God Save the Queen, Indeed: Let's Play Long Live the Queen!

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by TheEmerged

Spoiler

In terms of the way it looks, it's the same waste of graphic space. Is this supposed to be a sub battle? Seriously, let's see some ships or something...

Yes, there's a Divination check (or two?) you have to make weeks ago, and your Naval Strategy has to be nearly maxed (I think my own score was a 90?). It's not an easy option.

Spoiler

I only had ~50 Naval Strategy or so when I got the naval victory. Agents on foreign powers got me the options to make more boats IIRC and I had more soldiers from something. What pushed me over the top was my 110 Magic-skills with the magical girl dress on and maxed Lumen-stats.

I'm not sure about the exact formula but I think Strategy, Naval Strategy and Wield Magic (maybe overall the Lumen-value?) all factor into it and then it requires a troop and ship count to even stand a chance.

[Deme]

Chapter 43, Week 35 Take Two, Mood: Angry
Or
Fate Changed!

Spoiler

Let's return to 4 minutes 1 week before our death to change our fate!
(Points to anyone who gets the ref)


Also, we can't swim and we want to be batman.

Votes for activities and stuff have been fairly frail, so I'm just going to run with the ones I have, including the ones from last time. So swords it is!

Which requires a small amount of RAGE.



Wooh, outfit! Also, hitting stuff with sticks.


Now we can actually fight with an actual sword. Huzzah!


But this time...We're not there. Heh.

Ships close on each other, angling into range. The Shanjians have half again as many troops as you do. It doesn't look promising.
We've already read this. We aready know we lose.

The eventua outcome...Is not in your favor.


Many good soldiers were lost today, and Nova's troubles have not ended.

The head of the invasion force will be here next week.

Thanks, Game!
Your remaining soldiers will hold them off as long as possible, of course, but the main strength of your military has been exhausted. Nova's future looks bleak.
But we will rise up as the queen Nova needs...But not the one it deserves.



Next update's going to be a long one. We need to get ready. What should we do?

Voting for our week of training before meeting the invasion's head, and what outfit we face them down in.

[Sinfonian]

Double dose of Swords.

[Mirrinus]

Sneak Out, Sense Magic and Resist Magic

We're all set, let's do this.

[Lycan 01]

Swords and Swords. I'm not sure what activity to do...

[Forum Explorer]

Sneak Out, Swords and swords.

Also Sword fighting outfit. Let's do this with a little dignity.

[Selpharia]

I'll bandwagon with Mirrinus on this one, we need to be at straight 100s before I'll feel secure against the Last Boss. If we die next week, I suggest going back to when we were training Dogs and Horses a few weeks ago and training weapons/lumen instead

[banthesun]

I'll bite, was that a Ghost Trick refference?

[Sanguine]

Originally Posted by Mirrinus

Sneak Out, Sense Magic and Resist Magic

We're all set, let's do this.

Let's do this.

[Deme]

Originally Posted by banthesun

I'll bite, was that a Ghost Trick refference?

You get points! It's not one of the games I will talk off people's ears about, but it is a game I really, really like.

[Starbuck_II]

Originally Posted by Forum Explorer

Sneak Out, Swords and swords.

Also Sword fighting outfit. Let's do this with a little dignity.

This ever much so, this.

[Eldonauran]

Sneak Out, Swords and swords.

Also Sword fighting outfit. Let's do this with a little dignity

This. 100% this.

[Deme]

Chapter 44, Week 36, Mood: Willful
or
And so Bat-Elodie Meets Her First Supervillain

Spoiler

Sneaking out it is, apparently!

Our poor dad. He's, like, never happy with us.
...Poor us.


And our new outfit, as requested.


And we like our swords.

...That is so cheap. Soooo cheap. Look at that 99 points. Cheap.
Anyway, we can kill people with magic OR swords. Joy!


We're sorry, villagers!
...But somehow, I get the vibe you're still better off than you will be on the magical nuke path.


I can screenshot conveniently now. I'm not typing that out. MWAHAAHAHAHAHA! *is drunk on her newfound power*

Almost no choice.
Your fiance, Duke Talarist of Sedna, has sent you a message. He does not personally command enough soldiers to turn the tide against this invasion, but his king in Talasse is eager to discuss a formal alliance.


It's....Something, anyway. He's trying, maybe perhaps.


Now, this is a serious...Oh, who am I kidding?
The half of you or so that voted down this route want a confrontation. We don't want to run away, even in the other half!

