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Activity Boards => LP Hell => Topic started by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 07:38:46 AM

Title: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 07:38:46 AM
It all started with Final Fantasy 2 -- the NES version, mind you, not the one we got on the SNES that was for reals Final Fantasy 4. It was a radical departure from the even-by-that-time established kill-monsters-for-experience-points game mechanics.

A few more refinements (on the Game Boy, no less) and we have the SaGa series. And the first game in that series to be released under that name was...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0001.png)
In 1998, for the PlayStation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0003.png)
Those seven people? Well, five people, a robot, and a little fuzzy-tailed critter of some sort. Those are seven plotlines of varying quality, each one of them a... well, protagonist. I hesitate to use the word "hero".

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0005.png)
We're starting with this one, for the purposes of game mechanics I'm gonna explain.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0006.png)
For each quest, you're prompted to create a set of System Data on your memory card so the game can keep track of what you've accomplished overall. More on this... much later.

Well, let's get started.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 07:47:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0007.png)
She looks around her cell a bit.

Emelia: Although it's not my taste...

It's a prison cell, it's not supposed to appeal to anyone's tastes.

Emelia: I guess it's better than nothing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0010.png)
A flashback!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0011.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0012.png)
Emelia: No, that's too mean.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0015.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0016.png)
Before the wedding? Isn't that bad luck?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0017.png)
It is cafeteria food. You are in a cafeteria. Are you dense or something?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0018.png)
Actually... looking around the room, this appears to be a ladies' prison. I guess it appeals to some peoples' tastes after all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0019.png)
Woman: You're new, aren't you?

You know the rules, Emelia. On your first day you've gotta beat someone's ass or be someone's bitch.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0021.png)
Annie: The last time I beat the crap out of 3 guys who turned out to be pretty rough customers.

...you beat the crap out of your customers? Do I even wanna know what you do for a living?

Annie: I thought I'd be safer in jail, so I smacked a couple of guards around to get in. Hey, you're pretty good lookin'. What're you in for?

Well, if Emelia can't find someone to beat up...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0026.png)
Looks like bad luck already hit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0028.png)
She dashes into the next room as the screen fades, ruining the screenshot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0030.png)
A green-haired man leaps out of view just as Emelia enters. No, that's not a purple duck beak, it's the pad on his left shoulder.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 07:59:24 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0031.png)
Emelia: He must have killed my... Why do you keep asking me the same questions!? Why don't you do something?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0035.png)
You don't learn his name in this scene, but this is Fuse, da chief (or something like it) of IRPO. IRPO is the Inter-Regional Patrol Organization. You know. The cops.

Emelia: What are you saying? You think I killed him?
Fuse: Your boyfriend was an outstanding officer. It seems odd that he was killed without any kind of struggle...

Dude, the fight wrecked his entire house.

Fuse: Unless he was caught off guard.
Emelia: This's outrageous! Yes, we had a fight. But why would I kill Ren? I was going to marry him. I loved him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0044.png)
Lack of stress on any one word always made this parse a little oddly to me. It sounds like he's continuing the interrogation, but he's repeating Emelia's question. "Why did you kill him? That's what I want to know!"

Fuse: Ren and I go back over ten years, back to the Academy. Unlike me, he was a nice guy, a good cop. I couldn't believe it when I heard he was dating a tramp like you. Now tell me why you shot him! Was it rage? Jealousy? Or did someone else hire you?
Emelia: Crazy... You're crazy. You're trying to pin this on me without one shred of evidence. I want a lawyer.
Fuse: Lady, the evidence is there. Let me assure you no one gets away with shooting an officer.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0054.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0056.png)
Emelia: Is he some weirdo or something?
Annie: No, no. Just listen to his announcement.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0059.png)
I've seen this movie before.

Warden: This is your chance to earn the freedom you've yearned for. To get away from this stinking hellhole forever.

Dude, it's your prison.

Warden: It's simple enough. In the center of Despair is a giant stone on which the Freedom Rune is inscribed.

Ooh. Irony.

Warden: I'll grant a pardon to the one who manages to touch the stone, guaranteed!

Okay, maybe not.

Warden: You have exactly 5 minutes and you're not allowed to attack any of my guards. We'll start in exactly 3 hours. Good luck to you all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0065.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0066.png)
It's the sort of prison where they intentionally let all the inmates run around for several minutes without any supervision on a regular basis. You mean that doesn't happen everywhere?

Emelia: Is the warden encouraging us to escape?
Annie: Only one prisoner's ever made it and God knows what really happened to them after that.
Emelia: Are you going to try?
Annie: Yeah, why not?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:01:29 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0072.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0073.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0074.png)
"Escape"... yeah, I've seen this movie before.

Liza: I heard about your situation. Hang in there.
Emelia: All right.
Annie: Let's go.
Emelia: Go where?
Annie: There's a hole under the bed.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0081.png)
Worst. Prison. Ever.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0083.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0088.png)
Our first dungeon!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:19:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0089.png)
This is the status screen. I'll break it down.

Name and Race are pretty obvious. There are four races in the game: human, mystic, mec, and monster. I'll go into more details about the others later. Emelia, Liza, and Annie are all humans.

Humans are, like in every game, flexible and adaptable. They can learn all sword, martial arts, gun, and magic techniques with few limitations, depending on their natural talent and a bit of RNG luck.

HP is exactly what it is in every other game: if you run out, you fall uselessly to the ground. But in this game that means you also lose one LP. You can be cured from 0 HP as long as you have LP remaining. Enemies can attack you even when you're lying unconscious at 0 HP; this always takes 1 LP. If you run out of LP, you can't be revived until you get proper medical attention (which in an RPG means staying at an inn).

WP and JP are waza points and jutsu points -- MP for special physical attacks and MP for spells, respectively.

Strength is the same as it is in every RPG. It raises damage with sword and martial arts attacks.
Quickness is also about the same, covering initiative order in combat and the ability to evade incoming attacks.
Intelligence raises damage with sword and gun attacks, and ever-so-slightly affects the rate at which humans learn new skills.
Will affects damage with all attacks, and accuracy with swords and martial arts.
Psychic is resistance and recovery from most status effects.
Vitality decreases damage from incoming attacks and raises resistance to "sleep" status.
Charm does not a damn thing beyond affecting the accuracy of charm status effects, increasing it if you cast the effect yourself, decreasing it if it's cast on you.
Defense reduces your damage from attacks. The single number here is actually a misnomer: there are actually eight different kinds of attacks and a given piece of armor may protect against them differently. The "elements" are slashing, crushing, piercing, fire, cold, electric, force, and status effects.

The list on the right side of the window is Emelia's equipment. Since she's just in plain clothes right now, it ain't much -- just a shirt and some boots. (Uh... no pants?)
To illustrate the point about defense above, the Silk Shirt is defense 3 against most attacks, but defense 11 against cold-elemental moves. Nowhere in the game is this kind of information actually told to you.

As for Emelia herself? Well, as protagonists go she's not that great. She's somewhat talented in swords and martial arts, but the worst character in the game at developing magic and gun skills. This scenario tries to suggest a gun as her ideal equipment, but don't fall for it. It's a trap.

In this game we'll be developing Emelia mostly as a martial artist.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0090.png)
Annie has better base stats than Emelia does right now, but has truly abysmal skill development. She's almost as bad as Emelia with guns and magic, and has less talent with swords and martial arts than any other human in the game. There's not much to redeem Annie overall, but the game forces her into the party a lot so we're stuck with her.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0091.png)
Liza is Annie's polar opposite. She's generally regarded as the best martial artist in the game, naturally talented in several powerful techniques that work well together (but more on that later). But she's also one of the most talented characters in the game with guns and spells, and not too shabby with a sword either. She's one of the best characters to have on your team due to her wide skillset; it's a shame so few scenarios offer her as recruitable. In this game we'll be training her mostly as a martial artist, but may teach her some gun skills and sorcery later.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:30:07 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0092.png)
Anyway, dungeon. Full of pipes. Are we escaping through some absurdly wide drainage pipe leading out of Emelia's cell? How big was her toilet?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0093.png)
Escaping the pipes, we drop into a locker room.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0094.png)
And immediately hide in a locker from the guard on patrol.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0097.png)
There's a LightBazooka in the corner, mostly hidden from view. We grab it before we leave.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0098.png)
It's this way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0099.png)
Well, that escalated quickly. This is one of those games where random encounters appear on the map, and if you can get away from the monster on the map, you don't have to fight them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0100.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:34:01 AM
Well, you can't avoid monsters forever. We get into a battle!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0101.png)
With a flying sword robot!

Emelia isn't equipped with a sword or a gun, and doesn't know any magic, so she's limited to punching with her tiny womanly fists.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0102.png)
Liza is also not equipped with a weapon, but has some previous training in wrasslin', giving her a few more options. Only Punch is free, though -- all the other skills consume WP to use.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0103.png)
After battle, your stats go up. This is a game system without experience levels, remember?

What stats are raised depends on three things, in approximate order of importance: the difficulty of the enemies you fought, the character's natural abilities, and what they did in combat.

Emelia's growth is naturally centered around will and vitality. Liza's is based on intelligence and quickness. Annie... has better HP growth than the other two, I guess, and develops strength and charm more quickly than any others (but still slower than Emelia's and Liza's will, vitality, intelligence, and quickness growth).

If they use sword skills, characters are likely to grow their strength, vitality, HP, and WP. Gun skills develop quickness, will, HP, and WP. Martial arts develop strength, WP, and HP (but at different rates than sword skills -- swords grow WP faster, martial arts develops strength and HP faster). If you use magic, you're more likely to grow intelligence, willpower, psychic, and JP. And if you dick around doing none of those things -- using items, for instance -- you can take solace in that at least your HP will go up a little.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0105.png)
Another fight, this time I get a shot of Annie's starting sword skills. Is that a Rabite? (No, it is using its large ears like wings to fly around. It is a Rabbat.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0106.png)
Easiest laser grid maze ever. (The lasers are only visible in Emelia's scenario, making this harder for anyone else who comes to Despair. I think there's a helmet that makes them visible, too. Gotta check.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0107.png)
Annie: Hurry, Liza. I got a bad feeling about this.
Liza: They made sure we'd waste time here. Let me try one more time.
Annie: Oh, oh. Something's coming. Take this.
Emelia: A gun? I don't know how to use a gun!!

She really doesn't.

Annie: Just aim and pull the trigger. No biggie!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0116.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0117.png)
It's the dungeon boss, of course.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:40:56 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0118.png)
From his size on the map, I kinda figured he'd be... bigger.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0119.png)
Emelia is equipped with an AGUNI-CP1 automatically. Well, it's better than punching.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0120.png)
As Annie and Liza bust out their better skills, they form a combo. Some attacks "send" certain attributes, and some "receive" attributes. If two characters move one after another (based on the initiative order as determined by quickness), and the first attack sends a variable the other receives, the attacks form a combo.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0121.png)
In this case, Liza's RollingCradle and Annie's HardSlash are compatible to combo together, so we have a move where Liza grabs the centipede monstrosity and rolls it around in a series of grapples and throws, and just as Liza gets up, Annie steps in and whacks the thing with her laserknife.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0123.png)
Combos increase the damage of the attacks that make them up, ignore some measures of the target's defenses, and if the attacks cause status ailments, make those ailments more likely to strike.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0124.png)
Emelia gets squashed by the bug, running out of HP and losing a life point.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0125.png)
The creature then does an area attack against Emelia and Liza both, forcing Emelia to lose another life point. If your protagonist runs out of LP, it's game over -- gotta beat this guy fast before Emelia's corpse is too thoroughly violated.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0126.png)
A combination of HardSlash and RollingCradle every turn does the job nicely. The creature's body disappears, and its skull flies off in a panic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0130.png)
How convenient.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:42:34 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0131.png)
This looks promising.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0132.png)
Ooh, glowy.

There's a slow clap!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0133.png)
Well, one intelligent, lean, mean fighting machine. Annie and Emelia came too, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0134.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0136.png)
End of Emelia's first chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:44:59 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0137.png)
Emelia, why are you back there?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0138.png)
:hurr:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0139.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0140.png)
Ducklips reappears!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0141.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0142.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0143.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0144.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0146.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0147.png)
Our intercessor chases Joker, but then...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0148.png)
Emelia passes out, like a champ.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 08:52:08 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0149.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0150.png)
Dude, buy her dinner first.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0151.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0153.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0155.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0156.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0157.png)
Secret society = crime. Way to go, Emelia.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0158.png)
...that's... comforting...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0159.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0160.png)
Dude in shades: I KNOW you know how incompetent they are. An outlaw like Joker can't be caught by conventional means. That's why we're here. What are you going to do?
Emelia: I'll never forgive Joker. But what are you people after? Why are you following me? Are you also interested in Cube?

wtf is cube

Mr. Sunglasses: I guess I'd better fill you in. I'm sure you've heard a lot of crazies talking about ancient civilizations like Atlantis and Canberra. The truth is they don't know what they're talking about. They don't realize that Trinity is using their ancient technology today, or that the real ruins of those cultures are everywhere.
Emelia: What about Cube?

Yeah, what's the deal with Cube

Cool Shades Bro: We don't really know what this Cube thing is, but it seems like it can be used to produce energy more powerful than that of nuclear power. Joker wants this and we want to stop him from getting it.
Emelia: And that's why you approached me.
Deal With It: Will you work with us?
Emelia: Give me some time to think.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:04:43 AM
There's a scene change, and we're given control to talk to people.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0176.png)
Like in Final Fantasy Tactics, sometimes the quote that comes first is the one on the bottom.

Emelia: Are you also interested in Cube?

I'm kind of interested in Cube, like what the fuck it is and why it's important. Shades' "It's a power plant" explanation left much to be desired.

Annie: Not really. I don't really care what they do. All I want is some quick cash. I've got a little sister and brother to take care of.
Emelia: Must be tough.
Annie: They're both in institutions. My sister is being adopted by a nice foster family. But, my brother's a trouble maker.
Emelia: But, I bet he's your favorite.
Annie: Yeah, that's true. I think we'll get along fine.

Character development! Surely this is important information that will be expounded upon later! (No it won't.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0186.png)
I was nearly dead and I realized that the only person I could really count on was myself.

...and Roufas, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0188.png)
I guess so.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0190.png)
I know you are but what am I?

Liza: That's up to you. Never mind I got you out of Despair and Roufas saved you from Joker.

Yeesh. Passive-aggressive much?

Liza: That was just part of our plan.
Emelia: What is Roufas like?
Liza: He's one of the heads of Gradius. He's also the commander of the Koorong district. He's tough, good with guns and very smart. Are you worried about him?
Emelia: .. ..

For whatever reason, ellipses in this game are two periods long, and the writers tend to make up for it by doubling up.

I'm going to go with the idea that anytime an RPG character says nothing but ellipses, they're actually farting. Makes games better that way.

Especially Suikoden 2.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0198.png)
Can't think of any reason not to!

I mean, I can think of about a dozen reasons not to, but whatever.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:16:10 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0199.png)
Emelia: Hi, I am Emelia.

Pretty sure everyone in the room knows that already, chief.

Roufas: First, you need to go through basic training. We've got to put some muscle on that skinny body of yours.
Emelia: Training? Nobody ever said anything about that.
Roufas: Well, you should have asked. Now, let's begin. Annie, you be her partner.
Annie: Don't worry, Emelia. It's a piece of cake.

Your training is a cake?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0207.png)
Oh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0208.png)
You get into a fight! Sort of. It uses the combat engine, but you just take shots with a TrainingGun at one of the targets until you empty the clip.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0212.png)
"And not that I'm going to actually tell you this, but you have to go in whenever you want to advance the plot, too."

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0214.png)
what are you even

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0216.png)
We reappear in the sewers.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0218.png)
Sewers full of slimes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0219.png)
Well, that was easy. Some basic training.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0222.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0223.png)
Roufas...stay alert, we might need you at any time.

Talk to Roufas again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0225.png)
Roufas: Well, you still have a rune from Despair, don't you? You might as well collect the rest. Go to Devin to ask where you can find the other three.

Talk to Roufas again!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0228.png)
Roufas: Need credits, huh? This is the campaign fund.

Miss Tron, we found some money! Anyway, scene change.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0230.png)
Shouldn't you be asking Annie that?

Emelia: Yeah, I am OK. By the way, what's Annie like?
Liza: She looks open and easy going. But actually she's the complete opposite. She grew up in a very tough neighborhood. So, she knows how to take care of herself. She's hard-working and serious about her work, but never opens up to anyone. You probably understand her better because you're both the same age.
Emelia: You're really kind, Liza.
Liza: Me, kind? Everyone tells me I'm too bitchy.
Emelia: I don't know about what others say, I know you're kind.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0243.png)
Liza joins permanently. We head outside.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0244.png)
Annie: Did Roufas say something to you?
Emelia: No, he said I am free until the next mission.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0249.png)
Annie also joins. Might as well, right?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:24:29 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0251.png)
We head to the port. The world of Saga Frontier is split up into several different "regions", and it's hard to tell if they're tiny parts of one large world, different planets or planetoids, alternate dimensions, or whatever.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0250.png)
We hop a ship and fly/sail/dimensional rift to Devin.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0252.png)
I have an idea. Let's go that way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0253.png)
...tacky.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0254.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0256.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0257.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0260.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0266.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0271.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0280.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0286.png)
Yes, Devin is chock-full of psychics, fortunetellers, and diviners. Your fortunes can change which indicates how a few global variables are set in-game, but without a well-documented guide about which fortunes read from what parts of the game code, what that game code does, and where to go to exploit it, it's all kind of useless.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0282.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0284.png)
There's a shrine maiden here who can tell you about Time and Space magics, but we're here to ask about runes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0281.png)
I like the Rabite statues out front, though.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:42:20 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0288.png)
Yeah! Found it.

All right, I'll sum up what she tells you and more:

There are twelve schools of magic in the game, most of which come in opposing pairs. There's Light and Shadow magics, which are naturally opposed given their nature. The Arcane (tarot cards) and Rune (symbol) magics are an opposed pair. The Realm magic of the Magic Kingdom and the Mystic magic of Facinituru are an opposed pair. Mind magic opposes Evil magic. Time magic and Space magic oppose one another. And I guess by process of elimination Mirage and Life magic oppose one another. :shrug:

Only one character in the game will learn any Evil, Time, Space, Mirage, or Life magic, so we'll cover those when we meet those characters.

Humans and Mystics can buy spells from certain vendors -- like the one in the screenshot above, for Rune magic -- but can't know spells from two opposite schools at the same time. Furthermore, each school has several spells that aren't for sale. You have to develop those yourself, and to develop spells in a given school, you must have the "Gift" for that school.

Realm magic and Mystic magic automatically grant their gifts to people born in the Magic Kingdom and to the Mystic race, respectively. Eliminating those two plus the five single-character schools listed above, and that leaves Arcane, Rune, Light, Shadow, and Mind magics.

Characters who collect all four runes or all four tarot cards receive the gift for Rune or Arcane magic, respectively. That only covers characters who are present for all four collectibles for each one -- so in this game, only Emelia, Annie, and Liza can have the gift for Rune magic, since they were the only ones to collect the Freedom Rune.
The gift for Mind magic is distributed in the region called Kyo. Light and Shadow magic gifts can be attained in Luminous.

Anyway, this person tells us where to find the four runes needed to acquire the gift:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0292.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0295.png)
We head to Shrike.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0296.png)
There's a tomb on the bottom-left corner of the map that looks promising.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0299.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0301.png)
Roufas joins the party! He's not too shabby with swords, but excels with guns and magic. He starts with the gift of Mind magic, and a couple spells from that school.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0302.png)
We leave Shrike.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0303.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0304.png)
Rouge joins the party! He's a dedicated magician, as you may have guessed, but he's still better with a sword than Annie. And given how the game intrinsically links skill with magic and skill with guns, he's not a bad shot either. He starts with several Realm spells, and being from the Magic Kingdom, has the gift to develop more.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0306.png)
Luminous, as you may have deduced from the name, is the home of Light and Shadow magics.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0308.png)
The gift for Light magic is gained by completing a short maze.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0309.png)
There are no monsters, but you have to open the way forward by shining the beam of light on these wall symbols.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0310.png)
This means you can get this gift in about two minutes if you know the puzzle solutions.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0311.png)
Flip mirrors, move prisms...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0312.png)
There are seven scenarios. You'll be doing some sidequests in just about all of them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0313.png)
In this puzzle, the beams of light pass through colored barriers that change their hue. Shining different colors on the door here results in different effects (including a couple monster fights, the only ones in the Labyrinth).

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0314.png)
Only one worth worrying about is purple, though. Sanctuary Stones are like Tents from Final Fantasy, restoring your party to full. They're rare, though -- you'll only get one or two per scenario, and they don't transfer between scenarios.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0315.png)
White light opens the door, and we're done.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0316.png)
Everyone present has the gift for Light magic now.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:48:22 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0317.png)
We need some better equipment, so we fly off t--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0318.png)
A roar!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0320.png)
How... distressingly organic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0321.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0322.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0323.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0325.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0326.png)
I glossed over most of this conversation because it doesn't matter in the slightest. Yes, we're in Tanzer's body. Tanzer is a massive interdimensional beast who swallows ships on what appears to be a regular basis. Nomad has no effect on the game at any point, so nobody cares about the rest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0327.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0328.png)
The guy in the karate gi and topknot takes us to a little village of sorts. Again, I'm skipping the dialog here because it doesn't matter in the slightest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0330.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0331.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0333.png)
Fei-On, for that is this man's name, joins the party. He's the best martial artist in the game overall, but Liza has a bit of an edge based on exactly what skills each of them are likely to learn. He has better strength growth than anyone else we've seen yet, but is best with willpower and psychic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0336.png)
Of course, Tanzer is full of monsters that also got swallowed and live in his bizarrely spacious interior ecosystem. Here we see a bird struggling to figure out how to cross a narrow gap to attack us.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 09:55:36 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0338.png)
And I finally get a screencap of skill development! Humans are the only race who can do this -- sometimes when they choose to use a sword or martial art skill, a lightbulb appears over their heads and they "Spark" a new skill instead. Here Emelia's punch turns into Chop, which has a chance of blinding the target. Chop is then permanently added to Emelia's skill list, to be equipped or removed anytime.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0339.png)
The chance for sparking depends mostly on how hard the target enemy is. But here's the catch: everybody has a different list of what they're likely to spark -- that's what I mean when I say that so-and-so is good with swords or that this person is skilled at martial arts: they're likely to spark more skills, or more useful skills, than others.

For a specific example, Annie is only likely to spark six sword skills: Smash, BearCrush, Deflect, DeadEnd, RisingNova, and RosarioImpale. Emelia has talent to spark seventeen, and Liza twenty-two. Annie has natural talent with eleven martial arts abilities, Liza eighteen, and Fei-On twenty.

There's a remote chance that a character can spark a skill they're not talented with -- when I played through this scenario before this LP to check that the game actually worked, Annie sparked 2GaleSlash, a powerful attack that hits all enemies, before I finished collecting all the Runes. Emelia soon followed. Neither of them have the talent for those skills. But it's a remote chance -- while it's possible to turn anyone into a skilled swordsman or a comprehensive martial artist, you're better off playing to an individual's talents.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:01:53 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0341.png)
Gun and magic skills work a little differently. They're learned after the battle is over, when your stats go up. If you used a gun, there's a chance of learning a new gun skill. If you cast any magic spells, there's a chance of learning a new spell of the same school you cast if you have the Gift for that magic.

Whether you learn a new spell depends on how hard the monsters you just fought were, some natural talent, and the difficulty of the spell. Spells that are available for purchase are easier to learn than the advanced magics you have to develop yourself, of course.

Humans can learn gun and magic skills, but Mystics can only learn magic. When I refer to a character's talent with magic and guns, I refer to a single statistic that effects both. It's essentially a scale of zero to eight, with my current party standing with Emelia at zero, Annie and Fei-On at one, Liza and Roufas each at six, and Rouge at eight.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:11:08 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0340.png)
The maximum party size is five, and Fei-On makes six. He's still present, though -- he is the first member of an alternate party I can throw into battle instead. You get three of those, for a maximum of fifteen characters recruited. For any battle, the two parties who don't participate regain a bit of their WP and JP, which don't naturally regenerate (your HP is restored to full after each fight).

I do a lot of grinding and start running low on WP for Liza and JP for Rouge, so whenever I run into a single weak enemy I throw Fei-On in there to deal with it himself and let Liza and Rouge rest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0342.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0344.png)
Anyway! Tanzer is a maze of sphincters and stuff. Get sucked into one, and you're spat out somewhere else.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0345.png)
After a bit of labyrinth-wandering (and a lot of grinding, I really wasn't ready for this part yet), I reach the end.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0346.png)
Um... okay.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0347.png)
Slide into a boss fight!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0348.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0349.png)
This is the slime pool Fei-On mentioned earlier. There are three BigSlimes and a HugeSlime, which are fond of using defense-lowering and HP-draining acid abilities. Hidden behind the HugeSlime is the Vitality Rune, which someone has to Touch to win the battle.

Did I mention that destroyed Slimes tend to reappear after each turn, and that your position on the field determines which monsters you can attack? No, Rogue can't target the HugeSlime with his Implode spell every turn unless he gets the BigSlime out of the way first. This battle is a slog.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0351.png)
As always, combos help -- but I don't have any area-of-effect or attacks-all-enemies skills yet, so I can't wear down all the enemies at once.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0353.png)
Ha ha! Victory (or Vitality, I guess) is within my grasp!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0354.png)
A slime shows up just to cockblock Rouge.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0356.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0357.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0358.png)
Liza jumps in to collect the Rune instead.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0359.png)
That little slime, crawling up to me in this screenshot? Automatically joins the party. He's a monster, which aren't very good overall -- and Slime isn't a very good one as monsters go, either.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0361.png)
HWWWAAARRRRF

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0362.png)
Tanzer spits us back out at Koorong, but we have places to go. We head to Scrap, which is where we were headed when Tanzer swallowed us in the first damn place.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:20:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0363.png)
Namely to the Scrap Junk Shop, the second-most-famously broken thing in the game.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0364.png)
The price and quality of goods are based on your leader's HP. You can spend a flat price -- in this case 300 credits -- to take three items from the scrap pile in the back of the store.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0367.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0368.png)
It's randomly-determined what you get, and half the time you get a RepairKit (restores HP to mecs, which normal healing items and spells don't fix), a BrokenBumper (defense 1 accessory, useless), or a piece of Junk (defense 2 accessory, also useless).

So as it's intended to be used, the Junk Shop is a waste of money and time. Thankfully, it was coded in a hurry and not thoroughly tested, so it's buggy as hell.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0369.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0370.png)
Open up the Sell menu and the game will get very confused about what a certain set of internal flags mean.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0371.png)
If you offer to sell an item you actually have, this flag confusion changes the quality of goods available from the initial value based on your HP to a new value based on your current money. If you have more than 1800 credits, you'll be pulling the best gear off the shelves anytime you're not getting your 50% shot at utter crap.

And if you offer to sell anything on the sell list, you can go back and collect more items. Offering to sell a HyperionBazooka, down at the bottom, lets you go back and pick seven more things.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0372.png)
Yeah, that's much better than the Knife (or if I'm lucky, LaserKnife) I'd pull out of this pile.

You can repeat this bug exploit as many times as you want, having to only pay the initial buy cost for your first round of purchases. Better yet, the Junk Shop buys back those mostly-useless RepairKits, gradually increasing the value of the items you're getting as your cash holdings grow.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0374.png)
Yeah, that's the stuff.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0375.png)
Better still, almost all of the swords you can pick up from the scrap heap can be pawned off in Shrike, increasing your money further.

We don't have any decent swordsmen on the team, but everyone gets a couple LethalGuns  and ExcelShields, with a set of WarlordArmor, MirrorGlass helmets, and FeatherBoots as armor. Now we're set to take on Tanzer, no sweat!

...oh.

Right.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:24:08 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0376.png)
With my exploit-fueled cash holdings, I go back to Luminous and Devin to buy some spells. Rouge here now has a full complement -- although without having the gift for Rune magic, he can't develop any more of those.

See that little set of icons at the top? There's a sword, a red bar, a crown, and a staff. That's your Mastery meter for each character. As Humans equip sword, gun, or martial art skills in their ten available skill slots, it turns blue. If it's at least 80% blue and has no red, they attain Physical Mastery.

As Humans equip magic, the bar turns red. If it's at least 80% red and has no blue, they attain Magical Mastery.

Physical and Magical Mastery reduce the WP cost of sword/gun/martial art skills or the JP cost of spells by 1 respectively. This means you can use cheap abilities like DoubleSlash, AirThrow, or EnergyChain for free, instead of basic attacks. Furthermore, characters with Physical Mastery are twice as likely to Spark new sword and martial arts techniques or develop new gun skills after battle. Likewise, characters with Magical Mastery are twice as likely to develop new spells.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:31:22 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0377.png)
Anyway, back to Mu's Tomb in Shrike, the area where we picked up Roufas.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0378.png)
See? EnergyChain now costs 0 JP to cast instead of its base cost of 1.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0380.png)
I could use the big room off to the left to lure enemies out of this corridor and get through without a scratch, but to hell with it. TO VICTORY!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0381.png)
Six fights later, victory is ours.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0382.png)
Well, that's not ominous at all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0383.png)
Uh huh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0384.png)
The first turn against this pile of bones is a good chance to use buff spells and abilities on yourself, since the bones themselves can't be damaged. Not that we have very many, but Rouge takes the chance to use VictoryRune on Liza, enhancing her attack power a little.

Yes, I can use the spell that I purchased even though I'm on the mission to collect that very same spell. I don't get it either.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0385.png)
At the end of the first turn, the skeleton animates and assembles itself.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0386.png)
The roar as it does so is as loud as it can possibly be for any given volume setting.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0388.png)
Oh yeah, there only limit to the number of people who can participate in a combo is the number of people on the field. If you're using a lot of compatible skills, you can get a five-person combo.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0389.png)
It's a much longer fight than it seems from these shots.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0390.png)
But we are finally... victorious.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0392.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:38:24 AM
According to the person in Devin, the last rune is in Koorong. So we'd better head...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0393.png)
...to Mosperiburg.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0394.png)
Swanky. Mosperiburg is a single palace, leading up to this guy on his dragon/angel/tombstone throne.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0395.png)
But to be fair, we don't have much reason to come here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0396.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0398.png)
Never seen you before in my life, bro.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0399.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0400.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0401.png)
In his frustration, Virgil teleports us to... the caves under Koorong. This skips a lot of trudging through the Koorong sewers to get down here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0402.png)
Here we go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0403.png)
Ewww, icky bugs!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0404.png)
The guy in the back is the boss, the smaller ones in front his support. They'll buff his stats and heal him for about 500 HP each turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0406.png)
But Rouge learned a couple new spells recently.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0407.png)
KABOOM. VermillionSand is the last Realm magic spell, and it's a powerful all-enemies attack.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0408.png)
At this point the boss uses Tremor. It's possible to pick up some JetBoots that nullify this attack in the junk shop back in Scrap, but I didn't. I skipped the tier they're available because I had too much money. :richiam:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0410.png)
After wiping out the mooks, Rouge takes over healing duty with his Light Magic, since the boss hits pretty hard. We eventually wear it down, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0411.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0413.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0414.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0415.png)
Welp, that's over and done with.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:44:03 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0416.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0417.png)
Emelia: Yes, right here. I'll go.
Roufas: Hummm... maybe this will work.
Emelia: Well, it's a dance, right? I'd be perfect.
Roufas: All right, you go with Liza.
Emelia: What about Annie?
Roufas: I have another job for her.
Annie: All right.
Roufas: Emelia, don't forget your mask. You won't be able to participate in the contest without one.
Emelia: Don't worry, I won't. Maybe I'll meet a masked prince!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0428.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0429.png)
Liza: Emelia, put this on.
Emelia: No thanks, I brought my own dress.
Liza: Just put this on.

Emelia walks down the stairs to the right, and returns...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0433.png)
In a lady luchador outfit.

Liza: It's good enough for a martial arts tournament.
Emelia: A martial arts tournament? Then this isn't a ball?
Liza: What are you talking about? Didn't you know Shingrow Palace sponsors a Masked Martial Arts Tournament every year?
Emelia: You guys tricked me again!

They didn't. You're just dumb.

Liza: You're the one who volunteered. Now hurry up.

I love Liza.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0443.png)
Nothing to do but get in line, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0447.png)
Clerk: Pink Tiger. Please proceed to the next room.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:50:46 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0449.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0450.png)
The tournament is four rounds against various enemies.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0452.png)
I like that the Rabbat is wearing a tiny domino mask.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0453.png)
Fight! Fight! And fight some more. Am I wrong?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0454.png)
Assa no good.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0455.png)
While Emelia is asleep, her opponent strikes with Deathgrip, slaying her instantly.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0456.png)
Thankfully, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. In fact, a number of players think it's actually impossible to win, given the last opponent's habit of using SwayBack, a martial arts technique that nullifies incoming attacks. Since my last game had Emelia learn 2GaleSlash early, and 2GaleSlash can't be evaded by SwayBack, I actually beat the last round. There's no reward, and nothing changes for the rest of the chapter.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0457.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0458.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0460.png)
Emelia: I'm Pink Tiger!
Roufas: Let's go get him!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0463.png)
My party is Emelia, Annie, Liza, and Roufas. Rouge, Fei-On, and Slime are nowhere to be found. See why I said I might as well bring Annie along for my grind sessions?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0464.png)
At one point we are ambushed by mooks (they drop from the ceiling, that guy isn't standing on Emelia's head).

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0465.png)
Why would mooks guard this room and no others?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0466.png)
To keep you from finding the hidden passage, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0467.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0469.png)
Goblin: Yeah, I saw him.
Emelia: Where did he go?
Goblin: I'm not telling you. In fact, he told me to get rid of you.

The boss fight was so unremarkable I didn't even screencap it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0473.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0474.png)
Chapter end. Hey, where's the duck lips?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 10:55:40 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0475.png)
Talk to Roufas after each mission for a paycheck.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0476.png)
And this guy lets you change into the Pink Tiger costume if you want. Why would you?

The Pink Tiger outfit changes Emelia's Talent list for Liza's. In her own scenario, this kind of thing makes Emelia pretty flexible and able to learn most of the sword and martial arts techniques available.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0478.png)
I'm not messing around with that right now, though. Training = plot progression.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0479.png)
frrrrrrrt

Roufas: What's the matter?
Emelia: That sounds too good to be true. You must be trying to trick me.
Roufas: Oh all right. Liza, Annie, take this job.
Liza: Where are we going?
Roufas: To Baccarat. Joker's been seen there lately.
Annie: I bet he loves gambling. It just fits his name.
Emelia: I changed my mind. If Joker's going to be there, let me go with them.
Roufas: Emelia, don't be a hero. We just want to know what Joker's up to.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0491.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 11:01:40 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0492.png)
Annie: Money sure is the root of all evil.
Liza: Gambling just makes them crazy.
Annie: Liza, you're very calm.
Liza: Let's get to work.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0497.png)
It's supposed to make you better at learning magic, but doesn't because the game is basically just a pile of bugs and glitches scraped together and given a script.

Liza: To collect information. Talk to as many customers as you can.
Emelia: Do I really have to?
Annie: I bet you'll get a lot of information in that outfit. Besides, you look really good in it.
Liza: She looks good in anything. She was a super-model.
Emelia: You really think so? Well, I guess a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0502.png)
Maybe Emelia would stop getting tricked and conned into jobs she doesn't want to do if she weren't so dumb and easily manipulated.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0503.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0506.png)
Easiest investigation ever.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0507.png)
I'd recognize those ducklips anywhere!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0508.png)
Elevator operator: He went down to the parking lot, why?
Emelia: Take me to the parking lot! Hurry!

Fine, but don't stand behind her and stare at her hips.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0511.png)
Suspicious!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0512.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0514.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 11:05:28 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0515.png)
A cave!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0516.png)
A very brief one.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0517.png)
Joker: But my special exchange rate is double the norm.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0520.png)
Emelia: Sure I can. But before I do, tell me why you killed Ren?
Joker: Why? I wonder...?
Emelia: Don't mock me!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0524.png)
Joker gives Emelia a golden shower...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0525.png)
...for the benefit of the nearby dwarves.

Wait, that came out wrong.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0526.png)
Anyway, Joker leaps away again. Doesn't this guy ever walk?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0530.png)
Okay! We are at, for no readily apparent reason, the choice between Emelia's Good Ending or Bad Ending!

Do we want Emelia to live happily ever after, or do we hate her stupid face and wish for her to fail at everything she set out to do? Your call! Poll is open until it's not anymore!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on March 06, 2013, 01:38:11 PM
It would seem out-of-place for her to start doing something right now.

Are there any consequences that alter other character stories?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 06, 2013, 01:42:59 PM
This game. Arrrgh. This game!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 06, 2013, 07:26:32 PM
Are there any consequences that alter other character stories?

Nope. Every scenario is 100% standalone (despite that canonically they all run at about the same time), so the decisions made in one story have no effect on the others. Only two scenarios have multiple endings, anyway.

There's a tiny effect on your starting stats, equipment, and skills for some characters based on how hard the enemies got in the previous game, but nothing major. For example, Annie starts most games with the sword skills StunSlash and DoubleSlash. Since I've completed games before on this system data, and I made such-and-such much progress in the last scenario I played, she also started with HardSlash, Thrust, and Smash. If I'd made a bit more, she might have started with Deflect, too. Her stats went up, e.g. her strength started at 22 instead of 15. But no difference in story at all, for Emelia or anyone else, because of those changes.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 07:13:20 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0531.png)
Seriously, Cancer Mec? Not Crab Mec or something?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0532.png)
Anyway, we do the completely logical thing and try to catch Joker before he gets away. Instead of, you know, throwing up our hands in frustration and just leaving Baccarat entirely.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0533.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0535.png)
For our troubles we fight Gargantu, who is very large but not very difficult.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0537.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0538.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0539.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0540.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0541.png)

So we leave.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0542.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0543.png)
End of chapter. Annie's fashion sense is about as good as her sword skills. Or her gun skills. Or her magic skills. Or anything, really. Why you so terrible, Annie?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 07:26:38 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0544.png)
Back at base, Emelia picks up a paycheck and immediately goes in for training to start the next mission.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0546.png)
Roufas: Yes. Joker's in contact with the commander of Trinity Base. He's trying to get information on Cube.

Well, that's convenient. I, as a player, am also trying to get information on Cube. What the fuck is Cube?

Roufas: After you sneak onto the base, we'll create a diversion. Then, I want you to investigate the relation between the commander and Joker.
Emelia: How can I complete an important mission like that all alone?
Roufas: Your good looks make you the most qualified for this mission. You see, the commander of the base, Yaruto, is a real pervert. You should be able to get into his harem, no problem.

Roufas, at no point in that explanation did you say anything... good.

Emelia: Harem? There is no way I am going in there. Not even for Joker! I refuse!

Emelia shows more sense than usual.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0556.png)
Emelia: I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but why am I the best for this job? Gimme a break!
Liza: But Roufas won't be expecting it. And besides, he doesn't understand women.

