Part 61: ...and all the rest.

Here we are at last. All the quests have been dealt with. All the characters have been recruited. All that's left is to head back to the secret facility and give Iskas the beating he deserves.

Again.

(Don't worry, he deserves it every bit as much the second time.)



One of the casters was kind enough to show off Earthquake, the only offensive Earth spell in the game. It hits random tiles within its area of effect. This guy didn't hit anyone with it. Laugh at him. I did. After I killed him.



I took some more unloved and underappreciated characters this time.



And cats.

Enemies in here are around level 35, so characters we haven't been using in a while will profit quite nicely from combat in here.



Maxine came along so I could show off Final Flame.



It's noticeably bigger, flashier and stronger than Explosion. That "0" is Iskas being a dick. Despite being less powerful than his digivolved form, the human Iskas is probably worse to fight, given his immunity to all forms of rune-based attacks. His evasion is also really high, so killing him is more or less a matter of how much the RNG likes you today.



Not sure what the flying things are supposed to be, but they look kinda neat.



S-ranking this map gives you a very nice item.



Which I'll show off once Fishskas stops fucking around.



So here's the stuff. In addition to the stats, it also protects you from sleep, stun and silence. You could argue that it beats Simeon's Spellbook for the "last really good S-rank" title, but then again it's the final boss. What are you going to use it against?



Even with the Evil Eye Kyril has to kill, I still consider Iskas the real final boss.



He's protected by a lot of fishmen, and I do mean a lot of fishmen. Many of them are casters, too, so the opposition is pretty threatening.



Fishskas' main means of attack is a lightning bolt two tiles wide and five tiles long.



It also changes the terrain, including the one he's standing on. This is a huge annoyance because as you can see, he's lightning elemental and he's quite tanky even without the buff from +Affinity terrain. He still dodges a lot, too, but that's not so much of an issue here since he'll now take damage from runes, and those don't miss.



He can also move, but he doesn't just waddle around the place - I guess they figured that'd make it too easy to box him in, given he takes up four tiles. He might be reduced to just hitting one character at a time!



So instead, he jumps.



This gives him a rather painful amount of reach, and you can easily get several characters caught in his AoE. He also has a physical attack, a swipe across the two tiles directly in front of him, but he doesn't use it much. It's a good idea to bring some lightning elemental people so they'll at least benefit a little from his shenanigans.



The thing in the back will keep altering the elemental tiles on the floor just like in the first fight, but the caster fishmen will try to keep Iskas on his favoured terrain. It's actually pretty hard getting in decent damage on him. Spreading some Mother Earth beads around the party definitely helps.



And of course the fishmen are replaced if he starts running out.



Stomp!



Zap!



No matter what you do, there's always more.



By the way, this is a regular attack with the Hand of God.



Now I'm just killin' some time... and some fishmen too while I'm at it.



Here's what I was waiting for. It can't be healthy for Rene to run around inside that glow, but eh, it's the last map so she's not going to be useful after this anyway.



And now we have two! But unlike the bracelet, Kyril can't equip these and use them against the final boss, so it's kind of even more pointless.



Okay you can fuck off now.



The last level of the LP!



Then everything else plays out just the way it did last time, and it's back to the title screen for us.



I didn't show this off when I started because I had so many images in the first part already, but the PAL version of Tactics, just like IV, lets you pick both language...



...and display mode. Handy, I guess. Though, the language setting only affects the text, not the voice acting.



All right, now we get the title screen.



As you might expect, this is the one we want.



Just like IV, Tactics gives you a cutscene skip function on the second cycle, and just like IV, it leaves the instructions on the screen. Seriously Konami, this is not necessary.



Another thing I didn't show off before is this. I always play with it on Fast, but the lower levels...



...will cause this window to pop up even when the enemies attack you. I don't see the point, but some might enjoy it.



It's also possible to turn off the coloured shadows that identify which team units belong on. They're pretty convenient so I like to keep them on, but again, some may disagree.



You don't keep your skill points when you start over, but you do get to keep the skill ranks you had when you ended the game, as well as your money.

You're still limited in how far you can increase your skill levels, however - if you know you want to use a character on the second run that you didn't on the first, make sure to upgrade their skills before beating the game, or they'll be stuck with D-ranks until you can gather enough recruits.



You also keep, to the best of my knowledge, all your items this time, including ones that were equipped on someone when you won. Have fun soloing the game, Andarc.



Camp scenes can also be skipped now! Which is really handy for getting rid of the "Kyril staring at the fire" scene you get if no one has anything to say when you rest.







Oh yeah, and I picked up this since I was passing by anyway.



It's another one you can't equip. Regardless, you can still only have one of each S-rank award.



Let's move ahead a little. This scene plays out just like it did before, but...



...at the end, Lalacle suddenly becomes a playable character out of nowhere!



So here's some artwork.



Lalacle is the second and last fist user in the game, and she's basically everything Karl wanted to be. She has excellent mobility (6 natural MOV, with Godspeed and Extra Move available) and over all great stats. I'd have preferred if Karl weren't so horrible, personally, but if you want a fist fighter, at least there's one who isn't terrible.



Oh, and of course she can use this.



Looks okay, I guess.



Yup, definitely okay.



Lalacle has no special lines, no good will, and no supports. But if you're using her, well, you're already far too powerful to need any of that.



Fun fact: ending the Underground Path map quickly gets you a bonus item! But you most likely aren't going to see it on your first run, and on the second, you probably have more than enough of them anyway.



You also keep your support levels, though you have to re-learn your unites. Here's something we haven't seen before!

What do you mean?

You're not as, I dunno... "dark" as you used to be. You're not so obsessed anymore.

What?! Please don't think I'm just cavorting around, having the time of my life! I still reflect on my past mistakes...

No, that's not what I meant at all! It's just... I was just trying to pay you a compliment, you big dummy.



Somehow, I think they'll turn out all right.



We can also pick up our pirates in a different order.

Yeah.

Don't be so cold! We jumped at yet call, didn't we?!

Sorry about that. It's just that I want to have Kyril and his friends meet the King of Obel as soon as I can. You guys want to come too?

Of course.

Oh yeah, let's go!



And that's that!



Like before, I'll leave you with my memory card from this playthrough; like before, it contains saves between most of the important parts of the game, as well as the clear data.

There is also the matter of the book I've been getting the character artwork from. I can't read it, but it contains a four page "creators interview" which I've scanned. If you understand Japanese, you might get something out of it: 1 2 3 4

Beyond that, I don't think there's much left to say.



This has been Suikoden Tactics! I hope you've all enjoyed the thread, and I'll see you next time.