colored scales. Beloved by artists for their vibrant palette and ability to inspire art."
So it drops color pencils and pens when it dies... the Fanta Fish don't even have hands, how are they gonna draw?
Here's the mine like Marx talked about and... wow, he's already here? Looks like I don't have to travel far then.
Oh, never mind, this is a different quest altogether. Sorry, but no dice.
: "Is this where we have to go...? No, wait, there's a sign here."
: "O... oh... that sounds really scary. What the heck is up with this island that there's so many strong monsters on it?"
I don't even want to think about how deadly that place must be for our current level, so I'm not trying it even as a joke.
This is what it would have looked like normally had that generous Lion player not been here, but thankfully I don't have to stay. You can get other gemstones for the Marx quest here, but I'm not gonna do it because drilling takes too long.
(What the heck is up with that "%'s set has been completed" though, I've never seen that before.)
At the very least he's a jolly guy. If he had the same dryness as Officer Bobbert then that'd be a real problem.
Refining is another essential mechanic in terms of equipment improvement, although it's more straightforward than Mature Compounding. Take X amount of an item, craft and then you're done.
Physical equipment like swords, axes and the like require Ores for refinement while Magical equipment like staves require Gems. Adamantite and Alexandrite are the rarest and most powerful of these objects, so it's even crazier in hindsight that a GM Lucky bag at the start of the game can gift them to you for free.
Granted, they will practically double the weight of your inventory, but that's what the Warehouse is for.
This slot is where Anvils go - Anvils are another My Shop exclusive that increase the success rate of the refinement process, because as it turns out refining can actually fail after the first attempt.
If that happens, then the weapon breaks and you'd have to use Repair Powder (another MyShop Item) to get it back in usable condition. It's kind of a risk vs reward thing.
Mature Compounding and Refining, when properly utilized, allow you to do some nutty shit in term of weapon customization. Don't be fooled by the low numbers you see with the Wooden Sword, because Refining can absolutely help you out if you take the time to get the materials.
: "Of course, mister Robert. Here you go!"
: "I'll trust that you understand how refining works now? I hope that now with all this knowledge you will use it to the best of your abilities."
He also gives us a Hologram Port where we can talk to… Don Cavalier himself?!
What?! I have to see this.
Hell of a way to tell the player they've accomplished something by getting to level 20. Let's see what we got from Notice.
"You can learn a skill by double-clicking the skill card in your card inventory."
Excellent. Now I can finally break out more useful techniques than Steel Punch!
Oh? What do we got?
Ah. The Level 20 gift box is useful while the panda equipment is... well, it's not actually equipment. It's the appearance of equipment without the stats. How in the world is that going to be useful?
Well, as it turns out, you can actually fuse the appearance of one type of equipment with the other via Artisans' Flames, yet another My Shop item (god they really want to shill the microtransactions, huh).
It's the best of both worlds - you get to have a matching set and keep the stats of the superior weapon. It's actually ridiculous how much thought the Trickster people put into this, because they didn't need to do this... but they did anyway to improve the players' experiences. That's rad.
Opening the Level 20 gift box would be a good idea but I think it gives you a timed item and I'd rather save it for the sessions when I do play this game.
I'm storing all this junk away because i'm not sure I'm ever going to use them again.
For now though, I want to see what's up with this Hologram port. Take me away, technology!
[My choice for this OST: Welcome to the World of Pokemon]
: "No way..."
: "What you see right now is just a hologram which was made before my death. I certainly wasn't expecting you to be able to talk to me directly after struggling to find me on the island."
: "Hoo~! I'm glad I'm not seeing dead people."
No kidding. Also can I just say that Don Cavalier is really silly looking? Like there's probably an intentional design thing going on with him, but... damn, I can't help but chuckle when I see him!
: "I would like to thank you for participating in the game I made. You have properly sent off your application and managed to pass the test. I salute you as a novice."
: "Thank you!"
He states that only the chosen ones can become Tricksters… which I have to admit is a really clever way to integrate the players into this story because it opens the floodgates for people to come in and make their own characters… like me!
Big Don goes on to say that if we guide him (???) to the legendary Harkon Statue known as "Poseidon's Blessing", we'll be proclaimed the winner and receive his inheritance. Sounds pretty crazy.
: "Umm… Don Cavalier? This sounds a bit too big for me. I don't even know where to start."
: "You must carry on with a positive attitude and make yourself born again each day of your life. Take advantage of the rules of this game I made... Show me what you can accomplish. I expect great things out of you. Until then, I will see you later."
: "O-of course! I won't let you down, Don Cavalier!"
Wait, what the hell? See you later? But he's dead! (Unless this is an invitation to the great beyond...
)
: "Hahaha. Keep up the good work."
[Teleport back to Paradise]
--
(You can use this intermission as a chance to take a break before reading again, in case you need it.)
--
: "There is a total of 8 people that are waiting for you. Listen to their requests and they will give you [Heart Gems] as a welcoming gesture. Please come back to me once you have collected all eight."
This finely dressed chap is Andrew, and he's in charge of banking and guild management normally. All I can say now is that if we use his services to sell off the 100k Galder check, he'll pay us back full price. (Selling it in normal shops would only give us 50,000 galders.)
: "[TM] is necessary when leveling up [skills]. However, you should meet with the [Skill Masters] who can be found in [Paradise] towards the southwest."
You have the option of letting him teleport you to the skill masters, but it's honestly really silly and pointless because they're right friccin' there! We're in Paradise, dummy!
I do think it's nice that they give you the list of people (which also shows up in your quest menu in case you get lost, thankfully.)
But anyway, let's go meet up with the Skill Masters!
Master Louis here is our specialist and has a bunch of great skills for us to learn. I get Shockwave (a more powerful attack than Steel Punch), Shockvibe (the ability to lower enemies accuracy) and a few others.
But before we go, I just have to show off one amazing thing and that's Shockvibe's card art:
This is like the epitome of the "shook" meme, my god.
Pressing "S" on the keyboard bring ups the Skills menu (likewise, C for the card menu) - here you can see how many Tech points you've accumulated and distribute them to learn more skills or level up old ones.
This is important too because leveling up certain skills is often a requirement for learning others. They really thought their combat through for a point and click based system, huh?
Oh, and to make things better? You can assign multiple skills for quick use as shown here:
Oh, uh -
(Apologies for that, I couldn't help myself.)
But yeah, as you can see here, you can combo different skills into each other and speed up combat even more... you can kind of see why I wanted to do the let's play now, huh?
This small lad is Genius Cochma, the Specialist for Sense types.
A lot of the Sense skills end up revolving around weight, drilling, guns and throwing weapons. They're also useful for luck-based things like compounding and so on, so Sense types definitely get an edge in terms of limiting quest item screw-ups at the very least.
You can also get Invincible Reload for Guns, which makes it so enemy attacks can't interrupt you when you reload ammo. (Though why this is a skill and not just default for gun wielders is... strange to me.)
Whoa, mama. She sure fits the part for the Charm specialist if you know what I mean.
... In hindsight it kind of makes sense that Charm is the Health/Defense/Avoid stat build - if you're more attractive, your enemies don't pound you as hard. Genius!
The skills she sells revolve around defense, with Mana Reflector and Skunk Pouch being the most standout ones. Mana Reflector deflects magic attacks and can be stacked with a later skill to further reduce the damage you take.
Meanwhile, Skunk Pouch is the Charm version of Faint (rendering an enemy helpless), so that automatically makes it essential to have. (I just find it hilarious that you paralyze enemies with a bad smell, alright?)
Sephira is the Magic Specialist and even has her own little black cat companion.
I have to be honest and say that the Magic types get the shortest end of the stick starting out: the Steel Punch equivalent is extremely terrible and there's just a lot going on that can counteract them (re: mana reflector and terrible physical defense)
However, if you stick to it, you can get some really good stuff. Invincible Casting is essential for any mage in that it prevents your spells from being interrupted and Rust weakens the strength of any Power/Charm type that gets in your way. You might have to play a keep-away game, but being a wizard is Difficult But Awesome anyway.
