Part 4: Mistakes
Update 4: MistakesAlright, everyone ready to get some actual progress towards the goal of the game?
Yes, finally. I can only keep up the Pokemon jokes for so long. I need to snark about the plot to make it seem like I'm funny and critical
If it makes you feel better, I've never thought you were funny.
First thing to do, we're gonna chat with Natsumi here. Remember how I talked about Charisma, and how some people will fight us if we have enough of it?
god damn it kotemon get with the formation
Shovel Knight!! How am I supposed to whip these guys into shape.Tamer Natsumi: Hey, let's Digimon Battle! I'm really good!
Click for music!
This is our first fight in which the opponent has more than one Digimon! There's also some new music, but I'm not a huge fan of it. It's too... triumphant? I think, for my tastes.
Anyway, first on the chopping block is a Betamon. Now, you might be asking yourself, 'But Yeti! You've been grinding off of Betamon in the Wire Forest! How is this Betamon a threat?'
Short answer: The Betamon isn't a threat. Angemon evaded its counter attack and killed it next turn.
Longer answer: It's not a threat, but Digimon that belong to Tamers get stat boosts. The Betamons in Wire Forest have about 120 HP (approximately; there's no official HP stat in the game, and I guess at the HP based on what they survive), and this one has about 175-ish. Again, I'm guessing, here.
Pokemon that belong to a Trainer also give bonus EXP.
Natsumi's second Digimon is Vegiemon. It gets wrecked in short order, despite how smug it looks. This is a guaranteed encounter with one, but I did go back and wander around Shell Beach until I got into a fight with a Vegiemon, just to make sure they actually could be fought there.
Remember kids, always eat your veggies, even if they look like monsters who want to kill you.
And her last Digimon is Kiwimon. We haven't met this one yet, but we will soon. Later this update, in fact.
Holy shit I wanna punch that thing it looks so dumb.
Because Kiwimon can actually pack a punch, I'm switching out for my physical tank.
Kiwimon attacks by spitting little baby ChibiKiwimon at us. I... I don't know.
In unrelated news, Dinohumon is a fucking beast. This wasn't even hitting an elemental weakness, Dinohumon has 200 strength and puts it to good use.
200 strength this early? Not legit! LPer is cheating!
Anyway, now that that little bit of unpleasantness is out of the way, we're gonna head off towards progress. Remember that path I mentioned in West Wire Forest, but didn't take?
no
Click for ambience!
Welcome to East Wire Forest. The encounters here are exactly the same as its Western counterpart.
"Hey, where did Kite go? HE ABANDONED US!
Tamer Lucia: Hey, I was called "Gal Gamer Lucia" back in the day!
And I bet all the boys let you win.
If we chat with her again, we'll be able to Card Battle her, but that game is irritating, so I'm gonna pass on that. To be fair, the Card Battling here isn't terrible; it's just another form of grinding in a game that has too much grinding already.
And here we have Kite running into a tree like the smart-aleck he is. What a wonderful protagonist.
That little path on the left, hidden by the foreground trees, might be a little tricky to spot. I know I missed it the first time I was playing the game as a wee little LieutenantYeti, but then again I was seven at the time.
See, Yeti was only a Lieutenant because he threatened to cry if the Toy Army Men didn't let him play.
Let's go drop by the Forest Inn, shall we?
...After I deal with this uppity Kuwagamon. Also hey! First 4-digit damage of the game! I'm so proud.
...Is that Boomer Kuwanger from X1?
Click for music!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.LOADING
As we progress through the areas, the Inns will cost more and more money to get a full heal. I usually don't stay at inns all that often, but I wanted to restore Patamon's MP for reasons.
Because heals, right?
Upstairs we'll find the requisite Guardromon, as well as a girl who's possibly just a little bit too interested in Veemon. Hands off, he's ours until he gives us the Tree Boots.
FFRRRRIIIEEEENNNDDDD
Oh god it's Battle Network all over again.
Let's head downstairs, shall we?
This might have been a mistake.
Bakemon Fan Cary: And I see ghosts here... they're eveywhere...[sic] ...acting like normal Digimon... it scares me.
Typo spotted. Also:
I like spores, molds and fungus.
