12/28/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier Bonus: A quick look at 2nd Div
What is 2nd Div? Why, it's the bonus area you get to visit once you beat the game with all seven characters, provided you've been diligent about creating a System Data and saving your progress to it after completing each quest. Here you get to see little jokes and comments from the various minds behind SaGa Frontier, fight each of the seven end bosses from the game, and even face a few new bosses as well.
Once you've got a System Data with all seven characters saved, beating the game with any group will bring them to 2nd Div. Be sure to bring your best team if you're going to take on MegaTitan, MasterRing? and the souped-up Dragons.
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Red's Quest), Part 3
In which we smash the remaining two BlackX bases, then confront the head honchos and put an end to their criminal empire once and for all.
12/27/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Red's Quest), Part 2
We pick up the lone party member we haven't seen yet (Kylin), visit the game's toughest optional boss and do a bit of plot-related stuff to cap it all off.
12/22/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Red's Quest), Part 1
Let's dig in to the last quest of the game and arguably the best one besides.
A young man whose father was slain by the criminal organiation BlackX, and he's only moments away from meeting the same fate when he is suddenly rescued by a superhero named "Alkarl". Now operating under the alias of "Alkaiser", Red launches a one-man crusade to eliminate BlackX.
Of all the quests in the game, Red's is probably the most "linear". You have to complete quite a few events before you get any free reign. From there it's just a matter of grinding until you're strong enough to topple all four BlackX bases, and after that it's right off to the endgame. Red does get quite a few exclusive characters though (and is quite an ass-kicker in his own right), so no complaints here.
A young man whose father was slain by the criminal organiation BlackX, and he's only moments away from meeting the same fate when he is suddenly rescued by a superhero named "Alkarl". Now operating under the alias of "Alkaiser", Red launches a one-man crusade to eliminate BlackX.
Of all the quests in the game, Red's is probably the most "linear". You have to complete quite a few events before you get any free reign. From there it's just a matter of grinding until you're strong enough to topple all four BlackX bases, and after that it's right off to the endgame. Red does get quite a few exclusive characters though (and is quite an ass-kicker in his own right), so no complaints here.
12/21/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Riki's Quest), Part 4
We make our way through Virgil's psychological torture-fest, secure the last ring and prepare to save Margmel. But not all goes as planned...
There are a few sticking points in the last leg of this quest
There are a few sticking points in the last leg of this quest
- Virgil's spike pit trap. Note that like the ledge in Koorong's mountains, you have to RUN to leap onto the invisible ledges. The rest is fairly simple, just follow the girl to see where the hidden paths are. If you misstep, you get to fight some monsters. It's tedious and very annoying, but not super hard.
- The Magma Slimes, who do damage directly to your LP. It really helps to have characters with evasive moves (Deflect, Swayback) here, as well as the ring of the Thief to protect Riki (who has a meager 6 LP). They seem to have a weakness to wind-based attacks, so take them out quickly with attacks like MegaWindBlast and 2GaleSlash.
- Virgil himself. Virgil, being essentially a god, is immune to attack; the only way to win this fight is to "entertain" him with flashy combo attacks. Level 3 combos earn you two points, Level 4 combos earn you three, and Level 5 earns you five. Score ten points to win. Also note that using the same combo repeatedly won't count, but you can break a level four or five down to a 3 or 4 combo and it will still count. Be sure to experiment a bit beforehand so you can do this quickly - if you take too long to get to ten points, he'll unload some really nasty attacks on you. Oh, and be sure to save BEFORE you face him - you'll immediately be whisked away to the final fight afterward and you'll have no chance to return if you're not strong enough yet.
- Finally, there's Master Ring. A beastie with absurdly high defense that buffs his own stats and has some nasty sonic attacks. Not only that, he's backed up by NINE mundane monsters, who have much more HP than they normally would (as in, several thousand apiece). Harmonium Earrings on your entire party is a must, as is buffering your party the first turn with the Fighter, Hero and Guardian rings. Taking out the monsters first is obviously your top priority, but be sure to leave one alive, else Master Ring will unleash a nasty attack each round that hits your entire party for 250+ HP (this comes on top of the 2-3 attacks per turn he already gets). Thankfully, his monsters don't gain any new status immunities, so you can use things like the Splash Sword (with its special instant death attack) and the Schemer and Merchant rings to turn things in your favor. Master Ring also has comparatively low HP to make up for his high defenses.
12/20/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Riki's Quest), Part 3
Gathering up more Rings in locales we've already visited many a time in other quests.
