Part 14: The Great Anuenue Scavanger Hunt

Update 13: The Great Anuenue Scavanger Hunt



Music: Decay

Last time, we got attacked by a blue guy who busted out some Malpercian power on us and it was lame but we were rescued by that sexy huntress so it looks like we're okay!



...jerk.

That guy back there...I don't care how much of Malpercio's power he packs. Next time I see him, I'll make him regret he ever met me!

That lady...someone said she's a hunter, living in the mountains...Why did she help us?

She countered that man's – er, Folon's – attack with ease.

Now that I think about it, I don't think Folon ever mentioned his name. It just kinda went from ??? to Folon and that was that.








The game immediately spits us back out the Anuenue map, apparently expecting us to head toward the waterfall. However, I'm not quite ready to leave the library yet.






Decent stat boost and decent resistances...I like it!


-------------------------


This next bit is just a curious little sidestory. I'm not sure why they included it, but it's kinda neat and worth adding here.










M, the receptionist who started working here the other day, is really cute. I can't possibly let my wife hear of this, but M just drives me wild. When I'm in front of M, I get tongue-tied and turn red, as if I was a young man again. It's as if a good thirty years has been shaved off this old body of mine. I've never been good at keeping secrets or hiding things-especially from my wife. I have to make sure she doesn't find out about my fascination with M. She usually has a keen sense of finding out these kinds of things on her own. Boy oh boy, I know that better than anyone.



I don't know what the deal is with the abbreviation, but I like the idea that the head librarian developed a hopeless crush on Dame Judi Dench.




My wife has been giving me strange looks, and seems a little suspicious. But I don't think she knows anything yet. I finally mustered up the courage to ask M out to dinner. Luckily, I'm a well-educated man. Even an old man like myself, if intellectual, can be attractive to women. I'm sure glad my parents constantly urged me to study day and night.



”I'm glad I got a great education so that when I'm old and married, I'll be able to cheat on my wife”.




shared a journal with someone. I'll just write “Falcon's Theorem by Magic Integration” on the title of the journal. If my wife was to find it, she'd probably take one look at the title, and leave it alone. She doesn't like difficult books.





probably been about three months since we last got together. I met my wife through K. It's quite intellectually stimulating to talk the night away with someone who has a deep understanding of magic. He asked me to lend him some good books that he could give to his students, to hopefully spark an interest in reading. I consider myself a generous person-to just about anyone. I promised him he could help himself to any books he wants at any time, since I'm often too busy or unavailable to help him out. It's always a pleasure to do nice things for my brother-in-law.





“Falcon's Theorem by Magical Integration”?! I have to get it back! If K looks it over, there's no doubt that my wife will find out about M. This strict and sensible head librarian at the Library of Magic is exchanging intimate thoughts with a female coworker...That's simply unacceptable. If the truth leaks out...I-I will have to resign from my position. What if he lets his students get their little hands on it...those little piranhas...I'd be ruined. I'm too anxious to sleep!



Day X:






...Huh. Well, that's...huh. I don't really know what to make of that. It's awfully in-depth to just be some throwaway reading. Perhaps it's giving a clue as to how the library got haunted? Maybe K went nuts and killed the librarian and M and cursed their bones, and now they wander the library and kill everyone who enters?

I don't think there's any more to this subplot, but I'll keep an eye out for any other references to be found in Anuenue over the course of the game.

-----------------------------------











Welcome to HoloHolo Jun-







...Never mind. Looks like we're not getting through. Indeed, any attempts to go forward will just endlessly cycle you through the first screen until you leave.

I don't know where I can get a Landmark Stone, though, so...


Music: Temple of Celestial Flowers














I just don't get it...Lyude's stats are so far behind, yet he performs just as well as the others. The only real problem is that sometimes he doesn't get to attack before enemies.








The Pegasus Cloak is my bonus reward for getting ten constellations back. It's a good equip for Xelha, although it would have been nice to have before the Folon Fight to offset his Chronos attacks. Actually, I could have gotten it before that fight if I'd left the library to class up and stuff before that battle. Oh, well.







...I suppose it makes up for the utter garbage normal rewards I got.


I believe one or two NPCs mention the Landmark Stone beforehand. If you didn't talk to them, then you're in for quite a time finding it. Since I have prior knowledge, let's just skip the meandering and get to the point.




I knew you'd come. Actually, I know everything. You wish to travel through the Holoholo Jungle to get to Opu, don't you? Take this Landmark Stone. It will enable you to get through the Jungle. Hm? That look. Don't take me lightly just because I'm young.


