itch.io

Great stuff so far!

If I had a gripe with the game, though, it's way too easy to accidentally choose a dialog option while advancing text.

It might already be something you've worked on in the upcoming update, but as a suggestion, you might consider having a "no selection" (nothing is highlighted at start so players don't auto-accept whatever the first option is) or "no advancement selection" default for these (like starting with an "I would like to..." option that does nothing). Or perhaps just a simple delay between text and dialog box popping up?

Wonderful game, awful keybinds. Any way to change this?

Have you tried going to a separate map (like the next tile generic town or Elise's) before going back into the bank? It could be that the reset to morality hasn't happened because you weren't considered "gone".

I do have to agree that I don't like the drop to morality when you aren't seen (this simply happens whenever you see the red arrow above Lona) - it really doesn't make sense that you would pull aggro simply for walking somewhere nobody saw you.

That seems a little lopsided since leech kills can still affect your Morality. I mean, I don't think(?) there are too many quests like the graveyard, and you probably have better things to do by the time you have the Vile Scepter, but it still feels like a bug

I didn't see any topic on this already, so I just wanted to bring this up: It doesn't look like kills by summoned objects (the leech, at least) count toward Lona's kill count. At the very least, when doing the graveyard's kill 20 undead quest, I ended up practically clearing the whole graveyard via leeches without triggering quest completion (works fine doing standard damage spells or via companions).

Not sure if this is intentional?

This was the Windows version. It's been awhile, but for me the trick was usually to refresh and load right after the boss used their special move. I believe this was also with a save that is as close to the boss fight as possible. Again, not sure if it was just my pos computer that's causing the issue because it can't keep up with what's going on and leaving data in some kind of buffer.

lol if you're at a point in the game where you've made hundreds of frag mines I can't imagine you're really needing to use Create Trap on a regular basis anyway

yah butt why would you waste frag mine mats for a shitty trap damage boost

Ignoring that Poop shouldn't be dealing more damage given the skill description (both languages), that item also has the issue of despawning over time on higher difficulties. Also, at least at "entry level" SUR, the damage difference between Poop and a Rock is pretty negligible; not really worth going out of your way to eat 4 food items each to generate the items en masse on location.

Maybe it's just my play style, but again, this is more a matter of regularity. One of the most ideal situations to use traps is where you don't want to get spotted - and those maps tend to have at least a half dozen mobs to deal with. Since a single FMH eats up a full quarter of starting carrying capacity, using them to incapacitate 8-10 mobs simply isn't possible (nor all that cost-effective). Further, since said mobs on these sneak missions also tend to be in the 60-150 hp range early-mid game it's hardly worth it, either. Even the most cost effective weights (I believe this is spear/pitchfork/pickaxe) are prohibitive in the sense that Frag Mines can easily do 2-3x more damage at half the weight profile.

Despite doing mediocre damage, Rocks have the benefit of having no weight profile (all you really need is at least 3 "free" weight), so you can place as many traps as you want without really having to concern yourself with weight issues.

As such, I would still argue that given how more often than not using a Rock is the most ideal "standard trap" form, the game should probably not roll through EXT-1 to EXT-5 to create a trap by default, and rather do that on a Shift+ action.

Okay, sure, but at what point does it really make sense to carry that around vs an equivalent (or much less) in frag mines? Granted I haven't gone through all the content but I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 situations where boosted trap damage would justify hauling that weight around, and even then opting for that over just using a frag mine and having room to carry more regularly useful items is a hard sell.

The skill's logic is backwards; rather than how it is now, Shift+Action should be used in the less common situations where using an EXT item would make a difference (hardly ever from my experience). The standard Action should just call rocks and be done with it, since IMO 95% of the time standard Rock trap damage (effectively doesn't have a weight profile) is acceptable because either killing the enemy is not time-critical, or you just need to soften the target a little bit to get them into OHKO range.

