"Still smarting from their bitter experience with Gharnef and the dark magic Imhullu, Prince Marth and the League regrouped and marched south- home to Altea.Once Marth's kingdom had been beautiful, blessed with rich soil and clear waters; now the eyes tended to notice instead the barren farms; the ruins; forlorn stares. Marth vowed to free Altea from its torment without any further delay."The time has come to reclaim Altea.
Joining us is…
Hardin, how many damn stat boosters do you need? And giving the Talisman to Merric is a good idea since no one else has an resistance anyway and +2 won’t make much of a difference for them.
Countless days have passed since Dolhr took my kingdom from me- days I would never have lived had it not been for my sister Elice's sacrifice, and the sacrifices of so many others...
What became of your sister? And the rest of your family, what of them as well?
My father, as you know, died in Gra. I last saw my mother and sister the day the castle fell. I do not know if they still live...but I hope that they do. And if the enemy has them, I will rescue them. You can be sure of that.
Thank you.
Help me set Altea free, and ensure today is the last battle my people must endure!
Not exactly the ‘This day we fight!’ moment like Aragorn but it will do. Hopefully, he’ll work on his speeches the next time. Shame about that speech, especially considering the excellent one he gave to Jagen back when they first escaped from Altea’s fall.
Our map is a big one. Marth is going to have to take the long way around since there are 2 villages on the longer route. The shorter route passes through a prison. It’s not the same prison which we saw in Prologue 4 which would have been very cool but just like that prison, this one also comes with a recruitable character. He’s being guarded by promoted units and who are not pushovers.
Thankfully, the prisoner starts on the enemy’s side and is carrying a sword but lacks the weapon ranks to wield anything. What’s up with that?
On the longer route, we’ve got 4 castles which will constantly send out reinforcements after a while on every alternate turn as usual. We’ve got another detour on this route which leads to an several houses, vendors, armouries and an arena. There’s also a thief who will head straight for the 2 villages. He’s priority, if you didn’t realize.
The boss is heavily guarded by mounted units including some promoted ones. They should be handled with care.
Enough talk, let’s fight!
Splitting into two groups, we move out. Ogma leads the southern charge while the mounted units + Marth take the longer route.
Without the weapon triangle on my side, this would have hit and caused significant damage.
And of course, this fucker heals him.
Bows spell the end for that Dracoknight.
A mediocre level by his standards.
Marth is within range of both villages next turn but there’s a catch.
Forging weapons is a good idea from here onwards.
The Levin Sword features a unique animation for all characters where they raise their sword high up, summoning thunder.
Go away please.
See these two villages here? There’s gimmick to them. You can only visit one. Once Marth visits one of them, the other village will close itself off. Why? We’ll see.
As for us, I’ve decided to go with the eastern village. Inside is…
but, things change, and I came to live here in this village. If you need warriors for the coming struggle, I would be honored to fight. Unfortunately, there has always been bad blood between this village and our neighbors. No doubt they closed their gates to you as soon as they saw you come here. You won't be able to recruit the hero Samson now, I'm afraid.
A recruitable character!
Who’s completely shit! Never change Shadow Dragon, never change.
So as Arran here explained, these two villages hate each other so much that simply visiting the other village is enough for the other to completely close their gates to you. Now this bugs me for several reasons. Firstly, this is their goddamn prince and they refuse him entry too! Secondly, their homeland has been invaded and they are currently under an extremely oppressive rule and they still hold on to old grudges! What the hell?
Anyway, in the other village, you can recruit a character called Samson of the Hero class, who says almost the exact same thing that Arran did and is equally shitty. So why did I choose Arran? As it turns out, Marth recruiting Arran over Samson is canon. In the sequel, Arran is seen as a high ranking member of Altea’s knights whereas Samson talks as if he has heard of Marth but never actually met him. So yeah.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the map…
The pain train slams straight into Navarre.
This can be a rather tricky choke point because you are on the wrong end and the enemies are promoted units. The Hero in the back will use that Levin Sword to strike you from safety while the other hero will block your way.
And this is without considering the prisoner. See, once you open the doors, the prisoner will immediately move towards Marth causing further complications in this choke point.
Navarre gets healed from the brink of death.
