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Marrend
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Marrend plays The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt!


--Session 8 - An Introduction to Novigrad --


Last time, Geralt met with the with the ealdorman of Downwarren, as per a request given to him by the Crones of Crookback Bog. As part of that task, he meet with a thornling that claimed that the Crones captured the kids at the orphanage, and decided to help a thronling take the body of a horse that would, in turn, help the kids.

Nothing comes without a cost, though. The Crones wanted those children for themselves, and placed the blame for their escape entirely on Gran, who turned out to be the missing wife of the Bloody Baron. As payment for the information, the baron finishes his tale, which suggests Ciri left Velen for Novigrad, but, from the sound of things, she's likely not there anymore. Still, Novigrad is our next point of investigation, but, there's a few matters to attend to in Velen. Refer to the optional content corner for what details I can manage.

For starters the world map made me think Novigrad was it's own location with a separate map. It's still a rather large city, but very much located on the map of Velen. If I bothered to tag the quest that would have me go here, perhaps this confusion on my part would've been rectified earlier.

All that aside, this is among the largest civilized areas I've been in. The city has three notice boards and at least two fast travel points within it confines from the brief amount of exploration that I did there. It's quite the disparity from the thatched huts in the wild that I've become accustomed to seeing. Even in the area of Crow's Perch, while certainly better off then most places, still had this downtrodden sense. Even so, let's have the game introduce us to Triss Merigold and see what information she has to share, if any.

...Is what I would say, if she was still residing in her residence. Apparently, she's in hiding due to the Temple Guards of the Eternal Fire in this city cracking down on anybody who even has the hint of magic about them. A pair of scavengers milling about the entrance to the house relayed as such, dropping the title of "King of Beggars" when they do, before the leader of the Guard, Caleb Menge, butted in, arresting them, then gave me a bit of a warning that his eyes are on me.

Still, I peek in her house to see if there is any additional clues as to her whereabouts. The house is in a state of upheaval, with objects thrown about every which way. There's plenty of loot, but, the points of interest only really lead me to the conclusions that she left in a hurry. Though, with the state of the house in such disarray because of the looters, perhaps that is a premature conclusion.

From what the looters told me before getting cuffed is that there's two possible methods to find this King of Beggars. One is to talk to beggars, and probably grease their palms a bit. The other is to tail suspicious-looking characters from the town square in the hopes they might lead me to him. I attempt the latter of these, and I meet with a partial success. I now know where the entrance is, but, the gatekeeper there won't let me past unless I either pay 50 coin, or speak a password. There's no certainty that I would have learned the password if I spoke to beggars instead, so, whatever. I pay it.

In the office is a man and a woman. The man is the presumed King of Beggars, sometimes also known as Francis Bedlam. The woman...





...is the sought-after Triss Merigold. Francis makes a bit of a speech concerning his vision and wish to change Novigrad, but, who knows how successful he'll be. As for Triss, given her reaction, it would be news to her that Ciri made way to Novigrad. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me. However, the question of who could know the whereabouts of Ciri in this town assuming she's still here, is left unanswered as we approach an alchemist. Triss ordered some ingredients from him, but, he was intercepted by a Temple Guard patrol, and had to drop the package. I volunteer to go with Triss and fetch it, but, rather than leave through the front door, another patrol is by the window, and presents a problem. I don't know how well-known Triss is, as a sorceress, but, I'm sure she'd rather not risk getting caught by them, even if it means going through the basement to avoid detection.

Along the way to the site the alchemist spoke of, Triss speaks about how of Novigrad was once correctly labeled a free city. A place where that would allow both magic-users and nonhumans to flourish. Even regular folk had better chances here than anywhere else. In more peaceful times, perhaps it could still be that, but, of course, the city, known for it's wellspring of coin, has become a point of desirability for the parties engaged in war. I've long lost track of the political landscape of this game. I don't think the war in question is necessarily limited to Nilfgaard and Tamera, but, I certainly can't name other nations/factions off-hand. For what it is worth, the codex categories are, bestiary, tutorial, characters, books, and crafting. Any reference to nations would be limited to the character tab.

Either way, once the package is returned to it's rightful owner, we visit a granary to take out some rats? Wait, a rat-killing quest? This late in the game? Or have I been mystically transported to Castleview? Either way, it sounds like a prior arraignment for Triss, and having an extra hand wouldn't hurt. The job done in due time, the merchant asking this of us got the idea in his head to send men after us, and do the Eternal Fire a favor. There were maybe three level 10 guys, and while I don't know Triss' level, Geralt was at 11. With their focus divided, they were dealt with in due time. We then had a talk with the merchant afterwards, and strong-armed him into paying double. Frankly, I would've been happy with whatever was agreed beforehand, but, there was no options of conversation here.

That done, Triss does me a favor, and gives me a lead as to who might have an idea about Ciri's current whereabouts. A dream-seer by the name of Corinne Tilly. This marks the Pyres of Novigrad story-quest complete, and in it's place is Novigrad Dreaming. Pyres of Novigrad level indication was 10, but Novigrad Dreaming is 7. Now, maybe it's just me, but this makes me not want to engage in more side-questing? However, I get the funny feeling that things aren't going to be as easy as it sounds. Find out how if my feelings are justified, next time on the Witcher 3 LP!



Optional content corner
<Contract: Shrieker>
Not sure how long I've had this in my log, but, whatever. The person to talk to is in Crow's Perch. Absolutely no description is given for this beast. The son of a man who made a failed attempt to capture/slay it apparently saw the whole mess. It takes a bit of convincing/Axii, but, the child describes the thing as a large rooster with a lizard's tail, and gives me a general area to search. I find the remains of a dog (the boy mentioned one), before I notice the trail of monster blood. They eventually lead to a cave, and Geralt makes a conclusion that it's a cockatrice. Now that I think back on the description, yeah, that checks out.

I refer to the codex for what they are weak against, and, to no surprise, I don't have all the reagents for either draconid oil, or grapeshot bombs. At least I can use Aard to maybe knock it out of the air? My abilities with the crossbow have been a bit lacking, but, I guess that could be a method if I have no other options. I barely come out of the fight alive, but, since I am alive, I can take the trophy, and bring it back to the quest-giver for the exp reward. Naturally, they offer gold, but, since this guy took in an orphan, I'm inclined to let him keep the money. I dunno, maybe I really am making Geralt to poorest witcher, but, it's, just, I generally take the option to not take money, if it presents itself?

