Author Topic: Should Deny the Divine Destiny of the Destinies: Let's Play Valkyrie Profile! (Read 37701 times)

triangles · « **Reply #60 on:** May 08, 2013, 05:17:50 PM »

I think the best way to explain the mechanics is to link to a video, I know I didn't really get it until I just battled a bunch :V
Do they ever really explain "purify weird soul" it was always one of my favorite bouts of Engrish.
Also my copy of Covenant of the Plume is shipping this week :toot: so I'll get to see what it's all about.

Garlyle · « **Reply #61 on:** May 09, 2013, 01:39:56 PM »

Minor correction: Magic does not have to be cast from the menu to not break scepters. For magic weapons with a chance to break, so long as you never perform a PWS, they will never break - using magic as part of a normal combo is completely fine. This is, of course, how you make the rest of the game hilariously easy after finding a 2000(!) MAG Ether Scepter that's normally supposed to have an absurd break rate...

Actually on that note, certain physical weapons come with a chance to break as well. For them, the chance to break is only determined at the end of the attack - however, that chance is never calculated if battle ends during that combo.

Just some heads up.

Validon98 · « **Reply #62 on:** May 09, 2013, 07:04:32 PM »

I knew it was something along those lines, but I wasn't sure because I didn't really do much with breakable weapons in my first three runs through the game. Of course, once I found out something along those lines, I realized that breakable scepters were ridiculously broken, and the same is true with breakable weapons (particularly the Slayer weapons). It's not like I know every single internal mechanic (take Hit Trust and Attack Trust, for example, which I pretty much skipped over because they're almost negligible unless you're talking about

Spoiler:

, but that's not until way later so I don't care).

Mesarthim · « **Reply #63 on:** May 10, 2013, 10:03:04 AM »

That sword is hilariously bad despite the attack power.

I only play on Hard Mode now, generally with a party of Lenneth and 3 mages (Namami, Yumei, and I guess Jelanda since I don't feel like leveling up a third replacement). I'm like lv 9 by the time I hit the tower of our crazy magic friend, but I level up so much due to good exp monsters in there. A tri-mage party is so lethal in this game.

Once I get decked out in Ether Scepters (battles end before they even get a chance to break), and eventually unicorn horns and wand of apocalypse, I am literally a force to be reckoned with as I can cast Great Magic without restriction. Due to my playstyle it's as if I only have one path open to me, and might I add it's very specific in what I'd do.

I think the only part I was disappointed with in this game despite my love for it is bow attack power. Kind of limits the fun I'd have in the post-game.

Validon98 · « **Reply #64 on:** May 24, 2013, 07:06:35 PM »

I'm not dead with this! In fact, I have an update pretty much ready, but I might not be able to get it up until later. It will DEFINITELY be up tonight, though.

Mr. Sacchi · « **Reply #65 on:** May 24, 2013, 07:22:19 PM »

You're a terrible person Validon, you've made me start playing Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria again thanks to this let's play and I freaking love you for it.

~~GRINDING FOR THE OVERPOWERED WEAPONS SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS~~

I also find it amazing how much of the second game you spoil just by playing the first game,

Spoiler:

Keep on with the Let's play, by the way, I'm loving it so far.

Validon98 · « **Reply #66 on:** May 24, 2013, 07:42:26 PM »

I guess this game does spoil you a lot on VP2:S. Of course, I played VP2 first, so I see all of the "spoilers" as nice foreshadowing.
Also, I'm actually getting this up earlier than I thought I would. Huh.

Chapter 1- Part 1: You Can't Fight Fate

So, last time we did dungeon stuff. Now, considering how Spiritual Concentration works, I'm going to be doing all of the character recruitments at the beginning of the chapter, with an exception here and there.

Of course, we do have a handy dandy world map so that we can go around and see things. So let's see what's up!

We get a dungeon first, though. We're not going to do that until later. Let's see if we can't find someone? In fact, our next check is a hit!

*dark moaning sound*
Man's voice: Being picked was this flower's destiny.
Girl's voice: Destiny?
Girl's voice: Do you know what it's called?
Girl's voice: *giggling* Lord Belenus~.
Man's voice: Please, can't you save her?
Man's voice: I was a slave to circumstance.
Woman's voice: So you have nothing to say to me, huh?

As per usual, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense out of context, huh?

Look's like we're heading to Lassen. I think this is the only time we go here for an Einherjar the entire game.

Oh, fun times. Looks like even the smaller towns are being affected by war, huh?

And we've got man and I assume servant. Nothing unusual here.

I'm not an expert in flowers, sorry.

Hmm?

Whoa, calm down! You didn't have to take the flower away!

Oh... yeah I'd probably be uncomfortable too. The whole concept of slavery bugs me.

So, it's just you two, huh?

Not all masters are good people. Just look at American history. Or really the history of any country that used slaves.

I guess that is true... based on the name alone Asaka's probably from Yamato. I didn't think they'd pull slaves from there, but I guess they do.

Well, unfortunately that's how human society works in this world. There's nothing that can really be done.

Well, they aren't sentient, for one thing, but I guess that's a good point. It's whether you treat that flower well that determines how it will grow.

Sure, why not? I'm not really one for the whole destiny thing. I'm more of a free will person.

Well, technically the Valkyries are the ones in charge of fate and destiny. Not that it seems like they do much with it, but they have the power, I guess.
Meanwhile, flashback!

I guess this is way before when Maria was still alive.

Belenus is a caring soul.

Educated servants, huh? I thought that was rare back then.

Well, it's better than leaving her out to starve.

No, really? I guess Yamato would be somewhat well known there considering Lassen's proximity to the island of Yamato. Look at me, trying to piece together the workings of a fictional society. What can I say, I like these kinds of things!

Oh hey, that looks like the kind of flower Asaka picks later. Also, Asaka's sprite doesn't really match her artwork. Okay then...

