Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 19

Let's go and find something to prevent this happening again, shall we?

We've reached the temple of Qlon where a monk named Fukien greets us as the "Starmaster". Apparently Akami is the destined leader of the 108 stars of Heaven and Earth, fair enough. That explains the various stars associated with individuals on the Stone Tablet of Promise. Everyone of these 108 special people were born under a star and all are destined to unite under Akami's rule as he was born beneath the star of Heavenly Guidance.

Fukien knows all and sees all apparently, well aware we've come looking for a way to take down Neclord. He recommends we search a cave behind the table where all manner of secrets and dangers lie in wait. In we go, fighting our way through banshees and golems and very quickly levelling up well beyond level 40, meaning we can return and recruit that fellow who previously deemed us too weak. Kage even has a double exp rune meaning he's boosting up far ahead of the rest of us. There are several secret holes in the wall throughout this dungeon and one leads to a cool-looking recruit named Crowley.

Well alright then

Eventually we reach a floating sword, it looks pretty, but also dangerous and we approach with caution. Suddenly, the sword begins to talk. Yep. It's name is the Star Dragon Sword and it casts a curse and those who awoke it, using a spell upon us not dissimilar to the power of the Soul Eater, and banishing us from the caves. Suddenly we wake up in a new village and talk to a young boy to find out where we are... it's Ted. It's Ted as a child. This game's plot just doesn't stop with the twists and turns.

Ted asks if we've come to steal their treasure, but we don't even know what he's on about. We soon learn this is the Village of the Hidden Rune, which I assume to be the Soul Eater, and the villagers are very careful to protect their precious bounty. Ted's grandpa is the village chief, and he's fretting about the possible arrival of a certain woman. Well, unfortunately for him, that certain woman turns up. It's Windy, and Neclord is by her side. They want the Soul Eater.

Oh dear...

The chief refuses and the village bursts into flames, supposedly the work of Yuber, who we're yet to see. Windy threatens the village with worse unless the rune is handed over. Ted's grandfather summons the rune to help them, creating a diversion that allows us to escape to a secret room in his house, where he begins Ted's unfortunate destiny as the bearer of the Soul Eater for the three centuries to follow. He charges us to look after Ted and escape the village while he acts as a diversion.

Outside we encounter Yuber; he is evidently immensely powerful, so much so that our group fear even attempting an attack. Luckily for us any potential battle is averted by the arrival of Neclord who demands that Yuber accompany him and Windy to chase down the chief, who has escaped into a nearby forest. With that, the villains flee the village and we have to return to the present. I'm presented with the option to take Ted back with us or leave him here, but instinctively select the latter. We don't want to go screwing around with time here, this isn't Chrono Trigger after all. I'm not sure if the game would have let me take him anyway, frankly I doubt it.

Yuber is evidently not to be trifled with

We find ourselves back at the cave with the sword, who has now calmed down a bit apparently and asks to join Viktor on his mission to destroy Neclord. Looks like we've got our equivalent of a silver stake coated in garlic; it's time to head back and get Viktor his vengeance. First however we recruit a librarian named Hugo and a blind man named Morgan back at the temple, along with a gardener named Zen who wanted some seeds that luckily I've been buying and collecting as the game has gone along.

After this, I just pop back to The Castle to sort a few things out, we teleport and recruit Eikei, the tough guy from Teien. I by chance happen to catch that cat that was wandering around Kaku and deliver it to the girl Lotte in Rikon who joins. Finally, I use my masses of money to level up everyone's weapons and upgrade our armour as I sense the possible fight with Neclord won't be as straightforward as a single slash from our new sword. 

I'd put a bath screenshot in every post if I could, here's one exhibiting the gender divide, as well as Kage humorously keeping his ninja mask on

We quickly return to the Warrior's Village where Zorak is preparing his troops for an attack on Neclord's castle. They received a wedding invitation, a sign that the evil vampire is preparing to make Tengaar his bride and promptly enjoy a sanguine feast. We charge off together to Neclord's place, which is literally something taken from a Castlevania game. Suddenly I realise Suikoden has so far gone through elves, dwarves, and now I'm raiding a mammoth castle to interrupt a vampire's wedding. What a video game.

Upon arrival at the castle gates, Neclord appears in traditionally sneering fashion, welcoming us to his wedding. At sunset, Tengaar will be his forever, but Neclord wants to give us a chance and so challenges Akami to reach the top of the castle before the wedding. He invites us into his castle, but not Zorak and the others. Why is this important? Well, he has a magical front door that only allows in those who have been invited, as one poor warrior discovers when he attempts to force entry.

Mankind ill needs a jerk like you Neclord!

Just before we enter, young Hix arrives, determined to keep his promise to save Tengaar. Despite Zorak's protests that Hix is too inexperienced, too weak, and has a sword that has not even been named yet, our plucky little warrior maintains his ambition to enter the castle as part of our party, and I decide to allow it. Zorak then reveals he'd been waiting for such a show of bravery from Hix for a long time and finally names him a true warrior with the right to name his blade. Hix apparently has a name all picked out but won't reveal it just yet.

Our group is complete and the challenge is set, it's now time to enter the monstrous castle of the vampire general and hopefully save Tengaar. Tune in next time for some wedding crashing!