<Return to Crookback Bog>
I probably should have name-dropped these characters earlier, but, whatever. The baron's daughter, Tamara, did not want my help in rescuing her mother, Anna. Phillip, the Bloody Baron, however, is another story. As I said last session, I can't say for sure if we can truly save Anna, so long as she bears the brand that was placed upon her by the Crones. Even if one would make an attempt, who knows what kinds of consequences there would be in going against them?

All that aside, the baron seems willing enough to make an attempt, and wanted me to join him. The quest marker's at Downwarren. The ealdorman there speaks of a horse trampling about. The way he describes it makes both me and Geralt come to the same conclusion. It's probably the spirit of the thornling I helped that took the body of a horse from last session. It might have helped the children of the orphanage escape, but, now it's taking some kind of revenge on this town? They did send a non-zero number of people to kill it, but, I can not blame them for that. Nor can I exactly blame this spirit for wanting vengeance, but, my current guess is that I have to stop it, and, maybe, the Crones as well.

Regardless of what's going on, the baron takes six other guys with him, and we come across some drowners between us and the orphanage. Nothing a party of this size can't handle, that's for sure. When we arrive, there is already a melee in progress. It's the group Tamara's was with! After the drowners and water hags are cleared, the baron and daughter have a few words for each other. Of course, the baron would see his daughter return, but, she will have none of that. Both me and the witch hunters make a point that we should really, really figure out where Anna is. She's found, and her form more closely resembles that of a water hag than anything else. Tamara would have me do something for her, but, something is coming.

Another mess of drowners, water hags, and a large fiend. The concerted effort of Tamara's witch hunters, the baron's men, and myself take care of these things, so that our attention moves towards the now-cursed Anna. If there is one person who might know more about how Anna got to be this way, and give us a lead as to how it could be reversed, it's the godling, Johnny.

There's drowners and a water hag where his alcove was. It doesn't take long to figure out that he's left, though, and a search ensues. I follow Johnny's tracks, and find him in due time. He spoke of a hidden ladder, which I think I found on an earlier point in the game. I might not 100% remember what all was down there, but, it kinda sounds like if there is a way to reverse whatever happened with Anna, it's down there.

An array of four voodo dolls await me there, with exactly one representing Anna. I can examine all four, and glean what clues I can, and I make a choice. I'm not sure if I can back out of this, but, Anna is screwed either way. If we left the dolls as-is, she would probably degrade into a water hag in due time. By removing the wrong doll, she burns to ashes, and dies horribly. By choosing the right doll, she regains her human form, but, her life span has been cut short regardless. However, she gains her sanity back for what time she has left. The baron apologizes profusely for what he has done, as he should. Anna, for her part, is happy to see both husband and daughter together again, but, has a few more parting words for her daughter than husband.

Tamara takes some additional time to cry. I overheard the witch hunters talking about taking the body with them to Oxenfurt. Does Phillip have no say in this? Though, speaking of, maybe it didn't matter to him where she was buried. When he departed, he told me to go back to Crow's Perch for payment. What I found was a body hanging from a tree in the courtyard. Having lost Anna was doubtlessly a heavy blow, and with Tamara, being very vociferous in her wish to have nothing to do with him, he must've thought there was nothing left to live for.

So, I looked this up to see what the variations for the Bloody Baron plot line would be. The children Anna were looking after will be removed from the narrative (I'll refer to this state as RFN/MIA) regardless of what I choose. However, I'm largely assuming they are dead if the Crones take them. They might live if I help the thornling, but, the cost of helping that spirit is that the people of Dunbarrow suffer madness, if not death, themselves. Slaying it seems to indicate that Anna and Phillip live, but, Anna's mind and heart are completely broken. From what I can gather, Phillip would take her to some place where mystics are said to live in an attempt to heal her. Which means they become RFN/MIA for the rest of the game. However, should I help the sprit-thornling-horse thing, they both die, and would be RFN/MIA regardless. Tamara lives in any given scenario, but, her mental and emotional state are probably more stable if Anna lives. This is not to say that she could stabilize if her mother dies, but, she also likely wouldn't need to stabilize as much. However, I also find it likely that she'll be RFN/MIA for the rest of the game, regardless of how things go down.

All this aside, there is no doubt that the plot-line concerning the Bloody Baron has come to an end. I even get a little cut-scene for it. For what little it is worth, I could imagine Geralt wishing Phillip and Anna Strenger to be happier, and better off, in the next life. Assuming he even believes in such things. As for Tamara, perhaps Dea, her lubberkin sister, yet watches over her. Perhaps, one day, she turn this tragedy to strength, rather than allow it to destroy her from within.

<For the Advancement of Learning>
For a person who claims to be a friend with benefits, I can't say I appreciate the fact that Keria Metz put me to sleep after telling her that Fyke Tower's lab is still around. Perhaps the sorceress was overly excited by what she could find there, but, in that excitement, I wonder if she forgot the detail that a plauge maiden was released?

Fighting said plauge maiden is what I half-expect from this quest, but, thankfully, that wasn't what was going on at all. With documents in hand, she would make her way to Radovid. I'm not exactly sure which nation he represents, but, they are not friends to Nifgaard. Regardless, she of of the mind that she would trade the notes for a high price, and be able to live in a manner she is more used to living. However, I manage to talk her out of doing such a rash thing. The reasoning I have Geralt put forward is that the research notes could be turned into the makings of biological weapons. Keira believes it's not particularly possible. Even if it was, there would be death either way. The only difference would be how the death would come about.

Regardless of this, I suggest an alternative. To go to Kaer Morhen instead. It may not have all the trappings that she's clearly looking to immerse herself in once more, but, it's certainly an improvement over her living conditions in Velen, and she could live in relative peace. She relents, and, probably, becomes RFN/MIA.

Old/Lost RpgMaker Games - SegNin's Rare/Obscure RM Games Request Topic

Request via PM from bosshunter:

Hi, I don't mean to bother you.

