Fantasy Maiden Wars D Part #3 - Chapter 57 (Part 1)

Part 3: Chapter 57 (Part 1)

BGM: Preparing for the Coming Game

Welcome to the intermission screen! I won't bore you with most of the details, partially because Blitz covered it in previous LPs and partially because I'm lazy. Kill counts are the one thing that carry over in NG+ without any sort of decay, so expect Marisa to have a shitload of kills by the end of this.

These were the units that were voted in (minus Marisa and Iku, who I forced, and Rinnosuke, who's standing in for the boat). Most of them got the appropriate upgrades, depending on if they're a Real or Super.

One nice thing about Parsee is that she comes with Shotgunning L1 by default. Makes getting that second level a bit less expensive in aggregate.

I'm a big fan of giving Sanae Support Attack, since that's one way to maximize her Faith gains. Additionally, her PS Land, Sky, Human means that Suwako will also be gaining her Faith, and Suwako comes with Support Attack by default. On top of that, Suwako's PS Moreya God means she'll be getting bonuses from Sanae's Faith gauge too, so it all goes into one big feedback loop. Helps when you bring Kanako for the full-on Moriya Katamari, since she has a similar PS.

I'll mention items as they become relevant in the gameplay section. The TL;DR version is, as it will mostly always be, get frontliners to 7 move, put armor items on supers, MP items on MP hogs, and the rest goes to whoever can use it best. I also distribute a few of our Turtle Shells (I think they're called that, anyway...) to give some units A rank in Water, since that will (sadly) be very important.

FMW4 adds a few new options for us to play with, starting with this one right here.

The Practice menu! People familiar with SRW will recognize this as basically the Sub Order system introduced in more recent SRWs, as a way to keep your out-of-date units up-to-date.

You can pick up to 6 units who didn't deploy on the previous chapter to receive some bonus EXP. Generally it'll be 500 (exactly enough for 1 level), but particularly low-level units can get up to 2000 or so.

You can do the same thing to give 10 PP to 6 units, who can be the same as the ones getting the EXP above, or different ones.

It's not enough to completely solve a unit's problems, but it helps a bit. In SRW you'd be able to get some extra cash too, dependent on the unit's level, but I guess Sanbondo felt it wasn't needed.

I know a bunch of people totally forget to do this before every level, and it's never really a big deal, so I guess that tells you how useful this system is. Notably, a unit that joins you after the end of a chapter (such as Iku here) can still benefit, so that's kinda cool.

Within the depths of the system menu lies some important new features!

Most notably, the difficulty mode! Seperate from the standard Easy/Normal/Hard/Lunatic selection at the start of the game, you can now select between Basic, Standard, and Challenger.

Weirdly, the exact effects vary depending your actual difficulty. I believe Easy- (my nickname for "Easy on Basic") and Normal- are just lower stats than usual. Importantly, in FMW4 they originally changed it so that bosses on Hard mode started casting spirits (which was originall a feature of Lunatic), but I guess they realized that that sucked ass, so they put in Hard-, which completely removes that feature, but doesn't change enemy stats. On Lunatic it apparently does nothing, which is fair enough really.

More relevant to our purposes is Normal+ (so, Normal on Challenger). This is basically identical to Hard- (there's like a 5% difference in enemy stat values), except that we get a some extra cash of the deal, and it gives me the option to just go back to Normal when I feel like it.

Remember in the previous chapter when I said we'd be playing on Normal...ish? I'll be bouncing between Normal and Normal+ on occasion, if only to show it off. Mostly I'll try to play on Normal+ but if it starts being a pain in the ass I'm switching back to Normal.

Also, one new QoL feature is you can set whether your units deploy in the air or on the ground. Saves me some trouble, since I almost always ground my units to save on MP.

Anyway, enough prep, let's go.

BGM: Secret Mission!

Welcome to the Future of Water Youkai bazaar!

Please take a look at our convenient kappa appliances!

Ooh, here it comes.

This is the first time we've been here, but they're being awfully familiar with us.

If only they'd been that friendly when I was guiding humans here.

They hardly ever see humans, so they're not used to it.

Hey, you beautiful goddesses over there! Can I interest you in this fine device?

It tills fields with the power of machinary. We call it the Automatic Tilling Machine: the Tractor!

What do we do, Minoriko? She's calling us beautiful...

Normally I like to do everything by hand, but since they said they were blinded by my dazzling beauty I might-

There's a stepping sound effect here.

Don't be fooled by that, they just say that to get your attention.

Geh, humans?!

Uh, sworn friends of kappa-kind, if you see something you like, let us know.

And if you don't know how to use it, we'll throw in an instruction manual too.

Oh wow, they're hiding.

Looks like they're shy when there are too many strangers.

You're late, Keine.

We just landed the ship. Reimu and some others went over that way to look around.

Good work guiding the humans here, Mokou.

It's just dangerous in these foothills. I do it because I want to.

I can't believe they hold this event so nearby and we've never heard of it.

Well, until now it's only been for residents of the mountain. But this time we came to an agreement with Lady Kanako and advertised to humans too.

Speaking of which, wasn't Kanako supposed to be helping out somehow?

There's another stepping sound effect here

Worry not, my divine splendor will become apparent soon enough.

Hee hee hee, I hope you're ready to take pictures, Aya.

Just leave it me, I bought a brand new lens for this.

So if you two are here, I assume that the preparations are going smoothly?

Indeed. We need only cheer them on for one last push and it should be ready to appear over the horizon.

Excuse me, preparations for what exactly...?

They haven't explained yet? They made something to help with publicity.

It's an advertising balloon. It's filled with hot air, based on outside technology.

Wow! I've only seen hot air balloons in books!

You seem awfully excited about it though.

Of course we are! If we can sell all our mechandise, just think of all the research funds we'd have!

...

I mean, er, just kidding? We really just wanted a bunch of people to come to the mountain.

But why?

Well you see, just past here is the area where Yatagarasu went berserk.

Thanks to everyone's cooperation, spring has come even there, with fresh new leaves sprouting. Once they see that, they'll rethink their feelings on recent events.

True, Gensokyo's been in a slump ever since that incident...