Sure Hix, no worries, let's get going huh?

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 18

We find ourselves at Kirov chatting to Kun To. "Who the hell are you people?" he inquires politely, before recognising his old friend Tai Ho. A brief conversation later results in Mr To lending us ten boats in order to transport our fire spears back to the castle. Ronnie and Mose arrive to lend a hand with the loading of the vessels, in fact it's the former who rather unfairly winds up lumbered performing the task herself. They then join our army and we sale off home.

A brief rest later and suddenly Mathiu is recommending we order the attack on Teo immediately, the spears are good enough to beat him apparently. I'll trust my strategist and off we go for 'The Battle with Teo 2: Armoured Cavalry vs Flame Spears'. Our old man certainly wasn't expecting a second attack so soon, taunting us at the outset of battle and asking that we cease wasting time and lives. Oh but we've got a surprise for you Teo!

Yes! We've got you this time Teo

A quick strategist-boosted charge smashes through Teo's forces for casualties of over 5000. The flame spears act as almost flame-throwers, roasting his cavalry to a crackly crisp. I continue to charge, no screwing around with bows or magic here, we charge, we charge, we charge again and very soon Teo's forces are elminated. The general can't believe his eyes.

After the battle Mathiu asks our father to surrender but he has other plans in mind, stepping forward and challenging his own son to a duel. Viktor and Mathiu attempt to hold us back, with Mathiu even going so far as to ask Viktor to "cut off that man's head", which is by far the most violent thing I've ever heard our teacher-cum-strategist say, but this is our tragic destiny and we must face it. The duel is far more even than the unfortunate affair Pahn found himself on the losing side of, and we eventually manage to bring down Teo.

Come on Teo, light my fire

Perhaps we did a little more damage than intended however, as Teo now lays dying at our feet. He tells us we've grown strong, that we've become a man who will fight and die for his beliefs, just like our old man. He has one last surprise for us, asking his commanders Alen and Grenseal to join our army and help us achieve our dreams. He tells Akami that there is no finer joy for a father than to see his own son surpass him. With that, he drifts away.

I have to say I'm quite shocked. For one, Teo is dead, and for two, it seems like he didn't have one of Windy's black runes screwing with his brain after all. He genuinely was blindly loyal to the Empire, going so far as challenging his own son in a fight to the death, never even asking why. I guess the game never really introduced us too much to Teo, save for telling us he was an Imperial hero, it's normal I suppose that he'd react the way he did, but I felt that such extremism surely had a black rune at the root of it.

Woah! Woah Mathiu! ...Woah! Calm down!

That now makes Gremio, Pahn, and Teo who have died in a very short span of time, two best friends and a father. Akami can't be doing too well and I do feel for our mostly-silent hero. I only hope this is the end of his sequence of cruel losses, but I can't help feel it's going to get worse before it gets better. One positive does appear though as Akami kneels over his father's body, a light bears down upon us and the words "Soul Eater Level 3" appear on-screen. I guess my rune just levelled up in a moment of strong emotion. 

Back at the castle we hear news that insurgencies are breaking out all across the land as word of Teo's defeat spreads. Along with Kwanda and Milich, three of the mightiest generals of the Imperial army have now fallen and the people are starting to believe in our Liberation. In order to quell the rebellion and protect themselves, the Empire is calling many of their rural troops back to the big cities, leaving several areas nicely unguarded for us to take advantage. Lepant suggests we leap on this opportunity to unite the various rebellious factions and gain a few more allies.

Heartbreaking moment, but at least Teo died proud

We begin with a place called Lorimar, but something isn't right. We arrive at the fortress expecting some sort of battle but the place appears abandoned. We send in Kasumi who can use her ninja abilities (or ninjabilities, if you like) to scale the walls with lightning speed and quickly scout the area. She reports back that the fortress is indeed empty, and Mathiu suggests a scouting party be sent ahead since something is clearly wrong. Vik and Cleo join up while Kage, Kasumi, and Alen complete the team. 

We begin to explore the local area, arriving first at the Warrior's Village where we see a man and a woman, named Hix and Tengaar, in some sort of dispute. Tengaar wants to leave the village to go to a castle but Hix is trying to stop her, saying she'll be eaten if she goes there. She asks what he plans to do about it since his sword doesn't even have a name. Suddenly, her father Zorak appears and urges her inside, mentioning the name 'Neclord' which stirs something in Viktor.

This is Hix, the 'bear-like man' he refers to is Viktor

We'll follow them shortly, but first I explore the town a little. A guy named Window can't be recruited just yet, but I'm sure he will be, he fittingly wants to make stained-glass windows. We buy a Champion's Crystal for 200,000 bits (yeah!) which gives us "no more feeble enemies", which I feel could be a great rune to have equipped. We then stumble onto Marco, the girl who introduced us to the cup game so long ago! She says she'll join us if we win a little more money from her: an offer I can't refuse.

Afterwards, we make our way to Zorak's house where we learn that Neclord is an imperial general who arrived a few months ago. He has the magical ability to turn his men into zombies and skeletons, and used them to threaten local villages into delivering him their women (that's where Tengaar was headed to protect her people). Other villages ceded but the warriors had stayed strong up until this point. Zorak is a bit of a talker, so much so that the screen fades to black to skip the length of his monologue, with Cleo noting that they've been there so long the sun has set, and everyone heads to rest.

