Crisis on two worlds: Let's Play Tales of Destiny II!

-Table of Contents-
Part 1: Rasheans Forest
Part 2: Regulus Dojo
Part 3: Mintche
Part 4: Nostos Cave
Part 5: Morle
Part 6: Undine Stream
Part 7: Forest of Temptation

So: Tales of Destiny II. This game holds kind of a special place in my heart. See, at the time, my older brother pretty much dominated the gaming decisions in our house - he picked out and owned every console, helped spilt which games our parents would buy us for Christmas, and basically acted as the main video game enthusiasts of the household. I even found out about ToastyFrog through him, though I never really understood what Parish was doing until I revisited the site later in High School.

Anyway, while I'm glad my brother helped introduce me to a bunch of great games I never would've found out about otherwise, it was... stifling having your tastes dictated to you like that. Over time, I slowly grew fed up with having to second-guess myself when picking out which games to buy, and started looking for new stuff on my own terms. Tales of Destiny II was one of the very first games I picked out for myself, and as such was one of the first I could well and truly call my own.

I remember first reading about Tales of Destiny II back in late 2001, in an ad for the game in an issue of the The Flash (I had picked up the series sometime during 2001, sometime during the middle of the Cicada arc). I was pretty much done with Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX at that point, having finished all three to completion and plumbed the depths of their sidequests for everything they were worth, and I felt there was a distinct RPG void in the house at the time after having played them to death. The more I read about it in that small ad, the more I became convinced that I'd have as much fun with Tales of Destiny II as I did with the PS1 FFs, and I decided, then and there, that it would be the game I'll get for Christmas.

So, yeah! Despite my older brother's reservations at the time (and his mocking at the time for my liking the game's anime-ish style), I finally opened it up on Christmas day and dove headfirst into it. I was a little shy about playing it around others due to the aforementioned teasing by my brother, but all the same I enjoyed the hell out of it and it's since become one of my all-time favourite games, resisting every attempt I've made to trade it in and being one of the few original PS1 games that I still own to this day. As for why I like it so much... well, that's what this LP's for, right?

(Interestingly enough, I also picked up The Legend of Dragoon that year as well, at my brother's request. I also didn't get around to playing it until about two years afterward. Gee, I wonder why? :P)

Due to time constraints and troubles vis-a-vis recording this week, I don't quite have everything ready to go yet, so that's it for now. I still have some legwork to do before I have all I need for the first update, but I should have something posted by next Friday. Stay tuned!

(PS: Please ignore the black bar on the left side of the image up top - I'm still working through some technical difficulties getting the screenshots right and for some reason the thing I'm using to capture footage of loves cropping it that way.)

Are you starting with a NG+ file to access the bonus dungeon at the end?

I'd love to, but unfortunately that's out of my hands. The memory card I used for ToDII was cleaned out sometime last year to make space, and since I had a two files on it, one of which was mid-playthrough (and never really finished, due to reasons), the master file got the axe.

That said, I guess I could blast through the game one more time afterwards once we hit the end of the LP - one of the bonuses of being a PS1 era game is that ToDII isn't particularly long. Plus there are a few side challenges I've been thinking of trying anyway, so what the heck.

Ah yes, Tales of Eternia. The unfortunately-retitled-for-copyright-reasons third entry in the "Tales of" series that caused so much trouble for us later when there was an actual sequel to Tales of Destiny made. Some of us who missed its US debut are lucky enough to have the European PSP port of it. Hooray for region-free handhelds! Oddly enough, said PSP port is sitting in my PSP right now...

Once again, I dare you to play the game on Hardcore.

You can trick the game into thinking it's NG+ even during the first run. That's what I did!

Oh damn! I almost forgot about that bit of trickery... it's late in the game (the very, very end, in fact), but I think we may be in business after all. :3

(Pssst, Blitz: check your PMs.)