In the English translation, the Create Trap description sounds like the skill only calls items in the EXT-1 or EXT-2 slots. However, the Chinese instead just states it uses one of the EXT slots to create a trap (this is also how it actually works in-game). This is can lead to some very irritating misunderstandings about how the skill works.

Of course, in all honestly I would really, really prefer that Create Trap either only called EXT-1, or more desirably just straight-up only used Rocks, because it's a hassle managing the skill so I'm not, say, wasting a Frag Mine to do basic trap damage. Likewise, at least from my experience there's hardly ever any need to have ultra-heavy (or light) traps, so I don't really see the point in calling EXT slots for the skill to begin with.

FWIW, I kind of agree with the guy (though probably not in the way he's thinking). IMO it would make a bit of sense to give Hermann a last repeatable where Aura's not quite as resistant about the whole thing at first, as at a certain point it's almost out of character for Aura (esp. vis her happily getting abused by Roland). It wouldn't necessarily even need to have new CGs, it could be kind of like the difference between Roland 1 and Roland 2.
Of course, I wouldn't say it's a massive point of consideration, just something to mull over?

Probably a little too late for this to be relevant, but one thing to note is that if you have a Quality Counterfeit Pass in your inventory, you can craft another one using an Ink Pen (from the Hardware store) + bad pass, though it requires passing a Nimble check (I believe you need 12 for it to be about 50% odds).

I  can't read that (Thai?), but he shows up on every 5th day (Day 5, 10, 15...) somewhat close to the church in Trademond.

Nice! I'm sure I could crunch the numbers, but just out of curiosity, what was your ATK stat for this?

On a similar note, because the current versions of RPG Maker use JSON files for data, it's actually fairly trivial to cheat in a variety of aspects in most any RPG MV/MZ game. Will take a tad more effort than a cheat console, of course.

This is like someone saying "I sure like oranges" and you responding "You know what's really good? BEANS."

It's incredible that despite having 4 months to reflect on this you're still recommending a Sonic Adventure-style platformer as an alternative to an Adult RPG.

I tried noodling around with a few different builds, but at least from what I was seeing it's hard to reconcile the skills needed for Goblin Shaman vs. Ogre Commander while staying within 50 Score and having Lightning Sword, at least in Nightmare. Going over it, I still think your best bet for beating the Commander Day 1 within 50 Score is going to be +3 ATK and Storm, which should let you drop the AGI requirement, allowing you to potentially go with +3 DEF (helps with dueling Quentin, though you can still lose with low damage rolls) and Slash/Pierce, +15 HP/MP, or Fire for extra area access.

In this scenario Slash makes it possible to beat the Goblin Shaman, but only if he brainfarts and attacks you (once, missing on a TA dodge) rather than casting Fire (twice), whereas Pierce lets you deal 40~50 more damage per critical hit to the Ogre Commander (at Lvl 1, anyway), and Fire gives you access to more materials and thus a higher potential max MP.

Of course, any way you slice it beating OC on Day 1 w/o Collar is going to require some measure of luck even if you are pulling out all the stops with skill loadout. Speaking from experience, there, as I've had that bastard hit me more than my fair share of times through both Tactical Advantage and Blindness.

As Annogiemouse mentioned, the four "immediately" accessible Star Metals are in the Central Forest, Northern Forest, Bandit Hut, and Refugee Camp. Day 2 (assuming you became an adventurer, anyway) gives you access to the Northern Mine, and after starting Spider Cleanup you can get the Star Metal there.

You don't need to use a bomb to get through the tunnel, the Forest Bandit mob at the "normal" entrance is slow enough to walk around (just have to be a little wary of the timing with the bandits directly below), and the bandit leader is likewise slow enough to lure into the table that's blocked with a chair, which makes getting around him trivial.

Nah, I think you could theoretically get it done with Pierce, using an Energy Potion or two and praying to RNGesus that Tactical Advantage always works. Might work out once every 20-50 fights? Not saying it would be fun, just possible. Ed: Though now that you mention it, Lightning Sword would be a good option for TA without constantly draining your MP. Pretty sure you could handle the goblin even if it outspeeds you, too.