I didn't think he was THAT scary. Just a little gruff.

You'd figure that because there's slave dealers pretty much everywhere, there would be someone here. Huh.

Okay, another flashback, for no reason. It looks like you dwell too much on the past, Belenus.

That would be time's fault, actually.

No, that's politics.

Probably. Of course, I'm not a huge believer in destiny, so... yeah.

At this point, who knows?

Pardon your master, he's brooding.

Don't hide your feelings, Belenus. It'll make things worse.
And then timeskip to night. Again.

Whoa, it's... a floating skull.

Or a spectre. Sure, why not?

Don't just stand there, Belenus! Run or fight!

Or Lenneth can show up. Sure, why not?

It can be.

Vampires? Whenever the hell did vampires get here?

And then Lenneth just fades away. Uh... right then.

Asaka?! Crap, it looks like we're too late...

Damn, he got away!

She's dead, Belenus. There's nothing we can do now.

Easy for you to say, considering that's your field of business.

The man already has a grudge against destiny. Don't make him feel worse.

Loving someone cannot really change how one lives or dies. It'll happen either way, sadly.

Huh?

As long as it's not a deal with the devil, I might be okay with it. The keyword is "might."

It's like human transmutation, except less confusing, less likely to produce a horrible monstrosity that needs to be destroyed, and less likely to take your arms or your innards. Good times.

Uh... what do you mean by that? You're not going to tell us, are you?

And he dies. Well, Asaka's coming back, right?

Though I didn't catch it, Asaka gets back up. At least it worked, but now Belenus is dead.

Sure thing.

Really Lenneth?

Please don't tell me you found his underwear. You pervert...

Okay, nevermind, we found this. Now, you see this thing about Beliza? It's NEVER mentioned again. Everything seems all set up for a subplot, but it gets completely dropped right here. Also, if you didn't figure it out (and you probably didn't either), the reason the curse was on Asaka was because of Belenus's dead wife. Apparently she was jealous of Asaka and put the curse on her by invoking Beliza's powers. Sadly, this is NEVER mentioned here in the game. I think it might have been mentioned in the manga, but definitely not the game. Oh well. At least some of the other subplots actually get finished. Somewhat.

Man, that took five periods already? Well, we still have a lot of periods left. Also, we need to talk about Belenus.

Belenus is another swordsman, and he's actually one of the better ones in the game. His Purify Weird Soul, while lacking in contribution to the combo meter like Freya's, deals a lot of damage, so he'll be in our party for at least the first couple of dungeons. I might transfer him in either Chapter 2 or 3, though.
On another note, before the end of this update, I want to mention that there are four "paths" that you can go through the game. You cannot choose which path you are on. It is randomly chosen for you at the beginning of the game. Thankfully, though, all it does is determine what order the Spiritual Concentrations play out. In fact, in my original runs through the game, I usually don't get Belenus until after I get the other character that you will get in this chapter. At this point, I could probably go and figure out which path I've ended up on and plan the LP from there. For now, though, just know that next time, we'll see the wonders of child soldiers.

EDIT: Actually, I can't figure out which path I'm on. There's no listing. Uh... right.

Garlyle · « **Reply #67 on:** May 25, 2013, 01:33:48 AM »

Quote from: Toyosatomimi No Sacchi on May 24, 2013, 07:22:19 PM

I also find it amazing how much of the second game you spoil just by playing the first game,
Spoiler:
Lezard, anyone?

It's less than you think you've had spoiled for you, frankly; you spoil more of VP1 by playing VP2 as confusing as that has to sound if you haven't finished it before.

Quote

Look at me, trying to piece together the workings of a fictional society. What can I say, I like these kinds of things!

That's one of the cool things about Valkyrie Profile. All three games take place in the same world and it's a surprisingly well thought out world, even though we spend our time only getting glimpses into the locations and stories of people in it you can start piecing together this overarching tale.

Mr. Sacchi · « **Reply #68 on:** May 25, 2013, 01:47:00 AM »

How so? I mean, there's

Spoiler:

and maybe

Spoiler:

. But the only spoilleriffic thing outside of that I can think of is...

Spoiler:

And

Spoiler:

from 2 to 1 isn't much of a spoiler since we're immediately shown in

Spoiler:

first appearance in the first game that

Spoiler:

notverycreative · « **Reply #69 on:** May 26, 2013, 07:09:08 AM »

Lezard is one of my favorite game characters ever. I'm well-aware of the sort of person he is, and I don't care. He's so damn well-written! And stylish, too! Son of a bitch, I wish I had his outfit.

My friend and I were talking about this a while back: do you get your einherjar back that you sent to Valhalla if you get the A ending and do the Seraphic Gate? Or can you only have the entire cast at your disposal in the SG if you got the B ending? It's been YEARS since I last played it.

Validon98 · « **Reply #70 on:** May 26, 2013, 01:23:42 PM »

You get all of your Einherjar back regardless, with the exception of

Spoiler:

.

notverycreative · « **Reply #71 on:** May 26, 2013, 11:31:07 PM »

Hm. Alright. I always did the B ending for the SG so I could have

Spoiler:

.

Favorite Male Einherjar: Janus
Favorite Female Einherjar: Yumei
Favorite Valkyrie sister: Silmeria

My friend still has this. If I ever feel like playing it again, I know who to ask.

Validon98 · « **Reply #72 on:** May 26, 2013, 11:42:29 PM »

Haha, you should! Although, maybe you should spoiler those character names? Of course, the people who have played the game already know who they are, and the people who haven't don't really know who they are, so... yeah. Of course, I'm wondering how people will react to their stories, particularly

Spoiler:

. It's not a major thing, just a little bit of nitpicking that's probably unnecessary.