Um, "I need you to be a sex slave so we have a chance of gathering unspecified information about someone's transaction history with the military" isn't just a misunderstanding of women, Liza.

Emelia: Did something happen between you and Roufas?
Liza: It's history. I was young and naive and thought he might choose me over his cause... yeah, like that was really going to happen.

...how long has Roufas been chasing Joker?

Emelia: It must be tough on you. I mean you've still got to work with him every day.
Liza: That's the price you pay for being young and naive. He doesn't care... sorry, I shouldn't bother you with my personal problems.
Emelia: That's OK. I think I understand what you're going through. I mean, losing a loved one and all.

"My fiancee was brutally murdered by some vaguely-sinister criminal... sorta... thing. Your boyfriend from years ago expects you to be professional at work and not bring up all those times you boned. Totally the same thing."

Liza: Thanks, Emelia. Hey, want a drink?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0568.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0569.png)
Pilot on the right: Even a pervert like Yaruto ought to be satisfied with this one, at least for a while.
Pilot in the middle: I hear he's even stalking Mystics now. This guy ought to be locked up.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0573.png)
Liza: First you slipped knockout pills in her drink and then you sold her to Trinity.

Right. "Mean". That is absolutely the most appropriate word choice to use in this situation. When your boss drugs you and sells you to a military officer as a sex slave, the first word to come to my mind to describe is "mean".

Annie: Roufas, you'll pay if anything happens to Emelia.
Roufas: This mission is more important than our lives.

Roufas, you are being the dumbest person in the room right now, and that's a goddamned accomplishment in this scenario.

Annie: She's an innocent girl! She could get...
Roufas: Get what?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0578.png)
Now is not the time for flatulence, Annie.

Annie: Let's go, Liza.
Roufas: I won't allow you two to interfere with the mission.
Liza: We're just trying to help.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 07:37:12 PM
As an aside: That "cockpit interior" background is only used a couple of times in the game, but the time you see it most often is when you're about to get swallowed by Tanzer in your search for the Vitality Rune.

Which would be a pretty shitty place to wake up after your boss slips you a roofie.

Not that where Emelia actually ends up is much better:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0582.png)
Emelia: ...Liza must have known about it too. Look at this skimpy outfit! This Yaruto guy must be a real horn dog.

Wearing the Dancer costume swaps Emelia's Spark list... for Annie's. I cannot fathom why anyone would think this is a good idea.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0587.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0588.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0589.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0590.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0591.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0592.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0594.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0596.png)
Oh no! My disguise is utterly useless if the person I'm supposed to be disguised from sees me!

Roufas is described early on as "smart", but that is clearly Liza's residual feelings for him giving her some rose-tinted glasses.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0598.png)
Emelia: You'll pay for this, Roufas. Yes, I hope you enjoy my dance.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0601.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0602.png)
"She's not even moving. Everyone else I've got here is at least doing something, but her dance is just standing there. That doesn't make sense."

Yaruto: I like this one too. She whets my appetite. What if I give you a mystic wench from Facinaturu? She's quite a beauty and can do fantastic things with her body!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0605.png)
As he says this line, an explosion happens offscreen! Not that you can tell because I can't relay sound effects and the only visual indication that this is the case is the screen shaking, which I can't animate. So take my word for it: explosion.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0606.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0607.png)
Joker: Commander Yaruto's power must be deteriorating real quick.

And then, there is a blackout.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0609.png)

Right.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0610.png)
Emelia: I've got to go after him.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 07:55:07 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0612.png)
Some of the other ladies from the harem are chillin' outside.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0614.png)
We are attacked by a beast!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0615.png)
And a beast it is! This fight is always geared to be harder than the monsters you fight in random encounters. This isn't so much a Lisa-Frank pastel sticker for preteen girls as it is a giant goddamned horse with a point on the end.

Both of these ladies are Mystics, as has been heavily hinted at up to this point. And while I haven't covered Mystics at all... I'm not going to here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0616.png)
...except to say that Mystics can absorb enemies into their MysticSwords, as the lady in red is doing here. It's an instant-death effect for the enemy in question, and either this (or the lady in white to get lucky with FlashFlood, which tries to instakill all enemies onscreen) is about the only reliable way to win this fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0617.png)
Woman in Red: It must be Zozma. He was planning to sabotage the base.
Emelia: This isn't Gradius's doing? What's the matter with Roufas?

He forgot you were there.

Woman in Red: You're after Yaruto? We can help you get him.
Emelia: I am Emelia.
Woman in Red: I am Asellus.
Woman in White: My name is Princess White Rose.
Emelia: Princess White Rose...? Some name!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0625.png)
Okay, so Asellus is a Half-Mystic. That sounds very interesting and is something we should probably investigate very closely later.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0626.png)
Anyway, we're free to explore the base now. After fighting off the monsters in this room...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0627.png)
Trinity base guy: You guys are so naive.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0630.png)
Not that you can really tell since Emelia is standing in the way, but his appearance changed to... basically to Akuma from Street Fighter.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0631.png)
Asellus chews him out a bit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0633.png)
Not by just waving his hands and banishing them back to wherever they came from. No, Zozma joins the party to personally beat the crap out of all of them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0640.png)
Zozma is the aforementioned one character in the game who can learn Evil magic. He starts with all four spells already, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0639.png)
There's a miniboss fight outside the commander's room, which is why I recruited everyone. Emelia by herself would have been nearly impossible, but with Zozma and Asellus hitting with some strong combos it was a snap.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0642.png)
So we wander back through the base until we reach the ship dock.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0643.png)
End of chapter. Well, that was pointless.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 08:18:03 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0644.png)
Did you think there would actually be any follow-up to the "Hey, you drugged me and sold me to Trinity!" conflict? Ha ha ha. Nope. Emelia picks up her paycheck without comment and sails to Owmi.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0645.png)
Because Owmi is the only way to get to Nelson, for some reason.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0646.png)
Because Nelson has this pub.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0647.png)

The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney, 1929) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9tlByl7N6I#)

This guy knows his classics.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0648.png)
But we're here for this other guy, who sells ingots of gold. They're set at 500 credits a pop.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0650.png)
Then we sail back to Koorong (via Owmi), with this bitchin' flying pirate ship part of the way. It's the only ship that goes to Nelson, see.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0651.png)
There's also a gold exchange at Koorong. Here, the prices fluctuate! The price to buy or sell a gold ingot starts at 1000. For every one you buy, the price goes up. For every one you sell, the price goes down. So selling the first ingot is worth 1000 gold, the next 940, the next 880, and so on.

Now, you might think it's possible to just make some quick cash by buying gold in Nelson and selling it in Koorong, but the exchange in Koorong doesn't reset the price to 1000 when you leave -- it remembers where it was when you last visited.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0653.png)
So cheating them out of their money takes a bit more effort. Here I've offered to sell enough gold to reduce the price per ingot to 0... but I have more gold left to sell!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0654.png)
Okay. That's all the gold I've got, but they didn't offer me any more money for the last twelve ingots.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0655.png)
But even though I ruined all their demand, they offer me 40 credits for the first ingot I offer to sell, rather than the thirteenth (one more than when they started offering me 0 credits for gold).

So I offer to sell none of my gold, moving the meter all the way back up. Every time I go up, they raise the price -- until it's twelve iterations higher than when I started. That's much better! So I sell off some gold at a tidy profit, return to Nelson, and buy more.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0658.png)
Repeating the process a couple of times nets me more and more credits and more and more gold ingots every time.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0659.png)
And here's why. Endgame equipment is pricey and damned if I'm gonna grind for random drops for a whole party in seven different scenarios. Enemies only drop single- or double-digit credits after a fight for most of the game. Exploiting the cost of gold for your own profit is a breezy way to afford the gear you'll need.

Suits are a little odd, as armor goes, because you can only wear clothes and accessories with them. So only very nice "suit" type gear is worth it -- otherwise you're better off wearing armor with a complement of helmet, gloves, and boots. But the PoweredSuit and Hyperwear together provide Defense 60 -- more than the WarlordArmor, MirrorGlass, and Featherboots everyone was wearing up to this point. And the two other slots can be filled with accessories that provide, say, defense against elemental attacks or status ailments.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 08:42:25 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0661.png)
Everyone properly suited up, let's get on with things.

Roufas: That's right. Ever since that last incident, Yaruto was relieved of duty. Now, a new warden is in command of the base. Joker still hasn't given up. He's in contact with a new commander. Trinity must know where Cube is.

I'd be happy if they'd tell me what Cube is.

Roufas: Your familiarity with the base makes you the most qualified for this mission.
Emelia: All right. I'll do it.
Roufas: That was easy.
Emelia: If I don't, you have a habit of drugging me and selling me anyway It seemed reasonable, more reasonable that roofies and a harem outfit. I'll try my best not to fucking strangle you.
Roufas: We're counting on you. In the meantime, the rest of us will prepare for the final attack against Joker. Good luck.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0672.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0673.png)
Commando Emelia is supposed to be better with guns than any other outfit, but instead it's just another outfit that doesn't do anything.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0674.png)
This guy's a tough fight, like the Unicorn before it. But now Emelia is alone and without any mec-wrecking instant-win moves. So we have to go around. It's a schlep and Trinity Base is easy to get lost in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0675.png)
But we find the commander's room again anyway.

Commander: He's gone.
Emelia: Where?
Commander: Do you know you're interrogating the commander of Trinity Base?
Emelia: So, you're the new commander? Even better, where is Joker?

Emelia.

Emelia, Emelia, Emelia. He's in the commander's room. He's behind the commander's desk. He's not at all panicked by a random blonde with a gun (for whatever reason) storming into his office.

Yes he is the new commander of Lambda Base Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ you are stupid

Commander: He went to get Cube.
Emelia: You sold him the information! Tell me where I'll find him.
Commander: Relax, lady. It will take him some time to decipher the code. Besides, I know exactly where he's headed... Yorkland.
Emelia: The Cube is in Yorkland?
Commander: There is an old chapel in the Yorkland mountains. That's where it's supposed to be.
Emelia: Why are you telling me all this? Is this some kind of trap?

...

...

...

Commander: Well, frankly we feel this Joker character is getting a little too dangerous. We want Gradius to get rid of him.
Emelia: I've got so many questions.
Commander: Like I said, relax and put the gun down, lady.
Emelia: First, what's Cube?

GOOD FUCKING QUESTION

Commander: I can't answer that. Cube is Trinity's best kept secret.

YOU DICK

Emelia: That's why you want us to get rid of him? Second, who is Joker?
Commander: I bet you know him better than we do, Miss Emelia.

Ominous! and stupid.

Emelia: How did you know my name? What did you mean by that?
Commander: One question at a time. Before I was promoted to commander here, I was in charge of security. I know a lot about Gradius.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0699.png)
Another explosion rocks the screen! (Trust me on this one too)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0700.png)
Reactor. All personnel must evacuate immediately.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0703.png)
Not if we can have another long, drawn-out, pointless conversation that actually doesn't tell me anything!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0704.png)
There is something wrong with the power reactor at Trinity. Evacuate, I repeat, evacuate immediately.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0708.png)
"Your boss is Roger?"

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0711.png)
Commander: Yes, this is the famous angel of Yorkland legend.
Emelia: Why are you giving me this?
Commander: Long ago, when I was at your age, I also fought for ideals with my buddies. Anyway, me and two of my pals fell in love with this beautiful woman. She was as pure as the first snow of winter. I always planned on giving this to her someday.
Emelia: Why didn't you?
Commander: Because she married one of my best pals. I respected him. So, I decided to conceal my feelings for her forever. But the broach sure brought me luck. After all, I ended up becoming the commander of Trinity Base, didn't I?
Emelia: You sure you want to give me this?
Commander: It'd be better if someone like you wore it. It'll look lovely on you.
Emelia: Thanks. This...
Commander: Angel Broach.
Emelia: I'll take care of it.

See? Long and pointless.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0725.png)
Emelia finally gets around to getting the hell out of the base.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0726.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0727.png)
Another explosion drowns out his response. Emelia actually says "I can't hear you!" here, but the dialog balloons are only on the screen for a split-second and I messed up the timing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0729.png)
When I said "Roufas forgot about you" before, did you think that was a joke?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0730.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0732.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0734.png)
Liza: Yeah, that's the famous angel of Yorkland legend.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0736.png)
Roufas: His name is Mondo. He worked for Yaruto for years. He was practically in charge of Trinity's patrol. I can describe him in 3 words: cold, cruel, and efficient. The guy's as sharp as a razor. He gave us a lot of trouble when he ran the patrol. Thank God we don't have to deal with him anymore.
Emelia: Really.

God this update is full of words.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0743.png)
I'm outta here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0744.png)
End of words words words words words words words words words words words words words words
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 07, 2013, 08:53:06 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0745.png)
We change into Pink Tiger to go do some more grinding. Why? Well...

Emelia has talent for Sliding and Suplex, and managed to pick up BabelCrumble by chance. Switching to Liza's talent list via the Pink Tiger outfit gives her a shot at GiantSwing (and had she not lucked into it, BabelCrumble).

Those four abilities, one kicking move and three throws, make up the...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0746.png)
Deadly Suplex Combo.

(Dream Super Combo? Who comes up with this stuff?)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0747.png)
DSC is just those four moves, one after another. The user slides into the target...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0748.png)
...suplexes them into the ground...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0751.png)
...smashes them into the ground again...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0752.png)
...whirls them around...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0753.png)
...and flings them away to smack into the ground again somewhere else.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0754.png)
Not every move always triggers, but the damage adds up as though whatever moves involved were amplified by being in the sort of combo several people do together. It adds up fast!

No character has natural talent for all four moves except Emelia in her own scenario. It's the only thing she ever does right! Of course, if you recruit her as any other character, she can't swap costumes, so you still have to luck into BabelCrumble and GiantSwing.

Outside of Emelia's costume exploits, the character most likely to learn the DSC is... Liza. She has talent for Suplex, BabelCrumble, and GiantSwing, so you only have to luck into Sliding. Fei-On, for all his martial arts ability, lacks talent for both BabelCrumble and GiantSwing, so getting him to learn DSC is harder than you'd expect from the game's otherwise-best martial artist.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 09:35:08 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0755.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0756.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0757.png)
No cinematics, no equippign montage, no nothin'. Not even a ship actually taking you to Yorkland. You just appear in the jungle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0758.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0759.png)
There's a miniboss blocking a bridge, but he's barely a speedbump at this point.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0762.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0763.png)
Emelia! Emelia! FOCUS.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0764.png)
The area's quite short. If you avoid random encounters, you can get to the chapel in less than five minutes.

That's counting the miniboss fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0766.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0767.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0768.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0769.png)

WHAT

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0771.png)

WHAT

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0774.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0775.png)
I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT EITHER

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0777.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0779.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0780.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0781.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0782.png)
Roufas breaks wind in response.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0783.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 08, 2013, 09:41:19 AM
Man, Roufas must have really blasted it if it caused or is being mistaken for an avalanche.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 09:42:35 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0785.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0786.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0787.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0788.png)
This bad mofo is the Diva. Is it a trap laid by Joker? Is it Yorkland's Angel of Legend (and thus, perhaps, "Deva")? Is it a manifestation of Cube?

You'll never know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0790.png)
It's a surprisingly hard fight, given how generally-incompetent your characters are in this scenario. However, BoundShot -- the most powerful Gun move -- combos into itself.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0791.png)
That's the stuff. Meanwhile, Emelia gets FIGHTIN' MAD

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0792.png)
YOU COME INTO MY CHAPEL IN MY FAKE WEDDING AND ATTACK MY BRIDAL PARTY I DON'T THINK SO BRIDEZILLA TIME

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0794.png)
Why yes, I did teach Rouge BoundShot (and Twogun, doubling its power) for just such an occasion.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0795.png)
Liza knows it too, but I forgot to equip it. She settles for BabelCrumble, which can take the variables BoundShot sends. If she moves last -- and she usually does, because another Gun skill is QuickDraw, or "you move first if you're shootin' folks" -- she can top off the combo with one of her trademark throws.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0796.png)
That's the stuff.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0798.png)
Diva's first form likes to use StunGaze, DeathGaze, and CharmGaze in a turn, or a set of electrical attacks. The second form just hits hard with GroundHit, HeatSmash, GaleAttack, and other powerful moves.

It was at this point that I realized Rouge, the Diva's favorite target for this fight, ran out of LP -- I can't target him with curative items. And uh, I forgot I had that LifeCandy to restore his LP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0800.png)
NBD though. The next four-hit combo of BoundShot, BoundShot, BoundShot, BabelCrumble did the trick.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0801.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0802.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0803.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 09:46:12 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0804.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0805.png)
Annie, are you OK? Are you OK? Are you OK? Annie, are you OK? Are you OK? Are you OK?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0806.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0807.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0808.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0809.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0810.png)
Hint: It's Ren. This plot twist is well-telegraphed and the dumbest part of this entire parade of dumbfuckery.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0811.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0812.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0813.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0814.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/bkam.jpg)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 09:51:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0815.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0816.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0817.png)
Liza: Emelia... You're...
Emelia: What was I fighting for?

zero.jpg

Emelia: I could've stayed just another unhappy, ignorant woman.
Roufas: No one knows what will happen in the future. No matter what you decide to do, you're bound to have regrets.
Emlia: Cheery thought.
Roufas: Sorry.
Emelia: Are you apologizing? Do I look that depressed? Annie, I... can't take it any more.

At this point Annie and Liza rush up to Emelia and the screen goes black. For a second it looks like Emelia threw herself off the cliff.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0829.png)
Roufas: No more for you. I can see it in your eyes, you can't fight anymore.
Liza: You've suffered enough.
Annie: It might sound a little weird, but it was fun, Emelia.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0837.png)
Roufas: No, you must forget us. You never worked for Gradius, you don't even know about such an organization. That's an order.
Emelia: My last order. Yes, sir.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0841.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0842.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0843.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0844.png)
Liza: She's become strong.
Roufas: This is the way it had to be. C'mon, let's go.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 09:53:23 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0848.png)
Hey, who's that green-haired guy beside Emelia, there? :mystery:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0849.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0850.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0851.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0853.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0854.png)
One down, six to go.

(In the good ending, Emelia shoots the mask off of Joker in an uncharacteristic display of marksmanship. The green-haired guy beside her in the ending montage is Ren himself. According to Japanese-only supplementary materials, though? Emelia saves Ren and then doesn't marry him. :shrug:)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 08, 2013, 05:45:34 PM
The greatest lie SaGa Frontier will ever tell you:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0761.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 01:50:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charemilia.jpg)
Official character art? Official character art. Here's Emelia in her nonsensical commando getup, which doesn't make her nearly as good with that giant gun as you're led to believe.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charemilia2.jpg)
And here's Emelia in her final-battle wedding dress. It's a different costume but doesn't change her talent tree, so if you go into the chapel in the Pink Tiger outfit, you can spark Liza's techniques in the fight against Diva.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charannie.jpg)
Annie, as we saw her in the between-chapter interstitial. Thigh-length bright-green socks, Annie? I just... I just don't know where to start with you. Well, you can put down those kama before you hurt somebody, that'd be a good start.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charliza.jpg)
And Liza. Her leggings looked like such a rational brownish color in her game sprites...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_ladius.jpg)
The three ladies of Gradius (the Ladius?) all together.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charroufas.jpg)
:deal:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charjoker.jpg)
Some people just want to watch the world burn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charren.jpg)
Ren looks like a douche. Emelia's probably better off without him anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charmondo.jpg)
Commander Mondo, who we will not be seeing again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charfeion.jpg)
Fei-On, who doesn't have a part in anyone's story as much as I can remember, so might as well post his art here. Kick, punch, it's all in the mind.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidemelia.jpg)
And Emelia in a different style. :shrug:
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:00:02 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0855.png)
With Emelia's scenario we've covered just about all there is to cover about humans, including her weird-ass talent switching that isn't implemented quite right. BUT ANYWAY let's talk about ROBOTS oh man you guys this is gonna be so awesome.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0856.png)
This is the region of Junk. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0857.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0858.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0859.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0860.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0861.png)
Our story begins with a young boy sifting through the garbage.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0863.png)
And switches to the command center of some sort of region ship in the middle of a battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0864.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0865.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0866.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0867.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0868.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0869.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0870.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0871.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0872.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0873.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0874.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0875.png)
A blurry display, with terrible tracking.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0876.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0877.png)
GAAAAAHHHHHH!!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0878.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0879.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:06:33 PM
Saga Frontier - Junk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2_dNZivGHk#)
I didn't post any music at all for Emelia's game, because... well, the game's soundtrack is pretty good but can be pretty hit-or-miss. Also I just plain forgot to. :hurr:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0880.png)
Boy: And after finally finding a living core!
Octopus: That's how it goes. I had to make this with scrap parts.
Girl: Was the core really alive?
Octopus: See for yourself. There, you can move it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0885.png)
Octopus guy throws the switch!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0886.png)
Tesla rocks!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0887.png)
...nothing happens!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0888.png)
Boy: You were thinking of selling him, sis?
Girl: Of course! Even the worst core can bring in at least a month's rent.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0890.png)
It's alive! Or whatever passes for "alive" for mecs.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0891.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0893.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0894.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0896.png)
The robit walks back and forth, then dashes back and forth.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0898.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0900.png)
Attack: Deplorable
Defense: Deplorable
Movement: Deplorable
goes in a loop here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0902.png)
This line also repeats.

Then the robot hops off the workbench and you're free to move it around.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:13:36 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0905.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0906.png)
Robit: Thyme... State your rank and class.
Thyme: I don't know.
Robit: I'll call you: Sir Thyme.
Thyme: Heh, heh, Sir Thyme. That's weird.
Girl: No more talk, Thyme. Go find some scrap parts!
Robit: State your rank and class, miss.
Thyme: Hah... He called you Miss!
Girl: Shut up, Thyme! I'm Rosemary, Thyme's big sister. You can call me Rose.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0915.png)
Must be a gas leak somewhere.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0916.png)
Octopus: Ha, ha, ha... yeah, something like that.
Thyme: Stop teasing, Uncle Taco.

I think you mean "Tako", as in the Japanese word for octopus. Unless they're playing off the rosemary-and-thyme puns and are shooting for an incredibly oblique "Taco Seasoning" joke here.

Rose: That's Uncle Taco. He knows lots about mecs and machines. In fact, he assembled you.
Robit: You are an engineer, Sir Uncle Taco?
Thyme: Ha, ha! Sir Uncle Taco... Now there's a classy name.
Taco: Don't put "sir" in front of everything. Just call me Taco.
Rose: What is your name?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0923.png)
I'm not typing all that shit out.

Rose: What'll we call him?

Name entry screen!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0925.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0926.png)
I do not follow your logic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0927.png)
Sure, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0928.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:22:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0929.png)
I can only imagine the sort of hell I'd have raised if I got a massive robot following me around at the age of eight (or whatever Thyme is supposed to be).

Thyme: Let's go on an expedition. We're the Thyme Expedition Team! And I'm the Captain.
T260G: Yes, Sir Thyme.
Thyme: No, Captain Thyme. You know, like Captain Kirk.
T260G: Yes, Captain Thyme.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0935.png)
Just outside of Taco's workshop (which I guess is also Rose and Thyme's home but w/e) we meet a skeleton berating a mec for doing a poor job of scrounging decent scrap parts, and the mec complaining about its pay.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0937.png)
Dude, harsh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0947.png)
There's also this transaction.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0948.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0950.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0951.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:29:34 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0955.png)
Junk isn't very big, although it's not the size of the Junk that matters.

...

...anyway, there are four areas in Ju-- this region: the port, the combat arena, the crater scrapyard, and the town we just came from.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0957.png)
The crater is our first stop...

Captain Thyme: What is your mission?
T260G: Class S top priority mission. Exact directives cannot be confirmed due to internal memory failure. Must confirm exact details of mission.
Captain Thyme: Sounds really difficult.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0963.png)
...to find T260's old body. While Taco's newly-constructed body for her is... well, new, the core is over thirty thousand years old. Whoa.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0964.png)
This is the sh-- eh, never mind.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0966.png)
Here T260G stares into the sky and considers her priorities.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:40:52 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0967.png)
Oh god

Too many jokes

joke overload

Abandoning phrase "Junk battle arena"

...

...


...beep.

Whew. Close call.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0969.png)
Captain Thyme: Gen!
Gen: Oh, it's you, Thyme. Is that yours?
Captain Thyme: Yeah, I found the core in a crater and Taco re-assembled it for me.
Gen: Looks pretty good.
Captain Thyme: It's a combat model.
Gen: Oh yeah? Are you gonna let it fight today?
Captain Thyme: Well...
Gen: If it's a combat model, it's gotta be strong. I'll bet on it. Now go kick some booty!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0979.png)
Sure enough, there's fightin' to be done.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0981.png)
I don't think it matters what it was before, a robot turns into a combat model the instant you bolt a goddamned bazooka to it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0983.png)
After each fight, you get a prize. It is imperative that you take each one back to Taco to fix.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0987.png)
The Bumper is a simple defense boo-

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0988.png)
--and by "defense boost" I mean it adds to HP and Vitality too.

And there's the basics of Mec stat boosts: they gain nothing after battle. Their equipment determines their statistics. Better equipment, better stats.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0989.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0990.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0992.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0993.png)
Oh yeah, there's also a cash purse to be had for each fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0998.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0999.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1000.png)
Your mom's a nice he-- oh. Sorry.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:45:42 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf0994.png)
Mec: Where are you going?
Skellington: I'd say that's none of your damn business.
Mec: Ohh...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1001.png)
"So here you're!"

heh heh

Rose: How many times do I have to tell you not to come here!? What if T260G breaks?
Thyme: ...Don't worry. He's really strong.

...and canonically a "she", Thyme.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1007.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1008.png)
She's talking about the noise from the other room, not Thyme's flatulence.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1009.png)
There's a robot in the combat arena!

Um, one that's not supposed to be!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1010.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1012.png)
beep what about all that stuff from before about my core breaking?

Thyme: T260G can't handle that monster!
Rose: What about it? Can you beat him?
T260G: Repeating command: Attack enemy mec.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1017.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 02:52:02 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1018.png)
If you didn't take back all the broken parts and have Taco repair them, this fight is more or less unwinnable. You have only one RepairKit (remember, Mecs can't be cured by standard restorative items), and without the extra defense and maximum HP from the Bumper and the JunkHelm, you can't weather the enemy Gatling's attacks for long.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1019.png)
I don't remember what was actually happening in this shot, but I like to think the guy's just going "OH GOD HE HAS A BAZOOKA I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS"

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1021.png)
You can do enough damage with the EasyRifle to take Gatling down pretty quick. The JunkBazooka has only one shot, and punching him does approximately jack shit, so I meant it when I said you needed those repairs from Taco.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1022.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1023.png)
I don't know what you're talking about. I was awesome.

T260G: Thank you, Sir Taco.
Taco: And no more of that "Sir" business.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1027.png)
Rose: Even if you don't really look like a terminator...
T260G: Thank you. Miss Rose, where is Captain Thyme?
Rose: Captain Thyme? Does he make you call him that? He'll never grow up.

Lay off the boy, he can't be more than ten.

Rose: He went to find some parts for you.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1032.png)
Hell yeah I am.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1033.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1034.png)
Seems legit.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:06:11 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1035.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1036.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1037.png)
T260G: Something?
Rose: Go help Thyme!
T260G: Roger, Ms. Rose.
Gen: I'll go, too.
Rose: Really, Gen?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1043.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1044.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1045.png)

Gen joins the party. He is, in short, the best swordsman in the game. If you get to lategame and feel like teaching him a few utility spells (LightSword, ShadowServant, something like that) he can do okay with a little magic. But mostly you want him cutting things up with the sharpest sword you have.

...not that we have a sword to give him right now, and he doesn't come equipped with one. Well, he's a decent martial artist, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1047.png)
Captain Thyme's hat! You can't be a captain without a cool hat! We've got to get this back to him!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1049.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1050.png)
Short dungeon sequence: begin.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1052.png)
Silly ghost, mecs are immune to most status ailments. They certainly don't sleep, so your Hypnosis is useless.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:10:00 PM
Shortly...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1054.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1056.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1057.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1058.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1059.png)
Thyme spins on the end of his rope, then goes limp.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1061.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1063.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1066.png)
There you're!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1068.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1070.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1073.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1074.png)
Yes, Gen is about to beat someone to death with a metal pipe.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1078.png)
There's also a slime and a skeleton in this fight, but they're speedbumps at best. SUCK COMBINATION BAZOOKA/SWORDPIPE TECHNIQUE!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1079.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1080.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1081.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1082.png)
wait hold on

Did he just cut the rope with a pipe?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1086.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:14:56 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1088.png)
T260G: Request permission to travel to other regions.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1090.png)
Shot down.

Thyme: You can't abandon your captain.
T260G: Confirming last mission is top priority in my program.
Taco: He's got a point. You can't get any information or decent parts around here.
Rose: Thyme, don't you think T260G has done enough for Junk already?
Thyme: I know that!
T260G Impossible to depart without captain's permission.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1097.png)
Thyme storms out.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1098.png)
I do not understand this thing you humans call "sarcasm".

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1100.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1102.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1104.png)
Gen: He's a mec so I don't think he did it out of gratitude. He must've figured out it was the right thing to do. Don't worry, I'll take good care of him. Now I'm going to go talk to Caballero.
Thyme: Can we really trust you, Gen?
Rose: Don't drink anymore!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1110.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1111.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1113.png)
You never notice in the region transition screens where you're flying in this kind of ship, but it looks a lot like a jet-powered beetle.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:16:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1115.png)
Oh god no, Tanzer attack

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1116.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1117.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1118.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1119.png)
...maybe some roofied-up supermodel stashed somewhere?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1121.png)
I like to think that if Gen ever sobered up, he'd actually get worse at things like most people do when they get drunk.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1123.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:21:32 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1125.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1126.png)
I do not understand this thing you humans call "discomfort" either.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1128.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1129.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1131.png)

So we head to the part of town every adventurer goes to when they need to gather information.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1133.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1134.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1136.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1138.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1140.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1141.png)
T260G goes into another long technobabble diatribe (utterly lacking in line breaks) here, of course.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:26:25 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1143.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1144.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1145.png)
Mei-Ling: You're interested in Caballero, too?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1147.png)
"T260G explained the situation in terms even Emelia could understand."

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1148.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1149.png)
Mei-Ling and Riki both join. Mei-Ling is good with guns and magic, less so with martial arts and swords. Her stat growth is geared toward Quickness, Intelligence, and Will. Riki is a monster, and thus nigh useless.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1150.png)
T260G: Collecting data.
Layabout Vagrant: I'm from Yorkland and don't know much about this region.
T260G: Then, good-bye.
Layabout Vagrant: Wait, what's your story?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1155.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1157.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:30:47 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1158.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1160.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1161.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1163.png)
Mec Tech: Here's my card.
T260G: Nakajima Robotics, Inc. Shotaro Nakajima, President
Nakajima: I'm no big shot. I just got a small factory in Shrike. We're keeping our operation small until we settle the lawsuit. Trinity is accusing us of a patent violation. Like they never stole anything from others... But, that's our problem. If you're ever in Shrike, come see me. Maybe I can help.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1170.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1171.png)
Um...

No really, we're leaving.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1171.png)

I know where Caballero's office is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1171.png)

I have a lead to pick up on after we're done at Caballero's come on let's go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1171.png)

Achtaehellwiit

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1172.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:34:43 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1173.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1175.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1177.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1179.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1180.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1181.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1183.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1184.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1185.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1186.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1188.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1189.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1190.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1191.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1192.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1194.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1195.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1196.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1197.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1199.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:41:40 PM
SaGa Frontier - Confrontation: Caballero Family [Extended w/ DL Link] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sro3EnJIIOE#)
Oops, almost forgot the music.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1200.png)
As we head toward the factory, the observant will notice the vagrant from before comes out of the bar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1201.png)
There are fights to be had in the factory area, of course. After some of them, Riki is offered a chance to absorb enemy monsters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1202.png)
Doing so teaches him new skills...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1203.png)
...and transforms him. So Riki isn't going to look like himself for however long he's in the party (which having played this part to completion before posting it, is not long).

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1205.png)
Anyway, after completing a side area...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1206.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1207.png)
Lute joins the party. He's a slightly better Annie at all the things Annie is terrible at (which is all of the things). His stat growth is geared toward... Charm. :itsatrap:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1210.png)
The factory floor proper is loaded with snipers and a few simple crane puzzles to get rid of them. If you get into an encounter with a sniper nearby...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1217.png)
They pepper your entire party with EnemyFire for about 30 damage every turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1214.png)
Just as monsters get to eat monsterflesh after a battle, Mecs will sift through the scrap parts of enemy mecs and try to download useful data from their scattered remains.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1215.png)
If it works, the Mec develops a new skill -- they never spark like humans do. If it doesn't work, the Mec recharges and restores all its WP.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:46:00 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1221.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1222.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1223.png)
D-TRACTOR GET IT HA HA HA HA

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1224.png)
This does not take long. Lute sparks two skills, but who cares?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1225.png)
Caballero: We'll leave Junk alone from now on.
Gen: Very good. One more thing, he needs to get on a ship. Can you help him out?
Caballero: ...All right. I'll give you a pass. Just don't come back again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1232.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:51:18 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1233.png)
With a little monetary boost from Cabellero's factory, we head to the junk shop to get some equipment. It works just as it did for Emelia, except that T260G never finds RepairKits, BrokenBumpers, or Junk in the piles -- it's all viable equipment. Granted, by not finding RepairKits, it's all equipment of a set level; you can't gradually increase your money with the exploit in order to get the best gear.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1234.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1236.png)
When T260G arrives in Koorong, her first goal is to get to this back alley marked by a chicken. You know, the one that's so dark it doesn't look like anything is actually back there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1237.png)
But it's actually a slummy apartment! And in one slummy apartment is a computer!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1238.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1239.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1240.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1241.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1242.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1243.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1244.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1245.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1246.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1247.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1249.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1251.png)
"...I guess."

It's hard to tell, but those were plot leads you read about there.

Well, some of the things were plot leads.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 03:57:12 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1252.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1253.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1254.png)
I'll tl;dr it for you. They need a module installed in a scoutingmouse robot to do the scan. The mouse robot was scouting and got lost. I need to go get it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1271.png)
Before I leave, I sell off a bunch of crappy swords from the junk shop to boost my money, so I can go back and get less-crappy swords from the junk shop later.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1272.png)
I also take EngineerCar with me, to replace Riki. EngineerCar is a Mec with a few parts preinstalled, including a repair pack that lets it heal other mec's HP damage and a gatling gun.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1278.png)
The mouse robot is a quick foray into Sei's Tomb.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1280.png)
While there I also take a priceless artifact.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1282.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 04:03:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1285.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1286.png)
Nakajima: Trinity censored our work and forced us to give up our project.
Employee: Transformers are really out of date.
Roger Nakajima: Hey! I happen to like transformers!
Nakajima: Sorry. We applied the "Valkyrie" technology to a combat model, and that's the ZEKE. But I guess people nowadays don't understand what a great mec is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1293.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1294.png)
As soon as it's activated, ZEKE flies around the room, forcing Nakajima to leap out of the way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1295.png)
Nakajima: Whose personality did you program into this piece of junk? Hiroshi's?
Employee: I don't talk like that.
ZEKE: Hurry up and put the attachment on me.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1299.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1300.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1301.png)
ZEKE replaces Lute, our second-least-useful party member.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1303.png)
Finally, Nakajima can yank out T260G's core and install her into another mec body, a bit like Emelia changing outfits. There's an anti-mec jammer model, a speedy jet model (like ZEKE), a medical model, a heavy-weapons model, a repair model (like EngineerCar), and... well, I forget what the last one is. But they're all a bad choice, because the secret best mec body is the one with the most empty equipment slots, and that's the one Taco built.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 04:06:28 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1305.png)
T260G is so full of parts that her HP is high, making the prices at the junk shop exorbitant.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1306.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1307.png)
That's better.

Anyway, I exploit the bug again for top-tier-for-the-junk-shop gear, now that I have more than 1800 credits. Mostly, I get a whole damn lot of Osc-Swords.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1309.png)
Because those sell for 110 credits each at Nakajima Robotics.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1312.png)
And loaded with cash, I start trading gold.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1313.png)
Welp, we're pretty much ready for endgame.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 09, 2013, 04:15:52 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1314.png)
This is the region of Manhattan.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1315.png)
If you've seen one, you've seen a mall.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1316.png)
That's an interesting-looking fellow checking out the fruit display, there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1317.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1319.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1322.png)
Fruity Guy: Sir Taco? An amateur made you? Nice work... What do you want to know about Leonard?
T260G: Must have him analyze me.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1326.png)
"Because those assholes at Nakajima Robotics didn't follow through on their promise to do it themselves. Simple, huh?"

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1327.png)
Fruity Guy: I can take you to his office. Come along.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1330.png)
In case you go to the Central Gate first and get turned away by the guards, there's a brief scene where this guy allows you past.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1332.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1334.png)
Analysis seems to involve a lot of color filters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1335.png)
Leonard: You have some similarities to Trinity types, but also many differences. The computer is having problems analyzing your original core. This Sir Taco was quite a mechanic. He must have had 4 or 5 hands to do a restoration like this. He wrote notes on each of the parts he added. Looks like I can't help, but I've added a memory chip to your system.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1341.png)
The chip is a flat +27 to T260G's Intelligence. Intelligence for a mec determines how many skill slots they have available, so that's awful nice of him.

Leonard: It was interesting. Here's a pass. Come see me anytime.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1345.png)
End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 10, 2013, 02:00:10 AM
Looking forward to Red and Asellus's campaigns.

Arrgh. This game.

Are you going to hurt yourself with more SaGa in the future?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 03:45:30 AM
Probably not!

Not even lparchive has one of SaGa Frontier 2, as far as I can tell because that game is impenetrably dense.

Yes I realize I am saying that in the middle of this cobbled-together half-finished mess.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on March 10, 2013, 05:31:38 AM
Yeah, God bless you for trying to present this in a sensical way, but dang this game seems like a bunch of crap thrown together in pretty much every aspect of its construction. Feels like a spiritual successor to Live A Live in more than a few ways, but without the simple charm of it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:13:42 AM
It was ambitious, to be sure, but running low on budget and time constraints can do terrible things to a piece of software. They could have made a great game with maybe two or three character scenarios, but shot for seven (originally nine!) stories at once and the whole thing is just a mishmash as a result.

Anyway.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:27:07 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1346.png)
This is Shingrow. The palace in the middle there is where Emelia got caught up in the martial arts tournament.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1347.png)
Could it be the one from the scenario intro, do you think?

T260G: Well preserved, given the environment and amount of elapsed time. Slight energy detected within.
Gen: Could be a monster.
T260G: Energy pattern is unique. Pattern identified: Defiant Class Ship PG.
Gen: Whatever that means. But it's curious.

It's a dungeon, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1353.png)
A dungeon with a lot of unavoidable encounters, including rather a lot of mecs.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1354.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1355.png)
Aw yeah. Mecs can get both CombatMastery and ShootingMastery, which increase the damage they do with swords and guns (respectively) by 50%. Considering how easy it is to get a mec's Strength up, CombatMastery is pretty terrific.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1357.png)
You'd be forgiven for thinking this was just a wall of vines, but no, it is a door. One of the few in the game you have to press the confirm button to open, so you have to know it's there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1358.png)
T260G: An emergency energy source is being utilized.

