Battling Evil with Extreme Cosplay! Let's Play Tales of the World: ND3!

[Mirrinus]

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Well, you guys voted for it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157485), so here it is! Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 is one of the escort titles of the Tales series of action RPGs. The series is very popular in Japan, but not so much elsewhere due to the fact that less than half of the Tales games have been localized in the West. This title, too, has never seen an English release, so I'll be working with a partial translation patch, which translates most of the menus and about 5-10% of the dialogue.

Since most of the story will be in Japanese, I'll be doing my best to make up as much as possible to fill in the gaps. Sure, I know the gist of the basic story, but there's a lot of work cut out for me regardless. Let's hope you'll have just as much fun reading it as I do writing it. Especially when it comes to skits, lol.

First off, let's get some logistics out of the way. This game features over three dozen different playable characters from the first five Tales games: Phantasia, Destiny, Eternia, Destiny II, and Symphonia. Luckily, we get four parties of three characters each to try them out in. While we'll have to recruit most of the first, eventually we'll have more characters than available slots, so that's where you'll all come in. I'd like you guys to help me decide who to use for each chapter. I'll explain the rules for deciding teams when we get there. And just a head's up, which skits I unlock depends largely on which characters I used during the preceeding mission, so there's some incentive right there to dictate what happens during this Let's Play.

Speaking of logistics, my plan for the format of this LP is to write from the first-person perspective of a different character each chapter (with the Prologue as the exception). Which character I choose will depend on who I'm using, of course, so that's another reason to vote on who to use. I'll go ahead and admit that I'm not quite as familiar with Team Destiny as I am with the rest, but I'll do my best. And as a last word of caution, don't expect this to get too serious. The Tales series is well-known for making fun of itself, after all.

Since there's a ton of characters in this game, I'll be including a list of characters we've met/recruited, to be updated after every chapter.

********************
Cast of Characters

Playable Characters

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Frio Sven - A carefree boy with a tendency to take things too lightly, but still holds a strong sense of justice. He is able to acquire the abilities and attributes of anyone he dresses up as.
Available Outfits: Swordsman, Thief, Cleric

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Kyaro Orange - An honest and hard-working girl with somewhat of a short temper, especially towards Frio. Like Frio, she's able to acquire the abilities and attributes of anyone she dresses up as.
Available Outfits: Fighter, Scholar

Tales of Destiny:

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Philia Felice - An apprentice acolyte of the Straylize Temple who also happens to dabble as a scientist. She is kind, polite, and naive, always willing to believe the best in people. Despite being a priestess and despite her enormous sword, she deals in neither healing nor melee, instead specializing in powerful attack spells using her sword as a conduit.

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Mary Argent - A traveling mercenary who suffers from some form of amnesia. She searches for clues to her unknown past. She's normally easy-going, but can fly into a rage in battle. She is a strong woman who wields a large axe to deliver powerful melee blows.

Tales of Destiny 2:

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Kyle Dunamis: The son of two great heroes, who also aspires to be a hero himself. Like his father, he's not very bright and often has difficulty waking up, but has plenty of enthusiasm and hot-bloodedness to make up for his other shortcomings. In battle, he shows himself to be a capable swordsman with some minor attack magic spells.

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Loni Dunamis: A tough young man who grew up in the same orphanage as Kyle, and treats him like a close older brother. He's hot-headed but laid-back, and thinks himself to be somewhat of a ladies' man. He supplements his strong axe blows with some offensive and healing magic.

Tales of Symphonia:

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Raine Sage: A schoolteacher from the small town of Iselia. She is a somewhat cold and methodical woman who tends to have difficulty trusting others. However, she often drops her stern composure when in the presence of historical ruins, which are her one obsession in life. In battle, she specializes in healing spells and light-elemental magic.

NPCs

Dr. Brown: A scientist who discovered and fixed up a machine that can traverse time and space. He is currently leading more expeditions into the Lemi Ruins, where the ancient machine was found.

Dr. White: Dr. Brown from 100 days into the future, who asks to be called Dr. White to avoid confusing the two. After the Epoch was stolen, he managed to find a fix a second version of it. He comes from the future to warn everyone about a great disaster that destroys the town. However, he is unwilling to reveal all that he knows about the future.

Dio and Mel: A pair of twins who run the Narikiri outfit shop. They were the protagonists of Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon
Their real names are Dios and Meltia, and in their past life they lived on the planet of Derris-Kharlan, where the elves of Phantasia/Symphonia were originally from. Prior to Phantasia, they were scientists involved in a great war between two nations on Derris-Kharlan. They built the legendary Mana Cannon, but before they could use it the king of the enemy nation, Dhaos, had conquered their city and killed Meltia. In revenge, before his death Dios activated the Mana Cannon, wiped out most of Dhaos' forces, and destroyed the Great Mana Tree of Derris-Kharlan in the process. This forced Dhaos to find a new seed for the Mana Tree to save his planet, so he turned to the world of Aselia, where the events of Phantasia soon took place.

