Part 4: Update Four: Castle Exploration
Update Four: Castle ExplorationSo, I have the shots for it, so let's do a second update today. Now, before we bounce off to explore the castle, where did we leave off?
Oh, right, we destroyed Marle.
Let's get the hell out of here before someone wanders in and finds out we did something to the Queen.
Outside, we find this group talking. If you dislike gossip so much, Knight, why are you standing here?
In a manner of speaking. Please don't ask anything else.
Technically, I don't think this is a lie. Hopefully she won't ask for specifics.
Thankfully, she assumes...The worst? I mean, she's respecting Chrono's game here, but I think this is the best outcome she can imagine, considering the truth.
Well, not exactly, no.
She claims not to be the Queen and you all still set her up in the Queen's room? I mean, I guess she could have had amnesia or whatever, but does this strike anyone else as odd?
Let's continue with getting the hell out of here. One of those people could still go and check on the Queen.
Oh, shit, the fuzz caught us! Run, Chrono!
Well, Lucca, you see...
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: Hmm... It's just as I thought, then. I knew I recognized her from somewhere. We seem to be in Guardia, but it's a lot older than the Guardia we came from.Everyone reading this knows that we've traveled back in time, and this line makes me question something: shouldn't this Guardia, while maybe some of the furniture and fashion looking older, look newer than their Guardia? It doesn't have an extra 400 years of age on it.
: After all, that girl was our Princess Nadia!
Chrono shits his pants over this, as he apparently had no idea what the princess looked like, nor could he guess why she looked so much like the Queen of Olde.
Lucca, presumably using puppets as she thinks Chrono isn't sharp enough to understand this with just words, outlines how Leene is Marle's ancestor, and how having descendants works.
Though, for four hundred years, shouldn't there be more than four of them? Granted, human beings can live up to and past one hundred years old, and maybe that's even better in this world, but you'd think that each Queen would have had more than one child and not all of them would have been girls. Hell, if they were all girls, how the fuck did the Guardia name stick around? Unless the dudes they married took it, or there's some real Dueling Banjos stuff going on in the past of the Guardia people.
But, from what we just saw, Marle disappeared, and Lucca has a theory why.
If Queen Leene was killed in this time, Marle wouldn't exist!
Because none of their line would exist! We have to save the Queen!
If we don't save the Queen, then not only is Marle wiped out, but who knows what other changes to history there could be?
I'm assuming Chrono remained like this during her entire explanation. And that anyone who saw him like that decided they had business in another part of the castle.
Let me scroll up...Yeah, I mentioned that, Lucca.
Mentioned that, too, but you're the genius here. I'll let you have your moment in the sun.
And now Lucca has joined our party!
Her stats are more geared toward magic, and she's another ranged fighter, so her damage is influenced partially by Accuracy, like Marle's.. Her Sight Scope is an interesting accessory, but we'll change it out as soon as we can for something better. Besides, if you want to know something's HP, that's what I'm here for.
But, before we rush off to save the Queen, let's explore the castle.
We'll start out by going this way, to the right of the entrance.
Fuck that, we'll face Gordon Ramsay. What's the worst he can do?
So we encounter a guy who is perfectly okay with us chowing down on the castle's food, while they're at war, and a dying man. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
I couldn't think of anything to say about these, so it seemed best to just post them out like that.
We can sit over here to get something to chow on. The Power Stew we're about to eat will restore HP, the salad restores MP, and the spiced roast restores both. There's also the Knight's Quarter's that we can sleep in to get a full heal.
We get a bowl of red stew and then fist pump over its flavor.
This is our waitress, I think.
And I'm now perfectly comfortable with stealing from the castle. Ethers restore MP.
The Master of Kitchens (read: cook), as advertised, is an asshole.
Having done a tour of duty in the restaurant workforce, I can believe this.
Well, shit, I feel obligated to use this:
When we go to leave, this trio comes in. The guy in gold is the one speaking.
Is it too much to ask for a little patience?
Oh, yeah, I'm sure it's so dangerous here in the kitchen, what with the dangers of burns or finding a roast with some freezer burn.
So you get checked for being an asshole, then decide to run off?
Then again, maybe the Commander isn't just being a dick. The Master of Kitchens doesn't seem to be helping his attitude any. These two seem like oil and water and able to push the others buttons like nobody's business.
Carbon dioxide posted:
Speaking of subtleties, at least in the original, you could talk to a waitress in the kitchen after the knight commander left.
She'll tell you that the commander and the cook are actually brothers. Which explains a lot. They are both short-tempered and they probably don't agree with each other's life decisions.
So, I thought that we didn't find this out until later in the game, which is why I didn't bother to go and speak to anyone else after the Commander leaves. Thankfully, even though I've no idea what I'm doing with LPs, I've got people like this to cover my ass.
Over on the east side of the castle, we have the knights' quarters.
And we also see where they hold their meetings.
I can't think of another spot where we see this sprite. I find it interesting that we have a unique sprite just laying here, for this single line.
(Now, just wait, someone will PM me telling me where we see this guy again and why he's actually important, and I just never knew it)
Sir Cyrus?
I'm not sure how he'll help, but it certainly seems ya'll need every bit of help you can get.
He did the Scooby Doo theme song for one of those movies, right?
From one where our heroes aren't country singers, apparently. It's not my fault, man.
Even though I'm sure we'll never encounter this creature, file the name away for later.
Another instance of me running off before the speaker can finish what they're saying. Hopefully, I learn to stop this.
And now he's not around? Hmm.
Something else I'm sure will never come up again. Let's not file this one away.
Just don't go check her chambers. That'll burst your bubble.
Perhaps I judged you too harshly, Sir Knight. You seem alright, buddy.
To the left of King Guardia, where the Chancellor walked off when we tried to talk to him, there's another section to explore.
With another shitload of steps.
How many forms of media can you think of where the Chancellor, Vizier, or whatever they call the King's adviser isn't an asshole?
Now just where could the Chancellor be sneaking off to?
That's a bad thing? You'd think the Queen's personal guard would be somebody you'd like to see.
Unless you engage in fantasy racism.
An important man sneaking out of the castle isn't important to you? Seriously, if he's that far up the ladder and he's still sneaking out of the castle, he's gotta be up to something.
Welp, this cinches it; we're going to kill the Chancellor at some point. In video games, there's no way you can be a royal adviser and devout churchgoer. We may as well find out he burns puppies for warmth and eats kittens because he likes the crunch.
But, hey, he's got a sweet-ass piece of armor right here.
Chrono gets a respectable Defense upgrade. With Lucca around, he's our "tank" even if he isn't truly built for the role. Hell, he's also our biggest damage dealer, but Lucca will prove her worth soon enough.
Let's head to the Cathedral. It's to the west of Guardia Castle.
The Sight Scope in action; how exciting.
Just like Marle, Lucca has a different attack animation for when an enemy is too close. It might look like she's pulling out a 9-Iron to do the job, but it's actually a hammer. It's another nice touch in this game that I love, in a game full of nice touches.
She'll learn her first Tech before long, and it's going to see a lot of use. Like I said earlier, Lucca has a pretty good magic stat and Flamethrower is a great way to put it to use.
And we'll leave off here.
Next time, on Chrono Trigger, let's see what sort of shenanigans we can get into inside the Cathedral. Stay tuned!
It's not unusual for me to update twice in one day, but the main reason I did this one is because work is supposed to be crazy the next couple of weeks, and I didn't want to deprive you guys of content. Hopefully I'll be able to keep some sort of reasonable schedule.