Let's Play Suikoden 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nosimpleway]

At an overwhelming two votes, only one idea got any traction.


Don't mind the terminology for now, it'll be "Army" soon enough.


Apple: We set a few traps on the way. That'll hurt them a little.
Tsai: The Fire Spears are ready. Thanks to everyone who worked through the night to fix them.
Flik: If this fort falls, this whole area will be Highland territory. And you all know what happened to Toto and Ryube village. This battle must not be lost!!!
Soldiers: Hey!!!
Viktor: Okay Apple, explain our battle plan.
Apple: According to Flik, the support from Muse will arrive in about 10 days. If we can hold out until then, we've got a chance of winning. Our main strategy is defense, but first we'll attack from here. This will frustrate them and weaken their offense. After that we just have to defend our fort and wait for help. That's all.
Viktor: Everyone understand? Good!! In the name of the great lion on our flag, let's save our fort!!!

[nosimpleway]

Heh.




Ambush!

So this is the tutorial army battle. Some characters are unit leaders, and there's no controlling who those are -- Flik, Viktor, Tsai, and Muteiu are the leaders in this case. Up to two other recruits join those leaders to control a contingent of soldiers, with each person giving additional abilities to the unit as a whole.

Each unit has an Attack value and a Defense value. For whatever reason, most of the times two units battle, little to no damage must be done. Reliable damage output demands a huge advantage on Attack over Defense.


Enemy units don't necessarily have leaders in them, but some do, and those have more Attack and Defense than the unled units. Here Tsai charges at a nameless group of enemy cavalry, but like I said before, chances are slim either Tsai's unit or the enemy unit suffer casualties.


Flik's unit moves next. As a leader, he gives a base Attack 7 and Defense 7. Flik's attack type is Bow, so he can attack from two spaces away if he wants. Flik's special ability is Cavalry, putting his unit on horseback. That's not an attack advantage, but it lets them move two spaces over flat terrain on the map each turn. Hanna adds +2 to the attack of any unit she's in, for a total of 9/7.

None of that actually matters much, though, since in this fight everyone has Fire Spears as a special ability. Flik uses them to roast the front lines of the Highland army.


Muteiu, Nanami, and Jowy are the KISS unit, who blasts a gout of flame crosswise from Flik's.


Next turn, Tsai and Culgan manage to do a little bit of damage to each other.


The turn after that, Culgan's unit is already damaged from the Fire Spears, and Tsai's manages to finish them off. Casualties are heavy on both sides, but Tsai wins by attrition.


Culgan is removed from the map.


Viktor's unit did contribute to this battle, but not in any particularly screencap-worthy way.

[nosimpleway]

Apple: The Highland Army is tired from a long campaign. They'll probably attack again tomorrow or later, after they rest their troops.
Soldier: The Highland Army!! The Highland soldiers are attacking again!!!
Apple: What!!! That's insane! Forcing his exhausted troops to attack again.
Viktor: ..That Luca is full of surprises. This... this could be bad...
Flik: Well, all we can do is fight. We can't let them win.
Viktor: Okay, is everyone ready? Don't forget, the other side is tired too!


Did you guys forget? You're a ragtag bunch of soldiers-for-hire in a little wooden fort in the woods. You're staring down the personal army of the crown-prince of Highland. They have a hell of a lot more reserves than you do!


Well, okay, Soloh Jhee, Seed, and Culgan are all back, but there's no telling whether they're in command of a different unit of individual soldiers each. Point is, assuming the Highland Army was under the same logistics problems as the mercenary army was a big oversight.






Pff, fuck this noise. Nobody wants to stop Highland more than us, but the one tiny advantage we had isn't working anymore and we're grossly outnumbered. WE OUT






Except OH SHIT ROYAL GUARD OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE

Turns out the Highlanders took one look at the Fire Spears and decided a flanking maneuver might be the way to go. And nobody saw it coming.

[nosimpleway]

There are corpses strewn about all over the place.


There are plenty of living guards in the fortress, too, but it's still quite easy to win with the Buddy Attack.


