Part 9: Mini-Update: The Travel Log

Mini-Update: The Travel Log




My First Mission




--To the emperor's residence--


All right, Guillo's back with me. I've looked over the schematics. Memorized the layout. All that's left is the doing. Our target is Olgan's chamber. There's no turning back now. Don't let me down, Guillo...Meemai.


--Overnight Traitors--


The assassination was a failure. Olgan was killed for a certainty, but not by us. It had to have been that man's doing. Now we're wanted by the Dark Service, accused of murdering the emperor. We have no choice now but to run, or die. Be vigilant, Sagi.


--Where am I?!--


What was that monster?! And the stuff Guillo did back there...I don't think a word I said got through. I've never seen Guillo act that way. And now this place...I'm here with, what? Thoran and Seph/ What am I supposed to do...


--Escape from the Empire--


Sagi's behavior is peculiar of late. He'd mentioned having strange dreams – could that have been the cause? But Sagi, that Geldoblame fop was right. We won't escape easily. And I don't want to return to Sheratan if it means going through those woods.


--Milly to the Rescue--


That girl, Milliarde...Milly. We owe her our lives. I don't know if we could have handles that Giacomo guy without her. Well, we've shaken off our pursuers – time to head home. See you soon, Mom!


--Hassaleh at last!--


Hassaleh at last! It's too bad that dingbat puppet had to wreck a perfect skyliner ride by mouthing off at every turn. And that boy seems awfully young for his age. How could he...No, there's no point in thinking about it. Not when Sheratan's closer than ever!


--The world's finest wings--


We've made it back to the orphanage, somehow. Between the wench and the wood, I had my doubts. I was pleased to see Gena looking well. It seems the world's finest wings are in find shape. And the brats are just as loud as ever. Sagi intends to stay in Sheratan for a while. I suppose that's fine. Wherever he leads, I'll follow.


--Latest Entry--


Sagi's braver than I thought if he really climbed that tower of thorns. I guess he isn't the pampered little kid I had him pegged for. Oh, that monster by the lake Tik and Wacho were talking about! I'm not clear on the details, but it sounds like there are defenseless villagers who need rescuing! Isn't that great?







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Now, let's talk gameplay!





By starting with low spirit numbers like 0 or 1 and building up, you'll be able to play more magnus in a turn. You can skip numbers along the way, as long as each card has a higher spirit number than the last. The resulting chain of attacks a single character unleashes is called a combo. Longer combos yield bigger and bigger bonuses, which further increase the damage you dish out to your foes.


Ideally, you'll play as many cards in a turn as you can; (equip), Weak, Medium, Strong, Special. Eventually I'll have higher level specials and can use more than one per attack combo, but that comes later.





Targeting works more or less like it did in BKEWLO. You use the shoulder buttons to cycle between enemies (for attacks) or allies (for healing and other items). That's...about it.





You fill the MP gauge by doing just about anything (Will/Taunt fill it a lot, attacks fill it a little), and expend MP when you use special attacks. Currently, every special attack we have expends one MP.





Discarding Magnus is glorious since it allows you to manage what cards are in your hand. Discarding counts as that character's turn, but it has a very short cooldown so the character will get another turn almost instantly (at least for now, when I can only discard two cards at once). Discarding is vital for setting up good attack combos; for example, if you have a whole lot of weak attacks, you can discard some to try and get a more varied magnus setup in your hand.





Equipment magnus can be used at the very start of an attack turn. Weapons increase your attack power and can give your attacks elemental damage. Armor magnus can decrease the amount of normal or elemental damage you take. Accessories can have other effects.

Some equipment magnus (mostly if not always offense ones) only last until the end of the attack string they start off. Others have durability, and will maintain their effect over turns until they “break”, at which point they are reshuffled into the deck. Weapons lose durability every time they hit (beat in mind that some attacks, such as Cliffsunder or Milly's Weak attack, consist of multiple hits), and armor loses durability every time the character is hit.





There are a few more things to cover, but I think I'll save that for a few more updates down the road. These are all the core things to know about how the gameplay works.