However, the summon spirit of the Derris Kharlan tree, Norn, was still alive, although she had lost faith in humanity. As a test, she takes the two whom she blames for the death of the tree, Dios and Meltia, and lets them reincarnate as the twins Dio and Mel. Eventually, they go on a journey of discovery, meeting the cast of Phantasia in the process, and wind up defeating their past selves and erasing their own existance, proving to Norn that humanity can change. Finally learning to forgive them, Norn brings them back as normal children and lets them live out their lives in peace

Ken and Linda: A pair of children who live in the same town as Frio and Kyaro. I honestly have no clue what role they're suppose to play, as none of their text is translated.

Villains

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Elraine - The priestess of the goddess Fortuna and villain of Tales of Destiny 2. She seeks to create a world of peace and secruity by ridding it of emotion and free will. To accomplish this, she began to tamper with history itself, and revived two powerful warriors to aid her in her quest.

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Barbatos Goetia - A ruthless ancient warrior whom history remembers as a traitor. He was brought back to life by Elraine and given a chance to rewrite the past to make himself a legend, in exchange for him eliminating her enemies. Also known as the "Killer of Heroes."
********************
Index

Storyline Chapters

Prologue (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8815922&postcount=2)
Chapter 1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8823926&postcount=3) - Laguna Ruins (Tales of Destiny 2)
Chapter 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8919088&postcount=14) - Lemi Ruins 1
Chapter 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8945936&postcount=20) - Straylize Temple (Tales of Destiny)

Skits

To Be a Hero (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8829157&postcount=10)
A Teacher's Spirit (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8926412&postcount=17)
Memories (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8977654&postcount=22)

[Mirrinus]

Let's Play Tales of the World - Prologue

In one corner of the multiverse, there exists a world where many legends of heroes, known as the Tales legends, were passed down. In this world, there lies the town of Alcome. After a great earthquake that occurred several years ago, the ruins of an ancient civilization were accidentally discovered at the outskirts of town.

The central figure of the excavation survey was a man named Dr. Brown. His assistants were a bright and energetic boy and girl who greatly admired the heroes of legend. While exploring the ruins, the group discovered an ancient and mysterious device, thought to be able to transcend time and space. Dr. Brown took it upon himself to repair the device. Today, it seems his work is nearly complete.


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The young boy and girl were excited for the opportunity to get to me their fabled heroes. The good doctor promised them that tomorrow, the machine will be fully functional. As a final touch, he asked them to name the amazing device.


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The boy, Frio Svens, and the girl, Kyaro Orange, could scarcely contain their excitement for tomorrow. That night, before going to bed, they decided to read through some of their favorite legends in anticipation for the next day.


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However, something was amiss. Some parts of one of the legends seemed to have changed, becoming darker and more depressing. Confused about the matter, the pair decided to just ignore the change, writing it off as either a mistranslation or perhaps someone's idea of a practical joke. The two went to bed soon after, with any apprehension they held drowned out by their boundless excitement.


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The next day, Frio and Kyaro woke up to the cries of Dr. Brown, screeching about something terrible that just happened at the lab. Reminded of what they had read the previous night, the two kinds took a second look at the book of legends. To their horror, the beginning of one of the stories had been drastically altered. The hero was nowhere to be found, yet the villain had appeared right from the start. Could this have anything to do with the heinous incident that Dr. Brown had cried out about?


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At the lab, Dr. Brown broke the horrible news that someone had stolen the Epoch. His worst fears were confirmed by what Frio and Kyaro had noticed with the changed legends: someone was using the Epoch to alter history itself. But with the only such device now gone, our protagonists stood no chance of setting right what had just gone wrong. That is, until a rip in the space/time continuum appeared right next to them.


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A second Epoch, different in color, landed in front of our astonished group. Out stepped a man with white hair who looked remarkably familiar. He introduced himself as Dr. Brown from 100 days into the future, and asked to be called Dr. White for the time being. Dr. White explained that some time into the future, he would find a second device in the ruins and restore it. However, he also came bearing a somber tale of warning.


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100 days from now, a great disaster will befall the town. Frio and Sven would use the Epoch in an attempt to resolve it, but the Epoch would soon return empty with their whereabouts unknown. Now Dr. White has used it to return back to this present day, to prevent such a future from occurring. However, to ensure their safety, he did not come alone. Dr. White had brought with him several distinguished individuals to aid them in this crisis.


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From the Destiny legends came Stahn Aileron, Mary Argent, and Mighty Kongman. Out of the Eternia legends stepped Reid Hershel, Farah Oersted, and Keele Zeibel. And finally, hailing from the Symphonia legends were Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel, and Genis Sage.

There was one more person that Dr. White had brought along, with specific instructions to keep a close eye on Frio and Kyaro. Naturally, this was someone with experience in such matters.


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With Raine Sage as their mentor, the young duo eagerly set off to make right once again the legends of old. With their idolized heroes by their side, they felt that there was nothing in the world that could stop them. Together, they embarked on amazing journey of treacherous perils and amazing discoveries across many worlds of wonder.

The two doctors bid them good luck and godspeed.


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Let me just say, the Prologue is very different from how the rest of the LP will turn out. For starters, I have a ton of dialogue screenshots, which of course will be toned down when it's all in moonrunes anyway. Second, I'll have characters narrate from now on.