"My name is [Steve Ryu]. I've got arms like a T-Rex's legs and becoming the top boxing star of [Caballa Island] is more than just a dream!"
: [Says hello]
: "You… you're that girl! No! No! My fair lady!"
I actually thought this was just a generic dialogue tree where he will refer even male characters like the Buffalo or the Dragon (with that one being extra funny due to how androgynous they are) as "his fair lady", but as it turns out this is the Bunny-exclusive quest of the area! How about that.
Not-Ryu here gushes about how "our punch stole his heart" and I'm just like, dude we haven't even gone to have dinner yet, like chill.
: "Uhm, why's your face so red?"
: "Sh… shut up! Don't even try to refuse me! I have been waiting for the day we would meet… What I mean is… I have been waiting for the day to fight you again. So don't misunderstand!"
: "Do you… mean me?"
I'm not sure if this guy is delusional or going through some odd desert fever. His request is that we have to have the girl of his dreams stamp her lipstick on a challenge letter.
He specifically tells us to not have the "Mermaid Babe" in Desert Beach Field 2 stamp it, so guess what we're doing?
: "Alright. I won't do just that." [wink]
I won't go into exquisite detail into transcribing every NPC's dialogue because if that were the case, we'd be here all day.
Mr. Owl here is actually part of a secret society dedicated to preserving the laws of reality and balance, and he's signaling to his comrades in owlspeak. (We're really getting into some shenanigans today, huh folks?)
Unfortunately, his feathers are falling out and he wants to maintain his image, the poor thing.
So he wants us to bully some Golden Moles and get feathers from them so he can replace his own. Sound idea.
... Stop staring at me with them big ol' eyes!
Little Dorothy here is trying to get some experience in being independent, but her lion-dressed friend is in the hospital. So she wants some Scorpion Jerky to make him feel better… I didn't know scorpion meat had medicinal properties, but whatever I'm rolling with it.
Scorpion Jerky doesn't sound that disgusting, but I'm also not in the game to taste it. (God can you imagine if they made a virtual reality headset for tastes? I know South Park the Fractured But Whole did something similar with a smell-o-vision or whatever it was called.)
"... For three days the fish and I fought to the death. When I finally cut the fish's stomach, a scroll fell out."
Uh. Whoa.
Mr. J here sold the scroll at an auction and got called up (presumably) by Big Don Cavalier himself. This doesn't have much to do with his request, but he wants us to get some salt anyway. I'm very tempted to make a tasteless joke, but I'm above that sort of thing.
It's extra weird because he looks like a fish himself. I would ask what's up with that, but I'd rather just play the game.
(Oh hey, it's Vincent from Super Smash Brothers!)
: "Let me draw you a portrait or a landscape painting in commemoration of your arrival to [Caballa Island]. How about you trying one too?"
: "Please draw me something!"
: "There are many people that come to this island for different reasons. I'm sure you have your own reason for participating in this game, right? Before I came here, I was drawing pictures in Notre Dame Square. The reason why I ended up coming here was because of an old painter who left a portrait in my care."
: "Notre Dame? Sounds pretty fancy... I remember me and my cousins visiting Paris that one time, it was sure real pretty."
: "To look at the woman in the portrait and to paint her accurately is this old man's last wish. When I found out that the painter was the owner of this island, I came straight here. I had a feeling that if I came to this island, I might be able to meet the girl in the painting..."
This is probably foreshadowing? I was too busy playing the game to pay attention to the story on my first playthrough, so this is intensely fascinating to me.
Color Pencils and paper, huh? I'm still curious as to how beating up Fanta Fish gives us color pencils, though.
... Oh. I... can see why they call her the Mermaid Babe. You're not my type though, babe.
She's willing to help us, but monsters took the truck that her lipstick was in and apparently crashed into a palm tree or something. Now it's all buried under the sand and we have to dig them up. (What a silly-ass game and ironically one of the best explanations for why the thing we need is underground.)
Type: None
Level: 29
HP: 1,395
AP: 92
MA: 0
DP: 108
MD: 126
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Same as Hula Octopus
Worthwhile Drops:
* Illegal CD (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A shifty lookalike of the Hula Octopus that refuses to make contact with people. Implied to be dealing in black market work."
Yeah, another thing Trickster likes to do is have copycat enemies that look identical to others but fulfill another purpose entirely. It can get pretty infuriating finding these guys when all you want to do is complete the quest you're on, but them's the breaks.
Oh jeez, the game's starting to get serious.
But hey, it's fine! We won't get into trouble now that Shockwave does like, 600 per hit without criticals. I'm feeling pretty confident, how about y--
... What a time for fate to remind me that there's other people that are stronger than me. In all seriousness, it's always hilarious watching higher leveled players storm in and wipe out all the enemies in the area with their mega overpowered skills.
It's cathartic in its own way, if that makes any sense.
Star Card Packs are... well, let's say they're not very useful. The ones dropped from enemies, at the very least.
: "I got the color pencils for you, mister artist!"
"I'm happy to know that your family and friends were happy to hear about how you're doing. If you ever want to send another postcard then speak with me again."
: "Y… yeah. About that. See, I'm here to look for my sister. She's one of the reasons why I came to Caballa Island to begin with, but I'll leave it at that."
: "Thank you so much for the drawing, though."
: "I won't hassle you with questions. You're welcome, young lady."
: "A… alright, madam. I'll be sure to keep it in mind for later."
: [Internal vomiting]
Snrk. Well, with that fun stuff out the way, let's go onto Beach Field 3 and see what we can find there!
Type: Power
Level: 28
HP: 1,045
AP: 112
MA: 0
DP: 72
MD: 83
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Sand Demon Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Broken Artifact 1 (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Sand Cake (Common / Quest Item)
* Sand Glass (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Legendary Recipe (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "An ill-mannered sand spirit that guards the pyramid. The archnemesis of the Sandmen."
Whoa, look at that drop list. Looks like we'll be hunting these guys for a while.
Type: Sense
Level: 24
HP: 905
AP: 96
MA: 0
DP: 60
MD: 69
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Pineapple Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Pineapple Mask (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A pineapple that was given sentience from the magic leaking from the pyramid. Is popular with tourists due its cute appearance."
Yeah, I decided on "sentient pineapple" as my idea for what these little guys are because they literally turn into pineapple slices when you kill them.
Type: Magic
Level: 22
HP: 835
AP: 88
MA: 0
DP: 54
MD: 62
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Sea Scorpion Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Flower Necklace (Common / Quest Item)
* Scorpion Jerky (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A docile scorpion variant that accustomed to life near the ocean. While it lacks a conventional stinger, it can shoot poison with deadly accuracy when threatened."
Not much to say about the Sea Scorpion.
Who in the name of Judas Priest hid bathing supplies under the sand!? Kinda defeats the purpose of cleaning supplies if they themselves get dirty, just saying.
... Oh hey I had another pet all along and it's much better than the Young Egg. Come along, little Peng.
We're getting salty today, friends.
Wow, immediately after the salt joke this happens. That's karma for you.
Sometimes the only thing worse than "nothing found" is "item is not here", but at least it doesn't force you to do a digging mini-game only for the game to say that it didn't even matter.
Oooh! That'll come in handy later.
Yo, look at that guy winning a treasure jackpot!
This, my friends, is what's called "finding Poseidon's Treasure". It can randomly happen any time you dig, and the result is often getting a bunch of coupons and maybe some cooking supplies for some odd reason.
It's not terribly exciting when you get one, but there's a way to trigger this on purpose through treasure maps... those are where the real rare items are kept.
Oh snap, something cool! See, this is what I keep talking about when I put "Elemental stones" in the bestiary entries: you can mature compound these crystals onto equipment to give them elemental properties.
