Part 6: Le References!
Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Breath of Death VII, we made our way through the treacherous Water Cave to reach Motherbound, putting us one step closer to Langsong. Today, we're going to reach Motherbound, so let's dance.
We've got a bit of a hike to reach Motherbound, but that's okay. We'll be meeting some new enemies along the way to spice things up.
Encounters are reaching the point where they're not very difficult, but are starting to become lucrative.
Not EXP-wise, since it's roughly 3500 to 4000 for a level, but the money flow is getting good.
HE DID IT
Since someone in the thread asked why we'd want to be able to raise Dem's Defense over his Attack, without having any real skills to direct attacks that way, this ability can help with that. It's at the bottom of the list, costs no MP, but can help redirect enemy attacks over Dem's way. Lita also has this skill, which is weird. Sara's is Hide, which distracts enemies from attacking her.
I would have been more gung-ho about showing off the Unite Skills, but with no animations for in-battle attacks, I'm just not crazy about doing it. I like showing off fun animations and other pretty things.
Don't be too surprised if I don't use any of these after this update. Not only can I get better results from individual attacks, but these take up two characters at the same time.
Still, there you go. The Bone Storm has ascended!
Wizards are...Well, very unimpressive. Tempest isn't that dangerous, and Wizards are slow enough, you'll kill off one of them before all of them can use it.
540 Gold is a nice amount for such a low amount of work. It's not opening a chest levels of easy, but it's hardly more work. And we get EXP with this, too.
We don't get too much further before another fight comes.
It's a good start, if nothing else.
Though, these guys hit pretty hard, and if they focus on a single person, they're going down.
Much like Dem did. But, once again, Shotguns save the day.
And there's Motherbound!
And a cave!
And a fight!
And somebody's recurring nightmare!
Not exactly tough, either, but not really slouches.
Their damage output isn't too bad, but we can swat them away easily enough.
We finish them off, Resident Evil style.
Ugh. Let's check out that cave.
If nothing else, at least we now know the crystals are all in one place.
There's another cave to the south, but it'd be too easy to be able to just walk there.
Is it strange that the flowers are the most dangerous enemies here?
With an assload of HP, to boot.
Ghoul Wolves are dicks, too.
I can't tell you exactly what kind of boost this is, but I'd reckon it's probably a 10% bonus, like the start of turn bonuses that enemies get.
And these guys can hit pretty hard, too.
As can the Evil Flowers.
The saving grace of the Flowers is that they're slow as balls, and will attack last. If nothing else, you can drop one before their turn comes around.
:tenbux:
Well, I guess we'll just have to--
Yeah, that.
But, since Dem and Sara are so close to a level, let's do that before we head into town.
And with the magic of the Fight button, we're already there!
The options are pretty simple this time around.
As is my logic; Dem is the closest thing we have to a tank right now, so he's going to need himself plenty of HP.
Always appealing, especially with her two hits.
But, I think I'll make better use of this, so she gets extra MP and Agility.
And into Motherbound we go!
DoubleNegative mentioned to me that Motherbound is a dumb town name, and he's not wrong. I like the reference there, but that's still a dumb name.
I'm...I'm not sure about that. Then again, I'm not an economist, so maybe I'm wrong.
Keeshhound, the closest thing I know to an economist, had this to say.
Keesh posted:
I'm thinking "available," would have been the better term.
The sentiment being expressed (poorly) is that the expenditures to convert the Mother series as a whole to a format that is accessible to western audiences would outweigh the profits likely to be recouped with the wider purchasing audience. Strictly speaking, it's not wrong, but I don't know how much I buy that argument at this point.
So, let's go rob his neighbors.
...Dem, you open that right the hell now.
That's something I want! 
Aww, dammit. Doesn't saving the world justify a bit of petty theft?
Fine, whatever, we'll go buy some new shit.
Finally, someone brings this up.
A lot of LPers, and other people, have made this same joke, but it's nice to see a game bring it up.
I...I can definitely see how you have trouble affording any of this.
Hey, an upgrade to her Death Staff. Excellent. (and finally!)
Is that a new party member I smell?
An ostentatious one, at that.
I pick up the Giant Sword and Merlin Staff, since I feel I can never have weapons that are truly strong enough.
exorbitant rates, he headed west.
What? I didn't feel like making a portrait for that guy. Don't judge me.
immune to everything but direct damage.
This would have been a better tip back in the first town, game. I never understood why games put tips like this when you've already fought a few bosses and probably know this.
So, the prince is a dipshit, but the lord ruler is awesome? That sounds great, can't wait to meet the guy.
And since he has an open castle policy, it's as easy as walking in.
ERIK, you say?
That, too.
Oh, fuck you.
If I had cut out all of the dialog and extra battles, this update would have been about fifteen images long. But doing it this way provided me a natural break point, and I can't turn one of those down.
Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!
Pussies!
I like those suits of armor...
Ugh, of all the references to make...
But...What if your opponents don't have eyes?
Probably not a bad rule, all the same, though.
Also, here's a reference I don't know, and I'd like someone to explain.
Robindaybird posted:
Barrel is a reference to Gust Games - Atelier series, Mana Khemia, etc. For reasons no one could really figure out, characters will always shout "Barrel!" when you examine one.
All of the soldiers say the same thing.
Lord Ruler!
He looks like a huge asshole, but let's not judge a book by its cover. That doesn't seem very heroic.
Well, that escalated quickly.
Very quickly.
This is our newest party member, Erik. He's a prince, who speaks like an American, doing a French accent, but who has also had a stroke within the last twenty minutes.
Being a zombie, he's very much about those brains. He's also a bit of a ladies' man, and is hitting on our resident vampire.
Lita is...Less than receptive to his advances.
If you could rescue us from this dungeon, why the hell are you still sitting here?
Just...Why? Why would he do that!?
Well, that's not exactly how I met my wife, but if it works for you.
Hey, he's a zombie, you have guns, I'm not seeing how this can go wrong.
We now have our final party member!
Sara and Erik gain the Unite technique, Gas!
Lita and Erik gain the Unite technique, Cover Fire!
Erik's role is pretty much to smash shit, really hard. He also takes a hit very well; you might be thinking that his stats are kind of low for such a thing, but he only has baseline equipment. He's very strong.
And we'll take a break here.
Next time, let's break out of prison! Or just walk out, since he unlocked the door, but that doesn't sound as exciting!
Stay tuned!