I'm looking for a Game Maker Studio game called Monster World Legends, made by XBuster.

His rpgmaker page has the download offline for a very long time (gamepage link)

I noticed that you posted a comment there.

The filename is MWL_2017_Conceptual_Demo.rar from what I could find.

Do you still have this game? I've been looking for it since forever..


I absolutely did not still have the game. For what it is worth, I tried using the "contents" trick, and while it has two files listed, none of them is the one they are looking for. I'll be answering their PM as much, and letting them know I made this post.

I've definitely been slacking on updating the list of requests within my little subsection, but, I can at least slide this request in there.

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 3


-- Session 2 - Rennes-le-Chateau d'If --

I didn't mention it before, but, let's to a quick aside concerning the voice acting. For the most part, I don't think there's been to much changes between games. chaos retains his voice actor from Episode 2, which is certainly acceptable versus Episode 1. Helmer's voice actor has changed for every single episode, I swear. Shion's voice actress from Episode 1 returns, as does KOS-MOS', and this decision seems to have been largely welcomed. For what it is worth, I didn't mind the voice actress for Shion in Episode 2? KOS-MOS wasn't particularly vociferous in the previous entries, but, I think she has more lines in this game. That aside done, back to business.

Last time, Shion virtually hacked into the S-Line Division of Vector Industries to acquire some kind of secret data. What that data contains, we still don't know, but, newbie character Doctus is on the job. However, this chapter begins with a conversation between Dr Juli Mizhari of the Contact Subcommittee, and Federation Representative Helmer of Second Miltia. Seeing Helmer on the screen generally means bad news. The Michtam system is now effectively under Ormus control. For a quick reminder, Orums is another name for the Immigrant Fleet, and are the main financial backers of the U-TIC organization. I don't know if we ever hear the term "Immigrant Fleet" in this game, but I will make an attempt to notice. No promises, though.

The conversation moves to the tactical warship, Merkabah. You might recall Proto Merkabah was the final dungeon in Episode 1, to say nothing about a possible reference to Xenogears. That aside, from the sounds of things, the Merkabah was unveiled/unsealed thanks to Albedo, and Dimitri Yuriev somehow found/obtained it, and turned it into a weapon. Which makes it sound like it will be a dungeon we will delve in at some point in this game.

Regardless of that situation, Helmer would have Juli keep an eye on Dimitri, and his Salvator faction. As a Federation Representative, he can't make too many moves out in the open. Juli agrees to oblige him, and least insofar in her own capacity as a Contact Subcommittee member. Though, because of that position, I've doubts she can make many open moves either, and will likely call upon Jr, and the Kukai Foundation.

Canaan arrives on the scene, and gives a report on a particular object that was found floating around in space. What it looks like is a half-dome, with the flat end being the surface of a terran planet. Information obtained unofficially from Vector labels this object as Rennes-le-Chateau. Which is a reference we almost literally just heard from Wilhelm before the chapter switch. Of particular note, is...

Canaan: There's no way to prove this, but, apparently, it's a landmass that belonged to Lost Jerusalem.

...this. This means it might not just be a sliver from just any old terran planet, it could be a chunk from the terran planet by which all other planets are compared to, Earth. Even if it's not from Earth, Canaan continues his report, stating that there is a record of Gnosis appearing in it's vicinity, and it looks like Ormus also has interest in it as well. Only direct contact with the landmass can more accurate data be obtained. Juli has already commissioned the Kukai Foundation to check this out, noting that she's keeping things under wraps, due to the number of Ormus members in the Federation Parliament.

A bit more fluff before a switch to the Durandal, the flagship of the Kukai Foundation. Mary stands on the bridge, with Shelly in her normal spot, in a conference call with both Gaignuns. Jr is already on the Elsa while Gaignun is in an office on Fifth Jerusalem. Mary sounds a bit more chipper this time around than she ever did in Episode 2, I must say. That aside, the content of the discussion here is mostly fluff, or stuff we already know, so I feel no need to go over it.

Cut to the surface of Planet Michtam, where U-TIC Commander Marguils and his immediate subordinate, Pelligri stand on a platform, looking over some ruins. Pellegri reports that she's sent goon squad Richard and Hermann to Rennes-le-Chateau to counter the Federation Fleet heading there. However, Pellegri feels something is off. The exchange moves to a bit of background on the planet, but, to summarize, it was where Ormus was founded, and an incident some 18 years ago involving the Zohar, made Michtam into the ghost planet it is now. It sounds like a similar story not unlike that of First Miltia, and the Militan Conflict of 10 years ago. They also speak of Rennes-le-Chateau, and it's return. A report from a soldier relays that the Elsa has appeared in the area, and Marguils can only smirk at the chance of dueling Jin again before giving the order to proceed to Rennes-le-Chateau.

Back to the Elsa, the ES have already launched. The Asher is piloted by Jr and chaos, with the Zebulun being piloted by MOMO and Ziggy. The Reuben is a new ES. I have no idea where it even came from, but, Jin is piloting that one solo. The usual crew is here, with a few new addons. Well, the Professor and his assistant, Scott, aren't necessarily new characters to the series, per say, but, certainly take on a more active and central role this time around. This is also one of the reasons I really really think that completing the Robot Academy side-quests should have some effect on when you transfer data between games, so that having these two appear on the Elsa bridge doesn't completely come out of nowhere.

All that aside, the initial analysis of the mass of this object is still inconclusive, even at this range. As they reach closer, they see the flat side of the dome, and it's full of vegetation!? I don't pretend to know how that's possible. The gravity around the object is 1G, giving a little bit more weight to the possibility it's from Lost Jerusalem, but, certainly not conclusive enough evidence to come to that conclusion. Soon, though, enemies are detected, and we get our first delve into...



OST - "Survive"

...combat as ES units. The game gives players a few popups concerning this, but, lemme drop a screencap here for reference purposes.




So, when you select "Attack", you get a window that looks a bit like this, where you select which weapon to attack with. Each weapon will consume a certain amount of fuel/energy to use, which is the closest thing this game comes to the AP system of Xenogears, as energy recovers to full on the next action the ES would take. However, unlike AP in Xenogears, there does not appear to be a method by which you can "store" energy between turns and spend them for a larger attack string later

As we improve the engines and weapon array of our ES, we would be able to attack with multiple weapons, or, choose to end the combo prematurely with... I think it's R1? With this battle, all my attack options consume enough fuel to only pull off one attack on any given turn, so, I'll have to note which button it is to end combos when I can get proper gameplay confirmation on it.

