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[New Trailer]

The trailer was alright. No new gameplay was shown, though to be fair, I expect that to be its own video. Especially for a strategy game, where you need to sit down and explain what the mechanics are and how they interact, which isn't that engaging unless you're already interested in the game.

 

Anyway, a bunch of new characters were shown off, and I... don't hate the designs, but I'm not a fan of them either. I do appreciate how bright and colorful the costumes are, and everyone's outfit looks distinct. At the same time, I dearly hope the tone is lighthearted and goofy because I cannot take these designs seriously at all. There's so much needless stuff on them that I'm wondering what the heck the mornings routines of these characters are in order for them to find time to put all these trinkets on, and only a handful of characters look ready for a fight. I don't think the outfits are bad so much as I think it's a weird direction to take for a medieval fantasy series with a heavy focus on battles.

I do feel I would tear into this aspect a lot more if they didn't already reveal that alternative costumes will be a thing. Chances are, if I'm not a fan of a characters current outfit, I can replace it with something I do like. Besides, Fire Emblem is no stranger to weird armor designs, and as odd as Engages outfits can be, I don't think they reach the lows of Awakening and Fates "characters literally fight without pants" (even if I also think that Awakening and especially Fates had stronger armor designs at their peak). At the end of the day, I'd say I'm more perplexed than anything regarding Engages art direction.

 

Being limited to 12 rings of just the protagonists with no villains or side characters is disappointing, if unsurprising. Fire Emblem Heroes has been out for 5 years now, and that game is still missing some notable characters, and Three Hopes managed to fill in the roster of a Warriors title by reusing most of the cast from Three Houses. As cool as having several villains and side characters from past games would be, I can easily see how the workload to do so would add up quickly and that's alongside creating an entirely new cast from scratch. On the gameplay front, we haven't seen the full extend of how Engaging works yet, so perhaps anything more than 12 characters started to cause issues of some kind, either from being overcomplicated or unbalanced or some characters were too similar to each other or whatever. The decision didn't come out of nowhere, is what I'm getting at.

 

As for the story, I'm sticking with my assessment when the game was revealed that Engage will either be extremely formulaic and have a ton of fun with its tropes and cliches, or there will be some major twist(s) that turn the entire game on its head. The setup in the trailer was so straightforwardly generic that I can't imagine it going any other way.

Anyway, the trailer didn't do much for me personally. I still plan on picking the game up eventually, even though it's not a day 1 buy for me as I'd like to see some reviews and fan feedback first. Still, the next few days should be interesting as the trailer is analyzed and dissected and more details come out.

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’s CAMPAIGN FINALE: Sal Fallon, The Bounty Hunter VS Kashio, The Freelancer

Replies:

Spoiler

On 10/25/2022 at 7:29 PM, eclipse said:

I went with the upgrade that gave me Menacing Air in my initial hand.  Since it's an ability, I want it active sooner than later.

I go that path with upgrading Menacing Air when my deck is focused on hostility cards, as then the early dominance is far more useful.

Still, it's one of the more balanced upgrade paths in the game. There are several were one choice is 

Plus, the first turn is usually the least interesting.  Still, good to see that this run's off to the finale.  Good luck!

Thank you! The final fight sure was... intense...

 

On 10/26/2022 at 8:08 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

  Hide contents

Nadan will be all right. Eugen can't lift a sword anymore after the injuries he sustained.

...He will simply sass Nadan to death. Which is, if anything, more scary.

I really need to reread the Lets Play sometime. Eugen has so many moments of awesomeness that I've started to loose track of them all.

In my own defense, I think it was like, the second event I ever saw when I started playing. I was confused, I thought something might go wrong if I intervened. Then the guy just died.

That's understandable. There are still events I'm cautious about my selection because I don't know what the other options will do.

I think I may've seen this haha.

It's one of the first missions Smith can get.

Appropriate.

Didn't want to disappoint

You know, looking at it now, I think I know why Sal is in the artwork.

It's a POV shot. YOU are the masochist.

I mean, one of Sal's flourishes is stomping on her opponent...

...

Yes. Screw bureaucracy.

I agree. I've accepted that it is an unavoidable part of any government and like all systems it will inevitably fail, but I agree. Screw paperwork.

Oh, huh. I still seem to recall seeing Rudana. Must've been a wild coincidence or something.

I mean, I mentioned that I often had Zex be a part of the mission in the update. There are times I wonder how consistent characters appear for certain events.

I love this woman. She has so much sass in her, she'd make Eugen fall in love with her and ask for her hand in marriage attempt to conscript her into his army.

It would be a glorious back and forth as they try and trick each other into doing the their bidding.

That's why she's awesome.

Oolo not only regularly dodges assassination attempts, she does so with style.

Even the hardened survivor Sal cannot resist the charms of a cute pet.

Considering Sal has the easiest time gaining a pet, and one of her flourishes is calling in a bunch of yotes, Sal is totally an animal person.

I would not be surprised if she uses Kashio's Bounty to start a zoo.

She's... getting a bit carried away now.

I get that animal breeding is a thing, but now is not the time to ask those questions, Sal.

Hah! Can't blame ya, it's a pretty good one.

I'm using it sometime. I don't know when or where, but I am using it.

What a way to end a negotiation lol

It's so much fun being able to use several powerful cards in a row.

I don't think I ever saw that one. I imagine it can be pretty awesome... provided you've the means to destroy it in one hit.

It sounds good on paper. In practice, it tends to be a waste of shills. Especially if you have free cards in your deck and/or a graft that grants an extra action, as you can end up with more actions than cards to use them on. I know I've been encountering that problem throughout the run, but it's not costing me shills to do so. 

The blades are so massive, it looks like he's missing his left arm on top of his left cheek.

It kind of does. I love the look of his arm blades. I think they're cool weapons in general, and I forgot to mention the ones in Republic Commando last time.

I noticed them sometimes. It's always so weird to run into a person without a description. Would've been nice if they gave them random descriptions too, make them look a bit more legitimate.

That would be great, though a lot of the character descriptions are already pretty random. Granted, the witty and fun kind of random.

Seeing what Fssh's life is like, it's clearly in the job description around these parts.

I really wish bartenders appeared in combat more often. The only time they appear regularly is in Brawl, and even then that depends on the run.

He's giving Sal a tap on the shoulder. Comforting her. What a nice dude.

Nadan is reflecting on how differently things could have gone if the vote went the other way and Sal joined the Spree. Before slapping her.

It makes less sense in-universe (why wouldn't he start with them out?) but I feel it probably works better in the gameplay.

Personally, I like to imagine that he wanted to start the fight with weapons drawn but then his arm blades malfunctioned, so he called in some goons to save face.

I don't think a newcomer would get the joke, though.

Looks even sillier because his expression is so intense. He's really feeling this pose.

Swapping between the two screenshots was a ton of fun. It looked like Nadan was flapping his arms so much he wanted to fly 

I like how both you and Nadan made it seem like there'd be trouble on the way back. And then he just cried for a bit and that was it.

Had to make the interruption seem interesting somehow.

I was half expecting her to tell him to be careful not to let the water spill from the hole. Surprising amount of restraint there, given... you know, everything else.

Perhaphs Oolo knew that Nadan would then drink a glass without issue just to spite her, so she didn't give him the chance to fire back.

Imagine defeating Nadan only to die to this rando.

Never had it happen with Nadan, but this situation has happened to me before. It is as disappointingly hilariously anticlimactic as it sounds.

Thank goodness it didn't happen.

I'm thankful too. Especially considering how close the final fight was this time...

 

 

 

Update:

Spoiler

It’s the final day. The final Doze Bug upgrade. The day Sal’s campaign comes to a close.

These questions weren’t here when I first started playing. I’m very glad they were added. It’s nice to get Fssh’s thoughts one last time before entering the final section of the game.

Hobby?

Does doing something for two to three days count as a hobby?

Maybe that’s why Fssh accidently bought contraband. She got so wrapped up making new traps she forgot to read the fine print.

Not as bad as losing track. I dearly hope the electric counter was the most lethal trap she made…

A little out of nowhere, but this talk of traps makes me want to play Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves again. Apparently, it’s the most Canadian game ever made, with lumberjacks fighting werewolves while drinking beer for buffs to an amazing soundtrack (that I had to go a little out of my way to find. Thank goodness for this Steam Post). Think tower defense, except you set traps instead of towers and have to be more proactive in setting them off at the right time. It’s pretty fun.

A neutral response that’s fitting for Fssh and Sal no matter who you side with.

Not really in this run. Sparky was the only fight that happened here this time, and that’s a mandatory fight.

That said, I have had runs where a lot of people died in bars.

United not in theme, but in experience. Something like that.

I haven’t even left the bar, Fssh.

Anyway, changing my outfit one last time.

Still not entirely sure how I feel about the color scheme, but the “infiltrator” costume is one of the more distinct outfits Sal has.

Interestingly, both Sal and Smith have “tactical” looking costumes that are a little out of place, but they both look cool so I don’t mind.

I pet Yeet one last time

I take a final look at the Grog n’ Dog for this run

And head to the Auction to settle things with Kashio.

Fortunately, I didn’t run into any random events. I have had a weird case of an optional mission appearing on the final day, though I wouldn’t be surprised if that was patched out. Weird that the mission didn’t appear at all this time, though.

I did enter combat with a Spree Captain after arresting Nadan, which was a risky idea considering how counter happy they are. Seriously, that fight could have easily gone downhill. I’ve lost a handful of runs thanks to them.

We’re now part of the security detail! We’ll get to Kashio soon enough, but first we have to do guard duty.

Yeah, one of the randomized guard missions you get is having to assassinate a friend of yours. The other appears when someone who hates or dislikes you tries to start a fight, and you have to try and calm them down.

Sal has some official authority, and she immediately spends it being an asshole. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering the lack of good role models in Havaria.

I mean, I bought you a drink once. That’s about the extent of our friendship.

Sal doesn’t seem thrilled about losing a drinking buddy.

I could provoke him into attacking me right here and now, though that does risk earning a last-second bane, which may or may not be harmful during the final stretch of Sal’s route.

Alternatively, I could convince Gnak to come to a secluded spot before stabbing him in the back.

Since I forgot to screenshot the other options, warning Gnak would cause him to love me, though it wouldn’t automatically let him in. Doing the final option would make Oolo disappointed and we’d miss out on an extremely useful reward.

Of course I go with getting Gnak to a secluded place before sticking a knife in his back.

I Definitely Caused One Of My Readers To Pull Their Hair Out This Negotiation With My Cheerful Disregard Of My Opponents Abilities

Spoiler

 

Apparently, Known Thug did nothing but remove some composure. Blue collar blood and sweat workers gain composure whenever you gain an argument. My interpretation is that they’re wise to people trying to butter them up, and are incredibly jaded towards any pleasantries.

Anyway, I start off upgrading Seeds of Doubt. This may be a longer negotiation, so adding doubt will help end this sooner than later.

Fortunately, Doubt doesn’t give Gnak any composure.

I Build Rapport so I can use Aplomb. Also, I believe I forgot to mention I really like the picture of Rook. It was one of my ideas as a profile pic before I settled on my current one.

Now I remember to screenshot Gnak’s core argument!

Debating against workers is one of the few times you’ll have to pay attention to the distinction between arguments and bounties and so on.

I defend myself with a card that thankfully doesn’t expend.

This won’t do anything, but might as well.

Yeet doesn’t break through Gnak’s composure.

Meanwhile, Gnak adds an argument and takes damage from Doubt.

If you like playing multiple cards in a row, you’ll hate Irritable. Laborers are “done”, so to speak, and lengthy conversations just make them angry.

Obviously, I want to take it down quickly.

Now we’re going to see the downside of gaining influence frequently. It will constantly activate Defensive.

Menacing Air isn’t helping my situation, but at least it activates Irritable at a slower rate.

Since this is the final day and I don’t have to worry much about long term negotiations, I for some reason thought it was a better idea to focus on seeing what Promoted Thinking would give me over defending.

I go with flustered, since it isn’t an argument and will reduce the amount of damage I take for a while.

Sorry you didn’t do much, Yeet.

Gnak gains a lot of defense, while Doubt makes him less irritable.

As does making a Strong Point, even if it makes him defensive.

I start off the turn playing Overbear, which ends up doing nothing but reducing Gnak’s composure.

Grisly Trophy will eventually do 8 damage, even if it gives Gnak even more composure.

Irritable is combing closer and closer to activating…

I see what options Very Convincing provides

Another Solid Point

And Bluster, which appears in the nick of time!

I will be incredibly sad when I can no longer use Bluster. Fortunately, Rook and Smith have their own set of fun and powerful cards.

I still have an action left, so I see what Unstable draws.

Killer, which thanks to replenish and a graft, means I draw two cards.

Boosted Impression does nothing but remove composure. At least doubt will hopefully do damage.

I lose dominance that I’ll gain next turn anyway.

Another argument is added while Gnak takes 2 damage from doubt.

Fortunately for me, workers, well, work, meaning they don’t have the energy for long conversations.

It’s free, so might as well.

I just know I’m making someone agitated with my blatant disregard for Gnaks ability to gain composure every time I add an argument.

Heated does gradually chips away at Bone Tired while doing nothing against his core argument.

I lose influence, though fortunately my core remains undamaged.

Doubt strikes again

The upside about losing all composure for your next turn is that it applies to enemies as well, meaning that his 35 defense means nothing now.

Have I drilled it into your brains yet that I love Bluster?

So much damage!

Fortunately, Solid Point dealt damage before the composure kicked in.

I don’t care if the card itself did no damage, the rest of my arguments will do the heavy lifting.

Why not?

Now we’re getting somewhere!

I lose Menacing Air. It was helpful, but I can go the rest of the negotiation without it.

I mentioned this earlier, but it's good to remember that Doubt won’t always deal the damage you’d expect.

Fatigued kicked in now. Forgot the last time it did so.

Anyway, since I can’t defend, I spend this round focused on dealing as much damage as I can.

I don’t use Pale Fast Talk, because I don’t know where that 10 damage will go otherwise, and I’d like to keep my Heated arguments.

I love Heated.

Gnak adds two arguments and destroys my influence.

Suspicion makes diplomatic cards deal -2 damage, which for your starting cards usually mean they can only do a maximum of 1 damage. This is why I said at the start that workers are incredibly jaded towards people being diplomatic, as they probably just see it as kind words hiding how someone wants them to do unsavory work.

Bone Tired appeared again, and will be targeted by a single heated argument.

 

Good enough for me.

In case things don’t go to plan, I attack the core argument for minimal damage.

I defend a Heated argument twice.

Could have been thrice, but I don’t have any influence.

With that, I win the negotiation.

A little late to be useful, but I might as well.

Ergo is the new card here, and the flavor text is the definition. It’s situational, and I haven’t personally bothered, but I can see its uses.

Since the game is almost over, I skip. Partly to mess with the game so hopefully I can get 10 shills next time Bulldoze or Bluster appear.

 

I’m going to assume you mean that you don’t want to be shanked and robbed for what you’re bringing to the auction.

This isn’t about legality, Gnak

I want to stay on Oolo’s good side, one last time.

I almost put this fight in a spoiler, but it’s so short I don’t see the point.

I start off showing what Fighting Dirty can give me

I don’t need extra cards, so I pick Boosted Slash

Before doing that, I gain Bloodbath for no other reason than it was cheap to play.

I defend and attack

Yeet prevents me from taking damage.

I once again catch funny poses of people jumping.

Laborers are tired and become stunned if they’re hit often enough.

I decide to speed that process up

Wow, I upgrade Sal’s Daggers in the penultimate fight. I normally upgrade that card way earlier in the run.

Fights over

Sad to lose a drinking buddy, but I can always find another.

Worker’s Gloves typically fall into the “I’ll save it for later” trap for me, but not this time.

Eh… I’ll take the extra damage. I don’t want piercing to be rendered useless just because the enemy didn’t defend that turn.

With Sal’s Daggers, you have the choice between focusing on bleed or combo. I typically choose bleed, but Sal’s Combo Daggers are still useful if you have some combo cards.

Into the Night: As long as you have any discard cards, this ability is worthwhile. A single point of defense can go a surprisingly long way.

Muscle Memory: Have I ever used this card before? Anyway, another improvisation card that I keep forgetting exists. I can see why it costs 2 actions, though.

Backstab: Nice if you have a few improvisation cards. Otherwise, there are better sources of damage.

It may never come into play, but I’ll take the chance to gain any defense.

I’ve killed 13 people this run, and who knows how many in the past. Sal is unfortunately unfazed by death by now.

I can ask a few questions before thanking Oolo and heading off to the auction. Asking about the annex was added later.

Hope you’re paying attention, because this affects gameplay.

Always smart to have a back-up plan. Especially in a roguelike.

Sal takes offense, but is (probably) understanding.

Another comment that will affect gameplay soon.

…This is uncomfortably close to how most of my discussions with politics go.

I don’t drink.

I do want to make a Molotov Cocktail sometime, though.

Much as I love how Sal and Oolo bounce off each other, I vastly prefer how the scene of Sal thanking Nadan one last time plays out. It wouldn’t feel out of place as the ending to a western.

The theme for the auction. A lot of people are here.

I just bought you a drink yesterday, Heleet. You’re oddly friendly today.

I hand over my requisition chip to get a free item.

Quite a few choices…

I’m at full health already, so I don’t need this.

Of course the only graft that grants you an action without any drawbacks is only available for the final boss.

What are Rook’s pistols doing here?

A James Bond invention made its way into the auction. I suppose Q had to pay the bills somehow.

A “play the next card twice” card that costs zero actions? Of course something this good could only exist near the end of the game.

Trust me, I’ll be needing all the actions I can get when fighting Kashio.

After this, I decide to try and nab another item at the auction.

You do have the choice of hanging back and waiting for Kashio to appear. As much as I love the dialogue when you do so, I have enough resolve at the moment that I want to try to get another item.

This is the only time Hundruthor appears in the entire game.

Havaria is the kind of place where this simple courtesy has to be spelled out.

To Defeat, The Huns!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

A damn fitting description for an Auctioneer.

The final negotiation of the game, and pretty unique one at that

Sal will fast talk and threaten people into letting her have one of the items without having to actually pay for it first.

This Negotiation Is Unique, But It Drags On For A While

Spoiler

 

Several of our friends pitch in for the final negotiation of the run.

We get a unique card that is only useable in this single situation.

We get composure every turn thanks to Oolo’s boon, and I forgot why Hundruthor took 3 damage.

If haven't noticed already, the guy doesn’t have any resolve for his Core Argument.

That’s because the rest of the items are on offer, and any one we destroy, we get. Of course, there are rival bidders that try to damage these arguments or even yours.

Since it’s free to play, I see what Promoted Thinking will grant me.

