Etrian Odyssey 5 (4th Stratum Party)

Sadly due to the 3DS having lost Miiverse and Nintendo not providing us with an alternate screen shot capture method, I'm stuck with limited quality Vita Camera Images. Well, they at least give some idea what I'm going for with each character. Speaking of characters it took awhile to decide the party in question. Went back and forth on a few ideas and then it finally hit me. I'd just take some characters I already used and give them life, a new form to speak.

That amd  I felt given what I had set up when finalizing a 3rd Stratum party that I couldn't just ignore these characters. It also gives me an excuse to switch to a new party. As for Hanami's party? Just consider that party intact for now. If I want to make up something dramatic for them, it can be done later. For now, this is what I have for the 4th Stratum party.

Chikane is the leader of the guild and pretty much has everyone in her power in some form.  Sakura is devoted to her. Annie is now in love with her. On top of that she can raise the dead and turn them into her servants. However it gets harder and harder to revive someone. Thus on occasion she needs fresh corpses to join her guild. Thankfully, she got a couple of those earlier thanks to her new toy. Thing is while Chikane found that Sarah and Kurumi had potential, they need to die first to clean the slate.

I wanted her to use a Necromancer portrait because it felt fitting for the idea that she'd be turning people into undead servants. Originally I wanted her to be a Pugilist, but after some testing she's now a Shaman. Which works because since she's supposed to serve an evil God, she can further contrast Becky. Who in theory serves a good Good. She's definitely more effective now.

Sakura  in some ways is kind of like a Monk in her true form. Her use of Pugilist skills represents the punching side of  Monks. To represent the healing side of things, she can always use items. Just like anyone else can, but let's not get technical. Her devotion to Chikane remains as strong as ever. She's willing to break any enemy with her bare hands. Defeating foes one by one.

This decision came as a result of wanting to take advantage of retirement, alter class, and even using the DLC portraits I purchased.  I was originally going to have someone else use the Medic portait, but decided to breath new life into past party members.  The Medic portait seemed like a perfect fit for her. Meanwhile her being a Pugilist is because I wanted a front line fighter, but didn't want either a Masurao or Fencer in this  party.

Raised from the dead by Chikane and given new life, she now dedicates her second life to her master. She is incapable of turning against her.  Sure Chikane is the reason she died, but that's just it. In addition to Chikane having power over her, Kurumi seems herself as having been "conquered" by Chikane. Plus she's accepted that if Annie is devoted to Chikane's cause, she should be too. Any sense of resistance she has is gone.

In her new life, Kurumi is a harbinger, but she's more of a defensive backrow one that uses a lot of debuffs. I decided to use the other harbinger portrait to round out this party. She was originally in the front row under a different name. However I realize that she should instead of be  a new version of Kurumi and that she should in the back row.

Sarah is more or less the same situation as Kurumi the only difference being is that she tried to stay dead, but eventually caved in. Sweet talk about being able to fight along side Annie and Kurumi again tempted her and she accepted being revived into a new life. I mean does it matter if they are killing monsters or innocent people if they are doing it together? Yeah, this guild is kind of messed up.

In her new life she becomes a Dragoon representing her new found stance of trying to keep her Master and friends safe from harm. (That and I figured  the Dragoon was a good fit for the Gunner Portrait. Even if Sarah will be more Shield based than Gun Based)  Despite their current predicament, she still feels  a bond with Kurumi and Annie.. She even feels one form with Chikane. While she and Kurumi had resisted Chikane during their first life, they can't deny she had an effect on them.

Annie totally in love with Chikane both in terms of romantic love and pure lust has killed many members of other guilds. She's even destroy sacred moments. However her real purpose/goal is to kill higher level beings that Chikane wants destoyed and she wants them destroyed because her evil lord wants them destroyed. Annie is pretty much doing Chikane's job for her. Not that Annie is going to complain at the current moment. Annie has always had a secret desire to be a Warlock. Yet another reason she became Chikane's lover. Annie was offered a chance to become one. Chikane promised her as such and well Chikane kept her promise. There's no reason to break it and as a Warlock, Annie is far stronger.

I had originally leaned towards just having Annie remain a Fencer and used a modified version of her Fencer portait. However I decided against that because I want to save the 3rd use of Fencer for the 5th Stratum. I also felt this was a good time to make use of the Protector portrait since it held a sword. Sure the Warlock doesn't use a sword, but the sword can be seen as a symbolic item rather than a practical one now. I also wanted her to become a Warlock in part so she could have her skin become blue just like Chikane's is. A symbol of her change.

