Touhou Chen Emblem

[Balcerzak]

As browsers of the Touhou chat thread might already know, I've decided to work on playing through 東方ちぇむぶれむ, a self-publish game that crosses the Touhou characters, with a Fire Emblem style universe and gameplay. I'll be (likey very slowly, annotations are a bitch) uploading progress to youtube for your viewing pleasure. Any of you with better Japanese skills than mine are perfectly welcome to tell me where I fuck up any translations, and I'll see about fixing them.

Here's the Prologue for you in all its glory, something to whet your appetite.

Please, if you have requests (ie show more unit statistics, go through dialogue faster/slower, etc.) feel free to speak up. Any other comments are also perfectly welcome.

[ZemZem]

One question. How many chapters and characters are in the game, if you didn't explain it in the video (didn't watch it yet)?

[Espinosa]

Please don't use Reisen on your run. She has the bulk of two Lowens while still having crushingly high offensive stats and growths. Nothing can hurt her after a few level-ups.

I'd be cool if you also tried using Momiji instead of Aya and Hatate, as these two are probably next on the list of broken units in this already easy game.

Momiji is also the only unit capable of wielding all of swords, lances and axes fwiw (has to work to get Javelin access tho, but auto Wing Spear is neat... if she could double knights at base).

[The JOJ]

Yeah, if you could make the videos not private

That'd be great

[Balcerzak]

One question. How many chapters and characters are in the game, if you didn't explain it in the video (didn't watch it yet)?

No idea, I'm learning as I go.

Please don't use Reisen on your run. She has the bulk of two Lowens while still having crushingly high offensive stats and growths. Nothing can hurt her after a few level-ups.

I'd be cool if you also tried using Momiji instead of Aya and Hatate, as these two are probably next on the list of broken units in this already easy game.

Momiji is also the only unit capable of wielding all of swords, lances and axes fwiw (has to work to get Javelin access tho, but auto Wing Spear is neat... if she could double knights at base).

I'll probably let every unit get at least a couple maps in, but I'll take that into advisement

Yeah, if you could make the videos not private

That'd be great

I completely forgot to change them from Scheduled to Public after I finished the annotations. My apologies! Edited December 10, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Espinosa]

You also get 2 pairs of Boots in this game (chapter 8 and 15), so be sure to feed Chen kills early on because she will be outmoving your Paladins.

Recruiting Shinki and Mima is tricky and if you don't read Japanese you could mess up like I did (screwed up my run which was intended to be 100% recruitment LTC).

If you want to get the best ending, you will have to use Sanae even if she has E staves and gets no bonus on promo (no Arms Scrolls available either to my knowledge). There's some more to it iirc.

Oh yeah and... Chameleon imitating the dancer can dance the dancer unlike FE12, so if you want to play fast/efficiently (not possible if you are getting Sanae to A staves) focus on your mounts because after chapter 7 your foot units won't be seeing any combat (even instapromoted Sniper Eirin gets no action). You can go really fast in this game with 11 move Chen and double dancer chains, even if Chen is so weak as to be one-rounded.

[Balcerzak]

You also get 2 pairs of Boots in this game (chapter 8 and 15), so be sure to feed Chen kills early on because she will be outmoving your Paladins.

Recruiting Shinki and Mima is tricky and if you don't read Japanese you could mess up like I did (screwed up my run which was intended to be 100% recruitment LTC).

If you want to get the best ending, you will have to use Sanae even if she has E staves and gets no bonus on promo (no Arms Scrolls available either to my knowledge). There's some more to it iirc.

Oh yeah and... Chameleon imitating the dancer can dance the dancer unlike FE12, so if you want to play fast/efficiently (not possible if you are getting Sanae to A staves) focus on your mounts because after chapter 7 your foot units won't be seeing any combat (even instapromoted Sniper Eirin gets no action). You can go really fast in this game with 11 move Chen and double dancer chains, even if Chen is so weak as to be one-rounded.

Somebody (you?) already has a LTC run up (no story, just gameplay) on youtube, so that's not really going to be the focus of this run. (You may notice I didn't reset for rapier crit for prologue 2 turn.) Granted, I don't plan on any excessive turtling either, that just bores me. I always like to try to get perfect recruitment, best ending, but I certainly don't intend to FAQ for it, but I'll probably keep a full savelog (thankfully it's not like traditional 3 slot only, that always rustles my jimmies), so maybe if/when I screw up, I'll finish my casual "take things as they come" and then do a history re-write where I need to.

[Espinosa]

I thought you would read out their lines out loud

Aye, I understand what kind of run you're planning to do. There should be more than enough saves to come back to any given chapter.

And yeah, that's my LTC video series alright. Still intend to get back to it, but I seem to start more stuff than I can finish. Having to replay several chapters to get Shinki to join is also a pain in the arse.