It doesn't... mean anything since none of our attacks actually use the element in their damage calculation, but they're there in case you need them. (It just takes a lot of monster slaying to get them...)
: "Eeee! W... was that a ghost?! I just hope that was my imagination or something, because that was creepy."
So! I would oftenly find these spectral versions of enemies during my first playthrough of Trickster Online and think that they were the ghosts of monsters I had slain before as some morbid attention to detail.
The truth behind it is actually far more sinister, but alas we can't even interact with it.
Star Heart bullying the Golden Moles by doing four digits worth of damage, god damn. She's getting stronger faster than I expected.
Oh and the golden moles even dropped a duck doll for her. How nice.
: "Oh no, not more duck stuff. Even though it's... kinda cute..."
We get Kristoff his salt and he cooks up some delicious salted fish for our troubles. I also go and finish up the other two quests while we're at it:
Big Eyes Dorothy tells us to meet up with a lady called Officer Tera while the Owl continues to blow my mind with his magical secret society nonsense.
I do like how they hand out cards based off of the playable characters. Every single card we gather is important, even if they're not used for increasing Mastery like the Clione card. As for why that is?
… I won't like it, but trust me when I say that we will get to it.
"Uhm… if you ever want to see me… no, if you need help, then come back again."
: ("I'd rather not, thank you. Man, is everyone on this island nuts or what?")
Crazy Drilling is my favorite non-combat skill for various reasons, but I'd rather let Driller King Marky talk about it later.
"The key quest was sent to the mailbox. Take a look at it for future purposes."
I'm not quite sure why they send you a pamphlet of what Key Quests entail when you get an explanation of how it works in this area, but it's for the less attentive players I guess.
... He's a literal Sand Man with a little pail and shovel to boot. This game, I swear.
Mr. Sandman here is basically giving us the big lowdown of Trickster's mission structure for every major area of the game:
To qualify for a Key Quest, you must complete the requests of (almost) every NPC in town – doing so nets you with a Sticker for the area. I think this system for mission progression is pretty good because it gives the player a goal to look forward to while also giving them tasks to do at the moment, with the reward being massive amounts of experience and cool shit.
Also, lore on the world of Trickster in case you care. (I do.)
"This island has so much interesting stuff. I haven't had a chance ot see everything just yet, but I do really feel that it was a good idea to come to this island. Also, I've been able to find fantastic items!"
: "Fantastic items?"
Oh no, it begins. Better strap in for this one, fellas, cause… whoof.
: "Sure I will! Anything for a famous lady."
Fffffuck. Alright, the game has officially taken off the kid gloves!
You see the "1/5" on Miranda's quest? This means we have to complete it five times in order to get her full reward and this applies to every single "normal" quest from now on. While the mission overlay will say we only need 2 Pineapple masks, we actually have to get ten.
Right now it's not too bad given how easily the Pineapple monster drops them, but… man, have I got horror stories about how intense this gets when we get into the real high level dungeons. * shiver *
Thankfully, every other type of quest only needs to be completed once and we never have to see them again.
Skipper Min here smells super rank from not showering and we need to get him some bath supplies. Simple enough.
: ("Whoa!! What, does he use skunk spray as colonge? It's almost enough to knock me out.")
Vagabond Eloy gets sunburns easily and he wants us to get some sun screen for him.
Homeless Ian is making enough cash to not go hungry, so good on him. He's spending the time by making water buckets out of the coconut trees nearby, and to get a bucket from him we have to give him some flower necklaces.
: "Hohoho! Of course when people see a beauty like me, how could they not want to talk to me? By the way, my name is [Rosemary]."
: ("Stop that. What is that. Hohoho? You sound like a nasally challenged Santa Claus.")
: "Yeah, you're beautiful..."
Rosemary says that she's already fallen for a guy on the island that has "amazing fashion sense" and "mad funds", and how he has the power to turn her into a queen. Star Heart says it even better than me, to be honest:
: "I guess you can dream..."
: "A-ah... sorry, miss Rosemary. What do you need?"
Sigh.
She wants us to get a swimsuit for her that is also buried under the sand in Desert Beach Field 2 for some reason. What the hell happened in this place before we got here, like seriously? It must have been wild.
Officer Tifa here is the island's public security officer and lets us know that people have been coming to the island without permission. The big problem she's having is that some people are bringing in illegal CDs that can destroy the peace of the island (somehow).
I see Don Cavalier is the "don't copy that floppy" type. (snrk)
Tera tells us that the Grumpy Octopi in Desert Beach 2 are hoarding the CDs and planning to distribute them, so you know what we have to do.
STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM
NOBODY BREAKS THE LAW ON MY WATCH
What a funny coincidence that I also got Poseidon's treasure on the same chapter as the other guy.
They can also drop card packs, but these are more for characters in the area than anything else.
Oh hey, would you look at that! The MA stone, while useless for us, is one of the vaunted "stat stones" that I keep listing on the bestiary. They come in every color and hunting for specific ones blow chunks, but they're very nice to have when you do get them.
I love preparing in advance, it makes me feel smart.
Here's what the other fast travel sister looks like. I don't quite remember how their services differ, but I at least like her color palette more when compared to her sister. (I'm the red guy, after all. That's also probably why I'm a Power type too.)
: "Thanks!"
She only had to cease the existence of some cute little pineapple fellas, that's all.
More often then not, the game will contrive a reason for why you have to get multiples of the same thing. I don't actually hate it until we have to bring like 25 things to one person, like jesus have you had enough already?
But it's worth it to actually get a sticker at the end, though... that and all the experience and loot they give you in the meantime.
Kyu, huh? Now that'll be fun to talk about for later.
Homeless Ian is now covered in flower necklaces. Why did he want so many? I dunno, but thanks for the water buckets.
Completing Skipper Min's quest to make him and his swab buddies not smell like dead rats rewards you with both a sticker and the Harpoon Neo.
... It sounds cool but it's actually just a spear with a fish still stabbed on it. What a silly game.
"Hohoho~ What a good friend you are! If there's anything I need in the future, I'll make sure to ask you. So be ready for it!"
: "You're welcome, miss officer! I hope you break this black market ring or whatever it is."
Oh right, I never explained the little angel fella at the right. Basically you can serve as a guide for beginner players in case you need them, but I haven't seen anybody that actually uses it.
Giuvanni feels the need to re-introduce himself for some odd reason. Our attention span isn't that short, buddy… also, I doubt anybody can forget the glittery tuxedo and red butterfly glasses combo just from how over the top it is.
His director friend asked him for a favor – to find a famous model. Giuvanni is as pompous as ever and states he doesn't remember who it is because he's just that busy and rich. The model's name is Jenny and he wants her picture buried in Desert Beach Field 1.
Star Heart is surprisingly enthused about this for some reason:
: "Jenny? I'm Jenny's #1 fan!"
...
Would you believe this was right after talking with Giuvanni? I swear it really is like the Let's Player's Blessing or something.
I do like how they direct you to the other Heart Gem NPCs even though you're likely to complete all of them by proxy.
Whatta dick.
: "I recommend that you speak with [Sandman] and complete the [Key Quest] that he has prepared. You should be able to grow a lot from completing the [Key Quests] in each town."
No kidding. Didn't we start this chapter at level 17? We went up like fifteen levels just from doing some slightly repetitive menial tasks. That, my friends, is the true power of the "gain EXP from doing missions" mechanic and I love it to bits.
This is like the Anti-Grinding Life Solution (unless you have to get monster/drill drops, but I'd prefer that a thousand times over grinding for experience the traditional way).
Good shit.
Bunny Maid is watching the well and wants 10 octopus legs and 5 water buckets (that we conveniently already have from doing Homeless Ian's quest!). Thinking in advance is practically recommended for this game, and thanks to the Player Inventory Shop system Trickster has… it can be made even easier!
It's actually brilliant how well thought-out the mechanics for this game are… even to the point of invoking jealousy from me as a fellow game dev. (In a good way, mind you.)
