Part 38: Preparations

Suikoden 2 Tunes – Secret of the Ninja ~ Rokkaku Village Theme



On our way back, we make another visit to Rokkaku. Things are different with Kasumi in tow. You have to have both Kasumi and a level 3 castle to enter Rokkaku; if you chose Valeria, you won't be able to enter Rokkaku until you get a level 4 castle, near the end of the game.





She asks for some help from Rokkaku. Hanzo wonders if that's Lepant's orders, but she states that it is her decision.



You met Tir all of once, bro



He gives us the other two ninjas in the game, Mondo and Sasuke.



but Mondo, of course, looks super non-ninja like while Sasuke basically came out of Naruto



Sasuke has a bit of a crush on lesbian-Kasumi.



Mondo joins our party. He, Kasumi, and Sasuke have a pretty good Unite together. Mondo's stronger than Kasumi but not as fast. The Mayfly Rune is his unique Rune, and is never found again. It causes 1x damage but can damage a whole row of enemies, then unbalances Mondo. Again, pair him with a Balance Rune.



We also get a free Blinking Rune from this guy. It's not a good Rune, because it's gimmicky. It can either teleport one enemy (or one ally), do 150 non-elemental damage to all enemies (or all allies), or teleport all enemies (or all allies except self). This Rune is improved somewhat in III and IV, but then reduced in usefulness in V.







To get Sasuke to join, though, you have to go talk to him after he's all ashamed by his infatuation with Kasumi.



Rokkaku has a really good trading post that you won't have access to this early if you went with Valeria.





The Mayfly Rune in action. I like it.



They take us back to HQ, but we have some stuff to do before we take on Luca. First, let's steal from our armorer.



Firstly, have one character wearing a piece of armor (preferably the Dragon Armor, but it can be done with any armor). Then, buy the armor. Note that you must have enough money to buy ONE of that armor, but not two.



Select the character wearing the armor and choose either option.



At the confirmation screen, cancel twice. You'll still be at the buy screen.



Select the character with no armor and choose to buy it, you'll see that your potch remains unchanged. Then click that character again, this will bring up the “Put it in bag, or sell it” option. Choose either.



Voila, 999,999 Potch.



Now we go visit Badeaux back at the Greenhill-Matilda forest path. He'll join if you bring Shiro or Mukumuku and have a level 3 castle.



He has a little chat with the guy.



Somehow he can understand what Mukumuku is saying.



Badeaux, as the Native American Stereotype, gives us some crystals which allow us to talk to animals. It's a weird item to give because it's mistranslated in the game. Badeaux calls them the "Hearing Ear Crystals", the game calls them Listening Crystals when we encounter animals, but they're the Mindfulness Crystals in our Key Items.

Two other animals in the game are Stars of Destiny, but there are five in total.



Next we return to Forest Village, where a girl is protecting a wounded griffon.



Apparently these beasts killed her parents, but she refuses to give this one up to the townsfolk.





Ayda is a member of the PETA





The griffon's war cries summoned other griffons, but they're not his friends.





Let real men handle this, sweetheart



ALL ALONE, TOO

they're not really tough, they just hit somewhat hard



After we save them, one of our crystals starts to shine.



: My name is Feather... I will lend you my power...

: That... that voice was... I am Ayda. You are... ?



Ayda is... very fond... of taking breaths... after every noun clause... and decides to join.

You can't get one without the other, so it's a two-piece recruitment.



Then we come back to find a dude selling a lamb has taken their place, for 4,000 potch.



In one of the houses is Connell, who, like Melodye, can change your sound settings. This time, just bring him a Sound Set which you no doubt have if you ran into Elza way back in Muse.



Creepy.

Now we're going to recruit the other squirrels, which are available now. If you didn't get Mukumuku, walk the road between Greenhill and the Muse-Greenhill border until he shows up. The way squirrels work is that they will randomly appear in a battle you're in. You have to finish that battle to get them to join.

Your choices increase when you have more empty slots in your party, so it's ideal to do this alone. BUT you can also do this while standing still, without fighting at all. Just wait around for a bit, then take one step, then check your menu. The game checks at intervals if you have empty slots, and will place the squirrel in your party even if you're not fighting. This does, however, take some time. For me, however, it was instantaneous for all but the last squirrel.



I got Makumaku just by walking around. Seriously. One minute. Makumaku can be found on the road from Greenhill to Two River.



They are all so adorable.