[Balcerzak]

I... I suppose I could read their lines, but that could easily become embarrassing, especially if I flubbed a meaning somewhere. Can't quickly edit a voiceover like I can an annotation. So, yeah, that's not likely going to happen.

Cool, I haven't watched many of the videos, but I did see one of the ones with double-dancing, and I just about laughed my ass off. I plan to in the future only watch your chapters after I've finished mine.

[Espinosa]

wrt 96 hit missing: it does seem like the game uses 1 RN rather than 2, but if I see something like 86 displayed hit with Javelin, I can usually expect to not whiff a single time during a lengthy enemy phase with a soloing unit. So maybe it is 2 RN after all? Hard to say.

My videos in that run got better as I progressed I think, because that was like the 2nd time I was LTCing non-stop and not just separate chapters. The earlygame is kinda tough since your Jeigan is actually the least mobile unit on your team and doesn't quite get everywhere on time, but I think I could really improve on the earlier chapter clears if I did it again. One thing that annoyed me was the lack of save states, because that got in the way of figuring out strats and learning how exactly the AI works so at times I actually acted on intuitition rather than counting atk and def routinely to avoid risk of death (I still do this in GBA to get better level-ups but there's the RNG that can help you achieve multi-aims).

Overall, there's no real Jeigan because Suika is more like Doga with a Silver Lance and horrid growths, so you have to raise your own Paladins and Dracoknights. I focused on Yuyuko first because those promotion bonuses make her really threatening (they're the same as Shiida's in Shadow Dragon; in fact, everytime you try to understand something in this game think SD first because that's what it is based upon, even some map designs), but Aya and Hatate have way better growths (Hatate has a 60% str growth iirc) and instant Wing Spear (which can be wielded by anyone with A lances).

[Caster]

How often will you try to get out a chapter?

[CT075]

where can i get my hands on this game?

[Balcerzak]

How often will you try to get out a chapter?

Right now I'm struggling to resolve some pesky crashing issues that are keeping me from advancing with any sense of stability. I'm not sure if it's program compatibility settings related, or if I didn't patch to the latest update or just what. Once I get that resolved I hope to figure out some sort of regular schedule.

Edit: Well, good thing I'd made a backup, it looks like the majority of the crashing was because I did try to patch up to current. I guess I'll stick to default install for now.

where can i get my hands on this game?

The official webpage is here. They have links to quite a few places you can pick it up, and a trial version. Edited December 11, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Balcerzak]

In the pre-map setup I buy an Iron Lance (to save precious Silver uses on Suika) and an Iron Sword (to help Medicine dodge axe users and keep her death chances minimal). It definitely can be done with just Iron Lance, and maybe should be for faster Javelins, but then things get a fair bit more dicey.

As always, I left a little bit of commentary in the youtube descriptions themselves, but as a summary, damn Suika, need to stop missing. I probably should have had Yuyuko use Iron Lance at 1 range, then even if she missed once, Chen wouldn't have needed that crit, but I was still holding out hope of an early seize, so... Anyway, love how Medicine is turning out, and her dialogue was fun to do, so I'll probably keep on using her.

The blatant parodies here were absolutely hilarious too. This is all so very Shadow Dragon. Also, you can visit those three huts in a line along the top. It's (as usual) a waste of time, but here's what they have to say.

（RightHut)

Village Woman: If you kill an enemy you get a lot more experience than normal.

Village Woman: If you want someone to grow up quick, make sure they deal the finishing blow.

（MiddleHut)

Village Man: Only Lords can visit villages.

Village Man: Enemy thieves can also destroy them, so take care to visit them before that happens.

（LeftHut)

Village Woman: Swords>Axes>Lances>Swords. The weapon triangle conveys an advantage in accuracy and power, so remember it if you don't want to lose.

Village Woman: It doesn't affect weapon level, and the advantage won't always allow you to win, though.

I've also been gathering Death Quotes, but I'll probably save up a bunch of them for a compilation much later down the line.

Finally, this is kind of an awful lot of work (at least this chapter, way more text than previously) so I might have to try to slow down the pace a little. Still in the feeling-it-out-stages of things, I guess.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Espinosa]

Sure got like with the Rapier crit. Could've lost a character otherwise.

[Caster]

Dat Rapier crit

Oh hi Ogmu

[Espinosa]

Wait till you see what Keine looks like.

[Caster]

Wait till you see what Keine looks like.

I saw in the video you posted.

Oh boy

[Balcerzak]

Chapter 2. The Battle + Outro video is getting to be ridiculously long, so I tried speeding it up to double time, but then I wasn't exactly happy, and I wasted more time trying out some things (which is part of why this is so late) but honestly, I am just not really very happy with any of the options, atm. So here it is regardless.