Also, signs of yet another plot thread cut short as we visit Despair.
Also, signs of yet another plot thread cut short as we visit Despair.
12/18/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Riki's Quest), Part 2
In which we set out to recover another ring from Sei's tomb, but get sidetracked by the ship-swallowing giant monster Tanzer (who luckily enough has another ring for us to find).
Tanzer can be a real bitch to defeat unless you grind a lot (and if you save the game in the room just before the fight, you won't be able to go back, potentially forcing you to restart the quest). Or you could just exploit the Junk shop glitch to get everyone well equipped beforehand, as I did.
Tanzer can be a real bitch to defeat unless you grind a lot (and if you save the game in the room just before the fight, you won't be able to go back, potentially forcing you to restart the quest). Or you could just exploit the Junk shop glitch to get everyone well equipped beforehand, as I did.
12/17/2012
Let's Play SaGa Frontier (Riki's Quest), Part 1
Our quest for the nine rings begins in Scrap, where we retread some familiar ground from T260's story.
Riki's quest is one of only three quests in SaGa Frontier that can be considered "complete" - it's a fairly good length by the game's standards (10-15 hours for your first playthrough), the story progresses in a logical fashion, there's fleshed out dialog between the characters and it actually has a couple of pretty clever hurdles to overcome.
Riki's quest is one of only three quests in SaGa Frontier that can be considered "complete" - it's a fairly good length by the game's standards (10-15 hours for your first playthrough), the story progresses in a logical fashion, there's fleshed out dialog between the characters and it actually has a couple of pretty clever hurdles to overcome.
12/07/2012
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters Bonus: Alternate Scenes, Endings and Secrets
As with every Nippon Ichi title, you can't see all the game has to offer in a single playthrough. There's still plenty of hidden characters to find, items to discover, alternate endings to view and hidden uber-bosses that require days or even weeks of grinding to have even a chance of victory against. So let's take a look at what else the game has to offer.
Use Gig Edicts on Townspeople
That option we've seen in every town but never been able to actually use to any effect becomes unlocked after the first cycle. This has four main effects - Fighting people (for items and cash), Stealing from them (getting rare items if you succeed, having to pay a hefty cash penalty if you fail), Combining (which gives a significant boost to one of your stats) and Kidnapping (recruiting Manikins with decent starting levels and higher stats than normally available). Of course, you can also kick people around and treat them like dirt if you just feel like being a dick.
Demon Path
An alternate story mode where Revya decides to use Gig's powers to well, go on a killing spree. You recruit several enemy characters from the main storyline, as well as kill off most of your former comrades. Fun if you feel like being a bastard, I suppose.
Classes
For finishing the game once you unlock the Gideon class, which is pretty much the ultimate melee unit. Not only do they have high stats all around and Flying movement type, but all of their attacks hit multiple targets - their front row attack hits an entire file, and their middle and back rows hit every enemy in a room. Their only true weakness is that they cost a ton of cash to create and deploy (but if you're halfway decent at Soul Nomad, you should never be short on cash anyway, right?).
Playable Characters
(Spoilertastic, so don't watch these videos if you don't want to ruin the scenes for yourself)
Lujei - If you have the "Reveal Path 1" Edict (buy it in the shop for 5,000,000 GP), you'll get an alternate dialog option during the Raide Oceanside event just after the attack on Yesterwind. Picking that will play an extra scene between Endorph and Lujei. Once you defeat her, she becomes a playable character.
Lujei is a boss character from the game "GrimGrimoire", which NIS published in North America. It also pretty much confirms that Walnut and Endorph are one and the same.
Asagi - A bit of a joke character in Nippon Ichi's games. She was intended to star in a game called "Makai Wars", but since that game got cancelled, she's made cameos in many of their other games, trying to defeat the hero and take their place. Soul Nomad is no exception.
If you defeat Feinne during your first encounter (without Gig's help), you'll view an alternate scene where Asagi challenges you to a battle. If you defeat her, you get an alternate ending and she becomes a playable character. Due to a bug in the game, you can also recruit multiple copies of Asagi and even potentially make entire squads of her. Pretty funny.
Median - After viewing the flashback event in Corsius Manor, if you have the "Reveal Path 2" Gig Edict*, you'll get an alternate dialog option that allows you to fight Median. There are two alternate endings depending on whether you win or lose the battle. Defeating him also enables him as a playable character.
*This only appears in the shop after you defeat and recruit Lujei. It will also run you about 5,000,000 GP.