I choose the only one that deals damage

Since bidding costs money and I don’t care for getting Sage Conversion, I nab some extra shills.

Then I do it again.

I don’t really have much else to target, as bidders will just reappear when destroyed.

Now to show off the unique bidding cards

.

Appraisal: Doubles the damage a bidder will do. Risky, but considering how much resolve the items have, it can save a you a lot of time.

In-universe, I suppose you’re paying 100 shills to say that one of the random bidders is worth (hah) Hundruthors time.

Grade: Steals the composure off of an argument and gives it to you. Considering how much composure the item bounties can have, it can be worth the 100 shills to remove the hassle of breaking through it. 

Hammer Price: If I had 50 more shills, I could buy something outright and end the negotiation then and there. Alas, I am 49 shills off.

I ended up going with Grade, so I don’t have to deal with breaking through the composure all the time. I’ll be saving it for later.

Yeet tries to bid, I suppose

The bidders bid and increase their damage.

Told you the items would be given a lot of composure.

Lili, and by extension merchants, provide the Hush Money card. This allows you to prevent the enemy from taking a random action. Note that is doesn’t affect arguments.

Might as well

Especially since I plan on spending some influence to attack everything.

Next I see what Unstable will give me.

I don’t know how effective Doubt will be in this negotiation, but I’m not complaining.

Sal’s flourish is now available.

Since I can’t break through the other items' composure this turn, I focus on getting rid of the graft I don’t need.

Yeet growls at one of the bidders

The bidders do their bidding

Composure is added once again

And Lili gives me more Hush Money

Since it’s free and there are times I’ll be targeting the bidders, I play Stone Bulldoze.

I also add a Grisly Trophy because I can, which must be really strange in the context of an auction, but Yeet helping me bid is already a little odd, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Since I have two hostile cards, I decide to play Rage

And I pick the cheapest card available

I realize I haven’t even looked at what the other item is. Turns out to be Suitcase Grenades, which are a solid option. I get rid of the composure with Bluster.

I add to that damage with Tall Anger

Realize that in hindsight I should have seen what Bid would have offered

I realize I can’t do anything, and end my turn.

Yeet tries to bid on an item I don’t want. Again.

The bidders keep bidding

I have no idea how Doubt works in this context, but I won’t complain

I make a Strong Point against one of the bidders, one of whom wants me out of the conversation.

I hope I do enough damage this turn to get the Suitcase Grenades

Maybe

What will Very Convincing give me?

A card that won’t deal enough damage to destroy the bounty!

What will Unstable draw?

An argument that won’t directly deal damage!

Will Agitation do the trick?

Eeeeeehhh??? No

I almost do this

Before settling on Boosted Doubt.

In hindsight, I should have defended.

Too little, too late, Yeet.

Everyone notices that Sal is starting to get agitated.

Well, I can live without those Suitcase Grenades

OW

Being a Known Thug somehow helps me out in an auction

I see what Bid gives me, and the only thing I can afford is Appraisal.

Eh, it’s free

Observation will do the most damage

I think I played this just because I could, honestly.

I don’t know what my plan was, here, exactly. I think I just wanted Sage Conversion to go down so that another item would appear.

I really should have focused my attention on the other bidders, but hindsight is 20/20

Yeet had the right idea here

More Heated shenanigans

Sage Conversion is taken

What the fuck? The bidder attacked me!

Strong Point appears twice, as does Bid

I give a late good impression to one of the bidders, convincing them to back off.

Heated scared off a different bidder, and I realize that someone scared off Yeet.

Speaking of Heated, I’m starting to lose track of the damage it’s dealing.

Heated and dominance take damage, though thankfully they aren’t destroyed.

Never mind.

Considering how powerful some of my combat cards are, a lucky draw with Hologram Projection Belt could go a long way.

I just want this negotiation to be over already, but first I defend

Then I use Appeal to Reason because it’s free

Similar case with Overbear.

I see if I can do anything with Bid

Bait and Switch: Extremely helpful when you don’t want an argument taking damage that turn.

Lean: I’ll need to double check, but this might be the only card artwork that features Kashio. It’s essentially an attack card you pay 50 shills to use. Debatable, but this the cheapest bidding card at a point of the game where money doesn’t really matter.

Also, I just want to give huge kudos to the artists for putting this much effort into card artwork that will only appear in this specific, skippable event. I really haven’t been praising the artwork as much as I should, which I know I’ve said before, but I really mean it. I love Griftlands presentation.

Might as well use some of my shills for once

I once again attack everything

Apparently, Flattery convinced someone to let me have the belt. Hopefully.

If you can tell what’s happening in these screenshots, then congratulations! You’re paying better attention than I am.

I finish off by adding doubt because it’s the only thing I can do

Heated burns the bidders

I lose dominance

And only have 6 resolve left.

The belt is close to being claimed!

Fuck! 17 composure! And the doubt doesn’t target it!

I play Bid to see if it can help me at all

It can!

That 17 defense is mine!

As is that belt!

Finally! This damn auction took more time to complete than the final boss!

Thank you!

 

I mean, I did make that much of a ruckus. Reading through the negotiation when finalizing the update was a trip to visualize.

Enjoy Kashio’s theme one last time.

…Makes sense considering the craziness of bidding…

…A lot of sense…

Final boss time!

I prefer, “Let’s dance, Ik-Derrick!”

Don’t know why they changed that.

Funny screenshot thanks to forgiveness.

Oolo can come in and help out 3 times.

A reminder that Shrokes gain defense every time they take damage.

Yeet will still take damage, but fortunately she won’t be the target.

Yeah, any items you don’t nab, Kashio will use, and they give her a unique attack or ability. I hate the Sonic Pistol the most for giving her 8 counter every turn.

I see Kashio stole those Suitcase grenades, and will use them against us at the end of every turn.

Sage conversion just gives her more health.

By the way, Sal’s boss music, one last time. Though I listened to Metal Gear Rising: Revengence’s soundtrack while writing this section, and I have to say, it was shockingly fitting.

I see what bonus Fighting Dirty will give me.

Hell yeah I’ll take the power!

May as well use the dagger now. No point in saving it for later at this point.

I am thankful Kashio doesn’t start the fight with counter.

I stab her, and don’t have a reason to expend Kra’Deshi Feint because I haven’t taken damage yet.

Thanks for the defense, Yeet!

Kashio’s jump animation doesn’t look silly

Unfortunately, it hits hard.

Using a mace like a baseball bat seems difficult. Unfortunately, Kashio is good with it.

I sometimes forget that her main weapon is a mace. I’m used to her using a spear that didn’t appear as an option this time.

I’ll take the temporary power, thank you.

I’d like to take less damage, thank you.

I miss it here, but I do take damage from counter.

Time to add bleed to the mix.

Ow. Seems like Kashio likes to spin the pistol around.

I protect myself, and decide not to use Rooted Stab. I don’t want to take more damage than I need to from counter.

Bad idea, Yeet!

Please stay alive, Yeet.

Kashio takes damage from bleed

While Kashio cracks something.

Another Suitcase grenade.

Oh hell yes!

I’ll crush her twice!

Fuck yeah!

The more damage Kashio takes, the better!

Keeping the wound train going!

Why not add even more bleed to the mix?!

Not a bad idea, Yeet!

Kashio doesn’t do anything but bleed, though I worry about that counter…

Your sacrifice will not be in vain, Gnak!

Kashio has a boatload of health, and so the more damage I deal, the better!

Nice! 32 damage, and I got a screenshot of the Shroog Fang!

Kashio isn’t so happy about that.

I’ll take 16 damage, but any wound will help!

I active my flourish, and decide to stun Kashio again!

Yeet will live to fight another day.

Holy shit, my heart is pumping just remembering this fight.

I use Sal’s Bloody Daggers for the first and last time

I’ll take the card that deals damage, thank you.

I finish off this turn with an elbow.

Thank you, Yeet!

I call in Oolo for help!

Oolo has a weird weapon, but I can’t complain about its efficiency.

Hell yeah, I’ll take the surrender.

Phew. Despite how surprisingly fast the fight tends, I still consider Kashio to be the most difficult boss in the entire game. She does not mess around, and you have to be just as vicious to keep up. I suppose it makes sense that the two characters that have the biggest reasons to hate each other also have the more brutal fight in Griftlands.

Behold, one of the best exchanges in the entire game.

Seriously, I convinced @Saint Rubenio to buy Griftlands after I showed him this specific dialogue.

The final exchange differs depending on if Kashio is alive or dead. They’re all really interesting. Unfortunately, I took those screenshots on the Switch, and forgot to do so on my current computer, so I can’t show them off.

The music from the beginning appears at the end.

This slide differs depending on if you took Kashio in alive or dead.

Obviously, this slide depends on who you sided with.

Took a month to complete (though to be fair, I visiting family did delay some updates), but I beat the game in 4 hours. I engaged in 18 fights, killed 13 people, persuaded 16 people, installed 6 grafts, and had 3 people love me by the end.

I’ll take a short break, but Rook is coming up next.

*****

I know that this Let’s Play is far from over, but I just want to say it right now: Thank You for Reading.

The idea of doing a Let’s Play of this game has been bouncing around in my head for over a year now, and I’m grateful to finally see it come to fruition. I’m also thankful that the two things I was worried I would struggle with before I started, getting screenshots and finding things to say, instead ended up being the two things that came the most naturally. Most importantly, I had fun making this. I don’t care if this is only seen by 5 people or 100, I had fun playing the game, commenting on what happened, providing tips and tricks, replying to people, taking and arranging screenshots, and overall bringing more attention to a game I love.

Sure, there are some things I would do differently. I wish I learned a few behind the scenes tricks earlier to save myself some time, and I do wish that I brought more attention to the artwork and flavor text. However, even the mistakes I realize I made after posting an update and reading it, I laugh at. Besides, I have two more characters to go through, each with their own strengths and hurdles.

Once again, thank you for reading, and we’ll continue the journey soon!

 

[Your Opinion of the Above Posted Video]

A pretty fun take on a meme.

I think I've seen it here before, though.

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/227220/discussions/0/846945955412539900/

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’S CAMPAIGN DAY 4 BOSS FIGHT: Taking Down The Spree

Replies:

Spoiler

On 10/21/2022 at 1:29 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Got two updates to go through.

Day 3:

  Hide contents

Gahahahahahahahahah.

Thanks. I love it too.

Well, at least someone does…

Oh dear, let me check if my cheek is still in place...

Just don’t stand near any explosives and you should be fine.

The real question is how well Nadan and Eugen would get along

They’ll either be at each other's throats, or make astute observations about the situation. Or both.

The first time I got one of these, I waited to see how it played out.

My friend died, the event just ended anticlimatically and I felt like a massive idiot.

I’ve never waited to see how it played out, so this is news to me. I’ve skipped the event before, though usually when the other random event is worth giving up the boon, which is rare but does happen sometimes.

Free decks? Free decks.

Which results in wasted actions.

Wait, she retains her injuries if you just beat her to submission?

That's... wow, I had no idea. That's really cool.

Damage carries over between encounters. It can lead to some hilariously anticlimactic encounters if you fight someone in a random event and then they appear propper in a mission, or the other way around.

I mean, she does look surprised. I don't know how one buys contraband by accident, but hey, maybe it's not sarcasm. Maybe she just went into the wrong website.

Considering the supplies needed different paperwork for being turned into weapons or traps, I wouldn't be surprised if Havaria's laws are... messy.

Doesn't help that they're not even consistently enforced.

It is a really good line.

It is.

You'd think at this point she'd have learned to demand a lawyer before interacting with Sal.

If one of Smith’s missions is anything to go by, being a lawyer is a side-gig for several people in Havaria. Even Smith can improvise being a lawyer if you want to complete the mission that way. I don’t recommend, it but it is an option.

I don't even know what bluster means.

...ah, being a jerk, basically. Fitting.

At least it makes sense why it makes people flustered.

I mean, if you have no cards left to play, what do you want 'em for?

Stronger cards. More stuff to do. I really don’t like having actions go to waste.

Sounds oddly kinky

...

... I am not joking that I took a 30 minute walk and spent the whole time contemplating how to respond to that when I first read it.

I ended up going with two different reactions

Reaction 1:

Spoiler

Reaction 2 (Slight gameplay spoilers):

Spoiler

(This is one of Smith's cards, by the way, and I have no idea why Sal is part of the artwork (though I will say it is far better than what Klei originally planned...))

I mean... there is a mission when you side with the spree where you escort a corrupt clerk in a prisoner exchange. You have the option to kidnap a smuggler off the street to make the prisoner negotiation easier (or harder, if you get unlucky). The game says that you gag them, without specifying where you got the gag.

Put two and two together.

... I'm going to go take a shower and think long and hard about my life after typing that.

I do love how the admiralty's negotiating skills involve mugging the opponent and framing them for non-descript crimes through bogus evidence. Nice to see they all share Oolo's love for corruption.

It's pretty impressive how much character building can be down with abstract concepts.

Now if only the admirality targeted actual criminals more often. I appreciate that Oolo is at least trying to do her job.

Weaponized bureaucracy! That should be a war crime.

…Standard paperwork should be outlawed?

Well, I'm sure the fruits of that effort will--

The gameplay sections typically take the longest. A combination of having more to comment on, deciding which screenshot to use, and there just being more screenshots in general.

...Ah.

I did not go into the fight expecting to make child murder jokes. They just… sorta happened when Sandrano kept targeting them and Bina kept killing them.

Very smart kids.

They might have a bright future ahead of them.

Embrace the cringe, my friend.

I have a hard time doing so without turning around and making fun of making a cringy joke.

...Not as bad as me trying to make a sex joke. Those always end up with me rambling about how terrible and/or boring they are.

So before they just closed their injuries by... pumping their chests out? Wouldn't that just open wounds more...?

Nah, they played the same animation. They just didn't have the green swirling effect.

Congratulations, you've produced orphans!

Maybe Phroluk will take them in?

"You're a good kid, Sal. Trying to give me radiation poisoning and all. Good kid, good kid.

Seems like Sal is taking advantage of the Kra’deshi’s natural healing ability to not tell the truth.

Which is underhanded, but honestly, Smith takes a lot more abuse in his route.

Day 4:

  Hide contents

I like the cloth shoulderpad. So unnecessary, but it looks neat.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Sal has it just to cover up her cybernetic shoulder.

Yeah, but... maybe the point is that she has a reputation of being a pushover lol. Still, I'd say they intentionally left it vague.

...I'm debating whether it's worse to be seen as a pushover or a coward.

Huh. I don't recall if I ever saw this guy, let alone if things went awry with him.

There is another event where he gives you different vials to drink from, while seeing your reaction.

I think if I got this event earlier, he would have asked for the knife back at some point. Because it’s Day 4, it ends up not mattering much.

Or maybe she trusts in her ability to throw Fanda at the danger before Fanda can do it to her haha

There are times you can abandon your ally to save your own skin. This isn’t one of those times but you can do it.

I loved the 4th wall breaks with this guy. His dialogue was a lot of fun.

It caught me off guard the first time I played it as well, but in a good way. It was an interesting observation of the games mechanics, didn’t distract from the main story, and helped reinforce that there might be something to the crazier people in Havaria.

Oh, he was a woman named Yunni before? Or does this person change randomly? Because I recall encountering Rudana as well...

The game randomly assigns characters. As long as they’re a clerk, they can either give the quest or be the leader. Heck, this is actually pointed out in the dialogue where Rundana says that the roles could be flipped or that he may have been friends with Sal in another run.

Cult leader or no, at the end of the day, he's still a poorly trained clerk.

There’s good reason you tend to fight them as part of a group. They’re pretty pathetic otherwise.

Biting one of those things has to taste pretty bad.

...Just a random thought that came to mind.

Well, Rug did make a pretty solid casserole out of them.

Hahaha, it's okay. These things happen. That kind of HUD text tends to blend in.

Doesn’t help that grafts are pretty straightforward and hovering over one on the main screen will give you the flavor text and what it does. There’s a reason to check out your deck, whether to see the artwork or review what you can do. Now so much the graft upgrade screen.

How much you wanna bet it's got to do with corruption?

There’s surprisingly little on Oolo’s side.

Sal, on the other hand…

 

 

17 hours ago, eclipse said:

I never figured out what the Authority boon did, either.  Still, thanks for going over that clerk's sidequest, I tried it and got rolled.

The boon isn't bad so much as forgettable. I believe it was the first quest I died in, too.

 

Update:

Spoiler

Before seeing what Oolo’s plan is, I’ll take a quick stop at the Grog n’ Dog for a drink.

Since I’ve run into Heleet before, I decide to buy him a drink. It probably won’t do much at this stage of the game, but you never know.

I gain resolve and two cards

The boon of Admiralty cards is neat, but not worth going out of your way to get.

Now I’m ready to meet Oolo

Apparently we’re the only grifter in these parts worth a damn for Oolo to say that.

Unsurprisingly, Nadan would be telling us to go after Oolo right now if we joined him.

I suppose they have an equivalent to bees in Havaria. Jokes aside, I do like this quote.

Maybe for Sal. I just see flattery as wasted words, personally.

Then again, I didn't spend several years doing thankless work.

Bait that bites back

Living without half your face will give you such a reputation.

Before doing Oolo’s bidding, we can ask some questions.

A reminder that the Spree really don’t want the annex to go through.

Hard to tell if alien food is supposed to be disgusting or surprisingly delicious.

Oolo says this very casually.

Sal doesn’t seem that surprised.

Not a bad tactic, honestly. How many players know the dread of escort missions where the enemy will ignore you to kill whatever you’re defending?

Though that throws a different spin on things.

Oolo is pretty damn casual talking about the guy who wants her dead. Or that she didn’t blow someone up as efficiently as she should have.

Well, off to be bait.

Told you oshnu’s looked like alien snails

Essentially Sal right now:

Link: https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/108989-shilling-memesclickbaity-but-will-get-your-attention/page/3/ 

Uh…

Link: https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/119879-bestfunniest-writing-thread/page/2/#comments (This thread is really fun, by the way)

To be fair, I thought Quark/Yeet was a dude initially, and I don’t know much about snail biology, much less alien snails.

We could just take the oshnu and head off

Though we could convince Irkow to come with us.

…

…I don’t know what Sal is referring to here…

…But I’m stealing that innuendo and using it elsewhere sometime.

Sal’s lying to through her teeth, though I can’t blame her for wanting a partner against Nadan.

Brace Yourself. This Is A Gameplay Heavy Update:

Spoiler

 

*****

Bartenders have seen and heard everything, and thus they’re prepared if you try to manipulate them. You don’t debate with them often, but it’s interesting how they change the order you play cards, as manipulation cards tend to provide effects that don’t always directly deal damage but are useful to have.