I'm torn. I want to follow this LP, but I've never played this game before and I want to be surprised when (if?) I actually do. And seeing how the name was changed and everything, I find it hard to believe this game will ever be available in the US in remake form.

This is the one and only Tales game that I like, and I like it a lot.

I don't know a thing about this game except that it has the most hilariously awful character designs, even by Tales of... standards.

LOOK AT THIS. JUST LOOK AT IT.

I never did quite get why Farah insists on practicing martial arts in a dress. I would think that sort of attire would get in the way quite a bit. On the other hand, it at least looks more comfortable than Senel's gimpwear in Tales of Legendia.

I blazed through this game with a friend in a week back in '02 on a friend's dying PS1. We used the special ring/bauble that let us play with two players. As soon as we got Max I played him exclusively until the end of the game, because Max is awesome.

The best part of this game is, without a doubt, the little ditty that plays whenever you find the IronWonder Chef.

I personally loved this game because Reid, the "hero", really wasn't until like halfway through the game. Instead, it's Farah who pulls everyone along with Reid just kind of watching over everyone.

Also, Aurora Sword/Slash is my favorite Mystic Arte and I am so disappointed it never showed up again. Even though Tales of the Abyss had a voice clip for it.

I really enjoyed this game. I've only ever completed it once, back when it was still fairly recent, but I have fond memories of the title.

That.

I'm looking forward to vicariously re-experiencing this game!

While I admit I've never been all that enamored of the game, don't worry about spoilers. The story isn't really good enough to care.

Frothing anticipation. RPGs + nice 2D graphics are generally pretty awesome in my books.

It and Tales of Hearts are probably the finest 2D sprite based "brawlers" made in the last ten years, possibly because there's a fair amount of meat to the combat system without being overly complex. It also helps that each of the PCs has a fairly unique combat style (like Hearts).

Like most of the more modern Tales games, it doesn't really have any teeth to it unless you play on Hard or harder.

Hell. Yes.

I picked this game up when it came out after reading about its battle system. My first trip through, I blitzed through it, and I didn't remember anything being particularly remarkable.

However, when I replayed it some years later, I discovered that the game is actually really charming in places, and has a fun story to go along with the combat.

I look forward to seeing someone drop Sekundes; despite my best efforts, he always shelled me into oblivion in short order.

No credit cards were leaked during the making of this Let's Play.



Opening Movie



Cutscene 1: Prologue

The game starts us off by setting the tone of the story through the opening cutscene. There are gaps and bits of information we're not really able to pick up from context alone, but the gist of it comes through pretty clear - mystery girl is heading off to another world for the sake of an important mission, and she has to do whatever it takes to complete it, safety be damned. By context alone, the situation sounds fairly dire, however we won't learn exactly what it is until a little while later - all we can do in the meantime is leave it in the backburner and try and pick up on whatever hints we can.

A few minutes in, and we're already left with a mystery. What a way to begin a game, huh?



♫ Rasheans Forest ♫

In the meantime, let's shift to another place for now, this time in a forest located near the idyllic town of Rasheans...



Introducing the two main characters of Tales of Destiny II: Reid Hershal and his childhood friend, Farah Oersted.

Incidentally, the music that plays during this part of the game is probably one of my all-time favourite video game tracks. I know, the song itself isn't particularly energetic or intense - it seems weird to think that highly of it, right? However, I have a particular fondess for upbeat, calming themes moreso than anything, and Rasheans Forest is no exception - the breezy feel of the flute, the bouncy, light rhythm lead on by the strings, and overall lackadaisical nature of it all really makes it a memorable theme for me.

That said, part of my love for the song may also be for nostalgic reasons, I'll admit. Having grown up in a small, rural town at the edge of a forest just like Rasheans, the song is a perfect fit for going for hikes in the backwoods, I guess earning a place of sorts on my mental playlist - the fact that the melody line is entirely on an instrument I play doesn't hurt either. :)



Truth be told, there's not really much else for me to add at the moment - all I can really do is comment on the story and let it speak for itself otherwise. Right now the game is building up our knowledge of the characters so even the small bits of information are important.



