Part 4: The Mountain Where Gods Reside

Music: Border of Regular and Irregular Days

Full Text




Chapter 17 introduces us to FMW2's deployment system.



It's simple enough; every character has a Cost (main groups are 2.5, 2.0, and 1.5), and each chapter has a maximum Cost limit. A character's Cost roughly corresponds to how good they are, so you theoretically have to balance having all-star units with actually having a sizable army. In practice, though, the limit is incredibly forgiving. If you just pick whoever you want, you'll still end up with the same number of units as any other SRW.

FMW3 adds teams, which turned out to be just what the Cost mechanic needed to get some teeth. But that's another game.



The scenery at the shrine can't even compare to this.

Eh, I like the shrine more. It has baked potatoes.

You'd be fine with anywhere as long as there's potatoes, huh. You wanna try digging for some here?

Hey, don't forget why we came. Sanae Kochiya invited us all here to... huh?

Something smells good. Are those potatoes?

Ooooh, they are. My wish came true!



...Though now that I take a closer look, there's a lot more than fairies here.

I don't think there's an autumn festival going on... What kind of people are you?

That's our question, you sure came out of nowhere.

Don't pick a fight. Those two are the goddesses who govern autumn, the Aki sisters.

Goddesses? They smell like half-done potatoes, so are they potato goddesses?

How rude! I am the goddess of abundant harvests, Minoriko Aki. And this is my older sister.

Shizuha Aki, the goddess of autumn leaves.

I heard there were all sorts of gods residing in Youkai Mountain, but I didn't expect to run into some already.

The legions of gods and goddesses in the Shinto religion are often collecteively referred to as the Eight Million Gods. That isn't an exact count, it's just a really big number that sounded cool I guess.

Well in any case, I suppose you've all come to see a sign of good harvest?

Are you sure? To come all the way to Youkai Mountain, surely they must want to watch the leaves. Autumn is best enjoyed with your eyes after all, and nothing surpasses the beauty of autumn leaves.

Hoho, you're smart sis. But you can't catch those humans' hearts like that. Autumn is best enjoyed with your tongue after all, and the taste of potatoes can't be beat!

The leaves are the best!

No, the potatoes are!

...You know, I thought gods would be a little more dignified.

There are all sorts of gods. Anyway, should we pretend we didn't see them?

Wait a second, you all should show a little more reverence!

That's right, this is a mountain where gods reside. It's a dangerous place for strangers and humans.

We're aware of that, but we came to this mountain on a certain Moriya Shrine's request. It would be very much appreciated if you could tell us anything about them.

Hmph, I don't see why I should help disrespectful scum.

Even though you're a goddess, you sure are petty.

...I'd tell you not to provoke them, but at this point I don't think they'd listen to anything we have to say.

Ah, don't worry about it so hard. I've been waiting for something simple like this!

We are two of the Eight Million Gods. I suppose it's our responsibility to turn away careless humans like you all. This is rude to do to people we've just met, but allow us to grant you a brief lesson in pain!



Another snooze of a map. The first two chapters of FMW2 are basically tutorials.



Speaking of those, I had Alice start off with an Artful Sacrifice. This attack requires her to be at 105 Power, but at the beginning of the chapter everyone starts at 100. What's the deal?



The Frozen Frog I put on her last chapter of course. But if she's using that,



Why is Marisa also at 105?



It's because she has the most amount of kills in my party, as indicated on the intermission screen. Note that when she (or anyone else) reaches 50 kills, she'll hit Ace status and get another +5 to initial Power.



Over on the right, Cirno casts Grit. This reduces the damage of the next attack that hits her to a measly 10 HP. It triggers even for graze damage, so Cirno's one of those characters I mentioned who wants to stay unfocused.



An enemy phase later and you can already see my usual three fronts. The Side On The Left, The Side On The Right, and Reimu.



Another quality of life feature added was a bunch of extra menus that let you track all sorts of statistics. I almost never use them, but I guess they help me show that I spent this player phase beating up grunts.



Most of my characters aren't at the point where they can nonchalantly murder everything on the player phase, so it's best to just weaken as many targets as possible. Then when they attack on enemy phase, I can kill them on the counter.



I didn't expect to get an example of Support Defend so early, but Cirno aimed to impress and "got hit" by a 36%. When the dice come up bad for a character standing next to someone with Support Defend, the latter will jump in and take the hit. It's very handy.



Up north, Minoriko targets Reimu. She doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of hitting, of course, but that's normal with Reimu.

You really do smell nice.

How many times are you all going to say that? Don't tell me you're going to eat me...

Not funny. I'm just giving you a compliment, sheesh. Though your scent is making me a little hungry.

Freshly-harvested sweet potatoes make up my perfume. Do you think I'm going to let a shrine maiden eat me!?

The particularly obsessed Touhou fans probably recognized that last line. Occasionally the script quotes directly from the games, which is really convenient since it means I can just quote from the existing translation.