Yep, that's all there is to it. Scavenger item #1, found!

Music: Holoholo (this song gives me a headache)




Holoholo Jungle is one of those hellish areas where it wouldn't be that difficult to navigate except that there are trees and shit blocking the camera so you can't see anything important like items and ladders and treasure. Even Kalas himself vanishes from view rather often.



There are four enemy times here. The turtle things are the most basic enemies and don't really do anything interesting.

(oh and the vote was tied between Kalas/Xelha/Lyude and Kalas/Gibari/Lyude so I decided to bring Gibari out of retirement since it's a short update)



The shell things block almost every attack and seem to be heavily resistant to a lot of things, but offset that by having low HP.




There are some great drops here. I usually make this my second main grinding area. You can expect there to be a bit of a level/equipment hike between this update and the next one, especially since everyone just classed up and has a bunch of clutter in their decks right now.





As you can see. FEAR LYUDE HE WILL DRAW ON YOUR FACE AND IT WILL BE MODERATELY EMBARASSING





This is the most visible area in the jungle. It's that kind of place.




The next enemy type is these plants. They can poison...I think...actually I killed them all too fast to really make note of anything interesting about them. They look kinda funny but you can't really tell here...we'll meet some palette swaps of them later, I'll try to get a better pic of those.






They don't like fire, so Gibari's crappy third level finisher is sorta marginally useful.













One good thing about this place is that the ladder icon appears when you're near a ladder, even though you can't see the ladder itself. You still have to be facing the right way, but it at least makes these treasure possible to find without mashing A.







Hmm. This is still worse than the bonus the others get from their stuff, but it's a nice improvement again.




I never knew this treasure chest was here...but I'm very, very happy that I found it.







This piece of equipment is utterly ridiculously amazing for this point in the game. Granted, only giving resistance to flames is lame, but status effects suck in this game anyw-hey, characters suffers a headache while equipped?...




(Kalas' old piece of equipment, shown for reference)




Headache is a joke of a status effect. All it does is move the numbers on your magnus from the corners to the edges. That's it. Seriously, that's it. It's not something that can be credibly considered a downside. As such, Kalas is going to be wearing this for a while.




Also, while I whine about stats not making a difference...well...a sudden 40 stat hike in ATK makes a difference...





Kalas, Destroyer of Bats and Other Assorted Nuisances.




Such as a new breed of Undead Knight, which is...also wholly unremarkable. Yeah, this place doesn't have the most interesting enemies. But hey, they drop good loot so I'm not complaining.




Here we have another ladder which I did know about before. It's highly recommended that you go down this one, because...















...there is a veritable treasure trove of Magnus here, including a constellation and Gibari's level 4 finisher! Nice, nice...





Gibari's Smash Tackle also plays directly against his elemental strong suit, and as such is rather dubious. Then again, we don't have much in the way of chronos damage yet, so it's better than Explosive Paddle. I believe it's the first card I've come across that had three numbers on it, so that's another bonus.

(okay the Yells had three numbers also but who cares)




Sometimes it rains. I think that's cool. I've been meaning to see if that somehow powers up those flower enemies or something...I'll get back to you on that if I find out anything.





Included because it made me laugh.








Music: Gentle Breeze

Ahhh, it's good to be through with that place. Welcome to Opu, a place that's...actually really boring and the only reason to come here is because that huntress said so.

Also, take note of the waterwheel. It doesn't work.













Another store with equipment no one can use signifying a new party member who is almost definitely hunter girl. I almost didn't buy the barrette, but decided to in the end just because I could.





...I don't know her that well, but I'll tell you what I do know. She's quite self-sufficient, lives alone, and isn't very sociable. She travels to the mountains alone and brings back hideous monsters...She's quite a hunter. I bet she came to this nation for hunting. Now she's waiting. Waiting for her prey to come along.


That's quite a judgment to make on a woman you don't know. I think you're mean.

Also, I accidentally typed “naiton” instead of “nation” and one of the suggested spellings my spellchecker gave me was “Kaitos”.


Video: Speak up, I can't hear you




You're looking for a lady, aren't you?

Yes. Why?

Really strong and amazing, right?

Dunno about that...Who are you?

Oh, I'm being rude. I'm Mayfee. One of the Keepers of the Celestial Tree. I'm just a beginner, though.

Mayfee's voice is...actually, I'm not sure how to describe it. She's very quiet. There are several times where you wonder if her VA is a little girl or an old lady. Every now and then her pitch jumps way up. Basically, everything you hate about Xelha's VA with the addition of “What if she was trying to voice a seven year old?”.


