LP Beach

~SquareSoft!~

The Game

Released for the Super Famicom in 1994, LIVE A LIVE is one of many in the deluge of classic RPGs for the SFC/SNES that never made it out of Japan but was blessed with an excellent fan translation by a dedicated group of fans when emulation was beginning to take off. If you were an avid watcher of Youtube LP videos in the late 00's early 10's, you might have come across this game and were intrigued enough by it to check it out for yourself. LIVE A LIVE is a chapter based RPG with each chapter focusing on a different protagonist in a different time period. In addition to giving the game a wide variety of set pieces and uniquely toned story beats, each chapter takes the opportunity to shake up the core game formula, resulting in a constantly morphing experience that I've yet to really see in any other RPG quite the same way. While LIVE A LIVE is not the most mechanically engaging RPG in terms of its combat, the quirky plot threads, variable mix of game styles and the way these things all come together in the end has resulted in one of the premier cult classics for the SFC/SNES. It's perhaps due to its unique nature and fond recollection by the classic RPG crowd that SquareEnix opted to give it the HD2D treatment popularized by Octopath Traveler in 2022.

The Let's Play

This LP will be primarily focused on the 2022 Remaster of the game, with occasional cuts to the SFC to comment on or demonstrate differences between the two versions that I feel are notable enough. The HD version is a very faithful remake in most regards (which is why I usually call it a Remaster instead), so much we flip between the two versions will depend on which chapter we are doing. For the SFC version, I will be playing using the 2.0 version of the Aeon Genesis Translation Project patch, an extremely high quality fan effort that I actually feel does a better job of translating the game in several areas compared to the official English release. I'll be playing that version on ZSNES for that crunchy mid 2000's emulation feel. For the games as a whole, I'll be going over every notable sidequest and secret as best I can, so you can consider this LP as a completionist effort as well. With all that established,

The Videos

Prehistory Chapter

Part 1, Before Comedy
Part 2, Boy Meets Girl
Part 3, Lost and Found
Part 4, Kings and Monsters

Imperial China Chapter

Part 5, Old Master
Part 6, New Master

Twilight of Edo Japan Chapter

Part 7, Ninja Gaiden
Part 8, Castle Crashers
Part 9, Rising Sun

Wild West Chapter

Part 10, The Town With A Name

Present Day Chapter

Part 11, World Warrior

Near Future Chapter

Part 12, Head Games
Part 13, Praise Steel Titan
Part 14, Corporate Crusaders
Part 15, Go, Steel Titan!

Distant Future Chapter

Part 16, In Space
Part 17, No One Can Hear You Scream
Part 18, Game Over Man
Bonus Part, Captain Square

The Middle Ages Chapter

Part 19, Might & Magic
Part 20, For Auld Lang Syne
Part 21, Devil's Due
Part 22, All Falls Down

Dominion of Hate

Part 23, No More Heroes
Part 24, Lost in Time
Part 25, Trials and Tribulations
Part 26, Time Crisis
Part 27 (Finale), All Tomorrow's Parties

Full LP Playlist

If you're a fan of quirky RPGS with non-standard gameplay elements, you may like my LP's of Omori or the decidedly less wholesome Fear & Hunger.

Part 1, where we start our journey across the ages from the very beginning! The Prehistory chapter is the closest in structure to a standard RPG, but even then we get some of the more unique aspects of LIVE A LIVE on full display. In particular, there are no formal stores and equipment is earned purely through crafting, the battle system is a mix of turn based and action elements with an emphasis on positioning while having all attacks be abilities with no MP system, and rather than random encounters this chapter has invisible enemy sprites wandering the field areas that trigger a fight when you collide with them. This chapter starts pretty slow, but it will pick up in due time.

Extra Notes

-We have two characters to start, Pogo the protagonist and his erstwhile but semi-hostile ape companion Gori. Pogo is very strong, with high HP and physical stats and a good spread of attacks once he gets some levels. Additionally we can kit him out with some really good gear right away and utterly demolish anything we come across. Gori has much more limited options and falls behind pretty quickly due to his almost complete inability to equip anything, but he does pick up a lot more AOE and status based attacks as he levels, several of which will be very important for some secret fights later.

-It's not necessary to play the mini games for resources, but it's a good idea to because it's actually pretty slow and difficult to get the materials for crafting the best items just from battles, and we have a limited time to engage with these mini games. For the SFC mini game, one thing you can do that I didn't demonstrate in the video is remain in the doorway after all the cavemen filter out of the room. The initial caveman will not be able to walk through you to return to the room, so you can talk to him 18 times, move so the cavemen filter in, block the doorway again and talk to whoever gets close, and then catch the final caveman as he enters.

-I went a little overboard on getting materials, for all the worthwhile stuff you only need to play the SFC mini game 13 times as opposed to the 20 I went with. 15 should be more than adequate for the HD version.

-Anything I didn't bother to craft is either just weaker than what I did make or is just not all that useful. If you're interested in seeing some of the items that can be used in battle that I passed on, just let me know.

-One of the more minor things to note is that attack properties are slightly different between the two versions of the game. In particular, Bang Bash is much stronger in SFC while Pow Kick is much weaker. In general, attacks have become weaker in the transition to HD, though some of the crappier moves have been buffed. This doesn't affect Pogo too much, but certain characters are considerably better or considerably worse between the two games, and I'll be sure to note those overt discrepancies.

Part 2 is out! With all our crafting for the chapter done in the previous part, we're all set to advance the plot of this particular story. The establishing scene comes back into play, and we get our very first boss fight!

Extra Notes

-We get our next party member, Beru! Beru is actually crazy strong if you crafted her best gear, the Wildheart Sack in particular is crazy strong and lets her pack a real wallop. The downside is that she is ridiculously fragile compared to Pogo, even with her best armor. All that said, don't get too used to her. Even more tragically, she's unable to participate in the fights where it would be really nice to have her.

-The Fertility Charm is a fantastic item when used in battle, and I'd highly recommend crafting two of them. Its healing is just as good as Beru's, and the stats buffs it gives are amazingly helpful. The only downside is the lengthy charge time, but that is pretty easy to work around. As an added bonus, it's infinite use! Contrary to what you might read online, this item functions the same way in the SFC version, though the buffs it provides are slightly different. As an actual piece of equipment, it's nothing to write home about.

-You can spend a lot of time hunting before advancing the plot, and Pogo will quickly rocket past any mandatory encounter the game throws at you. He's by far one of the strongest protagonists in the game, and he has a decently varied move stats that takes advantage of most of his stats.

-The special interaction for giving Beru the Wildheart Dress in the SFC version is... not quite as coy. We'll see it in the next video.

-If you want to see Beru really mess some stuff up, get her to level 6 in the HD version and level 7 in the SFC version. At those levels, she learns her ultimate attack, which can completely trivialize a certain encounter later on. Sadly, it cannot be used in the difficult optional boss fight of the chapter.

Part 3 is out! Unfortunately for Pogo and the gang, they quickly run into trouble after being exiled. Sadly Beru's shiny new skill just can't help us in this situation, and we'll have to directly take the fight to the Kuu tribe.