Ed 2: Nevermind, at least if I'm trying to limit myself to 46 score using Lightning Sword seems a bit rough. Not entirely without merit, but rough nonetheless, as there's really only 14 points to work with afterward (+3 AGI is necessary for outspeeding the commander).

The implication here is that you use the collar to beat one of the bosses, which isn't a bad idea, necessarily. 4 Corruption = 8 days, and at least on a standard run it's rather unlikely that you'll manage to clear Forest of Danger on Day 9 (at least on Nightmare), and the extras that come with the refugee camp and clearing the quest early on are arguably worth it.

That said, I'm pretty sure beating the Ogre Commander w/o Collar on Day 1 is still in the realm of possibility with NG+ bonuses, though that would rely on a different loadout, favorable RNG, and perhaps more points to spread around for Light or more preferably Storm.

Lots to think about, there! Technically you can clear Hand of the King @ 0 trust without fighting (requires Shadowcloak, which you have - the trick is basically that just about all human mobs don't chase you all that quickly, so you can give the door guard the runaround when not disguised), though like you say, I'm not sure exactly how much headway that will give you even if you do complete it.

The fight with Rene allows spells, so while I haven't done it in Nightmare yet, that one struck me as the most straightforward duel in Verdeaux. Speaking in terms of defense, options include using Rock Armor or a Lightning Jam coating, though I would suggest also taking out the Lamia in underground Nephlune if you choose the latter.

Also, maybe it's just because I can't help but compare the art style to a lot of Japanese games, but if you wanted to mentally will Aura to being 23 she looks mature enough for that to me?

Acedia requires 10 Vice, 200 MP and 40 MATK. Not sure if you're going to be able to manage this on a first-time run in Nightmare. Also, despite it being a very strong spell (6 Power, hits all enemies, causes an MDEF debuff), at 100 MP per cast it has ridiculous fuel consumption.

It is possible to get to the Underground City on your own - you don't absolutely need the demon worshippers to trust you. Once you find the entrance it's just a matter of entering a second time with your waitress uniform to bypass unnecessary mob encounters. I mean, sure, the enemies do drop gold, but I'm pretty sure you're not nearly strong enough to make it worth your while at this point.

Though TBH going the "sneaky route" is probably meant more for a second playthrough.

It drops the material Ancient Wood, one of the most valuable (it's worth 4000 G) enhancement mats in-game. As for beating Whiteoak, generally speaking you need to be able to reliably kill all the saplings in 1-2 turns. Once all the saplings are down it usually gets caught in a loop of reviving saplings and occasionally healing itself. At that point, as long as you can get through its passive healing - or god forbid, wait out its mana pool (you're looking at very close to 200 turns of skill use) - it's not all that terrible as a boss compared to other late game fights.

Call me crazy but I don't think there is a quest for the Whiteoak? Which quest is this?

You don't - you can avoid the full curse by destroying the force field properly and defeating Belphegor while the curse is still incomplete, but once you've got it there's no way you're getting rid of it in-game.

Yeah, come to think of it, Defensive Stance + Flame Robe is a pretty solid combo. I probably overlooked that avenue since I usually associate mage runs with Lewd Knowledge. 

From the sounds of things, no, not really? There is some difference between the state of things before and after that point, but I think it's going to have no impact on your run.

Hm? I'm pretty sure as long as you route around it there shouldn't be a quest that's directly tied to the White Oak. If you are talking about the Darkness In The Woods quest, that's for a Low Demon that's further back in the forest. White Oak's pretty dang strong (and not necessary for progression), I wouldn't really recommend fighting him unless you can 1 or 2 shot the saplings with a critical Slash.

