Part 2: Chapter II: Ha Ha! Dangly Parts.

Warning: this update may be considered if barely discernible 16 bit nudity could get you fired.



We find a merchant on a giant ostrich-parrot-camel thing trying to get out of a steep crater. He manages to clamor his way out as we approach.









Way to go.



Nina goes to loot the abandoned caravan when she suddenly hears a growl behind her.







Err, trust me on this one folks, there's supposed to be this big thing camouflaged Predator-style nearby but it doesn't really show up that well in stills. If you look REALLY hard you can see where it is, but you need to know where to look.



The cloaked monster roars, and fades into view.





Nina responds like a sane human being and cowers in terror.



The dragon big unknown lizard thing stares at Nina curiously.



: "It's not a monster, I guess..."



The of the translucent faerie wings is offset by the horrifying flesh cavities they emerge from.



The mysterious being fades away once more as it hovers away.



Nina's hit by a blast of wind from its wings, and when she looks, it's gone.



: "For some reason, I wasn't scared at all."

Aside from the cowering in terror part?



: "A person!?"



Poor guy, he must have been attacked by the dr-







Yep, getting the mandated full frontal nudity out of the way early. Nina actually looks over her shoulder to sneak another peek and freaks out a bit.

: "If you wouldn't mind, do you think you could put on some clothes? I'm sure you can find some in the carriage there..."





Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

The screen goes dark to allow the blue haired nudist some modesty.

: Oh, so you mean you're not working with that merchant who was here?



The man finishes getting dressed, and nods.



: Did you fall in? How did such a big hole get here in the first place, anyway? Did you see that monster that was here before? You know, the one that looked like a dragon or something!? I wonder what it really was...?"

: shakes head, obviously flustered.

: "Oh...I'm sorry... You probably don't know the answers to those questions any more than I do, do you? My name is Nina, I'm from Wyndia. What's your name?"



: "All right then, Ryu...let's see if we can get out of here."

Montage time!









: "So, Ryu, where are you heading to?"

: thinks, shrugs, shakes head.

: "You don't know? That means you're lost."

: shakes head

He's awfully communicative for a mute.

: "Yes, it does. Admit it--you're lost. There's nothing to be ashamed about. I got lost a lot when I was younger. Why don't you come with me to the nearest town?"



: "You can use this sword. You might need it - to get to down, we have to go through areas populated by monsters. Let's get going then, shall we?"

New character!


Ryu

A mysterious young man found buck naked in the desert. Doesn't talk much. Oh yeah, he can also turn into a dragon. He does not gain any magic naturally, but can learn it from enemies just like the rest of the party. But really, when you can turn into a dragon, you don't really need much else.



Alright, back to the world map. Trying to go back to the crater gets us a message saying there's nothing there of interest, and we can't go back to the sandflier for some reason.



What's this? A mysterious spot in our travels! ? spots can be many things, but most of the time they're just a map square with random monster encounters and an item somewhere on it. Nina's hovering ability is great in these to look for the item.





Speak of the devil, here's a random encounter now.



We're fighting pallet-swapped Psyducks, apparently. Caps are lazy and don't usually attack first. In fact, they either guard, stare into space, or flee unless you smack them around. Poor Caps.



So here's the battle menu proper. We can change the order in which our characters move, attack, use special abilities, items, or guard. The R1 menu lets us charge (which is essentially auto-attack, to let the game automatically go through battles you know you can win handily but are too lazy to fight) or escape, which should be self-explanatory.



Here's the special abilities screen. Each ability has an AP cost shown on the right. Magic is a little bit of a misnomer; it's the skills your character naturally acquires when they level up. The other menu is skills, which are special attacks learned from enemies or Masters. I'll go into more detail on each of those when we get examples.



Let's show off Sever.



Poor Cap.







So, after we mercilessly brutalize harmless wildlife, we gain a measure of personal enlightenment and a bit of spending money. Sweet deal!

So, let's see what item the desert sands are willing to part with.



...



Moving on!