Endure This! Run! Part 7: Diplomacy at a Pointy Edge

We embarked on the easiest sidequests ever. I think it was because SquareEnix doesn't trust you to figure out what a sidequest is on your own. In any case, we return to the main story. Yay!

Soldier: Oi! Are you Rush Sykes?

Rush: Uh...yes?

Soldier: Well the Marquis of Athlum's been looking for ya!

Rush: Wait, so he wants to find Irina now?

Soldier: Buggered if I know, but get your arse back to his throne room pronto! I've got a job to do!

When you travel around Athlum or Celapaleis at this point, you'll see one of these random soldiers with a red-outlined speech bubble asking if you are Rush. No matter which answer you give them, they will tell you that David requests your presence until you finally go to the Athlum Throne room. It's the game's way of not-so-subtly telling you to move on with the story. "But Thou Must!" indeed.

"That is all, David. I pray for your continued success."

This brown-colored Qsiti and a random Mitra soldier exit the room as Rush comes in.

Rush: Dude! Those guys were harshin' you something fierce! Why didn't you tell them to get stepping?

Blocter: The Duke of Qubine from Celapaleis gave us our orders.

Pagus: He thinks that the forces of Ghor are making a move on our turf at Blackdale and asked us to kindly remove them from the area.

Rush: But I thought Blackdale was Dave's turf?

Torgal: Yeah, about that, you do know that a Marquis ranks below a Duke, right?

Rush: No, I didn't.

Torgal: Well, there's your answer.

Rush: What about Irina?

Pagus: Well, our scouts mentioned that the Ghors were led by a guy in a white Chinese dress. Apparently, he was testing out a new standup routine and they were crying out in agony, until the sight of a flying Remnant made them shut up again.

Rush: Wait wait wait...what's a China?

David: Look, orders are orders. We ride for Blackdale tonight, and I've been personally asked to make sure this goes well.

Rush: Welp, have fun then.

David: Fuck that, you're the protagonist. You're coming too!

Rush: Do I have to?

David: Okay, fine...Irina might be there.

Rush: Let's kill these bastards.

But before we leave...

And to Blackdale we go!

Welp, looks like we found our enemies! So David brings forth the trusty Gae Bolg and...

...or he can just give them the "throw down your weapons and put your hands up!" speech.

Jager and his gang respond with a counter-offer.

A giant spear falls from the sky and nearly hits David. I guess teleporting a pointy object from that height and hoping gravity will do the rest makes it hard to aim.

In any case, message received.

So we begin an EPIC BORDER DISPUTE.

Rush here has Baulson and McGrady in his troupe. The Althumian forces organize themselves into their own "guest" unions that you can't control (but can Critical Trigger for some reason!).

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Jager is pretty tough to put down. He unleashes a beatdown (literally called "Beatdown") on your allies, including punching Baulson so hard that blood bursts through his plate armor. Also, as a boss character, trying to engage Jager with more than one Union will only get you put in "Multi-Deadlock," a special kind of situation with boss characters and massive enemies which means you can't flank them like you can a normal enemy. But it's not a negative, more of a neutral situation.

Eventually, you beat down enough of these Third Committee thugs (are they from Ghor? What is Ghor, for that matter? All we be revealed later, we hope.) and Jager himself that he retreats into the caves that make up the true Blackdale. David decides to pursue him.

Hey, whatever happened to that flying Remnant? Couldn't Jager have used that in battle? He's probably kicking himself for not thinking of that, just as David probably forgot he has a magical BFG that could have ended everything in one shot.

Onward, into Blackdale!

Yes, we just said that.

Here we find a battle axe that's in, er...used condition. Still, you can use it if it's better than your current equipment. Unlike here. Also, a Weapon Recipe! You'll find these recipes scattered around treasure chests (Remnants), dig points, and even specialty shops in towns on occasion. These let you unlock more customization options for the shops that let you upgrade equipment in town.

Mr. Diggs in action here. On occasion you'll stumble across a special nut from an "excavation point" that he'll eat. Not only does it increase the max "Digs" count by 1, but it resets all digs to that new max! These are good things to find in a dungeon.

Also, every so often, Mr. Diggs will trigger a "Loop Chance," which means he has a chance to go into "Overdrive" and dig multiple times. Thus allowing you to pick up more (or sometimes rare) crafting materials. I guess what I'm saying is: Mr. Diggs is useful. Try not to overuse one point unless there's a resource you really need there. But don't worry, you can always come back here later.

Hanging there in the air is the Remnant Schiavona, which wikipedia tells me is a "Basket-hilted sword." Or one of the many swords that Ezio Auditore used to slice through various people in a recent Assassins Creed title. Topical!

Anyways, Jager is here, watching Wagram practice his latest routine on Irina.

Wagram: Okay, so when they come, I'm going to take this little ball of flame. See how it's got a light-orange color? Well add a pinch of salt, and...

Wagram: Ha! It is blue!

Wagram: So now, I need you to bind this Remnant behind me to yourself. It doesn't really fit with my idea of the set design.

Irina: Do I have to?

Wagram: Well, I have been working on this other joke: Who is dead in a hurry? Your brother, Rush. Ha!

Irina follows the pretty blue ball of flame to the hanging Remnant. Probably to avoid having to hear any more of Wagram's awful routine.

Irina apparently has the power to bind giant Remnants to herself. But just before she can finish, guess who shows up?

Emma: Rush! We can't just charge in! They have your sister, remember?

Rush: But--

Emma: These are dangerous people! Did you forget how the black guy drew blood from a fully-armored yama a few minutes ago?

Rush: And the white-dressed mage?

Emma: Well, he's just a bad comedian, but that in itself is pretty dangerous!

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Wagram: Ah, if it isn't the Marquis of Athlum himself...come to see me practice my routine?

David: Look, you've tried to bind a couple of giant, unstable Remnants, kidnapped a little girl and attacked our forces. I think we crossed the line from "mere annoyance" to "Violation of congressional law" a long time ago.

Wagram: *sigh* Okay, fine, I'll rehearse somewhere else.

David: What you'll do is drop that paper fan of yours on the ground, let the girl go and surrender.

Wagram: Hmmm, yeah that's not gonna happen. I've got the Academy on speed-dial. Their Lawyers Guild is gonna be on your ass so fast you won't even have time to blink before they drag your ass into court for wrongful imprisonment.

David: The Academy?

Wagram: Yeah, haven't you heard? They're the ones who loaned me Irina for research purposes and a share of the grant money.

David: Oh really? Well let's call up The Academy and confirm your story!

Wagram: Wait, this reminds me of another joke...

Rush: Fuck your jokes! Give me back my sister!

Wagram: You doubt my talents in standup comedy? Well maybe this will persuade you!

Wagram: I'm going to kill on stage later tonight, but you...you I'm just going to kill.

Next time on Endure This! Run!

• Another boss battle!
• Creepy old guys!
• Time to prepare for war...or a conference?

Cutscenes!

• You have your orders
• You have one chance to surrender!
• How dare you interrupt my set!

Bonus Content

Found here

This was listed as Torgal fanart, but...I don't know. Even this version of Torgal doesn't seem too happy to be in this picture.

