Dokapon - Monster Hunter (GBA)

Another day, another RPG. Well, better than i review another shooter game, right? Anyway, this time it's one-man RPG on Gameboy Advance: Tycoon Corporation's Dokapon - Monster Hunter (2001/2002). 

Or just Dokapon in the title screen. I think there's complete title in cover art. Turns out, Dokapon is a RPG series. I played the PS2 ones which is hybrid of one-man RPG and Monopoly. It's quite interesting. Moreover one of the shopkeeper is cat with mage attire and speaks line "What do you purrfer?". I digress, sorry. There's not much setting  on main screen. You can change language setting if you feel want to. So let's hit new game.   

Here's the story. A boy can take a test to become an adventurer, when he turns 11 y.o. The rule is certainly nicer and lighter than that harsh conscription in Crusader of Centy. It's optional to heed and probably well paid because adventurer can into treasure hunting! I'm on it!    

 

Then my childhood friend is picking on me. Good job, game. This is the second time, my female childhood friend become annoying at the start of the game besides in previous RPG. Is this want JRPG players want? Having annoying girl childhood friend? But later she apologizes and encourages me to sign up for the adventurer test. 

 

Thus i go to the 3A which is the Poponga adventurer guild and i have to register my name to this guy that more looks like foreman or carpenter than proper administrator. Maybe because of his simple shirt and large posture. The test is i get <Diramond> in a <Mine> outside of a town. He adds that i have to accept said test otherwise the game won't progress. Spy_goodjob01.wav

 

It's "You're". Not Your, madam.

That guy is currently being held still by his wife because he wants to get into tavern. Because either the booze is really addicting or the waitresses are attractive bunny girl. I let you decide.

 

I keep talking to NPC as that big guy suggests. Then i meet this granny by the church who tells me that adventurer will be revived here and most of them feel frustrated because they fail at their quest. By giving this auto-life item, she hopes that i don't be like them. Engineer_thanks01.wav

 

Finally i find the shop on building with shield and sword sign which houses both the usable item shop and the equipment shop. It's one of JRPG cliché where NPC building's interior grows twice or even more than from it looks from outside. Anyway, the shop has limited stock and so far the most useful is Recover1 which is the usual healing item. Stronger item makes you deal more damage for 1 battle. Harder makes you take less damage from 1 battle. Speeder makes you more agile from 1 battle. Recover1 costs 50 gold each and -what do you know?- i have exactly 100 gold to buy 2 of it. Unless you want to buy the stats-boost item which is inadvisable because it only affect for 1 battle.

 

As per usual the town's exit is on south. Once i exit the town, i enter the world map. I pick the destination by using D-Pad. The mine is on the north so i press "up" on D-Pad to pick the place. Simple.      

 

So here we are, at the first dungeon. The dungeon's floor consists of corridors, wide areas, and a stair to go to next floor. This pretty resembles dungeon in Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded especially when the enemies are visible. While in the narrow corridor my vision is limited to 2-3 blocks.

 

Eventually, i find the first encounter. Weasel ain't no big rat but kind of the same tier in RPG bestiary somehow , i think. Every battle mode started with choosing between these 2 card. One allow you to attack first while other forces you in defense's turn. I ideally prefer to get into attack's turn as soon as possible but it's 50-50 chance.

 

All right! I'm attacking first. By pressing "select" button, i can see combat data. On center panel, you get to see our stats. Left numbers are mine while the right ones are my enemy's. From top to bottom: Attack, Defend, and Agility. Even i'm still level 1, my stats are better than weasel. On the right panel, you can see the enemy's skills. He has 2 unused slot which is big advantage to me as i talk about it later.

 

Here's my attack skill. The most top is the basic attack while the rests are the special skill. Using special skill doesn't cost MP, mana, or what have you (as opposed to the Dokapon Kingdom, the PS2 game). But the success rate is determined by rock-paper-scissor system, literally. From second top to bottom is slot for: rock, scissor, and paper. If you see the enemy's skill from before, he doesn't have slot for rock and paper. Meaning he can only do skill in scissor slot which mean you're most likely win if you use skill on rock slot!  