Music: Heated Harvest Festival



Minoriko attacks with sweet potatoes. It is very silly.



I'd like to grab Shizuha's bomb, but the bonus orders me to take down Minoriko first.



I give her another turn.



Incidentally, Minoriko has five levels of Berserk. This is probably the only reason Reimu hasn't already killed her.

So I get that you're a goddess of autumn, but what kind of blessings do you hand out?

I'm a harvest goddess, so whenever harvest time comes I make sure the yield is delicious.

Oho! So if I start worshipping you, does that mean the squash back at my place's garden wi-

You're way too late for that! If you wanted my blessing, you should have prayed while you were tilling the soil!



Now that I think about it, I've seen your face before at the harvest festivals.

Oh, you're that magician who put on plays with puppets!

Indeed. Perhaps I should have been more inconspicuous... out of curiosity, why did you remember me?

How could I not? I'd never forget how you stole all of the children's attention away from me!

...



Couldn't save her from the MariAri double team though.



As soon as Minoriko's health bar hits zero, it automatically refills. It's because she declared her Spellcard.



Note I still get full rewards from the battle.

Guh, I'm not done yet!

Minoriko, are you all right!?

Don't worry about me. I refuse to die until I've burned the power of autumn into their eyes!

All of you! Prepare yourselves for a savage harvest!




Whenever they declare a spell, bosses gain new attacks and start spawning special fields of danmaku.



Besides the usual evasion/defense/move debuffs, spellcard danmaku always carries a status effect of some sort. Sweet Potato Room here subtracts 5 Power from anyone Minoriko attacks.

See that timer on the top-right? If I take more than three turns to clear this spell... it automatically ends, and the game proceeds as if I depleted Minoriko's health. This is known as Timing Out a spell, and while it doesn't give me any rewards it'll let me progress. The timer should never be a problem if you're actually trying to beat the boss (aka Capture the spell), so this exists mostly as a failsafe. There are some spells that don't have timers though, so you can't just snooze through the entire game.

Goddess of autumn leaves, huh? Sounds important.

Indeed, I suppose you grasp the beauty of autumn.

Well the view's nice at my shrine this time of the year. It'd be nice if I could get more worshippers to come though...

Oh, I know. How about you work at my shrine? You can be the temporary goddess during autumn.

...If that's the attitude of the shrine maiden, I feel sorry for your shrine's god.

Music: Silent Autumn Breeze



Time to murder Shizuha.



If Keine had enough Power to use Amaterasu, I probably could have taken her down in two hits. Alas.

I thought I was prepared for anything when we set off, but I never expected a danmaku battle with a goddess...

We warned you earlier. If you had just withdrawn then this wouldn't be happening.

Don't be so presumptive! If you continue to be so arrogant just because you're goddesses, then the day may come where the people lose all faith in you!

...!?

I apologize, that was rude of me. It's a habit of mine to lecture people.

...



Shizuha attacks with leaves. It's pretty.

Looks like she's spicing things up with a spellcard. Figures she's stronger than the other youkai around these parts.

The party has another chat discussing Spellcards. Skipping it.



Bosses regenerate their danmaku at the beginning of every turn, and even sometimes change patterns. This means bombs only provide a single turn of sanctity.



Not really sure how well Cirno will do, but hey why not.

You don't smell very tasty.

I govern the autumn leaves. My role pleases the eyes, not the tongue.

Hmph, I like things that smell good more. Ah whatever, I'll just have fun freezing all of the leaves before they hit the ground!



An even match. That's kind of sad considering Cirno is 3 levels lower than Shizuha. Or 2 now, since she got a level afterwards.

A good chunk of my characters have been leveling up during this chapter actually, I just haven't mentioned it because nobody got anything of note.



RIP Shizuha.

Kyaah!

Shizuha!?

Sorry, Minoriko... teach those girls the true... splendor of autumn...

I'm almost certain this is a Gunbuster reference.

A-are you serious? Shizuha...

Shizuha goes splat.

Shizuha!!

They're pretty overdramatic. If they're always this noisy, they must be a hassle to everyone around them.

No, I think the autumn harvest has just inspired a particularly energetic performance.

I hope there won't be an encore.

Sheesh, you've all made us look like fools... now I'm really angry! Witness the power of autumn!



Minoriko casts Spirit, which increases her Power by 10.

Yes, there's a spirit called Spirit. Not really sure what Atlus was thinking when they did that one, it's supposed to be Yell.







Aside from a bomb, Reimu picks up a Five-colored Shell. This item changes a character's weapons' Water terrain ranks to A, which is a convoluted way of saying it makes them less useless underwater. The game is going to throw these things at me, and for very good reason.



Hey Minoriko, sorry about your sister but



get



out.



Hm, maybe I should have kept Danmaku Power.



Minoriko's spell is hilarious.



She literally crushes her target with a giant sweet potato.



