Part 2: Introductions, Part 1

Introductions, Part 1

Music: Spring


Link it is!


And what kind of Link would we be without a sword? Long Swords have high reach & relatively high damage, but attack slowly.


If you say so.

You think so?
Yes, I do! Anyway, please come by my house later, Link. I have more to tell you, but I need to set up my shop first.
Okay! I'll come see you later! Um, where is your house, by the way?
Well, if you go down from here, there will be three stores. The middle store is where I live, the flower shop. There are flowers all around it, so you should be able to tell which house is mine right away.
Okay!
By the way, I'm not being too overbearing, am I?

Yes, you are. Please go away and never talk to us again.

No! Of course not!
That's good to hear. Well, I'll be going then.
Okay! Thanks so much for everything!
It was my pleasure. Well, if you'll excuse me then.


Naturally, I'm going to avoid Shara as long as possible. This here is the shipping bin. Stuff gets tossed in it, money appears later.


Here's the inventory & status screen. Link's not much to look at now, but that'll change.


We start with two rune abilities. One is teleport, a convenience spell that instantly sends us back to a dungeon entrance, our home, or our room(depending on where we are when we cast it). The other is Transform, which does what it says here. The game is really, really not trying to hide the YOU CAN BECOME A SHEEP plot twist.


This is all that happens if we try to use it right now, though. We'll see it in action relatively soon.


This is the skill screen. There are skills for everything. We only have the walking skill right now, but as we do things we'll get skills for everything from farming to sleeping. Each skill raises a few stats, and skills directly applicable to an action tend to make you better at that action - combat skills increase damage and reduce RP consumption when you attack, cooking skill raises success rate in recipes, etc.


A listing of the various townspeople and their affection towards us. Each one has a blurb that I'll be listing along with their introduction. As for the ones we already have:

Raven: Likes to keep to herself, and doesn't interact much with other people. Has a warm side to her. Family: None.
Gaius: The town blacksmith. Loves forging weapons and items. A dwarf. Family: None.


Tilling, planting, and skilling happens.


I get a head start on clearing the field, and conveniently get actual vegetable seeds out of it. Pink Turnips are a basic spring crop - they grow quickly, but aren't worth a whole lot.


One handy feature of RF3 is the ability to stack like items as you pick them up. I get a couple more Pink Turnip seeds for my trouble.


Watering my plots may have been a waste of time - weather can change throughout the day, and it started raining. On the other hand, I got that sweet sweet xp for it, so I shouldn't complain too much.

Enough fucking around. Let's explore the town.


Generic NPCs pop up & generally provide game mechanic tips or useless flavor text. They're also not what I'm out here for.


This interesting-looking place is directly to the right of the farm.


I warned you about the characters.

The bath's over there! C'mon in! The water's fine!
Whoa.



I'm really sorry about that. Here, come this way!
Wait, what?! Not you too!
Sakuya! Don't you DARE steal him! He's MINE!
What are you talking about? He clearly came to stay at my place!
*sob sob*
Oh, come on now, Pia...don't cry...hey, let's do this, then! He can stay at my place, and then he can take a bath later on! How does that sound?
That works!
Great!
Uh...don't I get a say in all this?



It's great that the two of you are so enthusiastic about your jobs, but you shouldn't put so much pressure on the customer like that.
Sorry for fighting over the customer.
Dang! And I'd concocted the perfect plan, too!
Sakuya...
Um, never mind. Forget I said anything.
I'm very sorry about that, sir. Let me take this time to formally welcome you to the Miyako Inn. We have fantastic food and a wonderful bath. Please, do not hesitate to use any of our facilities.
My bath's open from to 10AM to 10PM! I better see ya there later! 10AM to 10PM! Ya better not forget!
Oh, my daughter also sells some odd things at her shop. Please, take a look.
Hey! What do you mean, "odd things"?!
I sell things I find on my trips. The products change daily, so be sure to stop by every day!
Um, okay...I'll be sure to check it out.


Well that sure was a thing. Now, although we've gotten this cutscene, we have to talk to each of them again to be properly introduced. I'm getting this out of the way now instead of having to chase them down again later. And the game will make you chase them down later if you miss this step.



Oh, are you the guy who moved into the Sharance Tree?
That'd be me.
Ah, my intuition was right! My name's Sakuya. Nice to meet you!
I'm Link. Nice to meet you!
Anyway, that was so mean of Shara...
Huh? What was?
We could've had an extra customer if she'd had you stay here instead of in that tree.
I...I guess that's true.
Well, I'll just have to talk to Shara later.
Huh? Talk to her about what?
To make sure she recommends our inn from now on!
Ah...gotcha.
Well, I hope you stop by our inn soon! See you later!


Sakuya is the mandatory Vaguely Chinese Bachelorette. She's relatively sane, especially compared to Pia. Not that it's hard to be saner than Pia.



