Part 31: Chapter 23x/23xx

You remember this map, right? There's no stupid recruitment requirement in this version, but it's replaced with a stupid requirement of a different sort.



: Is something amiss, Anakin?

: Nah, just tired. I'm not so sure I'm cut-out for so much action in one day... It's a miracle that we've conquered Baronia and Magnus hasn't been able to do a thing yet...

: Lighten up, Anakin. There's good news. I found a secret vault stashed with money. One of the prisoners we took coughed up the secret with a little... Motivation.

: That last part doesn't sound like my kind of motivation, but I like the idea of having money.

: It's not spending money, Anakin. We need to stock up on supplies here. We'll get the best of weapons, tomes, medicine, and anything else we'll need. We can sell our old weapons to make a little extra cash, too. We might never have as good a chance to properly arm ourselves as we do now.

: I know, I know...

: Then don't act so childish.

: What did I do so wrong? All I did was say I liked having money around!



: where people like you two lead an army to liberate the oppressors of a continent...

You're not exactly a shining example of maturity yourself, Kelik.



No need for a map screen, since it's just this and an arena to the side.



: Commander Anakin! If you are done ahead of schedule, please let me know, and I will inform everybody else.

: I will. Thank you.



That's a reference to the fact that we can end this map early if we talk to this NPC. Don't do that. Do NOT do that. I'm warning you!

Player Phase:



No enemies, so no enemy phase.



So I sold a few things before this chapter started. Combined with the 20000, we have more than enough funding for this shopping trip.



I won't go too in-depth with each store's inventory, except this one.



Look at this stuff! Ray is a renamed Purge, and I grab a couple for Anakin. Not only that, but there are also Physic staves.

Capriccio is still a huge waste of money, by the way, since there are no lance assassins, so far as I can tell. A pity, since having someone who could assassinate with lances would make this whole thing even better.



So here's the inexcusable BS that I mentioned. In order to get the last Emblem Weapon, you have to know to bring Storm and Haas AND have Haas talk to Storm. No clues given for this at all. You just have to guess.



: Chief! What can I help you with?

: You misunderstand. I have something to give you. It's a bow.

: I've never seen a bow quite like this. Is it strong?

: Well... it's useful, at the very least. It's a relic handed down from one Atheyan tribal leader to another. But in this case, I'm just passing it down to you so you can make good use of it.

: Thank you, Chief. I will do just that.



Okay, Gaiden unlocked? Well, no. In order to reach it, you've got to run out the clock on this chapter. No skipping to the end by talking to the NPC.



One way we can kill time is by checking out the stores. This one has all the generic lances and axes, including the Killer ones.



Floor Three: Specialty staves, keys, and healing items.



Tomes and healing staves.



Bad level from encouraging people to go faster.



But most importantly, the Arena.



Near as I can tell, Blazer hasn't toyed around with the arena that much at all, meaning that the enemies here are no match for The Last Promise's characters, who are generally better than FE7's crowd.



We're trying to build up Storm especially, since he's starting from the back of the pack.



Not too hard when almost nothing can lay a finger on him.




And in short order, he is ready.



Bring on the lightning!



In a game full of mediocre promotion gains, the Nomad Trooper's promotion is quite prominent.



With Storm finished, the Arena's up for grabs. So I hope you're ready for...A LEVELING MONTAGE!!




What is with those two and their defense?



Darn right!



Seriously, looking at Liquid's growths really opened my eyes to his potential.



Typical.



This was probably the closest I came to a reset. Then Liquid insta-killed him.



I'm really not regretting dropping Mark.



And with these last two, we are done with the full ten turns.



: I feel much more confident about our odds of success with us being well prepared.

: Mhm. I agree.

: ...... Hey, Anakin. Do you feel that?



: What's happening?

: Wha-!



Well, that was a surprise.

Next Time: ...Actually, that last map was short enough. Let's keep going.





: Shon, are you alright?

: Yeah... I just... hurt my arm, while falling...

: Hm... Did we really fall? I mean, where did we fall FROM?



Suddenly, a Nergal imitator.



That's...hair.

This is Nebilim, and he has nothing to do with the plot.

: What the? Who are you? Did you fall here, too?

: No... I invited you... with my magic...

: Invited us? Are you insane, old man?

: No... my magic grants me the... capability... to vortex matter... It is quite an interesting arte, but... it requires energy...

That's the first time I've ever seen "vortex" used as a verb. And how do you vortex something, anyway? I assume it means that he can teleport things, but it's not quite clear.

: What do you mean "energy"?

: Ether... as well as the force of those weapons you carry...

: What?

: The Emblem weapons, as you call them... They are imbued with a high amount of ether that can be extracted through use of an ancient arte....

: You brought us down here just for these weapons? Why are they so important? And just who are you? Just what are you doing down in these ruins that no one even knows exists?

