That's it for today. But before I leave, here are our current stats: Next time - we finally face the dragon.
Very short update. I had evening classes, it's almost 10pm and I'm drop dead tired. We arrive in the final room. However, we do not find a dragon. Greham used to be a Basil knight and a friend of Lavitz' father. He betrayed the kingdom and became a member of the Sandora army. Lavitz is enraged. Both. Yepp, he's a dragoon and controls the dragon. Rose demands to know where he got his Dragon Spirit from. Well, that Virage thing was still alive, too. Just saying. Battle time! We're up against the dragon and Grehem. I like to take out Feyrbrand first, simply because he can inflict poison, fear and stun. I was actually very unlucky stupid in this battle. As I mentioned, I didn't bring any Body Purifier. Dart and Rose can simply transform into dragoons to get rid of negative effects, and I was hoping for Lavitz not to get poisoned. But of course he did, so I had him guard for the rest of the battle.
In the end, I took the easy way out and just used Earth Magic for a wooping ~250HP damage per spell. Ehem. Why the betrayal, though, Grehem? Jelousy. Good old jelousy. That's a bit harsh, dear... But, what's that? The Dragoon Spirit is glowing! Does that mean? Yes, it does. Lavitz is a dragoon, too. Shana wants to congratulate him, but Goddamnit. Going back to Bale would take ages. The party decides to get her to Lohan, just behind the forest.
Shana. Why. Lavitz even got poisoned, but you're the one with massive issues ;(. Yay jade dragon! My favorite dragoon; The spell that gives you reduced damage taken is nice.
But gawt-dern, it's especially bad with Shana at this point, though. This whole time the game is doing nothing but shoving particularly sexist stereotypes in the player's face whenever Shana enters the spotlight. To say nothing of starting the adventure with her capture, just how many times does it take before throwing her in the kitchen gets old? How often must we be reminded of her poor, frail body? Did the writers ever think "oh, okay, I think we've driven the Dart x Shana doting thing home hard enough, maybe we should develop a different character trait before it makes Dart look like a borderline chauvinist and make the player question the entire party's sanity for continuing to drag such a friggin' princess along on this journey since we continue to give scenes displaying this every 3 screens or so?" (The answer is "lol no") At least it makes Rose all the better a foil, I guess.
Well, at least Shana did get a "I can fix this!" with Lavitz? Although you can spin it the other way too.. Haha! Oh Shana. It does get worse :(. Kinda have to feel bad for her for it, but it does get very annoying fast!
They could have made Shana into a more agreeable character, but the game was so good in most other stuff that I just disregarded it.
Dart actually tried to leave Shana in Bale, but the King went "lol no". In Lohan, we get Shana to one of the best doctors on the whole continent. Or so he claims. But maybe he's not that great after all. Anyways, he tells us that Shana's body is fine, and the poison is eating away on her spirit instead. Whatever that means. At least he's got an idea what to do. Lohan is a merchant town, maybe we can get some clues here. Let's look around. *grabby hands* Gimme! What? Dragoni plant? ... Oh yeah, right. Right. No time for shopping, gotta save Shana. We walk into a random house, and ... HIS CLOTHS! Ahem. Hi there Dabas. You wouldn't know where we could find some Dragoni plant? Thanks! We've still got a problem though: The path to the shrine is blocked by a mutated plant. We have to get rid of it. Luckily, there's some water with healing qualities in the Dragon's nest, that'll do the trick. We need something to transport the water in, though. Shopping time? Shopping time! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. NOPE. Have you seen my finances? I repeat: Have you seen my finances? It's a goddamn bottle, why would you want 1000G for it? I can buy 10 potions for that. Success.
We kill the mutated plant with some fresh water and head to the shrine. This can't be good. You know something, don't you? This places is filled with passive-aggressive notes. Busted, Dart, busted. I don't know what this means, but okay. Dart puts in some random numbers. Nothing happens. Don't you say?