So you're trying to show everyone that it's not all bad!

That's the least we can do, as gods trying to appeal to both humans and youkai.

It's going to be cool, so please come see it later.

So until that's ready, why don't we make some progress on our manhunt?

Manhunt...? Is someone missing?

It's a long story, but if you really want to hear it-

I'd love to, really, but if I don't hurry the other tengu will get the drop on the latest scoops. I'll leave Momiji here so she can listen for me while I'm off reporting.

Hey, Aya! Trying to get a head start on me?!

The advertisers rely on us. A reporter can never forget their mission. First, I'll need to find a good spot to take pictures from...

Wait for me! I'm coming too!

The two of them zoom off at high speeds.

Oh my, so much rivalry.

Pay it no mind. If anything it will improve the articles.

Anyway, we'd better go check on that balloon.

BGM: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

Eirin, what is this?

A primitive magnetic storage device used solely for pictures.

Hmm, doesn't seem especially interesting.

Wha-?! That's slander!

I guess kappa tech isn't gonna seem very impressive to the princess.

Oh, but I am interested these things over here. Like these ones with round discs on the bottom, and all these other unfamiliar objects.

Oh, really? That's stuff we don't need on the mountain, or stuff we find on the bottom of the river.

If you're selling your old junk here, maybe we should sell some of the stuff we have lying around the mansion.

We have some old things like that too, that we just can't seem to get rid of.

Yeah. It just feels like we shouldn't, for some reason.

What, are they cursed?

No... Well, probably not... Either way, it does seem strange now that you mention it.

Someone else approaches.

Yo! So you girls came to the bazaar too?

Walking around all together-like? How enviable, don't you think?

Gah! You're one of the Four Devas of the Mountain! Yuugi the Strong...

No need to make a big deal of it, I'm just here for a little errand.

It's been a while, hasn't it? So you're not here to enjoy the bazaar then?

Yeah. Actually, we're looking for someone.

Apparently Satori's little sister Koishi has been hiding her presence for a while now. So we're going around the bazaar together looking for her.

I see. That does sound worrying.

You look like you've been here for a while, so you wouldn't know anything, would you?

Hm, let's see... I don't think we've seen anyone like that...

Even if she were here, how could we tell when she can hide herself?

I agree, but until we have a better plan it can't hurt to ask around.

Oh yeah, there's also someone else missing, so-

By the way, what's that you've been looking at?

I don't know. Some kind of machine. All the rest of this is secondhand goods, or things the kappa found.

So they sell things they find on the mountain? Perhaps I can replenish my stock here then. Interesting.

You don't suppose they might have found the Pagoda, do you?

Pagoda? Oh right, that thing you were looking for.

Right. We've been searching for some time, but so far in vain. However, if we're lucky we might just be able to find it here!

If you've been patient for so long, I don't think it's a good idea to get your hopes up over this.

Y-You're right. I don't know what came over me.

But it can't hurt to go look, can it? We'll just be wandering around anyway.

Thanks for understanding. Why don't we meet up some time later?

Elsewhere...

Phew, have we made it all the way around?

I take my eyes off these kappa for just a second, and suddenly their tech is generations ahead. So did you buy anything Reimu?

I was interested in this electric blanket, but it's not like I could use it at home anyway.

But anyway, we haven't been able to find either Tenshi or Koishi.

True. I thought she might come here because it's so bustling, but no such luck.

Still, it's quite unusual for a celestial to come to the surface out of boredom.

Why is that, Miss Ran?

Celestials earn the right to live in heaven through their ascetic training. Since they abandon all desire, it shouldn't be possible for them to be bored of anything, even a life of singing and dancing all day.

So why would this Tenshi want to leave then?

The circumstances of how the eldest daughter's family became celestials are somewhat unique.

How so?

The Hinanawis were originally a family of priests serving the Nawi clan. So when the Nawi clan was deified, their faithful servants were allowed into heaven in recognition of their service.

So they got to be celestials as a hand-out from their masters?

That's right. The eldest daughter in particular was quite young when it happened. Unlike the others, she hadn't yet cultivated herself as a priest.

So it was nepotism, gotcha.

Indeed. She's sometimes been mocked as the delinquent celestial.

Not that she doesn't deserve the title, given that she stole one of their treasures. If they're going to enforce a rigid social hierarchy, I wish they'd at least have the decency to know their place in it and act like it.

To be fair, she does read classical literature and eat peaches like the other celestials. But you have to admit that she's too much of a tomboy.

So she slips naturally into selfishness then? Or-

Oh, what's going on over there?

Excuse me Miss, you're causing a scene!

What are you on about? I just want to give this back because I don't need it.

I told you, we have a strict no-returns policy.

"A lifetime of yielding the road won't lose you more than a hundred paces." So stop making a big deal of it and find it in your heart to yield!

I'm sorry Miss, but that doesn't mean you can just-

I'm giving you a chance to put that into practice!

Eldest daughter! So this is where you were?

Ugh, Iku?!

I'm so sorry, shopkeeper. She must have been so much trouble.

So this is the infamous Tenshi then?

I've been looking for you. I can't believe you stole the Sword of Hisou.

Just leave me alone, I need it for-

Wait, what's going on here? You're with these humans?

They're surface folk. They've been kind enough to help me search for you.

Don't think of me as just any humans though, we're incident resolution experts.

Incident resolution? Then that shrine maiden over there must be-

Reimu Hakurei, yes. I'm the real expert here.

Who'd have though that Iku would bring people like THIS with her? Heh heh heh, as always, the heavens must be on my side!

Huh?

I came to Gensokyo to start an incident. So if the specialists are already here, then that just speeds things along!

What are you saying, Lady Tenshi?

Maybe things are moving a bit TOO fast, but isn't it exciting?

Are you serious? You really plan to cause an incident?

If you're just joking, you'd better retract that sooner than later.

Who has time to joke around like that? Now, show me that strength I've heard so much about!

Chapter 57: The Ecstasy Won't Stop

Tenshi starts up here...

...before zooming to the bottom left of the map.

Come at me! I'm over here!

Geez, looks like she really is trying to start something.