Might as well check that computer over there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1360.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1361.png)
That tells us almost nothing. What's an "RB" and why am I anti-that?

Learning that let's us search for "RB", but...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1363.png)

Oh well. Let's check the diary.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1366.png)
:mystery:

A "Download" option appears, allowing T260G to automatically learn one of:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1367.png)
Since she just picked up CombatMastery and ShootingMastery would be redundant, I take EvasionLaser. That's a move that lets you dodge laser attacks, not a laser beam that... evades... something. Whatever.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1368.png)
T260G: Data obtained regarding T 260 model and HQ. Mission: destroy RB3 model.
Gen: What the hell are HQ and RB3 models?
T260G: HQ may be a command base. No data for RB3 model.
Gen: Our next stop is the command base?

Unlike Emelia's mysterious Cube, you actually get answers to what things are in T260's scenario.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:34:22 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1375.png)
What? Man, I didn't want to punch that guy in the face. That's as close as I can get to liking most of the cast I've been introduced to so far.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1376.png)

Well, we'd better go look into it, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1377.png)
There's a bit of a kerfluffle at the gate for trying to enter with a pass some dead guy gave me, but it's not worth screencapping because they end up just saying "It'll be fine, go on in."

Leonard's lab is empty, except...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1379.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1380.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1381.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1382.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1383.png)
Cyber-Leonard: I guess now we're brothers.
T260G: How should I call you?
Leonardbot: I am still Leonard. But now my body is made of steel. Nothing else has really changed. Any luck getting data about yourself?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1388.png)

Leonard: I also began looking into many things. But I was stopped by Trinity's information security program. I guess you'll have to get into their building to get more information. There is a central information bank in Tartaros. Let's go there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1393.png)
We sneak aboard a cargo train...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1396.png)
...and arrive in Tartaros.

Leonard is now in the party. Despite not looking like one, he's a repair-type mec like EngineerCar.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:47:34 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1397.png)
All the map enemies in the first area of Tartaros are mecs, although they're occasionally joined by other kinds of monsters in battle. If they weren't all really weak it'd be a good chance to learn some new skills.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1399.png)
Eventually I fight enough of them (narrow hallways, see) that the enemies level up to the next rank, giving me a little more leeway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1401.png)
The next section of Tartaros is caves, and it's a pretty boring "turn on all the switches to open the way forward" area.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1400.png)
There are BigDiggers guarding each switch, which are tough fights largely due to their obscenely high HP. Thankfully, we have two repair mecs in the party now, so when it hits with Tremor or HEAT Missile or something, I can fix the party right up.

After the first BigDigger (of four), I remember they use Tremor regularly and equip everyone with JetBoots to null it, making the fights easier... boring, really.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1402.png)
Okay, now T260 is ready for endgame. PluralSlash just hits an enemy with a sword a whole lot. Any grinding I do in this scenario will be to get the other mecs in the party to learn CombatMastery and PluralSlash in preparation for the last boss. (You can probably guess who the last boss is by now.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1403.png)
This BigDigger can cast Maelstrom, a powerful partywide water attack. I did not see that coming.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1404.png)
Downloading its data teaches T260G DragonProgram, which will let T260 use Maelstrom too -- assuming I find and equip an OctopusBoard circuit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1405.png)
Oh. The biggest BigDigger drops one of those, too. I guess it's fitting that it could use Maelstrom itself, then.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1406.png)
There's some flexibility to mecs' skill development -- not all of it is directly from the enemy mec they download from. If they fail to download anything from the enemy, they will try to develop a new skill themselves, and different body models have different self-development skills. Here T260G learns a skill the enemy couldn't teach normally. LogicBomb only works against mecs, but does high damage and inflicts a bunch of status ailments.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1407.png)
The end of Tartaros is a high-tech sort of area.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1408.png)
Gen: Don't make it more complicated than it already is!
Leonard: It didn't accept my password...
Maybe this will do it.
There it is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1413.png)
Leonard: What are these numbers?

Something I'm going to screencap and not type out, I can tell you that much.

Leonard: It didn't work. I can't believe it. Your information can be accessed only by the commanders. You must be some sort of secret. I wish I could make sense of these numbers...
T260G: Is there any relation to model [RB3]?
Leonard: Is that a robot? Let's see... Right now, nothing.
T260G: Any relation to [HQ]?
Leonard: You mean the command base?
T260G: It is either a place or an organization.
Leonard: Let me see... Oh, I get it! These numbers must be the ship's travel data! I don't know if it leads to HQ, but if we set a course by these numbers, we'll find something. This is really exciting.
Gen: We gotta travel by ship again...?
T260G: Afraid of flying, Sir Gen?

No, it's that if you drink aboard a ship, you get sick. Covered that one before!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1431.png)
End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 10, 2013, 11:53:33 AM
I think I have a (previously unnoticed) problem because seeing all of these half broken systems and scenarios makes me want to fix them and turn them into something not crappy.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:55:23 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1432.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1434.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1435.png)
Skeleton guy rockets off the screen in terror.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1437.png)

While in Koorong, we explore the sewers a bit, until we come to this little black-market goods shop:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1440.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1442.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1443.png)
And thus...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1448.png)
PzkwV joins our now-all-mec party. Pzkw is short for Panzerkampfwagen, and V is actually a roman numeral. He's Armored Battle Wagon mk. 5, a heavy-weaponry type mec. (Granted, all of our equippable stuff is better than his innate and unremoveable rail cannon and missile batteries, but whaddyagonnado.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 11:56:28 AM
I think I have a (previously unnoticed) problem because seeing all of these half broken systems and scenarios makes me want to fix them and turn them into something not crappy.

I'm holding this against you next time SoraCross comes back to shill his latest half-baked game idea.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 10, 2013, 12:06:45 PM
There is a reason I have studiously ignored his stuff.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 04:55:18 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1449.png)
Guess I'd better!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1450.png)
A little needless blather about how you have to be the REAL Dr. Leonard to commission a ship, and off we go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1458.png)
In a ship that looks somewhat like a half-unfolded Swiss Army Knife.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1460.png)
All the random encounters are in side rooms, guarding treasure of varying quality. You can run straight to the end of HQ without a hitch.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1462.png)
There's a deactivated robot in a side corridor.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1463.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1465.png)
T260G: Must enter system, destroy virus and restart program. Wait while I complete task.
Gen: Can I help?
Leonard: It's possible. Just like I did. But, if something goes wrong while you're in the system, you won't be able to get back in your own body.
Gen: I can't let you go alone. I promised those kids I'd take care of you. Let's go together.
T260G: Understood. Starting task.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 05:02:02 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1474.png)
T260G: They've created an interface which appears friendly to humans and monsters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1476.png)
There are bugs in the system!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1477.png)
Virus always downloads the "Virus" ability, which unlocks Jammer and LogicBomb if you have a SecretBoard equipped. Virus disables CombatMastery and ShootingMastery, though, so you have a dedicated status-ailments-vs-mecs character if you go that route.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1478.png)
Defeating the viruses fixes the paths they were chewing on.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1479.png)
Eventually you get jumped by a whole bunch of bugs at once.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1480.png)
This plays out a bit like the VitalityRune battle against the slimes. Viruses block T260G's way to making Contact with the HQ Core. Defeat the Viruses and contact the Core to win.

Oddly, the Core itself attacks you with Elfshot and other weak attacks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1481.png)
The viruses respawn irregularly, like the BigSlimes do in the VitalityRune fight. Hit 'em hard and hope they don't respawn in the way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1482.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1483.png)
Contacting the core removes all the viruses from the cyberspace map.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1484.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1485.png)
There are a couple of puzzles in the way between the last fight and the end of cyberspace, though. Turn all panels green to proceed, in the stock "activating a panel switches its color and all adjacent panels' color" kind of game. Hit all four corners and then the solution for an easy win on the first level.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1486.png)
The second level randomizes itself when you arrive, so it can be a little trickier. There's no penalty for failure, though, so you can take as long as you need to bruteforce a solution.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1487.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 05:04:20 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1489.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1490.png)
"Same reason cyberspace looks like a pastoral village, dumbfuck; none of this is real."

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1493.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1495.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1496.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1498.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1500.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1501.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1503.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1504.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1505.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 10, 2013, 05:10:34 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1506.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1507.png)
"It's the same as a Cuuuuuuube...!"

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1508.png)
Only it's not, because you actually learn what RB3 is. Well, mostly. You don't learn what it stands for in-game, you have to read those Japan-only supplementary materials to find what "RB" actually stands for. (It's "Region Buster".)

T260G: Initial models were destructible by conventional means. Third model's self-protection mechanism was vastly improved. T 260 was created to combat RB3's self-protection program.
Gen: A powerful weapon that will destroy all regions!?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1513.png)
T260 continues to provide exposition as you leave HQ.

T260G: ...counterattack program against all regions indiscriminately.
Gen: This is a nightmare...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1516.png)
I go ahead and loot the treasures on my way out, since the guards recognize me as a friendly and don't attack.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1518.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1519.png)
And by "treasure" I include "T260G's exclusive robot body".

Anyway, back to exposition:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1520.png)
Gen: Then, we should destroy this place!
T260G: Mission: destroy RB3 model.
Gen: All right. That's it! This is starting to sound like a sci-fi movie.

You know, like the ones with Captain Kirk.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1527.png)
Gen: Then what?
T260G: I will access RB3's motherboard and destroy it.
Gen: You make it sound so easy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1531.png)
Yep, let's deuce out.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 03:25:49 PM
Well, we've finally got our mission, so let's... digress and talk about Mec Bodies.

There are eight of them. There are also seven different mec characters, most of whom are those body types. We have four at the moment.

T260G's default body, the one that Taco built, is Type 1. All it has equipped is a Mecbody, for 10 defense, and has a base 5 in all stats. However, having seven open inventory slots on a mec is a really good thing -- it lets you customize the mec however you want. In T260G's scenario, Leonard gives her a memory chip that boosts her Intelligence, but if recruited in any other scenario, T260G is unchipped. Oh well.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1533.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1534.png)
The Type 2 body is anti-mec. Given the number of mec enemies and mec-exclusive dungeons in T260's scenario, it's no surprise you don't get a mec of this body type. When activated, the ECM system reduces accuracy of incoming missiles to 0 -- but I'm not sure what counts as a "missile" in this case because the BigDiggers always open their fights with the ECM system, followed by me shooting them repeatedly with Hyperion and HEAT Bazookas. The after the Bit System is launched, it will automatically attack foes at the end of each turn.

The Type 3 model is ZEKE's. It's fast, and has an Accelerator system to increase its speed further if you decide you need to for some reason. It comes equipped with a rail cannon and an AT Missile, which are so weak as to be nigh-useless.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1535.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1536.png)
The Type 4 body is a medical robot. The Medipack restores HP to non-mecs, so it's damned useless in this scenario with its all-mec party.

The Type 5 body is PzkwV's frame. He's slightly sturdier than other mecs, but has the fewest open equipment slots around his built-in rail cannon, AT Missile, and Micromissile batteries.

EngineerCar and Leonard are both Type 6. EngineerCar comes with a Vulcan machinegun and a RepairPack to restore mec's HP in battle. Leonard replaces the Vulcan cannon with a BeamSword, but keeps the RepairPack.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1537.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1538.png)
If you're ignoring the junk shop and gold ingot tricks, Type 7 Mecs are a pretty good choice. The Hammer they come with is a good midgame weapon, and their base stats are decent. No NPC mec comes with this body form, so only T260G can have it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1539.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1540.png)
Type 8 is the Omega body we picked up at HQ. The V-Max system is its signature piece of gear, drastically increasing its stats in battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1541.png)
V-TECH JUST KICKED IN YO

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1542.png)
Having V-Max active also unlocks Starlight Shower (high damage to all enemies) and CosmicRave (very high damage to one enemy).

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1543.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1544.png)
CosmicRave is a series of flying tackles.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1546.png)
StarlightShower is a storm of those curvy lasers you get in anime sometimes.

Omega isn't all that useful, though. In short fights, it takes a turn to activate V-Max, which you could be spending beating things up. In long fights, V-Max wears off after five turns, which drops all your stats far below what they were to start with. So all in all, the best body is still good ol' Type 1 with good equipment.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 03:47:50 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1547.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1548.png)
This again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1551.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1552.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1553.png)
As predicted, the Region Buster comes out of sleep mode shortly after HQ is activated. (Supplementals: the nation that created HQ and another nation were at war for a long time. The other nation created the RB models, culminating in RB3. In response, HQ created the T line of ships -- of which T 260 is one.
Yep, that onboard AI talking to the captain was T260, the ship's computer. T260 is a "she" in the same way ships are always called "she".
Anyway, before RB3 could be activated, HQ was struck by a computer virus and shut down. With no enemy to fight, RB3 also shut down. I don't get it either.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1554.png)
Anyway, RB3 is really big.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1563.png)
Really, really big.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1564.png)
There's some simple dungeon elements early on, followed shortly by... this long, featureless hallway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1565.png)
You're attacked by a group of mecs from every rank enemies come in -- starting with the weakest SwordMecs, up to CancerMecs and DOBBYs, then on to some things we haven't seen yet like Skylabs and R&Rs, some of the most powerful enemies in the game.

It's actually a good grinding spot, because you can download info from powerful enemies without having to go fight hundreds of battles to make more powerful enemies spawn naturally.

At the end of the hallway, once you clear it of enemies (in my case, for the fifth time...)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1566.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1567.png)
...is the MecGod...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1569.png)
...whom ZEKE constantly keeps stunned or otherwise locked down with LogicBomb while everyone else combos PluralSlash and other heavy weaponry.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1571.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1572.png)
Yeah. If MecGod has any powerful attacks or noteworthy strategies, I missed them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1573.png)
TigerProgram allows the use of the enemy-sweeping TigerRampage move, but only if you have an OctopusBoard equipped. And by this point, I have better things to do with my WP.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 03:53:04 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1574.png)
T260G: Negative. Must enter RB3 and destroy it.
Gen: I thought we were already inside it.
T260G: RB3's original core is hidden here. Must locate and destroy it. Impossible to reach core from here.

...um?

T260G: Must enter its program. T 260 models were created for this purpose.
Gen: So, that was your lost mission.
T260G: Affirmative. Sir Gen, please evacuate. Estimate unavailable for damage incurred after core is destroyed.
Gen: You never learn, do you? Like I said at HQ, we are a team. We can't just abandon you here. Now let's get on with it.
T260G: Affirmative.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1585.png)
The cyberspace inside RB3's core (called "Doomsday Machine" by the game) is the interior of a cave. Those Matrix-style lumps of code soon transform into enemies, which you have to fight.

Ten fights later...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1587.png)
The cave gives way to a jungle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1588.png)
Oh, hello. Apparently MecGod spawns as a random encounter here!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1589.png)
We thrash it soundly once again, earning another TigerProgram download.

Ten fights later...
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1590.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1591.png)
...the jungle gives way to desert.

Ten fights later...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1592.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1593.png)
We find the virtual model for RB3's regeneration program.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1595.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:00:13 PM
SaGa Frontier - T260G Final Battle Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBaoMKoABlY#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1596.png)
BLARRGH!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1597.png)
The faux-natural virtual world gives way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1598.png)
We find ourselves in a room full of monitors, our enemy in the center: the Genocide Heart.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1599.png)
Hey! Your mom's a virus!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1600.png)
I think you mean ICE, as in Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics. Not, like, frozen water.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1602.png)
We don't mess around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1604.png)
Uh oh. This does not augur well.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1605.png)
Lasers fire from the Genocide Heart core, bounce off of the monitors back and forth...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1606.png)
...and explode in our collective face.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1607.png)
Good thing Mecs are so goshdarned sturdy. Carnage is why you want an all-mec party at this point -- it has a chance of instakilling or doing other nasty things to nonmec characters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1608.png)
Virtual shift changes the background landscape, determining what attacks Genocide Heart will use for the next segment of the battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1609.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1610.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1611.png)
...hmm. A crumbling tower on an island, surrounded by a stormy sea. I WONDER WHAT ATTACK HE'LL USE HERE

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1612.png)
CALLED IT

Bee tee dubs following Carnage with Maelstrom is a total dick move. EngineerCar and Leonard are on repair duty for pretty much the rest of the fight from here on out.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1613.png)
But T260G, PzkwV, and ZEKE do pretty well on the offensive.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1615.png)
Once enough damage is dealt, Genocide Heart ends the virtual shift.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1616.png)
...and a few monitors are out. That's progress.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:03:18 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1617.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1618.png)
Yep.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1619.png)
pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1620.png)
BOOM

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1621.png)
There's a few turns of Genocide Heart doing (relatively) weak attacks so you can recover a little, but rather than have my three attackers just dick around and wait for it I keep on attacking, so I skip almost instantly to the next virtual shift.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1622.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1623.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1624.png)
Huh. Never seen him do that before. TimeEclipse does some damage and has a high chance of petrifying the target. Since the whole party is already made of metal, it loses the status chance -- but it's another fine reason to leave Gen and Mei-Ling on the sidelines.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1625.png)
Low-level light magic? Are you kidding me? (This did 6 damage to T260G.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1627.png)
I'm not being so merciful.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:05:01 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1628.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1629.png)
Brace yourselves, everybody!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1630.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1631.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1632.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1633.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1634.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1635.png)
Oh. It finally got around to running some ICE.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1637.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1638.png)
Bit late for that, though.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:07:16 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1639.png)
Those programs you got runnin' in the background ain't lookin' so hot, chief.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1640.png)
PzkwV goes down, but at this point I switch Leonard and EngineerCar back to attacking anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1641.png)
Fun fact: even the most combo-happy move won't initiate a combo if it reduces the enemy's HP to 0 by itself.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1642.png)
THERE'S ONLY ONE POOR BASTARD HERE WITH NO FUTURE

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1643.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1644.png)
AND

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1646.png)
IT'S

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1647.png)
YOU

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1648.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:10:38 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1649.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1650.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1651.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1652.png)

Congratulations! You're dead. The end.

Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:15:35 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1653.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1654.png)

There's a blip and the screen goes black. The observant -- those ready for the split-second window available to take a screencap of it -- will see a flash of Thyme's nightmarish closeup from the scenario intro.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1655.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1656.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1657.png)
T260G: ...making it impossible to retrieve other directives.
Gen: Didn't I tell you? I don't understand all that technical stuff.
T260G: I need to get back to Junk.
Gen: Now, why didn't you say that in the beginning?
T260G: You are not coming, Sir Gen?
Gen: I've got to get back to my own home region. Say hi to those kids for me.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1664.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1667.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1668.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1670.png)
If you transformed into any other form, T260 returns to Nakajima Robotics to get the Type 1 body back. Since I wasn't in any other form, it looks like she swung by just to say goodbye to Nakajima, ZEKE, and EngineerCar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1671.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1672.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1674.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1675.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1676.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1677.png)

...







...beep.

Two down, five to go.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 11, 2013, 04:22:58 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/chart260g.jpg)
Official art of T260G's cobbled-together scrap body, the secret best body.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/chargen.jpg)
Gen, being the scruffy drunken swordmaster samurai he is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charrosethyme.jpg)
You darn kids.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charleonard.jpg)
Leonard, pre-murder.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidt260g.jpg)
d'awwwwww
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 11, 2013, 06:23:56 PM
I was more thinking SaGa-related masochism along the lines of Unlimited SaGa (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/06/20) by the way. Even I don't want to touch the quagmire that is SaGa Frontier 2.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on March 11, 2013, 11:51:39 PM
This idea that a bunch of robots semi-independently gathered together to fix a robot problem that threatens modern biological society despite existing in the margins of it is pretty compelling. Makes for more interesting sci-fi than whatever was going on with Emelia, in any case. I guess that's one more check in the "woulda been pretty rad if it had been more than one seventh of a game already bursting at the seams" column.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:37:27 AM
despite existing in the margins of it is pretty compelling.

Something I wished this scenario explored a little more is how mecs obviously have emotions and personalities -- T260G isn't a very good example of that, but ZEKE's brief introduction certainly is -- but they're still treated as inanimate objects and property. Gen assumes T260's idea for leaving Junk isn't out of gratitude, because mecs can't show gratitude. Cabellero's skeleton mook threatens a mec mook with dismantling if he doesn't do his job right (although Cabellero's men aren't supposed to by sympathetic, eh). Stuff like that.

It could be a compelling plot point, but a discussion about mec rights is not a discussion I want to have without actual mecs present.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 12, 2013, 09:21:03 AM
We've been marginalizing bots for too long. They get maybe one or two posts before Thad "quarantines" and bans them!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 02:37:55 PM
We've covered the way humans work in Emelia's campaign. We covered mecs about as thoroughly as possible in T260G's scenario. So now...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1678.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1679.png)

Saga Frontier - Trick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyeIoQxSy48#)
This music plays for pretty much the entire time you're in this region. It's perfectly fitting, but still gets kind of old.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1680.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1681.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1682.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1683.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1685.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1687.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1688.png)
At first I hated the dark atmosphere of Rootville. But eventually I got used to things, including the tyranny of Chateau Aiguille.

That's sorta-kinda "AY-gwee" according to Google Translate. It means "needles", but "thorns" would be a better translation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1691.png)
There are many precious dresses up here in the attic. Every year, we design a suit of clothes for someone in the castle. We've worked on at least 10 outfits. My co-workers say they are for the young prince in the castle. They say this prince has been asleep for years.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1697.png)
A nice touch: Gina blushes at the thought.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 02:44:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1699.png)
A slow panning shot up...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1700.png)
...to the parapets of Chateau Aiguille. See why it's called the Castle of Thorns?

The pan cuts out. There's a nightmarish image onscreen for a split-second, a scream, and...!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1702.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1703.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1704.png)
Asellus: Where am I? My shirt's torn...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1709.png)
heh heh heh

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1712.png)
Green-haired person: My job is to report when you're awake.
Asellus: Report? To who, my aunt?
Green-haired person: You are still not aware of what really happened, huh?

Also unaware of proper grammar. It's "to whom", Asellus.

Green-haired person: You're in Facinaturu. This region is ruled

dramatic pause here

Green-haired person: by Orlouge.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1719.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1720.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1722.png)
Asellus: Then, on the way back... I got ran over by a... carriage.
Wait, why would there be a carriage in this day and age? Man, I must still be confused. What's wrong with me? Well, first I've got to find out where I am. Maybe I'm still dreaming!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1730.png)
And we're in control. I wasn't joking about that dramatic pause before, the text crawl actually stops for a second before printing "by Orlouge".


Oh, and that nightmarish image from before?
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1701.png)
It flashes onscreen so you get barely a glimpse of it, but it's quite obviously the carriage that ran poor Asellus over.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 02:55:24 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1731.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1732.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1734.png)
Okay, the last thing you saw was a evil-eyed nightmare bearing down on you. You wake up with your clothes torn and bloody. Some dickhead teleports in, tells you absolutely nothing helpful, and teleports back out. You leave the room to find a hallway full of occupied coffins.

You cannot blame Asellus for thinking she's having a nightmare.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1736.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1737.png)
A rose-decorated pool in a nearby tower.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1738.png)
Petals spiral up out of the pool...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1739.png)
...and suck Asellus in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1740.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 02:57:41 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1742.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1743.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1744.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1745.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1747.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1748.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1750.png)
This is not turning out to be a good day for Asellus.

From a dias overhead...
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1751.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1752.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1753.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 02:58:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1754.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1755.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1757.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1758.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1759.png)
At the very least we can leave the murdergarden. (It's like an Olive Garden but the food is better.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:02:37 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1760.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1761.png)
Uhh... did I? She? (I can never tell how much of these LPs should be in first-person.)

Asellus: Who are you? Stop staring at me!
Person We're Pretending To Not Know From Emelia's Scenario: Aggressive for a human. This should be interesting. Someone's coming. I'll see you around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1765.png)
He teleports out. Two others teleport in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1766.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1767.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1769.png)
Canonically, Asellus' campaign happens first chronologically. It's kind of ill-defined other than that, though.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:05:37 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1771.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1772.png)
Asellus: I am Asellus. But shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking others their names?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1774.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1775.png)
Gonna have to post these in screenshots, because I'm not referring to all the people who talk in this scene as "dude on the throne" and "guy on the left".

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1776.png)
Three guesses who that guy is, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1778.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1779.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1780.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1781.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1782.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:11:50 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1784.png)
Spoiler: everyone in this room is at least 50% mystic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1785.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1786.png)
Orlouge: You were stabbed with Ciato's sword, but where is your wound? Even before that you were dead, run over by my carriage. The only reason you're even alive is because of my blood -- Mystic blood.

Mystics are like vampires in a lot of ways. They're the unaging sort of immortal, and can be killed by wounding them enough but recover from injuries that would kill humans.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1790.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1791.png)
Orlouge: Ildon.
Green-haired person from before: Yes, my lord.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1793.png)
While the courtly conversation spins around her, Asellus is still in shock.

Ildon: Yes, my lord.
Ciato: But Lord, perhaps Ildon isn't right for this job. Just in case...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1796.png)
As-Yet-Unnamed Mystic: He's both agile and skilled with a sword.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1798.png)
Asellus isn't even paying attention.

Orlouge: we need someone else to teach her some manners. I'll wake Princess White Rose. These two will do for the girl's education. Ildon, get her some decent clothes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1801.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1802.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1803.png)
Orlouge teleports out, followed by his lady attendants, followed by the rest of the courtiers.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:15:59 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1807.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1808.png)
Ildon: Let's go.
Asellus: Go where?
Ildon: Hello! Is anyone in there? Didn't you hear what the Lord just said? We're going to Rootville to get your dress. We placed the order long ago.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1814.png)
Ildon sort of joins the party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1816.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:21:46 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1818.png)
We know where the tailor is, but Asellus doesn't.  :nyoro~n:

Another nice touch I never noticed before: the back of Asellus' shirt is torn.

Ill-tempered green Mystic: He never once recognized my talent or my loyalty. He won't even let me live in the castle. I can't stand that he chose some human girl to be his princess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1822.png)
We could buy Mystic magic here -- Asellus has the Gift for it already -- except we don't have any money.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:26:00 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1823.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1825.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1827.png)
He's not kidding. There are two grades of Mystics: Noble and Lesser. And if you're a Lesser mystic, you had better make yourself damned useful to the Nobles. They are not nice people. (Over both ranks are the Lords, with such-and-such a number per "era", not that any materials define what an "era" is. In this game's setting there are two Mystic Lords: Charm Lord Orlouge and Ring Lord Virgil, whom we met briefly in Emelia's scenario.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1828.png)
Example: Ildon doesn't bother with niceties like "please". You do what he says or Bad Things Happen, peon.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1831.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1833.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1834.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1835.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1836.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1837.png)
Ildon says nothing, but I assume he'd flip the tailor off as he left if he had the animation frames to do it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:27:45 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1838.png)
Better make sure they're out of earshot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1840.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1842.png)
What do you think happens when you're magically infused with the blood and power of a "Charm Lord"?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:35:59 PM
Asellus has almost-full run of the castle, which can make it hard to figure out where to go at times. There's a lot of wandering around to do.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1845.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1846.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1847.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1848.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1850.png)
There's a bit of Japanese numerology punning between "shiro" (white) and "shi-roku" (forty-six) here, but I can't think of any way that would have been translated.

White Rose: Ildon. Long time no see. Seems like nothing's changed.
Ildon: Princess White Rose is the kindest Arch-princess in Facinaturu's history.
Asellus: What's an arch-princess?
White Rose: I'll tell you everything later. About mystics, myself, and Lord Orlouge. Let's go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1856.png)
White Rose joins semipermanently. And... we have no prompt for what to do next.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:49:03 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1857.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1858.png)
Here's the thing about Mystics: most of their stats never go up. That 28 Strength Ildon has is going to be a 28 Strength for the rest of the game. They can gain HP, WP, JP, and Charm, but their Strength through Vitality stats don't increase after battle.

However, the Mystic = vampire metaphor still rings true: Mystics absorb powers from the monsters they fight.

Each Mystic starts with a MysticSword, and as they develop, learn the skills MysticGlove and MysticBoots as well. When these are used against monsters, the Mystic has a chance of sucking the monster into their equipment. This always gives a stat boost and a special skill. For example, Ildon has a LivingLance absorbed into his MysticSword, giving him +8 to Strength, Quickness, Will, and Vitality. In battle, it lets him use the ability Lance.

While the stat boosts are the same across Mystic equipment, monsters give different skills if they are absorbed into different pieces. The LivingLance gives Ildon Lance because it's in his MysticSword. In his MysticGlove, it would give Feeler. In his MysticBoots, it would give Sweep.

Ildon starts with LivingLance, Battlefly, and Armorpilla absorbed into his Sword, Glove, and Boots respectively. White Rose's stats have fewer pluses than Ildon's because she only has MysticSword, and has no monsters absorbed in it yet. (The +5 to White Rose's Psychic and Charm comes from the FlowerAmulet she has equipped.)
 
Mystics cannot learn sword, martial arts, or gun techniques, although they can still slash, punch, and shoot if they have the requisite equipment. Mystics do not spark skills. They can develop magic if they have the Gift for it... but the staid, unchanging, ageless nature of Mystics takes its toll: they all have the goose-egg magic-development talents of Emelia.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 03:54:17 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1859.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1860.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1861.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1862.png)
If you return to Asellus' room, Ildon and White Rose will leave the party. This is important.

Also, minor note: White Rose walks away, Ildon teleports.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1863.png)
Ildon won't listen to White Rose's lectures while he's in the party, so you have to go get White Rose and leave Ildon waiting for you if you want to learn anything.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1865.png)
White Rose: I believe humans call them "mistresses".
Asellus: A mistress!?
White Rose: Of course it is different from human relations. Lord Orlouge took my blood, making me a mystic. By ending my human life he granted me eternal life.

Mystics = vampires

White Rose: His charm is irresistible.
Asellus: I don't feel any attraction to him.
White Rose: I suppose you're immune to his charm because his blood is in your veins. Not only that, you've also inherited his mystic power.
Asellus: I don't want... Don't need any power...
White Rose: Whether or not you will develop the mystic power within you is up to you.

Hint.

White Rose: That's enough talking for now.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:00:14 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1879.png)
White Rose: These coffins are our refuge as well as our prison. Lord Orlouge never lets go of things he has acquired.
Asellus: How childish.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1884.png)
White Rose: Princess Rei was Lord Orlouge's first princes.

"Rei" is Japanese for "zero".

White Rose: She was also the only one to ever escape from the castle.
Asellus: How did she get away?
White Rose: She committed suicide, and by using the cycle of birth, she was reborn into human flesh. Now, even Lord Orlouge has trouble finding her.
Asellus: Cycle of birth... I can't possibly be reborn...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1892.png)
"Shi-shi" is both "forty-four" and "lion".

White Rose: Princess Lion is my elder sister. She's also called the Golden Mane for her blonde hair. I've heard she's very open and energetic.

She's blood type O, and enjoys rock climbing and fencing. Turn-offs include rudeness and clingy men.

...anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1895.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:07:23 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1896.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1897.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1899.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1900.png)
Gozarus: I couldn't believe this stupid-looking girl would be chosen to be princess on her merits.
Asellus: Sorry for looking stupid!
Gozarus: You'll never make a good princess with that kind of an attitude. Take this, you look like you could use some jewels.

And Gozarus opens his shop.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1905.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1906.png)
...of sorts.

Asura is a power 70 sword, the fourth-strongest in the game. Tao-TiehPattern is a moderately useful defensive accessory. ShadeRobe isn't worth the investment. SandVessel... we'll get to SandVessel later.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1907.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1908.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:12:24 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1910.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1911.png)
It's a furnace.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1912.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1913.png)
And that's all.

(Kurenai was once a fire mystic named "Merope", and the eighth of Orlouge's princesses. Eight = Japanese "you" = heat. Orlouge grew disinterested and eventually forgot her, but she was still enthralled by his charm. She eventually faded away and became just a flame -- and used as an incinerator for Rootville. Harsh.) 
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:16:20 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1914.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1915.png)
At least two battles. The more you win, the more you fight. Since Asellus can't get any equipment other than what Gozarus sells for permanent LP drain, the fights are nearly impossible to win, so you never get stat-ups, so you continue to not win...

Why they even bothered putting this into the game I'll never know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1918.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1919.png)
The sword Asura has a special skill, also called Asura, that consumes 4 WP to use. But even better, for these small battles: if you choose to use the Asura skill on your turn, and an enemy hits you first, you automatically strike with AsuraRevenge for over double damage.

It's powerful, but it damn well should be for three LP. And given how things will turn out shortly, I'm not sure how they ever expect you to do without it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:27:21 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1925.png)
Asellus: How can anyone get used to a creepy place like this?
Hey, I Recognize You: That's great.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1928.png)
Rastaban: Facinaturu is eternal, unaffected by the passage of time. I've been waiting for someone to reset its clock. I believe it's you, Lady Asellus!
Ildon: You think this human girl possesses that kind of power? You sure don't know how to judge mystics.
Asellus: What are you two babbling about?
Rastaban: You'll see. Many mystics are already growing afraid of Lady Asellus's growing power.

Dude, I just got my ass handed to me by an Armorpilla. What growing power?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1936.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1937.png)
Ildon: Rastaban. He finally snapped.
White Rose: That was Rastaban.
Asellus: Is he the only one happy around here?
White Rose: Pardon?
Asellus: All the men in this castle are always frowning like they're constantly opressed.
White Rose: Yes, I never thought of it... But, you're right, he is a little different. There is another...
Ildon: He left on foot? He must really be trying to show you respect.

Like White Rose does, and Ildon does not.

Yes, the male mystics are oppressed. Namely: all the women in Facinaturu are enthralled by the Charm Lord and his trademark charisma. There are no ladies left for anyone else. In fact, Ildon and Rastaban are lovers because of it.

I know, I know. I didn't write it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:32:13 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1944.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1945.png)
My heart was pounding so hard I couldn't say anything.

Asellus: A strange girl.

Gina runs upstairs.

My mind went blank when I heard her say "A strange girl".

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1950.png)
Gina: Gina.
Asellus: Gina, what kind of place is this?
Gina: I don't know either. Ever since I came here 3 years ago, there are so many things I don't understand.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1954.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1955.png)
Asellus: What are you talking about?
Tailor: She's just a plain innocent girl. Please have mercy. Don't take her away.
Asellus: I'm not a mystic. I'm a human like yourself.
Tailor: Please leave the girl alone.

Asellus doesn't notice it, but everyone else does: she's got the Charm Lord's power to sway people.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:37:21 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1960.png)
Ciato: Want some good information?
Ciato: Ignore me, huh? Nice attitude... I guess you don't wanna know how to get out of here...
Asellus: Tell me!
Ciato: Go into the bar in Rootville and talk to a human there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1965.png)
But Ciato is gone.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1969.png)
Zozma: Sorry I didn't properly introduce myself last time. I'm Zozma. You're Asellus, right?
Asellus: I don't care what your name is. What are you doing in my room?
Zozma: Easy, lady, unless you want another enemy. Mystics are very easily offended.
Asellus: How about you?
Zozma: I'm different from all the others here. They despise me. They say I don't act like a high-class mystic. They even told me to stay out of the castle.
Asellus: But you sneak in?
Zozma: The only one who can stop me is Orlouge himself. The others are no match for my power.
Asellus: Well, aren't you proud.
Zozma: It's the truth. I'm already tired of this small talk. See you around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1984.png)

Deleted content, that's what! In the original game, it was the rebellious Zozma who tells Asellus how to leave Facinaturu, rather than the otherwise-loyal Ciato. Ciato telling her makes no sense, so I wonder why they changed it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:43:29 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1986.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1988.png)
Long story short, because Christ this introductory sequence couldn't take longer if Asellus' scenario was its own full game. This guy has a ship to take Asellus out of Facinaturu on, but he wants money. Asellus is broke. Asellus goes to White Rose. White Rose says Ildon has some human money, why not use that, and Asellus says no because she needs it to leave. White Rose joins her permanently and brings some gold ingots.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2011.png)
It was Ciato. White Rose points out that that makes no goddamn sense, and it should have been Zozma. Basically.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2015.png)
Short dungeon sequence.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2017.png)
White Rose sucks an Armorpilla into her MysticSword, because anything is better than nothing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2018.png)
:itsatrap:

White Rose: They're coming after us. Let me talk to them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2021.png)
Ildon: Let's go back to the castle.
White Rose: I'm responsible. Let the Lord punish me, Ildon.
Ildon: That's up to Lord Orlouge.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2025.png)
Spoing!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2026.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2027.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2028.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2031.png)
White Rose climbs aboard, and as the ship launches, the jet engines fling the lesser mystics away. Ildon is unperturbed.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2032.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:48:10 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2033.png)
Asellus: Is this your first time on a plane?
White Rose: My Lord will be upset...
Asellus: Everything will be fine.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2037.png)
End of ch--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2040.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2041.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2043.png)
Orlouge: Most intriguing. I'm curious what's going through the mind of that half-mystic. Although, I'm not very pleased that she took White Rose with her.
Ciato: What should we do with Ildon?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2047.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2048.png)
fwoosh

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2049.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2050.png)
fwoosh

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2051.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2053.png)
Orlouge flings Ciato into the ceiling, then into the floor in front of his throne.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2054.png)

End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:54:18 PM
Hacking reveals some content cut from the game: Zozma is the one who tells Asellus how to escape Facinaturu: the flames of Kurenai come from another region.

Yes, Kurenai actually had a role at one point.

Asellus and White Rose jump into Kurenai, which burns them badly but they end up in Mosperiburg, where the sky burns (like Kurenai!) but the land is frozen.

Once they mystic-regenerate their wounds, the two realize their clothes are burned away and they run around naked in the snow until they get to Virgil's palace. Virgil gives them some clothes and teleports them to another region. Koorong is his habit, but perhaps the next scene would have played out the same anyway.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 04:59:11 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2056.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2059.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2060.png)
White Rose: They're forming letters...
Asellus: Can you read it?
White Rose: ...water mystics are looking for their missing daughter.
Asellus: Water mystics?
White Rose: Those are mystics who live in bodies of water like rivers, lakes, or the ocean. They're very timid, you can rarely see them. Some must be living in this lake.
Asellus: A lost one. Just like me.

White Rose has been sleeping for too long: the only water mystics left are in Owmi lake. Long ago a water mystic transformed into a human and tried to live like one. The mystic lords were offended enough to crack down on all water mystics to teach them a lesson; now the ones in Owmi are the only ones left.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2070.png)
...a water... mystic?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2072.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2073.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2074.png)
Townsperson: But because the port expanded its landing zone, the mystics had to move to our lake. One got caught in a net.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2077.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2078.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:08:02 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2080.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2081.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2083.png)
Asellus: You must let her go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2085.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2086.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2087.png)
Asellus: Yes.
Manor Lord: What should I do? I know she'd be better off in the lake. But I... I...
Asellus: Let us speak to the mystic.

