Let's Play Atelier Rorona! Update 9, Part 1
Welcome back to Atelier Rorona!
No time to chat - we're on a strict timetable!
Pamela's got a new recipe book. We need it. Now!
And then I undermine my theme of "hurrying" by going around talking to people and doing requests. Well, if it doesn't use days, it doesn't count.
There's something funny looking about this thing. Somehow, that red bit near one end triggers a flag in my mind saying "this segment is flexible", which makes no sense whatsoever for a bullet.
I'm also reminded of the Irregular Webcomic strip about cleaning bullets.
Tantris has another request.
I think back to the last time I made one of these for him...
I reject the job.
I may now resume hurrying. We need six of these. Right now. There's no time to wait on wholesale.
I'm kind of amused by the "Lickable" quality descriptor.
Oh, is that an Air Drop?
You don't see those around here.
This is called an Air Drop?
What's it for?
...The recipe book wouldn't say that? o.O
You should see for yourself.
Try putting it in your mouth.
Okay! Mmm, it's sweet. Huh...?
Hoah! Aff, hoh-hah!?
(There's air in my mouth!)
Rorona's voice is really funny sounding in this scene. Although I'm not sure it makes sense for it to sound like that...
That's what it's used for. You can breathe underwater if you keep that in your mouth.
Mmm hah wah-hah... Huff aheh-hin!
(Underwater...? That's amazing!)
It's a good thing there's subtitles. I'd never guess what she's saying here. Astrid doesn't seem to have any trouble though.
Remember that time we went to the lake together?
Yef, ah weh-wemmer...
(Yes, I remember...)
The center of that lake is pretty deep. You can find a lot of interesting stuff down there.
Why don't you go?
You can test out the Air Drop.
Hoh... Unher wah-hah, huh?
(Oh...underwater, huh?)
Huh hounf wof-heh!
(That sounds lovely!)
"Lovely"? That seems like a weird adjective to use here.
Okay, then it's a deal. I need to prepare some new bathing suits.
Your last one was all cute and girly, but I think I should come up with a more mature theme this time...
I didn't realize the last one counted as "immature". But I wonder what she'll come up with...
No hanf-hoo! Ah-hon heh a wehin hoo!
(No thank you! I don't need a new bathing suit!)
I can't understand what you're saying with all that air in your mouth. Anyway, I better get started!
You could before!
Hyou hoah haff hohin hoo hee!
(You were just talking to me!)
Yeah!
Hum hoh hama hoeh heh wehin hoo!
(I'm not gonna wear your bathing suit!)
...Would you rather wear your normal clothes underwater? I'm not sure that's such a good idea.
You can now go underwater at
Nabel Lake.
But not just yet.
Here's our first stop, for that bounty we picked up.
That horn looks like it's about as long as we are tall. o.O;;;
Also, you can see here how much damage it took from one Bird Statue. I think it's the first thing we've met that they wouldn't one-shot. I have managed to beat this thing without using them... but not in five turns.
Of all the things I might have expected this thing to do, flipping upside down and calling lightning would never have been on the list.
And this... I guess it's an air pressure attack from swinging it's tail around? o.O
So I used another statue charge on it. A good chunk of xp, but no interesting items.
And now, back to Nabel Lake. (The Nabel Lake within Nabel Lake, that is. I just noticed how weird that looks.) If you look closely, you can see the little dot leading to an unexplored area that wasn't there before.
I'm kinda scared, but...
Here goes... Yah!
Wow, so this is what underwater looks like... I'm gonna look around.
I suppose Rorona would rather wear her normal clothes underwater... o.O
Also, she seems to be talking normally now...
Okay, seriously. We are underwater. How exactly do you differentiate any particular cupfull of water from the rest of it?
Note this air guage at the right of the screen. Over time it will go down, and if it runs out we have to use another air drop or we'll be forced home...
But it doesn't go down in battles, or in the menu, so unless you loiter deliberately it's basically never going to happen.
From this angle, you can see that Isle Fish have a blowhole. Okay, that's a whale thing... but all the ones that hang around on land are still weird.
There are ghosts down here too.
This is quite possibly one of the most painful looking things appearing in this game.
A bit weird geography here, with that extra "???". But we'll probably never need to come here again, so it doesn't matter.
No matter how much air you have left, you always need to use a new drop when you move from one underwater area to another.
And we're on a road underwater now...
Hidden Secret 5? It sounds like it ought to be cool, but I don't know what it actually does...
There's ghosts along the road here.
Big groups of ghosts. Tricks are new, I think. They're tougher and have a fancy hat. Not much more to say about them.