Validon98 · « **Reply #73 on:** June 10, 2013, 01:47:12 AM »

I am so late with this. I can't believe I haven't done too much with this and I'm already sort of tired of it. Well, hopefully I'll get the energy soon to be more on top of this than I am right now.

Chapter 1- Part 2: Child Soldier

Well, we're not done with Spiritual Concentrations for this chapter just yet. So let's see what else is there!

Okay, the Cave of Oblivion is a special dungeon that I will describe in detail later. Just know that we might not be going into it in this chapter. So, uh, yeah. We get an Einherjar hit right after.

*wind blows heavily*
Boy's voice: Anything I say is only going to make her feel worse.
*wind blows heavily*
Girls Voice: No! That sound, I can't stand it! *sobs* S-Stop it! Somebody stop it! *sobs further*
*Wind blows again*
Girl's voice: I'll wait for you, I'll come here and think of this as our special place.
Boy's voice: I won't die. I'll come back to you.

This is one of the other big cities in Midgard. I wonder what's going on over there?

So we've got a corrupt government based around religion. The "holy war" isn't brought up really outside of perhaps the story of the Einherjar we're getting here, but it's there.

Well someone died. Looks like we're too late to do anything about it.

Well, I guess Lenneth inspires them or something.

The body will spoil, though.

And then birds.

And then flashback to... the woods.

Don't be late with meeting your girlfriend, Llewelyn. You'll end up like Serge otherwise.

Yes, it's a big bunch of trees.

Sure, why not?

I honestly never thought of it like that before. Huh.

Apparently it's windy out, because the wind does sort of sound like waves.

Neither have I.

No, that's not what that means.

Ah?

Oh... they recruit children for this sort of thing? Granted, Llewelyn's probably like my age or something, but that's a bit too young, isn't it?

Well, he's going to war. He might die.

At least he's being realistic about it. It's one of the only things about Llewelyn I like.

Millia, you can't be thinking he'll survive a war unscathed. Don't expect him to return. He might, but, well, he might not.

So you're going to sit here and listen to the wind that sounds like waves in order to remember him? You're just going to make yourself lovesick while he's away.

Aww...

Don't make a promise you can't exactly keep...

That is assuming you come back.

Uhm... right. This is sudden and out of nowhere.

They all say that. Then they get their asses handed to them. Such is war, sadly.

Millia, he's not here. I'm starting to think you're a little bit crazy.

Not even if he dies? That's completely possible.

You can't hear it, but the wind's blowing fiercely. It almost sounds like a storm.

What's right, then?

It's fucking nature, Millia! You can't stop nature!

Oh, the coffin was empty?

WELL WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EXPECT!?

About what?

Could you guys perhaps fill me in on this?

Well, if so then divine intervention could have been helpful earlier.

Or you could just, you know, move on. I won't say that I'm apathetic, because I'm not. It's just I don't think someone is going to mourn for the rest of their life to the extent that they'll essentially die from heartbreak.

Uh... pardon? I think you're overexaggerating.

My god, Lenneth, lay off! It's not his fault he died and broke her heart! It's WAR. IT HAPPENS. Millia just needs a bit of time to accept his death and things will be okay... sort of. It'll never be perfectly okay, but Millia, if she has any sense of maturity, will realize that it's foolish to keep mourning. Focus on the present. I'm not saying to ignore the past, because you can learn from it, but if the past is all you think of then you'll never see the worth of the present. If anyone disagrees with that, that's your opinion of death, not mine.

Can you even do anything?

Okay...?

Oh, it's a "one last meeting" type of thing, huh?

Yeah, you get to see your dead boyfriend one last time.

Aww...

There is nothing to forgive, Llewelyn. You did nothing wrong in my opinion. Yes, you did make a promise you couldn't keep, but it was not your fault that you couldn't keep it.

Well, at least you've got another Einherjar out of the deal, right?

Llewelyn, unfortunately, is one of the worst characters in the game. His Purify Weird Soul hits a number of times basedoff of the size of the enemy, so you can never do reliable damage with it. Add in the fact that he doesn't have good stats and you have your Chapter 1 transfer fodder. That's basically all he is good for is for transferring Chapter 1 so that you can hold onto Belenus and Jelanda longer.
Anyways, now that we've done that, there's a few other things we can do at the towns we went to in order to recruit our first couple of characters, but I'm going to leave that to next time.
Also, have a doomsday clock, because I can.

Current Time: 10/24, Chapter 1
210 Periods until the End of the World

Garlyle · « **Reply #74 on:** June 10, 2013, 05:10:22 AM »

I'm not so sure about Llewelyn being one of the worst. At least among archers he's not as terrible as one of the later ones (There's only about three non-Valkyrie archers and I believe it's Janus who's considered the best), and if you swap his third attack to first it's unblockable, which can be huge for combos. Also yeah, PWS is enemy-size-variable, but it's actually one of the most powerful in the game against large targets.

Still far from one of the best characters but not one of the worst.

As for the whole scene we just passed: Valkyrie might be being a little overdramatic for most but she's not necessarily incorrect either - grief can drive people off the deep end. It is, in its own way, kind of interesting that she recognises this. Grief over a husband dying in war is warped and transformed into a vengeant streak against Lenneth - that's basically the setup plot for the spinoff-prequel-thing Covenant of the Plume.

Validon98 · « **Reply #75 on:** June 10, 2013, 10:13:20 AM »

Sorry, my opinion of Llewelyn sort of comes from the fact that compared to the other characters you have by this point, he isn't as good. Plus the whole "variable size enemy PWS" thing is not too great considering the size of most enemies in the game is medium at best, making him more of a situational character. In other words, yes, he's not the absolute worst, but I'm not a big fan of him either. *shrugs*
And yes, I do realize that grief can drive people crazy, I was just saying it doesn't happen to everyone. It's just people end up beating themselves up over something they had no control over and they can't fix because it already happened. Does that mean all of their emotions are for naught? NO. Of course, some people can handle grief better than others. What I said was more of a "try to get over it" message, not a "YOU MUST GET OVER IT NOW" thing, because I am aware that not everyone can handle it.