Of course, the machine isn't really called the Epoch. I just like that name a lot.

[Mirrinus]

Let's Play Tales of the World - Chapter 1


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Good day. My name is Raine Sage, a schoolteacher from Iselia and archeology enthusiast. I hope to present a factual and comprehensive record of what has just transpired today, however wild it may seem, and I implore you to pay careful attention to what I have to say.

I normally do not venture far away from Iselia, so imagine my surprise when a strange machine suddenly appeared right outside the schoolhouse! Of course Lloyd was the first to bolt out the door, ignoring the fact that my lesson wasn't even over yet. Colette and my younger brother Genis eventually followed along, so reluctantly I had to send the other children home and supervise their petty curiosity. I still owe Lloyd a good scolding for that later.

Accompanying the machine was a professional-looking man with glasses and white hair. He begged us to come with him to help resolve some sort of crisis. I'm not really sure how he knew who we were or even why he chose us; after all, we were but a humble schoolteacher and her three students. He had a few other people with him, who introduced themselves with as little pomp as we had. A farm girl, a mercenary, a gladiator, a university student...these didn't look very distinguished either, but the man in white insisted that we were the ones he needed.

The man said something about history being rewritten, but didn't have time to tell us everything, so he made us come along while promising to explain later. Lloyd and Colette jumped at his request; it's probably physically impossible for those two to say no to someone asking for help. Personally, I had some deep reservations about going with a stranger like this, but I couldn't persuade the kids to change their minds. Grudgingly, I went along to keep an eye on them, knowing that they needed someone to be cautious on their behalf.


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Our eventual destination was some sort of ruin shrouded in trees. The architecture of the place looked different from anything I had ever seen! Clearly, this place has been abandoned for a very long time, as evidenced by the encroaching footfalls of nature. Oh, it just pains me to see such historical gems being slowly eroded by neglect and disrepair! How could anyone treat such a priceless piece of history in such a disrespectful fashion?! Or has this place remained untouched by humanity for eons? What if I were to be the first to study this place? Ooh, I'm getting so excited just thinking about it!!!

What's that, Lloyd? Why, how rude! What do you mean by "maniac"? Of course I'm in control of myself! I'm fine, thank you. Anyways...

Our group was joined by a pair of youngsters named Frio Sven and Kyaro Orange. I agreed to keep an eye on them, as they seemed untrained in the art of combat, whereas my students are capable of handling themselves in battle. The kids told me about their power to gain fighting styles and artes from the special clothing they wear, so I convinced our allies to first let them test out their ability. Of course, I would be accompanying them to ensure their safety. With that, Frio pulled out a sword and shield, while Kyaro donned a pair of leather gloves.


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If we're going to take these two wet-behind-the-ears kids along, they're going to need some combat experience, and there's only one way to get it. Luckily, they seemed pretty eager to get started. Actually, they seem pretty eager for everything in general. It's this generation gap, I swear...


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The kids did adequately for their first battle, although their basic grasp of artes was still undeveloped. Simply running and slashing might work for your common everyday slimes and insects, but for more heartier fare they'll need to learn how to combo with their strikes and artes to achieve better results. For now, though, I wanted to turn their attention to a different task at hand.

A little deeper into the ruins, we came across some locked doors. Thinking that perhaps their ability to change attributes might be of use here, I suggested that they try to come up with a way to open these chambers.


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Understanding what I was getting at, Frio changed into a thief's apparel and picked the locks on the chamber doors. I congradulated him on his use of the abilities available to him, and instructed the others to collect the treasure while we kept the hall clear of enemies. It was Kyaro's turn to lead our party and exercise her combat prowess.


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With my magic keeping us healed, we fended off a vicious bugbear and some other stronger foes. The kids performed better than I had anticipated, but given that this was still their first real battle experience, I sensed that they were soon approaching their limit. I let them rest a bit while gesturing for our other allies to take over with exterminating the remainder of the hostile monsters in the area.


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As I expected, our other allies were much more adept at combat. Genis, Lloyd, and Colette I had already known about, for even though they are still just children, they have fought their share of monsters surrounding Iselia. Lloyd has been teaching himself swordsmanship for years now, and while his form is still very crude and undeveloped, he tries hard and is not one to give up. Genis has been a prodigy at magic for as long as I can remember. Colette, meanwhile, is normally kept away from these things due to her role as the next Chosen of Regeneration, but even she could not resist accompanying her best friends when they venture out into the wilderness without any supervision. These I have observed as their teacher.

Our other parties, though, I had never met until now, so understandably I am unfamiliar with their fighting styles. Reid Hershel, as he introduced himself, seemed to be a simple country boy who learned to fight as a monster hunter for his village. His childhood friend, Farah Oersted, claimed to be just a farmer, but I really can't fathom where she learned to fight like that if that's really all she is. I found it especially surprising that she could wear a dress while fighting hand-to-hand. Their other friend, Keele Zeibel, was a dour young man who seemed to be well-educated, but acted somewhat rude and upset. I'd venture to guess that he didn't want to come along on this trip either, but was dragged along by his friends. I understand only too well.