I start with Bulldoze, as bartenders have several arguments that are better to destroy sooner than later.

Since it’s free, I play Lucid Threaten

Which combos nicely with Overbear, even if it only attacks once.

And since I already used my harder hitting cards this turn, I see what Very Convincing gives me, which turns out to be Pale Fast Talk and Agitation.

Pale Fast Talk only has a chance to deal 1 damage, if it breaks through Irkow’s composure at all

This won’t deal any damage, but at least I’ll have influence for the future.

It doesn’t do much, and I forget that Pale Fast Talk is now free to play. Whoops.

Yeet breaks through the rest of Irkrow’s composure to deal 2 damage.

Irkrow adds an argument, and I take 7 damage thanks to not drawing any defensive cards last turn.

Strong Point appears and does exactly what you expected

Part of the “Havarian Bartenders have seen everything” impression is the Intuition argument, which does more damage and increases its health every time you deploy a new argument. While it depends on your deck for Sal and Rook, this is nightmarish for Smith due to how much he relies on arguments. Doesn’t help that Intuition can take a beating from the get go, and any arguments that could help bring it down faster only make it stronger.

And of course, every card in my hand this turn except for two are manipulation cards.

May as well play the only card that isn’t manipulative and see what it plays.

Not just a manipulation card, but one that expends!

God, as useful as Unstable can be, there’s a reason you can’t get it from shops or winning negotiations. At least it didn’t draw an item card, as unstable does not give a crap whether or not it will be destroyed.

This won’t do anything now, but at least doubt will help in the future. Thankfully, it doesn’t affect Intuition.

May as well see what Promoted Thinking will provide, since I don’t need to use Lucid Deflection right now.

While all three could be useful, I go with Boosted Stammer, as it appears Irkrow’s composure will be an issue in this negotiation.

Yeet doesn’t scare Irkrow this time

Though Irkrow doesn’t break through my composure either.

Doubt thankfully brings Intuition closer to being destroyed.

It’s Solid Point that destroys the argument, granting me another action thanks to Bulldoze.

Chaser is essentially drinking, but without costing any shills. The downside is that you can still gain Slurred Speech even if you already have full resolve. Annoyingly, your arguments can target this one even if you don’t them want to.

Since it hits hard and costs nothing, I attack Irkrows core argument with Appeal to Reason, which Sal does by saying “be reasonable!”

In hindsight, I really should have taken this opportunity to destroy Chaser to gain an extra action from bulldoze. You’ll see why shortly.

I still love bluster.

I decide to get rid of my Slurred Speech card, which was a good idea, but now I can’t defend Bulldoze, which could easily be destroyed in the future.

Yeet frightens Irkrow this time

Irkrow learns his lesson and defends

I wish I defended bulldoze last turn

And Irkrow is now impatient while taking a single point of damage from doubt

I don’t draw any defensive cards this turn, but because I have three cards that cost zero actions to play, I upgrade Menacing Air.

I waste my last chance to get rid of Chaser by attacking Irkrows core argument twice

If you click on the “draw” or “discard” icons on the lower left and right of the screen, respectively, you can see which cards are in each pile. Since Known Thug won’t help me this turn, I don’t bother with Unstable.

Yeet does her thing

I lose Bulldoze

And take 7 damage to my core for my mistake.

Irkrow defends, while Doubt made the attempt fruitless.

Known Thug deals a total of six damage. The card has moments where it shines.

Since it costs 2 actions instead of 3 to play, and it will upgrade after the negotiation, I play Agitation.

Want to know why I made a big deal about losing Bulldoze earlier?

I forgot that I lost it this turn, and thought I had this big brain plan to play Agitation and Bluster on the same turn.

I’ll take the extra health, but I missed out on a cool turn.

Oh well, the debate is close to being over anyway.

I forgot why I didn’t play Unstable. I suppose I though the negotiation would be done this turn and didn’t pay attention to Irkrow having a defense ready.

Yeet attacks one last time

Heated comes close to ending the negotiation.

Doubt can’t do anything, though.

And I am rightfully punished for not paying attention.

Not that it matters, because Solid Point appears and finishes the negotiation.

I can upgrade 4 cards this time.

Neither of these upgrades are that helpful, to be honest, but I’ll take the free composure. You never known when that will come in handy.

Ambush means you draw the card at the start of the negotiation or fight. It’s worthwhile for some cards, but for Menacing Air, I’d rather it be cheaper to play.

The possibility that Veiled Anger will do no damage is its biggest drawback. A drawback that Tall Anger addresses.

Aplomb: Requires you to have influence to spare to play at all, but spending 2 influence to gain 8 composure is a pretty good deal.

This Ends Now: Can really only be useful if you’re running a deck with a reliable way to gain dominance, but if that’s the case then this is a damn good card to have.

As this negotiation has shown, I really need to address having issues with gaining composure.

 

Irkrow reluctantly joins us, having no idea what we plan to do this evening.

Time to ambush Nadan!

I don’t think you’re going to be happy about this Irkrow…

I’m a grifter. I’m paid to do dangerous jobs that no one else does.

Also, a reminder that Nadan has his own theme.

Seems Oolo rubbed off on Sal, as she’s snarking about Nadan to his face.

I doubt Nadan is the kind of guy that will go quietly.

…That was not a mental image I wanted, Sal.

Delegation! Which if you side with Nadan, you’ll realize is something he’s really good at.

This dialogue will change depending on if the thug likes or dislikes you. They’re obviously more reluctant to fight if they like you.

I could talk

Or I could fight

I try negotiating to keep my health for fighting Nadan.

Besides, if I fail the negotiation, I’ll have to fight her anyway, so why rush?

If You Just Want To Get To The Boss Fight, Pass Right On By:

Spoiler

 

Everyone adds their respective arguments.

Unsurprisingly for thugs, they get impatient easily when you try to talk with them, and the Spree generally focuses on dealing high amounts of damage instead of defending.

Funnily enough, though, I consider them more difficult to negotiate with during the early game compared to the late game, as you’ll be shuffling your deck far more often thanks to not having many cards yet.

The oshnu is untrained, sadly, and will only be able to help us on this turn.

I start off seeing what Unstable gives me.

Stone Fast Talk, apparently.

I’ll take it.

Hecklers join in whenever a person who dislikes or hates you is present at the same location you negotiate in. They’re annoying, but it depends on the negotiation whether or not they’re worth targeting. Since it was damaged earlier and Spree focus on dealing high damage, I may as well destroy Heckler sooner than later.

I gain Influence that will likely be destroyed this turn.

So I have no qualms about playing Pale Fast Talk and convincing Nadan to back off.

Since I still have 3 actions left, I see what Very Convincing gives me.

Two deflection cards. It'll lessen the blow of losing influence.

Since I don’t see a reason to expend Wide Deflection right now, I spend the rest of the turn attacking.

Both animals help me out

Predictably, I lose my Influence, but only take 3 damage to the core, which I can live with.

Known Thug deals 5 damage total. I’ll take it.

Escalation heals itself and increases the amount of damage Kuga does every time you play a hostility card. This is either hilariously easy or incredibly frustrating to deal with depending on your deck composition.

Fortunately, I have no hostility cards to play this turn.

I can now play hostility cards freely

Hard to argue with adding Doubt

Sal also unlocked her flourish right now.

In hindsight, it may not have been a bad idea to have played Pure Diplomacy for some composure and influence to take advantage of the rest of the cards in my deck, or Clemency to heal.

Still, Rage wasn’t a bad choice, as dominance is difficult to come by and Kuga has enough resolve that hitting hard is a good strategy.

Yeet chips away at Kuga’s resolve

Kuga spreads the damage around

While Doubt does 2 damage

Strong Point appears slightly later than usual, though I welcome the damage and influence.

I play Stone Bulldoze since it’s cheaper than usual.

And since I may lose my dominance this turn, I use Bluster to both hit hard and reduce the amount of damage Fuga can do.

Yeet’s still standing

Right, Stone Bulldoze gives the composure to your core argument. I forget sometimes whether cards that grant composure defend themselves or your core argument.

Kuga adds an argument and takes 2 damage from doubt.

Strong Point appears again

At the cost of 10 shills, you get to double your actions. Not a fan, as it can take more than one action to destroy the argument, and if you play efficiently you’ll have more actions than cards to use them on.

I’m glad they added the condition that the argument can only be targeted by cards. That wasn’t the case when I first started playing and it… wasn’t fun. Just keep in mind that cards like Unstable and Overbear which have random targets still damage greed. I’ve learned that the hard way more than once.

Apparently I forgot to show the upgrade actions for Agitation. It was a choice between the card costing 2 actions to play or creating 4 heated arguments. It’s pretty apparent which one I chose.

Kuga went from taking 5 damage to 9 this turn.

I see what options Promoted Thinking will provide

I can’t play any composure cards this turn, so I use Boosted Withdraw.

Now to see what Unstable does

2 damage and gives me 1 dominance

Yeet and heated barrage Kuga

I lose influence, but take no damage to the core argument.

Now Doubt kicks in

So why not add more?

I only have one action left, Bulldoze is the only argument being targeted this turn, and Observation is the only card that deals damage.

Why wouldn’t I pick it?

Cause it’ll do jack and shit.

I deal an okay amount of damage with the rest of my cards.

Bulldoze is damaged but not destroyed

And Doubt ends the negotiation

I can upgrade a graft!

It makes expensive cards even cheaper to play. I’ll take it.

3 Doubt is better than 2, and I already said I’m not the fondest of drawing more cards.

Oppress: I believe we’ve seen this one before. Nice to have, even if it sometimes requires getting lucky with the RNG.

Build Rapport: Gives you influence for free and defends it to boot. I almost always pick this one.

Level Playing Field: You take more damage in exchange for dealing more damage. A little too situational for my liking.

I’m picking this primarily for the composure. The influence is just a neat bonus.

I successfully convinced Kuga to back off. Her second sentence makes more sense when the person likes you.

On I do, Nadan. My knife might even be sharper than my tongue!

New costume, new artwork.

I really like Nadan’s arm blades. I think they’re cool weapons in general, as I also like Mortal Kombat’s Tarkatans (Baraka) arm blades. The real life equivalent, Katars, are pretty underrated weapons.

The Boss Fight Against Nadan:

Spoiler

 

So many things appear

Nadan is armored and will gain 12 defense at the end of every turn. Yeet has a similar ability, though she only gains 4 defense.

When Nadan has goons out, they’ll attack whoever hurts the Spree leader. Annoyingly, your allies don’t adapt to this.

Since it’s free to play, I see what Fighting Dirty can give me.

I focus on reducing damage

The dust effect is there, even if it’s a little hard to see.

Since I’m the only one being targeted right now, I focus on defense and counter.

I don’t need to heal right now, though, so I attack a generic thug.

Yeah, there are generic characters in this game with randomized names, generic faces, and no descriptions. I understand why they're there, but I'm not a fan of them. At least the Spree generics get a neat mask.

Bartenders carry some type of rifle, and they’re surprisingly good with one.

Seems like my allies focused on gaining power over dealing damage this turn.

The thug takes damage from bleed, while Nadan runs towards me

I catch the backhand from an interesting angle

I take no damage, and counter him.

Fisticuffs is a three hit combo that ends with a cool looking uppercut.

Unfortunately for him, I counter three times.

One day we’ll see the flead ball animation.

This will probably pay off in the long run

I nab Saber Grip from Sal’s Daggers

I was tempted to save Shroog Fang for later so I could give Nadan wound, but there’s no guarantee of when it would reappear. Besides, it’s better to gain power sooner than later.

In the grand tradition of this run, I keep screenshotting the attack before the sprite loads in.

I’ll save the dagger for later.

Irkrow fires wildly

.

Since one of his targets was Nadan, the thug retaliates.

…Thanks?

Nadan backhands yet again.

The thug is revved up, and will now deal bleed damage.

I decide I want another dagger, and thus aim to kill the generic thug this turn.

“Random” doesn’t include enemies that have surrendered.

A bit of a waste of two actions, but he’ll just run away when Nadan decides to fight alone, so this is my only chance to kill Onar.

Nadan seems to be caught off guard by his subordinate being killed in front of his eyes.

Slobber gives slimed, a debuff that can stun the enemy, but it rarely activates

Bartenders are one of two classes that use ammo for their attacks. Interestingly, they’re both part of the “civilian” faction.

Yeet gnaws at Nadan, causing him to bleed.

A final backhand

A simple animation, but I like it. The shing sound effect really sells it.

Interestingly, Nadan initially started the fight with his arm blades out, and called for back-up when they stopped working. I don’t know why they flipped it around; perhaps he took too much damage the first few rounds?

Since I don’t have anything else to spend my actions on, I play Efficient Disposal.

May as well gain some combo next turn, even if it won’t do anything.

Time to use this dirk

I debate ending the turn here…

Before realizing that the dagger will sting like hell and increase the amount of damage everyone else will do this turn.

Fortunately, it wasn't destroyed.

Yeesh, bartenders should fight more often since they’re so good at it!

Yeet keeps the pain train going.

Nadan takes a single point of damage from bleed as he strolls towards Irkrow

Doing a leap attack that looks kind of silly when not in motion.

Still hurts, though.

Bloodbath might come in handy later. Depends on how long the fight lasts.

I played this mostly for the experience

One day I’ll catch both daggers

Since it’s free, I finish the turn with Strained Stab.

Ouch

Thank you, Yeet

Sorry, Nadan, but seeing you jump in still frames is making me laugh more than anything.

Seems like Irkrow will surrender this turn. Before doing anything else, I get rid of the Tipsy card I got earlier today.

The animation is still funny.

Wild Lunge will upgrade this turn, deal a high amount of damage and add more wound. A wonderful combination.

17 damage is good enough for me.

Oh, how the tables turn. Nadan will surrender before Irkrow does.

I catch a screenshot of the oshnu actually biting something before the day is done.

Apparently those bullets are made out of lumin. Sounds pretty wasteful, to be honest, but it’s hard to complain about the amount of damage it does.

Yeet ends the fight by biting at Nadan twice.

Neat effect when wound is added.

Anyway, I arrest Nadan. Alive.

Not a bad haul

Following Feint can be useful, but Feint of the Healer will gradually keep me alive.

Tempting as it is to continue the amount of bleed I do, I’m primarily using Target Practice to attack the same opponent multiple times.

Similar logic with Wide Wild Lunge.

Planning: It’s cheap, but honestly I’d rather not have it clog up my deck.

Duplicity: I’d rather spend that action playing another card.

Scorched Earth: Situational, and you can potentially get rid of some good cards if you mistime it. However, considering how big your discard pile can get, that damage can rack up quickly if you time it right.

I skip this round

Follow Through: Neat… if I was running a combo deck.

Inside Fighting: A pretty solid ability that I normally choose. I don’t have any cards that use combo this run, though.

Shadow Mastery: Adrenaline is essentially temporary power. The ability is nice, but I tend to finish off a round with a card that discards, and I don’t have enough for the ability to be consistently useful.

I skip this round, too.

 

I gain the Killer card after killing a generic thug. It’s an okay card, if a little meaningless if you don’t draw any hostility cards.

Meaning he might have something planned…

A fairly nasty ability, though you get it so late in the game there’s a chance it won’t matter.

As helpful as Irkrow was in arresting Nadan, he wasn’t planning on taking on a crime lord today. Naturally, he’s pretty pissed about almost dying.

We didn’t spend much time together, but you helped out in the fight.

Off to bring Nadan to Oolo.

Was anyone expecting this to go smoothly?

They both keep their word about getting you to Kashio, so Nadan is half right.

If you accept the offer, I believe you get one of the unique cards joining the Spree would give you. You know, like how Very Convincing was an option for helping the admiralty? The cards are nice, but I never accepted the offer.

Funny how much his tone will change regarding payment when you work for him.

We reach Oolo without further interruptions.

One thug today, around 11 total.

God damn, Oolo! How many digs at Nadan’s face are you going to make?

Kashio’s going down tomorrow

A useful boon. Would be nice if we got it earlier, but it’s hard to complain.

Before spending some shills for the final time at the night market, I can ask two questions.

They’re both right. Nadan can be surprisingly loquacious, but it hurts for him to talk, so he doesn’t do it often.

Before heading to been and looking “presentable”, I go to the roadside market for the final time.

I add a single slot, see that none of the other shopkeepers have cards I’m interested in, and go back to the Grog n’ Dog.

I’m surprised I get a random event this late.

Tarq used to hate me, but thanks to the forgiveness perk now he just dislikes me.

 I could try talking my way out again…

I check what his death loot is, forget to screenshot that screen, yet remember to take a picture of his description. I don’t know what my thought process was then.

This is incredibly risky, but I go for it.

This Was Kind Of Dumb On My Part, But At Least I Survived:

Spoiler

 

Spree captains aren’t the hardest 5 star enemies in the game, but they’re one you have to be incredibly careful when fighting.

Since I won’t always be able to deal as much damage as I’ll want attacking head on, gaining counter can help even the odds.

I really don’t want to lose Yeet at this far into the run.

Time to see who’ll be attacked

Both of them, it seems

Thanks Yeet

I don’t know what those weapons are supposed to be, but they don’t break through Yeet’s defense.

I gain impair, and I retaliate with counter.

Might as well.

It’s the only attack card I got

Interesting shot of the flead. At least Tarq didn’t gain counter.

I once again defend Yeet

Though I’m the one to gain counter.

Damn it. It’s hard enough damaging him when he’s not defending.

Hey! I’d say we’d get the Flead Ball animation sometime! And it’s even more hilarious when not in motion.

Thankfully, Brazen Attack has piercing, so Tarq’s defense means nothing.

The impair is a nice bonus.

I really want to keep Yeet alive.

I test to see if Tarq will counter Hemorrhage.

He doesn’t, though he does gain more counter.

May as well use this opportunity to extend how long impair will last.

Hey! I catch the dagger sprite!

Characters tend to “dash” towards the opponent. I suppose it saves animation for walking and helps speed up combat. Looks kinda silly, though.

Ow

Ow

I see what Fighting Dirty can provide.

Considering I’ll be attacked thrice and drew no defense cards, I nab Boosted Hide.

Risky, but I see what this will do

It straight up killed the flead. Nice.

Risky, but the Dirk can add more wound and thus help each attack hit that much harder.

I lose some defense from that

I finish off by adding more bleed to the mix.

I do lose all my defense, though.

Yeet gains power

Tarq bleeds

I take 16 damage

And counter twice

And I take so much damage I unlock my flourish

Chamber was free to play, so why not?

Hemomancy will hopefully end the fight sooner than later.

That’s a lot of counter… but I’m not being targeted this turn, and Yeet isn’t attacking…

Sure

Also, Efficient Disposal sees some action, and I catch a thrown dagger outside of Target Practice.

I end the turn, since I don’t want to risk taking more damage.