Extra Notes

-Beru's Sing Hurt ability is completely unnecessary to learn and I mostly just got it for demonstrative purposes. While it is pretty much one of the strongest skills in the game, it is only available to use for one serious fight. It does turn said fight into a joke at least.

-Tragically, you cannot fight the Bonus Boss of the chapter with Beru in the party. It is not available to fight until well after she is indisposed.

-You can endlessly fight Kuu warriors in their encampment if you so desire, though the EXP they give quickly dives off a cliff. The fight can be won in a single turn once Pogo knows Big Shout at least.

-The two cavemen in the cavern leading to the Kuu encampment are actually father and son. They are the first in a continuous gag family seen throughout the game, though it is awhile before the clan is named properly.

-I'll be sure to show this off, but the Rock of Rocks can be used as an item in battle, dealing light damage (both in terms of element and numbers, ho ho ho) and inflicting heavy debuffs on whatever it hits.

-An important note for the SFC version, any really valuable accessory you get should be equipped onto the main character of whatever chapter you are playing. I'll elaborate more on this later, but not equipping them to the MC of each chapter will ultimately defeat the point of collecting them. This is not a concern in the HD version, which handles the inventories of each character in every chapter differently.

Only 4 videos, and Pogo's journey has come to an end! The individual chapters of LIVE A LIVE are fairly short, this being one of the longer ones in the game. Don't be surprised if some of these stories only last 1-2 videos. That aside, we gather up all the special accessories in the chapter an forge onward into the Kuu encampment. We also get to hear the major boss theme 3 times, also something to celebrate! Unfortunately, there will be a pause in videos for a week. I put in some extra time today to get this video ready, since I'm going on a vacation starting tomorrow. We'll resume with the Imperial China chapter on April 8th. Fortunately that chapter is about as simple as it gets in LIVE A LIVE, so it's not like I'll be jumping back in at the deep end.

Extra Notes

-There are a couple other things you can use on the Mammoth King in the HD version to try to make the fight more consistent, but they're really not much more viable than spamming Sleep Trick and the Fertility Charm. Scare Face and the Thump Drum can lower his evasion, but not only are these just as likely to miss as Sleep Trick, the debuff can still fail to stick even if they do hit. Even worse, the debuff doesn't even guarantee attacks will go through even if it does stick, and it can wear off after a single attack.

-The Rock of Rocks can reasonably often Leg Bind the Mammoth King to keep him out of direct eruption range, but like every other attack it just misses way too often to be worth going for. Equipping it on Pogo to bolster the chip damage Sleep Trick does is the better option in my opinion.

-Debuffs are way more consistent in SFC, Sleep Trick and Poke Bind work 100% of the time on the Mammoth King. While Sleep Trick doesn't do any damage in this version, I'll gladly take the consistency any day. This does result in the fight being kind of a joke if you just Sleep Trick>Poke Bind>Poke Bind>Sleep Trick, but given how much of a hassle it is to even get into the fight in this version, I think that's fair.

-The Mammoth King is much more threatening in terms of raw damage from his skills in SFC. In exchange for the Fire Field tiles not restoring a quarter of his health, all of his attacks hit about twice as hard. Definitely make sure you have a few large haunches at the ready if the ailment loop is broken.

-The Cola bottle is often mistakenly identified as a one-use item in the SFC version, but thankfully this is not the case. You can use it as much as you like, and it is quite overwhelming in standard encounters. I actually have yet to test it in the final chapter of the HD version to see if it's still overpowered there, so something to check out later in the LP!

-I mention this in the video proper, but make sure all your best accessories are on Pogo before engaging in the final boss fight of the chapter in the SFC version. You will be very sad otherwise. This is not a concern in the HD version, so feel free to Cola Bottle the final boss to death.

-Again, it's kind of funny how a chapter with no dialogue manages to slide in a couple of questionable translation choices.

-Bringing it back to the Rock of Rocks, as we saw in the SFC version it is a way to actually see enemy HP values. There are a few abilities that do this in the SFC version, all of them retooled in HD due to HP being on display at all times for enemies.

Thank you.

After a brief delay, part 5 is out! We begin the Imperial China chapter, which is much more story driven. This is a good example of how each chapter mixes up the gameplay a little, as this chapter lacks any kind of store or crafting system, and its main protagonist is incapable of gaining experience. Our plucky pupils are more than capable of growing, but that matters less than you'd think for reasons that will be made apparent next time. We get quite the party in this chapter, with The Earthen Heart Shifu being evasive with tremendous special attack but no further room to grow, Lei/Li Kugo with her incredible speed and decent physical prowess, Yun Jou with his well rounded stats and high special attack, and finally Hong/Sammo Hakka who is an absolute unit of HP and physical prowess but slow charging unique attacks.

Extra Notes

-Most of the equipment you collect will ultimately not matter as it's fairly weak. Be sure to scavenge for as many healing items as possible though, they will be much more important later.

-Something I'd like to praise the fan translation for is its unique idea for distinguishing the different chapters. Each chapter has a unique font in the AGTP translation, keep a close eye on how it looks between each chapter!

-Once you have your pupils, you can go murder tigers for a bit if you'd like to level them up, but this not at all helpful. It's arguably detrimental, as their stats are directly translated onto their enemy versions in the training battles we will be engaging in.

-While it might seem like a good idea to spread the training around, you really want to pick a star pupil and funnel all your training into them, as whoever gets trained the most influences the direction of the plot.

That's not all! I'm holding a poll for who our star pupil will be! The #1 pick will be the star in the HD version, while #2 will get to star in the SFC version. #3 in the poll will have their differences within the Imperial China chapter covered, though we will not see what impact them being the star would have on the rest of the game. (As it is beyond minimal.) Vote at the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkxx6brwY ... mGD4_A6tqq

EDIT: Poll is finished, link is dead. Thanks to all who voted!

Poll has been closed! Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lei absolutely dominated the poll and will be our voice acted starlet for the HD version. Hong and Yun were neck and neck, but Hong managed to pull ahead with one vote just this morning. He will be our pixel crunchy and chonky star in the SFC version. For those who voted for Yun, fear not! We will be seeing his side of the story still, just not what impact he'd have once said story concludes. For those who voted against him, you will feel ashamed of your words & deeds.



I'll be working on getting all the footage for the next part recorded once I do my workout for the evening. I should be able to get the rest of the chapter recorded for tonight, but we'll see if I can manage to render out and upload the video before the night is out.

Part 6 is finally out, and it is practically a feature length Kung Fu movie! Truthfully I could have probably split this into two videos, but I felt one would have been better for the pacing regardless of how long it ended up being. Videos going forward should hopefully be much shorter. Super satisfied with how this turned out though, and this chapter really hits some emotional highs for the story so I hope you all enjoy it too. Now onto the chapter that will be the biggest pain to edit! yayyyyyyy

Extra Notes

-For training, you only really need to train your preferred pupil at least twice per session. The only exception is Hong, who is the highest level and can still be your star pupil with less than that. That being said, there really is no good reason to train anyone but your preferred pupil. Nothing is gained or unlocked by spreading the training around.