Validon98 · « **Reply #76 on:** June 15, 2013, 03:28:28 PM »

Well, after I screenshotted this update I messed around with a different emulator because the voices sometimes sound a little distorted, only for me to go back to ePSXe and realize that I just needed to change the Audio out method from Thread to SPUasync. So I guess I'm sticking to ePSXe after all. Enough emulator discussion, though.

Chapter 1- Finale: Do Not Disturb the Dead

So, last time we got Llewelyn (it's annoying trying to spell his name all the time, by the way). This time, however, we've got a lot of things to do, most importantly ending this chapter. How am I going to do that? Well, we've got a few things we need to do first.

First off, let's head back to Artolia.

Hasn't changed much, has it?

Hmm, Roland's not here. Weird.

Oh, why thank you, Arngrim!

Okay, the Dragon Slayer is one of the "slayer" weapons, which instantly kills anything that it says it will kill. So, if we run into any dragons, we can just quickly equip this on whoever and kill them instantly. Slayer weapons can break, but they will never break if you use them in an attack that ends the battle, so they're pretty good, especially the Dragon Slayer.

Meanwhile, back in Crell Monferaigne, we have a few things to check out.

Um, you might want to clean up a bit. This place looks pretty rundown.

Oh no...

Well, it's not surprising.

She isn't exactly over it, is she?

Hmm?

Well, those prayers didn't work, I guess.

This gives a small boost in defense and reduces Dark damage by 50%, so it's not that bad.

Meanwhile in Lassen, apparently there's something here too.

The Pressed Flower actually reduces Poison damage by 90%, so that's really good against enemies who use a lot of Poison elemental attacks (yes, Poison is an element in this game, though it gets replaced by Earth in the following games).

But enough of that, we've got a dungeon to explore! Also, this description makes me wonder what exactly happened to Solde, because that's the first town you visit in Valkyrie Profile 2.

New dungeon music! It's Evil Tales and Obligations (or, as translated in the Covenant of the Plume OST, Bad Tales in All Cases).

Oh, I wonder what's down here?

Apparently these Dragon Servants. Yeah, monsters you fight in boss battles often become random encounters themselves in this game. Just have Jelanda soften them up with Fire Storm (the Element Scepter is amazing for this) and then take them out one by one. Remember they have a really high DEF stat, so you'll have to Guard Break them all.

Also, I learned Counter for everyone. When they dodge an attack, a little sword icon will appear above their head and if you press their button, you can counterattack. You'll also get another skill later called Combo Counter, which allows you to use all of your attacks instead of just the first.

Hmm?

Okay, I'll show you what this means in a moment.

These demon statues are the Guardians. You need to destroy them with your sword.

Then you need to drag those slabs onto the place where the Guardians were. There's four across the dungeon, and once you get all four of them "transformed," the door to the last part of the dungeon.

And there you go, one down.

Also, I had NO idea you could transmute Avoid into Guts despite having played this three times, so we're going to do that right now! Guts is essentially one of the best skills in the game, and unless you do this now, you won't get it until Chapter 3. What does it to? If you are killed, it has a chance of allowing you to survive with a bit of HP left. Combined with another skill, this is one of the most broken skills in the entire game once you max it out, which we'll be able to do on all of our party members probably by the end of the next dungeon. Wow, I can't believe I didn't know this before.

There was a statue here. Now it's gone.

I guess breaking the statue was enough to open the door!

So this guy is the one that has been messing around with the dead!

Yeah you're unleashing the dead. How could she not be displeased?

You didn't go there, did you?

Yeah, it's time to kick your ass!

Okay, this fight is a little tricky, but nothing we can't handle. This is where enemy formation comes into play. Enemies in the front can be hit by all party members, but enemies in the rear can only be hit by magic and bows.

Yeah, they have Fire Lance, which can almost one shot anyone on my party.

Yeah, you can change your equipment and your formation during battle if you want, which is nice if you have a slayer weapon you need to switch to or something.

As you can see there, Valkyrie's now got a Short Bow that I picked up earlier. It has a small chance of breaking, though, so hopefully it won't break.

And there goes Belenus. Thankfully you start the game with some Union Plumes, so we can bring him right back.

Not a problem for Valkyrie to take care of these guys.

Ouch, they got Valkyrie. Now, if we don't bring her back before the limit counter hits zero, you instantly lose the battle and get taken back to the world map.
We manage to do the rest of the battle without much issue. Hurray!

Something I don't remember what it does. I think you can transmute it into something good later on. I forgot to screencap the second Artifact, but it was the Crown of Felmar, which is only slightly better than the Tiara Jelanda has on now in the sense that it offers Dark protection. Not too great, to be honest.

This, however, is REALLY good. This will increase the amount of CP a character gets after levelling up, so if you switch this around when you know someone is close to levelling, you can really optimize the amount of CP you get for all of your characters, allowing you to quickly max your skills way earlier than you would normally. With this we should be able to get Guts maxed out on everyone in no time.

Also, I took some of the Event Experience I got and gave it to Llewelyn so I can transfer him up this chapter. He just barely has enough Hero Value to fulfill Freya's requirement. You don't get anything for really overshooting the required amount, I think, so we're good for this chapter on transferring.

We've got nothing else left to do in this chapter. Well, I guess I could check out the Cave of Obivion, but I generally ignore the Caves of Oblivion because they're too random and there's a good chance you'll run into an enemy you can't beat, so... yeah. So let's just skip the rest of the Periods.

Alright, let's see what Freya has to say to us.

I assume that map is not of Midgard, but of Asgard or some other place.