Btw, the cursor here is jumping all over the place to signify the different speakers being in different parts of the bazaar.

Oh, it's you girls. What's got you all so flustered?

And who's that person shouting?

That's Tenshi. We managed to find her, but now she's saying she's going to start an incident.

What? An incident?

Hmph, it seems my glorious presence is drawing the rats out of the woodwork. Now, come at me together!

Uh, what? We're just here to see the thing.

What thing?

The camera pans over the top-left-ish, and the music cuts out.

Well, up it goes. One custom-made ad balloon.

A prayer for peace, and a symbol of progress.

The giant youkai-style automatic doll, Hisoutensoku!

BGM: Fantasy Maidens Appear!

Wha- what it that?!

Ooh, cool!

That form... it's like I'm seeing the great youkai Daidarabocchi!

It's big enough to shock even the herald of calamity, Taisui Xingjun!

These references are straight outta TH 12.3 Hisoutensoku, by the way. That song I linked up there is a bonus song on soku's OST. It was pretty much a given it would show up in some form, considering the game we're playing here

Looks like the sort of thing that would be popular with the village kids too.

Calm down, Unzan, we're not fighting it!

Hey! What's all this about? It's a little cool, but-

No, that doesn't matter! Look at ME, not that thing!

The music dies out here like a record slowing to a halt. You know the kind.

Oh, right. You're still here.

BGM: Colorless Blade (the intro is a reference to Asakim's theme from SRW Z)

Now unplug your ear and listen to me! I am a celestial come here from Heaven, Tenshi Hinanawi! With the power of the Sword of Hisou, I will bring chaos and ruin to the surface!

...I see. So she's the "eldest daughter" I've heard so much about. Even if she says she's starting an incident, I'm finding it difficult to take her seriously.

Eldest daughter! Please stop this at once!

Shut up! And anyway, why are YOU here, Iku? It's not your job to babysit celestials, is it? So why come all the way after me?

There was an opening in my schedule, so they pushed the task onto me.

...Figures. But fine! I'll just do as I please down here and then head home, okay?

It's looking less and less likely that she'll listen to reason.

Indeed. It seems our only choice is to let get it out of her system.

If she's going to start a fuss, we can't excatly leave her alone.

Get ready to deploy, everyone!

Here's our starting formation. The deployment slots might look evenly spaced, but the closer you are to the right, the closer you are to Tenshi, and that's important. We're basically completely abandonding the entire left half of the map here, aside from Kurumi/Patchy who have a special mission.

You people just keep popping out one by one. Excellent! I hope you can entertain me.

You talk big, but do you even know who you're up against?

Someone from heaven wouldn't know much about the world, right?

More to the point, I doubt we should expect much in the way of common knowledge from someone with such a sheltered upbringing.

I don't know much about the situation here, but can we get this dealt with before the bazaar is over?

At least we were given advanced warning this time. Let's nip this incident in the bud, shall we?

Victory: Defeat Tenshi.
Defeat: The Palanquin Ship is defeated.
Bonus WP: Activate Tenshi's first spellcard by the end of Turn 4.

That Bonus condition is the real kicker here, otherwise I'd gladly just take my time mopping all the enemies up.

This mission is a giant pain in the ass on Normal+, for a huge number of reasons, but we'll start with these guys. You'll see it in a sec, but roughly half of these Evil Eyes spawn an unfilled square of danmaku around them with a -3 Move penalty and nothing else. They exist purely to be asshole Stop Signs, and we'll be seeing a lot of them throughout the game.

I don't have which ones spawn danmaku memorized, but needless to say, I'm going to kill them with extreme prejudice.

As much as I can, anyway. They're not particularly sturdy, but 11.2k means I can't reasonably oneshot them with a single team.

I actually meant to have Turtle Shell on Shizuha here, because she is seriously boned for attacking underwater units, with not a single weapon above C rank. Unfortunately I guess I forgot, and I didn't feel like restarting, so oh well, they're not attacking kappa.

The not-great-at-water crew head to the land bridge connecting the two halves of the stage.

Sanae is not amazing at Water attacking, with her basic weapon having only a B, but it's better than nothing.

Oh? Why are you kappa fighting too?

Actually, we thought we'd test out our new weapons, the Long Range Ghost Cucumbers. It was the perfect chance, so we just kinda barged in.

Gotta take what you can get, right? I can respect that.

I wish they hadn't.

Okay, here we go everyone! Let's fire a volley to commemorate the bazaar!

Thanks for contributing Sanae. At least Suika put in some work.

Not that it's really your fault or anything, these kappa are super fucking strong.

One slightly annoying thing is that these Evil Eyes are somewhat evasive. Parsee can still put up a 72% against one, but I really do need these things dead, so I gotta use Focus to make it 100%.

The Parsee/Yuugi team is strong. Not strong enough to oneshot one of these guys on Normal+, but this is still good.

The Magic Team casts Accel...

...and zooms down here, almost-killing the Evil Eye below them. I'm not too worried about killing them on this turn, I just need them dead for my important moves on the next turn.

Btw, moving Marisa this far ahead is kind of important. Keep it in mind.

Suwako/Yamame continue the assault on the kappa menace.

Spiders are bad at water

Suwako is much better, however! And yes, that constitutes "good damage" here. It's important to note that the river tiles the Kappa are sitting on give them +20% armor, on top of the boost they're getting from their S in Water terrain.

If I actually intended to kill them all, I'd have given more people Turtle Shells, but I don't, so I didn't.

At range 1 they've only got their crappy cucumber beam saber attack, which is nice because they actually hit pretty hard otherwise.

Somebody had to do this, and I kinda want to keep these two safe (Kurumi for Devil's Contract, Patchouli for the Faith spirit), so it might as well be them.

Moving anybody onto this tile results in this conversation.

Oh? So this is the balloon the Moriya shrine made?

Huh. The more I stare, the weirder it looks.

Don't call it weird! We all worked together on that design!

S-Sorry.

It really takes me back. I remember watching these cartoons on TV with Sanae when she was a kid.

Yeah... shooting its arm, or docking with its wings...

For some reason that sounds so exciting...

