Part 3: No need to fear me; I did not come to touch

Update II: No need to fear me; I did not come to touch
Title Song Reference: I Like to Watch (Milo's Night Out) - Prozzak


~Star God Academy Field~

Itsuki, I was waiting for you. Let’s go to the Star Maidens’ classroom.


~Star Maidens’ Classroom~



There they are. Well, most of them. Mahiru isn’t pictured here. Also we seem to be missing the 13th Maiden that was added for Plus. I wonder when she turns up?

Oh, looks like everyone is already here.

Itsuki, these are the Star Maidens. By Universal Law… they are each chosen by the citizens and blessed by the Star God.

Just so you know… Universal Law refers to the will of the Star God whom we worship.

I am the Scorpio Star Maiden chosen by Universal Law. Come on, Itsuki, say hello. It can be short.

Oh, okay. Uh… Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you.

…Is that all? That’s rather abrupt.

Hey, you said it could be short. What do you want me to say? I still don’t even know exactly why I’m being introduced to them. Plus, they’re all staring at me. I’m kind of nervous.

Well, all right then.

Looks like everyone’s here. How about you all introduce yourselves?

I already did, so how about the others? All right, everyone. Let’s go in order and be concise.



I serve the church.



I’m usually out delivering mail. Nice to meet you, Itsuki!



Oh, I should mention that Lillith has an alter ego…

Excuse me?

What do you mean by that?

This!

*Mana proceeds to whack Lillith on the head*



Mana, you wench! Where’d you even get that damn hammer?! Why’d you hit me anyway?!

This is Lillith’s other personality, Lillie. If you hit her upside the noggin real good, Lillie comes out.

You can ask her for more details about that later.

This kind of took me by surprise. Everything I’ve seen in terms of promo stuff and the opening and the fact that Gemini is known as “the twins” led me to believe that Lillith and Lillie were two separate characters that shared the Star Maiden status. I guess that’s technically still true, although instead of sisters or something we’ve got a magical fantasy bipolar disorder.

Also, I could have sworn that the blue haired one was named Lillie and the pink haired one was Lillith. She has bat wings for god’s sake! God damn it, now I’m going to have to rename the head pictures.

Next!



You don’t need to remember my name…

Great. I’ve already got an inkling as to what my opinion of you is going to be.



So long as I am a Star Maiden, world peace is guaranteed! Oh, God’s Gift, you will have nothing to worry about! As for me…

Don’t you dare fucking do that noble laugh. I swear to god if that’s your thing.

That’s enough. I said to be concise. Next.

Thank you, Reo.



Please don’t be proto-Ruby. That’s all I ask from you.



I love caring for animals because they’re so fluffy.



I’m the Capricorn Star Maiden. I was actually a traveler, but now I work at the tavern! Nice to meet ya, Itsuki!



I’m the Aquarius Star Maiden. I hope you’ll stop by to buy my bread.



Come on, Yuzuha, you’re the last one.

Oh! I’m… um… Yuzuha. I’m usually painting at home… A-And… I might be the Pisces Star Maiden…

I know what you’re probably thinking, what with the look of the hair and her being Pisces (the fish), but I can confirm that she is not a fish person or mermaid. At the very least she has legs, according to her database model. That’s what I originally suspected anyway. Femi seems to be some kind of beast person, so I figured it was possible that Yuzuha was some kind of fish-human.

Not “might,” you are. Including Mahiru, these are the 12 Star Maidens.

So, about them… They were chosen to purge the Impurities and reborn as Star Maidens.

Not my typo, Mana really does say “and reborn”. I missed you Spike Chunsoft. I thought you had really upped your game by fixing the hilariously bad English in the opening cutscene, but it looks like I still need to keep my wits about me.

They’re able to create the Star Offering of their constellation just the once… And must fulfill their duty for the next 120 years until their powers are lost.

For 120 years?! How are they supposed to do that?

Also, why 120 years? They can only make the Star Offering one time. Do they have other things they have to do as part of this whole Maiden thing?



Maintaining your youth for 120 years seems like a sweet deal to me.

But the previous Star Maidens were different. The “Star Chaos” three months ago made them lose their Star Offering powers.

I’m guessing that has something to do with the fact that I have all the Star signs on me instead of just one. Why “Star Chaos”?