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Following the path of the ruins, we were led to an alter that was sealed off by some sort of complicated mechanism. I took a look at the design, and even though I soon realized how to operate it, I wanted to give the kids I was with one more test of their abilities. This time Kyaro complied, putting on an outfit that would not look out of place at a university's graduation. Perhaps this came with a magical boost to her intellect, I do not know. However, it did seem to aid her as she solved the contraption and opened the path up to the alter.


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Standing at the alter was a woman dressed in a long, white robe. She introduced herself as Elraine, priestess of the goddess Fortuna, who has come to wait for a certain someone to appear. Standing nearby were a man and a woman who looked rather suspicious, but they kept their distance as if they were only observing the situation.

Frio and Kyaro immediately burst out shouting, proclaiming that this woman in white was the villain from the legend they had read. I was confused by their outburst, but the last group of our allies stepped up and believed the kids. I believe they gave their names as Stahn Aileron, Mary Argent, and Mighty Kongman, who also goes by Bruiser Kong. Stahn insisted that he be the one to challenge the woman in white. I tried to reason with him to think this through first, but someone told me he probably wasn't the intellectual type who would listen to reason. I suppose it's all as well. His team was the oldest and presumably most experienced of us all, so it was understandable that they should be the best choice to challenge the supposed villain.


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Elraine brandished a dual spear weapon of some sort, but it soon became apparent that her forte lies in magic rather than might. Unfortunately for her, the three fighters did not let up with their relentless assault, keeping her from effectively using her magic. It seems she did not expect whoever she was waiting for to have been much of a threat to her in battle, and was thus caught completely off-guard by these battle-thirsty brutes. Sensing that her plan had failed, she soon retreated by teleporting herself away.

With the woman in white gone, all attention turned to the other pair that stood nearby. Everyone immediately recognized that the machine they had with them was none other than the first Epoch, the duplicate of which had brought us all here. While I cautiously stood back to keep Frio and Kyaro safe, everyone else lunged at the duo together. Am I really the only one here with enough sense to hang back in case of a trap?


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In a flash, the unnamed duo activated the machine in an attempt to escape. With everyone else crowded around them, though, the machine nabbed them all together. With a blast of light, all had disappeared from right before us. This is a very distressing matter indeed.

With just the two costume kids left with me, I had to contemplate what our next move should be. Just then, we heard voices coming from behind us.


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Two young men had arrived at the ruins. The younger looked to be in his teens, while the other was probably several years older. Just as they had arrived, the giant sphere on the alter began to shine as well. To everyone's surprise, out stepped a young girl. I suppose these would be the people the woman in white was waiting for.

The young girl softly declared that she was looking for a hero. Predictably, the younger of the two boys enthusiastically volunteered, only to have his offer be shot down immediately by the girl. She wandered off on her own, leaving the boy she rejected quite visibly upset. I wonder what was going on, anyway?

Frio and Kyaro seemed to understand the situation, though. They rushed up to the boy and began calling him a hero on their own. This seemed to lift his spirits a bit, and he introduced himself as Kyle Dunamis. He called the other young man with them his brother, Loni Dunamis. They had set out on a quest together, but now it seems he's become fixated on becoming a "hero" for the girl they just met, whatever that means. Something tells me this boy was a few apple gels short of a full set, just like most of the other young men I've met today. But since Frio and Kyaro seemed to know so much about him already, they pleaded with the young men to come with us, which they agreed to.


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Using the Epoch 2, we returned to Frio and Kyaro's hometown. After breaking the news of what had happened to Dr. Brown and Dr. White, I agreed to stay with them for now and look for our missing comrades, at least until I had found all my students that had disappeared. As you would expect, I was quite upset at this turn of events, although still regrettably understandable that such a thing could happen. My students' impulsiveness were as much to blame as anything else, after all.


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Frio and Kyaro tried to cheer me up after the ordeal, and I thanked them for their effort. I had managed to pick up some of the items that our allies had left behind before disappearing, and gave them to the kids so that they'd perhaps find some way to use them, although I'm not sure what one could do with these things. There was a sweeping brush of some sort, a skirt dyed in unique and colorful hues, Colette's spare jacket, and one of my brother's toy kedamas.

The kids seemed to have an idea of what to do with them, though, and took me along to show me something in town.


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Besides the usual item store that one would expect in any town, there was a unique store run by a pair of silver-haired kids, who kindly introduced themselves as Dio and Mel. They ran a "narikiri" shop, which specialized in making the kind of magic clothing that Frio and Kyaro wear. Using items associated with a particular class, they can fashion new outfits for them to wear, for a price of course.

I thanked the kids for the short tour, and left to explore the town on my own. If I'm to solve this crisis, I'm going to need some time to think what our next step should be. But first, perhaps I ought to pay the doctors a visit and ask them for all they know about this whole strange ordeal.

~ Raine Sage

At this point, we still don't have enough characters to vary up our party much. However, we do have an opportunity to get a new job class for either Frio or Kyaro. Our funds only let us get one for just one of them, though. The available options are Archer and Cleric. Any suggestions as to who should get what?