 

But i choose use basic attack instead because my skill on rock slot is only good to add defense power. But i pretty much win anyway here. Basic attack always win against any defensive skill. While basic defend will reduce the amount of damage inflicted by the basic attack. Many offensive skills are interesting like the one that can halves the enemy's hitpoints if succeed to add temptation to use them instead of basic attack. But personally i prefer rely on basic attack because i think using skill only gives the enemy breather due to rock-paper-scissor system. 

 

Now is my turn to defend. I don't have useful defensive skill. All i have are the one that just negate the effect of enemy's offensive skill. I like the "Cut It Out" because it's metaphorically true.

After some battles...

 

i level up for the first time and i get 3 points to boost between my 4 stats which can be considered outnumbered. 1 point will boost 1 number of stats except for HP that will be boosted by 5 instead. Attack power obviously determines the basic attack's strength while Defend power will determine damage taken from enemy while further enhanced the effect while using basic defend. Speed determines the accuracy of basic attack or the evasion rate against enemy's. There's no exact accuracy/evasion info. It works like this: If your speed higher than the enemy's by 10 or so, you have fairly chance to dodge enemy's basic attack and apply vice versa. The bigger the difference of speed stats, the bigger the chance to dodge basic attack. My build stats is mostly prioritizing Attack and HP. Then i prioritize Speed to make sure my basic attack is accurate enough and Defend get the least priority which means my character will be fragile and relies on basic attack instead of special skills.

 

My weapon and shield can also gain level up by defeating enemies and they can increase their offense/defense power by 1 for each level up. Within their first several level up, my equipments can replace skill with new one to whatever slot that i like. I reckon Speed up is not so important so i replace it with Attack up.

Once i descend to next floor, i can't go back to previous floor. Usually on next floor, enemies are harder than before. Enemies spawn pretty frequently so it's good idea to grind for experience before go to next floor. This Orko(s) is new. Let's fight them.  

 

Turns out, they're Miner. I can see wild animal want to bring harm to me because i probably interrupt their habitat or they just being wild. But i don't see the reason behind this poor people fighting me. Maybe this mine is quite dry and temptation to mug an innocent 11-years-old adventurer, looks quite alluring. I mean look at me there. Looks like clueless dummy, right? Fortunately for me, i have higher level than the miner and i can defeat him. Scout_domination01.wav  

 

Some usable item can be bought at the shop but other can only be obtained within dungeon whether from defeated enemy's or bag/treasure chest's loot. One of them is compass that can makes me fly to nearest next floor's entrance. Demoman_sf13_influx_small04.wav

This frog-looking slime has higher speed than me so my basic attack sometimes misses against him. Using the skill can be the obvious solution but it's not reliable thanks to Rock-Paper-Scissor system. Or maybe because i'm bad at Rock-Paper-Scissor. If you happen to choose the same slot, you have to do the Rock-Paper-Scissor again. Most enemies will draw the same on first retry or maybe even on second try. But after that it's pure all around 1/3. Some more simpleminded enemies most likely insist on their choice throughout the battle. The sensible one sometime chooses the counter of the first draw. The trickier one throw a curveball at you by choosing the counter of the counter of the first draw! It's pretty jarring. Really.

 

On the 3rd floor, i find the Diamond Diramond. All i have to do so, i approach it nice and easy...

 

Then boss appears, obviously. To be fair, this BossMole works with the Adventurer's guild to give me the final test and not just mindless monster. The problem with the BossMole is his defend is significantly stronger than my attack. Plus he loves to boost the already big defense power even more with his skill.

 

I have no problem with lesser enemies but i have big trouble with BossMole. I thought he was going for defense-boost skill again, turn out he used obliterating offensive skill and i'm down. Like hinted before that i revive at the church and my gears are replaced with starter equipment and my gold is all gone. The thing is: all of my inventory is gone including my equipment. Luckily, i keep my level. It's the opposite Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded. So what's the solution to this problem? Return to town, is good idea. But the thing is without usable item called "Homer", i can't go back there. There's no access to previous floor! Moreover, this "Homer" item is extremely rare. Shop doesn't sell it (as far as my playthrough here). You can only obtain it from limited chest or item bag that you can find in dungeon. You probably think that saving my progress so far is another good solution. Yes. There's manual saving on option menu but it will be overwritten by (invisible) auto-saving that the game has. Maybe because there's something wrong on saving system or maybe down to emulation. I'm not sure. So my solution should you play this via emulation is: rely on save/load state. Without doing so, you're basically playing The Dark Soul of the RPG here.