ES cannot use boost this game, but, each ES has their own personal Anima gauge. This battle doesn't last long enough to fill them. However, when it fills, the Anima Awakening option becomes available. There's a submenu to choose which level of Anima Awakening to use, but, at this point in the game, we only have access to Anima Awakening I.

Anima Awakening I/II/III induces a state onto the ES that lasts two turns, three turns in the case of Anima Awakening III. During this time, the ES' standard attacks have a reduced energy cost. Which is nice, but the real reason you use Anima Awakening is because in this state, ES have access to Tech Attacks. Once a Tech Attack is used, it cannot be used again until Anima Awakening has been reapplied. However, it is notable that, like Tech Attacks for characters, defeating an enemy with one gets you a Finish Strike, and all the associated bonuses with such.

The enemies defeated, we check the Elsa's condition. It's fine, and doing it's thing. At least, for a while. Then, another enemy attack, this time, it's Marguils with his Levi. The Asher and Zebulun have some trouble dealing with it, but then the Reuben duels, and it doesn't take long for Margulis to recognize the style of swordsmanship on display. The inevitable boss fight...



OST - "Battle of Your Soul"

...ensues. Man, they really hit it out of the park with this soundtrack. That aside, the game gives us a bit of a heads-up about Anima Awakening here. Unfortunately for us, the Levi can activate Anima Awakening as well. I don't recall if I've ever seen an enemy ES unit use a Tech Attack, but, they sure do use the reduced fuel consumption property to do more/better combo attacks. Each of my ES use their Anima Awakening I skill once, with Jin's Reuben getting the Final Strike on Margulis' Levi. I'd call that a chef's kiss ending to this combat.

However, if you thought the battle was actually over, it wasn't. Jin and Marguils have it out again in their ES in their usual spectacular fashion. Except the duel is temporarily called off due to a resonance coming from Rennes-le-Chateau. The ES attempt an escape, but, Marguils has a few things to say about that. He throws a bomb in front on Reuben, and the blast sends it flying right into Levi, and Merguils readies it's sword right across Reuben's approximate neck. The Elsa rams into the Levi, freeing Jin, but, Marguils does not take this well, and throws his sword at it. It hits the engines, and the damage makes the Elsa careen towards the ever-expanding light. Marguils is furious that the vessel is heading into a crash course with a holy land, but, a voice tells him to stand aside.

Now, Marguils has certainly given his fair share of orders over the course of the series, but, we've never seen him take orders. Or, if he has, it's off-screen, and they happen align with whatever he's doing anyway. Here, he clearly thinks it's a bad idea to stand down, but, does so anyway. Apparently, his boss has already acted. He retreats, and while Jr would love to chase him down, an Ormus fleet is there to provide cover fire. Any duel between Jin and Marguils is cool, so, here's the appropriate cut-scenes for them.



Cutscene 20 - Margulis' Assault

Cutscene 21 - Elsa Vanishes

A short scene on the Elsa follows. The logical drive is shot, and they have no power. A crash into the landmass is inevitable. Cut back to the Durandal, the 100-Series there cannot determine the position of the Elsa. The Reuben isn't able to pick anything up either, and Jin agrees that they can only wait until the Durandal arrives. Jr doesn't even ask MOMO for what she, or the Zebulun, can pick up, and just hopes the Elsa will be okay. After this is an end-of-chapter save. With the fate of the Elsa hanging in the balance, one can only wonder how, or even if, Shion will get involved? That question might be answered next time, on the Xenosaga Episode 3 LP!

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 2!

As a point of cross reference, here are the links to the other entries in this series.

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 1!
Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 3!

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 1!

Though, as mentioned, it might be a bit before I delve into Episode 2. I'll leave a post here when I make the topic so that one can follow along.


So, uh, good job on me for not following this up...

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 2!
Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 3!

...until now. The Episode 3 LP is still underway as of this writing, but, should you be visiting this thread when it is complete and also assuming RMN isn't dead, it will be ready and waiting.

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 3


-- Session 1 - Hacking into the S-Line --


I've always used transfer data from Episode 2, even if the bonuses that I can recall are pretty minimal. However, for the sake of this LP, I did a comparison of what I could immediately observe at the start of the game. However, as far as I can tell, there's no bonus experience, skill points, or money granted by using transferred data. It's literally just Shion's Vector outfit. Which is slightly better than her initial armor the game gives, but, I was really really hoping there would be something more substantial here. At least Xenosaga Episode 2 gives some extra skill points, even if that particular variable is largely irrelevant to me.

Data transfer and basic game settings aside, selecting New Game brings up, you guessed it, an FMV! How can these games start any other way? The text at the bottom of the screen indicates that we're on Planet Michtam, in the year 4747. This is about 20 or so years after the events of Xenosaga Episode 1. Thank you, in-game database, for that information! A light rises from a ruined cityscape. The camera pans down, and shows some Gnosis prowling about. It then cuts to a pair of individuals walking. We only see their feet at first, but, we eventually see a woman leaning over a child, as if to protect him from the vision of ruin and death about them. The somehow make it past the Gnosis into what appears to be an escape pod, with the woman and child sharing one final embrace before the woman hands him her necklace, and closes the hatch.

The boy rams his hands fruitlessly against the hatch doors, as the woman's already sad demenor turns to near tears before her Gnosification begins in earnest. The boy recoils in terror, just as pod's engines activates, this scene ending shortly thereafter.

The scene shifts to a place somewhat familiar. The cross where we found KOS-MOS hanging from during the delve into her subconscious domain way the hell back in Episode 1 is in the background. In the foreground is the Red Testament, standing before an opened tomb, radiating light. The Blue Testament then warps in with the Black and White Testaments. The Blue and Red Testaments have an exchange here, but, nothing they say will make any amount of sense until later, if that.