Holy crap, your voice sounds distorted. Good thing now that I fixed that, so it shouldn't be a problem in the next Sacred Phase.

Yeah, we get a little insider information on how the war is going.

Wow, that's not a lot of people. It looks like we're a little behind, but whatever. The war actually doesn't matter. Even if Asgard gets its ass completely handed to it for whatever reason (and it shouldn't be unless you're not sending up at least a person every chapter), you can't "lose" the war. So this can practically be ignored.

Well, give me some time and I'll see what I can do.

I guess?

Not bad, Llewelyn. You can click on the red and blue things to get a little extra story and stuff, but I'm going to be ignoring that in this LP unless you really want to see it. It really doesn't matter.

Apparently Freya's happy with us, so that's good.

Not bad, not bad.

Oh, really? I thought he was pissed because I was taking all of his precious Artifacts.

Whoa! Yeah, if you just play like I am, you'll still get a lot of good stuff from Odin. Just fulfill the Einherjar requirements and you'll be good to go.

Yes?

Okay, by the looks of this Belenus might be a good option for the next transfer, although we'll wait until we see what we get for Einherjar in the next chapter.

Alright, that's it for Chapter 1! We're practically an eighth or so through the main game now. Next time, we'll see what Einherjar await us now and hopefully we'll get one of my favorite party members soon.

Summary:

Treasure: Dragon Slayer, Goddess Pendant, Pressed Flower, Attack Pow, Short Bow, Avoid, Fire Lance, Eye of Heaven, Broad Sword, Secret of Damascus, Crown of Felmar (Jelanda), Emerald Necklace, Magic Pow, Frigid Damsel, Element Scepter

Items Trasmuted: Guts (from Avoid)

Items Divined: Sallet (Llewelyn), Gauntlet (Llewelyn)

Skills Learned: Attack Pow, Guts, Magic Pow

TPKs: 0 this update, 0 overall
Current Time: 0/28, Chapter 2
196 Periods until the End of the World

Validon98 · « **Reply #77 on:** June 17, 2013, 04:10:57 PM »

I might be taking a break from GoS for a while because the grinding has finally gotten to me. In the meantime, I'm going to focus more on this because I feel like I abandoned it for too long and I want to keep going with this.

Chapter 2- Part 1: Justice for All?

Well, it's time for some Spiritual Concentration to start the chapter off right.

Male voice: "Arngrim did what?! This is some sort of mistake!"
Female voice: "Hey, let's all go together. There's no reason to go it alone! If we all go, then..." "Dying for justice and lofty ideals is pointless!"
Another male voice: "You're talking about Arngrim again, eh? About him being "special?""
*iron door clanks*
First male voice: "I will not run away!"

Artolia again, huh? Well, Arngrim's name was mentioned, so...

Oh no, they threw him in jail!? But he had nothing to do with what Arngrim did!

Sadly, I don't think it's a mistake.

Well, the first because she kind of became a demon, the second because he was the bad guy all along, and the third because Lombert managed to trick everyone BUT Arngrim.

Honestly, I don't know what I'd think if I only knew what the soldiers knew. The best mercenary in the country goes and kills a bunch of people seemingly randomly. What happened to the soldiers who first reported on the situation? Didn't at least one of them make it back and talk about how the medicine given by Lombert was what turned Jelanda into a demon? Funny, I didn't catch that the first time I played.
Meanwhile, flashback.

Well, he is the best mercenary out there.

...I can agree with that from personal experience.

Maybe not "special," but perhaps just "better."

Looking back on this now, he's right. People can only do the best they can. Of course, that also means they have the ability to improve. Again, personal experience. Plus the concept of improvement is a theme that pops up a bit later on in the game, and once again I've only realized it now.

How can he be nuts if he's dead?

I honestly don't know what to think of that statement.

Well, that depends. I'm not exactly sure what that means.

Well, no... I guess Arngrim was really a mentor figure to Lawfer. This statement right here is encouraging.

Oh, I guess Lawfer's a mercenary too, huh?

Uh, Roland's in jail. Unless you can drop some stuff off for him to make him more comfortable, there's nothing really they can do.

Hmm?

I wouldn't sit quietly. Then again, I don't know how dangerous this job is.

Not if the justice is acheivable.

There are.

Yup, we can't all be pessimists when it comes to ideals. Sure, they're not always acheivable, but we can try, can't we? Not trying is giving up.

Well, he did do what he did because of it.

Eh... I don't think it's because he was "special."

Yeah, this is more to do the right thing!

Being a mercenary is tough.

But is he really? How bad can this be?

Are you saying it might be better? It might not be.

Well, we know, but they don't.

Well, I guess Arngrim paid the price, but so did Lombert.

Arngrim wasn't a fool. Granted, he may have made a miscalculation about taking the job, but besides that he doesn't seem to be a fool to me.

Well, he threw his sword away and committed suicide. He must have been taking it pretty rough. I mean, it didn't look like he took it roughly, but come on, the guy's heart must have been aching.

I guess he's doing this.

Wait, the job is to break out Roland? Oh no...

Besides the fact that you're about to break it.

True, true.
The cutscene ends right there. We don't ever get to see how Lawfer dies, but he does. The general assumption is that he died while trying to break out Roland, but it is never stated in game what exactly happened to him. Besides new party member!

Lawfer's our first spearsman and the best of the two we get. He actually can hit pretty well and probably is one of the better party members we can get in this game. He's probably going to be one of the people I will not be sending to Asgard at all.
Well, with that, we've still got some more Spiritual Concentrations and stuff to do. But who else is about to meet their end? That's for next time.

Current Time: 3/28, Chapter 2
193 Periods until the End of the World

Garlyle · « **Reply #78 on:** June 17, 2013, 04:41:33 PM »

I believe in the Valkyrie Profile manga, Lawfer ended up actually dying later, when he tried to fight one of the undead (A boss later in the game, I forget who exactly). Of course, that's the manga.

