Part 7: Please Stop Pretending This is a Lunar Game

Chapter 7: Please Stop Pretending This is a Lunar Game



All right we're on a bridge heading into the Frontier because we can fucking do that apparently.



And there are battles there, I guess.



Because I had gone nuts for equipment before fighting Gronk, the enemies just can't do much to the party. They'll do a little more damage to Gabyrel, but really there's nothing to say. Some of the monsters inflict status ailments, but none of them break or steal, so big deal. Add to the fact that battles go so much faster (that is, still way too slow) with Jian back to his three-hit combo, and this is as painless as this game gets.

Although I thought there was a blue chest on the first screen and there wasn't, so clearing it out on Virtue was pointless. Oops.



There are some switches on the bridge. They open doors.



The one pictured opened the door to this treasure. This is a piece of armor for Lucia. She gets a lot of armor in this dungeon.





There's two blue chests in this dungeon. The barrier ring increases intelligence and defense, and the Holy Umbrella is a really awesome weapon for Lucia that reduces her MP costs by one half. Holy shit, I can use her magic now!



Apart from that, there are... ladders and shit. Yeah, there's not much to say about this dungeon. It's a bridge in a JPRG. You've seen those before.



Well, I guess this is kind of tricky. The door this lever opens isn't near the lever itself. But it is near the blue chest, and we're going to need to go back there anyway, so whatever.



The other chest is the Goddess Robe. Both of which are armor for Lucia. The tiara protects against statuses, and the robe against fire. Hot damn!

Hm, a quick, easy dungeon and awesome shit for Lucia. This is kind of getting better, maybe.



Not for that guy, though.



Nor for that guy.

For some odd reason, you can't interact with any of these... unconscious people? Corpses? I have no idea. The party doesn't react to this. I guess they don't care.


From King Zethos' Strike Force?!

They do react here, obviously.


What's wrong? I'm not getting any magic!
I'm trying! I am! But... it's not working?!
...I feared this might happen. I've been expecting it for a while now, actually. Althena's power is growing weaker, isn't it?
What do you mean?
Well, the Goddess may have actually been captured... And even if she hasn't, her magic probably doesn't extend out to the Frontier, does it?

You know, the game has sort of foreshadowed this, but... yeah this still doesn't happen in Lunar 1 when you go to the Frontier.

Jian, I think he's trying to say something? Please, Rufus! We can talk later! Rest!
No, Lucia... Rufus, go on!







I love how this trap relies on the party not immediately running back when then see all the other corpses (I'm just going to assume they're dead) and getting help.









And fade to black. An- wait a second. Did they just give you all of these great equipment for Lucia and then immediately take her out of the party? Well yes, yes they did.

I'll be honest, since I've been intermittently consulting an FAQ, I knew not to equip all that nice, expensive equipment. So, schadenfreude fans, I didn't get completely screwed by this. Sorry.



Meanwhile.

We'd normally have no trouble snatching one pretty little girl away, my Master... But she was with the daughter of Zethos, Master.
The Beast King, is it. I still have... matters to settle with him, too. But now is not the time. I had thought to occupy Cathedral of Althena in order to draw her out, but it looks like that is no longer necessary... Not when we have captured Althena herself!

Okay, so the game is just flat-out telling us that Lucia is Althena's reincarnation. Lunar 1 at least attempted to keep that a secret.

Oh, and as HenryEx mentioned, Lucia being Althena makes her earlier failure to cast a healing spell make even less sense.

Yes, Master. It's to my shame that I didn't realize sooner that this girl was Althena's chosen disguise.

Actually... no, you did pretty well, considering that in Lunar 1, the bad guy captured a whole bunch of girls that could possibly be Althena because he had no way of knowing for sure. (Actually, he kinda did in the remake? After a certain point anyway... it's debatable) Also, the reincarnation of Althena is marked by being a really good singer, since Althena is a goddess of music and dance (not that Lunar DS seems to know this), and Lucia has not displayed any musical inclinations. So... considering that you had zero leads to go on, at least as far as we can tell, good job.