How come you know about us?

She told me about you. Said she had something to take care of, and that a bunch of people might come while she's gone. She told me to ask you to wait a while. You do know her, don't you? Why don't you come to my place till she comes back? It's right over there. This way!


I don't really know why the game designers felt the need to include this next bit. I...really wish they hadn't...but they did at least have the mercy to make most of this next bit voiceless.





Where did you meet her? She's cool and strong and, and brave...I wanna be just like her when I grow up. But I can't...I just don't have what it takes...




With this frail old body of mine, I doubt I'll be able to leave the bed to see the Celestial Flowers, even if they bloom.

What are you saying, Grandma?! You'll get better. I promise. I'm praying for you everyday! Oh, why don't you let the travelers hear your story about when you were a Keeper?

Well, travelers, would you like to hear an old woman's story?





Sigh...if only this was a real question...





All right, I'll start with the story of when I first saw a Celestial Bud. That was the seventh night after I became a Keeper. My curiosity drove me to climb to the top of the Celestial Tree. I went around the back, and before I knew it, I found myself in front of the giant bud. People say that if the bud opens, the other buds will follow suit. That's quite an important role the giant bud has! *sigh* It was such a beautiful and magnificent bud...When people pass away, they return to the foot of the Celestial Tree. Celestial Flowers are the souls of our ancestors who have been sleeping in this land. If I miss this change, there won't be another one for me. I really want to see the bud open with my own eyes. To see it, at least once...


You know what would have been awesome? If Kalas fell asleep during that story.


You can! It'll bloom this year. You'll get better and then we'll go see it together! Okay, Grandma? So you can cheer up.





I'll let you know when she gets back, so make yourselves at home.


Following Mayfee next door...




I pray like this every day in hopes that my grandma gets well. I also pray that the waterwheel will start working again, so even if Grandma doesn't get better, I'll at least be able to use the mill to grind Celestial Flowers and make the medicine for her. Medicine made from the Celestial Flowers will strengthen her body. But my prayer seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I guess I'll have to offer Komo Mai cookies after all...


Any guesses about Scavenger Hunt Item #2?




Take note of the kid standing at the bridge. The one that kind of looks like he's in a grape outfit.


We've got some time to kill until that woman gets back. Let's go find some Komo Mai cookies!

Whoa, whoa, isn't our purpose here just to meet this woman? We can't just keep meddling in other people's lives you know!

(grape boy) He's right. You're strangers and strangers shouldn't stick their noses in villagers' affairs.


The boy storms off, but Gibari isn't dissuaded. So, one implied rape threat towards Kalas later...


Music: Getting pretty sick of this song by now



Humph. Well to tell you the truth I was a little offended last time, but I can't say no to a customer. Unfortunately, I've run out of the necessary ingredients. In order to bake Komo Mai cookies, a seed from the Celestial Tree is needed. Bring me a Celestial Flower Seed, and I'll bake you a delicious cookie.


Well, it looks like we've got a THIRD Scavenger Hunt Item!

This stumped me when I first played. I honestly couldn't find a Celestial Flower Seed. I even went to the Celestial Tree and couldn't find any (the game lets you go there even though you can't do anything there yet).

As it happens, though, we've already stumbled across where they are in the LP...







So we take the seed and give it back to the guy, who makes us cookies. Then we take it back to Opu and god this part is so fucking pointless



Music: Gentle Breeze



Oh, these are...Wh-what are these?!

Hey! They're Komo Mai Cookies. You wanted some, right?

Oh! Is that what these are? I'm sorry...it's just that I'd never seen any before. Thank you! I'll offer them immediately!



Please make the waterwheel work soon...









And lo and behold, the waterwheel starts working!


...it's kind of hard to show in screenshots.



It worked! The angel heard my prayer! Now if I can get the Celestial Flowers, I'll be able to make medicine for Grandma! Thank you, everyone! Thank you, Guardian Angel! Now I'll go to my Grandmother's place!


She runs offscreen...



enough. Well...that's what I'd like to believe, but...

Yeah. Sorry to say it, but we're not naive enough to believe in a miracle from the Guardian Angel. You've had your fun. Come on out now.




A waterwheel doesn't usually start working because someone puts cookies on an altar.

This is Kalas' way of saying “By the way, we just did another fetch quest for a child that turned out to accomplish nothing at all.”

Hahaha, that's true! I'd been working on the waterwheel for a while. I just found the problem and had just finished fixing it. But that doesn't really matter. Just don't tell Mayfee that I fixed it. By the way, you guys are waiting for the hermit woman, right? She's back in her hut. Why don't you go see her?