-By and large Lion's Dismissal and Wise Fox's Grace are the only moves you should bother teaching to your pupils. The others are just too weak or unreliable with their secondary effects and all the pupils have their own signature moves they learn that outclass them heavily. I did my best to get as many as possible onto Lei and Hong for flavor, though to my knowledge there is no way for them to learn Unseen Bow's Arrow. In the HD version at least, Yun gets that move at level 9.

-The accessories you pick up from the market are extremely helpful. Each pupil essentially has a set maximum potential, and these accessories are the only way to get any more real power onto them before the final boss. This playthrough is totally not the first time I thought to slow down and actually talk to people there to see if they gave me anything.

-Hopefully you didn't equip anything good onto your non-star pupils! Those items can be lost, though fortunately nothing important is gained before the story diverging point.

-The Indominable Fist fortress is only really tricky if Hong is your star pupil as he joins in very late. It's not super difficult, but be cautious with bigger encounters as the Shifu can be dogpiled if you aren't careful.

-Speaking of Hong, he definitely has the roughest time here as none of the Earthen Heart skills are really all that great in his hands and he doesn't really get any great unique skills within this chapter either. Definitely keep your hands on your healing items for emergencies with him. Appropriate given his gluttony I suppose.

-For the equipment that you can get from the mini boss rush, be sure to equip it on your pupil in the SFC version! It is lost forever otherwise, which is really unfortunate for the armor you get from the sisters.

-It's up to you if you want to use Heavenly Peaks Descent as a finisher or opener, either way is a valid use. Finisher is probably smarter though since you can close out the fight when Ou Di is around 250 HP with all the pupils and spare yourself anymore risk at that point.

-As far as I know, there are no special bosses, secret equipment beyond what I grabbed, or endless encounter farms in this chapter. It's pretty rigid in its progression.

Part 7 is out! We begin the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter, and in contrast to the extremely straightforward Imperial China Chapter this one has an extreme number of variations on how it can play out. For this LP, we'll be taking a look at the two paths through it that are polar opposites: 0 kills and 100 kills. Most of the video will follow the pacifistic playthrough in the HD version, but there will be cut aways or cut ins to the SFC version where I will be going for a full 100 kill playthrough. I'll fully admit I wasn't quite sure how I'd meld the two playthroughs together, so the commentary on the videos sometimes doesn't fully jive with the implementation I ultimately went with. This should be less of a problem in future videos where the playthroughs start to diverge a lot more heavily and I'll be doing for more proper cuts into the 100 kills playthrough. Apologies if it's a little hard to follow what is going on in the SFC version.

Extra Notes

-For a 0 kills playthrough, it isn't too big a deal if you get into an encounter since you can just choose to flee the battle. That being said, there are some battles that cannot be run from that do result in a kill count, so be sure to save frequently and reload if you get caught in such a battle.

-For a full 100 kills playthrough, there are a number of enemies that you either outright need to spare for a time to get another encounter to happen, or should avoid for a bit until you are strong enough to take them on. This is easily one of the most counter-intuitive aspects of going for 100 kills, the most notable being you can't kill any female NPCs in the castle until a certain point. Literally right at the end of the castle, there is a scene with an NPC that only triggers if you haven't killed any women and it is necessary to kill the person in this scene for all 100 kills.

-The password system can be a bit of a pain in the SFC version since Oboromaru doesn't personally keep track of it, and the way to remember it is a bit out of the way. I'd recommend saving before any password checks just in case you've lost track of what the password actually is. Obviously not an issue in a kills playthrough since you only need to know the password once.

-For the most part there's not really any reason to go for 0 kills or 100 kills aside from the accomplishment. There is a reward for 0 kills but an identical reward can be gotten easily in a kills playthrough and only with some issue in a pacifist playthrough. And there straight up isn't a reward for 100 kills, in either version of the game. The most practical approach to this chapter is just kill anything that gets in your way for EXP and ease. This will get you enough EXP to take on the chapter's bonus bosses organically, and the only real fringe rewards from a pacifist run are what you get for not killing women, which obviously can be gotten no problem in a less-than-100 kills run.

-I neglect to comment too much on it, but the thieves in the residential manor are the first time we've had a guaranteed appearance of the running gag Wantanabe clan. This appearance can easily be the first time you come across them, and it can actually be awhile before you notice this is a running gag since the name gets morphed to fit the setting of the chapter and some of their appearances are optional.

-For the handful of Kobans we will collect throughout the chapter, we will need 4 all together and they all must be used at a specific spot. You will never be able to guess what we are to do with these.

-For the storehouse spirits, they will get you up to level 7 pretty quickly before the EXP they give slows down immensely. You can continue to grind them until level 9 relatively quickly, but I settled for 8 since that's more than enough for the mandatory fights of the chapter. It's pretty much necessary to grind on these guys for a bit in a 0 kills run, since you have extremely limited avenues to power up for the handful of boss fights you must deal with otherwise.

Part 8 is out! It's at this point in the Ninja chapter that a 0 Kills and Full Kills playthrough will diverge pretty heavily as we'll want to take different routes into the castle for both purposes. As well, quite a bit of the castle can be ignored on a 0 Kills playthrough. While this adds a huge layer of complexity and variability in how the chapter can play out, it's much simpler from a recording perspective as I can now more easily meld the two playthroughs at the point where they split. We accomplish most of our goals, and are pretty much set to close out the 0 kills playthrough. For the kills playthrough, I'll need to do some work to build up our entourage, as we have some difficult bonus bosses to deal with before finishing our killing spree.

Extra Notes

-You can enter the castle through the moat on a No Kills playthrough, but it's very annoying to avoid the moat ninjas so I wouldn't really recommend it. Also the bonus boss located there can easily ruin your day if you're not careful.

-Infiltration can be made much simpler if you secure all the hook and rope sets. There's not much use for those after the castle traps are disabled though, so don't go back for them if you missed them earlier.

-It's at this point that I feel it's worthwhile to note the SFC version of this chapter is actually quite a bit more difficult. Oboromaru is both more frail and doesn't hit as hard with most of his moves, making the kills playthrough a bit more perilous. Amakusa Shiro Tokisada is of little difficulty in the HD version, but is a much more threatening opponent in SFC. He's also less tedious to deal with as there are far few lost souls to dispatch.

-Ryoma is another good example of why playing pragmatically in this chapter is for the best. He's a huge help, but getting him now prevents a 0 Kills run. It's one of the numerous counter-intuitive aspects of the two major routes you can take through this chapter.

-The Relentless Maid can be pretty good for leveling even in a 0 Kills playthrough. She has a pretty high EXP yield and can survive a significant number of fights before croaking. (It's 16 fights in SFC, but I think it might be slightly less in HD) We'll see her eventually when we need to kill her in SFC, I don't need her in HD because of the Lost Soul grinding I did.

-The man with the Oni mask is another moment where you can permanently lose out on kills and fail the 100 Kill playthrough. Be quick when he appears!