For one thing, despite being apart for quite a while now, Reid and Farah seem to have a long history together. Hmm.



Hee hee!

Even though it's not exactly complex characterization, I really like the way Tales of Destiny II introduces its characters. All we're doing right now is watching the two be friends and we're learning more about them than any dramatic backstory or innumerable cutscene ever could. Sometimes less really is more.



Hmm, you know, you're right Farah. It does look a little... Indigo-ish. Also, is that a continent I see up in the sky, or is it just me?



Um, guys? Aren't you kind of tempting fate here?



Nice little bit of storytelling there. In two dialogue boxes we learn that a) the world above, Celestia, is considered a harbinger of bad news, and b) their world hasn't been in contact with them for roughly 2,000 years. Efficient!

The two are really setting themselves up for something here. That's two strikes now guys.



Reid then pulls out the "everything is better when it stays the same card", which is really telling of the kind of personality he has. Reid tends to be a very go-with-the-flow kind of guy; outside of enjoying the free time he has, he doesn't really have many aspirations or ambition to drive him forward. While I can respect him for being comfortable with his position in life, wouldn't it get depressing having no goals after a while...? I mean, at the very least you'd get kind of bored after a while.

Fate, meanwhile, has gotten pretty fed up with the needling from these two. You guys want trouble? Fate asks aloud. Well then you can have it. Then it fires a shooting star right at us! Oh geez!



Ehh, they make it out alive, of course. I mean, c'mon, what kind of game kills off its protagonist in the first five minutes?

Wait, don't answer that.



♫ Hurry ♫

Anyway, at this point we take control of Reid and have the chance to do some exploring! Before we do, I'll just take the time to change the settings, the first of which is to turn off the damn voices.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the voice acting yet, have I? Like most games on the PS1, the voices on Tales of Destiny II are... well, pretty bad. That is, a "we recorded this in our basements with our grandkids" level of bad. The characters are even voiced during battle, so if you're unlucky enough to not notice you can turn them off, you'll have to put up with about forty hours of hearing "SONIC BLADE" and "DEMON HAMMER" over and over and over and oh God, my brain.

So, yeah. Let's turn that off right away.

Also, in honour of the pleasent weather in recent days as well as the start of Spring, I decided to switch the boxes to a nice, pleasent shade of green. Text speed gets set to max of course, and I swap Defend with Skill just because my thumb has an easier time hitting □ than o.



I'll also take the time to save our game. Tales of Destiny II is actually pretty far ahead of its time in this regard, in that you can save your game pretty much anywhere, no annoying Save Points required. At the same time, in order to prevent quick save abuse, the game will load your team at designated Load Points instead - whenever you save and quit your game, you'll reload at the last Load Point you touched in a dungeon, and you'll reload in the exact same place you left off of in a town. Very convenient, and very well-thought-out.

By the way, I never really got around to doing a summary on Reid, have I?

Reid Hershel

Titles:
�Hunter: Default
�Squire: Level 10
�Master Swordsman: Level 30
�Knight: Level 60
�Legendary Knight: Level 99
�Supreme Patriot: Learn every skill

Basic Skills
�Sonic Blade: Launch a single long-range slash across the screen.
�Twin Sonic Blade: Upgraded form of Sonic Blade. Launches two slashes instead of one.
�Thunder Blade: Stab an opponent, dealing Volt damage when it connects.
�Super Lightning Blade: Upgraded form of Thunder Blade. Strikes harder and has a wider range.
�Swarm: Stab an opponent repeatedly, dealing a small amount damage with each hit.
�Neo Swarm: Upgraded form of Swarm. Stabs move twice as fast.
�Demon Hammer: Slashes up and down, hitting anything in range twice for medium damage.
�Demon Twist: Upgraded form of Demon Hammer. Strikes four times, once on ground and thrice in the air.
�Tempest Strike: Somersault through the air, dealing damage to anything caught in range.
�Omega Tempest Strike: Upgraded form of Tempest Strike. Somersaults twice through the air.
�Spiral Attack: Lifts nearby enemies up in the air and slams them back down again.
�Double Spiral Attack: Upgraded form of Spiral Attack. Lifts enemies up in the air and strikes them in mid-air.