It's just a haunted house below an Inn. Don't be scared. PIKACHU STOP WETTING YOURSELF
I dunno what that kid is smoking, but there's no ghosts here, Digimon or otherwise.
Let's get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps.
And here we can see Yeti being a little wuss.
After we hook around this little path here, following the sign towards Seiryu town, there's a small clearing.
This is the path towards Seiryu Town, but like always the correct thing to do in any RPG is determine the path towards progress and then go the exact opposite direction.
Sage.
Like so: This is at the north end of the clearing.
This guy is just another Card Battle enthusiast. Let's not talk to him for a while.
Never Card Battle. They're a needless addition to a world where Digimon can fight in real-time.
ROLL CALL! Ah, shit! Shovel Knight's missing!
Oh hey, it's that place that the ambience is named after! I wonder what it looks like.
Oh god.
Oh god.
Spiders?
I hope you like spiders.
Name: Dokugumon
Level: Champion
Location: Asuka East - Protocol Forest
Drops: Spider Web
3 STR, 2 DEF, 3 SPR, 3 WIS, 3 SPD,
2 FIRE, 2 WATER, 2 ICE, 1 WIND, 3 THUNDER, 2 MACHINE, 3 DARK
EXP: 21, BIT: 40
Regular Attack: No Element (Chance of Poison)
Technique: None
Dokugumon infest the first half of Protocol Forest - they're literally the only enemy in the place. Fortunately, they're weak to Wind, so I can kill them in one shot.
That's actually a neat design, I like it. I'm calling her Charlotte.
After the fight, Angemon hit level 10 and learned this! It's a good thing because now Patamon can safely be relegated to a walking first-aid kit. I mean, for the time being I'll keep him leveled up, but that's going to be his main role.
Charlotte wat r u doing
Pikachu no
I got ambushed while wandering around in Protocol Forest, and this was the result. Dokugumon's main attack doesn't actually do that much damage, but it has a (fairly high - every time I got hit, it triggered) chance of poisoning your Digimon. Poison in this game is pretty nasty, so make sure you kill your opponent in one attack after being poisoned; the HP only drains when your turn finishes.
After squashing a few more spiders, I got what I came for: the Spider Web.
And no, picking up the webs on the map wouldn't have counted.
I also stuck around, grinded a few Skill Levels; the Dokugumon were giving 5+ DV, so might as well.
Right, now that that business is taken care of, back down here!
Click for music!
Divermon's Lake is a nice break from the Wire Forest, mainly because real music is playing again.
There's only one new encounter here:
Name: Crabmon
Level: Rookie
Location: Asuka East - Divermon's Lake
Drops: None
4 STR, 2 DEF, 2 SPR, 2 WIS, 4 SPD,
2 FIRE, 3 WATER, 2 ICE, 2 WIND, 1 THUNDER, 2 MACHINE, 2 DARK
EXP: 17, BIT: 30
Regular Attack: Water Element
Technique: None
He's not hard - pretty brittle, actually. About on par with the Betamon that are also in the area.
Where's the weak point, Yeti
There's a Bandana in this chest over here (head armor) but what I have already outclasses it, so it's vendor trash.
Holy shit, what's wrong with you guys? I look at a crab and you all disappear? Jesus H. Christ.
Well, I found them-hey, Pikachu! I said get in the front!
No, you stop sniffing Shovel Knight's ass! Bad Pikachu!
That thing in the water is a Divermon; makes sense, since it's their lake. Let's go have a chat with the guy!
Oh no.
Divermon: Please take it out!
Divermon: ..........................
Divermon: Thanks, that feels better! Oh, a Red Snapper was stuck. I don't need it so you can have it. Later! By the way, thanks for all your help. Come over to Duel Island some time. My friends will play Card Battle with you.
Never visiting Duel Island, check.
Where is this so-called plot progression I was promised.
Do... Do those clams have teeth? That's terrifying.
They need to jump on the bridge and chomp your ass to oblivion.
Yeti, don't be mean to your Digimon, you're STOMPING ON HIM.
How else are they supposed to learn?!
Conga, conga, conga.
The path is pretty straightforward. We just have to follow the winding path - which, naturally, winds so that we end up fighting ten Crabmon along the way. They aren't even good DV fodder.
Grind here. Kill 20 Crabmon and bring it back to me for a small XP boost.