It is what we are calling that incident. All the Star Offerings suddenly vanished in a single night. The Star Maidens are one with the Star Offerings. That’s why when the Star Offerings lose their powers, so do the Star Maidens. Then, and only then, do they finally complete their role as a Star Maiden.

So far they haven’t made it clear what exactly losing their powers entails. Do they die? Does father time finally get a chance to swing the chrono bat at them and 120 years of no aging just catches up all at once? Do they just start aging like normal again and live out their lifespans like normal?

The Star Chaos caused all 12 previous Star Maidens to lose their powers. We were chosen next.

They were all chosen to be Star Maidens just over a month ago. They must’ve been really confused to see the Star Brand on their bodies!

Didn’t you say they were chosen by the citizens? How would it come as a surprise? Or is that “chosen by the citizens” thing just symbolic feel-good BS?

Being chosen out of the blue must have been nerve-wracking. So much pressure!

Up till that day… None of them thought they would become a Star Maiden. But… there’s no time for that anymore. Even now, the Stardust Labyrinths are beginning to overflow with Impurities.

God’s Gift appears when the Star Maidens are chosen. That’s how you got here.

You are a rare type of God’s Gift with the marks of all 12 constellations.

So does that mean Mahiru has the 12 Star Brands too?

No. She only has the Virgo Star Brand.



”It seems”? You don’t know for sure?

This is the first time in centuries the Star Maidens have been chosen like this.

Same with how two God’s Gifts appeared at once.

So Star God fucked up his count of maidens and just decided to swipe some Earth girl while he was out shopping for a new God’s Gift. Nice work, Star God.

It must have something to do with the Star Chaos.

Usually, only male God’s Gifts are summoned, due to Classmating and all that.

Classwhatting?

Also, the Star Maidens have always been from this world, chosen by the citizens.

But this time, only 11 were chosen. The Virgo Maiden was excluded.

That’s when Mahiru appeared with the Virgo Star Maiden Star Brand.

There are so many things we just don’t know this time around.



When did you get here, Mahiru?

You always appear out of nowhere.

I’m always eavesdropping.

I suppose I don’t have to repeat my explanations then.

I doubt I can really serve as the Virgo Star Maiden in the first place. But I have to. Otherwise, I can’t go back, right?

As expected of an honor student. While I’m at it, can I ask you something?

I really wish Reo said that sarcastically. It was begging for it.

Did you spit something out when the Star Brand marked you?

I did. It was this creepy, ugly… thing. Ugh… I feel sick just thinking about it. Or is it morning sickness?

Morning sickness?

Mahiru thinks that she’s pregnant. We haven’t actually confirmed that though.

Oh… Then you don’t need to worry. You simply spat out the Impurity within you.

What do you mean?

The ones chosen as Star Maidens… They expel any Impurities from their bodies prior to being reborn. It varies by person, but to some, they show signs of pregnancy.

Then… I’m not really pregnant?



Yeah, because she’s my friend and it was bothering her. Of course I’d be relieved for her.

Oh, really? I thought you two would make a great couple.

D-Don’t be stupid! Why would I be with Itsuki…

Ouch. Didn’t realize I was that repulsive.

Aww, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. Just as a precaution, I’ll give you a check-up later. I may not look it, but I am the palace physician.

You don’t really act like a physician either. At least not a licenced one.

I see… So I wasn’t pregnant. Thank goodness…

So what happened to the Impurity she expelled?

I summoned a glowly sword and cut it in half. It was pretty cool actually.

Amazing. As expected of a God’s Gift. That strength will help you enshrine the Star Offerings the Star Maidens create.

What am I supposed to do? What’s this Star Offering?

I’ll teach you how to conjure it later. It’s a tiring ritual, but you’ll be fine. Now, that’s about it for the Star Maiden introductions.

Oh damn, I forgot that we did that. Have they all just been standing around in silence this entire time?

Itsuki, we need to talk. Come to the church later.

Oh, okay. See you there, then.

We go back to the city map, but we only have one option on where to go. Well, let’s get this out of the way, I guess. Going to have to do it eventually.


~Church Spirit Chamber~



Magic? Am I going to get cool magic? Because that would really help with the whole “saving the world” thing.

To fulfill your duty, you will need the help of the 12 Star Maidens. Remember what I told you?

You mean that thing about the Star Offerings?

