SHADOWBLADE'S PROFILE

Purely mathematical, I guess you could say.

...

Since this is not the first time I've seen words like "mathematical" mentioned when talking about a story, I hope you won't mind if I take this opportunity to launch into a fairly off-topic rant.

Apparently, there are two main schools of design when it comes to writing a story.

School #1 believes in, shall we say, "inspired" stories that just come to mind. Typically, designers belonging to School #1 already have a story in mind when they start making their game; they are not the kind of people who would say "I want to make a game, but I can't come up with a good story". These designers really care about their story, want to share it with others, and will almost never let other people influence them. They are very much the kind of people who will say "it's your story, just write it the way *you* like".

School #2 believes in crafting stories. People belonging to School #2 *design* stories, and believes a good story has to follow certain rules. These designers will often take advice from people and, similarly, write articles that will explain how they think a story should be written, with advice on how to make plot twists, with a list of character archetypes that should be used and/or avoided.

I feel that Lun and RPG Advocate, for example, would mostly belong to School #1 (although Lun's co-writer, Fobo, most definitely belonged to School #2 - if, like me, you were disappointed that Sacrifa's background never got revealed, he's apparently the one to blame). Brickroad and Badluck would belong to School #2. iishenron and Nightblade... Hmm, I'd say a mix of both, but they're likely closer to School #1.

Personally, my problem with crafted stories is that they tend to be a lot less "original" - they rarely ever manage to grab my attention. The story in Ara Fell, for example, is a total mess. It starts out a ridiculously cliché and horribly predictable adventure (Whoa hey! That guy with the cloak, who never says anything, he's a villain!! Who would have guessed, yo!), complete with "I've seen it all before" heroes/villains/gratuitous love interests, then when I meet characters like Nash and I see that things get a bit more ambiguous, I think that maybe, just maybe, the author has something in mind. Then I talk to the author, and find out that the story really *was* bland all along - the vampires are bad because they drink blood, Nash is vaguely honorable but it never goes beyond that, and the good guys torture the bad guys but we're still meant to think they're nice because, well, they're the good guys. And Ara Fell is just one example out of many. School #2 writers usually lack that spark that's needed to get my attention.

(And while we're talking about vampires, here's a piece of advice to wannabe writers - never, ever make a story with species that are evil just because you say so, with no redeemers whatsoever. The only exception I can think of is "non-living" species that are supposed to represent stuff like the inherent evil of mankind and whatnot, like the demons in Zephyrus and the Kingdom of Heaven.)

Kinetic Cipher was, admittedly, an exception. Brickroad did seem to believe in crafting stories, but he managed to make his characters interesting nonetheless.

So, yes, I'm a die-hard fan of School #1. I like authors who don't let The Big Handbook of What Players Want stop them, who make their stories the way *they* want it to be, and who like messing with the player's mind... Which is why I don't mind the Teachey/Alex or Marion plot twists, unlike other people.

In conclusion, I belong to School #1 and you seem to belong to School #2... Which is why we disagree. And thanks for giving me the opportunity to get all this off my chest, that felt good. 8)



EDIT : Added spoiler tags.

More spoilers.

EDIT : Spoiler tags don't work too well with quotes.

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iishenron's story is far from over, and I personally have the feeling that this isn't the last we'll see of the Candor legacy (including the Govan).

If you removed Marion from the plot, a lot would change. No Carolus, no Olanta, heck, probably no Kaibutsu war, even. Just because she's always scheming off-screen does not mean she doesn't actually do anything, she's one of the most important characters in the whole game.

Except in the "real" ending, her entire evil plot completely collapses after one character tells her "no." Oh, and she's dying.

Strictly speaking, that's not entirely true. She's not "dying" - she's just very old, and since even the Govan apparently cannot prolong life forever, she's bound to die "soon" (by Govan standards, it may mean "in a few years").

after one character tells her "no."

Not just because of that... Everything went wrong for her. The power of the Kaibutsu was shattered, Kanna told her that she wouldn't continue her work, and her pawn (Fayette) will not become queen.

Although personally, I wouldn't be surprised if she had anticipated this scenario. She may have one more trick up her sleeve... She doesn't look exactly broken, depressed, or angry after Kanna leaves. She just says "I really did try with her".

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End of spoilers.

Among others and for various reasons...

