Part 33: Keiv Moc Part 1
Skit: What's the Don Like?
What about the person who controls the Union? What is Don Whitehorse like?
In a word, big. Big voice, big body, big everything!
We already know what he looks and sounds like. We saw him, remember?
Oh yeah, that's right. Well... He's a really cool person!
Does that answer your question, Estelle? It's clear that Karol has a lot of respect for the Don...
But that's about the only thing that's clear...
He's so cool that it can't be expressed in words!
We'll just leave it at that, then.And with that, we'll enter the Forest of Keiv Moc.
Watch the cutscene!
Yeah, but it doesn't exactly look healthy for them to be this overgrown.
It's just like you said, Karol. It's like what happened at Heliord when the blastia went berserk.
What the hell are you doing in a place like this?
Ya know, out for a forest stroll, takin' in the nature...
Something smells fishy...
What? Where's my welcome?
Aw, ya don't mean that. I can come in handy ya know. ...You're not thinking of coming with us, right?
Of course! It's lonely bein' out here all by my lonesome. What, no dice?
You'd better watch your back. If you try anything funny, you're dead.
Yeah, the stench is sort of coming off of you in waves.
I can't take responsibility for what I'll do if you make any sudden moves. Don't forget that.Hell yeah Raven! Raven is awesome, and pretty fun to use in battle if you ask me. He's a bow-user, secondary weapon knives. He also gets a few Wind-elemental spells. He comes with the following weapons pre-equipped, as well as some other Skills already learned:
Recover
Defend: Physical Defense +5%
Resist: Magical Defense +5%
Change Style: This is a pretty unique skill, it changes Raven's normal attack from shooting with his bow to hitting them with
Backstep
Guard Plus: Decreases damage taken while guarding.
Pre-learned:
Strength: Physical Attack +5%
Magic: Magical Attack +5%
Critical Guard: Dash towards enemy while guarding by pressing forward, may nullify enemy damage if performed at the right time.
Magic Guard: Block spells by holding down while guarding.
Magic Guard Plus: Reduces damage recieved during Magic Guard.
Vitality: Max HP +200
In-battle, Raven mostly attacks long-range using his bow, his normal attack. There's no limit on arrows.
If he's close to an enemy (and has the Change Style skill equipped), he attacks by hitting them instead.
On the Arte side, he comes with:
Rain, which fires an arrow. If the arrow hits an enemy whose guard is currently broken - that is, he was guarding, but someone hit him enough times to break his guard - it'll cause an explosion. This is pretty hard to time and usually not worth bothering with.
Bouquet, which fires an arrow that spins the enemy around for a second and can cause the Charm status effect, which essentially overrides the enemy AI and causes them to do random stuff.
And Serpent, where Raven lays down a mine that explodes when an enemy steps on it. He also quickly learns:
Glimmer of Heaven, which fires an arrow into the sky which comes back down 10ish seconds later and hits the targetted enemy.
Just Like Dancing, where Raven spins towards the enemy, causing a bunch of damage if he hits it.
And Wind Blade, our first Wind elemental spell.
Having talked about Raven, let's talk a bit about the dungeon. It's very overgrown, so you have to move around on tree roots and branches, and it's sometimes kind of hard to tell where you can or can't go.
There's also a few small areas that are blocked by plants. We can't do anything about that right now, so we have to come back later for those.
Skit: Really Really Fishy
I know there's not much point in bringing it up again, but this guy's really fishy. Yeah, how long's he planning to stick with us, anyway? Does he even have a good reason for being in Keiv Moc? You heard 'em, old man. Spit it out.
Huh? I'm gonna stick with ya guys as long as need be. And as fer my reasons, I thought I told ya--I'm on a mission of self-discovery! You said you were "out for a forest stroll!" "Takin' in the nature!"
Oh, I did? If I had a memory that bad, I'd want to find myself, too. There you go!
Really fishy. Really really really fishy.Walking forward a bit triggers another cutscene.
Watch the cutscene!
What should we do about him?
Do you know any tricks that'll convince us you're worth keeping around? Do I look like some kinda street magician ta you?
What? M-me...?
Huh? What do you want with Karol? Aaah! Don't just leave me here!
W-why me?
O-okay, this isn't funny anymore!
It exploded from the inside!
What did you do?! Ya just wait for 'em to let their guard down, give 'em a little poke and then...bam!
Jeez... I bet you're great at parties. I suppose that was good enough.
Yes.
Hey, ya mean I passed? I can stay? A-are you kidding...? It'll be much easier to do things to him if we keep him nearby.
Whaddya mean "things...?"
...Hadn't thought about that.
Okay, I just got a little chill up my spine. Well then, Mr. Raven, after you. Heh...right.And another.
Y-yeah... ...
Karol, Karol, it's okay! It already flew away.
...Huh? Ha, ha ha ha, it did... Alright, let's keep moving. ...Captain Karol seems a little different than usual, doesn't he? You think? He seems like his usual spaced-out kid self to me. No, something's different about him. The Karol I knew before would've been peeing his pants or running for his life if something like that happened. Oh...now that you mention it, I think you're right.
I was just giving you a little something to keep away the giant swarms of bugs! Ah, I don't believe it...
*Hack* *cough* ...I thought I was gonna die! Karol... You're really afraid of bugs, aren't you? Wh-who, me? N-not at all...! It's okay, Karol. You don't have to pretend. Here, take this. Aspio-brand insect spray, the best to keep the bugs away! Oh, uh...y-you don't mind...? Not at all. Just make sure not to spray it near any people. It can sting!
So I'm not a person anymore, am I... Yeesh... Come on, let's go.
I missed actually using the Bug Breath arte in battle, you'll get that next update or so.
Skit: Scary Things Wow, Karol, when you freak out, you really freak out! Come on, everyone has a few things they're afraid of, don't they?!