After several use of save/load state...

 

Eventually, i can defeat him easily though i'm not sure how. Maybe because i keep deny his defend-strengthening skill. Anyway, BossMole admit my greatness and allow me to pass the test. The buff guy behind the counter doesn't seems satisfied with BossMole's performance and he retaliates by calling the man gorilla. Then the guy swears with symbols and such. Watch your tongue, mister!  

 

The shops restore their stocks so i can buy more from them. There's option to attack the shopkeeper and the game keeps questioning your violent decision here. I don't see the benefit of it so i just stick with fair trading method.

 

I bought Bowie knife from the weapon shop, because it also boosts my speed. Leveling up weapon increases its attack power but not my speed. So there's the reason i bought the knife. Besides, it has better weapon skills than the beginner's sword.

 

I decide to re-visit Mine before move to another place for just in case. By pressing "select" button, you can bring this automap. Each time you visit the place, the floor's layout is randomized. Your vision may be limited while traveling but you can monitor everything (including chest and enemy) within the automap. So it's very useful on your exploring.   

 

BossMole is still on the 3rd floor of the mine. But this time BossMole has accompany a mole carrying chess called "Phon-Du". Very funny. You can refuse to re-fight him but that makes him dislike and even underestimating you. The choice is yours.

 

BossMole is pushover now thanks to Bowie Knife, mostly. It only takes 1 hit to defeat him. Scout_revenge08.wav

 

To prevent the lost, you can use deposit chest to store your equipment and item on your house (which is near the center of the town). You also can put your gold on this piggy bank(?) but the minimum amount to deposit is 1,000. If you have less, you can either bring it along with you or you can spend it all and put the purchased item at the deposit chest.

 

My first mission is to get Allie the daughter of blacksmith that went to forest earlier and also there's report that suspicious person is in there so she may or may not be in danger. In this forest many enemies has assistant to back them up. There's a way for me to get companion for myself but i will talk about it later. Anyway, the companions don't do combat on their own. In attacking phase, they only cast extra offensive skill when their main buddy has successfully hit me with its offensive skill. While in defending phase, they only cast extra defensive skill when their main buddy fails to counter with its defensive skill.   

The forest is filled with landmines! While ironically the mine doesn't have any landmine at all. :P

Luckily, i happen to have anti-trap item within my inventory so i can dodge this landmine. Anti-trap item works automatically and have chance to break when used.

I also happen to get bow that weaker than Bowie knife but gives me more boost on my speed and has more interesting weapon skills especially Prize Up that when used to defeat enemy, i will get more gold drop. But i will be honest i will replace it with Tornade that will decreases enemy's attack power when successfully hit.  

 

I forget to mention that you will start a roulette if you pick on chest/weapon/shield/item bag that lie on dungeon's floor. Fortunately, i get the item that whisks me to town "Homer" that's pretty rare. Demoman_sf13_influx_small04.wav

 

If you're really bad at roulette, you can get landmine inside the chest like i do here. Medic_jeers01.wav

 

So the blacksmith's daughter Allie is the annoying girl childhood friend of mine. Good to know. She spot some kind of pirate enter the temple ruin over there. Unlike what damsel in distress do, she goes after the pirate and i'm forced to get inside the ruins as well.  

 

Inside the temple, i encounter with this spearwoman and she took my super rare automatic-revive item. Heavy_jeers04.wav

 

Like in Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded, the maximum capacity of my inventory is 30 (equipped gears also take space on inventory) and i'm already out of inventory's space. So i use "Homer" and it makes me fly and drop me to near my house. Soldier_thanksfortheteleporter02.wav

 

Fortunately, the shops have restock their goods. I mention before that Homer is rare item and i can't buy it from shop. But i happen to find this "Store-It" item within the shop's inventory. It allows instant access to my chest on home. So you can retrieve or store item at dungeon safely. But remember that it's one use item. So make sure you transfer items necessarily and correctly before ending the use of the item. 

 

My bow get level up and i get to choose to replace current skills with either Red Card that makes enemy surrender within 25% chance and Pick-It that steal item from enemy. I remember the latter is the one that spearwoman used on me. I like to have direct revenge but i don't think it's worth it.   