-You can defeat Puppetmaster Gennai without taking out his puppets in the battle, but this will deny you the Mainspring. I've also read the Mainspring has an RNG component to dropping, so be sure to save before the fight. Gennai is easily the least threatening boss in the chapter of either version, so don't worry too much about him.

-Goemon is extremely helpful and is another reason why playing pragmatically is the smart choice. If you let him go and get all the treasure in the castle refilled, you can have a hefty amount of healing for the bonus bosses and have duplicates of the best equipment to make sure everyone in your party is defensively solid.

-Mimic Mammet/O-Robo has two other things to be mindful of besides from falling in pits. One is that he is not waterproof, so taking him into the moat can destroy him in short order. He sinks almost immediately in the HD version, but if you're quick you can get him to help out with the moat bonus boss in SFC. The other thing he needs to be mindful of is Mice. They cause him to freak out and trigger a battle with you, though fortunately he is not destroyed from this. This is mostly a concern in a kills playthrough, none of this will be a factor in 0 kills.

Part 9 is out! I'm glad to finally be done with this chapter, it was a headache to cover a lot of the weird bits about it and there's still some stuff I want to double back for. We'll press on for now and I can take care of that when I have some more free time. Regardless, Oboromaru finishes this chapter with two flavors of completionist and some considerable power at his disposal in either case.

Extra Notes

-It is possible to win against Hayate, but it results in a game over anyway. I was kind of rushing to get this video made so I wasn't able to get a winning fight against him in time for this recording. I'll keep the file tucked away for later when I can commit to preparing Oboromaru for the fight.

-Once you recruit Ryoma, you can no longer abandon the mission as he'll always stop you when you attempt to leave.

-Something that slipped my mind to mention in the video, if you kill the 3 guards that MM/O-Robo blows up on before activating him, then MM/O-Robo just disappears from the game entirely and can’t be used at all.

-If you want to fight Majin Ryunosuke in a 0 kills run, you'll absolutely want to do it before you blow up the Mimic Mammet. This means you'll have to fight him without Ryoma, which makes the battle a bit more precarious with less options for drawing his fire. The basic approach to it is still the same though.

-For Lord Iwama, you can come back for him after Ryoma joins you on 0 kills since the Mimic Mammet is less crucial for this fight and in the HD version he sinks in the moat way before you even have a chance of reaching Iwama.

-It's much easier to prepare for these fights in the SFC version as Lost Souls will never give you less than 4 exp per kill while in the HD version their yield drops to 1 around level 11 or so. You can still grind on them, but it is much slower and more annoying, so I can't imagine most wanting to go past level 12 just off the experience they yield. You can battle the Relentless Maid for a better payout, but you can only battle her so many times before you notch a kill.

-As far as I know, killing Yodogimi earlier doesn't really affect anything with her boss fight aside from changing the dialogue slightly when she reveals herself.

-The Medicine Box is the biggest thing you miss out on going for 100 kills, as it is a very powerful accessory. It's one of the big reasons a pragmatic playthrough is better than either extreme, since you can still kill plenty and still get it at the end of the run.

-In the HD version, the background in the credits changes depending on your kill count. The sun immediately gets blotted out by a severe rainstorm if you have 100 kills.

Part 10 is out! Truthfully, I probably could have split this into two videos but in my head one video seemed just right for such a short chapter. It would have been mostly cutscenes for the first video if I had split it, so maybe this is for the best. Anyway, it's the Wild West chapter, one that is light on combat and revolves around a gimmick of making the final battle as hard as you want it to be. Or if you were like me as a dumb teenager, you could fail to realize you could even set traps and do the most difficult final boss as a matter of course. Thankfully, the HD version makes this much less likely to happen with its signposting, though it does fail to indicate that setting repeat traps is a waste of time.

Extra Notes

Actually there's not really much to say about this chapter that wasn't covered in the video. It's about as straightforward as it gets. There's a number of variations for the final battle depending on how many traps you set, though this has little bearing on anything but the battle itself. About the only notable thing is that the HD version is both harder and easier if you eschew traps. Harder because most of your moves are nerfed while Dio has a more generous range for his Gatling Gun attack, and easier because the healing items don't debuff you anymore with drunkeness and Texas Jitterbug is a hell of a lot stronger for Mad Dog. (Interesting, because most multi-hit moves like all of Sundown's got heavily nerfed in the HD version) There's a lot more to say about the next chapter even though it's even shorter, funnily enough.

Part 11 is out! It is time for the Modern Day Chapter. This chapter is happening right now, as you are reading this, don't let it pass you by! This is easily the shortest and most simplistic chapter in the game, with no world to explore in any capacity and only 7 boss fights. This chapter is pretty obviously a send up to Street Fighter II, with the progression loosely structured like a Mega Man game. Don't expect a riveting plot, but it is a nice change of pace and can be a good breather after a chapter like Twilight of Edo.

Extra Notes

-Save for the final boss, you can do the fights in any order you want. That being said, Moribe and Tula Han are the only ones you have a reliable chance of beating with Masaru's starting loadout, especially in the SFC version for Focus heals about half as much HP (Max Morgan is almost unbeatable without a ranged move, your only hope is to snag Max Bomber and pray it consistently knocks him back). Tula's definitely the better choice for SFC, while in HD I'd actually say Moribe is a better start since he is less evasive and is more vulnerable to being destroyed by counterhits from Tula's moves.

-Speaking of Moribe, Fleetfoot is crazy broken for this chapter in the SFC version. The only fighters who have any kind of counter for it are Namkiat and Great Asia, and that's only if they don't get spun by it. Every other fight, including the final boss, can be nailed with it repeatedly and stun locked near endlessly. The move is much less consistent in HD, but similar tricks can be pulled with moves like Max Bomber and Aloha Clap which are more powerful and consistent with their pushing effects in this version.

-The Wantanabe cameo in the Great Asia fight is notoriously tricky to trigger in the SFC version. In addition to needing to have his back to the camera, he must also be in the lower right corner of the stage which is unbelievably annoying to actually accomplish. Since this is so unlikely to happen in a normal fight and so tedious to accomplish intentionally, they simplified the trigger to only needing him to have his back to the camera when he uses Bite in the HD version so people could actually see it.

-Great Asia's moves are absolutely terrible, they do not do nearly enough damage to justify the risk of possibly killing yourself, and they are ridiculously prone to missing. As Great Asia himself found out the hard way.

-As shown in the video, Jackie Iaukea is the only fighter to possess a third move you can learn off of him. When his arms are bound, he can throw out Worldbreaker's Wrath, which is Masaru's ultimate skill. He only has a chance to counter an arm bind with this, but he's so bulky you can easily just spam Armlock until he eventually retaliates with it. This move is absolute dogwater in the SFC version due to running off of Masaru's miserable Special Attack stat, so it is absolutely not worth the time to learn there. Aside from that, as long as you're over about 280 HP and have Focus buffs applied, you should be able to survive this move and add it to your repertoire. In the HD version, it is much stronger and is easily Masaru's best AOE, so learning it now rather than at level 16 actually can be pretty handy.