Endure This! Run! Part 6: One is the Loneliest Number

Last time, Rush discovered he could slow down time to a crawl, and after slaughtering more monsters around a ruined city he found his sister Irina with a couple of named Bad Guys. Then he decided the best strategy to get her back would involve running into the open and yelling at them despite not having any means to hit them from that far away. Upon returning to the castle, Rush lost an argument with David and decided to go it alone. However...

Despite this quick change of heart that took all of five seconds, Rush goes it alone anyways. Rush could technically run out into the fields screaming at the nearest enemy by himself, but that is just a surefire way to sign your own death warrant. So head to the guild we mentioned back in Part 1 of this ET!R!, and buy one or both of the mercenaries at the guild now that they are contracting out. I decided to buy McGrady's services, and spent the rest on a shield for Rush because he deserves to treat himself.

Oh look! A "Mysterious Woman" needs our help! Usually, a character with a speech bubble outlined in red will be important. So we talk to this lovely woman (you have to talk to her anyways, to progress further).

MW: So, could you deliver the letter for me?

Rush: Maybe this is the chance to prove that I can take care of myself!

MW: Great! He'll be in the Ruins of Robelia Castle! Be careful not to stray too far, dear!

And with that we are automatically whisked away to the entrance of the Robelia Ruins. With some sidequests, the moment you accept them you are immediately teleported to the area until you either complete them or give up and return to the world map.

Wait...seriously? That's it? The lazy bastard couldn't walk back home himself? There aren't even any monsters to fight between him and the entrance!

A yama is whining that he shoulda stayed in Athlum. Then he notices our hero with the letter.

"That letter! What? This was handed to you by a lady mitra? I don't know any lady mitra... But thanks! I was exchanging letters with someone very dear to me, but the letters just stopped one day. I wanted to meet them so bad... I should go back to Athlum. Tell the lady mitra I said thanks!"

And with that, we are teleported back to the pub, where Mysterious Woman is there to greet us.

"Welcome back! I'm glad to see you safe and sound. Were you able to deliver the letter? Thank you so much. Here is a little something for your trouble."

Rush: ...100 gold? That's it?

MW: Oh, I'm sorry, you don't want it?

Rush: *sigh* Just give me the gold, lady.

MW: There are so many people in need of helping hand out there. If you come across these people, please hear them out. Helping those in need will help you, too. You will gain so much from it...

Rush: "Complete sidequests, get loot and/or allies." Got it.

Rush: ...okay?

Baulson: So, you want to go smash some stuff, no?

Rush: Do I?

Baulson: I'z been hired by some rich bloke, but there's some monsters blockin' the path. What say you and me team up to smash some pests?

Rush: Wildlife slaughter sounds cool! Count me in!

You don't have to complete this quest directly after the easiest letter-delivery quest ever, but by doing it you can get Baulson in your party sooner, so Rush, McGrady and Baulson are off to go smash some bugs and some kidnappers. To the Gaslin Caves we go!

Rush: Wait a minute...a lost kid? In these caves? This sounds vaguely familiar.

Baulson: Wot you mean?

Rush: ...eh, probably nothing. Let's go kill things!

And so the terrible trio go slaughter some wildlife in the caves with relative ease. Seriously, you think David would have put a patrol at the entrance or something to stop the sorts of people who take children into these caves.

Eventually, Rush and Baulson find their lost boy.

Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me. Our weeping yama (or maybe it's another one, who knows) apparently took a wrong turn to Athlum and ended up with these guys.

The Qsiti bandits are trying to square their usual fear of the Yama people with the fact that they ended up ransoming a giant wuss. Still, a paycheck is a paycheck, and Baulson's come to collect.

Yeah, they don't have much trouble.

Baulson: You're twice their size! Stand up and be a man! If this scrawny little Mitra here could fight em, so can you!

Rush: Okay, thanks! Wanna join up now?

Baulson: Sure, I just need a few quid...

Rush: I thought you said you were my friend!

Baulson: Yeah, and friends help each other out with debts, right?

Here's another thing: whenever a character talks about joining your party at the guild, what that really means is that you can buy their contract at the guild. These guys don't work for free. Luckily, Baulson comes pretty cheap (1500G (360), 2800G (PC)). So visit the same guild where you found McGrady and Oakes to get Baulson. Later some other "named" mercenaries will offer you their services in the same guild, and occasionally you might complete one of their Tasks by accident. So stop by a guild office when you're in a town!

Now we go to Celapaleis, because where else do we have to go right now? The first time you arrive in the bustling marketplace, you are treated to this scene.

Who could that mysterious thing be? We will find that out very soon, but first...

Huh, you look strangely familiar...

Warrior Woman: Old lady? Who do you think you're talking to, idiot?

Rush: Oh! My apologies, you just look...familiar.

Well, that was embarrassing. Who could this Warrior Woman who looks a lot like Emma be? Surely this won't become important later, will it?

With not much else to do, Rush decides to head to the bar to pick up some dudes...for his quest to find Irina. However, the Qsiti from before decides to offer him a business proposal.

And so we are introduced to the amazing Mr. Diggs and his drill head. Whenever you see a little tiny bluish wisp coming out of a nearby rock or puddle or other drilling point, then you push the A button and Mr. Diggs will drill himself in and out of the point very quick. Sometimes he'll even start praying to the lord for a chance to get multiple items or rare items or both. The more you use Mr. Diggs, the stronger he will get. But Mr. Diggs can only be used a limited amount of times in each dungeon or field. If you hit 0 digs, then the only way to replenish them is to exit to the world map.

Where did Mr. Diggs come from? Who or what created him? It doesn't matter. For he is now your companion, and like the rest of your army he is kept in a hyperspace pocket until needed. Luckily, the targeting reticle can be focused on digging points in the environment, so don't worry about missing them.

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• Rush and David make up!
• Diplomacy at spear-point.
• A slightly more challenging boss battle!

Endure This! Run! Part 5: Oh Hey, Bullet Time!

Previously, on Dragonball Z: Rush went on a quest with Pagus to find some anti-Remnant terrorists who had somehow fought their way through a ruined castle full of monsters just to hold a rally about how much they hated Remnants, despite the fact that no one was forcing them to use one. Also, Rush learned to use magic, and started shocking people left and right with Spark bolts channeled through his weapon.

Now we return to the throne room, where David is noticeably displeased at this turn of events.

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In a nutshell, Pagus says: "Hey, we got reports of a glowing Remnant flying across the sky and landing in Dillmoor." Also something about Luminescence. Which is apparently a big thing in this world when a Remnant does it. David says that they might be able to find Irina there along with whatever Remnant landed at Dillmoor. Not sure how he figures that out.

Also, Rush awkwardly does a pelvic thrust at the end of this cutscene, while David stares at him for several seconds. What disturbing thoughts could be going on in his mind? One can only speculate as the camera fades out. Also, speculate away in the comments below.

Off to Dillmoor we go, then! You can buy things at the shops in Athlum if you want to give Rush something like a second weapon or a shield, though it's not required at this point. I got him a one-handed axe.

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Rush finds that his Super-Saiyan abilities also give him the power to slow down time outside of battle. How Torgal was able to tell just by looking at him is not explained. This mechanic is useful in game to aggro several enemies at once and draw them all into the same battle. As long as you run near them and hit the trigger before the glowy thing runs out. Otherwise, the monsters will feel very offended that you slapped them with the magical dueling glove and did not deign to show up on the field of battle. Then they will chase you all over the map until you do decide to engage something in battle or trigger an exit from the scene. Whichever comes first.

