Strawberry Eggs Plays Baten Kaitos Origins, At-freaking-last

[Strawberry Eggs]

As I said I would, once I started Baten Kaitos Origins, I was going to write a sort of blog on my progress through and thoughts on the game. Well, here it is! That's right, I finally started playing the game last night. Aside from my thoughts and reactions, I will also be posting what my sister says and does. Unlike me, she has not already been massively spoiled by this game. For her sake, I have to pretend to be surprised by things I already know, though as well as avoid spoiling her in any way. I would also appreciate if anyone who reads and comments in this thread to continue to avoid spoilers. In fact, I'll point out any plot points that I've already been spoiled about thanks to having joined these forums almost two years before starting the game.


Wensday, June 17th

I watched the opening, not for the first time. My sister thought the art style was strange. I mention that it might have been the war against "Malpercio and the other gods" a thousand years ago. Since that's from the first game, it doesn't count as a spoiler. We named Sagi's "Guardian Spirit" "Casari," a combination of both our names as we already named Kalas's Spirit "Ramos," our last name. It's a bit ironic since I already know the "spirit" is more or less male and we gave it a name that is more or less female, but I'm not suppose to know that.

After that it's...the opening again...Oh, it's a dream! A bit conventional for RPGs I guess, having the game start with a dream by the main character, and a recurring dream nonetheless, but so what? Of course the first thing I do is walk around, click on things and talk to people. Oh, and my sister squeed after hearing one of the Dark Serviceman being voiced by none other than Johnny Yong Bosch. Ever since she found out what he looked like, she's become a huge fan of his. My fondness for Crispin Freeman is nothing on her.

Regardless, after watching that strategy meeting and putting out that ever-so-convenient fire no doubt to show how to use Blank Magnus (I suppose for those who never played Eternal Wings), I have my first battle. Even after fighting more battles, I'm still getting use to it and my sister more so. How is this quicker than the first game? It doesn't seem to be much. Maybe later on, I suppose. I still don't have another party member (Guillo is being controlled by the computer), but I have a feeling I'll miss having separate decks. I admit, though that being able to discard cards is convenient, though right now I can only discard two.

After some more poking around, I get Sagi's "paramachina." When my sister first sees it she says "oh, it looks like a woman!" When Sagi says it's name, she says "oh, it's suppose to be a guy?" She hears Guillo speak and I say "It's...both!" So far she's kind of weirded-out by Guillo. We agree to call Guillo "it." I apologize to any fans of Guillo, and to Guillo the forum-member should he ever come back here. Anyway, after that sudden light-the-lamp chore, it's off to Olgan's Residence.

A bit of talking and we learn who that "Woman" is from earlier. Valara, eh? I've heard of her, though (perhaps thankfully) I don't know that much about her yet. Anyway, a bit of sneaking sneaking and poking around the building, waking up that engineer and using the Chunk of Rubber on the crestwall, I find out out that somebody already bumped-off the emperor. I knew that already, but what I didn't know that, apparently it was Shanath who did it. So he's the guy who Shrimpy is rather fond of, eh?

Anyway, the deed gets blamed on Sagi and his group gets the blame and we make a run for it. After purposely sticking around to fight the soldiers to get used to the battle system and train, I actually run through the door I couldn't earlier. Then we run into a really nasty monster. My sister makes a comment on how the first Baten Kaitos's monsters are rather nasty-looking and this creature follows suite. Anyway we battle and apparently have to lose since I wasn't doing badly at all. Guillo goes crazy on the thing and Sagi apparently has a migraine. He passes out and wakes up...somewhere else. Huh?

Hmm, Thoran and Seph. Those names sound familiar...I let my sister take over and get use to the battle system by fighting those bird and horned cat-rabbit things while figuring out the magnetic waves/blue sand puzzle. We met more familiar names and the village of Rasalas, where everyone is all shadowy. My sister thinks they are like ghosts. I wonder if a certain D-Cellular Sub-Life form had something to do with it (Yes I will keep with that stupid joke no matter how lame it is). Shortly after talking to everyone, Sagi snaps back to reality. He and Guillo run off and Valara calls the monster an "afterling" Hmm...didn't Shanath says something about "Malpercio's Afterlings?" Here's a plot point that I don't know much about! Yay!