Yes, but that’s not all. The Star Maidens have another important duty. That is Classmating. Even if you are God’s Gift, going to labyrinths alone is suicide. You need allies to join you in the fight.

Whew. Not going to lie, I was a little afraid that you guys were going to make me go in alone. Having 12 other people in my party is definitely reassuring. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to defend the Star Maidens in the labyrinths as we fight together.

Unfortunately, they have no direct ability to fight impurities.

Wh-what…? But but, if they can’t fight then-



….

What?

CHILDREN!? Hold on, I am not ready to be a dad! I’m definitely not ready to… you know… with the uhhh… I mean, 12 women?!

Pardon me. Star Children to be exact.

The Star Maidens will Classmate with you and create Star Children. Itsuki, you’ll be surrounded by 12 beautiful girls. It’s like your own harem. Isn’t that awesome? I bet you can’t stop drooling right now.

I JUST WANTED TO BE A HERO! I wanted to fight monsters and gather a party and go adventuring and scream at people for not doing their job right! Since when did the hero’s job turn into… breeding!?



All of these options are basically “Uh, beats me.” LP Itsuki is not going to be that stupid. How the hell does a guy about to tackle undergrad not know how babies are made?

…I mean… I know the basics of how it works…

When did you…?

Oh…? You don’t look like the type though. I guess you know when to get down to business, ya perv!

Listen, that stays between me and my brows—actually, never mind. Let me put it this way. I used to help my grandfather a lot with his cattle. I know how to “plant seeds.”

Oh, I did too.

Wait, you meant you have experience fertilizing plants with cow manure?

…Sure, let’s go with that.

Whatever. It was stupid of me to ask.

Can we get back to the whole “Itsuki becomes a dad” thing now? I feel like we haven’t properly talked about that.

Listen carefully. God’s Gifts go into labyrinths with Star Children to fend off the Impurities. Itsuki, you will create Star Children with us through the Classmating ritual.

Now you’re confusing me. Aren’t you supposed to be a doctor? Just how long do you think it takes to raise a child?! And hold on… Why are you talking so casually about making children?!



And so we still don’t get any idea of what the fuck the Classmating ritual actually involves. Conception II was very cagey about it as well. From what we’re told in that game, Classmating apparently just involves God’s Gift holding hands with the girl at an altar and the two of them proceeding to think really hard about each other. Apparently it doesn’t even require direct physical contact, as Ellie initially doesn’t like touching people and will just hold on to Wake’s shirt.

Conception is telling us that the Classmating ritual doesn’t involve sex, or at the very least it’s different from sex. But what does that mean? Do they just dry hump each other? The Conception anime adaption tells us that it isn’t sex as well, but-- well, let's save that for the anime discussion later down the road.

Either way, I have a feeling that this game won’t be explaining the ritual any farther than what we’re being told here. I guess we’ll just stick with the assumption that it’s like CII, which is to say that Itsuki and the Star Maidens will just stand there and think about each other or eye hump each other or something.

Star Children are warriors born to carry out the mission of God’s Gift. It’s not the fruit of your loins that you’re thinking of. From the moment Star Children are given life… They become the only existence, next to God’s Gift, who can purge Impurities. Stardust Labyrinths also have doors that only open with Star Children present. That’s why you need Star Children to fulfill your duty.

I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Same here. Are you really trying to tell me that a bunch of kids are supposed to be my dungeon party? I’m so dead…

It’ll be faster if I just show you. We’ll conduct the Classmating ritual now to create a Star Child. Come, Mahiru. I’ll show you how.

W-Wait, Dr. Reone. A-Are you telling me to make babies with him right now? Haha… You’re not serious, are you?

I’m sure you’re only embarrassed because everyone is watching. Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.

People are going to WATCH this!? What the fuck is wrong with this world!?

”Get used to it”?

Fuehe… It only hurts the first time.

Mana, stop teasing Mahiru. But Itsuki, do be gentle. It is her first time.

Be gentle how? What the hell am I supposed to be doing?

Just do as I say, and you’ll get it right the first time around.

N-No… Don’t just start going at it!

Mahiru, this is to return to your world. You must accept it.

Nooo!



While our heroes protest and get really creeped out, the game informs us that Reone will be choosing our Star Children classes this time. However, after the tutorial team is made we’ll be free to chose what we want. Or rather, the thread will be free to choose what they want. I’ll go into more detail about that a little later.



