Endure This! Run! Part 9: Rush Sykes Has A Posse

This one will probably be a little shorter, as I'm dealing with a couple projects that take precedence over this series. Still, I thought I should update you folks on my journey through The Last Remnant, as it's been almost a week since the last one.

In the last episode, Rush faced a fiery idol and it turns out that one of the biggest leaders of the known world hates women and/or children. Jager got some cool points, but has otherwise stuck around these assholes out of loyalty and/or money. So fuck him for now.

So now we can recruit generic soldiers for our army? Hurrah...

Note that if you are still playing the 360 version of this game, this is all but required if you want to stay alive, because there is a restriction on the number of named "Leader" units you can have in the field at any one time. Though even on the PC version, it doesn't hurt to take a few of them with you to plug a few holes that you can't fill with Leader units yet.

[screenshot missing]

Aw fuck, I thought I had taken a shot of the process, but apparently I have to add it later. Anyways, you'll find a generic mitra soldier standing in Athlum, providing a list of soldiers you can add to your army. At the moment most of them have basic techs that vary from unit to unit. Some are focused on magic, others on healing, others on beating people with weapons. Pick the ones that fit you best.

Like your leaders, each unit also has a "unique" stat that I'm told can affect battle, but i have no idea if that's actually true and hidden in the programming, or something the developers thought of adding but didn't have time to implement outside of a worthless stat. Some of the unique attributes you'll stumble across include:

• Crybaby
• Daredevil
• Wiles
• Laziness
• Trivia
• Tomboy

Seriously, someone tell me how the fuck these affect anything, because neither wiki nor Google has turned up any answers, other than to say that these unique attributes exist.

Anyways, after pressing a few Athlumian soldiers into your army, you'll also start to see this once you get into a city or world map.

Every so often a named unit will bug you to help them collect (x item), with a simple yes/no dialogue box. Honestly I don't think this matters either, except to notify you that you should collect (x item) so that they can upgrade their equipment. Of course, they never mention how much of it they need. From what I see they just forge the upgraded weapons/equipment on their own when visiting a town. You can tell them "no" but they just get depressed and will probably ask you again anyways. So just say yes. You'll usually pick up the items they want if you slaughter certain monsters, dig with Mr. Diggs, or acquire them from shops in town.

In a similar vein, every named unit will also ask you at some point whether they should focus on mystic arts, combat arts or a balance of both. This will affect how they choose to upgrade their weapon in the future and also some of the techniques they will learn later. Unfortunately, that's about the extent to which you can control their development. There's only so much they trust Rush (and by extension, you) to do.

Rush stops by the Guild and says bye-bye to McGrady, as we've found someone with a dark and mysterious past to take with us instead. Whenever you see a text box description above their name, those are the unique Leaders you want to take with you and can build a rapport with (and occasionally a sidequest). Like Baulson, he charges a one-time fee. Unlike Baulson, his voice is annoying, like his VA was trying to do a sneering imitation of a bandit and went too far. Having said that, he does come in handy in a fight, so now he comes with us.

This girl has a habit of popping up once in each city, selling you basic items at about 10x their face value, and then disappearing. However, if you do pay her off once in each city she stops in, she will then become a possible party member. Or so I hear.

Rush ponders trying to resell the potions as hot new cures for alcoholism in the Warrior's Honor pub when he sees Emma leaning against a pillar.

Rush: Well, you aren't exactly my type. Then again, you do look like my sister from far away...maybe this could work?

Emma: I have half a mind to slap the taste out of your mouth for that.

Bartender: Look, Rush, can you get her out of here? She's scaring away customers.

Emma takes the initiative and drags Rush out of the bar into the public street for a private chat...it makes sense to her somehow.

Emma: Rush...I wanted to ask you if...

Suddenly, Emma is interrupted by Generic Soldier.

"S-sir! In the Robelia Ruins- A huge monster- A-a giant! A giant appeared! It seemed like it was under somebody's control... It went straight to attack the Athlum soldiers!"