Reid is your average swordfighter - he moves fast, he has decent range, can combo fairly well and has a fair bit of health to back him up. While he doesn't really excel in one area like any of the other characters, his versatility and easy learning curve make him the ideal character to control with. Just don't get overeager when attacking with him and you should do just fine.

Oh! By the way, it turns out that we can change the names of the playable characters in this game after all. Any suggestions, Talking Time? The method of choosing will be by pulling names from a hat while consulting the sun's position under Taurus while chanting the name of Sif Muna.



♫ Inferia Battle ♫

Anyway, let's move on. While making our way through the forest, we run into our very first random encounter! Yay!

I guess this is as good a time to explain just how Tales of Destiny II works. The Battle System in the Tales series is a bit of a hybrid between Fighting games and traditional RPG mechanics, basically getting rid of the concept of turns entirely in favour for something more interactive. Called the Linear Motion Battle System, it lets you have complete control over your mobility in battle and gets rid of targetting almost entirely, forcing to rely on skill to land blows and build combos. It's energetic and an absolute joy to play and is one of the biggest draws to the Tales series over other RPGs.

The controls are fairly easy to explain. You can deal a simple 3-hit combo with the attack button (set to x), block incoming hits with defend (set to o), use any four skills currently assigned to the character you're using (set to □, plus any one of �, ↔, ↑, or ↓), or open the menu and select an item or attack to use manual (set to start). Pressing ↑ on the control will cause Reid to jump up into the air, letting you set up attacks against airborne enemies.

As for this Beast Bear, he goes down like a chump. Remember, we're still in the tutorial stages, so outside of a few clumsy swipes these guys aren't going to do much. Just tear 'em apart and move on.



♫ Battle End ♫

We do get some bear meat as a reward, however. Mmm, meat.

Also, while I didn't really capture it in the photo above, Reid regenerated a little bit of TP at the end of battle. Another thing I like about ToDII: It plays down the importance of something like MP by making it more readily available. The deification of MP in RPGs a bit of a pet peeve for me, to be honest - when keeping yourself energized is more important than keeping yourself alive, you know something's wrong.



The treasures in Rasheans Forest aren't much to write home about. On the plus side, we get our first Shield for Reid which means he has something he can Defend with now.



A few steps later, and we find where the pod from earlier crashed. Again: tutorial dungeon. It's not supposed to be difficult or long so much as help you learn the ropes.



♫ Meredy Theme ♫

Oh hey, it's mystery girl from earlier! Turns out that Reid and Farah have no idea what that funky language she was speaking earlier is either.



Not, uh, that they would have chance. Cheese it!



BOMB!



Jegus, look at that crater. Any slower and they would've been kibble.



Plot point! Whenever mystery touches Reid, he gives off a rainbow light. What this is we don't know (yet), but whatever it is, mystery girl's super excited about it.



Farah, meanwhile, decides to take it in a more playful direction.



Reid's not having any of it, however.



♫ Rasheans ♫



Back at the village, Reid and Farah reconvine with the village elder to try and figure out what to do about the mysery girl. He mentions he's sending other people down by the crash site to investigate. Which is all well and good, but, uh, you still haven't answered our question yet.



Whoa, what?

Turns out that Khamran's none too happy about the situation. Remember what Reid said about Celestia being nothing but trouble? That's right - since the pod came from all the way up there, they're afraid that mystery girl is going to bring nothing but chaos on the small village.

Farah's not having any of that, however. That's right, you tell him girl!



Huh? What's up with the squirrel-thing?