Here's Tengaar, she seems to have taken an interest in Cleo

The new characters we've met here seem interesting, before going to bed we spotted Hix chatting to Cleo, asking why a woman like her is fighting. She replies she does it for the same reason as everyone else, to protect the people and things that she loves. Hix says he's too weak for that, and Cleo tells him if he continues to say things like that, then he'll never be strong enough. Hix is obviously severely lacking in confidence and I look forward to seeing his progression. Meanwhile Zorak's ramblings have provided amusement and Tengaar seems to have more to show us as well.

Before sleeping we chat to Viktor to find out what's going on. It turns out that Neclord destroyed our friend's village; he had to watch his own family turned into zombies and devour one another. I don't think I've heard of anything so gruesome, it's no wonder he wants revenge so desperately. Well, he's about to get his chance because we wake up the next morn and Necord is waiting outside.

Well good morning to you too! What a polite man

He's here for Tengaar. Zorak and some warriors attempt to attack him but are sent flying, then it's Viktor's turn and we reinforce our buddy. I have a really strong team here, Kasumi and Kage have fantastic speed, Alen and Cleo both have fire runes with plenty of casts, then of course there's Akami and Viktor providing the muscle in the front row. However, it all counts for nothing as Neclord dodges every single one of our attacks, turning into a cloud of bats to escape every sword swing or flame arrow we throw his way. Soon enough, he's brought us all down.

After that humiliation, the jeering Neclord asks Tengaar to become his 70th bride. Hix boldly steps up to defend her, he's stammering and terrified but holds his ground until Tengaar tells him it's not worth any more hurt. She goes with Neclord on the condition that he leave her village alone. Hix promises a rescue and Tengaar says she'll wait for him. I'm glad to see our new underdog warrior standing up for those he cares about. We all awake later and realise we'll need a special weapon to beat Neclord. Zorak recommends we visit the temple Qlon out west, and it's the only idea we've got. Let's go!

There better be some bat repellent in this temple...

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 17

It's time

Teo has 14,000 men. They're wearing better armour than ours, they're carrying larger weapons than ours, and they're all on horseback. I don't like the look of this. Teo calls us traitors as the battle begins, vowing that he won't stop until even his son has paid. I begin to suspect he might be wearing a black rune like the others.

To begin the battle, I notice we've got a new 'Others' option in the form of the 'Ninjas' who perform the same task as the 'Thieves' but with a 100% success rate. Lovely stuff. I send them in and Kasumi reports back that the enemy is planning "Armored Cavalry". What a terrifying message to receive. I begin to suspect that the battle might simply be a bit of a formality as I attempt a magic attack, followed by a charge, doing literally no damage whatsoever to Teo's forces as he shreds through mine like a knife through butter.

Oh no! Run, run away!

Very quickly retreat is ordered, but Teo sends some of his officers after us. At this point we see that they weren't riding horses in fact but rather some variety of beast not too dissimilar to the Tauntaun's from Star Wars. Anyway, they're chasing us down and yet again the writers decide this is time for a heroic sacrifice. Pahn steps up to the challenge, saying he'll hold them off while the rest of us escape. He maintains this isn't a suicide mission and we'll see him again, and I stupidly have to believe him.

We bid our brave buddy farewell and make good our escape, the camera however remains on Pahn as Teo and his friends Alen and Grenseal catch up with him. Our friend stands his ground, going so far as entering into a duel with Teo in order to prove that his loyalty and to amend for the first time he let us down with Ted. I have to play this duel, and it's a rather uncomfortable experience. Pahn lands a hit on Teo which barely does the tiniest fraction of damage, Akami's father responds with a blow that sends our friend falling to his knees. Pahn is then captured, and his impending execution is implied.

You'd think with biceps like that, Pahn could take him, but nope

Whether or not this actually translates to "Pahn is dead, you're not going to see him again." I'm not entirely sure. I certainly hope not, we said we'll see him again and I truly hope a rescue effort will be on the cards. Although somewhere at the back of my mind I still hope Ted is alive and yet I know that's remarkably naive so I'm probably exhibiting the same foolishness here. It would be fitting for Pahn to sacrifice himself after sort of messing everything up for us, a valiant death and all that, but to hell with fitting, valiant deaths, I like Pahn! I don't want another one of our friends to die, imagine if Cleo or Viktor are next!

Back at the castle, we don't really know what to do next and head for a rest. Leknaat arrives for a midnight rendezvous with Akami, saying that we're obviously at an incredibly low point with the death of Gremio and the battle with our father weighing heavy upon our heart. However, she says, this is not the time to cede. We have to keep going, the fate of the world depends on it. She then says it's time to talk about her sister Windy. Yep, she went and dropped the sibling bomb on us.

Alright, no need to rub it in!

She tells us they are the survivors of a Clan of the Gate. She tells us also that our rune is one of 27 True Runes, these were the original and most powerful runes from which all others have been derived. All have terrible strength and the Soul Eater is yet to reveal its true force. Windy carries a true rune, the Gate rune, she wants ours and others, but Leknaat warns they are too powerful for human use and Windy must be stopped.