Anyway, the two meet a certain familiar face that has the fur on Serene's body bristling with anger. I know who it is, but again for my sister's sake, I keep my mouth shut. She does think he's creepy and calls him a "rapist." How ausute of her. After he reveals himself to be none other than Geldoblame, I say "That's Geldoblame!?" My sister asks who that is. I couldn't believe she forgot about that tub of lard! I remind her that he was the Emperor of Alfard in Eternal Wings. She says "Oh, him! ...See what I mean, a rapist!"

I also apologize to Cracked Katana and any other Geldoblame fans.

Serene: I don't! *Growls*

Shortly after that we save the game and more or less call it a night (there were dishes to be washed and some late-night jogging to do). We may continue later tonight. Until then, feel free to leave your comments in this thread.

[Cherubino]

YAY!

And I love it. Baten Kaitos is now a family affair!
And that bit about Geldoblame was AWESOME!

[Sakura_chan79]

Yay, Straws! I hope you enjoy it ^^

I know what you mean about the battle system; it IS pretty slow in the beginning when you don't have much to work with.

Haha, Geldoblame XD What you said about him is so true ^^

[Shrimpy]

Awesome! I can tell this is going to be fun to read. We take the game so much for granted now, it seems like we sometimes forget our first reactions. I think it's so cool that you're playing it with your sister. I wish I could do something like that with my brother, but he's not really a huge fan of RPGs.

Crisping Freeman, eh? You're going to enjoy meeting Heughes.

The card system is a little offputting at first after EWatLO, but you'll get used to it. Now, I actually like BKO's battle system better than EWatLO's. The main thing you have to keep in mind is having a balanced deck, and you'll be fine.

Well, I always kind of think of Guillo as more of a girl than a guy, (Stilletos and bellydancing, anyone?) but I suppose that "it" suits Guillo just fine.

Cool, you met Shanath! But believe me, you're not going to get why I like him until later. Much later. And even that's kind of iffy. But man, does he have a smooth voice.

When I met Geldoblame for the first time in BKO, I just couldn't help but laugh. It was kinda hard to believe him as a good guy in BKO at first. By the way, don't show your sister any of the old Geldoblame fanfics. Because in most of them, he IS a rapist. (If you saw the "Geldowang" LJ, then you know what I mean. XP) You probably already know, but Sagi isn't the one Geldoblame is after in this game.

Have fun! I can't wait to read more about your playthrough!

[BenoitRen]

At freaking last indeed!

Hehe, I got the joke about D-Cellular Sub-lifeforms. First time I read it, so no need to apologise to me for it!

Too bad you were partly spoiled about the guardian spirit, though. I was there when it happened...

Anyway, enjoy the game!

[chaoticdance]

Woohoo! =D Straws is playing BKO.

I gotta agree about the battle system, but once you get all three party members, I find it gets much quicker. Especially once your deck grows.

Ohh Freeman--I adore that man. Like Shrimpy said: Wait till you meet Heughes. I squealed like a fangirl there.

And I gotta agree with Shrimpy with Shanath. I think I know what she's talking about when it comes to that moment of the game (and that smooooth voice). The whole series of events in that area brought me practically to tears. xD

[Strawberry Eggs]

Heh heh, I was hoping people would like this thread of mine. I'm sure I will enjoy this game. Heck if what I heard about the story and characters is true, I'll probably like this more than Eternal Wings. We'll see in the long-run.

As for Geldoblame...yeah I know who he's after. I'm not suppose to know that yet, you know? I do wonder how my sister will react when we get to that point...

I think I may have been spoiled about about Sagi's "Guardian Spirit" during the first week I joined these forums. ^^; I don't fully understand the details and I'd rather not yet. I probably know all the big twists involving that, though.

Anyway, I've only played Origins one more times in the mean time and didn't do all that much. Regardless, here's my post for last Thursday.

