Let's Play Atelier Rorona! Update 10, Part 1
Welcome back to Atelier Rorona!
There's something I've been thinking about for a while, and I'm not sure it's the best way to say it, but... well, we've pretty much reached the anticlimax phase of the game.
It's not that there's not stuff left to do, so much as that you don't really need to do most of it. In terms of resources, combat power, and alchemy ability, I had enough of it all at the beginning of the last update to complete the game. Certain endings take more, but Rorona could still spend about three quarters of year 3 screwing around like Astrid and still get a good ending.
For people who aren't pushing everything as hard as I am, it might be different... But since I *am*, it feels a bit disappointing.
First up is checking out Hom's take from a trip to Lost City. I'm honestly not sure anymore what I was hoping to get out of sending her there, but whatever it was I don't think I got it. Sure, some of this is nice stuff for what it is, but Marinelite just isn't good enough for ultimate weapons when it has good traits and not worthless-in-this-context crap like "Unique". Star Pieces aren't turning out much better either. Still, I sent her back there a second time, so who knows. Maybe I just didn't have anything better for her to do.
Next up is a vist to the palace...
Where Esty just doesn't want to let us forget it.
H-hey, don't yell so loud!
You're embarrassing me...
You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Man, I can't believe you defeated both of those guys.
I just got lucky...
Oh yeah! So, who was that masked man?
Oops, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up...
Rorona, you shouldn't be wasting your time here. Go back to work, now!
W-wait, Esty!
Why won't you tell me who he was!?
We're not gonna let this go!
Okay, that's a lie, we'll totally get distracted by the next thing Esty brings up.
(It wasn't actually one after another like this; the martial contest part was before checking requests, and this next conversation popped up after. It still feels kinda awkward that way.)
Yes? Is it...?
Yeah...I have something else to ask you for...
No problem! You can tell me anything!
...You're making it harder for me to ask you now. Anyway, about this job...
Uh huh...okay. I'll try to get it done as soon as possible.
Thanks... So Rorona, remember what
Ms. Zexis said the other day?
Oh, it's fine! You don't have to say anything! I won't judge you!
...What do you mean?
I won't judge you, even if you're...
Anyway! I'm gonna go now!
And Rorona runs away.
Wait! This is getting worse...
It's all Ms. Zexis' fault...
Ugh! What did she tell Rorona!?
That you like to xxx and yyy while wearing zzz and uuuing vvvv all over?
... What, don't tell me I was the only person thinking that?
I was originally going to do Esty's request quickly, but I didn't have anything with the right traits that I wanted to use, so it got put off for a while.
Tiffani's got a new recipe book for us. I'll be making both of these later in the update, but neither is really all that exciting.
I'm not really sure how the supposed contents of the book relate to the things you actually make with it though.
Iksel's got new recipes too, with pretty much all the same things applying.
Hagel's got something a lot more interesting, though. I probably shouldn't have put off making use of it as late as I did.
I got another request for a boss I haven't met from Esty. These things are pretty weak compared to the "super dangerous" enemies, but I keep doing them anyway.
And speaking of which, I unlocked this area some time ago, but never came here.
Heheh. I happened to check the gathering point here, and got what I needed for Esty.
Er, the pointy stuff is all removed in processing, okay? We're not going to make a bunny tail that spears someone in an uncomfortable place.
(I should note that I've been picturing "Bunny Tail" as being a cosplay accessory. Loooking more closely at the picture, it's probably supposed to be a keychain. Well, the above line still applies. I have too much experience being unpleasantly speared by something attached to my keys as it is.)
(Also it's a lot more fun to imagine it as a cosplay accessory, and I will probably continue to do so.)
But here's why we came. You may recognize this as the "picnic spot with a nice view" from my shameful angstfic.
There isn't actually a nice view, but somehow I'd gotten the impresssion from the first time I played that there was one off to the left. I already said that, didn't I?
Well, anyway, there's a big Puni here, but it's not paying attention to us.
Let's fix that.
Okay, I was wrong. There's four big Punis here. Are they called "Quadra" just because there's four of them?
They don't have as much HP as some of the big nasties we've been seeing, nor do they hit twice in a round, but there's still four of them, and they hit for 60-80 points of damage, so they can do a lot of damage. I never had them all focus on one character though, so it wasn't too hard to keep up.
They can also do this.
Punis reproduce by fission, apparently. It seems like it only works once per fight though.
After that, this starts happening, even if it's the last one on the field. So you can't farm these indefinitely.
Well, they're tough enough that you've got to pay attention, but not really very tough. And the rewards are great. I think that must be the cap on the amount of money you can get from one fight.
The items, as usual, are essentially worthless, though there's certainly a lot of it, and an odd selection too. Though with all those good traits, they'll get more being sold at a shop than you might expect. But it's still not really a whole lot.
