Part 37: Fanservice
no one's going to agree with me after this update, but you know whatI don't care
this whole arc is so goddamn pointless to me
I mean, it's not AS pointless as a later arc, but this one... man. Talk about depreciating Suikoden I.
SO before you read any of this update, listen to this, keep calm and carry on
Suikoden 2 Tunes – Confrontation with Monsters, Again (must listen, remix of the first game's battle theme)
On our way to Banner Village, we fight fearsome Asian triplets. These three can work together if we give them the chance, but they have low HP. RinRin, on the far right, drops the Barrier Rune (the only place to get it). The Barrier Rune increases your Magic Repel % by your MGC stat divided by 10. So if you have an innate 3% MagicRepel from the Fish Badge, for example, and your MGC stat is 100, you'll have a 13% Repel rate with this Rune equipped.
TenTen, on the far left, drops Ninja Suits. These can only be found here and in the rope climbing game and are great for some characters.
I like that they use the same weapon as the main character from the first game. Don't know why.
we also climb up some ladders...
There's also demon samurai up here. Their charged sword attack can unbalance your front lines.
Oh and Simone throws three roses when he attacks, it's so fruity.
There's also sabretooth tigers for some reason. They attack twice, and are fairly strong. They drop Window Set #1, which like many things in this game, is buggy. Particularly with the next Window Set, so it's preferable that when you get the chance to acquire #2, that you do so immediately.
Through a hidden path towards the end of the forest is Rokkaku, but we can't enter here whatsoever. You'll remember that Rokkaku is the hamlet that Kasumi, Hanzo, Kage and Fuma hail from in the first game.
yes (then we get escorted out)
also I love how Hanzo got demoted and no longer has a portrait
This is Clay Guardian, from the Earth Rune. It actually works in this game.
Surprise! Filler easy as shit boss.
The worst part is that you can unbalance the boss. Lame.
Here's Canopy Defense, the third spell from the Earth Rune. It repels magic for everyone 1 time 100% efficiency. Not that I need it.
I mean really
S'up Varkas?
Varkas offers to escort us to Gregminster. You can't actually explore the first game's world map again, as Varkas just teleports us there.
Suikoden 2 Tunes – A Song in Praise of Peace (must listen, duh, first game OST superiority)
My, isn't that a familiar room?
: To think that we're in the Scarlet Moon Empire... I mean, the Toran Republic, it makes me nervous.
: Hmph, I can't believe he's keeping his own son waiting like this.
why are you here ugh
Lepant at least gets a portrait. Alen and Grenseal on the sides, Tesla to the right.
>>> Forging a State with you.
: … Lord Azure, when this land was ruled by the Scarlet Moon Empire, we fought constantly with the City-State. Even after the Toran Republic was established, we fought with the armies of Tinto and South Window, who invaded in an attempt to take advantage of our internal discord. And despite all this, you seek to form a State among such long-standing enemies?: If Luca Blight succeeds in destroying the City-State, the Toran Republic will be his next target.: This Luca fellow does seem to have an unquenchable thirst for battle.
: But Luca Blight seeks nothing less than the destruction of all citizens of the City-State. I will do anything for the people of South Window. So please, I beg of you, consider our request.
Lepant tells us that we remind him of the old hero, Miles. And that he should be sitting on this throne.
: Tesla, how many men can we deploy immediately?
: Then there's the matter of who will lead them...
So we get a choice here. Both of these characters occupy the same slot, but different Stars. Though you can Gameshark both in, I don't want to.
Valeria hasn't changed much since the first game. She's an incredible fighter and her Falcon Rune, when paired with the Fury and Exertion Rune, can break the damage limit in the game thanks to an added critical hit feature. Her war unit is a cavalry one, which is why most people choose her. Also, you can go recruit Anita in Banner Village very easily if you have Valeria in your party. They have a Unite.
We're going with butch-cut lesbian Kasumi, though. She's been incredibly nerfed in this game, as her weapon was reduced to S-range from L-range. She retains her decent Shrike Rune.
Kasumi leads a much less awesome infantry unit with the Scout ability (same as Emilia's Investigate). However, she allows us access to Rokkaku early, as well as a couple recruits MUCH earlier.
Lepant finally gives us the Blinking Mirror, so we can use Viki more often.
Sheena also gets forced on us, much like how he was dragged along in the first game if you sought him out.
: Learn from Lord Azure's example and end your childish behavior. And don't come back until you do.
Despite her range downgrade, she's still got high Technique and unbelievable Speed. We're immediately booted out following this, so before I head back into Gregminster let's talk.
I told you to note a picture from the previous update, specifically, this one:
There is no readily available answer for Lepant's decision aside from “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” logic when giving 5,000 troops to an enemy, the City-State. Toran has several natural fortifications, if we were to approach this geographically, particularly the Southlands that exists just past Moravia Castle.