Remember what Blocter said before: higher risk, but also higher reward. Don't aggro five different monsters at the same time unless you think you can defeat them.

For this thing, you have ten guys in two pre-fabbed squads. At the beginning of the game when you can finally make your own Unions, it is suggested that you focus on having fewer squads with higher HP. Later in the game when you can bring out several more at once, switch to more Unions with fewer people each, as the enemies will use more powerful Area-of-Effect attacks that will really get annoying. Especially since you have almost no control over how your units position themselves to engage the enemy.

Also, another new little quirk gets introduced into combat: the Critical Trigger. On Offense, it lets your allies leapfrog the enemy's turn and sometimes convinces them to perform more powerful techniques on enemies if done correctly, along with some added damage. On Defense, the margin of error is a lot shorter and chances are fewer, but if you pull it off you will do much more damage than you would with a standard attack.

I guess this is to assure that you won't just nod off after selecting a list of attacks, to keep you "playing the game" as the experts put it. You can set it to automatically resolve Critical Trigger moments in the options menu, but then your chance of success is left to the whims of the Random Number God instead of you, the player, who will get it right more often once you memorize the timing.

Also this thing pops up for Rush. There's not much you can do with it now except for upgrading Spark to Spark II. I guess Square Enix envisioned some sort of tech tree that you could choose from, but decided to simplify the fuck out of it as the development went on to the point where it became more of a tech branch that doesn't even split into two until much later on.

Pagus: Dillmoor used to be a prosperous town, full of harmony, thanks to the peaceful Remnant called the Rubber Soul.

Rush: So what happened?

Pagus: Well, the one who bound the Rubber Soul died, and the town soon died as the Remnant fell into...

Rush: *yawns*

Pagus: ...and when a Remnant becomes unbound, it brings forth what we in the business call "The Collapse."

Rush: Did you really need a nickname to describe it? I'm pretty sure I could figure that out from this place being full of nothing but monsters.

Pagus: You could? Well, it never hurts to be sure...

Blocter: Will you two pipe down! You're ruining the view!

Rush: Wait, why is Blocter the stealthy one here? I mean, seriously?

Blocter: Why, just cuz I'm a Yama I can't hide behind a pillar?

Rush: I didn't mean--

Emma: Look, we can discuss your ignorant racism later. What's going on?

Blocter: Two old men and a little girl, standing by the Remnant.

Emma: Sick bastards.

Blocter: How should we proceed?

Emma: We'll have to do this carefully, while we have the element of surprise on our side. Okay, let's sketch out a quick plan...

Rush decides to execute his own plan, tentatively titled "Run at the bad guys and scream."

The good news is that Rush was actually right this time. The bad news is that the bad guys just take Irina and disappear anyways. GG, Rush.

Emma: You bloody idiot! Do the words "Element of Surprise" mean nothing to you?

Rush: Hey, I was actually right this time about the girl being Irina! Give me some credit!

Emma: I'm sure Irina will be very happy that she's been kidnapped yet again, but at least you recognized her!

Evil plants somehow emerge from under the ground. Thus begins another (mini-)boss battle as you attempt to deal with the fallout of Rush's careless action.

This fight isn't really all that hard, aside from the fact that you have five slightly weaker enemy Unions to Athlum's two. On the other hand, these two Unions can hold out for long enough thanks to the boost of HP and the fact that at least one person in each Union knows a healing Art.

The Vicious Plant releases Natural Gas. I believe that this attack can poison a whole Union, but in this case it missed. That's what happens when you try to use a small amount of gas in an open environment, but I guess plants don't have brains for that sort of thing.

Pagus flash-fries the Vicious Plant to death, driving the rest of them back underground or something.

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Back at the Athlum Castle, tensions are brewing as the crew reports their findings to David.

David: A flying Remnant not even the Academy knows about? This could be a problem.

Rush: Hey, so...when are we going out to find my sister again?

Torgal: All we know is that two guys in strange clothes with a flying Remnant kidnapped your sister. We can't do anything until we find out who they are.

Rush: But you knew before! And you gave me your four Generals to help me search for her!

David: Yeah...about that. Emma tells me I shouldn't let you run around with my forces anymore until we find out more about this enemy.

Rush: Can't you do something?

David: Like run out into the fields shouting "HEY BAD GUYS WHERE IS IRINA" until they turn up? That didn't exactly work the last few times you tried it. Besides, I got a country to run here.

Rush: Fine, screw you, I'll find her on my own!

As Rush leaves, Torgal wonders if maybe they should've swiped his talisman first before letting him go.

Rush decides to stop and smell the strangely-familiar flowers before he leaves, for they remind him of his "Most Important Person."

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom...

The somewhat-threatening, shirtless black gentleman here is named Jager. Fun fact: his American voice actor also does the English voiceovers for M. Bison (SF4/SSF4) and Jax (MK9) among others.

Irina is not feeling too hungry. Apparently being trapped in a room by two older men with evil plans involving a little girl is not an ideal bonding situation.

The gentleman in the white outfit is Wagram. I'm only saying this because writing "Guy in white Chinese outfit with matching fan" over and over until someone says his name later will get tiring.

Wagram: Oh Irina, want to hear a funny joke? It's about how I killed your brother.

Irina: What?

Wagram: Yeah, you see, I sent these evil plants after him just before I left. He was all "aaaaah, ooooooh, I thought plants fed on sunlight instead of people, what an ironic twist of fate, aaaaaaaaaah!" and then he died.

Irina: You're the worst comedian ever.

Wagram: And you just earned yourself an early bedtime, missy! Now get some rest or I will continue practicing my standup routine in front of you.

Irina: *begins sobbing*

Jager: Look, boss, not that I'm questioning your authority, but do we really need to keep her locked in there? I'm kind of getting nervous about babysitting her while you practice your standup routine.

Wagram: I'm sorry, does it look like I care? Yours is not to question why, soldier.

Jager: Fine, then give me something to do that doesn't involve children.

Wagram: Okay, how does the idea of somewhat-discriminate slaughter sound to you?

Jager: That fits more within my skill set, just tell me where.

Wagram: In due time.

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• Rush discovers that One is the Loneliest Number
• The joy of sidequests?
• A whiny yama and a not-whiny yama.

Cutscenes!

• I Guess we're heading for Dillmoor!
• The Rubber Soul and the Element of Surprise
• Screw you guys! I'll find her on my own!
• Meanwhile, at the legion of doom!

Bonus Content!

Torgal's profile:

Leader of the Four Generals, and David's right hand. It is unknown why a sovani, infamous for their pride, works for Athlum.

The sovani are a race of four-armed cat people that have incredibly long life-spans. This probably explains why Torgal has little tolerance for putting up with people's bullshit: he's seen everything over the years, and he knows that at some point all of the Generals are going to die and he's still going to be there, wondering what'll happen next.

There aren't that many sovani characters in this game, PCs or NPCs. While you probably won't be able to recruit them as normal soldiers, you can find a handful scattered around as Leader units that you can pick up later. Also, sovani for the most part have their own weapons and weapon arts that make use of all four arms.