♫ Crisis ♫

Oh dear. I guess that that girl may be nothing but trouble after all. We're not giving her up without a fight however, so into battle we go!



Boss Battle: Vs. ??? | ♫ Mid Boss 1 ♫

(If anyone has an idea how to get rid of that audio tearing at the end of the battle, let me know. It's been driving me nuts.)

Woo, our first boss fight! Despite getting off to a bad start (though seriously, shouldn't that spell have hurt more?), the fight goes pretty smoothly - once ??? is backed into a corner, all you need to do is hack at him and you're good. He won't be able to get off another spell while you do so, at least on Normal mode.

The important bit of information this battle is giving you, as a tutorial, is that you can interrupt enemy spells by knocking them out of a charge. It's a suble bit of teaching that really helps if you pay attention, as there are a ton of enemies with spells throughout the game who are much easier if you pre-empt them with a solid hit. The battle also shows off the importance of positioning, as you saw when Reid ran headfirst into a Thunder Blade - the lesson is to wait for the spell to start casting, move around and then go on the attack.

At the end of the match, Reid and Farah proceed to level up a bunch of times. Note the Slash/Thrust and Punch/Kick level ups? Whenever you do a regular attack or skill that's related to either stat, you accumulate experience in each as you practice more and more. What skills Reid and Farah get are largely dependant on how much you level up each one, so make sure to balance your attacks so neither stat falls behind.

In this case, Reid picks up Sonic Blade and Farah picks up both Palm Strike and Triple Blossom. Quite a nice haul! As far as skills go they're actually not all that good, being beginner moves and all, but we've got the entire game ahead of us to pick up some of the really good skills.



♫ Dullen ♫

Yeah, you better run.



Whew, glad that's all settled. Despite being punched right in the face, mystery girl seems to be doing all right. Though what about the elder? How's he doing?



Yeah, this didn't really help their case at all, did it? Damn. Looks like they have no choice - mystery girl has got to go.



You know, I really respect the hell out of Farah. Even though every thing seems to be pointing to mystery girl as being Bad News� right now, even after all the craziness she and Reid had to deal with in the past hour or so, she still trusts mystery girl implicitly and refuses to back out on her promise to help her. Even when things have come to a breaking point like they have here, she still does what she feels is the right thing and stands by her promise.

This isn't the only time we're going to see this, either; Farah is, to her core, an altruistic character even to a fault. Remember when Reid said that "Farah was always like this"? This is where he was coming from - every time she gets it in her head she ends up dragging him into it. Reid seems to be a bit put off by it times, however if you asked me, you couldn't ask for a better flaw.



♫ Rasheans ♫

Now that she and mystery girl are set on leaving the village, the three of them reconvine at Farah's house for preparations for the journey head.



First order of business: New clothes for mystery girl! This is good thinking on Farah's part - because she's a Celestian, things could get really bad if the wrong people found out just where mystery girl came from. Having a set of clothes for the world around you is just common sense, y'know?



Next up is where they're heading for first. Though Farah's dead-set on helping mystery girl with her quest, there's still the problem of actually, y'know, understanding her. While thinking of people who could help translate, Farah comes up with the name Keele.



Which Reid then shoots down. Yikes, holding a bit of a grudge, aren't we?



Farah counters that Keele has found his way into a respected university, so he could be their best bet. Nice try though, Reid!

Mystery girl doesn't want to leave without Reid, however. Oh, and there's that rainbow light again. How curious.



Farah tries to reason with the mystery girl, telling her that Reid has to wants to stay behind for the trip. She doesn't get through to her however, and is instead greeted with shouts of Feebureel. Maybe that light itself is Feebureel? Maybe that's the important thing she's looking for on her journey, and the key to solving the big danger she was tasked with solving?

Not that I'm telling you guys. You're on your own!



C'mon Farah. You know what the solution is here. If mystery girl can't leave without Reid, then...?



Too late! Hahaha, sorry Reid, but Farah's just Shanghaied you into this.