The Lord has his hesitations and I'm skipping them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2096.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2097.png)
Weird to think a sea creature would have a keen sense of smell in open air.

Water Mystic: Did I offend you?
Asellus: No, you're right. I'm half human and half mystic.
Water Mystic: May I ask your name, noble one?
Asellus: Asellus.
Water Mystic: Lady Asellus... Sounds classy...
White Rose: She inherited Lord Orlouge's blood.
Water Mystic: Lord of all mystics, Orlouge?! Please forgive my insolence.
Asellus: Why are you so scared?
Water Mystic: I'd perish if I ever offended Lord Orlouge.
Asellus: Don't worry. I am not him. We're just here to help you.
Water Mystic: My name is Mesarthim. I lived in the lake with my family. But I was caught in a fisherman's net.
White Rose: You should be grateful. The master of this house saved your life.
Mesarthim: I know he's been good to me. But I can't stand the stench of humans. I can't breathe... I want to go home.
Asellus: Let's go! You don't have to stay anywhere you don't want to.
White Rose: But he loves this water...
Asellus: No one should be forced to do something they don't want to.
Mesarthim: But he wouldn't even let me out of the house.
Asellus: There must be a way out.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:10:38 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2119.png)
Want to not die? Take Mesarthim's armor and put it on Asellus.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2121.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2122.png)

Hint.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2123.png)
There's some frankly craptastic gear to be had in Lord's Manor, but considering anything is better than nothing, we take it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2124.png)
To the basement!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2125.png)
For all that I said about mystics earlier, Asellus functions as a human. Her Strenth-Vitality stats grow normally and she can spark skills in combat.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:13:40 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2128.png)
Oh. Um.

Turns out the basement's dangerous.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2129.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2130.png)
Very much so! Mesarthim has two pieces of water-nulling equipment, the MellowRing and the BlueElf. The MellowRing can't be removed but you'd damned well better give someone else the BlueElf before this fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2131.png)
Mesarthim's LifeRain restores HP to everyone else, but takes one of her LP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2132.png)
The DevilSquid is no damn joke. I have no idea how you're supposed to win without the Asura, considering how few level-up and equipment upgrade chances you've had at this point.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2136.png)
Oh. That helps.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2138.png)
Whew.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:16:43 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2139.png)
Aha! Nice. Now Asellus has a 0 WP skill to use with the Asura. StunSlash with Asura does more damage than HardSlash with the plain ol' regular Knife she holds in her other hand, so this is kind of a big upgrade to her normal damage output.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2141.png)
After looting the basement further in (the treasure on this screen is a trap), the DevilSquid respawns. Thankfully...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2142.png)
Mesarthim's freedom is one screen over.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2143.png)
Nobody ellipse in Mesarthim's presence, she can pinpoint who dealt it with laser accuracy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2144.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2145.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2148.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2149.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2150.png)
End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:21:07 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2151.png)
After all these years, Asellus still talked about it very nostalgically. I remember felling a little jealous of how she cherished the time she spent with the Princess.
But Orlouge's henchmen also learned of them.


(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2156.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2157.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2158.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2159.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2160.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2161.png)
Ominous!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:25:39 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2164.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2165.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2166.png)
Needless to say, Asellus is the only character for whom this area appears.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2167.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2169.png)
Oh, so you're not really blonde with an inexplicably green-haired sprite, like Terra from Final Fantasy 6?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2170.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2171.png)
Cabbage again? You know how it disagrees with you, auntie.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2173.png)
Oh. That's... a bit more serious.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2174.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2175.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2176.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2177.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2179.png)
Asellus: Why didn't you tell me? White Rose...
White Rose: Time means nothing in Facinaturu. I didn't want to shock you.
Asellus: Now I know I am a monster. I didn't age a bit in 12 years.
White Rose: You shouldn't talk like that.
Asellus: Leave me alone!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2185.png)
White Rose: Disobey my Lord? That's quite an accusation.
Big Magic Voice: Make all the excuses you want before the Lord.
Asellus: No! Don't touch White Rose!
Big Magic Voice: I was ordered to kill anyone in the way.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 12, 2013, 05:28:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2190.png)
FireSage is a chump. He's got nothing on DevilSquid, honestly. In this entire battle he got one hit in, and, well...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2191.png)

Followed by...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2192.png)
Asura + PhantasmShot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2193.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2194.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2195.png)
What? ASELLUS is evolving!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2196.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2197.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2199.png)
End of chapter, and a decision point! Asellus has started growing into a mystic, as a result of her blood/magic infusion from Orlouge. Does she shun this power and cling to her humanity, or does she embrace the powers that being a mystic brings?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 12, 2013, 07:55:01 PM
Be Sigrid.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:07:57 PM
I'm continuing the scenario, but voting remains open. I got seven votes for Emelia's fate, but only three for Asellus'. I guess everybody really wanted to see terrible things happen to Emelia.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2200.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2203.png)
Asellus picks up a couple of recruits to round out the party. Rouge is always a good choice. Lute... not so much.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2206.png)
On the backstreets of Koorong, there's this office...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2207.png)
The music cuts out. All you can hear is the ticking of the clock.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2208.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2209.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2210.png)
The skull floats into the air and laughs at you.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2211.png)
The clock strikes. A scream comes from the back room!

And as it fades...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2212.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2213.png)
Asellus quite reasonably gets the fuck out of there.

So why show this part?

It's another example of a part of Asellus' quest that got left on the cutting-room floor! There are snippets of script in the game data of Asellus talking to this doctor -- Dr. Nusakan, for the record -- who investigates her altered biology. Asellus asks him to turn her back into a human, but he can't, because mystic blood isn't purely biological in nature. She's absorbed mystic magic, too. Nusakan tells her to accept her fate as a mystic.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:13:42 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2215.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2216.png)
This is Shrike's Bio Research Lab.

SaGa Frontier soundtrack - Bioresearch Lab (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGXCGjMeNk#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2217.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2218.png)
It's full of scientists who walk around shaking beakers of... whatever that is. If you bump into one, they'll either gloat about their new bodies or ask to be put out of their misery, and then you get into a fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2219.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2220.png)
It's full of odd equipment and research.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2221.png)
...and secret passages.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2222.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2224.png)
...and caged specimens.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2226.png)
The Bio Research Lab is full of hard enemies, no matter how strong you are.

For each scenario, the game counts how many battles you've been in. Every sixteen battles, your Battle Rank goes up by one. When your Battle Rank goes up, all the monsters you fight get harder. Some areas have monsters stronger or weaker than your normal Battle Rank, and the Bio Research Lab is one of those. All the monsters here are stronger than your Battle Rank would otherwise indicate.

Since the power of the monsters fought directly determines how likely you are to get stat increases after a battle, learn spells or gun skills, or spark new techniques, it's a good idea to fight the strongest monsters you are able to.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:16:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2228.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2229.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2230.png)
If Asellus tries to use her MysticSword in battle, it deals a little damage and might instantly kill an enemy, just like if a fullblood mystic does it. After that attack, Asellus undergoes a MysticalChange.

Once MysticalChanged, Asellus behaves like a mystic instead of a human. She can now absorb monsters into her mystic equipment, and after she does, MysticalChange also means those monsters now provide their normal stat bonuses and special skills. Asellus can no longer spark sword or martial art skills, and can only increase her Charm, HP, WP, and JP after the battle is over.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2231.png)
She can also develop other mystic equipment after the battle is over, if her stats are high enough.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:26:32 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2232.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2234.png)
Once I beat up the scientists running the experiments on him, one of the specimens joins my party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2235.png)
This is Cotton, who is actually a member of IRPO. I'd rather not have to deal with raising a monster in this scenario, so I take him out of the active party in an inversion of the "anything is better than nothing" philosophy I've kept to so far.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2236.png)
Holy crap is that a Mana Beast?

(It's a Thundragon, but they look like mana beasts...)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2237.png)
Of course, when the Mystics in your party thrive by absorbing strong monsters, and you have a place where they can readily access strong monsters, they get pretty buff as soon as the absorb chance starts kicking in on their mystic equipment. Check out that bonus to White Rose's Intelligence she got by absorbing two Liches.

...so there's no plot advancement here, either. But... there could have been. In another bit of script that got edited out of the game:

The woman in the bottom of the Lab who talks about her eternal beauty right before you kick her but is Nashiira, the leader of the Bio Research Lab. She's researching mystics by using captured mystics and human volunteers as guinea pigs in her experiments. Once Asellus convinces Nashiira that Asellus is a mystic, Nashiira runs some experiments on Asellus.

Nashiira is one of those amoral "progress at any price" scientists who pops up in fiction from time to time, and Asellus is appalled at her lack of empathy. Asellus is equally appalled that for the purposes of the experiments, Asellus functions just as a mystic would. Nashiira tells Asellus about Furdo, but we'll get to that guy later.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:36:30 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2238.png)
The progression of Asellus' scenario is, instead, to wander around until the assassins that Ciato sent after you show up.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2239.png)
WaterSage opened with an Oscillation attack that KOed both Lute and Rouge, but other than that I had no problems.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2244.png)
GreenSage (legalize it!) doesn't have many powerful attacks, but likes to use status ailments. The big problem with this battle is that GreenSage has a fear aura, which shows up as a few semitransparent skulls floating around him. If any of my party hits GreenSage with an attack that makes physical contact, the fear aura counters by confusing them. Asellus uses some sword techniques she learned that don't make contact, like WheelSlash and 2GaleSlash; Rouge and White Rose use magic; and Lute got a gun for this fight.

After the GreenSage is defeated, a cutscene:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2247.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2248.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2249.png)
Lion: A half mystic Asellus and our White Rose... I am afraid Ciato won't be good enough.
Orlouge: Are you going?
Lion: I exist only to serve you, Lord. Besides, White Rose, she's my sister princess. I don't understand why she's disobeying you.
Orlouge: No one's stopping you. Go, Lion.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2256.png)
Lion catches up with us in the Yorkland swamp. Usually those lizards are hiding with only their eyes showing, but Lion's cutscene keeps them from concealing themselves.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2257.png)
White Rose: They say you're the bravest princess in Facinaturu.
Lion: Princess White Rose... I've heard of you as well. They say you're the kindest princess in the region. Can your kindness stop a sword?
Asellus: I am the one who'll fight you!
Lion: Whatever! The only man who ever beat me was Lord Orlouge himself. Get ready!!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2265.png)
Princess Lion attacks with a combination of sword techniques and magic. She's the toughest boss yet, but uh...

She's still nothing compared to the DevilSquid battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2268.png)
Lion: Lady Asellus, take care of my sister.
White Rose: Wait. Lord Orlouge will punish you if you let us escape.
Lion: Don't worry about me. For you, I'd gladly accept any punishment.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2275.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2276.png)
End of chapt-- uh... Lion? Aren't you cold dressed like that?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:40:35 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2277.png)
That's how the swamp usually looks. Slightly less intimidating than MONSTERS EVERYWHERE

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2279.png)
Ildon: Relax, I am not here to take you back to Facinaturu. I was asked by Rastaban to protect you. Ciato is coming to fight you this time.
Asellus: I don't need any help.
Ildon: Ciato got Rastaban.

...in a part that puts the "cut" in "cutscene", naturally.

White Rose: Did Rastaban vanish?
Ildon: Fortunately, he's still alive. But, Ciato grew even stronger by absorbing Rastaban's mystic energy. I wouldn't have come all this way unless Rastaban requested it.

Ildon joins the party permanently this time.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:46:43 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2288.png)
Ciato: ...will make my power unstoppable.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2290.png)
Ciato likes to charm party members but is otherwise less dangerous than Lion was.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2291.png)
That said, don't underestimate the danger of an enemy who likes to charm your party members.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2292.png)
Thankfully the very next attack after Asellus charmmurdered Rouge was enough to defeat Ciato.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2293.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2294.png)
Ildon...of a powerful mystic.
Asellus: Is that why everyone fears Orlouge? Because he can make others vanish?
White Rose: A Mystic's life is long. That's why they fear death so much.
Asellus: I also have the power to...

It's glossed over in the incredibly-brief treatment the script gives any plot point, but mystics can "vanish" other mystics to kill them. The mystic doing the vanishing must be substantially stronger than the one they want to vanish. It's why Mesarthim was scared of offending Orlouge-via-Asellus, and why White Rose asked about Rastaban when Ildon delivered the news of his defeat.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:53:04 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2300.png)
White Rose asks her name, but the miko refuses and goes on to talk about Time and Space magic as usual.

The next time you enter a place where an assassin would strike...
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2301.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2302.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2303.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2304.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2305.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2306.png)
White Rose: No one leaves without making a sacrifice.

It's several screens of doors. Some move you forward, others take you back, about half are fights with monsters instead. As labyrinths go it's kind of lame, you can make it out in less than a minute if you know the way. If you don't know the way, it might conceivably take upwards of half an hour.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2309.png)
RedTurnip: What are you, a retard? There is nothing to do in this stinking place.
Asellus: ...
RedTurnip: Don't get mad. One of these doors is the exit.
Asellus: Why don't you use it?
RedTurnip: I can't leave by myself. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

Sure enough, a door immediately to RedTurnip's left is the labyrinth exit. See? Goblin King Jareth would be so disappointed.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:55:12 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2316.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2317.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2318.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2319.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2321.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2323.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2325.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2326.png)
Asellus' anguished cry is muted by the screen going black.

And staying that way for a while.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:55:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2327.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2328.png)
Ildon teleports out.

The screen goes black again.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 01:57:20 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2329.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2330.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2331.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2332.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2333.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2334.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2335.png)

Even RedTurnip realizes how dumb this is, and that it doesn't help bring Asellus out of her catatonic state at all.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 02:01:30 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2337.png)
Zozma: I wonder why White Rose favors her so?
Asellus: White Rose is gone...
Zozma: I know why she chose to remain in the labyrinth after Orlouge trapped you.
Asellus: Why?
Zozma: Because she knew you loved her.
Asellus: Yes, as a sister and a friend.
Zozma: Then, say it out loud!
Asellus: That's wrong. After all, I'm still a woman. Even after becoming a half-mystic.
Zozma: You humans have strange customs.

MYSTICS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS HUMAN THING CALLED "THE CLOSET"

Zozma: Didn't White Rose just tell you to live in freedom? Maybe it's time for you to come out with it.

His choice of words here makes it pretty obvious what he's talking about, as obliquely as possible to get past the remnants of Squaresoft-under-Nintendo's censorship.

Asellus: She meant I should live free from Orlouge...
Zozma: Deny it all you want, but I'm telling you it's not healthy. Let's go.
Asellus: Where are we going?
Zozma: Wherever. We can't just sit here.

And you're off, with a party of Asellus, Zozma, and RedTurnip. Your previous recruits are nowhere to be seen.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 02:03:02 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2350.png)
...until you leave the screen and come back.

Ildon: Can't you learn to act like a real mystic?
Asellus: Ildon!
Ildon: Decide for yourself what you're going to do from now on. I'll escort you a little longer.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 02:08:19 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2354.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2357.png)
Asellus: Is it really you? Are you Princess Rei?
Rei: I guess you heard of me in Facinaturu? I regret not being able to stop Orlouge from creating a half-mystic. I can help you if you want.

Rei joins the party. She won't unless you got White Rose to give you a lecture on her history back in Chateau Aiguille.

Rei was Orlouge's first princess. She did not take it well. So while he slept she drained his blood and escaped -- from what I've read she did it by leaping through Kurenai (which would explain how Zozma would have known that worked as a method to escape Facinaturu), but I've also read that Kylin, the master of Space magic, had something to do with it (which would explain why Rei knows about Space magic). Rei reincarnated into the body of a child.

All this happened twelve years ago. When Orlouge ran over Asellus in his carriage, Orlouge was searching for Rei.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 02:18:52 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2364.png)
Ildon is a better fencer than he is a caster, judging from his core stats. He has the gift to Mystic magic but no other schools. Fascination charms an enemy, PhantasmShot summons a random eidolon beast to attack and cause a status ailment, GlassShield counters physical attacks with major damage, and MirrorShade -- the only spell not available for sale -- creates a number of shadowy duplicates of the caster that absorb incoming attacks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2363.png)
Zozma, as I mentioned back in Emelia's scenario, is the only character in the game to use Evil magic. He starts with RavaShot (damage and stun), PainDoubler (does as much damage as the target has taken from other sources in the turn, maximum of 666), and DeathCurse (kill all enemies, the number of enemies not slain is deducted from Zozma's LP). But SharpPain, the best spell he has, is just sitting on his skill menu waiting to be equipped. SharpPain stuns all enemies -- what makes it valuable is that it's a high-priority move, so it goes first each round. You can effectively shut down most enemies by having Zozma SharpPain them while everyone else attacks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2365.png)
Rei is the game's only user of Mirage magic. Mirage magic summons phantom beasts just like PhantasmShot does, but you get to pick which beast. All of the spells do damage with the chance of causing a status effect. Black Cat causes confusion, Nightmare causes sleep, Jackal causes poison, Cockatrice causes petrification, and Reaper can instantly kill enemies.

Being fullblooded Mystics, Zozma and Rei have the Gift for Mystic Magic and start with Fascination and PhantasmShot.

---

Voting is still open for whichever path Asellus chooses.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 13, 2013, 04:05:12 PM
You're not letting us choose Chaotic boring?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 13, 2013, 05:25:11 PM
Asellus has three possible endings because of two different branching points. We've only reached one of those, so you only get one decision to make.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 14, 2013, 08:27:28 AM
More votes are in, and it's pretty unlikely the "humanity" option is going to catch up, so I'm locking the poll until the next choice comes around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2366.png)
Having filled out most of our party, we return to Owmi.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2367.png)
Fight this guy again. He's much easier with a leveled-up party of five.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2369.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2370.png)
Asellus: Can you help us, Mesarthim?
Mesarthim: Tell me whatever you wish. I am your slave.
Asellus: No, you're not my slave.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2375.png)
Mesarthim permanently joins. As a lower mystic rather than the party full of nobles we had so far, her base stats are generally lower than everyone else's. She does still have LifeRain, though, and she's wearing a MellowRing as her only piece of unremoveable equipment, rather than the more common MysticMail armor. This means I can put Mesarthim in a PoweredSuit, making her one of the more survivable characters around -- which is good for a healer! Mesarthim also starts with VictoryRune and the Gift for Rune magic, but I've covered all of that stuff already.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2374.png)
Gotta fight DevilSquid on the way out, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2376.png)
The pilot who helped us escape from Facinaturu is back in the Owmi port. When we're ready for endgame, he'll take us (MAJOR SPOILERS) back to Facinaturu.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2395.png)
In the meantime, as dictated by the poll, Asellus starts sucking monsters into her mystic equipment. I already had one in her MysticGlove, because the game's a buggy mess and never checks to see if you did that when determining whether Asellus is pursuing the human path or the mystic path. But now she's sucking souls with wild abandon, providing a significant stat boost whenever she does a MysticalChange.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 15, 2013, 06:01:37 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2398.png)
Next stop: Disneyland?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2399.png)
Rouge can't go there, for Reasons. He leaves the party, but if you want you can pick him up again in Devin or Luminous like before. He keeps all his stat growth and skills -- but we don't do that. Rouge was a good crutch for earlygame before I could recruit my full-mystic party, but now I have my full-mystic party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2401.png)
The Magic Kingdom is the kingdom where everyone can use Realm magic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2400.png)
If I had remembered this library was here, I'd have used it as the setting for my explanation of all the different kinds of magic back in Emelia's scenario.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2402.png)
But this building is why we're really here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2403.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2404.png)
Everything here, from monsters to treasure, has been petrified.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2405.png)
Touching this central structure...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2407.png)
...returns the sprite statues to life.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2408.png)
The sprites then animate everything else, allowing you to fight monsters and get some mediocre treasure.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2409.png)
In the final room (behind a hard-to-see passage behind one of the now-animate sprite statues) is this guy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2411.png)
You can fight him!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2412.png)
Just like the fights with the sages, Lion, and Ciato, Asellus starts this fight under MysticalChange, even if she doesn't look like it. This fight was going to be Important, see.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2415.png)
He talks big, but except for his habit of using MysticSword and MysticGlove to try to instakill your party, he's not very difficult.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2418.png)
He dies like the assassins did, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2419.png)
And that's it. A little unfinished side area. What's the deal?

That was Furdo, the guy we would have heard about from the head researcher in the Bio Research Lab, had either of these scenarios made it into the finished game. Furdo is a lower mystic, but has developed a power that brings him to the level of the noble mystics: he can petrify anything into an object d'art.

So from the scrapped side quests, Asellus would have learned the difference between humans and mystics from Nusakan, the similarities between humans and mystics in the Bio Research Lab (namely, that both of them are quite capable of wanton cruelty), and that mystics can develop the power necessary to overcome their superiors from Furdo.

Instead you get a lot of running around and semirandom encounters with assassins. :shrug:
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 15, 2013, 06:07:47 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2420.png)
Speaking of the Bio Research Lab, endgame monsters are spawning there now. If I felt like grinding for DurahanShields -- some of the best equipment in the game -- there's a scientist who always turns into a Dullahan in one of the side rooms upstairs. But there's also this guy, in the basement garden, who always turns into a Suzaku.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2422.png)
Suzaku are one of the best monsters to absorb into mystic equipment, because they provide a flat +20 to all stats except Charm. There are only a couple of better monsters, but they're harder to find. Absorbed into MysticSword, Suzaku gives FireBreath. In MysticGloves, HellWing. In MysticBoots, TitasWave. At the very least I want everyone to get a Suzaku in their boots, because TitasWave combos with itself.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2421.png)
...how does Mesarthim even wear boots, anyway?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2424.png)
Aw yeah. Base stats only run on a scale of 1 to 99, so having a character's lowest stat at 73 is pretty good. Mecs can do better than this and don't have to wait until endgame to do it, but humans have a hard time getting to this point unless you do some very dedicated grinding against certain respawning miniboss monsters in some ruins in Shingrow.

By the time I wrap up for the night, Asellus, Zozma, Rei, and Ildon have three Suzaku each. Mesarthim has... none. For all the information I have on the inner workings of this game, I don't know what the overlying stat is that determines whether a piece of mystic equipment absorbs a monster, or I'd have Mesarthim go absorb lesser critters in preparation. Oh well. It's an endgame grind, and I need to develop some better magic spells on everyone anyway. I guess I'm in no hurry.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 15, 2013, 07:07:10 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2425.png)
That'll do. The next room over from Suzaku guy is Snowfolk guy. Snowfolk are +30 to Intelligence, Vitality, Psychic, and Will, so I absorb one for each for Zozma and Rei and two for Mesarthim.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2426.png)
Mesarthim then gets her Suzaku, ending up like this.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2428.png)
While we're here... might as well. I shut off the lock to the one room I haven't been to before.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2429.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2430.png)
stomp

stomp

STOMP

STOMP

WRAAAAARRRRRGHHHH battle time
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 15, 2013, 07:11:07 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2431.png)
EarthDragon is a tough ol' cuss, in no small part because he blocks... most attacks. He's worse than fighting Dullahans. He also has some strong attacks, area attacks, and likes to spam his go-to move IronBall up to six times a turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2432.png)
This is made more complicated by my party being somewhat tapped out from fighting Suzaku and stuff, so we're a bit short on WP and JP. But did I mention TitasWave combos with itself?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2433.png)
Doesn't even hit five digits. Told you he was tough.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2434.png)
Rei can only TitasWave once -- her WP growth is truly abysmal -- but it turns out Cockatrice also comboes with TitasWave.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2435.png)
That's nice, but after this I have to go on the defensive with LifeRain and stuff, so it's the last I see of it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2436.png)
By the end of the battle, everyone is out of WP and Zozma is the only one left with any JP -- but even he was resorting to casting weak-ass Saber every turn for piddling damage. Mesarthim and Rei were just shooting the damn thing with LethalGuns, while Ildon took swings with a ZeroSword. Nonetheless, we are victorious.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2437.png)
Our reward is a fine piece of defensive equipment and the pride of having beaten one of the game's optional superbosses.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 15, 2013, 04:51:42 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2439.png)
The pilot grouses a little about what a gloomy place Facinaturu is, but...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2442.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2443.png)
The cave is no more difficult than it was before.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2444.png)
Although it does feature Nightshade enemies, which are a mushroom-sprouting fungal infection that's taken over the body of an innocent rabite.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2445.png)
Wonder how Gina's doing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2446.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2447.png)
Oh. Who, me?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2450.png)
Gina has been kidnapped by Orlouge's minions! Do we take the time to save her, or will we handle that after we take care of Orlouge? Polling is open!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 06:21:04 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2451.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2452.png)
I don't know who Orlouge has operating his front gate, but clearly they're terrified enough of Asellus to comply.

Let's dick around for a while, shall we? Gina can't be in any real danger, right?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2453.png)
Rei: Orlouge wanting to keep these coffins is his weakness. In this respect he's no different from any other man.

As a man, I personally find my own apartment sadly lacking in coffins imprisoning my immortal slave wenches.

(Canonically, Rei shouldn't even know about the coffins. Orlouge only started the habit of entombing his mistresses after Rei escaped -- because Rei escaped.)

Next bedroom!
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2456.png)
Zozma: Princess Lion will try to protect Orlouge. Can you really stop someone that loyal?

Can her loyalty stop a sword?

Ildon: Apparently, you've fought the Lion Princess before. She must have been toying with you before. This time things will be different.

Yes, this time there are more of us, and we're stronger.

Next bedroom!
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2462.png)
Asellus: ...Princess White Rose... still trapped in the Labyrinth of Darkness...
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 06:29:05 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2464.png)
We head around to the back of Chateau Aiguille, where Ildon stopped us from exploring back in the game intro because we weren't ready for real combat yet.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2465.png)
The enemies here are wholly unremarkable, though. They're stronger than they were in the game intro, but still rather less than the guys I was using to level up in Shrike and Yorkland.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2466.png)
Except this guy, who is exactly as strong as he was in the intro.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2467.png)
Which is to say, the Giant would effortlessly mop the floor with Asellus and White Rose should they come to this area without Ildon to stop them, because he's at endgame strength.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2468.png)
Except for his habit of blocking attacks, he's not terribly difficult. We open the window behind him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2469.png)
We restore ourselves in the glow of some crystals in a nearby cave, and...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2470.png)
Return to the previous room. In a vague allusion to Indiana Jones, a beam of sunlight opens the way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2471.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2472.png)
The Griffin, as a flying creature, is immune to TitasWave. I have to wick away at him with other abilities since my usual strategy of building up multi-character combos doesn't work on him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2473.png)
Now, I'm starting to believe in the existence of miracles.

Hah, forgot that Gina was narrating, didn't you?

Gina: Yes, I'm all right. I was trapped inside this monster. Thank you for saving me.
Asellus: Orlouge did this to you?
Gina: No, it was Rastaban. He brought me here and sealed me inside the monster.
Asellus: Why would Rastaban do this?
Ildon: I don't understand him. He's been acting weird ever since that incident with Ciato.

Oh, the part where he fought, lost, and had part of his soul drained away? Yeah, I guess that'd make me act a little weird, too.

Gina: I will wait here for you.
Ildon: Challenging Ciato, kidnapping an innocent girl. This is not like Rastaban at all. Maybe...
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 06:45:52 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2485.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2486.png)
Despite having just unlocked and opened the door, it still won't open from this side. If we want to return -- say, to that nice glowy crystal cave -- we have to teleport back via the pool of swirling petals. Of course, that's a one-way teleporter now, or we would have used it to get here in the first place.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2488.png)
Either because of Asellus' undeveloped power or her horror at what she'd done to him, Ciato still lives. Er, sort of. He's a bit transparent.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2489.png)

MOTHER 3- Mr. Batty Twist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8FisxHJhM#)
Ciato as BatKnight gets the "super boss" theme, but he doesn't deserve it. Have the Mr. Batty Twist from Mother 3 instead.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2490.png)
He and his SonicBats are big fans of sonic-elemental attacks. I tend to keep everyone equipped with HarmoniumEarring accessories for their general defensive values, but a helpful side effect is that they completely null sonic attacks. Between the earrings and the shields I have equipped, BatKnight went down almost without landing a hit.

Zozma: Shameless bastard!
Asellus: Have some respect, Zozma. He's suffered his fate and we'll suffer ours.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2495.png)
Lion: I serve my lord and am ready to die for him. You know there is no other way!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2497.png)

Mother 3-Anthem of Destruction/Smashing Song of Praise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUZQMTWIRw0#)
Again, Princess Lion gets boss music she doesn't deserve. Enjoy the Almost-Mecha-Lion music instead.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2499.png)
Single-target attacks that are blockable by shields and not having immunity to TitasWave won't get you very far, lady.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2500.png)
The Golden Lion is, to my knowledge, the strongest sword in the game at attack power 75. Asellus takes off the Asura she's been carrying the whole game in favor of it, passing Asura on to Ildon.

Lion was made a mistress by Orlouge, and swore loyalty to him. She met Asellus, and let her go. Back in Facinaturu, she was ready to die for Orlouge again. She's sort of a tragic figure if you consider how much she's been tossed around by the powers of the Charm Lord.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 06:57:18 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2501.png)
Rastaban: Now's the time for you to defeat Orlouge and become ruler of Facinaturu.
Asellus: Rastaban, I know what you're after. You want me to defeat Orlouge for your own selfish ambition. I want nothing to do with your little scheme. I will fight him only for myself.
Rastaban: I had hoped we could be friends, and rule this region together. I suppose I overestimated your intelligence. It's time for me to get rid of both you and Orlouge.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2507.png)

SaGa Frontier - Boss Battle II (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDP-zQUhQF4#)
Rastaban also fights like a chump, but I'm running out of chances to post this music where it belongs.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2508.png)
It's PlutoArmor, the best armor set in the game. Mystics other than Mesarthim can't wear it because they have unremoveable MysticMail, and my Asellus and Mesarthim are already wearing the superior PoweredSuit. Oh well.

If you're getting the full mystic ending, Rastaban congratulates you on your progress and just hands over the armor.

Ildon: Why, Rastaban? What made you go astray?
Asellus: Ildon...
Ildon: I suppose I've got to see how it all ends...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2512.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2513.png)
Asellus: I'm not your daughter. I'm just Asellus even after being reborn a mystic. I'm hated by humans for being a Mystic; and mocked by Mystics for being human. But I know there's nothing wrong with me. I know this is my fate, and I accept it. That's all I wanted to say to you. I'm leaving Facinaturu for good.
Orlouge: Hold it right there. Don't you understand what you really are? Can't you feel my blood flowing in your veins? You have the power of darkness to rule the entire universe. Live, lust, and kill as you please. There is no power above you.
Asellus: I am not like you. Go ahead and do so if you wish, by yourself.
Orlouge: Perhaps I made a terrible mistake saving a worthless human life. Let me put you out of your misery.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2524.png)
Teleport out.

We are headed for the Half-Mystic ending, attained by either using mystic powers and saving Gina or keeping mystic powers sealed and ignoring Gina.

If you ignore your mystic abilities and save Gina, Asellus gets the Human ending. She comes to challenge Orlouge to rid herself of mystic blood once and for all, and in her victory, returns to a normal human life. The ending has the other mystics around her grave after she dies of old age, ending in a photo montage of her getting married and raising children.

If you use mystic abilities but ignore Gina, you get the Full Mystic ending. Asellus returns to Orlouge to overthrow him. She takes his throne as an even worse tyrant -- Ildon is expelled for saying as much, Zozma is hunted (again), and Gina is Asellus' first mistress. The other mistresses of Orlouge are left to sleep in their coffins forever, as Asellus the Charm Lord will have a new harem all her own! O ho ho ho ho ho ho!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 07:53:05 PM
SaGa Frontier - Last Battle ~Asellus~ [Extended w/ DL Link] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYnuFfPBBUs#)
Orlouge gets some very nice, vaguely-Baroque music for his battle. And he deserves it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2525.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2526.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2527.png)
For all his lordly might, Orlouge is pretty lazy in his battle. He has the portraits behind him of his favorite three mistresses. On the left is Princess Lion, embodying fear that dominates all. The center is White Rose, embodying charm that captivates anyone. And on the right is Rei, embodying pride that bows to no one. Despite that Lion is defeated, White Rose is MIA, and Rei is on your side, they aid Orlouge in his fight against you.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2528.png)
Namely, Orlouge will summon a shade of one mistress per turn, and the mistress attacks you on his behalf. Rei here is fond of Tornado and Wing attacks, for instance.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2529.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2530.png)
Notably, Asellus does not start this battle with MysticalChange in effect -- she may be fighting to regain her own humanity, after all. But you can be damned sure with three Suzaku absorbed I take a turn to activate them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2531.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2532.png)
Lions MacKenzie over there likes attacks like Supersonic and Salamander. Given that everyone is still wearing HarmoniumEarrings, she strikes no fear into my party at all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2533.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2534.png)
I went through a lot of trouble to absorb all those Suzaku, and I'm gonna use 'em!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2535.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2536.png)
After a few turns (or adequate damage, which in this battle only takes a couple of turns), the portraits themselves begin laughing. Once per turn a portrait will power up the eidolon Orlouge summoned that turn. Lion Portrait (ahahahahaha!) grants a significant Quickness boost, Rei Portrait (hm hmm hmm hmm hmm...) gives Will, and I think White Rose (o ho ho ho ho ho!) gives Psychic. I may not have those 100% correct. After the Portrait buffs the summoned shade, it attacks as normal.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 07:59:06 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2537.png)
After you pound on Orlouge enough, he summons all three shades at once. This is bad!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2543.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2544.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2545.png)
The 3Mistresses attack hits everyone for quite significant damage. This attack is almost the entire reason I recruited Mesarthim -- healing four out of five party members for her maximum HP value is damned useful for recovering in a game where you can't just spread Curaga out over everyone.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2538.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2539.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2540.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2542.png)
Whereas some bosses demand you hit them as hard and fast as possible to defeat them as quickly as possible, you need to save your biggest attacks for when Orlouge has all three Mistresses out -- this is not the time to have to fall back on regular sword swings and gun shots!
Tower is the highest Arcane magic spell; the Tower card drains all your JP, but the more it takes, the more damage it does. It's possible to hit five-digit damage with it, making it a one-person fight winner, much like the DSC.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2546.png)
Ildon, Rei, and Zozma all have it. Ildon and Zozma have been fighting with the WP-powered TitasWave for the whole battle, saving their JP just for this point. Only Ildon and Rei need it, though -- the two of them together... well...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2548.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2549.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2550.png)
Unlike Zeromus or Kefka, Orlouge disintegrates from the inside out rather than bottom-to-top.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 08:11:00 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2551.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2552.png)
Well, that looks nice and cheery.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2553.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2554.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2556.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2558.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2559.png)
Father: Are you expecting the love of your life, mom?
Grandma: Don't embarrass your mother!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2562.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2564.png)
Grandma: No. You've changed a lot. You're so kind now.
Ildon: It's all because of you, Gina. Just by looking at how you live, I improved myself tremendously. I was blind but now I can see.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2569.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2570.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2572.png)
Gina: Princess White Rose!! You've awaken!!

There you're!

White Rose: Yes. I was finally released from the Labyrinth of Darkness. Asellus said you were worried sick about me for a long time.
Gina: Where is Lady Asellus?
Ildon: Asellus! What's taking her so long? Is she really not coming?
Zozma: She can never make up her mind.
White Rose: Don't worry, Gina. She'll come.
Gina: I hope so.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2582.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2584.png)
Gina: Oh, please. This is all I have left. To see your young self once a year. Your youth is my youth. Always visit me until I die.
Asellus: What are you talking about? You're in perfect health.
Gina: By the way, my grandkids are having a baby. I'm very blessed.
Asellus: That's fantastic. I could've been a great grandma like you.
Gina: I guess that's what you really wanted? To live as a human.

And you guys took that from her, with your poll votes! Your filthy, disgusting poll votes! You monsters!

Asellus: I'll be all right. Ildon, White Rose, and Zozma are always at my side.
Gina: You're fortunate to have such loyal friends. Let us all live happily, like in the days back then...

...uh, back when? Because when we met Facinaturu was a shithole and three of the five of us present were chafing unde--

Oh, right. Ending. Uh...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2596.png)
There we go!

Three of seven scenarios complete. And the next one...

Well, we've covered humans, mecs, and mystics...

Dammit.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 16, 2013, 09:04:31 PM
Oh yes, this should be most amusing.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 16, 2013, 09:08:01 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charasellus.jpg)
I hope the Mystics dressed you like that, lady.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_assellus.gif)
DAT ASSELLUS

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charwhiterose.jpg)
Despite what her ingame sprite looks like, she does not have a giant puffy white afro. Those are rosebuds on some sort of hat. Her actual hair is brown ingame and bright yellow blonde in this picture.

...huh, I don't have a shot of Mesarthim like the one that was used in the chapter interstitial.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charzozma.jpg)
How does he get his hair to do that?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charrei.jpg)
She's hundreds of years old and looks only twelve. Big credit to Japan for putting her in a baggy, shapeless shrine-maiden kimono instead of... well, any outfit from the "really hundreds of years old but look twelve" Disgaea characters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charlion.jpg)
I take it all back.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charorlouge.jpg)
Orlouge. Not much to say, we knew he was creepy all along.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_orlougeiscreepy.jpg)
...see? Creepy.

And I guess I had Mesarthim artwork after all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidasellus.jpg)
Yep.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on March 17, 2013, 06:20:19 AM
So, does Princess Lion just have her nippleless boobs hanging out? Or are they forced into some kind of weird direction to fit in those low cups?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 06:23:46 AM
As far as I can tell, she shuns your puny human notions of modesty (and then probably censors made the art director just omit the nipples, because love of nipples is the root of all evil).
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 17, 2013, 10:43:41 AM
The SD ending shot seems to render it as a patch of leather that's slightly browner than she is.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 12:24:38 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2597.png)
God damn it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2598.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2599.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2600.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2601.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2602.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2603.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2604.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2605.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 12:30:31 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2610.png)
As though humans compulsively change clothes, never staying in the same outfit for more than a scant few minutes at a time.

Dumbass.

Anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2613.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2615.png)
Riki: Oops, better greet him or he'll get mad again!
Riki: Good morning.
Elder: No time for that. Time is running out.

:disapprove:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2621.png)
Elder: Its power protected us from wickedness until now, but it can no longer offer us hope.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2624.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2625.png)
Riki sounds out the individual words, the elder chimes in when he's done because the old fart has it memorized.

Elder: If this ring has brothers, the power harnessed by all of the rings could save Margmel. Riki, take this ring and collect the rest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2628.png)
There's more dialog but I'm skipping it. It's tedious.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2632.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2633.png)
Riki is transformed from his normal lummox form into something humanoid.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2634.png)
He then leaps into the portal.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 12:39:39 PM
Saga Frontier - Let's Swing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkVp1_bpJqw#)
Music I've heard dozens of times by now, since it plays in the Scrap pub, the Nelson pub, and other areas where people might be having a good time.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2635.png)
Riki: What's this place? It's so alive.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2637.png)
Well, let's ask around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2639.png)
As usual, Nakajima knows absolutely nothing outside the subjects of Shrike and robots.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2641.png)
bark bark

Riki: I'm not a dog. I'm Riki.
Gen: Guess I had one too many drinks... Shoo, shoo! Go away!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2646.png)
Riki: Boy! You're so smart. Know anything about this ring?
T260G: No data available. Inscription is in the Samuna alphabet... normally used by monsters.
Riki: Never heard of that one.