The scene shifts to the Dinah, being chased by enemy mechs, doing evasive maneuvers in the process. Shion isn't exactly happy with her copilot, Miyuki, who was supposed to check enemy positioning beforehand. They get assistance from another craft, piloted by a new character, Doctus, as well as Canaan. The craft destroys the enemies immediately on Dinah's tail, then moves off to other targets before the Dinah makes a landing. Miyuki is in awe of Canaan's skills, but, Shion is all business here. Without Allen present, it falls to Miyuki to be the punching bag, expressed by her saying, "Why is everybody picking on me?"

Now we can get a bit of context as to what the hell is going on, where this is, and why we're here. The second of these questions is answered first. We're at Vector's S-Line Division, and we're here concerning top-secret data. Why, exactly, Shion wants this data, or what she thinks it consists of might be one of those "later" things. For now, the game reintroduces us to the in-game database. It was sorely missed in Episode 2. For full disclosure, one of the things I was looking at was the number of entries in the database if you transfer data, or not, and the number stays the same in either scenario.

After that mini-tutorial, the gameplay begins in earnest, and the music for this dungeon...




OST - "Rolling Down the UMN"


...would feel right at home in Xenosaga Episode 2. Then comes some short tutorials about destroying objects, just in case you're new to the series. In short order, we come across Segement Address 8. I've been mostly, if not totally, ignoring these in the last two games, but, this game might actually see more than a few doors open.

It's beginning to occur to me that I haven't shown you the menu yet. It's not a huge deal, as far as the available commands are concerned...





...as most of them are pretty self-explanatory? Call me weird if you want, but it makes me more happy than it probably should to see that money has returned to the series.

Back to the dungeon-delving, there's more objects to destroy, plus a puzzle before getting into an area with encounters. Regular character battles runs...




OST - "Fallout"


...this song, and perhaps one of the reasons I love this game's combat. Shion's still using her own take of the multi weapons system from Episode 2, but, Miyuki is here with her original design that was introduced in Episode 1. Canaan, meanwhile, wields a knife. Let's do an aside, and talk a bit on character combat.

Gone is the "zone" system, which, I think could have been better implemented in Xenosaga Episode 2, but, I can't say I will miss it either. Tech attacks are possible again, but, unlike Episode 1, you can't just spend a few Tech Points to be able to spam/abuse them. Since there isn't an AP or Stock system for characters in this game, Tech Attacks have to cost something, and that "something" this time around is boost. As a general rule, a character's initial Tech Attack costs 2 boost to activate. Their second Tech Attack typically also costs 2, but, there's a few out there that cost 3. I don't quite recall the boost cost for the third Tech Attacks that characters get, but, my gut is telling me that they tend to cost 3? I guess we'll see when we get there!

Also of note is that they got rid of the round bonus slot indicator. So, there's no "bonus EXP" round, or "critical bonus" round, or what-have-you. However, you can earn bonus rewards for slaying enemies with Tech Attacks. This is called a "Finish Strike", and some abilities care about accumulating Finish Strikes on specific types of enemies. Shion's Break Bash Tech Attack is not among such abilities, but, regardless, I consider it a method by which the game incentivizes players to use Tech Attacks.

The other thing I want to touch upon is that the break status still exists here, but, the way it's inflicted is a bit different than in Xenosaga Episode 2. Characters and enemies have a break bar that fills as damage is inflicted upon them. Some skills various characters acquire specifically deal break damage. Shion's aforementioned Break Bash is an example of this, as it's description includes the text, "heavy break attack". As before, being in a broken state means the character cannot act, nor can they be boosted for about three turn cycles. You likely won't use, or see, the break state in fights, unless it's against a boss, or perhaps when characters are faced with AGWS units. Which is certainly a step in the right direction from what Xenosaga Episode 2 was doing, but, I've blatted long enough.

The dungeon continues in a relatively straight-forward manner. At some point, they reintroduce traps. In the previous games in this series, they were preset in their location. In Episode 1, their placements were more tactically placed versus where enemies were placed, so activating them wherever you saw them was usually a good idea. Episode 2 sorta threw the concept out the window, where traps were either nowhere near where the enemies were, or , if there were, the enemies would likely spot you, and run into you at stupidly fast speeds, long before you could get into range to activate the trap. In this game...





...they are a consumable item, the game allowing players to set their location. You can only hold up to 10 traps at any given time, but, it's exceptionally liberating to set traps when and where you want, even if their effect has been standardized to bonus boost, and first strike. From this point forward, there is a visual display of how many traps you have left, which is definitely a plus.

After scrapping more security bots, the party has to hack into the mainframe to get the data they want. The party is tasked to disengage the security protocols before doing that, which, I'm not exactly sure counts as a puzzle? There's four consoles in this room. You access the ones on the sides first, then the one in front, then the one in the back to get teleported into the main server, and can access yet another console, which presumably has the data we want.

The following cutscene relays a bit of info of what the UMN is. This explanation probably would've been more useful in the previous games, but, I won't knock this game for attempting to explain these things to new players, even if the target market for this game is clearly those who've played either/both of the previous games. However, to summarize through a quote-block...

Shion: Miyuki, do you understand what this UMN really is?
Miyuki: Uh, it's a wide-area network system or something, right?
Canaan: A wide-area information network system with non-local connections. It's characteristics enable warp travel and light speed communications.


...there it is. The scene continues, with Canaan typing away, and Miyuki observing a screen. Her screen goes red, with the word "WARNING" across it, and all she can make of it is that there's something weird going on. Shion would like a bit more specification than this. Miyuki goes on to say that it looks like a fractal pattern, and makes a conclusion that it might be caused by someone, or something, trying to interfere with them. Except, according to Canaan there has been no physical contact with the macrophages (enemies?), and there's no sign that their jamming of the surveillance network has been broken. He feels this means that someone is watching/studying them, but, it's anybody's guess as to who, or why. However, a more immediate concern appears before them in the form of...




OST - "Minor Boss Battle"


...a boss. There's a mini-tutorial here concerning the break meter, and the break state, but, I've already covered that mechanic earlier. I have Canaan uses Heat to direct attacks to him, then uses Jackal or a regular attack. Miyuki spams Lighting Blast for break damage, and switches to regular attacks when the thing gets broken. I have Shion either use regular attack, Lunar Blade I, or Break Bash (now level 2) when I have the boost for it. With this strategy, the boss is broken three times over the course of the fight before it goes down, with a Final Strike from Shion.