I don't even know how the dodge animation is supposed to work, you're still inside the thing!



Alice was here too.



And then she attacks again with her turn. Damn it Alice, your Skill stat is almost 30 points higher than Minoriko's. Get a crit already!



As amusing as it would be to give Reimu the kill after all that, this is Marisa's route.



So Reimu just gave a love tap.



On the final turn Marisa casts Gain then stands next to Keine. I'm not that sure how experience boosts stack, but I do know Gain just doubles the final amount.



Boom. I don't use Stardust Reverie often since it runs off the wrong attack stat and leaves Marisa in close range, but it's a neat finisher.

Ugh, I'm done for.

Well that wasn't too bad. It was a nice warm-up.

Now then, let's see what Sanae has to say for herself!

Since we came all the way out here, we oughta grab some veggies too. You're a harvest goddess right? I bet you got a ton saved up.

Hey, don't be so harsh. There won't be a harvest festival next year if you take everything now.

To raise your hand against a goddess, and then make such rude demands! You'd better not complain about any divine retribution!

You started it. You're all talk!

Sh-shush! Now, as much as it pains me to do this, I shall allow you all to proceed!



Minoriko leaves. Marisa didn't get a level, but she did get an Oni's Nail. It boosts HP by 500 and Armor by 50.

She got away! And fast, too.

After all that bragging I was expecting a little more. Well whatever, let's get a move on.

Like I said earlier, there are all kinds of gods.

In any case, it's a shame we couldn't have a discussion with that goddess. I imagine that at this point we're intruders.

Sheesh, you've been worrying this whole trip. If anyone gets in our way, I'll take them out!

Well there's a plan with your name all over it. Anyway, let's hurry u-

...!

Wait, I can feel a presence... no, multiple ones!

Music: Reinforcements - Theme of the Detestable Youkai



A shit ton of enemies spawn at the north side of the map.

Whoa, a ton of tengu came!

Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame... Just as we were told.

I warned you not to get involved in the mountain's affairs you know.

That's the tengu from before... I guess I should have expected a sudden greeting!

The kappa came too. I wonder if Nitori's around?



She is.

There's no way such a large crowd could assemble so suddenly. I knew it was a trap!

Yes, and the only person who could have organized this is...

Thank you for coming.



Sanae makes her dramatic entrance at the head of the pack.

Sanae!

Please take a look. This is the power at our disposal.

What's that supposed to mean?

Youkai Mountain and the Moriya Shrine have formed a bond based on faith. We are now in a mutually beneficial relationship.

How so?

Forget that, did you really grab all these tengu just to make a trap? Pretty rude of you.

Not at all, I invited everyone to come here to prove the difference in power between our shrines. From where you are standing, you should be able to see the faith we have gathered from the mountain. I'm sure you can understand the implications.

...

Yeah, well so what? This doesn't scare us!

Marisa rushes forward,

Freeze!

but Nitori moves to intercept.

Tch!?

Nitori, what are you doing? Out of the way!

I won't move. I can't let you go through everyone.

Besides, how can you even ask that when you've made the mountain youkai your enemies?!

Nitori!?

Isn't it a shame, Marisa Kirisame? You could smash through a single person, but in the face of all of us you are powerless.

I guess Momiji is still kind of touchy about getting turned into light.

Though you're welcomed to try.

...

Tch... It seems we're up against all of Youkai Mountain!

We've been dealt a poor hand. That shrine maiden wasn't alone and the tengu have surrounded us.

I see you understand. Now that Lady Yasaka has become this mountain's goddess, the Moriya Shrine has regained its might. And as you now know, the harsh truth of the matter is that we possess far more faith than the Hakurei Shrine.

Lady Yasaka? Is that the name of your goddess!?

Indeed. And if Lady Yasaka were to become the enshrined goddess of the Hakurei Shrine, the shrine would easily regain its faith.

...It's true that my shrine doesn't have many worshippers.

But do you really think I'm just going to stand here and listen to this!?

Reimu, stop! Don't just ignore the situation and mouth off!

No, it's fine. Nobody up there can even hit her.

...Oh wait, I haven't dumped all of my WP into her this run.

I will ask once more. Reimu, for the sake of Gensokyo's faith, will you please relinquish the Hakurei Shrine? The results would greatly benefit Gensokyo.

Sanae is talking right out of her ass here, incidentally.

...

Stand down, Reimu. We don't have a chance.

...I know. Let's go back to the shrine.



------
Oh, the game's stopped. Thanks for the hard work!

Don't strain yourself, just relax until the next time you play.

Y-yes. Please relax now...

...

Hm, what is it?

Um, how to put this... When you two come near me, I feel like I'm going to be sandwiched.

Now, now, don't say things like that.

Yeah, now get ready!

U-uh, this is kind of tight... A-anyway, everyone, thank you for the hard work!

If you didn't get the joke, congratulations, you're not down the Touhou rabbit hole yet.