Every time you Classmate, there is a little scene that will play which shows the spectral Sailor Moon body of the chosen Star Maiden suggestively moving around. These get more elaborate and more suggestive as the game goes on. I’ve edited this screen shot to make it acceptable for an LP that might be read in the presence of prying eyes. If you really want to see the unedited shot, then here it is. It’s only Sailor Moon style “nudity”, but you’ve been warned regardless.

Now, I’m going to pause things for a moment to highlight a little something about these scenes. The scene you’re seeing above is actually from the PS4 version, which was censored in North America. A handful of people on message boards went absolutely apeshit over this when it was announced. There was a lot of complaining about Spike Chunsoft capitulating to Sony’s recent censorship policies in regard to Japanese games.

For those who don’t know, Sony has recently changed gears and enforced a censorship policy on Japanese games and the sexual content they may possess. People have been bitching about it for a while, but the basic idea behind it is that Tokyo is about to host the Olympics in 2020 and like every country that gets the “honor” of hosting that gigantic waste of taxpayer money, Japan is doing everything it can to polish its image for the easily impressed/offended tourists that they hope to attract.

Anyway, got a bit off track there for a second. So, the PS4 version of Conception Plus was censored for North America. How was it censored?



There. Here is the unedited. Yes, that is the change that was made for the North American release that caused some people to shit their pants in rage, spam Spike Chunsoft’s Twitter with complaints, vow to “vote with their wallets”, and take a stand against censorship. Oh, also some people were hoping for Spike Chunsoft to go out of business as a way to make them pay for this egregious transgression.

I want to reiterate. The censorship that Sony allegedly imposed on this game for North America was not to cut out these weird sexy scenes entirely, nor was it to even make them slightly less suggestive. They CHANGED THE COLOR OF THE BODIES AND SHOWED THE FACE. For those of you who read the CII thread, the censored version of these scenes is basically identical to the scenes in CII. CII went further and made the ladies’ bodies neon colors. And that wasn’t even censorship! It was just the way that CII did it.



Jesus Christ guys, it’s a color change. Not like you’ll be watching these more than once anyway. I made my love of transformation sequences very clear in the Conception II LP, and even I didn’t watch those damn things every single time they showed up.

Anyway, it turns out the Steam version was left uncensored, just like the Japanese version. The message board people declared victory in their ongoing Holy War against censorship and acted like they had achieved a great victory. Meanwhile, the more likely explanation is that Spike Chunsoft was lazy and didn’t bother censoring the PC version because Valve doesn’t give a shit, unlike Sony.



What were we doing again? …Oh, right. Star Children. Yeah, so here are our first two Star Children. Every time you make a Star Child, they will pop out of their little Matryoshka dolls holding a card. These cards give different bonuses. These two little tykes have 10% off BP cards, which means that it took 10% less Bond Points to create them. We’ll be introduced to Bond Points later. All you need to know about it now is that we need to use the points to make Star Children.



We also get another two Star Children to round out the team. They also pop out with the 10% off coupons. This is a tutorial, so the cards will always be the same, but once we start making our own, these cards can have a range of effects. Sometimes it’s cash, sometimes it’s a boost to the Star Maidens mood, those kind of things.

Also, it should be noted that this is a special tutorial Classmating. Unless things are different in this game, then twins are the best you can do in a single Classmating ritual (and twins are pretty rare). You can’t get quadruplets like what happened here. This is simply to give us enough Star kids for a full team.

What… what just happened…? I’m so tired…

My mind is going blank… I don’t really remember what happened during the ritual.



Sh-Shut up!

But wasn’t it easier than you thought? Now you all know how to do the Classmating ritual.

You gotta do that with all 12 Star Maidens from now on. You better get training to increase your stamina, if you know what I mean. You gotta take the initiative. All the Star Maidens are virgins after all.

Please stop talking…

One condition to be selected as a Star Maiden is keeping your virginity intact.

Normally I’d ask why Star God would make that a prerequisite, but apparently sex in this world is a source of monster juice, so I guess that makes sense.

Also, does that mean that Maidens need to maintain virginity for their 120 years of service, or is sex okay after they’ve already been made into Star Maidens? Because if it’s the former, then that is some serious monkey’s paw shit, “You shall receive 120 years of life without aging, maintaining your youthful beauty for over a century! …But you also can’t have sex! Star God, out!”