I flubbed a couple of positionings, like not being able to heal Medicine (or just plain forgetting) after she got arrowed, having Mokou just out of range of reaching the archer, etc. etc. I also got flustered when the thief AI did something it never did in my test runs, and ran back over toward Yuyuko, and I pulled her out prematurely, meaning I don't get to kill one of the axefighters (and I also waste a sip of vulnerary). But on the whole, things went pretty all right. Medicine could stand to grow a little durability, but there's still plenty of time for that. Chen is looking pretty well rounded, and while they didn't really get a chance to shine this take, the Bloodstained Orchestra all seem pretty competent. We'll see what happens next installment.

[Balcerzak]

Also (seperate post because of embedding limitations), here is some extra bits that didn't make it into the final takes. Those huts I mentioned in Chapter 1, as well as the Chapter 2 huts and a couple of talk segments that just couldn't happen with the pace I wanted to set.

When Chen is teasing Akyuu about the maps, I think that's because if Yuyuko is dead, Akyuu is the one doing the explaining why they're lost. I'm not sure why there wasn't an if/else flag for the Reisen convo so Chen could tease Yuyuko instead...

Edited December 15, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Balcerzak]

Chapter 3. In which I get some mediocre levels (except for that baller Reisen), Suika continues to have accuracy problems, and I make a rather large tactical error by completely forgetting to check what the shops are selling, and overlook purchasing a Hammer. Ah well, what's done is done, I'm not too bothered about redoing it, so I'll just press on ahead.

Also, guys, please, feel free to just say anything at all. If I feel like I'm wasting my time translating and annotating, I can just finish this out with the occasional screenshot or something, and code tag stats logs. That'd be way less effort, after all.

I'll probably throw those house visits into another "extra bits" session some point down the line, but for reference, here's what they say:

（LEFTHUT)

Be careful of the enemies' attack range.

If you hold back just far enough, you'll avoid taking unnecessary attacks.

（BOTTOMHUT)

There's an enemy with a Horseslayer. Cavaliers shouldn't get near him.

（TOPLEFTHUT)

Grabbing a Hammer to crush Knights' armor would be a good idea.

They're really effective against those hard enemies, so maybe you should pick up 2 or 3.

（TOPRIGHTHUT)

Magic will do large amounts of damage against low Resistance, so be careful.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Espinosa]

tbqh the only proficient axe user you will have for most of the game is Suwako (=Minerva) so I wouldn't mourn the loss of that Hammer purchase, though I recall it having a few neat uses (didn't one of the Fighter Prismriver come with a Hammer tho?). Hatate/Aya will never reach the axe rank for it.

I did need the Bord-Prismriver to help KO the pre-Wing Spear armour boss in a timely manner, though, but there's always Keine to deal good chip damage to her.

[Balcerzak]

tbqh the only proficient axe user you will have for most of the game is Suwako (=Minerva) so I wouldn't mourn the loss of that Hammer purchase, though I recall it having a few neat uses (didn't one of the Fighter Prismriver come with a Hammer tho?). Hatate/Aya will never reach the axe rank for it.

I did need the Bord-Prismriver to help KO the pre-Wing Spear armour boss in a timely manner, though, but there's always Keine to deal good chip damage to her.

Excellent to hear. I think the Devil Axe I get next chapter will also be somewhat adequate to the task of filling in occasionally for a Hammer, but we'll see. As for starting Prismriver stuff, all I had were Iron Axes and one Hand Axe. Could be different patches or something, my Luna didn't start with the staff rank necessary for Warp and yours did, my Mokou's attack animations are different (no flames), and so forth. So far the violinist is seeming pretty decent, so it's a shame to hear she'll be falling off eventually.

Anyway, update

Behold, plot!

Anyway, for a completionist (all villages all characters) attempt playthrough that still strives to be reasonably turn efficient, I'm pretty dang satisfied with how this one turned out. Some accuracy gaffes here and there led to a few improvisations, and maybe I won't need that expensive key I purchased, but it's better to have than lose your kingdom for want of a nail, right? Tewi seems wholly lackluster, but I might actually use Eirin in a pinch. Some very vital weapon rank increases occured, and Chen's got one coming up right around the corner (if she'd fought a Soldier in addition to the Fighter on EP2, like she did in some test runs it would've happened). I guess that means it's time for Horseslayer Yuyuko (finally grew strength, I'm so happy), and Javelin Medicine (oh the things we will do together). Would have liked some additional steel weaponry, or more javelins, but I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment, and was not about to wager in the arena, though Eirin probably could have made off with some swag, the way things unfolded she just needed to choke that point.

[Caster]

Oops.

Sorry I haven't been watching much, Bal.

I'll watch what I missed Christmas when I get a computer.

[Balcerzak]

Oops.

Sorry I haven't been watching much, Bal.

I'll watch what I missed Christmas when I get a computer.

Don't worry, I've been sick and busy with holidays, so I know how things can be. I probably won't record much new stuff until I'm feeling better, to be honest.