Revenge of the Hand: MacDaddy Mike's playthrough topic part 2

I won't really have an answer until I get to Chronopolis 'cause I can't remember much of Lynx's story off by heart, but I assume to this him talking about Wazuki technically "dying" there. I think he's saying that they both sort of created each other--more literally with Wazuki, but also because Serge getting sick is what led him to Chronopolis and eventually becoming part of the Fate program. So, I guess, in a way, that was the price of saving Serge's life.

Or maybe I'm way off, I can't quite remember.
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Attractive people love Mac's playthrough videos ~ Reliable Internet Personality
http://www.youtube.com/user/MacDaddyMike

I decided to skip trying out the DiminishAll tech (which drops all element damage in half) because I was worried it would just miss Miguel again, so I laid on with all my heaviest black techs and used Harle's lvl 5 tech to cast shell on my party, and that was enough to keep Radius from being OHKO'd by Miguel's HolyDragonSword...barely. Radius had 275 HP and the attack did 272, so the bastard was barely standing. I figured I wouldn't even bother healing him as long as he's still a standing target for Miguel to go after, and thankfully that's just what he did, using his next attack turn on Radius and knocking him out. So I just revived him and kept on attacking with my others.

Miguel didn't even get to use another HolyDragonSword because Harle's lvl 7 tech that she just learned did 400 damage and put him into critical, but he followed that up by first using MeteorShower, which thankfully didn't kill anyone, but then used HolyLight to knock Serge out and leave the others barely standing. I had a very tight choice between risking reviving Serge and healing up or just giving it everything I got and hoping I'd wind up on top, and I went with the latter and Harle dealt the final blow with one of her regular physicals.

Wooooooooooooooooooo!

Seriously. I remember it taking something like two hours to beat this guy the first time, and it was frustrating as hell. I got really fortunate that he targeted Radius twice in a row and that he survived the first HolyDragonSword, but I'll take whatever I get.
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Attractive people love Mac's playthrough videos ~ Reliable Internet Personality
http://www.youtube.com/user/MacDaddyMike

Have you ever played the Xbox Ninja Gaiden? That's one of my favorite action games ever, and it ALSO will make you cry.

Except maybe yesterday, as I was producing my next Ninja Gaiden video, which I'll have up to post later tonight. While my comp was crunching that, I got a lot of Chrono Cross time in, and plenty to talk about if I can remember it all.

I loaded my last save and knew that I had to eventually start getting the six Dragon Relics, but had no idea where to start. Eventually my guys talked about going back to check on the Other World, so I did just that but still had no idea where to go! I ran around talking to everyone, looking in on Arni, going to Viper Manor, running around Termina for a while until I finally stumbled into the bar there and ran into a couple of the Dragoons. You know who else was in that bar? Guile! And he was all "I can't help you just yet, 'hope you understand". Bastard, I could really use him about now. Instead I got a choice of Karsh and Zoah, and I picked Zoah because he just looks badass, and always speaks in all caps. I like how they change the "joined your party" message for different party members, as for Zoah's it was "ZOAH HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY!".

And after that I got lost again. Once inside Viper Manor (where we were going to rescue Riddel) I ran all the way up to her room to be told she was taken to the dungeon, so I went to the dungeon and they wouldn't let me in. It turns out I first had to talk to Norris in the left hallway and then get into the dungeon through the sewers. I feel like this section could have been more clear. Down in the sewers there were no problems until I got to the giant cockroach boss, which doesn't even get boss music but somehow decimated my party. Harle was the only one who survived and only barely at that.

Incredibly shortly after you fight Orcha who, while it was a long fight, didn't do much damage overall. We reunite with Norris and ask him to join our party, but he refuses--'cause, you know, we already have a Norris. We also break Fargo out of the dungeon there, but then have to distract the guards while everyone gets away, which leads to a fight with Grobyc, who's freakin' awesome. I wanted to put this guy in my party, just to see what it'd be like to have an all-Black party, but it wouldn't have been worth it. The fight against him was tough and I think I ended up using all of my healing techs before it was through, and then there's a little chase sequence with their giant robot that you fight twice, kind of like the spider boss at the beginning of FFVIII. I like the little callbacks, like being chased with it while running along the bridge (makes me think of the Dragon Tank in Trigger just based on the visuals) and then jumping out the window in the library (like breaking through the window in the courtroom).

And then before I knew it I had a billion people join my party. Orcha, Grobyc, Riddel, Viper, Fargo, Karsh, Marcy, and maybe I'm missing someone, I dunno, but you knew who they all replaced? Harle. She gave me a choice between her and the world, and I honestly had to think hard about this because she was my best fighter, but I ended up choosing the world and disappointing her. I think she leaves your party regardless, but maybe not until later if you pick her. I can't quite remember.