: "Oh look, another poverty stricken person."
: "Who…!"
Wow, what a bitch. If this is what a typical tsundere is like, then no thank you. I'm not about being humiliated and talked down to – that's not my kink. (Though I do have to admit that she's pretty heckin' cute.)
: "If you're going to do some sad confession then go away. I'm not interested."
: "Can you read the stars?"
: "... What business do you have with me?"
: "I heard rumors that you can read the stars."
: "Rumors?"
: "You are the one that can read stars, right?"
(The other option was "you look too young, sorry wrong person" and that's just dandy.)
She mentions that Don Giuvanni is interfering with her business and that he was floating down to sea… this sounds hilarious enough as it is, but let's see where it goes.
Long story short, Giuvanni told Stella that she needed to get permission from Megalo Company first, but then this happened:
: "I went to tell her that she need to get permission then she kicked me into the trash can! I got stuck and after floating around I ended up here. It's only because I can't be giving permission right away to underaged kids."
: "So that's why you smell like trash… Oof."
I mean, he's bold and brash enough to belong in the trash.
He wants some soap to clean up his stink and for some odd reason we only need three bars instead of five like the other guy, but I'm not complaining.
Well would you look at that. The first Monster card we get in the entire game and it's the Hula Octopus of all things. This is a good omen.
Have fun with all those sun screens, you weirdo.
Authority, huh? This dork can't even rule over a bowl of pudding.
Oh huh, she's actually 26? I mean, I'm glad to see she's actually older than she looks for once.
Also, I wouldn't put it past Giuvanni to fall into a trash can and still blame someone else for it. See what I mean?
Oh? I guess she really is like, a tsundere after all: the "sweet to you" part just had to kick in.
Nice. Stella's forte is... well, star reading. This is yet another one of Trickster's mechanics and the primary use behind the Star Card packs - they're different from normal cards in that you can only use them via her services.
What they do is boost certain stats or give you bonuses for a limited amount of time, like extra EXP or TM EXP - stuff like that. The pack Stella gave us is actually way, way more valuable than a normal pack dropped by monsters and can actually fetch a pretty penny should you set up shop in the right place.
O-oh. It wasn't mean to be, I guess.
"Hm… What was I in the middle of doing?"
: "You were talking to me…"
The Sandman remarks that there's a ton of incoming adventurers, but none of them show interest in how the city was built. That's... surprisingly meta commentary considering most people would just complete the quests and leave, let's be real.
Before he can tell us more, though, he's feeling peckish. (Somehow. I guess Sandmen need to eat to regain their strength.)
He wants us to go through another quest to... make him food. Alright, cool.
: ("I know this is to become a trickster and all but... wow I want a break soon or something!")
Look at the mini-quest bar on the right - we've already completed most of this quest before it even started. That's pretty nuts.
... Are you kidding me, this was the first Sand Demon upon re-entering this place! This is also another required item for this key quest. Good thing the game decided to be nice and spare me an hour or two of hunting Sand Demons.
I love pre-collecting quest items before they're necessary, alright?
This was surprisingly generous. I'm suspicious of games that have done this in the past and I'm not stopping that now.
"I'm going to mix these ingredients together and feast on this legendary food. Would you like some too?"
: "Eh, no thanks."
: "Oh, it's too bad that humans can't enjoy this food. Well then, time to mix it up. Aha! It's done. Time to taste… the best way to taste this is using a garden trowel."
He goes into extensive detail about how to delicately eat this super sand cake, even down to the degrees of how to scoop it and it's like…
After he's done gorging himself, he talks about the sandmen's famous sand tar that was used to build the Alteo Empire, an ancient civilization that will remain a mystery for us right now. He also says that his people helped work on the pyramids in Egypt too.
He then asks us to look for a Glyph Tablet in the Pyramid Dungeon located at Desert Beach Field 3, but for now I think that's a pretty good place to leave off.
Hell of a second chapter, wouldn't you say? Next time on Trickster Online, we complete the Sandman's Key Quest and expand our horizons even further. See you guys then!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Player Status:
(Star Heart / Rachel): "Oh jeez, the Pyramid... I sure hope the mummies in there don't come to life and eat me."
* Job class: Schoolgirl (
Tier 1)
* Type: Power
* EXP level: 34 (+17)
* TM level: 31 (+12)
* Gender:
* Bosses slain: Zero
Fancy that.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - You Call This A Paradise?![/font][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]
Spoiler:
Oh hey, the title screen changed again! That was fast. (I kinda like this one more than the snow girls one, but that one was still hella cute anyway.)
... Hey wait a minute...
Oh shit she actually showed up this early? I didn't expect that.
... If you want an explanation about who she is though, you're not getting one right now. I'm gonna leave you guys hanging on this one for a while.
[Star Heart suddenly wakes up and wipes the drool off her face]
[My OST for Desert Beach: Lethal Lava Land]
One beach is hotter than the other, and it shows with the monsters because they're a bit meaner than the Coral Beach ones -
Type: Power
Level: 19
HP: 730
AP: 76
MA: 0
DP: 45
MD: 51
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Shell Trap Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Iron Grass (Common / TM Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 20 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A cousin of the Bustshell monster that grew to live on land. Beloved for its juicy clam meat."
I love how these are two different monsters, but they're not palette swaps. The only other game I know that changes up the actual designs of similar monsters is Dark Cloud 2, and that's like my favorite PS2 game of all time. (The Kingdom Hearts games coming in at a close second, of course.)
(... You may have noticed that I don't include EXP or TM EXP in these bestiary entries. That's because hunting monsters quickly becomes obsolete in terms of EXP gain - completing quests fills in this niche after a while.)
Type: Sense
Level: 20
HP: 765
AP: 80
MA: 0
DP: 48
MD: 54
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Golden Mole Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Duck Doll (Uncommon / ??? Item)
* Earthworm (Common / Quest Item for Fox characters)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 20 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A humble platypus-like creature that dedicates their time to cleaning up the beach, hence why it is covered with junk."
These guys are the hard workers of the Golden Moles because they actually clean up the mess... unlike their cousins inside of the cave earlier who just sit around wearing crowns and calling themselves royalty.
I put in ??? Item as something different than "quest item" because sometimes the people who run the game like to include special missions where previously useless items become valuable as quest items. These are cool because they hand out unique prizes to the winners, but I usually miss them.
Type: Sense
Level: 18
HP: 695
AP: 72
MA: 0
DP: 42
MD: 47
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Fanta Slime Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Twinkle Star (Uncommon / Quest Item for Lion characters)
Gear Entry: "Starfish with a slime-like body. Known as Paradise's star animal due to its dance moves."
Fanta Slime is one of those monsters that kinda just... exists. It's pretty hard to say much about it, because the only item from it that's even somewhat valuable is only useful to Lion characters.
Type: None
Level: 40
HP: 10
AP: 170
MA: 59
DP: 154
MD: 150
Aggressive: No
Skills: Faint (Paralyzes opponent)
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: N/A
Worthwhile Drops:
* GM Lucky Bag (Common / Item)
Gear Entry: "A rare penguin of unknown origin that carries goodie bags. Don't let it get away if you see it!"
Oh hey, thanks for showing up! I kinda expected the PinkPink Penguin to show up given that Coral Beach Field 1 is where I go to hunt them, but this is a very nice surprise. (Let's Player's luck, I'm telling you...)
We no longer get one-shot by them, thankfully, but getting paralyzed in this game suuuuucks.
You are not able to move or even defend yourself should you get paralyzed, making it one of the deadliest status effects in the game. Right now it's not a problem because the Rare Penguins just want to get away from you, but later enemies can possibly stun-lock you to death with it unless you have a certain skill.
It's pretty rough, man.
Aw snap, Star Heart managed to overcome her penguin weakness! That was pretty fast, not gonna lie. I was expecting to lose the penguin and give up, but it thankfully stuck around for its demise.