Good idea, Yeet!

Ouch! Hopefully, that will convince him to give up sooner than later.

I see an opportunity not only to use Crushing Blow, but to make sure it truly lives up to its name. I gain more power from Sparky’s Oppressor Cell.

Lacerate Tarq for shits and giggles.

And give him the mother of all Crushing Blows.

Then Yeet ate the corpse or something

Phew! That could have been ugly, but instead the game continues on.

Grisly Trophy is one of the few death loot cards to expend rather than be destroyed. It’s a pretty damn good argument too.

Killing the flead gave us Mandible, which gives impair equal to the amount of damage it deals.

I pick the exact same upgrade as I did last time for Target Practice.

Spare Blades is the new card available. You get an extra attack from discarding it, which is always a plus. I often grab this one.

Not this time, though. I don’t have enough discard cards to activate Spare Blades reliably.

 

And take a grisly trophy for my troubles.

Before heading off to bed, I can ask a few more questions.

This conversation was added later. It wasn’t here when I first started playing.

Another difference is that Rook will be involved…

A simple plan

Also a risky plan.

I eat a Fsshcake real quick because I have the shills to spare and to make sure I start the final day at full health.

It’s interesting to think about this in hindsight. That much I’ll say now.

…

Holy Crap that was a lot of fighting and talking.

Next time will be the finale to Sal’s story. Should be exciting…

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

Sal’s CAMPAIGN DAY 4 FREELANCE MISSION: The Fourth Wall

Spoiler

Doze bug activates, and we’ll be proving our mettle to Oolo today.

Considering how the last encounter with a ”visitor” went, I can’t say I blame her.

Fortunately, it’s Oolo.

Just beer and Fsshcakes, which no one eats for the taste.

To be fair, we did save Murder Bay from being attacked by a Shroog and its kids.

I talk to Fssh real quick to change my outfit, and it turns out we can ask a question.

Trust me, this will come back when we get to Smith.

Guess that’s one way to end the conversation. Sal’s parents were brave people, even if it cost them their lives. Rook’s campaign shows it might not even have been in vain…

Anyway, time to change costumes.

Petting Yeet real quick.

It’s a neat costume, and fits the title of “hunter”.

The only other time in the game we’ll be able to do freelance missions. As I said earlier, I’m fine with the change for balancing reasons, but I still miss having the opportunity to do more of these.

Anyway, a graft is a good reward, but I’m always wary of doing the hardest mission on Day 4, even on the lower difficulties. They’re deceptively simple and can easily go wrong. Especially this one, where we can pick our targets and it’s really easy to get greedy.

Healing isn’t a bad reward, though considering this is day 4, chances are there will be quite a few beasts to fight.

I could use the extra cash, I know how to make this mission easier, and the writing is the most fun out of the three.

Of course I pick it

I can think of worse reputations. At least Ekel can roll with a punch.

Interesting background for a fictional name.

Sounds suspicious…

…Very suspicious…

Off to the Meat Market!

Been a while since we ran into a random event.

An event that appears in almost every gameplay trailer.

We just stopped a biohazard from the Roaloch. I think I’ve had enough from the place for now.

That is suspiciously cheap at 25 shills…

Yeah, I just said that.

Why not?

Sal’s main weapons are daggers. She can handle a dirk.

One of the less eventful encounters we can have with a wandering bilebroker, but I’m not complaining.

“You get what you pay for” applies here. The high price of the harder difficulties and having a reliable friend in Yeet are the main reasons I haven’t bothered with the Meat Market this run. Still, getting a pet isn’t a guarantee, and if you know a mission is easier with extra manpower, then coming to the Meat Market isn’t a bad idea if you have the shills to spare. 

Huh, I’m used to Zex appearing for this mission. A nice change of pace, for me at least.

Looks like a pretty cheap cybernetic arm, though fitting for a thug that likely doesn’t have access to better gear.

I really like Toeren’s design, even if it’s mostly due to the hat.

The admiralty seems tightlipped about the guy.

I wonder why…

Okay, so whatever Rudana is doing, it seems to be going beyond a simple military commander going rogue…

Don’t have the money to hire her.

I could convince Fanda to take me to Rudana

Or I could force her to bring me to him.

Since I don’t want to risk killing her, and I’d like to keep my strength for the boss fight later today, I try talking with Fanda.

Stong Point appears and I miss it dealing damage.

I actually remember to screenshot my initial hand this time.

I start off with Boosted Impression

Deal one damage with overbear

And none with Veiled Anger.

Outside of gameplay, in this case it is unsurprising that the diplomatic approach worked well, while hostility didn’t.

Since my core argument isn’t being targeted while Yeet is in danger, I spend Lucid Deflection protecting her.

Yeet thanks me by dealing 3 damage.

Another Strong Point, another time I miss the damage.

Since I’ll generally be trying to destroy admiralty arguments as soon as they appear, I play Bulldoze early.

Threaten only did one damage

And Unstable drew Seeds of Doubt

I ain’t complaining

Yeet destroys the argument, preventing Planted Evidence from being attacked.

I do lose influence, however.

And take a not insignificant amount of damage.

Doubt does its job

Agitation uses up all my actions…

…In exchange for adding three Heated arguments!

The damage Heated does adds up over time. Three at the same time can end fights impressively fast.

I see what Unstable gives us

My favorite card!

Sal’s gains her flourish, though I’d like to hang onto it at the moment.

I finish this turn with Stone Fast Talk.

Yeet prevents Fanda from frisking me

Heated deals a combined total of 3 damage.

I take damage to two arguments, though fortunately my core argument remains untouched.

May as well gain an extra action and see if I can do anything with the new cards.

Hmm…

Since I can gain influence this turn, I pick Tall Observation

And since I want to keep that influence, I play Pale Fast Talk first

Then Inspirational Talk to gain Influence

Meaning Tall Observation deals full damage

In hindsight I should have played Wide Deflection, but the mindset of “I don’t want to expend my defensive card yet” was in effect here.

Like I said, Heated adds up quickly.

Hindsight is 20/20. Any defense is better than none.

Doubt helps the negotiation reach the final stage.

As does another Strong Point.

May as well get rid of the argument while I’m at it.

I miss the screenshot, but Threaten deals full damage.

It’s kind of pointless, but why not defend?

Yeet seals the deal, and the negotiation is over.

Menacing Air is the new card here, and it’s a pretty good argument. 1 dominance isn’t a lot, but any extra damage is welcome, and dominance is not easy to gain or maintain in the first place.

Similar to Agitation, I generally have the actions to spare for cards with higher costs right now.

Sal assures Fanda that no matter how scary Rudana may be, she doesn’t have to face him alone.

Though I suppose that’s another use of traveling in a group.

Sal is taking this whole situation in stride. Maybe a mystery about the admirability is refreshing when it’s not coming from Oolo?

I go to the Grog n’ Dog to recover the lost resolve

…Before remembering I only have 2 shills.

After that hiccup, I go to reprimand Rundana.

Sal did say she was good at mazes.

I learned that one of the definitions of flaking is to fail to keep an appointment or fulfill a commitment, especially with little or no advance notice.

The more you know.

A… surprisingly good suggestion if Rudana’s words really are that scary.

Have to make indentured servitude bearable somehow, I suppose.

Sadly, Sal can’t shriek songs at her opponents. A shame, as that would make for an interesting combat card.

As Rudana predicted, we can ask two questions.

Learning you’re the NPC in a videogame will do that to you.

We get to choose Sal’s actions, after all, instead of responding as a result of pre-determined code and randomness.

Something that will be more prominent upon a future playthrough.

If it seems like my comments were suddenly breaking the fourth wall, this was part of the original conversation before it was changed:

I do like how the rewritten dialogue is more subtle about it, but a part of me will always miss how hilariously blunt the original text was.

Rudana may take the cake, but Sal is right that this is far from the only person who’s lost some of their marbles thanks to spending too much time in Havaria.

We did choose this mission out of the three provided.

Sal is directed by the player, after all.

I could attack him right now when he still has three people following him.

Though considering the Admiralty are strongest as a team, I decide to scare them off first.

How many arguments have started off with Strong Point by now?

Fanda gave us the Wealth Extractor bounty, providing us with 30 shills when destroyed. It doesn’t help us win the negotiation in any way, but free money is difficult to pass up.

Since I’m starting the argument with a flourish available, I may as well use it.

Clemency is my favorite negotiation flourish Sal has, and is one of the few cards that can restore resolve without some sort of catch.

Hard to say if it’s my favorite negotiation flourish, though. I cannot complain about free healing, but Rook and Smith have some flourishes that can verbally tear the enemy to shreds if you use them wisely.

I found out that if you screenshot fast enough, you can catch the numbers increase in the middle of healing.

Heated is better to have sooner than later, and I don’t care if it costs all of my actions to add some.

Having 2 shills makes it extremely appealing to target Wealth Extractor first

Even if I don’t destroy it

Unstable once again plays bluster, much to my delight.

Yeet and heated spread the damage around.

I lose my influence

Fortunately, the core argument remains untouched.

Paper Pusher and Interrogate are added to the mix. On my end I gain Planted Evidence.

Why not gain some dominance every turn? I have enough 0 cost cards to get away with playing Menacing Air this turn.

I’ll see what Very Convincing has to offer before making my next move.

Another deflection card and one that costs nothing to play.

Since both of the attack cards I have in my hand are hostile, I gain some dominance first.

Again, I’m greedy.

An excellent time for overbear to appear, as it will attack six times!

Did you keep track of that? Won’t be the first time we’ll see a turn like that.

Hopefully Veiled Anger will deal 3 or even 4 damage.

Instead, it does 2.

Once again, Yeet and Heated efficiently destroy some arguments.

I do lose two heated arguments and take some damage to the core, though, and Rudana adds Frisk.

Fortunately, Boosted Impression can destroy it in one go

Annoying that I’m dealing just enough damage to destroy the argument, but silver linings. I got rid of two annoying arguments and even gained some composure.

I don’t destroy the final argument, but Yeet will finish the job anyway

Dominance has proven useful the last few turns, so I decide to spend Lucid Deflection to keep Menacing Air in the negotiation longer.

Okay, so it was actually heated that convinced the final soldier to abandon Rudana. I’m not complaining.

Nothing is damaged this turn.

Strong Point shows up again.

Since I can play it for free, why not start off with Promoted Thinking?

I gained influence this turn, so Tall Observation will deal full damage.

Like so

Would have been nice earlier, but I can’t complain about adding Doubt.

I see what Unstable will surprise me with

A card that’s useless to me right now.

I finish off this turn by spending my remaining influence.

Yeet deals damage

As does heated

I lose Yeet and take some damage.

But doubt wins the day.

I believe Erupt is the new one? Second Wind is self explanatory and situational. Erupt can be useful for finishing off a train of damage from hostility cards. It typically requires having a graft that gives you an extra action as well as a good number of hostile cards to pull off consistently. I have done it before, though, and the nice thing about Evoke is that you don’t have to have it in your hand in order for it to activate.

I generally go with two Seeds of Doubt cards so it shows up more consistently. Grabbing more generally doesn’t hurt, just remember that doubt activates after the enemy attacks. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

Especially in a roguelike, where dying is half the fun and seeing what will be different in a new game is the other half.

Bold words considering you just lost a card game.

Good thing we can get away with murder here.

Why not start off using our fancy new dirk and give Rundana some wound?

Huh, apparently it’s a hybrid weapon. First time I’ve seen a dirk and karambit combined.

More wound, and I remember to place these cards off to the side so we can see the action.

I attack twice

One day I’ll screenshot both knives and the damage they deal.

And finish off with lacerate.

Well that was quick!

I’ll be taking that badge now

Thought it was weird Sandaro attacked with “paper cuts” last time? Their weapon is a letter opener.

Stomp: A really helpful combo card that still deals reasonable damage even when it costs and action to play.

Lacerate: It caused Rudana to surrender, so you’ve seen it in action quite a few times.

Bloodbath: I don’t know who the person in the witch looking hat is, but I can say their reaction is appropriate for an ability that spreads blood around.

I have enough bleed cards for this ability to be worthwhile.

We’ll meet him again in another run. Maybe.

…I would mock that, if not for how many people rely on other things to make them “happy”.

Not the healthiest mindset, but at least Sal is strong in her convictions.

Keanu Reeves typically comes to mind whenever I see a “whoa”, and this case was no different.

The minds of Havaria are easily blown.

I wish I could say that Fanda was a unique case, but no. Quite a few people in Havaria are like this.

Time to get paid.

Sal seems unfazed by the whole situation, and is probably wondering what the big deal is.

Still, I’d forget the whole matter for the paycheck.

I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever used Authorization. It doesn’t seem like a bad boon; just a forgettable one. The bane of clerks is similar in that I typically forget it exists.

Because this was a shorter update (and, honestly, I don’t want too many fights to write for the next update), I’ll do the optional events now. I can choose between a gun that might stun the opponent that I only have two shots with.

Or I could pick and choose some equipment from a desolate battlefield.

I’d like some options, thank you.

We can grab the tincture for free

A Vroc Whistle with a random chance to be attacked.

Or a graft that guarantees a fight, but ensures cards like Known Thug and Unstable will be even more useful and prevents Slurred Speech from clogging up my deck.

Our first fight today was quick, so I don’t mind entering another one.

This is all the crayote variants in the game. I wonder what Yeet the Yote thinks of all this.

May as well spread the damage around when I apply bleed.

I attack the yote that will attack me.

Since my flourish is available, I summon some yotes to attack the yotes.

Another synchronized headbutt as the yotes attack their own kind.

I’ll do 8 damage with the Karambit, and bleed will cause the yote to retreat.

Interesting pose

Yeet gains power

Everyone bleeds

And the spitting yote runs away

The horned yote retaliates against Yeet by doing the exact same attack I ordered a group of yotes to do moments earlier.

Seems like this yote had the same idea as Yeet.

Considering I’ll be attacked three times this turn, I’ll gladly take counter.

I defend next to see what I can do with my final action.

5 defense isn’t going to cut it, and Gaff provides defense equal to the damage I deal, and this yote is wounded…

Not that it matters, as the horned yote runs away before it can attack.

Ouch, but on the flip side…

I attack twice, dealing 8 total damage.

Why not?

I see what Fighting Dirty will give me…

A chance to deal even more damage.

I see a potential chance to straight up kill this yote, so I use Sparky’s Oppressor Cell to gain 3 temporary power.

If I get lucky, I’ll kill the beast and take its hide.

It deals full damage!

It falls back dead, and I win the fight with barely a scratch.

Carapace is a pretty solid defensive card, even if I can only use it twice.

Oh, right, grafts can upgrade. I don’t know what causes them to gain experience, so I generally don’t pay attention to this screen.

Unlike cards, you don’t get to choose what they upgrade into.

…I’ve played this game for two years now, I’ve never paid attention to the line of text at the top. Apparently, they’re from the Vagrant Age (when everyone used to be spacefaring) and attached to the spinal cord.

…I still have several questions but that answered a handful of them.

Battle Scars: Scars are a badass fashion statement, and I will gladly tell you about the long one along my back any time. As for the card itself, it has its uses, but I’ve never bothered. There are more than enough ways to gain defense and counter.

Crushing Blow: Costs 3 actions, but it deals a ton of damage while stunning the target. I’ve mentioned this before, but anything that deals stun has a catch.

If I was going solo, I would have debated whether or not to pick this one up. Since Yeet is at my side, even if this costs all my actions, I’ll know she’ll take advantage of the enemy being stunned.

I’ll end this update here. Next time, we’ll see what Oolo’s plan is.

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

 

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’S CAMPAIGN DAY 3 BOSS FIGHT: A Bounty Hunter, A Smuggler, A Crayote, And A Bureaucrat Fight A Biohazard

Alternative Title: There might not be a lot of talking, but holy crap was there a lot of gameplay this time around. The boss alone took 2 hours to arrange and comment on.

It did not help that Mandaloregaming and Ahoy both posted hour-long videos on the same day, and I accidentally played XCOM 2 for six hours straight last Saturday.

Replies:

Spoiler

On 10/14/2022 at 12:22 AM, eclipse said:

It was on sale on Steam, so I picked this up.  Managed to hit Day 4 on my second run, which isn't bad IMO.

I managed to get to Day 4 my first run before overestimating my abilities on a harder mission. Day 4 on the second try is not bad at all.

There's a bunch of tips here that I wish I'd known during my second run.  Don't know if I can beat the game on the third try, but I'll give it a shot later.

Glad to be of service!

 

On 10/14/2022 at 7:16 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

  Hide contents

Can I just say I did a triple take and almost said "What the Fuck?!?!" out loud when I saw your new profile picture? It sure is... something...

So if that's Lili... who's the person he's stealing Sal from?

That was not the response I was expecting from an out-of-context Scott the Woz clip, but I'll take it.

They might want to buy a drink, even if they don't actually drink it, to pass off as a customer and slip by unnoticed. Some guy barging in and beelining for the back would be about as suspicious as a man with a top hat and a twirly mustache heading for the railway with a bundle of rope under one arm and a woman under the other.

I mean, Sal enters a bar, greets everyone, and then goes to the person offering a mission without anyone batting an eye.

Ahahahah... Oh, that'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.

Kicking the can down the road is a time honored tradition among politicians, unfortunately.

It's a classic torture technique for a reason.

It is. Though I've yet to see a work of fiction that threatens to chop the rest of the finger up like a carrot.

That's an amazing frame. I don't know what that pose is, but I love it.

Sal missed her career as a dancer, though her singing skills probably flushed that dream down the drain.

One thing I loved about this quest is how sometimes it turns out the Admiralty member wasn't being tortured at all, but rather turned coat and was just... more or less crashing on the Spree's couch for a while lol

And the bandit guards remain equally annoyed.

Leave it to the internet to meme a dude into relevance.

We're part of a fanbase that memed a gatekeeper for having nothing to report and being voiced by the protagonist of a previous game, as well as a NPC archer  for being surprisingly competent.

Or lazy. She could just be lazy too.

Nadan would use this argument unironically.

This reminds me of this line from a certain other game...

Wonder how well Oolo and Shigen would get along, now that I think about it.

I like how the screenshot makes it look like she's just saying "fair point" while getting her brain drilled.

I still don't know how Grafts fully work in universe. Or at least, how you can casually insert them into your brain with no worries.

 

 

Update:

Spoiler

Now it’s optional event time!

I could visit Enit for Tincture, which grants 2 Power in a fight twice in the whole game…

Or I could save my friend's life!

You never want to skip these. They’ll legitimately die if you ignore them.

Now, Bina works at the Grog N’ Dog, and I’ll be needing her help later…

So I decide to talk Bina out of killing Treena.

