Live Blogs Let's Play (and snark at) Riviera: The Promised Land!

ShieldOfDoom2011-05-15 02:49:42

All right, time to move on to stage 2-5: Connecting Bridge.

The first screen of this place just contains another random chest I don't need, so I move onward to the next screen, which contains a hammer guy (the kind that use Devastator) and some ghosts. The ghosts have a Break Out called Explosion that kills them when they use it and does surprisingly little damage to the party. They also have an attack that puts the target to sleep, and another that steals one item until you kill them. However, what they don't have is a special drop for S-ranking them, so I just have to kill one as the last enemy (though I still S-ranked them anyway). Victory over any type of ghost grants a Rosary, which automatically cures the party's status effects when used (...so the enemy can inflict them again). Fia and Lina can master it (and I'm never going to use the Ribbon again anyway, so that gets tossed), so training again (I also managed to get a mage to use its summoning ability, and thus obtained a Shield from the skeleton he made):

Ein:

• Shield: Shield Barrier: Level 1, gives all allies a block percentage

Fia:

• Shield: Force: Level 1, heals 20% HP to all allies and gives them block percentage (so what's the point of Shield Barrier?)
• Rosary: Banishment (after a whopping 15 uses): Level 3, instantly kills all non-boss enemies 100% of the time, destroys all remaining Rosaries when used

Lina:

• Rosary: Cross Boomerang: Level 1, physical holy-elemental attack for 25% of the target's current HP, does more damage to undead
• Shield: Shield Slugger: Level 2, physical non-elemental attack for 25% of the target's HP, can't be blocked

Note that Shield Slugger and Cross Boomerang do essentially the same thing, but Shield Slugger costs more. Also note that both are percentage based attacks and therefore incapable of killing anything, and that you need to damage enemies to use Over Skills so they aren't as effective as they should be.

Anyway, a treasure chest appeared after the fight, and Lina wants to open it, but it contains a Hell Scythe, and I'll be getting one of those later.

Moving on, we spot another treasure chest on the next screen. Fia sees where this is going long before Lina ever could, and sure enough, we get ambushed after Lina tries to open the chest. After dodging an attack in a command minigame for 4000 points, a vampire shows up. She promptly accuses us of being thieves (we're adventurers. There's a difference—sorta). She then taunts Lina about being young and flat-chested, giving Ein the option to further mock Lina (which I'm not going to do) or act embarrassed for whatever reason (oh, Japan...). Anyway, that was such a low blow that even if I didn't have to fight her I would.

In this fight, I make sure to kill the vampire last and avoid an S rank, which grants me a Pendant. This thing grants regeneration to the user...for 5% of their HP each turn, which is useless against anything you'd want regeneration against. I'll keep it though, because Serene and Cierra can both get Over Skills off of it. The now-useless Shield was promptly discarded.

Moving on, we come to a dead end with a suspiciously fancy chest in it. By this point, Lina's the only one who doesn't see the blatant trap, but I still have to open the chest to get to the bonus area, so I examine it. Ein is given the option to either tell Lina not to open the chest, or egg her on (resulting in an affection boost I don't want). Either way, Lina opens the thing, causing plot ghosts to surround the party and take us to stage 2-9: Castle Dungeon.

The first room contains another random chest that I'm sure I don't have to justify not opening by now. The next room, however, contains something important: some writing on the wall, which says the following:

[right] from heaven,

fill with light.

With [circle] like ,

correct [X]...

Good thing the missing letters correspond exactly to buttons on the PSP, huh? Fia suggests that the Magic Guild might know what to do with this.

Moving on, we come to a set of three coffins. Examining them reveals writing: the one on the left says something about a sacred sword, the middle one mentions a sword of fire, and the right one talks about a thunder bow, though Ein's the only one who can read it. Anyway, I open the fire sword coffin, and the other ones disappear.

The coffin contains, as you might expect, a sword. Ein takes it, and I obtain the strangely-spelled Flamberg (which replaces the Cape).Ein then takes some temporary HP damage for no reason, and the coffin transforms into a yellow...thing. I then have to fight it.

The enemy, listed as an S. Thor Wisp, is immune to non-elemental damage, absorbs lightning damage, and is weak to fire. I'm pretty much forced to break open the wrapping on my new sword (15 uses) to do anything here (I also bring Einherjar so Lina has a possibility of doing damage here). The Flamberg makes short work of my foe, granting me an A rank and a Lightning Orb (which replaces my Rosary; I'm rapidly running out of room). After earning 5000 points for this, we get warped back to 2-3. *sigh*...

Anyway, new stuff means more practice, and here's what I got:

Ein:

• Flamberg: Flame Slash: Level 3, 4-hit physical non-elemental attack, power of 81, can't be blocked

Fia:

• Flamberg: Vertical Flare: Level 1, 2-hit magic fire-elemental attack, power of 70, can't hit flying enemies

Lina:

• Lightning Orb: Thunder Resist: Level 1, raises everyone's Lightning resistance

After returning to the bridge (during which time absolutely nothing happened; Sting just wanted to waste the player's time here), I head back to the screen with the Hell Scythe chest. Here, and only here, I am permitted to look down to find a roof below (you know this is the right path because it doesn't cost any TP). After I jump down, I encounter another vampire.

One thing I'd like to mention right now: a disturbingly large number of attacks contain at least one absurdly lone charge-up time where absolutely nothing happens. Seriously, these things are a freaking epidemic here.

Anyway, I kill the vampire and her minions, then examine the night sky. I don't get anything out of this, but it provides a perfect "i am ein" moment. What happens is, Ein asks Fia and Lina about the big silver thing floating in the sky.

Really.

Anyway, Fia and Lina are understandably shocked that Ein is so stupid as to not recognize the moon, but they explain it anyway. Fia says that the moon is far from Riviera, and Lina adds that it's said to be a weapon of the gods.

You know, that sounds familiar somehow...

Back to exploring. We move forward, and Ein notices an open window that, unfortunately, wasn't drawn on the background. In fact, the background for this screen is a mirrored version of the last one, Peace Moon and all. As we move forward, Lina sees something fly across the sky. Now, before we move on, I examine the roof and discover some cracks that I would've fallen through had I not done so. I get 1500 points for this, then move on and finally leave this part of the castle. With that victory, I feel that I've rambled on for long enough for today.

No Comments (Yet)