 

Inside the temple ruins, there's Ostrich that looks like Pink Flamingo instead. I like to show you that but he runs away as soon as he get his attacking turn! Engineer_specialcompleted03.wav

 

Eventually i catch up with the pirates. They fight as main and assist. One of them snatch shield which i have a lots on my bag. So he helps me make space on my inventory. Demoman_thanks02.wav

 

The pirates are not tough to crack although they have lethal weapon skill. Then their leader named Ms. Vira comes out. Allie comments that Vira always get angry to her subordinates and she will get wrinkles soon. Can't accepting that, Vira  call her lion pet and attack me. Well done, Allie. [Temple of Doom-sized Sarcasm]  

 

Yeah sensible. Let your vicious pet to channel your wrath on me and not yourself do it. Sure, coward. As the appearance suggests, Damien the lion has brute strength. But he has low speed so if you build your character to have high speed stats, you have fairly good chance to dodge his basic attack. I can't capture proper screenshot of this boss fight because it's over pretty quick before i realize i don't take necessary screenshot. All i remember is, i can predict his offensive skill with consistent and i give him solid blow of my basic attack. The boss fight last for 3-5 rounds. 

 

After Damien is defeated, the pirates run with their tails between their legs. Allie wonder why pirates don't have ship and are in the land instead of wandering in seas. One of the pirates returns to explain that they don't have money to buy ship. They're comedic villain but they will come back for sure.

Next morning...    

 

Tobias the blacksmith is pleased that her daughter is return in one piece. Now her blacksmith service is open. I can combine unused gears to make (hopefully) better ones. When you picked one of equipment to combine, there's some equipment that will be in bold blue which signify that the crafting will make the more powerful gear if combined with it. Not only i get access to blacksmith service, but also i get 1,000 gold from Allie. Then she asks me to go with her to circus. Why not?

 

Turns out that the pirates run the circus and it's up to us to investigate that. By us, i mean i do all the exploring and battle while Allie practically does nothing. Anyway, i can capture enemy around here by using Trapper and Apple Food item. You can walk around elsewhere (but don't go to next floor!) and hope that someone get trapped. Some enemies chase after you when saw you so you can lure them. But most enemies run around randomly. Naturally you can set another trap to increase the chance but you need another 2 spaces in your inventory for that. Placing the trap on junction like here can be considered good idea to boost the chance. You can monitor your trap in map screen. There's message when someone get caught within your trap. So the game gives you decent feature in capturing enemy department.

 

I get myself some clown girl as my companion and i accept her for the sake of my nostalgia. Ok. That's it for now.

 

Tycoon Corporation's Dokapon - Monster Hunter (2001/2002) is unique solo RPG on Gameboy Advance. The gameplay can be difficult and rough especially when you start new game. It doesn't take itself too seriously. There's some 4th wall breaking comedy or simple funny humor. I suggest you play this via emulation because bad saving system that i mentioned. I like the battle system that alternate between attack and defend turn which makes me consider about upgrading my defense. The guessing nature of skill is pretty finicky to me. I mean you can see the preference from each enemy with trial and error. But it's fairly often that they have more than 1 preference on choosing their skills. To make things worse, it seems enemies on later section have deadlier offense skills on every slot. Here's the example: On circus, i meet mini mouse that look adorable but very hard to deal. First, he has higher speed stats so my basic attack isn't so reliable. Second, he has so many skill that deal damage and the one who makes me stunned thus winning the rock-paper-scissor game becomes very difficult because i can't predict which one that he will cast. You can escape the battle pretty easily unlike other RPG that's determined by unseen random chance but you will drop random item on your inventory everytime you escape the battle which is fine by me because i always fill my inventory with lots of stuffs. On the other hand, enemies will drop item when they escape the battle but you gain no experience and gold. There's lots of unique yet rare use item like Store-It (that allow you to store/retrieve items from your chest in the middle of dungeon), Revival, Homer, Magic Eye (that allow you to see the starting turn cards on battle), or drink that allow you to move faster than the enemies in dungeon thus allow you to avoid them. The offense and defense skills are ranged from bit trivial to very interesting. The music may be grating but i like the battle theme. It's cheerful and full of spirit.   

