VP: Covenant of the Plume- A end. So game finished!
Since I ended up being on the A path up to C5 last time, my only new characters were from the third variation on C2, Natalia and Earnest. Earnest joined Lockswell and Cheripha for the final party, since lacking a lancer left a definite hole in my party on the second playthrough. Neither seem remarkable, though for all I know you can get some awesome daggers that bump Natalia up a notch? Didn't have any sitting in my inventory though.
Strange game to judge in many ways. It manages to have less plot than VP1 in a way; none of the endings are really as significant as A in VP, and while there's a continuous narrative they add up to less raw scenes than VP1 recruitment.
At the same time, each chapter having three variations gives it a shot in the arm. Fundamentally, no matter which version of a chapter you play, the same core events are happening. Your current path influences who survives those events, but fundamentally you don't change that much. Still, the different perspectives available to you can be neat.
That said, shuffling down a path onces you're on it can be very jarring. for example, jumping from A-C4 to B-C5 makes it seem like you just decided to join Kristoff's faction for no real reason, breaking the story flow from C4. (if you stay on the A path, you it flows much more naturally.)
This seems intended to reflect that the whole sacrificing thing permanently alters Wyl's character and moral fiber, but he's kinda a dumbass in a lot of ways so this doesn't come through very clearly at times. Well, that and the path jumping issue. That said, running through the A path, which by nature will be continuous, his character development makes perfect sense. For all that the foreknowledge of certain events and how they could have gone make it that much clearer.
Short version: "This game is meant to be replayed. And you're probably meant to set your path in C2".
Okay, on to less confusing things. I love the way this game plays. It's... it feels like what VP2 wanted to be, blending the strategic elements of range and positioning with VP1's core comboing system. it works really well, and the way the game treats AP strikes a decent balance between getting use out of tactics and not completely trivializing the game with item spam. Although Union Plumes come close at times? I would not want to consider the various final battles with them costing more. Early battles, their monetary cost probably keeps them in check, so that's not too bad.
It's probably worth noting, though, that by the second playthrough any game difficulty was more due to my own screwups and choices than anything the game did. I ended up never sacrificing Cheripha or Darius, so I lacked an effective lock-down skill for human enemies. Considering that Avalanch of the Jotun my most-used skill, and all it does is freeze monsters, having a disable move for all enemies would have been smarter on my part. And for the frue final I somehow forgot that I'd equipped Omni-checks for the final, assumed somehow I wouldn't need them with the support dead, and consequently spent half an hour scrapping a win in a fight I could probably have one-rounded otherwise. Duuuurrrr.
Last set of Dl notes.
Natalia- Didn't use. watching her on AI, she seems like a decent juggler, but not having any high-end weapons for her bottoms her usefulness very fast. N/A.
Earnest- I have a bad habit of ditzing his hits in conjunction with other people's launch moves. What the hell CK. Still, solid, lancers feel like the most rounded overall class in the game, though probably ultimately owned by mages. Likely Middle.
Suprise Final Battle Guest!! L46 Ancel- Maybe I was just twitchy, but he does not play well with others. However, his raw level advantage (46 vs 39 Wyl leads to him having nearly double the HP, to give you an idea of how levels work in this game) makes him a contender, and certainly he's a good way to finish an attack chain- save his attacks, toss him on the end of your other three SCs, profit. Heavy, good one, leastwise if you take his appearance here seriously.
Boss A Garm, Hel's Hound. aka Ailyth, Hel's Busty Maid- Yikes. Did the boss with more overkill than any other boss (in a game where 80% of bosses overkill) need to add paralysis at an astonishing rate? Or need 90% damage off spells? Or HEAL? 75k HP seemed like enough really! Especially since the overkill damage is MT. Now, due to VPDS targetting this is kinda wonky and not MT on the boss's own turns. Nope, just brutally overkills your entire party if you pull off an all-out attack. Mind, physical so that helps. Maybe, if you happened to get on C-C4 and sac Auguste. And didn't take off your damn status protection before the final battle <.< Godlike, even if you assume another playthrough it's tricky at best to pull off a one-rounding, and the damage is hard to argue with.
So anyway, if it wasn't obvious I really like this game. I should probably do the SG sometime, but other games demand attetion. Still, played three times, would play again, 9/10.
