Part 2: Meta
Update 2: Meta
A loud slamming noise persists through the next scene.
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Most of the village is gathered here, although Mei is notably absent. Let's see if the Elder has anything to say.
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Elder: This Wall has protected Rim Elm from the Mist for over ten years. Hopefully it will stay standing forever.
???: Ah, quite impressive. Look how many puny humans survive.
Elder What? What on earth is that?
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Tetsu the Biron monk does a jump kick at the fiend...
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...which fails miserably. Why do villains get energy shields like that and we don't? It's so unfair.
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Okay. I know things look bad, but I doubt the Seru are smart enough to have a siege cannon or anything. The Wall should hold up just -
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Villager: The...the Mist. The accursed Mist has entered Rim Elm!
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And we're treated to the sight of a Seru monster knocking a woman over and biting at her prone body. Did I mention this game was rated E?
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BATTLE!
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Meet Gimard, the most basic of the Seru. The colored shape next to it's name indicates that it's a Seru and which element it is affiliated with. Gimard is Fire based...
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...and can take advantage of that fact to launch a fireball at our hero.
One interesting thing about this game is that our characters also have innate elements, sort of like the Chrono games. Vahn is also fire based, meaning he both deals and takes less damage against other fire based enemies. He's also more proficient with fire magic and less proficient with it's natural opposite, water/ice. We'll get to magic in a bit.
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I took advantage of the fight to key in a few Arts that I remember from previous playthroughs to get them loaded into the Arts menu. This fight (and many others) basically boils down to alternating between Spirit and attacking, with the occasional break to heal if needed.
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Oh yeah, I didn't show this properly earlier. This is Vahn's attack gauge after using Spirit. As you can see, there's room to input four commands, just shy of room for five.
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This is his bar before using Spirit. As you can see, it's substantially shorter, and only has enough room for three inputs.
Like other stats, the attack gauge will increase every time we level up, and we will ultimately be able to fit a whopping nine attacks in the gauge. But that's not going to happen for a LONG time.
At any rate, I managed to scrape through the fight. You may have noticed that Zeto mentioned the Genesis Tree as what the Seru are here to destroy (along with all the humans, of course). Let's see if anything interesting is happening there.
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Woman: I came here to get away from the Seru monsters. Hey, have you noticed that the Mist doesn't come in here? The Genesis Tree is glowing. It's radiating some kind of amazing power. The Genesis Tree is very warm. Vahn, go ahead, touch it.
Well, I don't have any better ideas, so...
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???: Vahn...Vahn...You are Vahn, are you not?
A strange figure descends into the Genesis Tree...
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When I was a kid, I thought Meta looked kind of like a remote control. Now that I'm older, I...still think he looks like a remote. Or maybe a coffin with a gem instead of a cross on it.
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Uhh...I don't know about this, but he's not trying to murder me and seems fairly pleasant. I guess it's worth a try.
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All right, I think a good thing just happened! Vahn and Meta have teamed up, and Vahn now can harness Meta's powers. Which are...basically nil at this point, but we'll get there.
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The woman is understandably panicking at Vahn suddenly having a Seru buddy, but has enough presence of mind to stay in the safe area. At this point, we can either go to Mei's house or Vahn's. Mei's is the better choice, as it's closer and can get us a useful item later.
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On the way to her house, I got attacked by another Gimard. The fight went much the same way, but the ending was a bit different...
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Instead of melting into the ground as is normal for a defeated enemy, the Gimard got back up and faded away...
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And Meta learned how to utilize Gimard's power.
This is how magic works in Legend of Legaia. When you fight Seru monsters, upon defeating them there's a chance that your Ra-Seru will learn the Seru's power, which you can then use against enemies. Gimard is a basic, single target fire spell, and all told it isn't very interesting, but it's still a pretty powerful ability that can outdo Vahn's normal attacks for a good while, so I'm glad to have it.
Oh yeah, this might just be the RNG screwing with me, but I'm almost sure Vahn has a higher chance of learning Fire magic and a lower chance of learning Water/Ice magic.