Not me. Now, now, genius mage, it's not nice to lie. Even ol' Raven's got his own fears. What are you afraid of, old man? I'm afraid of pretty girls!
What?! Yeah, yeah... Rita, it's better to come clean. That way we can help you out. Like anyone needs your help!
I can take care of myself just fine! Her type always has some of the worst fears... Yeah, whatever.A few steps down from the previous cutscenes, there's a small area with two chests.
Normally this wouldn't be noteworthy, but in the PS3 version, they added a new monster here:
This guy is the first of a total of 11 (PS3) or 9 (Xbox 360) so-called Giganto monsters that we're gonna be encountering. Now, there is a sidequest related to killing all of them, and if you kill any of them before starting that sidequest, you can't finish it anymore. It's a bit of a dick move, really. In the 360 version, this sidequest is not available yet, but in the PS3 version you can start it as soon as Karol joins the party, which I did. So without further ado...
Watch the battle!
Giganto Battles get a special battle music.
Sometimes it's better to run when it gets too much.The first time you encounter a Giganto Monster, your party leader comments on the fact that it's far stronger than any other monsters in the area. Which is understandable, because:
That's some stats. I'm pretty sure they don't intend you to beat this guy the first time you are at Keiv Moc, but that doesn't stop me from trying.
The Green Menace is a huge asshole and has a couple of very annoying attacks, this being one of them.
Huge range and stuns everyone it hits. Apart from that, it can also do:
Some stationary shockwaves,
grabbing people and hitting them with his head,
spinning around in circles knocking everyone around him down,
go into Over Limit,
dash forward,
dash forward multiple times in a row, changing directions each time,
and this fucking thing, which does major damage on the guys he hits with his body and stuns everyone in a huge radius.
Needless to say that this is a pretty hard battle if attempted at the level I'm at.
With his 60k+ HP, he also survives several Fatal Strikes.
Occasionally, the situation looks pretty grim.
Until I eventually, after burning to my entire supply of 15 Life Bottles, realize the best strategy is just to exploit his fire weakness and spam Fire Ball.
I even go as far as using a Limit Bottle - a fairly rare item - to get back into Over Limit more quickly.
Fuck this guy. He drops a Green Menace Claw, which is used in the synthesis of some rare item. Note that any Giganto Monster can randomly respawn in the area you originally found it at.
Beating the first Giganto Monster gives an achievement/trophy:
Achievement/Trophy:
Big Game Greenhorn
Beating the first Giganto Monster also triggers a skit, since this is the PS3 version it's Japanese so I'll be posting it again in English once we get the first Giganto in the 360 version, so feel free to skip it for now if you want.
Skit: Bring 'Em On That was a pretty strong monster, but... I guess we're done. "I guess we're done"?! Come on, we just defeated that gigantic monster!!
Calm down, Karol. Pull yourself together. Come on, Yuri, you could at least be a little bit happy... ...Huh? What's the matter, Estelle? Why are you sitting?
...How can both of you take it so easily?
What, did you get scared, Estelle? That huge monster... I was so nervous, I, I... You were doing just fine while we were fighting. But if I got like this during battle, I'd end up causing trouble for everybody... Don't worry about it, Estelle. ...Here, let me give you a hand. I-I'm sorry... There we go! Now, who do we get to fight next... Bring 'em on, right?
I'd rather have "nobody" be next...
Huh? Hey, Yuri... You're really ready for another fight, aren't you?
Back up the tree root and a little to the left, we find another cutscene. Sheesh.
There's a good chance that there are pockets of excess aer all over the place. Yeah, too much aer can have negative effects on people and blastia. Takin' in a lotta aer causes yer metabolism ta speed up, and that'll make ya more tired than usual. Wow, you know more than I thought. Eh? That's just common sense! I'd expect people to know about aer's effect on the human body... But I didn't think it was common knowledge that blastia can become supersaturated with aer if used improperly.
Actually, I'd never heard about it until Rita mentioned it. Ya gotta quit slackin' and hit the books, kid! ...And that's all the cutscenes in this area of the dungeon.
By walking around a bit more, we eventually find the screen transition into the next area.
Entering the next area triggers a PS3-exclusive cutscene.
Watch the cutscene! (Japanese Voices)
I remember this voice from somewhere...
What? Someone ya know?
We have to save her! Oh, hold up. Let me take care've it.Raven shoots the monster with his bow, causing it to release Patty.
You got it!
Yuri drops her onto the floor.
Aifread...?
Aye. Sounds so fake. Is there really treasure here? Who did you hear that from?
Someone from the Surveyors' Guild "World's Cellar" told me all sorts of things. They've been all over the world. So they're the reason you went to Ragou's mansion? You didn't even find anything in the end!
Guess ya might have somethin' there. (to Raven) You're 100% suspicious for sure. So mean... I'm going to resume treasure hunting for now. If you wander around on your own, you might be attacked by another monster, or something equally dangerous...
I wasn't being attacked. I was playing around. I don't think the monster saw it that way.
Do you want to go together? It's quite the opportunity, but I think I'll save treasure hunting for another time. That's really too bad. I'm still going to head off, though. This is farewell.She leaves.
There she goes... Will she really be okay? She said so herself, so I'm sure she'll be fine. That'd be nice, anyway. Well, worrying about it won't do us any good. We've gotta get going, too.
There's a save point right at the entrance of the area, and I feel this update is rather long already, so let's cut it here.
Next time: The rest of Keiv Moc!
Notable loot gathered in this dungeon (so far):
Item Thrower
Bug Busters: Increases damage given to and decreases damage taken from bug-type monsters.
Item Thrower
Step Away: Avoid staggering when hit during a Backstep.
Guard Plus: Decreases damage taken while guarding.