Aren’t you happy? You can get with all 12 of them. You gotta be grinning deep down.

Oh yeah. Nothing beats getting blue balled… and whatever the female equivalent of blue balls is.

Mana, what are you whispering?

Oh, sweet nothings is all.

Someone please make it stop.

Now, this is important, so listen carefully.



How well you interact with the Star Maidens is key to your mission. I can tell you’re not that good at winning over the ladies. But you really gotta be on the prowl when you interact with the Star Maidens. Being a bit forceful is necessary at times too… Guehe…

Has everyone grown attached to Mana yet? Huh? Let me get a shout out from all the CII LP people out there that loved Chlotz’s creeper antics and were desperate for more.

(I can’t believe this… This is nothing like what I imagined… Well, I’m still supposed to be a hero. If I don’t give this my all, then me and Mahiru won’t be able to go home… and also we’ll probably die here when the monsters kind of overrun the entire country. Stay cool, Itsuki. You can do this… probably…)



Let’s make Star Children…

Itsuki, that’s not very manly.

He doesn’t have it in him to stay that with pride…

It doesn’t actually matter what you say here. The responses from Reo and Mahiru don’t change for this choice.

Oh, one more thing, Itsuki. There’s actually one more thing about the Classmating ritual.

There’s more?! Are you kidding?

Hehehe… It’ll be like a dream come true for you, I’m sure. You can actually take in two Star Maidens at a time…

Oh, that’s great… As if I wasn’t under enough pressure as it is.



Yeah, really taking one for the team on this.

Nar, you came at just the right time.

There isn’t some insane version where I have to take all 12, is there?

Not to worry, I will tell him that when the time is right. There’s something else you must know first. Will you hear me out?

I kind of want to sit down for a bit, but I guess it’s better to get this all out of the way at once. So, go for it.

All right. Time for the next step. Let’s talk about Party Formation.

Oh, okay. That sounds cool, actually.



This is a bit different from Conception II. Our Star Children teams will be groups of 4 for this game instead of the groups of 3 that CII used. This is the same as it was in the PSP version of Conception.



Speaking of Party Formation, here is what we’ve been saddled with for the tutorial team. It’s not bad, but also nothing special. We’ve got two boy fighters (Pit and Arthur), a mage girl (Vanessa), and a healer girl (Natasha). Where’s our Tank, Reone?! I thought you were going to choose a balanced team. A party of four is 1 Tank, 1 Healer, and 2 DPS.

Here are the database entries for the individual classes we have:







Also, yes, boy Clerics always have that expression. It’s creepy.

That’s all there is to it. After the Star Chaos, creating new children has been banned in this nation. That is only a temporary solution however.

Yyyeah, good luck trying to enforce a nationwide ban on sex for very long, even with the world at stake.

At this rate, the species will be unable to prosper. So I thank you, Itsuki, for accepting this mission, whatever your reasons.

Not like I have a choice.


~Inn Room~



Okay, I guess we’re skipping to the next day.

Yesterday must have been crazy taxing from all the info you had to process. But now you have a general idea of the situation this nation is facing. We’re going to the shop today to gather some fighting equipment for you.

Oh, cool. I can get behind that. This is more the kind of thing I expected. But, how are we going to buy that stuff?

This is from the king. His orders are for you to prepare for you mission.



Oh, hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. It’s about damn time we see a ruler that’s willing to take the “no expenses spared” route for the one person that everybody’s life depends on. Shit, in CII our boy Wake was stuck having to earn AngelMarker fun bucks by fighting monsters.

It’s a check.

He’s giving me all of this?!

The fate of the world rests on you. You can buy up the entire shop if you’re so inclined.

I am indeed so inclined.



Okay, let’s not go crazy. I love me some cash, but I draw the line at being a douche about it.

What do ya think, Itsuki? Doesn’t it feel great to be rich?

To be honest, all of this pressure is kind of making me sick…

You’re so pitiful… Anyway, let’s go shopping. It’s too dangerous to explore the labyrinths without the proper equipment.

I will rarely ever agree with Mana, but in this case Mana is right. Stop being a loser, Itsuki. Let’s go make some poor shopkeeper’s month and kit out our kiddos.