Thursday, June 18th

We finally get into Mintaka and rightfully decide to stay there rather than heading back into the sewer. Thus begins exploring, talking to people, and fighting soldiers, giving us a chance to get use to the battle system more, especially since I can actually join. It takes some getting use to, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. The jury is still out on how I like it compared to Eternal Wings. I haven't gotten use to the timing yet as I still keep on eyes on the bottom of the screen waiting to select cards rather than looking up between characters. I remember doing this in Eternal Wings at first.

Anyway, I go into a building that will be Lyude's house in another 20 years and indeed...there's little Skeed and Valleye. And their oh-so-pleasant mother. Apparently not remembering them, I remind my sister that they are Lyude's siblings, heavily implied to be his half-siblings (does she only remember the main characters and basic plot or something?). The housekeeper's comments and vents are funny and I got the magnus of Yesterday's News. I tried to get some Machina Oil and she wouldn't let me. Okay. I leave the house and head down the north fork. Apparently it's Baelheit's mansion. Can't go in, though. leave and head in a different direction, but some guy's pod is blocking the way. He's needs Machina Oil. Yay fetch quests!

However, the housekeeper won't let me have the oil. Darn it, why not? I spend a half hour running around trying to figure out what do when my sister takes the controller and collects another Yesterday's News from the housekeeper and what do you know, it works. She delivers the oil and messes around a little more. She also scared that thief Gonzo off of the roof and into Lyude's future house, then went down to see him getting stabbed by housekeeper while Camilla, Skeed and Valleye watch. XD I guess unloading Yesterday's News Magnus wasn't enough...

By the way, do the people dancing in the apartment above the woman who wants a pillow remind anyone else of the dancers in Komo Mai?

Anyway, messing around and exploring is finished. My sister saves, buys some Magnus from the shop and upgrades the Leather armor, then tries to leaves. She fights waves of enemies before two familiar faces show up. I finally have the pleasure of meeting Milly (clubs for weapons? odd). Oh and there's teenage Giacomo (this time his name was familiar to my sister, but I had to remind her that he was the guy Kalas was hell-bent on killing). Anyway, she kicks his sorry behind and makes a joking comment that Sagi and the others should kill him before he kills Georg and Fee. I say that if they did, Eternal Wings would never happen.

After that Milly actually introduces herself. My sister speculates that she could be a potential love interest of Sagi's. That easy, eh? She also barks a laugh when Guillo calls her a "wench" (just on a random note, she has taken to calling Guillo a "she." I'm going to keep calling Guillo an "it."

Odd. The first person that came to mind after I met Milly was Dia from Luminous Arc 2. She's also blunt, in-you-face, and confident in her abilities nearly to the point of overconfidence. Those are probably their only similarities, though since I never heard of Milly being slightly scatter-brained or having a giant sweet tooth. It's still oo early for make to have much of an opinion of either of them.

Anyway, she saved after that and turned off the game. We may not get a chance to play until either much later tonight (I have work) or tomorrow.



UPDATE
Sunday, June 21st

I only played for about an hour and a half that day, I held the controller the entire time. First I enter that house near the dock with the drunk husband. Yay another sidequest for me to take on, eventually anyway. The trio gets on the giant swordfish-ship (they never said much of anything about the giant animals they use as ships in the first game, though I doubt they'll say much about it here) and head for Hasseleh (where was this place in Eternal Wings?). From the bantering in this and following scenes between Milly and Guillo, I'm already starting to warm up to the two. Sagi's all right, though nothing about him has really stood out yet.

Shortly after, we see Baelheit for the first time and Shanath is introduced more or less properly (and learn that I've had the pronunciation in my head incorrect the entire time). I said "so that's Baelheit...He's wearing a bow." My sister responds with a comical "yes!" I know that little girl accompanying Shanath is Savyna, but since her name was not revealed, I didn't say much except "maybe she's his daughter?" after my sister wonders aloud about who she is. Yay, I'm actually genuinely in he dark about some of the plot points here! Did Shanath kill Olgan or didn't he? Didn't he take the list, or was that the first list they already possessed? I guess I'll have to find out!