A somewhat filler-y negotiation. I'm spoiling the gameplay this time because there's a lot of it:

Spoiler

 

Since I’ll be regularly destroying Bina’s arguments anyway, I may as well gain something from it.

I could have upgraded Sal’s Instincts here, but I’d rather spend my remaining action doing damage.

Thanks for that Yeet.

Sorry I couldn’t protect you this time.

At least Bina didn’t gain a ton of composure from that attack.

Solid Point appears and removes the composure on Crafty without damaging it, thankfully. I don’t have to deal with Ploy right now.

The boss fight on Day 3 can last a while, so I wanted to get through this negotiation as quickly as I could. Thus I forgot to show me drawing and using Unstable, which gave me Seeds of Doubt.

One of my favorite things about doubt is that the enemy can never get rid of it, so they’ll have to deal with constant damage for the rest of the debate.

There’s an achievement for giving 99 doubt to an opponent in a single negotiation, and I for the life of me have no idea how you’re supposed to reach that amount without winning first.

Since I have no idea what will be targeted, I defend everything.

I forget to screenshot me using Very Convincing, and once again the bonus action does nothing.

Still, I’m not complaining about the opportunity to do more damage.

I take two damage.

And Bina loses the composure she gained due to doubt.

Hello Bluster my old friend.

I love to see that damage again.

Since it’s the only thing that will be targeted this round, I expend Lucid Deflection to ensure Bina will take damage.

I warned before that I would forget to screenshot the options Quick Thinking would offer, and decide I may as well add more Flustered.

Any cards drawn and played by Unstable have a random target.

In this case it was Bulldoze.

Double Edge finally works in my favor this negotiation.

Doubt once again does its job.

And I draw Solid Point again.

Not always using my full set of actions is an issue I realize around this point, and I plan on gradually addressing it later.

I gain Sal’s Negotiation Flourish but decide to save it for a later debate.

More damage

On the plus side, the negotiation is almost over, so at least the Reputation Preceding card was destroyed before it could do much of anything.

I lost my influence, but I’ve been gaining it pretty consistently, so I can recover.

Doubt removes the composure on Bina’s core argument and does 1 damage.

Known Thug and Solid Point conspire to throw a bunch of 1 damage around that I barely managed to catch.

It’s pretty obvious I can end this debate here and now.

You should know the importance of experience by now.

Bluster is still my favorite negotiation card.

I upgrade my Solid Point into a Strong Point.

Veiled Anger: Cheap, but free damage is hard to pass up.

Just the Facts: I feel like there’s some meme potential with that image. Smarts is powerful, but there’s a trend where anything that grants you an extra action has a catch, and expending cards without using them is a good example.

Abrupt Remark: In hindsight, I should have picked this one. I suppose I just remembered all the times it drew cards I couldn’t use because I spent my turn destroying a single argument.

Instead, I chose free damage, without realizing how many cards I had that had zero cost.

 

I get to keep Doze Bug, and Bina still has health for the boss fight later.

Time to help Fssh.

Who seems like she needs some.

Also, those lizards in the background actually move around.

“Apparently”

Fssh casually bought contraband. To help Sal.

A few questions before we head off to the docks.

Fssh’s words hold more weight thanks to Griftlands being a roguelike.

A really, really good point.

Also a really good point.

…I have no idea why I forgot this awesome line.

Maybe I’m so used to skipping questions because I’ve played this game dozens of times that I don’t remember everything.

She tried to kill my friend earlier today, but maybe things will be different when it’s about official business.

I could pay her a hefty sum.

Or convince Bina to do it for free.

With a pretty good argument…

I argue with the same person twice in a row:

Spoiler

 

A combination of Strong Point and Known Thug deals 5 damage right off the bat, and I play Unstable to see if I gain any other bonuses.

I forgot which card I drew, but regardless the next card I play is Lucid Threaten.

I start getting real bad about now showing what options appear for Quick Thinking, and the extra composure was apparently the best choice.

Since my only other card is hostile that I can play for zero actions, I decide now is the time to use one of Sal’s flourishes. Specifically, Rage II.

BLUSTER!!!

Have I mentioned I love bluster?

While it can be annoying to build up sometimes, the extra damage dominance can provide is no joke. No wonder you lose some each turn.

Yeet helps a quick debate end even faster.

I can afford one damage.

Time to upgrade this card.

In hindsight, I probably should have chosen Attitude.

Oh well.

I use the last two actions adding Bulldoze.

And I draw Veiled Anger with Unstable.

Man, Sal was angry during this negotiation.

…Really angry. That did full damage! 

And Yeet ends the debate.

Sal’s Instincts can be upgraded!

Hostile Instincts provides more dominance and a pretty solid hostile card.

Diplomatic Instincts, meanwhile, has a card that spends influence and in exchange attacks every enemy argument and a card that gains influence while dealing a variable amount of damage.

Since I’ve been reliably gaining influence, I pick Diplomatic Instincts to take advantage of that.

Appeal to Reason: I really like the artwork. Deals a solid amount of damage potentially for free, though it’s really only useful if you have a reliable way of gaining influence.

Exploit Weakness: I don’t think I’ve ever used this card. I suppose I’d rather keep adding to an argument than duplicate it.

Beguile: I don’t want to know what’s going through Peri’s head in that picture. Anyway, another card that benefits from having influence.

I soon realize how much I am adding to my “I’m not using all my actions” issue that is gradually building up.

 

A pretty damn good argument, honestly.

I had to convince you to fight Sparky, you didn't help fend off an assassin, and you tried to kill one of my best friends. You’re not “keeping my scrawny butt safe” in any way.

See? Sal gets it.

A boss fight is coming up, and I want to be at full health for this one.

Now to pick up some contraband.

Yeah, my first draft had a handful of quarantine jokes, but upon review I decided to scrap them all. They came off as jokes I would say between friends who I knew what their personal experience with the whole situation was, not shouted on the internet where people from all walks of life cross paths.

I ask about the quarantine

And get a quick response.

I could convince them to let me through anyway.

Bribe them

Or attack the guards.

Since I’d like to keep my hard-earned cash and I want to be at full health for the boss, I decide to negotiate. Besides, I’ve killed enough guards today.

The first time Sal has negotiated with the Admiralty:

Spoiler

 

Admiralty negotiations, like all classes, follow specific patterns. They’re not the most interesting people to debate in the game, honestly, but they still put up a solid fight.

I’ve already stated I love Bluster. Even more so when I start the negotiation with it.

It’s also nice to add Doubt sooner than later.

Since I can’t play Bulldoze and I’d like to keep Wide Deflection when I need it, I play Unstable.

And give a good impression.

Yeet finishes off a solid starting turn.

I take 2 damage, and Gen adds two arguments to the fray.

Interrogate is a bog standard “deal random damage to the enemy” argument.

Planted Evidence, on the other hand, is specified as a core argument ability, and for good reason. A single point of damage can destroy it, 6 damage is nothing to scoff at, and the leftover damage tends to rack up quickly. And when one is destroyed, another is added the next turn.

It’s annoying to deal with, and the damage can rack up easily if you’re not careful. The upside is that it’s an obvious threat, so you’ll know what to prioritize defending.

Since I don’t have influence, I have a card that grants influence, and a card that normally spends influence to be free to use is already free…

Yeah, why wouldn’t I start off with it?

I use Inspirational Talk so I can play Stone Fast Talk at full strength.

But first I played Lucid Threaten so that Veiled Anger can deal at least 1 guaranteed point of damage.

Though Threaten did that amount anyway.

Okay, now I use Stone Fast Talk to attack while protecting my core argument.

And finish off with Veiled Anger dealing three damage.

Sal alternating between being diplomatic and hostile this turn would be pretty interesting to witness.

Ow

Frisk straight up steals your money with no way to get it back. Take a guess which argument I always target, no matter the consequences?

Also, Solid Point activates, and will be upgraded after this negotiation.

And Known Thug is drawn first, meaning 4 extra damage was dealt before I played any cards.

Up that damage to 6 by using Very Convincing.

Strong Point adds to the damage train and increases my influence once again.

Apparently, it destroyed frisk, because I don’t see the argument appearing in the background.

Anyway, I pick Attitude as the only other attack card I can play this turn is hostile.

Boosted Threaten deals full damage, and I don’t bother defending because the damn card expends.

Yeet helps end the negotiation sooner.

Though I lose my influence.

Doubt does its job

And I got so excited about ending the negotiation this round that apparently I forgot to show that I drew Quick Thinking.

Fortunately, I end this debate with Debate.

I’ll take more damage over more options, thank you.

I also prefer extra damage over more influence.

I’ve never used any of these three cards.

Back Pedal: 5 composure is good, but I mentioned last time I’m cautious about expending cards without using them first.

Subtlety: I suppose it’s nice if you have influence to spare and your deck benefits on drawing cards, which I rarely, if ever, focus on personally.

Level Playing Field: An interesting card. You deal more damage while also taking more damage. Has its uses, but I never bothered.

Unsurprisingly, I skip this round.

 

There’s commentary in there somewhere, but I don’t feel like commenting on it.

Anyway, to find the boat with the contraband.

Interestingly, we have two choices for negotiations.

One to convince Sandrano to give us the package

And a tougher negotiation to get around the quarantine entirely.

If you offer to attack the Admiralty, I believe Enit will just tell you that she doesn’t want to solve this with violence. It’s been a while since I picked the option and I forgot to do it here.

You can also just grab the package, to which Sal will hilariously do the whole “conspicuous whistling” routine with neither of them falling for it. You do seriously miss out on some bonuses for the boss fight, though.

I decide to stick with the easier negotiation this time. I could see myself succeeding with the tougher debate, but I could just as easily see it failing.

A reminder that the alpha for Girftlands was available in 2019.

The most important negotiation in the update:

Spoiler

 

Bina and Enit add 4 flustered, while Yeet cheerfully helps like they always do.

A sign that I started getting really impatient at this point, I don’t even screenshot the full deck before playing card.

I turn the 4 flustered into 6, and upgrade Bluster to boot.

I finish off with Veiled Anger, which does full damage.

I miss Yeet dealing damage, and take three damage myself.

Admiralty clerks may be weak in combat, but they make up for it by having the Paper Pusher argument. The argument can take a beating and adds cards that consistently do damage to your deck.

Quick Thinking gives me a stronger Withdraw.

Unstable draws Lucid Threaten.

And I finish the turn picking Compliment from Diplomatic Instincts in order to gain some influence.

Yeet destroys Interrogate.

I gain more Baffled cards.

And I take no damage this round.

Strong Point appears and targets the core argument.

To do nothing but show off, I play Inspirational Talk first to gain influence…

So I can play Appeal to Reason for free.

Then I destroy Frisk while gaining defense…

And Yeet destroys Paper Pusher.

I still gain damage from Baffled.

And Planted Evidence is destroyed.

Strong Point appears and I recover the lost influence.

I plant the Seeds of Doubt.

Then threaten Sandrano for free.

And Unstable provides a defensive card.

Yeet does her thing

Sal loses some composure from paperwork.

Planted evidence is added again.

And Sandrano takes some damage from doubt, while also adding in more paperwork.

I don’t know whether I’m terrified of getting to Smith or looking forward to it. There can be a ton of numbers flying around thanks to his focus on arguments, yet at the same time they’re the most intricate in the game, with a lot of fun combinations.

I suppose we’ll get there when we get there.

So much damage flying around thanks to Known Thug and Strong Point.

I finally remember to screenshot the options of Quick Thinking.

And go with Stammer so my cards will do more damage for three turns.

Very Convincing once again conveniently appears when I have Known Thug in my hand.

I draw Boosted Threaten and Pale Fast Talk. The issue of having too many 0 cost cards is starting to catch up to me as I’m having so many wasted actions.

Not that it matters in this case, as I deal enough damage to win the negotiation.

Why wouldn’t I go for even more flustered?

Overbear: Ranges from “OK” to “Tear The Enemy To Shreds With A Single Card”. It’s hard to complain about any damage even if it only attacks once, but I’ve had times this turned a negotiation around in my favor when the opponent kept spewing out arguments. It’s not flawless, as it will target arguments you may not want to destroy, but it’s hard to complain about otherwise.

Good Impression: You’ve seen this in action enough to get a good impression of the card.

Know It All: I used this a lot when I first started playing. Smarts is pretty useful and vulnerability isn’t the worst debuff to have. I tend to pick grafts that grant 4 actions, and that tends to do the job most of the time, so I don’t choose it as often nowadays.

I’ve been facing several opponents that utilize arguments this run, and I already have issues with not using my default 3 actions, so Know It All isn’t helpful at the moment.

 

I have no idea why text didn’t fill in for this screenshot.

Sal gets some reassurance that she’s actually being noticed in Murder Bay.

The only time a hunter's license is brought up. No wonder Sal forgot it exists.

Uh… where would we register to be legally allowed to build weapons or traps?

…And what kind of trap is Fssh making?

…And is there a real world equivalent to this scenario?

Far as I can tell, Sal never bothers.

It’s small, but this is my favorite “badass bureaucrat” moment. Most examples of the trope have the “Bureaucrat” part be a secondary or otherwise minor part of the character, or the character is already pretty important in the setting.

Here? This is just a run of the mill clerk who moments ago was stressed about preparing for an important event, and when a dangerous monster shows up, their first reaction is to fight it and limit damage.

Boss Fight Time!

This boss fight took me 2 hours to write and arrange (Also, there are child murder jokes):

Spoiler

The Shroog mother summons shrooglets, and she’ll get stronger with each one we kill.

Fortunately, if we kill the mother, any remaining shrooglets will retreat.

Since I’d like to save Lucid Strike for the boss (who has too much defense to break through this turn) and Hemorrhage isn’t affected by power, I save Sparky’s Oppressor Core for later and instead start the fight by stabbing a kid.

I focus on this one to prevent them from gaining power.

Since smugglers rarely, if ever, focus on defending themselves, I give Bina some defense.

Everyone focuses on defense this turn.

The shrooglet bleeds to death.

Causing Maternal Instincts to kick in.

Everyone is hit by this.

And her kids use their heads.

Better to gain this sooner than later.

I focus on hurting the Shrrog this turn, and Hanbi’s Power Supply adds to the pain train.

Sandrano gives a paper cut to a kid, impairing them.

While Bina focuses on the mother.

Spines kicks in for any defense, even if I didn't personally apply it.

Thank’s for the defense, Yeet! Even if it only did 1 damage.

The kids hype themselves up.

Okay, so I’ll be taking the brunt of damage this turn, though thankfully most of my allies are focusing on hurting the boss this turn.

I grab Trip from Fight Dirty.

And predictably cause the boss to take even more damage.

Looks like Sal did a slide kick in this screenshot.

Even more wound! Even more Damage!

MOAR WOUND!!! MOAR DAMAGE!!!

God, that kinda hurt to write…

And I finish off with defense

And counter.

Goodness, Sandrano must hate kids.

Bina attacks the mother thrice.

While Yeet attacks twice.

The Shroog slowly bleeds to death.

Ow

Though I wonder what the thing on the creature's back is supposed to be or do?

Sal retaliates for being singled out

.

This kid hypes himself up some more.

I think this kid has your bite beat in terms of looks, Yeet.

Fortunately, you bite harder.

Annoyingly, the Shrooglet heals from this.

I’m so impatient at this point I don’t even screenshot me drawing Sal’s Daggers.

Obviously, I go for more bleed.

And I wish I used the dagger first, but hindsight is 20/20.

And that one is destroyed.

I defend Sal twice.

And since I have an action left, I may as well use Gaff to deal damage, gain defense, and thanks to spine, add some counter to the mix.

I keep catching item cards at weird times.

Sandrano impairs the mother with a paper cut.

Bina heals herself, and I’m reminded that they didn’t originally have a special effect for healing.

Yeet keeps the blood flowing.

Which takes effect now.

The mother Shroog attacks everyone again.

Sal avenges everyone by countering.

Squash and stretch are staples of animation. Even if it looks odd when not in motion.

Sal doesn’t care about the principles of animation at this time, and instead counters the shrooglet for headbutting her.

I gained some combo I won’t be using thanks to Chamber.

Since it costs 1 this round, I may as well use this ability.

I defend to upgrade this card more than anything else.

Similar though process with Target Practice.

Sandrano almost kills a kid.

While Bina deliberately aims at one.

The mother is mad that another one of her children falls.

Yeet doesn’t care and just bites her.

Bleed damage again.

The Shroog retaliates by swiping at us.

Sal counters again.

The remaining shrooglet heals itself.

I get lucky and wound the mother, who is focused on this turn.

This normally costs 2 actions, so I take advantage of Brazen Attack this time.

I discard the Makeshift Dagger, as I’ve already spent one this battle. Efficient Disposal adds two damage.

Sandrano and Bina focus on the mom.

Yeet, meanwhile, gnaws at the kid and causes them to bleed.

And, uh, die immediately afterwards when bleed damage takes effect.

Guess who’s not happy?

I miss the damage, but I don’t mind. This is a cool shot.

It’s free, so might as well.

A little late for power, but Fighting Dirty cost zero actions to use, and I’ll take anything that will help the battle end faster.

Well, that, and only Sandrano is attacking this round, so wound wouldn’t be as useful this time.

Similar mindset with Chamber; I’m focusing on gaining experience right now.

Once again, I’ll save Sparky’s item when I have more than one attack card.

Sandrano helpfully adds impair.

While everyone else guards.

On a turn when the mother asks for reinforcements instead of attacking.

Hemorrhage won’t break through the defense, but it will ensure the Shroog will have some bleed to deal with.

It’s been a while since Sal stabbed a kid.

Once again, Smugglers rarely defend themselves.

Man, Sandrano hates kids, but Bina fucking slaughters them.

No wonder their mom is targeting Bina this round.

Good tactic on the wrong turn, Yeet.

Glad I’m getting different angles of the claw attack. Even if I’m missing the damage dealt.

The rest of the children hype themselves up.

Took a while, but Sal is finally tired of this fight, around the same time I am.

I play Target Practice twice to see what it will hit…

And I can end the fight here and now.

After being shot, stabbed, sliced, diced, and bitten, the Slobbering Aberration Shroog finally succumbs to Sal’s elbow.

This causes Sal to go Super Saiyan again.

Which scares away the rest of the children.

Phew! It legitimately took me 2 hours to arrange and comment on the boss fight alone.

The Shroog Fang is a pretty good reward for putting up with the fight. Can’t think of a situation where it’s useless.

4 cards were upgraded in that last fight.

I don’t like defense cards that expend. However, I have enough at the moment to get around that, and being able to heal on the spot is difficult to pass up.

Similar to Quick Thinking, I prefer having stronger cards than more options.

Piercing ain’t bad, but I use Hemorrhage to add bleed. The extra damage is just a bonus.