Whatever Emma was trying to tell Rush while restraining the urge to beat him to a bloody pulp, it will have to wait. We're going back to the ruined Robelia Castle! Guess David did put a patrol there after all, but the soldiers just suck at their jobs.

Upon entering the ruins, we discover that there is a "second floor" to the castle. This is the game's way of telling you that no, the maps are really bigger than you first give them credit for. Now shut up as Rush faces his greatest adversary yet...The Ladder!

In my opinion, if you haven't been trolled by Hideo Kojima, you haven't officially immersed yourself in gamer haute culture.

Sorry, I got distracted by a better game. Where was I? Oh yeah. Anyways, Rush conquers the Rusted Ladder and gets up to the second level of the ruins of Robelia with Emma (which begs the question: how the fuck did the Athlumian soldiers get up there and get attacked in the first place? Nanomachines?). The wounded soldier taps you on the shoulder and continues...

We tried to go find him - we heard yelling and sounds of a struggle, but never saw him at all. I hope he's all right...

Well, at least your ladder-climbing skills are better than your recognition, soldier!

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but every so often in battle one of your units might find some loot that they want to enhance their own equipment. You can either let them have it or push the A button to take it from them for your own use. I decide to give let him cut open the monster and harvest its talons, as these things are pretty common among the enemies in this area.

Also, another element pops up with the digging points of Mr. Diggs. Some of them will spray Rush with special effects, like a charming fluid that compels monsters to run around him with hearts in their eyes for a short time. Or in this case a sound that pisses off all nearby enemies and makes them all come at once. You still get the materials from a normal dig, but with this added bonus (or curse) of the monsters deciding they don't like you.

Anyways, Rush, Emma and co. slaughter their way through the wildlife that infests the ruins here until they stumble across this fellow.

Gallery

In sum: guy in black is all "mwahahaha I am evil and I have a hostage and I will force you to surrender if you want him to live" and Emma goes "yeah, well fuck him and fuck you" and attacks anyway. Don't worry about the hostage, as you'll never see him enter this fight.

The more bossy threat here is the Third Committee combat squad consisting of the mitra and the giant with the fuckoff hammer in the pics above, but you also have to contend with two giant Blackwing birds who will cast a Curse on one or two squads on their first turn. When a Union is cursed, it means there's a small chance that each individual unit in that Union will die on their attack turn until the curse passes or they are healed. It is one of the more annoying techs in the game, and this asshole bird isn't the only one that knows it.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the curse KO's Rush from this fight, which forces the Union into a Botched state because their Leader is dead. In this state, they will defend themselves if attacked, but you can no longer issue them orders. As if this "strategy" JRPG game needed to give you even fewer choices in battle. Arrrrrrgh!

Still we emerge victorious thanks to David, Torgal, Emma and Blocter not dying from some pansy-ass curse. unlike Rush.

Gallery

Emma wonders what the black-cloaked man's endgame was, then the ex-hostage apologizes for being so useless (even as a hostage. Seriously, neither friend nor foe cared about him during the battle!).

Later, in the shadow of the Valeria Heart back in Athlum, Emma tells Rush that she saw a traveler off from the city in that spot and wishes for her to one day return.

Emma: "...However with the increase in incidents outside of Athlum that need my attention, I can't very well spend all my time here. That brings me to what I wish to ask. If she returns and I cannot, will you be here to meet her? You'll know who I'm talking about at first sight. You may as well look forward to it. Here... payment in advance.Sorry for the trouble... I'm depending on you."

I'm curious why she's giving this artifact to Rush considering all he did was die from a curse and then come back to life when the miniboss battle was over, but I guess the Valeria Heart just has a way of making you feel sentimental.

Now that we've got our gear and our traveling party, we must get to Elysion. But first we must run through the Ivory Peaks so that our cartographers can mark it on the world map...despite David and his Generals supposedly knowing where it is already. That damned Remnant fast travel system must still be on the fritz.

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• The team arrives in Elysion! For real this time!
• But thou must...or must thou?

Endure This! Run! Part 9: Rush Sykes Has A Posse

This one will probably be a little shorter, as I'm dealing with a couple projects that take precedence over this series. Still, I thought I should update you folks on my journey through The Last Remnant, as it's been almost a week since the last one.