It always did bother me though that things just end there. No appearance by the Valkyrie, no anything; we're just left to completely fill in the blanks.

Validon98 · « **Reply #79 on:** June 17, 2013, 04:49:10 PM »

I read somewhere that the manga said Lawfer turned into a vampire for whatever reason, and Arngrim killed him (before he died himself), but of course I never read the entire manga, so take that with a grain of salt.
Also, I already screenshotted the next cutscene. Twins truly are a wonder.

Validon98 · « **Reply #80 on:** June 19, 2013, 01:58:33 AM »

Chapter 2- Part 2: The Blind Side

Well, still a few things left to do in Chapter 2, so let's do them!

Nethov Swamp will be our next dungeon. It won't be the only one this chapter, unlike last chapter.
We also get another Einherjar reading.

*dropping water*
Demonic voice: "And what will your soul project into this demon cave?"
Man's voice: "My... soul?"
*rattling of swords?*
Woman's voice: "Please!"
Man's voice: "Arrg!"
Woman's voice: "Please Lord do something!"
Man's voice: *hyperventilates*
Woman's voice: "My brother!"
Man's voice: "AUGGGH!"
Woman's voice: "Please protect my brother!"
*violent slash*
Demonic voice: "I will live on, for my body was but a vessel."

Hai-Lan, huh? Haven't been there yet. By the way, I believe Hai-Lan is the town that has the most party members coming from it. Also, uh, that didn't sound good.

Technically the island and the country is Yamato, but whatever you say. It's this game's Wutai, essentially.

Ah, praying at a shrine, huh? Also, the song Tomorrow plays here. Fits well for sad and serious.

Well, maybe she wants to give someone a blessing?

Oh? Did he go on a journey?

Ah, okay. So you're blind. Not sure if there's a way to cure that, but then again this world has magic in it, so I suppose it's possible.
Meanwhile flashback.

An Ogre? Well, I assume they mean Oni, but then again Western audiences wouldn't really know that term.

Oh boy, that could be trouble.

Well, be careful, then. It is a demon and you're only human, after all.

Whoa. Well, uh, that guy failed.

Hmm? That's odd.

Oh, really? Maybe he finally found the medicine!

Ah, okay. Makes sense, I guess.

Hmm, I wonder what it could be.

Yeah, that is true. I guess he knew you liked praying here or something, Ai.

I guess they are.

Suddenly, more flashback. This is a flashback, by the way.

Shouldn't you know what that means?

Okay... I honestly don't know what to say to that?

This picture looks actually more like she is posing the ogre to death instead of hitting it with her sword.

This is the part where he fades away like all good bosses, right?

A man? Huh?
Suddenly, we get a flashback to the flashback. I'll explain the timeline after the end of the cutscene.

Well, he must be Ai's brother, then!

Well you sure are confident.

Equivalent exchange? Well, pretty much.

Uh, well, the Soul Stone might not even be worth it. It might not even be able to cure Ai's blindness.

That's less of a serious face and more of a "I'm constipated" face.
But enough jokes, yeah, Jun's not going down without a fight!

Well, the ogre'll hate you for that. I'm still thinking he's like an oni or something, so he'd prefer honesty. I think.

Well, better than nothing, I suppose!

Looks like he beat him after all!

What?

Wait a minute, what do you mean?

Uh-oh...

He's gone, but...

What the!?

So the ogre took over Jun's body, or something like that.

Uh, you ended up being the ogre.

Oh. So, he had a demonic soul? That's kind of rough to find out.

I guess so. Yikes...

Man, what could Jun done wrong? The thing is that they never explain exactly what Jun did to have his soul be like that, so...

Yeah, it killed all of those people who have also come here.

Huh? Well, I guess so...

Oh? That's... interesting.

So wait a minute, you're saying...

That's harsh. Again, we don't even find out what it is that Jun had done in the past to have his soul become this way, but whatever it was it must have been pretty bad.

Well, I guess the amulet had the Soul Stone, or something. That and he's dead now, so his soul can no longer influence your eyes. I think.

You wanted him back, didn't you?

Well, maybe she has an empty part within her soul where her connection to Jun has been severed.

That's depressing.
But that's the end of that cutscene. As far as I can tell, here's the order of events: Jun goes out to look for the cure, finds the cave (it's actually an Easy/Normal only dungeon, so you won't see it on this playthrough), confronts his soul, becomes the ogre, kills anyone who comes there, Lenneth kills him, she takes him to Hai-Lan to give presumably the Soul Stone or whatever that amulet was to her but gives it to the priest instead, the priest finds Ai praying and gives her the amulet and then recovers her sight. The events were kind of out of order, but they're easy to place when you know the whole story.
Anyways, we have Jun now!

He's our first of the two samurai characters we get, which means he can equip both Western swords and katanas. Katanas for the most part aren't really as good as Western swords, interestingly enough, especially since the more powerful katanas cannot beat out the best Western sword of the game. Besides being able to equip katanas, samurais are really not that much different from your regular swordsman. As for Jun himself, in my opinion he is the better of the two samurai, having a pretty okay Purify Weird Soul and being overall decent.
With that out of the way, next time we'll see that becoming a shrine maiden is tougher than it looks.

Current Time- Chapter 2, 8/28
188 Periods until the End of the World

Validon98 · « **Reply #81 on:** June 19, 2013, 02:06:39 AM »

Oh man, a double update. That's definitely not happened ever in the history of my LPs. ^^;

Chapter 2- Part 3: I Have the Power

I'm not sure what else to say at the beginning of every update besides, "Hey, we've got Spiritual Concentration to do!" There's only so many variants of that.

Another Cave of Oblivion. Hurray?
Of course, Einherjar exist too.