-Related to the last point, don't sweat it too much if you miss a move or two, Masaru eventually learns them all once he's able to actually level up. The ones I'd recommend making sure you absolutely get are Armlock, Cross Heel Hold, Celestial Palm, Fleetfoot, Spiral Knee in the event you didn't get Fleetfoot, Aloha Clap and German Suplex. This gives Masaru all the coverage he needs for range, debuffs and skills that move the enemy.

Part 12 is out! We begin the Near Future chapter, which takes us back to a more standardized format akin to what the pre-history chapter did. This chapter has a fair share of its own quirks though, and it's plot is easily the strangest of any chapter in the game, so I'm hoping we'll have some fun with this one.

Extra Notes

-If you happen to win any combat items in battle, be sure to hang onto them. They aren't terribly useful in any fights, but there is something very important that can be done with them later.

-There's basically no reason not to snipe the leader of a battle formation for any battle in this chapter. Unless my memory fails me, there is a slight reason to rout all enemies in the SFC version that we'll get to later, but not so in HD. You get the same experience per fight regardless of how you resolve it.

-Teleport will mostly dump you in random rooms in the orphanage when it fails. There's a couple of unique scenes you can get when this happens.

-Taorimo is just about the worst party member in the game. His damage is abysmal, Akira quickly outpaces him via leveling, and all of the moves he can learn have awkward ranges and positioning requirements. We do have the means to upgrade him later in the chapter, but for now he's essentially just here to soak up hits. Even when fully kitted out with his best equipment, he's still terrible. But hey, he's a robot turtle and our best friend, so he has that going for him.

Part 13 is out! Akira straddles the line between Anti-hero and douchebag to kick things off, and then proceeds to go on a spree violent vigilantism, scamming the elderly, and offering prayer to our savior Steel Titan, hallowed be his name.

Extra Notes

-All truth told, once you get Taroimo in your party there's not much reason to not go on a battle frenzy and get to the chapter's level cap of 13. The "final dungeon" is pretty much balanced around doing this, and the items you can get are very helpful. Especially keep an eye out for Napalm Grenades, as valuable things can be done with those.

-Matsu's Taiyaki stand is only open for a very brief period. Once you visit the Steel Titan, that sidequest is blocked off and it prevents you from getting the achievement for selling a taiyaki for 10,000 yen.

-Of the items you can get for giving the kids snacks, the Misanga and the Power Wrist are definitely the most useful for this chapter. Be sure to get those.

-The healing items you can get from Matsu aren't that great on their own merits, as they are strictly self heal. That being said, they can be exchanged for better healing items not long after.

-The old woman customer moves painfully slow in the SFC version. It's kind of funny, but something you dread seeing after the first time it happens.

-Dr. Tobei's refinement system is the dumbest crafting system I've ever seen in a video game. It works very simple, just give him an item and he'll have a chance to morph it into a new, and usually better item. There is at least one thing that downgrades when you give it to him, but for the most part you get stuff that is better. Where it gets silly is that some items can be refined into multiple different things, usually 1 of 3 items chosen at random. There are some important things at the refinement splits, so I'd recommend looking up a chart for the best stuff. Also be aware that sometimes he just randomly fails and you have to try again, though thankfully you don't lose the item if this happens. Do note that there is an end point for item refinement, so if something you give him keeps failing it's likely the best version of that specific you can hope to get. Taeko's punch is one such item.

-Not necessarily the most important thing to do, but Napalm Grenades can be refined into unique accessories that can be equipped on Taroimo to give him new moves. The chain of refinements for this is quite long with several splits, and some of the accessories give flatly superior moves in comparison to others. Thankfully this chart has the full refinement list for this chapter, though be aware it uses AGTP's names for the items.

-On console in the SFC version, this refinement system is close to unusable due to how slow the process is. You have to watch the same cutscene with Dr. Tobei over and over with random failures meaning it can take over a half hour to get everything you want. Frame skip on emulator makes it more tolerable.

-One final thing, when going for the Taroimo accessories, I'd recommend saving before refining so you can stick to getting the items you want.

Part 14 is out! I wind back the clock a little to show off some things I missed, though luckily it wasn't too much. I did a bunch of refining off screen, but I do go over what I had to refine the get the stuff I felt was important. I'll definitely take the opportunity after the Tsukuba building to round up more accessories for Taroimo, but otherwise I've done all the refining I care to. Anything else worthwhile we actually can't refine fight now, and it will be completely irrelevant for the rest of the chapter once we can make it.

Extra Notes

-There is a slight bit of value in making a third Wrestling shirt and some additional Biker's Belts for the Tsukuba building, but it's far from necessary and not worth the time to me personally. I'll go over why when get to the relevant point in the next video.

-There are a bunch of accessories that can be refined, but getting most of them requires getting lucky with the random drops which I just wasn't having any luck with. I didn't feel it was worth it to trade out what I currently had for marginally better equipment only Akira can use. I've had better luck getting Fine Pearls in the SFC version, so I might do a bit of that there since the Biker's Belt is about as useful without the special attack penalty.

-Of the robot attack accessories, the Showa Chick Cannon is the only one I consider must have. It's a huge damage upgrade for Taroimo and it has another use later down the line. The rest of them are of dubious use to Taroimo since a good chunk of them run off his awful Special Attack, but there is a reason to craft them outside of that. Note that in the SFC version, you can only make use of 5 of them past this chapter while the HD version allows you to eventually make use of all of them if you so desire.

-The game finally proved I wasn't crazy, you can indeed get Robotic Enhancements in the HD version without scouring the entire formation. In the SFC version, you have to destroy all the robots before the leader, though as a boon in that regard you seem to always get Robotic Enhancements, sometimes even a chance for two of them!

-I'd highly recommend getting to level 13 before the Tsukuba building to give yourself the easiest time there. The enemies aren't too dangerous, but it's nice to have a good spread of options for taking on the encounters. That chapter is going to rapidly speed to its conclusion now, so you're not going to have much of a chance to get any more levels once the Tsukuba Building is over and done with.

Part 15 is out! All things come to a head rather rapidly, as we get answers for questions like why are the Crusader's kidnapping people, what happened to Watanabe's dad, what exactly the relationship between Akira and Matsu is, and is the Steel Titan really that powerful? Apologies if I seem exceptionally scatter brained in this video, I had a hard time finishing my thoughts and ended up repeating myself a couple times.

Extra Notes

-There are a handful of side rooms I passed over in the Tsukuba building that contain items like Grenades, but we already had everything I cared to get in this chapter so I just focused on getting to the end.

-If you have any spare equipment for Matsu when he joins, feel free to gear him up. Obviously anything that brings up his surprisingly low Physical Attack will do good for him. I'd only really call it necessary if you plan to take on the boss at the end of the building in a straight fight. Note that anything that is equipped to Matsu in the SFC version will be lost when he leaves the party, while this isn't a problem in the HD version as Matsu will be unequipped after a point.