While that's all well and good, I can kinda hear something similar to a warning horn blaring while Gnosis start warping in, because of course they do. Doctus and her AWMS appears to take out some of them, then lets Canaan get on board. This gives Shion an opportunity to summon Dinah, but, she isn't patient enough for Miyuki to board it properly before lifting off, and getting the hell out of there. As the mechs make a break for it, Shion notices a set of doors about to close in front of them. She goes for the weapons system, but a vision of a child, and the voice of everyone's favorite Elly-wannabe, Nephilim, stop her. The doors seem to be malfunctioning, and not closing? Still, Shion makes the call to disconnect from the virtual space, and the screen goes to static before tuning off entirely.

A bit later, a bright light appears as the cockpit of Dinah opens, and what lays before us looks like something of an island paradise. Shion then lands in front of us, donning in a pink-and-white bikini, then takes a few steps forward before the game cuts to a different angle, where she stretches out her arms, saying "That one was a little too close for comfort". Yeah, no kidding.

A call from Mikyuki comes in short order, and soon becomes something of a conference call with Canaan and Doctus. We've successfully acquired the data, and now it's up to Doctus to analyze it. It sounds like Shion is looking for something specific from what Doctus is saying...

Doctus: I'll let you know if I find anything, along with that other thing you asked.


...but what that could be is completely unknown at this juncture. Canaan and Doctus leave the call, leaving Muyuki, who gets saddled with a test for basic structure? Hey, don't look at me, I'm just trying to report what's going on, not why it's going on. Miyuki then voices her misgivings about what they are doing, and that it's illegal. Shion specifies that what they are doing would be illegal before the Gnosis Terrorism. That such might be linked to the UMN, and and if there is a connection, maybe they can find a way to stop it.

So, if you're a bit lost as to what "Gnosis Terrorism" is referring to, congratulations! Join the club! I mean, sure, there is a database entry for it, but, it seems to come out of nowhere. According to the databse, the term is a general reference to Gnosis attacks starting about a half-year ago. I dunno, on one hand, a half-year sounds like a little too recent to coincide with the start of Episode 1, but, on the other hand, the passage of time in RPGs is sometimes really really weird.

Regardless, the game eventually gives us control of Shion on Pedea Island. If you think she's supposed to be on vacation, given such surroundings, there have been a few points to suggest she's left Vector of her own accord. For one, Doctus calling her "former Vector chief engineer", or some-such. There was also the call we just had with Miyuki, where she notes that while Shion has left Vector, she still worries about KOS-MOS.

You can interact with a few of the palm trees here to have them drop their coconuts, and blast them. There's a bit of money and/or items to be had this way, but, nothing too major. There's also a door that we don't have access to now, but will eventually lead to the lab of the Dark Professor. For reference purposes, he was an NPC that was introduced in Episode 2, if I bothered with whatever GSC quest(s) that he was involved in.

I dunno, I sometimes wish that the Robot Academy side-quest and Segment Address side-quests in the first two games could've been more fleshed out. No, let me rephrase that. I sometimes wish that completing these activities, perhaps among others, actually mattered, at least to some degree, when it came to transferring data from one game to the next. I don't think starting with the Erde Kaiser summon/ether in this game would be a particularly smart move, since that's a very high-costing ability that deals equally high damage. You might not even be able to use/summon/cast it until later. However, I think what they could have done is, since they tend to put those abilities behind one (or more) of the Segment Address doors, you can start the game with the Segment Address(es) that lead to the ethers/summons?

That aside, we move to a hut, where a laptop is indicating the arrival of mail. We open it up, and it's a message from Allen, who, once again, finds himself in an awkard position. He's not tripping over himself in an feeble attempt to romance Shion, as he's wont to sometimes do. No, this message relays that there was a staff meeting among Vector, and their decision was to cancel the KOS-MOS project.

Well, to be more specific, Vector is handing over the project to the Federation military. Allen, and another co-worker, Togahsi, are also to be transferred as consultants, thanks to their familiarity and expertise with the system. Given the nature of KOS-MOS as a weapon against the Gnosis threat, and where it's being transferred to, perhaps this move was done by Vector as a way to cut costs? Vector is, ultimately, a business, and ever seeks to satisfy their bottom line.

When the message ends, Shion makes a quip about Allen's smoother style, but then moves to thoughts about her leaving the company six months ago. I had to double-check this with what I wrote before, and yeah, that's when the Gnosis Terrorism started, and apparently has nothing to do with the events of Episode 1, or even 2. All I can gather from the following flashback is that somebody named Grimoire is being tagged as the one responsible for the Gnosis Terrorism (regardless if he actually did, nor not), and that KOS-MOS will be sealed and placed under observation, and Shion is taking responsibility for whatever it was that lead to that decision.

The flashback goes further back in time, as a younger Shion speaks to Kevin. She's asking why he chose a female form. The exchange proceeds...

Kevin: Yes. Since ancient times, women always healed people's hearts, and granted them hope.
Shion: But there've been a lot of men who where healers too.
Kevin: Historical records have always been complied from a male point of view, and besides, men are creatures capable of nothing but destruction and conquest. It's important to choose a female form when it's going to be a creator, or protector.


...like so. There's a bit more here, but, it's mostly fluff in my book. Back to the present, and Shion has an interesting line here.

Shion: Everything is unfinished. I'm sure even KOS-MOS won't be satisfied.


Again, maybe I'm reading a little too much into this, but, this line could be speaking of this series being "unfinished" in the sense it was condensed from 6 games to 3. Regardless, Shion commits to seeing KOS-MOS again, which means going to Fifth Jerusalem.

A cut to the Dammerung, where Wilhem's in his office with the Red Testament, reviewing the leak from the S-Line division. Wilhem's opinion concerning that, like most things brought to his attention, is that it doesn't matter too much. The subject then goes to a location called Rennes-le-Chateau. The conversation moves in various directions, and it's kinda hard to keep track of what they are talking about. As these things go at times in this series. However, after it is all said and done, we get an end-of-chapter save opportunity, which I will gladly take. We haven't gotten back to the Elsa, and it's associated crew yet, nor the Durandal. It might be high time to have a scene with them. Or, maybe the game will continue to follow Shion for a bit longer? Find out next time, on the Xenosaga Episode 3 LP!