My sister is suspicious of Milly. Thankfully, I'm not entirely sure on whether or not she's a double agent of sorts. I do know she's Baelheit's daughter, but I don't recall seeing any spoilers of that nature. Well just like with Shanath, I'll find out eventually. My sister did give me a scare when she pretended not to remember Kalas having revealed he was one working for Melodia the whole time.

So anyway atfter arriving at the port and talking to people, we head into the forest of thorns. These pre-rendered backgrounds in the Baten Kaitos games never cease to amaze me. They are so richly detailed and often quite gorgeous. That's why I think its a shame that character faces are almost never seen and movements look so robotic (if the movements have improved in this game, it's probably too early for me to tell). The portraits in the text boxes just aren't enough. At least the voice-acting is worlds better in this game.

So yeah, I explore the area, get into a lot of battles since it took me a while to realize I could jump up to the ledge with the giant ball of thorns that looks like a cactus, see the ballon-gator go "pop" (what a way to go indeed...when you think about it, that's pretty gruesome and help the caplin herder move the giant boulder (too bad the thorns covered the caplins a lot. They're so cute ^^). I've come to the conclusion that I have way too many equipment mangus in my deck and not enough Attacks. I spend most of my time discarding weapons and armor. I'll have to buy up all the Attacks in the next Magnus Shop I visit. I'm getting more into the battles, but I still think they take about as long as the first game. Also, I noticed how the dungeons still have only two or three types of monsters per area, as was the case with Eternal Wings (with Cor Hydra, I think, being the exception).

Shortly after, we see a giant crater where Guillo was dug up however many years ago Sagi found him. My sister ponders as to what he is since he isn't a Paramachina. She asks me what I think and I respond "maybe he's from a thousands years ago, some sort of machine or magical creation from that time. Or maybe he's from an even more ancient civilization." I don't know the full details about Guillo, either. Something about him having been created to fight Malpercio, or the gods, or something like that. I do know he's from a thousands years ago. Once again, I'll find out the truth for myself.

Afterwards I save on the overworld and stop it there. I may play again tonight or tomorrow.

[Cotoprius]

Its really fun reading your daily logs SE . *sighs* I wish there had been someone with me, watching and playing BKO together. It makes the experience much more exciting.

"what a way to go indeed...when you think about it, that's pretty gruesome"
That pretty much sums up my thoughts when watching the little big fellow meet his end.

[Sakura_chan79]

Oh, it's good to hear not everything is spoiled for you ^^ I thought some parts were a little too obvious, but then the other plot points were revealed and they just blew me away (although not quite as much as the Kalas part in Eternal Wings XD Nothing can beat that).

I totally agree with the whole not being able to really see their faces though. However, I think their portraits are gorgeous (Baelheit in particular XD But I love Shanath's, Guillo's and Milly's too). And the voice acting is amazing 8D SO much better.

I love hearing your take on the game! It's so neat to hear what other people think!

[Lyudecrazy88]

Yaaayy u finally started BKO also i never thought of Dia and Milly were similar o.O but when u made the connection and i thought about it more i can see the resemblence

[Strawberry Eggs]

You mean...you've played Luminous Arc 2 Lyudecrazy?! Yaay! I'm fianlly not the only person on this site to have actually played the game (as far as I'm aware of)! Did you play the first one, too?

Oh right, I'm writing a blog. Well here's the thing...

My sister just left yesterday for a three-week trip to Taiwan with one of her best friends. As such, I will not be playing Baten Kaitos Origins until she gets back. Some of you might be thinking "why don't you just make a copy of your file, play ahead and delete it when she gets back?" I could I suppose, but

1) it would be unfair to her. This might seem kind of strange considering how we're both not children anymore, but we've played video games together for years now and its sort of a tradition. It's how we bond as sisters. Sure, once in a while I did play ahead if its been a while since we last played, but I never played an entire game ahead of her.

2) Even in three weeks, I doubt I would be able to beat it in that time. Thus there would still be a long gap in updates in this thread as I re-play the same parts of the game.