The chest has a very outdated ingot in it, though the quality is high. I suppose I might actually turn this into something someday...
I'll probably be talking a lot about how much I love these things. Just one day for this little side venture.
Next up was a trip to Traveler's Way to take care of that boss request, but it didn't go quite as planned...
Actually...am I alone?
Where is everyone?
...Oh no, I need to find my way back.
...Rorona?
...Roronnnaaa?
Liona?
Over here!
Oh, good! You disappeared all of a sudden. I didn't know where you went...
I'm sorry... I spaced out for a sec and before I knew it, I was...
What does that mean? Were you sleep walking or something? Come on...
...I'm sorry.
Anyway, let's head back now.
Yeah, let's do that before it gets dark. W-wait...
What's wrong?
...How did I get here?
Whaaat!?
o.O
Girls are lost...
I'm sorry...this is all my fault for getting lost...
No, it's mine for not remembering how I got here... I'm so sorry!
It's not your fault, Liona. I should've known better than to wander off...
I'm sorry!
No, it's all my fault!
Really!
I wonder how long they're gonna keep apologizing to each other?
Past experience suggests they could keep this up for a long time.
That's not gonna solve anything... Anyway, it looks like we're gonna have to stop chatting now.
Or not.
Whoa! Monsters!
Man, there sure are a lot of them.
Okay, Rorona will crush the one on her right like a god, and Lionela will just crush the ones on her side normally...
Should we run? On second thought, that probably won't help much.
Or maybe not.
...
What should we do, Liona?
...We'll be okay.
Are you sure?
We'll be able to run away, so don't worry. Okay?
Okay...but...
Are you sure, Lionela?
We don't have a choice...
Rorona will be fine...I think.
You're not reassuring me here!
You don't look very confident.
This is all on you now.
Hang on tight.
...Ready?
Huh? Whaaat!?
!!!
Y-yeah... Um, was I...?
Were we just flying right now?
...
Yup. That's her specialty.
What? But...
How did you...!?
I...
Hey, there you guys are!
Where did you go without me!?
Everyone's waiting for us.
Um...I'll explain some other time.
So...
Okay...
And then we're sent back to the workshop. Arrrgh! Couldn't we have actually done what we came to do after the dramatic interlude? (That feels a bit less dramatic when you shouldn't have been in danger from the enemies, too.)
So we came back. I hadn't been in this part before, but I like it. It reminds me a bit of some of the prettier spots in Nabel Lake.
Shame a bad crowd has taken up residence. These guys give the impression of guarding their hideout or something, since they won't be drawn away from their posts, but they won't let you past without fighting one of them either. (Or at least, if you actually can sneak through that gap between them, I wans't able to pull it off.)
And apparently I completely forgot that I came out here for a reason, because I went back to town without finding the boss. Ugh.
Fang is back. All these super-strong monsters repop periodically, though I'm not sure how long it takes.
As you can see, I tried to fight him straight-up this time and I got my ass kicked.
This approach worked much better.
That's some expensive sand.
*sigh*
What's wrong?
You look upset.
Oh, no...
I'm not upset, but...
Why does she keep getting all the good deals?
Hey, isn't she that alchemist?
Maybe she's bribing some officials.
...Wouldn't that cost more money than what's being received here?
Hmmm, don't let them get to you...
I mean, I know it's hard...
Yeah... Esty, can I turn down these kinds of jobs next time?
That's up to you, but...
She's just trying to help you out...
"She"?
The jig is up!
(I just like saying that.)
Oops...
Are you talking about the client?
Who is she?
Umm, well...I wish I could say that it's confidential...
Esty, please tell me!
Ugh...I never was good at keeping secrets.
Yet somehow, people seem to keep asking her to. Hmmm.
Actually, it's a bit weird that the client's name isn't right there on the request form. In game terms, it makes sense that we don't see it, but in-setting it would add more work, and it doesn't seem like it's really worth the effort. At least, with things like online shopping services that I'm familiar with (including the one where I work) don't hide the name of the customer from the people picking out the items, and with library reserves the name goes right on the book too. I don't get it.
Especially since it's apparently not confidential anyway!
At least Aisha still likes us. ( <3 )
Immediately after leaving the castle, Rorona goes and finds Cory.
I'm not sure how it comes across in screenshot form, but it felt to me like Rorona was really dragging here, like she was particularly upset at what Esty told her.
But when I watch the video again, I'm not sure that's an accurate impression at all.
Cory...
Oh, I wanted to tell you something about that stone you gave me...
I'm always gonna wonder what it was. ... I don't *think* it's something that should be obvious...
I have to talk to you about something, too.
Really? You don't look well. Are you alright?
I suppose this supports my theory above.
Cory, were you going to the castle to turn in a job?
