The Let's Play Archive

Tales of Graces f

by wdarkk

Part 54: CH52A: Advanced Sidequests and Sdragons 2nd Edition, Skills and Powers

CH52A: Advanced Sidequests and Sdragons 2nd Edition, Skills and Powers




Skit: Just Between Us Guys


: With...Cheria?
: I fear that's too subtle for my brother to follow.
: I'm lost. Do you know what he's talking about, Hubert? Because I really don't.
: Perhaps my poor teaching skills are to blame for this.
: If there's something you want to ask, just come right out with it!
: I'll see you gentlemen outside.
: Oh, wait for me.
: Captain! Oh, hell. There's no toilet paper. ...Captain? ...Hubert? ...ANYBODY?!



Skit: Ulterior Motives


: Yeah. Cheria was angry.
: Wh-Why are you bringing that up? Back then, I was just... Well...
: Actually, I was the one who sent Cheria over here.
: You?
: That's right. He demanded that I go check up on you!
: As I recall, it was you who came to me with some plan about aiding the relief effort.
The relief organization is really one of the main missed opportunities of the game's plot. It's basically Cheria's attempt at being relevant to the wider plot other than being Asbel's friend/would-be-lover, and it's kind of just plain not there other than that one scene at Wallbridge earlier.
: That's Cheria. She could never turn her back on someone in need.
: Oh...y-yes. Thank you.
: But was that really your only reason? I'm beginning to wonder.
: Ah!



Skit: The Abridged Version


: That's right, this is where we first met! Hey, how did you get out here from the Amarcian enclave, anyway?
: Well, I left the enclave and headed straight.
Then I hit a dead end. So I backtracked until I found a four-way crossing and then-
: Um...I don't need the details. Maybe just a summary?
: Oh, if that's all you wanted, you should have said so!
Yeah, so basically I left the enclave, yadda yadda yadda, and then I met you guys!
: That's not it either.
: Geez! Picky...
All right, so I met you on the 652,331st step of my trip.
: That's enough.



Skit: Cheria's Awakening


: Yeah, and I needed the Captain's help with everything.
: Not necessarily. That dormant power of Sophie's sure came in handy back then, didn't it.
: My power?
: I was attacked by a monster, and it triggered your power.
: I'm glad I was able to protect you.
: Come to think of it, what about you, Cheria? What made your powers become active?
: My grandfather...slipped a disk in his back.



Skit: Kicking Butt, Taking Names


It's hard to tell but this isn't Wallbridge, it's the bridge crossing the Fendel/Lhant border.
: What is it now?
: Lately we've been kicking butt against all kinds of monsters!
: I'm not so sure that's true. It may simply be your own perception.
: But the injuries we've suffered are way down!
: (Hmm... She acts like she pays no attention to others, but clearly she does.)
: Cheria's practically useless these days. There's nothing to heal!
: H-Hey! I heard that!
: (Yet her failure to turn that awareness into actual consideration is a concern...)



Skit: All Class


: Thank you, Captain. But have you ever considered fighting with a sword yourself?
: I used to use a sword back in the day, but I gave it up for my own reasons.
: (Another painful memory?)
: Sooo why'd ya give it up?!
: P-Pascal!
: I gave it up so I wouldn't be expected to teach it. Sword training's mandatory, so there were a lot of students.
: Ugh.



Skit: A Mother's Pride


Yeah we're back in the Fendel Heat Ray Cannon dungeon.
: Pascal, you look sleepy.
: Harrrgahuzzulwoozlaboom...
: Oh, I see. Okay then.
: Sophie, you understood that?
: Yes.
: I said I was up all night building a bomb.
: Oh, so that's what you were... Wait, what?!
: Geez, Cheria! It was a joke!
: Yeah, geez, Cheria.
: This must be how it feels to realize that your child is all grown up...



Skit: What Goes Thump in the Night


: It might be your posture. Are you sleeping in weird positions?
: Pascal was talking in her sleep again last night. She's always very loud.
: Oh, what'd I say, what'd I say? Tell me now!
: I've never met anyone who was so excited about talking in their sleep.
: You were casting artes.
: In my sleep? Man, I am good!
: And the cryas artes actually worked.
: Oh my gosh! Her artes must be the loud noises I keep hearing in the middle of the night! Amazing...
: No, it's not the artes.
: Huh, I don't follow.
: The noise is me smacking Pascal around to stop her artes.
: Oh, I get it. So THAT'S why my head always hurts! Thanks, Sophie!
: It's no problem at all.
: Wow. I have no idea what the proper etiquette is for this situation.
: You use a mouthpiece to prevent that, at least with mana-based magic. Mithos had one.