Oh look, another chest. I wonder if it's empty again. But maybe this time...? What the hell?! A free roller-coaster ride! We also went past wodden boards with numbers on them. And lo and behold! they open the lock. Yadda yadda, statue puzzle, nobody cares. We finally stand before the shrine. You're the guy leaving all the passive-aggressive notes? You must know this place well, so would you please tell us where to get some Dragoni plant? But he doesn't listen. For the following reasons, Drake is one of the most annoying fights on the first CD. The cannon balls do a ton of damage, if you don't take them out within two rounds. And if you don't use Attack All magic, you most likely will only take out one or two before that. He can hide behind a net, making it impossible to attack him until it's destroyed. He can heal himself. I still kick is sorry ass. And Dart becomes Dragoon lvl 2, yay.
The screen flashes white. What in the world? Is that a ghost? Sorry to interrupt this reunion, but about that Dragoni plant... Shirley tells us she doesn't have any. BUT! She's got a Dragoon Spirit with healing magic. And then she attacks us. When I played the game for the first time, I pretty much freaked out at this point. I didn't have any potions left, my party was in the red, I saw no way to win. Imagine my despair. But Shirley doesn't attack. All she does is ask you some questions. Phew! Satisfied with our ~*~pure hearts~*~, she gives us her Dragoon Spirit. And then we raid the treasury although we promised not to.
*Insert here success.gif that imgur deleted for no reason and I'm too lazy to reupload* The first time I think I bought it at 100G, and felt really stupid when I realized I could have it for free. Then again, the first time I was kind of... really young.
On the way back to Lohan, Lavitz gains a Dragoon lvl. Blossom Storm is a very useful spell - it reduces damages by 50% for three rounds. Back in Lohan. Nope. We have something better! Dart places the Dragoon spirit on Shana's bed. Don't tell me? Yes. Yes, she is. A dragoon. The doctor is delighted. He goes on and on about how awesome and strong we are. Do I have to enter? I don't wanna :< We are draged off to the Arena. Do I have a choice? Who else is entering? Lavitz? Well, that makes sense. What about Rose? ilu Don't tell me what to do!
We enter the waiting room. Some people are already brawling. Must be all the testosterone. But don't we know that one in purple...? Everyone, meet Haschel. He and Dart traveled around for a while. He's searching for his daughter. But enough of that, we have some fights to fight. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 These guys are such push overs, I don't even want to write about them. Seriously. Hit them a few times and they go down. Needless to say - we've made it to the finals. But Haschel lost to a guy called Llody. Well, that's okay. Dart will beat him up for you, Haschel! Stop dodging! We lose. Without landing a single hit. That was embarrassing.
To make us forget about this disgraceful defead, Lavitz sets us up on a date with Shana. Lavitz drags Rose off. She slaps him. Hard. Yeah, right. I feel so sorry for him. Some minigames later. Lavitz wants to know how the date went. I don't think he does. Having nothing else to do, we decide to go back to Bale. Need to report about us slaughtering the dragon. We're not getting far, however. Damnit. Lavitz snaps and tries to run off to free his king. Haschel runs after him and punches him in the gut. We take Lavitz to the hospital to cool off, while Haschel tries to get some information about the situation. Learned anything about King Albert? A true leader! Again. This place is going to haunt us forever, isn't it?
Oh yeah. Haschel joined our party. Look at that speed stat! Hellena. We are back. They are about the close the draw bridge. Lavitz, being the badass he is, takes out the soldiers inside and opens the bridge for us. How's Albert doing? Ugh. We better hurry. We're making good progress, until Guys... I think you might be standing on a trap door, there. Sigh.
I love her. Shana notices an air draft from behind the stone. Maybe a hidden exit? Figures. Jiango. The prison monster and Fruegel's pet. The fight can be really vexig, as it can confuse the party. It actually hit Dart, but he snapped out of it before I had to kill him. Convenient! Magic. It's always magic. We beat them up and hurry to find Fruegel and Albert. Will we make it in time...? Of course we do! Time to fight Fruegel again. He brought two idk what they are with him. The right one is called Guftas and he's able to frighten the party. I like to take him out first. After that I go for the left one. Some kind of bird called Rodriguez. After that it's time to give Fruegel the beating of a lifetime. We win, free the king, end the war and everyone lived happily ever after ~ The End ~
This game brings back so many memories. Gawd, I hated Shana though. Rose was a much better character. She's my second love :3 First was Lavitz, but we all know what happened to him ;-; Lloyd has a special place in my heart too (but Lavitz ;-; )
Rose why. NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER ROSE. Yeah, Lavitz was my favorite too.. Then bam. HART BROKEN. Dart's bromance ;(. (I do love the emotion they show despite the graphics of the time. Those two did get pretty close quickly, didn't they?). ....I also thought your hands were tied up Albert.
