The prerequisites for the different chapters change considerably between the chapters themselves. As the third chapter took quite a while to get unlocked, we are able to hop into the fourth immediately after escaping the affinity mission.

For this one, a lifehold has been identified in Noctilim that we have to head out to investigate. Here we manage to find yet another alien species and one of them ends up joining the group. Said individual is the best tank in the game, so there are a lot of strategies you're able to use with him. The problem is that he uses the same shield weapons as Lin, and with her being required on most missions, it becomes difficult to squeeze them both in.

If you are willing to backtrack to previously explored areas, there are more characters to recruit. Ormond, Hiro, and Galdorf are all found in the mines. We met Hiro while going through them, but the other characters are at the beginning and end. Falward is probably the most important acquisition here as he will be replacing Francesca as the team healer shortly. As for Frida, she and Hiro are the first vendors that can be recruited. If you have the building materials, you can immediately open their shops. By doing so, you will increase the castle population, which will affect how quickly we generate currency. Ormond and Kerrin (from the previous video) will give you free resources for building their stuff, so it is up to you on which to prioritize.

I dipped into this area two videos ago to show what it looks like before the path appears. Kallathor will accompany us, but he won't join until later. Past where he stands, we can find Martha and get the farm going in the castle to generate resources. Afterward, we are able to enter the Greatwood East, and upon beating the boss there, we are given the item we need to recruit Gieran. I will use him a bit later. After that, we enter the Treefolk Village and get some scenes, but it will be the next video where we explore it properly.

We do not have access to the full area of either location yet. There are glitches in both areas where the encounter table changes against the invisible wall, so if you want to really break the game, you can run along the wall for these later game encounters and use the EXP from there to dwarf anything in the coming segments. I opted not to do this, so we will remain level appropriate until we try to recruit the fisherman, but that is a few videos down the line.

The objective here is to find bodies to help us with the castle. Kerrin just needs you to do a short hike to gather some wood, which is easy enough. Afterward, she can set up a timber mill sort of thing in the castle to provide wood for you. Wyler needs help finding his sister, so you just explore the gathering points until you find her. Afterward, he joins you as a ranged fighter and she joins you as a support and healer. Personally, for this stage of the game, Marin is probably the best support you can have, so she will be tagging along in that slot for a very long time.

We have seen the primary battle system up to this point, but now we get to see the other two that carried over from Suikoden. The first is that we have a brief and simple strategy battle where there are 3 captains guiding units that have to repel the enemy. We have the fortifications, so we just need to let them crash into us until they are broken enough for us to go out and deliver the final blow.

From there, we have our first duel, which is technically winnable, but you will need to spend excessive time grinding to get to a high enough level. I believe some dialogue will change by winning, but the ultimate outcome is the same.

As Eltisweiss falls, we opt to regroup at the ruins of the castle. With everyone who survived chipping in, surely we can turn it into a place of repute.

I did not see much of a change in the main area of the Corridor, so I suspected the dialogue for everyone was the same. As a result, there is no need to waste a video talking to evryone again and we can instead plunge into the next stratum. I had to be a little creative in the editing here as I wanted to make sure it clocked in under two hours...

Anyway, the final layer is available at the end, so we need to get ready to face the true final boss now.

Not too much to say here. We continue delving into the next stratum which in turn will unlock the next one. Overall, kind of a filler segment, but we do get gear and stones to unseal.

Knowing the truth behind what is going on at the border, Nowa and crew decide to sneak around and see just how large the invading forces are. While there, we run into another familiar face that is not as receptive as the ones before.

Also, I don't know why it is, but having to do these stealth segments is still something that pops up in JRPGs. The mechanisms are not really here to support it, but for some reason they still get shoehorned in. I wish these went the way of the QTE.

My crash course with the game systems continue, this time learning what all it means to do an affinity mission. Basically, I am trapped doing this before I can do any major missions. To make things worse, HB is not really worth it. While he is a DLC character from the Japanese version, he is the worst of the shield users. In any circumstance, you are better off using L or Lynn, so this is ultimately a massive waste of time.

Failing to find the bandits we were looking for in the previous video, Nowa heads home and uncovers the plot. The only bright side is that we find out not everyone on the Imperial side is working together as we meet a familiar face. Sadly, the next one we meet will not be as receptive.

Also, a bit of a warning. About half of this video is combat as I opt to fight every single bandit here for power leveling purposes. It alone is not enough to get your level high enough to win the first duel, but it is going to do wonders for when we're about to do the next recruitment drive.

I don't want this to get lost in the uploading of Eiyuden, so we are going to move forward with Chapter 3. Sadly, the capture card lost the data between me walking out to the starting point and where the previous video ended. Nothing of real value is lost, as the important stuff comes later. This is basically the beginning of us recruiting other alien species to live with us while we try to figure out why some of the races outright hate us and whether that hate extends to other races we encounter.