So can this balloon move on its own then?

God I wish.

Eh, that'd be difficult, even for us. But speaking of which, it may not necessarily be just a balloon.

What do you mean?

If we're not careful, it could become a tsukumogami. That's why we made it a mindless doll that runs on hot air.

Hisoutensoku... Just like the name implies, it ignores natural law.

Its thoughtless form is close to the state of enlightenment though. I can tell.

But doesn't it kinda look like someone could hop inside and pilot it?

Try to keep your ridiculous daydreams to yourself please.

That ends my turn, so the enemy's start their assault.

As planned, the Evil Eyes will mostly be killing themselves via counterattacks, this one on Sakuya.

Like so. You can see the square of danmaku I mentioned here. -3 Move is pretty painful when you're on a time limit, so they gotta die.

I really can't overstate what huge fuckers this particular pair of kappa are. The one on the left has a -30% Armor, -30% Evade field, and good fucking luck killing her when they both have Support Defend L2 to body block for each other. You know, just in case their massive tankiness wasn't enough.

They also have Support Attack, which is a problem, because S.Attack ignore S.Defend. In other words, that second kappa has a true 37% chance to blow up Shizuha, and Minoriko can't protect her.

In hindsight I probably should have went for a defend rather than an evade, since the former doesn't actually help.

whew

And I can't even hit this one. Not that I would have tried, knives can't cut water very well.

There goes another one. This one wasn't a danmaku spawner, but it's still good to kill shit.

Kappa have annoyingly long range!

It's worth noting I put the Hourai Branch (which we got for beating Kaguya) on Iku. It gives her the equivalent of S.Attack and S.Defend L1 (or improves them by 1 if you already have those skills). It's particularly valuable on Iku because of her PS Danger Sense, which lets her use both skills from up to 3 tiles away! Needless to say, it's an incredibly useful ability.

For the time being she's just getting carted around by The Naz, but she'll have her time in the sun.

This kappa makes a go at Suwako.

I really can't overstate how nice it is that Suwako's attacks have S in Water. I mean, Yamame's meager underwater damage means they don't exactly shred kappa, but they're still doing more than most of my units.

The kappa actually have an underwater only attack. I'm not sure how they get that torpedo under there, but sure.

I'd say RIP but it only did 1772 damage. Yamame can take it.

I actually could have nixed the S.Defend and just let Suwako take it on the chin. Despite her seriously flimsy armor, she has a special ability called Native God that makes her take half damage while in terrains she has an S in. Between that and S terrain just naturally reducing your damage taken, she is, uh, surprisingly tanky for a Real.

Everybody clap your hands!

This Evil Eye actually is spawning danmaku, so it's important we kill it.

Suika...

Sanae...

Oh well, guess we just kill it next turn. The rest of the enemies mostly just pass their turns.

This is why I said it was important for Marisa to Accel here. Tenshi will gladly move to attack you if she can, and we totally do want her to.

Pretty risky odds here, but I gotta take a few chances to get the Bonus WP.

Finally! How long do you think I've been waiting here for you? Let's get this started already!

She may be childish, but I can sense her strength. Don't underestimate her.

So even if she's a delinquent celestial, she's still as strong as one? Is that it?

Hey! Where'd you hear that?! Did Iku call me that?

Although after seeing you cause all this fuss, it does seem appropriate.

Shut up. I don't care what the other celestials call me. Today I'm going to show you commoners what it means to be a celestial!

I know its hard to take her seriously, but she's not all talk. Make sure to watch out for the Sword of Hisou too.

It reads the opponent's temperament and attacks their weaknesses.

"Temperament"? In other words the emotions and personality that form your true nature?

Can a spoiled brat like you even use something as amazing as that?

It has nothing to do with whether I've trained or not, it's a weapon that can be used by any celestial. Now, prepare to have your temperaments laid bare and chopped clean through!

Her default ranged attack is pretty basic. If you've played soku at all then you're already familiar with her keystone bullets.

I'm not sure that Marisa can take even a single hit from Tenshi, so this was pretty dicey.

What an amazing performance from everyone involved. At least Tenshi's closer to us now.

At the start of turn 2...

I know the celestial's been confusing matters, but have any of you learned anything about Koishi?

Unfortunately, no.

We've been looking for the pagoda too, but haven't found that either.

So I guess our harvest isn't looking so good, other than Tenshi. And even that has us thrown into a danmaku battle for no reason.

But what's life without a few surprises? With this incident, on top of the Hisoutensoku, the readers are sure to have their eyes glued to the papers.

You can't think of your articles just in terms of their shock value. You have to find the best theme, and carefully consider your wording, and-

But events like these attract readers. What newspapers need is impact!

Then they'll just read it once and throw it away! You need to write articles that convey the truth!

Looks like they're at it again.

I'm sure a rivalry like that will do them good.

That's right. If they're getting angry it just means they're taking each other seriously.

Huh? What do you mean by that?

Neither of you have anything else to talk about these things with, do you? Why not point out the good parts of each other's papers or something?

I'm pretty sure information manipulation is the purview of all tengu, but whatever.

Well I wouldn't say that. But despite the plainness of Hatate's articles, I do appreciate how refined they are. Relatively.

Yeah, and I do think it's impressive how in-you-face Aya's articles are, but...

Then you understand each other's strengths. That's how a competition should be.

Competition? Can't they just cooperate?

No, we use competition even in our concerts!

The burning spirit of rivalry brings out your best performance!

I certainly don't need you to tell me that. Allow me to show you how a senior reporter handles things, Hatate!

What about you Aya? Think you can keep up with me without giving it your all?!

Aya and Hatate learned Double Spoiler!

I did say there was a reason to bring these two. You can check out the attack in the New Attacks video at the end of the update. _{It was the first time I had ever seen the animation.}

This is how we look at the start of Turn 2.

It can be hard to make out, but all three of the eastern Evil Eyes are spawning their square of goooooo slooooooow danmaku, which is a giant pain in the ass. but we can deal with it.

Notably, Marisa is exactly on the border of two seperate fields, giving her -6 Move. If she doesn't focus, she literally cannot move. Aside from that, it's a pretty decent position, albeit a precarious one.