Stratum 5's party is not yet decided fully, but for a clue just assume that Chikane's party will face off against Hanami's party.  Also that there is a good chance of me using the School Girl portrait in the 5th Stratum party. That's all I'll say about my party plans there.

Etrian Odyssey 5 (3rd Stratum Party)

For the third Stratum, I felt like shaking up the party a lot. So I pretty much replaced everyone I was using before in order to have an entirely new party. So for my reasons for why the party would change, I decided to go all out with the dramatics. It was time for forced plot twists clearly.

The two childhood friends of Annie end up being brutally murdered by none other than Annie.  Chikane had turned out to be a follower of an evil Goddess. Her lust for Chikane and her new found devotion to an evil Goddess made Annie far more dangerous an opponent for  Sarah and Kurumi. Both of whom were thrown off by the betrayal. Both died feeling betrayed and hated.

With her two friends now dead, Annie left with Chikane and Sakura. Chikane takes Annie to her guild in preparation to be reborn. In other words, these three are being retired into new portaits. So in a sense they're "dead" until they live again. As for their future portraits that will be revealed later. Sadly it might have to be through camera images which are of lower quality.

At this point, we're going to switch protagonists. Hanami has her own guild just like Annie and she's a vary capable warrior. This is actualy the 2nd labyrinth she started exploring. As for what that previous one was? It's meant to be a mystery. To be honest, I wanted to use a Harbinger from the start, but held off until now to give other classes a chance to shine. I also felt that the Harbinger could make a good alternate protagonist.

Fighting by her side is Maya, whoe has been her guardian for years. She's dedicated to her role. Plus it gives her purpose in life. That and  the pay from Hanami's parents is good. She somehow manages to both being greedy and devoted. Ultimately speaking, I still needed a front line fighter so I figured I'd keep the Murasao for another round. However I probably won't use on in the 4th and 5th Stratums. 3 uses for a class is enough.

Becky ran into Hanami and was convinced to try going on her journey again. Becky eventually finds out what happened to Annie and blames herself.  Hanami's guild offers her their help in this regard since Becky has proven a valuable 5th member. I figured rather than make a new Shaman, I'd just bring back the one I had before. Plus Becky gets to redeem herself maybe. If nothing else she's more confident than before.

Mikuru is the girlfriend of Hanami, literally her lover. Mikuru is devoted to Hanami and Hanami is to her. Maybe a bit too much. Yeah, you could say death loves the undead. Because she is Hanami's lover, Maya protects her too. Necromancer is another class I decided to save for later.  In this case because the demo gave me the impression the class needed some levels under its belt. Also Mastery helps a lot.

Rena is pretty much Hanami's adopted sister, an abandoned child. Because of her position as adopted sister, she is also under Maya's protection. She's sometimes jealous of Mikuru.  She on occasion rants to Maya about things. I figurred for this new party it might as well have a faithful pet. Hence forth why she's a Rover. I decided to give her the Hawk path because reasons.

Etrian Odyssey 5 (2nd Stratum Party)

So as mentioned before I want to change my party each Stratum. For the 2nd Stratum, I felt it was best to keep the changes minimal. Ie replace the two back row members with two more other back rows members. As well keep a soild front. Granted this was before I bought portrait DLC and made more complicated plans. Still let's get on with the idea of who leaves, who stays, who joins and why.

During the final floor of Stratum 1, Yumi sustains too many injuries and dies as a result. Becky who was under enough pressure as it is and thus understood Yumi was too decides she can't take anymore. Thus she abandons Annie's party leaving it as a trio. Yes, I'm using gray scale to represent dead as dead can be.  Becky is not grayed out because she's not dead yet. I tried to think of a way of representing someone leaving, but nothing came to mind.

Having lost two members, Kurumi and Sarah are worried that Annie is demotivated. Annie claims to not be bothered what so ever., Yet at the same time keeps ranting about how she'll choose better this time. How they should go for experts, people who won't fall to pressure. Granted finding Experts who are not already part of a guild is the issue.

The highly trained duo of Sakura and Chikane meet up with Annie at the tavern and offer their services to her. After all it can be fun to help others for a reasonable price. Ie a share of the money and first choice of equipment too. They claim they're worth the cost, but only time will tell if the price is reasonable. Fore the record, they are not lying about being strong and experienced.  Annie learns this first hand as they demonstrate what they're capable of on one of the floors. 