In between storyline chapters, I'll also be doing some skits.

[Terraoblivion]

Get Frio the cleric outfit. Show him that despite what stories say men can be the ones who are stuck being wussy and slapping band-aids on his friends. It's a humbling experience that every male jRPG hero should have at least once.

[littlebottom]

personally, i agree, cleric in most games is a life saver. ive no idea how useful in this game though. but i think archer can come later when you have more money, i dont want to see dr. brown become dr. white(2) maybe clerics can heal hair damage?:smallamused:

[Mirrinus]

Get Frio the cleric outfit. Show him that despite what stories say men can be the ones who are stuck being wussy and slapping band-aids on his friends. It's a humbling experience that every male jRPG hero should have at least once.

That's...really not a big deal for the Tales series. Keele's the representative healer mage for Team Eternia, and Loni's outfit uses the male Cleric outfit as its base. In fact, I believe there's an equal number of characters with healing artes between males (Johnny, Keele, Loni, Kratos, Zelos, Regal) and females (Farah, Mint, Rutee, Reala, Harold, Raine).

The game tries to keep options between the genders equal, since there has to be some balance between Frio and Kyaro. Frio gets slightly more Tales character costumes, but Kyaro gets slightly more Cameo costumes (just wait till you see her KOS-MOS outfit!). The Tales series itself tends to have a relatively equal split between the genders, at least compared to most other RPGs.

(And for the record, I was usually main healer for my parties back when I played FFXI, and I liked it! I didn't trust anyone else with the job of keeping us alive.)

[Prime32]

Frio and Kyaro? Hmmm... (http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V5-T3VPCYzs/0.jpg)

As for their faces... (http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af275/umbrellako2/bibliooek.png)

[Mirrinus]

Heh, interesting coincidence with the names, but this game came out in January 2005, while StrikerS debuted in November 2006. Nice catch, though.

[Terraoblivion]

Now that you mention it, yeah, it is a nice coincidence.

And honestly, i was mostly joking, Mirrinus. I do think that cleric will be the best call, unless this game is massively different from most archer is not likely to be very good anyway.

[Mirrinus]

Skit - To Be a Hero


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Kyle: Arrgh! What could Reala have meant by "hero"? Aren't I a hero?

Frio: Well, why's that?

Kyle: I'm the son of two of the great heroes who saved the world from the Eye of Atamoni incident! Heroism runs in my blood!

Frio: Come on, that can't be the only thing that makes you a hero.

Kyle: Huh?

Frio: To start with, you've got to act more like a hero!

Kyle: Act more like a hero...what do you mean by that?

Frio: You gotta act tough! Stand tall! And start shouting!

Kyle: Shouting? What should I shout?

Frio: Well, for starters, you have to shout out all of your attacks in a really awesome and badass way.

Kyle: Oh, I think I already do that. In fact, pretty much everyone I know does.

Frio: Hmm, then what if you were to shout the name of that girl you were trying to impress? That should get her attention, right?

Kyle: Okay, that makes sense. Then here goes...Reala!

Frio: No, no, that's much too weak! You can do better than that!

Kyle: REALA!

Frio: Come on, keep going!

Kyle: RE-A-LA!!!

Frio: Good, now say "peach pie"!

Kyle: PEEEEAAACH PIIIEEE!!!

Loni: What's going on here?

Frio: *snicker* Oh, nothing.

Loni: Well, whatever it is you're doing, could you do it indoors? Some of us are trying to nap here.

Kyle: Hey, Loni, Loni! Have I become more heroic?

Loni: Eh? Well, let me put it this way: if we're ever being attacked by a monster weak to sonic attacks, we'll know which hero to call.

Kyle: All right! That's good enough for me!

Loni: Oh brother...

Ah, the Tales Series. Among other things, it's known for shouting. Lots of shouting. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZDW3xtHAxU&fmt=18)

So this is the general structure for the skits that I'll be sprinkling in between chapters. Any thoughts or suggestions on improvement?

[Domochevsky]

I have no idea what's going on with these people. @_@

*doesn't know crap about any of these games, thus all the names are meaningless to him*

[Mirrinus]

I think perhaps I was a bit too hasty in starting this up while I still had a LP to finish up. That and the translation patch for Tales of Innocence was just released, and I'm currently a bit too distracted with that. I believe I will postpone this LP for...oh, about a week's time. That should hopefully give me enough time to both finish my Touhoumon LP and get through ToI.

My apologies, but rest assured that I've no intention of this being my first abandoned LP.

[Eliirae]

Yeah, when I saw this I was thinking it would probably be a better idea if you finished up your touhoumon LP first, that way you only have to focus on one LP and one storyline at a time. It's all up to you of course, I'm just a lurker :P

[Mirrinus]

Let's Play Tales of the World - Chapter 2


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...ugh...

...hmph...

...Please, Mommy, just five more minutes...

...Gwah! What's that loud noise? How's a guy suppose to get any sleep around here?