It can be hard to tell, but Tenshi actually isn't flying. At the moment she's on the Ground, but if she finds a juicy target, she's more than willing to go underwater for it. Between the 20% armor bonus, and our own shitty Water ranks, if she deigns to dunk her ass in the river, it's basically GG.

Oh btw, Tenshi's default danmaku field (which has a dead spot right next to her) has -30% armor/evade, and also reduces your weapon ranges by 1. It's pretty rude, but nothing too devastating.

It's fairly important that I have Shizuha cast Rouse on Suwako here. Shizuha in general is pretty important, since I'm low on Power and she's my only direct source of it.

This pushes Suwako over the 120 required to activate the Eternity Exceeded (I believe this is the clear bonus for FMW3), which lets you take an extra turn if you kill an enemy. It only activates one a turn, but it can effectively double a unit's action count, if used properly.

She casts Focus (and also is focused, which will never not be confusing) and positions herself right here, taking out the northern Evil Eye.

Act+1! Between her high movement, unimpeded ability to move through water, and solid damage, Suwako makes a good carrier for the EE here.

Letty actually starts with Shotgunning L1, which suits her pretty well.

Honestly, not bad.

I could have had Letty cast Alert to dodge this, but kappa melee aint a problem.

For reference, we've dumped 3 attacks (plus another 3 partner attacks) into this kappa, including from from some pretty strong units, and she's not even at 1/3 HP.

Kappa delenda est.

Admittedly I should have done this first. Nazrin's PS Rat Bite gives her Nazrin Pendulum attack a -10% armor debuff, so it's good to lead off with.

Depending on what units you guys vote in, you might see that text in the top left quite a bit.

The Attack on Kappa continues.

2 straight from Suika!

Kappa down!

Attack on Kappa S2.

This kappa's got a 62% chance to hit even after Parsee cast Focus. Not that Parsee is crazy evasive or anything, but the kappa are annoyingly accurate.

She was focused so she still took 62% of the damage as graze damage. Kinda rough, but better than taking a direct hit.

Komachi might be bad, she can at least Trust people. I kinda need Parsee to not die, so her contribution is appreciated.

Suwako uses her second move to attack this Evil Eye. I could've attacked Tenshi, but nixing the roadblock danmaku would let all my other dudes attack Tenshi, so I figured that would be more important.

Also worth noting I'm trying to keep Suwako in the water as much as possible, since she gets a massive bonus from it. Also also worth noting that Suwako is focused. Sanae's faith gauge increases more from grazes (including 0 damage grazes) than from dodging, so it's worth going for that.

These jokers are demonstrating the issues with this map. The Evil Eye danmaku makes it hard for them to approach Tenshi, and they have mostly shitty weapons for attacking underwater enemies, so it's almost not even worth attacking the kappa. The Autum Sisters in particular are completely worthless in this particular scenario.

Drive is hella expensive so I rarely cast it, but in this case the extra 30 Power now is worth the investment.

I want to kill the kappa on the left (it's spawning danmaku), so I attack the one on the right. Between it S.Defending, and our counterattacks on the enemy phase, we will kill it. Eventually.

Nice crit Komachi

Eventually...

I actually don't mind Sakuya being in the danmaku here, it doesn't affect her 65% auto-dodge from Private Square at all, and as usual kappa can only use their shitty melee attack from this range.

These two kappa are Literally The Worst.

Marisa focuses (so she can move), casts Accel and Alert, and moves in for a Malice Cannon.

I could have had her attack without moving with Nondirectional Laser, but I really don't want Tenshi to jump in the river, so I'm presenting her with a juicy target she can attack without moving.

You're the first mastermind to openly declare war on us, you know. Oh wait, since you haven't actually done anything yet I guess you're just a mastermind wannabe?

Laugh while you can, foolish commoner! The very land itself is under my direct-

Your speech is too long! Stop rambling and fight me already.

How dare you take that tone with me. But you'll be crying soon enough!

Here's Alice's too:

So apparently you used to be a human living on the surface, long ago? That said, you don't seem to think like a human.

Right. I may have been born on the earth, but I was raised in heaven.

I've heard that you haven't been fitting in, but you certainly have a lot of pride as a celestial.

Of course I do! What could be more wretched than belonging NOWHERE?

Tenshi's hit sprite is great.

Here's how we look at the end of turn 2. Pretty good progress!

Patchouli doesn't quite have the range to counter, but thanks to her barrier, this does 0 damage. Very productive!

Again, the second kappa's S.Attack could totally hit The Naz here, so I probably should have just defended. OTOH Nazrin Pendulum's armor debuff will carry over to the player phase, so I figured "eh, worth the risk".

I underestimated the damage reduction on S.Attacks. Even with her flimsy armor, Nazrin can survive this hit. Pretty scary though.

Despite being a boat, the boat sucks at hitting underwater targets.

I mean I guess that makes sense if you think of the kappa as submarines, but still.

In some respects Nazrin taking a hit was a good thing, because enemies tend to prioritize low-HP targets. Nazrin Pendulum will set up this second kappa for a hopeful kill on the player phase.

Also, 1337 HP

This is the northern-most kappa. I make the executive decision here to just not bother with it.

That's one more annoying Evil Eye down. Very nice.

PANIC

oh thank god she's on the bridge

Oh hey, this turned out perfectly. Nazrin Pendulum for dat armor debuff, she's not underwater, and she's closer to the bulk of my forces.

The large contains the small. A tiny thing like you could never stand up to a great power.

I won't deny that, but couldn't you have at least used a less boring proverb?

Uh... is there another one?

No shame in asking. Want me to give you a hint?

I-I take it back! I know I've got it written down somewhere!

The animations in FMW4 have taken a real step up compared to stuff from earlier in the series. Even just basic attacks like this have some real life to them, compared to the Basically Nothing animations some weapons had in the first game.

At the start of Turn 3, there's another conversation.

Is she really serious about starting an incident?

Sure looks like it. She must be confident to fight us on her own too...

I bet she just doesn't have any friends.

Shut up! I can hear you, you know!