Word must get around fast! Yeah, my name's--
It doesn't matter what your name is! But I'm Pia! I own the fantabulous Paradise Bathhouse! It's strange though, isn't it? There aren't any dice anywhere!
I don't think it's a pair of---
Oh, never you mind that! Time to get you in the bath!
This second?!
Duh, this second! You look, uh, haggard or something!
It's okay. I'm doing fine, really!
Really? You sure you don't need even a TINY little scrubbing?
Yes. VERY sure.
Just you wait. You can't evade our scrubbings forever!
Uh, if you say so.

The bath recovers our HP and RP to full, so we'll probably end up here eventually. Unlike RF4, there's no separate Bathing skill to incentivize baths beyond that.

I know so! Oh, and I guess it does matter what your name is! After all, I'm gonna need to log your visit later!
Heh! I'm Link.
Gotcha! Nice to meet you, Link!
Nice to meet you too. And I'll let you know when I'm ready for a bath!

Pia's...Pia. I really have no better way to describe her.

Get your mind out of the gutter.


That's right.
My name is Shino. Shinonome, actually, but I go by Shino for short. It's nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too. By the way, how did you know my name?
Oh, it's a small town. Word of a new resident spreads fast.
That makes sense.
I run the inn here in town. If you ever feel tired, please come by and have a rest.
Sounds good. I'll be sure to do that.
We'll be waiting!


Shino rules, but is sadly not datable.


Now that we're properly introduced, I can get regular conversations out of everyone here.

Don't hesitate to ask me any questions you have, Link. For example, how to use your weapon properly.
Uh...Wh-Why would you know anything about using weapons...?



Ah, that raccoon! He ripped up the tour guide plans I worked all night on! I was so close!

Raccoon problems? Hmm.



Man, I love fish SO much!


Link may not remember who he is, but he remembers how much he likes fish!

Mmm...Nothing beats fishsticks!
You sick freak! Fish aren't food!
Uh...what's the matter with fishsticks?

Uh...okay, let's pretend we just think fish are cute this time.


Just...don't question her, okay.


This diner is right next door to the bathhouse/inn.


Is the High Orc Rice made with high orc meat, or

Great, but I STILL don't think that'll be enough!
My compliments to the chef! This is truly an abomination!
That means a lot coming from you, Sherman. Enjoy your meal! Oh, and Collette? Might help to actually chew this time.
Oh, that's such a waste! But I'll try. Now gimme gimme gimme!


I heard that, Rusk! And it's like I keep telling you! It's called having a lightning-fast metabolism! I can't help it! I need to EAT!
(Hmph. I prefer quality over quantity.)

At least the food is good? Or an abomination? Maybe both? Let's talk to the chef and see what's going on here.



Wow! Word spreads fast. Yeah, I'm Link. Nice to meet you!
Heh. I got my ear to the ground in town. The name's Blaise. I'm the head chef here at Blaise's Diner. If you want some home cookin', you're always welcome here.
Good to hear! I'll definitely be stopping by later!
See ya around, kid!


Blaise is a pretty alright dude, although he has nothing interesting to say right now.



Uh, down? Down where?
Down in an eating contest, duh!
Uh...with you? You really think that's a good idea?
Don't look at me like that, buddy! It's called a fast metabolism!
Don't look at you how? I don't even know what you're talking about!
Liar! I see you giving me the evil eye! You're just jealous of my metabolism!
Uh, no, I can honestly say I've never been jealous of anyone's metab--
I can see it in your eyes! I can see it in everyone's eyes! They all want my metabolism! Well, I'm not sharing!
Uh, OK. I won't ask for your metabolism, then. You can feel secure with that knowledge.
Good! You better not look at my metabolism that way again, buddy! So, you a traveler or something, or are you new around here?
I just moved into that big tree. I'm Link!
I'm Collette. I'm usually here at Blaise's Diner working...or EATING!
Heh. Sounds like I should stop by here when I'm hungry, then!
Sounds good! Just don't think you can outeat me!
Heh. I won't even try, if that helps! ...Wow...Did she really finish off 10 more plates?!


Guys, I'm getting the impression she might like food.


I'm also getting the impression this raccoon is a plot point.



What?! Um...have we met somewhere before?.
Yes. I'm Sherman. What's your name?
Umm...Link.
Oh, Link. Well, starting today, we aren't acquaintances.
What?!
It's not nice to meet you, Link.
Um, m-me, too...?


Sherman is another once-a-game RF character, in this case, a member of the Sainte-Coquille family. They all look suspiciously similar. Sherman's gimmick will definitely not be annoying to deal with, and it never gets old.



Food, odious food! Clammy sausage and custard!
A catchy tune, yes? It is my magnum opus, young squire.

That's nice, Sherman. Let's go talk to a less crazy person.



Link. I just moved into the Sharance Tree. I hope we can be friends.
Oh, I see. I'm Rusk. It looks like we're around the same age. So let's keep it casual.
Alright, well, it's nice to meet you, Rusk.
Yeah, same here. I'm usually here at the diner, so come by to see me sometime.
Yeah, I'll do that.


Eat your fucking vegetables, Rusk.


Eat. Your. Vegetables.

Next time: More villagers.

Let me know how you feel about the pace - future days will be less packed with stuff, but I don't want to overwhelm people right off the bat.