~Granvania Shopping Center~



We got plenty of money to blow!

That doesn’t mean we should waste it. I’m all for buying up useful stuff like items and equipment, but I’m not blowing money on getting drunk.

You’re such a square! You’re no fun at all!

Gonna side with Itsuki. Spend much but spend wisely. Also, what the hell even is the drinking age in Granvania? How do you determine legal drinking age for beings like Mana? There’s another question that will come up—

*Douchebag outta nowhere*



Who was that? A drunk this early in the day?

Forget that. What was with that stupid getup? Who walks around in a bird mask and skin tight spandex?

The bums are really crawling about everywhere.

Says the one that wanted to go get hammered after shopping.

Anyway, let’s go cash that check, Itsuki!

Sure, su—

What happened?

I could have sworn I had it in my pocket…

Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! Where’d it go?!

Maybe it’s… wait, there’s a hole in here!

Wh-Wh-What did you say?! G-Go look for it right now!

*One fruitless retracing of steps later*



Dammit!

Wait… Maybe it was that masked man from earlier who bumped into you?! Did he pickpocket you?!

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GUY GOING TO DO WITH A CHEQUE?! It was written by the King of Granvania specifically to God’s Gift and has 9,999,999G as the amount! What bank in the world is going to cash that shit without verification?! Especially when the dude handing it over is wearing a goddamn bird mask!

This entire hero thing has gone to hell… I’m really starting to hate this place.

What’re you gonna do, Itsuki?!

I guess we better go tell the king that we lost it. Maybe he can cancel it or something and write a new one.

You can’t do that! If you do, who knows what punishment he’d dish out to me!

Well, I was the one that got pickpocketed.

I was ordered to be your babysitter! That definitely won’t fly! Ugh, I’ll be punished dearly for this… This is the end for me…

Not gonna lie Mana, you kind of have it coming to you. Itsuki wasn’t the one out there on the street loudly proclaiming how loaded you were. Seriously, you couldn’t just keep your mouth shut until we were done shopping?

Ugh… fine. We’ll keep it a secret. I’ll figure something out with the supplies.

Itsuki, here’s my life savings. Try to get what you need with this.



Your attempt at making amends is like poison to my veins… Get that pocket change away from me!

Are you sure you want to do this?

Of course not! But we don’t have any time to save up the money! Taking too much time will make Nar super suspicious.

I guess you’re right.

We’re in this together, at least for now. I’m prepared to do what I need. I didn’t think we’d trip up so early though. Once you’re done preparing, it’ll be time to head into the Stardust Labyrinths!



Fuck you, Mana! Take your 2,000G and choke on it!



Son of a… Alright, it’s okay. I’m calm. It’s only 9,997,999G less than expected. Let’s just… let’s see what we can do. The Shop is up first.









Here is everything you need to know about shopping. I’ve never found Bulk Buy particularly helpful, personally. I prefer to equip on an individual basis.



Let’s take a look at what we can do, if anything.



Items are all standard stuff. Potions are for HP, Mana Stones are for MP, Star Drops revive, and everything else is for curing various status effects. All of these are far too expensive for the pittance we got from Mana. That’s okay, though. If this game is anything like CII then we’re going to wind up getting most of our items from dungeon runs. What’s the scene like over in the equipment isle?



Jack shit. That figures. The one upgrade for Itsuki is beyond our newly reduced savings account.

Also, I’m sure the game will do it at some point, but here’s a run down of the stats since they’re here in front of us:

ATK – Physical Attack Power
TEC – Accuracy (has an impact on critical hits)
DEF – Physical Defense
SPD – Speed (affects turn order and dodging)
MAT – Magic Attack Power
MDF – Magic Defense
LUC – Luck (affects stuff like critical hit chance and item drops)

Unless things have been greatly revamped in this game, then Speed will be the most important stat. Speed determines how quickly your characters’ turns come around. The faster you are, the more turns you get. Having more turns than the enemy gives you more flexibility in healing and responding to attacks.



Other than that, we can’t afford any new armor for Itsuki. None of the accessories are worth it. We only have enough cash to give one of our tutorial kids an upgrade, but I pass on doing that because we haven’t gone dungeon exploring yet. We'll get upgrades for them from there.

Might as well check out the Tavern before moving on.