There's a small corner tucked away behind these trees, but there's nothing here... for now. (I don't actually know if anything shows up here in the future.)
What are the Divermon even storing? Water from their lake? Regardless of the strange decor choices, we just keep following the path east.
And of course one of the Digimon is facing the wrong way.
I'm not sure why the number pad of a keyboard is a landscape decoration, but sure, why not. For some unknown reason, 1-2-5 is pressed on the first one, and 5-7-9 on the second.
Upcoming puzzle involving those digits is imminent. DIGIMON! Take note! Don't tell me you can't recognize numbers, you can talk, dammit!Either way, we'll just take the only exit, the one I'm standing right in front of.
Click for ambience!
This is Wind Prairie. As the name might suggest, there's very little to do here, but the screen itself is wide and open.
Anyway, new screen and new music usually means new encounters, and this one's no different.
Name: Kiwimon
Level: Champion
Location: Asuka East - Wind Prairie
Drops: None
2 STR, 3 DEF, 3 SPR, 3 WIS, 4 SPD,
2 FIRE, 2 WATER, 1 ICE, 3 WIND, 1 THUNDER, 2 MACHINE, 2 DARK
EXP: 15, BIT: 35
Regular Attack: No Element
Technique: None
Name: Yanmamon
Level: Champion
Location: Asuka East - Wind Prairie
Kicking Trees: Asuka East - Kicking Forest
Asuka South - Bulk Swamp, Tranquil Swamp, Bios Swamp
Drops: None
3 STR, 2 DEF, 3 SPR, 3 WIS, 4 SPD,
2 FIRE, 2 WATER, 2 ICE, 1 WIND, 3 THUNDER, 2 MACHINE, 3 DARK
EXP: 16, BIT: 30
Regular Attack: No Element
Technique: None
These guys aren't terribly bulky, but their SPD is higher than we've seen, meaning if you aren't careful they might be difficult to hit. That being said, since I've been pretty good about keeping my own SPD high, we're not gonna have a problem with them.
"...since I've been pretty good about keeping my own SPD high," HAHAHA, Yeti, PLEASE. Last update you were getting slammed by starter mobs.
Because this place is pretty big, it's best to explore it all at once and hope you don't get lost. Good news is, though, this battery (at least I think it's a battery) makes for a nice landmark for 12 o'clock.
Exploring counter-clockwise, there's this guy chilling out around 9 o'clock.
Tamer Akiba: This is great! I feel lucky and happy! All I need is to Digimon Battle now! So fight with me!
Just a side note: most people with the Tamer title will eventually challenge us to a Digimon Battle. Sometimes it takes work, sometimes they'll jump at the chance, like Tamer Akiba here.
Is there a PvP-only server where you can be attacked randomly.
Pfft. This is embarrassing. Still, remember what I mentioned about the Tamer Digimon; this Tapirmon ate 200 damage worth of Renamon's attack, and it barely cracked half its HP. It also did 150+ damage in response. It can be a challenge, especially if I hadn't been keeping ahead of the difficulty curve because I knew stuff like this would pop out.
At least it's an optional enemy.
Moving on, there's another hole off by 8 o'clock, against the tree line...
A living hole for the dormant troll who Yeti thinks is a mole.
HATE.
This rock at about 5...
And then a Veemon at the furthest east we can go on the screen. This Veemon wouldn't have spawned until you talk to Waitress Debbie after getting back that kid's Gabumon card.
We'll be back later to deal with him, but I want to finish the loop first. There's a drop-down point here, around 4 o'clock.
And at about 2:30 or so, there's a ramp up towards the cliff face. There's a few trees scattered along the walls here and there, but that's everything to do in the Wind Prairie. So let's go talk to the Veemon and get our Tree Boots, shall we?
Go up the ramp, you puss.
Veemon: Then what should we play? Hmmmmm...
Kite: Woah, Veemon! I want the Tree Boots.
Kite ain't got time for this shit, he's a busy kid.
Busy, yet he just plays this game all day.
As opposed to the boots for kicking Digimon?
You mean like what I've doing?
Veemon: Yeah, sure, but only if you play with me!
Kite: Sure thing! What're we going to play?!
Veemon: I'll go hide in the Kicking Forest, and you have to find me. If you can find me, I'll give you the Tree Boots! You lose if you leave the forest without finding me! And if you leave the Kicking Forest, I'm gonna go home to eat!