The group flees from Hellena and takes shelter in Seles. Everyone agrees that we have to keep fighting. For Lavitz. Lavitz ;_; Lloyd! You bastard planned this from the start, didn't you? Dart asks Albert about that thing Lloyd stole. Back when the Winglies were still alive, they created three magical artefacts. Nobody remembers what their original purpose is, though. It's called Moon Gem. But wait, doesn't that make Lloyd the new heir to the throne now? We should probably get the Moon Gem back before it creates even more trouble. Damn right!
We head to Kazas, the capital of Sandora. We're going to settle this war once and for all. It's a very pleasant place. Military and suffering people everywhere. But we have more important things to do, let's check out the castle. You never know unless you try! You're such a spoilsport, Albert :< But alright, let's look for another way in. The New Serdio Party is an underground resistance, trying to end the war. They recognize Albert and are willing to help us. We killed a dragon, we're not as weak as we look. Do you have a better idea? Well, that works. Any last words before we enter the lion's den? Everyone turns to look at Rose. Did I mention that I lo-... Okay, okay, I'll stop it.
Dart activates his secret ninja skills and we sneak in runs around like a bull in a china shop and we beat up lots of soldiers. We also meet some researchers. They don't like to see their projects used for war, so they encourage us to end it. Life in Sandora must suck big time, if even royal employees help the enemy. Now we can take the elevators, yay. Oh, what's this? A waste press, ew. Dart doesn't mind the smell and runs to the other side because he saw a chest to raid over there. But there's no money inside. Just a stupid stone. Dart is disappointed. We meet another researcher. He's a bit, um, special and tries to attack us. DOGGY! :D Ahem, sorry. The chest in the back holds a blue stone. What's with all the stones around here? More sneaking around killing everything in sight. Oh shit, you're the guy who took Shana away and killed half the village! I'm PRETTY sure you've been there. I saw you in the first cut scene. But I'll trust you this one time. Lloyd again... The commander asks us to meet Doel and end the war, even if that means we have to kill him. Another stone. What are they? Oh. Great. I'm glad we didn't throw them into the waste press. Right, Dart?
Doel! We're coming for you! Of course you had to show up first... Kongol is stronger this time, but so are we. Just hit him until he dies. Except that Dart stops Rose before she actually does kill him. Now we can finally face Doel and put an end to all the suffering. Doel is Albert's uncle, the brother of his late father Carlo. Burn But tell us about Shana. Why did you order to kidnap her? This doesn't answer my question. Let's settle this differently.
The final battle! This is going to take a while. Huh? In the red already? I've only hit you, like, 5 times. Boring! Sonofa... Ugh, this fight. No matter how often I play the game, as soon as he transforms I start to struggle. He can use very strong thunder magic, hitting the party very hard. He can also create a barrier around him, preventing us from attacking him. It's a drag. Albert actually died to a thunder attack that hit him for 450hp. I didn't bother reviving him. I'm a bad person. It's done. Doel is dead. The war is over. But does that mean our journey is over, too? That's my boy! Shana, Albert and Rose agree to accompany him. Shana wants to find out about herself. Albert wants to get the Moon Gem back. And Rose simply got nothing better to do. Haschel, however, wants to continue searching for his daughter. He's about to leave the castle, when Doel's Dragoon Spirit drops into his hands and starts to sparkle. He, too, is a dragoon. ~ End of Chapter One ~
VENGEANCE. Doel wasn't too hard for me after the first two times in which he mauled me. I just played carefully and used as many potions as I needed to ensure my victory. Also, Al's protection spell which I always forget how is named and confuse it with Lavitz's.I miss you Chapter Two is fun and lighthearted. Kind of.