One river flows from Toran to Dunan, in the top left. There has been absolutely zero mention of Highland possessing a naval fleet, particularly because the region that Highland is situated in is nowhere near any major bodies of water, aside from the eastern ocean and one small river that flows down to Toto. On top of that, a large chunk of Dunan is inaccessable by water, making conquest slow down as much as it has in this game. We know from the first game that Sonya Schulen went from an Imperial General for the Scarlet Moon Empire to a Great General of the Toran Republic, specifically for its naval division. We know that she's battle-tested and has supreme skill with naval warfare. Therefore, if they were to come down on boats to Toran, Sonya would be incredibly effective with handling them.
This leaves one mountain and forest path for the soldiers to march through, inhabited by Amazonian women, sabretooth tigers and samurai, as well as the hamlet of Rokkaku and all of its ninjas. Their forces would be narrowed considerably and have little ingress into Toran. This doesn't cover the fact that most of Toran is surrounded by impassable mountain ranges.
This is ignoring the fact that Toran just has 5,000 men to easily deploy at any time. This tells me that the Toran Republic is a country with an absolute fuckton of soldiers, as well as the Dragon Rune and all of the Rune users who stayed behind to fight in the army. Not to mention that if Toran was threatened, the hero from the first game would most likely step in and fuck shit up with the Soul Eater if push came to shove.
It's supremely difficult to just suspend my disbelief by assuming Luca Blight would mop the floor with Toran, a country with a ridiculously strong government, weathered battle generals, nature, and people behind it. I don't buy it, and I doubt I ever will.
Suikoden 2 Tunes – The Even More Glorious, Beautiful Golden City (I don't have to say anything, just listen)
Anyway, Gregminster! Lots of Suikoden references here, obviously.
Ah, okay, it was three years between the two games. Now I know for sure. The item shop sells another Recipe and Wing Boots in its Rare Finds. The armor shop sells Main Gauches (Mangosh) in their Rare Finds, as well as top-tier equipment like Dragon Armor that WILL show up in our army HQ now.
The Rare Finds in the Runeshop has both the Mother Earth and Flowing Runes. Awesome.
There's a Key Item to be found back in the castle. I'll explain what it does later.
There's a bust of the hero, his outfit, his weapon, and Gremio's axe, where Kraze's room used to be.
Everyone namedrops everyone in this area, so you can find out what some of the other characters from the first game are doing.
To the left of the golden statue is Lorelai, just hanging around.
She checks us out like she checked Miles out in the first game. She'll join if your castle is level 3, and because of the Sindar Ruins she heard about near Muse. Her story, along with one other character's, is tied to finding out the elusive mystery of the Sindar. And failing, since we're still just as clueless now as we ever will be about it.
Lorelai is above average, not spectacular. Her Draining Rune (it's not fixed) heals HP equivalent to 1/3rd of the damage she deals with a critical, so pair it with a Killer Rune for her to do more damage. She also took on Kirke's old weapon (while not identical in look, they have the same name), and so she's now Medium range.
you weren't important enough to get a portrait
so are you, but thanks for the Cyclone Rune!
Meet Gordon, one of the most annoying recruits in the entire series. He's a trader who opens up a post in your HQ, but you need to make a 50,000 potch profit trading to do so. Considering item availability and prices fluctuate all the time, and you don't have access to the Blinking Mirror until JUST before you meet him, you might have to make several annoying trips to Gregminster to fulfill his requirement.
Luckily, I've gamed the system.
why are you talking to your son who is facing the wall, why is your son facing the wall and having a conversation with you
Sonya's old place is still available for you to peruse.
And we can still look at her diary.
Lotte needs to put a tracking device on her cat
hello there Teo's mansion
you weren't important enough to get a portrait too
and your fucking diary is still locked.
Pahn's diary still talks about food.
huh... stew's still boiling here. Interesting. I also didn't know that Gremio slept in the room just south of here, as evidenced by the bookcases talking about food.
To my son, to the Empire!
I mean seriously
I bet she gives her cat massages
if you didn't remember who the Six Great Generals of the Republic are, this boy lists them off for you. I bet Luca would be able to take down all of them. Oh yeah, for sure.
I believe this must be Mathiu's place, or at least where the children he taught must have relocated, because the boy mentions something about Seika.
And that's Milich's mansion, but we can't enter it.
Next time: The coolest part of the entire game.
Artwork:
Sheena – Chimei Star
Still an uberperv with a huge hardon for Apple. He now wields his dad's old sword.
Kasumi – Chikyu Star
We'll be bringing her along for a sidequest later for some story fluff.
Lorelai – Chikatsu Star
Gordon – Chikou Star