Part 13: Chapter Eleven: Joker Poker
Music: Find the Truth000.png)
: Well, there’s Nina. Looks like Joker’s goons haven’t done anything to her yet.001.png)
: At ease, soldier! Time for you to take a break!
This guy goes down pretty quick.
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: I order you to release my sister! Let Mina go immediately! 
: Heh heh heh! So, you really are sexy when you’re angry! Why don’t you come a little closer and show me just how sexy you can be…003.png)
: Hey, lady! Watch who you diss! Remember who’d holdin’ all the cards here! Next time you open your sweet little mouth, you know whose fine ass we’ll take it out of…The thug kicks Nina up the stairs.
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: AaAaAaAaAh!And is promptly roasted for his troubles.
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: Let Mina go this instant, or I’ll show all of you once and for all that ‘hell hath no fury’!: Heh heh heh! A real spitfire, aintcha? All right then. I’ll let you see your little Mina. Bring ‘er in, boys! Heh heh heh heh!007.png)
: Mina! Don’t worry, this will all be over soon!: Heh heh heh! Well, ain’t this a touching scene? But I gotta tell ya, lady, you shouldn’t be making promises you know you ain’t gonna keep…008.png)
: Not yet. You haven’t held up your end of the bargain yet. Now, repeat after me…’I pledge my body and soul to Joker, and offer myself as his loyal servant to secure the freedom of my beloved sister!’ 009.png)
: Hm? What’s wrong, Nina? Do you wanna do things the hard way? Even if you’ve got second thoughts above saving your sis, my boys are ready and able to squeeze the words outta ya!010.png)
: One more time, with feeling! ‘I pledge my body and soul to Joker…011.png)
: I hear you. We should save Mina first – then there won’t be anything stopping Nina from fighting back.: Yeah, that makes sense!012.png)
: Okay, let’s sneak around the edge and see if we can get behind them…013.png)
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: Okay, Lin – do what you do best.: Alright!015.png)
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: Quit stalling and give me your vow! You’re only hurting your sister…: If it’s for Mina…then I have no choice…
: Nina, stop!017.png)
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Lin smacks the thug guarding Mina off the ledge.
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: You’ve lost your bargaining chip, Joker. Give it up.: Who the hell are these clowns? Don’t just stand there! Kill ‘em!Music: 07 – Cross Counter
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These guys aren’t that tough – they’re the same Thug enemies we’ve fought before. There’s a lot of them but they go down in two hits and deal around 5 damage per attack. With Ryu and Lin’s high counterattack rate this battle was over in three turns.
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: We’ve already trashed the better part of your entire gang, Joker. I recommend you give up. I’m sure we can find room for you in Newhaven’s jail.022.png)
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:…Or there’s that too, I guess. Jail’s probably too good for him anyway.025.png)
: That’s fine – honestly, this guy has been troubling our Guild for a long while. It’s good to know he won’t be doing so anymore.: No prob, ma’am! All in a day’s work for ace detectives like us!:…We’re still detectives now?026.png)
: Wh-what is this?: The ground’s shaking!027.png)
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: Heh Heh…ha ha ha ha ha! Kneel before your new owner, Nina! Kneel before me and die!--
Music: 10 – I’ll Do It
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Just like Argus, Joker turns into a monster in order to attack us. Thankfully Joker is much easier to deal with than Argus, lacking the latter’s obscenely overpowered physical attacks. Nina joins the party for this battle, and her magic will prove invaluable in defeating Joker since he is highly resistant to physical attacks. Nina can exploit his weakness to ice magic and deal heavy damage to him every turn. Joker only really has one attack to look out for, and that’s Miasma. Miasma damages the entire party and has a high chance of poisoning everyone. On the whole though he’s not too much trouble.
--
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: Have I been…forsaken by our God…? No…it can’t be…I…Joker fades away.
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: Nina…032.png)
: I…I’m sorry. I just…wanted to see you…033.png)
: I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to Mina…I must return her to the palace. Everyone must be worried about her by now. : Hey, hold it!034.png)
: You know what they say, ‘the more, the merrier!’ Right, Ryu?: That sounds like a good idea. It’d be prudent to make sure the princess returns to Wyndia safely, and I can inquire about the thief whilst I’m there.035.png)
: There’s safety in numbers, after all…How can I ever repay you for all this?: No charge, Ma’am! Just doing our duty! But next time, I’d like a few magic lessons! You sling spells like a real pro!: Well, you do seem to have the potential…I suppose we’ll have to see.036.png)
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Nina now joins the party for good. Let’s take a look at her for a moment.
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Nina’s physical attributes are sub-par, but her Wisdom is fantastic. Unlike the Nina from the first game, Breath of Fire II’s Nina is not a healer but a black mage. She’ll learn many powerful attack spells over the course of the story. In terms of weaponry she can equip magic rings, although frankly if she ever has to physically attack it’s a safe bet that something’s gone wrong. Her unique battle ability is ‘Spirit’, which allows her to regenerate her AP. Unlike ‘Snipe’, ‘Taunt’ and ‘Rouse’, this ability is very useful considering how AP-intensive Nina’s spells are. Nina also has a special dungeon ability. If she is leading the party and a trap triggers a pitfall, Nina will immediately fly back up and out of the hole.
Those of you who watched the video will have noticed that Lin actually learned a spell after Joker was defeated.
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Checking the Status screen confirms this. Lin now knows how to cast Inferno, a very high level fire spell that hits every enemy on the screen. Unfortunately, it costs 20 AP and Lin only has 8 in her AP pool. This is the first of a number of high level spells that Lin will learn but can’t use because of her low AP. By the end of the game she may be able to cast one of them once, but that’s about it. This is rather neat since it ties the story in with the gameplay – Lin has magical potential, but lacks the discipline and formal training to be able to use it efficiently. Now, there is a way to let her use these spells more often, but it won’t be available for some time.
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: The entire cave is empty…: Looks like the gang cleared out after seeing Joker turn into a monster. Can’t really blame ‘em. Without him to lead them I doubt they’ll be a threat.042.png)
Now that everyone’s gone we are free to ransack the chest that was previously guarded. More money is always useful, particularly since random encounters drop so little of it.
Music: 06 – We’re Rangers
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: Okay! Let’s get going to Wyndia! Uh…wherever it is!: It lies north and then west of Colossea.044.png)
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Wyndia lies across this peninsula. The new terrain brings new enemies to fight.
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Helbulls have strong attack and defense and counterattack regularly. Nina’s magic makes them more manageable, however. Nonetheless it’s a sure bet the party will have to heal up if they run across more than one of them in a single battle.
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These horrifying insects are Dragonflies. They have a special ability called Combo Attack which randomly allows them to attack twice in one turn. For some reason in Capcom’s script this ability was translated as ‘Eggbetr’.
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Sniperheads are the next stage in the Gunhead line of enemies. They are pretty much just beefier versions of the standard Gunhead with a twist. Like Argus, they can spend a turn charging up in order to unleash a guaranteed critical hit when they next attack.
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: *Sigh* Are we there yet?: Almost. If we go around the lake and then head west we can enter the castle through a secret entrance.050.png)
: Here it is. Follow me.051.png)
This seems like a good place to stop for today. Next time we’ll be venturing into Wyndia itself, revealing some more details about Nina’s backstory in the process.