In the last episode, Rush faced a fiery idol and it turns out that one of the biggest leaders of the known world hates women and/or children. Jager got some cool points, but has otherwise stuck around these assholes out of loyalty and/or money. So fuck him for now.

So now we can recruit generic soldiers for our army? Hurrah...

Note that if you are still playing the 360 version of this game, this is all but required if you want to stay alive, because there is a restriction on the number of named "Leader" units you can have in the field at any one time. Though even on the PC version, it doesn't hurt to take a few of them with you to plug a few holes that you can't fill with Leader units yet.

[screenshot missing]

Aw fuck, I thought I had taken a shot of the process, but apparently I have to add it later. Anyways, you'll find a generic mitra soldier standing in Athlum, providing a list of soldiers you can add to your army. At the moment most of them have basic techs that vary from unit to unit. Some are focused on magic, others on healing, others on beating people with weapons. Pick the ones that fit you best.

Like your leaders, each unit also has a "unique" stat that I'm told can affect battle, but i have no idea if that's actually true and hidden in the programming, or something the developers thought of adding but didn't have time to implement outside of a worthless stat. Some of the unique attributes you'll stumble across include:

• Crybaby
• Daredevil
• Wiles
• Laziness
• Trivia
• Tomboy

Seriously, someone tell me how the fuck these affect anything, because neither wiki nor Google has turned up any answers, other than to say that these unique attributes exist.

Anyways, after pressing a few Athlumian soldiers into your army, you'll also start to see this once you get into a city or world map.

Every so often a named unit will bug you to help them collect (x item), with a simple yes/no dialogue box. Honestly I don't think this matters either, except to notify you that you should collect (x item) so that they can upgrade their equipment. Of course, they never mention how much of it they need. From what I see they just forge the upgraded weapons/equipment on their own when visiting a town. You can tell them "no" but they just get depressed and will probably ask you again anyways. So just say yes. You'll usually pick up the items they want if you slaughter certain monsters, dig with Mr. Diggs, or acquire them from shops in town.

In a similar vein, every named unit will also ask you at some point whether they should focus on mystic arts, combat arts or a balance of both. This will affect how they choose to upgrade their weapon in the future and also some of the techniques they will learn later. Unfortunately, that's about the extent to which you can control their development. There's only so much they trust Rush (and by extension, you) to do.

Rush stops by the Guild and says bye-bye to McGrady, as we've found someone with a dark and mysterious past to take with us instead. Whenever you see a text box description above their name, those are the unique Leaders you want to take with you and can build a rapport with (and occasionally a sidequest). Like Baulson, he charges a one-time fee. Unlike Baulson, his voice is annoying, like his VA was trying to do a sneering imitation of a bandit and went too far. Having said that, he does come in handy in a fight, so now he comes with us.

This girl has a habit of popping up once in each city, selling you basic items at about 10x their face value, and then disappearing. However, if you do pay her off once in each city she stops in, she will then become a possible party member. Or so I hear.

Rush ponders trying to resell the potions as hot new cures for alcoholism in the Warrior's Honor pub when he sees Emma leaning against a pillar.

Rush: Well, you aren't exactly my type. Then again, you do look like my sister from far away...maybe this could work?

Emma: I have half a mind to slap the taste out of your mouth for that.

Bartender: Look, Rush, can you get her out of here? She's scaring away customers.

Emma takes the initiative and drags Rush out of the bar into the public street for a private chat...it makes sense to her somehow.

Emma: Rush...I wanted to ask you if...

Suddenly, Emma is interrupted by Generic Soldier.

"S-sir! In the Robelia Ruins- A huge monster- A-a giant! A giant appeared! It seemed like it was under somebody's control... It went straight to attack the Athlum soldiers!"

Whatever Emma was trying to tell Rush while restraining the urge to beat him to a bloody pulp, it will have to wait. We're going back to the ruined Robelia Castle! Guess David did put a patrol there after all, but the soldiers just suck at their jobs.

