Part 16

Music: What's the Strategy?

Full Text

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Shin Marisa Kirisame

+200 HP, +20 MP, +5 Mobility, +50 Armor, +0.5 Cost, blah blah blah. Shin Marisa is a huge boost to Magic Team because Malice Cannon is absurdly, ridiculously good. Shin Marisa is also the overall strongest character in the game, both single hit (a couple people have stronger attacks, but Marisa has the most multipliers and buffs) and average. She actually takes over Alice's place as the premier support attacker, with Final Spark and Blazing Star being two of the hardest hitting attacks in the entire game. Theoretically her MP would be a bottleneck but Koakuma exists.
The game doesn't mention it, but I actually get some Scarlet Metal in my inventory after Marisa upgrades. It's what SRW fans would know as the Hero's Mark: +800 HP, +150 Armor, and +20% to Accuracy and Critical rate. That last one is the only thing Marisa really gets out of it, but I usually stick it on her anyway.

All Attacks
Battle theme: Stardust Hero [ver. Game] (Love-colored Master Spark)
Full battle theme: Stardust Hero
Final Spark theme: The Moment Dreams Reach the Stars (Dimensional Dream)
Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly theme: Trichromatic Danmaku Träumerei (Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly)

Now that Reimu and Marisa have upgraded, let's compare them at their best:


Aria of Forbidden Magic Team

VS


Illusionary Barrier Team

I want to talk about how these two are in the source game first. There, Border Team is considered to be the outright best team for beginners, and great for survival in general. They have the smallest hitbox, the longest deathbomb period, arguably the most useful gimmicks, and ridiculous homing bullets that don't sacrifice too much strength. Meanwhile Magic Team is technically the strongest team in the game, but that's pretty much all there is to them. They're actually considered the worst of the four teams because of their awful spread, near-useless gimmicks, and in general poor performance.

Switch the genre to a strategy RPG, though, and the tables turn. FMW3 is remarkably faithful to how these two teams were in IN, so Border Team is nigh-immortal and Magic Team hits like a truck covered in trucks freefalling from Mt. Everest. Thing is, in a game like SRW being able to hit hard is much, much more important than being able to stay alive. In fact, thanks to the Counter skill a good offense is the same thing as a strong defense! Throw in just how much extra damage Marisa can pump out with Support Attacks compared to Reimu's more meager output and there's just no contest. Magic Team wins.

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So you've stopped playing? Good work.

...Having drawn out the full power of the Mini-Hakkero, Marisa returns to the investigation in high spirits.

But then, Reimu's group appears before them... what's that, a fight?

It's the long-awaited showdown! Our spirits are high, so let's go for it!

Chapter 40 of Fantasy Maiden Wars I:

"Showdown! Reimu vs Marisa".

No matter what happens, don't lose, Marisa! I don't really know anyone else.

Go, go, Reimu! You can do it!

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Due to a clusterfuck of behind the scenes stuff, there's actually no vote for the next chapter. The IRC already decided my next team.