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*Yawn* Morning everyone. I'm Kyle, son of the greatest heroes ever: Stahn Aileron and Rutee Katrea. While exploring some old ruins with my bro Loni, we found this strange but cute girl who said she was looking for a hero. Of course, there's no one with a better pedigree than I, so I immediately volunteered! However, she just totally ignored me like I was some rubbish at a rummage sale!

I have to admit, I got pretty upset at the whole ordeal, but luckily there were these two other people nearby who promised to help me redeem myself and prove that I'm a true hero! I believe their names were Kyaro and Frio. Anyway, they and their teacher (this stern-looking woman who kept looking like she was scowling at me) took Loni and I to their hometown, where they were about to go on a quest to find all sorts of other great heroes. Maybe I'll even get to meet my dad! I haven't seen him in years, you know...

So today, it looks like we were woken up by some scientist dude who was screaming about some other scientist dude that ended up being held hostage by some bandits over at these ruins outside of town. All right! Rescuing innocent civilians is the perfect start to my journey to become a great hero!


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Loni came with me, of course, and so did that other pair with their teacher. The "Lemi Ruins", I think they called it, were suppose to be from some sort of ancient civilization with advanced magitech or something. I'm not really sure, I admit I wasn't paying too much attention when that teacher lady was going on and on about some dynasty this and archeology that. I think she stayed up all night yesterday just researching this stuff. Talk about boring!


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Well, at least she seems to find it exciting. But if I have to put up with one more minute of her maniacal rambling about architectural motifs and ancient hieroglyphs, I think my head will explode. Come on, Loni, let's get out of here and do something more worthwhile, like killing monsters for experience and cash!


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Just as I thought, these pesky little critters are no match for my sword and Loni's axe! Together, we're going to be great heroes, just like my parents! We'll start by slaying one monster at a time, and before you know it, we'll be strong enough to take on the mightiest warriors and sorcerors in the world! Hiya!

Meanwhile, those other two kids are still listening to their teacher's rantings about ancient history. Oh gosh, won't anyone make her stop? It's like she's hopelessly obsessed with the place or something.


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Myself, I'm personally very bored and disappointed with these old ruins. I mean, they're not even the fun kind of ruins where you can find all sorts of neat little treasures just randomly lying around. Nope, even the treasure chests here seem to be empty. How lame!

Of course, once Raine (I believe that was her name) saw Loni and I poking around the old statues having a bit of fun, she just dragged us aside and started scolding us like crazy. And we knew she was serious, because she was using that serious teacher voice, you know what I mean? With the way she acted, you'd think we were vandals trashing a museum. Gosh, talk about overreacting!

Thankfully, she left Loni and I alone afterwards in order to drag those two kids with her to explore more of the ruins. I think she pretty much forgot that we were here to rescue that scientist dude anyway. She really needs to get her priorities straight.


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So those folks went off to check out the other chambers in the ruins, only to eventually come up empty-handed once they discovered that they couldn't open the doors even with a thief's lockpicking artes. Well, I'd hate to say "I told ya so", but...

At least thanks to their wandering around, we were able to find the pack of bandits that kidnapped the professor dude. Of course, I insisted that Loni and I be the ones to go take them down. After all, we're aiming to be awesome heroes! And no hero would ever back down in a confrontation to with heartless evil villains to rescue a helpless captive!

(I just sort of wish the professor was a cute girl instead, like in my dreams. That'd be cooler.)


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Oh yeah, watch us go! Loni ran in there and started pounding away while I began with a blast of fire to soften them up, before going in and owning them with my sweet Azure Edge. Ha! Who says a hero needs Demon Fang to be considered a hero? Not I, that's for sure!

The professor dude was most grateful for our coming to his aid. He thanked us a whole lot and accompanied us back to town, where the other scientist dude started to shout at us again. This time, though, it sounded like he was going to send us somewhere to look for someone. I think he mentioned something about the "Eye of Atamoni" and the "Straylize Temple". Huh, that sounds familiar. I think my dad had something to do with those kinds of things.

Awesome! I get to follow in the footsteps of my dad!

~ Kyle Dunamis

All right, my apologies for taking a longer break than I expected after finishing my LP of Touhoumon. Oh well, I'm back now, so let me begin again in earnest.

The game's still kind of slow right now, since we've barely got any characters. Soon new characters will be joining every chapter or so, and then it'll get more interesting, both gameplay-wise and whatever-story-I-make-up-wise. To be honest, the main reason why I wanted to start this LP in the first place was just to have fun with characters from different games interacting with each other.

[Terraoblivion]

There are two things that strike me about this Kyle. One is that he looks like Cagalli's more effeminate, spiky haired brother. The other is how much i want to smack him for being an unrepentant idiot, but of course i'm one of nature's Raines so i might be biased on this.

[memnarch]

Barely have any characters? I haven't played any Tales games so I don't know the setting or main characters, but it seems like there's a heck of a lot of them already.

Something that would help.... Pictures to go with the Main Characters spoiler box? It would be nice to have something other than lots of text.

[Mirrinus]

Skit - A Teacher's Spirit


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Frio: Ah, found you at last!

Raine: Oh? You were looking for me?

Frio: Well, yeah. Have you really just been moping here this whole time?