Well, I guess that explains all the playable races in this game. There's also the humans that do human stuff, but they're called Mitra just because. In any case, one weird thing about this game is that there is pretty much no racism in this game at all. Of course, people still find reasons to attack and slaughter one another, but it's weird that so many different races are willing to unite in this game under one banner or another...as long as they aren't monsters incapable of intelligent speech. I guess.

[Everyone pretend this went up last week and it's not incredibly late due to technical issues. Okay? Okay.]

Endure This! Run! Part 4: Rebels Without a Clue

When we last left our heroes, Rush was surprised to discover that David trusted him with an important job as part of his initiation into his Athlum crew. Unfortunately, busting up that slavery ring yielded no information about Irina, though Rush did discover that his crew can come back from the dead as long as one union is still alive. So David turns Rush towards his second task.

And so we are off to Robelia Castle (or the ruins thereof). David has no clue if Irina will be there, but Rush decides to go anyways, as it's slightly better than his previous strategy of running into the middle of a battlefield. This time around, Pagus tags along with a couple random soldiers to make sure Rush doesn't wimp out.

Also, Rush now has magic powers. Apparently anyone can have them thanks to the power of this orb, but it won't really be mentioned again except as a plot device here.

Rush: B-but I've never actually used mystic arts before! I didn't even know it was possible until you gave me that orb! How does it work?

Pagus: Just follow my lead boy, and think of righteous fury as you swing your weapon in the enemy's direction!

Rush: Sorry, I just thought of murdering random wildlife. What were you saying?

Pagus: Y'know what? Let's just move on.

Considering the various monsters we have to fight through here, I'm wondering why any "unsavory" types would even bother meeting here. Wouldn't they have to fight the same monsters just to get to their meeting spot? I guess that's a common question about RPGs though.

Someone left their engraved Slayer stone just sitting out here in a treasure chest! Rush starts trying to sing the chorus to Raining Blood before Pagus smacks him with a cane.

Turns out said stone unlocks this door. Maybe these rebels are smarter than we thought, holding their Slayer fanclub meeting in this ruined castle.

Some more wildlife slaughtering later, and we ascend the stairs to "???"

You'll see that whenever you are about to enter a previously unexplored area within a dungeon.

This world's version of a "Chimera" is a giant-scorpion-tentacle-multi-stinger-bone-monster-thing. But Chimera is easier to say.

Also shown above: Rush knows how to mix some "restorative herbs" to keep his party alive. Rush apparently learns the Herbal Arts from Blocter after his trip through the Gaslin Caves. Somehow tossing an herb to one individual heals the entire Union for that amount. And what is our reward from the treasure chest/Remnant that these chimera were guarding?

A pair of greaves, increasing our speed by 3%. That's nice for a starter accessory, I guess...

Alternatively, you can just skip fighting the chimeras entirely, but obviously it was their fault for being in the way of treasure and/or Irina. Rush is just having too much fun being able to shock random animals with a magical lightning bolt. And he's the hero, folks!

Preacher: I say unto you, do not be tempted by the false salvation of the Remnants!

Preacher: Look around this world, and what do you see? Remnants making our god-fearin' normal people, frog-people, shrimp-people and four-armed cat-people into lazy, shiftless slobs! Remnants destroying the purity of our hearts and souls! Remnants enslaving the minds of our sons and daughters!

Preacher: And can you believe that David Nassau? That fancy boy, flauntin' his Remnants to all the world? Thinking he owns the town? What makes him and his Remnant-lovin' ways better than any one of you? Can I get an Amen? Can I get a Hallelujah?

Rush and Pagus are unsure how to react to this discovery.

Preacher: Look over there! The apostate sends his unholy servants to drive us out of our sacred sanctuary! They hate us for we do not bow down to their false Remnant-loving god!

Pagus: I am sorry. I did not realize that Lord David was shoving a Remnant through your rectum and into your colon every day, because there is nothing forcing you to use a Remnant if you do not wish to use one.

Preacher: Look at how the hellspawn of a walking frog thinks he can tempt you to the Remnant Devil with his LIES! Do not be swayed, remain strong and resolute in your faith, and you will be SAVED!

Pagus: You people do not seriously believe this man, do you? You realize he's just trying to start a cult to enrich himself by appealing to your diminshed sense of self-worth and telling you to blame your troubles on Remnants instead of things you can control?

The preacher and some of his followers start unsheathing their weapons from hammerspace. Apparently, Pagus was mistaken to use an appeal to reason on stupid anti-Remnant fanatics.

Pagus: Well, at least now we can claim self-defense.

Rush: Wait, you mean I can--

Pagus: Yes, you can start using lightning bolts on people with weapons.

Rush: YAY!

Pagus: So, here's a test, Rush. What's your strategy for defeating an enemy with slightly superior numbers that seeks to flank us?

Rush: How about we stay on our toes? Wait for them to come to us and then strike back in self-defense?

Pagus: That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard in the history of dumb ideas, even when compared to what that preacher was spouting mere seconds ago. Just help me smash their flanks, and we'll narrow our enemy's number down to one.

And so the battle is joined. Rush, Pagus and their two random soldier friends manage to break the flanks of the Anti-Remnant Activists. However, the preacher gets a lucky shot in and kills Pagus.

Rush's comrade stabs through the preacher's hamstring, causing him to bend over backwards like a rag doll...well, that and the unnecessary physics from the Unreal 3 engine. Seriously, you can't control how they hit the other guy, why even bother having it? I guess "cuz it looks cool" is the answer. If you're playing the XBOX 360 version and you haven't gotten sick and tired of the loading times and awful slowdowns, I congratulate you for coming this far. Because they will only get worse.

Point is, preacher-man is dead.

Pagus comes back to life. Rush is a little less freaked out this time, but still kind of nervous. He tries to shake off the willies by asking for clues about Irina. Luckily, she was too smart to have joined a cult as retarded as this one. However, none of them have seen her, and a few are anal about answering his inquiry.

Rush decides he doesn't want to bother with these idiots anymore, and heads back to the castle with Pagus. The rest of the cultists would soon be eaten by the feral beasts roaming the castle ruins, having seen their strongest and most competent fighters killed at the hands of Athlumian forces.

Next time on Endure This! Run!

• Politics!
• Rush gains a new ability!
• A wild antagonist appears!

Cutscenes!

• The Anti-Remnant Activists

Bonus Content!

Profile of Pagus:

One of Athlum's Four Generals. Master of intelligence gathering, he's also quite the history buff.

Pagus comes from a race of bipedal frog-people named Qsiti. All of them are incredibly small and talk slowly in staggered speech that makes it seem like their vocal chords never quite fully developed. Having said that, Qsiti warriors come in different flavors: Some are great magicians, others are nasty little melee fighters. They might only be able to carry tiny weapons, but they can wield those weapons with surprising ferocity.

Pagus tilts more towards the magic side of things. Much later in the story he can learn a Unique Art called "Megalore" which acts damages all enemies on the battlefield. For now though, he's the know-it-all of the group. There's also another art he learns much later called "Daisy Chain" which targets one Union for massive damage, but I know you duders are too mature to start snickering when I print the phrase "Daisy Chain" here, right?