A choice between being cheaper to activate, or for the ability to be more effective. The extra counter can easily add up, so I choose Thorny Spines.

Agitation: A pricey card, but heated only gets stronger as the negotiation goes on. I’ve used this card several times before, and trust me, the cost is worth it.

Recall: I can see this combing well if you have several expend cards, but otherwise it’s an argument that’s just “there”.

Clean Slate: I recall (hah) using this once or twice in the past. It can get you out of a pickle if your opponent is bombarding you with arguments, but if you’re benefiting from several arguments yourself, then it can hurt you just as much as it does the enemy. Clean Slate can change the tide of a debate, but it is situational.

I’ve barely been using all my actions, so I can live with using high cost card.

Wretched Strike is the only new card that appeared here. The base damage isn’t all that impressive, and it requires having a deck focused on drawing cards to be truly effective, and that kind of deck has its own pros and cons

I have a solid amount of combat cards at the moment, and I don’t see a reason to grab any of these.

Oh, you sweet summer child…

I’d say the alternative boss that can appear here looks more monstrous. Still, not something you’d want let loose in the mainland.

Surprisingly reasonable, though I suppose helping to stop a biohazard when Sal could have easily run away shows she has guts.

Hopefully not. Jeeze, what kind of traps are you making, Fssh?

If you succeeded in the harder negotiation, then Enit would have helped for the fight. They literally say they'd rather die than have to abandon their cargo. Honestly, I do prefer the dialogue you get from helping out the clerk.

If you’re curious, Sal would have convinced Sandrano to exploit a loophole by having the ships leave the dock, and trading supplies out in the water. It’s pretty clever, honestly.

If you fail the negotiation or try to steal the package, they decide to jump overboard when they see the giant beast. 

Before heading off to bed, a quick trip to the night market.

Give me more slots for grafts, Plocka.

Added a battle and negotiation slot for grafts. I’m hurt, but as long as I don’t run into anything, a Fsshcake and a nap will heal it up.

Enjoy your contraband, Fssh!

Maybe you should wash it off first?

That’s a potential biohazard Sal! You just got done fighting one!

Fittingly, Sal also has the easiest time getting a pet out of the three grifters.

I only ate twice? Interesting.

So that was day 3! It took longer than it should have. One due to family, and another due to YouTube and XCOM. Hopefully the schedule for writing Day 4 won’t have any surprises.

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

 

[Your Opinion of the Above Posted Video]

Good music/10 Will Look For Extended Version Later

 

[Our real first look at the new Mario movie soon]

A little late responding, but I had to laugh when Nintendo spent 5-6 minutes hyping up a 2 minute long trailer and then said nothing afterwards. That was such a Nintendo move, and I still don't know whether I love or hate them for it. Still, I'm glad they said upfront that they were still working on polishing parts of the movie and that they were composing the soundtrack right now. The music in the trailer was pretty generic.

Speaking of the trailer, I love this movie visually. Every creature looks recognizable but with the added detail that a movie can afford over a video game, and the poster alone has a ton of attention to detail about how various parts of the Mario Universe could function outside the context of a videogame. Any tweaks to the character designs seem like they were made to be easier to animate in the context of a movie and don't come off as jarring. I don't go to the theater that often, but I'm legitimately thinking about going to see this on the big screen.

In terms of voices, Jack Black makes a strong first impression as Bowser, Toad doesn't sound annoying, and Luigi's grunts still sound like Luigi. I need to hear more lines before making any calls on Chris Pratt as Mario, but the little we did hear was... fine. And honestly, I'm okay with fine in this scenario; I can see myself being not complaining about listening to the voice for an entire movie.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic. Nintendo seems to have enjoyed the process of making a movie so much they straight up bought an animation studio, which I'll take as a good sign. I do get the impression from the trailer alone that a lot of people involved were very passionate about getting a Mario Movie just right. I am by no means expecting a masterpiece, but I dearly hope that this is a super fun family film that is gorgeous to watch.

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’S CAMPAIGN DAY 3 ADMIRALTY MISSION: If This Were A Stealth Game, Things Would Have Played Out Very Differently

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have taken me a week. Heck, this was actually one of the shorter missions in the game and I wrote the first draft in 2 hours. The reason for the delay was that my sister came to visit last week. As much fun as I have writing these, I’d rather spend my free time with family that I haven’t seen for a few months due to college. She’s since went back, so I should get back to updating every two to three days unless something else comes up.

…My father getting the anniversary edition of Skyrim on GOG didn’t help. Neither of us have tried Skyrim before, and we’ve both been addicted the last few days. I see where people are coming from when they complain about it “oversimplifying” mechanics, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but I’ve had a love-hate relationship with every Elder Scrolls game mechanically, and Skyrim is no different. Dual wielding is a ton of fun, though. I hope they keep that for the next game.

On a final frivolous note, I'm laughing my butt off because while people are giving their opinions over whether or not they like Celine's dress, I’m playing a game where units look like this, and while people are debating over Mario's voice, the game handles it's voice acting like this.

On a serious note, Sacrifice is an awesome game that I would love to see given the HD remaster treatment, even if it would have to be made by a team that “gets it”.

 

Replies:

Spoiler

On 10/5/2022 at 6:27 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

 

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I mean, combination of all, but that woman with the grenades was deceptively tough. Sheesh.

I don't really enter that many fights with merchants outside of Brawl, where enemies tend to fight in groups anyway, so my experiences fighting against them don't come to mind as easily as some other classes.

Look, I'm trying really hard to not just say "git gud" as that tends to be unhelpful advice.

Heh, brings back good memories, doesn't it?

Mostly yes. I don't miss taking several hours to write something.

The Gharnef is playable. Now that'd be the dream.

That would be a fun twist.

Amazing

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it to you, but I've been making a Sacred Stones hack. So you can try THAT one out instead and give me downloads to boost my ego--

I'd be willing to try it out once it's done. The little I've seen looks interesting.

No scarf to hide weapons in, but... eh, the jacket's collar is so massive it will do the trick.

She straightens the collar to intimidate enemies.

Best character. Most of the time, when a character is corrupt, they have a "I'm going to subtly hint at my corruption and quietly laugh because there's nothing you can do about it" type of personality.

Oolo just goes "YAY CORRUPTION" and has a ball with it. And I love her for it.

Oolo somehow simultaneously combines the phrases "If you can't beat them, join them" and "Beat them at their own game".

Okay the face Sal's making there is priceless.

The in-between frames of animations can be a glorious thing.

This dude wiped sweat off of his steel mask.

Funny the things you notice when you're looking at still images, not busy playing the game.

Same. Wonder how long he's been wearing that mask, though. Maybe old habits die hard?

Some food for thought, right there.

It's a topic I have observed often. I could go on longer, but this isn't the place for those rants.

No better distraction than the promise of free goodies.

The adage "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" applies here.

She has a pair of razor-sharp knives. She probably just went "wooOOOooOOOooOoooO" and started spinning.

Boringly, the animation just has her spinning the blades, so you're not far off.

Still... 20 bleed... ouch...

Hah! Okay, I love that line. It's really good.

It's good advice for any dungeon crawling adventure that requires backtracking.

The proximity of Sal's knives lol

Well, there is a random event where someone gives you an item before dying right in front of you, and it counts as someone who died. Similarly, if you refuse to save someone, that person will be added to the death toll.

Certainly seems like she made the best of a bad situation.

She has a healthier approach to her situation than I've seen out of most people, real or fictional.

He thinks he has a chance with Sal yet

I was originally going to make a gif of a joke here, but I didn't feel like tinkering for several minutes with various gif makers to find one I liked, so enjoy an alternative interpretation of Lili's thoughts via an out of context video.

That reminds me, since you're not playing on a fresh file, you won't be able to showcase the first encounters with Miss 4th Wall Breaker. Too bad, I liked those.

There's a reason I took screenshots of meeting Plundak on Switch. I plan on completing Rook's route on Prestige 7 as well, so we may not meet her until we reach Smith.

I mean, have you seen cats at the vet? Animals don't like having their lives saved, imagine getting spiky shells taped onto their backs and heads.

I suppose I was think more of horses and armoring them 

...Oh dear.

There's a reason Oshnu races make Smith sad.

Gahahahaha! That guy looks like handsome Squidward!

I... suppose so?

Goa's not causing my eyes to bleed.

...Oh dear. Again.

I'm not dashing to die in a glorious blaze, but I young enough where the idea of self-preservation hasn't fully manifested.

That, or I still think

I don't think I ever saw this one. I mostly got the one with the horns.

I believe bosses alternate, as I've never gotten the same one in a row.

The things this game has you do.

It's still one of my favorite negotiation descriptions, though there is some competition.

Ahhh, so that's how you run into the assassin again...

So any corpse not belonging to an assassin will do?

I mean, I think you'd have bigger problems if a corpse was found in your room.

But yes, it's still a good idea to clean up afterwards.

 

 

Update:

Spoiler

Having a clean room after removing an assassin's corpse will do that.

Seems like something that could easily backfire, though I doubt people in Havaria would care about someone being electrocuted in a bar. The simple solution would be to not piss off the bartender and drink your beer at one of the tables.

Unless they don’t drink before killing someone… which is pretty likely.

Similar to Day 2, Day 3 had a freelance mission cut.

Nobody new drinks in the morning, so I head off.

No random events occur as I go to get a job from Oolo.

Too many people thrive from the gears of government being jammed. Including the government.

Both offer grafts. I pick “Leave No-one Behind” because it pays more, there are more encounters to gain cards from, and I know from experience I can still complete the mission even if negotiations fail.

Predictably, this is where Griftlands randomness comes in and the mission can have different end results.

It really is.

We arrive at the camp with no interruptions.

Yowch. I know that there are enough nerves in your nails that getting them pulled off hurts. Pretty effective for interrogation, too, as it’s painful but doesn’t risk killing the person.

On the bright side, Phinoon is a trooper and is keeping tight-lipped. Metaphorically, anyway.

If this were a stealth game, I would sneak around the two guards, find Phinoon, and hopefully rescue him and get out without anyone knowing I was there.

Or I would knock out every guard with whatever tools the game provides (and in Metal Gear Solid V’s case, fulton them to gain new soldiers) and rescue Phinoon after the fact. That would be more likely.

Now I could pose as that “expert interrogator” they mentioned earlier…

But this isn’t a stealth game, so we’re going to take the “Kill the guards” approach.

Since this is technically still a stealth attack, I gain an extra action that will prove ultimately useless because I drew three cards that cost zero actions.

May as well take advantage of the free defense.

And the extra action, for all the good it will do me.

May as well use one of these daggers.

Which goes away forever.

It’s always interesting to see what animation tricks are used to convey action. Even if they look really odd when paused.

To make up for the lack of attack cards this round, I use Target Practice to hit Stoque twice.

I wonder what animal Stoque got those gauntlets from…

Despite playing this game for 2 years and putting over 250 hours into it, I learned today that the official name for this attack is Cheese Grater.

Costly to remove, and it will stay in our hand until we get rid of it.

There’s a reason promoted grunts don’t appear on the lowest difficulty.

The game makes up for the last round by offering several attack cards and no need to worry about defense. Hanbi’s Power Supply in particular is a welcome sight when you can go all out on offense.

Predictably, I use Lacerate to add bleed and follow up with Hemorrhage to do more damage.

I catch the jump, but not the strike. (These two pictures were way too fun to flip between when sorting through screenshots)

A stab for good measure.

And I discard feint since I don’t need to defend this round.

Yeet still gives us some defense anyway.

Ironically after giving us Shredded, it’s Stoque who surrenders after bleeding.

Unfortunately for him, he’s not in a stealth game.

And Sal yells after gaining access to flourishes again. Again, this would have gone differently in a stealth game.

That would have been helpful at the start of the fight, but I’ll take it over my defense cards expending.

Inside Fighting: One of the easier and more reliable ways to gain combo. I’d normally pick this one except I don’t have any combo finishers.

Lacerate: I just killed Stoque will bleed with the help of this card. You already saw it in action.

Crusher: Hits hard, doesn’t take long to upgrade, and benefits an improvisation focused deck. I am focusing on bleed this run.

 

I skip this round. All of these cards are useful, they just wouldn’t mesh well with my current deck at the moment.

Because I took the “kill the guards” approach, the game thinks something is not right with me.

Not one of your better lies, Sal.

Though slipping on blood and/or tripping over a corpse into your knives is more believable.

Maybe if it were a negotiation, Dauler could have thought otherwise. Unfortunately, she’s not in the mood to talk.

Fleads gain defense at the start of every turn, with the only string attached being if you break through it they gain less and less. It’s annoying to deal with, but there are ways around it.

May as well take advantage of Sal’s flourish and summon some wild yotes.

Horned yotes are an actual variant you can fight. Sadly, you can’t get them as a pet. Seems like Sal really is a yote person, as they did a synchronized headbutt.

Beast Master hits hard, hits everyone, and adds wound, leaving me to wonder what the point of Hail of Blades is.

Since I only have one attack, I’m going to save my dagger and Sparky’s cell and just use Lucid Strike.

I defend the rest of the turn.

Yeet has the same idea.

I miss which card gets pinned.

And I also miss Sal throwing the dagger when countering.

Animal bites seem to consistently give wound. Sadly, we won’t get to see their Flead Ball attack this time.

Since it’s free, I’ll draw a card, and since Yeet will be taking more damage, I start turn 2 defending her.

I draw Stab, meaning I have a chance to get rid of the flead this turn.

It runs away.

Tempting as it is to level up Efficient Disposal, I’d rather Yeet keep as much of her health as she can. Day 3’s boss can take a while.

Active Defense doesn’t do much as I haven’t discarded anything, but it's hard to complain about gaining any defense, and an upgraded variant provides higher base defense.

Yeet gains some power, and the armor does its job.

Which is good. I can live with 1 damage.

I can do nothing but attack, so I try to make it worthwhile.

Reminder that I did Days 2 and 3 in one sitting and thus the lesson of “show what improvise options appear” eluded me until after the fact.

Anyway, I start off with trip to increase the amount of damage Dauler will take this turn.

I sometimes forget that Sal wears a cape for most of her costumes.

Adding to the wound train.

Upgrading another stab card this fight.

And I finish off with hemorrhage.

Yeet ends the fight with a savage bite.

And I’m still in a guard killing mood.

Piercing is nice, but I picked having more reliable damage this time.

And doing even more damage for the second upgrade.

Readiness: Nice if you gain something from drawing cards or don’t want to run into the issue of having few useful cards to play that round. Generally, though, I don’t tend to pick cards that draw more.

Rummage: Nice fourth wall joke with the flavor text. I’m not normally a fan of having random belts and pouches as a design choice, but I love Griftlands art style so much I don’t really care. The card is exactly what is says on the tin.

Rebound: I chose this card a lot early on. I still use Rummage, but I tend to prefer spending that action on something else. Still, it combos nicely when you have 4 actions.

 

I don’t need to draw more cards at the moment, so I skip.

Sigh, I suppose having a reputation for killing guards isn’t so nice when several people are hired as bodyguards in Havaria.

That’s not a good sign.

And hopeful Phinoon will still be alive.

Phinoon is an Admiralty Patrol Leader. You ever have a videogame enemy that you dread fighting but have to respect how well designed they are? That’s Admiralty Patrol Leaders for me.

They’re more than competent on their own. As part of a team they are terrifying, and earn their title of “Leader”.

One of my favorite boons in the game. Doesn’t sound like much, but that 1 bonus defense adds up a lot more than you think it would..

I really wish I caught Phinoons' description. Copy Pasting from elsewhere:

“Phinoon is often seen killing it on the dance floor, but it’s unclear if this means he’s a good dancer or a terrible hunter.”

Cue the fan art:

 

Link: https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/109134-communal-fanart-thread/page/12/

It’s amazing what a well done description can do for an otherwise unnoteworthy NPC.

Nothing happens on the way back.

Now for our reward.

Predictably, if Phinoon spilled the beans, he’d be dead right now.

I can always respect someone who is savvy, and Oolo fits the bill pretty well.

Like I said, there are only a few ways to increase max resolve.

Skeletal Suspension would be nice if I actually had combo, and Pocket Bomb is useful in the early game and becomes less so later on as you gain more cards.

Question time

I can tell you now that Oolo isn’t the only Kra’deshi we’ll see with some family problems…

This will come back later…

I mean, Oolo’s not exactly wrong there. Sal didn’t learn to hold her own by having a comfortable life.

That’s twice now Kashio got rid of a promising successor, and both times the person in question wanted revenge.

Depends on the law.

Interesting perspective that I haven’t seen much out of cop characters.

As will I.

This was a shorter update. Next time will be the opposite.

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

[Press Ctrl+V]

[Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter posts]

I learned what an Eudaemonist is today. I can see that leading to some interesting conversations where Alfred's philosophy is discussed and debated. I'm warming up to his outfit. It's the right amount of overdesigned that I could see a pompous (if kindhearted) noble wearing.

Animation wise, I'm concerned that the map movement will remain stiff, but the combat remain fun to watch. I particularly like how the enemy cavalier flips off their horse. That's a pretty fun defeat animation.

100% crit though? I'm guessing that's either debugging weirdness or whatever they heck they did behind the scenes to set up the scenario before recording the video. You can just make enemies hit harder rather than giving them guaranteed crits. If it's not a joke though, then I can see 100% crit enemies more or less having a "kill this foe IMMEDIETALY" sign over their head at all times. They would certainly be an interesting opponent to deal with. Maybe not a fun one, but an interesting foe.

Not entirely certain what my final thoughts on Alfred's partners designs are yet. The lady looks okay although I hope not all the female characters in Engage look so young and we get some more variety in age ranges. Not a fan of the dude's armor, though there's been a lot worse armor designs in the series. There's been a lot better, too, though.

I hope that Alear's reactions are something you can toggle on and off. It was neat in Echoes for the lords reactions to be on the bottom screen, but that worked because it was on the 3DS. It doesn't transfer over as gracefully to a single screen.

[What other transforming units should the series have?]

I always thought that porcupines would be fun addition as a defensive focused unit. Admittedly, I mostly just want them as an excuse to see quill beards and spiky hair, since I think that could lead to some really cool anthropomorphic designs.

Snakes could also be neat to see, though that could just be because I've been replaying XCOM: Chimera Squad recently, and Torque has a lot of fun options. I don't know how well those abilities they'd transfer over into Fire Emblem's gameplay, but I can see the potential in a unit that has the ability to bind and crush enemies to prevent them from moving, or one that could pull allies or enemies towards them with their tongue. The Thin Man design from XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a good example of what a "snake person" could look like untransformed.