Sakura is the devoted follower of Chikane and claims even when she uses her herbs on people other than Chikane that she does so for the benefit of Chikane. So if she saves your life, make sure your life is used to help out Chikane. She also feels it's important for Chikane not to be cheated out of what she is owed. I went with a Botanist because I felt the need for a stronger healer at this point. Even more so after the 1st boss.

A highly powerful magic user that is said to draw attention from others.  Including Annie herself who even asks Chikane "Will you leave too if there is any pressure?" and Chikane simply responds by saying "Annie, you will never abandom me". Good to know.. Can't see anything wrong with the way that was worded. I chose a Warlock because I wanted a strong user of magic and because the portrait is effective and works for my future purposes.

Etrian Odyssey 5 (1st Stratum Party)

So awhile ago now, I downloaed the demo for Etrian 5 to my 3DS OG and 3DS XL.I found myself uncertain about what party I wanted to use and had the usual conflict of wanting too many characters. I however then realized some people like to make up stories for their party and then figured this could work for me. I'd just change my party at each stratum and make up a story line reason for why the party changed. Thus the following ended up being my party used during the first stratum of the game.

Annie is the protagonist. I made her a Fencer because it felt right. Plus in previous games I've had a Knight named Annie. She's the one who started the guild and is motivated by a desire to experience things rather than just hear about them.  The alternate color outfit caught my eye so I went for it.

Sarah is one of the childhood friends of Annie. She has a more fun loving nature and is extremely confident. She's pretty good for someone who is self trained, but that also means she has the cons of such a person. I chose a Pugilist because I felt for a first stratum party, a good front line would work.

The other childhood friend. Kurumi is actually the one that taught Annie how to fight and told her stories of trips she had with her parents. She's the main reason, Annie wanted to see things for herself. I chose a Masurao to have another strong front line fighter. Plus I can imagine the 3 sharing thesame line.

Yumi gets to be a Dragoon and play the role of a guardian for one on a journey. She's not very good at  being a dragoon, but she's dedicated to her job. I chose the base portrait for Earthian because I want to symbolize someone not experienced at her job. Plus the Dragoon Portraits aren't that appealing to me. Also I think she looks cuter this way. Yeah, not really a good reason, I know.

Becky is a Shaman, but I like to pretend she is a Miko. with a Goddess to serve. Maybe it's all the use of the word prayer in the skill set. Feeling they can benefit from some help, Becky agrees to join Annie's guild.  They just all need to agree that Becky and Yumi can stay in the back row.

Speculation/Wishful Thinking Concerning Misa of Uraharas (Concerns Episode 1-8)

The focus of this entry will be about Misa's character.  When we're first introduced to her, she's presented as being the one that will show the girls the way. The way to defeat this dreaded new enemy that she just so happened to escape from. She also has a mascot too.

Indeed, it goes without saying that a lot of us from the start were suspect of her. Not just because of everything being too convenient, but also because let's just say  certain character types in anime are reaching "Butler", "Uncle/Aunt" and "Duke/Duchess" levels of being blatant "We're betraying you" characters. See also Jester. Sure not every cute girl helping the protagonist and not every mascot "betrays" the protragonists, but eenough do that we become suspicious. It starts to feel like a 50/50 chances with some shows leaning it more towards 80/20 in either direction

However the show soon started to remove any remaining doubts I had of her being a bad person. With everything in the fourth episode leading up to what was at the very least  a foreshadowing moment if not a confirmation moment. It became harder to view any scees of  hers in a positive light.
 So now it just became a matter of waiting.

We actually reached this not so shocking plot twist in the series much sooner than I would have usually expected to have seen it. I had figured this would happen around episode 9 as opposed to near the end of episode 6. It may not seem like it matters when a reveal like this happens, but the sooner it does the more layers they can add on top it. This includes character development for Misa. Never mind for anyone else.

Again, shocking. Still if Scoopers can be this cute, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Ugh, I'm buying what she's selling now. In any case, we get the motivation for her actions or at least the Stupid Shrimp's (I almost wanted to say Baka Ebi)  actions as he does the speaking. Ie talking about how they want to bring to the Scooper's creative people such as the girls themselves. Hence forth they've been preparing them for this moment.  Ttraining them, feeding them, etc.

If you trust anything the Shrimp is saying then he gives the impression they'll keep being creative even after the change happens. Otherwise the very idea of the "capturing" them to "farm" them fot :creativity would make no sense. It would like stealing a bucket of water for the water, but having all the water spill across the ground. As Misa herself, we can only speculate how much agreement she has with Ebi. However this whole scene gave the impression she finds the girls becoming scoopers and helping them out to be a good thing.