Next morning, Flik's got a plan: Fire Spears. Wait, let's hear the guy out. Remember those blueprints we delivered ages ago? Well, they might just be the key to penetrating Teo's armoured cavalry. Odessa's final gift, as Flik puts it. It's our only real plan for now, so it's time to head to the secret factory. We'll be heading there in style too as Gen and Kamandol outside have built us a speedboat! Only problem is we have to take a party member along who knows about boats, so I call on our old chum Tai Ho. Cleo, Viktor, Milich and Valeria make up the numbers.

Gen is always good for a chuckle

At lightning speed we sail north, first reaching the town of Kirov: a run-down, dilapidated sort of place run be a chap named Kun To. We spy a woman outside doing her laundry, her name is Sarah and apparently she'd love to come and do laundry for the Liberation Army. First, she needs some soap. A fellow nearby says he'll give us soap if we bring him soy sauce, and another guy will give us soy sauce for a yardstick. What follows is a humorous train of simple fetch quests that ultimately leads back to Sarah, who reveals she in fact had some soap all along, and we enjoy a hearty laugh at our own expense.

We chat to someone named Melodye who would seemingly join our efforts if we can find a certain rune. An old woman nearby talks of a terrible battle up north in Kalekka, and we also hear that smuggling and piracy are rife in the area since Imperial control is somewhat lacking around here lately. At the item shop I purchase a fortune crystal which grants double experience to its wearer. Not bad at all. A fellow outside named Georges also offers his services provided we can best him in a new game. It's essentially "Pairs"; there's a board of face-down cards, we flip two at a time, if they match they're eliminated, if not they're turned back around. It takes a few attempts to beat Georges' record times but I win eventually.

Nope, 'soy sauce' isn't some sort of street name for drugs, he actually wants some

We seem to have exhausted Kirov's usefulness for now and head further north, reaching the town of Kalekka. We thought Kirov was run-down but this place takes the cake. There are even battles here! Abandoned shops, streets lined with rubble, and the cracked remnants of buildings populate what might once have been a fine little place to live.

In one of the buildings we encounter a fellow named Leon Silverberg! I can't help but feel this fellow must be Odessa and Mathiu's father but he offers little dialogue, only a piece of advise to recruit as many people as possible if we want to survive. It does make me stop and think for a moment that I might go out on another of those teleporting recruitment drives I enjoyed a short while ago. We chat to a man who claims to be the last living resident of the town, and recruit a farmer named Blackman who is attempting to grow a few seedlings amongst the debris.

I think I know you as well! You must be Odessa's dad!! 

Shortly after this, we arrive at the factory a little further north. Outside, a woman named Ronnie Bell is interrogating a couple of fellows who'd been sneaking around, we quickly realise the victims of her questioning are Ledon and Kessler! Ledon being the fellow who poisoned me quite a long time ago for those who don't remember, and Kessler was his boss. They repeatedly call Ronnie a "giant woman", which she certainly doesn't enjoy. Amusingly at this point I can interrupt the conversation with "Hey giant woman!" but I prefer to remain courteous.

The conversation quickly turns onto Odessa and Ronnie invites us inside to meet Mose, who is styled in the manner of Meese and Maas. We ask if he's got any fire spears, of course he does. If he asks if we've got a boat, of course we do. However, we'll need a few more boats to transport all this gear, so Tai Ho suggests we go and see his old friend Kun To back in Kirov. Before we leave, we spot Kage the badass ninja fellow who claims to only fight for the side with the most dosh, I hand over 20,000 bits to buy his services for the rest of the war.

Frankly, I think I'd prefer being called 'giant woman' than 'Ronnie Bell'

I decide at this point to jump back to the castle, do a bit of teleporting around and general exploration of our digs. I won't go into detail on all of that, I'll simply synthesise the important information. I learnt that Onil always tells us where to go next, that's a nice little feature. I went to Antei and recruit a young lad named Qlon along with Esmeralda (girl who wanted an Opal ring) and Jeane the rune lady. Now we have our own rune equipping service at the castle, which is a huge boost and I finally feel free to mix things up magically.

At Scarleticia I recruit the painter Ivanov and the singer Kasios, the former then proceeds to begin painting us a lovely picture at the castle provided I can bring him various colours of paint. I've got money falling out of my bursting wallet at this point by the way, so decide to go rank up my party's weapons to maximum and help myself to a bunch of the finest armour. Milich and Valeria make way for Kasumi and Kage, who both have seriously impressive stats, and with that we're just about ready to head off to Kirov!

Hehehe...

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 16

Hiddly-diddly-bo, into Sonaire we go. The guards on the gates fall for our forged papers, and we begin to explore the prison. Unfortunately, fake papers aren't so affective against monsters, so we still encounter a fair number of tricky battles on our way to rescue Liukan. Juppo Watch: Juppo has been used, and is rather useless. His 'Trick Rune' is a cool-looking move involving a little 'Bomberman'-type fellow falling from the sky and attacking the enemy, but for very little damage, and his stats are rather weak, even after levelling up. Juppo Watch will most likely end here today as I can't see myself using the character much in the future.

