Part 131: Dog Map, Gigantos

So let's talk Dog Map.

You may remember the Repede Marking Map -- or, pissing contest -- sidequest we started a while ago. If not, we're supposed to have a territory marking battle with Little Wolf.

In practice, this works out like this:



On the world map, you can check which areas are currently under control by whom. Blue is us, red is Little Wolf.



The way to handle this is to tab over to the Field section, and go down the list, one by one. So we start with Mayoccia Plains.



Locate this area on the actual world map.



Make sure the top right corner of the menu has the correct name listed.



Land and use any of the four camping items.



And now this area is under our control, nice!



Repeat that for every field area on the world map, except the few where you can't land. You will have to fight a battle between each two camping item uses.


After a certain amount of areas, a scene will trigger.



Repede...?
Grrrr... Woof woof woof!
Huh...that's...?





(Right, I'm the Little Wolf!)
(Why did you come here?)
(You call that a greeting?)
(After how you've treated me in the past, you expect me to run up to you and lick your face?)
(I see you've already finished marking about half of the places out there as your territory. It looks like I'm going to have to pull out all the stops.)
(Oh? What are you going to do?)
(I'm going to go all out. No more mercy. Just like back in the capital.)
(Wait!)



It's okay! Repede's way too good to be beaten by the likes of him! Isn't that right?

Repede turns away from Karol.

Aww, you don't have to get all embarrassed!
...Not that I really care, but...



Haha, the secret is revealed! Or something. You know, this really doesn't make any sense no matter how you try to interpret it, so just roll with it.


After this, head over to Dahngrest for another scene.



Oh, a cat... ...Meow!



(I've been called that name. Can I help you with something?)
(A vicious dog showed up in town recently, and he's been causing us no end of trouble! He's causing trouble for all of the dogs and cats in town, and the humans, too. Could you please get rid of him?)
(I don't usually do mercenary work, but...)



(...That's him!)
(It's you...!)
(Oh, lookie what the cat dragged in!)
(Stand back, ma'am.)



(Oh, the things some people say. I'm just trying to free this city from the self-serving humans.)
(In our city, humans and animals live together in peace! You should mind your own business!)
(Sucking up to the humans, eh? How pitiful.)
(Sucking up to someone and getting along with them aren't the same thing. But it looks like you never learned the difference, Old Man.)
(As always, you don't know when to keep your mouth shut. How about I shut it for you...for good?)









(As our way of showing our thanks, this town's dogs and cats will work together to make sure your territory around here stays protected.)
(Oh... That'd be real nice of you.)
(It's the least we can do for you, after you made that terrible dog go away.)



Yeah, I think so. Isn't that great, Repede?
Woof!
I'm sure this town's cats don't want it to belong to the likes of the Little Wolf, either.
You know, I have to say... I didn't know all of you were so fluent in the canine language!
Heh heh. That would certainly be a sight to see if it were true.


Now continue with the territory marking.





Once nearly done with the whole world map, head over to Aurnion.








(It looks like you've marked your territory in quite a few places.)
(And now, I'm going to take all of your territory away from you in one swoop.)
(Well then, shall we settle things here and now? If I win, I get to take all of the territory that's currently yours. If you win, I may give you my territory. You could go and take all of it.)
(It sounds like I'm getting the shorter end of the stick, but...)



(If only to keep things interesting.)
(Hmph, enough talk. Let's take this out front!)








What are you carrying in your mouth...?



A trophy, huh...? So your nemesis has been vanquished?
Wooo...




Repede just fucking killed him. What a badass. On a more mechanical note, that means that he now no longer has the ability to take our territory. We're nearly done here.



Finish off the rest of the world map, then go to Zaphias.






I see... Repede's marked the whole world as his territory!
It was nice of you to make a marking map to track Repede's progress, Karol!
It was my pleasure!
Everyone's giving Repede their congratulations for a job well done.
Hey, you're pretty popular, Repede!
Ya, lil' Rita's jealous!
Jealous?! Who is jealous?!
Ease up, Rita. Let's celebrate Repede's victory, too.