Further down, there's a rock 'in the way'. That needs sarcasm quotes because seriously, why can't we go through that obvious gap to the right? Or swim over it. But no, we've got to use a bomb.
Right after that is the exit...
To an entirely new area.
Should I go inside? Hopefully, there aren't any ghosts...
You mean like the ones we beat up on our way here?
You can now go to the Lost City.
A bit of a formality, since we're already here.
Sea Puddle is a new item. And a [Liquid], but it's not as ridiculous as the buckets of water. The description makes it sound like stuff scooped up off the sea floor, which is more obviously variable.
And to answer Rorona's question, no, there aren't any ghosts. There's something worse.
The first time I came down here in a test run, these guys made me think "Maybe I'm not supposed to be here..." They don't hit as often as Mountain Wolves do, but are more durable and have some other nasty tricks.
Well, everyone but Lionela can one-shot them with skills now, so they aren't that big a deal. (Lionela can one-shot them with a basic attack, but not her skills, which makes me think they're water resistant.)
Sea Salt! But wouldn't it dissolve? After all, you don't just find sea salt lying around in the real world - it's obtained by evaporating sea water.
The next area has no enemies at all, but it does have some gathering points.
Marinelite is another new item. It's a fairly high-end ore. With the traits found down here, we can make Halmolium out of it - the stuff that the ultimate weapons are made out of.
Of course, it's like I've said many times before - they won't actually be that good without good traits, and the traits won't be good made with what we're finding here.
However, there is one specialized application for which it might be worthwhile anyway - Lionela's gives her access to a full-party healing skill. It takes two or three levels of water element to open up though, so it's only usable on longer fights... where I'll probably be using Ankhs to heal.
If you were going for something like a "no combat items" challenge though, it might be an asset.
The next area has this ominous-looking fellow.
Though when you get close, the blush stickers diminish the effect a bit.
There's more ghosts around here too.
You might be noticing a trend in enemy coloration here. Well, I think there is a trend in the real world for deep sea animals to have little or no pigmentation, but... we're not actually that deep here.
(I've also been lead to believe that transparency is a more common thing in that sort of environment, but I could be wrong.)
Either way, Daikoku Fish are fairly heavy hitters.
They can bash into you for a big chunk of damage...
Or do a shockwave attack that damages everyone and can stun. (I'm not really sure what that's supposed to do, since it doesn't seem to do what the Help section made it sound like.)
Also... Daikoku Fish, how are you not dead? o.O
And here at the end...
Seems like a flooded building. I tried attacking that ghost...
It disappeared, and stayed gone. You can see it's shadow to Rorona's left, but it never reappeared... That's got to be a glitch of some kind, I think.
The Tiger Fish is rather more colorful looking than everything else down here, although curiously it has no horn.
Tougher too, but not enough for it to matter when there's just one of them.
And what's in that chest behind it?
...
Um... it's not *that* Necronomicon, is it?
Looks like it's reputation was all wrong. It's like the Sakaki of recipe books!
One air drop to go in the lake, one to reach the Lost City, and four more for the areas within it. Plus a bomb.
If we weren't as high level as we are, it might have taken a bunch of combat and healing items to get through too. But whatever it takes, spend it, and do it as soon as possible, because it's going to get you the best item in the game.
Although the reason for my hurry was actually for that request for Ninetailer. See that orange one there? If I'd waited to get the Air Drops from wholesale, I couldn't have done it in the same trip and made it back in time.
In the lower left corner you can also see Hom waiting for us. I should have immediately checked what she'd brought back and given her new instructions, but I went to turn in the request first.
This was a mistake.
Someone knocks on the door, and then comes in. (Without waiting. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of knocking?)
Excuse me... Oh?
Welcome. Do you have a request?
That was what I had in mind, but it looks like you're in the middle of something here.
Yes...well...
Is there a problem?
Um...it's actually about a request from the castle.
The Minister wants a certain item, but I've never even heard of it.
It must be something rare if an alchemist doesn't know what it is.
Well, there are more ingredients that I don't know about than ones I do.
Have you ever heard of it?
It's called a Raptorstein.
Raptorstein? ...I see. That would be something he would think of...
Mr. Gio?
Oh, no, it's nothing. Hmm...
Sorry to change the subject, but about my request...
Sure. I'm ready to take a break from this anyway.
Then, shall we go?
Go where? I thought I was going to make you something...
Oh, no. I'm requesting you to be my bodyguard.
But...I'm not good at fighting.
We don't have time. Now, hurry.
Wh-whoa! You don't have to pull!