: I am a... pupil... of the dark artes... Give me those weapons, and I shall return you to the surface...

: You can have them, just take us back! We're fighting a war, and we don't have time for this nonsense!

Good to see that he's got his priorities straight.



: You can have your weapons back, now that I've absorbed their tremendous energy! And now... come, beings of darkness! Come, shadows of the underworld! Bring down catastrophe!

What, did you think that he'd actually just let us go?



You know that Illuminate staff that Emma's been keeping around since we first met her? I hope that you didn't sell it.

Our objective this map is to deal with Nebilim, who's hanging out in the upper area. In the meantime, we've got to deal with the Ghosts he's calling to get us.



All the enemies you see here are like Morphs, only suckier. They have no luck and pitiful amounts of HP. Sure, they might be able to do some damage if they land a good hit, but almost all of them are unpromoted with really basic weapons.



: We have to find the old nutcase and stop his magic! If we don't, his minions might never stop coming!



Indeed, reinforcements are popping out of every corner of the map. Making our way forward will be slow at first, and we've got to protect Liuke.

Player Phase:



FE7 music for the enemy phase, so I'm not including it.



I like the dark palette used for these enemy forces. Makes them seem a lot more otherworldly, although I wonder if a transparent palette would have been possible.



There'll be fog of war in the future, so I'm not going to use the Illuminate staff too much. Still, it's helpful to actually be able to see where enemies are coming from.



I should mention that these enemies don't give any experience, so there's no point in hunting them down other than the thrill of whacking weak enemies in a single hit.

Makes me long for some sort of AoE attack. Imagine the carnage.



With all the spawning that happens, getting swarmed is a fact of life.



That might have been a big deal for the old Storm, but he's been tried by the arena and emerged victorious, so these are nothing.



Matter of fact, the only promoted enemy on the map is this Druid, and he's...



...Encumbered, let's say.



And dead. Again.



In retrospect, Cia might have been better for guarding Liuke, but Emma needed the Anima training anyway.



Want to know what's in the other chest? A torch.



I brought Lirin to show off the Triangle Attack, but I ended up forgetting to do it. Nonetheless, even she can easily stand up to these guys.



One of the few levels I'll actually gain in this map.



Once you've got the initial surge dealt with, it's time to rush to the top.



Where this is waiting...on a pillar, not the throne.



Look at this guy, so sure that he can absolutely obliterate anything in a single shot, when most of our dudes could double him in return.

Granted, if we don't take him in a single hit, he WILL kill most of our units. In fact, it's quite possible, if you didn't buy a Barrier staff, to be in a situation where you have to sacrifice someone in order to defeat him, because he's just that strong.



Liuke can take quite a beating from these guys, but it's not good to leave him unguarded.



I had Emma move away for one turn in order to reveal Nebilim, and look at how many dudes are surrounding him now.



See, even Kelik with his whole self esteem team backing him up doesn't have enough HP to survive a hit from Nebilim, and who's stronger than Kelik?



You've got to be kidding...





: You will perish in darkness long before that happens!



Nothing new for the spell's animation, but ultimate dark magic spells always look amazing.



Get lost, old man. You smell.





That's what I like to see.



And there's the S Rank dark magic. Yue will love this.



: I can just sense it.

: Grab your things, everyone! We could be warped any second now!

: Heh... I'm grabbing this stuff, too... These weapons are pretty rare... And... what is this? A... gem? I can feel power emanating from it... this is amazing. Perhaps being randomly warped around wasn't such a bad thing...



Now it's time for a weapon avalanche.



Although there's a problem with being handed so much stuff. Specifically, we just did a huge shopping run.



Yup. Things are getting pretty full right here.



Also, bear in mind that this is all being dumped on Kelik.



I can't even sell this, because the stuff in Kelik's inventory is more valuable, so I have to throw it away.



And the final curiosity is this thing, which I'll show off next chapter. I think you're going to like it.



I should mention that we didn't lose the Emblem Weapons, so overall, this sidequest was a huge net gain. We're stocked up and ready for the next part of the game. We're going to need all the gear we can get.

Next Time: The game takes a jump from slightly challenging to "What is this shit?"

Extras

I said I'd show off the Triangle Attack, so here goes.



If Lirin and Inanna weren't so uninspiring, the Triangle Attack would actually be worth using in this game. A guaranteed crit is never a bad thing. But unfortunately, dragging the two other sisters around so that Alice can be amazing just doesn't seem like a good use of party slots.



: Triangle attack!



You've seen this sort of thing before, so here are the other two quotes:

: Glistening, like a golden coin... behold these radiant wings! Triangle attack!

: Behold the dance of Pegasi, like a storm of silver snow! Triangle attack!

It seems like Blazer decided to do a color motif for the three sisters, and I rather like that, even though Lirin's pegasus looks like she dipped it in gold paint.