We progress down, down, down through the prison, collecting an Opal along the way (we'll give that to the girl who wanted one as soon as I remember her name and location). In the dungeons themselves we are forced to fight our way through hordes of guards to unlock some cells and obtain some treasure. One of the items we obtain is called 'Sound Setting 0' and I really do wonder what on Earth that is. 

Well, gentlemen, I'm a prison inspector. We've heard reports that guards are being employed here to stand in front of cells containing treasure chests for no discernible reason. Do we need to protect inanimate objects now? Do you believe the chests are going to stage a daring escape attempt? Good God man who's in charge here!? Okay fine let's just fight 'cause I want that treasure

Quite quickly, we find Liukan in his cell. He recognises us as the troublemakers who visited him earlier and joins up with us as we attempt to bust him out of here. Advance warning: Things are about to take a horrible turn for the worse. I felt like this little trip to the prison had gone a little too smoothly; we'd made our way in without any problems, quickly located our target, and were more or less strolling out the front door without a worry when suddenly Milich appears. He'd been waiting for us near the exit.

Viktor wants to fight him right away, an idea I would certainly support, especially since he doesn't even have a dragon alongside him this time. However, Milich refuses the idea of a battle, revealing instead a little present he's prepared for us: a bottle of Spores of Agony. The vicious, man-eating spores are quickly released from their glass prison as he smashes the bottle on the floor and makes for the exit, locking us in on the way. Oh dear.

Alright, quit your moaning and groaning you old fool, it's time to go

The room we're trapped in contains a lever that opens and closes a door back into the dungeons, but this door can only be opened and closed from this room. Thus, someone is going to have to stay behind, and I think anyone who has been following the blog recently will have some idea as to the identity of the doomed volunteer.

Without a moment's hesitation, Gremio pulls the lever and tells us to go. The party runs through the door, expecting him to follow as they've forgotten the door can only be closed from that room. He closes the door behind us. Akami screams at him to open the door, telling him it's an order, that there must be another way. The camera pans away from the room and I quickly realise that will be the last time we see Gremio on-screen.

What the... why are you carrying them around!?

He refuses to open the door, saying we don't need him to look after us anymore and that we've made him proud. As he gradually weakens and even loses his sight, he tells us it's time to say goodbye, and ends his life with what he calls his "first and final request": that we follow our heart. It's true, Gremio never did ask for anything, always content to serve and protect those he cared for and who cared for him. He was a true symbol of loyalty and honour, and as the camera finally pans down, revealing nothing but his green cloak and axe laying in the room, I personally can't help but feel heartbroken by this loss.

I have to say, as far as deaths in video games go, particularly at the era of Suikoden's release, this is an impressive scene. The way the camera panned up, giving the player the same experience as those characters, helplessly blocked behind the door, unable to see their old friend and appreciate him one last time, only to hear his final words and ultimately his cruel demise, it was very well done. 

That's the last time you'll see Gremio on this blog, folks, savour it

Right, that's the artistic side of things covered, now I can grieve. It really was a moving moment in the game, obviously with all that had been said before, we knew something unfortunate was heading Gremio's way but I kept hoping that death wasn't the fate that awaited him. A brutal death, to top it all. As I've said before, Gremio didn't have the sharpest blade, the quickest wit, or the most interesting tale to tell, and yet his death hit me harder than any moment in the game up to this point.

He was a servant, a friend, a loyal guardian. He looked after Akami and the others, he always appreciated honesty and abhorred betrayal, he was the embodiment of good values. All we can say is that at least he went out in a way he would have wanted: looking out for his friends, and putting the safety of others, particularly Akami, far ahead of his own.

A cruel loss

A short while after these tragic events Mathiu arrives to free us, as is often the case. He'd been worried after we'd been gone so long, and even brought the troops with him. At the sound of such an announcement, all I can think is "Let's go take down Milich right now", but we have to go back and rest first. Before he leaves, Akami kneels down to the cape and bows his head sadly: a depressingly powerful moment. Viktor also returns to the room of Gremio's demise, but we don't see what it is he does. 

Later on, we wake up at home, with friends waiting outside our room to offer their thoughts and condolences. Viktor offers to command the battle for us, Camille says we have to savour our life now after such a sacrifice, Pahn can barely speak, Flik begins to understand why we're in charge, and Cleo ponders that naturally death and war go hand-in-hand, but this death is so much harder to take. The game tellingly lacks any music in this brief section.

As a pissed off guy looking for vengeance, I must wholeheartedly agree with you Mathiu

We head straight to Mathiu, there'll be no screwing around exploring the castle this time, I want vengeance. He advises us to attack the castle immediately and those words are music to my ears. Liukan offers his antitoxin to protect us from the poisonous pollen, and also his future services, pledging allegiance to the army as he realises the life of the hermit was not his true calling. The Battle at Scarleticia Castle begins, and this time it's most certainly personal.

Our new recruits present with a few more options in battle. The 'Merchants' team has the ability to persuade enemy soldiers to turn against their own forces, and a few more attack teams have formed. It's not all gains though, as the loss of Gremio results in the 'Commander's Team' losing a lot of firepower.

New abilities!