Overall, Dokapon - Monster Hunter (2001/2002) is pretty obscured and interesting RPG. It's easy to learn but the difficulty is pretty random thanks to the Rock-Paper-Scissor system of the skill. On top of that the unfair saving system makes the game arguably unwinnable. But on the bright side, you can't totally lose the game as you keep your level. I would like to give this game A-grade recommendation but i give it B-grade ones instead. You can give it a go on note that you better has save/load state on your disposal. I also like to impart you with some tips should you play this game: Use "stronger", and "harder" item before any hard battle. It will save your time in battle big time.

Lastly, i like to apologize that i publish this article very late. My new job makes me away from my laptop for very long time. But i promise that i still keep writing.

 

Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (PS2)

 On this occasion i will take a quick look on Tactical RPG with the title a kind of B-movie. I'm talking about Nippon Ichi Software's Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (2007). 

That's some majestic insignia. As for the sword, you can guess that there's something malevolent about that dark sword. I heard that this game will get remastered in future and i'm quite agree with that. Because this is RPG, there's not much significant setting on option menu so i hit the "New Game" menu immediately.

 

I hope you like RPG with historical narration complete with fictional date because this game is the one. There's not much text on each period while we have to go through many year periods: 525 TA, 535 TA, 550 TA, and so on. The narration is followed by some scenery and that man who keep walking to the right. I don't know what's the deal with him. Maybe he's the one who's the voice actor of the narration. So far the story is: there's warring period like in Feudal Japan age then a victor comes out from that war and unites nations around. His name is Lord Median. But then there's time when he and his son decease. With no king to unite them, they go into warring state again. People are just stupid like that. Embrace war and learn no lesson in history.     

 

At year 550 TA, Lord Median's daughter Layna become the great leader and makes them sign peace treaty. But 50 years after that a shadow and 3 Behemoths make destruction in this world. Layna manages to banish said shadow along with herself. With that the 3 Behemoths lie dormant and peace restored once again. 

 

Finally at year 800 TA, in some hidden village. A lad listens to frustration of his childhood friend because she doesn't get to be town guardian and she begins to blame on him. Unfortunately, he's me the usual silent protagonist unless the game gives me dialogue option. You can choose the hero's gender and name. The default name is "Revya" which is quite appropriate name for both female and male protagonist. But i stick with "Izenger" because i'm weird like that.

 

My childhood friend named Danette, assumes that Lady Layna thinks that she's too weak to be town guardian thus she half-heartedly do the 2,327th sparring with me. It's obviously excuse to bring tutorial to the player. It's all simple. I move then end turn. Next, i move next to her, attack, then end turn.  

 

I kind of disappointed that i become the usual swordsman protagonist. But every time i attack, i unleash 2 combo hits. Any RPG that allows me to get more than 1 hit from basic attack is very interesting to me.

 

Then Danette unleash a special move on me but most of her hit only inflict 0 amount of damage. Then i retaliate with basic attack but with critical chance kicks in which inflict significantly more damage than her flashy move. With that, her hitpoint drops to 0 and training is over.  

 

Then Lady Layna summons us and finally decide to make us town guardian. Danette is happy about that. I'm also happy too because i'm free from her same ol' complaint. Lady Layna summons bunch of divine weapon for Danette to choose. If the weapon can be summoned like that instead of making it from scratch, i feel sorry for blacksmith in this world.       

 

Once i get my turn, Lady Layna give this wretched sword even though there's more weapons on that previous bunch. I know that i'm supposed to be the chosen one. But i don't appreciate that you give me this sword that emits darkness and doesn't watch its vocabulary well.     

 

Suddenly i have conversation with this shady guy, inside of me! You can already tell that this guy is rude and ruthless, that's because he's the one who make wanton destruction 200 years ago. Also that Lady Layna is that the one who seal this schmuck into the sword. You notice he cues a part of title "The World Eaters"? The mentioned 3 Behemoths are these World Eaters. For some reason they're awake now and the thing that baffles me the most is Lady Layna gives me task to hunt them down by using the power of their master! And somehow Gig is fine with killing their former minions. He's really heartless git. That's it! I would like to call you Git, instead.

Lady Layna announces to other villagers that i have the great (evil) power to take some serious business with The World Eaters and they should help with all their might. Later, she asks Danette to talk in private. Then i have these options. Waiting someone that talk in private usually takes very long time and waste my time inefficiently. Taking a bath after the training may be good idea. But since Git resides on my body, i will feel less relaxed to take a bath with him around me. Thus i visit graveyard.

