This time around, I'll be putting out a less plotty update and focusing more on mechanics... Namely what on earth all of Oliver's party members can DO ability-wise. Let's see who can be swapped out for- Oh, so you CAN remove Oliver from the field... Handy! (And would have made the last update MUCH less stressful if I knew that.) Hrm... Since it looks like Kree only has 2 moves (both of which we saw in the last update) and we know what all of Rucci's do... So let's play around with Maru and Seba for now. Alright, now to find some Imagines to mug!
We get into a fight with some zombies, oh what do you know, one of the things wants to come along... Er... Sure, why not? We'll use the other one as target practice. Oliver has a 5MP support spell... Let's see what it does on Maru while she attempts to recruit Stubbs here. Oh, the 5 MP spell removes poison... Handy. Also, the other zombie just took a liking to us... We try and use that 10 MP spell of O- Hey! Why can't I use it? ... It appears to be blocked for now for some reason... Perhaps we need a MacGuffin to make it work? Let's see what Seba's other spell does while we weed out a zombie. Oh, it's a healing spell... Handy. If expensive. After some fiddling around, we get Romero the Rebel Without a Pulse as part of our larger pool of Imagines. He joins us at Level 17, with 102 HP, 43 MP, and a stat spread of 61/50/43/28/48. He doesn't appear to have any elemental weaknesses. Anyways, let's unload him at the manhole and figure out some more spells.
After a brief healing at the Save Point, we delve back into this ghost town... Hrm... Let's see what Totoko and Felis can do along with Maru. (Also, I run into a kind reminder that you can apparently only use the "swap teammate" command ONCE per turn. So be careful who you pull in and out of battle on those bosses!) And as a refresher on what Maru can do, let's use her 6 MP spe- Oh right, it attacks with music. Unfortunately, Totoko's attempted 6 MP spell got blocked by the Imagine he was targeting (one of those healer fish-angels), so let's try again on something else. Maru's healing spell at 4 MP does exactly what the "HP" in its description suggests. And it appears that Totoko's 6 MP spell is a "blind" command that drops 1 opponent's accuracy. Looks like Maru's got some blue spells beyond her appeal, too... There's 2 blue 4 MP spells... Let's see what the left one does. It's some sort of clock thing that affects the entire party... Haste? Oh, and Totoko's 18MP spell is apparently a mass "sleep" spell. In the next turn, we find out that Maru's OTHER 4 MP spell appears to raise everyone's attack. Hmm... Maybe I should have her out here more often... While whaling on a green eel, we manage to make another one that we haven't gotten to yet get a heart over its head... Guess it wouldn't hurt to try and recruit it- Huh, I forgot to bench Romero while healing up... Wonder what's going to happen to this eel that will henceforth be known as "Unagi"... Let's go back to that manhole and see- WAIT A MINUTE, WHERE DID THESE EXTRA 9 PARTY SLOTS COME FROM?! Huh... Let's see what happens when you get more than 18 Imagines with you anyways... Nope, looks like that's a firm cap. The game makes you switch out any other Imagines that you throw in after your 18th. Anyhow, Unagi joined us at Level 16, s/he's got 76 HP, 63 MP, a stat spread of 33/40/58/54/31, and like Romero, doesn't appear to have any weaknesses that aren't related to stats. Also, you apparently CAN bench Rucci now. (Not that I've found anyone who can outclass him yet.) Let's heal up and play around with Gyro, chicken-legs, and Felis.
We run into another trio consisting of 2 eels and a healer... Let's see here... Gyro has a 0 MP ability... Let's check that... Felis has a 30 MP spell in blue... Wonder what sort of status effect THAT is... And Buroshiku has a 8MP spell that targets everyone... Let's see what they all do. Buroshiku's "hit all" attack apparently drops rocks on everyone. Gyro puts an exclamation point over your foes' head...? And... Looks like we chose the wrong spell for Felis, plus I missed it... Uh... Let's try Felis and Gyro's abilities again while seeing what that 16MP spell does. Oh, so THAT'S what it does. Buroshiku's 16 MP spell is a massive whallop (which dealt 131 HP, enough to one-shot the healer). Gyro's ability brought up another exclamation point... Is he stealing items or something? And Felis' 30 MP spell is a smoke bomb that drops everyone's... Something. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to affect enemy animations. In the next turn, we play around with Felis' 8MP and Gyro's very first offense spell at 5 MP... And Felis misses (which would probably explain why I couldn't see what his attack was in round 1)... And Gyro. OH! It's a poison shot. That is so deliciously EVIL. Alright, let's see what these last couple spells do... Oh, so THAT'S Felis' 8 MP spell. He jabs a single enemy repeatedly with that fruit knife knife of his (which only did around 55 HP damage). Gyro's OTHER offensive spell is a similarly trollish shot from his gun, this one blinding the unlucky victim that it hits.
One more battle gives us insight as to how Phyco ticks... He's got 2 spells, one's a 4 MP... I can't tell whether that's supposed to be a watery tackle or a blob of water that gets shot out, but you get the idea, and it targets one enemy. His 16 MP spell hits every target on the field with a bunch of bubbles, but for less individual damage than his 4 MP attack.
Takeaway Points:
- The Party's Spell List (Along With Totally Awesome Names of Awesomeness):
Oliver:
- Fireball 2 MP
- Icicle 2 MP
- Light of Pain 6 MP
- Light of Pain Mini 4 MP
- Cure 3 MP
- Antidote 5 MP
- Spell that the game refuses to let me use 10 MP
Rucci
- Multislash 8 MP
- Atk Up 12 MP
- Massive Thing of Water 32 MP
Maru:
- Melody of Pain 6 MP
- Healing Music 4 MP
- Haste(?) 4MP
- War Song - aka The One That Boosts Attack 4 MP
- Light Blue Appeal 0 MP
- Yellow Appeal 0 MP
- Blue Appeal 0 MP
Seba:
- Thunder Something-or-Other 4 MP
- Healing Spell 12 MP
Gyro:
- Poison Shot 5 MP
- Blinding Shot 6 MP
- Steal(?) 0 MP
Buroshiku:
- Rock Throw 8 MP
- Bum Rush 16 MP
Taillow:
- Gust 4 MP
- Atk. Up 12 MP
Kree:
- Lava Plume 8 MP
- Draw Attacks 12 MP
Felis:
- Inaccurate Death By 1000 Cuts 8 MP
- Smoke bomb 30 MP
Phyco:
- Water Tackle(?) 4 MP
- BubbleBeam on Steroids 16 MP
- Everything's Deader With Zombies... Which is why having one as an ally is a good thing...
- Gyro is clearly not just a master thief, but a pretty competent troll, too.
- Makes you wonder what sort of antics he was getting into before we recruited him.
- You CAN ditch Oliver from the party if he's low on health. (Or if you just hate him.)
- Rucci can similarly be stuffed into a manhole at this stage of the game.
- By and large, Imagines tend to trend much less versatile than your human party members. That said, they tend to be MUCH better at the things that they ARE good at. Which is handy for those bosses that just won't go down from Oliver, Gyro, or Maru's attacks.
Stats:
- Oliver: Level 22: 123 HP / 82 MP
- Rucci: Level 26: 195 HP / 100 MP
- Phyco: Level 22: 123 HP / 55 MP *
- G: 8241.
- Play Time: 51 hours, 55 minutes, 35 seconds.
Next time, there will be some actual plot progression and possibly a faint undercurrent of despair thanks to a couple midterms that I need to survive between now and then, that lonely woman in that shack probably should hear about how we snuffed Candle Jack in the last update.