Raine: There's been a lot on my mind lately. I'm concerned about my students.

Frio: What, you mean Lloyd, Genis, and Colette? I'm pretty sure those guys can take care of themselves.

Raine: Yes, I know they're strong young individuals, but that still doesn't mean I'm not responsible for them. And on top of that, there's the rest of my class I left back in Iselia. I'm sure they must be worried sick about me.

Frio: Wow, you really have a teacher's spirit, don't you? Well, I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be depressed over them, right? I think they'd be prouder of you if you pressed on and kicked some bad guy butt!

Raine: Hmm, I suppose you're right, Frio. After all, there's still work for me to do here.

Frio: I know, right?

Raine: Rather than worry about what I cannot do, I ought to make the most of my time with the students I have here.

Frio: ...Eh? What students?

Raine: All right, I expect a five-page paper due tomorrow morning about what you've learned regarding the Lemi Ruins on today's trip. I want you to focus on the style and motifs of the hieroglyphs on the walls and give at least three theories regarding its origin and usage.

Kyaro: Hey guys, what's up?

Frio: Start running, Kyaro! Now!

Kyaro: Oh gosh, I leave you alone for a minute, and you're already getting yourself into trouble?

Frio: Trust me, don't ask, just run!

Kyaro: Hey, we've got a mission now anyway, so whatever it is, it can wait, right?

Raine: No, I'm afraid that won't do. I am a teacher, after all. I'll see to your studies.

Frio: But...

Raine: I said, I will see to your studies!

Frio: Yes, ma'am...

Is Kyaro's text too hard to see? I tried giving her Dark Orange, because, you know, but I'm not sure if it was the best choice.

@memnarch: Good idea. I'll get to work on that now.

[Moonshadow]

I love this game. I have no knowledge of Japanese at all, yet I've still muddled my way through most of it, heh. Are you going to go pickpocket so you can steal the boss narikiri items? I remember Barbados being an absolute killer of a costume to use~

[Mirrinus]

I'm aware of stealing boss costumes, but I decided I didn't really want to do it, mostly because it just feels weird getting access to boss costumes this early in the game. I like to think of them as late-game weapons.

[Mirrinus]

Let's Play Tales of the World - Chapter 3


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Hey there, y'all. I'm Loni Dunamis, the lovable guy who has his hands full keeping Kyle out of trouble. While we refer to each other as brothers, the truth is that we simply grew up together in the Dunamis Orphanage, which is managed by Kyle's mother. Still, I've been watching his back ever since his father, uh, left on a journey years ago. Yeah.


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The Docs told us to step into their weird machine and go to the Straylize Temple. That took me a bit by surprise, as I happen to have heard of just such a place. I was working as a knight for the church of Fortuna a little while back, ya know? But what struck me as really peculiar was how we were told to go look for something called the Eye of Atamoni. Well, from what I can gather of history, that was suppose to be a an artifact lens that nearly destroyed the world many years ago. In fact, Stahn's parents were among the four legendary heroes who destroyed the Eye. So how could it exist again? I'd wager there's something funny goin' on with time travel. Guess I better watch myself, lest I erase myself from history, eh? Then again, I doubt Kyle has even figured this out yet...


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I took Kyle with me, while the other two kids went with the teach. Ever since a little while before the whole Eye of Atamoni incident, monsters had been roaming that particular temple, so it's best not to let our guard down. Kyle insisted on spending his time fighting the monsters, so we let the teach and kids go off on their own. The stray critters weren't anything we can't handle, after all. Whatever makes my bro happy, I suppose.


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Deep into the temple, we ran into some large sealed doors. There were no locks to pick, so Frio seemed dejected and just gave up, but I showed him what a real man can do. We bust the doors open with our fists, that's what!

And what do you know, hordes of bandits and mercenaries roamed the halls beyond that door. It looks like whoever we're pursuing here, they sure brought some company.


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We were soon being pursued by several such low-lifes, so I did the manly thing and told the teach and kids to go on ahead while Kyle and I hold them off. Now, I've had some of my old friends tell me that saying such a thing is practically a death knell, but they ought to know it'd never hold against a pair as significant as us. Sure, Kyle may have some hero issues, but he's too hotblooded to ever let something like this stop him.

I showed the bandits the business side of my poleaxe, and eventually drove them off. With our backs clear, Kyle and I took the opportunity to catch up to the others. However, we were not prepared for the sight that awaited us.


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Frio and Kyaro had found another sealed door, and next to it was a life-like statue of a woman. However, before they could find a way to open the door, they were ambushed by a pair of strangers and somehow turned to stone. The evil pair escaped through the door, while Kyle and I unfortunately arrived too late.

Thankfully, before Kyle had time to panic and do something to make things worse, help had arrived.


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A lovely lady emerged and came packing the antidote to the petrification curse. She was a shapely lass who hid behind her glasses and that large dress, but she had that sort of feminine charm that just feels magnificent. I'd give her an 8 out of 10.

The young woman introduced herself as Philia Felice, a name that sounded rather familiar, although I don't think I've ever met her before. With the kids and the other statue woman now freed, the formerly petrified woman took out some huge axe and broke her way through the sealed door. Eh...I don't really like butch women like that. I think I'd pass.