As usual, tell me how much you love and/or hate this ER/LP/walkthrough/whatever in the comments.

Endure This! Run! Part 3: The Slave Cave

When we last left our heroes, Rush's thanks for saving Emma was getting threatened with death at least twice. Also, he had a large flashback to the time his sister was kidnapped by a hooded black guy, then went super-Saiyan and magic-punched a monster to death.

Well, look who finally showed up! Pagus, Torgal, David, Blocter and four random soldiers somehow find the cave's mouth just after Rush killed the monster.

Gallery

I'll try to sum this scene up quickly from the screenshots above: Emma apologizes to her lord David for her worthless body happening to be in the path of the Gae Bolg's kill zone and then falling down into a cave with an annoying kid. David shows how much he cares by listening for two seconds before suddenly finding the boy behind her very interesting. Torgal doesn't want to put up with this shit but stands on ceremony. David offers to take Rush back to Athlum with him. Rush responds with a "huuuh?" Then Torgal spells it out:

"OUR. LORD. WOULD. LIKE. TO. AID. IN THE SEARCH. FOR YOUR SISTER."

Then he pulls out his giant sword as Rush approaches. David tells him to stand down and introduces himself as "David Nassau, the Marquis of Athlum" as Rush starts saying weird phrases like "This is Ace!" and "Okay, Dave!" before Emma smacks him, apparently sharing Torgal's sentiment that they do not want the boy's stupidity to infect the rest of them. Unfortunately, they have to follow their lord's wishes and the whole crew departs for Athlum. You might wonder how they got the Gae Bolg back to town, well let's just say "A Remnant Did It," because it's the only explanation I can come up with.

Also, Rush's talisman is very important somehow. Y'know, if the lines of dialogue referring to it didn't clue you in. Or the equipment screen. Or the camera zooming in on it in the last few seconds of this cutscene.

That is the world map. Apparently, the cartographers of whatever continent this is have gotten lazy and didn't bother to fill it in all the way yet. But unlike world maps of other RPGs, this one is a fast travel map. Once you unlock a city, field or dungeon, you can travel to it instantly at any time with this map, though there are exceptions for some story-important locations. For example, you won't be going back to Yamarn Plain, even if you want to. So we push the diamond to Athlum and hit A, and we are there in an instant.

That giant sword in the background? That is the pride of Athlum's skyline: The "Valeria Heart." According to the Last Remnant Wiki:

The Valeria Heart is the Remnant of Athlum. It is said that the earth below Athlum was unstable, then Valeria Heart fell from the sky and protected Athlum from the danger by keeping the ground stable. Has the ability to disappear and drop down on its foe. It is unknown who bound it, but some speculate that it was Emma Honeywell.

If Emma did bind this giant thing, then I'm even more impressed. Anyways, back to the story.

David tells Rush he can crash at his place in the castle, and then lets Torgal and Emma handle the details because he can't be bothered with such things. Rush wants to go save his sister now, and these two essentially say "suit yourself."

However, after they leave, Rush suddenly decides to stick around Athlum for just a little longer.

Athlum sort of acts as a home base for you early in the game. The various icons display the types of shops you'll come across at the different towns. You don't have access to these now, as Rush is a dumb penniless protagonist, so there really isn't much you can do other than walk around a bit until you decide to visit your ol' pal Dave at the castle.

Still, I should take the time to mention these two. The first is a pub, and like any good RPG a pub is where you'll find everything from information to sidequests and even major side characters on occasion. The second is the Union of the Golden Chalice, one of three Guilds in this game where you can recruit or dismiss additional Leader units and complete some sidequests for prizes. Some of these sidequests are simple, like "Acquire (x) amount of (y) Item." Others are harder, like "Keep exiting and entering (x) Dungeon or Field until the game feels like spawning (y) Rare Monster in it so you can kill it." I don't plan on wasting too much time on those latter quests.

Gallery

Eventually, Rush enters the castle, and Blocter excitedly announces his arrival. Pagus informs Rush that they have not found any more information about his sister, but they do have a couple of leads. Also, David apologizes for snitching on him, but Emma did mention that he couldn't just let Rush crash at his pad without a serious background check. He is a Marquis, after all.

David: "Consider this part of your initiation, bro."

Rush plans to rush off to chase down Irina at one of these places, but David insists that he take along one of his generals, because he can't just trust his word that he beat up some monsters by himself, no matter what Emma told him about "totally going super-saiyan and shit."

You get to choose which of these quests you want to do first, but the order really doesn't matter. So Rush will take the caves first. Not only does he finally know what a cave is, but maybe he can find these missing young women and get some heroic rescue sex in return. So to the Gaslin Caves we go!

Blocter and one random soldier go along with you to make sure you don't chicken out. And at the start, Blocter gives Rush (and the player) a little speech about risk and reward. Basically, Rush can aggro multiple monsters at once in the battlefield, and can engage all of them at the same time if he (you) so chooses. On one hand, this means you will have to fight more monsters in one battle, and some of them might even be different species entirely (unlike FF13, the monsters will never fight each other). On the other hand, you get more (and sometimes better) loot if you emerge victorious from the fight.

Rush stops pretending to listen so he can get to the whole "finding Irina" thing.

And so Rush and Blocter wander through the Gaslin Caves, slaughtering gigantic flies as big as people, even though this one doesn't want to fight. They are obstacles in Rush's path to Irina, so they must be destroyed without mercy. That wave effect is essentially Rush declaring battle, the equivalent of taking a dueling glove and slapping the fly in the face.

Surprisingly enough, the fly meets Rush at equal terms on the field (or rocky surface) of battle. Rush and Blocter honor the fly with a warriors death and continue slaughtering the wildlife that has called this cave their home.

Ah yes, another thing about battle is this part of the after-action report. Along with the various parts of monsters you gather, every so often you'll get a monster captured whole. As the textbox says: you get to choose between splitting the monster and harvesting components from its body, or keeping it in one piece and later sell it to a merchant who will use it for food. Apparently Roseflies are sold for "buuz." I assume they take the poisoned needle and use a drop of it to feel a rush from their booze.

Eventually, Rush and Blocter find the young women David mentioned.

None of these girls are Irina. Blocter and Rush are angered at this shocking turn of events, that the kidnapped girl doesn't show up this far into the story.

The slavers return and they are are not too happy about the Athlum 5-0 discovering their merchandise, and decide to register their disapproval with sharp, steely objects.

And so, a battle is joined. Also, for those interested: That blurring effect pops up at the start of boss or other semi-important battles, and was not added by me. DRAMA!

Blocter ends up falling in battle due to the head slaver's spear. Rush gets pissed off. The one guy he could sort of identify with, killed on the field of battle, and all he wanted to do was make the world a better place!

Rush responds with an Omnistrike, magic-punching the slaver until he dies from the trauma.

Rush: "Uh...not that I'm not grateful for those words, but you were just dead! Like two seconds ago!"

Blocter: "C'mon, you act like it's the first time someone came back from being dead on the battlefield."

Rush: "YES!"

Blocter: "Here's a little secret kid, as long as one of us still lives, the rest of the army can use him to rise up at the end of battle to fight another day!"

Rush: "So you feed off the souls of the living?"

Blocter: "Oh yeah, David was like don't tell Rush all this or he'll freak out so forget I said anything, okay?"