 

Thanks for the pun, Mr. Obvious! The graveyard is filled with the dead not only from this village but also from other villages that get obliterated by the World Eaters. Later he gives me a lecture that these victim's souls are safe in afterlife and his excuse for that: because he's humanitarian or so he said.  

Later at night...

 

I have a dream where Gig ruins the world 200 years ago. He tells one of the World Eaters to destroy a castle and it does what it told. It shoot laser at the castle and blinding explosion happens. Gig is very pleased and laugh maniacally. 

 

Gig doesn't like me looking at his dream. Once i see a dream that contains your personal embarrassing moment, i will show you who's the boss. >:)

On next day...

 

You can talk to NPCs in this village but that's about it. The option with exclamation mark means it's the option that you need to choose to progress the plot. Thus i leave the village and later the Watchman tells me to pretend that this village never exist and don't come back here unless i defeat The World Eaters. What a supportive manner [Medium Sarcasm]

 

But wait! Danette wants to go with me and i can dominate her right away...that sounds revolting. Actually, it means she's on my recruit list besides neutral units that i can recruit but we will talk about it further later.

 

Once i leave the village, Gig gives me tutorial about forming a party. This party space is called "room" for some reason. The more unit within a room, the more leader number stats i get. As for what leader number stats does, i'm afraid i don't have clue about it. Maybe the more leader number stats in a room, the stronger the units within it. The leader unit is definitely me. If i'm defeated, my party will be defeated as well and also fail on mission. Putting me on back position is neat idea and Gig agrees with that. For starter, Gig recruits Pyremage, Cleric, and swordsman.

 

I can choose to do reckon to see the situation of upcoming battle. I kind of faltered because enemies has 3 squads while i only have 1 squad. I remind you that this is the first real battle. Can i win this?

 

Then Gig gives me words about [Skills] and [Combos]. I can only use them if my squad's STM is below 80%. One important question: What the heck is STM, Gig? What it does for me? Oh, he's gone. Very helpful [Large Sarcasm]

 

I thought that i have to move and/or take action for each unit that i control. Turns out, the battle involves entire squad and engage automatically. Cleric on rear position will heals all members before other take action. Me on middle position will shoot plasma bomb from my sword. I bet i can do more damage if i use it in melee manner if i position myself at the front row but i don't want to take a risk. Be mindful that your squad or enemy's will always retaliate after attack. Attacking first can give you advantage (such as have chance to eliminate enemy's unit or get healed earlier) but you still have to be aware of enemy's retaliation.

 

After more combat section, i have access to attack skill "Holy Justice" which requires me and Danette on same group. Not only it will allow you to unleash more powerful attack than regular one, but also it gives enemy's group extra beating as the skill executed after regular combat session! But do mind that you only limited by number when unleashing this special attack for the rest of the battle. For instance "Holy Justice" can only be performed once per battle.    

 

Enemy's pyremage can conjure fire on us outside of battle. As i don't deploy any mage, i don't get to do that on enemy. But overall, the battle is pretty easy. Especially when one of the enemy's group consist of clerics on front line while the swordsman on middle line! Scout_domination05.wav

Back to squad arranging, i find out that Danette can be positioned everywhere even to rear position but i have to preserve myself. Sorry, dudette. I think all of melee units can be stationed in middle line but they will deal less damage Like Swordsman will throw stone instead of using his sword. I have no idea what "select" button does here which could be essential. All this time i only use "Cross" button to confirm and "Circle" button to cancel. Mostly. ;p  

 

Initially, i want to go to Astec town for preparation but Danette want to go to the other way which lead to nearest World Eater! I can't leave her alone to fight the behemoth. So  i'm forced to go along with her.

 

Besides the attack skill, i also have Tactic skill that can boost my stats temporarily. The problem is: what ACT stats does? I know CRT is the critical chance of my attack. But ACT? No idea at all.

 

Yeah. No kidding, dudette. And remember your thought to defeat that big thing by yourself! Don't chicken out now there!  

 

Another thing that surprises Danette is now he can hear Gig's voice too. The reason why Gig call her "cow", that's because her race "Sepp" is practically anthropomorphism of cow. She has cow bell as her necklace and earrings, see? She is having trouble with remember Gig's name even though it's simple and that makes Gig boiling. I imagine she most likely doesn't remember my name and i'm fine by being called "you" everytime by her up to this point.