Rooms
There are several extra rooms to unlock beyond what you get in the main game.
Happy Hall - Complete the normal game once. GP earned by this room increases by 50%.
Demon Bed - Complete the Demon Path once. Boosts all stats by 50%, but all stats drop 10% each turn.
Lightsinger - Clear 20 floors in a 2000 GP room inspection. Boosts the stats of all allies' rooms by 10%, but lowers the stats of your own room by 30%.
Darksinger - Clear 30 floors in a 6000 GP room inspection. Lowers the stats of all enemy rooms by 10%, but also lowers the stats of your own room by 30%.
Sarcophagus - Clear 60 floors in a 20,000 GP room inspection. All squads adjacent to this room will take damage equivalent to 10% of the squad leader's HP each turn.
Talent Show - Clear 80 floors in a 40,000 GP room inspection. This room is invincible for 3 turns, but dies instantly on the fourth turn.
Fist Dojo - Clear 100 floors in a 60,000 GP room inspection. Attacks from units in this room can cause instant death, but award no experience.
Kitty Pen - Defeat a Shop God. Boosts the stats of all units in the room by 10% for each completed game cycle.
Endings
As stated in Part 1 of this series, you earn affinity points through dialog choices during story scenes, as well as gaining a point each time Revya does a team attack with that character (with the exception of Gig, obviously). Whoever has the most points at the end of the game gets an extra scene. In the event of a tie between two characters, the game defaults to Danette's ending.
These endings also seem to all be concurrent - that is, they all canonically take place. I listed them in the order they seem to chronologically take place in.
Levin Ending "Two Wandering World Eaters" (M / F)
Tricia Ending "The Righteous Path"
Layna Ending "Caretaker of Drazil"
Juno Ending M "Juno's Proposal" / Juno Ending F "Penn's Proposal"
Gig Ending "A new adventure" (M / F)
Danette Ending "Looking toward the Future" (M / F)
Grunzford Ending "Indefinite Journey" (M / F)
Vitali Ending "A Dream Realized"
Odie Ending "I Still Get No Respect"
Endorph Ending "Respite for the Restless"
So Revya travels with Levin for a while, eventually parting ways to wander the world and meet with old friends. Then he/she returns to the Hidden Village to find Danette and Gig waiting for them, then they set out on another journey before too long. Makes sense to me, at least.
You're probably wondering "Wait, weren't Levin and Euphoria both killed by Raksha?", and you'd be right. But they were both part of a World Eater, and given that we've seen World Eaters and demigods cheat death several times already, it's not too much of a stretch to think they could come back as well.
I've also heard that if you have the most points with Levin or Endorph before the event with Raksha goes down, the scene changes slightly so that Levin (if Levin has the most points) or Euphoria (ditto Endorph) survives. I haven't witnessed this firsthand, though.
We'll do the Demon path another time. For now, I have some other long-neglected projects I need to work on. We'll have more Let's Plays coming soon though (plus I still need to wrap up the last two quests in SaGa Frontier), so stay tuned!
Special thanks to The Cock Crew, OmegaPrismZ and HaseoXLeon for the embedded videos on this page.
Use Gig Edicts on Townspeople
That option we've seen in every town but never been able to actually use to any effect becomes unlocked after the first cycle. This has four main effects - Fighting people (for items and cash), Stealing from them (getting rare items if you succeed, having to pay a hefty cash penalty if you fail), Combining (which gives a significant boost to one of your stats) and Kidnapping (recruiting Manikins with decent starting levels and higher stats than normally available). Of course, you can also kick people around and treat them like dirt if you just feel like being a dick.
Demon Path
An alternate story mode where Revya decides to use Gig's powers to well, go on a killing spree. You recruit several enemy characters from the main storyline, as well as kill off most of your former comrades. Fun if you feel like being a bastard, I suppose.
Classes
For finishing the game once you unlock the Gideon class, which is pretty much the ultimate melee unit. Not only do they have high stats all around and Flying movement type, but all of their attacks hit multiple targets - their front row attack hits an entire file, and their middle and back rows hit every enemy in a room. Their only true weakness is that they cost a ton of cash to create and deploy (but if you're halfway decent at Soul Nomad, you should never be short on cash anyway, right?).
Playable Characters
(Spoilertastic, so don't watch these videos if you don't want to ruin the scenes for yourself)
Lujei - If you have the "Reveal Path 1" Edict (buy it in the shop for 5,000,000 GP), you'll get an alternate dialog option during the Raide Oceanside event just after the attack on Yesterwind. Picking that will play an extra scene between Endorph and Lujei. Once you defeat her, she becomes a playable character.