Rush decides to pretend that this was all just a bad dream as he activates the teleporter Remnant to head back to Athlum. Blocter would soon follow with the three girls that the slavers had with them. The unnamed girls, not having rich or well-connected parents or the luck of being useful to the Marquis, would either go home and suffer the blows of their abusive parents or beg for a job working as serving wenches at the "Warriors Honor" in Athlum.

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• Rush continues his search for Irina.
• Pagus gives Rush magic powers!
• Rebels Without a Clue!

Cutscenes!

• Rush meets the Gang
• Rush enters Athlum
• Rush gets a couple leads
• Oh hey, slavers!

Bonus Content!

Fanart(?) of David and his four generals in the throne room (don't worry, it's SFW).

Profile of Blocter:

Covered in hardened muscle, but a big softie at heart. Sees David as a brother.

Blocter comes from a race of overgrown, walking shrimp-people known as Yama. He's not the only one you'll come across, but as you might guess, Yama are mostly big hulking tanks in this game, though some can also learn to use traps and herbs in their work.

I was thinking of making this "Part 3a," but instead decided I'll do the part about the Robelia Ruins later. It's also reminded me that I should take more screenshots of normal battles to provide some perspective, but it is a bit difficult to do at the same time as holding a controller, especially when trigger chances start popping up. We'll see.

Endure This! Run! Part 2: Cave?

When we last left our tale, a boy named Rush decided to rush into the middle of a battlefield to pursue a woman way too old to be his sister. Said woman was about to be sacrificed by a young blonde man named David, despite the fact that he could target his BFG to aim only at bad guys...come to think of it, David's army didn't even have to show up on the battlefield at all. But just as the woman was about to meet her end on the business end of the Gae Bolg, a giant magic bubble shield pops up from nowhere, saving both Rush and Emma from a less-than-friendly magical teabagging.

Emma: "You bloomin' idiot! Who the hell are you?"

Rush: Huh, I don't even get a "thank you for saving me from the giant magical death ray cannon?"

Emma: "Are you a spy?"

Rush: "Hey, I came to find my younger sister!"

Emma: "Do I look like a younger sister to you?"

Rush: "Well, from a kilometer or two away..."

Just before Emma can smack some sense into the boy, the rocks beneath the two come loose, sending them tumbling down into a cave below.

Thanks to the wonders of anime physics, the two survive without a scratch. Emma looks up to hear the other Athlumian generals inquire about her status.

Blocter: "Hey Emma? You alright? Me and Pagus here were taking bets on whether or not you'd survive the fall!"

Emma: "Yes! I'm perfectly all right, thank you!"

Blocter: "Aww...now I'm out 10 Gold."

Emma: "10 Gold? Is that it?"

Random Soldier: "Ma'am? Can you see a way out?"

Emma: "There's a light in the distance!"

Blocter: "You sure you're not dead? I mean, I heard when there's a light at the end of the tunnel that means--"

Emma: "Just meet us at the other end of it!"

Random soldier: "Us?"

Emma: "Yeah, one other boy has some serious plot armor on. Looks like I'll have to help him out."

Random soldier: "Well...if you're sure."

Rush: "Um, what are you guys talking about?"

Emma: "We're in a cave, the exit is over there, against my better judgment I am going to help you get out of here. Any other obvious points you'd like to know?"

Rush: "Yeah, uh...what's a cave?"

Emma: "No, I refuse to believe that any boy could be this stupid, even if you did hit your head on a large rock seconds ago! Give me one reason I shouldn't gut you right now!"

Rush: "Because I'm the hero of a JRPG!"

Emma: "That's not true...that's impossible!"

Rush: "Search this flashback, you know it to be true!"

Emma: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

We begin this tale in a field of flowers, much like the ones Rush found at the start of the game, before our trip to Flashback-land. This is Rush's sister Irina, for real this time. Notice how much she looks and sounds like Emma? SPOILER: She doesn't.

I screwed up on the screenshotting here, but Rush runs into the field all excited carrying what appears to be a small box. Apparently, daddy decided to send them a message.

A message in the form of a box that projects a magical hologram...okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but let's roll with it.

Mr. Sykes: Hello there Obi-Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia! How're my two little wookies doing? Hope you've been brushing your teeth and eating your vegetables while we've been away. We're just so close to finding the key to this whole Remnant thing. When the grant money starts rolling in, then maybe we can look you in the eyes again without feeling like failures!

Mr. Sykes: So...long story short, you guys are going to have to make your own Christmas presents again this year. But we promise we'll be back for New Years. Probably. Maybe. We'll think about it.

Mrs. Sykes: Honey, give them some encouragement!

Mr. Sykes: Right. So uh...look on the bright side, at least we aren't dead like every other protagonist's parents out there. Right?

Noticeably, Irina's heard this tale before, where their parents think of another excuse they won't be home...wherever their home is. They never quite point that out. However, as if on cue, the sky suddenly grows dark and a giant glowing beast slams down right next to them.

Rush: Hey, Irina? Did the weather report say anything about raining Remnants?

Irina: What weather report?

Rush: We live in a world with magical cannons and pre-recorded holographic messages. I kind of assumed a magical Doppler 5000 wouldn't be too far off.

Rush is interrupted by the appearance of multiple monsters, the glowing winged Remnant thing, and a black guy with parachute pants. In true video game fashion, the evil guy carries off Irina to complete some part of his "kidnapped princess" quota while he assumes the monsters will destroy Rush for good.

Rush is particularly enraged at this turn of events. His parents aren't coming back, and Irina never told him the weather report. So he does what any protagonist would do in this situation.

That's right. He turns super-Saiyan and destroys the monsters with a wave of glowing energy.

Emma is distraught at this particular turn of events back in the present.

Rush: "...and then I woke up here."

Emma: "Oh lord, I really am stuck in a JRPG aren't I?"

Rush: " 'fraid so."

Emma: *deep sigh* "Well, fine, let's just get out of this cave and hope I'm at least worthy of sidekick status." *grumble* "Stupid bloody Square Enix, making this idiot the main hero."

After several minutes of cutscenes, we can actually move in yet another tutorial map.

Emma: "Say, Rush, do you know how to handle a sword?"

Rush: "Yeah. Just take the blunt end and stick the sharp end into the bad guy, right? Or was it the other way around?"

Emma: "...I'm going to pretend you just said 'yes' and stopped talking."

Believe it or not, Rush can use any weapon in this game (except for some race-specific weaponry). Swords, axes, staves, you name it. However, the more he uses a certain type of weapon in combat, the more attuned to that weapon setting his combat skills will evolve. There are different techniques that can be unleashed while dual-wielding swords, or using a single sword, or a one-handed axe, or others that cannot be used with another weapon. And even then those skills can split between ones that focus on speed and accuracy versus ones that focus on power. But for now, all you get to use is a basic Broadsword. So don't worry yet.

Here is Rush's current equipment. While you can see the equipment of any character in your army, Rush is the only person whose equipment you can directly change. Yet another thing that is very annoying about this game for the more strategically-minded. On occasion, one of your allied units might ask for a weapon or item that you aren't using if the AI thinks it is better than their current equipment. We'll dig into allied equipment later, but just be warned that if you wanted more control over your army, you will be disappointed.