*rattling of swords?*
Girl's voice: "Minayo, please give me strength." "I thought my anger and saddness were greater than anyone else's."
*ominous wind*
Girl's voice: "Minayo? M-Minayo?"
*footsteps*
Girl's voice: "What can one do when one loses what matters most?" "This is all I can do."

Wow, that's two people from Hai-Lan in a row. Also, yeah, that "sword rattling sound" confuses me, because it would make sense as swords being rattled in Jun's story, but in this one, well... it doesn't. I think it might also be the sound of a gate opening.

Oh hey, it's the priest. At least I think it's the priest.

Well you're humble. It's a nice quality to have.

Yeah, you don't want to strain yourself if you're sick or something.

Oh, so essentially you have to perform a ceremony to inherit a shrine maiden's power? Well, good luck, then! Maybe you'll be less lazy than Reimu.

"This time"? That doesn't sound good...

Oh, so she's a foster daughter? But wait a minute, if you're not a descendant, then does that mean you can't receive the power? You'd figure these things are a herditary thing.

Yeah, she did.

Uh oh, this sounds like trouble...

I figured that was the case, but why let her go anyways?

Is that enough to break whatever rules there might be on your family's holy powers?

What could possibly go wrong? I mean, I guess the ceremony just won't work.

If so, then isn't doing this a waste of time?

Maybe. I mean, this power seems to have been passed down from family member to family member. If you're adopted, it's breaking the chain. I'm not so sure that this is a good idea.

I'm taking this to mean that since Minayo is dead (she is dead, by the way, in case you haven't figured it out), there's no other choice but to have Nanami inherit the power, otherwise it won't be passed down, or something like that.

You sure are confident, Nanami.

I don't know, I've always figured traditions were important and not a thing to break lightly in this culture.

Huh, a sword? By the way, this is within that same dungeon I mentioned in Jun's story. You can even come here to this shrine if you wanted to in Easy or Normal.

What's it doing?

Nanami?

Hey, she brought back the sword! Does that mean she did it?

Wait, what's going on? Why is her mother crying?

Apparently flashback time is required.

Uh... a spirit?

Minayo! Wait a minute, if she's here... uh oh...

This could be bad.

Or Lenneth can show up just in time.

Wait a minute, are you suggesting exorcism? I guess that might work, but...

Yeah, it's Minayo! Sorrowful as she might be, I assume Nanami sees her as a sister despite not being related by blood, so exorcising her might just make things worse.

Why?

Yikes. That's not good.

Huh? How?

So you're willing to Soul Transfer? Well, I don't know if I should call it Soul Transfer when there is only one physical body...

Uh... then why do it?

I don't really get why you were so angry. Was it a result of being adopted and still choosing to undergo a ceremony despite the fact that you know it will fail?

Huh?

Well, that's kind of the point. That's exactly what Lenneth said Minayo's going to do to you.

That's your decision, then?

The very least Lenneth can do is take you away and not have YOU haunt this place instead of Minayo.

How does a person of the Shinto faith know about the Valkyries? Unless there has been a bit of cultural blending.

Is there?

Right then. Hey, we've got a new party member, right?

Well, at least Minayo's happy now.

Nanami's our next mage. For the most part she's not that different from Jelanda other than the fact that instead of starting with Fire Storm and Heal, she starts with Fire Storm, Lightning Bolt, and Normalize. Not a bad list of spells to start with. Even if Jelanda is a bit higher levelled than Nanami, it's still a good idea to give her a chance to shine because she can take advantage of the Emerald Necklace for a few more levels than Jelanda could, meaning in the long run Nanami is the better option. That's true of most mages, although starting spell selection is a factor. Nanami, welcome to the party.
Also, much like some of our earlier characters, revisiting town will net us an item. So let's return to Hai-Lan!

Hai-Lan has its own unique theme: In Water, Air, and Light. It's quite cheerful for a town that seems to be pretty cloudy now.

Oh hey there Nana- I mean Minayo. Looks like you're taking care of the shrine now, huh?

I think I read somewhere that this dialogue was meant to be used in the scene where Minayo gave Dragonbane to her parents, but I'm not positive.

The Dragonbane is a sword, but it acts as a staff. It won't let us cast Great Magic, but it's REALLY powerful, having 800 MAG compared to the Element Scepter's 500, plus it can't break. That'll help us wipe randoms like they were nothing.

Aww, that's sweet. And a little sad. Be safe yourself, Minayo! But that's it for this episode and that's it for character recruitments this chapter. Next time we'll head into the swamp and fight one of the easiest bosses of the game.

Current Time: 14/28, Chapter 2
182 Periods Left until the End of the World

Validon98 · « **Reply #82 on:** June 28, 2013, 08:25:14 PM »

I said I was putting GoS on hiatus, but Valkyrie Profile is still active, don't worry. ^^;

Chapter 2- Part 4: Swamp People

So, last time we got our last party member for the entire chapter (amazing, right?). So let's go for our next dungeon.

And here we are. This is a pretty simply dungeon.

Looks pretty rainy. For some reason I took the first couple pictures out of order, so technically this was the fourth picture I took, not the second (I forgot to Divine new equipment like an idiot).
Also, have Hopeless Resolution as a theme. Hopeless Masquerade? No, that's something else.

This Figment was the first thing I came across. Jelanda one-shots it with Fire Storm. Yeah.

Birds. They are monsters. Yeah.

Like I said I would, I switched to Nanami (I don't know why I didn't do that earlier, but whatever, I guess) and I even gave her one of the Shadow Servants I pick up later. Which one-shots everything when used as menu magic. Randoms have officially become cakewalks.
As for these guys, well, they fly, so attacks that hit low will whiff, but I'm not worried about that.

"Feel my wrath."

"Finishing Strike."