...Besides, running away just gets us a game over as we abandon our position of queen to hide with our fiance. That's no good.

So lets Meet with Diplomats.

You can get upset with me later, and we'll get another chance to suicide if it looks like you'll enjoy plan nuke more.

You prepare yourself as best you can to meet with the representatives from Shanjia.




For the record, he really is their king, and his backstory's given at the upper limits of Foreign Intelligence (or whichever one's the Intrigue skill). We could actually see about it later, so I'll refrain from mentioning it here.


...That's...That's a very dangerous spot check fail, isn't it? Let's see what the man's file says...


After Elodie does not tolerate this guy's BS. I actually feel slightly better for having failed this check, I dunno about anyone else.

Now, let's see what the file on this guy says...

...Thanks, game. Real helpful.

"War benefits no one, don't you think? Such a terrible waste. Better to settle things in a civilised manner. A contest. A game, so to speak, with Nova as the stakes.
Should I win, then your domain will submit and accept me as Overlord with no further resistance."
I kind of find it hard to picture Banion not resisting...

"Should I lose, then my army will leave your domain in peace and shed no more blood."

Well...We can't not know more, can we? The people of Nova are counting on us to find a path to saftey for them...
"What sort of game?"


"I propose a formal duel. My powers against yours. The winner takes control of Nova, the loser...dies."
It's a life-or-death magical duel for Nova, all our fighting prowess against all of his.

"Your game by your rules, for my life? That doesn't sound fair to me."
Do evil sorceror-kings set out on some sort of magical domination of the world need to be fair, Elodie?

"The rules of formal dueling have been passed down for centuries and must be upheld.
It is important that we do this by the ancient codes."

"Why should I?"
I can't decide if I admire her courage, or think she's being incredibly dumb.

"If you refuse, then the war will continue."
This is a huge lie.


"Really?"

"I swear it by the gods. Nova will be free and safe."
Without us in it, if we lose.



Nova...Our home... Was just an obstacle he had to get through, to get not even to us, but to the power of our crystal.

"It won't work for you!"


Among those circumstances...Is transferring it to someone weak-willed enough to control or eliminate, adjusting it over time. Or...Well, these 'old codes' he has in mind will do the trick, too. All he has to do is kill the wielder of the crystal in this special duel.

Spoilers for a route we didn't take below: we'll sadly never learn this here, but I think it adds a lot to say it.

Spoiler

This is the why Fidelia, former queen of Nova, died.
He used his magic to get her out of the way, so we'd be the ones standing here, at his mercy.
He's the one who killed our mother, for a stupid magic rock.

What we'd have learned with a sense magic check is that the man is powerful, even though we've done all we can.


And now...We have a choice to make.

If you vote for the middle path, I'd like it if you also cast a vote for one of the other two in a secondary sort of way, as a time-saver.
Also, if you opened the spoiler box inside the chapter, so I'll know if I can refer to it next time.

[Pie Guy]

We have max magic, so if it fails, we couldn't have won (without some other path/ hidden bonus) right?

FIGHT! NO MERCY!

Edit:

Spoiler

I read it. That is just a bit too violent to be cartoonishly evil.

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by Pie Guy

We have max magic, so if it fails, we couldn't have won (without some other path/ hidden bonus) right?

I shouldn't spoil much by saying it's never just about the obvious skill in this game

[Deme]

Also, we have max *wield* magic, but not not max Sense and Resist magic.

[Mewtarthio]

Originally Posted by Eldariel

I shouldn't spoil much by saying it's never just about the obvious skill in this game

Then our only option is to engage in the duel directly so we can see exactly how he cheats and kills us in an arbitrary manner!

[Forum Explorer]

I say we engage in a duel and I strongly suspect that the person voting for magic skills knew about the duel in advance.

[JeminiZero]

I am slightly saddened that there is no option to attempt to pacify him, by giving him that spare lumen crystal we got from Mr Golden Strangler. However...

Spoiler

JOE CHILL!!!

Although I must ask, how exactly is this info found?

I'm guessing "Offer to Give Him Your Power" leads to game over, or something, and then we will have to choose one of the other 2. So I will pick that as the primary (just to see what it does).

And then after that... hmmm... can we win a land war against this smug snake if we Refuse Outright? I would feel a touch more comfortable with the Duel, if Elodie were in Magic Girl outfit, to crank up her lumen powers...

[Deme]

Originally Posted by JeminiZero

I am slightly saddened that there is no option to attempt to pacify him, by giving him that spare lumen crystal we got from Mr Golden Strangler. However...