Marrend plays Xenosaga Episode 3

So, it's finally time to finish what we started. I'm talking about, of course, an LP for...



Image provided by Wikipedia.

...Xenosaga Episode 3 - Also sprach Zarathustra. Or, as with the other games in this series, simply, Xenosaga Episode 3. If you played Xenosaga Episode 2, and did not like the direction that game took, and skipped out on this game, I get it. Hell, I was probably close to being among that number. Still, I was curious about how this series would continue, and, ultimately, end. Remember that this series was supposed to entail 6 games, and we only got 3. So, not only was there a need to compartmentalize, but, a desire to correct the mistakes that were made in Episode 2.

I can't really say what the overall expectation for Episode 3 was, but, to say that the previous entry did not take very well would be a vast understatement. It is a small miracle that this game even exists, from what I've learned of it's development. With a game like this, you gotta go out with a bang, and, in my humble opinion, this game does that in spades.

While the combat engine was revamped again, it brings back Tech Attacks for characters, and made Tech Attacks for ES based on filling Anima Gauge(s), rather than stick with the Stock command. Characters no longer have access to button inputs for their attacks, though the ES retain that mechanic, adding an additional layer with a Fuel system. This mechanic might be a callback to it's spiritual predecessor to some degree? I'll talk more about this when I get to the game, proper.

If there is one nitpick I have, it's that loading clear game data from Episode 2 to Episode 3 is probably as useful as loading clear game data from Episode 1 into Episode 2. Which is to say, nothing really useful can be gained there. Off the top of my head, I think it's Shion's Vector outfit, maybe KOS-MOS' original outfit, and maybe some other things I'm not remembering because they are totally irrelevant. What the hell, Monolift Soft? What the hell?

As before, I've tagged a playlist for the soundtrack, and two for cutscenes (here and here), because, at this point, there's no reason not to tag both. While I don't have a specific goal, or challenge in mind, know that I will absolutely utilize Codebreaker codes, and thus, my experience will be vastly different than other players.

Table of Contents:
  • Disk 1
-Session 1 - Hacking into the S-Line
-Session 2 - Rennes-le-Chateau d'If

2024 Misao nomination monthly data

The purpose of this thread is to track 2024 Misao nominations on a monthly basis, and maybe throw a few notable games down for a basis of conversation.

January
Total nominations: 0
Notes/Events:
-Wonderful World (Marrend's playlist)
-Nominations closed due to being the voting period for 2022 Misaos

Notable Games
-A Door to the Heavens (Commercial)
-Attack on the Curse
-Wumbo Where's My Milk?!
-Third Time's the Charm!
-Cages of Gold
-Operation Christmas-acation
-Mystery Enigma
-Fragments of the Mind
-Scale Crown (Commercial)

February
Total nominations: 10 (+10)
Notes/Events:
-None

Notable Games
-FriendShapes (Commercial)
-The Voyage Sinister - A Gothic jRPG (Commercial)
-ONE FENIX DOWN (Commercial)
-Shadow's Penance

March
Total nominations: TBA
Notes/Events:
-TBA

Notable Games
-TBA

Marrend plays The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt!


--Session 7 - Meeting the Crones --


Last time, Geralt met with the baron's daughter, and chose not to make any offer to help her find her mother. Or, at least, the game gave me no opportunity to do so. With no other leads concerning Ciri, or the baron's wife, he goes to Crookback Bog to find the Crones there, only to meet with an old woman running an orphanage there.

From the kids who live there, he then learns of Johnny, who turns out to be a goldling. After finding his voice, Johnny convinces the old woman to act as a medium to contact the Crones of Crookback Bog, which, in turn, gives Geralt a task in Downwarren. However, we need not do that right now. Refer to the optional content corner on this matter.

As for the task, the ealdorman can only speak vaguely about a cursed tree, or some-such, south of the village, and how any who have attempted to cleanse if have not returned. I have no idea what's there. However, as I approach the search area, I hear a voice, telling me to "begone". My curiosity gets the better of me, and I follow the voice rather than listen to it's probably useful counsel. The owner of the voice is...





...whatever this thing is. It spoke of the children of the orphanage being taken by the Crones. I'm not sure I can entirely trust either the Crones, or this thing. So, I do a bit of a test, and decided to help it. After a series of small fetch-quests, and a ritual, I report back to Downwarren, and received an ear for payment to the Crones for resolving their issue. The game teleports me to the orphanage, and it's during this scene that Geralt figures out, with a little display from the Crones, that "Gran" is actually the Bloody Baron's wife, thanks to the branding on her palms. Naturally, they aren't exactly happy to hear that I've helped the thornling (I'm just going to go with this delineation) revive into the body of a horse, but, a promise is a promise, and they relay what they know of Ciri's whereabouts.

However, something about all this didn't quite sit right with me, so I loaded an earlier save (giving me an opportunity to get the screencap above) and attempt to outright kill the thornling instead. The number of things that change between the two scenarios aren't all that much. Regardless of whether I betray the Crones, or not, I'll still get a short interlude from Ciri's POV. Wherein, she overhears the Crones speaking of cutting her up and putting her in stew. The Crones might consider her running from them after hearing such a thing a point against her, but, can you really blame her?

After seeing both scenarios, I end up helping the thornling anyway. The baron's wife is screwed either way, from the sound of things. The Crones lay the blame on her for letting the kids escape if I help the thornling, and I don't dare to consider what they would regard as a punishment. By not helping the thornling, she can only watch as the Crones take the kids away to who-knows-where, or possibly be eaten before her eyes? They are quite vague concerning the fate of the children in that scenario, and they dismiss the baron's wife long before they started speaking of Ciri in either scenario. She's certainly nowhere to be found, or at least nowhere in the huts of the orphanage, after the scene resolves.

