Part 34: Spring Snow

I don't care how many times you force her Ryza, I'm not upgrading Kurumi.



Marisa, Alice and Sakuya all snag a weapon upgrade. Theoretically I should have pumped funds into Hina to help her keep up, but eh. Hina.



The entire MoF crew starts with a pretty big lump of PP. This will keep stacking up with every playthrough, so even if you never use them they'll turn out alright anyway!

A quick equipment shuffle later and I'm ready to go.

------



Full Text


Music: Dark Clouds

Full Text

------



Music: Perfectly Quiet Land

This theme is an arrange of a really old SRW track. It popped up again in 2nd OGs if you want something less chiptuney.

Well, I flew where I felt like flying, and here we are.

This scenery is nuts. There's so much snow, you can't even see where the path is.

I know I'm pointing out the obvious here, but it's been like that everywhere lately.

Yeah. Silent, with no signs of life. It's like Gensokyo's gone from lively to dead.

...

By the way, what brought you this direction?

My intuition.

You've been leading us around on that?

Reimu's intuition is sound. It came in handy during the summer incident, too.

Hey, don't forget Marisa's part in that! It was her idea to go to the lake.

Oh, yeah. I guess all my daily training paid off.

(I'll just leave out the part where that weird dream gave me the idea.)

...

Well, we don't have any other leads to go on. The best we can do right now is keep moving forward.

Yes, stopping just makes us colder.

Wait a moment. Something's coming from up ahead.



Some enemies spawn in.

Fairies. I'm amazed they're out in this weather at all.

They don't seem to notice us.

That makes things easier. Let's beat them up and keep going.

Hey, I object to fairy abuse!

But not enough to be the stage 1 midboss like normal.

We've got no reason to go around 'em. Let's get in a light warmup exercise!





Go go team mediocre.

This is a winter version of 4R. Thank god those flowers are dead.



The Akis start this chapter with 50 power.



Anyway this is one of those chapters where you want to finish fast, so I have everyone who can cast Accel do so.

Oh, someone's over there.

Walking around in such cold weather is suspicious!

Okay! I've got some rock-packed snowballs with their names on 'em! Take this!

Ack! They're trying to start a snowball fight!

Stupid fairies. They think that would faze any of us?

Aieee! Snow! Snow is coming!

Minoriko, get digging. I'll lie in the hole.

I'd call that pretty fazed.

No wonder they're not showing much power.

It's working, it's working! Here, join in and throw this!

Uh, sure...

That was kind of quiet. What's wrong?

Dunno. I'm just tired. I haven't felt like myself lately with all this cold.

Looks like one of the fairies is off her game.

Fairies are embodiments of nature. Maybe the unnatural weather has started getting to them.

Getting sick from chilly weather? That sounds like a cold to me. I'm surprised Cirno's not sick, if her fellow fairies are.

Huh? I don't get it.

Something about certain types not catching colds, was it?

Hey! I told you, I'm an ice fairy. Cold doesn't bother me!

I think that's enough witty banter. They're coming this way.



This fairy has a 40% on Marisa. There aren't any crazy accuracy boosts going on like those kedamas in 25R Lunatic either, or any danmaku penalties dropping Marisa's evasion. Hell, Marisa is standing next to Alice so technically she should be seeing a 50%.

Marisa is no Reimu.

Music: Dancing Doll



Meanwhile, Alice has Focus.

why don't you have focus marisa

no, being able to focus doesn't count

Hey, hasn't it been a bit cold for a while now?

Another cutscene plays at the start of the third enemy phase.

Of course it's cold. How slow can you be?

That's not what I meant. It's like it's getting colder and colder.

It is, isn't it?

Could there be some sort of youkai nearby that's making it colder?

That would be the one pulling the strings of this incident, right?



!

She's pretty lightly dressed, for this weather.

And this timing... it's your fault it suddenly got so cold, right?

Yes. My name is Letty Whiterock. The incarnation of winter, a yuki-onna. So who are you people? Going out for a stroll in weather like is maybe a bit too laudable.

A winter youkai, huh? Well that was simple.

The incarnation of winter behind the cold wave?!

...in other words, she's the cause of this long winter.

We'd be enjoying spring by now it it weren't for her!

Here they go again.

Something's strange about this though.

So if we defeat you, winter will end!



Shizuha shoots up to 110 Power.

And it'll go back to autumn!



Same goes for Minoriko.

Poor things, their mental faculties have been done in by the cold.

Well, ignoring all their other nonsense, I agree that we should start by defeating you.

Yeah. When a youkai appears, there's nothing to do but exterminate it!

I see, so you wish to be stranded here in the snow. In that case, I'll help you get to sleep. A deep, peaceful sleep in the midst of this blizzard.

At this point the victory condition changes.



Letty moves if someone's close enough, so turboing straight for her makes getting the bonus easier.

Brrrrr, it's cold. I really wish I was home right now. Then I could drink some of my favorite cocoa.

I see. Personally, I can't drink anything until it's cooled off.

Music: Letty the Cool Lady



Letty isn't much of a threat.



And the bonus is a joke on Normal so I just focus on cleaning up enemies.

You seemed to be wrapped in quite a lot of something sinister .

They're curses, the misfortune I've gathered from humans. Meanwhile you seem to be wrapped in the cold that threatens the humans so.