Since I'm yet to use a magic attack in these battles, I decide to randomly kick things off with one. Luckily, it's a huge success; the battle begin with a force 12,000 strong against our 9,000 soldiers but after my initial attack they're quickly reduced to around 8k. The enemy was preparing a charge at the time, thus I realise magic is the clear counter to charge. Afterwards I send in the thieves, but they do their job a little too literally as Krin returns with 2,000 bits and no information on enemy strategy. Our new merchants are sent in next, but they fail. I have to go for it and decide on a bow attack, taking out another few thousand of their men. 

The battle is going quite well so far, huh? Well, it continues in the same fashion! The 'Strategists' (now featuring Apple) boost my power and in goes the 'Commander's Team' sans Gremio. Amusingly, the odds are more than a little uneven at this point; the enemy has 279 men which is represented by one guy on the battle screen whilst we have over 6k. A final charge finishes them off and our huge victory is assured. Part one of our Gremio revenge has gone smoothly, now to finish the job.

Damn right

Mathiu suggests we break into the castle and burn the roses once and for all. Viktor and Flik join the party seeking revenge for Gremio, and I decide on Cleo, Lorelai, and Luc to fill up the slots: a reliable friend, a new face, and my finest magician. The castle is a brief dungeon, I meet a painter named Ivanov and a singer named Kasios, both potential recruits I imagine but not yet. First their master must be destroyed.

As with Kwanda, we arrive out on the balcony, finally cornering Milich who has nowhere left to run. Suddenly, as with Kwanda again, he complains of pain from his wrist. He claims he has been given a rune by Windy and suddenly doesn't know why we're here or what's going on. My immediate reaction is one of huge disappointment, along with a little distrust. I was so eager to make someone pay for the death of Gremio that I was well and truly ready to finish Milich off but this changes things. However, Kwanda's arm glowed and he even asked us to kill him himself at one point. Milich's supposed pain and confusion were far less convincing.

Much of the party is blinded by anger at this point, it's touching to see how deeply the loss of Gremio has affected us all

Pahn, Cleo, and Viktor are ready to rip him apart but Milich truly seems to have no idea what anyone's talking about. Mathiu asks if he was wearing a black rune, which he was. Viktor and Pahn don't even care and make for the fallen general. I'm given the chance to intervene and I'll admit it was a tougher choice than last time. I don't think that necessarily means I care more about avenging Gremio than the whole village of elves that were killed by Kwanda; I just wasn't as easily convinced, or perhaps didn't want to be, by Milich's show. 

Perhaps he could be tricking us, I'd feel terrible if I save his life only to discover he truly did voluntarily slaughter Gremio, but Milich wasn't there to see Kwanda suffering from his rune. How would he have known to copy such an act? I begin to realise it is indeed likely that he has endured the same fate as the general who now fights alongside us, and the benefit of the doubt has to be applied. Cleo and Viktor are confused by my choice, but for once Flik defends our reasoning and says the leader must not be questioned.

Both are true, but we'll take the vengeance out on Windy

When Milich then asks to join our cause, I feel my choice is vindicated. He explains how the Emperor has been besotted with Windy who bears a resemblance to his late wife, and is now woefully under her control. Milich wants to restore order and realises we're the chaps to help with that. He wouldn't have joined us if he'd been faking. At least I don't think so, it'd have to be an elaborate undercover ploy to pull off if he was. We'll see, I guess.

In bursts Stallion, of all people, screaming that an army is arriving and we're needed at The Castle. Back at the HQ, we go to see Mathiu who is meeting with a young boy named Kasumi, a ninja from the village of Rokkaku. Rokkaku has fallen... to Teo's forces. I should've thought of it before, I know, but it's only now that I begin to wonder about our own father being under the same spell as Kwanda and Milich. 

Uh-oh

Kasumi then joins the army and we prepare for battle against Teo. Gen bursts in to report the arrival of a ton of troops on the shore, and Mathiu suggests a brief skirmish. I'm given the choice to agree or tell my friends I'm not willing to do battle with my father. Tune in next time for what could very well be the fight against Teo McDohl!

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 15

Join with me in celebration, dear friends; I am the proud owner... of a map! Oh yes! I'll tell you how it all went down in a moment, but first let's bask in an image of my new navigational chum.

Oh yeah!

Right, here's how it all happened; essentially, I was lost. I wandered around that same area from the last post for quite a while, stumbling on the same old towns, chatting to the same old people, and pretty much getting nowhere. I'll admit the temptation to check online was growing, but I'd love to reach the end of this game and say I figured it all out myself. Especially since it seems to be one of those JRPGs that require you to really make some leaps of deduction sometimes.

Anyway, back to the map action. Once I'd realised I was basically lost, I decided that this was a fine time to teleport back to the castle and revisit previous locations in the hopes of, if not finding a hint, at least recruiting a few more people. Thank the heavens for the Blinking Mirror and Kiki's teleportation, seriously, otherwise this part of the game would be a nightmare. It makes you wonder in fact if anyone has ever tried doing it without recruiting Kiki or collecting the Blinking Mirror; that must be a ghastly experience.

Still a lot of spaces to fill

So, here's a brief rundown of what happened in the places we'd been to before. At Seika we recruited Marie the innkeeper, a friendly, rotund woman who previously helped us hide from the imperials and has been a bit of a "Nurse Joy from the Pokécentre"-type omnipresence throughout the game. We also chat to Antonio the chef who would like a new job, but we aren't able to offer him one, weirdly. We recruit a wise woman named Onil as well.