Then the power of friendship is on our side!

Friendship, huh... oh yeah, should we try out that thing we were talking about?

Our own personal special move, with all our powers combined!

The strength of four in one attack!

Cirno, Rumia, Mystia, and Wriggle learned Nineball Special!

This attack fucking rules btw.

We're going to begin our main assault on Tenshi, so here's what her stats look like. 2200 armor is pretty serious, but she still takes more damage on average than those fucking kappa.

The item she's carrying is the Keystone, which grants the user +150 weapon power, +15% critical rate, and Barrier Pierce on all weapons. It's a great item.

Worth pointing out that her Sword of Hisou weapon has S in all terrain. She hits a bit harder than you'd expect (or hope) as a result.

Yeah...

Luckily Parsee has Sense to solve both of those problems.

A celestial, huh? I bet you sing and dance all day without a care in the world.

Yeah, and it gets real old real fast.

And there it is! That condescending attitude of someone who doesn't know how good they have it!

Ah... what I wouldn't give for one day, just one day, in the shoes of a celebrity...

If they're just going to be jealous of me, then this was a waste of time.

Tenshi gets a sneak peak at the new Resident Evil.

At this point Sanae is staying focused as much as possible.

To boast of one's talents is to lose one's merits. You should remember this if you wish to win people's hearts. It's precisely because you have the power of a god that you need to be careful how you use it.

Y-Yes! I'll be careful! Oops, I reflexively bowed.

A natural reaction to a celestial bestowing their wisdom.

But, uh, aren't you always boasting about your power, Tenshi?

No talking back! Giving advice is MY job!

It's slow going, but it's going.

At this point, I want to pen Tenshi in so that she can't move (and thus ruin everything). Letty's a solid option for this, what with the Shotgunning.

Given your selfishness, I have to say the name "delinquent celestial" really suits you.

I really wish you'd surface-dwellers would stop talking like you know me.

And a terrible listener at that. I may spend time with that tomboy, but that doesn't mean I have the patience for this.

Harsh but fair.

Ow.

Luckily Patchouli makes for a solid white mage.

I guess we're not taking advantage of the EE on Suwako anymore, but it's fine.

Virtue is the source of vendetta. Curse Gods originally manifested from divine virtures. If you're going to call yourself a god, you should understand your own nature, so-

Yeah, I know all that.

Oh. Uh... good.

You're only reciting that secondhand, but I've been a god for a long time.

Virtues and curses are two side of the same coin. Now choose: worship me or be cursed!

Here's Yamame while we're here:

A celestial, huh? Just as arrogant as they say.

Ugh, an Underworlder. So gloomy and... petty. And the earth. Even the word "earth" sounds lame.

Says the girl who has the word "heaven" right in her name. Pretentious much?

The name represents the body. It's perfectly suited for a resident of heaven.

Thunk.

Marisa can't quite get adjacent to Tenshi here, and I don't really want to blow another Accel just to move 1 extra space. Unfortunately Blazing Star also gets reduced to 1-1 range, so I just have to use Malice Cannon. I've still got another turn to activate Tenshi's spells though, and I'm making good enough time that I can take it a bit slow here.

Mokou's going in hard.

Your temperament is different from the other humans, but-

Yeah yeah, spare me the sermon.

Hey! How often do you get the chance to be bestowed words of wisdom by an honest-to-god celestial?!

I've heard enough lectures to last a lifetime. How about you tell me all about heaven instead? Not like I'm ever going to see it myself.

Here's Komachi's while we're at it:

You're a shinigami, aren't you? Don't tell me you came here for me?

Oh, not at all, I'm just a humble Sanzu ferryman. I don't handle the pick-ups. But even so, I can't exactly leave you swinging around that sword and cutting temperament.

Heh heh heh, to think the Sword of Hisou would serve as bait for even a shinigami! I've defeated shinigami who come after me in heaven, but I don't get nearly enough chances. Entertain me!

Hey we can actually see her HP now. 41k sounds like a lot, especially for such a tanky unit, but by this point we can chew through it pretty fast while still mitigating our own damage taken. We've come a long way from the first couple games.

woops

Nah just kidding. Nice thing about Mokou is she can essentially take 2 hits for "free" with her Resurrections. She even gets a power up out of it!

Minoriko moves to fill in the tile to Tenshi's right.

With this Sword of Hisou, I'll draw out your true nature and-

No need for that, I already know what my temperament is!

What?

It's autumn, duh! And my sister's is also autumn!

And together we're the autumn sisters!

That's... that's not a temperament. That doesn't exist.

Amazing performance everybody

At least Iku can contribute with that 3 range S.Attack.

I actually might need Sakuya's SP for dumping MP on other units, so I'm leading in with Meiling instead.

Mount Tai does not let its soil run. You should thank the one who left you here.

Ooh! So you've read the Chinese classics?!

Uh, well, a little...

Finally, someone I can talk to about this stuff! Lady Patchouli and Yukari are just so... unapproachable.

S-Sorry, but I don't hang out with geeks.

wow brutal

Like most weapon-users, Tenshi can Parry. It looks goofy as fuck when she parries Meiling's entire body off the screen.

The image of Akyuu grabbing the steering wheel to make the boat swerve around a sword swing is very amusing to me.

The Sword of Hisou, huh? Heaven sure has some interesting things.

And what about you? A flying ship is pretty notable itself. An earthbound human might even look up and mistake you for a denizen of heaven.

Hm, owning something high-status can definitely impart some prestige by association, but this boat is just borrowed. Although if you're fine with second-hand dignity from something you've borrowed, I suppose that's your own business.

Hey! What are you implying?!

I love how brutal everyone is to Tenshi.

I haven't been mentioning it, but Iku's been steadily adding 500ish damage to a bunch of these attacks from her S.Attacks.

So you're planning to start an incident on the surface? How barbaric. It seems I'll need to give you a scolding.

You're just a servant, Iku. Why should you care?

But I have orders to bring you back.

Hmph, orders. If you're only here on orders, then why're you meddling in my business? Just leave me alone, or I'll make you!

I suppose I have no choice.

