Soul Nomad: Well. I've, uh, been playing a lot since I last posted here. Finished the main path. Apparently I was all of like three battles from the end last time I stopped. The final...uh, I beat it, and then the ending started, and I was like "Wait...that was the last boss?" I mean, it wasn't the most pathetic final I've ever encountered, but I was never in danger of dying. I don't think I even lost a squad. Wait, no, the boss did nuke one before he got swarmed. Eh. Still sad given that I went to no effort to powerbuild (most units had levels in the late twenties) and didn't even bother to exploit Decor items or Gig Edicts. I gather I got the basic Mega Happy normal ending; hero doesn't wind up with anyone in particular, people who were dead are back to life somehow (even if they had their soul consumed by a demon. How the hell do you recover from that?) I guess this is vaguely spoilerish...but I'm trying to be vague! Dammit, we need spoiler tags here.
Anyway, the real challenge is apparently to be found in the Evil path, which is what I'm working on now. The enemy levels ramp up higher than the PCs' do through normal combat, so yeah, I have to be careful again. Managed to get by without any major levelling binges (Thuris was rough, but coming in with the right decor items did the trick)...until just after the Raide battle. I glanced at the setup for the next one, and...lessee: Danette, Levin, Grunsford, Pinot, Endorph, Vitali, Dio, plus a mookswarm, all in the sixties while my guys are mostly loitering in the forties somewhere. Oh, also, level 124 World Eater Feinne. Blugh. Yeah, uh, definitely gonna grind for a while before tackling this one.
As for the Evil path on the non-combat front...oh my god. It is so hilariously wrong. Seriously, I haven't laughed at a game like this in years. It's so warped, it's hard to believe you're actually seeing it sometimes. You wantonly slaughter all the game's heroes, the game's mentor figure, random civilians, mostly out of boredom and the blue-haired shotabait cheers you on the whole time. The perversion of all that is good and decent is utterly thorough and cringe-inducing in the best possible way. When the child-stealing slave-trader is the voice of reason, you are dealing with one fucked up party.
Mmm. This game demands an avatar fad. At first I was inclined to pick Danette just for Potato Potato Potato Potato or "Special Attack: Mommy, I'm Hungry!" However! Evil path Galahad is just too freaking awesome. Between selling me fake hair-care products and singing Simple Minds, I'm not even sure where to begin quoting him. Prism. Beige. For. The. Win. Kanan is also an option! Crazed fanatic constantly amused at the erosion of all that is just and pure in society and laughing maniacally all the time! Like Niu, I have a soft spot for such women. >.> Hmm. Decisions, decisions.
Also, I should say right now that I will be whipping people into playing this. Super! Want to try it when I'm done? C'mon, it's OB driven by a CTB system instead of an RTS one!