Noooo! We're leving our cute little Homhom with nothing to do!
Looks like Traveler's Way to me, although the game doesn't say.
Oh, stop complaining.
We're almost there.
*huff* *huff* ...This is horrible. You haven't even told me what's going on.
Enough. Just think of this as a part of the job.
...I don't think this is part of being a bodyguard.
Then do you wanna head back alone?
Ugh...okay, okay.
Don't be so upset. I know I was a little forceful, so I apologize. Really.
I just thought it would be faster to bring you here than it would to explain.
This is gonna cost us 8 days. There's no way you didn't have time to explain.
Then please explain what we're doing here now. What am I supposed to...?
Shhh! No more talking. Try not to make any sounds. I don't want to aggravate it...
...What are you gonna make me do?
What!? Where!? Whoa! Wh-what is that!?
There is a series of dramatic cuts...
Between the coloration and such, it looks like a Chimera Hawk.
The head of all the monsters around here, or something like that. It's all up to you now.
You mean...!?
That's right.
Now, go!
I can't! It's impossible...
Aghhh! D-don't push me!
And then the asshole knocks you to the ground in front of it? What the hell?
I'd just like to take this moment to remind you of that time Rorona one-shot a Chimera Hawk.
You didn't stand a chance. I'm impressed by how badly you were beaten.
Well maybe if you hadn't started the fight by knocking us to the ground!
You're not making me feel any better...
Grr? Graahhhh!
Looks like it's ready for another round. Can you stand up?
I'm sorry...I don't think so.
Then I don't have a choice.
Allow me to take care of this...
Hmph!
Grr?
It's nothing personal. Forgive me.
Grr...rr...
Gahhhh!
It kind of sounds less like a wounded animal and more like a malfunctioning engine. o.O
Huh? What just...?
I couldn't see a thing...
What's wrong? You look shocked.
Oh, I'm sorry... I'm just trying to figure out what just happened.
You went, "Zoom!" And then the monster went "Aghh!" And then...
Right. Something like that.
B-but, that monster was really strong!
...Or maybe I'm just really weak.
But it looks exactly like ones we can one-shot...
It's no big deal. If you had been swinging a sword all your life, then it would've been easy for you, too.
What is that?
This is a Raptorstein. It's prized among fighters as being the symbol of defeating that monster.
But what *is* it?
"Stein" is, according to the internet, derived from the word "stone"... but that looks to me less like a stone and more like he ripped out it's tongue or something. Well, except that probably wouldn't have such smooth edges.
Although, it seems to hold no value to alchemists...
I'm pretty sure an alchemist could come up with something to do with it.
But...are you sure I can have it?
Don't worry. It's your reward for completing my request.
But I...
Shall we return now? I shouldn't drag a young lady around for too long.
Oh, wait!
Received Raptorstein.
Uh oh.
...Are you still upset? I apologized for forcing you to come with me.
No! I'm not mad!
You look mad.
It's just...I didn't really help you at all, but you gave me a reward...
I asked you to come out with me and you did. Isn't it normal to receive a reward for doing your job?
But I didn't help out with anything.
Hmm...maybe I should've taken a different approach. Just think of it like this...
*facepalm* Ya think, DiNozzo Gio?!
You lost, but you fought bravely. So, I'm rewarding you for your bravery.
...I'm still not convinced.
There's also thinking of it as his fine for kidnapping.
You're more stubborn than you look.
Well, what should I...?
...How stubborn do we look?
Oh, I have an idea.
Why don't you hire me next time?
Hire you?
You already know what I've got. I think I could be of some help. Or am I not good enough?
Well, let's see... You shoved us to the ground in front of a giant monster...
Of course you are! It would be great if you could come with me, but...
Okay then, it's a deal. No more owing each other. That's not the way to build good friendships.
Neither is shoving someone to the ground in front of a giant monster.
...I agree. Thank you.
There's that smile. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
You can now hire Gio.
We *won't*, but we can.
And eight days lost just like that...
I suppose this is theoretically important too... but I have yet to see a scene where you turn this thing in. :x
Here's Gio's stats. So he's level 30...
Rorona is level 31. She doesn't have as much HP... but her ATK, DEF, and SPD all range between "better" and "a lot better" than his.
Gameplay and story segregation! *shakes fist*
But seriously, looking at this I can't imagine him being able to one-shot something that Rorona couldn't handle. Based on something that happens later, I'm sure the game's engine could support giving you an actual fight here, and then having different scenes based on whether you win or lose. And I really wish it did.
I need to just get over it and move on to Part 2...