First up I wanted to take care of the Black Dragon, which meant freeing Marbule by way of Nikki's concert. I'm half and half on this scene, after recently playing it. It feels kind of like a companion to FF6's opera scene (in this case being a rock opera), in that both are respectively analogous to prominent relationships in their games (in FF6 it's the Celes/Locke/Rachel relationship, here it's the Fargo/Zelbess story but also more broadly about racism and the tense relationships between humans and demi-humans). I like that, I do. What I don't like is how they play it off intentionally cheesy, with Middle English dialogue that nobody really uses in the game. It makes sense for the time, in that their plays would be of more classical origin, but it also doesn't make sense because Nikki's supposed to be a modern pop star, so the whole thing really classes in that sense.

But aside from that, I adore this scene, especially its direction. The dialogue starts off fairly grim but eventually hits some good notes, and the whole idea of incorporating Nikki learning the song into the performance works very well, making us eagerly await the moment when he finally pulls it off. It's all directed very well--the screen goes pitch black for what feels like ten whole seconds, and then from the darkness we hear the guitar riff well before we see that Nikki's even wielding it. When the music finally explodes and the camera starts spinning around Nikki, it actually gets really exciting, but they cut the song short for some more quick dialogue before starting it up again for good. I'm trying to enjoy this scene, damnit! Stop stopping the music!

Maybe it's because I probably shouldn't have started with the Black Dragon, but having to actually fight the enemies in Marbule felt like it took way longer than it should have. I wasn't doing nearly as much damage as I felt I should have, and Serge was barely doing any at all, so I took it as a cue that I needed to upgrade my equipment. After clearing the enemies to the kickass music, I went back to Zelbess to play the roulette game for Denadorite, and then forged some Stone Mail for my party and got better weapons for Serge and Fargo.

Then I went to fight the Black Dragon, and reloaded after the first try because I had missed my Poach and, of all the plates, the black plate is the one I want most (and you all probably know why). The second try worked successfully, but that damn Dragon was a ***** to fight. He did super physical damage, so I played very cautiously and used techs that brought down his attack and defense, and that made things more manageable. I was smart to lay a Freefall Trap on him, as well, as he used that at a time when it would have killed any of my guys. I only ended up dropping Viper once, and reviving him, and other than that (and the fact that I used ALL of my healing techs) I did a damn fine job.

One Dragon down. Five to go.

I titled this episode "Stockholm Syndrome".

I healed Cyan's soul, beating Wrexsoul legitimately, without casting X-Zone. I used Life3 and Quake to kill my characters and have them instantly revived. I also managed to steal the Memento Ring it carries to give me three of them, even though there's no good reason to have more than two. Cyan now has access to every SwordTech... He'll never use them.

I went up to the top of the Fanatics' Tower to claim the Gem Box. MagiMaster can be bested by having everyone wear Wall Rings, casting Life3 on at least one party member, and then doing nothing. His level 3 spells will do over 5000 damage to himself if he targets everyone, he won't change elemental resistances if you never cast magic on him, and Life3 makes his Ultima final retort survivable.

Storm Dragon took me 3 tries to take down. It's a huge step up from the five dragons with laughable status vulnerabilities and the semi-respectable Blue Dragon as well. Storm Dragon likes to use Rage as if a highly anticipated release got an 8.8 review score. Rage is a barrier-piercing multi-target attack that can't be protected against. It will kill everyone each time it's used, so everyone needs to be protected with Life3 at all times. This particular stormbringer also will use Aero and Wind Slash, so equipment that at least nullifies wind attacks are needed. This means Minerva bustiers for Terra and Celes; Thunder Shields for anyone else. Storm Dragon has over 40,000 HP, the most of the eight. The third Force Armor of the game is a pretty good reward for taking down the toughest dragon. I don't think it's possible to snag the final Force Armor in a LLG, sadly.

