To any of you who are following this liveblog, I apologize for taking so long between updates. I’ve been hooked on various other games since I last updated (namely Muramasa The Demon Blade and Grand Chase), and liveblogging has slipped my mind. However, I have lots and lots of free time for the rest of this month, so expect to see me updating more often.
Anyway. Before I move on, I’m going to try something else. Remember when Cecille mentioned something in a conversation about getting herbs for Theo? Like I said, it sounds like a sidequest, and I didn’t do any of those in my first playthough. Sure, the plot SAYS that Theo needs help as soon as possible, but this is a video game. I can do as much other stuff as I want without the plot going anywhere. :D Plus, extra battles mean extra intermissions.
If I remember correctly, Cecille said that the herb grows near the Ever Garden, so I guess I’ll have to backtrack all the way over there. I remember there being a way to skip battles on the map that you’ve already done, but I don’t quite remember how. You either select the areas one by one, or you select the one farthest away. If I do it right, I’ll get to choose whether to fight or not. Guess I’ll figure it out as I go.
And it looks like I have to pass the areas without selecting them directly. I’ll do that, then.
Anyway, I make my way through the world map, back to the… damn. Guess my method isn’t foolproof. I’ve just entered a battle. Well, I’ll get extra experience, money, items, and intermissions, so I guess it’s OK with me. I bring everyone in, and start.
Looks like it’s the map with the six thieves. I don’t want to bore you, so I won’t be covering these extra battles. I will mention, though, that Theo just one-shotted an enemy. This will be very, very easy.
Also, random comment of the moment. This wiki says that Alph is voiced by Vic Mignogna. Thing is, he sounds almost exactly like Dan from Bakugan, who’s voiced by a different guy. (Hey, don’t laugh – I know it’s a terrible show. I only know what Dan sounds like because one of my brothers used to watch it sometimes.)
K, battle’s over. I intermission with Cecille. She says that I look like I have something to ask her. My options are “What’s your favorite flower?” “What’s your favorite word?” and “Who’s your favorite person?” I’m honestly not sure what to say, but I think I’ll pick the last question. She can’t seem to pick just one, and she tells me it’s a secret. No present this time.
After the next battle, I intermission again. It’s Cecille again this time, but next time I’ll go with Theo. Cecille starts to say something, but then tells me not to mind, saying it’s nothing. My options are “Huh?” “What? What is it? Tell me!” and “You’re weird, Cecille.” The obvious answer is the first one, so I choose that. She insists that it’s nothing, and the intermission ends. I’m starting to think that maybe I don’t always get a gift for choosing the right answer. The second one seemed too demanding, and the third was rude.
Anyway, I get a choice about going into the next battle. For the sake of intermissions, I pick yes, and it’s over in a few minutes. Alph’s “Magnum” skill is amazing, by the way. I’m getting barely any experience from these wimpy enemies, but Saki levels to 19.
I intermission with Theo after the battle, just like I said I would. He asks us what kind of person I think their mom was. The answers are “I’m sure she’s a nice person,” “She’s probably scary,” and “She’s probably like you!” I’m not certain whether the first or third option is best, but I go with the first. Theo says he hopes so – then she’d make him lots of omelets every day! He hopes she was a good cook. I gotta laugh at that. I’ve said this before, but I’d probably like Theo a lot more if it weren’t for his annoying voice.
OK, I’m back on the same map as the Ever Garden. Before I do anything else, I save. I check the plains nearby, but there’s nothing to do there. I check the Ever Garden, and a scene starts.
Cecille says that Moonlight Grass should be growing somewhere around here, and that it should help Theo. The scene switches, and Alph is calling for the grass. Wow, dude. It’s a plant. It can’t hear you. Cecille says he hasn’t changed at all. She asks if he remembers when they used to look for the stuff when they were younger. Apparently, Theo had a really bad fever one time. The doctor said this stuff could cure him, so they went and looked for it. And apparently, Alph did the same thing back then, too.
The two of them start talking about how Alph kept looking for it, even when Heath told him to stop. Alph was worried that Theo would die, even though he wasn’t all that sick. Alph says he cares a lot about Theo, and says he’d give his life for him if he needed to.
They finally find the grass, but it looks like there’s some monsters there. Or…well, there’s one, and Alph kills it. Alph talks about how Cecille followed him that night because she was worried. She was scared the whole time, and she kept crying. Cecille denies it, though.
All of a sudden, another monster pops up. Sounds like there are a lot of them this time. I get the battle preparation screen. Looks like all I have is the two of them. That’s not too bad – Alph is level 18, and Cecille is level 16. This’ll be a good chance for her to level, since she’s the weakest in the party at the moment. I lent this game to a friend once. She had a lot of trouble with this particular fight. At least, I think it was this one. Hopefully, I’ll do better than she did. I start the battle.
There are three Roosters, and one Behemoth. Doesn’t seem too bad. Before I do anything, I decide to do a battle save. That way, I won’t have to see the scene again if I lose. So I ready an attack, and…
OH SHIT. Those monsters are in their level 20s, and my attacks do less than 50 damage to them. This might be harder than I thought. Might as well try, though. A few turns pass, and both of them die before they can move a second time. I get this playthrough’s first view of the Game Over screen. Maybe I should tackle this sidequest later. I’ll try one or two more times, but if I can’t do it, then I’ll call it quits for now.