Lujei is a boss character from the game "GrimGrimoire", which NIS published in North America. It also pretty much confirms that Walnut and Endorph are one and the same.
Asagi - A bit of a joke character in Nippon Ichi's games. She was intended to star in a game called "Makai Wars", but since that game got cancelled, she's made cameos in many of their other games, trying to defeat the hero and take their place. Soul Nomad is no exception.
If you defeat Feinne during your first encounter (without Gig's help), you'll view an alternate scene where Asagi challenges you to a battle. If you defeat her, you get an alternate ending and she becomes a playable character. Due to a bug in the game, you can also recruit multiple copies of Asagi and even potentially make entire squads of her. Pretty funny.
Median - After viewing the flashback event in Corsius Manor, if you have the "Reveal Path 2" Gig Edict*, you'll get an alternate dialog option that allows you to fight Median. There are two alternate endings depending on whether you win or lose the battle. Defeating him also enables him as a playable character.
*This only appears in the shop after you defeat and recruit Lujei. It will also run you about 5,000,000 GP.
There are several extra rooms to unlock beyond what you get in the main game.
Happy Hall - Complete the normal game once. GP earned by this room increases by 50%.
Demon Bed - Complete the Demon Path once. Boosts all stats by 50%, but all stats drop 10% each turn.
Lightsinger - Clear 20 floors in a 2000 GP room inspection. Boosts the stats of all allies' rooms by 10%, but lowers the stats of your own room by 30%.
Darksinger - Clear 30 floors in a 6000 GP room inspection. Lowers the stats of all enemy rooms by 10%, but also lowers the stats of your own room by 30%.
Sarcophagus - Clear 60 floors in a 20,000 GP room inspection. All squads adjacent to this room will take damage equivalent to 10% of the squad leader's HP each turn.
Talent Show - Clear 80 floors in a 40,000 GP room inspection. This room is invincible for 3 turns, but dies instantly on the fourth turn.
Fist Dojo - Clear 100 floors in a 60,000 GP room inspection. Attacks from units in this room can cause instant death, but award no experience.
Kitty Pen - Defeat a Shop God. Boosts the stats of all units in the room by 10% for each completed game cycle.
Endings
As stated in Part 1 of this series, you earn affinity points through dialog choices during story scenes, as well as gaining a point each time Revya does a team attack with that character (with the exception of Gig, obviously). Whoever has the most points at the end of the game gets an extra scene. In the event of a tie between two characters, the game defaults to Danette's ending.
These endings also seem to all be concurrent - that is, they all canonically take place. I listed them in the order they seem to chronologically take place in.
Levin Ending "Two Wandering World Eaters" (M / F)
Tricia Ending "The Righteous Path"
Layna Ending "Caretaker of Drazil"
Juno Ending M "Juno's Proposal" / Juno Ending F "Penn's Proposal"
Gig Ending "A new adventure" (M / F)
Danette Ending "Looking toward the Future" (M / F)
Grunzford Ending "Indefinite Journey" (M / F)
Vitali Ending "A Dream Realized"
Odie Ending "I Still Get No Respect"
Endorph Ending "Respite for the Restless"
So Revya travels with Levin for a while, eventually parting ways to wander the world and meet with old friends. Then he/she returns to the Hidden Village to find Danette and Gig waiting for them, then they set out on another journey before too long. Makes sense to me, at least.
You're probably wondering "Wait, weren't Levin and Euphoria both killed by Raksha?", and you'd be right. But they were both part of a World Eater, and given that we've seen World Eaters and demigods cheat death several times already, it's not too much of a stretch to think they could come back as well.
I've also heard that if you have the most points with Levin or Endorph before the event with Raksha goes down, the scene changes slightly so that Levin (if Levin has the most points) or Euphoria (ditto Endorph) survives. I haven't witnessed this firsthand, though.
We'll do the Demon path another time. For now, I have some other long-neglected projects I need to work on. We'll have more Let's Plays coming soon though (plus I still need to wrap up the last two quests in SaGa Frontier), so stay tuned!
Special thanks to The Cock Crew, OmegaPrismZ and HaseoXLeon for the embedded videos on this page.