Also, that Talisman is a Unique item that Rush possesses. It cannot be unequipped or sold, and it obviously has no bearing on the story. Right?

Several major characters have their own "Unique" item that can enable them to do amazing things within combat under the right conditions. Another thing we'll get to later.

In the distance, a Jhana fighter sits around. Just waiting for Rush and Emma to smack him. This is mainly to teach you how to set the table to engage enemies in dungeons or battlefields. You get close enough without touching them and you push the right trigger (or your PC equivalent) to engage in battle. Some enemies will come after you, others will get scared and run away, and some will just sit around and let you decide what to do. This is one of the more good elements of this game, in my opinion, in that it doesn't just fling you into random encounters every two steps.

After you trigger a battle and beat this enemy, you will continue down the path until you face this nasty beast.

A giant Raptor falls from the ceiling of the cave. Apparently this one is special, as it has Spiderman-like sticking powers and agility. Each side will keep dodging the other's attacks, until...

Yep, Rush turns super-Saiyan again and magic-punches the Raptor to death. You can actually pull this off in the game, as long as Rush is the leader, his Union has extremely high or extremely low unit morale, and a good deal of AP.

Emma: "Oh, so you weren't joking about the super-Saiyan thing? I guess you might not be completely useless after all."

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• David sends Rush on tests of courage.
• Rush learns about risk and reward.
• Blocter finds a kindred spirit?

Bonus Content!

• "Cave?" + Flashback Cutscene
• Rush tests his Omnistrike on a bird.

Profile of Emma Honeywell:

One of Athlum's Four Generals, Stern and driven, but dedicated to Athlum--and her only daughter.

Emma dual-wields a pair of swords in combat, a longsword and a tuck, but can also learn some healing magic as well as the game goes on. Be warned, there will be a big spoiler or two if you read her wiki page too closely.

Yes, part 2 of my "Endure This! Run!" should be posted sometime between today and tomorrow, but I thought I'd take a brief moment to pimp out this here podcast myself and some folks have been working on. It occurred to me that we've been doing this for over a year now, but I don't think I actually talked about it on Giant Bomb. I know there are a lot of folks who have their own little podcast (heck, I even participated in one about Splinter Cell Conviction that End_Boss never actually finished) and have no qualms about advertising it on here, so I figure what the hell, let's do this.

AlphaVictor: The Unofficial Squadcast!

Background: Some time after Gia and John left Anime Vice for greener pastures, we realized that we weren't going to have another "official" podcast for the AV crew like the other Whiskey sites. So me, having free time and a headset I didn't use too often, decided to send out a general call for anyone on AV who wanted to help put together a community podcast. Some people answered, and they've stuck with me thus far: CrazyCanuck, firehawk12, and damswedon. Kyreo even pops up as a recurring guest. Though our current track record is an average of 2 shows a month, we've somehow stuck around this long, and have inspired a few others on AV to do their own videoblogs on various topics.

What do we do? We talk about anime, mostly: reviewing and previewing new shows, news about the business, the occasional classic movie that we either liked or hated. We also talk about video games and conventions, or other mass media topics that seem relevant at the time. And in rare moments we stick to a theme! But above all, we try our hardest to talk about them in an entertaining manner and not be a jerk about it...well, except for franchises that really deserve it.

If you're looking for a starting point, some of our greatest hits include...

• Episode #9: We talked about footbawl! Specifically, the 2010 Super Bowl. Also, Valentine's Day between the real world and anime world (err...Japan).
• Episode #4: Our first "mailbag" episode about creepy anime things set around Halloween last year.
• [not!] Episode #13: After going on hiatus for too damned long, I just decided to go on a righteous rant by myself about those internet-people who want to become manga/anime artists and writers, and probably crush their dreams in the process.

Or if you want, our latest episode (#21) was just released a few days ago from time of writing. You can find these and more at our official placeholder site for these podcasts on Podbean here. We also have a listing on iTunes! Apparently, they'll accept anyone these days.

Don't just take it from me though, here are some testimonials from trusted friends in the community!*

"This one was actually entertaining! Keep up the good work!" --SparklyKiss

"Hey man, can I kick it with you on this show?" --Newten

"Eh, I'll look at it when I have some free time." --Halinel

"I realy didnt like that show but that might just been my IM DRUNK OKAY GET OF MY BACK" --ZombiePie

*Testimonials might have been paraphrased.

Where do you come in?

Well, considering that AlphaVictor is supposed to be one of them "Community Podcasts," I figure we should get some more folks from the community chiming in. Send in your questions and we might just answer them during the show. You can also feel free to tell me what we're doing right or wrong on this here podcast, because as the world of amateur podcasting shows, everyone's got an opinion like a belly button. Or however that metaphor goes.

Until next time, adieu, as the Japanese say.

Endure This! Run! Part 1: That's How You Treat Your Superweapon?

Well, so begins my crazy experiment in storytelling. And this game.

As you can see above, The Last Remnant was an original JRPG that the company created, and they were very happy about it. Army vs. army battles, an epic storyline that didn't include the words "Final Fantasy" attached, and even the Unreal Engine to show off the graphics in battle. And so begins our tale of one boy's journey to reunite with his lost...well, let's let the story speak for itself.

Ah, a scenic forest. A lovely, serene place to open our tale, where our protagonist decides to stop and smell the flowers.

Flowers that remind him of memories past. By which we mean yesterday. I think. The game is kind of vague on the timeline between this and the first trip to Flashback Land.

Hark, what is that in the distance?

Oh. That. Rush somehow missed the part where TWO GIGANTIC ARMIES ARE PREPARING TO BATTLE EACH OTHER, not more than a kilometer away from where Rush was standing. Trust me, this is only the beginning of a slew of "derp" moments that Rush will have before this game is over.

So who will win this epic battle? Who has the advantage? Will the sheer numbers of Jhana and Raptor beasts win over the heavily armed and armored force composed of the four main races to be commanded in this game?

Oh. Well, they have a gigantic magical superweapon. Looks like blondie with the red-blue suit and gold fringes here will win this fight, just as long as...

Wait, seriously? Your plan was to just drop the giant superweapon onto the middle of the field and hope it wouldn't break? Who the fuck designed it like that? Can't even be arsed to bolt it down to a solid base so you can aim it if it doesn't fall the right way? And how are you even going to transport that thing back if you survive?

Ok, fine, we'll trust that blondie knows how to handle a trash mob of monsters with a magical cannon that can only fire straight ahead.

Rush suddenly spots someone across the field of battle, shouts "IRINA!" and decides that the prudent thing to do would be to run directly into the middle of the battle, where the one-shot superweapon was unceremoniously set up. Despite the fact that the woman in question is facing away from him and looks nothing like his sister Irina, Rush seems to be bereft of leads and decides that whether he lives or dies, at least he will no longer have to bear the burden of being away from his beloved sister.

...or he could just be an idiot. Either way, this leads us into a TUTORIAL BATTLE!

Okay folks, because I'm trying to make this ER somewhat informative, I'll try to explain the basics here as best I can.

Starting at the top is the Morale bar. The more blue is, the more your units are feeling good about themselves, and therefore more likely to launch special attacks. Just below that on the right is a tactical map that shows where your units are (blue) in relation to the enemy (red). Don't worry about things like formation or position for now, as you have almost no control over those things anyways in the middle of battle.

