Part 8: Update VIII - Missing Ariadne

Update VIII - Missing Ariadne

Music: School IV


Today, we finally hit an actual dungeon, 8 updates and over 2 hours of gameplay in.

You may call me Father Kotomine. I am an NPC assigned the task of supervising the Holy Grail War.



The war is run as an elimination tournament, with the Grail being awarded to the last person standing. In other words, the participating Masters will kill each other until there is only one person left. Simple enough to understand , yes? Even a complete idiot should be able to understand the rules. Masters get a six day preparation period before Elimination Battles, which occur on the seventh day. I'd advise you to use the time given to devise the most efficient means of slaughtering your foe. On the seventh day, you and your foe will fight. The winner lives, and the loser is...deleted. If you wish to make a query, speak now. The right to ask about the rules is given to all.



How do I survive this?

As I've already explained, after six days of preparation, you must kill your assigned opponent. You have chosen your Servant to use as a weapon for that very purpose, have you not?

Preparation period?

Of course, the other Masters are given the same time to prepare for battle, and to kill. As for how to prepare, I cannot help you. Do whatever you feel is necessary.

About the terminal.

The terminal will relay any messages generated by the system which governs the Holy Grail War. It is the course of wisdom to pay heed to any message you may receive.

Kotomine is incredibly helpful, as you can see.

I'm as prepared as I can be.



What was that...? You have yet to be informed of your first round opponent? Hmm... Wait just a moment... ...Strange. There seems to be a system error. I will locate your opponent by tomorrow.

First the memory restoration bugs out, now this. What sort of shoddy system is the SE.RA.PH running here?





Your room will be located in classroom 2-B. Please enter this password into your terminal. Well, the time for conversation has come to an end. The door ahead leads to the Arena. For today, concentrate on becoming accustomed to the inner workings of the Arena. The Arena entrance uses the same door you went through during the preliminaries. Good luck.



But first, we have to finish talking to everyone, plus check out Hakuno's new digs.



Taiga's also hanging around.



She'll be the main source of sidequests for the entire game!

Sorry, no can do.

What?! Why not...? I wonder if I can find someone actually NICE to do it by the end of the day...

~

Of course.

Thank you! You've made my day. So, my favorite kendo sword has up and disappeared. I stashed it in the supply room, but it somehow managed to find its way into the Arena. Since I can't go in there, I need you to get my kendo sword and hand it over during the first round. I'm not here all the time, so you'll want to check back every now and then. Thanks again!

Granted, all of them are basic fetch quests, but still.





Come on, you can tell me...

Do I look stupid?! What makes you think I'd give away such important information?

~

Do you really want me to know?

I was going to tell you, but you're right. That'd be pure idiocy on my part, wouldn't it?



That the SE.RA.PH is nothing more than a virtual world created solely for the Holy Grail War. It's one of those things that you have to see to believe, right? It's pretty amazing...



Making it to the final round's going to be tough. Everyone here is the best of the best.



Honestly, you look really absent-minded. You'd better pull it together if you want to win.

~

You know, I decided to participate with my honey and we were able to get through the prelims. I have to gather as much information as possible for my honey.

~

I entered into this war thingy with my darling and we both made it past the prelims! Behold the terrifying power of Love! Maybe you should find someone to help you out, too!

W-who's going to tell them...



Back on 2F, the doors to class 2-B are now glowing.

Kotomine told me classroom 2-B was my private room. If I hold up my computer terminal, I can enter. When I raise the terminal to the knob, I hear a low hum or maybe an incantation. The door opens.

Music: Down to Dawn


Until the end of the Holy Grail War, we get to live in a classroom. They couldn't even be bothered to remove the desks!



As we don't have to worry about eavesdroppers here, feel free to ask me about anything you'd like.

Caster seems to have a different take on this setup, but she's right in that we can talk freely here. If I need to talk with Caster for any reason I should make it a point to come back here to do it.



The private room is entirely for having longer chats with your Servant, which are all fully voiced.

You can also save here, but you can also save anywhere in school with the System menu, so this is kinda redundant.

Speak with Caster.

-Hmm... I think this arrangement will work. Please forgive me for taking the liberty of tidying things up a little. So, what do you think? It's not exactly the Imperial Palace, but it does have a regal air, does it not?

I probably focused a little too much on my own predilections, but I know you're gracious enough to humor me!

—But I'd like you to add your own special touches from now on. And be sure to maintain it every day, so that one day it will be the love nest that all will envy, okay? ♥

Leave your private room.

Music: School IV


Everyone has been talked to.



Side quest obtained.



Time for actual gameplay.



Be sure to get your shopping and rumor mongering done before heading to the Arena, okay?

This is the basic flow of Extra. Go around the school, hit up the Arena, go around the school, hit up the Arena. Repeat until this week's duel has arrived.





Each week's Arena has two floors, with the second opening up a few days into the week.

Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor


Wait.