It's easier to fail this than you think, but I'll explain once we actually start the game.
Eh, it's simple. Burn the whole forest down, watch him come out screaming, then say "Gotcha."
Kite: OK! I'm gonna find you!
Veemon: Heh heh heh. It won't be that easy! Count to 10 and come to the forest!
Veemon wanders off into the forest. Kite continues to be a gullible idiot.
It's a nice touch that he actually does count, though it's not the full 'the text appears a little at a time' joke.
Kite: ......... Was that too fast?
Kite is briefly struck by crushing guilt and depression before shrugging it aside in the manner of 12-year-olds everywhere.
Kite: Oh, well! OK, let's go find him!
Click for ambience!
It's harder to keep track of Digimon than a fucking full schoolyard of kids.
I am getting sick and tired of this ambience track. There's only so much bugs chirping that I can stand.
Kite: OK, I'm gonna find Veemon and get the Tree Boots!
Alright, so here's the deal. We get free reign to wander around and try to find Veemon. (There's still some encounters with some higher-level Digimon, but I'll cover the new ones when we officially come here.) The only problem is, and the catch with the whole schtick, if we get too close to the edge of the screen, we leave. Normally, we have to hit X to leave screens, but some utter jackass decided that it was a great idea to change up how literally every screen transition has changed in the one place where it matters. And if you do accidentally leave the screen, know how Veemon said he was going to go eat dinner?
That means you have to shlep all the way back to Asuka City and talk to Waitress Debbie again so that Veemon will reappear here.
Brilliant job, game designers
...Hahahahahaha. FEEL MY PAIN WITH TERRIBLE GAME DESIGN YETI.
So, here's a little game for you all: Veemon is on this screen somewhere. Can you find him?
I'll take "Pixel Hunt" for $200
...
...
...
...
...
...Found him yet?
...
...
...
Take a look: there's two tiny bits of shadow behind the tree. Yeah, that's the only hint to where he actually is. Honestly? Just run up and down the grove smashing X. It's faster.
Jackass Veemon.
Veemon: OK, I'll give you the Tree Boots like I promised!
Scene fade, exit stage left.
I very much dislike you right now.
Which means I like him. Go Veemon!
Veemon: Here, take the Tree Boots!
Kite: Cool! Thanks, Veemon. Yeah! I got the Tree Boots!
Veemon: Good for you! OK, I'm going home to eat! Let's play again sometime. Later!
So, the Tree Boots. Walk up to one of these palmtree-looking dealies and hit X. There's a very satisfying 'thunk' sound effect that plays as we kick the tree, and then this radar pops up. It's kinda like an FOE monitor, for those who are familiar with the Etrian Odyssey series; for those readers that aren't, it's a proximity radar. Purple (like this) means that there's no Digimon in nearby trees...
....And now we're using Headbutt to find Pokemon in trees. You should have told me we were playing Silver version. That's MY SHIT.
Fuck yeah Silver version best version
...while Red means that there's a Digimon close by. There's also a blue-ish color where there's a Digimon nearby, but not in the current grove of trees, or whatever. It's not an exact science.
Just go around kicking trees until you find something.
Nine times out of ten you'll run into a Cardmon. These weird things have Cards spinning over their heads. They look like floating exclamation points. They're also pretty damn powerful - they give good EXP, and almost always drop a Booster Pack item for you (the B series; the A series you get from beating Tamers in Card Battles) when you beat them.
Still, for right now they're a little too strong to comfortably fight - and besides, I'm doing my level best to avoid the Card game anyway, so it's not like not fighting them will hurt my chances.
Translation: "I'm a little bitch, Giver."
Anyway, if you'll go over some of the weird items I've collected, three should stand out in particular - a Bamboo Spear, a Spider Web, and a Red Snapper. Or, in other words, a pole, a string, and a hook.
Yeah, it's time to stroll back to Central Park and get ourselves a Fishing Pole.
Tai Kong
Yeah, the game screwed his name up.
They fixed it quickly, though.
Tai Kong Wang: Of course, it's only a matter of opinion! Use this fishing pole I made, and you'll catch big fishes!.[sic] Good luck catching the big fishs! OK, here you go, boy!