The soldiers are... amateur sculptors?




...why does the Highland Army carry valuable antiques with them on their raids?


Hey, it's Pilika! And... oh. Oh. That's not good.

[nosimpleway]

Pohl: Eeeyaaah!! He... help...
Luca: I'm so sick of hearing that! State pigs.....


Pohl had a portrait and a name, but his relevance to the story ends now.

[Friday]

And then Pilika was a zombie.

[nosimpleway]

Pilika's more plot-important than Pohl, so the option is more like "Let Jowy save her by himself" or "Go ahead and run into death's open arms".






N... nobody said anything but you...

Luca: Let me tell you something. There are weak men and strong men in this world. The strong men take everything and the weak men die. That's how the world was designed.

Man, that sucks. If I had a magic item or something that represented the way the entire world was created, I'd do things pretty differently.

Luca: Now I will show you how it works, weaklings!!!
Jowy: Stop!!!
Luca: ......................
Jowy: S... stop!!!!!
Luca: Sit quietly and watch worms!!! So what if you save this girl? Better that you think of your last words, because you're next!!

"Sit quietly and watch worms" is a much different sentence without that last comma.

Luca: Hey, brat! What is it? Can't talk?! Hoo hoo ha ha ha!!!! Relax! I've chopped hundreds, thousands of necks. I can do it with my eyes closed.
Jowy: S... stop... STOP!!!!!
Luca: Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha!!!! I love those eyes!! So weak, so filled with fear!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!! God, I love this!!!




KERSPLODE

Music: The Rescue


Fanfiction's favorite line in the game.

Viktor: I threw all of the Fire Spears into the boiler in the basement. They'll blow any minute.
Flik: See. Next time protect 'em better.
Viktor: Hurry. Run!!! If you can make it, go to Muse. We can relax there. Hurry! Don't die now!
Luca: Why you annoying little...
Viktor: You won't get your dirty hands on my fort. Next time I won't lose either!

[nosimpleway]

Another short FMV that isn't easily found on YouTube.


Survivors flee through the woods...


Turning back only briefly to see the fort entirely destroyed.




Jowy: What is it, Pilika? ...Hey.......Pilika?
Pilika: ee................ ................... ooo..... oooo.........
Jowy: Pilika? Pilika? She... she can't talk....
Pilika: aaa.......... ooo......... eee................
Jowy: Answer me, Pillika..... Please.... Pillika..... Call me 'uncle' again....

It's so jarring that Jowy's forgotten how to spell Pilika's name.

Muteiu: Don't worry. She's just in shock.
Jowy: ...You're right... I'll bet you're right.... She'll be okay... I'm sure of it.
Pilika: ..................
Jowy: Pilika........ .....................

GOD, IT'S CONTAGIOUS

Jowy: Muteiu........ This place isn't safe. Let's hurry ahead. Viktor said we could relax in Muse City. It looks like we have to go there.


Muteiu and Jowy are in the party, of course, and Nanami always appears out of nowhere in particular to join up now. The rest of the party is made up of randomly-chosen recruits gained thus far. As far as I can tell, the pool is Gengen, Mukumuku, Rikimaru, Hanna, Millie, Zamza, Kinnison, and Shiro. This scene is why Pilika doesn't show up in Toto to introduce you to her family and progress the game until you've picked up a couple of optional recruits; it's impossible to proceed from here without a full party.

...Although it does always seem to have either Mukumuku or Shiro in it, by accident or design.

[nosimpleway]

Well, we've got to go through the scorched remains of Toto to get to Muse.


...and once back in Toto, Pilika wanders off by herself.


Into a small building that was sealed up when there were still people living here.


Jowy: ...................?

God, why did I chose to LP this game? I'll be counting ellipses for weeks.

Jowy: What is it? Is something there? Oh yeah... now I remember. Marx, Pilika's father... his job was taking care of some shrine.... This must be the place....


Jowy: Muteiu, take a look at this. This writing... it says....