While Althena has been gone, I've been spreading lies among beasts and humans, whispering that we have captured Althena. Now these rumors shall finally become reality!
You have done well. Those pathetic beasts and measly humans fear Althena's absence more than anything. We must continue to make use of this!
As you say, Master. And to think, she crossed Sungrid Bridge of her own accord! We couldn't have planned it better!
Indeed! Finally, the time has come. The time of awakening! We must put that girl to work... As the Goddess Althena! With Althena under our power we shall be able to take Cathedral of Althena without needing complex strategy. And once we accomplish that... That mewling pup Zethos shall kneel before me!
Yes, Master. It shall all be as you say.
You can grovel more later, Jude. For one problem remains... breaking the barrier around the Chamber of Rebirth. Using the Chamber is the only way to reawaken Althena, so we must get inside... which means the Four Dragons now stand in our way. The Dragons are quite tough... But I think there might be a better way...

And scene. That's how you establish a villain. Not by having the villain reveal their intentions by killing a powerful, sage and kindly Dragon, or cursing the very soul of a demi-goddess. Nope, they should just talk about all the evil they're gonna do. Threatening.




Hey, brother, over here! He's coming round!
Who... who are you? What happened to me?
My name is Peres, and this is my sister, Flora.



Hello lady who is also on the cover.

...?! Lucia! Where is she? Oh no, Lucia!
Just hold your horses tiger... You'd better worry about yourself a little first. You were fighting Gideon, alone! You're lucky to still have all your limbs attached.
I don't care about any of that! Lucia! Tell me where Lucia is!

Random note: I'm listening to music as I'm writing this, and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" just came on. I like to think my iTunes library is making fun of this scene.


Jian... they took her away.
...Gabi!? You're safe! But what do you mean... taken?
It was the Vile Tribe. Like she just said, Gideon showed up. Rufus... he was placed there to stall us.


Hiding something? Like... what?
Lucia, Jian. Tell me. Who... what is she?
What do you mean...?
Gideon answers directly to Ignatius. If he is involved, that means this is something big.
Ignatius...? Who's he?
The leader of the Vile Tribe. They say he's an omnipotent being, but we don't believe that. He's a tyrant, nothing more!
So what does he want with Lucia?
I've been worried about that, too. I can't think of any reason why Gideon would have orders to capture Lucia.
Oh, Lucia...!
Hey, hold on Jian! Just where do you think you're going?
Where do you think? I'm going to save Lucia! I have to protect her! I made a promise that I would keep her safe. Lucia means more to me than a sister! She means... everything to me!

Oh yeah this game suddenly remembers that it has a love story. (Admittedly, I can't say the original Lunar 1 has a better love story. It's also a game that's well over 10 years older than this one, mind you...)

Jian...
...
Then... I shall lead you.
Rufus...?! You can move already?
Yes... thanks to you. Jian... wasn't it? It is also partly my fault that your companion was taken. I must atone for this, if I can. Allow me to lead you. I know the route to Ignatius' Vile Castle better than anyone, I believe. And humans will have a tough time passing through Elda Canyon alone.
... Sorry, but no thanks!
You refuse me?!
Jian, think about this for a minute...



So... there's a character here who we the audience already know, the party has some history with, is an experienced warrior, and it makes thematic sense for him to atone for his earlier dickish actions by helping the party. Also I know for a fact he eventually joins*. And we're going with... this random girl we've never seen before.

_{*That's not a spoiler. He's on the damn cover.}

Who? Me? I mean, I do know the region well, but...
No need to be modest. Why not go along? They could use your help, I bet.
Even you think I should go...?
Flora, please... I don't care about this Ignatius guy. But I must save Lucia, no matter what! And I'll need your help to do that.
Very well, then. If you think I can help, I'll do my best!
Thank you... Well, if that is settled, let's get going! Gabi, come on!
Hey, hold on Jian! Just wait a minute! Look, Rufus, sorry about this... Give my love to Papa if you return to Leephon, will you?



Yeah, I'm pretty eager for this dialogue to end too.

Jian, is it... He appears to have a dream... A dream that may save the future for us all.
...
Long ago, all humans had a dream... Living beneath a bright sun, every day filled with hope for the future. But that has been taken from us now. Taken by the Vile Tribe... and you beasts.
Peres, I'm not sure what...
Just do as you please. He has gone to take back all that we have lost. Dreams and hopes, enough for us all. I only ask one thing of you. Please, do not try to stop him.
Dreams and... hope...