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Mei takes a moment to look at her father's corpse again, then leaves with Vahn.
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The game automatically takes us to Vahn's house, so we don't have to fight our way there.
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Music: The Genesis Tree
Elder: You and the Ra-Seru are our last hope! We entrust you with our lives. Everyone, we must pray together.
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One by one, the villagers begin to emit a green, glowing light...
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Music: Reviving A Genesis Tree
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I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of nostalgic moments throughout this LP, but reviving my first Genesis Tree will always be one of the strongest.
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Music: The Ra-Seru Speak
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Elder: Don't worry. He's just in a deep sleep.
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Music: Juno's Funeral
Elder: The hateful fangs of the Seru took their lives from them.
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Elder: But Rem, our leader, our great leader! On your sacred wings, take the noble souls of our friends to the Valley of Noaru! May their souls find peace and eternal happiness in the distant Valley of Noaru.
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This might be the nostalgia talking again, but this scene really gets me choked up. I feel like they did a great job with Mei as a character in general, and I think her reaction to her father's death is surprisingly emotional. I just want to give the poor girl a hug and tell her that everything will be okay.
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Child: Mommy, where are Juno and the others going?
Mother: To the Valley of Noaru, dear. Far, far away beyond the sea.
Child: Is Juno going to come back? Will he bring us good things to eat again?
Mother: The Valley of Noaru is...very, very far away, dear. I don't think he will come back.
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Music: Rim Elm
Elder: Vahn, Rim Elm is saved thanks to you! You were truly courageous and I thank you again. However...It's about our precious Mei. Her mother may still be alive inside the Mist! If you have pity on Mei then rescue her mother. Now, even Mei doesn't know this, but her mother, Maya, used to work at Biron Monastery. Ten years ago the Mist came, and naturally we lost all contact with her. As for whether Biron Monastery itself still survives in the Mist...Unfortunately no one knows. But Maya is Mei's only surviving blood relative! Vahn, with the Ra-Seru, I'm sure you can make it to Biron Monastery! Vahn! I'm counting on you.
The Elder starts to walk away, then turns back.
Elder: One more thing, Vahn. Keep this a secret from Mei...She will only be heartbroken if Biron Monastery has indeed been lost to the Mist.
Well, it looks like we have a destination in mind, although I'm not precisely sure where Biron Monastery is. I hope we can find it without too much trouble.
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There's no real point to this scene, I just thought it was a touching moment between father and son. Despite his role as the silent protagonist, Vahn manages to get some decent scenes.
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The shop is now open, and with it come equipment upgrades! Let's see what's available real quick.
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There are five types of equipment: Arms (weapon), Head, Body, Legs, and accessories. This game also has a slightly different take on offense and defense, splitting defense into two different types upper and lower.
Arms increases attack power, particularly with the characters weapon hand (right or left, depending on the person).
Head only increases upper defense, while Body increases both defenses.
Legs increases lower defense as well as attack power, particularly with kicks (high and low).
And of course, accessories do all kinds of stuff. Characters can equip up to three accessories.
I don't know precisely how boots and arms increase universal attack power versus command-specific attack power. Regardless, all of this stuff is worth buying. Since I can't afford everything, I bought the weapon and the headgear. The boots can come later.
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We get the Hunters Clothes (a nice body equip) and Mei's Pendant (an accessory that increases HP max by 10% and can be used as an exploit of sorts for something cool later).
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You know...I really like this game's opening. It's a decent length, it helps set up how the world works, it gives us a villain and a semi-personal reason to hate/fear the Mist and the Seru, and it helps establish the various members of Vahn's home. It even manages to invest me in Vahn's started love interest to the point that I'm kinda rooting for her. It gives us a long term goal (save the world by resurrecting Genesis Trees) and a shorter term one (find Mei's mother). It might not be the best opening of all video gaming, but I'd say it's pretty high up there.
Anyway, join me next time as we explore the world map, fight enormous butterflies, and maybe have our first encounter with the undead! See you then!