At Mathiu's old place a girl named Apple (now we know where Martin and Paltrow got the idea from) is sad that we took Mathiu away and wants to ask him herself why he went, thus she joins up. The other kids there miss their teacher too, it's quite a sad moment but I'll look after him for them and I'm sure he'll return in one piece before long. 

Got me a black market dealer

Just north of the town is the gate we once had to sneak through shortly after meeting Viktor, you remember? We met a guy named Chandler there at the time; well now we recruit him and he offers to bring us medicine. We then move on to Kaku where there are no new recruits available but there is that cat roaming the village; I recall that a girl is looking for a cat and attempt to capture the rascal but enjoy no such luck.

We then warp our way to Kouan, the Great Forest Village, and the Village of the Dwarves, all to no avail. Not a single recruit can be found in a single one of those places, and I begin to worry about my course of action after I finish my visits since it doesn't look like I'm getting too much help so far.

Suddenly, a Suikoden miracle; I arrive at the Burnt Village of the Elves, probably the last place I expected to find someone, but a young man is stood near the remains of the giant tree. My heart doesn't leap immediately, I assume he's just another recruit, but soon I'll see how special he is. His name is Templeton and he's a mapmaker. Oh my days. A mapmaker. Does this mean what I think it does? When he offers to make us maps and then even hands us one, my suspicions are joyously confirmed.

Templeton, you are my favourite video game character

I head out onto the world map and am treated to that wonderful image you saw at the beginning. Flashing dots indicate locations to visit, and suddenly I feel more powerful than ever before. It's obviously time to get back over to the French village area and see if we can't find us that castle, or maybe even that potion-maker, but first I decide to head back to The Castle and see if there's been any changes.

Changes are indeed abound at our headquarters, we now have our own inn, item shop, and armour shop! Fantastic. Marie at the inn lets us know she's looking for a chef so we make the quick journey back to Seika to pick up Antonio. We even have our own little dice game run by a fellow named Gaspar I recruited last time. I played with him and won quite a bit of money since he runs a "Double or nothing" system and I went on a nice run. We chat to Onil, the wise woman, who wonderfully seems to give us a hint for our next step; she tells us that the pharmacist Liukan lives upriver from Rikon! 

Well thanks!

I switch out Stallion from Lorelai (a choice I'll soon regret) and get cracking. I was tempted to stick the chef Antonio or the old woman Hellion into the party just for giggles, but I'll do that another time. Even the bath expert Sansuke is a playable fighter! Anyway, out on the world map I notice that I'm moving slowly, and realise that Stallion must have been the reason for the lovely speed boost I'd been experiencing, so back we go to retrieve him. I know, going back-and-forth is becoming my speciality.

Right, back to Antei where I purchase some "Toe Shoes" and wonder if they might be enough to dance with the girl in the inn. They are indeed, and we're treated to a great scene of Akami and Mina sharing a boogie; the latter spinning gracefully like a ballerina whilst the former simply turns slowly in a circle. After that's over, she joins us and another dancer takes her place. Amusingly, one of the guys watching her had previously said "Mina's dancing is the town's treasure!" and now he says "This girl's dancing, too, is the town's treasure, sort of." I love it.

Akami can boogie with the best of 'em... almost

Despite all of our new arrivals, Jeane still doesn't deem our force large enough to merit her recruitment, and with that I've spoken to pretty much everyone and it's time to find Liukan! Following the river by land leads to nothing that I haven't seen before, but I notice a flashing dot on the map down south and realise I haven't been there yet. The only way is to sail along the river, so we climb aboard and cast off from Rikon port.

We follow the river towards the dot and eventually spot a house; it has to Liukan's place, but there's a problem. A vortex of water is blocking the way, and we can't sail through it. I recall that there was a fellow who liked boats I met recently, and in fact came to consult this very blog to recall his name and location (it's not cheating if I use a guide I wrote myself). His name is Gen and he resides in Teien. 

Swirling whirlpool of doom... we can take it!

We teleport back to the castle to speed up the journey when suddenly a brief scene occurs! Viktor asks what our plan is to get past those rapids, and Gremio says we'll need a better boat. Nice way of the game hinting where to go there, but I believe I was one step ahead of them, for once. The plan remains to go and talk to Gen, and off we go.

I was right! Gen says he can help us, but not alone, he joins the party and asks that we go chat to Kamandol, the alchemist who was locked away next door. I'm an immediate fan of Gen, I must confess; he's got a real sense of humour and doesn't like his time being wasted, calling out threats and names to Kamandol when he refuses to open his door. The alchemist finally appears, wearing a monocle worthy of applause, and eventually invites us inside to show us his plan for overcoming the rapids.

Most pointless choice so far

A machine that runs on oil. "Ridiculous" says Flik in one of those amusing "It's funny because that's a thing in the real world, but for them it's madness!" sort of ways. Ridiculous or not, attached to a boat, this thing will give us the boost we need to push upriver. We realise we're going to have to carry this thing to Rikon now, which isn't ideal since it's huge and must way several tonnes. Luckily, we're a tough bunch and we manage.