Jowy: This Genkaku, could it be Master Genkaku? What does this mean?

:mystery:


A flash!

[nosimpleway]

Music: Their Star


Leknaat: To weave your destiny, you must first attain them.


Jowy: We're supposed to go forward?


As the two walk through the cave, they reminisce!

[nosimpleway]

Music: Days Past










ACT 1: THEY MEET








ACT 2: THEY GET THE CRAP BEATEN OUT OF THEM

wait, no, that's not right...




ACT 2: THE CHASE

[nosimpleway]

It's a cute little scene of two kids peeping over a wall to admire some girl, but don't put too much importance on it because you'll never see her again.










The only hint you get that the tree behind Genkaku's might be worth investigating... shame it happens well after you can't get back into Kyaro to do it.

[nosimpleway]

[nosimpleway]

Jowy: You're the one from before! Who are you!
Leknaat: I am the inheritor of the 'Gate Rune'. The keeper of the gates between worlds. She who watches the great scales of Fate. Here begins the gathering of the Stars of Destiny. Fate quivers, the future cannot be seen. One of the '27 true runes' has recognized you. Oh followers of Destiny, the path is now open for you.
Jowy: Recognized us... is that what that vision was?
Leknaat: Yes. The rune recognized you. The 'Rune of Beginning', which lies sleeping beyond here, is needed to complete your Destiny. Stand before the runes and hold up your right hands. You will be granted power to alter fate. Think, and then decide. 'Power' will not grant you peace. The storms of Fate cause misery for many and few will be able to calm them once they start. If you do not desire 'Power', return now to the world outside.
Jowy: Power......... ....rune......... The power of the 27 true runes.... .................. What will you do, Muteiu?
Muteiu: Since we need 'Power'...
Jowy: Muteiu... Let's take a look. I just want to see what kind of 'power' it is..... Muteiu. I'm taking the cave to the right. You go to the left.








Leknaat: Muteiu, you have the Bright Shield Rune. Jowy, you have the Black Sword Rune. They are the two aspects of the Rune of Beginning. Go now. Go and write your own fates.




Sure enough, Muteiu and Jowy have their unique runes, each on their right hands. Muteiu's Bright Shield rune is mostly healing powers, and unlike the Soul Eater from the first game actually proceeds its spells as Muteiu's magic grows, rather than in plot events. Great Blessing is a small party heal, and Shining Light is a non-elemental attack against all enemies.


Whereas the Bright Shield is a mix of attack and healing/buffing, the Black Sword rune is all attack. Its damage output is about equal to a Lightning Rune, but all of its spells except Flash Judgment hit the entire enemy party. It's non-elemental, too, so resistances don't factor in.

[Thad]

Muteiu's Bright Shield rune is mostly healing powers, and unlike the Soul Eater from the first game actually proceeds its spells as Muteiu's magic grows, rather than in plot events.

.................

[nosimpleway]

The exception will be described when it comes up in-game.

[MarsDragon]

Fanfiction's favorite line in the game.

You're three posts early for that joke.

[nosimpleway]

So I'm supposed to go to Muse. But I'm totally not!


The eastern area where you start is bounded by North Sparrow Pass (to the Kyaro area), Toto (to the Muse area), and Radat (to the South Window area, which we'll get to in a bit). However, the other areas in the game have checkpoints between them instead. This is the gate that leads between Muse and the Knightdom of Matilda, but with the Highland army on the move, they've shut down and aren't letting anyone through.


But, you know... once you get a good look at this door...


hnnnnnnggggrrrrrrgh


It's a fake! You can just shove it out of the way!

I keep saying how Suikoden 2 got rushed to release, and this is probably another artifact of that. There are a few hints that there was a subquest or something in Matilda that got written out of the game. This may have been an open checkpoint until that subquest was completed. Then when they changed the script and dropped that quest, they had to make a sprite for the gate door -- and accidentally coded the damn thing as pushable, like the crates back in Viktor's fort.