As the door came crashing down, we heard the most terrifying roar. What was that!?


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A hulking behemoth of a man with an enormous axe charged at us. Frio and Kyaro were at the fore, and were the first to meet up with him. He came out swinging, swatting at them like they were flies. Raine rushed

Raine rushed in to heal them, but the brute shouted an insult at her before obliterating her with a blast of dark magic. I looked like he would not suffer us to use anything but sheer force against him. What kind of maniac is this?


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This level of brutality...I've seen it before, I'm sure of it. It was many years ago, back when Kyle and I were still young and growing up at the orphanage. A huge man with an equally huge axe came one day, and demanded to see Kyle's parents, using Kyle and I has his hostages until his demands were met. The last thing I remember was Kyle's mother telling us to run away as she and Stahn fought off the man.

That was the last day any of us ever saw Kyle's father. Rutee said that he left on a journey to find the man who attacked the orphanage, but no one ever heard from him again.

With the memories rushing back to me, I could not remain still any longer. Kyle and the two women joined us as we charged at him, flanking the man from all sides. With a mighty shout, I dove at him with my poleaxe, hoping to end his miserable life. However, our fight was cut short by Philia, who let out a cry.


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The Eye of Atamoni, the legendary artifact held here in the temple, was gone! The fight we were in was just a distraction as those two vile thieves from earlier made off with the Eye. With their task complete and the thieves gone, the man with the axe himself also made an escape, leaving us dumbfounded as we were left in the now empty altar chamber.

Philia was distraught over the theft, but Frio and Kyaro quickly comforted her, promising that they will do all in their power to apprehend the thieves. To my delight, Philia agreed to come with us to see this investigation through. The other woman with the axe, who introduced herself as Mary Argent, seems to have already met Raine and the kids, and gave an account of how she was the last among those who first pursued the thieves. Having chased them on the Epoch all the way here, while her allies were left scattered across different locations, she at last was petrified by the villains and left here before we showed up. Those bastards! I'll show them to be messing with our history!

~ Loni Dunamis

My internet is down now, and will be so for this coming week, so it'll be hard to update. We'll see what happens, but I'll try to keep it up for now.

So to tide you over, here's something related to both the Tales Series and Touhou Project. Enjoy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-vdFBDGsI)

[memnarch]

Geez, I can barely make out the tune (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLAQm2OcC-4).

[Mirrinus]

Skit - Memories


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Mary: Even after all this time, things still feel so brand-new to me. Would I still feel the same if I had my memories?

Ken: Hey, Linda, look who it is!

Linda: Ooh, are you one of the heroes that Kyaro and Frio brought back?

Mary: Why, yes I am, children. And who might you be?

Ken: I'm Ken, and this is Linda!

Linda: And who are you, Ma'am?

Mary: I'm Mary. I'm afraid I can't give you my last name.

Linda: What, no last name? How strange.

Mary: It's not that I refuse to tell you; it's that I can't remember.

Ken: You can't remember your last name? That's crazy!

Mary: And yet it's true. I can't remember anything from my past beyond the last two years.

Linda: Hey...I think I have an idea!

Mary: Oh? What is it, child?

Linda: Why don't you ask Kyaro and Frio? They know the hero legends front and back! I bet they could tell you everything about yourself!

Mary: Hmm, that does seem like a good idea, doesn't it?

Linda: I know, right?

Mary: But Linda, have you wondered why those two haven't approached me about it yet?

Linda: Huh? What do you mean?

Mary: Those two kids have been careful not to mention anything about me when I'm around, and neither have they been revealing any of the legends to Kyle or Raine or the others. Don't you think that may be wise of them?

Ken: I don't get it. Why can't they just tell you how to beat up the big bad guys and save the day?

Mary: Because sometimes the journey is worth more than the destination. I'm sure everyone here has a lot more to learn on their own, and cheating isn't going to give them the same results. It's the same for my memories. I feel like there was a reason why I lost them in the first place, and they will one day return to me when the time is right. Right now, I'm content to wait and trust that things will sort themselves out eventually.

Linda: Uh...that sounded so adult!

Mary: It's okay, little one. I'm sure you'll understand one day as well.

All right, internet is finally working again for me, so I guess it's time to get back to this...

[Terraoblivion]

Pretty funny, though i'm kind of too tired to fully appreciate it at the moment. The idea of Rutee being married to some guy keeps coming off as weird to me as i'm sure a lot of my friends would agree on.

[memnarch]

Heh, started playing Tales of Symphonia likely cuz of this. (first time)

[Mirrinus]

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, I'm currently in the middle of moving across the state. Once I get settled in by next week, I should be able to spend more time on this.

Edit: Okay, I'll admit, I haven't had time to work on this lately. On top of medical school applications, most of my free time has been spent working on Team Unappreciated for Labyrinth of Touhou in an effort to gather info for the wiki following the release of version 3.01. So, I've decided to hold off this LP for now...but in exchange, I've resumed my LP of Labyrinth of Touhou!