You're also given the chance to invite T260 to join, which of course we do because T260 is the best mec and we'll need a crutch for a while.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2653.png)
Lute joins too.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 12:48:19 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2663.png)
The word balloons appear, Riki's first, without a pause in between to take a screenshot. So Mei-Ling isn't being telepathic here, just snippy.

Riki: I'm looking for some. Like this one.
Mei-Ling: So am I. What a coincidence. Where are you from?
Riki: I'm Riki. I'm from Margmel. See over there! ...Now it's gone. It was floating over there just a minute ago.
Mei-Ling: Margmel... I've heard of a region that floats through dimensions. So it was true...
Mei-Ling: Then we were both brought here by the power of the rings.
Riki: You sure know lots about rings.
Mei-Ling: My name is Mei-Ling. I'm studying about rings. And where... did you get that ring?
Riki: I need to get all the rings before Margmel breaks.

I'm now to the point where "ring" doesn't even look like a real word anymore.

Mei-Ling: Breaks?
Riki: Right. It's fate, there's nothing that can be done about it.
Mei-Ling: But, you've got to do something. This is terrible!
Riki: Everyone says it's useless to try and save it. But our elder thinks we can. That's why he sent me to collect the rings.
Mei-Ling: A heavy responsibility, but I can help you. Let's try to save Margmel. I know where to find the rings.
Riki: Really, this is going to be so easy!
Mei-Ling: Easy? Why do you say that?
Riki: We'll just ask to borrow them for a while.
Mei-Ling: Listen Riki, the world's full of bad people who will take advantage of you. From now on, don't show your ring to just anyone.
Riki: What are bad people like?
Mei-Ling: Well you're going to meet one real soon. The man with the ring is true garbage.
Riki: Bad people and garbage? I can't wait.

Oh Riki. You so charmingly naive. Anyway, Mei-Ling joins the party too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2690.png)
...as does Gen.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2692.png)
This party lineup is lookin' awfully familiar.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on March 17, 2013, 01:36:49 PM
I choose to believe that canonically T260 gets as tired with the kids as Gen and had also become an alcoholic before joining up with Riki.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 17, 2013, 01:42:32 PM
I just passed a billboard for a children's show at the Denver Aquarium called "Mystic Mermaids". First thing to cross my mind was "But they HATE the smell of humans!"
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:46:13 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2693.png)
More tedious conversation, because we already know Caballero is a scumbag. (This despite his name translating into "gentleman". Huh.)

Anyway, he invites Mei-Ling into the back of his factory, much to the snickering of his underlings. Mei-Ling agrees. The party tries to stop her. She goes anyway. The remaining party plans a break-in of Cabellero's factory.

There, I just saved myself the better part of an hour by not transcribing the script.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2728.png)
T260 has a siren installed for some reason, but it does a good job getting the mooks' attention...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2730.png)
While Lute and Riki sneak in the back.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2732.png)
Meanwhile Mei-Ling is acting about like you'd expect.

HOW BOUT I SLAP YOUR SHIT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApxRbC9-Z2w#)
pa pa Americano

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2736.png)
Mei-Ling thanks Lute too, and reveals that Caballero has the ring. Surprise!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2741.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2742.png)
Ain't give a damn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2744.png)
I got enough money to equip us, now. We're making a detour.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:08:44 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2745.png)
Not that it matters for Riki personally, since monsters can only equip accessories. The only accessories available in the junk shop are Junk and BrokenBumpers, which are both useless, so this trip is mostly for Gen and T260.

And Lute and Mei-Ling... I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2746.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2748.png)
This scenario is lookin' awfully familiar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2749.png)
Right. After each battle with monsters (rather than human enemies like Swordsmen), monsters in your party are offered the chance to absorb monster abilities. In the Game Boy games that started the SaGa series proper, this was explicitly by feeding on their delicious nutrient-filled flesh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2750.png)
There are multiple abilities each monster can give you. Some are okay. Earlygame ones tend to be crap, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2751.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2752.png)
And when a monster downloads abilities, it might change form.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2753.png)
The bottom slot of a monster's ability list is the one that new abilities go into. Here's the thing I didn't know when I played this game back when it was new: you can rearrange those abilities out of the bottom slot to keep them. This makes monsters slightly more useful than I thought they were back when I was playing this on an actual Playstation -- but not much.

When a monster absorbs an ability, the game checks the abilities the monster knows against some predetermined lists, using a complicated system I barely understand where each ability is assigned a body part (Fang is a head attack, HeatSmash is an arm attack, Tail is a leg attack since there isn't a tail slot, and so on). If the first ability for each body part matches one of the predetermined lists, the monster changes form based on its HP.

For example, "DeathSynthesis" is the passive ability undead use to regenerate HP. It's on the transform lists for lots of undead monsters. So if a monster has Deathsynthesis on its ability list, the game will check against its HP to see what it turns into. Low HP equals a skeleton, higher HP a ghost, early-midgame HP nets you a zombie, and so on. If it has DeathSynthesis and one of Scream, Siren, or Supersonic, it turns into a GhostRider -- assuming the game doesn't check Scream first and turn your monster into a Harpy instead.

I have a mechanics guide for this and I still don't really get it. It's that needlessly complex.

Each form comes with their own HP, LP, WP, JP, and stats. They are not necessarily better than the form you just left -- Riki's Lummox form has all 7s in his base stats. The Xeno he just turned into drops his physical stats into the 1-3 range. Only WP and JP are restored upon transforming; it is quite possible to transform from a shape that has a maximum 3 LP to one that has 10 LP, but they're not refilled; it's near death already.

Oh, and every ability you absorb, whether it's forgotten later or not, increases the monster's maximum HP by 4. That's the only way monsters "level up" -- they don't grow after battle at all, except by the chance that they absorb a new ability.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:13:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2754.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2756.png)
Same as before, the same as before.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2758.png)
Mei-Ling talks him down to 100 credits, which she pays for without actually taking any money from our reserves.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2763.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2764.png)
End of the first burdensome, terrible chapter. The first of many.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:17:46 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2765.png)
Whereas the Guardian ring we started with gives everyone a defense boost, the Merchant ring we just got from Caballero is able to charm all enemies and have them melee one another.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2766.png)
Gee Brain, whaddyawannado tonight?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2767.png)
Mei-Ling: ...there are many legends about a ring in Shrike, a Manhattan jewelry store has a ring for sale, a Yorkland billionaire has a ring, another guy who had a ring was lost in a ship accident, and then of course there's the prisoner serving a million-year prison sentence in Despair who's supposed to have one too.
Riki: Ahhh!! Don't tell me all at once!
Mei-Ling: Oh, sorry.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2775.png)
Okay. Six rings to go. You can ask Mei-Ling about them from this menu, but she doesn't say much more than "There's a legend in Shrike" or "I don't know what the guy did to get a million-year prison sentence".

So... well, hmm. Before we get started on our ring-collecting quest, I've got some other allies I want to pick up. So let's head t--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2786.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2787.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2788.png)
DAMMIT
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:21:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2792.png)
This plays out just like it does in Emelia's scenario, or anytime you try to complete the Rune quest. Some mooks come to rob the newly-swallowed ship...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2796.png)
...you fight them off...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2797.png)
...Nomad shows up...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2805.png)
...Mei-Ling tells Riki not to show her the ring and ask her where to find the others... oh wait, that's new.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2808.png)
...some needless exposition...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2813.png)
...Fei-On shows up...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2821.png)
Mei-Ling lets one rip that's so big it needs two ellipses. I feel the same way about this whole scene.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:25:46 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2824.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2825.png)
Mei-Ling: That's what I should be asking! You said you were leaving for Kyo to train yourself. You lying dog!
Fei-On: My ship was swallowed by Tanzer on the way to Kyo. I had no choice.
Mei-Ling: No more excuses! You never spend any time with me. You are always too busy with your training. I'm sick of waiting.

"You're always too busy getting swallowed by pandimensional monsters and desperately trying to survive in its oddly spacious bowels to spend any time with me!" God Mei-Ling, don't be such a bitch tsundere bitch.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2831.png)
Japanese women aren't allowed to be happy when they meet a long-lost significant other. They have to get angry and storm away. It's societal pressure to perform a certain way.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2834.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:29:54 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2836.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2837.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2838.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2839.png)
It ain't like there are verdant, rolling hills for ranching cattle and herding sheep in here, stupid.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2841.png)
Girl: When will my hero, Alkaiser, come for me?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2847.png)
Mei-Ling: Do you know anything about it?
Fei-On: I haven't seen anyone with a ring. Why are you so obsessed with it anyway?

Riki explained to Fei-On.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2851.png)
Fei-On: ...find anything now. Wait... Nomad might know something about it.
Riki: Why don't we go ask Nomad?
Fei-On: That's risky. If Nomad finds out about the rings, there'll be trouble. I'll go with you.

Mei-Ling protests because tsundere, Fei-On insists he knows the way, blah blah blah.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:34:52 AM
The trip through Tanzer's insides is mostly the same. Fei-On keeps his word and points out where to go so you don't end up at the slime pool to collect the Vitality Rune.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2860.png)
I'm skipping some useless posturing by the mooks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2865.png)
Nomad: Although I'm not so sure about the bald guy.
Fei-On: They have a question for you.
Nomad: What a coincidence! I've got something to ask you, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2870.png)
Nomad: The rings. Hand them over.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2874.png)
Nomad threatens the people Fei-On is protecting from her, since he's away and can't protect them 24/7.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2875.png)
Riki: They're nothing to me. I'm not giving you the ring. You're a very bad old lady.
Nomad: Old lady!! That's it! Get them!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2879.png)
Fei-On dragon kicks Nomad offscreen and we're left to deal with a roomful of mooks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2880.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2881.png)
The first real boss isn't much for his offensive power, but he's oddly sturdy for such an earlygame enemy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2883.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:44:10 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2887.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2888.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2889.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/girly-0510-cropped.jpg)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2891.png)
Tanzer's heart is the only target, but the three organs waving around the battlefield also join in to attack the party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2893.png)
nbd tho

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2894.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2896.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2899.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2902.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2906.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2908.png)
It takes Fei-On kind of a crazy long time to go search for people. You can't enter the ship, because Mei-Ling stops you, you can't go help Fei-On, because Mei-Ling stops you, and you can't talk to Mei-Ling, because Tanzer roars and convulses.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2911.png)
After several realtime minutes and an attempt to board the ship, Fei-On appears.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2916.png)
Tanzer horks up the ship once everyone is aboard.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2917.png)
End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 07:54:17 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2918.png)
Anyway, we go to Yorkland -- where we were headed before Tanzer sidetracked us.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2919.png)
The ogre here is Thunder, and he's Lute's adopted younger brother. He's so happy to see Lute that he joins our party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2927.png)
Of course, as soon as he gets into battle, Thunder transforms from a massive ogre into a tiny wispy ghost. Go figure.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2928.png)
We rescue Cotton from the Bio Research Lab, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2930.png)
Also in Shrike, we head to Sei's tomb and rob it of its treasures. But instead of keeping them, we place them on the altars near the entrance...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2931.png)
...which opens a door.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2932.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2933.png)

(http://doom.pyoko.org/ASKELETON.gif)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2934.png)
Riki: The ring!
Lord Sei: I see. You thieves came to steal my ring. What are you going to do with them? Bring tyranny to Shrike? I won't allow it!
Riki: No, I need them to save Margmel. My home will disappear without them.
Sei: An entire region, disappear? Ridiculous!
Riki: It's not a lie. The elder told me to save Margmel.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2942.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2943.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2944.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2947.png)

He also joins the party to protect the ring he's loaning us.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2948.png)
End of chapter! Yes, some of these are mercifully short.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2949.png)
Emelia's all-human party was easy to build. T260G's all-mec party took a while, but was easy to round out. Asellus' all-mystic party is nearly forced on you anyway. Sadly, to keep up the trend, I have to build Riki an all-monster party. And I'm nearly done... but I don't know if I'm actually happy about that.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 05:06:38 PM
Before we go much further, I'm going to start some side-questing.

Riki can't enter the Luminous Labyrinth for the gift of Light magic, or Omble for the gift of Shadow magic. Undertaking those quests is literally a matter of sitting in the lobby and waiting for your humans and mystics to come back from doing it themselves. So I do one of those.

Then I head to Devin and undertake the Arcane quest, since it involves fewer boss monsters -- having already been through Tanzer's guts, I'm not sure if I can start the Rune quest anyway.

Dear My Country (Ending ~ Lute) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ki7dP-D5jY#)

So our story picks up in Yorkland, the region where everyone's a brewer.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2950.png)
Riki's spent most of his life on four legs, but declines to comment here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2952.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2953.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2954.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2955.png)

Asking around for the Grail Card gets you a celebratory shot of the local sake for every distiller you ask. So by the time you've gotten here:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2956.png)

Your party is pretty well wasted.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2957.png)
When you enter the swamp as part of this quest, your character stumbles a bit as they walk, juking in random directions every few steps. The monsters are immobile, but they're packed in pretty tight, so you have to get in a few fights even if you have full control.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2958.png)
And every few turns in every fight, your drunkenness hits your whole party -- mecs excluded -- with random status ailments. You'd think Gen would be able to fight like this without penalty, but nope.

After you finally stumble into the shrine in the swamp...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2959.png)
You hallucinate the Grail Card right into your inventory. All that drinking was necessary, see?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 05:35:55 PM
Saga Frontier - Baccarat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QIXeBB7dnw#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2960.png)
On our way to Baccarat for the Gold Card, Mei-Ling shanghais our sidequesting in favor of plotline questing. There's a millionaire from Scrap who's in Baccarat somewhere, and he has a ring he's willing to sell.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2961.png)
Yeah, you can point out that where I need to go is one of the four identical rooms on the literally hundreds of identical floors on the hotel level, rather than anywhere in the casino area that makes up Emelia's plotquest and the Gold card sidequest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2962.png)
Thanks, Captain Late To The Party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2963.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2965.png)
A whole lot of text balloons pop up without any hesitation here, as Mei-Ling and Riki rush to stop the guy from hanging himself.

They get him down safely, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2969.png)
Mei-Ling: That's why you sold the ring. Don't give up yet, try your luck with the money from the ring.

I think Mei-Ling means "are trying to sell" rather than "sold" here.

Bankrupt Guy: ...but the ring... it's gone.
Mei-Ling: What do you mean?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2973.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2974.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2975.png)
skweek

Presumably this is an actual mouse, rather than a mouse robot from Nakajima Robotics.

But you never know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2976.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2977.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 05:42:59 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2981.png)
WACKY HIJINKS ENSUE

-Yakety Sax- Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2978.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2979.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2980.png)
HILARIOUS

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2982.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2983.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2984.png)
HE JUMPED IN THE SLOT MACHINE AND HIT THE MOUSE JACKPOT, OH YOU CHEEKY RODENT

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2985.png)
I was watching the mouse to make sure it was still onscreen when I got this screencap and ended up running into one of the casino floozies.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2987.png)
ROULETTE MOUSE HITS 00! YOU'RE OUR LUCKY WINNER!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2988.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2989.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2991.png)
The mouse runs onto a chandelier, and we follow...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2992.png)
...only for the light fixture to give way beneath the combined weight of four monsters of various shapes, a hulking robot, several people, and one mouse.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2993.png)
We end up in the parking lot some damn how.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2994.png)
You can chase the mouse all over the caves, eventually leading to a fight against Gargantu like Emelia had, or you can just get this bloody nonsense over with and snatch the little guy up near the entrance.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2996.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2997.png)
End of chapter!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 05:51:12 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf2999.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3000.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3001.png)
Of course, as soon as this scantily-clad blonde wonders aloud whether gnomes exist, one of them wanders by.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3003.png)
This is a more laid-back chase, since the gnome is taking his sweet time.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3004.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3005.png)
We know where the gnome caves are from Emelia's scenario, but you have to watch that one take the elevator down in order for the manhole to open.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3006.png)
I knew that dumb bunny girl looked familiar! Emelia tries to force her way into the party here, but

(http://intentionallyblank.net/images/forumresources/octonope.gif)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3008.png)
Why order is important: Bloodsucker is the ability keeping Riki in his current shit-tastic
Rabbat form. Swapping it out of the top of his skill list...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3009.png)
...transforms him into the equally-crappy Killer Bee form next battle, because of BladeNet. God damn I hate monsters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3010.png)
Because unlike every other RPG, money in this game is not gold coins. You have to go get some ingots to trade for the Gold Card.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3011.png)
Yeah, foresight is nice sometimes. It takes at least four gold ingots to get the card (meaning it costs at least 2000 credits in Nelson).
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 05:58:10 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3012.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3013.png)
In scenarios where Gen doesn't join automatically, you have to go talk to the skeleton in Koorong who babbles about a guy who uses a steel pipe like a sword. Then you can recruit Gen in the Scrap pub so he can get you into Wakatu.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3015.png)

Wakatu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knpx5mOjk1w#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3016.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3017.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3018.png)
As you enter the ruined castle gates, two ninjas peek out from hiding.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3019.png)
Look at all those arrows. Have you seen a single bow-user in this game?

Yeah, HunterKnight had a crossbow. Ciato did all this? (No, that's dumb, even for this game.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3020.png)
There's treasure to be had if you go off in directions Gen doesn't lead you, but an all-monster party can skip them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3021.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3022.png)
A lot of screenshots to show off not-much, but I like Wakatu's atmosphere. It must have been one of the earliest-designed areas, because it's actually well-done, more or less structurally logical, and has the creepy atmosphere you'd expect.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3023.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3025.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:01:44 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3026.png)
The pagoda at the top of Wakatu castle has three lanterns still lit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3027.png)
If you press the confirm button when all three shadows are swords, you get the card... except that almost never happens. But when it does, there's a "clink" sound. Press the button when it clinks and the shadows will change to three swords, and you get the card. If you screw up, either nothing happens (3 rabbits or mismatched symbols) or you get into a fight (3 monsters). Eventually Gen will tell you to close your eyes, giving you a big hint that it's the sound of the thing that matters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3032.png)
Whatever, man.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3033.png)
Outta here.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:15:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3036.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3037.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3038.png)
Fuse: So you want the Shield Card, eh? It seems everyone wants it these days. I can't just give it to you like that. I don't know if you really deserve it. Besides, I need some help on patrol first.
Riki: Okay. What do we gotta do?
Fuse: You catch on quick. Let's go to Mosperiburg.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3045.png)
...and Fuse wants to get it to use as a prop for asking the front-desk receptionist on a date. Fuse is kind of a dick.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3046.png)
We take a break to fight this sprite-type creature.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3047.png)
Which in turn means a snowman might appear here. It's one of the most oblique, unintuitive, and likely buggy side-sidequests in the game.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3048.png)
Jotnar is another optional superboss, and probably one I should have handled in another scenario.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3050.png)
...yep.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3053.png)
Yep again.

Oh well. Beating Jotnar nets us SuzakuJr, who despite being "Jr" starts with one of the best monster forms around. Looks like I'm not gonna get him in this game, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3054.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3055.png)
And... there's... not Suzaku Jr.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3056.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3057.png)
We fight valiantly!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3058.png)
And are slain!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3059.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:18:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3068.png)
Yorklander: But she got very ill...
Yorklander: He brought in just about everybody to cure her... doctors, priests, you name it.
Yorklander: I heard she's not feeling well. Poor thing...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3071.png)
Riki is so excited about everything.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3072.png)
Billionaire: In fact, a man is trying to help her right now...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3074.png)
He comes zooming out of that bedroom so fast he almost flies over the balcony rail instead of going down the stairs.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3075.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3077.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:21:39 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3078.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3079.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3080.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3081.png)
Mollasite almost doesn't attack at all, its moves are so weak.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3082.png)
But after a couple of turns, it just buggers off.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3084.png)
Sei: Hurry, take the ring Riki!
Mei-Ling: Wait! Maybe the ring's power is keeping her alive.
Riki: Just like Margmel?
Mei-Ling: Yes.
Riki: No... She deserves to live to be a grandma.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3090.png)
Uh oh.

That girl? Annie's sister, the one she mentioned early in Emelia's scenario.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:30:10 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3092.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3093.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3094.png)
Hey, are you the mystic who, being immune to disease, finds pathology endlessly fascinating? The one who, rumor has it, has the power of a mystic lord but doesn't care about politics as long as you have some interesting new malady to study?

Have we got an offer for you!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3102.png)
Despite not having the Gift for Arcane magic, Dr. Nusakan starts with the Death tarot spell.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3103.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3104.png)
Of course I know, but you'd... better explain it to Mei-Ling.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3106.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3107.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3108.png)

It takes several tries, because I had my party built up to take on Jotnar and Suzaku, and they can actually force Mollasite to rout just by using basic punch attacks. Even if they stall by using the Rings and other non-attack moves.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3110.png)
Eventually I bring in the B-list, who are still earlygame level.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3111.png)
That goes a little better. Mollasite moves over to the bed, and possesses the girl.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3113.png)
Then we smack it around with no reason to hold back, since it's tethered to a corporeal body now.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3116.png)
It will LifeSteal an LP away from the girl every turn, and while I don't know how many LP the girl has, this battle has a time limit. First you have to go slowly enough that the monster doesn't flee, then you have to hit it hard enough that its victim doesn't die. It'd be an interesting dynamic if it were done in a better game, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3119.png)
Yep.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:33:17 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3120.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3121.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3122.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3124.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3127.png)
It is, ironically enough, the "Healer" ring.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3134.png)
By leaving and reentering, you can milk 2500 credits out of the guy before he leaves.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:34:58 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3136.png)
Back to Mosperiburg. I couldn't get Jotnar to even show up this time, so oh well, no SuzakuJr for me.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3137.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3138.png)
Thanks, Doc!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3139.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3141.png)
The Shield Card joins its bretheren.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3142.png)
Not that I'll ever use it, but...
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 18, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3143.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3144.png)
Rei: Controlling space at will is pretty powerful too. To obtain this magic, you must go to the remotest part of space.
Riki: How do I get there?
Rei: There is a creature called Kylin who creates its own magic space, calling it Paradise. It's a very strange place. Well, you'll see when you get there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3150.png)
And she teleports you to Kylin's Paradise. If you haven't gotten the gift for Light/Shadow or Rune/Arcane magic, she'll just tell you you're not good enough to talk to Kylin and end the conversation there. That's why I did the whole Arcane quest.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3152.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3153.png)
He wants to test us, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3155.png)
So he sends you to Level Ate.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3156.png)
It's kinda trippy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3158.png)
Gravity is subjective in parts...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3160.png)
Size changes in parts...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3163.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3164.png)
But it's not actually difficult. There aren't any encounters here, so it's a breezy little dungeon.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3167.png)
Join the party!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3169.png)
Kylin is a monster. Despite the Space magic spells being, well, magic rather than monster abilities, Kylin starts with the whole set. Granted, most of them are kind of useless. LightShift and DarkShift will activate and deactivate Photosynthesis/Deathsynthesis and Deathsynthesis/Photosynthesis respectively. VaporBlast is a single-target attack, ReverseGravity an all-enemies attack, and Vanish an instant-kill that doesn't have the potential backlash that DeathCurse and Death tarot do. Vortex removes stat buffs and debuffs.

So eh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3170.png)
But we "finally" have our fifth monster.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3172.png)
With Kylin in tow, we return to normal space.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 19, 2013, 06:03:30 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3173.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3174.png)
Imagine that, a priceless artifact at a retail store has been purchased already.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3175.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3176.png)
So apparently this guy isn't the Lord of Owmi like I thought he was in Asellus' game. Oops.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3180.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3181.png)
He has Gendo Ikari glasses. I don't trust him.

Lord: Yes, and...?
Mei-Ling: Can we buy it from you?
Lord: I see. Are you also a collector?
Riki: Yeah!!
Lord: Then I'll take whatever rings you've collected so far.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3188.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3189.png)
You diiiii-ii-ii-i-i-ick!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3191.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 19, 2013, 06:15:51 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3192.png)
That's why :justasplanned: has the glasses and not you.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3194.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3195.png)
You know what that means.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3196.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3197.png)
Somebody brought a bunch of water-nulling PearlHearts when he was in Manhattan, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3199.png)
You'd think this flagrantly obvious trap door would be some other obstacle to overcome, but nope.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3200.png)
Devil Squid, chief. Not Monster Squid.

Lord of Owmi: Please spare me!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3202.png)
Poof!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3204.png)
Ain't no mystics look like that, Riki.

Mei-Ling: Now we'll take your ring. You probably got it by bewitching them anyway.
Lord of Owmi?: Shoot! Yo, ya big, hairy... be careful of this broad. Anyone after a ring's gotta be up to no good.
Mei-Ling: Sheesh! Look who's talking!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3209.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 19, 2013, 06:20:02 PM
I have an idea! Let's go to Despair!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3211.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3213.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3214.png)
Because in the sprawling backstreets of Koorong, there is only one restaurant.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3216.png)
Annie: I suppose.
Mei-Ling: Do you know the prisoner who was sentenced for a million years?
Annie: Only by rumor. He's in solitary, with a heavy guard. But I don't know who he really is.
Mei-Ling: We need to find this guy. Can you take us to him?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3222.png)
Again, Mei-Ling pays out of her own purse. Annie whistles.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3223.png)
I guess Mei-Ling pays better than Roufas.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 19, 2013, 06:26:58 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3224.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3225.png)
When's the last time you saw a hot plumber?

Front Gate Guard: Okay, let me check the pass.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3227.png)
Warden: Hey, what happened to the regular guys?

Clearly they aren't so regular, because you had to call a plumber.

Guard: The pass is valid.
Warden: Hmm, I know. They brought in sub-contractors to do their job. That dog's gonna work, too?
Riki: I'm not a dog. I'm Riki.
Mei-Ling: His sense of smell is very keen. He'll come in handy.

Great, now justify the ogre, the long-dead king of Shrike, the universe's one commander of Space magic, the monk, the samurai, the IRPO cop, the other IRPO cop, the backalley information broker, the creepy doctor...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3235.png)
This plan wouldn't have worked outside a video game, is all I'm sayin'.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3239.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3241.png)
As Fei-On did in Tanzer, Annie leads the way to not-the-rune.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 19, 2013, 06:50:32 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3242.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3244.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3245.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3246.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3247.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/forumresources/omgitwasyou.gif)

What a twist! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdhhQhqi_AE#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3248.png)
Good fucking question. But he doesn't tell us.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3254.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3256.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3257.png)
End of... like a couple of chapters! Why didn't I get an interstitial before?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 21, 2013, 06:45:44 AM
We have most of the rings, and only one place left to go. But once you finish it you're whisked straight off to endgame, so you'd better make sure you're ready before you even start (not to mention how ridiculously hard some of the final trials are). Unfortunately, monsters are some of the grindiest characters in the game, and I've got five of 'em for some damn stupid reason.

Every skill absorbed is a tiny HP bonus to the monster character. I have a checklist that I am slowly working through, and after it's reasonably done for each character I still need to find them a decent form to take on the last boss with. So it may be a bit before I can give the LP a solid update again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3258.png)
But sometimes I am glad the game autotargets enemies for you. Who's who in this screenshot?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 06:44:36 AM
Or maybe I can get sick of grinding and say "eh, fuck it" and shoot for endgame. We'll see how that goes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3259.png)
In some Shingrow Ruins I started finding Spinxes, from whom monsters learn SphinxRiddle. SphinxRiddle then causes your monster to turn into a Sphinx, a dedicated-caster type midgame monster. They're okay.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3260.png)
...but not as good as SuzakuJr, a form that demands FireBarrier. You learn FireBarrier as the rare drop from, yes, Suzaku. It sure is a lot of fun grinding rare drops over and over again, huh? (http://brontoforum.us/index.php?topic=6491.0)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3262.png)
Hooray, look at everyone surrounded by flames. That certainly didn't take way too long and way too many save states.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3261.png)
Dullahans semirare drop is DeathGaze, which is the last attack Riki and Cotton need to take the form of a Mariche. It's one of the best monster forms in the game, but it takes all four Gaze attacks to get it -- that's four ability slots you need just to maintain your shape.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 06:50:25 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3263.png)
Eight rings down, one to go.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3264.png)
It's the Lord Ring, so it stands to reason you get it from...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3265.png)
...the Ring Lord.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3267.png)
Yep, there it is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3269.png)
Not when I can send you through an excruciating fetch quest first! There are eight keys in Virgil's Palace. Go get 'em all.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 06:53:49 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3273.png)
In the first room, a mouse is keeping the key in a barrel. Open the right barrel for the key. Open the wrong barrel and get into a fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3276.png)
The next room is Pac-Man. Collect the moneybags, fight the slimes. The key appears when you get the last moneybag.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3280.png)
The next room is bowling. Clear the monsters out to get the key. Step on switches to have pillbugs roll around the room, and if they hit a monster (by SHEER LUCK or by loading state until it works), that's one monster you don't have to fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3281.png)
This is the second-worst room in the Palace. You can't see the safe path over the spikes, it's invisible -- you have to follow where the woman is walking. If you step on a spike, you get into a fight.

The worst part? In order to get onto the path in the first place, you have to disregard all common sense and run at the spikes from the entrance. You'll leap over the first few tiles of spikes and land on the invisible path.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3282.png)
It takes almost as long as getting SuzakuJr forms for everyone.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3283.png)
Blessed simplicity! The key is in one of the graves. Check the wrong grave and a skeleton appears in the room. Touch it to fight it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3285.png)
Single-elimination tournament. I had to fight a bunch of Manticores and a set of Living Armor/Living Musket/Living Gloves.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3288.png)
A... game show.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3292.png)
He names an item, then another item. You have to guess if the sale price of the second item is higher or lower than the first. If you get it wrong -- you guessed it -- you get into a fight. Get it right enough (or power through all the battles) to win the key.

(These are more interesting fights than usual because your whole party is transformed into Rocky monsters -- even humans and mecs get changed.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 06:58:08 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3298.png)
As you step into the center of the room, the lava surrounding the platform surges toward you. It's a fight! A fight with...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3300.png)
MagmaSlimes!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3301.png)
MagmaSlimes always attack with MagmaTouch, which does 0 HP damage.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3302.png)
...and 1 LP damage. They attack your LP directly, every turn. MagmaSlimes are faster than Mariche and Suzaku forms, so while I don't know their precise Quickness, you can damn well count on losing 5 LP scattered among your characters every turn before you get to try to kill them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3303.png)
Whew, that could have been t--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3304.png)
YOU SON OF A BITCH.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3305.png)
There are thirty MagmaSlimes in this fight. Each time you kill one, another immediately sprouts up in its place. Check the Max LP for all my monsters, here -- no way we could survive more than five rounds of that abuse.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3306.png)
Oh yeah, and remember: if your scenario protagonist runs out of LP, the game ends immediately.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 06:58:48 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3307.png)
I struggle again, with better forms for everybody...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3308.png)
nope.jpg
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 22, 2013, 07:03:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3309.png)
You, the robit. Come here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3310.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3311.png)
We're gonna do this with a second-string party so Riki isn't present. Then we're going to build that second-string party out of Mecs, who have an abundance of LP, and Gen, who has twice as much LP as most monster forms and 2GaleSlash (which nicely replaces Riki's MagneticStorm). Thunder gets to stay because his OgreLord form has 10 LP, Kylin gets to stay because he has ReverseGravity.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3312.png)
Turns out the sword skill Deflect can block MagmaTouch, which means Gen can protect Thunder and Kylin a little. It's a long fight, though, and eventually Kylin drops.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3313.png)
Boy am I glad you don't have to grind to get mecs up to par.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3314.png)
And after all that, you don't even get to absorb any decent monster abilities, because the MagmaSlimes count as BigSlimes for determining what abilities you get, and BigSlimes have the same skills as plain ol' regular Slimes that you can fight in the Koorong sewers at the very beginning of the game.

Anyway. That's all eight keys. Now to go see the Lord of the Rings (you had to know that joke was going to happen eventually) about his Lord Ring.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 02:32:30 PM
And then we take on the Ring Lord himself! He says it'll be fun, but he ain't the first Mystic Lord I've had to beat up in this LP! Bring it on, Pimp Throne Guy!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3316.png)
Hah! I will, because that's how I win fights!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3317.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3318.png)
I hit him so hard I made fireworks go off! Ha!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3319.png)
B-but... he didn't take any damage...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3320.png)
Yeah, this isn't a straight-up fight. It's a contest to see how good you are at forming combos. So in the longest, grindiest quest topped off by the worst possible dungeon, the cherry on top of Riki's shit sundae is a goddamn combo pop quiz.

You might, should you not have the sort of guides I'm using for this LP, go back to Koorong where the easiest enemies spawn and just bruteforce some combos together. I'm sure glad I don't have to do that again!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3321.png)
You only get one turn for free. As of the second, Virgil starts attacking back.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3322.png)
If he's supposed to interrupt you, though? He failed.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3323.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3324.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3327.png)
It's a race to get to ten points before Virgil stomps you. 3-person combos get two points, 4-person combos net you three, and 5-person combos five. Virgil can't stand to watch the same combo twice, but if you switch up just one move or break up a five-hit combo into just a four-hit, you can still get points for those. I won this match with Feeler-Feeler-Feeler-Feeler-Feeler and Feeler-Feeler-Feeler-Feeler-IceSmash.

Oh, and the DSC counts as a combo by itself, so if you get any humans to learn that, you can slowly but surely get the points you need to win.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3328.png)
All right! Nine rings!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 02:39:05 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3329.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3330.png)
The group teleports in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3331.png)
You can talk to everyone, but the other lummoxes don't know where you've been and your party is just gawping at how much of a shithole Margmel is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3332.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3334.png)
It's hard to see, but there are nine motes of colored light circling Riki now.

Elder: You did it. Now, save our Margmel.
Riki: I thought you were going to wish for us.
Elder: No. You are the savior.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3338.png)

Graphic problems with the emulator prevent me from screencapping the part where Riki says "Hear my wish! Margmel, BE REBORN!", but Riki says "Hear my wish! Margmel, BE REBORN!"

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3340.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3341.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3342.png)
It's kind of a neat visual effect. Individual background elements are picked out and sort of painted over, until the new Margmel replaces the old.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 02:48:49 PM
Welp, we're done here. Margmel is saved by wishing on an ancient artifact, and nothing ever goes wrong with that sort of thing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3343.png)
What? Just because you've never seen a green countryside before and it looks a little garish, you don't have to react like that. Sheesh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3346.png)
Oh. Lummoxes are disappearing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3347.png)
(And nothing of value was lost...)

Riki: What do you mean, Mei-Ling?
Mei-Ling: Margmel's being reborn, just as you wished. But those who weren't there are disappearing.
Riki: That's no good.

sonic.jpg

Mei-Ling: You're so naive, Riki. How could you ever believe a magic ring would grant your wish? These rings are just traps for selfish men. Someone or something made them and scattered them over the regions to absorb their lust.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3357.png)
If you look closely, Mei-Lings hand has a black glow.

Mei-Ling: You can rule all regions with it.
Fei-On: Mei-Ling! Are you out of your mind?!!
Dr. Nusakan: I knew it.

Nusakan plays it cool.

Riki: Please, stop. I take back my wish. I don't care about Margmel. Just bring everyone back, Mei-Ling.
Mei-Ling: Thank you, Riki. Thank you all for helping me get the ring. But I don't need you anymore.
Fei-On: Mei-Ling, stop. What's the matter with you?
Dr. Nusakan: She's under the spell of the Black Ring.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3365.png)
Ha ha, hope you didn't make the mistake of, like, keeping the first character to join your party with you through the whole game or anything! Because she's gone now, replaced by someone you probably haven't trained at all for the final battle.

Because if you haven't caught on yet, the game hates you for playing Riki's quest, and wants to punish you for it at every turn.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 02:56:11 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3368.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3369.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3370.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3371.png)
As you'd expect from a Master Ring with eight subordinate rings, the MasterRing monster calls eight subordinate monsters to fight alongside it. Using the rings has a monster's silhouette flash on the screen, but since I never had to use them even once in this LP I don't have screencaps of it. The summoned beasts are the monsters you see if you use the rings.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3374.png)
Monsters have really lousy healing abilities. Didn't pick up MagicHeal or LifeRain from fighting a Unicorn back when they spawned? Toooooo bad! So I have Kylin set up LightShift to power the Photosynthesis I put on everyone in my party. Photosynthesis restores a little HP at the end of every turn if you're in a sunny area, and LightShift makes your current battle a sunny area. (DeathSynthesis and DarkShift would do the same thing.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3372.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3373.png)
The good news is that MasterRing, like Orlouge, lets his underlings do most of the attacking. And his underlings include a Mariche who uses exclusively Gaze-type attacks and a GhostRider who really likes to use Supersonic. The MasterRing itself likes to use Lullaby and Oscillation, and another underling is a Lich who is fond of Scream.

Back in Manhattan during the Schemer Ring quest I bought everyone in the party a HarmoniumEarring to null all sonic attacks, so I don't have to worry about Supersonic, Scream, Oscillation, or Lullaby. I also bought everyone a PurpleEye, which nulls all Gaze attacks. So no small number of the enemies' turns are wasted doing moves everyone is immune to. So that's pretty cool.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3378.png)
After beating up on MasterRing and his cronies a bit, all the monsters run away. Victory?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 03:01:50 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3379.png)
Nothing so easy, alas. The MasterRing itself has fled, leaving me to fight only underlings for a while.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3380.png)
It came back as soon as I beat one of the monsters into submission. It brought back the GhostRider and the Mariche, too! Between my awesome endgame forms, defensive equipment, nulled enemy attacks, and Photosynthesis regeneration, I don't have to worry about healing at all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3381.png)
And uh, you realize the very last scenario I was in was a forced tutorial on how to string together giant combos, right?