-You can take on the W-1 robot in a straight fight if you desire, and he can be a challenge as he hits very hard. The best way to approach him is with a few No. 9 potions and positioning Taroimo to take his hits while Akira and Matsu chip away at him with their best attacks.

-With the accessories gained from fighting security, there is some equipment that you can refine that is good on paper but is wholly irrelevant for the rest of the chapter and just won't be that helpful later in the game. Occult Amulets are the most worthwhile thing you can create at this point, and they will quickly find themselves outclassed when they come back into play.

-It just bears emphasis, the last time you have direct control of Akira before using Telepathy on Matsu, be sure to take Taroimo's accessories in the SFC version and equip them to Akira. At the very least, be sure to grab the Showa Chick Launcher. This is not necessary in the HD version as all secondary party members have their equipment returned to the protagonist's inventory at the chapter's conclusion.

Part 16 is out! After a somewhat surreally plotted but very mechanically grounded chapter, Distant Future is basically the exact opposite. This is a more story focused and distinctly character driven chapter that plays far more like a traditional adventure game as opposed to an RPG. Indeed, aside from two instances (one of them being the Captain Square mini game), this chapter features no combat whatsoever. Its rigid structure and dialogue heavy nature doesn't leave much room for to expound upon, but this one is always fun to revisit after awhile and I hope you enjoy the ride too!

Extra Notes

-There's not much to say in terms of mechanics for this chapter so it'll mostly be trivia. Most of the crew have their names derived from characters in science fiction stories, some more obvious than others (See if you can spot all the references!). This is actually something of a running theme in the game, with most of the NPC's in the Wild West chapter having names inspired by or directly taken from characters/actors in the Western genre, or Hong's original name of Sammo. Then of course there's more obvious pastiches like Max Morgan or the historical domain characters featured in the Twilight of Edo chapter.

-There is no reward for completing Captain Square, it's purely there for the fun of it as well as getting insight into the more esoteric situations that can pop up in the game's combat. There is a Steam achievement for playing it, but it literally is just for starting a session of the game. Completing it at the first opportunity to show up Kirk is a fun challenge, but if you're really interested in beating it then it's best to do it later when you gain the ability to save before each stage.

The video covering Captain Square is out! There is no reward for this mini game, it's purely there for the fun of it. Kind of disappointing, but also actually finishing it can be pretty annoying so I appreciate I don't have to go through it for an ultimate weapon or something.

Part 17 is out! Things begin to take a turn for the worse aboard the Cogito Ergo Sum as comms go down and attempts to fix it go poorly. On top of that, we find that security regarding the ship's cargo leaves something to be desired.

Part 18 is out! Mystery, intrigue, tragedy and arcade games. All this and more in the finale to the final chapter of the game. Or is it the final chapter....?

Part 19 is out! A brand new chapter in an all too familiar setting, as we are thrust into the role of a gallant knight questing to save the kidnapped princess. With our wizard friend by our side, this quest should be a cake walk.

Extra Notes

-There's no need to collect all the items in the castle now if you'd rather just jump right into the quest. I would definitely recommend raiding the store room though, as the armor there can be helpful. A good chunk of this stuff can also be equipped by Streibough, so that'll help him take a few more hits than his normally frail stature would allow him too.

-Despite being the beloved hero of the kingdom, Oersted is actually quite weak right now and has limited options to engage his foes. It's not a terrible idea to put Streibough first in the formation, since his skills flatly hit harder right now, and he has better AOE at a range.

-The balmgrass field restocks every time you exit from it, so you can stock up on as much as you like. Balmgrass is only capable of self healing for about 150 HP though, so it won't save your team from a disaster scenario.

-There isn't any reason to visit Archon's Roost straight away, but I figured it'd be fun to show off what happens if you do. Streibough's comments were more of a straightforward hint in the SFC version, since once again you aren't being guided along the plotted line there.

The quest to save the princess is in full swing, and we bring a couple of old dudes out of retirement to get the job done. They run circles around the whippersnappers, as it turns out. Playing the SFC version for fun this go around, but rest assured I'll be including clips from the HD version of the more notable scenes featured in this part in the next video.

Extra Notes

-You don't need to visit the village before ascending to the Hero's summit, but it is a chance to pick up more Balmgrass/Naoriguisa before setting out into the tougher areas.

-It's not a terrible idea to grind to level 4 before ascending the summit, since the enemies are a bit more dangerous there.

-Once Uranus joins, it can be a valid option for grinding on the summit to put him in leading position for battle. Voice of God will heavily damage a lot of things there, if not outright kill a good chunk of them.

-Once Hasshe joins, absolutely put him at the front. He blows everyone out of the water right now, and can easily win every battle by himself.

-I mention this in the video, but like so many other chapter party members, Streibough will not be with us forever. He does learn techniques all the way up to level 16 though, and I can assure it takes a ludicrous amount of time to get him there. Only do that if you're deathly curious to see what he gets.

Part 21 is out! The wheels come off the wagon at this point in the chapter, and Oersted has to grapple with an unfortunate sequence of events where things were not quite as they seemed.

Extra Notes

-For both versions of the game, it's not a terrible idea to take the best armor pieces Hasshe has before fighting the fake Lord of Dark if you didn't happen to get any extras on the mountain. While you do obtain Brion when he dies, all other equipment he had is just lost forever, even in the HD version.

-Both Streibough and Uranus have new techniques they learn as they level up, even though they leave the party well before they will ever organically reach those level ranges. Streibough in particular has a level 16 technique, and it takes an ungodly amount of grinding to get him to that level in order to actually see it.

-If you hadn't looted the castle of its healing items previously, then you'll definitely want to do so now before returning to Archon's Roost as the new enemies within can really lay a smackdown on you. Relatedly, it's a good idea to stock up on balmgrass as the hidden meadow.

-I'd recommend power leveling to at least level 11 before delving too deep into Archon's Roost. The enemies can be very nasty to deal with when you're just a lone Oersted, and both the stats and techniques you have by level 11 make the going much smoother.

Part 22 is out! I could say some things, but I think it's better to just let this one play out. We're entering the true end game now.

Part 23 is out! Oersted has had enough of being the gallant night and decides to just burn it all to the ground. But that's not how we can let the game end, is it? The final chapter will allow us to select any one of the previous protagonists of the game as our main character going forward, and hopefully they can secure a better ending than the one featured in this video. Since we're now suddenly spoiled for choice, I figured it's a good time to run another poll! You can vote at the link below, first place will be our protag for the HD version, and second place will get to take center stage in the SFC version. I'll run the poll until Saturday, and the results will be finalized that morning.

https://strawpoll.com/NPgxEMvk4Z2

The Poll has been called!



As you can see, Lei will be our heroine for the HD version going forward, while Akira rocketed up the poll at the end and will take charge in the SFC version. That has a number of drawbacks for me as the player, but it will make things interesting at least. Big thank you to everyone who voted, I should be able to make the next video soon!

Part 24 is out! We begin the proper version of the Dominion of Hate, setting out with our preferred protagonists. The first order of business is to assemble a team.