And that's it! Unfortunately, Repede doesn't get costumes in the 360 version, so this is just a bog standard title.


While we're doing Repede stuff, there's things we can get over at Rich and Karen's inn.





Wait a second, I just realized... they say in multiple cutscenes that they named this place the King of Adventure, right? Hmm.





...Repede...?
Repede? I can't believe it...
Huh? What do you mean?



You don't say...
Were you the one who named him Repede?
No... It was a name given to him by his previous owner.
...Then he must be...
But...
What is it?
...Hold on...

Rich gets something from the cart and hands it to Repede.



Wooo...
Hey now, what's this all about?
...This is an arte that was given to us by your mother...
You see, Repede was the name of one of the pups of a dog who belonged to an acquaintance of my father. But...after my father's friend died, Repede went missing. Soon after, Repede's mother passed away, and she left behind a manual of technique that she used.
There's still no guarantee that Repede's the same person-- dog, I mean-- as the one in your story. It's still okay if we take that?
...Yes... ...Take it...
Hmmm, yes... Only a dog would be able to use that arte, anyway. And it's only fitting that it be kept by a person-- a dog, that is-- who can use it.
Really... Well then, we'll gladly take it.
Woof!
...But you can't read this, can you?



Okay, okay, I'll help you out.

...







Wooo!



...Yuri, were you up all night too?
Yeah. I'm pooped. Are you happy, Repede?
Wooo!


Repede learns the Shining Fang arte here. In battle it looks like this:







It's kinda like Tempest, I suppose.


There's another scene we can trigger by resting again.





What was that?
Oh my, it looks like some of our things fell from the carriage.



Repede? What's that in your mouth?
Oh, that's the...



That belongs to Repede... That is, the pup of the dog that our father's friend owned. That medal is the mark of a knight's dog. Repede's mother received it from the Imperial Knights. After she died, it was supposed to have been passed on to Repede.
...But no one knew where to find him.
Right. It ended up being entrusted to us, at least until Repede came back. It seems it was mixed up with our bags...
...





Good job, Repede.
...Amazing...



Wait...isn't this important to you?
...He should be the one to have it...
Woof!
Yes... There's no point to us holding onto it anymore... It seems your Repede has taken a liking to it, too.



I guess it's yours then, Repede... It makes you look pretty distinguished.
Woof!

I don't think this key item does anything.


While we're here, we should finish the Giganto sidequest.

If you remember, the Giganto monsters are those big optional kinda-sorta bosses that run around in some dungeons and parts of the world map. There's a total of nine of them, plus two more in the PS3 version.

If you talk to Rich after beating your first Giganto, you get this scene:



Yeah. We ran into it while we were traveling, and somehow we ended up fighting it.
You have my thanks...
We didn't fight the monster to help you. We just happened to run into it by chance.
Even still...thank you. Take this, at least.



All right, if you've given up on trying to beat them yourself. Though I don't agree with relying on others to do your work for you.
...
Well, don't worry about it.


Each Giganto gets you one of these key items, and as far as I can tell, they have absolutely no use.


Each subsequent conversation gets you a shorter version of the scene.



...I must thank you. Please, take this.









The Pterobronc seems to be an exception to the rule here, as you get the Pterobronc Claw from the Guild Quest sidequest line instead of from Rich.


If you talk to him without having beaten any new Gigantos, he tells you where to find them, more or less.



He only tells you those you haven't beaten yet, but here's the full list:

...In the very center of Ilyccia... The Chimera Butterfly lives in a garden hidden in a forest...
...On an island off the northeast coast of Ilyccia...The Fenrir dwells in a grove of shining blue quartz...
...In the southern part of Tolbyccia... The Brutal lurks deep in within a closed off forest...
...On the continent of Desier... The Medusa Butterfly lives in a land of scorching waves of yellow sand...
...On the continent of Desier... Below the central mountains, within a deep hole, lives the Hermit Drill...
...On Desier... The Pterobronc makes its home in the barren mountain range in the northwest...
...On the continent of Yurzorea... The Griffin can be found in a certain field...
...A small island floating in the sea...Poseidon lives in a mysterious undersea palace...
...That is all...