Shit.



Time for actual gameplay.



There's an ungodly number of enemies prowling about, but fear not! I can take them out for you, Master!





Caster will chime in now and then while exploring.



Unlike the tutorial dungeon, this one is boring to look at. Just an orb around the place, with the occasional trail of light running through the lines.



Behold, the one change playing on Easy makes:



No changes to enemy stats, patterns, anything. All you get for playing on Easy is an easier time going through dungeons.

This also means playing on Easy has no impact on bosses, which are what most people would have trouble with if they needed an Easy mode. While the fountains allow you to grind forever, the exponential EXP requirements make that an incredibly unpleasant affair.



Suffice to say, I'll be seeing this a lot.



Oh no, the cubes are revolting!

It really shouldn't be a problem, but if you fear for my well-being, press ■ to use healing items. You can also use items while we're tail-deep in battle as well. If you could shower me with healing on a regular basis, that'd be great. My defense is sketchy at best...

Caster is knocking it out of the park with all these understatements...





Getting close to an enemy will make it flash red.



At which point it'll charge at you. Charging enemies move so fast that dodging them is more a matter of luck than skill.

Music: Battle - First Chimeric Lunar Sea




Our first real enemy, and we have all of one attack revealed.

I need something to give me an edge.



Something I pulled from the hard drive of my old high school computer.



I need...



The List.

Written by yours truly back when I first played this bad, bad game in high school, The List consists of every pattern I came across for every enemy and boss in the game.

The problem is that using The List or not is a lose/lose situation. If I don't use it, I get to gamble on 1/3 odds 5 times in a single round. If I use it, I remove the 'RNG' from the 'solved or RNG' nature of Extra's combat, and now I'm just going through the motions for dozens of hours.

Now, let's compare the patterns I have for the Klein here with what the preview is showing, shall we?


With a single known action, The List boosts my odds to a 50/50 chance I completely counter his turn.



Worst case scenario, I land four hits and tie twice.

And if I get blindsided by an entirely new pattern, all I have to do is mark it down in The List and keep an eye out for it next time!



It was the one with two Attacks.



And Caster's so weak at this point that she didn't even deal half of the Klein's HP!


Even though I got more info for this turn, having it land on more ambiguous spots gives me a 1/3 chance of getting it right.



Worst case scenario, I tie one and lose another.



Look at that damage discrepancy! I need around 11 hits to kill a single Klein, while it only needs 8 hits to kill me.





One more round wins the fight.



Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor




We can see an Item Folder in the distance.



Near it is another Folder, but they're both guarded by a Klein. Hitting Select brings up a larger map, which shows all nearby enemies.



The next Klein fight goes...



...poorly.



Two entire fights, and Caster is already below half HP.

And remember, our supplies are incredibly limited right now. If this wasn't on Easy and the healing fountain wasn't available, all we'd have for healing items are the two Ether Shards we got from the tutorial, plus burning all our cash on 12 Ether Powders at the commissary, for a total of 1000 HP. That sounds like a lot, but also keep in mind that I have The List to tell me exactly what's coming up, so 1000 HP can vanish in a blink if you were dealing with the RNG of Extra's combat normally.



The upper Folder has some pocket money, but we can see a red Folder in another room.



The other has a healing item.



As I said, I'll be seeing this a lot.



Taking the other path leads to another cube.



C-Caster, can you bring it down a level or two?



I got my ass kicked on this fight, but we got something special for winning it.

As you kill more of a given type of enemy, you'll occasionally get this Enemy Info note when they die. This increases how much info you get against that specific enemy type. Now, we'll get 2 commands revealed when fighting a Klein, with a chance at three.

And yes, I am getting a panty shot at the end of every single fight. Most of her attack animations, too.



This fight also gets me another level.

I still can't use those skill points.



As an extra kick in the pants, leveling up doesn't heal you at all, not even for the boost in max HP like in Pokemon.



Sigh.



There's the bee Caster pointed out.



I'm not even allowed to fight it today.



Enemies respawn after a bit, so I grind out another level.

While I can't use the skill points, the boost to HP will give me a larger buffer in fights.



And with three attacks showing up, getting enough info to narrow your choices down to one pattern becomes much more common.



The exponential EXP rears its ugly head. Each Klein is worth 17 EXP, so while hitting level 3 was a breeze, hitting level 4 takes a lot more work from the same enemies, and hitting level 5 would take ages.





There's nothing else to do here today, so we might as well leave.



If you're finished here, by all means, let's go. But are you sure you want to leave?





Yes







Music: School III




Ah, it's not your fault, Master. Buuut...the more you get used to fighting, the more I'll kick butt!

Let's explore the Arena again tomorrow. I'm invincible when my Master is threatened, so don't worry! Anyone in our way will get cut down!



Every day ends with this result screen. As you can see, we have a lot to do before the week is out.

Next time: A reunion, an enemy, and a key.