Whatever, it's over, let's play now.



Damn it, they're still talking!

That's right. It's the only Vile Tribe village in the Frontier. Regular humans and beastmen will get into trouble just walking in there, but... Here you go! Take these!
What's this...?
We call them Ignatic Stones.
What do they do?
Apparently, they weaken the magical power of Goddess Althena. Something like that, anyway. Basically, it means we can move safely among the Vile Tribe.

...again, the game is pulling this out of its ass. You could totally just walk around the Vile Tribe's towns in any version of Lunar 1 that I'm familiar with. As far as I can tell, the stones Flora gives us doesn't really do anything in gameplay or are ever mentioned again. I don't know why this is here.

I see... Pretty vital in the Frontier, then.
That's right! So don't lose them!



Okay, finally, they stopped talking. Well, new character. Let's see.



AND OF COURSE SHE'S AT LEVEL ONE.



And her spells? Some ones Lucia had at level one. So the game just taunted us with the possibility of a useful Lucia, and then immediately replaced her with a level one version. Lovely.



Near as I can tell, these guys are not doing a damn thing to hide this tunnel.


One word of caution, though... Look before you leap, understand?
That's rich, coming from you! Don't worry, though. I'll be careful.



Oh hey, the game finally shows us Rufus's portrait. Dunno why it took so long. I guess I should change the portrait I use for him.

...

...nah.


Well, long, long ago.. Humans where [sic] captured by the Vile Tribe and forced to work in the mines of the Frontier. But some of them escaped and made this Underground Tunnel their home. Our boss at the moment is Peres.

Hey, they explained this. Howabout that.



Anyway, let's enter the town. Also, look how well protected this entrance to their secret tunnel is. There's not even a guard posted near the entrance.



Despite the fact that we're deep in enemy territory, we can totally go shopping.



When your equipment gets broken, it's not removed from your inventory, but replaced with a shittiest piece of that type. For whatever reason, Lind sells all the broken equipment, including Lucia's for some reason. But it also sells a lot of fantastic armor and weapons.



Including equipment that no one in the party can use. Hm.



Oh yeah, we're actually getting a few dungeons in a row coming up. Best get equipment now.

It's good that I did amass some money before crossing the bridge, since there is no Gad's here (thanks GameFAQs) but I could use more. You know all the nice stuff they gave Lucia right before they took her away? It's worth a lot of money and we have no need for it. So head to the first store I see and sell all that stuff off, right?



In addition to the regular stores, there's also a General Store in town.



?



More puzzling, they don't sell anything. But you can sell.



The general store buys back items at 75% store price, rather than 50%. This normally sells for 1150.



For the first time in the game, I'm pretty much able to buy all the best equipment in one go. I skip arm wear, though, since eventually I ran out of money.



Oh, and here's a "Fortune." That's what the game calls it.





If you can draw "lucky" I've not seen it. I have no idea what this does. It may just be here to trick you out of money.



The town square of Lind looks to have a broken Althena's Statue. Huh. Oh, and each of those Vile Tribe people here talk about how they brought humans here to mine, there's an abandoned mine tunnel, and there are rumors of humans hiding near town, but cannot connect the three facts.



That kind of conflicts with that one scene in Lunar SSSC where one of the Vile Tribe says that even though they hate Althena they need her to survive out in the Frontier but whatever. (The Frontier here doesn't look like the Frontier in Lunar SSSC anyway, it looks more like the Frontier of the original.) I noticed none of the Vile Tribe villagers have individual names. They're all either "Vile Tribe" or "Nameless" here. Also, there are only portraits for one female and one male Vile Tribe.

Anyway, done in town.



Oh, we can go back to Sungrid Bridge?



Not really. There's a lever here, and that's it. I pulled it anyway, but yeah, nothing to do here. We can not go back. If you came into the Frontier with little money, didn't know to keep all that nice equipment, and your equipment is otherwise lackluster? Well, tough titties.

Anyway, a dungeon next time. And then another. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.