PS3 also has:

...On the continent of Tolbyccia... In a deep forest that births aer dwells the Green Menace...
...On the continuous cliffs of Weccea... Somewhere on top lies the Bloody Beak...


Honestly, none of the remaining Gigantos are very exciting, but here's a quick sorta-montage of all of them.


Chimera Butterfly / Baldurdash








Medusa Butterfly / Baldurdash






Griffin / Baldurdash









Brutal / Baldurdash



This fight is probably the most interesting of all of these, because of the small enemies that come with him. He keeps spawning new ones if you kill them.









Brucis / Baldurdash



And this guy is probably the most difficult, I think he has the most HP and his attacks definitely hit the hardest.













Wait, Bulsis?



Someone was clearly sleeping on the job while translating this Giganto's name.




This is the key item we get for beating the Green Menace, which we did a long long time ago:



And here's the other new Giganto monster, the Bloody Beak:







Bloody Beak / Baldurdash
NOTE: We've changed the English name of Yuri's second Mystic Arte to "Angel's Crest", please ignore the name in the video.

I figured I might as well show off Yuri's second Mystic Arte while I was here. PS3-only, Yuri must have equipped Vesperia No. 2, be in Over Limit 4, then hold both the Attack and Arte buttons while executing an Arcane or Altered Arte. The game must also be in a "clear" state, which I suppose means that the title screen must show the New Game+ option.

































It's pretty cool.


Anyway, the key item for Bloody Beak is the Bloody Eye.






Beating all of the Gigantos gives us an Achievement or Trophy and a skit:


Achievement/Trophy:

Big Game Hunter


Skit: Enjoying Victory / Baldurdash
With that, we've beaten all the world's Giganto Monsters!
I was a little spooked at first, but...we did it.
We probably couldn't have done it if they gathered together like normal monsters.
Maybe they were just really territorial? ...That could have helped us beat them.
And we got a lot of valuable materials, too, since they were a lot stronger than normal monsters.
Yeah. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it!
And defeating all of the Giganto Monsters will help Brave Vesperia's reputation, as well.
How? It's a few monsters in parts of the world people have only heard stories about.
Yeah, these guys aren't the kind ya run across unless ya set out to.
Well, what's wrong with just being happy about it?
You don't seem too happy, Yuri.
Hmm? Yeah... I mean, I feel a sense of accomplishment, but also kind of empty...
Me too... Every time I beat a really tough enemy, I feel a little lonely inside...
...I'm pretty sure that's just the two of you...
These fighting addicts, I swear...



Random fun thing that happened to me in the desert while searching for the Medusa Butterfly





You can shoot those skeletons! And sometimes, you get random herbs if you do that!


Anyway, once we've beaten them all, we can return to Rich and rest for another scene. You might be able to trigger this before beating all of them but I'm not sure.




Why don't you stay and rest? Go on!




...Hmpf...



So you're looking at that sword again...the one that belonged to someone you respect?
...This sword belonged to His Highness Regin, the brother of the Emperor.
Regin...isn't that the "King of Adventure" you mentioned earlier? The one you named your inn after?
...A while back, His Highness led an expedition into the wilderness... ...It was called the Regin Expeditionary Force... ...My father was a member of that force...
So is the expeditionary force still active?
...You don't know...? ...You haven't heard what happened...?
Sorry, I'm not too knowledgeable about famous historical figures.



Ah, Karol mentioned something about that... So you've set out to avenge your father?
...To avenge my father... No, it's nowhere near that noble... ...If I defeat the Giganto Monsters, I can finally go back to my hometown... ...At least, that's what I planned on doing... But these days, we've been reduced to mere wanderers...
What's so bad about that?
...I must defeat the Giganto Monsters... ...Otherwise, we'll never be free...
The Giganto Monsters means too much to you to be able enjoy the wandering life, eh?
...
...I see.