This right here is the key moment. Why does she care if they're sad?  They're just tools, right? Here I started to wonder if she's really that bad. Sure the methods she chose to use or was convinced to use is questionable, manipulative, cruel, etc. However one could argue she has her kind to worry about. Actually, we can't be sure if she was born a  Scooper or became one. Then again maybe Scoopers can't repoduce on their own anyway.

After watching episode 8, I had to go back and see if earlier episodes might have shed a more positive light on Misa. This sceene could just be her putting on a huge act. However at the same time scenes can be a foundation of a change of heart or show a person's softer side. So it can work either way. Still I had to keep double checking and even earlier scene I missed and forgot about stood out.

This scene comes at a time where she shouldn't have any need to put on an act. It's hard to tell how the other Scoopers actually feel about the creations they steal. Do they enjoy them or do they merely consume them? A mixture of both? (Thinking about it feels like some series I consume more than enjoy)  At the very least we can assume that Misa gets some actual enjoyment out of it and seems to  want that enjoyment to spread further among the Scoopers.

It's possible that I'm reading too much into that short scene from episode 8. It may also be wishful thinking on my part. However I can't help but think she has a more major role to play than  what she played in the first 6-7 episodes of the series.. There is a chance of both seeing her redeem herself and come to terms with her own issues. Issues related to her Scooper Status. That and consider how episode 8 ended. Yeah, let's just say options are limited. Unless they're going to reveal the Cat is an all powerfyk God!

I'm going to predict that either episode 9 or episode 10 will be heavily focused on her character. That she'll see the results of what happened to the girls and have second thoughts if she made the right choice. In the end, she'll find a way to help them out. In turn they might wok with her to find a better solution for veryone including the Scoopers.

Dungeon Travelers 2 Thoughts (Main Story Finished/Post Game Not Yet Played)

 

So I've finally finished this game. It only took me a little over two years to finish the game.  Well the main game anyway, there's still the post game. However I'd rather save that for the future. So let's talk about the game as it stands when you finish the main story. First, let get this out of the way. Yes, the game is filled with fanservice. I enjoyed some aspects of the fanservice myself, especially some of the job class outfits. However there is no denying depending on  tolerance, some of the fanservice can bother people. Still the game does make it clear early on what to expect from it. It even has a demo that can serve as a good warning.

Now when the game started, I only had 2 party members. We're not counting Fried  because he doesn't do any of the fighting. At best he might shout out "commands" represented by the player selecting actions. So effectively two. However you soon get a third then eventually have a full party. You would also be forced to leave people out of the party. Then you'd buy 20 DLC characters  to make the choices even harder. Still what person would do that? Stop looking at me with disgust. 

Early on the system seemed way too expensive. Every time you leveled up a skill it would "cost" more to level up  next time. It would also cost way more TP to use. It made the idea of even trying to level up anything in the game seem pointless and this definitely bothered me at first. It was pretty much an evil version of Etrian's skill raising system to me. At least that's the way it felt to me. Also doesn't help some skills don't gain much improvement for the increased cost anyway.

                                                           

However as my characters reached higher levels, the system started to bother me less. For one,  was able to reach LV15, LV30 and most recently LV50 which are all reset levels. Levels where you can reset a character's skill points. This allowed for much more freedom than I had early on. Of course whenever a character was between reset points, I always had to hope my set up was good enough for the next level. On top of that the game would introduce new characters, and I just had to get all the DLC characters for shallow reasons. Ie seeing their outfits.... Granted that might also be why I took a long break from the game. I tried to get them all to level 30.

Still this brings me up to my favorite part of the game. The class system was rather interesting. Each character has a base class determined by the story, but the game allowed you freedom to decide what mid class they'd get around level 15 and advaned class around level 30. You're even allowed to reset levels and change your mind for a price. Ie the price of levels. It also helps that a character with an advanced class could still learn some basic and mid class skills.as well. Sure, you only have one base class and your choice of "advanced" class is tied your mid class, but it's still better than nothing. I will say it was fun experimenting on occasion.

The story was decent for the most part. You got some amusing scenes and just enough plot to give a reason to keep exploring and moving forward. That being said the story development for the "villain(s)" was kind of limited. However given what the final boss was, I can't say I'm that surprised. Still the game was more about your party interaction than it was about the villain. Still it would have been nice if there had been say some entries that fleshed FB out a bit more.