Anyway, you want to beat up enough monsters that they're not interrupting your combos, but not all of them. Beating individual monsters slightly raises MasterRing's defenses, but not any great amount. And MasterRing has a powerful hits-everyone-for-hundreds-of-damage attack when all of its underlings are gone, but knowing that I left the harmless Mariche alive until...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3383.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3384.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3385.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3386.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3387.png)
Mei-Ling vomits up a tiny sparkle, which bounces away a bit. It's underneath Cotton-as-Suzaku in this shot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3388.png)
If you know how to handle it -- namely, HarmoniumEarrings and PurpleEyes, and not killing all the monsters -- MasterRing is the easiest final boss in the game, hands down.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 03:06:45 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3389.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3391.png)
Mei-Ling: I... I lied to you.
Riki: It's the Black Ring. It's not your fault.
Fei-On: Sorry, Mei-Ling. It was my fault. If only I'd kept my eye on you.
Dr. Nusakan: She seems fine. The Curse of the Black Ring is also gone.
Elder: But, it's all over for Margmel.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3397.png)

...WHAT.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3399.png)

WHAT.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3402.png)
"Gee, sure sucks our entire home region is screwed. Guess we'd better move!" DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU COULD HAVE SAVED ME BY DECIDING THAT BEFORE I WENT ON THIS GODFORSAKEN RING QUEST

YOU UTTER SHITHOOKS

ARRRRGH
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 03:15:38 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3407.png)
And then Riki runs around throwing the rings away so no one can ever collect them again. The Lord Ring is thrown into the frozen snowfields of Mosperiburg, because man, fuck Virgil and his whole palace.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3408.png)
Another ring goes into Owmi harbor, so expect a scenario coming up to include a megalomaniac water mystic who found it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3409.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3411.png)
To rub it in that everything Riki accomplished in his entire quest was a giant waste of time, other rings just go straight back to their respective owners.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3413.png)
Thunder gets one too, for some reason. He's not even a mandatory party member like...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3414.png)
Dr. Nusakan.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3415.png)
Well, that's not even remotely ominous.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3416.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3417.png)
Sei returns to his tomb, and Gen takes another ring back to Wakatu for... some reason. Hey guys, remember that suicidal guy who was going to pawn the ring for some cash to give himself some reason to live? Maybe we should go back and, like, talk to him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3418.png)
It certainly can't be any worse an idea than returning a cursed ring to be put on sale in a busy retail shop. Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ, Riki is stupid.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3419.png)
The Black Ring he throws into one of the blighted fields of Margmel, to be destroyed when the region implodes in on itself or however it is whole regions die.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3422.png)
God, am I glad that's over.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2013, 04:18:26 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charcoon.jpg)
We certainly haven't seen this picture of Riki's ass quite enough.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charmeiren.jpg)
Mei-Ling will help you gather the rings, b-but she's not doing it because she likes you, okay?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charnusakan.jpg)
Dr. Nusakan is one of my favorite characters, inasfar as these paper-thin single-note guys are "characters". His is my favorite characterization gimmick, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charsei.jpg)
Not sure why Sei gets official character art, but he did.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charvirgil.jpg)
Virgil, lacking the throne that makes him so pimptastic in-game. Surprise, a mystic is willowy and bishounen.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidriki.jpg)
Obligatory "alternate art style" shot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_rikirings.jpg)
I wish I knew what a "monkey's paw" means!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on March 24, 2013, 05:37:48 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/M1XolYJ.png)

That is a bear with snakes for hands fucking a bull.

Why can't anyone in your party take that form?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 06:54:08 AM
That's a chimera. It only requires the skilll GasFlame to transform into, and several of my characters learned GasFlame at some point. I never saw it; though, because monster transformations are needlessly, incomprehensibly complicated.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: patito on March 24, 2013, 10:41:52 AM
That is a bear with snakes for hands

Excuse me, it's called fisting.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 01:02:52 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3423.png)
Four down, three to go. And I'm done with the race scenarios, the three remaining characters are human.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3424.png)

Dear My Country (Ending ~ Lute) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ki7dP-D5jY#)
I like the Yorkland music.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3425.png)
Ma: Don't treat me like some old woman. I'm not so old I have to be worried about. Work hard, Lute.
Lute: All right, Ma.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3429.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3430.png)
Lute: See you, Thunder. Be strong. Take care of Ma.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3433.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3437.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3439.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3440.png)
Every character gets a rename screen at some point, but Lute's is semi-noteworthy because his Ma calls him by name before it comes up.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3441.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 01:06:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3443.png)
Oh well, that was fruitless. Back to living in Ma's basement I guess.

Lute: Not allowed? But I gotta get on.
Crew: This has been chartered by Trinity.
Lute: You've gotta have some room in a ship this huge. How about in a corner somewhere?
Crew: Stop buggin' us or we'll arrest you!
Lute: Arrest me? For what?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3449.png)
Hey, I recognize that scaled-down sprite!

Crew: Captain! No problem here, sir. Go on now, get out of here!
Mondo: You want to board ship? All right, we have room for you. Come on.
Lute: Your boss seems like a nice guy.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3456.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3457.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3458.png)
Mondo: I'm from Yorkland too, you know.
Lute: By the way, where is this ship goin'?
Mondo: Manhattan.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3462.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3463.png)
The ship really does remind me of a folding knife or multitool or something.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 01:09:51 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3464.png)
Guess we'll have a look around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3466.png)
Oh Lute.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3469.png)
Lute: Wha? Do I know you? Are you with the police or something?
Fuse: Guess you're not as stupid as you look. My name is Fuse. I work for the patrol in IRPO. You rode Mondo's ship from Yorkland, right?
Lute: Yep. He gave me a ride. Seemed like a nice guy to me.
Fuse: A nice guy? That's the first time someone spoke of him that way. Trust me, Mondo is smart, but not nice.
Lute: I don't know. That's what I thought. By the way, my name is Lute. Guess you are the guy to talk to the next time I get a parking ticket, eh?

...cars basically don't exist, though. Yorkland specifically has horses. Lute, what are you talking about?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 01:34:25 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3481.png)
Lute is now free to wander around wherever he feels like going, but I head to Owmi to get his scenario, such as it is, underway.

Owmi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKzkxl2hkBw#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3483.png)
Restaurant Patron: You can eat a whole lot more here because they don't use crap like MSG.
Lute: Really? You're from Nelson, eh?

Lute how did you even

Lute: You look pretty decent to me, although Trinity says you are vicious pirates.
Restaurant Patron: That's nothing but propaganda. Come see my ship sometime. You'd be surprised.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3488.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3489.png)
Captain: Chef, the food was terrific as usual.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3492.png)
I know how to get a ride on that unique ship! Go to Nelson!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3493.png)
YouTube doesn't have the song for this ship anywhere. It wasn't on the OST, either, as far as I can tell.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3494.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3495.png)
She means the ship is the Victoria. The Captain, since apparently no one introduces her, is Captain Hamilton.

Captain Hamilton: Currently, the ship is assigned to monitor the activities of Mondo from Trinity's 2nd Intelligence Division. I assume you know him, too.
Lute: Mondo? Oh yeah, he gave me a ride on his ship. But I don't really know him.
Captain Hamilton: No, I'm talking about the guy who betrayed your father, and sold him out to Trinity.
Lute: What're you talking about? You mean dad and Mondo knew each other?
Captain Hamilton: You really don't know? I thought you approached me to avenge your father's death. Not to mention fulfilling his last wish.
Lute: Dad's last wish? What was he involved in?
Captain Hamilton: He was an anti-Trinity activist. He lost his first wife during his mission.
Lute: Hey, hold on a sec. Ma never told me none of this stuff. I don't even know your name. How do I know you're telling me the truth?
Captain Hamilton: Nelson is a tiny region. In order to resist an enormous power like Trinity, we need to collect all kinds of information. That's why we know many things which others don't.
Lute: Crammin' me with this stuff 'bout dad and Trinity all at once is only confusing me.
Captain Hamilton: I don't blame you. Maybe I should start over from the beginning. Like I said before, we are now assigned to watch over Mondo's activities. We discovered he is secretly building his own private army base. We are getting ready to attack the base when the time comes.
Lute: You're gonna start a war against Trinity?
Captain Hamilton: There won't be a war. Even Trinity doesn't know their own command is creating a private army.
Lute: Why does he need a private army?
Captain Hamilton: He's power-crazy and wants to completely rule Trinity.
Lute: Sounds a little far-fetched to me. I mean, why would anyone like Mondo need to crave for more power?
Captain Hamilton: Anyhow, we are ready to attack his base. Let us know when you decide to join us.
Lute: I don't really like violence. I'm really a pussy cat by nature.

That sentence is three words too long.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3525.png)
Are you ready to go to the final dungeon?

Yes, really. That's it. That's all the plot you get in Lute's scenario, dumped on you all at once by Captain Hamilton. If you go to the last dungeon right now you'll die horribly, so let's go... grind. Do sidequests. Make some money. You know. Stuff.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 24, 2013, 01:52:00 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3527.png)
Captain Hamilton, like Lute, is kind of bad at everything -- but she's better than Lute at everything. Her biggest asset is that she starts with TwoGun, allowing her to fire off another shot whenever she uses a basic gun attack, drastically increasing her attack power. Her rating for learning other gun abilities is 3 (on the scale from 0 to 8).

Hamilton doesn't have talent for many sword or martial arts skills, but the talent she does have tends to be for the more advanced techniques. Like, she doesn't have talent for DoubleSlash, but can learn RisingNova, RosarioImpale, and LifeSprinkler -- some of the best sword techs in the game. She has talent for two of the four DSC component abilities, but not AirThrow, the basic "throw" skill that most easily unlocks them. Weird.

Her stat growth is the opposite of Lute's: even growth across the board, with a slight bias toward Will and Vitality, and no Charm whatsoever.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3528.png)
Lute's special skill is that he has no special skill. Lute's scenario is that he has no scenario. His ability to draw people to him like a special-needs Tenkai star was supposed to be his special skill, but most of his recruit list is the same characters that anyone can get, with the only unique being Captain Hamilton there. He doesn't even win by sheer numbers -- Red has more options than Lute does.

The only thing that makes him unique is that you can move him out of the first party's first slot, allowing an actual A-list character to take his place. Here I have Gen, Captain Hamilton, Rouge, Roufas, and T260G sitting in my first party, while Lute pulls second-string.

That wasn't a pun when I first thought of it.

Other human options include Fei-On, Fuse, Mei-Ling, Annie (ha!), or Emelia (double ha!). The only other Mec Lute can recruit is EngineerCar, but he has some options for Mystics. Of course, I could go get Thunder or Cotton or Slime or Riki (he's right over there), but I'm about sick of training monsters now.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 05:57:47 AM
Guess I'll cover the magic sidequests I haven't done yet, since that's about all there is to do.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3529.png)
Luminous also has Shadow magic available to purchase and Gift yourself in. It's harder to do than Light magic, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3530.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3531.png)
And there's a creepy red-eyed dude hanging out by the door.

2-02 Saga Frontier Soundtrack - Omble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCGGk6fusQM#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3532.png)
As soon as you enter Omble (which is totally not a mistranslation of the French ombre, "shade", why would you even think that), your shadow stretches out, detaches itself from you, and runs away.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3539.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3538.png)
Other civilian shadows give you some advice.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3534.png)
Shadow of Silence here was pursuing a fugitive into Omble, but said fugitive isn't even here. Bad intel! So why is Silence hanging out by the front door while his shadow is still in Omble? Because shut up, that's why.

Silence's shadow joins us, warning us that when we talk to the real silence, he's as mute as his name implies.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3541.png)
In the dungeon proper, all of the monsters are themselves shadows, but they attack like normal enemies. Like the Luminous Labyrinth, monsters and mecs aren't allowed here in the first place, so it's hard to tell what happens if you download/feast on a shadow creature.

Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:07:09 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3542.png)
The last room has shadows of all the scenario leaders walking around. Well, mecs and monsters aren't allowed, so the shadows of Gen and Mei-Ling fill in for T260 and Riki. And Fuse's shadow is in here, too, a remnant of the IRPO-centric scenario that made him a protagonist.

Your goal is to find the shadow of your current player character.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3544.png)
In Lute's case this is super-easy, because he has that musical instrument of some sort (what is it called? Damn, tip of my tongue here) strapped to his back. The neck of it sticking out over his shoulder gives his shadow a distinctive silhouette. Also good for this quest: Blue's ponytail, Red's spiky hair. Emelia and Asellus have a tougher time with it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3546.png)
Touching a shadow in the first room sends them to the second, a sort of filter to help you pick out the exact one you want. Touching a shadow in the second room sends them to the last room in Omble.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3547.png)
You must fight the shades, who take on the stats, movelist, and equipment of your current party. It's not a bad idea to fill out everyone's movelist with useless spells and weak techniques, since the AI will choose what to do at random while you hit them with reliable damaging and partywide attack moves.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3548.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3549.png)
GaleSlash, for instance, or VermillionSand, are good choices. In typical Squaresoft fashion, damage you do to enemies reaches into four- and five-digit numbers, but nobody in your party ever has more than 999 HP so enemies do a lot less than that to you. This battle is hard because the enemies don't scale down their attacks to PC level, this battle is easier because the enemies don't scale up their HP to enemy level. One VermillionSand did 1200+ damage to all enemies, and none of them could possibly have had more than 999 -- it was closer to 200 or 300 at this point.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3550.png)
If you chose your shadow correctly, you leave Omble. If you chose incorrectly, you have to pick again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3551.png)
Silence joins your party if you talk to him after having collected his shadow. I say "talk to him", but of course, he's Silence, he doesn't have any dialog.

Silence is a member of IRPO. At some point in the past, he tried to use his Mystic equipment to absorb the power of Tanzer the interdimensional beast. I don't have any details other than that this idea ended disastrously for him. It's not how he lost his voice, though -- he's a natural mute.

Anyhow, Shadow Magic. It's one of those schools that's not terribly useful except for one awesome spell, like Mystic or Evil magic. HideBehind sends a shadow behind an enemy to tap it on the shoulder and make them turn the other way, making them slightly more vulnerable to attack, but it wears off as soon as the target moves. ShadowNet tries to paralyze all opponents, but hits so rarely it's not worth the bother. PowerGrab drains a little HP from a target, and ShadowSphere is just an attack spell.

The decent spell is ShadowServant, which summons a shadow double of the caster. The shadow can absorb one hit (like MirrorShade), but if it lasts until the caster's next turn, it will automatically perform the same action they do. Use a sword, martial arts, gun, or mystic weapon technique, and the shadow hits with it too. Cast an attack spell, and it's doubled. Cast a healing spell, and it's doubled. Cast a buff spell, and it probably doesn't stack with itself. Oh well.

In Asellus' game I had Mesarthim use LifeRain while ShadowServant was active. It restored double her maximum HP to everyone in the party and sapped two of her LP -- downsides are also doubled, so some caution is necessary. Some moves don't double at all, the same battle saw ShadowServant -> Tower hit only once.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:11:14 AM
I also did the Rune quest, but having covered all of that in Emelia's scenario I'm not going to go into more detail than that. Once you complete either Light/Shadow and either Arcane/Rune, you can ask Rei in Devin about Space magic or Virgil in Mosperiburg about Time magic.

And we've done the Space magic quest in Riki's scenario, so...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3553.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3555.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3557.png)
Teleport out!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3558.png)
We find ourselves in a realm with clock-and-hourglass decor, with giant zodiac symbols on the ground. Nothing moves, and there's no background music.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3559.png)
Not even the flames on the giant candles burn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3560.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3561.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3562.png)
The way forward is blocked.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:15:21 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3564.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3566.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3567.png)
If I wanted to, I suppose I could buy some Mystic spells here, but meh. Nobody has the Gift for them, the ones for sale aren't all that useful, and my only dedicated spellcaster -- Rouge -- would have to give up his fully-developed Realm magic for it. Nope!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3568.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3569.png)
Since I'm counting on Lute never being used again, I actually take a gamble here: I buy the Asura, the Tao-TiehPattern, and the SandVessel from Gozarus. Lute's maximum LP is now... four. That'd be near-suicidal if he were in the active party, but...

Well, anyway. We escape Facinaturu via the guy in the bar who snuck in his ship, return to Mosperiburg, have Virgil send us back to Time Lord's realm...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3570.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3571.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3572.png)
As advertised, time starts flowing for everything when you restart the hourglass.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:20:54 AM
Melody of Time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR52Wi5H5uw#)
Once you restart the hourglass, you can proceed straight to the end of the dungeon, but doing that means you miss out on the music.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3573.png)
The enemies previously frozen on the zodiac symbols are animate now. They're thematically appropriate for the symbol they're on, too!

Aries: StraySheep
Taurus: Minotaur
Gemini: 2x Rockbaboon
Cancer: Cancermec (duh)
Virgo: PrimaBronza
Libra: FireCrystal, IceCrystal
Scorpio: Scorpion
Aquarius: Genbu
Pisces: 3x Gunfish, Fishman
Saggittarius: MecDOBBY100, MecDOBBY x4
Capricorn: Demongoat
Leo: Sphinx

This has nothing to do with anything, but I thought it was a neat touch. DemonGoat and Minotaur have some semirare monster skills to absorb, if you're into that kind of thing, and Sphinx is still an okay midgame monster form. MecDOBBY100 can be hard to find but don't have any really fantastic downloads.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3575.png)
I'm convinced that the cuckoo in Kamina shades was added just to pop out and scare the bejeezus out of you as you walk by.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3576.png)
The drawbridge, no longer frozen in time, opens for us.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:31:25 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3577.png)
Somebody at Squaresoft in the late 90s had just found out about Ophiuchus and wanted to include a reference to it in as many games as possible. The zodiac is strange and mysterious, so an obscure thirteenth symbol must be even more strange and mysterious!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3578.png)
Whoa, buddy, how was I supposed to know you had a thing f-- oh, clock. With an L! Hahaha never mind.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3579.png)
You have the option of inviting him into your party with the full retinue of Time Magic, or just asking to buy some of the lower-level spells for anyone who wants them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3580.png)
I replace Captain Hamilton with him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3581.png)
Time Magic spells are expensive to cast, but make up some of the most useful spells in the game. DelayOrder lowers the target's Quickness, making it act later in the turn. This isn't as useless as it sounds, because TimeLeap stuns an enemy and never misses. You can use it on bosses! If TimeLord is faster than his target, he can effectively shut them down so they never move while everyone else pounds on them.

Zozma's SharpPain always goes first and hits all enemies but often misses, TimeLord's TimeLeap has no priority and hits one target but never misses. It's kind of a wash.

TimeTwister is a better version of the Shadow magic ShadowServant, doubling whatever it is the target does. I'm pretty sure it targets anyone in the party, too, not just the caster. TimeEclipse and ChaosStream are attack spells; the first tries to damage and petrify the target, the latter damages all enemies and inflicts random status ailments.

OverDrive is the pinnacle of Time Magic: the caster temporarily moves at "infinite" speed, giving them seven additional turns before anyone else can move. At the end of that state, their JP is set to 0. Still, not too shabby!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:42:28 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3582.png)
This is Kyo.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3583.png)
This is the Kyo doujou.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3584.png)
It's where you get Mind magic. I keep forgetting it's even here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3585.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3586.png)
Mystics can't learn Mind magic for whatever reason, even though its opposite -- Evil magic -- is only practiced by one of them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3587.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3588.png)
The test for Mind magic is for each party member to complete on their own. It's a one-on-one battle with a single monster. If you win, you get the gift. If you don't, you don't.

And hey, Rouge never got a chance to learn it! What a gyp.

Maybe he's not human! (We'll find out what the deal is later.)

LifeWave, MindHeal, and Spellbound are available for sale for anyone without the gift. LifeWave is a single-target attack spell, MindHeal restores the caster's HP to full, and Spellbound paralyzes a target. The Gift-only spells are Awakening, which increases your stats but doubles WP/JP cost of skills, and Evaporate, which makes the caster vanish so they can't be targeted by attacks. Like Invisibility in Dungeons and Dragons, it wears off when the caster attacks or is targeted by anything, but I guess it's a useful defensive spell if you plan on being party healer/buffer for a few turns.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 06:53:52 AM
Miscellaneous other:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3598.png)
If you take the trapped treasure in Owmi mansion while the DevilSquid is still there (by either coming out of Mesarthim's room to the left, or up from the basement depths), the DevilSquid will laugh at you as you fall.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3590.png)
When you do the Grail quest, Lute almost immediately forgets about what you're doing in favor of scoring free booze.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3591.png)
Hidden in Wakatu is the Blade Chamber, home of Wakatu's Blade God.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3592.png)
In most circumstances, that's all. But if Gen is strong enough, there's a flash, and treasure appears!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3594.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3595.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3596.png)
Attack power 55 katana. Has an innate skill called "MillionDollers", spelled like that in-game, that drops a bunch of meteors on the enemy party. I have no idea why it's called that, but I assume it's some hilarious translation mix-up.

It's possible to get multiple CometBlades, if you're into that kind of thing. Equip a CometBlade on Rouge and go to the Magic Kingdom. Rouge will leave the party, taking the sword with him. Return to Wakatu and the game will check to see if you have a CometBlade in your inventory. You don't! You get another one. Recruit Rouge in Devin, give him the second CometBlade too, go to the Magic Kingdom, return to Wakatu...

MillionDollers is an okay attack move but I still don't know why you'd go through all that trouble to get more than one mediocre katana.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 09:45:16 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3599.png)
I fought the EarthDragon. Two things: Fei-On sparked BabelCrumble here on a lucky hit, finishing the last skill he needed for the DSC. Also, EarthDragon never got to move, not even once.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3600.png)
See, TimeLord picked up a bunch of Suzaku here in the Bio Research Lab, because why wouldn't he? His base Quickness is now 88, so not much is going to be moving before him. If I'm fighting a single enemy and TimeLord has the 3 JP needed to cast TimeLeap, the enemy loses its turn.

It's not even remotely fair, honestly.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3602.png)
But EarthDragon was just a trial run.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3604.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3606.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3608.png)
Yep, Mondo led the raid on Wakatu that turned it into a literal ghost town so he could build his secret military base there.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3609.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3610.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3611.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 09:48:00 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3613.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3616.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3619.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3622.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3625.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3626.png)
The Victoria is awfully tiny compared to that Trinity ship.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3629.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3633.png)
W-we're broadsiding them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3634.png)
Wow, what an amazing battle! I'm in awe! I mean, wow, think of how much time and money it would have spent to actually animate all of that!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 09:50:33 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3637.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3638.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3639.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3641.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3642.png)
And just like that, you're in Mondo's base.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3643.png)
As final dungeons go it's about as interesting as Emelia's. You take a freight elevator down, get off, explore until you find a treasure chest that quite unexplainedly lets the elevator go deeper into the base, and then... you take the elevator deeper into the base.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3644.png)
There's a miniboss near the bottom but you can quite literally walk around him.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 09:54:49 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3645.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3646.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3647.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3649.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3651.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3652.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3653.png)
You actually get Mondo to be the dick everyone says he is just before you fight him!

In the SaGa Frontier manga, Lute was the last to complete his quest, because he was too busy dicking around helping the seven other protagonists (seven because Fuse got his time to shine in the manga). But in return, everybody -- everybody -- helped Lute fight off Mondo's robot, the Spriggan.

Even Slime, that worthless protoplasm that automatically oozes his way into your party when you get the Vitality Rune, had a major role in the fight with Mondo. Slime sat on top of the cockpit and oozed acid, burning Mondo badly enough that it interfered with his control over the Spriggan.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 10:04:31 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3654.png)
In this version, not even Lute lifts a finger to help.

Last Battle ~ Lute (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9FvdGv7_0A#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3655.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3656.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3658.png)
The Light magic spell LightSword equips the caster with... well, a LightSword. It's the most powerful sword in the game, at attack power 80. More importantly, it also gives the user +10 to all stats, raising TimeLord's Quickness to 98 (and his defenses a bit, whynot). Someone with an active LightSword gets a chance to use the sword skill Deflect, even if they don't know it, so that's nice too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3659.png)
No matter how many times I watch it, having Fei-On toss around this giant robot with the DSC is always funny. The GiantSwing -> BabelCrumble finisher is particularly great, since he grabs it by the leg, swings it around in a circle a dozen times, flings it into the air, leaps after it, grabs on, flips the whole thing over, and smashes it into the ground.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3660.png)
The Spriggan has five forms. Once you do about 20,000 damage to it, some parts fall off and a crane carries the wreckage away, remodeling the functional parts into something else.

What's the difference between each phase?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3664.png)
I have no idea.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3665.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3667.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3668.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3672.png)
Think it looks like this battle is going fast because all you're seeing is screenshots? That has nothing to do with it! Each form lasts exactly one round. TimeLord uses TimeLeap to make sure the Spriggan never moves. Gen and T260 combo TripleThrust and CombatMastery/PluralSlash, Fei-On uses the DSC, and Rouge hits it with VermillionSand twice thanks to ShadowServant. 20,000 HP of damage output every turn is a lowball estimate.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3673.png)
Ha ha! Still funny.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 10:07:00 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3674.png)
IronPole is a high-priority move that triggers at the start of the turn, so TimeLord can't stop it with TimeLeap.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3675.png)
That'll slow me down a little, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3677.png)
Not much, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3679.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3680.png)
Even in its final form, TimeLord still moves faster and can shut it down.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3681.png)
The last form is super-tough, though! It lasted two turns.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3683.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 10:16:41 AM
Saga Frontier - Standard Yorkland Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTY3U1XEpTI#noexternalembed)
This isn't the song that plays here -- it actually never plays in the game at all. But it's on the OST, and since it's called "Standard Yorkland Song", it was probably supposed to either play now or as typical Yorkland background music instead of Dear My Country.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3684.png)
Ma: Sir? If you mean my stupid son, no he hasn't.
Trinity mook: Hmm... if he's not here, where might I find him?
Ma: If you don't mind, would you get out of my house?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3689.png)
Lute: Ma!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3691.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3692.png)
Ma: So you've finally become useful to society.
Lute: Are you going out, Ma?
Ma: I am going to the cemetary to tell your dad a friend of his just died. Although I'm pretty sure they're already talking to each other right now.
Lute: He was dad's best friend?
Ma: Yes. So much so that even I got jealous of them sometimes.

Yep. Lute's dad was one of the friends Mondo was talking about when he gave Emelia the Angel Broach.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3699.png)
Trinity mook: Sir, please return to our emergency meeting immediately. Trinity's future depends on you.
Lute: Yipes, they've found me!
Ma: Wha? Lute! If they're depending on you, this must be the end of the world.
Lute: You said it, Ma. Thanks for the advice.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3705.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3706.png)
You break Trinity, you buy it. Lute's in charge now, reluctant as he is. So the thousands of years Trinity ruled over the regions with an iron fist wallet are coming to an end.

Well, not explicitly. But would you trust that moron with the keys to a multiregional conglomerate so powerful they set the currency standard?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 10:18:11 AM
Also, since the game never tells you: the Spriggan robot was powered by the Cube reactor. It was never in Yorkland; that was a trap Mondo set for Joker, using Emelia as both the bait and the trap itself.

Anyway, now I've covered all the kinds of magic the game lets characters learn, including all of the single-user stuff. So what combination of schools would you like to see in the next scenario? Polling is open! (You can choose multiple options in this poll, if you feel strongly enough to do so. Voting for two opposing schools doesn't make much sense, though.)

A rundown:
Light: Useful spells include StarlightHeal, the only targeted healing spell in the game; FlashFlood, which is basically X-Zone from Final Fantasy; MegaWindblast, a powerful attack against all enemies; and LightSword, which turns even a dedicated spellcaster into a decent swordsman.

Shadow: Kind of dumb except for ShadowServant, which makes up for the rest.

Rune: Mostly buff spells, like VictoryRune's attack power increase, VitalityRune's regeneration, and FreedomRune's protection from ailments. Lacks any direct-damage spells.

Arcane: Notable spells include Saber, a cheap single-target attack; Grail, which removes all status ailments from a target; and Tower, which converts every JP the caster has into killin'.

Time: You really don't need anything to win the game beyond TimeLeap, adequate Quickness to make it work for you, and enough other party members to dedicate one caster to shutting down your enemy. OverDrive is pretty nice too. It's the most useful school of magic in the game, which is only fitting if you consider that you have to sacrifice an LP to get the SandVessel in order to learn it.

Space: The "don't break the game" option. ReverseGravity and VaporBlast do more damage than other spells of the JP cost, but setting/unsetting Photosynthesis and Deathsynthesis regeneration is only useful in niche circumstances (like I illustrated at the end of Riki's scenario) and I've never found I needed to cast Vortex. So eh.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 11:25:30 AM
Context to the poll? Well, okay.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3708.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3709.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3710.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3711.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3712.png)
After careful examination, we unanimously decided to award the title of Master Magician to Blue. Blue, please step forward!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3715.png)
According to custom, you are hereby granted to right to leave the kingdom and travel to outer regions. Your first duty is to travel the outer regions learning all types of magic, refining your art to a higher level. You are allowed to use any means necessary for this purpose. In addition, you must, according to custom, pay your respects to the school master before your departure.

Or I would, if that scene hadn't been left on the cutting-room floor.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3721.png)
But, living in your brother's shadow, you will never be a true magician. Your destiny leads you. This very day in another place, your brother Rouge also attends his graduation. Our kingdom does not need two incomplete magicians. We need a superior one. And that, we believe, is you.

Now go and discover magic's most profound secret, acquire its power, and...


(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3726.png)
Dramatic chord!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 11:29:36 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3727.png)
This, despite all appearances, is the Region Map. It's an item that Blue starts his quest with, allowing you to instantly warp to any region you've been to before. The only choices available now are Luminous and Devin; the Magic Kingdom isn't on the list because you're not allowed to return until you've mastered magic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3729.png)
Another concept that wasn't included in the game is that you have first pick of Light/Shadow or Rune/Arcane magic. While you're off getting one of those, Rouge chooses one of the schools from the other set. So if you pick Light or Shadow, Rouge takes Rune or Arcane. If you pick Rune or Arcane, Rouge takes Light or Shadow. And since you can't take something Rouge already has, that limits your options.

This isn't the case in the final game; you can do whatever you want. This warning is useless.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3730.png)
But I bet I can get an edge on Rouge by learning a magic school he can't possibly have the opposite to! What's he going to do, find Zozma and take lessons? Ha!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3732.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3733.png)
What does that even aw man I thought I had a good trump card ::(:
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 11:38:07 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3734.png)
Blue, being Rouge's twin, is exactly like him in stat growth and magic talent and so on. Being from the Magic Kingdom, he has the gift for Realm magic -- the one kind of magic Blue and Rouge are allowed to have in common.

EnergyChain is a single-target attack; it does more damage and has a chance to cause paralysis if the caster's Intelligence is above 40 or so. Implosion is another single-target damage spell, but sometimes is causes instant death instead. PsychoArmor increases Vitality and Psychic of the target. Gate lets you use the Region Map -- it doesn't need to be equipped at all but it's good if you know only five other spells and want to have Magic Mastery from your skill list.

The other Realm spells are PsychicPrison and VermillionSand. VermillionSand is an attack on all enemies. PsychicPrison traps an enemy in a force cage. If the enemy then casts a spell, PsychicPrison cancels that spell and hits the enemy with a backfire for lots of damage.

So if you wanted to vote for, say, Arcane over Rune because it has attack spells? Don't bother. Blue comes with plenty on his own.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 25, 2013, 11:44:36 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3736.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3737.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3745.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3747.png)
I'm building a magician party, so I take the people with the best Intelligence growth I can find. I mistake Fuse for one of them, because I thought he and Roufas were more alike than they actually are. Oh well.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3755.png)
It's... not what I was hoping for. On the magic-learning scale, Blue's an 8 and Liza, Mei-Ling, and Roufas are all 6. After those are accounted for, the next one down the list that I can get is actually... well, it's Fuse. Or Lute. Both of them are only 2, though, so I'm putting the robot in my party until I figure out what to do with everybody.

Maybe I'll pick up a Mystic instead. I can get Dr. Nusakan, Silence, or Mesarthim as Blue. They're lousy at learning spells but Mystics make good casters. I still just plain like Dr. Nusakan, and Mesarthim might be a good choice if I have Blue go for Arcane magic because she starts with the gift for Rune magic instead, giving me some flexibility.

I can only set up one poll, though, so cast your vote for which magic schools to pursue, and if you feel strongly in favor of one character or another for the party, vote for those in-thread. (Remember, if you want Silence, you should also vote for Shadow magic, since that's how you get him.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: patito on March 25, 2013, 11:51:10 AM
Man, we just saw time magic, plus it would make things too easy on you, and we can't have that. I can almost guess the plot twist already too.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: TA on March 25, 2013, 01:18:09 PM
I'm in favor of pairing Time and Rune, for the brokenness you get out of that pairing.  If you're gonna do a magic party, might as well go all-out abuse.

[spoiler]Not that it'll matter what you pick.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on March 25, 2013, 03:37:52 PM
Time magic leads to quicker fights leads to quicker updates and as such is the only decision I feel strongly about.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 25, 2013, 06:50:01 PM
using Emelia as both the bait and the trap itself.

Woah woah woah what did I miss?

Also, I fixed the poll for you.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 26, 2013, 12:56:00 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3756.png)
As usual, the Luminous Labyrinth takes five minutes, tops.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3757.png)
End of chapter!

No, really.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 26, 2013, 12:58:32 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3758.png)
Dr. Nusakan: The Hide Rune is inscribed on an underground stone. Our town depends on that stone. Confusion and poverty in our town are on the rise. I think something terrible has happened to the stone. If you're going after the rune stone, let me go too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3766.png)
Nusakan starts with some Shadow magic, so we head back to Luminous to get him the Gift before proceeding.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3768.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3771.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3773.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3775.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3777.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3778.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3779.png)
Super fast forward!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 26, 2013, 01:02:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3781.png)
Blue's quest is slightly different here, you see, because Blue is an asshole. When Nomad's group attacks the passengers after they're swallowed by Tanzer, most scenarios have a scripted fight where you drive them off. Lute talks them out of it. Blue just... ignores them.

Then when you get to Fei-On's place and he asks for help against Nomad, Blue responds "I'm just here for the Vitality Rune." Fei-On will still show you where it is, but does not join the party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3782.png)
You can always swing by Nomad's in any scenario, if you take the right wrong turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3785.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3786.png)
I'm pretty sure Blue is the only character who can get the "received the gift" scene in Tanzer. Everyone else who finds a rune will have their next interregional ship swallowed by Tanzer. Blue doesn't have to take ships, he has a RegionMap. In fact, it took me a second to realize the Vitality Rune was the one I was missing. I couldn't remember which one could possibly be fourth after I'd gotten Victory, Hide, and Freedom.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3788.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3789.png)
Blue out. Dude ain't give a damn.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 26, 2013, 01:04:12 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3791.png)
Investigate hourglass, get SandVessel, restart hourglass, yeah yeah.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3792.png)
Need to grind a bit more before I go through this door, though. See, Time Magic is so powerful that only one person in the universe can have the Gift for it...
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:14:06 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3793.png)
"Defeat" here, in a "we're really used to working with Nintendo" sort of turn, means "murder in cold blood".

Time Lord: All right. Do your worst.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3796.png)
I forgot Time Lord has Mystic magic too, and always opens the fight with GlassShield. GlassShield sets up a barrier that explodes in the face of anyone who next attacks the caster, and he's the only target, so...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3797.png)
Liza's SkyTwister becomes a fatal mistake. Not that you can tell, due to camera weirdness.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3798.png)
Anyway, Blue has some Realm magic at his disposal. Remember how I said PsychicPrison only fires when the imprisoned casts a spell from one of the traditional schools, making it nearly-worthless because almost no enemies do that?

Guess what TimeLord does.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3799.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3800.png)
It doesn't do much damage, but damned if it doesn't shut TimeLord right down.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3805.png)
Eventually, TimeLord brings out the big guns. He gets seven turns to whoop your ass before you can act again when he casts OverDri--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3806.png)
Heh heh heh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3807.png)
I'm pretty sure shutting down OverDrive with PsychicPrison also skips the "drains all your JP" part, but the AI might not know that. TimeLord switches to his "beat you down with a mace" pose to indicate that he's done casting and is about to start swingin'.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3808.png)
He uses Mystic skills, of course. Including PsyNet.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3809.png)
Which is no good.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3810.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3811.png)
Blue's party prevails nonetheless, in a perfectly-balanced five-on-one fair fight.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:17:36 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3812.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3813.png)
I don't need to review this, do I? Time Magic is game-breaking stuff. By defeating TimeLord, Blue learns all of it automatically. No need to grind further!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3814.png)
Blue: ...to face Rouge.

And it's good that there's no grinding to do, because leaving the area means you go straight to the wizards' duel!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3816.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3817.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3818.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:29:17 PM
Destiny ~ A Law (Ending ~ Blue) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X4gCAGXR30#)
Another piece of music on the OST but not in the game itself, and I'm putting it here because it was intended for Blue's campaign but got axed along with... most of Blue's campaign. And it's better than the generic "You are in a fight!" theme that plays during the climactic duel with Rouge.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3820.png)
At the beginning of every turn or two in this fight, the Magisphere changes. When this happens, all spells not of the school matching the Magisphere have their damage (or healing) drastically reduced. Sometimes you get lucky and get a school you know. Sometimes you get unlucky and it's a school Rouge knows. Sometimes... sometimes it's Mind, or Evil, or something that neither mage can possibly know, so they end up throwing piddly spells at each other until the tide turns one way or another.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3821.png)
Rouge always starts the fight by giving Blue a taste of his own Lord-smashing medicine.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3823.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3827.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3840.png)
Rouge knows PowerGrab and Saber and ReverseGravity -- Shadow, Arcane, and Space -- all the schools Blue doesn't know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3841.png)
Why? Because fuck you, that's why. (Also the MagiSphere was Mind or something so why bother doing anything productive?)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3839.png)
Not covered by the Magisphere? Anything not magical. In a duel where the two combatants are capable of warping time and space and blasting each other with radiant heat and pure entropy, the easiest way to win is to just bring a gun and shoot the other guy. Here Blue socks Rouge in the jaw.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3843.png)
When either wizard runs out of HP, they lose LP as normal. Then Reviva, a heretofore unseen spell effect, puts them back on their feet with full HP to keep fighting. First to 0 LP loses.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3849.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3850.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:32:37 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3851.png)
Welp, that's that. Roll credits.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3857.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3859.png)
Rouge leaps into the foreground!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3862.png)
Rouge: When Blue beat me, he absorbed my being.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3866.png)
Rouge: Why did they deceive me about my identity? I must go to the Magic Kingdom to find out.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3869.png)
Sure enough, the Magic Kingdom is there on the RegionMap.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3870.png)
Rouge's physical stats are about the same as he would be starting out, and his WP is 0, but check those mental stats and JP! (Blue's Intelligence, Willpower, Psychic, and JP double for whoever wins the duel, regardless of who it is.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: patito on March 27, 2013, 06:40:23 PM
Oh hey, hi there obvious twist.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:40:27 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3872.png)
Well, let's do that again. This time in the interests of winning quickly, I just take TwoGun, BoundShot, and a couple LethalGuns. Rouge starts with PsychicPrison as usual and Blue responds by ricocheting two bullets into his face.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3873.png)
Rouge scuffles back! Well... god bless 'im, he's trying.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3874.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3875.png)
End result is similar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3876.png)
Only if Blue wins, he keeps any WP and non-magic skills you bothered to learn. This is somewhat compelling because I gave Blue the whole retinue of gun skills, but...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3877.png)
Since he now knows every spell of the Light, Shadow, Space, Time, Realm, Arcane, and Rune spell schools?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/forumresources/aintnobody.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3878.png)
Sacrifice is the same as Mesarthim's LifeRain. Reviva automatically brings back a defeated character with full HP.

So as we've seen, Rouge is a more outgoing, friendly personality. Blue is a dick and a half. Who is the dominant side for the rest of the game?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 06:46:20 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3849.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3874.png)

From the SaGa manga, Rouge wins the wizard duel.

This LP actually played out kind of canonically, with Rouge getting Space magic. See, Kylin created his Paradise to give orphaned children a place to go. If Blue takes Space magic by killing Kylin, he doesn't bother maintaining whatever magic power is needed to keep Paradise in existence. Yes, Blue kills off dozens of orphaned children because he can't be arsed to evacuate them to a different region before he collapses the one they're in. Blue is a dick.