This is where the loading times on Switch (how?) start to feel punishing. We must navigate the mines and push carts here and there to make progress while we investigate the bandits. Upon reaching the opposite end, we have a full blown team fight with them. Yusuke is really good for this segment as you can use his "block" Charge Up to defend one turn and then deal serious damage the next. It beats the "taunt" that Iugo offers by a huge margin. Kuroto and Mellore can attack from the back row and Francesca can heal, so I really recommend bringing those three for this part (bench Iugo).

When all is said and done, we have located the ruins of a castle, and a lot of hungry people. Ultimately, we will need to look more into this whole bandit thing and get to the bottom of it.

You run into Mellore in the city, but you must do this sidequest to recruit her. We must cross the ridge and fight the monster at the end of it, which has a minor gimmick to it. I don't know how you tell with certainty where the monster will pop up so you can hammer it down, but if someone tells me in the comments, I will pin it.

Upon defeating the monster, Mellore joins the team and we can finally change her equipment. If you fought 3 wild boars as you travel through here, Kuroto will join you when you go back and talk to him. Finally, if you talk to Yume's grandmother after clearing the area, you can come back to find Yume and her friend, the first of the "large" party members you are able to recruit.

To my knowledge, this is the extent of the early recruitments, so we will need to move the story forward a bit before more come up for grabs. Still, we are making good progress I think.

I will try to put the recruited characters in the title moving forward. Otherwise, Mio has gone on leave and Garr may be behind her, so we are given the temporary captain assignment. Our first job is to fill the ranks, which I believe you can complete whenever you have a 6 man party. However, there are more people to be had here, so we will do a brief sidequest where we can bring in 3 more...

After wandering through the forest and fighting a boss that reminds me of FF9, we are able to enter the ruins where the mission truly starts. Truth be told, little changes from the forest, but there are meant to be puzzles that I don't realize until the very end as I seem to solve them on the first try and must intentionally throw one to confirm it.

After a bit of exploring, Nowa and Seign are separated where we are introduced to the union system, where the characters can combine their moves for additional effects. There are numerous combos in the game, so this is only the tip of the iceberg. Then upon reuniting, we get to face the boss and learn the Gimmick system (it really is called that...).

When it is all said and done, we have a 6 month time skip, Mio has left and we need to go out and recruit some people to replace her. For those concerned, this is also the last video I've recorded where I spoke to date, so the next few are going to be a little quieter. Due to the considerable amount of voice acting, let me know if you want me to continue reading or just let them do their thing.

The official release for the game is meant to be tomorrow, but some people like myself were able to get it early. I put a few hours into it and we'll do the entire opening here.

This is the spiritual successor to the Suikoden series and is made by quite a few of the same people who worked on the original series. They were aiming to emulate the original two games and as for how well they succeeded, we will find out.

Story-wise, we are thrust into a job on our first day with the Watch. A ruin was discovered and a joint expedition is arranged between the League and Empire to explore it. We can change the gear of the Watch members, but the Imperials are fixed until they are recruited properly.

Battles consist of 6 party members in two rows going up against what is probably 6 enemies in the same formation. There will be other battle types that are revealed later, but for the time being we just have the classic style found in most JRPGs. The fights are random, but they are fairly few and far between.

Basically, there is a lot more depth to be had and it will take time before we can dig far enough to find it.

To be clear: this unlock started at the end of the Eldritch video. Lantern Jack must knock himself out in a losing game. From there, in a subsequent game, we need to go down to 1 HP (without getting knocked out) and reaching 30 HP. It seems that only Jack here can overheal himself, so you may want to bring Eldritch, Adept, or guys who give out of turn card plays or powers. I recommend plays more than powers.

As for this variant, it is decent. It revolves more around one-shots than just dealing outright damage, so it is hard to say which is better. The healing here can also lead to Baleful hits that put Fanatic to shame, and you have better chances of finding your ongoing cards to set up. There is a case to be made for both here without one eclipsing the other as I think is the case with Eldritch.

And with this video, I am most likely done with Earth Prime. The game never really hooked me like Multiverse did, and with the exception of the two newest heroes, I wasn't really a fan of what I found there. The heroes seem to be a bit on the weak side. Ultimately, what I liked best about this was probably the environments. For the villains, they are really hit or miss. Omega can become very tedious, and the Meta Mind can lead to some devastating unfun loops. I doubt these guys will get re-worked like the main Sentinels group currently is, but I would like to see Eldritch and Lantern Jack again someday.

This variant is crazy. That is putting it very mildly. To explain, you sacrifice a card from your hand to give a surge of tokens to a spell, possibly funding even a powerful master spell to go off. With some relics, cantrips, or a specific spell, you can start a ridiculous loop here that can spiral out of control if a game goes too long.

To unlock this monster of a card, you need to be against Malador, reduce his HP to 0 or lower while he is on his normal side, all 4 master spells must be in Eldritch's play area with enough tokens to power them. Finally, just lose.