After this, talk to Rich again.




Yeah... We ended up beating them all ourselves.
Thank you...
Thanks to you wonderful people, we can finally go back to our hometown!
...That's true, but... ...Let's keep traveling for a while...
Huh...? Why?! We can finally go home! You can see your father! I'm sure he'll acknowledge our marriage, now!
Huh? Did you just say "marriage?"
...Yes...
But wait...aren't you two brother and sister...?
My father and Rich's father were both members of the Regin Expeditionary Force together. Because of that, the two of us have been friends since we were kids, and we've been as close as siblings.
But you're not actually siblings...

Is this is a Japan thing? I don't even know anymore.



For that reason, he said he would never acknowledge our marriage until we defeated all of the Giganto Monsters.
...And I was planning on doing that, too... ...To fulfill His Highness's lifelong wish...
But defeating a Giganto Monster by yourself? That's insane!
...Yes... It's insane. Suicide, probably. But that wasn't enough to make me stop...
Yuri So you just got into the habit of wandering around... You should've told us all this sooner. You should've asked us for help. We could've gotten it taken care of faster.
...I'm sorry.
...Come on, let's go back. Let's go back to your father...
...Why not just keep things the way they are...? We won't need to be tied down by all the formalities of marriage... ...We can just wander around forever... That wouldn't be so bad, would it? ...Forever, together.
Big brother...
...What the...



...No, that's not true... ...You've brought honor back to my father...and to His Highness Regin as well...
His Highness' biggest hope was that people could live in peace, without having to worry about being attacked by monsters. That's was why he traveled around the world. ♥
...If you ever meet my father in your travels... ...Please tell him that all of the Giganto Monsters have been defeated...



Sure, I can try to remember.
...Really... ...Thank you...
If you're going to thank anyone, you should thank our monster-hunting all-star, right here.
You mean m-me...?
...Such a large weapon for such a small person... ...Fantastic... And still just a boy... ...Truly fantastic... ...You've got potential...
H-heh, thank you!
...It's just like a valiant, unfinished sword...
That reminds me, I've got something for you. Please come with me to the carriage.



Typo, this is supposed to be our crazy italian friend.

He said this is for when I have kids...But I'm not even married yet. ♥
Do you really want us to have this?
Yes, this'll probably be too big for kids, even when I do have them one day.
We must be some special guest to receive this...



It suits you.
Yeah...very kiddy?
If you happen to see our carriage again, please stop by and say hi! We'll always have room for you to stay the night! ♪
Thank you!
No, thank you!



More costumes are always great!


The father is, indeed, in Capua Torim.



I wonder where he could be...
Hey, would you happen to be the father of Rich, by any chance?
You...know Rich?
Yes, we met him while we were traveling.
Where is my son...?



He's on a journey, then... I see... That's why he wasn't in any of the cities.
Oh, but Rich wanted us to tell you... All of the Giganto Monsters have been beaten.
What the... The two of them managed that...?
No, we were the ones who beat them, actually. We even have proof.
These are from the Giganto Monsters... Amazing... This is simply amazing. If you happen to meet Rich again in the course of your travels... Would you mind telling him that I'll allow their marriage? Tell him that he should come back home!
Okay, I will!


And back to Rich to report.




I saw your father... I passed on your message for you.
...Is that so... Thank you...
He says you can come home whenever you want. He'll allow your marriage.
...Is that so... ...Perhaps our wanderings will take us to Capua Torim someday... That would be a good time to visit...
Yes.
You've been unusually quiet, old man.
Whaddaya mean? I'm just a quiet guy!



"What, yer married? I was all ready ta propose an' everythin'!"
Something like that.
Nah, I prefer older, more mature women. You know, like Judith. Ya still don't really get me, Rita. Maybe ya never will.
I don't know why you'd think I'd want to "get" you...


And that's all for today. Next time: The Labyrinth of Memories! Stay tuned!