As for returning beasts, I have a soft spot for the Taguel and would like to see them come back. More seriously, if they introduce different classes for beasts, then I think there is some solid choices for what to do with rabbit warriors. Perhaps one could burrow underneath the ground, being able to bypass certain obstacles and even set up pitfall traps to halt enemy advances. Another could focus on mobility, being able to hop on, off, and over certain obstacles and reach places other units couldn't. Maybe have one focused on being a straightforward warrior, and so on. I'd like them to come back with other beast units, though, so that each one could fulfil a different niche. On a different note, I always thought that a Taguel warren could make for a fun level and was disappointed that Awakening never took advantage of that.

[Your Opinion of the Above Posted Video]

Thanks to Mandaloregaming, I know that the dollmakers dungeon has some pretty creepy yet cool music for a dungeon.

Also that Legacy of Kain still has impressive voice acting that holds up years later.

 

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’S CAMPAIGN DAY 2 BOSS FIGHT: Assassin Questions Their Life Choices At The Worst Possible Time

Spoiler

Once again, there’s a choice between two random events.

I have no idea what’s going through Lili’s head for him to want to spend time with a bounty hunter who extorted money off of him and killed one of his former employees. Maybe he’s just that lonely.

Unfortunately for him, he’ll have a quiet evening. You know by now how much I emphasize increasing max health and resolve.

Just like meditating, you can either regain HP or take damage to increase Sal’s maximum health.

Gross, but I’ll take being dirty over dying sooner.

Back when the game was in early access, there was a freelance mission you could choose here, which worked similar to what we saw in the previous day. They’ve since removed it to increase the difficulty of Sal’s route, as Klei found that people tended to cruise on by up until the final boss, which came off as too steep of a difficulty spike. Now you have to know what you’re doing since you have less money and cards to fall back on.

I’m okay with the change, since if you were experienced then day 4 was essentially “buy the best cards and grafts before the final boss”. That said, I am sad that you have less opportunities to do the freelance missions, as I do find them pretty fun and varied in both writing and gameplay.

Anyway, let’s see if we have enough cash to give Yeet some armor.

OR we could run into another random event.

Rug is one of the few semi-consistent characters in the game. By that I mean you won’t always run into him, but his personality is consistent across games.

In Rug’s case, he’s a cook.

A cook that’s heavy into experimentation.

I could refuse, but then Rug would dislike me.

The pickled talons sound like they would tear up my mouth, throat and stomach. I have no idea what a casserole made of coyotes would taste like, and I don’t know why you would eat tartare made up of alien snail bile.

I go with the crayote courage casserole, because compared to the other two, I don’t know what it’ll do. Apparently it’s not bad.

Nice! I believe if you pick the talons, you’ll get hurt, and have the choice whether to pretend you liked it or yell at Rug for the terrible meal.

Something I appreciate about Griftlands is that while the events you can get are random, the results are consistent. You’ll always get hurt picking the talons, for instance, and the game never has any “one-hit kill” scenarios. It’s more interested in the “every run is different '' element of roguelikes, not the “we try our darndest to kill you in a thousand different ways” side.

Anyway, onto the night market.

Before buying anything, let’s see what Phroluk has to say about the creatures of Havaria.

I’ll keep Yeet away from lasers, then.

You thought crayotes gaining power every turn was a bit much? You haven’t seen a lumicyte. There’s good reason they’re one of the most expensive pets in the game.

Time to give Yeet some armor.

Oh, Yeets a she.

I suppose Captain Quark from the Ratchet & Clank franchise (I really want to get into that series sometime) came to mind when I saw “Quark”, so I defaulted to referring to them as a male.

I never really understood why the process of upgrading pets would sound awful. I get that armor isn’t comfortable, but it doesn’t seem like it would be a hellish process.

With the exception of upgraded fleads and oshnus. Those go straight into animal cruelty.

My only purchase of the day has left me with 18 shills. That’s not enough to order a meal or drink.

Since I can’t buy anything, I head back to the Grog n’ Dog.

There’s a few people to meet before going to bed.

Never really put much thought into whether those sayings really are interchangeable or not. Then again, I don’t recall anything I “hate to love”. There are certainly things I was surprised I enjoyed as much as I did, but I doubt that counts.

That certainly sounds suspicious…

I am so used to seeing Fssh’s eye that I forget to compliment how well it’s animated.

I’ve made similar comments in the past, and got similar reactions.

While a fight is inevitable and I’m going in wounded, I can negotiate things in my favor…

I love the victory condition. It’s so hilariously blunt.

I start off by making not one but two Solid Points as two why attempting to assassinate Sal is a bad idea.

Ah, Double Edge. Hopefully you’ll work in my favor.

It is at the moment.

I suppose Sal makes a Good Impression on Hanbi, causing him to question why Kashio would want her dead.

I destroy the first Impending Doom argument, meaning I can target Hanbi’s core argument now. He does gain Impatience, though, so he’ll be doing more damage for the rest of the negotiation.

A downside of picking cards like solid point which activate without costing any actions is that you’ll sometimes have actions left over that you can’t do anything with.

Double Edge does its magic.

Since it’s free, I start this round with Quick Thinking.

And I forgot to screenshot my options. I picked Observation thanks to having influence, and I target Crafty so I know where to defend.

And since I have a full set of actions to spare nothing but defense cards, I use Very Convincing to hopefully draw some damage dealing cards.

Fortunately, I draw two.

I defend Yeet real quick.

Then attack another Impending Doom argument.

I decide I may as well take advantage of Double Edge again and expend Wide Deflection.

Reputation Preceding adds an annoying argument for the enemy and destroys itself.

If I manage to destroy all three Impending Doom arguments, the fight will be over quickly, but Hanbi will deal more damage for the rest of the negotiation. Getting these gradual hits in on his core argument will help out in the long run.

Known Thug deals two damage.

I probably should have screenshotted me looking at my deck, since you can check which cards are in your draw and discard piles.

Since then I would have known that drawing unstable would have given me Bluster!

Also, drawing a card activated Known Thug again.

Like I said, Bluster is my favorite negotiation card.

I destroy another Impending Doom argument with Pale Fast Talk.

I gain Attitude from Sal’s Instincts to gain dominance and boost the damage of Threaten.

And finish off the final Impending Doom argument!

Yeet gets rid of Apprehensive.

And I take 2 damage, which I can spare right now.

Hanbi adds Ploy, which has increased health and damage thanks to having more Impatience than usual.

Known Thug gets rid of the single point of composure Hanbi had.

I once again forget to screenshot my options after using Quick Thinking and induce Stammer to increase the amount of damage my cards will deal this turn.

Since I already have influence, why not have Threaten hit even harder?

Influence may be destroyed this round, but I have enough Resolve that I can afford the loss.

Solid Point once again removes Hanbi’s composure.

Like I said…

I love Bluster.

I’m thankful that Solid Point showed up with influence that I’ll spend immediately.

And though I don’t need to, I spend the rest of my actions defending Yeet, who will win the negotiation.

We’ve successfully given an assassin an existential crisis!

Sigh… I really hate having defensive cards that expend.

Playing inspirational talk first will result the rest of my diplomacy cards deal max damage, and if I already have influence, then I can increase it even more and start taking advantage of cards that spend influence.

Tyrannize: On runs where you’re reliably gaining influence, it’s a worthwhile pick when you draw a hand full of hostile cards.

Seeds of Doubt: A really useful card as doubt deals damage every turn, and there is no way for an opponent to get rid of it.

Oppress: Huh, I haven’t used it enough on the PC version for oppress to be worth 50 shills. I normally grab it as it’s hard to complain about gaining something after destroying an argument.

Tyrannize was a close runner up, but I love Doubt too much to pass it up.

Different costumes have unique art and poses for boss fights. I really love the artwork for these fights.

A pretty annoying gimmick with fighting Hanabi is that he adds these cards to your deck. There’s a reason I don’t mind nabbing some discard cards.

Yeesh, Yeet would lose half their HP if that hits.

Fortunately, Hanabi is questioning his life choices in the middle of a fight, and thus will panic more and more as the battle goes on.

Since I have nothing but attack cards and it would be awhile before I shuffle my deck, I play Sparky’s Oppressor Cell.

I also apply wound to increase the amount of damage my other cards will deal.

I promise I learned my lesson about where to place cards after I drag them.

I suppose Hemorrhage isn’t affected by wound.

I discard of Assassin’s Mark, so Yeet will only take 16 damage now. That stings, but she’ll live.

A new move of Yeet’s. Now she’ll start off giving everyone defense.

Which was a very smart move considering that amount of damage she could have taken.

Ow. Well, any bit of defense counts.

May as well. I have nothing but attack cards left.

Okay, so now I catch the sprite for Makeshift Dagger. Never realized how odd the timing was for when sprites load in.

Fortunately, it wasn't destroyed.

Not to worry, after successfully screenshotting one animation I missed earlier, I miss an animation I successfully screenshotted earlier.

Lacterate does more damage, adds bleed, and doesn’t expend. Really, why would I have picked Lucid Strike this round?

Now Yeet gains power.

I suppose Hanbi trys to regain some of his morale by styling on us.

It doesn’t work.

Honestly, I just chose Spines for the experience.

I use the rest of the daggers to help Yeet out.

This one wasn’t destroyed.

This one was.

Never paid much attention to the animation trick when Hanbi spins his pistol around.

Steady hands draws extra cards. It can mean that I draw more Assassin’s Mark cards and take more damage, but it can also mean I have more options on what to do this turn.

I spend both feint cards protecting Yeet.

And make up for the lost damage by attacking twice.

A combination of bleed and an existential crisis cause Hanbi to give up pretty early.

Now if I was working for the Spree, I could run into him again if I spared him, and potentially even get a new friend.

However, I’m not working for the Spree.

A pretty helpful item card. There are more exciting items you can get from bosses, but it’s hard to complain about this one.

The best offense is a good defense. Especially if you’re still stabbing them while blocking.

Empathy: I rarely pick this one, but if used wisely, it can save you from a near defeat.

Bulldoze: Sometimes you destroy arguments after ending your turn, and bulldoze is useless. Other times, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Heavy Handed: I believe we’ve seen this one before.

Pretty hard to pass up on gaining extra actions.

Cynotrainer: Pretty nice when you have cards that have an effect when discarding them.

Efficient Disposal: One of the best abilities if you’re running a discard deck, and a solid one even when you’re not. Dealing damage with every discard can easily rack up if you plan ahead.

Haymaker: 2 actions is a lot for 3-5 damage… except you’ll likely have more than 1 combo at a time. A pretty good pick if you have any cards that give combo.

I have enough discard cards that the ability will be beneficial.

Amazing what you can accomplish when you actually focus on cleaning.

Just don’t have the corpse of an assassin be your motivation to clean your room, okay?

I don’t know why I forgot to screenshot the graft selection twice.

Anyway, I removed one graft and replaced it with another. I wish I skipped earlier to nab some extra shills, but I probably would have just spent that on a meal I ultimately didn’t need.

I really like these dreams. They’re a neat insight into the protagonist's past and reveal details that wouldn’t show up elsewhere

Didn’t heal all the way, but I’ll take it. Day 2 was pretty quick, so hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting.

 

[Your Opinion of the Above Posted Video]

A game series I really want to play sometime. There are very few games with this kind of writing style nowadays.

 

[Outwitting, Outfighting, and Backstabbing Everyone! Hawkwing Plays The Sci-Fi Roguelike Deckbuilder Griftlands]

SAL’S CAMPAIGN DAY 2 ADMIRALTY MISSION: A Rat In A Cave

Replies:

Spoiler

On 9/28/2022 at 11:37 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

  Hide contents

They were responsible for like, half of my deaths when I played this game. Fuck 'em.

Did the merchants themselves kill you, or was it their backup? In my experience they rarely travel alone.

You're welcome.

I'm remembering this pattern from back in the day.

Well...

Maybe?

Wonder which choice you'll pick when we reach Smith's campaign.

I think it points to an engaging narrative, myself.

Hardy har har.

Jokes aside, the story setup so far is so generic that I'm expecting that the story will turn a lot of tropes on their head with some big twists halfway through, or it will be incredibly predictable and they embrace all the cliches and have a fun time. I'm personally okay with a straightforward plot as long as it's entertaining to go through.

This is the kind of thing a newbie would choose, thinking "oh yeah that's gonna be good in the long run", and then they die. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.

You had the right idea. Just maybe not enough experience.

It's always a fun time. I remember getting my entire hand swarmed with drunk cards a few times because of my careless drinking. Say no to alcohol, kids.

That's one way to spread the message. Have it negatively affect your gameplay.

I'll take them just for the pun. Fsshcakes. She's a genius.

Fssh is good at naming things and knowing who needs what. She

A  A AA AA   AA A     AA    swamp maps

Thankfully, it doesn't deal damage every turn. It is terrible in other ways.

But I don't see a mustache

I mean, his beard is nice, but you're right in that he doesn't really have a mus-

Ooooh, you're talking about Moulder! I really need to try Sacred Stones again. I didn't play enough to get a concrete opinion on the game.

I can respect a pet lover.

Especially one that can describe them in fun ways.

Possibly the best introduction in the game lol

I agree.

I like Kashio's theme. It almost sounds sad, in a way.

Huh, I can kind of see what you mean. I do get the vibe of "powerful person who's lonely at the top."

I love the part where it goes wawawawa wawawawawa wawawawa

I know exactly what you're talking about

How honorable of you.

Hah hah

I never even noticed these guys were this good.

I love having them as an ally. Funnily enough, I don't mind fighting them that much, since they tend to focus on allies rather than themselves, which makes them an easy target.

Ahh, the days of my first few runs where I thought there'd be an actual impact to it. I still did it sometimes, even after finding out there's no reason to spare anyone. It just feels right sometimes.

There's two people you can spare to change the ending, Rook can spare several bosses for more dialogue though you have the choice to kill them afterwards anyway, if I joined the Spree there would be a reason to spare the assassin, there's a boss in Smith's route you're requested to spare...

Of that, uh, there's really only one or two bosses where sparing them is ideal. Two affect the ending but otherwise don't affect gameplay, and the rest you're better off sending to the grave. Huh, never really thought of that before.

I mean, that's pretty badass, but last time you got the crap beaten out of you, so... Maybe get better help than the bouncer who honors her name by bouncing at the first sign of trouble unless she's peer pressured by a stranger?

Maybe Sal's hoping that Fssh will yell or something before the boss kills her or something. I think Sal just doesn't want to be killed in her sleep... though that raises the question of if Fssh ever takes a break.

Welp, GG. It's over everyone, go home, friendship ending.

Kashio still dislikes us and wants us dead. She's just more annoyed than angry now.

 

 

Update:

Spoiler

Seems like we’ll be siding with the Admiralty this run.

But first, there’s two quick things I want to do.

To spice things up, I’ll be changing Sal’s costume each day… even if I forget to do so on day 3. I’ll go into more detail later, but Sal’s second day was shortened down and I got screenshots for day 2 and 3 in the same sitting.

Anyway, you unlock more costumes after completing a run or dying. I’ve already unlocked all of them, and to be honest, it was a pretty quick process. They have no bearing on gameplay; it’s purely cosmetic.

 

This appears to be the only costume Sal likes, which makes sense as it’s the least rugged looking outfit she has.

Now, for Quark.

The game allows you to pet animals, which for some people automatically makes it game of the year or something.

To be completely honest, I never really cared for the trend. I’d rather pet an actual animal than a fictional one.

The only exception personally was D-Dog in Metal Gear Solid V:

Spoiler

Big Boss’s interactions with D-Dog are one of the very few times he seems genuinely happy in the entire game. That puts it over most other cases for me.

Anyway, let’s give Quark a new name.

I know I mentioned earlier that I don’t care for the “Yeet” meme. I also don’t care for the “Fox on Trampoline” phenomenon yet this Stupidfox pic is one of my go-to profile pictures:

Still don’t know why I like it so much. At least “Yeet the Yote!” is a ton of fun to say.

Enough stalling, let’s get the show on the road.

I had to look up what a tchotchke is. Apparently, it just refers to small trinkets. Interesting thing to base your career path on.

You get this introduction regardless of the character. Make of that what you will.

Now onto the main partner for this route, Oolo.

Oolo's theme. Fitting, for a sci-fi sheriff.

That’s quite a few questions to ask. Prepare to be here for a while.

Unsurprisingly, this is the kind of setting where law enforcement has to go through loopholes to enforce the law.

Least Oolo’s honest and willing to look beyond a person's status, even if it is only for her own benefit.

Nice to know Oolo’s not in it for the money.

People only caring about politics if it personally affects them is a universal constant, it seems. Considering the alternative is to watch people bicker and lie over petty things that they’ll be hypocritical about anyway, I can’t say I blame anyone.

Honestly, considering a lot of the changes I want to see in my country won’t be fixed with another law that’s unlikely to be followed anyway, I have a hard time giving a shit about politics.

 

I do appreciate that Oolo became a cop to arrest legitimately bad guys, and actually sticks to that.

Questions over, let’s get to work.

To Oolo’s credit, she sticks to her word about that.

Right. I keep forgetting that you get an exclusive card for siding with either the Admiralty or the Spree. They’re helpful, but the fact I hardly remember these cards are a thing is pretty telling.

Anyway:

Oolo’s Requisition: Can automatically win a single negotiation. Take a wild guess if I’ve ever used this one.

Very Convincing: Every card that grants an extra action usually has a cost. Considering you get another 2 cards to pick what to use that action for, I’d say that expend is a solid price to pay for what it provides.

Is anyone really surprised?

In Havaria, having a unique card counts as an impromptu badge. And of course that sounds suspicious, Oolo. Since when did anyone trust authority figures?

 

Anyone play Excavate! by Scriptwelder? The dude that made the Don’t Escape and Deep Sleep series? It’s a fun game, even if specializing with your starting characters kind of broke it. You dig, find artifacts, archive them, and hopefully find everything before the time limit runs out. I just wanted to see if anyone else played web games.

Also, I need to grab Don’t Escape 4 sometime.

Hunting bandits in a cave. What is this, an RPG?

 

I might be showing my hand a bit early, but I love how these two bounce off each other. Perhaps my favorite pairing in the game.

There’s always a random event somewhere, eh?

A choice between one of the better item cards in the game, or increasing your max resolve.

Like I mentioned earlier, opportunities to increase your resolve and health are rare.

…How well do maggots hide in cheese?

I’m trying to remember if this quest was altered, or if it’s random whether the first bandit you meet wants to fight or escape. I remember one of the negotiations was to convince them that you would let them go if they gave up the rest of the sprees location.

Not that it matters, because I’m sticking to the plan to kill every last one of them.

Since there's going to be a lot of combat in this update, I'll try putting it into a spoiler again, to see if that helps or not.

Spoiler

Helpfully, the game reminds you whether to kill or spare certain characters.

I start off with the expected defense.

I get some experience on Stab.

And decide I may as well expend Elbow Strike early.

