Part 2: Chapter Two: Ranger
The first part of this update is a text crawl, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably.Music: 05 – No One Remembers
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Music: 01 – The Destined Child
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Music: 02 – My Home Sweet Home
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: So, we were hoping you could give us some work now!012.png)
:…It is? Huh, could’ve fooled me.: Heyyy, don’t be like that! This could be our big break!: Pshh, it’s always ‘our big break’ until you screw it up.:…That’s cold, man.013.png)
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: About time! All right, let’s see here…Whaaa? ‘Lost Pet’? Are you making fun of us?015.png)
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: This isn’t a job, pops! This is the peanut gallery! 017.png)
: About as dumb as you’d have to be to try pickpocketing a city guard in broad daylight. Like that one time…: Huh? Did you say something, Ryu?: Yeah, I was trying to tell you that we have a visitor.018.png)
: Excuse me, sir? Did you find someone who would look for my Suzie?019.png)
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: Hey hey hey!: Here it comes…: Speak for yourself, pops. 021.png)
: Your dear Suzie is in the capable hands of none other than Bosch, soother of savage beasts!: Oh, thank you so much!: Just leave this one to us, pops! Ryu and Bosch are on the case!: Please bring my Suzie home! I’m counting on the both of you! Until we meet again. Good luck!022.png)
: How can I refuse a sweet face like that with a clear conscience? 023.png)
: Ha, bull’s-eye.024.png)
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: You always say that when a woman is involved. And it always ends in tears, Bosch. Tears, and sometimes some ice for your slapped cheek.: Okay, so, perhaps my luck hasn’t been so great the last few times. But! I have a feeling this time will be different!026.png)
: Aye-aye.027.png)
Okay, now we’re in control again and can walk around. First of all let’s check out the main menu.
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Active party members are shown on the right. In the upper right corner we can see how much money we currently have. The upper left corner shows the name of the area we are currently in. The little monster in the middle denotes enemy encounters – him being asleep means there are no random encounters here. If he’s awake, he’ll begin to dance. The speed of his dancing indicates how frequent random encounters will be, with faster dancing meaning more encounters. As for the left-hand menu, that should be self-explanatory. ‘Special’ refers to magic and any other unique skills characters may possess. ‘Switch’ has to do with formations, which I’ll go into later on once we have more party members.
Now we can return to the adventure. First we can relive Ryu and Bosch’s glory days as scabby urchin thieves by stealing stuff from the Guildmaster.
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Ammonia is a potent restorative that revives an ally with full HP. Hopefully we won’t need it so soon, but it’s nice to have around just in case.
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This is the Ranger’s Guild reception area.
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: *Sigh* No, not in a long while.032.png)
:…Thanks for the thought, but…my father and sister are probably both dead. Anyway, I’ve got a job to do, so if you’ll excuse me…033.png)
The upwards staircase leads into Newhaven, Ryu and Bosch’s current home.
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Newhaven has the typical RPG town setup of Inn, Item Shop and Armory. There are also some other locations that we can’t visit yet.
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The magic school, for instance, which is currently barred to plebians like Ryu and Bosch.
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And the kissing couple in the alley are currently blocking the way to the church and the richer part of town.
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We can, however, visit the house where Ryu and Bosch are renting a room. We can even chat to their landlady.
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: Funnily enough, we’ve just been given a job. If my erstwhile companion doesn’t spend our fee on junk like usual we should be able to pay when we get back.040.png)
We can raid Ryu and Bosch’s room for their savings, although it’s not enough to buy anything at all, really. We can also rest for free in the bottom bed, so there’s no need to waste money by going to the Inn. But enough of that – on with the story!
: The natural place to start is the gate guard. He sees everything that goes on here. If anyone has any information on a lost pet, it’d be him.: Awww, you know guards make me nervous, Ryu!: Calm down. Stay behind and let me do the talking.041.png)
: We’re looking for a missing pet, actually. It’s called ‘Suzie’ and it belongs to a noblewoman from Wyndia.
: Well, I don’t know anything about that, but…042.png)
:…No. We don’t go near that place.We can talk to everyone in town, but this is the only real lead we’ll find.
: It’s a long shot, but it looks like Mt. Futabi is our only lead. C’mon, partner, let’s go.: Just a moment – there’s something I need to do first.043.png)
: I am setting out on a journey and would pay my respects to the Dragon God.
: I thought everyone had forgotten about me…All I hear out of people these days is ‘Eva’ this, ‘Eva’ that…Nobody thinks of the old Dragon God anymore. Sometimes I find myself longing for the good old days…044.png)
: Is there anything you would like me to remember for you? The tale of your journey thus far, perhaps?045.png)
Like in Breath of Fire I, dragon statues act as save points. Walking up to them and pressing ‘A’ brings up a save prompt.
Next update we’ll be taking a look at the world map, discussing combat and enemy encounters and hopefully advancing the plot a bit.