Extra Notes

-The stories finally come together, and we have access to all our protagonist characters save for Oersted. It's important to note that in the SFC version, characters come in only with whatever they were equipped with by the end of their chapter. In the HD version, every character starts and joins in with their entire inventory that they had by the end of their chapter, including equipment that was equipped to their allies. You have a lot more to work with in the HD version due to this, and don't need to be as mindful to load up your characters with the best equipment before closing out their chapters. Let's go over the protagonists and how they stack up with each other real quick:

Pogo: Not much to say about Pogo, he's just about one of the best characters both as your main and as a party member. His HP and defenses are sky high, and he has incredible attack power as well. In both versions he can come in with some of the most powerful equipment in the game, and in the HD version he brings a wealth of supplies to make the early going easier if he's your main. He'll also easily be one of the highest leveled characters in the chapter regardless of anything. About the only weakness he has is that his AOE skills are fairly underpowered, which can easily be compensated for with other characters. Most people end up using Pogo in their party, and for good reason. If he's not your main, it can be advisable to hold off on recruiting him for some characters. Some people like Masaru and Cube enter the chapter woefully under powered, and their chances of beating him in order to recruit him can be a little dicey. Lei is the only person who can recruit him without a fight because he's a pre-historic simp. Pogo can be found in the balmgrass field if he isn't your main character, which makes him a little harder to find in the SFC version since it's a secret area you might not even know about.

Earthen Heart Master: Very good, close to the best you can use. Lei, Yun and Hong are all great in their own ways, though I'd say Lei and Yun bring a bit more to the table with their unique skills. Funnily enough, most of the Earthen Heart skills aren't that great, with Yun getting a lot of mileage out of Wise Fox's Grace but that's about it. Where all three of these characters excel is their unique skills they begin to learn as they level in this chapter. Sacred Dragon's Temper with Lei is an especially potent field nuke in many encounters. Hong definitely falters a bit here, as most of his uniques are easily interrupted charge based skills, but like all others he will eventually be able to use Heavenly Peaks Descent as much as he wants. He's also the most durable Earthen Heart by a mile, so he has that going for him. All three can be found at the peak of the mountain (how appropriate), but each has a different recruit requirement. Yun will just join you, no questions asked. This means it's a good idea to not use Yun as your main if he's the Earthen Heart Master. Lei will demand a fight, like so many others, and you must defeat her to recruit her. Hong has the most unique requirement, you need to feed him in order to recruit him. How much he needs to be fed depends on the quality of the items you give him, with 19 balmgrasses being the absolute most you need to feed him to get him to join. Hong is one of the most annoying people to recruit due to this, so he's not a bad choice for main if you want to avoid that. Regardless, all of the Earthen Heart Masters are worth adding to your party and like Pogo, most people do work them in.

Oboromaru: Like Pogo, Oboromaru joins in with tons of supplies and excellent equipment if you played his chapter in a completionist fashion. Oboromaru has a little bit of everything, with great ranged skills, decently powerful AOEs, and any charge based skill he has is usually fast charging. If you played for kills in his chapter, he'll also sign on at a high level with most of his skills ready to use. Oboromaru isn't the absolute best at any one thing, but his versatility makes him a decent addition to any team and he's another good main due to his resource boon. To recruit him, you must examine the sign outside Archon's Roost. Oboromaru will ambush you, and if you defeat him, you can recruit him. Like Pogo, he can be a little precarious to fight with certain characters, so you may want to hold off for a bit until you're absolutely ready for him. Oboromaru is an advisable addition to your team, though I would say he's a no brainer like Pogo or Lei.

Sundown: Sundown is the first character where I feel which version of the game you're playing is a major factor in his usability. In the SFC version, Sundown is a major glass cannon. He has low HP and defense, but extremely high power and good range on all his moves. His ultimate skill is also just outright busted, and will almost always hit for the damage cap of 999. His damage has been severely toned down in the HD version, and since most of his moves are multi-hit he also has serious accuracy problems. This does limit him quite a bit, because he's just as frail as he was in the SFC version without as much of a justification for it. He's an easy choice for main in the SFC version, but I wouldn't really advise using him as such in HD. His recruitment process is also rather lengthy, requiring you to talk to him in a variety of locations before he joins. Once you do recruit him, I wouldn't recommend dropping him until you complete his personal dungeon. Sundown will return to a random location among the places you've spoken to him once removed from the party, making it a small hassle to re-recruit him. Again, he's an easy recommend for your party in the SFC version, but he's wildly inconsistent in HD so I wouldn't really call him a must-have.

Edit: Shout out to HannaCrusis for a clarification, in the HD version Sundown will always return to Hasshe's hut when dismissed from your party. This makes him much less of a hassle to put back into your line up if you dismiss him.

Masaru: I know I was very subtle about this, but I'm not a huge fan of Masaru in any capacity. He's a terrible choice for main since he is the lowest leveled character by a mile and has absolutely no items at his disposal when he joins in. As a party member, he does level up very quickly but all his moves are rather weak. He also has abysmal special defense, especially in the SFC version, so he can be remarkably frail in spite of his sky high HP. Now the HD version does throw him a couple bones. His moves are generally stronger across the board, and the weakness system means he can actually hit fairly hard when striking a weakness. He covers more move types than you'd expect, so it's rare he's ever left with no good options. All that said though, he still falls pretty short. He doesn't really have any single target attacks that outpace anyone else you can use, his range is poor and his AOE skills are really bad in terms of damage. Masaru is also by far the least accurate character in the game, so you will be seeing Miss pop up annoyingly often when you use him. You can get his ultimate weapon without much fuss, and it is one of the strongest in the game, but that mostly just bring him up from bad to decent. Masaru can be found in the gaol of the castle, and will need to be fought in order to recruit him. Unless you are playing as Sundown or Cube, he'll join without a fight in that case. I really wouldn't recommend using Masaru, he's just kind of bad.

Akira: Another character where version has a major impact, though thankfully it's a more positive change up compared to Sundown. Functionally, Akira has the same role in your party in the HD version that he does in the SFC version, but all of Akira's stats have seen a sizable bump in HD, particularly his HP and defense. As well, many of Akira's skills have had their charge time reduced or removed entirely, allowing him to act much more quickly in battle. Akira boasts the best range and AOE in the game, as well as being inarguably the best debuffer in the game. His ultimate skill is also a field nuke like Sacred Dragon's Temper that can inflict every ailment in the game, including petrification! Akira was merely okay in the SFC version due to his frailty and relatively low damage, but he's a solid addition in HD. As your main, he joins at a high level with a decent spread of supplies like Pogo and Oboromaru, though his items and equipment aren't quite as good. As a party member, he's decently easy to recruit. He'll be found lounging in the Forgotten village, and he can be recruited with or without a fight depending on the dialogue choices you take. I wouldn't rate him as must-have in either version of the game, but he's a passable addition in SFC and a pretty good one in HD. Since there's only 7 characters, you can't really make a perfect death squad where everyone contributes equally, so Akira has the most interesting niche uses if he's the odd-man out on damage dealing.