In the manga, Rouge somehow talks Kylin out of giving up his power, or part of it, or something, so that Rouge can still win the wizards' duel without destroying Paradise. Orphans not casually murdered, power of friendship wins the wizards' duel, we're off to Magic Kingdom to see what up.

Choice is yours, anyway.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 27, 2013, 08:03:19 PM
Helps if you unlock voting.  (Also helps if you limit it to 1 choice, but my Helpful Points just ran out.)

I picked the scenario where you get your ass whooped.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 27, 2013, 08:11:52 PM
Welp, that's what I get for editing the existing poll instead of removing the locked one and starting anew.

Technically both scenarios have the protagonist getting his ass whooped.

Technically.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on March 27, 2013, 08:46:57 PM
Stop hitting yourself!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:03:46 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3880.png)
Wow. Um. Magic Kingdom is in rough shape.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3881.png)
Viable question!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3882.png)
You can't go into any ruined buildings or leave the screen (except via the RegionMap), so you eventually need to find this hole that's been blasted open.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3883.png)
It's full of the Magic Kingdom citizens' corpses.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3884.png)
Mage: Demons came up from underground... Someone broke the seal...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3886.png)

He dead.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3887.png)

I say you he dead.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:07:54 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3890.png)
Goddess statues. Squaresoft had a thing for 'em.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3892.png)
You can climb on them if you want.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3894.png)
Rouge is a bit miffed at the goddesses for not protecting the kingdom, I guess.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3898.png)
Maybe they should've had a goddess of fighting of demon hordes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3899.png)
It can't not be a clue!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3895.png)
Under the statues you find a few demons crowded around an altar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3897.png)
After fighting the monsters there's a "puzzle" to solve -- using the center-right-left bit from before -- that gives you a NornsBangle. Since everyone's in PoweredSuits and thus can't wear gauntlets, it doesn't do me any good.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:15:48 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3900.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3901.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3902.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3903.png)
Except the NornsBangle opens up this passage in the statue's... um, forehead. It's not even worth asking why or how, it's SaGa logic.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3904.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3905.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3906.png)
Rouge: Why... All this magic equipment.
Mage on the Left: So, you're the chosen one? Are you Blue... or Rouge?
Rouge: Yes, I mean no. I am both Blue and Rouge. At the same time I am neither. Why did you try to make me kill myself?
Mage on the Right: You've seen the destruction in the Magic Kingdom. The seal has been broken and these demons have come to devour us.
On the Left: To protect our kingdom, we needed a powerful magician. One who could even defeat himself.
Rouge: And that's why you made me fight myself?!

Who came up with this plan, Roufas?

On the Right: The kingdom's existence is much more important than one magician's life. We are all born to protect our native soil from outside menaces.

Yeah, sounds like Roufas. Hey, do you guys know what Cube is?

Rouge: That's the most selfish thing I've ever heard. I'm not willing to sacrifice myself or anyone else for this kingdom. It's simply wrong.

And then... monsters fall from above! Dammit Rouge, why didn't you close the door on your way in? Now everyone knows where the goddess statue forehead magic baby incubator lab is!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3921.png)
We fight them off, but not before...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3922.png)
Rouge: Hey, get a grip! You can't just leave me like this!!
Rouge: What should I do...?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3926.png)
Mage on the Right: You must go down to hell to fight the demons... You must...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3929.png)
Welp, no more reason to hang around, then.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:21:29 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3931.png)
Dying Mage: You must be Blue or Rouge...
Rouge: Yes, I am.
Dying Mage: There's still hope for the kingdom. I must warn you, once you enter, you can't get out until you beat the last demon. And don't use Gate magic there. You'll be cast away into the eternal oblivion.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3938.png)
Yep, it's the point of no return. I don't know why this guy offers to keep an eye on your items; I think he takes the RegionMap away from you if you agree to go inside, but he gives you a SanctuaryStone so it works out okay.

My only regret is that Liza never learned Sliding, but oh well. This quest has gone on long enough.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3939.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3941.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3942.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3943.png)
This is...

uh...

...not what I was expecting out of "hell".
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:24:16 PM
So what's the deal? A long time ago, a powerful magician wished for heaven... but he wished on the Rings of Power. Since the Rings have a habit of corrupting wishes, what he got looked like a paradise, but was just a shinier, pastel version of... well, hell itself.

The angels flitting around are random encounters, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3945.png)
It's not a long dungeon.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3946.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3947.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3948.png)
It's... I guess "hatching" would be the right word...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3949.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3950.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:29:33 PM
Last Battle ~ Blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAGhP8twkAM#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3953.png)
In the "Hell" dungeon, there's an environmental status constantly in effect that translates more or less to "Divine Peace", although I've seen "Heavenly Peace" too. It divides all damage by four, making even powerful skills and techniques nigh-useless. You break divine peace by using magic. Good thing I built a magician party. Here Rouge uses an Implosion spell to break the divine peace for the Hell's Lord battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3954.png)
Next turn...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3955.png)
Perhaps I should say... turns.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3956.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3957.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3958.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3959.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3960.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3961.png)

And for a finale...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3962.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3963.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3964.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3965.png)
Rouge locks Hell's Lord into stasis with him as Overdrive wears off. Rouge and Hell's Lord can't move or be damaged while in stasis, and stasis lasts for several turns depending on Rouge's JP when he cast the Stasis Rune spell. It'll give Roufas, Liza, Mei-Ling, and Nusakan several turns to set up LightSwords, VitalityRunes, VictoryRunes, MirrorShades, ShadowServants, and so on.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:33:07 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3966.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3967.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3968.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3969.png)
Hey! No fair!

Hell's Lord has a "heaven" form, as previous, and a "hell" form, as seen here. Apparently all those Implosions did enough damage that he got a scripted change into his "hell" form, which broke his Stasis status. Rouge is still locked down, though. So uh... huh.

Transforming into "hell" form breaks the divine peace, if you hadn't already.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3970.png)
So rather than several turns of buffing, the four unfrozen party members have to fight.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3971.png)
Sometimes Hell's Lord will still try to target Rouge, and unless it's AoE that means a wasted turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3972.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3973.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3974.png)
MAKE UP YOUR MIND

Transforming back into "heaven" form restores divine peace.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:36:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3975.png)
Sabers, named thus despite obviously being a sweeping laser curtain, is Hell's Lord's signature move. It hurts. A lot. More than 3Mistresses, honestly.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3977.png)
And he did it twice in a row.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3978.png)
Only Mei-Ling got healed between Sabers, so I'm in a tight spot here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3979.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3980.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:42:09 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3981.png)
FINALLY

I like the idea of Rouge pinning down Hell's Lord with his spell exploit, then regaining consciousness to find he's been transported to a hellish landscape, with his enemy very much alive and active, and all his companions bleeding out onto the brimstone. Kind of the story of his life, really, with what happened to his home region and all.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3983.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3984.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3985.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3987.png)
So here's the neat thing about using StasisRune as your last spell in OverDrive: once Stasis wears off, you're stuck in OverDrive -- Rouge gets eight actions a turn for the rest of the battle now. Those three screencaps? All one turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3988.png)
So the rest of the fight is Rouge shutting down Hell's Lord with TimeLeap -- oh you better believe I'm cheesing this battle after he broke my Stasis rune! -- then nailing him with direct damage spells over and over.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3990.png)
Everybody join in! MegaWindBlast and BoundShot!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3991.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:43:26 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3992.png)

That's it. The end.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:43:50 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3994.png)

No, really. That's it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:44:08 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3995.png)

I'm serious.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:48:13 PM
So yeah. Blue's scenario doesn't really end. It just... stops. Right after an attack, but before the damage numbers come up, the screen just says "The End" and boots you out. I seem to remember on the actual PlayStation that the screen faded to grayscale before "The End" appeared, so the black screen might be a graphic glitch.

Oh well.

The idea is... well, the Magic Kingdom mages lied to Blouge again. He's never coming back from hell, will never restore their kingdom, will never protect the children in the goddess statue forehead magic baby incubator lab. By cutting out partway through the fight, the implication is that Blouge is stuck fighting Hell's Lord...

Forever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Q7b-vHY3Q#)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 30, 2013, 12:55:41 PM
In the manga, Rouge (who won the wizards' duel, remember) pins down Hell's Lord somehow and is called back from hell by the memories of all the good friends he made while helping others in their quests as he gathered magic for himself.

So had Blue won the duel, he might have been stuck there. Blue doesn't make friends.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charblue.jpg)
Blue: stuck in hell!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charrouge.jpg)
Rouge: doin' okay!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidblue.jpg)
Blue: alternate style, still stuck in hell!

And... that's all the dramatis personae available in Blue's campaign.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_wizardsduel.jpg)


I forgot to do Lute's, though, so:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidlute.jpg)
Huh, looks like I'm missing Lute's "normal art style" shot. Maybe he and Mesarthim are off together doing unspeakable things.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charhamilton.jpg)
Hamilton: Better at everything than Lute, and has a bitchin' pirate ship!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/chartimelord.jpg)
Time Lord: can be in lots of campaigns, but had his biggest role in Lute's, so he goes here.

(http://intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_nonsensemontage2.jpg)
Here, have a ridiculous montage of Blue, Lute, and Riki. Of all of them, I'd say my favorite character is...

uh...

The sheep in front, there.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: patito on March 30, 2013, 02:38:57 PM
See, you should have gone the asshole with a gun path, I bet hell's lord is also not immune to that.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 01:56:37 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3996.png)
So... ya wanna see the scenario that's closest to a completed game? The one that hints most at what SaGa Frontier scenarios were intended to be before they got slashed down to (in some cases literally) nothing?

Red's scenario is the most complete.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3997.png)
The background zooms by, but never changes beyond the short loop. You get the impression Red is going way too fast around a really big roundabout.

Also, Red drives on the right, like in the USA. Odd stylistic choice for a game with so many Japanese elements. Maybe Shrike is another version of Eagleland, an America-via-Japanese-cultural-osmosis?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf3998.png)
Red: Dad, why are you so interested in Dr. Klein?
Dr. Okonogi: We studied together. He became obsessed with strange and dangerous experiments for a secret organization. I couldn't stop him and he was eventually expelled. I don't want him to commit any more crimes. Even in his madness, I still consider him a friend.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4003.png)
And in a flash, a giant object lands on the hood of Red's car as the screen fades out.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 01:59:46 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4004.png)
You lose. Game over.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4005.png)
Nah, I kid. "Press A to not die" events aren't going to be invented for a few more years yet.

Red: Dad! Damn that BlackX...

For the record, that's not pronounced "Black Ecks". It's "Black Cross". I know, I know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4008.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4010.png)
For all the attention this is given, nobody ever says what it is. I guess it's the Okonogi household, but from the context of the conversation before, you wouldn't expect Okonogi and Red to have been driving home.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4011.png)
When the screen pans back down, we find that several ne'er-do-wells have appeared in front of Red while he was gawping at his house(?) burning down.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4012.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:02:01 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4013.png)
That is a very large man with very sharp cybernetic arms.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4014.png)
Ow, my hit points!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4015.png)
You can learn his name before you're KOed, but...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4016.png)
The fight is basically unwinnable.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4017.png)
Pow! Someone flies in from offscreen to lens-flare kick Shuzer right in the beanbag.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4018.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4021.png)
Whoever this Alkarl guy is, he has a lot of unique skills.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:03:17 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4022.png)
You get to play around with a few of them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4023.png)
Shuzer launches his arms off his body...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4024.png)
And they fly around, tearing into this Alkarl fellow.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4025.png)
Alkarl is largely unfazed, however.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4026.png)
And Shuzer is forced to flee.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:07:36 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4028.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4029.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4031.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4032.png)
Red: What do you think you're doin' dressin' me up like you?
Alkarl: It was the only way to save your life. I had to make you a hero.

I'll have the Italian cold cuts, with oil and vineg-- oh, not that kind of hero.

Alkarl: I didn't have time to see if you were fit to become one. Well, from now on you're 'Alkaiser' the hero. But you must also follow the hero's code of honor. If you do anything unworthy of it, you'll be eliminated. And if your true identity is ever revealed, your memory will be erased.
Red as Alkaiser: A hero? You made me strong?
Alkarl: Heroes must only use their power for truth and justice.
Alkaiser: I'm ready to kick some BlackX butt!
Alkarl: Your power isn't for personal revenge. Use your power for anything but a just cause... and you're dead.

Conveniently, a just cause and personal revenge are the same thing when Red's talking about BlackX.

Alkaiser: I would've died anyway. I've got to get BlackX!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:11:31 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4047.png)
Engineer: You're getting the hang of it. ...What?
Red: Why are you complimenting me? What's going on?
Engineer: When you do good, I'll tell you. Now let's take a break, there's still some time before we land.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4056.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4057.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4058.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:19:06 PM
SaGa Frontier - Theme of the Cygnus [Extended w/ DL Link] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRMLZ7Z02u4#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4059.png)
Red: Wanna go out with me when we land?
Yuria: Hmm... your treat?
Red: What? I'm just an assistant. You know they don't pay me much.

:hurr:

Yuria: How much do they pay you? They pay me...
Red: I get less...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4067.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4069.png)
You cut a pretty pitiful figure up there. I'd say a -3 on the manliness scale.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4070.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:23:03 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4071.png)
There are dungeons smaller than the Cygnus. Huge!...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4072.png)
Hmm, I thought I smelled stupid from in here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4073.png)
Ren: It'll be a long time before we'll be able to take one.
Emelia: I don't want you working for the Patrol.
Ren: Honey, we've been through all this before.
Emelia: We could spend more time alone if you'd just quit.

Oh, Emelia. He's been a cop longer than he's been your boyfriend. Do you really want him to quit? REALLY want him to? Want him to quit... enough... to kill?!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4078.png)
There's a guy here who'll give you a paycheck each time you come back to the Cygnus from each region. I'm not going to take a shot of every time I do it, but after each mission you get another 200 credits. So hooray for that.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4080.png)
Cockpit, where... not much happens, since Red isn't involved with piloting.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4081.png)
To progress the story, you go back down to engineering.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4082.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4083.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 02:27:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4084.png)
Christ, this place again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4085.png)
To be fair, it's not like your personal vendetta determines where the Cygnus goes. Presumably they have a passenger itinerary and you're just along for the ride as an engineering mook.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4086.png)
But thanks to the law of the conservation of detail, yeah. BlackX drones are here too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4087.png)
BlueFighter: Eaaaghhh
Nearby Bunny: He said it's none of your business.

I guess those masks are really stifling.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4090.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4091.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4092.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4093.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4094.png)
They walk away after you talk to all four of them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4095.png)
Red follows them to the elevators, but right before the door closes he shoves the elevator operator out.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:06:57 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4096.png)
Henshin!

Why? Because he can transform into Alkaiser without anyone knowing, that's why! I mean, unless someone's watching on a security camera and manages to put two and two together, but clearly that is not the case. Red's identity is safe.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4097.png)
Alkaiser: I wasn't expecting to see you here.
Shuzer: Who the hell are you?
Alkaiser: I am Alkaiser! Get ready to face justice!
Shuzer: I don't have time for nut cases.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4102.png)
Shuzer vanishes, and you're swarmed by BlueFighter mooks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4103.png)
So what does transforming into Alkaiser do for Red?

It equips him with the RaySword.

...what, that's it?

Well, it also prevents him from learning new techniques or growing stats after the battle.

Oh. Um, what's a RaySword do?

I'm glad you asked!

The RaySword is attack power 50, which is good but not great since there are swords available for sale with higher attack power than that. But it also gives Red-as-Alkaiser a bonus of 250 HP and +25 to all his stats except Vitality... which gets +75.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4105.png)
It also allows the sparking of Alkaiser-only abilities! Alkarl had several of these, remember? BrightFist is the first. Thanks to a bug in the game, or just straight-up filler, the game checks eighty times if you can learn BrightFist whenever you use a RaySword. The other Alkaiser-only skills get checked once, of course. Needless to say, Sparking BrightFist early in the game is not unusual.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4106.png)
The boss is a mighty Armorpilla, against whom Alkaiser sparks another unique tech.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4107.png)
Most Alkaiser moves are martial arts (despite being Sparked via RaySword) but KaiserWing is actually a sword move.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4108.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4109.png)
There's no shift sequence. You're just suddenly fighting on a giant eyeball.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4110.png)
So I can only use one school of magic? I don't have any magic!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4111.png)
Oh. I'm not sure if 4th Dimension -> Klein Bottle -> Dr. Klein has connections to BlackX is intentional, here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4112.png)
Even with boosted attack power, it's just an Armorpilla.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:10:20 PM
All right! Time to go hunt down Shuzer a--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4113.png)
Aww.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4114.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4115.png)
What do you mean he's broke on assistant engineer pay? It looks like he's slipping on money.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:13:45 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4116.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4117.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4118.png)
Oh yeah. This time we're headed to Shrike obv

Furthermore despite having a bunch of unique skills that can only be used in an alternate form, Red still only has eight skill slots.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4119.png)
Red can change into Alkaiser only in parts of the game where no one can see him. If there are other people in the party, they must be asleep, unconscious, or otherwise disabled before AlkaiserChange becomes an option in Red's menu.

Anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4122.png)
Nnnnnnot... really...? I've been there a dozen times already in other scenarios.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4123.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4124.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4126.png)
Tellingly, Red cannot transform here, because there are children present who would see him do it and ruin his secret identity.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4127.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4128.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:17:48 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4130.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4132.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4133.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4134.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4135.png)
Maybe they should get masks with mouth holes cut out.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4137.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4140.png)
Henshin... a-go-go, baby!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4142.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4144.png)
Thankfully this Sphinx is rather less powerful than the ones you find in random encounters. I can understand how it'd terrify a little girl, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4145.png)
Oh tee oh ache, you do have to fight in the 4th Dimension doohickey for the whole fight, so Alkaiser takes a bit of a beating here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4147.png)
BrightFist sparks Alkaiser techniques a bit more reliably than the plain ol' regular RaySword does, so I tend to use it as my go-to attack for fights like this.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:19:05 PM
Wonder what they wanted out of the tomb? Guess I'd better look around and fi--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4148.png)

...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4149.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:24:33 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4150.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4151.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4152.png)
We go to Manhattan, but... there's actually nothing to do in town. You can't take any other interregional ships in these early parts of Red's scenario.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4153.png)
Yuria: Oh, it's you. Come see what I've found!
Red: Did you see a rat or somethin'?
Yuria: No, you clown! Just come with me.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4157.png)
Red: Hey, you wanna get us busted?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4159.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4160.png)
Red: Looks like someone's getting ready for a war. Since when did we get into the weapons business? What's this mark?
Yuria: It's BUCCI. You know, they design handbags. I was just gonna take a peek and found all this...
Red: Pretty suspicious. Don't tell anyone about this.
Yuria: OK. What about Hawk?
Red: Yeah, go talk to him about this while I check the rest of the cargo.
Yuria: Be careful, Red.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:34:29 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4170.png)
Next stop: The C.T.C. building. No one tells you this, of course, but Manhattan only has three places to go anyway and you can't get into the central building where Leonard's lab is.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4171.png)
Receptionist: Good morning. Do you have an appointment?
Red: Y... yeah. I am Red from the Cygnus.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4176.png)
Security is already closing in. Way to think your cunning plan through all the way, Red.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4177.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4179.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4180.png)
Receptionist: Good morning. What is your name?
Fuse: I'm a patrolman with IRPO. I just have a couple of questions. It won't take much time.

The receptionist rings up to check with (presumably) the President, who consents to let the cops in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4191.png)
It would have been fleshed out more in Fuse's own scenario had he gotten one, but yeah, he's a hopeless flirt.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4193.png)
Red must put up a hell of a struggle for security to have just stood there with him for the entire conversation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4195.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:39:27 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4196.png)
Red asks about the cargo on the Cy--

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4197.png)
...and is cut off by Fuse entering the room for his own interrogation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4198.png)
Fuse: Exactly what is it they do?
Campbell: You came to my company to ask about Shifa? Why don't you contact them?
Fuse: Well, the problem is, it's a fictitious company. You know, it doesn't exist. No one knows how to contact them.
Campbell: That's really odd.
Red: Don't act like you didn't know about it!!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4206.png)
Fuse lays Red flat for speaking out of turn.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4207.png)
Campbell: We'll deal with anyone as long as they pay in advance. Would you like to see our sales records?
Fuse: No need for that. I'll see you around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4213.png)
Red only gets up (and lets rip) after Campbell asks if he's okay.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4215.png)
Fuse: Patience, kid! Now, we just have to wait and see what Campbell does.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4218.png)
Um... sure, yeah.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:43:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4219.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4220.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4221.png)
Captain: Slow down 1 comma. Warn the other ship with an emergency pulse! Whose ship is it?
Pilot: They're not responding to us! They're maintaining their course. This is an emergency! Evacuate all passengers and personnel to the designated areas.
Another pilot: We received a message from the pirate ship. They are demanding we slow the ship down to a minimum speed.
Captain: After slowing down to 5 commas, we could lose them by speeding up to maximum speed.
Third pilot: Ready to execute the sequence. Starting countdown.

An explosion! Again, I can't really post a screenshot of the screen shaking, so take my word for it.

Second Pilot: They're attacking us.
Captain: Stop the sequence. Slow to minimum speed.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4232.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4233.png)
Red: You think they gonna come in here too?
Hawk: You can bet on it. They'll be interested in our engine.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4236.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4237.png)
There you're!

There's a fight! But it's not difficult.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:47:58 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4238.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4239.png)
And then... someone comes up and hits Red from behind.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4240.png)
Oh well, so much for heroics.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4241.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4242.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4243.png)
Fuse pops up from behind Hawk's workstation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4244.png)
And does what might have been a flying two-legged kick at the doughy guy keeping Red and Hawk hostage. You know, like Captain Kirk.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4245.png)
Hawk: Maybe someone told them about the smuggled weapons on the ship.
Fuse: Campbell! I knew she was behind this.
Red: She's using the pirates to get rid of the evidence!
Fuse: That's right. Make sure they don't get into the engine room. They're occupying the bridge. We'd better hurry before they harm the passengers or steal the cargo.
Red: Let's just beat 'em up!
Fuse: You know the ship better than I do. So you get to choose what we're gonna do.

You can try going out the door, but the cargo bay is full of tougher-than-usual enemies. It's not worth the effort to go that way...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4258.png)
...when you can take the same vent Fuse did to get in.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 03:53:09 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4259.png)
Seems a bit silly to have a vent leading straight from the engine room to the restaurant, behind the piano. Seems like that kind of thing would be kind of... loud. Distractingly so.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4260.png)
The pirates have barricaded off the passage upstairs with leftover instruments.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4261.png)
And if you go this way, there are more overpowered enemies pouring out of that room. So take the other hall.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4262.png)
Can't approach the cargo bay from here, nope.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4263.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4264.png)
You dick!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4265.png)
Some rooms have monsters in them, but they're not particularly aggressive.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4266.png)
Beating up one of them opens the hospice, where the Type 4 mec BJ&K will join your party for a while. He's a medical bot, so he can fix up the humans in the party.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4267.png)
I can't make him too overpowered, because the game has been too scripted to allow me to go shopping for much of anything.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 04:04:34 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4268.png)
Sheesh, no wonder Gradius can afford to pay so well. Clearly they've got no shortage of dosh, considering the sort of expansive suite you find Roufas in.

Roufas: Why don't you go get the big bad pirates, so I can enjoy a cigar in private.
Fuse: We're working on it. Will you give us a hand?
Roufas: My friends are being held hostage, too. Allow me to help you.
Red: I didn't say he could join us!
Fuse: He'll come in handy. Just wait and see.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4278.png)
Outside another cabin... well, whoever in there just threw the pirate out of his quarters.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4279.png)
Blue: I don't know you.
Red: But you need a ship to get wherever you're going, right?
Blue: ...I suppose. All right.
Fuse: My name is Fuse. This is Red. What's your name?
Blue: I changed my mind.
Red: Why!?
Blue: I don't like your name.
Fuse: Guess he doesn't like red.

Well, language aside, it is the name of his evil twin.

Okay, Blue is the evil twin. You know what I mean.

Another passenger cabin still:
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4289.png)
Asellus: Guess we just have to wait.
Red: Asellus?
Asellus: Who are you?
Red: I knew it! It's me, Red. Red Okonogi. Remember me?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf1722.png)
Asellus and Dr. Okonogi have met, remember? Stands to reason she'd know his son, too.

Asellus: Okonogi's boy? You got so big. I didn't recognize you. You still have the same eyes.
Red: It's been what, ten years? I can't believe it. You used to play with me when I was a baby. Incredible! You haven't changed a bit apart from the fact you dyed your hair green. Wait a second! You still look like a teenager! How the hell? Hey, you can't be Asellus!
White Rose: Wait. This is Lady Asellus. She was asleep for ten years and hasn't aged a day since.
Red: You really expect me to believe that?
Fuse: We haven't got any time for this nonsense, Red. Hi, my name's Fuse. I'm a Patrolman. Ladies, hang on tight til we get rid of the pirates.
Asellus: Where are you going!?
Red: We've got to get the Cygnus back.
Asellus: I'm coming with you. I'm worried about Red.
Fuse: Ladies, this isn't a movie. It's...

A video game.

Fuse: ...the real thing.
Asellus: I can fight...
Red: All right then. Let's all go together.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4313.png)
White Rose and Asellus temporarily join. Man, can you imagine running into your babysitter ten years later, find out she hasn't aged at all, and oh by the way can now devour souls and cast terrifying phantasmal magic?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 04:12:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4314.png)
There was a miniboss battle here. It's tough if you've only got Red and Fuse to work with, since it calls for help and all the monsters in nearby passenger cabins join the fight. But I have a whole party now, and comboed the miniboss to death before it could do anything noteworthy.

Anyway, Fuse is correct. To go through this door into the cockpit puts you in another boss battle, this one nigh unwinnable -- and if you do win, you get a game over anyway. Oh well.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4315.png)
That's crazy talk, and Red points this out, but Fuse's canon nickname is... well, "Crazy Fuse" so we do it anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4327.png)
There's a short hallway to run through under a very strict time limit. I got blown away for an instant game over reaching for the screengrab key, so no image of it for you.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4328.png)
Goon: Just another minute, boss.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4330.png)
What does that make us? Big damn heroes! Ain't we just.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4333.png)
It's a fight! A fight with a Platyhooks, like in Riki's game when he ran into Nomad!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 04:15:09 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4334.png)
Correction: it was a fight with Platyhooks!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4335.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4336.png)
Assuming you don't instakill the Platyhooks, it runs away partway through the battle. Of course, now the thing is talking from inside Asellus's sword, but whaddyagonnado.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4338.png)
The Platoonpuses replace Platyhooks are tougher than normal, but the Platyhooks absorb gives Asellus HeatSmash, which moves things along quite nicely.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4340.png)
No sweat.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:04:15 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4341.png)
Lemme know how that works out!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4343.png)
...oh. k.

Fuse: We've got no choice but to find the pirates and make them confess.
Red: Fuse! What's that?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4346.png)
Oh, that thing?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4347.png)
Assa no good.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4349.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4350.png)
pew!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4351.png)
Well, I guess we never have to worry about Nomad again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4354.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4356.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:13:42 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4357.png)
As BJ&K runs a quick diagnostic on Red, he finds that he's actually a costumed superhero.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4358.png)
Red: Now don't ever leave my side again.
BJ&K: I don't fully understand your order. But I'd hate to be disassembled. I'll follow orders.

BJ&K joins permanently. Red can transform into Alkaiser around mecs without any problems, as he has them sworn to secrecy on pain of... pain.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:18:10 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4361.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4362.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4364.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4365.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4366.png)
Another Punk: What is it, a bird nest?
Yet Another: Naw, it must be a cactus!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4369.png)
Girl Punk: Hey, cactus head! Wanna play with us?
First Punk: Hey, she's talkin' to you. Say something!
Another Punk again: He's gonna piss his pants if you keep talkin' to him like that.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4373.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:22:55 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4375.png)
Sadly, there's nothing to do but go back the way you came.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4378.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4379.png)
Bunch of kids sitting around, getting high, snickering at dumb that's only funny when you're high, pontificating on like, why man, probably eating bags of Oreos and Cheez-Its by the fistful and turning into hulking monstrosities.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4380.png)
Wait, what was that last one?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4381.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4383.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4384.png)
It takes a beatdown to get the guy back to normal, of course.

Another Punk: We just bought this new drug and then we were...
Red: Who sold you the drug?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4388.png)
Girl Punk: That guy!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:30:26 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4389.png)
You have to chase the guy through the Koorong sewers.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4390.png)
At one point he drops his hat and staff. You chase him into the port, and...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4391.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4393.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4396.png)

Debbie Downer Noise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ_R-G_i4Xk#)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4397.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:44:47 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4398.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4399.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4400.png)
You will notice that despite having more content already than two or three other quests combined, Red's quest still hasn't opened up and given me any freedom to explore. Were all the quests designed to be this big? SaGa Frontier certainly had ambition.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4402.png)
In the Syoin, we find this robit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4403.png)
Mec: They came here to find peace of mind. They just want to reach their inner selves.
Red: Pretty philosophical for a mec.

God, everyone in the world is so mec-racist. Check your privilege, people.

Mec: An ancient philosopher once said a stone has its own mind. Likewise I say a Robot has its own mind, dreams and fears. The sad thing is the more I began to grasp my own mind, the more I realize how empty it is inside.
Red: You're making me sleepy. I'm outta here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4411.png)
Red: How did you know that?
Mec: I may not see my own mind clearly, but I can read others' like a book!

That's a problem for someone with a secret identity, I think.

Mec: There are 4 emperors that rule BlackX. Fools who are controlled by the lust for power.
Red: Four emperors... tell me more about them!

ring ring motherfucker

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4416.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:50:21 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4417.png)

Next mission is in Shingrow. You know where this is going, right?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4419.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4421.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4422.png)
BJ&K can watch you transform into Alkaiser but still doesn't put it together that it's the same person standing in front of him right now.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4424.png)
Forethought: not Red's strong suit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4425.png)
Heh.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:52:55 PM
This is the same as in Emelia's scenario.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4432.png)
Except Alkaiser has better stats and HP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4434.png)
This is the guy I mentioned I didn't make it to last time.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4436.png)
And this is his habit of avoiding every contact attack.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4437.png)
And this is his counter to every contact attack.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4439.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4440.png)
And this is me beating him with Al-Blaster, which shoots tiny energy balls but doesn't make physical contact, thus avoiding the automatic SwayBack evasion.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4442.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4443.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 05:59:59 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4444.png)
Guess I'd better chase this guy

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4445.png)
through all the exact same stuff

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4446.png)
that I went through before

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4447.png)
as Emelia.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4449.png)
Goblin: He's not here anymore. What are you, a patrolman?
Alkaiser: None of your damn business. Get out of my way.
Goblin: Okay, fine. The doctor told me to kill anyone who comes by.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4455.png)
Fight with a Goblin. It is worth noting that while Gradius had no particular problems, the fight's even easier with Alkaiser alone.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4458.png)

ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, jobnana phone

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4460.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4461.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 06:07:18 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4462.png)
Hawk: What's wrong?
Red: I'm getting off the Cygnus.
Hawk: You've got to go?
Red: Thanks for everything.
Hawk: Did you talk to Yuria?
Red: No, I'm no good at goodbyes.
Hawk: Well, I guess we'll meet again. Good luck.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4471.png)
You're dropped off at the Cygnus' next destination, which is Yorkland, which is useless so Red just turns around and takes another ship to Koorong so he can get important places.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4476.png)
Like Manhattan, where he can recruit Fuse without going through that Shield Card nonsense first.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4479.png)
And Kyo, where he can recruit Rabbit.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4482.png)
And Shrike, where he can recruit Cotton.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4485.png)
There's even a bit of banter if you have other IRPO agents in the party when you recruit him. All he says is "myu myu" and "kyu kyu" but Fuse can understand him. Apparently Fuse is a master Pokemon trainer.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4493.png)
And Shingrow, where he can recruit... this girl. Who is named Doll, and is totally not using the looking-for-her-brother thing as a cover story to do an investigation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4496.png)
So we have Red and... well, most of IRPO. I forgot to go get Silence out of Omble. So what the heck, Red will have the entire Inter-Regional Patrol Organization at his back when he goes to fight BlackX! Since IRPO has five members (likely to fill out Fuse's party for that scrapped scenario I keep mentioning), someone will have to sit on the sidelines. The four members who get the most votes will stay in the main party, the last will languish in obscurity. Voting is open!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 06:25:10 PM
Red is the scenario protagonist, so he's not going anywhere, but I haven't talked about him much so here we go. He's one of the more versatile humans in the game, decent with swords and martial arts. But since he has talent for three of the four DSC moves, I'm training him as a martial artist. His gunmagic skill is 3.

Transforming into Alkaiser, as I said before, means he doesn't level up after the fight is over, but gets a substantial boost to his HP and stats and can learn his unique moves. He can't change if any human, mystic, or monster can see him do it -- if they're in the party, they have to be blind, asleep, or unconscious.

Fuse is easily recruitable in other scenarios, since he joins whoever completes the quest for the Shield Card (even Emelia, I think, even though he hates her). He's the perverted, hot-blooded jackass leader of the IRPO division that keeps coming up in-game, nicknamed "Crazy Fuse". He's a solid character, learning only a few fewer sword techniques than Gen and only a couple fewer martial arts techniques than Liza -- but only two DSC techs. His gunmagic skill is 2, and his stats are geared towards strength, will, and vitality. He's a swordsman, no doubt about it.

Yes, Fuse was supposed to be one of the scenario protagonists. He may have been dropped because they already have a scenario guy who doesn't break the "rules" somehow in Lute. Blue can learn opposing magic schools, Asellus can switch her species, Emelia can trade talent trees, Red can transform into a sentai superhero, T260 is a robit and Riki is a monster. I guess they didn't need two plain ol' regular humans, and Fuse's quest had more content planned so they axed it to save time and money.

Rabbit is a type 2 mec. He's good against other mecs, especially if they have missile launchers he can jam with his ECM system.

Cotton is a monster. I really don't need to describe monsters again, do I?

Doll is the voice of reason for the freakshow that is the rest of IRPO, since she's actually got a little common sense in her mostly-shaven head. Her cool demeanor has earned her the nickname "Icy Doll". She's not very good with swords or fists, learning very basic techniques almost exclusively, but her gunmagic skill is 6. Her stat growth is geared toward intelligence and charm, making her an ideal gunner/caster.

Silence is a mystic, so he has the usual talent for casting and soul-sucking you'd expect. His outfit that sprouts moth wings when he casts a spell earned him the name "Narcissistic Cosplay Jerk" from Fuse.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on March 31, 2013, 06:51:37 PM
I played Red's campaign first when I originally dicked around with SaGa Frontier, and remember enjoying it. Now I know why I have relatively positive memories of the SaGa Frontier, aka SaGa Live-A-Live.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on March 31, 2013, 07:02:18 PM
I'll be honest, at first I didn't realize Rouge and Red were different people and I thought this scenario was gonna be the exact same as Blue's but with a different main character. "Wait, he's got superhero powers? Why didn't he use them in the mage duel?" I... don't think I can be blamed for expecting more cut-and-paste from this game though.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on March 31, 2013, 07:43:06 PM
Considering about half of each scenario eventually works out to "do the quests for light/shadow/rune/arcane magic", you're not wrong. So much filler in the rune and arcane quests.

I mean you always have to grind anyway so you might as well get some magic out of it but damn

You get sick of seeing Tanzer's guts is all I'm sayin'.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 01, 2013, 07:20:51 AM
It just occurred to me that François, as a bilingual French Canadian, would naturally confuse Rouge and Red. Heh heh.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on April 01, 2013, 12:05:01 PM
Yes, that's quite... yes. :whoops:
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Zaratustra on April 01, 2013, 05:08:50 PM
I got confused too, mostlybecause blue's counterpart is rouge and not red.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 02, 2013, 11:57:36 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4497.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4498.png)
Gotta go pick up that other dude and I guess pick up the Shadow gift while I'm at it. I'm grateful you guys have learned to hate monsters as much as I have! I'm sure Cotton has a wonderful personality and everything but :getout:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4499.png)
Doll starts with Shadow and Mystic magic but lacks the gift for both of them. Being a human, lacking the Mystic gift is a given, but still.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4500.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4501.png)
I was in Omble for a while before I realized how much of my party was mecs and monsters, leaving Red, Fuse, and Doll to fight alone.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4502.png)
Mission accomplished, anyway.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4503.png)
Even though you get Silence by traveling through Omble, he doesn't get the gift for Shadow magic when you do. So I send him by himself into the Luminous Labyrinth to get the gift for Light magic.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 02, 2013, 12:05:44 PM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4505.png)
That's Silence there on the left, waving his arms in the air like he just doesn't care. See the wings that sprout out of his back? Needlessly flashy!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4506.png)
I never used HideBehind up until now because why would I do that, so it took this long for me to realize that casting that spell makes a translucent illusion of the caster, who kicks the target in the ass and runs away. Okay, so it's more useful as a practical joke than a spell, but still, heh heh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4507.png)
I nabbed EngineerCar almost solely to do the Grail card quest with three mecs instead of five status-prone people with metabolisms. When Doll gets KOed out of her drunken stupor, AlkaiserChange opens up for Red because everyone else in the party is a mec.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4508.png)
Part of the card quest is heading up the mountain in Mosperiburg, where I try (and fail!) to get SuzakuJr again. I got a SplashSword in the Bio Research Lab somewhere, and that sword allows the use of the skill ElementDissolve. ElementDissolve is a lot like the space magic Vanish, removing a monster from the battle (but disallowing downloads/devouring, monetary or item rewards, etc.). I knew Jotnar was vulnerable to instant-death magic, so I intentionally sought him out, but ElementDissolve doesn't seem to work.

Red can't recruit Dr. Nusakan, either. Guess I'll just do an LP without the little phoenix guy!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4510.png)
When I went to recruit Gen for the Saber card quest, I realized Fuse was missing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4511.png)
I found him back in Manhattan, with all the skills and equipment he had when he left. But it took me a while to realize when that was! When you fail the fight against Suzaku to claim the Shield card, Fuse leaves the party. Since succeeding in that mission is generally when he permanently joins, it's not an issue for six out of seven protagonists. Only Red can recruit Fuse before that subquest, so there's no reason for him to leave Red when Red fails it, but he does anyway.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:37:24 AM
I have read that if you start the card quest after Fuse joins you, he just gives you the card when you show up to IRPO without demanding you help him "on patrol", where "on patrol" means "getting a flower to give to the receptionist when he asks her for a date."

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4512.png)
But doing it this way means I get another shot at Jotnar.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4513.png)
One last time, with Red having picked up GiantSwing by chance while I was grinding.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4514.png)
DSC doesn't count as making physical contact, even though it's a series of grabs and throws. It doesn't trigger Jotnar's IceBarrier for automatic damage.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4515.png)
FINALLY

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4516.png)
He's frozen solid if you come here without spawning or killing Jotnar first.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4518.png)
Wow, look at those stats! It's a form unique to SuzakuJr, different from the SuzakuJr forms other monsters get by absorbing FireBarrier. It's a shame he loses it immediately whenever you absorb something and are forced to transform, only ever regaining the regular SuzakuJr form if he shifts back! SuzakuJr is the best monster, but he's still a monster.