Upon arrival, we're tired from lugging that thing all the way, and Kamandol and Gen need some time to fit it to the boat, so the rest of us head to bed at the inn. In the middle of the night we're treated to a touching scene in which Gremio stands aside a sleeping Akami and speaks of how much we've grown, how he has looked after us for so long that he thinks of himself as a father or brother figure, and that now perhaps we don't need his protection any more. Have to say, I'm getting more and more perturbed by all this Gremio time lately. I'd hate to lose the guy; he's not my first-choice fighter, or even one of my favourite characters, but he's a lovely fellow.

Not a good sign, not a good sign, not a good sign

In the morning we head outside, climb aboard our upgraded vessel, and head off to take on these rapids. Arriving safely at Liukan's Hermitage, a very foggy locale, we walk up to the house and find Liukan; a tired, old man who just wants be alone. We begin to ask him about the medicine when suddenly in flies Milich on a huge, black dragon! I didn't see that coming.

The evil general is here to deliver Liukan to his Soniere prison, preventing us from obtaining our precious antidote. I'm sensing a needless trek around a dungeon coming up when technically, Milich is standing right here, admittedly he has a dragon but there's six of us and it wouldn't be the first we'd brought down. We could at least try and take the evil swine but no, we all stand there and watch as he leisurely grabs Liukan and flies away. That's video games for you. Amusingly, Flik then has the gall to go and say "How humiliating! He was snatched from right in front of us!" Yeah, cause you did nothing Flik.

Bye! We'll just sit here and watch you kidnap this old man and fly aw- oh wait! Oh dear he's already gone.

Anyway, back to the castle we go to plot a break-in. Fantastic work everyone, we were this close to what we wanted and instead we have to go and break a fellow out of prison, which I'm sure will include battling countless more guards and enemies than the one guy and his dragon we had to beat to prevent this whole ordeal.

Right, just to add fuel to my fire of rage, Kwanda had the blinking mirror and I've removed him from the party so now I have to trek all the way back home instead of fast travelling. On the way back we encounter a huntress named Quincy who says she'll join us when we have 34 more recruits. You might be waiting a little while for that awfully specific request to be fulfilled, my dear.

Sausage-fest in the upgraded baths, oh yeaaaaah!

We arrive back at The Castle, eventually. By the way, lately whenever we return here we're treated to a little scene showing the outside of our headquarters, and it seems to grow and become more and more like a castle as time goes by. New towers have been built and our ramparts are being developed. Inside, as well the place continues to develop. Templeton has been given a map room, the baths have been upgraded with stone as opposed to wood, Rock's vault is larger and all of the main commanders on the fourth floor now have their own fancy bedrooms.

I must say I love that aspect of the game. I've mentioned it before I know but it's really worth repeating to drive home how cool it is that the castle gradually develops as you build your army and time passes by. I love getting back after a mission or gaining a few new soldiers to see what's changed.

We also have this nice roof for picnics and other activities

Right, we go and talk to Mathiu who would like us to head back to Antei and recruit a counterfeiter named Kimberley and a scrivener named Tesla. They'll help us break-in to the prison. Out go Gen and Kamandol from the party and in come Juppo (who I've been attempting to use in battle for ages and by the love of God I will do eventually!) and Cleo since she's been out a little while for no good reason, she's a fine fighter with her fire rune and a good friend.

I fancied taking Luc along since I love how magically powerful he is, but he's cursed with a short-range weapon and I can't risk placing such a fragile fellow in my front row. Thus, he's only capable of magic attacks and presents a limited option in battle. Speaking of magic, there's one criticism I could throw at the game actually, for now I still don't really understand how it all works. I have plenty of runes and rune pieces, some of which I can equip and then use, others I can equip that do nothing, and others still that I can't seem to equip at all. I've even recruited characters who arrive with their own runes but no spells of any kind. I ask if I have to mix them around, if it's related to stats, if certain characters can only use certain runes, etc. but the game provides no answer. I hope it's something I'll be able to figure out because I feel like I'm missing out on a large part of combat.

Then this happened...

Anyway, we teleport to Antei and speak to Kimberley. She says she'll join us if... she can have dinner with Flik. Viktor of course agrees to this proposal in place of our impetuous Flik who is suddenly rendered rather speechless. We then get to enjoy watching this ludicrous date between a terribly nervous and stuttering Flik and rather cougar-esque Kimberley.

She lets us know that Tesla is here in the town disguising himself under the name Albert. We find him and Viktor amusingly encourages him to try and keep up his cover story by asking questions like "What's your surname, Albert?" "What's your mother's name?" etc. Our buddy Vik then eventually yells out "Hey Tesla" and 'Albert' falls right into the trap, replying and revealing his true identity (as if we didn't know it already). It's been a while since a good Viktor scene and I enjoyed that one.

Well sorry but there's a big old war going on, buddy

We head on back to the castle, which now has an updated theme tune by the way; it's the same melody with new instruments, and really is a lovely piece of music. I feel like I should start a "Juppo Watch" feature in the blog because he still has not been used in combat at this point. Anyway, upstairs Mathiu tells us Kimberley and Tesla have prepared some forged documents allowing us to walk into Soniere. Time to go and free Liukan!