All that's left is trying to pick up some more rages on the Veldt (even though Gau won't be coming along to Kefka's tower), maybe more Lores for Strago and by extension Ebot's Rock, and getting a couple more items from the Colosseum. The main thing I want from it is another Magus Rod, which is gotten by betting a Heal Rod against a Pug/Tonberry, but I'll need a lot of luck to win that fight...
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We just don't have any use for [classy head shots] and also, as people on Fark love to point out, we look exactly like Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. - Gabe

I wasn't sure which ones were in which world, so I started with the ones I knew. Fire Dragon was up first but I couldn't figure out how to get to him, and ran around for a while before stumbling upon the now-open doorway at the bottom of the waterfall...er, firefall? I started the fight and stole a Magic Ring from him, which led me to figure out that you have to steal the plate from him when he transforms. Instead of restarting the game I just ran from the fight, which I wish I had considered in my other playthroughs as well, instead of just saying "aw shucks I didn't get the plate" and continuing on. This fight wasn't too tough once I figured out the trick--every time you use a blue element on him, he'll counter with a relatively low-damage single-target attack, and that keeps him distracted from using his higher-damage multi-targeting attack. I kept this up until I ran out of blue techs, at which point he brought my guys to low health with his multi-target attack before I finished him off.

I then went to see the Sky Dragon but he told me to come back later after I'd beaten all the rest, so I left. With Black, Fire and Sky in the Other World, I figured the other three had to be in Home, and started with the Blue Dragon. I stole the plate right away and laid down traps for Deluge and Iceberg, but he only ended up using the former. I had little trouble otherwise, as I had also cast Weaken on him to keep his damage output low, and actually sat around for a while defending, hoping he'd use Iceberg so I could steal it, but he kept alternating between Deluge and Tsunamibeam, so I eventually ran out of healing techs and had to put him out of his misery. I'll have to pick up Iceberg somewhere else.

I diverged a little bit to pick up Starky, who was another really easy fight for me as I have Freefall on my entire party and it does wicked damage on him. Picking up his Star Fragment from the El Nido Triangle was nice, if only because the music is so serene and peaceful:

From there it was off to Earth Dragon Isle, and after moping around down there for a quick couple of fights, he dropped down and I could challenge him. I really appreciate how each of the dragons is so unique in design, and also in approach. Strangely, both the Blue and Earth Dragons share the same dialogue and do this sort of overly formal introduction to their fights, and then give you the same blessing when you beat them, whereas all the dragons in the Other World were like "hey you, let's fight". As for the Earth Dragon itself, I think this is supposed to be the first dragon you go after or somethin', 'cause he was pathetic. After casting Weaken on him to lower his physical attack, I just brutalized him. His specials did single digit damage, for cryin' out loud. Quickest and easiest fight so far.

Now all I have left are the Green and Sky Dragons, and I remember the former being really really annoying, so I'll save that for later.
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Mac plays the games he thought he knew (Current: Chrono Cross (PS) and Ninja Gaiden 3 (NES)):
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/548-zsb/61122424

Also last night, I wrapped up my dragon-hunting in Chrono Cross. The Green Dragon definitely takes more time to get done than the rest of them, having to go through the Hydra Marshes to get the Beeba Flute all before even getting to Gaia's Navel, and once there you're expected to kill all enemies before even getting to fight the Green Dragon. And those enemies are all incredibly annoying, from the giant birds with tons of HP to the bugs that poison you every other turn or those little furry guys that use JurassicBeat to confuse your party members at the start of every battle (and not only do they always go first, but the animation for JurassicBeat takes forever). Clearing out this area takes forever.

Or at least it's supposed to. I only cleared out the three enemies on the first screen and then not even all of the enemies on the screen to the right before coming back through and having already initiated the fight with Tyrano or whatever. I was definitely surprised, and I'm not sure if it's a glitch or if I lucked out or what, but eh. Tyrano was an easy fight especially when I realized that Fargo had his lvl 7 tech, "Invincible", which did over 500 damage against Tyrano. Quick fight, and then the Green Dragon was definitely the easiest one so far, as he spent most of his turns using GreenField, so I'd just cast any other tech after that and then he'd use GreenField again...for like, five turns in a row.

The problem with any part in a game where they allow you to choose your order is that the difficulty can't really be scaled depending on what order you do things. You're always going to get stronger as you go on and since you can't know the "right" order, the game's going to make all of the bossfights relatively at the same difficulty. I guess it'd be nice if the game automatically scaled up all the other fights depending on which ones you do first, but I imagine that kind of idea wasn't around much in whatever year this came out.

Sky Dragon was last, and since they know that this is the last fight they amped up the difficulty significantly. I barely survived UltraNova, with everyone at full HP, and after it was cast they were all left with single-digit HP, and I only barely had enough time to finish him off before he got another turn, 'cause I had already used up all my healing by then.

Now I'm...kind of not sure what to do. I know I'm supposed to go to the Sea of Eden, but I thought they wouldn't let me in until I got my old body back, so I think I'm supposed to go to Fort Dragonia, but not sure if I should go straight there or not. Eh, I'll look around.