Over all the game definitely stands out for me. Not because of the fanservice or being a DRPG. DRPGs with fanservice seems to be a Vita Staple. It stands out because of the class system, the way it all ties together. It's probably the best part of the game. Granted the girls being wonderful does help quite a lot too. And I'd probably be far less interested in the game if it was just boring men.

Finally, let's talk favorite character and let's talk the class line I ultimately chose for her. If the images included weren't obvious hints.  Liz was best girl  over all in my view. She would eventually replace Lilian as my main Spieler line character. Actually I was using both for awhile because I had a hard time parting with the starting 2/3 girls in the game which included Lilian herself. 

I ultimately came to like using her as Joker (Will be the last image, I promise) the best out of the class options for her,  I just needed to avoid the skills that required way too much luck.  Plus I killed the final boss with Liz doing most of the damage as she carried an Axe. I'm proud of my murderous girl brutally slaughtering the evil ones. Unless you consider the party the evil ones. Granted we do come off as being bullies sometimes.

Over all, Dungeon Travelers 2 was a good experience for me.. Now if only I could played the sequel which I've heard is an interesting what if scenario and yes does include some fanservice as well and hopefully has a better version of this system. I always wants a better version, never a worse version.  I'm not holding my breath  waiting for 2-2. For now, I'll focus on other games instead for now.

Urahara: The Concept of Creativity, Originality, and Copying (Spoilers Episode 7)

In many series, the protagonist(s) of the story will be forced to confront "truths" that they didn't have to deal with before.  The newly established truths and the confirmed lies can be a bitter pill for any character to swallow.  Especially when it comes at the worst possible time(s). It forces questions to be asked.

Urahara is no stranger to this concept. We even get some of the classic reveals. An ally turns out to be an enemy. Their actions only served the "goal" of the very people they were fighting against. Plus it's a given the girls are questioning past decisions made. However what really got my attention was when they had a conversation about creativity. I'll note the following images here.

 So we start off with Kotoko bringing up the idea that perhaps they are the ones to blame for their own lack of creativity and they can't just use the Scoopers as a scape goat as easy as such a solution might seem to us. A bad guy? Bad stuff happening? It's their fault. However let's move on now.

The subject of copying is brought up here and it's treated as a negative. In a sense, copying can be a negative although it doesn't have to be. Still for a group of girls that pride themselves on originality, the idea of copying from others can be admitting defeat.

Now we have Mari responding in defiance. She doesn't want to be in the same league as the Scoopers which makes any idea of her "taking" from others unacceptable. She doesn't want to be on their level so to speak.

Again, she's here to make it clear, they're different. Thus she's different. You can either see her as denying she takes from others or that her way of doing so is acceptable and more justified. Take your pick.

What's interesting here is that Rito doesn't try to deny the idea of copying from others, but instead focuses on the angle of whether or not it's a bad thing. This is a good question to ask. We like to think copying is always bad, but a lot of the things we enjoy are partially a result of copying from others. Sometimes it can be quite obvious and other times it's a bit more subtle. Either that or I'm ignorant on the obvious.

Heck sometimes we even seek out stuff in part due to being a copy. Let's face it, part of the reason I buy yet another of well anything is because I'm expecting some stuff I've experienced before to be mixed in there. Of course you can't just copy and do nothing else. One has to make it their own thing and Rito shows hope and confidence that it can be done.  That despite copying, they can be creative too. Then of course this happens shortly after.

Mari brings up Rito's talent and how it gives her an advantage. It feels like Mari is trying to claim that in the worst case scenario, Rito can hide behind her drawing skills and still get attention even if she lacked originality. Or maybe I'm reading the wrong thing into this and other scenes.

Still for me, it feels like Urahara is trying to start up a dialog about concepts such as creativity, originality, copying, presentation and what they really mean. It's clear that the three have to do more than just "defeat" the Scoopers.

They need to be able to come to terms with the idea that creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum. That it's not a pure thing. Thus they need to accept they are influnced by the ideas others. That they too borrow from others. That at the end of the day what matters is how they use the information gathered by experience and research.

I'll be interested in seeing if during episode 8-End, the series is able to provide us with a solid answer. Obviously being a TV series, I doubt the answer can be anything too long winded. However I hope it has more substance than just "We suddenly decided to believe in ourselves, the end". That would be just ignoring the issue.

So yeah in conclusion episode 7 of Urahara is one of the best episodes I've seen this season and is a good reminder of why this is one of my favorite series. It's also a great set up for future episodes. I just hope they don't waste that potential.