Tenshi's getting pretty low now, and we have an entire turn left as well. Going into the first spellcard with as many attacks left as possible is the ideal for almost every boss, so I'm pleased with how this is all going.

On the enemy phase...

One of the western Evil Eyes picks a fight with Patchouli. I don't really care if I kill it or not, but I might as well counter attack and see if I can get some money.

Thanks to her low HP, Mokou is a priority target for the AI. This is good, cuz between Focus and her post-revival stat buffs, she's practically untouchable.

The remaining eastern Evil Eye attacks Suwako. I wasn't planning to bother with him, but I have no reason not to counterattack, and with the EE, Suwako can kill him without wasting a turn come the next player phase.

Oh hey, some of the furballs are moving. I guess I finally come into their range. Mokou's only weapon in range was Wooooo~ which costs a slightly-too-large 20 MP. I'd rather save her MP for blowing finishers on Tenshi at this point, so I just have her dodge.

By the way, half the reason I switched Minoriko to be in front of Shizuha is so she could S.Defend Marisa like this.

Her blocking animation is extremely good.

Malic Cannon takes her down even lower. With how tanky she is, I'll likely have to use a costly attack to do it, but I should be able to take her out in one attack.

All according to keikaku.

Here's how we look at the start of Turn 4. Only two fuzzballs moved, and nothing else particularly noteworthy happened. The dickhead duo are still going strong, the kappa to Marisa's immediate right is at about 3000 HP, and the northern-most one is being completely ignored. While I'm a bit annoyed to be leaving money on the table, ignoring the most annoying enemies has proven to be the best way to handle this.

Minoriko casts Bless on Suika, who goes in for the kill.

Are you an oni? They still have those on the surface?

I came here recently. I've been focused on trying to find a good place to hang out. Say, you've got a lot of space up in heaven, right? Think I could borrow some to hold parties?

What a joke! You may have thrown your weight around on the surface, but that will never work on me!

In Touhou canon, Suika actually does move in next-door to Tenshi. We're completely skipping Scarlet Weather Rhapsody's plot though, so I doubt that's happening.

BGM: Prosperity of Ten Thousand Oni, the Ancient Power

I never noticed before that the frame tilts like that.

Spellbreak!

You're quite sturdy. Even with a blade, I don't seem to be scratching you.

This is nothing. I guess it tickles a bit.

She really is tough...

It seems you all DO have the power to oppose me though. But I'm the type who shines under pressure!

What are you planning?

Heh. THIS!

Two keystones spawn in.

Is that... a rock?

That's no ordinary rock! I can feel some kind of spiritual significance to it!

Good eye. This is what's called a keystone, which has the power to suppress earthquakes. If you stick it in it controls the land... but if you pull it out it causes an earthquake. I wonder, can you see what I'm getting at?

Don't tell me you plan to stick that into Gensokyo and take its fate into your own hands? ...I hadn't intended to make light of you, but you're proving more troublesome than I imagined.

And I've already chosen my target! That run-down old shrine to the east!

Run-down?! Are you talking about my place?!

That serves as the lynchpin of the great barrier. I cannot allow this.

Then try and stop me! Struggle with all your might! One false move and your precious land is getting keystoned!

Enemy Spellcard
Ｋｅｙｓｔｏｎｅ「ＫａｎａｍｅＦｕｎｎｅｌ」

code:

Allies: Concentrated Fire
-Enemies will prioritize attacking the same target

Fun fact: I literally didn't know what this spell did until 10 seconds before writing this sentence (thanks Clarste). No wonder, it's less of a spell effect and more of a description of the enemy AI. Whatever, I'll take it.

The keystones are pretty eager to defend if you attack them on the Player Phase, so I mostly don't bother. They have S.Defend L1, which can be a pain since they move around. Luckily we have Tenshi surrouned, so I don't really care.

At this point we're just laying into Tenshi. I'm gunna start summarizing a bit more.

Parsee can't quite make it in for a Shotgun'd attack, so I send Yuugi in.

You're an oni, right? And quite a capable one at that...

Life sure is full of surprises, huh? I get to fight someone like you. So why don't we get this started already? Or did you have something to ask me?

Speak not of supernatural phenomena. Using words with someone like you would be in poor taste.

Everything about this attack is Gundam as hell.

One of her quotes for this attack is just straight-up "Ike, Funnels!"

Marisa used up a good chunk of her SP already, so Kurumi's Devil's Contract covers her for Strike/Alert.

One nice thing about where I've got the Naz/Iku team place is that the Naz can give a decent few people S.Attacks, and Iku can help everyone else. You can swap front/back as freely on your turn, so it makes for a nice bit of free extra damage.

One turn down and we've already got Tenshi low enough to be oneshot if I'm so inclined. Going well!

One day kappa...

One day...

The furballs move even closer. Mokou's Kick attack uses a much more suitable amount of MP, so I'll actually counterattack this time.

The other furball gets Double Inazuma Kick'd to death.

The keystones attack by just sliding into you. It's not very exciting.

Man, I just realized how weirdly placed their mugshots are too.

True to the spellcard's effect, the majority of the keystones start focusing down Yuugi.

At any point I could have had Iku S.Defend for her, but I trust Yuugi to handle it.

No problem! She didn't get attacked any more than this, but thanks to the way Prevail scales your defense, she could have survived another smack.

And just like that, Yuugi punchsplodes half the keystones out of existence.

On the player phase...

Fuck you!

Fuck you!!!

You!

Fuck you!

Sorry I just had to get that off my chest.

Our poisonous spider white mage gives Yuugi all her HP back. I love having spirit-based healing.

I've got another turn before I need to kill Tenshi, and her current attacks/spell effects aren't really dangerous, so I can waste some time killing mooks for cash.

Nothing particularly exciting happened, other than Parsee/Yuugi getting 150 Power and access to FPM.

On the enemy phase, the kappa do as they do and target Mokou. I'm not super sure why, but they have enough a hit chance on her now to actually damage her via graze. I'm actually a bit concerned she's gunna waste her second Resurrection (out of 2).

Sure enough, the S.Attack does it. Oh well.

It's not the end of the world, we're near the end of the chapter anyway. At least Mokou gets some extra stats out of it.