Anyway, this is an area that you normally don't get to until much later. There's no story sequence here, but I can pick up a couple of pieces of midgame equipment.

[nosimpleway]

Whew, made it. Given that this is a midgame area and I'm still at earlygame power levels, it's a bit of a crapshoot whether I can make it to the Highway Village in the middle of Matilda without getting into a random encounter that steamrolls everyone.


Highway Village is aptly named, as it's basically a wide spot in the road where a few houses sprang up around the trading post halfway between the Matilda capital of Rockaxe and the city of Muse. But as it's tailored to merchants, it has some amenities that other towns its size don't -- like an appraiser. So I get the jars that the Highland soldiers dropped in Viktor's fort looked at. One's moderately valuable, the other's a piece of junk.




There is also, yes, a Trading Post -- the thing that Muse lacks. Several cities in the game have Trading Posts, each with a list of goods to buy and sell. Prices for items change, sometimes drastically, between Posts. For example, Native Costumes buy and sell for about 2500 potch here... but there's a town elsewhere that buys and sells them as low as 600 potch. Buy Costumes there, sell them here, make a profit. Use the profit to buy Candles here at 250 potch, sell them in a third location for 800, and that third location has cheap Flutes...


Highway lacks an armor shop or blacksmith, but the item store sells a couple of protective charms. Are Marth and Roy in this?


The villagers themselves talk about plot points that haven't happened yet (on account of the sequence break), background information about the Knights of Matilda, or some kid named Kent.


And... hey, aren't those guys from Toran? What are they doing here?

[nosimpleway]

Hey, it is Futch! Does that mean...




Yep, that quiet guy looking out the window (or staring into the corner, it's hard to tell with him) is another returning character from the first game.

Humphrey: Sorry I've stayed here so long.
Lucy the Maid: No, don't worry about it! You've promptly paid for your lodgings, and I know the war's a problem for all travellers. It's Harmonia you're heading for, Sir Humphrey? I guess the roads are closed because of the war...
Humphrey: Yes. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So hey, let's go talk to that familiar face!




Kent doesn't have a portrait.

Kent: Sorry, sorry. My mom caught me and made me help with chores.
Futch: Chores. . . . . . ?
Kent: Hey Futch! You were a Dragon Knight, right?
Futch: Huh? Uh, yeah... Ninth Rank, though. Just a Dragon Knight Apprentice.
Kent: So, so... You've flown? Flown in the skies? On a dragon!?
Futch: Of course! I was born in a Dragon Cave! I've spent more time in the skies than on the ground!
Kent: Wow, really? Really!? That's awesome!!!
Futch: It's true. Here's the proof.
Kent: Is this... A Dragon scale? Whoah... That's cool! Hey, can I see that? I want to show it to my mom!
Futch: Yeah, sure. But it means a lot to me, so don't lose it.
Kent: I'll be super careful! Wow, it must feel great to fly... That's so cool, Futch...
Futch: But... but... My dragon... Black was his name... He died... He died protecting me... A Dragon Knight without a dragon is nothing. I can't go back to the Dragon Cave, I can't fly...

You could just learn to jump really high like the dragon knights from that other game series.

Kent: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But... But... Aren't you and Humphrey on a quest to find a new dragon?
Futch: Y... Yeah...
Kent: So some day, some day soon, you'll get another dragon, and you'll be a Dragon Knight again! Futch, when that day comes, when you're a Dragon Knight again, will you let me fly with you?
Futch: To fly again... Yeah. . . . . If... If I get a new Dragon, Kent, you'll be the first person I give a ride to. We'll come flying over the mountains and land right in front of your house!
Kent: Really!? Do you promise? Do you promise me, Futch?
Futch: Yeah. . . . . It's a promise. . . . .


I don't know why the game has suddenly decided to space out its ellipses.

Muteiu: So, uh... Where are you from?
Humphrey: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Muteiu: Where are you going?
Humphrey: Harmonia. . . . .
Muteiu: Why Harmonia?
Humphrey: To look for dragons. . . . .


Uh... are we? I... I guess so...