No worries, my first run I don't think I ended up getting the slime until like, day 70 or so, and it was pretty much always worthless (Ed: Mostly because I forgot to feed the thing and didn't know it could morph)

It's not about what you feed it, rather the Slime learns abilities at Lvl 2 and... 7, I think? My preferred strategy is to work primarily on MATK+HP via Living Hearts, Goblin Teeth, etc, (and whatever else is high value, though Avian Feathers can be a tough pick as Aura's AGI is a rather important stat). Also, 1 Mutant Spore will help with the Morph spells if you don't want to spend money on Mana Stones.

Once you get it later on, the Fire/Wind Slime morphs are arguably the best types to have it morphed into overall.

If you're looking for optimal use, generally speaking most MATK materials should be fed to a slime. Aura's not a phenomenal caster, and magic is also a massive money sink. That said, getting her to 20 MATK is a prerequisite for Lightning Sword I, which is a very helpful spell for quite a few areas/encounters.

When you get the Slime early on it is kinda cruddy (but still useful for the Darry+Barry fight), but as long as you've been feeding it, once you hit mid/late game it's stronger than Aura (excepting the fact that it has a Darkness weakness). It's Wind form is also practically a prerequisite for underwater combat. The Slime is also viable for the Alchemist when you get the Morph (Fire) skill at Slime Lvl 5. Note that the slime has to be unsummoned when you talk to the girl who taught you the summon spell, the game is not great about telling you this - I honestly got the Slime to lvl 7 before I figured that out on my first run because I practically always had the thing summoned.

One caveat with it being stronger though is that the Slime is definitely a lot better with the Bonding 1-3 passive (involves lewd scenes, will drop Victory Score).

Spoilers and all that, but there's a boss with 55 DEF you have to get through (on your own if you don't go the lewd route) - you'll know him when you see him. Pierce, IMO, is a lot more viable than Brittle for that battle. Not only that, but as just about all enemies have some measure of DEF, you're going to do more damage with Pierce than you would with any standard attack. Sometimes it's not necessary, but the extra damage may save you a round  or two of fighting or could even be the difference between dealing damage and not.

For the Hydrangeas, you may have to use a bomb or two (have John use them so both fighters can get criticals). If you can't kill at least one of them before they use the pollen fog move (which is the precursor to mind pollination), you might as well put the fight off until you can handle it later.

Just as an FYI, you technically can wait the debuffs out - the Mutated Hydrangea's 300 MP will tap out after casting skills 30 times (Foggy Pollination, Mind Pollination, and Draw Power: Earth all consume 10 MP), but be prepared for a long slog if that's the way you're going with it.

Also, if you haven't already you probably should pick up Pierce from Paul as it will boost your damage output.

Ed: The "split" demons only have 1 hp - the ideal situation is to have John use Slash the same turn the splits, but if John using Slash is completely nonviable you could theoretically make due with a Stasis Bomb as it will hit all enemies (though you'll probably want to keep a few for a later boss fight).

Selling star metals doesn't take up time, it's the enhancements (sword/armor) that do.

Admittedly this involves avoiding a lot of annoying fights (read: save scumming), but major sources of possible Day 1 income includes:

(ED: Just ran through this myself)

50 G from the skeleton in the Abandoned Shrine, 150G from Hydrangea (Lack of Flavor) quest, 500G from the 2 Star Metal (one in the semi-hidden hole/cave in the south part of the central forest, one in northern forest cave), 100G from the chest in the lower northern forest, loose change around the Ogres and Mothercrow (~176 total), and 500 G from the chest next to the Ogre Commander.

In Normal you can also count the two Duelists, but as you say, in Nightmare it's kind of a wash since even goblins will wreck you at first (tbh even the goblin fight with Albrecht is a bit RNG-heavy). Still, that will put you at about 1300-1476 G (depending on if you collect all the accessible coins on the ground), which is sufficient to afford all 5 BW @ 1040. I don't feel like it's an absolute necessity to buy them, but if it's part of your plan it's best to do that Day 1.