After one more spectacular failure, I decide I’ve had enough. I’m not going to waste my time with this until my guys are higher level. So I load up my file again, and start heading all the way back to where I was before. Just like last time, the curb stomping that I go through will go unreported. I’ll just cover the intermissions. Those, as well as the items and money, are really the only good thing about this little detour.
First battle’s intermission goes to Lucia, since she’s the only one besides Nicolai that I have yet to do this with. She says “That was a tough fight. We barely pulled through that one. Maybe if I you didn’t act so weird it would have been an easier fight.” Ignoring the fact that the last fight was painfully easy, and I don’t think Lucia even got the chance to attack anything…well, here’s my options. “I’m not weird!” “Fine, I’m a weirdo. Happy?” and “You’re weirder than I am.” I choose the middle one, though that third one is tempting. She gets a little defensive, and tells me that she’s sorry if she hurt my feelings. She also says not to be so sensitive. And whaddya know – I get a Holy Feather. Sweet! Thanks, Lucia!
Second time is Cecille. She says that she wants to be stronger so she can help me in battle. She insists that she can do it. My options are “I’ll protect you, Cecille!” “Let’s fight together,” and “Don’t bother.” Well, the first one is kind of condescending, and the third is just plain mean. Clearly, I should pick the second option. So I do. She says that we’ll all help each other. She also asks me if I think it’s a miracle that we all know each other. She continues, saying we were all complete strangers at one point, but now we’re fighting together. We’re different, but we’re all fighting for a common goal. After that long conversation, I get something called “Est.” I think it’s Vitae. I can’t use those yet, but pretty soon I’ll be able to use it to strengthen my weapons or something.
You know, I kinda thought that the characters in this game weren’t very interesting. But once you start looking into the intermissions, there’s a lot more depth. I’m starting to really like Cecille.
Speaking of which, she levels to 17 in the next battle. After that, I intermission with Theo, and…whoa, whoa, WHOA. The little heart icon over Cecille is blue now. I forget what that means, but I think it’s a good thing.
Anyway, Theo. He says he’d like a new bow. My options are “Start saving money, then,” “Why are you whining to me?” and “Do you want me to buy it?” I figure I should be nice and pick the third option, despite the fact that I buy all the equips anyway. Theo is really happy about this. He gives me Mail Gloves. Cool. I equip them to Alph, replacing his Mittens. The gloves are basically just better mittens anyway, since they both increase the same stat. I also save, just to be safe.
OK, I’m onto the next map. I skip one battle, but then am forced to participate in the next one. I hope this one won’t be quite as easy. I also notice on the preparation screen how low-level Lucia is. She’s only level 16, making her the new weakest member of the party. I’ll have to let her fight more, then.
This fight isn’t as easy, but it’s hardly difficult. I make it through easily. Saki becomes the first of the group to reach level 20. Also, one of my spoils is a Holy Wing. I’m really stocking up revival items, aren’t I? Probably a good thing. Anyway, intermission here is with Cecille again. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but the reason I’m focusing so much on her is because she gets a class upgrade towards the end of the game. When this happens, she gets a whole new set of intermissions, so I want to max her out as best I can before that. I’m trying to focus on some of the others as well, though, especially Theo.
Anyway. She says that it looks like there are others that would like to talk to me, and to please listen to them. Waitaminute. Does that mean that I can’t intermission with her anymore? If I remember right, the blue heart might have something to do with my old save data. But I didn’t do a New Game Plus, so maybe not. Does the game do it automatically or something? For that matter, the heart icon is only half full. I don't think that's a good thing.
Meh. I guess I’ll work on the others from now on.
While I’m at it, I stop in the nearest town to buy stuff. I get better armor for everyone, as well as a single MagiMint. I equip everyone, sell their old stuff, and move on.
I save, and end up in my last battle on this map. After this, I’ll be on the map I was on before. I’ll move up to where I started at, and then I’ll stop. This has been a longer entry than I expected, due to the fruitless sidequest attempt. I apologize if I’m boring you. I promise that next time I’ll actually be moving forward.
During the battle, Theo, Alph, and Leon hit level 20 as well. Lucia hits 18. My spoils include three MagiMints. Since it appears that I can no longer intermission with Cecille, I go for Saki. She says that our last battle was fairly easy. (It actually was this time.) My options are “You fight well, Saki,” “Yeah, it was a cakewalk,” and “I made it easy.” I pick the first one. She’s glad I think so, but she says she has to keep training so that she doesn’t get rusty. I go on to the next map. It looks like I haven’t been here. That last battle must have been the one that I mentioned in my last entry. Guess I forgot. Oh, well. That just means that I’ll be right here the next time I play.
That’s it for now, since this entry is awfully long. Next time I think we’ll finally go to the Witches’ village. That should be interesting. Maybe then we’ll finally get to hear their side of the story.
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