So there won't be another update until at least the last week of July. I'm amd very sorry.That is not to say I haven't some of the game before she left, but it was literally about 25 minutes, and ten of thoes were spent tweaking my deck. I'll just type that part here:

Tuesday, June 30th

We step into Sheratan for the first time. I talked to the NPCs before heading into the Magnus shop. That kid riding the Caplin reminds of this small part in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles where the father of whoever chooses to be from the Rancher family tells you (if you aren't a Rancher) that you and his son/daughter used to love riding his cows. I really don't know why it reminded me of that since Caplins aren't cows, but there you have it. I also chuckle at the Elder who is gawking at the shop girl and gets mad at Sagi when he talks to her and she goes into the shop. Sorry sir, but I needed those Attack cards.

Once I finish my shopping and tweak my deck (now I no longer have an overload of equipment cards!), I step closer to the stairs and see a cut scene. Oh, so there's Gena, Sagi's mother and who has some of the most beautiful Wings of the Heart in the entire world (and yes, I know what will happen to them later)! Even my sister has to agree. And wait Tikal (uh, it was Tikal, right? Or was it just Tik?) is a boy? He has the voice of Sherry Lynn, most famous for her role as Sasami from the Tenchi Muyo metaseries!

And yeah, right after that, we stopped because I was called into work. So that's all until at least three weeks from now. *Sigh*

[Lyudecrazy88]

i have played Luminous arc and Luminous arc 2 i love those games. unfortunately i havent been able to finish LA2 because my DS broke when i got halfway (i think) through the game and my brother wont lend me his the last part i got to was when mattias died. anyway i wont be able to play untill i get a new ds which probably will take a while >.<

[chaoticdance]

I think what you're doing is so kind Straws. ^^ It kinda gives me old memories of when I spent an entire summer playing through Ocarina of Time with my sister when she was around. So I kinda understand your situation and it's totally worth the wait.

(I really need to get around playing Luminous Arc... ; I still have one or two DS games that needs to be beaten before I can even consider purchasing another one.)

[Strawberry Eggs]

Well, I'm glad you understand, Chaotic. ^^ It's not like 3 weeks (now 2 1/2) is all that far off.

Yes, go play Luminous Arc! Actually, if you see either game in store I suggest that you get them as soon as possible! Atlus published these games and Atlus being Atlus, they tend to only make a very limited number of the games. Well, if the situation is anything like my local area, then it might be easy for you to pick up a used copy of the first LA but not the second. All the stores in my town have used copies of LA, but only one has a new copy of LA2. It makes me wonder if everyone traded in their old games for the new one. The second one is better, but I didn't think the first one was all that worse. LA is still a fun game, just that the battle system is rather simple, especially compared to the second.

Besides, from what I've seen, there seem to be some small connections between the Luminous Arc games and Arc Rise Fantasia...

Tiara: They're mostly cameos. It's not like it's a direct story link.

Well...the cameos would not have as much of an impact if she weren't familiar with the games!

Tiara: She also has until February if GameStop is to be believed!

Spoilsport.

@Lyudecrazy
Yeesh, you're like the fourth person I know that's been having DS troubles in the past two months. Yeah, I'd say that is the halfway mark. Bummer you can't finish it yet.

[Lyudecrazy88]

i agree with straws! you should play the LA series! and ima search for a summer job starting sunday and save up to buy a DS lite, id rather buy another one of the original DS since that is what im most comfortable with (for me DS lite's are too small..) but noone sells them anymore and DSi seems cool but is lacking a GBA slot and again, small

[BenoitRen]

Considering that you'll spend the most time in the battle mode while playing Luminous Arc, it doesn't sound like that good of a game when you say it's dull.

[Strawberry Eggs]

Okay, so "dull" was a bad word choice; more like "simple." What I'm trying to say that even though it's a tactics RPG, the battle system is nothing to write home about. The humor, writing, characters, and character interaction make up for it, though. Also, the second game's battle system, while not drastically different, has enough tweaks and an increased difficulty to make battles more fun.

@Lyudecrazy - They don't even sell used ones anymore? The stores around here still sell used old DSes.

[Lyudecrazy88]

no, where i live its very difficult to find one in stores... or from other sources... amost everyone got rid of their original DS for a DS lite when they came out

[Shrimpy]

The kid's name is Tik. Maybe you were thinking of WishingTikal, the author of a really good BK guide on IGN.