Cube: The most unique party member, though this isn't strictly a good thing. Cube works like Taroimo, not gaining EXP in battle but his HP, Accuracy, and Evasion can be upgraded through Power Parts. If you spent a lot of time farming those with Akira in the HD version, he can carry them into this chapter and buff Cube into the stratosphere. Cube can also use Taroimo's accessories to learn new moves, Dizzy Shot being a particularly good one to grab. If you failed to have Akira bring those accessories into the chapter, enemies do drop them on occasion so Cube isn't completely screwed out of new move options. Cube also has gargantuan natural defenses, so once you can upgrade his HP he is a supreme tank. He can also heal as a counter, giving him unparalleled survivability, along with aiding the survivability of anyone standing around him. Cube's biggest drawback is his fairly low damage potential. If he doesn't have Dizzy Shot, he has to rely on the incredibly slow Maser Cannon for damage, which tops out around 200 damage. Cube can only use one weapon, his ultimate weapon, so it takes a bit to get him in a good spot for attacking. Fortunately, his personal dungeon has no combat, so it's no issue getting the weapon for him. Cube is pretty ill-advised as a main due to the wonky rate at which he gains power, but he is an interesting supporting party member. To recruit him, you must grab his battery from the mountain, and reattach it to him at the castle balcony. He'll join you with no fuss at that point. I'm not a huge fan of Cube personally, but some people like him.

Edit: Shout outs to CptWedgie and HannaCrusis for some extra clarification! CptWedgie pointed out that Cube can use the Bowling Ball if you bring one of those into the Dominion of Hate, while Hanna pointed out that unfortunately Power Parts do not seem to carry into this chapter. So Cube is slightly stronger in one aspect but not able to be power gamed in another that I thought of.

This is just my take on everyone, if you know something I don't feel free to let me know!

-To get the best ending of the game, you must recruit everyone. You don't necessarily need to gear them up or do their personal dungeons, but you do need to have recruited them into your party at least once. I'll be doing all the dungeons and getting everyone to level 16 just for the sake of demonstrating all ultimate skills.

Part 25 is out after a brief hiatus! Now that we have recruited every character, we can delve into the meat of the Dominion of Hate and start securing the best equipment for the coming battles ahead.

Extra Notes

-Very large swathes of this chapter are completely optional. None of the trials need to be completed, and in fact you can head to the final boss without recruiting anyone if you so desire. That said, you can only get the true ending of the game by recruiting everyone at least once. Additionally, if you want to defeat all bonus bosses in the chapter, you'll want to have the best gear you can acquire for everyone. It's of minimal importance to actually get everyone's best weapon, but it does help out slightly later on.

-Akira's ultimate weapon doesn't give him immense attacking power like some of the other weapons do for other characters, but the status resistance it conveys is actually quite useful. It makes him immune to every major disable save for Petrification, making him a very reliable fighter in situations where those ailments are being tossed out like crazy. This is a pretty potent perk in the HD version where Akira is stronger in general.

-I passed up a piece of armor in Akira's trial, but it's nothing too critical. All of the best equipment pieces in the chapter can be obtained with no chance of losing access to them.

-If you manage to defeat the Ishtar in the SFC version, it gives massive EXP. It's a guaranteed level up even past level 16, though I'm sure it falls off after a point.

-Numerous boulders in Lei's trial require Heavenly Peaks Descent to smash, but as demonstrated you can get to the ultimate weapon without it just fine.

-Bountiful Heart gives pretty lousy EXP for how durable he is, so I'd recommend evading him at all costs.

-Hong especially wants to beeline for the Nunchaku, since it provides a solid boost to stats he is legitimately terrible in.

-Since Cube's trial has no combat whatsoever, it's prudent to do it ASAP if you plan to use him. Doubly so if he's your main character, since his attacking ability will matter much more. The Diode gives a tremendous bonus to the damage the Maser Cannon does, so it's especially important if you don't have access to Dizzy Shot.

-A bonus boss appears in Cube's trial after completing it. We'll take him down in due time.

-The boss guarding Masaru's trial is a complete joke in the SFC version. He only has a little over 400 HP there and most level 16 techniques can delete him outright. In HD he's more of an actual fight.

-Masaru's ultimate weapon is very important to grab ASAP in the SFC version. His stats are much worse there, so the ludicrous power boost it gives you is essential if he's your main character.

-I mention this in the video, but be sure to grab the Golden Topknot and keep it in your inventory. You need it for a bonus boss later.

-The encounter rate is quite high in the Trial of Power once it becomes active, so it's a great place for training your characters. Yet another bonus boss also requires you to flee from 100 battles in order to encounter them, so this is also a great place to grind that out.

Part 26 is out! More trials to clear, but as your team grows in strength these continually become less of an issue. I'm debating on whether or not I'll do a single video for all the remaining bonus bosses and the end of the game. It'd be a long one for sure, but I don't feel like the remaining bosses really have enough to them to warrant their own video, as the final dungeon is a pretty short rehash of something we've already done. Something to debate with myself.

Extra Notes

-It's highly recommended you pick up at least a couple pieces of the Cosmic/Ariel equipment. These are your only protection against petrification. While it's unlikely you'll ever have a situation where everyone gets hit with that status, not having to cure it is a huge boon for your party going forward.

-While slightly counter intuitive, you do not want one character to equip all pieces of the Cosmic/Ariel equipment. You should spread those around to your entire team so everyone can enjoy petrification immunity. One thing to note is that the Ring gives resistance to all elements/attack types on top of the immunity, so you should slap that on your most defensively frail character.

-Cube is innately immune to Petrify, so that's something to keep in mind when divvying out your Cosmic/Ariel equipment, should you plan to use Cube for your final team.

-There's no rush to defeat any of the bonus bosses in this chapter, take them on whenever you feel your team is ready. Once you have a team full of level 16 people and at least a couple ultimate weapons, you should be ready for anything.

-I'm sure you can clear the trial of time before all the bells toll, but you should only ever enter it when your prepared for them to all toll. It's pretty mazey, and unless you've memorized the route to the .44, you are not getting out of there before Jaggedy Jack attacks.

-The HD version of the Trial of Instinct simplifies the correct path a bit, making it easier to get through the dungeon by just following the meat scent.

-Pogo's ultimate weapon is honestly not that much of an upgrade over the Buzzing/Fury Knife. The Cosmic/Ariel Ring is the much bigger prize for clearing this place out.

-Ditto for Oboromaru, really. If you got either of the ultimate weapons from his chapter, the Murasame is a pretty negligible upgrade and can be skipped if you don't feel like navigating the Trial of Keys. This dungeon doesn't even have a bonus boss going for it.

After a slight delay, the final video is out! I prefer to let the finales speak for themselves, so I won't ramble on about the minutiae of the video. Thank you so much to everyone who watched, and especially to everyone who commented on the videos and in the threads! There was quite a bit I would have missed without feedback, so I appreciate everyone who contributed what they knew to make the LP just a bit better. I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to catch you with my next LP! I'm in the practice playthrough stage of the next game I want to play, and that one is going to be a doozy and the biggest LP I've probably I've worked on. Should be a good time, methinks.