The GM Lucky Bag actually warns you if you want to open it - this is a good thing too, because two of the potential items it can give you is super heavy and bound to increase your Weight by at least 80%. (You can go over 100% in terms of weight, but it's always a bad idea.)
... Damn it, I got the second least useful one. At least 100K Galders is good for in-game shops (because surprisingly, the economy of the setting isn't horribly broken... the same cannot be said for a certain other feature, though.)
Potential list of items the GM Lucky Bag can contain:
* 1x Store-More Ticket (Increases capacity of warehouse)
* A set of five 10,000 galder coupons
* One 100K galder check
* 3x Adamantite Ores
* 3x Alexandrite Gems
* 1x Friend Finder (Teleports to the location of one of your online friends)
* 5x GM Gift Certificate (Used for special items)
* 1x Memory Port Ev (Allows you to record the location you are currently in and teleport back to it later. Extremely useful)
* Mighty Turkey VR (A somewhat mediocre Pet item)
* 3x Portable Port Ev (Allows you to teleport to towns or even dungeons)
The ones marked with the siren are pivotal for me to get should they appear. (This is also the only free way to get these items, because most of them are "MyShop" exclusive otherwise.)
The relevance of the Ores/Gems will be explained in this chapter, so we'll get to them in a bit.
Type: Charm
Level: 38
HP: 1,640 x3 (4,920 total)
AP: 195
MA: 0
DP: ???
MD: 135
Aggressive: Yes
Skills: Cure (Magic skill that restores some health.)
Element: None
Weakness: Guns
Resistance: Water, Light
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Cannon Shell Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Broken Artifact 3 (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A Cannon Shell mutant that attacks anybody that enters its territory. It is aggressive and leads a troop of lesser Cannon Shells."
Ooof, the punisher enemies... So these are special "mutated" versions of normal enemies that have much more health and are always aggressive regardless if you attack them first or not.
They can heal themselves up, can summon minions and are overall a pain to deal with compared to normal enemies.
This looks exciting and all, but Star Heart is gonna get wiped out by this thing.
I love how much style this game has, because each major town has its own special title card when you visit them.
(Ignore the sudden shift into daytime, I had the game running while I was doing some errands.)
Whoa, look at this guy!
He legit looks like he walked off the set of Men In Black. It's nuts just how different each NPC in this game can get - I like that they can change things up in terms of art direction. (Even if it gets... a bit strange from time to time, but whatever.)
(No wonder, he works for Don Dork.)
He tells us that the guy is up ahead and that there's also… storage and a bank there? Hallelujah!
Alright, should be pretty simple. (Fun fact: the item we're going to make heals even less than a normal consumable HP item, so we might never see it again past this mission.)
You might notice these little houses from time to time - there's a feature in Trickster called My Camp, which is like a "make your own little house" simulator. I don't play around with it because it's not my thing, but apparently people use it for special mini-chatrooms or something.
I don't check because I usually keep to myself, but it sure is interesting.
[My choice for the Shop OST: Digimon World DS - Shop]
... Huh. The Paradise shop is usually more packed than this. Oh well.
(Damn, the fox with the scythe and shield looks sick. You can get your character to look super anime thanks to custom item sets, something that's far beyond our grasp right now.)
This lovely lady is in charge of the Warehouse - a lifesaver in more ways than one. I also love how non-intrusive the cost for putting away stuff you don't need is, too.
Her arguably-even-more-lovely sister(?) is in charge of the Bank. It differs from the Warehouse in that it can transport cash and items between the different characters in your account, so that'll be a great mechanic to take advantage of in the future.
This finely dressed lass is in charge of Timed Items, a... rather unfortunate aspect of Trickster.
They are items with real world time limits that tick down regardless if you're playing or not. Once the time limit is up, the item becomes unusable and automatically comes off your person.
I can see why they did this - you know, microtransactions and all - but it's still really painful to deal with.
The lass in charge of the card shop might be dressed as a hyena, but I'm bad at recognizing animal ears. The card shop doesn't sell monster cards unfortunately, but instead offers these random packs.
They're very important because sometimes they can have skill cards or even rare Arcana cards (used for job promotion purposes), but oftentimes they'll just hit you with empty cards instead. It's kinda a gamble that way, especially since they cost a lot by normal shop standards.
The item lady is in charge of more standard items like equipment, consumables, etc. (Also, look at the tiny little cat inside of her basket.
She doesn't sell anything we really need right now, but there's an item I just have to show off:
Empty cards are functionless cards used as throwing weapons for the Raccoon class... since apparently on top of being a Teacher, they also become a gambler that uses razor sharp cards as weapons.
Oooh, he looks pretty cool. Also, I think the job of explaining Compounding will go to me instead.
This is arguably the most simple of these systems and the one that requires the most busy work. See, Compounding has you use materials to make items out of a pre-determined list.
This gets really aggravating later in the game where you have quest-required items that have to be compounded into existence, but that's kinda the bitch of relying on Alchemy, huh?
It may also be influenced by the Luck stat, but that's more the Sense types' specialty.
... Crap. Every time you fail, you get Compound Waste - literal garbage that has no other purpose but to clog up the inventory.
We can increase the amount of materials used, so how about we use three of the materials Bobbert gave us at once?
Oh, okay, three at once somehow works yet just one doesn't. Funny logic there, game.
Ooh, my favorite mechanic is here! He tells us to look for a guy called Alchemist Nate, who is conveniently in the same shop as the other guy.
He may look snooty but god damn if his service isn't the most helpful in the game.
Mature Compounding is practically completely different in that you're applying the effects of items onto equipment. Applying the Hard Scales will increase the defense of the Life Vest by 16 to 33 points.
We can only do it once, but thankfully higher-tier equipment can be matured multiple times.
The maximum possible point increase is pretty rare though, and you can only apply certain types of stat improvements. I love Mature Compounding because it allows me to make up for weaknesses in armor, like... patching armor with Magic Defense boosts to make up for the Power Types weakness to magic!
That and adding more AP to equipment is fantastic. Enemies can drop special items that increase stats, but the most powerful kinds tend to be really rare.
Jeez, the least you could do is show a little bit of emotion. It wouldn't kill you, Mr. Robot.
[Star Heart shows him the vest]
Now we have to go to the blacksmith and refine the wooden sword he gave us earlier, even though we're not going to actually use it. (Damn duck gear is actually pretty good for this early in the game…)
God damn, he looks badass for a blacksmith. He certainly gives the other two goobers over there a run for their money in terms of style.
Bronze Gemstones and a chance of failure, huh? (He's lying about the latter, by the way.)
So one of the greatest features of Trickster is not its experience-based quest system or its solid mission structure... no, it's this: Players being able to sell off what's in their inventories.
You'd think this would primarily be used for dumb stuff like selling off a regular wooden sword for 9,999,999 galder (which people have done, although nobody really buys it... I hope), but more often then not you have people selling off pre-collected quest items to other players as a way to speed up the process of getting Stickers.
This makes Trickster go from good if slightly tedious to buttery smooth in terms of pacing: the reason being that if you don't want to collect items, you don't have to - all you need to do is buy them from someone else and get free experience!
It's absolutely goddamn fantastic, but a critical flaw of this is that... well, these inventories are managed by real people who aren't going to be around all the time. If you need quest items but nobody is there, then tough luck.
One area in particular still haunts my nightmares, but that's for another time. Let's move on to Desert Beach Field 2 before I develop a migraine thinking about that place.
Type: Charm
Level: 25
HP: 940
AP: 100
MA: 0
DP: 63
MD: 72
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Hula Octopus Card (Very Rare / Mastery Card
* Bouquet (Common / Quest Item)
* Octopus Leg (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A friendly octopus that wanders Desert Beach and greets travelers. Not a fighter."
The Hula Octopus is another Mastery Card holder that isn't quite as necessary for us particularly, but it does improve Cure for the Magic types.