Also: Whew, that was a lot of text. We're back in control now, so it's technical stuff from here-on out.



Not that we can't have a little sillyness first, of course. Dohoho.



Anyway, now that we have a full party (or close to it), I guess now's the perfect time to explain everything about the menu screen!



The item screen is simple. Tools include stuff like Apple Gels (restore 30% HP - note: all healing items in this game are percent-based, so they actually remain pretty useful throughout), Weapons, Armor and Equip are self-explanatory, Food is for... something! I'll explain that later. Lastly, valuables are for any key items we find on our quest, though outside of a map or two or a card game there's nothing we can really use in that screen.



Next up is the skills menu. This lets us view which moves a character has learned as well as which ones they're on the verge of learning, and for a character like Reid who we're playing as, we can assign any four skills for use in battle. Right now all we have is Sonic Blade, but that should do for the moment.



The strategy screen is probably the most important menu to get set right, since it affects how your teammates will back you up in battle! Each character has three different aspects you can control, affecting how often or how little they'll use abilities under a certain heading. In addition to that, they also have a specific AI you can set them to as well, however it's much more clear-cut than other games like Persona 3.

For my purposes, I like to keep it set this way. Reid and Farah should be attacking whenever they can, and slash/thrust and fist/kick usage is set at a "4" to encourage skill use but not to the point of exclusivity. They'll also split up their attacks between two different opponents, and having Farah behind Reid prevents you from being forced to fight on two fronts. Meanwhile, mystery girl shouldn't be attacking under any circumstance however (not physically at least), and is set to pair up with Reid whenever she can to try and concentrate the attacks on one monster to kill it quickly. Finally, RecoverTP is set at "3" so she'll only heal when they go below half HP.



The formation screen is a bit more straightforward. Set the positions of the character on-screen and that's where they'll start that the beginning of a battle.



While we're at it, let's take a look at our newest recruits, shall we?

Farah Oersted

Titles
�Farmer: Default
�Fighter: Level 10
�Kung-Fu Master: Level 30
�Silent Assassin: Level 60
�Iron Fist: Level 99
�Ultimate Beauty: Learn every skill

Basic Skills
�Palm Strike: Quick jab to any enemies in front.
�Twin Palm Strike: Upgraded form of Palm Strike. Jabs twice to any enemies in range.
�Triple Blossom: Kicks an enemy three times in a row.
�Death Blossom: Upgraded form of Triple Blossom. Kicks an enemy four times in a row.
�Sonic Fist: Throw a small volley of punches to any enemy in range.
�Super Sonic Fist: Upgraded form of Sonic Fist. Deals slightly more damage and hits more often.
�Swallow Dance: Jumps and kicks any enemy near Farah.
�Super Swallow Dance: Upgraded form of Swallw Dance. Deals slightly more damage.
�Eagle Dive: Strikes downwards while in mid-air.
�Eagle Rise: Upgraded form of Eagle Dive. Strikes three times while in mid-air.
�Rising Dragon Strike: Uppercuts an enemy, sending them into the air.
�Chi: Delivers a powerful blast that knocks an enemy back.
�Mirage: Phase right through an enemy to dodge.
�Healer: Restores HP of one ally.
�Detoxify: Cures an ally of Poison or Weak
�Life: Revives one KO'ed ally.

Farah is slower moving and controls a little sluggishly compared to Reid, however that's just to offset how crushingly powerful she can get once she gets going. Unlike Reid, who's limited to a combo of three hits and a skill or two, once you've rounded out her arsenal and get used to the timing of her attacks Farah can launch a flurry of attacks that can stunlock an enemy for 20+ hits on end. On the side she also has access to healing in the form of skills such as Healer and Detoxify, however she is a combo queen first and foremost, and a practiced Farah-player can absolutely demolish bosses once she gets going.