Is anyone really surprised when I say that Yeet gains power?

Apparently, the spree have outfitted their crossbows with explosive bolts. That seems to be weirdly common in video games.

Annoyingly, Thieves can pin certain cards, requiring you to spend 2 actions to gain it back. Sometimes it’s easy to deal with, while other times it's frustrating.

I give Yeet some much needed defense. I keep forgetting just how much damage thieves do. I suppose it’s because they don’t defend much, so solo fights with them tend to be quick.

Since Yeet’s going to hit hard, I let him hit harder.

I suppose Sal tries to breakdance?

The fight seems like it will be over sooner than later, so I decide to use Sparky’s Oppressor Cell to hit hard while I have the chance.

For some reason, Temporary Power is considered a debuff. I suppose it’s this way to add some decision making with cards that remove debuffs.

His HP went from 60 to 41. Panic is weird with attacks that hit multiple times.

Yeet bites hard and causes Blane to bleed.

Since the fight will be over soon anyway, I spend my points to gain experience on Spines.

As well as some extra defense, since it’s better to get those cards upgraded sooner than later.

Yeet ends the fight.

And I finish my job.

And Sal once again goes Super Sayian. I’ll show combat flourishes in the next fight.

This is the main reason people will hate you. Some folks have friends, and they really don’t like you killing them.

Kind of a sad mechanic, really. Whenever someone dies in Griftlands, they either leave their friend focused on revenge, or no one cares.

Looting the body.

Wild Lunge: “Attack Random Enemy” often translates to “attack the only enemy”. Hits pretty hard too, and adds wound to boot.

Exertion: Requires some planning and foresight to get the most use out of, as well as getting lucky with drawing the card in a hand where you can actually use those bonus actions.

Dagger Storm: It’s essentially spending two actions for two piercing attacks. It’s a pretty helpful card that I pick often.

I’m adding to the wound train this run.

No, Sal! You were on the cusp of a breakthrough in your introspection!

Oh well. Can’t change the course of this revenge tale, it seems.

I’ve banged my head on a wall or desk in frustration a few times. Don’t recommend it. I’ve never seen stars, though.

One of the few times I remember that you can hover over a character’s portrait to show their fun description.

Really, really hard to pass up the opportunity to have a Luminari as a partner.

NEGOTIATION:

Spoiler

A quick look at the flourishes. I’ve already upgraded them all, so if you plan on getting the game for yourself, don’t expect them to start off this powerful.

I hang onto my flourish for now. Since I won’t be attacked until next turn, I risk gaining another damage dealing card.

Fortunately, I gained two.

Since three of the four cards I can attack with are diplomacy cards, I may as well gain some influence to deal max damage.

To save time on writing, I attack with every card that deals damage.

And since it costs nothing and it’ll be upgraded soon, I finish off the first turn by defending.

Yeet yells at Strollo.

And Strollo adds two arguments, which I’ll get to in a bit.

First, I draw Solid Point.

If it wasn’t obvious, members of the Cult of Hesh rely on arguments. Their core argument, Zeal, reinforces any that are destroyed, Prayer of Hesh also heals and prevents damage to a single argument each turn, and Wrath of Hesh deals damage to every single one of your arguments. Because of this, they’re simultaneously one of the easiest opponents to win negotiations against, or one of the difficult enemies to debate in the entire game.

*****

Hi, Hawkwing from the 2nd draft here (which is when I double check for spelling or formatting errors or see if I should adjust a joke and so on). This is an example of what I mean by putting something in a spoiler when discussing the cult. I initially continued off of the last point I made and it came off as rambling or ranting. I know that some people would find those observations interesting. I also know that others would want me to shut up and get back to stabbing bandits. Thus, I’m putting it in a spoiler so that those curious can read further and those who want to get back to the gameplay can skip right on by.

Spoiler

Which I swear is intentional. Debating against people of faith is either a pathetic affair for how easy they are to shut down, or they’re some of the most entrenched and knowledgeable people you’ll ever see. Is it really a surprise though when some claim to be a “Christian” yet only read their Bible once a week and only put their beliefs into practice on Sunday, and sometimes only at church? While others dedicate their life to studying the word and actually put their faith into practice, helping those in need?

 

Interestingly, this isn’t the only game I have similar thoughts on. Sword & Glory is my second favorite mobile game (Rebel Inc is my all time favorite), and is a roguelike about obtaining as much “glory” as possible before you die in combat or of old age. If you’re curious, the game is free, there are no ads, and you can unlock everything in the game without paying a single penny.

At the start you have the choice of being a Christian, a pagan, or neither. You have a limited amount of perks you can gain in a single life. Predictably, being part of a religion grants exclusive perks. Opponents have the same perks you can get, and to no one's surprise, some of them are affected by the faith of the enemy. Having a religion but not focusing on it does more harm than good, while focusing on those exclusive perks comes at the cost of not advancing so much in jobs or training compared to a worldly character.

 

Faith without action is worthless, and there will always be sacrifices.

 

Now to get back to stabbing people.

*****

Since I already have influence, I use Sal’s Instincts to gain Attitude and thus some dominance for the Threaten card I can play for free.

Now I won’t be attacked this turn. I don’t waste time on Prayer of Hesh and focus on the core argument.

And since I can’t attack, I may as well upgrade another Deflection card.

Yeet helps again.

Prayer of Hesh not only increases its resolve, but shields itself, preventing it from being damaged. Another Wrath of Hesh argument appears, aiming to damage all my arguments.

I once again miss Solid Point appearing, and Known Thug attacks thrice

Since I can’t attack right now, I see what I can do with Quick Thinking.

Nothing that deals damage appears, so I take the extra composure.

 

And spread out the rest of my defense.

Take a guess what Yeet did

I am so used to negotiating with Jakes the last few updates that I thought the damage would be reflected. Alas, it was not.

I nabbed another screenshot of Solid Point appearing.

Tithe is one of the few arguments that restores your resolve. The catch is it distracts you from attacking other arguments on a character that buffs arguments every time they are destroyed.

I once again focus on destroying the Wrath of Hesh argument first.

Time to end this

 

Nice! Even more upgrades.

Can’t go wrong with extra composure.

Sigh… I can work with this, but I really don’t like having defense cards expend.

Jeez, does this game want to destroy all my basic cards?

Not only does Boosted Impression deal more damage, it remains effective in negotiations for a longer period of time.

Bluster: Straight up my favorite negotiation card in the entire game. I am not joking. It hits hard, it reduces the amount of damage enemies can do, and the 2 action point cost is fair.

Abrupt Remark: I believe we’ve seen this one before. Helpful sometimes, annoying other times.

Swift Rebuttal: Obviously useful if you have cards that cost nothing to play. I don’t have enough right now to justify grabbing this one.

I’ve never had a game where I skipped over Bluster.

I really appreciate how characters actually make good points when they win negotiations in Griftlands. That’s not always something that games with dialogue systems succeed with.

Yet another fight against yotes.

Spoiler

Before doing anything, A quick look at combat flourishes.

Hail of Blades is Sal’s starting flourish and thus can’t be upgraded. It’s extremely odd, as Beast Master also attacks all enemies, deals more damage, and adds debuffs on top of that. It’s the only flourish that I’d say becomes outright worthless, unlike Rook and Smiths default flourishes which serve their own niche (especially Smith’s).

 

Since this is a simpler fight, I won’t use my flourish in this fight.

I can’t wait until Dirty Fighting is upgraded and I can gain power for free.

Alas, at the moment it costs an action.

 

Since I don’t want to figure out the hard way whether or not Hemorrhage is affected by wound, I Stab the wild yote.

Luminari swing their scythe around while defending, and I catch part of the animation.

 

Unsurprisingly, wild yotes have the same moveset as Yeet.

It takes a little while before I realize that I should really be careful where I drag cards, since they remain there when the animation plays.

I attack the yote that’s not going to run away this turn.

And Stab it for good measure.

Have I mentioned I love this game's artstyle and animations yet?

Yeet gnaws on a yote, and I miss screenshotting it run away.

The wild yote bleeds…

And deals 1 damage to the Luminari.

Since the yote will hopefully die this turn, I once again gain experience on Spines.

And add some wound to increase its chance of dying.

 

Sadly, it just runs away.

Speciality: I don’t have a finisher and I’m not running a combo deck, so this card is useless this run.

Bedlam: Good damage, I’ve already mentioned that random does not always mean random in this game, and discard isn’t a bad price.

Active Defense: Provides the same amount of defense as feint, with the potential to gain more.

Bedlam is good, but I should start nabbing a few more defensive cards.

 

Apparently, Sal found or made a torch.

Strangely, this isn’t the oddest thing she’ll just have on hand.

One of the Faster Fights in the Update:

Spoiler

I decide I might as well end this fight quickly and use Hemomancy. Magic might not exist in Griftlands, but I don’t want to know what Sal is doing to get them to bleed that much.

Only a handful of flourish animations are actually cool, sadly, but I can’t really blame them for reusing animations for cards that attack everyone.

‘Course, I also chose Hemomancy because I also have Hemorrhage.

Sheesh, first turn and already Prekt is thinking of surrendering.

Since I won’t be attacked and I have no reason to gain power, I sling mud at Prekt.

…Which would hurt like hell to have mud thrown into open cuts in real life, but in-game we just gain 2 combo.

Sal apparently keeps mud in a canister.

A final Stab for the experience.

Prekt bleeds so much she surrenders.

She was going to die anyway.

Haven’t had much issue with defense yet, so I choose to stab more reliably.

Lacerate: Deals damage and a good amount of bleed. Since bleed has been a constant this run, it seems like a good choice to pick another card that focuses on it.

Barnacle: Bleed has been applied often enough that gaining defense with it is not a bad choice.

Jarackle Free-Fighting: Geeze, Goober. How often will you appear?

Hard choice between Lacerate and Barnacle, but I went with the former because I’d rather spend an action adding blood and a stronger defense card than risk 2 actions on a card that could offer less.

One of the more annoying cards you get from killing people.

That’s one way to look at things.

Final battle of this update, which is good because fights can take around 30 minutes to write and around the same time to put into Serenes Forest.

Spoiler

Forgot to hover over this last time. Not that it mattered, because Plekt bled to death.

Most abilities work best when you get them sooner than later.

The wound is pretty useless, but since I’m the only one dealing damage this turn, I risk dealing 8 damage. I missed how much I actually did.

Interesting the effects you don’t notice until you’re pressing F12 like a madman.

Here, have different angles of the Revved Up animation.

I have two good attack cards. May as well gain some temporary power.

I make the same mistake when dragging the card.

I decide to focus on the thug who’ll be attacked the most this turn.

I realize I’ll be attacked by the other thug, and defend accordingly.

Wonder if there’s a sci-fi version of baseball in Griftlands…

Yeet bites Lux, who decides to give up.

I block one attack

And get hit by the rest.

Also, bleed works differently for player characters, for some reason I still don’t understand.

On the bright side, Sal counters thrice.

I once again Fight Dirty

And forget to screenshot the options that showed up.

I Stab twice for the experience.

They both bleed

And I remember that Luminari have enough armor to be immune to bleed and wound.

Since I know that this will be the last turn of the fight, and I don’t want to make the same mistake I made in the past, I gain experience on Feint first.

Then I focus on dealing damage.

I kill them both.

And with that, the mission is complete.

If I talked to the Spree at the very beginning, I would have gone straight to this fight. Glad I didn’t spare them.

Made more enemies, it seems.

Don’t look forward to fighting Tarq, though. His class focuses on counter, which is never fun to deal with.

I forgot if I showed this screen before, but it tracks everyone who loves, likes, dislikes, and hates you, as well as everyone who died in your proximity.

Improve Accuracy: I believe we’ve run into this card before

Zig Zag: Can be useful, though I forgot the last time I bothered with it.

Chamber: Chuckled when I looked at the flavor text. I should comment on that more often. Anyway, defense is always nice in general, and it’s one of the easier ways to gain combo to boot.

I’d like another defensive card. Could maybe nab a combo card in the future.

Unstable is pretty helpful, even though you should really be aware of what cards you have in your draw pile before playing.

 

One of the nicer Cult members, I can tell you that right now.

 

I get the joke, but you really shouldn’t listen to people who focus on the worldly benefits. I could quote quite a few passages that show how much God states the opposite, but you’re not here for that.

The line of corpses helped.

Time to get paid.

One of the better grafts on offer, so I pick it.

Pocket Bomb is nice, it just that you’re likely to have so many cards near the end of the game that you won’t be shuffling your deck that often.

Sal’s going to bed late enough as is. Three hours is a lot of sleep to loose.

We can ask three more questions.

As mentioned earlier, Oolo joined the Admiralty to put bad guys behind bars. Not a bad path to take if you’re stuck in her situation.

She’s surprisingly casual about this.

Then again, I often hear that cops know any day could be their last, so perhaps it's not so surprising.

With that, the update is done. You were originally supposed to get another freelance mission after this, but they removed it. I’ll probably talk about that more next time.

...Phew! That took longer than I though to complete. If I ever do a let's play of another game, I'll make damn sure it's one I can write a transcript for.

 

[Press Ctrl+V]

 

[Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter posts]

Yes! A fence is destroyed during the fight! They brought back environmental damage from Echoes! And the capes seem to have actual physics to them! Thank you! One of my biggest critiques animation-wise of the last few games was the amount of clipping, and they seem to have addressed that!

First impressions of the Engage system seem to fill in the role of combat arts, which makes sense. They functioned fine in Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses, but those weren't systems you could simply copy-paste into another game. In Echoes, for instance, it was expected that units would constantly lose and heal HP and the game being built around that, and it was typically an easy process to repair weapons in Three Houses to offset combat arts using durability. I get the impression you gain SP somehow and then spend it on powerful moves, but I could be off about that.

As for conversing with characters from previous games... I need to see more examples first. I could see it being really fun and interesting to see past characters bounce off the new cast in a different environment, but I could also see them overshadowing the new characters or not feeling in line with their past selves. I am also concerned about the line of Marth  "watching over" Alear, since I could interpret that as either Marth looking out for them for the past 1000 years or just the last few maps. I'm cautious, but I'm also reserving judgement until I see more.

On 9/29/2022 at 7:46 AM, Vexal said:

@Hawkwing I assume you're referring to awkward pauses in the map movement and not the idle animations? Thats just the person playing in the first three twitter clips. In the reveal trailer and Framme's twitter clip it was all smooth and snappy

I mean the characters moving from point A to point B on the map screen. Previous games tended to be faster on that front.

[Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter posts]

I'm really liking the new battle animations. They remembered how dynamic camera angles can really help amplify the impact of an attack, and they look faster than several of the previous games. I'm also glad they removed the cut-in for critical attacks. They were cool in Awakening, but grew more stale with each game, and honestly should have been axed by Three Houses. The map animations look like they could use some work, though. They're pretty stiff when previous games tended to be snappy. Also, having dynamic music for the map and battle themes is back! Or at least, is more noticeable compared to Three Houses.

I still think Shadows of Valentia's battle animations look better, but to be fair, I am comparing a completed game to one that hasn't been fully unveiled yet. Speaking of SoV, I hope they took a lot from that game, such as using different animations for finishing off an enemy, every class having distinct animations, characters having unique victory animations, attacks affecting the environment, etc. There's a reason people praise the game's presentation even if it also seems people forget what makes it so great, but that's a fanboy rant for elsewhere.

It also seems that the conversation animations have been upgraded, or at least I hope they were. I really, really, did not like how Three Houses kept using the same stock animations over and over again for every conversation scene, and anytime something interesting happened, it was behind a black screen or occurred offscreen. For a game where a single run could take over 60 hours and going through every route could take well over 100, it just made things more stale than interesting. Engages aren't outstanding, but I know that making really good conversation system animations is not cheap or easy, so I'm okay with it looking fine. New Frame Plus has an excellent video discussing about how animations for conversation systems work in video games, if anyone's interested.

 

I was initially concerned when I read that the twins were fans of Alear, as it seems like it would pretty easy for it to lead to "avatar worship" issues that Corrin and Byleth were plagued with. Thinking about it some more though, and Fire Emblem has done the "loyal to someone" trope before in different ways. Fredrick was incredibly loyal to Chrom, and while that's the subject of some conversations, Fredrick also has several supports that don't mention Chrom at all. In the story at least, you can get the sense of there being a mutual respect between the two, and I can say things about Fredricks character that don't revolve around his liege. From a different angle, while I wish she was given a more interesting personality, I do appreciate that SoV portrayed Faye's obsession with Alm as very unhealthy, and Dedue and Hubert in Three Houses shows that blind loyalty is not always admirable, as both are quite willing to do their masters dirty work.

I'm still cautious, but I'm hopeful that the twins talk about more than just Alear and being dragon guardians. If the games tone leans towards the lighthearted side, then I could see some possibilities for humor in Alear having a fan club despite having absolutely no clue what they did to earn one. Especially if dialogue choices return and you get to choose how to react.

 

I still want to see more designs before making any judgements about the art direction. Nothing aside from Alear (which personally falls into the "so bad, it's good" category) has grabbed me so far, but I'm also not wondering what the hell the thought process behind anything was, which is more than I can say about Awakening or Fates. That said, the fact that the twins both have braids with a different hair color as well as different bows leads me to think that it's related to their roles as dragon guardians somehow.

 

Gauntlets were my favorite addition in Three Houses, I really liked how healers could defend themselves from the get go in Shadows of Valentia (with an unreliable attack which discouraged getting reckless with them), combine both and you get Engage's version of the monk class. I can tell I'm already going to like this class. I also like the idea of gauntlets (or brawling or whatever it's going to be called) and bows having weapon triangle bonuses against each other depending either on range or who initiated the fight. Bows and gauntlets are both reliant on playing aggressively to get the most use out of them, so the system could work.

Just please don't bring back the weapon triangle from Fates. I'm using hidden weapons to debuff enemies, not to have an advantage over swords, and a mage having an advantage over bows meant nothing if the archer has high resistance.

23 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Hmm, I wonder if Fire Emblem could work on a mana system - that way every spell works against every other spell. Teleports could be particularly expensive.

I remember playing a fan remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden back in 2018 (I think it's still available on a reddit post somewhere), and one if it's many bizarre additions to an already weird game was the inclusion of a mana system.

It more or less had the exact same pros and cons that Three Houses system had. You got to see the fancy spells more often thanks to no long-term durability, and there was some occasional decision making between whether to use a weak but cheap spell or a costly powerful one. On the flip side, if it was a small map with few enemies, there was little reason to not use your big guns, while for longer maps you typically stuck with the cheaper spells.

A mana system could definitely work for Fire Emblem. I just think it would be pretty predictable, and you don't need mana to have interesting and versatile spells that go beyond "hit the enemy really hard".