Type: Magic
Level: 21
HP: 800
AP: 84
MA: 0
DP: 51
MD: 58
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Fanta Fish Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Color Pencils (Common / Quest Item)
* Pen (Uncommon / Quest Item for Raccoon characters)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "Magical flying fish with psychic powers and delicate, rainbow-colored scales. Beloved by artists for their vibrant palette and ability to inspire art."
So it drops color pencils and pens when it dies... the Fanta Fish don't even have hands, how are they gonna draw?
Here's the mine like Marx talked about and... wow, he's already here? Looks like I don't have to travel far then.
Oh, never mind, this is a different quest altogether. Sorry, but no dice.
I don't even want to think about how deadly that place must be for our current level, so I'm not trying it even as a joke.
This is what it would have looked like normally had that generous Lion player not been here, but thankfully I don't have to stay. You can get other gemstones for the Marx quest here, but I'm not gonna do it because drilling takes too long.
(What the heck is up with that "%'s set has been completed" though, I've never seen that before.)
At the very least he's a jolly guy. If he had the same dryness as Officer Bobbert then that'd be a real problem.
Refining is another essential mechanic in terms of equipment improvement, although it's more straightforward than Mature Compounding. Take X amount of an item, craft and then you're done.
Physical equipment like swords, axes and the like require Ores for refinement while Magical equipment like staves require Gems. Adamantite and Alexandrite are the rarest and most powerful of these objects, so it's even crazier in hindsight that a GM Lucky bag at the start of the game can gift them to you for free.
Granted, they will practically double the weight of your inventory, but that's what the Warehouse is for.
This slot is where Anvils go - Anvils are another My Shop exclusive that increase the success rate of the refinement process, because as it turns out refining can actually fail after the first attempt.
If that happens, then the weapon breaks and you'd have to use Repair Powder (another MyShop Item) to get it back in usable condition. It's kind of a risk vs reward thing.
Mature Compounding and Refining, when properly utilized, allow you to do some nutty shit in term of weapon customization. Don't be fooled by the low numbers you see with the Wooden Sword, because Refining can absolutely help you out if you take the time to get the materials.
He also gives us a Hologram Port where we can talk to… Don Cavalier himself?!
What?! I have to see this.
Hell of a way to tell the player they've accomplished something by getting to level 20. Let's see what we got from Notice.
"You can learn a skill by double-clicking the skill card in your card inventory."
Excellent. Now I can finally break out more useful techniques than Steel Punch!
Oh? What do we got?
Ah. The Level 20 gift box is useful while the panda equipment is... well, it's not actually equipment. It's the appearance of equipment without the stats. How in the world is that going to be useful?
Well, as it turns out, you can actually fuse the appearance of one type of equipment with the other via Artisans' Flames, yet another My Shop item (god they really want to shill the microtransactions, huh).
It's the best of both worlds - you get to have a matching set and keep the stats of the superior weapon. It's actually ridiculous how much thought the Trickster people put into this, because they didn't need to do this... but they did anyway to improve the players' experiences. That's rad.
Opening the Level 20 gift box would be a good idea but I think it gives you a timed item and I'd rather save it for the sessions when I do play this game.
I'm storing all this junk away because i'm not sure I'm ever going to use them again.
For now though, I want to see what's up with this Hologram port. Take me away, technology!
[My choice for this OST: Welcome to the World of Pokemon]
No kidding. Also can I just say that Don Cavalier is really silly looking? Like there's probably an intentional design thing going on with him, but... damn, I can't help but chuckle when I see him!
He states that only the chosen ones can become Tricksters… which I have to admit is a really clever way to integrate the players into this story because it opens the floodgates for people to come in and make their own characters… like me!
Big Don goes on to say that if we guide him (???) to the legendary Harkon Statue known as "Poseidon's Blessing", we'll be proclaimed the winner and receive his inheritance. Sounds pretty crazy.
Wait, what the hell? See you later? But he's dead! (Unless this is an invitation to the great beyond...
[Teleport back to Paradise]
--
(You can use this intermission as a chance to take a break before reading again, in case you need it.)
--
This finely dressed chap is Andrew, and he's in charge of banking and guild management normally. All I can say now is that if we use his services to sell off the 100k Galder check, he'll pay us back full price. (Selling it in normal shops would only give us 50,000 galders.)
You have the option of letting him teleport you to the skill masters, but it's honestly really silly and pointless because they're right friccin' there! We're in Paradise, dummy!
I do think it's nice that they give you the list of people (which also shows up in your quest menu in case you get lost, thankfully.)
But anyway, let's go meet up with the Skill Masters!
Master Louis here is our specialist and has a bunch of great skills for us to learn. I get Shockwave (a more powerful attack than Steel Punch), Shockvibe (the ability to lower enemies accuracy) and a few others.
But before we go, I just have to show off one amazing thing and that's Shockvibe's card art:
This is like the epitome of the "shook" meme, my god.
Pressing "S" on the keyboard bring ups the Skills menu (likewise, C for the card menu) - here you can see how many Tech points you've accumulated and distribute them to learn more skills or level up old ones.
This is important too because leveling up certain skills is often a requirement for learning others. They really thought their combat through for a point and click based system, huh?
Oh, and to make things better? You can assign multiple skills for quick use as shown here:
Oh, uh -
But yeah, as you can see here, you can combo different skills into each other and speed up combat even more... you can kind of see why I wanted to do the let's play now, huh?
This small lad is Genius Cochma, the Specialist for Sense types.
A lot of the Sense skills end up revolving around weight, drilling, guns and throwing weapons. They're also useful for luck-based things like compounding and so on, so Sense types definitely get an edge in terms of limiting quest item screw-ups at the very least.
You can also get Invincible Reload for Guns, which makes it so enemy attacks can't interrupt you when you reload ammo. (Though why this is a skill and not just default for gun wielders is... strange to me.)
Whoa, mama. She sure fits the part for the Charm specialist if you know what I mean.
... In hindsight it kind of makes sense that Charm is the Health/Defense/Avoid stat build - if you're more attractive, your enemies don't pound you as hard. Genius!
The skills she sells revolve around defense, with Mana Reflector and Skunk Pouch being the most standout ones. Mana Reflector deflects magic attacks and can be stacked with a later skill to further reduce the damage you take.
Meanwhile, Skunk Pouch is the Charm version of Faint (rendering an enemy helpless), so that automatically makes it essential to have. (I just find it hilarious that you paralyze enemies with a bad smell, alright?)
Sephira is the Magic Specialist and even has her own little black cat companion.
I have to be honest and say that the Magic types get the shortest end of the stick starting out: the Steel Punch equivalent is extremely terrible and there's just a lot going on that can counteract them (re: mana reflector and terrible physical defense)
However, if you stick to it, you can get some really good stuff. Invincible Casting is essential for any mage in that it prevents your spells from being interrupted and Rust weakens the strength of any Power/Charm type that gets in your way. You might have to play a keep-away game, but being a wizard is Difficult But Awesome anyway.
"My name is [Steve Ryu]. I've got arms like a T-Rex's legs and becoming the top boxing star of [Caballa Island] is more than just a dream!"
I actually thought this was just a generic dialogue tree where he will refer even male characters like the Buffalo or the Dragon (with that one being extra funny due to how androgynous they are) as "his fair lady", but as it turns out this is the Bunny-exclusive quest of the area! How about that.
Not-Ryu here gushes about how "our punch stole his heart" and I'm just like, dude we haven't even gone to have dinner yet, like chill.
I'm not sure if this guy is delusional or going through some odd desert fever. His request is that we have to have the girl of his dreams stamp her lipstick on a challenge letter.
He specifically tells us to not have the "Mermaid Babe" in Desert Beach Field 2 stamp it, so guess what we're doing?
I won't go into exquisite detail into transcribing every NPC's dialogue because if that were the case, we'd be here all day.
Mr. Owl here is actually part of a secret society dedicated to preserving the laws of reality and balance, and he's signaling to his comrades in owlspeak. (We're really getting into some shenanigans today, huh folks?)
