Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 4

Well it's a shorter update today folks, want to know why? Voilà:

Big Hit!

We'll get to that later, let's pick things up with the plot. The party arrived at Lenankamp (that southern village we were on our way to) and Viktor wandered off to make some arrangements. Sage, old Gremio doesn't trust him, but my confidence in Vik has remained steadfast. We had a little look around the town, found our first weapon upgrade shop and boosted some stats. It turns out you find rune pieces sometimes and these can be attached to weapons to grant elemental damage, thus my boy Akami now has a lightning staff.

Eventually we made our way to the inn and hung around a while waiting for Viktor... but Viktor doesn't show. Gremio naturally leaps onto this opportunity to slander our new-found companion, suggesting that he's just another traitor like Pahn. When guards show up at the inn looking for fugitives, we might've been tempted to believe him but then! A wildly oversized clock in our inn room moves, revealing a secret stairwell down which a girl named Odessa urges us to hurry. Guess who sent her? Viktor!

Personally, I wouldn't stand that close to this guy, especially after he said that

It was a close call, in fact we were seconds away from being discovered by the guards, so hardly the soundest plan in the world but it's the way Vik operates and I like it. He knows how to walk on the wild side. And when you're a member of the rebel army, flirting with danger is in the job description. Yes indeed, Viktor and Odessa turn out to be part of what they call the Liberation Army. Odessa's a bit of a Marianne figure, leading the way with Viktor, an androgynous youth named Flik, and a couple of other guys present in their underground base. 

Our buddy Viktor would like us to join forces, but Flik's against it since there's reports of a spy amongst the ranks, and Gremio agrees it's too dangerous. Cleo thinks the idea sounds pretty interesting, and we're given some time to think it over. Upon conclusion of our brief chat, an injured battles falls into the base; he's from that mountain we tore through earlier, and reports that his bosses Varkas and Sydonia - remember them? - have been captured and left to starve by that sneaky Governor Grady!

Under the clock! What a sneaky, sneaky place to hide your secret passage!

Odessa, who appears to be a very righteous leader, wishes to help the bandits. Out of guilt, we admit to our involvement in these events, and offer to go and save the day. With that, we head out of Lenankamp and make our way back across the map to the poverty-stricken, cemetery-centrepieced village of Rockfall to save the fellows we just got done capturing a day or two before.

That's where today's story progress will have to end unfortunately ladies and gents because, as previously alluded to, I got myself lost in this bloody "Find the coin under the cup!" mini-game that allows you to double your money. In fact, more specifically it allows you to make infinite money, as far as I can tell. You bet either 100, 1,000, or 10,000 bits, receiving double back if you pick the right cup. The movement of the cups naturally becomes way more rapid and complex the more you bet, but even at 10k level it's quite easy to follow the coin.

All my money!

The girl who gives you the chance to play this game is right at the entrance to Rockfall, so I am at the city, and once I've gotten tired of making some bits I'll move on with the story but for now I've had to take advantage of this. I blew over 10,000 bits on those wing boots for Cleo I told you about before, so this is a fine opportunity to make some money back. Then there's all the equipment I'll be able to buy, the weapon upgrades I can afford, etc. I don't want to go and cheat the game though, so I won't be sitting there making millions, just a bit to keep me going. I'm a little astonished that the developers introduced such a simple money-making mini-game so early on. I'm not kidding here or trying to boast my "Follow the Cup" skills: it really is that easy. (EDIT: Okay, I've gone back in and played the 10k one a few more times and actually, no it's really not that easy, think I had a bit of beginner's luck because now it's quite difficult indeed but the 1k one is still mighty simple! So for me this is still an infinite money trick, just a time-consuming one.)

Anyway, in terms of what's been going on I think it's fair to say I haven't made too much plot progression but what I have done has been very interesting indeed! The existence of this underground army makes for some very exciting prospects and the story is well on course to begin heating up very soon. Our father Teo's name has been mentioned once or twice as well, and perhaps we'll have to head up north and see how he's doing soon, or maybe our next step will be attaining full membership of this secret rebellion. We'll find out soon! I'll leave you with a little shot of our potential new friends the Liberation Army:

Well your parents must have cared a little bit, "Odessa"