Huh...? Umm, I don't know what you're talking about.
Esty told me all about it.
You told her to give me those jobs...
...!
I told her to keep her stupid mouth shut!
But, why?
Why did you do such a thing?
Wh-why? Because I needed to get those jobs done! Don't we all go to the castle when we need something done?
But the rewards were so high...
Th-that's because I had too much money to spend... I'm allowed to spend my money however I want.
But why did you request me to do it...?
Ugh, what do you want from me!?
What is with this interrogation!?
I wasn't trying to...
It's not like you lost anything, right!?
You should be thanking me for them!
I know. And I appreciate what you were trying to do, but I don't think it's right to...
Why is it okay for you to give me presents, but it's not okay for me to give you jobs!?
Cory...
You're not making any sense...
I'm just...
I'm not sure I can explain why, but it does feel different.
(And really, if you'd just loaned us the money up front, we'd all have been better off in multiple ways.)
Shut up, shut up!
I don't wanna hear it!
Just... Oh!
And there's a rather extravagent shattering noise.
(I coulda sworn there was a picture of what it looked like broken somewhere, but I can't find it now. But the noise sounds like something exploding into hundreds of pieces, which I don't think is accurate.)
Oh no...
It broke...
...!
I didn't want to argue...
Why is this happening...?
Cory has left the party.
Well shit.
I suppose I ought to spend some time on the assignment. Pamela has Komets for sale. But it's cheper to buy one and register it with Hagel for wholesale. (Plus there were some requests for them. And since I still haven't filled up his wholesale slots anyway...)
This trend of "assignments completed without Rorona actually doing any of the work" will get interrupted soon, honestly.
Later, Rorona got a visitor.
Oh, welcome.
What's going on?
Um...well...I thought I should come by and explain to you about the other day.
The other day? Did something happen?
Huh? Don't you remember? We got lost, and then we were surrounded by monsters and...
Monsters...?
Ohhhh! That! Right!
Looks like she completely forgot about it.
That's horrible. It took so much courage for Lionela to come here to talk to you.
N-no! I didn't forget...
It just slipped my mind...
That's the same thing.
Hey, lay off. Things have been rough for Rorona too lately.
(Though it's really a coincidence.)
...
I'm so sorry! I didn't know this was so hard for you!
It's okay...
I actually feel better now...
So, um...we were surrounded by monsters, and then we were panicking, and then...
Oh yeah! We escaped by zooming across the sky, right?
That's about right...
But I wouldn't call it zooming...
I would. That was definitely zooming.
That was your doing, right, Liona?
Yes...I threw you through the air.
Threw? What an odd choice of verbiage. I really don't think it fits here, since Rorona obviously landed safely rather than falling and breaking her everything after Lionela let go of her.
How did you do that? You weren't using any tools or anything.
I'm actually not sure. I've always been able to do stuff like that.
Like moving objects without touching them, or making things float...
Wow... So is that how you do your puppet show? That's amazing! It's like magic!
Magic...? Do you really think so?
Yeah. I read a lot of picture books. I'm what you'd call actively literate.
"Lots of picture books" doesn't seem to exactly speak for literacy.
Though given the other stuff Rorona can handle, I think she can probably claim it through some route. But I'm not sure what the difference is between "actively literate" and, say, "passively literate".
People are usually afraid of me...
They called me a witch...and another rhyming word.
That's some euphemism.
What...?
The people hated me because of my power, so they kicked me out of town.
Even my parents had pitchforks and torches at a moment's notice...
Liona...?
So I left home with these two...but it was always the same wherever I went. No one could accept my power.
Liona...it's okay now...
I thought I could mask my power and fix my personality by doing puppet shows...
But people start to catch on after a few performances. I could get called out on it at any time.
Everything seems fine here now, but eventually...even you...
...
...
So...you're not afraid of me?
Not at all.
But I have a strange power...
So do we.
I mean, I don't want to make light of Lionela's situation, but she is talking to a girl who can pull a dragon out of her hat. And that's not the craziest thing going around here. And then we go and sell it in shops.
People are used to weird things in this town, is what I'm saying.
No matter what kind of power you have, you're still you.
Plus, if people think you're weird, then what'll they think of Master? Or even Pamela?
And weird people.
Of course, it's really what's happened to her in the past that's driving this...
Lionela does look normal compared to those two.
Hey, we're being serious here.
Don't joke around.
Ugh...
*sob*
Huh? Uh, why are you crying?
B-because...I've never met someone who wasn't scared of me before...
Oh, come on... No one in this town is gonna think you're scary.
So don't worry.
Okay...
Thank you...
But in this town, with these people?
I think things are going to be just fine now.
...Even if that line about 'fixing her personality' kind of worries me...
Things get less serious (for a little while) in Part 2...