Unfortunately, his feathers are falling out and he wants to maintain his image, the poor thing.
So he wants us to bully some Golden Moles and get feathers from them so he can replace his own. Sound idea.
... Stop staring at me with them big ol' eyes!
Little Dorothy here is trying to get some experience in being independent, but her lion-dressed friend is in the hospital. So she wants some Scorpion Jerky to make him feel better… I didn't know scorpion meat had medicinal properties, but whatever I'm rolling with it.
Scorpion Jerky doesn't sound that disgusting, but I'm also not in the game to taste it. (God can you imagine if they made a virtual reality headset for tastes? I know South Park the Fractured But Whole did something similar with a smell-o-vision or whatever it was called.)
"... For three days the fish and I fought to the death. When I finally cut the fish's stomach, a scroll fell out."
Uh. Whoa.
Mr. J here sold the scroll at an auction and got called up (presumably) by Big Don Cavalier himself. This doesn't have much to do with his request, but he wants us to get some salt anyway. I'm very tempted to make a tasteless joke, but I'm above that sort of thing.
It's extra weird because he looks like a fish himself. I would ask what's up with that, but I'd rather just play the game.
(Oh hey, it's Vincent from Super Smash Brothers!)
This is probably foreshadowing? I was too busy playing the game to pay attention to the story on my first playthrough, so this is intensely fascinating to me.
Color Pencils and paper, huh? I'm still curious as to how beating up Fanta Fish gives us color pencils, though.
... Oh. I... can see why they call her the Mermaid Babe. You're not my type though, babe.
She's willing to help us, but monsters took the truck that her lipstick was in and apparently crashed into a palm tree or something. Now it's all buried under the sand and we have to dig them up. (What a silly-ass game and ironically one of the best explanations for why the thing we need is underground.)
Type: None
Level: 29
HP: 1,395
AP: 92
MA: 0
DP: 108
MD: 126
Aggressive: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Same as Hula Octopus
Worthwhile Drops:
* Illegal CD (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones Lv. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A shifty lookalike of the Hula Octopus that refuses to make contact with people. Implied to be dealing in black market work."
Yeah, another thing Trickster likes to do is have copycat enemies that look identical to others but fulfill another purpose entirely. It can get pretty infuriating finding these guys when all you want to do is complete the quest you're on, but them's the breaks.
Oh jeez, the game's starting to get serious.
But hey, it's fine! We won't get into trouble now that Shockwave does like, 600 per hit without criticals. I'm feeling pretty confident, how about y--
... What a time for fate to remind me that there's other people that are stronger than me. In all seriousness, it's always hilarious watching higher leveled players storm in and wipe out all the enemies in the area with their mega overpowered skills.
It's cathartic in its own way, if that makes any sense.
Star Card Packs are... well, let's say they're not very useful. The ones dropped from enemies, at the very least.
"I'm happy to know that your family and friends were happy to hear about how you're doing. If you ever want to send another postcard then speak with me again."
Snrk. Well, with that fun stuff out the way, let's go onto Beach Field 3 and see what we can find there!
Type: Power
Level: 28
HP: 1,045
AP: 112
MA: 0
DP: 72
MD: 83
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Sand Demon Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Broken Artifact 1 (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Sand Cake (Common / Quest Item)
* Sand Glass (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Legendary Recipe (Uncommon / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "An ill-mannered sand spirit that guards the pyramid. The archnemesis of the Sandmen."
Whoa, look at that drop list. Looks like we'll be hunting these guys for a while.
Type: Sense
Level: 24
HP: 905
AP: 96
MA: 0
DP: 60
MD: 69
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Pineapple Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Pineapple Mask (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A pineapple that was given sentience from the magic leaking from the pyramid. Is popular with tourists due its cute appearance."
Yeah, I decided on "sentient pineapple" as my idea for what these little guys are because they literally turn into pineapple slices when you kill them.
Type: Magic
Level: 22
HP: 835
AP: 88
MA: 0
DP: 54
MD: 62
Aggressive?: No
Skills: None
Element: None
Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Official Art: Here
Worthwhile Drops:
* Sea Scorpion Card (Very Rare / Card)
* Flower Necklace (Common / Quest Item)
* Scorpion Jerky (Common / Quest Item)
* Stat/Element Stones LV. 35 (Very Rare / Crafting)
Gear Entry: "A docile scorpion variant that accustomed to life near the ocean. While it lacks a conventional stinger, it can shoot poison with deadly accuracy when threatened."
Not much to say about the Sea Scorpion.
Who in the name of Judas Priest hid bathing supplies under the sand!? Kinda defeats the purpose of cleaning supplies if they themselves get dirty, just saying.
... Oh hey I had another pet all along and it's much better than the Young Egg. Come along, little Peng.
We're getting salty today, friends.
Wow, immediately after the salt joke this happens. That's karma for you.
Sometimes the only thing worse than "nothing found" is "item is not here", but at least it doesn't force you to do a digging mini-game only for the game to say that it didn't even matter.
Oooh! That'll come in handy later.
Yo, look at that guy winning a treasure jackpot!
This, my friends, is what's called "finding Poseidon's Treasure". It can randomly happen any time you dig, and the result is often getting a bunch of coupons and maybe some cooking supplies for some odd reason.
It's not terribly exciting when you get one, but there's a way to trigger this on purpose through treasure maps... those are where the real rare items are kept.
Oh snap, something cool! See, this is what I keep talking about when I put "Elemental stones" in the bestiary entries: you can mature compound these crystals onto equipment to give them elemental properties.
It doesn't... mean anything since none of our attacks actually use the element in their damage calculation, but they're there in case you need them. (It just takes a lot of monster slaying to get them...)
So! I would oftenly find these spectral versions of enemies during my first playthrough of Trickster Online and think that they were the ghosts of monsters I had slain before as some morbid attention to detail.
The truth behind it is actually far more sinister, but alas we can't even interact with it.
Star Heart bullying the Golden Moles by doing four digits worth of damage, god damn. She's getting stronger faster than I expected.
Oh and the golden moles even dropped a duck doll for her. How nice.
We get Kristoff his salt and he cooks up some delicious salted fish for our troubles. I also go and finish up the other two quests while we're at it:
Big Eyes Dorothy tells us to meet up with a lady called Officer Tera while the Owl continues to blow my mind with his magical secret society nonsense.
I do like how they hand out cards based off of the playable characters. Every single card we gather is important, even if they're not used for increasing Mastery like the Clione card. As for why that is?
… I won't like it, but trust me when I say that we will get to it.
"Uhm… if you ever want to see me… no, if you need help, then come back again."
Crazy Drilling is my favorite non-combat skill for various reasons, but I'd rather let Driller King Marky talk about it later.
"The key quest was sent to the mailbox. Take a look at it for future purposes."
I'm not quite sure why they send you a pamphlet of what Key Quests entail when you get an explanation of how it works in this area, but it's for the less attentive players I guess.
... He's a literal Sand Man with a little pail and shovel to boot. This game, I swear.
Mr. Sandman here is basically giving us the big lowdown of Trickster's mission structure for every major area of the game:
To qualify for a Key Quest, you must complete the requests of (almost) every NPC in town – doing so nets you with a Sticker for the area. I think this system for mission progression is pretty good because it gives the player a goal to look forward to while also giving them tasks to do at the moment, with the reward being massive amounts of experience and cool shit.
Also, lore on the world of Trickster in case you care. (I do.)
"This island has so much interesting stuff. I haven't had a chance ot see everything just yet, but I do really feel that it was a good idea to come to this island. Also, I've been able to find fantastic items!"
Oh no, it begins. Better strap in for this one, fellas, cause… whoof.
Fffffuck. Alright, the game has officially taken off the kid gloves!
You see the "1/5" on Miranda's quest? This means we have to complete it five times in order to get her full reward and this applies to every single "normal" quest from now on. While the mission overlay will say we only need 2 Pineapple masks, we actually have to get ten.