That list on the left displays the units (Unions) under your control. On the right is a list of commands the whole unit will follow. They generally break down into three types here: Standard Attack, Mystic Arts, and Combat Arts. There are lots more Arts, but they don't come until later.

• Standard Attack: Character will whack the enemy with their equipped weapon or weapons.
• Mystic Arts: Damage-dealing magic attacks. Encompasses everything from spark bolts to particularly strong bursts of wind.
• Combat Arts: Special physical attacks, allows a character to make multiple strikes or more powerful strikes. Depends on weapon(s) equipped and experience.

Before you ask: no, you cannot individually select commands for each person within the unit. Just hope that the list contains the commands you want. I'm sorry, but there's no way around this, it is the most annoying thing about this game so far.

Below the commands list is the list of enemy units you can attack. Pushing right or left will allow you to select the unit to target with your selected unit.

On the bottom left and right you will see the leaders of each unit, their total HP (health points), and the pips representing the number of individuals within the unit. Your units also have their own morale and AP (ability points), which determine the arts you can select. Each individual character does have their own HP and AP that they lend to the group with their own arts, but if the Union HP hits 0, everyone in that unit is dead. No exceptions.

Okay, that's enough explanation for this screen.

When an allied unit and an enemy unit first meet each other on equal terms, they reach Deadlock. There are many other versions, but this is the most basic combat situation. They are locked with each other until one unit dies, or intentionally breaks Deadlock to hit another unit (which gives the attacker a free shot later if he decides to pursue you). When a second or third unit gangs up on the first, they get a Flank Attack, hitting the same unit for free and with added damage. And if a fourth unit gets involved, it becomes a Rear Assault, and chances are you're probably dead already if you have four units ganging up on one of yours. Seriously, don't get in that situation.

Don't worry about moving the units back and forth. After you select the commands, the game does it for you automatically.

This being a Tutorial battle, neither side will be able to fully kill the other, but you do get to see some cool fight scenes and you learn some names that you will be using later. Soon, David decides he's had enough of this tutorial, and proceeds to counter the enemy zerg rush with the power of the Gae Bolg.

Despite the fact that the enemies and allies are mixed in closely with each other on the map, somehow David's magical high-tech eyepatch will make sure it only hits the bad guys. Three of the four Generals have a quick chat with each other about this.

Torgal: "Uh, not to rain on anyone's deadly parade, but aren't we also kind of close to the cannon by that logic? She's right next to us."

Pagus: "Yes, but the rifling on the barrel and the proximity of enemy forces ensures that it will only hit a narrow area."

Torgal: "Yeah, about that: Wouldn't it make more sense to aim the cannon from an elevated area, and build a base to absorb any potential recoil? I mean, we could have just fired this thing from a distance, from high ground, destroyed all the enemies in one shot, and not have to risk our lives fighting wild monsters. The End. Honestly, why did we even bring that thing out here if we're just--"

Blocter: "Hey, four-arms, you usin' that there SCIENCE again? What did we tell you about bein' a smart-ass?"

Torgal: *sigh* "Alright, let's retreat."

David uses a special gun-like Remnant, called the "Kellendros," to aim the Gae Bolg. Interestingly enough, he can also use the Kellendros as a magic gun by itself. It doesn't seem to require much more than a few seconds of start up time to aim, which the enemies always give him when he feels like using it, so you think he'd use it in battle every chance he got. Well, that's a mystery for another day.

Apparently, the Gae Bolg is capable of lifting itself off the ground to fire. Maybe David did know what he was doing after all, except for the part where he's going to sacrifice one of his generals just to destroy several low-level enemy units. Or the part where he could have just used this at the start and not had to get his army involved at all. That's just a dick move, David. Seriously.

Y'know, if you told me that there would be a magical gun that teabags the opponent with balls of light in a JRPG, I'd smack you across the face. Then ask which game. Then run off to play something better. But no, I get to watch this happen instead.

Welp, that's the end of this battle. I guess now that we defeated the forces of evil I don't have to play this game anymore right? What happened to that crazy kid from before, anyway? I'm sure he's just another sad casualty of war. It's a damn shame how so many young lives are taken in this--

...oh for fuck's sake. Guess this wasn't the merciful end after all, but a beginning!

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• Emma discovers her cruel fate!
• Rush relates a tale of woe!
• Rush is mystified by a common noun!

Bonus Material!

• The origin of the Gae Bolg!
• The opening cutscene! (with subtitles)

I hope you people are enjoying your Battlefields and your Batmans while I decided to play this thing instead. I will try to have another part up by next week, barring any emergencies on my end. Leave your compliments or tell me what I'm doing wrong. Either way, I'll take it under advisement.

I've hinted at this thing in my twitter, but it seems like I am actually going to do it.

Back when The Last Remnant was on sale on Steam for about $5 (I think?), I had bad memories of trying to play the thing on the 360 and getting halfway through before deciding the bugs weren't worth the trouble. But other "internet friends" of mine who played the PC version assured me that it was infinitely better than the de-facto beta version released on console that Square Enix has not and probably will never patch. So I took their word, bit the bullet and decided to purchase and download the thing off Steam.

One day, noticing that the game was sitting on my hard drive unplayed for awhile, I decided to start it up and take screenshots while playing. I thought about doing a Let's Play!/Endurance Run/walkthrough with side commentary for awhile, and mentioned it on and off. In a strange way, I actually started to like this game, or at least enough of it to consider doing this thing. Now with a little bit of booze running through my system and a wired controller in hand, will I see this through to the end? I damn well hope so.

The format I have in mind for this thing is a screenshot with writing on the sides. Or is it writing with screenshots in between? Either way, it's easier to write it out and edit than to do editng of a video on my end. And while I shall attempt to explain the plot, there's a good chance the writing will be unserious so as to summarize the thing easier and...well, it's a story that gives you a bunch of interesting characters only to stick you with the whiny brat as the hero. We'll see if this works or if it was a bad idea somewhere down the road.

The Last Remnant: Endure This! Run!

Prologue

Game design!

• Half of our class was made up of weeaboos, hyperactive kids and people who didn't know the difference between making a game and playing one.
• We were forced to work with Game Maker to make a "health-related" video game, despite the probability that I won't be using GM ever again if I continue on this path.
• I was the only member of the "project team" with programming experience, and even that was pretty rusty.
• Not one of the 5-6 "gaming schools" in the country that people know of, which makes this a neutral move in terms of networking/resume padding.

• Meeting people face to face helps build up social skills instead of chatting with anonymous folk and dealing with pointless drama on the internet.
• Despite my complaints about class composition, met a very talented artist willing to work with me and a professor who gives a damn. Never would have found them if I didn't go here.
• Being thrust into a project with people more passive than me has forced me to learn management skills on the fly, including pep talks, delegating tasks and "firing" one guy who nearly dragged down the rest of the team with his laziness.
• The area does have some smaller gaming studios within driving distance, potential opportunities to network.
• The big one: the motivation that hard deadlines and grades provide to finish a project as opposed to an open-ended "when I feel like it" statement. I'm looking at you, majority of game mods and webcomics!

Guides!

Stop trying to relive the early 90s!

Podcasting!

tl;dr