Must you put it like that? All I've done is gather the cold lying around.



Hina wasn't in range to attack anyone else, so I had her pass along some Bad Fortune.



On the last turn, I realize I've made a mistake.


Minoriko's too far away for me to finish things with the Super Aki Sisters Kick!

Oh well, guess I'll just do it on Lunatic.

Ahh, so you're the one? Well then, without delay.

Wait. I may be a youkai, but I'm normal.

It's enough that you're normal. Now hurry and return spring.

Why are you in such a rush?

It's cold, so I want to return home as fast as I can. That means I need to shoot down the mastermind immediately.



Sakuya takes down the first lifebar.

It's gotten pretty hot here. Could you keep things a bit cooler?

Sorry, but that's an impossible request.

We're just getting warmed up!

But she's a tricky opponent. It feels like it's hard to get away from her no matter where you go.

Obviously. I control the cold after all. In other words, the entire atmosphere is your opponent!

What?! The whole thing?

She can control the surrounding sacred ground... this is too much power for one youkai.

stop talking in magical jargon patchy, it's a pain to translate

But if we don't stop her here, winter will never end!

So you're trying to end the winter?

I'd prefer it if the one pulling the strings didn't try to play dumb.

I'm afraid you're all misunderstanding something. I-

You can't talk your way out of this one, the joke's over!

If you aren't going to listen, then I'm out of patience. Be crushed by the power of winter, and frozen along with your five senses!






Flower Wither Away drops everyone's mobility by 40. It's effectively harmless since everyone has Alert anyway.



Or hilariously outranges Letty.

Sorry, but this incident has gotta be resolved. The longer this winter keeps up, the more danger everyone alive's in.

Winter is the season of death. Still, this one is much too dangerous.

If you get that, then get out of the way.



Now I get it. You're a winter youkai, so you must be pulling the strings behind this winter. So that means that since I'm a sun fairy, I should be able to do the same to the sun!

...I think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding somewhere. But I suppose there's no point in correcting you.



S-Combination spam gooooo.

Ugh, it's cold... I feel like I'm getting slower... Wait, I know! If I drop this hot water bottle, I should get lighter right?

...Do whatever you want, I suppose.



Luna did more damage because she was closer.

So you manipulate the cold? You're a lot like Cirno.

And who is that?

That fairy over there. She has the power of ice, so...

...I see. So I'm being compared to a fairy.
_{Sorry Letty, you're basically going to be the babysitter of these chucklefucks.}



And Star wasn't in range for S-Combination at all, so she just did a regular attack.



Letty's gimmick is that she has a high chance of Countering my attacks. Unfortunately for her, she isn't Sakuya and doesn't hit hard enough to make this an issue.



This time around, Marisa's packing Danmaku Power level 2.



It stacks with Valor.



Though I should probably grab Alice's conversation, so I have her cast Mercy to ensure she doesn't killsteal.

Mercy requires the user to have higher Skill than the opponent to work. Despite being specced to Counter, Letty's Skill is 14 less than Alice's.

Now that I'm taking another look, this scenery really is quite beautiful.

You seem surprised. Do you hate the winter?

I don't dislike it. But this is the first time Gensokyo's had a winter like this. I've been coming to realize how much I miss the warmth of spring.



Okay, now it's Marisa's turn.

I really don't want to be here. I hate the cold.

I love it. It's been going on for so long though that I'm getting sleepy.

Hold on, if you sleep in this cold I'll kill you.



Yeah, you can't dodge a giant laser if you're asleep.



While other characters will eventually pick up Valor too, sole possession of Danmaku Power means Marisa will always have the highest numbers.





We got her!

Sheesh, how violent.

So... winter should end now, right?

Yes, the snow should be stopping any moment now...



Nope.

It's not stopping.

Wait, what? But didn't we beat the youkai of winter?

Apparently it didn't work. The essence of winter didn't diminish at all.

I told you it was a misunderstanding. I don't have anything to do with this incident. I'm only strengthened by the winter, I can't control the seasons themselves.

Then who could?

No clue. I wish I knew.

Well, what she's saying does make sense.

That just figures. I was afraid of that!

Well then, we should start looking for the next mastermind.

Let's keep on going then. Nothing we can do here.





And I got another Sweet Potato too, of course.

------

On Lunatic, there's only one real difference: Letty spawns in a turn early. The game is nice enough to give you an extra turn for the bonus, but this makes getting close enough to Letty to catch her attention more difficult since the grunts will get in the way. If you get Unfocused Movement on everyone and carefully carve your way through (aka Reimu charges headlong in) you should have two turns to wreck Letty. Make sure to finish off only one lifebar each turn, or else Letty will cast Guard and completely screw you over.

------

Mokou, what would you like for tonight's side dish?

It's fine, I don't need anything. It's not like I'll die if I don't have something every night.

That's unacceptable! Stop rolling your eyes and pick out something decent. In the first place, mealtime is an important part of a family's harmon-

Ugh, another long lecture's started. I get it, I get it.

...Wait a minute, a family? Since when were you and I-

Gah!

Well whatever. If you want me to eat dinner, I'll go catch a chick-

N-no, no no it's fine! Don't pay me or anything I said any mind at all! With that said, I'll see you later Mokou!

...? That's weird of her.