Catria is channeling her inner Caeda.
Even if Barst missed, I had him covered. Thankfully, he doesn’t.
Frey is the only one who’s pulling his own weight here. Abel too, maybe. I don’t want to replace you Cain so don’t make me.
I don’t even care anymore.
Okay, maybe I do care a little.
We position our troops as the enemy forces draw near.
They didn’t stand a chance.
Our other troops get past the prison.
They get ambushed immediately but everything’s fine.
Marth solos his way down while the rest of the army stays behind to take care of the inevitable stream of reinforcements that’s just dying to come out of those forts.
I do love the Ridersbane. I’ve mentioned that many times before.
Attacking the lone General that had yet to reach us gives Marth enough experience for a shitty level.
The Prisoner’s been moving back forth since my units were blocking the way to Marth.
Marth deals with the General. The reinforcements have yet to arrive.
I hail from a land few have heard of an even fewer have seen. I won't trouble you with the details. Me and my folk have the power to transform into other people. We can shape-shift, you see. When Dolhr caught on, they started threatenin' me. Told me to join their army or "face my doom." Hah! Well, I wasn't about to waste my considerable talent on those evil coots! You, on the other hand...You've got character. Say, why don't we team up? I do owe you for savin' my hide. And I think you'll find my consider talents are...quite considerable.
That is a guy by the way…
So what can Xane do? We’ll see next turn.
Finally!
So what can Xane do again? Well…
That’s an interesting option…
Whoa!
So Xane can imitate any unit under your control for a few turns. He gains all their stats, weapon level, etc. However, he always starts with the HP he has prior to imitation so he has to be healed before he can fight. Xane’s a very gimmicky character. He’s just as good as your best unit for the few turns that he’s transformed. While very interesting, I don’t particularly care for his gimmick.
While untransformed, Xane can’t attack, ever.
Wing Spear! Ha! Nope.
This can be rather tricky…
I won’t be showing the battles, just the level ups since this part will just drag on and on otherwise.
I suspect Frey’s been stealing all the good level ups from his cavalier buddies. But Hardin gets a sudden but most welcome boost.
Marth decides to dabble in the world of magic for a bit.
His body double joins in.
Storywise, Xane imitating Marth is perfect. Marth gets a body double if things ever go off the deep end and they can develop their friendship too.
Marth decides that magic isn’t for him and turns to his trusty rapier. Maybe he should have stuck with magic just a bit longer?
The good, the bad and the ugly, in particular order or regard for numbers.
Just for fun. He can imitate the ladies too. That would be, uh, interesting to say the least. Hehe.
Way to go!
The Armorslayer hasn’t failed me before.
Yeah, yeah.
Ogma too good. He retreats on our turn.
Meawhile…
Levin Swords are great for dealing with high defence units like Generals.
Eh. Anyway, village time!
Listen well, because this is very important. There are two villages in the northwest of Altea. The westerly village is home to a paladin named Arran while the westerly village is home to a hero named Samson. They’re both fine men and warriors, but their villages have been feudin’ for years. You should probably resign yourself to the fact that you’ll only get one of them to join your ranks. Give it some thought: the hero to the west, or the paladin to the east?
The old man informs us of the choice we had.
A lad named Xane has been locked up in the eastern jail. They say he’s got some sort of amazing power. Wonder what it is…
Three orbs are enshrined at the Fane of Raman, each brimming with power. What sort of power, none can say. Well, except those who have wielded it, right?
Princess Elice was prepared to die that day the castle fell. But she didn’t, they say. Instead of killin’ her, the Dark Pontifex Gharnef spirited her off somewhere! Oh, our poor princes. I hope she’s safe.
So Elice might still be alive. It’s only a rumour but still.
A VIP card will gain you entrance to secret shops. Where are the shops? Well, that’s the secret!
This is important later.
The Altean army! Welcome home. It’s good to see you. These years been nowt but dark days; it’s about time we had something bright to look forward to.
Take care when usin’ a devil sword. It’s a powerful blade, to be sure but it might just claim your life instead of your foe’s.
And that’s it.
Next time, we liberate Altea castle.
Apr 18, 2024 15:33:54 GMT -8