The Tavern is where we pick up quests, although some quests will apparently come to us directly from the Star Maidens. Completing them is how we get new items in the shops.



Also, Farun works here, which she mentioned earlier in the update.



There’s a bunch of quests available right from the start. As far as I can tell, all of the ones we see here are already active. The tutorial card just told us that we’ll get the ability to take on more quests as we complete others, but I’m not seeing any way to accept quests. Weird. Oh well, I’m not going to complain. Just means that I can tackle all of them at once.

Anyway, off to the Stardust Labyrinths, where there is apparently an event.


~Granvania Shopping Center~



Even if you head to the Stardust Labyrinths, the entrances aren’t open. To open them, you need the help of all 12 Star Maidens.

Okay, well let’s go do that then. Why the hell did you point me here if we can’t go?


~Palace Throne Room~



The fate of the world is in your hands. I wish you the best.

Itsuki, I entrust these Star Offerings to you. Enshrine them in the deepest parts of the 12 labyrinths to complete your mission.

Well that’s nice. We were actually given the magic doodads that we need to save the world before being shoved into the monster filled death mazes. What a novel concept.



Right, Ruby? You unbelievable dumbass.

Now, take the Star Maidens to the labyrinth entrances. Itsuki, go to the Stardust Labyrinth once you’re ready.

Finally. Off we go.



You guys have satellite dishes in this world? Anything decent on TV around here?

So this is where the labyrinth is, huh…

These great labyrinths… They were constructed by Mirei’s ancestors to seal the Impurities.



They passed their hopes down to us as I took over their mission. That is why I need your help, Itsuki.

Uh, right. I’ll do my best.

All the Star Maidens are here. Everyone, just do it the way we practiced yesterday. Mahiru, you remember, don’t you?

Yes… It’s easier than making the Star Offering.

This gate is the entrance to the labyrinths only to be used by God’s Gift. It’s usually locked by the Seal of Thorns. But we’ll be unsealing it right now. Mirei, let’s start.

We will now conduct the Unraveling Ceremony on the Seal Gate of the Stardust Labyrinths.



Then we get a little clip of each Maiden’s face appearing alongside their star sign. It isn’t nearly Sentai enough for my liking. I miss the transformation sequences from CII.





Phew… Oh, geez…

You looked like a sorceress. Wish I could learn some magic like that.

Never mind that. Just be careful out there.

I can do this. You just have to trust me.

Yeah… I’ll do that.

(At least, I hope I can do this…)

I haven’t slept at all since creating the Star Offering and practicing for this ceremony. I feel bad about it, but I need to get some rest now.

Mahiru, you did well. Thank you.

You don’t need to thank me. It’s all to get back to my own world.

Itsuki, before you go into the labyrinth, I’ll explain the structure of it. The 12 Stardust Labyrinths each have a chamber hidden deep within. But this is the only entrance.



Go through the gates to get to each labyrinth. The labyrinths all go deep underground, and the lowest level is B15.

Not liking the sound of this so far. 15 floors was a pain in the ass to get through in CII. Not to mention boring as sin.

Every five floors, the Impurities’ energy signatures will become stronger. They basically get harder to fight every five floors. Don’t get too cocky. Return to the surface if you sense you’re in danger. Also, the labyrinths of the four seasons are of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. When you get to B10, they’ll branch out and reveal three more labyrinths. Four labyrinths with three branches make them a total of 12 labyrinths.

I’m going to assume that these paths are all locked off behind story advancements. I don’t expect we’ll get a choice as to which gate to enter or even which branch to go down.

At the bottommost floor, the Impurity Gods await you. That’s all the dirt I’ve got on the Stardust Labyrinths. Itsuki, are you ready? Let’s go!





And here’s the gameplay loop. Like CII, this game doesn’t seem to have any kind of hard limit on time. We can rest and fart around as much as we want, since only the plot can advance story time.





You should start from the Spring Labyrinth. The Impurities there aren’t as strong. Go to the end of the Aries Labyrinth and enshrine the Star Offering. By then, you should be strong enough to take on the other labyrinths.

Alright, let’s do this I guess. Come on… uhh… kids? Party? Star Children? Not really sure what I should call you. Well, we’ll figure it out on the way.

Have to stop there for now. Next time, we'll check out the dungeon and also the Star Maidens. Decisions have to be made for both.