The kid wanders offscreen as well.


Oh man, he digs Mayfee, doesn't he? He should just tell her that he fixed it.

He didn't want to...destroy the hopes and beliefs of someone he likes.

Huh?




I am so glad that that's over that I'm not even going to comment on Xelha's slip up there. Time to make a few quick pickups before moving on....








Sweet.


Video: The huntress



I know it's infantile, but it always cracks me up when people say this. It seems to be a bit of a JRPG stock phrase. So you came. So you've come. It's almost as bad as THIS CANNOT BE!


You saved our hides. We can't just walk away...

Thank you again for saving us back there.

Don't mention it. It's no big deal.

Who are you anyway? Why did you help us?

Do you seriously intend to face Geldoblame?

Yeah. We'll do what we can to thwart their plan.

Sounds like you have a death wish.

We're not going down that easy, no matter who we're up against.



Hmm...could be worse, I guess. Let's go.



The Celestial Tree. To see it bloom?

What? Why?

To get the End Magnus. That's what you're here for, isn't it?

You haven't eve told us your name.

My name? It's...Savyna. Follow me.


Woohoo! We finally have her name, and she is indeed our fifth party member! A worthy...um...okay, an acceptable end to the rest of the bullshit in this update.




But Lyude lingers behind, thinking something to himself...


-

So what's Savyna like?



After equipping that barrette from the store, Savyna's stats are...reasonable. A little better than Lyude's, but still not quite up there with Xelha and Gibari and Kalas is laughing in her face.



As far as deck alignment goes, she's another yin-yang specialist, like Lyude. She excels at both fire and water based combat, having weapons that are exclusively either fire, water, or non-elemental.

This is good in a way, because fire and water are the most common weaknesses and so she's almost always going to be able to exploit some kind of weakness an enemy has. On the other hand, one of the advantages Lyude has is that almost everything that's weak to light or dark is weak to light, so you can just stuff him full of light magnus and only need to change the deck to dark like three times ever. Savyna, however, requires a constant shift from favoring one element to favoring the other...unless, of course, you try to give her an ample supply of both fire and water, which is risky in itself.



One of her main benefits, at least at the moment, is that even her weakest starting attack magnus have at least two numbers on them. This means that even later in the game when I'm cluttering her deck with old crap, she will at least be decent at getting straights and full houses and stuff like that.

On the other hand...



Attack animations in action, and also I fulfill a certain request regarding Lyude.



Savyna's attacks execute quickly. She uses four attacks in about the same time it takes Lyude to use three. This sounds good, but it's actually bad; I only have until the end of the current attack animation to select my next card. Therefore, Savyna's fast attacks give me less time to pick my next cards than other characters do. This gets more and more noticeable as the game progresses, especially at the highest class level when you have seven cards to pick from and have to make your way to the right one in time AND keep your mind on what numbers you want to use on that card. As such, she's more difficult to use than the other characters, and since she doesn't consistently outperform the others to make up for it, many players pass her up in favor of others.

I personally like Savyna, though. Her fast attack animations help make the battles a little faster paced, and considering how slow some fights get in this game, that's something I really like. Although I have to admit that I, too, have fallen victim to prematurely ending my attack because I didn't get to the card I wanted in time.










It's kind of cool to see that the attack she used to stun Folon is indeed an attack she has access to. It's her lowest level finisher and not really all that useful anymore, but still, that's cool.






That's all for today! See you next time, on Let's Play Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean!

-

Decision time!


Savyna = sketchy.

I know, right?




> I trust Savyna!

> Yeah, I bet she's up to something.


Also, the Celestial Tree is a dungeon, so pick my party.





Speaking of Decision Time...I'm trying to figure out how I want to handle it in the future. Everything's worked out fine, but lately there have been a couple of tie votes, and now that I have five characters (with a sixth pending), the character lineup votes are going to be more likely to end up with splits.

So, here is my current proposal.

> For Guardian Spirit answers, if there is a tie, I will pick the answer I think Kalas wants to hear (or, if it's not something that concerns Kalas, I'll pick what I think the person I'm addressing wants to hear).

> For party lineups, instead of voting for a “party” per se, you will instead cast three votes for who you want to see on the team, and the three characters that get the most votes will be the party. If there is a tie, the character(s) that have been used least recently will go.

Also, I will start officially closing the votes at certain points after the update, usually after two or three days. Does that all sound good? I'm open to suggestions. Or we could...take a vote.