Upon entering the ruins, we discover that there is a "second floor" to the castle. This is the game's way of telling you that no, the maps are really bigger than you first give them credit for. Now shut up as Rush faces his greatest adversary yet...The Ladder!

In my opinion, if you haven't been trolled by Hideo Kojima, you haven't officially immersed yourself in gamer haute culture.

Sorry, I got distracted by a better game. Where was I? Oh yeah. Anyways, Rush conquers the Rusted Ladder and gets up to the second level of the ruins of Robelia with Emma (which begs the question: how the fuck did the Athlumian soldiers get up there and get attacked in the first place? Nanomachines?). The wounded soldier taps you on the shoulder and continues...

We tried to go find him - we heard yelling and sounds of a struggle, but never saw him at all. I hope he's all right...

Well, at least your ladder-climbing skills are better than your recognition, soldier!

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but every so often in battle one of your units might find some loot that they want to enhance their own equipment. You can either let them have it or push the A button to take it from them for your own use. I decide to give let him cut open the monster and harvest its talons, as these things are pretty common among the enemies in this area.

Also, another element pops up with the digging points of Mr. Diggs. Some of them will spray Rush with special effects, like a charming fluid that compels monsters to run around him with hearts in their eyes for a short time. Or in this case a sound that pisses off all nearby enemies and makes them all come at once. You still get the materials from a normal dig, but with this added bonus (or curse) of the monsters deciding they don't like you.

Anyways, Rush, Emma and co. slaughter their way through the wildlife that infests the ruins here until they stumble across this fellow.

Gallery

In sum: guy in black is all "mwahahaha I am evil and I have a hostage and I will force you to surrender if you want him to live" and Emma goes "yeah, well fuck him and fuck you" and attacks anyway. Don't worry about the hostage, as you'll never see him enter this fight.

The more bossy threat here is the Third Committee combat squad consisting of the mitra and the giant with the fuckoff hammer in the pics above, but you also have to contend with two giant Blackwing birds who will cast a Curse on one or two squads on their first turn. When a Union is cursed, it means there's a small chance that each individual unit in that Union will die on their attack turn until the curse passes or they are healed. It is one of the more annoying techs in the game, and this asshole bird isn't the only one that knows it.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the curse KO's Rush from this fight, which forces the Union into a Botched state because their Leader is dead. In this state, they will defend themselves if attacked, but you can no longer issue them orders. As if this "strategy" JRPG game needed to give you even fewer choices in battle. Arrrrrrgh!

Still we emerge victorious thanks to David, Torgal, Emma and Blocter not dying from some pansy-ass curse. unlike Rush.

Gallery

Emma wonders what the black-cloaked man's endgame was, then the ex-hostage apologizes for being so useless (even as a hostage. Seriously, neither friend nor foe cared about him during the battle!).

Later, in the shadow of the Valeria Heart back in Athlum, Emma tells Rush that she saw a traveler off from the city in that spot and wishes for her to one day return.

Emma: "...However with the increase in incidents outside of Athlum that need my attention, I can't very well spend all my time here. That brings me to what I wish to ask. If she returns and I cannot, will you be here to meet her? You'll know who I'm talking about at first sight. You may as well look forward to it. Here... payment in advance.Sorry for the trouble... I'm depending on you."

I'm curious why she's giving this artifact to Rush considering all he did was die from a curse and then come back to life when the miniboss battle was over, but I guess the Valeria Heart just has a way of making you feel sentimental.

Now that we've got our gear and our traveling party, we must get to Elysion. But first we must run through the Ivory Peaks so that our cartographers can mark it on the world map...despite David and his Generals supposedly knowing where it is already. That damned Remnant fast travel system must still be on the fritz.

Next Time on Endure This! Run!

• The team arrives in Elysion! For real this time!
• But thou must...or must thou?

Why does that mage girl look simultaneously surprised and disgusted by Rush's presence? Or is that how everybody greets him?

@Video_Game_King:

I'm tempted to say that's how everyone looks after talking to him for a few seconds, but it's more that they put the Unreal 3 engine's power into the physics and not the graphics.