Player Phase, it's time to blow up Tenshi.

Are you a servant? I have no business with you.

That's quite an attitude.

I wanted to fight the incident resolution specialists, not some mere maid.

Then rest assured, I happen to dabble in incident resolution. I'm Gensokyo's number one maid.

za warudo

Exactly enough EXP for 3 levels, and some sweet Bless'd cash.

How could you earthbound fools have seen through the movements of the keystone?!

You think we'd let you use a dangerous rock like that?!

But I haven't forgotten my trump card! The Sword of Hisou!

That- It's blade is made of a scarlet mist!

And it's not just magical energy either, it's the embodiment of that temperament stuff.

Eldest daughter, you can't just use a heavenly treasure as you please.

Shut up, Iku. Isn't it their fault for not noticing when I took it? Everyone in heaven is always just performing boring songs and dances. They never pay attention to anyone else. That's why it doesn't matter what I do!

What kind of logic is that for a celestial?! Aren't you supposed to be guiding humanity?

Just calm down already! Can't we start this over from the top?

I don't care what you say, in the end I'm a real celestial! I can use this sword, can't I?! Sword of Hisou, draw out these people's scarlet hearts!

Enemy Spellcard
「ＳｋｙｏｆＳｃａｒｌｅｔＰｅｒｃｅｐｔｉｏｎｏｆＡｌｌＨｕｍａｎｋｉｎｄ」

code:

Allies: Movement -1, Range-1
Tenshi: Action Count +1
Tenshi: Status Up (Hit)
-Status increases every time she is hit.

After how light that first spell was, you could be forgiven for not expecting "double actions and also she gets stronger the more you hit her". A lot of bosses in FMW4 have some way of breaking the standard action economy, so get used to that kind of effect.

Sure enough it's a MAP. It's important to note, however, that the direction her danmaku is facing has nothing to do with where she fires her MAP. Pretty nasty little surprise, if you were thinking you could cheat it.

It should go without saying that we want to kill her before she gets a turn.

In addition to the MAP, she has a proper finisher.

It is very flashy.

Like, extremely flashy.

Come FMW4 the animators have clearly hit their stride, and a lot of the new attacks look radical.

With Valor Cirno can do more damage than Letty (I, uh, think) so she gets in there.

I'm the strongest, so I'm gonna beat you!

So even before a celestial like me, you feel no fear and can even enjoy yourself. With passion you forget to eat, with joy you forget your worries. Maybe the lifestyle that Confucius strived for was one like yours.

Uh... Confucius? Strive? What's that mean Dai?

D-Don't ask me! Miss Keine would know...

...Although you still need a bare minimum amount of intelligence.

Ok granted that doesn't look like a big number for 1.5x damage, but keep in mind that Tenshi is tanky as fuck and has a spellcard giving her extra stats.

Btw, Grit doesn't work on graze damage anymore, so be careful about focusing units with it cast.

If ever you needed a comparison of strength, Parsee does 5230 damage here despite not having Valor at all. She didn't even get a critical hit, and she still out damaged Cirno's best shot with Valor.

It's fine though, the Nineball Special is kinda rediculous to make up for it.

Marisa shows em all how it's done.

We can finish her off now, but before we go...

I can't get you both, but I will kill one of you.

The heroes of the evening are the Akis, who load up on spirits...

...and kick Tenshi's stupid ass into next week.

There's a really satisfying explosion whenever you finally kill a boss for good.

No way... I lost?

You've got a lot of power in that stream, but it's not quite there yet.

That uncontrolled flow of temperament was nothing but brute force. That treasure of yours should be capable of far more than that.

I get enough lectures at home. And it'd be the same no matter who was using it. No celestial is going to pay that much attention to every little surface-dweller's temperament.

Is that how they think in heaven then?

Regardless, eldest daughter, you've gotten what you wanted. With that out of your system, let's return to heaven.

H-Hey! Give a girl a little break after she goes on a rampage! And I'm sure the commoners would be HONORED to receive my words of wisdom.

No, not really.

Wait, are you saying you just want to talk with us?

Very well then, we can have a little chat before you leave. Let's land somewhere and have a nice.... leisurely... conversation.

BGM: What's the Strategy?

Whew, I'm beat.

You do realize that you're the one who picked a fight and caused everything, right?

You seem awfully relaxed for someone whose plans were just foiled.

You were saying all that about causing an incident, but what was your aim exactly?

Well, you know, I was bored of heaven so I just wanted some excitement. And I heard that if I caused an incident on the surface, I be able to have some fun with the incident resolution specialists.

It's almost refreshing to hear such an honest answer.

Not that we don't have other people with similar motives here.

Hm? Why are you looking at me?

I totally getcha!

But even so, attempting to put a keystone into the shrine for such a flimsy reason can only be called short-sighted. I can't forgive that just because you were playing around.

What's the problem? Even if I'd succeeded, that would just bond me to this place.

So even with the surplus of land in heaven, you'd seek to create a second residence here?

Shut up? And who do you think you are anyway? You're all just jealous that you're stuck on the surface.

Goodness gracious, it seems taking her seriously for even a moment was a waste of my time. I had planned to lecture you, but I suppose I needn't bother.

For those not familiar with Touhou, for as level-headed as Yukari generally is, she really hates celestials.

I'm impressed Tenshi, I've never seen anyone drive Lady Yukari to say all that.

And you're praising her for that? They just have opposing wavelengths. They'd annihilate each other before they got along.

Anyway, I'm glad you've been taking good care of it, but you still stole the Sword of Hisou. Please reflect on the error of your ways. Once we get back to heaven, I'm sure you'll get plenty of scolding.

Hmph. It was just collecting dust in a storehouse. No one's going to miss it. Anyway, no one up there cares what I do.

No one cares? But aren't you all celestials?

As far as they're concerned, I'm just the delinquent celestial. No one gives two flips about me. So even if I study my butt off and live by the proverbs, it's just not that easy.

Sounds like life in heaven has its share of troubles too then, huh?

So here came here to take your mind off things then?

Pretty much, yeah. I'm feeling better already.