Kite: Huh?! Thanks, Pops! Yeah! I got the Fishing Pole!
Tai Kong Wang: Ho ho ho ho ho. Well, good luck.
Really throwing a lot of text errors at us in quick succession, aren't they?
All I'm seeing is innuendos.
So, fishing! This gimmick is going to be either your best friend or a colossal nightmare. Regardless, when you're running around and you spot a body of water, head over to it; anywhere you can fish, this little icon will pop up over Kite's head.
Kite will cast a lure and the microgame begins; that little bar start moving left and right. If you hit X and stop it over a length of blue bar, nothing happens.
But if you stop it over the yellow...
You'll fish up a Cardmon! These ones have the booster pack behind them, so they actually look like little blue fish. It's pretty neat.
The first problem with fighting aquatic Cardmon at our level is that they're stupid strong; roughly twice the strength of the tree-dwelling Cardmon, if the EXP and BIT rewards are any indication.
Second, the longer the battle drags out, the more likely you're going to get cursed. Cardmon has a chance of inflicting this ailment with every attack, and it's not pleasant. Curse decreases one of three stats of the Rookie - either STR, DEF, or SPD - for three to five battles every time you get cursed. The amount decreased ranges from 1 to 20 - I got lucky here and only lost two points of strength.
Still, that just means that the longer you go on fighting, the more likely you're going to get cursed. They also hit pretty hard, too - Angemon took 200 damage from one attack.
Cardmons don't play
So I switched out to Renamon, see if her Thunder Bolt would do more damage (it wouldn't; every Cardmon has a flat 3 in every stat across the board.)
No weakness hits? Really?
This proved to be unwise. But hey, now I get to talk about Blasting!
See that little bar underneath Renamon's HP gauge, the one that's been slowly filling up across the screenshots? That's the Blast Gauge. As your Digimon takes damage, it'll fill up according to the amount taken. Renamon Blasted first because of her low defenses.
In regular play, you'll rarely ever Blast. That's because the Blast Gauge resets every time you load a saved game. That being said, since I'm using savestates, it doesn't empty for me.
Blast Digivolution looks pretty damn cool, even if it's the exact same as regular Digivolution only with flames.
When your Digimon Blast Digivolves, it Digivolves to the next rank up. Blasting when the Rookie is 1-4 results in a Champion Digimon, 5-19 an Ultimate, and 20 and up a Mega. Blasting above level 40 does weird things, but I've never actually seen what happens because I've never played the game that far.
Renamon, in this case, Blasts to Taomon.
Crouching Tao, Hidden Mon.
When Blasted, your health refills to full and you have access to the Signature Technique of that Digivolution. Just in case, it costs no MP to cast.
I got lucky, here. Cardmon had already taken about 170 damage, so the 300 extra managed to kill it.
Angemon did learn Double Guard from the fight, though, so it's not all bad. Still, aquatic Cardmon are definitely out of my league for now.
Go grind off of them. Do it. NOW.
Since everyone hit level 9 while I was fighting Dokugumon and stuff, I figured I'd swing by Leomon's Gym while I was here.
Training Results:
Renamon: Spirit +32, Wisdom +32
Patamon: Wisdom +32, Speed +32
Kotemon: Speed +32, Defense +33
Everyone's getting some defenses, though since Renamon was already pretty fast I upped her SPR instead for extra magical damaging capabilities. I'm thinking for now Renamon will be staying a glass cannon (for extra Blasting capabilities), and Patamon and Kotemon will be acting as the magical and physical tanks respectively. It's not perfect, since ideally Patamon would be able to hold his own in a fight, but beggars, choosers, etc.
Beggers CAN be choosers if they got the balls to make it happen.
As for fishing, there's one more thing I forgot to mention. Say your bar lands on the green marker. If that happens...
Mistakes may have been made at this point.
If you land on green, you fight a wild Digimon. Said Digimon are usually pretty damn strong, and are the best places for grinding. That being said, Divermon is classified as an Ultimate. I barely have Champions.
My reaction when this happened and I was suddenly staring at a Divermon: "Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck
what do I do what do I do!" I got lucky with the Blast Digivolution - MagnaAngemon's Signature Technique, Gate of Destiny, instantly defeated the Divermon. perfectly sums up Yeti's competence level at videogames.