[Sagi]

Awesome, it was about time you did!
But you'll surely like it a lot, and you probably got the time for it now

[PaloloII]

Okay let's pretend I read that big huge post of yours.
Congrats.
(Haven't checked this forum in awhile.)

[RoboAly]

It took me a while to start playing BKO (Although, not this long), too. I think I started it last summer...

On the plus side, my brother's memory card died (Which isn't so great, because I had saved some of my files on it), so he's going to play BKO again. And he might play BK again. I'd probably watch him play. I used to watch him play games all the time, so it will be nice

[Silvaria]

Oh, you haven't played BKO through yet? I didn't know that...
Well, your reactions are really entertaining, and your sister's are, too. I can't wait until you get to play again. And what you and your sister said about Geldoblame made me have to stop reading for a bit and laugh.

[Strawberry Eggs]

Well, three weeks has passed and my sister has finally returned from Taiwan. It's great to have her back home! Once again, thanks for the comments and for reading this. ^^

Anyway, we have played the game three times this past week, so let's get to it!

Tuesday, July 28th

Picking up where we left off (I was in control at the time) I talk to some more villagers and pay Doc a visit where I get the Pokedex, uh, I mean the field guide (seriously though, an old guy who wants you to fill out an item that records information on the world's monsters? Maybe I should call him Professor Oak *shot*). Walking further into the right screen of town I come across a cut scene and Gena lovingly embraces her son. Aww. Cut to the next day and despite having been in a sort of military for a long time, Sagi apparently has a hard time getting out of bed. We chat with some of the orphan then come across Sasami -- uh, I mean Tik-- arguing with a green-haired kid named Wacho because he still his hat. Hurray for side quests. I talk with the kids again as well as Gena and learn that Wacho likely hid in the usual hiding. Okay, if it's a hiding place the kids usually use, why is it that Tik can't find it?

Anyway, I go out and mostly walk and talk to people before I really go look for the silly thing. Run around the well 100 times and something good happens...right....(and my sister actually wanted to try it. ) There's a short scene with the Briar Clock (from the Age of the Gods, eh?) then I go into the elder's house. No hat in the lost and found (not that I thought it would be there, unless the elder's house was the hiding place ). Instead there was talk of the villagers missing down at the lake as well as the visiting guy from the Empire. The elder's granddaughter was praying in front of the shrine. I find it interesting since there was almost no mention of religion in the first game aside from the churches and mentions of gods that people didn't really seem to worship.

After some more messing around, I come across the "vault guard" who says that we can't enter without the password item. The hint? "A red and juicy fruit." Unfortunately the one I currently had on me had gone bad. After stupidly going to Hassaleh Port before going back to Sheratan to fetch a mountain apple, the kid lets us through, I get the hat and give it back to Tik who apologizes to Wacho for eating his cake. Even though Wacho has green hair and is wearing a green outfit, why is it that the two remind me of a Plusle and Minun? Anyway once that's done, dinner's ready and the screen fades out as Guillo is apparently telling the kids a story (or something).

The screen then fades in outside with a "Girl"'s voice talking off-screen to someone. It's rather obvious who it is though. Perhaps she really is up to no good? My sister seems to think so, and now my suspicions are certainly raised. Regardless, Sagi walks outside and has a chat with Milly. I already knew that Sagi wanted to have a chance to kill Emperor Olgan, but now I know why. Yeesh, it's bad enough that they forced the Azhan into virtual slave labor, but they did the same to Hassaleh?

The next day and I had the controller over to my sister. We figured we should go back to the elder's house since this lake is probably the next part of the story. She talks to Sis and she asks for some thornflower nectar. Okay, so we'll do a small side fetch first. My sister gets the nectar from the neighbor and gives it to Sis...and dinner's already ready? Um, what? That was an awfully short day... A little later Tik and Wacho talk about a giant monster at Lake Botein. Just as I thought, that's where we're headed to. However, it's starting to get late and my sister's internal clock is still thrown off by having spent three weeks in Taiwan, so we call it a night.