I serisouly don't know why I have such problems with Doel! Maybe I'm just unlucky. He always gets two turns in a row and he only ever uses the Thunderbolt magic on me.
I've had issues with Doel too, don't feel bad! He's just really tough with his "I WANT TO SEE YOU BURN" moves... Maybe we're both super unlucky! .. Kongol actually gave me a ton of issue my first time against him, too. Maybe I just didn't carry enough potions. That protection spell, so nice.
Still, there are worse battles ahead. One in particular, at some point in this chapter... So yeah, get crackin' on that fire dragoon magic. I wish thunder was effective on water, instead of being weak to nothing and effective on nothing. Maybe then I would have used Haschel a bit more.
I am. This is one of my favourite chapters, I'm sure I'll enjoy the nostalgia to distract me from the vampires.
We arrive in Fletz, capital city of Tiberoa. Where should we go first? Maybe the palace? Yeah, the palace seems like a good place to start. Uh, a princess. Is she pretty? Pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside. Wow. Al, you okay there? Let's try to enter the castle. We have to make sure the king knows about Lloyd. What? Come one, we have a king with us!
What a let down. Let's go to the pub and get wasted instead. The waitress won't shut up about stars, so Albert is nice enough to remind us of our actual goal. Did she just call herself a hipster? I need more booze. And then she starts talking about stars again, and insists that we HAVE to meet somebody. I don't care about moons, unless they are gems. Some text got cut off there. Black Monster? He might be worth checking out after all. Let's go see him. He's more than happy to tell us about the Moon That Never Sets. Dart's voice actor, I don't even. But then he runs off, because he works as a teacher for Princess Lisa. This is the Moon That Never Sets. It's so pretty~
Seems like there is nothing else for us to do in Fletz. Let's go somewhere else. We're not allowed to leave, because Tiberoa has a bandit problem. We have swords, we can deal with some bandits. No? Okay, okay. Let's get a room and stay the night. I hate this town. We wander around, entering houses at random. Albert is all for it, so whatever. At least we have a place to stay. The next day But before that, let's get rid of some Stardust! We actually ran into Martel in Bale, but I didn't post it. She basically ran into us, got angry and left. You get something from her for every 10 pieces Stardust. Physical Ring raises maximal HP by 50%. Just what I need for Rose! Amulet does the same, but for MP.
We leave the city behind and cross the wasteland between Fletz and Donau. We're not allowed to leave the city at night because of bandits, only to get attacked during day. I don't even. We're up against two bandits and that Mappi guy. The fight is easy, UNLESS you attack Mappi while there are still bandits on the field. Why? Yes, instant death move. GODDAMNIT DART. You're not alone, dear. Meanwhile in Donau. The bandits are threatening a maiden! Someone help. No, not you. I hate you Lloyd. Give me my Lavitz back! At least he helps the girl... Wink is such a silly name. The party arrives in Donau a little bit later. The bandits pretty much took over the town. We learn that the mayor's son, Lynn, went to the gang's hideout to talk to them. They stole one of our Dragoon Spirits, so we have to go there, too. We can search for Lynn while we're at it. But where do we need to go? That's enough information. Off we go!
It wasn't me! I promise! The bandits laugh. Good one, girl! Please put that hammer away. We're not bandits, we are actually on our way to "visit" them. If you know what I mean. But why am I telling you this? We don't even know your name. Nice to meet you. But we really need to go now. Uh... But we know where we have to go, we don't really need someone to show us. Okay, maybe you are useful after all. Just stay away from Rose, she doesn't look too happy about it. My party is finally complete again! Dart - Rose - Meru is my standard party.
Wait. Wait. WAIT. Rewind a bit. Back to disc 1. Back to the temple. I mean, the shrine. The shrine with that ghost lady in it. Yeah, the lady named Shirley. ...Shirley...has a shrine...or...maybe it's... ...No...that couldn't have been accidental....