 

We also spot some seedy mysterious persons nearby. It goes without saying that they're more powerful than our rag-tag band. Could it be that man with bandage is that person walking on narration? Then they disappear without trace.

 

Now you telling me what STM is. Much appreciated, git. [Small Sarcasm]

STM stands for Stamina whenever my squad moves or attack. My squad can replenishes stamina by ending turn without making any action. Keeping STM high is important to keep your squad's stats high. But without dropping it to at least 80%, my squad can't unleashes special attack. So it's quite balance. By the way, we have to fight against soldiers that guard The World Eater because they don't want anyone (e.g. us) to agitate it and later becomes more active on destroying civilizations. Reasonable but coward, they are.

 

On top of that, they're quite pushover. Their leader who's the bloke with heavy armor is more challenging as he can deal and take damage more than those soldiers. His description says that he's weak to magic attack. But my formation of fighters + healer still work well against him.

 

Sometime when making plot progress, i'm rewarded with new room type. Also i get new unit type to recruit. By looking at his description, you know the characteristic of Soldier. He's weak and cheap. Probably not worth the money and i better stick to employ swordsman. By the way, the currency in this game is GP that stands for Gig points. It's not something more sensible like Gold points or whatnot. But it's kind of logical as i use his power to make squad up to this point. I can hire higher level units with more GP cost which is more practical than leveling them up from winning battles. Do note that their level can't be higher than the Hero's.

 

When i'm in the middle of the changing the rooms, Kotaro voluntarily fills a room. But once i change the rooms again, he's gone and never to be seen again. I'm not bright.

 

On next battle, i summon the new squad that i made before. Every battle always start with my one and only squad. I can summon up to 2 more with GP cost. Also i have to arrange where they spawn. The process is kind of like playing Tetris. Funny.

Creating new squad means someone else has to be its leader. As i mentioned before that, the squad will be wiped out if the leader is defeated. So the leader must be either durable or in rear position. Choosing leader also determines what Tactic they can use. For example, Pyremage leader can cast Terror Blaze outside of battle. As for special attack, it's determined by squad's composition. The hero and Danette can do the aforementioned Holy Justice when they're on same group. Sometime you earn other special attack if you put 2 same units of certain type on same group.

 

The mysterious person appear once more. The world eater unleash giant laser at them but the bandaged guy manage to block it like it was nothing. But once my squad approach the behemoth, we get annihilated instantly. Medic_sf13_magic_reac02.wav

 

I lost conscious again and Gig offers me greater power at the cost of my whole body. We all know that skull symbol means bad so i decline his offer. Naturally, he doesn't like my choice but he has to oblige and we retreat instead.

 

We successfully retreat but we are about to get mugged by this wizard that claim to be famous. Of course we don't take this kindly.  

 

Dio, the rogue wizard claims that he has reliable subordinates: 2 beasts and a warrior. One wolf arrives just in time, followed by another one that comes bit late. Lastly a farmer who's told to be the powerful warrior, arrives at the scene and he complaints about how long he has to run to get here and he has to take care his crops. What a hilarious idiot.

 

This time Gig introduce me with [Gig Edict] which is basically usable item such as for healing and decreasing enemy's stats. This is kind of unusual because before access to this [Gig Edict], i can only heal by using healing magic which is the opposite of most JRPG where i can only heal by using item.

 

They consist of 1 unit for each squad. The farmer is pushover but the wolves are serious threat because they can take and deal big damage. As for the wizard, he can unleash magic outside of battle that inflict heavy damage. When he said he wants to kill us, he very means it. Maybe the idea is: i have to distract him by summoning another group but i forgot to do that. Summoning need the currency. If we take too many casualty (including from secondary team), i receive less GP. But it's better than losing the battle by letting me defeated.

 

Eventually, we manage to approach him. Then i unleash "Demon Blast" move where i slash my target repeatedly then my hair turns white as if i become Gig himself while the sword turns into wicked scythe. Here he looks like slices in halved but he's fine on next scene and he will be back to make my day with hilarity. By winning this battle, i unlock new unit type: Bareknuckle the bare-handed fighter (which is the farmer's class) and Wolf. Obviously the latter is great because they are "tank" with ability to deal big damage as well.  