: They confronted another of the Valkines's protectors.


OK time to fight another dragon. This is the one that was hitting me for about 17k before, so I need a plan (although I probably should have just waited or dropped the difficulty).


Phase 1.


Phase 2. Depending on how these stack exactly I could be dropping the damage I take by as much as 75%. Of course, there's a slight problem here.




It still hurts, but it's not all one-shots anymore.


On the other hand, we've got to do 1.8 MILLION DAMAGE now.


This spell was actually added for Malik in the PS3 version, along with another kind of useless one I'm not sure we'll see.


It's called Eleth Flare.


It blasts a huge area with all 3 kinds of Eleth.


Also I've finally gotten good-ish at using Pascal. It's too bad I'm just using her "best purchasable weapon" as opposed to an ultimate weapon.


Malik's using his L3 Mystic Arte. Pretty sure everyone has different portraits for their L3 vs L1-2 MAs. Not sure if I mentioned it, but it comes from the scene with Kurt's Pendant at the grave.




Hit 'em with ice.


Send out your Bladerang to create a tornado.


And then it's time to colony drop a sucka. I'm kind of sad there's no Char Anzible emote.






Don't forget to catch your Bladerang.


The fire is supposed to look blue, but to me it looks black.


: Huh, Cheria is the Indignation user? I'd have figured it'd be Malik.






Hey remember THAT BOAR? I sure do, and so did whatever fuck designed this fight.




His spell.



His pulse-breath thing is way worse than the previous one.


If it doesn't kill you, it inflicts freeze on you.


This was pretty bad, but an elixer saved my ass.


Sophie's MA now. Reminder that she got this from the ghost girl quest.





Sophie fires lasers...






...then becomes more lasers...




...then materializes...


...in order to deliver a crotchstab.




That doesn't LOOK like a water spell. LAZY!


Anyway I won after what felt like a goddamn hour.




: The Valkines guardians honestly really sucked at their jobs. Then again the whole system they were part of was half-assed as a backup to the Protos Heiss thing, but... Sorry I'm rambling.


: I am Duplewyrm... One of the Chroma Dragons, and guardian of eleth...
: You protect the valkines cryas?
: The core of this world produces a nearly unlimited supply of eleth. However, some new evil now threatens this production. This cannot be allowed to continue. We must unite our power and eliminate the threat with all speed...
: Wait. This threat you speak of...is our friend.
: Unless the end of all life on this world is your goal, let not friendship lure you into complacency. It will take but a few short years for all of the eleth to vanish.
: We can't let that happen. Without a functioning valkines, Strahta will wither and die. Strahta took me in when my own home rejected me. I will not abandon her to ruin.
: Hubert, we-
: I know how you feel, Asbel. But if it comes to Strahta or Richard, my choice is already made.
: If you swear to do what must be done in my stead, then I beg of you to make haste. Even now, time grows short.
: We will restore the valkines cryas. This I swear.
: Then this is yours for the taking...
Now go. And do not be distracted by humans' petty eleth squabbles. For if our master is forced to awaken, we will have far worse matters to contend with...
We get another Cryas, but it's a key item with no obvious place for using it.



Mystic Arte Exhibition!
OK I'm going to show off the other Level 3 Mystic Artes since we've got them all.


Asbel's L3 comes from the Excalibur quests.






First you tenderize the monster with some kicks/punches/jabs with the sword's pommel.


Then it's time for the anime cliche of "slashing a dude 20 times between one frame and the next."




You thought I was just making that "20 times" bit up? Look at the hits counter.


Also we get a good look at our legendary sword.





Cheria gets hers from the beach resort. I guess she learned to channel her frustrations into...


...knife throwing...


...and STOPPING TIME TO MURDER PEOPLE.




I'm not saying this is ripped off from a certain Touhou character.






But sometimes I wonder.





Hubert gets his MA from the Oswell Family Vault.






This is one of I think two moves where he uses the two halves of the Dualblade as blades separately, the other one being Dualblade Dance.


This is the only place you get a good view of the conversion to pistol mode.










Reminder that Hubert made this weapon based on a comic book, as a teenager.