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, Part 14 (Finale)
We at last arrive at Drazil, a world full of unpleasant surprises and home to our ultimate foes.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
At last we come face to face with Median's daughter, Virtuous' would-be slayer and Revya's sister. Banished to Drazil after her death at Gig's hands, she now lives as a bit of an outlaw for her non-conformity.
The masters of Life and Death respectively in the world of Drazil, as well as its tyrannical overlords.
After a brief glimpse at the beginning and several flashbacks, we at last come face to face with the man himself. He's none too happy at having been an unwitting part of Drazil's plans, but does he still have the god-slaying strength he possessed centuries ago?
The god of the world of Drazil, whose grand scheme for dominance led to the devastation of Haephnes and turned Drazil into the Orwellian society it is today. Can the combined strength of two World Eaters, a Master of Death and the mightiest warrior on Haephnes truly fell this tyrant?
I love that expression on Gig's face.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Layna
Voiced by: ?At last we come face to face with Median's daughter, Virtuous' would-be slayer and Revya's sister. Banished to Drazil after her death at Gig's hands, she now lives as a bit of an outlaw for her non-conformity.
Joules and Gamma
Voiced by: ?The masters of Life and Death respectively in the world of Drazil, as well as its tyrannical overlords.
Gestahl / Median
Voiced by: Patrick SeitzAfter a brief glimpse at the beginning and several flashbacks, we at last come face to face with the man himself. He's none too happy at having been an unwitting part of Drazil's plans, but does he still have the god-slaying strength he possessed centuries ago?
Drazil
Voiced by: Jamieson PriceThe god of the world of Drazil, whose grand scheme for dominance led to the devastation of Haephnes and turned Drazil into the Orwellian society it is today. Can the combined strength of two World Eaters, a Master of Death and the mightiest warrior on Haephnes truly fell this tyrant?
I love that expression on Gig's face.
12/06/2012
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, Part 13
The last of the World Eaters finally falls. But our ultimate challenge still awaits us in Drazil.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
The final World Eater and by far the nastiest of the bunch, orchestrating nearly all of the senseless carnage we've witnessed to this point. Unlike Thuris, he's not just playing at being a god - he actually intends to become one.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Raksha
Voiced by: Liam O' BrienThe final World Eater and by far the nastiest of the bunch, orchestrating nearly all of the senseless carnage we've witnessed to this point. Unlike Thuris, he's not just playing at being a god - he actually intends to become one.
12/05/2012
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, Part 12
We travel south to Orviska to finally confront the third World Eater. But when we find him, he's... already dead?
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Odie's former underlings, consisting of two phynx and a humble hotpod farmer.
Queen of Orviska, a country currently plagued by war and drought that has kept watch over the World Eater for over 200 years. Dio seems to be the real power behind the throne, though.
Brother of Odie and head of the Dio clan, a family of extraordinarily powerful mages in Orviska. He agrees to let Revya face the World Eater, but he clearly has his own plans in mind as well.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Vangogh, Rockum and Sockum
Voiced by: Dave Wittenberg, ? ?Odie's former underlings, consisting of two phynx and a humble hotpod farmer.
Queen Diness
Voiced by: Barbara GoodsonQueen of Orviska, a country currently plagued by war and drought that has kept watch over the World Eater for over 200 years. Dio seems to be the real power behind the throne, though.
Dio
Voiced by: Doug ErholtzBrother of Odie and head of the Dio clan, a family of extraordinarily powerful mages in Orviska. He agrees to let Revya face the World Eater, but he clearly has his own plans in mind as well.
12/03/2012
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, Part 11
The death of the second World Eater is sandwiched with two bouts of tragedy. Oh, and we also get a big dump of exposition about what's really going on behind the scenes on Haephnes.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Lady Layna VirtuousVoiced by: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
The truth is revealed: Lady Layna is actually Virtuous, fused to the body of Layna (whose spirit was sent to Drazil by Gig). Her ultimate goal is to restore balance and prosperity to the two worlds.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
The truth is revealed: Lady Layna is actually Virtuous, fused to the body of Layna (whose spirit was sent to Drazil by Gig). Her ultimate goal is to restore balance and prosperity to the two worlds.
12/01/2012
Let's Play Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, Part 10
We track down the Yesterwind slavers and have a few big battles, as well as unearthing some more dirty laundry.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Leader of Yesterwind and all-around despicable guy. Has history with Christophe and Cuthbert.
Characters introduced this time (in order of appearance)
Lobo
Voiced by: Keith SilversteinLeader of Yesterwind and all-around despicable guy. Has history with Christophe and Cuthbert.
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