*takes a deep breath*

Strata, mainly for having more depth than I first thought;
The Phantom Slasher;
Slade and Scatha;
Alanthreonus Philippe Straphachar;
The Phantom;
Lexus;
Sacrifa and Lilah;
Kavax;
Every major character from Demon Legacy except for Odin and Kagero (and only because we don't know much about them);
Every major character from Three the Hard Way;
Robin Tanjewel;
Tristan Ilnoir;
Ririmisi;
Zemo ("Hah! Shows how much you know! Not only am I an annoying, stupid, and pointless final villain, I'm an annoying, stupid, and pointless recurring final villain!")
Rodd;
Rifan;
Lehyne;
Elsa;
Syeull;
Nepthe;
Metzger*;
Zephyrus;
Undead Bahamut (not memorable story-wise but I think seeing a tutorial boss who's also the bonus boss is somewhat memorable);
Nero;
Lilith;
Thanatos;
Thomas;
Luba Darascalo;
Joshua (having a psychotic priest as a PC wins bonus points with me);
Atlantis Pasachoff*.

*These two characters may be a bit more obscure than the others. Kudos if you know who they are. 8)

Character I most wanted to stop/get rid of/cast into the void : Deimos.
Antagonists I pitied the most : Catawba, Lucama, Greene, Tristan (same one as above), Abel, Maribel, Arianna, Apollo, Sarius, Loki, and Galahanzer/Shadar.

Some hints on where to find the "Rare Essence" items (Rare Essence is required for every "third level" spell Kanna can make, namely Pomaria 3, Faison 3, Smoaks 3, Lasker 3, and Pacolet 3. Pacolet 3 is one of the deadliest spells in the game, and Pomaria 3 isn't bad either since it lowers your enemies' defense) :

Rare Essence #1 : There is an old apothecary who lives northeast of Duke Greene's villa (the apothecary's house can be accessed from the world map). There is a secret passage near the apothecary's house... It will lead you to a chest with a Rare Essence in it.

Rare Essence #2 : In the house in the very southeastern corner of the Mayodan harborplace.

Rare Essence #3 : In a cave past Estill forest (once again, the cave entrance can be accessed from the world map).

Rare Essence #4 : In the Kiawah Island cave.

Rare Essence #5 : The very first time you visit Edisto, there's someone in town who wants 5GP. Give him what he wants. When the Kaibutsu Lord quest starts, go back to Edisto and talk to this man again. He'll give you a lot of neat stuff, including a Rare Essence.

Rare Essence #6 : After Fayette is rescued from Benson and Mauldin, Kanna tells you to find some money to pay the healer. At this point, you can go all the way back to Florence and ask her for a job. She'll ask you to find a stolen trophy. Go to Bowman and speak with Dalzell. If you talk to everyone in town, you'll eventually find someone who will tell you that the Lotus Ninja is now "living is a small house to the west". Leave Bowman. The house you're looking for is indeed west of Bowman (look for the patch of bright green grass). Once you've found it, enter. Speak with the Lotus Ninja, then check the sink in the northeastern corner of the house. The Lotus Ninja will attack you. Defeat him, and you'll get a Rare Essence (be warned, he can be surprisingly difficult, especially if you don't have many healing items).

Rare Essence #7 : Gotten after defeating the Ice Stujin in the Berkeley Cave (unless you have the Grimorum Avia and choose to bypass this dungeon, you *have* to defeat the Ice Stujin to complete the game, so you'll know when you've found it).


As you can see, Rare Essences are very, well... rare. Don't waste third-level spells on random encounters.

The reagents list is almost complete, but the monster list is not, so there's not much point in posting the reagents list right now since most reagents are gotten from monsters. Telling you that monster X drops item Y isn't very helpful if I don't tell you where to find the aforementioned monster.

author=iishenron link=topic=3597.msg72812#msg72812 date=1240962641
Aurora Wing is criminally underrated.

Seconded. My only problem with Aurora Wing is that the game allows the player to save every turn - and, in fact, some missions *rely* on having you reload a lot, especially the final battles. Your hit rate against Valar's flames is so ridiculously low that you have to reload quite a bit, and when fighting the Lath Mediator on Hard, "Random" type healing items are so unpredictable that success heavily depends on reloading a lot.

Other than that, a truly great game. Very good character system, very good maps, very good items, very good custom abilities, very good nearly everything.