Spoiler

JOE CHILL!!!

Although I must ask, how exactly is this info found?

I'm guessing "Offer to Give Him Your Power" leads to game over, or something, and then we will have to choose one of the other 2. So I will pick that as the primary (just to see what it does).

And then after that... hmmm... can we win a land war against this smug snake if we Refuse Outright? I would feel a touch more comfortable with the Duel, if Elodie were in Magic Girl outfit, to crank up her lumen powers...

There *is* an option to pacify him, actually...If we had made that check that we failed right as the choices came up. But it's not via giving crystals, but appealing to the part of his heart that isn't driven by taking shiny jewels via murder. It's actually pretty hard, when I look at the number of skill checks needed.

Spoiler

...I actually have no idea anymore. I susect, given that I poked around for it, that it's on a route where you're not a lumen. Which is a route with a lot of surprises that I won't spoil.
I know it's true, particularly since there are a few threads on the Hanako games forums that go "Wait, what exactly was his reason for killing Fidelia?" which is how I know I'm not just imagining it.

[banthesun]

Originally Posted by Deme

There *is* an option to pacify him, actually...If we had made that check that we failed right as the choices came up. But it's not via giving crystals, but appealing to the part of his heart that isn't driven by taking shiny jewels via murder. It's actually pretty hard, when I look at the number of skill checks needed.

Spoiler

...I actually have no idea anymore. I susect, given that I poked around for it, that it's on a route where you're not a lumen. Which is a route with a lot of surprises that I won't spoil.
I know it's true, particularly since there are a few threads on the Hanako games forums that go "Wait, what exactly was his reason for killing Fidelia?" which is how I know I'm not just imagining it.

Apparently the offer to join forces with him only becomes available if you have the extra Lumen Crystal, so perhaps that counts.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure it is on the route where you're not a Lumen, for one of the saddest endings.

[Deme]

Yeah, but that's not really "pacifying," since he's still going to go on his bloody magical-seeking journey through the world...Just, you know...With Elodie.

Spoiler

That ending is one of the reasons I take special pleasure from winning this duel.

Also, because it took me a bunch of reloads to beat him the first time.

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by Deme

There *is* an option to pacify him, actually...If we had made that check that we failed right as the choices came up. But it's not via giving crystals, but appealing to the part of his heart that isn't driven by taking shiny jewels via murder. It's actually pretty hard, when I look at the number of skill checks needed.

Spoiler

Are you talking about saving the day with music? Requires success on the Foreign Intelligence 90 to know he's married his way to the throne and formerly a bard, then Voice+Instruments? ~180 to sing him a song and finally Presence 70 to make him yield.

[Deme]

Originally Posted by Eldariel

Spoiler

Are you talking about saving the day with music? Requires success on the Foreign Intelligence 90 to know he's married his way to the throne and formerly a bard, then Voice+Instruments? ~180 to sing him a song and finally Presence 70 to make him yield.

That's the one, yeah. And I know the checks. I've done them. That path's cute.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by Deme

Yeah, but that's not really "pacifying," since he's still going to go on his bloody magical-seeking journey through the world...Just, you know...With Elodie.

THAT'S SO CUTE!



Anyhow, I vote to first accept his terms and then to turn him down.

[Mirrinus]

The music in this scene is pretty awesome. Adds about 20-30% more excitement to the scene.

The route where you discover Togami's past interactions with your family is probably the saddest part of the whole game. On the other hand, the route where you pacify him is easily the most heartwarming, especially the bit in the epilogue.

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by Deme

That's the one, yeah. And I know the checks. I've done them. That path's cute.

I'm kinda sad we didn't go that route here to be honest. I find it's ironically the most appropriate Magical Girl ending in the game.

[Deme]

I'm pretty happy it lookws we're doing this one, really. Would the other one have been nice? Well, yes. But it's a ship that really sailed a long time ago, so there's little regret. So let me list my happiness:
#1, it's the most batman.
#2, Spoilers that I'll probably get to at the end of the road. Suffice to say, I like this path's ending. I don't know if I like it better than the pacify route's ending...But there's a lot of good in it, enough that I'm torn.
#3, It allows us to use things we showed interest in early on, which is structurally satisying.

[Eldariel]

Aye, this one is definitely the ending dictated by the path this LP took so of course, there was never really any question (aside from the magical nuke of course).

[Starbuck_II]

Acept his challenge, we can beat Bane (he is most Bane-like) at his own game.