The Let's Play Archive

Atelier: Arland Trilogy

by Sylphid

Part 57: Update LIV: An Adventurer and the Troubled Passage

Ahoy, landlubbers. Another update for Atelier Totori can only be found here. Best get your sea legs ready for this installment.

So I ended last update by revealing that by August 13th, I had finally made all the ship parts, about seven months after I was given the task. We've only got one destination in mind for the next two months, so let's get right on it.




Every time you turn in a ship part, you get this prompt. Every two items you turn in, you get a voiced scene. Video goes until Totori says "Tell me now!"



It's getting dark. We better go home or Ceci will yell at us.

I guess so. No, I'm going to work a bit more. You go on ahead.

Then I want to help, too.



I didn't know that. I thought Mom would love to do this kind of work.

She tried. She wouldn't stop yapping about it, so I let her help once.



Oh, really...? Hmm...

Why do you sound disappointed?

Sometimes I realize how little of the past I remember... Not just about Mom, but I didn't even know you're a shipwright.

You were still young at the time. Then again, maybe you're just really forgetful.

Hey! That's mean.



Was Mom forgetful, too?

Yeah. She messed up your and Ceci's names all the time. I wanted to name you two something easy to remember. She ignored me and gave you needlessly complicated names.

I've always wondered if they were joking, but my parents both say I was close to being named "Bear". It's not that my current name is terrible or anything, but I think "Bear" would have been an improvement.

Oh? Mom gave us our names?

I have more stories like that.



What? Really?

I'm sure she was half-joking, but she loved doing things like that.

What else? I wanna hear more stories about Mom.





Pfft! Hey! That's something I'm not quite ready to tell you!

Why? I wanna know, I wanna know.

Maybe in ten... N-No, five years. Come on, let's go home. Ceci's waiting.

*Guid leaves*

Hey, wait! Come on, Dad. Tell me now!

And the second. Video goes until Totori says "I think I understand why Cordelia was so mad now"



It's starting to take shape now. Are we almost done?

No way. I just finished the exterior. In the grand scheme of things, we're about halfway through.

Just half... Okay, I better go find the rest of the materials!

Good luck out there, little adventurer.



What? Is it about Gisela again?

yeah. Why did Mom become an adventurer? From what everyone says, it seems like she'd think licenses and stuff were a huge pain.

In her case, she didn't become one. They made her into one, actually.

Made her?



She didn't need to become one, but someone always had to clean up after her. No one knew where and when she'd wreak havoc next, but complain letters kept piling up at the guild. You can't tell who's a legitimate adventurer just by looking at them.



That didn't solve anything. Mom stirred up trouble even after getting a license.

They probably thought it was worth it because they could clean up her messes more efficiently. When you become an adventurer, you have to periodically update the guild on your whereabouts.

I get it... I think I understand why Cordelia was so mad now.

And now, the final scene, gained after turning in all six ship parts. Video goes until Guid says "I need you to watch over her, no matter what."



Yup, you got everything. Well done. Hold on just a second.

O-Okay...

*fade to black*



Done? Really? You're really done?

Yeah. This is your ship. Like it?







Goddamn. With the right materials, Guid really can build a damn fine ship.

My ship... Y-Y-Yay! Hooray!

Whoa! Don't jump on me. You did a good job. To be honest, I didn't think you could get all the materials.

I tried really hard! Thank you, Dad!

I should be the one thanking you. I never thought the day would come where I could build another ship.





Oh yeah, how do I control a ship? Can I do it by myself?

Calm down there. It's reckless to leave right now.

But... I have to go look for Mom.



First, you have to gather your stuff. I'll help out.



*Totori leaves*

Oh, geez. She might be a big time adventurer, but she's still a little kid.



I'm counting on you. I put my soul into making you. I need you to watch over her, no matter what.

And now, a final scene. This is the big casting off moment, a requisite for any prominent video game vessal. Video goes until Totori says "I'm coming for you now!"



Well, I'm off.

Take care. Don't be reckless out there. Come straight home if it gets dangerous. Don't eat anything weird. Watch out for the water, too. Do you have motion sickness medicine?

I'll be fine! You're such a worrywart.

But that's because...



Like with a few scenes in Rorona, this line can belong to any party member. It seems to be the person who is in the second slot, since Mimi has been in my current party longer than Rorona has.



Gisela said that was the direction she would take.

East... Okay.



I-I know that much, geez! I'll be back when I find Mom.

I'm counting on you.













Of course she will. She's set sail. All we can do now is believe in her.

Yeah...

*fade to black*



Wait for me, Mom! I'm coming for you now!



After that scene, a whole bunch of new locations open up. Most are small islands between the main continent and the southern island (what the game calls the Primordial Island), and a location on the beachhead of said island.

Although the Primordial Island is a treasure trove of rank points, our attention is solely focused on hunting Gisela's trail. The furthest east you can do at the moment is a large island called Altmeier. That's where your current target is, but there's a few interesting locations between here and there. Let's stop by the first island.




Music: Following the Footsteps ~ The Island

The first island is pretty quiet, but I do really like the music here. Nice and tropical.



Seahorses are a pretty valuable ingredient, if only for the fact it's required for one of the better healing items in the game. I'd recommend stopping by and picking up a few.



Further east on Rock Island is a bunch of ingredients for future alcohol items. Nothing here is especially valuable by itself, but it'll save you a trip later if you pick up a few of them.