"Extreme Void."
I just love how Belenus says this in this really serious voice, which is more badass than just being outright hammy depending.

Pongo Robusti are again physical tanks, but again, Shadow Servant just wipes them out. I'll screenshot Shadow Servant in the next dungeon, probably.

Nice to point that out?

So apparently Lenneth wields Zantetsuken now.

We get experience... for knocking down a tree? Riiiiiiiiight...

And then random dragon from nowhere.

Well, it had to die at SOME point, didn't it? By the way, according to Valkyrie Profile 2 I think, this dragon is the reason why this place is utterly gross and all swampy compared to what it was before.

This guy just comes down to equipping the Dragon Slayer and going to town. That 10000 or so damage? That's from Arngrim. Yup. Slayers are broken as hell in this game.
And that's it. I kind of didn't screenshot the artifacts or anything. To be honest, this dungeon was really short and uninteresting. I guess there's some hidden treasure in the water in a couple rooms, but that's it. Also, I somehow broke one of the treasure chests because I forgot which button was the "gently drop and not chuck the box across the freaking screen" button. Thankfully it probably wasn't anything but a weapon I wouldn't even need. So on that note, let me show you the Spiritual Concentration I got for the next dungeon.

Remember what I said about the puzzle of this place back in my Genius of Sappheiros LP? Well, here it is. Next time we'll go into this place and we'll see why I compared the Garden of the Sun to this place.

Summary:

Treasure: Shadow Servant (x2), Holy Crystal (x2), Short Spear (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Charge, Wait Reaction, Eye of Heaven, Element Scepter, Cure Condition, Quartz Gem, Daemon Slayer, Bark of the Dryad (artifact), Inscribed Fragment (artifact)

Items Divined: Lightning Edge, Elemental Edge (Arngrim), Silver Cuirass (x2, Arngrim and Belenus), Silver Gauntlet (x3, Valkyrie, Arngrim, Belenus), Silver Greaves (x3, Valkyrie, Arngrim, Belenus), Silver Cloak (Nanami), Feathered Helm (Valkyrie), Heraldic Garb (Valkyrie)

Skills Learned: Shadow Servant (Nanami)

TPKs: 0 this update, 0 overall

Current Time: 20/28, Chapter 2
176 Periods Left until the End of the World

EDIT: Also, for the people who read this but not the GoS LP (I'm assuming there's people who do that, which I don't mind), I'm holding a vote for what game I'm going to LP next to replace GoS for right now. The choices are all FF games as follows:

Final Fantasy I and II: Dawn of Souls (either the original version, the Mod of Balance v2.2 version, or the Mod of Balance v3.0 version which only really makes a difference for FF1)
Final Fantasy V Advance (either a normal run or a Four Job Fiesta Run)

I might think of doing other FF games besides those like IV or VI, but those are the choices for now.

Mr. Sacchi · « **Reply #83 on:** June 30, 2013, 06:18:58 AM »

Kind of amusing to see how broken Dragon Slayer is in this game and how useless it is in the second one, since half the point of using Critical Skills in the second game is the instant breaking and all Dragons in the second game are immune to instant-breaking.

Anyway, keep at it o/

Validon98 · « **Reply #84 on:** July 15, 2013, 05:43:20 PM »

I'm bumping this mainly because I don't have the time to update for right now and I want to avoid the auto-lock. I WILL update sometime within the next couple days. Between the IP wipe thing I need to write up, the fact that Town Mafia has started, and the work I have to do the next couple of days at my summer program, well... sorry. I promise I'll get it up at some point this week.

Validon98 · « **Reply #85 on:** July 17, 2013, 01:01:23 AM »

Guys. We have bad news. Somehow, someway, I accidentally deleted the memory card files that had the save data for Valkyrie Profile on it. Um... yeah. I don't know what to do now. I could replay all the way through, but at this point, I've been putting this off way too long, my mind isn't completely set on it, and I feel like juggling it along with the other two LPs at this point is a bad idea. I was really excited for continuing this, especially once I heard Nightmare of Rebellion was being delayed until Winter Comiket, which would have given me plenty of time to finish it, but, well, I don't feel like replaying all of that. Call it laziness. Call it a lack of care. Call it a dumbass mistake on my part, because it totally was. Whatever the case, I'm sorry, but I have to cancel the LP. I really don't want to do this. I hate doing this. I just don't feel like redoing everything at this point. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. ;~;
On that note, I've been thinking of filling the void with something else in return. I've been wanting to continue down the Final Fantasy path that I have already started. So along with Final Fantasy II and the Soul of Chaos dungeons for Final Fantasy I (which I will work on, but not as much as other things), I'm thinking of doing either Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, or Final Fantasy V. If none of those work, I'll do something else. One possibility is Touhou Mother, which I haven't beaten so it would be for the most part blind. You'd have fun watching me struggle with that, I'd imagine (it's not really a hard game though, so...).
One last note: If you guys want to see Final Fantasy III, SPECIFY THE VERSION. I can do either NES or DS (although for the latter I need to show off a couple of technical screenshots in order to see how you would want me to show the display).
And again, I'm sorry for bailing out on this, but I made a dumb mistake. Things happen. Sorry to let you guys down, especially you guys who really wanted to see this through. ;~;

EDIT: As just one last quick note, I may revive this some time later in the future, but right now I have been so out of it with this and so unwilling to continue despite the fact I love this game so much that I just don't feel like doing it anymore.

Jq1790 · « **Reply #86 on:** July 18, 2013, 11:51:33 PM »

*presses button to vote for Touhou Mother* I really liked that game, would love seeing how you handle stuff.

Validon98 · « **Reply #87 on:** July 19, 2013, 01:56:40 AM »

Okay, uh, I'm just going to set up a separate thread for the voting instead of making it so that the votes are buried on here. I'll count the vote for Touhou Mother, though.