(In the manga, Fuse deputized SuzakuJr into IRPO for whatever reason.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:41:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4520.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4521.png)
Since the battles for Mind magic are, well, inside the character's minds, no one else is technically present. Red can change into Alkaiser if he wants.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4522.png)
By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWERRRRR!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4523.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4524.png)
The transformation looks a lot like MysticalChange, with an extra spinning kick at the end.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4525.png)
Look at those HP! KICK, PUNCH, IT'S ALL IN THE MIND
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:44:23 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4519.png)
Anyway, now that we're hunting down the BlackX Emperors, the game has opened up. We could trail the drug-dealing monks from Kyo, or pursue Cindy Campbell in Manhattan, or follow up on the shady activities in Shingrow. There's also Shuzer running around somewhere, but we don't really have a lead on him.

Every time you go to Kyo, you see a monk walk into the Syoin.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4526.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4527.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4528.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4529.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4530.png)
There sure is, little buddy!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:49:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4531.png)
One of the rooms in the secret Syoin is a greenhouse, where presumably the monks grow their opium poppies. This is one of the monster formations in there. I am kind of not okay with this. ::(:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4532.png)
Red runs around planting invisible explosives.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4534.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4535.png)
After he leaves, the screen is rocked by a massive explosion!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4536.png)
Hah, nice.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4537.png)
Oh, hey. You're that overly-philosophical mec from before. What are you doing overseeing the drug trade? You don't even have a metabolism! ...or does that make him ideal for the job since he'll never be tempted to do his own product?

Mec: You destroyed the base? I see. But can you beat me?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4540.png)
Metal Black is his name, so I don't have to keep calling him "that mec".

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4541.png)
Anyway, I have the DSC. This is not a long battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4543.png)
He doesn't even get to do his signature move.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4544.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:52:05 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4545.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4547.png)
Threatening the receptionist? Come on, Red.

Anyway, Campbell lets them in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4550.png)
Ya think?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4552.png)
Explosion!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4553.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4554.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4555.png)
H... how did you get here?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4558.png)
This woman is dedicated to her job.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:56:28 AM
The CTC building is a combat slog, with multiple monsters in every room and some narrow passages that keep you from avoiding them. You might as well have had some loser threaten you with having to defeat all 100 beasts in Magus' castle in the foyer.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4560.png)
Nice thing about Red's scenario is that mecs are kind of common enemies, so Rabbit gets plenty of opportunities to download and develop software.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4561.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4563.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4564.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4566.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4568.png)
Mmm, copypaste environments chock-full of time-consuming battles.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4570.png)
H-how did you get here?! (She gives you a Thunderbolt, which is nice as heavy weapons go but I never use 'em anyway.)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 05:59:27 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4571.png)
Guy in office: This is breaking and entering. I'll have to clean the building of scumbags like you!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4574.png)
So the guy attacks, with three Roombas. A... are we fighting the janitor?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4575.png)
In a sort of "this could have been a lot more interesting in a better game" thing we're all used to by now, the monitors in the back of Campbell's office change after each turn. Here they are doing Yell to buff the janitor and his Roombas.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4576.png)
Should have probably put that twist into a harder fight, though.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 06:03:04 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4577.png)
Red: Time to morph into Alkaiser!

So, I'm not sure why killing the janitor makes the lights go out, and I'm not sure why Red thinks that no one will question where he went when Alkaiser shows up... but sure enough, nothing comes of any of it. At least Red had the foresight to use a thought balloon instead of a speech balloon announcing his intention to change.

Um... let's see... oh, to hell with it. Moon Prism Power!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4580.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4582.png)
Campbell reveals herself to be some sort of spider creature.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4583.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4586.png)
The fight goes about how you'd expect.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4588.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4589.png)
A reskinned, renamed LifeRain again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4590.png)
Huh. That's new.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 06:05:58 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4591.png)
Despite Red's hunch, there's actually nothing to be found in the Shingrow palace.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4592.png)
You have to follow Doll's lead and find her "brother", totally not a cover story, in the ruins.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4593.png)
The ruins are filled with minibosses, though. First is a Gaeatoad with more than usual HP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4594.png)
Second is a SwordValkyrie and SpearValkyrie who have an annoying habit of speaking in unison.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4603.png)
Last is a HugeSlime/BigSlime respawn battle.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4604.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4605.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 06:11:53 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4606.png)
Red: Who are you?
Giant: My name is Berva, one of the four Emperors of BlackX!
Red: So, this ancient ruin is actually a trap built by BlackX.
Berva: Exactly. All the greedy losers who come here are converted into BlackX soldiers. Of course there are some weaklings you can't really use. But even they could serve as slaves. Ha, ha...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4613.png)
I guess code 20348 is "slave labor"?

Berva: A patrolman?
Red: You're a cop?
Doll: Yes, Red. R^2 spoiled that several updates ago. Fuse told me all about you. It was very easy to find you because of your hip-hop hairdo.
Red: Fuse... Now, Berva, tell me about BlackX.
Berva: Dream on, brat!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4621.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4623.png)
Berva's up to old tricks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4622.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4625.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4626.png)
The Type 2 Bit system normally fires a few tiny lasers into a random target at the end of each turn. But if you have the SatelliteLinker skill, using that after the Bit System is triggered synchs up with an orbital satellite instead. The larger satellite has better laser cannons, increasing the damage around tenfold.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4627.png)
He keeps saying that. Is he warming up for his signature attack?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4628.png)
Nope. Super run away!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 06:15:45 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4630.png)
With everyone exhausted after the Berva fight, I have the second-string party of Gen, Cotton, BJ&K, EngineerCar, and SuzakuJr take out all of the BlackX mooks on the map to restore some WP and JP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4631.png)
Once you reach Berva, he escapes into the palace.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4632.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4633.png)
Oh. I guess letting the second-string get us here wasn't necessary.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4634.png)
Okay, so there was a secret passage here. It only matters if you lose to Berva in the first fight, though. If you lose, you're captured and have to escape before you're turned into another BlackX soldier, rescuing your other party members in the process. This is the area where you escape from.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4635.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4636.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 03, 2013, 06:18:20 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4637.png)
Berva has replaced his normal SwayBack with BervaCounter. Not only does it evade the attack you tried to hit him with, he smacks you back for almost-always-lethal damage. Carefully choosing non-contact attacks is important here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4638.png)
But as we discovered against Jotnar, the DSC doesn't count as making physical contact.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4640.png)
Berva has a lot of HP, so it's a long battle, but if you don't let him BervaCounter it's not a particularly difficult one.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4641.png)
So everything can return to normal at the Shingrow Palace.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4642.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4644.png)
...o... oh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4643.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:05:12 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4645.png)
In the Koorong sewers is a tightrope. Every character who walks by it -- and everyone does, it's the quickest way to get from the Victory Rune caves back to the city -- asks the player if they should take the chance to cross it.

No one can, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4646.png)
Red: Have we met?
Annie: You're the guy asking about BlackX. I've got some juicy info, wanna buy it?

I hope the irony of one of the members of Gradius, the greatest collection of special-needs freedom fighters in all the regions, works as an information broker is not lost on anybody.

Red: That depends on the info... and the price.
Annie: It's about Shuzer.
Red: Let me have it!

Way to play it cool, Red. "I don't know if I'm interested." "Shuzer." "GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!!!!" He's like a Labrador retriever when you mention the word "ball".

Annie: Well, I'm kinda hungry. I heard this restaurant's great.
Red: All right.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4656.png)
Red: Boy, you sure know how to take advantage of people.
Annie: Take advantage? This is what I get for being nice? Oh well. Why are you so interested in BlackX anyway?
Red: Revenge. They wiped out my entire family. Mom, Dad, and my sister.
Annie: You're breaking my heart... But I still got to charge you. Business is business. I know the exact location of Shuzer Base, and I can get you in there.

Annie if you tell me Shuzer base is in Despair and you lead me through that prison again I swear to God...

They argue over price, but since it isn't actually charged to my party funds anyway I'm skipping it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4672.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4675.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4676.png)
Which is why I mentioned it before. Why does everyone get the option to try to cross every time they try to avoid the nearby slime encounter when only Red can do it, and even then only after Annie tells him he can?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4678.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4679.png)
Give Red a break, Annie. The writers forgot his girlfriend exists two acts ago.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:10:23 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4682.png)
Red: Thanks. Here's your reward.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4685.png)
Red: I don't have any more money.
Annie: Didn't I tell you I was charitable?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4688.png)
Annie joins. yay.jpg

If you head back to the restaurant, you can pick up Roufas or Liza permanently now -- not only is Liza the better choice anyway, you can still get Roufas in Shrike when you do the Rune quest. But I have my party gimmick set already (and it's too late to start grinding up new party members) so I don't bother.

Although if you want to double gimmick, the scenario lets you pick up every member of IRPO and Gradius and have them fight together.

For justice.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4690.png)
Shuzer Base is a ramshackle apartment building. With a barber.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4694.png)
There's a miniboss fight partyway through when the Cyclops erupts from a rooftop, but he's slow and apparently extra-vulnerable to stunning so if he has any dangerous or special attacks I totally missed them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4698.png)
I think we're here.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:13:07 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4701.png)
Shuzer: But this is where you will die.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4703.png)
Shuzer flexes his giant cybernetic claws and licks his chops as his idle animation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4704.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4705.png)
The fight goes about how you'd expect.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4706.png)
There's the sound of a helicopter closing in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4707.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4708.png)
Shuzer buggers off again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4709.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4710.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4711.png)
Red grabs onto the bottom of the helicopter as it departs, leaving the rest of IRPO standing around uselessly.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:21:14 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4712.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4713.png)
Blabberin' Blatherskite!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4714.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4715.png)
Alkaiser: ...your infamous terrorist activities have been spreading fear across the regions. Many innocent people have died by your wicked hands. Justice finally catches up with you today. Get ready to face Heaven's wrath.
Shuzer: Ha! Like you're better than me. I say let the one without sin cast the first stone! Now no more of this BS... let's rock!

The number of times people have responded to an indignant speech with "NO U" in this game is sad.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4722.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4723.png)
Hey Shuzer, guess what.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4724.png)
I still have lots of WP left.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4725.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4726.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4728.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4729.png)
Now sit down and shut up, or I'll belt ya again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4730.png)
Shuzer: Can you really do it, Alkaiser? Can you kill your own father!?

Some supplementary materials expanded on this: Shuzer has Okonogi's brain implanted into the cybernetics of his body. Whether Okonogi still lives in any practical sense or whether this is a bluff by Shuzer is never elaborated on, and it's never mentioned again, so I wonder why they even brought it up.

But notice that Shuzer realizes that Okonogi's son is Alkaiser. Shuzer put two and two together after the helicopter ride, so Red's been made -- technically Alkarl should be swooping in to terminate him any minute now.

But nothing is ever made of that threat either, of course.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4732.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4733.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4734.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4735.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4736.png)
Alkaiser walks away, probably hoping for something behind him to explode so it'll look cool. Sadly, unlike in Kyo or Shingrow, nothing explodes here. Sometimes you just can't count on drama.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4737.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:28:17 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4738.png)
Endgame happened. You beat the four Emperors, so now you can board the Cygnus to get to the final dungeon.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4739.png)
Some other stuff first, though. To the Bio Research Lab, with a party full of mecs!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4742.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4740.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4743.png)
So Red can practice enough to get his Alkaiser skills developed. Al-Phoenix was the only one I really wanted, but switching to the RaySword to see if he'd learn KaiserSmash, he learned GaleSlash instead. So that's pretty cool.

I also get Silence to absorb the standard three Suzaku so he's at endgame level, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4745.png)
The kids on the playground will charge you 10 credits to not tell you where Sei's Tomb is. The boy in the yellow cap will take you there, but since there's nothing inside but the standard treasures and the possibility of picking up either a semidecent sword or a monster recruit... well, there was probably a point to Sei's Tomb in Red's quest at some point in development...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4746.png)
I head to Paradise to buy some better attack magic for Doll, too.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4747.png)
All right. Enough of this BS... let's rock.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:32:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4750.png)
You can explore the Cygnus if you want, but nobody is here but the pilots and Hawk. Even Yuria is gone, since the romantic subplot between her and Red was also scrapped.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4751.png)
Hawk: I've got a BlackX disguise. I figured it might come in handy for you.
Red: How on Earth did you get...

Red, you've beaten up dozens of these guys. You could have taken the clothes off of any one of them. It's not that Hawk had a hard time getting the costume, it's that he thought to do it and you didn't.

Alternately: Hawk's secretly a member of BlackX omg you guys what a twist

Red: Oh, well. Now I can get on the Black Ray. From there I can sneak into their main base. Thanks Hawk.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4757.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4758.png)
Japanese narrative, as a whole, is bad at foreshadowing.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:37:38 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4759.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4760.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4761.png)
You're given free roam of the ship. Make a map.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4769.png)
Especially if you want some of the better treasure here, because the BlackX mooks won't let you take it now.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4762.png)
In the cockpit...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4764.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4765.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4767.png)
Ready for the most frustrating dungeon in the entire game? Seriously, it makes Virgil Palace a cakewalk by comparison.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4768.png)
Every screen you step into, you get 1000MM -- millimeters? That can't be right -- closer to BlackX base.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4770.png)
You have to go through ten screens of the ship without ever doubling back onto a screen you've been to before. This is mainly a problem because the better treasures -- the SprigganSuit, the OctopusBoard, and the Silvermoon -- are in dead-ends.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4771.png)
If you ever go to a room you passed through before, Metal Black is waiting there for you.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:41:49 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4772.png)
He's been upgraded.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4773.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4774.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4775.png)
MoonScraper is his signature move, although it looks like it could be defeated by... not having everyone in your party stand in a perfect crescent pattern. Alas, this is not a tactical game. Once he's done, everyone bleeds a dozen comically huge gouts of arterial spray, but only takes a couple hundred HP damage.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4776.png)
I still have the DSC, guys.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4777.png)
The fight with Metal Black in Kyo gives you TigerProgram, this one grants DragonProgram. If Rabbit had more equip slots I'd give him a SecretBoard, but I have him specced purely for gun use (since he got ShootingMastery early on).

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4778.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4779.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4780.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4781.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4782.png)
Win or lose the fight with Metal Black, it's game over.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on April 05, 2013, 06:47:53 AM
Give Red a break, Annie. The writers forgot his girlfriend exists two acts ago.

To their, um, "credit", so did I.

Alkaiser walks away, probably hoping for something behind him to explode so it'll look cool. Sadly, unlike in Kyo or Shingrow, nothing explodes here. Sometimes you just can't count on drama.

It's kind of poignant, in a way that is probably unintended. Dude gets his revenge, but there's no freeze frame on a heroic pose and a cut to the next scene, there's only the silent runway and the long walk back home.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 06:51:57 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4783.png)
...unless you managed to get "Almost to BlackX base" before you ran into him, which allows your party to escape the self-destruct sequence.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4784.png)
Um... man, I'm running out of transformation catchphrases. "Shazam"? "Synergy, Synchronize"? "By your powers combined"? Ah, screw it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4785.png)
Silence! You can talk!

(Not really. Surprise! It's another programming oversight. This is one of those "the second member of your party lineup says this line, and the third says this one" things, where they didn't give unique quotes to all the potential party members. So Silence can say Alkaiser's name, or Fuse's next line if you have him in the third party slot instead.)

Alkaiser: I also sneaked into the Black Ray. Let's go get BlackX.
Fuse: What happened to Red?
Alkaiser: He is all right. He was hurt, so I took him to a safe spot.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4789.png)
BlackX base is as straightforward as Emelia's final dungeon -- there are no branching paths at all -- but even more tedious than T260G's. With so many crowds of monsters and so many narrow passageways, you can expect to fight off every single mook and monster in the entire base.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4792.png)
There's some decent treasure, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4793.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4794.png)
Canie: Please, no more!!
Alkaiser: I am Re... Ready to rescue you from BlackX!

Smooth.

Alkaiser: Don't worry, I am Alkaiser. I'm here to beat BlackX's boss.

You've been parsing it as "Black Ecks" this whole time, haven't you? Remember, it's Black Cross. Red is busting mad rhymes here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4800.png)
It's a key to open the last door in the dungeon. Why Dr. Klein gave it to his captives is anybody's guess.

Red's mom is also a full heal if you talk to her again. Which is nice, because the scene change to enter BlackX base didn't restore your party at all after the fight with Metal Black II.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:00:10 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4806.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4808.png)
BossX: ...pay for killing my dear brothers of BlackX.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4811.png)
That's right, the boss of BlackX is a goofy-looking robot in an oversized cape. He uses a regular attack and a Gaze attack every turn, so if you stocked up on PurpleEyes or have a decently-high Psychic stat, he's refreshingly straightforward.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4816.png)
He has a unique animation for all his attacks. For Bloodsucker, he whips out a giant syringe. For ChainedHeat, it's a chainsaw. And so on.

This shot makes his pauldrons also look like a giant duck beak. Maybe he takes his fashion tips from Joker!

Maybe he knows what Cube is!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4819.png)
Fuse ate a DeathGaze right before this victory shot was taken, but other than that, BossX was no sweat.

But uh, isn't that kind of a bogstandard destruction animation? Shouldn't the final boss get something unique?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4820.png)
Oh well. We're totally done here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4822.png)
Totally.

Dr. Klein: It seems you get stronger and more obnoxious every time I see you.
Alkaiser: Give it up, Klein. I beat the boss. It's all over for you.
Dr. Klein: You beat our boss? Oh, you mean the one you just fought? No, he wasn't the boss. He's just another weakling. I'm in charge here.
Alkaiser: You maniac! Will you ever stop your madness?

PARDON ME DID ANYONE ORDER A LARGE HAAAAM??

Dr. Klein: Can you beat my secret weapons? Here they come.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4830.png)
...your secret weapon is Berva?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4832.png)
I've lost count of the number of times I've kicked this guy's ass.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4836.png)
See? No sweat.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4837.png)
...oh.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:06:15 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4838.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4845.png)
Nothing to report here, either.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4846.png)
No surprises, though.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4848.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4849.png)
OH GOD SPIDERS HUNDREDS OF THEM AAAAAAHHHHH

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4851.png)
Before long, Arachne runs away.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4852.png)
...and immediately comes back. This was supposed to be a tag-team boss rush, with Berva, Shuzer, and Arachne switching off with one another, but I beat Berva and Shuzer too fast for that mechanic to trigger. :nyoro~n:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4853.png)
:shrug:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4854.png)
Well, at least I fought Metal Black II on the Black Ray, so he's not here now.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4855.png)
GOD DAMMIT

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4858.png)
Dr. Klein: A new and improved Metal Black knows all your moves and attack patterns. It will defeat you without a problem.

Oh shit now he knows the Deadly Suplex Combo too!

Metal Black III: It's time to put up or shut up. Get ready to face death, Alkaiser.
Metal Black III: But I can't very well claim victory by defeating an exhausted hero. Dr. Klein, let Alkaiser recover.
Dr. Klein: You idiot, this is your chance to beat him for good, and you're philosophizing about fairness? You'll never be the best with that kind of attitude.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:13:22 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4864.png)
He's a stand-up guy, so Metal Black III gives you a full restore before you fight him.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4865.png)
He even looks like Alkaiser, down to the stupid wing ornaments on his helmet. In fact, the Japanese name for this boss is "Metal Alkaiser", rather than same-as-before-Mk. III.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4866.png)
Metal Black III doesn't know the DSC, but Alkaiser still does.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4867.png)
Having exhausted his bazooka ammunition, Silence throws his shoes at Metal Black. Heh heh.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4870.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4871.png)
This is what Klein meant: Alkaiser's best move is Al-Phoenix, so Metal Black has a dark counterpart.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4873.png)
Hah! Amateur! Let me show you how it's done!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4874.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4875.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4876.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4877.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4878.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4880.png)
Al-Phoenix upgrades to Re-Al-Phoenix if you use it after Metal Black uses Dark Phoenix. It's one of the most powerful single moves in the game, but while dramatic it doesn't have the same WP-to-damage efficiency as the DSC. Oh well.

I always figured this was "Returning Alkaiser Phoenix" or something like that. The Japanese name is "True Alkaiser Phoenix", but if you look closely, this is a clever pun! This move is the Re-Al, the Real, Phoenix.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:34:37 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4882.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4884.png)
Of course, the use of Real Phoenix would make a dramatic end to the fight, but Bideo James works on an HP score rather than appropriate storytelling. We continue attacking.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4886.png)
Until Metal Black shorts out

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4887.png)
And fades away into a red mist.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4889.png)
Alkaiser: You could have used your powers for good.

Once more we have a mec treated as property and working against his own philosophy, just because that was what he was built to do. It'd be a more interesting subplot in a better game.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:36:00 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4895.png)
What, did you think five bosses in a row was going to be all?

Saga Frontier - Fight! Alkaiser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vSpVhXWRIY#)
This isn't the final battle music for Red's scenario, but it's Alkaiser's theme and it's better than the actual final boss music, so that's what you get.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4896.png)
Not even Asellus had to deal with this bullshit. She only had Ciato, Lion, and Rastaban guarding her final boss.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4898.png)
what

the

fuck

It's got three legs... and, and a tail... only one eye, but has like an antenna sort of thing sticking out of the back...

This is the goofiest-looking thing I've ever seen, but...

But...!!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/araygun.gif)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4900.png)
pyew pyew pyew

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4901.png)
Welp, down to business.

You'd think after all that boss rush stuff, there'd be some sort of gimmick to this fight. Lord Ring runs away and has you fight his minions, Orlouge has his mistresses, even Hell's Lord has two forms and switches Divine Peace on and off. This is just a brawl with a guy who has a lot of HP and strong attacks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4903.png)
And a fleet of flying saucers.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4904.png)
With missiles.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4905.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4906.png)
Which is bullshit because Rabbit activated his ECM and that's supposed to null incoming rocket attacks.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4910.png)
Alkaiser is switching up the DSC with FinalCrusade to keep everyone healed. FinalCrusade costs Alkaiser 1 LP each time he does it, but the next time he does Real Phoenix it does significantly more damage than usual. I'm not sure if the move's damage output is tied to his LP or if there's something else going on, but that'd be thematically appropriate.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4912.png)
Everything this guy does elicits a flat "What."

He's clearly not based on any biology we're familiar with, he has a Raygun-gothic style weapon that looks like he stole it from one of the villains in EarthBound, he commands a fleet of UFOs.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/aliens.jpg)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:40:48 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4915.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4916.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4917.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4918.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4920.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4921.png)
Red's mom: Mr. Hawk? What an honor. My husband told me all about you. How long have you known him?
Hawk: We go back a long way.
Red's mom: Thanks for coming and thank you for taking care of my boy.
Hawk: Well, I didn't do much. He's a good kid.
Red's mom: A good kid? I can't believe my ears.
Red: Stop embarrassing me, mom. I've got to talk to him, so I'll catch up with you later.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4929.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4930.png)
Red: Why?
Hawk: Go on, just turn around.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4932.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4933.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4934.png)
Red: Why? Alkarl!
Hawk is totally Alkarl omg: This is the decision of our secret society. Farewell, Red.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4938.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4944.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4945.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 07:44:13 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4946.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4947.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4948.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4949.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4950.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4951.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4952.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4953.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4954.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4955.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on April 05, 2013, 08:56:53 AM
Is Red recruitable in anyone else's campaign?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 05, 2013, 11:56:08 AM
Nope. Nobody else runs into the guy. Asellus might have if her quest had the parts where she's a passenger on the Cygnus included. He meets T260, Riki, Lute, Emelia, and Blue in his own scenario, but none of those guys meet Red in theirs.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on April 05, 2013, 12:18:57 PM
Maybe Red's campaign was supposed to be so over the top it was meant to be surreal and the subject of a movie or TV show within the SaGa Frontier world. But, while that's needlessly complicated and ambitious, doesn't really fit with the game overall.
Of course, then there's Riki's campaign, so it's tough to have something be strange when compared to that. Even if it was originally the goal.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 11:23:31 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charred.jpg)
Don't run with ray swords, you might slip.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charhawk.jpg)
Hawk, man of mystery.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charalkaiser.jpg)
Henshin!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charalkarl.jpg)
Alkarl looks... very little like this in game, I think.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_sentai.jpg)
Red, those two swords both seem very impractical for two very different reasons.

And uh

Look between Red's left knee and the hand gripping the sword.

Th... that's a penguin. In a bow tie and sunglasses. With a mohawk.

...

...WHY WASN'T HE IN THE GAME?!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 11:26:50 AM
Official art of the Inter-Regional Patrol Organization!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charfuse.jpg)
Crazy Fuse, star of the scenario that never was. I get major Lupin III vibes from this picture, but uh... Fuse, what is wrong with your legs?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/chardoll.jpg)
Icy Doll, voice of reason. She's easy to find because of her punk-rock hairdo.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charsilence.jpg)
Silence, the Narcissistic Cosplay Jerk and poster-boy for why you shouldn't try to absorb the spirits of giant transdimensional beasts thousands of times your size. A lesson we could all use a reminder of sometimes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charcotton.jpg)
Cotton, the Pokemon gone astray. Kyu kyu kyu

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charrabbit.jpg)
Rabbit, the... uh... it's Rabbit.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 11:32:05 AM
Black Ecks!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charberva.jpg)
Berva. Ha ha! He knows all your moves! Next time, he'll beat you for sure!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charcindy.jpg)
Cindy Campbell, proving that behind every successful businesswoman is a giant spider monster.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charshuzer.jpg)
Shuzer, whom I have resisted calling "Schnauzer" up to this point, but no longer!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charmetalblack.jpg)
Metal Black mk. 1. He looks so thoughtful, but as we all know, mecs don't have emotions. Do as you're told, robit!

Presumably the swastika on his midsection is reflective of his philosophical nature and desire for inner peace, and not, uh... that other thing swastikas stand for.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/charklein.jpg)
Eine kleine Dr. Klein. He cares not for your bullshit papers.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 11:37:54 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/kidred.jpg)
Alternate style.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/art_nonsensemontage.jpg)
Man, I don't even know. Red, T260, Rabbit, Lute and a monkey, and in the background... Campbell? Diva? I can only guess.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Beat Bandit on April 06, 2013, 01:25:09 PM
So... that's actually it? The end?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 06:40:41 PM
Well, it's not like I had any overarching plot to wrap up in a final scenario. Emelia is retired from Gradius, T260 is back in Junk, Asellus had turned Facinaturu into a decent place to live, Riki still sucks, Rouge is battling Hell's Lord for all eternity, Lute has avenged his father and is shirking command of Trinity, and Red has been stripped of his superhero powers after he accomplished his mission. That's... it.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Metal Slime on April 06, 2013, 06:55:43 PM
No tour of the dev room you unlock for beating all seven?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 06, 2013, 07:35:16 PM
I'm getting to it, but if you're looking for plot resolutions or anything like that, you're gonna be disappointed.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 04:38:10 AM
You know what this game has been sorely lacking?

A bunch of ridiculous nonsense!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4956.png)
As with all scenarios, you're prompted to update your system data after watching Red's ending.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4957.png)
Then you end up... in the Cygnus?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4958.png)
It's a developer's room! I don't think Squeenix does this kind of thing much anymore; the novelty wore off around the time Chrono Trigger did it.

Kuwata: My genius was used to complete their map. Of course, I'm the one who designed Despair. I was going to put more secrets and traps in my prison, but I just didn't have enough time. By the way, I know who you are and what your secrets are. After all, I was the mastermind who made up all the character names in Alkaiser's scenario. But don't worry, your secret's safe with me.

Not sure if he says anything different to other characters, and I'm not playing through the other six scenarios again to find out.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4965.png)
Assistant Translators: Naomi Cooper, Daisuke Kato
Localization Specialist: Brian Bell
Localization Coordinators: Aiko Ito, Richard Honeywood

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4970.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4971.png)
Williams: Thank you for playing another smashing Square Soft product.

nigel.gif

Williams: But now I must leave, because I'm going on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N! See you in sunny Mexico! So without further ado, here are my elite troopers... the Q-A team!

And then he lists off his QA staff, which I can't imagine anyone reading this cares enough about for me to transcribe here.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4982.png)
There you're!

Davis: Thanks to the boys, Conner, Kevin, Mike, Bruce, James, Chad, Peter, Eric, Neil, Jo, Randy, Al, Lee, Chris, Christopher, Ivan, Loren, and Jason. We were able to kick this bad boy out of QA in just one month. Thank God for sugar, doughnuts, caffeine and a lack of a will to live. I hope we didn't mis any speling erors.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf4987.png)
Matsui: Well this one sure was a lot of work. It's been years since I enjoyed August 31 this much. Out of all the characters we created for Saga, which was your favorite? I'm partial to the people in Junk. Rosemary and Thyme are also very charming. Originally, Uncle Taco was named Sage. How could an octopus be a sage? You tell me!

About as easily as an octopus could be a mechanic. But to be fair, he doesn't go into every field.

Matsui: Nusakan was also a very good character. He was designed by Kobayashi. I also love Annie and Mei-Ling. I mean, just check out their... heh... sorry, I was lost there for a moment. I have something else I want to tell you. Ready for this? Now I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to those who helped us make this game, including our family members who supported us with love and patience. Thank you! Thank you all! My kid is now Saga's biggest fan! Anyway, we at SQUARE really hope you gamers out there enjoyed the game. Once again, thanks for playing and we'll see you soon!

words words words words words words words words words

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5002.png)
Miwa: I'll see you again in Chateau Aiguille. Ciao!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 04:42:30 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5004.png)
What you'd expect to be another hallway of the Cygnus is instead the Manhattan shopping mall. The dev room connects a bunch of maps in a non-Euclidian space, so you know, whatever. A Kylin did it.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5005.png)
Tsuji: People in our office just love me! Ahhhhh! Probably because I'm the youngest woman in our department!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5007.png)
Gnome: I don't even wanna hear another word about Saga for a long time.

I know that feel, bro.

Gnome: Let me just sleep!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5010.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5011.png)
You guys are awfully damn proud of that prison.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5012.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5013.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5014.png)
Master Asano: I knew you would finish the game! I knew we would meet one day!! But bye for now!!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5016.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5017.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5018.png)
...all he did was fly up to the next level.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 04:46:00 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5019.png)
One of the shops has been replaced by the street in Shrike.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5020.png)
Bo: . . . . .Hey, it was a damn laugh riot in Japanese!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5022.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5023.png)
Fei-On: Especially when you're getting killed by a deadline!? See you again.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5025.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5026.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5027.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5029.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5030.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5031.png)
Jun: Hi, my name is Jun. What's yours?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5033.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 04:58:55 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5034.png)
Seer: Let me hypnotize you so that you can get a good night's sleep. What? You need to study tonight? Who cares?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5036.png)
Woman: ...the park. I just hope Shuzer didn't kidnap them.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5038.png)
If that wasn't a joke, it wasn't worth taking a bow over. Then again, Orlouge's floozies never did it, so maybe they're just showing off some otherwise-unused animation.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5039.png)
Shinichi: I am Shinichi. I'm the dude who drew all these cool characters in the game like Red, Blue, Lute, you name it!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5041.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5042.png)
Player characters? Annie, Captain Hamilton, Doll, Mesarthim, Rei, White Rose, and by canon/technicality T260.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5043.png)
Otani: ...actually made it here. How did you like T260? Ain't he the coolest?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:05:14 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5048.png)
Not Wearing A Hat: I designed some of the backgrounds for the battle sequences. Look what I drew!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5052.png)
You're given a tour of some battle backgrounds. The Roomba provides "clever" commentary.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5073.png)
Thus begins a lengthy, pointless battle sequence.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5082.png)
I'm skipping it because it takes nearly 20 screens to give some hollow platitudes.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5098.png)
Hiraishi: I just completed the ultimate robot attachment. Wanna try it out?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5102.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5103.png)
Hiraishi: I got this from our good doctor's office.
Red: Did you get permission? You'll be in trouble if he finds out.
Hiraishi: No problem! All right, switch on!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5109.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5110.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5113.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5116.png)
A Virus appears, alters the robot's programming code a bit, and then you get thoroughly beaten down.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5120.png)
Ha ha! Hilarious.

The fortunetelling thing is even longer and dumber. Now you understand, yes?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:15:23 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5123.png)
This guy gives another tour of battle backgrounds.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5129.png)
If Blue takes Space magic, this is the sort of background you fight Kylin in. I think. His own room doesn't look like this, so maybe there were supposed to be monsters in Kylin's labyrinth that never got put in.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5153.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5164.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5175.png)
Takai: ...but just like at their factory, they always blame me whenever something goes wrong. I tell you, one of these days, POW! Right in the kisser!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5184.png)
This one starts an actual fight with a MegaTitan, which looks like Berva as he appears in the Shingrow arena (with the mask on). It's a long, tedious fight with no reward for winning and no penalty for losing, because hey, you already finished the game, right? Why not have a couple ultra-powerful enemies where beating them is its own reward?

Oh, that reminds me. I never fought the AbyssBat optional superboss. Oh well.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:21:50 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5189.png)
Akao: Thank God it's over. Now we can fool around for a couple of months. . . . . . . . . . . But!!!!... there's still some work left.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5193.png)
Ito: Since you made it this far, I'll play my best tune for you!

He changes the music from this:
MUSIC - SaGa Frontier - Robot 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1c4B2IE9hs#)

To this:
MUSIC - SaGa Frontier - Riki (in music room of 2nd Div.) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UC_FVai5Oo#)

Man, I don't know.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5196.png)
He's a SFX test.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5199.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5200.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5201.png)
Saito: Right, like they're really going to listen! Hey, couch potatoes! Why don't you go out and get some exercise for a change!?

That might not be the best lecture to give in the developer room of a game that has you grind seven times more than other games, chief.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:34:20 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5204.png)
Tony: Ah yes. Robots and ships.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5210.png)
Mondo: If they weren't scary enough, it's my fault, but it's not my fault that some bosses are incredibly hard to beat. Remember, I'm the monster graphic designer, Tomoyuki. Want this?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5213.png)
"This" is a fight with one regular BlackFighter, two upsized black dragons, and two extra-strong red dragons.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5214.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5218.png)
He takes the form of Gargantu so you can fight the guy who planted mushrooms in rabite heads. :shrug:

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5221.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5223.png)
Hey, regular rabites. Look at that.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5224.png)
Okaniwa: As the ex-champion of all Mystics, I designed many monsters you fought. How did you like them?

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5248.png)
Hasegawa: The monsters in this game have many attack moves. So to enjoy them fully, choose "Defend" to see what they will do in different circumstances. Ready?

You then fight Shuzer, same as before. He reminds you not to forget about Berva and Alcarne.  :nyoro~n:
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:46:45 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5255.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5256.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5257.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5258.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5259.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5260.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5261.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5262.png)
This QA room is pretty small, with only a handful of people, so I'll post Matsuoka's battle scene. Let's not speculate too much on how the scene is probably the same whether the player character is a man, woman, animal, or inanimate object.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5263.png)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 05:55:35 AM
(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5264.png)
Virgil's throne room!

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5265.png)
You can battle Orlouge, Master Ring, or Spriggan on this side...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5266.png)
Diva, BossX, Genocide Heart, and Hell's Lord on this side. In case you want to try a different party against any given final boss, like having Asellus' all-mystic party take on the Diva or Riki's monster horde battle Genocide Heart. (They'd probably get slaughtered! I like this idea.)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5270.png)
Some guy: Did I mention I was starving? I can't even get through the game. Now I gotta call the help line to find out how to beat this thing. $4.99 per minute? Where am I gonna get that kind of money!?
Some guy: The father of Saga: Tomoki Anazawa

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5276.png)
Koichi: Any words to our players? Mumble, mumble...

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5278.png)
It's the toughest fight in the game, a powered-up MasterRing.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5281.png)
My very own Mana Tree? I wouldn't know what to do with it... I guess I'd give it to Lyrai.

Anyway, fighting this thing without special preparation is like accidentally running into Emerald Weapon with a submarine.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5267.png)

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5268.png)
Some of those games are the ones I did before I started this LP to check that everything worked. Except for a couple of graphic glitches during Riki's cutscenes and a handful of sound bugs, yeah. Hence the LP.

(http://www.intentionallyblank.net/images/lp-sf/lpsf5269.png)
And that's all! Anytime you finish a scenario with all seven scenarios completed in your system data, you get whisked to the Devroom. If I felt like grinding up a boss-killer party I'd come back and take on the seven scenario bosses all in a row, ending with Master Ring... but I don't!

The end!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Brentai on April 09, 2013, 03:19:09 PM
Quote
And then he lists off his QA staff, which I can't imagine anyone reading this cares enough about for me to transcribe here.

Nobody cares about those guys.  Nobody.

Quote
It's a developer's room! I don't think Squeenix does this kind of thing much anymore; the novelty wore off around the time Chrono Trigger did it.

I've probably mentioned this before, but Crisis Core had a developer's room that you'll never, ever see.  Among other things it featured a disturbing cry for help from the lead programmer.

EDIT: Silly me, of course somebody found it by accident.

Final Fantasy Crisis Core - Bug/Error Room (Cuarto De Error) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrAYLYad5do#)
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 09, 2013, 03:46:47 PM
Nobody cares about those guys.  Nobody.

There wasn't a Brenton on the list he recited! Unless one of you guys is secretly Stan "The Man" Ng, the exact names aren't going to pique anyone's interest enough to be worth typing them out. It's basically reading out of the phone book, for Chrissakes.
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: Classic on April 09, 2013, 05:02:09 PM
It's basically reading out of the phone book, for Chrissakes.
The perfect LP!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on April 10, 2013, 12:02:15 AM
I had a thought that this would make an acceptable-to-decent episodic game. Spend a bunch of time/resources upfront crafting the world, and then populate it with playable stories, released one at a time, each learning from the previous' mistakes, expanding the focus little by little, and benefitting from the same amount of effort. You could even get a chronology out of it so you don't get this seven-stooges-squeezing-into-one-door nonsense where the stories can't coexist in the same canon and some of them get so budget-shafted that there's practically nothing to them. (Or, in the case of the cut IRPO story, literally nothing.)

Well... I say that, but... I don't know if it'd make the whole thing any better. I mean, the game could pass for the result of a competition to throw together as many clichés as possible. I did like a couple ideas here and there, especially that thing with Despair existing primarily to hold its own head warden captive, but in the end, even that one seems like it's too clever not to have been ripped off from somewhere else.

Anyway, valiant effort putting that one together dude. Great read!
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: R^2 on April 10, 2013, 01:14:39 AM
Were it released today, I could see this as two or three stories in the retail release, with several pay-to-download stories acting as expansions.

At least that way each story could get some polish. What is Cube?
Title: Re: Plots to Make Fun Of: Seven of 'Em! -- Let's Play Saga Frontier!
Post by: François on April 10, 2013, 01:54:09 AM
Let's pretend that it's...

(http://francois.brontoforum.us/miscpic/cube.png) (http://fantasyanime.com/legacy2/live_robot.htm)

I can't tell if that would make more or less sense.