Even farther east is Mushroom Island. It's a bit more populated with somewhat dangerous Mandra-type monsters, but they're still weak to Fire, so feel free to torch 'em.



Sponge Fruit can first be found here. Strangely enough, it's used for the highest-tier of armor, unlike Dragon Scales. Dragon Scales make the second-highest tier, though.



Well, ignore the fact it's mysteriously quite a few days later. I had to do it for the upcoming video, but now it's time to head for the legendary island, just off the coast of the continent. Altmeier is pretty awesome, but...



Note that if Mimi's ending events haven't made enough progress by this point, she's not in this scene at all, even if you bring her along. Totori's dialogue is basically identical, though.

I don't see anything. The waters are really calm. Maybe we can pass through without any trouble...







Th-There's no way we can win against...





I will say the Flauschtraut is a really good sea monster design. I mean, it looks like a beast who would be lurking in the depths.

Alright, time for the first really big boss battle of the game. For this video, I integrated that previous scene, the fight, and the resulting scene into one video, because if I made it three videos, it'd be two super short videos, and one rather long one, so whatever.

Glory Lies Beyond the Horizon - Flauschtraut




Music: Try

To make this battle even better, Try is the default theme here, and makes a pretty great boss battle theme. Just sounds very focused and dedicated.



The Flauschtraut counts as a Dragon-type enemy, so if our weapons had Dragon Critical on them, we'd have an absolute chance of getting a critical hit. Mimi just got lucky, though.



He always opens the fight by doing the rather useless Storm, but he'll always follow that up with the next move...

At the very least, at least we have an appropriate background.




His most powerful attack is Grand Wave, and if you watch the video, you'll notice I didn't get any prompts for someone to protect Totori.

What that results in is that the Flauschtraut is essentially a timed fight. The more he uses Storm + Grand Wave, the stronger it gets. After about two or three uses, it'll destroy your entire team in one blow, especially a cream puff brigade like this. You have to finish him quickly.




Well, I didn't make that Iksel Plate for decoration.



Although he's not intrinsically weak to Lightning, our Quartzes still do a number on the bastard. That'll be basically Rorona's only attacks, but it's a valuable contribution all the same.



His most pathetic attack is Siren, which...I dunno, gets rid of buffs? I'm not entirely sure how it works, but at least it doesn't do any damage.



Totori's last hit didn't get a critical, but the follow-up attack is still prompted. That's one thing that confuses me, in that if Totori gets a critical hit with a physical attack, you'll always get that prompt if Mimi's support meter is high enough, but sometimes even with non-criticals that will happen. Odd.



Freeze Breath is just middling Water damage, and lowers Speed, it seems. Not that big a threat.



Ouch, we really took it on the chin that time, and... Wait, Rorona survived with only one HP? What sort of devilry is this?!



So, I could have finished him with Rorona's special attack, but I wanted that honor for Mimi's Einzelkampfer. Unfortunately...



I didn't have enough. Oh well. Let's send this sucker back to the deep.







He is gauranteed to drop one high-end bit of equipment, in this case, Sterk's best sword. Strangely enough, he can also drop DLC character weapons. Like, I've gotten Ceci's best weapon from him more than once, without having the DLC.



Did we win...? We won, right? I feel so tired all of of a sudden...





For reaching Altmeier successfully, we've opened up the path to the eastern seas. But first, we'll be stopping by this major island, because there's rank points, experience, and great ingredients to find here.



Music: The Raging Seas

Alt here is a pretty big location with a lot of gathering points, but the only rank points here are for finding all the gathering points. The music here is really nice, at least. One of my favorite songs in the game. Sounds very swashbuckling.

Oh, and I really like the detail of the small boat. They docked the larger boat elsewhere and just rowed there in that boat. Nice attention to detail.




There's a *lot* of S-rank materials here. Even if there weren't rank points to be gained here, I'd be stopping by.



This little hodgepodge of enemies is basically what you can expect to find here. Nothing too formidable.



The last enemy here is an upgraded Isle Fish called Valoshun, who was also an area boss in Rorona that I didn't show off. He's pretty to kill here, though.



There's an exit to this area just off-screen to the left, but this is a really nice scenic view of basically the whole island.



Well, that's the last gathering point I know of, but why don't I get any points? Dammit, where's the last one?



Oh, that's why. You have to jump from that smaller rock to the slanted one, then over to the big one, where the final point is. Ah well, time to pull anchor and be on our way.



First stop in the Outer Isles is the appropriately named Tiny Island. The Living Fossil is a new ingredient here, but otherwise not much worth talking about.



But now we have a choice where to go. The northern route is just a few days quicker than the southern, so let's take it.



The island to the north is the Lost Island, which has fruit items, Wheat, and a goat who gives the best Chariot Milk in the game.



Well, that's all the time we have here. Still...did you notice anything lurking under the waves? No? Hm...



Another choice. The southern island this time contains high quality Wispstones, but it takes a few days longer than the northern route. Northern island, Ruin Island, it is.



Our old pal Fresverg is back, still just as annoying as ever. They're obnoxious, but not that big of a threat.



Not a whole lot going on at Ruin Island, but there is a chest. Inside is...



Recipe book, eh? We'll check that out when we get back.





Let's put down the anchor and look around.

Yes, let's. We've finally reached the neighboring continent.



Gotta be cold for poor Totori, but at least we're here. Here lies a whole bunch of high quality, but not that valuable ingredients. Nothing here is really a must-have.



A village? Hm... Next time...





Following the Footsteps ~ The Island
Try
The Raging Seas