So, now we find out how well does the baron take to the news of his wife. Of course, he's glad she's still alive, but, not exactly pleased we didn't take her back to him, nor that she's effectively ensaved to the Crones. The brand she bears is one they placed on her as an insurance to her servitude. That she bears it at all is because she made a plea for them remove the child she bore. It sounds like the Crones branded her, then used that brand to sap her of her strength, and apparently was the ultimate cause for the miscarriage.

That aside I kinda have to question if the baron's wife really agree to return? I dunno. I have the baron tell me more about his relationship with his wife, before getting him to tell me the rest of his story concerning Ciri. To sum it up, she helped him defeat a beast, but used her teleport power in doing so. The Wild Hunt would be able to sense this, so she feels leaving Velen entirely would be in order. She said she'd make for Novigrad, and was supplied a letter of conduct by the baron, himself. He supplies me with one as well, but also asks my help in fetching his wife from the grasp of the Crones.

I'm honestly not sure if this is a good idea, since I'm both uncertain as to the exact power of the Crones, plus, I can't say for sure if I have the ability to remove the curse/brand that the Crones have placed on the baron's wife to make her truly free to do as she pleases. However, you know what? I'll try helping him out regardless. That's a side-quest, though, and this is plenty of content for this session. There's doubtless a number of loose ends in Velen I'll want to look into, but, what will we find in Novagrad? Find out next time on the Witcher 3 LP!



Optional content corner
<An Invitation from Keira Metz>
How about seeing what Keira Metz wanted? She relays a tale concerning a curse on Fkye Isle, and that she was asked to do something about it by the local peasantry. Investigation is certainly more my thing than fighting, but, I cannot entirely discount the possibility of the latter.

<A Towerful of Mice>
I'm not sure if I randomly encountered a bug, or what. So, the game gave me a magic lamp with which I can see/hear various spirits. The search area was pretty wide, and, after felling a few groups of ghouls, I was at the edge of it. However, after checking a corpse, it just up and vanished on me?

Loading a previous save, and being a bit more careful about the lamp, I eventually reach the tower, itself, where the curse is said to originate. Rats have since moved in, but don't really bother me, or my investigative efforts. The path to the top floor lab is hidden with a secret door, but, my witcher senses detect the switch to open it. There, the deceased daughter of the old lord that ruled there lies in wait, as a wraith. Not one that I need fight, thankfully, but one that would see her once-beloved regret the actions he took on the day of her death.

Now, I sorta gotta wonder how long it's been since the events on this island that has taken place. I half-expect to meet with an old man who's moved on, perhaps even married another woman, and has grandkids to boot. As it turns out, I meet with a middle-aged man. He relays his part of the story, and certainly has reason to think his noble paramour drank poison. I relay what the wraith told me, and hand over her bones to him for a proper burial. I hear a scream as I leave the hut, and Geralt observes a ghost for a moment before it dissipates. Well. Sounds like things just got more complicated, as the noblewoman was actually a plague maiden. Still, the quest would have me report to Keira, so, we might as well see what she has to say. Of course, she's all too happy to learn that the island has been cleansed, but isn't exactly happy to learn that there's a plague maiden, and Geralt had not seen to it's demise.

<Wild at Heart>
The individual who posted this is a hunter by the name of Niellen. His wife, Hanna the ship's navigator, been missing, her last known location being a nearby wood. The first thing on our plate is to speak to various other people in this village to see if they have any information that would lead us to believe her disappearance is a more mundane matter of going to another village on a whim, or other possibility. However, everyone seems to think her last known location was the woods, and if she's gone for this long, she's likely died to the wolves there. However, a pair of children noticed another woman leading the hunter's wife out of town, though couldn't make out anything else about her.

I encounter a pack of wolves, and after clearing them off, Hanna's sister catches up to me, and is willing to pay double what Niellen is willing to pay if I drop the matter, and tell Niellen that Hanna is dead. Her argument is as the other townsfolk I've talked to. That she's likely dead. Now, call me crazy, or merely curious, but whenever a person offers to pay me to not do a thing in this game, I want to do that very thing all the more.

As I investigate the scene, it becomes more evident that it might not have been simple wolves, as everyone in town assumes. Examining the remains of a corpse of who Geralt assumes to be Hanna, he concludes that it's probably a werewolf. I happen to have the reagents to brew a cursed oil to help me fight such a thing, but, I do a hard-save before continuing toward it's lair.

Of course, not everything is as easy as it looks on the surface. It turns out Niellen was the werewolf. The wife's sister knew, and from the sounds of things, was the other woman that left with Hanna that day. Be that as it may, she was in love with Niellen herself, and thought that having Hanna watch the transformation process would make her change her mind. She didn't intend on Hanna dying, and certainly not okay with Niellen dying to my blade either. However, Neillen became angered upon learning of his sister-in-law's meddling, and would have turned his claws on her were I not there to stop him in his tracks. Which I barely manage to do, but, the deed is done. I don't doubt the sister-in-law will hate me for it, but, I could neither let Neillen live, nor simply allow him to kill his sister-in-law, as misguided as she might have been in her actions.

<A Favor for a Friend>
Keira's not quite done with me. She wants yet another favor, this time, tracking down a shipment of reagents. After getting a treasure guarded by drowners and a water hag (this was a little harder than I like to admit), I spot a set of wheel tracks on the ground that veer off from the road. I follow it, and find the cart, or what's left of it is found in due course. The owner's body isn't anywhere near, but, Geralt isn't terribly optimistic about their condition. The package seems to be in tact, though, which is definitely something? The contents of which aren't exactly reagents for potions, or rituals.

Turns out the package turned into something of a wine-and-dine, though not without a bit of trickery on the part of Keira. She naturally asked of Fyke Isle, the laboratory, specifically. I told her it was still in tact, and she seemed to be in a generally good mood. She presented an option for sexual relations, and while she's certainly pleasing to look at, something wasn't quite sitting right with me about it. I dunno, maybe I was being overly suspicious/cautious, or just plain being a prude. Either way, I ended up declining, saying I wasn't in the mood.

Laying down to gaze at the stars was an alternate solution presented, and it was here that she put me to sleep with a spell. The tower of Fyke Isle was in plain view, so it doesn't take a genius to figure that Keira's doing her own investigation of the lab there. I dunno if I should entirely trust her to her own devices, but, should I wish to track her down again, that's a separate quest.