Let's not speak of that series of unfortunate events ever again and instead go back to Wind Prairie and head up this ramp okay cool.
I will never let you live it down.
Click for music!
That hole in the wall actually leads to the next city, and our current destination: Seiryu City.
This guy's a Tamer, and we all know what that means.
Tamer Chris: It would be a waste if I didn't fight! All right then! Digimon Battle!
He starts off with a Kuwagamon with frankly ridiculous speed. Normal Digimon might have trouble hitting him.
Angemon, however, is our dedicated bugswatter, so down goes Kuwagamon in one shot.
Next up is a Flymon, and it's also pretty fast, so it might be difficult to hit.
Oh wait no, Angemon one-shots it.
Flymon? These names.
It's a green Yanmamon, but it doesn't last any longer than the other two did. The thing is, all of Tamer Chris's Digimon share a crippling weakness to the Wind element, and Angemon has Wind-based techs. I'm also probably a little higher-level than I should be, but fucked if I'm playing by this game's rules regarding difficulty curves.
Good boy.
Your approval fills me with shame.
After I finish crushing Tamer Chris's hopes and dreams, we're gonna head in here.
Welcome to the Zephyr Tower. This is a combination Inn/Smith Shop; we can rest our Digimon and buy some supplies here. However, there isn't a Guardromon nearby, so you can't actually save your game. There is a Divermon, for all the good that does us.
no save point at an Inn?
Charming Elle: I'm worried because she's such a crybaby.
The Inn's also gone up in price another 4 BITs, costing us 16 BIT per Digimon now. Still, it's all good, I have 3000 BITs to spare.
Or, at least, I did until I went on a shopping spree to get all the new gear. I had enough money between my incessant grinding and selling all my old stuff to get everyone a full upgrade except a second weapon upgrade for Renamon, so right now she's holding a dagger in one... paw... and a copy of Leomon's sword in the other. It's all very bizarre.
Now that I've proved I'm fiscally irresponsible, let's cross the road.
Good thing we don't need food or water, otherwise that would be a problem.
Oh hello there. I'll tell you what you shouldn't do:
Talk to Giver?
You shouldn't go into Gale Tower because there is a sleeping Airdramon in there and that thing has teeth as big as our arm. I'm sure everyone's heard the saying by now: meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.
But I taste bad. I'm too spicy.
We'll be coming back here later.
Continuing through town, there's... really not that much else to do. There's this girl over here,
ing over the Seiryu Leader -Sarah: Seiryu Leader is sooo handsome! He's sooo cool!
Ladies, how would you like to have fun with Giver?
And there's a ladder that leads to nothing in particular right now. I'll be back for this soon enough, goons in the thread that have played this game before.
Pikachu, wait your turn, the door opens up SLOWLY.
Finally, there's Seiryu Tower. This is where the Guardromon is; that little pink thing on the left is Pixmon, and it acts as the Digimon Lab. We can switch out Digimon partners, change our Digivolutions, or load Techs if we talk to him; however, since we don't have any, only have one, and can't at the moment respectively, there's no reason to chat up the puffball with wings.
Going up the stairs, we find this well-dressed lady and gentleman participating in some... unsavory activities.
Ms. Olivia (on the left): Oh, why is this so much fun? This is so much fun, I'm disgusted!
Manager Sasaki: We're from MAGAMI's rival company. Don't tell, but we're here to spy on Digimon Online.
Corporate espionage, and revealing it to a grade-schooler? Someone tell these two to go back to Spy 101 because they're pretty bad at their jobs.
Are you fucking kidding me? Jokes aside, I legitimately got flashbacks to Battle Network with the exact way that line was written. Just the non-chalant reveal coupled with the extreme stupidity.
Continuing along, we find a map of Asuka Server. There's no real detail, so it's not very important. Besides, we have a better map in our Status screen (that I'll eventually remember to show off, promise!)
Yeti is a slacker.
Repeating Tom: It's northwest of here.
You can't lie to me! I bet he's just waiting beyond that door!
Oh. Well then.
Since Repeating Tom was so kind as to tell us where we should be going next, let's go search for the Seiryu Leader. Unfortunately, I don't remember any place called Protocol Ruins...
...But there is a place called Protocol Forest. More spiders. Joy.
Please be patient while the game loads the next update.