If you pay attention to the spells Malador has in play, you may be able to trap him on his normal side to make this very easy provided you have the DPS. In the event things just go horribly, remember that his flipped mask card can destroy problem spells and generate tokens to flip him, so make sure to abuse it. Eldritch can provide out of turn power plays to speed this along if needed.

Overall, a somewhat easy unlock that is just on the time consuming side. Also, remember that I triggered the first part of the Lantern Jack unlock here, so we will need to finish that tomorrow.

I finally got around to playing with the mini-pack, which comes with a new villain, environment, and a pair of heroes that seem to be far stronger than the rest of their Prime counterparts.

Malador is an enemy that uses a unique persistent card, meaning only special cards can destroy his. These spells all have different effects that can either help him flip back and forth or make him remain on a specific side. Like the Matriarch, he has a mask that controls which side he is on. Sadly, I forgot to test whether Eldritch's tokens can be used to trap him on a specific side, which is something I would need to check if I play again.

As for Malador, his summoned beasts can deal a lot of damage due to their multi-hits. If there are any effects to enhance damage, the spider can practically two-shot a hero from full HP and few heroes could withstand that third strike. The catch to this is that if you have even small amounts of DR, he has a lot of difficulty trying to get through it. Flesh to Iron shuts him down hard, but there are a lot more cards that can do an equal effect.

Hero-wise, Eldritch is the Prime equivalent to the Argent Adept. You have relics that power your spells, and the master spells have game changing effects. You can pass along multiple card draws to multiple heroes, or enable multiple powers. The relics also give him more plays, draws, and powers, so it becomes a fairly simple affair to set him up. This has become my favorite hero in Earth Prime, and you haven't even seen his variant here yet.

Lantern Jack is interesting, and I describe him as the Fanatic equivalent. He has low HP, damages himself with some of his moves, but has very similar cards to Fanatic. There are cards that heal him, enhance his healing, and he has comparable cards to Holy Nova and Wrathful Retribution. What is even more broken that I did not get to test here, but I will demonstrate is that his Baleful (Wrathful) card is an absolute value, meaning that you can over..

I trigger the third chapter here, but this is still more of me exploring trying to make sense of the game and its systems since it does a horrible job explaining it on its own. As we get further into the game, more and more sidequests will open up and I do some exploring here, which was probably not the best. Truth be told, with what I know now, I would not bother with any of these quests until I have a Skell as it makes traveling so much easier. The rewards for them are not really enough to justify the headache.

The day this video releases is the fated day where the Wii U loses its online capability. I will probably stop playing the game after today, so whatever I am able to record leading up to that moment will be where the gameplay ends. You will get to see some of the other players here and there as I run into them in the overworld or see them in the barracks. Sadly, those brief encounters may be the only proof some of these people ever existed. I blame the eclipse.

The tutorial continues with us learning a few more things about the world, and here is where we can begin to make money as we are introduced to the data probes that will haunt us in all videos to come. There are still loads of other things we cannot do, so we need to be careful when navigating the world as the post game content is mixed with the normal gameplay stuff.

I was still expecting more in terms of tutorial for the game, but it just doesn't come. There is a digital manual you see in the menu, but it is not the same. Sadly, you would probably want to spend a little while trying to read online tutorials if you were to pick this up now. It would also let you know which quests to prioritize.

Anyway, we get to meet some of the potential party members here. The game will force you to use Lin and Elma for the vast majority of the game (some sidequests included), so hopefully you can get used to them. From time to time, you will be allowed a fourth party member, which you get to decide.

Anyway, once the tour of the city is over, we can take our first real mission.

With the shutdown of the servers looming on the horizon, I cannot delay playing this game any longer. I hop in mostly blind (I will read stuff later) to kick things off in my mad dash to get the Ares 90. Any additional tickets I get along the way will help for the other content that is gated behind online, but for the most part, I want to get that mech.

As for my objective with the game, it was primarily getting the content that will be lost before the time runs out. Beyond that, I will try to do quite a bit of the content, but I am not looking to 100% the game. There are too many RNG variables here for me to commit an appropriate amount of time to get optimal setups. As a result, I will try to piece together something I can use with the dregs we get along the way.

Story-line wise, we have just fled an alien attack on Earth and have been shot down on an alien world. We need to gather the survivors and escape to the remnants of our ship to survive. From there, we will be going on missions to find other survivors, meet aliens, and accomplish other objectives. Things start out very vague, but we will be filling in details as we go.

And this is where everything ends. Having to hop back to chapter 6, we must win over Sakamoto, who will help us with the final exorcism. The Departed realizes that its course of action makes it the same as those who killed them and shows mercy to prevent history from repeating itself and a new Departed from being created. We try to leave the restored girls alone, but with some effort, they are able to recall everything that happened and escape the curse.

It is short and with just a single character, but we get to address some of the rumors from OOPARTS back in NG. This sends us on a small tour around the city and in the end, Mary gets to make a cameo and the events of NG are set into motion.