Mikumiku joins between Greenhill and Forest Village.



As you might imagine, the crazy freaky one is the girl. We'll be needing her soon.



Mekumeku joins on the road between Greenhill and the Forest Path to Matilda.



Getting the last squirrel, Mokumoku, to join is a bit more annoying. He only appears in this small clearing south of Forest Village, but for some reason he takes the longest to join.



After a while, I met him. He's the Stupidly High Squirrel.



I have no regrets, this is the best RPG party ever made. From both sides of the ocean.





The five-squirrel unite is the Squirrel Attack. It has a chance of teleporting any enemy off the battlefield, including the final boss.



I LOVE squirrels.



Back in Kobold Village, we use our other Listening Crystal to summon Sigfried, the unicorn. He won't join us unless we have both a crystal and a pure maiden, which can range from characters like Nanami to... well, Mikumiku. They need to be young girls, in general.



She is, understandibly, confused as to why a unicorn wants to get it on with her



Unicorn on flying squirrel action GO!



I know, horse dick really IS large.



Sigfried and Feather are 'large animals'. Large animals take up two spots in your party instead of one; both Sigfried and Feather come with their own unique Runes, too. They're also ridiculously powerful and can make up for the fact that they take up two party member slots.

Feather comes with the Shining Wind Rune, which changes its available command based on what Feather's max magic level is. It will affect one enemy, a row of enemies, or all enemies based on this, but it decreases in damage with each increased level.

Sigfried comes with the White Saint Rune (as well as, potentially, all three Rune slots at level 71). While spectacular to behold, it deals somewhat pitiful Lightning damage.



Unless you chose Kasumi, there's no chance you'll get Bob this early. He requires 80 recruits to join, like Quincy from the first game. Bob is an interesting character.



His stats don't seem impressive, but Rabid Fang is a pretty awesome Rune. Paired with a Fury Rune and Exertion Rune, this can help Bob do incredible damage.

Bob has an issue; his Rune keeps him in human form, but he's actually a werewolf. This happens when his Rune's power weakens (i.e., when we use it). The Rabid Fang Rune doubles his strength and defense, increases his magic defense and speed by 1.5x, adds 50 health regen per turn, and then makes him unable to use Item, Defend, or Rune in his command list. This lasts three turns, then he loses 50% of his health and reverts. This is only usable once in a battle.

There are ways to make this a super-damaging Rune and I'll use Bob before long.

Artwork:



Mondo – Chikou Star



Sasuke – Chikyou Star



Badeaux – Chibaku Star

Native american stereotype who is vegetarian and has a good friend who is a bear near Greenhill.



Connell – Chisa Star

The game's sound setting specialist. He studied phonology in the Crystal Valley of Harmonia. With his knowledge of runes thanks to Runemastery classes in Crystal Valley, he helped protect Teresa during Highland's initial siege of Greenhill.



Ayda – Chisou Star

PETA member who follows in her father's footsteps to be a guardian of the forest.



Feather – Tenman/Tentai Star

A prince of the griffons, but not of those found in Dunan.



Sigfried – Tenman/Tentai Star

Part of a 200 year old myth perpetuated by the Warriors' Village. Only appears when pure maidens are near.



Bob – Chikei Star

Part of a village of lycanthropes once destroyed by Windy. His Rune keeps him in human form, but sometimes it weakens in power...


- Optional Characters –



Makumaku

The strong, silent type of the squirrel squad.



Mekumeku

Best at magic in the squad, always smiling.



Mikumiku

Uses a secret technique called “Pink Flash”.



Mokumoku

Jolly squirrel who loves curry.



Abizboah – Tenman/Tentai Star

A kraken one can find in the Tinto Mines later on in the game. Comes with the Blue Drop Rune, which can inflict damage on one enemy, a row, or all enemies, doing less damage depending on which level used. Works the same as the Shining Wind Rune. Causes immediate unbalance after use.

You can only acquire Abizboah if you only ever recruit Feather. Using the crystals on Sigfried and Abizboah prevents 108 Stars as you can't recruit Ayda without Feather.



Rulodia

Abizboah's wife, found where Abizboah was in the mines after recruiting. Non-star which requires the other Listening Crystal and prevents 108 Stars. Comes with the Blue Drop AND Flowing Runes.



Chuchara

The baby of Abizboah and Rulodia. After acquiring Rulodia, check the docks later. This baby octopi isn't particularly strong in battle.