Right now it's not too bad given how easily the Pineapple monster drops them, but… man, have I got horror stories about how intense this gets when we get into the real high level dungeons. * shiver *
Thankfully, every other type of quest only needs to be completed once and we never have to see them again.
Skipper Min here smells super rank from not showering and we need to get him some bath supplies. Simple enough.
Vagabond Eloy gets sunburns easily and he wants us to get some sun screen for him.
Homeless Ian is making enough cash to not go hungry, so good on him. He's spending the time by making water buckets out of the coconut trees nearby, and to get a bucket from him we have to give him some flower necklaces.
Rosemary says that she's already fallen for a guy on the island that has "amazing fashion sense" and "mad funds", and how he has the power to turn her into a queen. Star Heart says it even better than me, to be honest:
Sigh.
She wants us to get a swimsuit for her that is also buried under the sand in Desert Beach Field 2 for some reason. What the hell happened in this place before we got here, like seriously? It must have been wild.
Officer Tifa here is the island's public security officer and lets us know that people have been coming to the island without permission. The big problem she's having is that some people are bringing in illegal CDs that can destroy the peace of the island (somehow).
I see Don Cavalier is the "don't copy that floppy" type. (snrk)
Tera tells us that the Grumpy Octopi in Desert Beach 2 are hoarding the CDs and planning to distribute them, so you know what we have to do.
STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM
NOBODY BREAKS THE LAW ON MY WATCH
What a funny coincidence that I also got Poseidon's treasure on the same chapter as the other guy.
They can also drop card packs, but these are more for characters in the area than anything else.
Oh hey, would you look at that! The MA stone, while useless for us, is one of the vaunted "stat stones" that I keep listing on the bestiary. They come in every color and hunting for specific ones blow chunks, but they're very nice to have when you do get them.
I love preparing in advance, it makes me feel smart.
Here's what the other fast travel sister looks like. I don't quite remember how their services differ, but I at least like her color palette more when compared to her sister. (I'm the red guy, after all. That's also probably why I'm a Power type too.)
She only had to cease the existence of some cute little pineapple fellas, that's all.
More often then not, the game will contrive a reason for why you have to get multiples of the same thing. I don't actually hate it until we have to bring like 25 things to one person, like jesus have you had enough already?
But it's worth it to actually get a sticker at the end, though... that and all the experience and loot they give you in the meantime.
Kyu, huh? Now that'll be fun to talk about for later.
Homeless Ian is now covered in flower necklaces. Why did he want so many? I dunno, but thanks for the water buckets.
Completing Skipper Min's quest to make him and his swab buddies not smell like dead rats rewards you with both a sticker and the Harpoon Neo.
... It sounds cool but it's actually just a spear with a fish still stabbed on it. What a silly game.
"Hohoho~ What a good friend you are! If there's anything I need in the future, I'll make sure to ask you. So be ready for it!"
Oh right, I never explained the little angel fella at the right. Basically you can serve as a guide for beginner players in case you need them, but I haven't seen anybody that actually uses it.
Giuvanni feels the need to re-introduce himself for some odd reason. Our attention span isn't that short, buddy… also, I doubt anybody can forget the glittery tuxedo and red butterfly glasses combo just from how over the top it is.
His director friend asked him for a favor – to find a famous model. Giuvanni is as pompous as ever and states he doesn't remember who it is because he's just that busy and rich. The model's name is Jenny and he wants her picture buried in Desert Beach Field 1.
Star Heart is surprisingly enthused about this for some reason:
...
Would you believe this was right after talking with Giuvanni? I swear it really is like the Let's Player's Blessing or something.
I do like how they direct you to the other Heart Gem NPCs even though you're likely to complete all of them by proxy.
Whatta dick.
No kidding. Didn't we start this chapter at level 17? We went up like fifteen levels just from doing some slightly repetitive menial tasks. That, my friends, is the true power of the "gain EXP from doing missions" mechanic and I love it to bits.
This is like the Anti-Grinding Life Solution (unless you have to get monster/drill drops, but I'd prefer that a thousand times over grinding for experience the traditional way).
Good shit.
Bunny Maid is watching the well and wants 10 octopus legs and 5 water buckets (that we conveniently already have from doing Homeless Ian's quest!). Thinking in advance is practically recommended for this game, and thanks to the Player Inventory Shop system Trickster has… it can be made even easier!
It's actually brilliant how well thought-out the mechanics for this game are… even to the point of invoking jealousy from me as a fellow game dev. (In a good way, mind you.)
Wow, what a bitch. If this is what a typical tsundere is like, then no thank you. I'm not about being humiliated and talked down to – that's not my kink. (Though I do have to admit that she's pretty heckin' cute.)
(The other option was "you look too young, sorry wrong person" and that's just dandy.)
She mentions that Don Giuvanni is interfering with her business and that he was floating down to sea… this sounds hilarious enough as it is, but let's see where it goes.
Long story short, Giuvanni told Stella that she needed to get permission from Megalo Company first, but then this happened:
I mean, he's bold and brash enough to belong in the trash.
He wants some soap to clean up his stink and for some odd reason we only need three bars instead of five like the other guy, but I'm not complaining.
Well would you look at that. The first Monster card we get in the entire game and it's the Hula Octopus of all things. This is a good omen.
Have fun with all those sun screens, you weirdo.
Authority, huh? This dork can't even rule over a bowl of pudding.
Oh huh, she's actually 26? I mean, I'm glad to see she's actually older than she looks for once.
Also, I wouldn't put it past Giuvanni to fall into a trash can and still blame someone else for it. See what I mean?
Oh? I guess she really is like, a tsundere after all: the "sweet to you" part just had to kick in.
Nice. Stella's forte is... well, star reading. This is yet another one of Trickster's mechanics and the primary use behind the Star Card packs - they're different from normal cards in that you can only use them via her services.
What they do is boost certain stats or give you bonuses for a limited amount of time, like extra EXP or TM EXP - stuff like that. The pack Stella gave us is actually way, way more valuable than a normal pack dropped by monsters and can actually fetch a pretty penny should you set up shop in the right place.
O-oh. It wasn't mean to be, I guess.
"Hm… What was I in the middle of doing?"
The Sandman remarks that there's a ton of incoming adventurers, but none of them show interest in how the city was built. That's... surprisingly meta commentary considering most people would just complete the quests and leave, let's be real.
Before he can tell us more, though, he's feeling peckish. (Somehow. I guess Sandmen need to eat to regain their strength.)
He wants us to go through another quest to... make him food. Alright, cool.
Look at the mini-quest bar on the right - we've already completed most of this quest before it even started. That's pretty nuts.
... Are you kidding me, this was the first Sand Demon upon re-entering this place! This is also another required item for this key quest. Good thing the game decided to be nice and spare me an hour or two of hunting Sand Demons.
I love pre-collecting quest items before they're necessary, alright?
This was surprisingly generous. I'm suspicious of games that have done this in the past and I'm not stopping that now.
"I'm going to mix these ingredients together and feast on this legendary food. Would you like some too?"
He goes into extensive detail about how to delicately eat this super sand cake, even down to the degrees of how to scoop it and it's like…
After he's done gorging himself, he talks about the sandmen's famous sand tar that was used to build the Alteo Empire, an ancient civilization that will remain a mystery for us right now. He also says that his people helped work on the pyramids in Egypt too.
He then asks us to look for a Glyph Tablet in the Pyramid Dungeon located at Desert Beach Field 3, but for now I think that's a pretty good place to leave off.
Hell of a second chapter, wouldn't you say? Next time on Trickster Online, we complete the Sandman's Key Quest and expand our horizons even further. See you guys then!
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Player Status:
* Job class: Schoolgirl (
* Type: Power
* EXP level: 34 (+17)
* TM level: 31 (+12)
* Gender:
* Bosses slain: Zero