Mystery Girl

Titles
�Foreigner?: Default
�Breeder: Level 30
�Trainer: Level 60
�Appraiser: Level 99
�Fringe Master: Create all spells by fringing.

Craymel Artes
�Grave: Earth-elemental damage to any enemies along the ground
�Ice Needles: Ice-elemental damage to one enemy three times
�Lightning: Volt-elemental damage to any enemies in range

Don't let her meager spell list fool you - once Meredy has access to the tools she needs to create new spells, she'll be one of the most versatile characters in the game. With access to group healing spells and attack spells of every element, she'll make a great support character to both Reid and Farah. Just make sure nothing tries to mash her into paste, as her low HP and defenses makes it all too easy for monsters to do so.



Oh, last but not least: the cooking menu! Once you have the incredients and the recipe you need, you can cook a quick meal between matches to restore HP, TP, Status or even boost stats! How to find the recipes themselves is another matter entirely, however...

And that's pretty much it, I think. Sorry about the walls of text, hopefully that should be the last of it for a while. We're approaching the end of the update pretty fast now, so let's go around town for some information.



"Yeah, why would you want to go to university anyway? Higher education is a scam. Now, if you'll excuse me I'll just get back to my dead-end job here in the countryside..."



Okay, uh... that's kind of creepy. "A citizen of Rasheans! Stay a while... stay forever." Kthxbye



Th-thats no piggy bank!

Introducing: Wonder Chef! Hiding as objects in towns all across the world, Wonder Chef here will hand out one recipe for you to cook with as well as the ingredients needed for it. Our very first recipe is for a Sandwich, a light, easy meal to prepare and eat on the go (as well as restore 30% HP for all party members).

In the item shop, we run into Wonder Chef again. This time he hands out a recipe for making an Omelette, the delicious way to start the day (as well as cure all status effects).



While we're at the shop, I decide to pick up an Iron Sword for Reid. Outside of the occasionally kickass Axe or Spear, the only weapons Reid should be using are swords as they have balanced stats between both Slash and Thrust and make it easier to learn skills from either end. That said, it's mostly personal preference; if you prefer to hack things to pieces than learn actual skills, that's fine by me.



We're almost through now. Just gonna say goodbye to the cows before we head off. :'(



Down in Reid's basement, we pick up an extra Apple Gel. Hey, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.



Lens Hunter Count: 2/60

Ugh, lens hunting. I'll level with you guys: I've never actually finished the lens sidequest, and it's because there's too many of the damn things to track down and the rewards aren't even worth it after a point. I'll try and make a note of whatever ones I do find (or, failing that, just FAQ them all at a later date), but I'm not really going to make them a priority.



Road trip! Road trip! We're going on a road trip! Reid doesn't seem too enthused about it, but he's just going to have to deal with it.



Just one last pair of tips for the road...



And we've made it to the world map! Whew, and to think our adventure is only getting started here. Who else knows what we're going to see on our quest? What kind of delights we'll experience?



But I think that'll be all for now.

Next time: Let's go down the wine river

I had forgotten about the game's token collection sidequest (Lens hunting). I hated that so much.

I had also forgotten just how gorgeous the game's backgrounds are. Even the obligatory small starting village is a feast for the eyes.

I heard that the voice actors were literally picked off the street. Sadly, I find that very believable.

Yeah, dress the new girl in Farah's clothing. That'll help her not stand out.

I'm kind of impressed that they used a different system of writing to express Meredy's language, instead of just a cipher. The downside is I guess that the game isn't going to let you understand her until it's good and ready.

Oh, no it's an actual alphabet, the Celestian -> JP translation of which got released with the artbook or Ultimania guide, I forget which. Abyss did the same thing.

Here's the English translation chart. Fun fact: many of the symbols look like their English counterparts if you turn your head to the side!

"Let us get going!"

That's kind of a pain in the ass.

Edit: I did another one.

"It is a little plain, but"

That's right, who cares about plot relevant alien dialogue when there's an alien girl's view on fashion to be translated!