Wensday, July 29th

This time we spent no more than an hour playing since I had work and my sister kept getting interrupted with calls from friends. Anway, I head down to the lake where I find a strange looking blank Magnus. After talking to Wacho and Tik and getting three Photosynth Lilies (kind of redundant since all plants go through photosynthesis but whatever) I head back to Sheratan to talk to the elder's granddaughter. Apparently it belonged to the guy from the empire she's in love with. She tells us to keep it for now. Cool.

Anyway, I finally start to explore the lake ruins, fighting Mites, Pul-ouk (these guys are so cute!) and Ogopogs. You know what's odd? The Ogopogo is a "real life" lake monster that supposedly lives in Okanagan Lake, in British Columbia, Canada. However, it's either a serpent or a plesiosaur, not a large blue lobster. I check both sides of the ruins, diving under and giving photosynth lilies to the shiffy crate and the guy who apparently can sit calmly underwater (is it really that hard for people who can't swim to float?). At first I was afraid I didn't save the guy since he would later float up float on his back motionless. I said "well that's macabre, assuming he's really dead." Unfortunately I could go no further since I had to go to work and I could not for the life of me figure out where to go. It wouldn't be until later that night that I check Gamefaqs and found out that I had to push the wall with all the funny symbols on it. I slapped my forehead there remembering that it was either Wacho or Sasa-- Tik who said the wall could move and funny things happened when it was pushed.


Thursday, July 30th

Knowing what to do, I push both walls and soon the lake is drained. Hurray for us, boo for the fish and other lake animals living there. Anyway, I first help the guy next to Tik by giving him a Photosynth lily but I can't seem to help the guy next to Wacho yet. After some walking around, I save at the red flower and ride down. Well hello there Hideous Beast, since that's apparently your name. I wonder if I can beat you this time....And apparently I can't (you know, for a brawler, Milly sure can't take a beating very well). Instead Guillo takes the monster down by itself again. Milly makes a comment on how Guillo's more than a giant can opener ("she's definitely not Xelha," as my sister commented) but this time he/she/it/what-have-you remember fighting it...and even seems to think s/he was created to battle them. While I sort of kind of knew that already, hmm... I also noticed that Sagi didn't wig out and have another dream this time. Anyway, once that was over I talk to the elder and his secretary then proceed to wakening up, finding, or saving the other villagers. Say, where's that guy from the empire? Or maybe it's not terribly significant.

Once that's over with I head back to Sheratan...only to find Empire soldiers and Valara in a large mecha suit. Machina arma, eh? I've heard that before around these boards. So anyway, the character exchange words and we fight her. It seems though that I wasn't able to do much damage to her? Is this another one I can't win? I decided to keep fighting and healing to see what happens. Sure enough, one of her blows knocks them all down (Garland could learn something from her *shot again*). Just when it seems like our gooses are cooked, who should come in but...the Hideous Beast at the lake? Um, I'm assuming it wasn't actually trying to help us, just decided to follow us and then pick on somebody its own size. After it kills the soldiers around Valara she gets fed up with it and kills with it the Arma Cannon, which was apparently powerful enough to slice off the tail end of Hassaleh as well! O.O Now that the creature really is dead, Sagi really have another migraine, and this time takes Guillo and Milly into the past somehow. However, the siblings can't see them, just Sagi who they keep calling Marno. I noticed that Ven is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch using his Renton voice, but my sister didn't until I pointed it out, to which she gave a squee. Regardless, the five are afraid that the rouge mutant Deldepth (I'm assuming its him) might be going to another village and that they should head to Naos. After some chatter and banter (Milly sure seems excited about this ), I save at the blue flower since my sister stepped out. We might play later tonight since I have work in less than an hour.

[Silvaria]

Oh, you got to play again! That's good. I never really noticed the whole Pokedex and field guide thing... You think I would since I had played Pokemon Yellow right before, but oh well! And that arma cut off part of Hassaleh. Not pretty, huh?
You noticed more than I did on my first play through, so good job! I don't pay attention to the voice actors, but that note you put in was interesting.