 

Gig grows tired of Danette so he wants to get rid of her. How he does that? He tricks her in style akin of classic cartoon. He said that she needs Crimson Tear to get into Astec Town nearby which is obviously lie. Then he told her that there's one buried near that tree and she proceed to dig for it. For ruthless person, his idea of getting rid of someone here is straight hilarious. By the way, i already got Crimson Tear from Lady Layna and i emerged with Gig in process.

 

I have unlock some room type. The initial type room: Open Area, doesn't have any decoration. Decoration is passive effect that set within a room. Some come within a room which usually last permanently. While other can be set whatever you desire but the effect only last for one battle. The red room "Gladiatorium" has permanent decoration: Death Charge which increase the squad's attack by 5% for every block they move. While the green room "Security room" has permanent decoration "Steel Form" that increase the squad's defense power drastically when they take defense state. As for the temporary decorations, they're rather interesting such as boost stats of certain unit or increase entire squad's unit when in certain terrain. You change all of the room at once by pressing "cross" button. You can choose to lock up to 2 rooms that you like in design menu. The thing is: the room change is entirely random. Each room change in type and slot configuration. I'm baffled that i can't seem to get the first room with 2 front slots, 1 middle slot, and 1 rear slot because it's the best setup in my opinion. It's natural that enemies inflict damage in more even distributed if they attack 2 front liners than only 1 front liner.

 

I can get more GP and Experience point by going through non-plot mission called "Inspection". But it's not as easy as it sounds. As you can see i'm heavily outnumbered here and i have to fight against unit type that new to me. Because there's no GP cost upon summoning, i should be more active on summoning backup. But i'm stupid and coward, i choose to defend all the time and let the mission turn runs out. I won that way but with least reward. Winning Inspection mission rewards me with Room Points that i can use to upgrade unit in the room that takes the Inspection mission. There's mission's boss that you can take on for extra reward if you're able to, that is. Do note that if you're defeated here, it's game over.

 

Meanwhile Danette still digging for the precious gem. Even though she's still there digging a big hole, i can still use her in my squad. Maybe that's the reason why the unit in my squad called manikin. It's like imitation doll that you can bring anywhere to battle regardless the origin whereabouts. Anyway, i'm done for now.

 

Nippon Ichi Software's Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (2007) is pretty interesting Tactical RPG. But like Disgaea or Tactic Ogre - Let's Cling Together, i feel thrown out/overwhelmed by some gameplay mechanism. In SN&TWE's case, it's the way to upgrading my squad. The "Inspection" mission feels very rude and very punishing if you fail on it. Yes, it's optional mission but there's big priority to take it because i want to upgrade my squad. On the bright side, the battle system is refreshing take on Tactical RPG. I control one squad instead of each and every unit. Thus the battle's pace is pretty brisk. Then there's the skill or tactic you can cast outside of battle that can help you to win the battle. I can't see the balance of unit variety. I have simple mind. I certainly recruit those wolves and ignore frail cheaper unit like soldier, bandit, or bareknuckle. Sure, the wolves are the most expensive unit so far and contribute leader number stats the least but i still think they're the most useful ones. Maybe the idea is you create a sacrificial squad that consists of cheap units. Have them fight, not to defeat the enemies but only to weaken them (reducing their STM). But do mind that big casualty penalizes you with lesser GP reward. Speaking of GP, i continue the game off-the-record and i end up with tons of GP. I can use it to buy decorations or Gig Edicts (that come within limited stock) but they're pretty cheap. So i don't know what to do with it except summoning more squad in next battle. I wish i can upgrade my unit with said currency but apparently i can't. I need the Room Points instead. I also wish that there's more convenience on changing the rooms. The randomness against my liking most of the time. There's also the usual damage modification based on terrain like in War 2410. The graphic of the 2D and 3D art is quite great. The voice acting is pretty entertaining. I can't remember the music. Usually i can remember the battle theme but not this time. Sorry. But i believe it's quite good.

 

I don't know why they make Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (2007) with such complexity that doesn't match to my liking and mind. I like the simplicity of Battle Moon Wars the most. Even so, i like the battle system and probably continue the game once in a while. The story also interesting. And Gig, well. He's fairly interesting git. That's all i can say.