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S02E02: The First Day.
Before I played this updates worth of content, I had been talking in the Aldorlea discord about which of Indy's games I like/dislike/have mixed feelings for and Indy himself chimed in to say he also strongly dislikes LP2.
According to him, he made it to try to appeal to the 'dumb, bad' tastes of the French RPGMaker community of the time.
I mentioned this in the OP, and even my prior threads but I had a French friend that grew up with these games and the RPGMaker community in general, and he made the claim the French community disliked Indy for numerous reasons. Primarily that he wasn't making artsy games and then that he had the SHEER NERVE to try appeal to a wider audience by translating his games to English.
Though he did mention they allegedly named their pervert game award after Indy, so those were likely not the only two reasons. I doubt anyone would really bat an eye at Laxius Power these days though.
I also went and grabbed the extremely incorrect Home of the Underdogs review of this game
quote:
A great sequel to one of the best freeware console-style RPGs, Laxius Power II is even larger and more polished than Laxius Power, the prequel which was already an epic-sized RPG. Everything that was great about the first game has been improved and magnified in this one: a bigger gameworld, more subquests, better graphics, and more interesting NPCs than the original. You can now control all four heroes of the saga, each of whom follows his or her own agenda throughout the game.
Fans of the original game will note right away that the graphics are much better. There are now neat fog effects, and the gameworld in general is more detailed. Like the first game, Laxius Power II is huge – expect to spend at least 25 hours on this one – and many more if you try to do as many subquests as possible. While the plot is somewhat cliche, many cutscenes and plot twists keep things interesting. What also sets Laxius Power II apart from most console RPGs is that the designer is not afraid to tackle many mature and controversial subjects you don't commonly see in "cute" anime games. Throughout the course of the game, you will watch characters deal with rape, homosexuality, and other difficult subjects. The game handles these situations quite realistically without many "cheap shots", although regrettably stereotypes are sometimes used haphazardly to justify or at least explain the situation, without delving deeper into each character's personality.
The gameplay is fun – nothing innovative here, but standard console RPG mechanics are implemented well. You will fight numerous enemies, wield powerful weapons and spells (some of which can call powerful gods/goddesses to your aid), and explore dangerous dungeons. My only gripe is that the four heroes' destinies are not equally interesting, and some are much more difficult/longer than the others. The game also has a few bugs, typos, and grammatical errors/quirks – probably due to the fact that it was translated from the original French. But overall, the good points more than outweigh the bad. If you like console RPGs, Laxius Power II will surprise you with its size, plot focus, and a very professional look. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by: Underdogs
Like Laxius Power 1 and 3, they also put this on the Hall of Belated Fame/Top Dogs
They're also listed under the Anime category.
Also, I'm looking at that line about the characters dealing with rape and homosexuality and am struggling to remember anything of the sort. Maybe some NPC here or there says something but I can't remember any major story beats dealing with those.
ALSO, you can tell that review is ancient because it talks about dealing with homosexuality like it's a taboo adults only topic.
But let's get to the game proper:
When you select a scenario you get pictures of the scenarios protagonist to indicate who we'll be playing as, mostly, from the 'debut party.' Now, Guanidia does have a subplot in Random's scenario, but Leanda's subplot might as well not exist, and Herasia doesn't even get a real attempt at one. There'll be other party members as well, though, but all of them suck and I don't think they matter at all past this game besides the new 'friend' Sarah will make, and one person from Random's class.
The caravan captain appears and tells Random we're only a few hours from Tyrine.
Random has no way of knowing this now, but years from now a sailboat captain will scream at him hysterically about the Tyrean Firth during one of the most out of nowhere meltdowns.
I have to watch the game slooooowly zoom in on this image for a while.
And then we cut to...
The caravan captain has come along too for some reason and reassures Random that despite looking bland, the place has a good rep.
The Guardian also tells Random that the schools Sword Masters will not go easy on him for already being a hero.
Time to go get formalities out of the way.
I'm cutting out like 3/4 of the dialogue here because theres a bit of back and forth and repeated introductions, first with the school caretaker Lucas and then the Headmaster De Kerchavel is sent for and there's more introductions.
It was said to be 30 Guardians before! But no one corrects him.
He says Random will have this afternoon off to explore the town and all. The Guardian and caravan captain have one last place to take Random anyway.
Random gets a free house!
The caravan captain calls it a damn comfortable manor, and it is pretty sizeable for one teen boy.
Anyway, sometime later, they leave and Random gets a first real look at his new home.
He runs laps through the front siderooms first.
And then heads into the room at the end of the hallway.
The free tour ends before we even see the bedroom and we get a save prompt.
There's a shelf of personal things...
And a 'pipe.' Random also thinks he won't get much use from the stone fireplace in this room.
And here's the bedroom.
Random has locked the party's fortune in this cabinet and hidden the key. Also, he's getting a stipend from the Guardians for whatever purpose.
And most of the import stuff is here I guess.
Let's try to talk to Guanidia.
I did say TRY.
We adjust Random's position a bit.
He's really happy to see Guanidia. He then claims he got lost in the house.
"together."
Then Random says of course he'll miss Sarah a lot.
I was not aware she even had much of a sense of humour.
Random asks if Guanidia is annoyed about the trip, but Guanidia changes the subject to exploring town, and then reveals he's kidding about that too.
"my only relationship!"
And after that, Random goes to bed.
Sleeping in full dress, above the sheets, on the edge of the bed like a true JRPG hero.
God, he's one of -those- morning people. Guanidia does not respond unless you directly speak to him, to which he says he's going to 'gaze at the sun' all day.
The living room has a save book now.
Grab some stashed GP in the kitchen/dining room.
When we leave the house, we are taken directly to the school.
Everyone we speak to right now will just give us directions to the class so I don't bother screenshotting any of it. Though someone does mention 4th Grade class Random is part of is right before you become a knight, apparently.
Random's class is on the top floor, so up we go.
Grabbing loot on the way.
That puts us at just over 10k GP right now.
And for whatever reason, Random did dig out the Missionary Landcoat but didn't grab a single accessory or piece of headgear.
Der Kerchavel's office is also on the top floor.
Doesn't have much to say, though.
We do yoink this from his messy secretary's office to sell later, though.
Roman gives a quick run down on the class and tells Random to try make friends with his classmates.
lol he's so judgemental.
Anyway, Roman wishes to test Random immediately.
This guy named Cecil is sent to fetch a Tyrine Knight Sword for Random.
And this guy volunteers to fight us.
He's got a bad attitude. I should point out that I think Random is meant to be by far the youngest in this class.
So, you're not meant to be able to win this fight. I've heard you can, somehow, and it skips what follows after, but I have no idea how you'd manage a victory. Randoms skills are disabled by that status effect and you have no healing items. Thomas waits and watched on the first turn so Random will deal a 70ish damage blow...
But then on turn 2, Thomas -DOUBLE HITS- like this. No amount of HP could survive that, since MAX HP caps at 999.
Random stumbles back in defeat...
Thomas laughs at Random refusing to admit defeat and wanting a rematch.
But, despite being tired and weak, Random convinced Roman to let him have a go with his personal sword. And later we'll find he ONLY equipped Metallist, so he was not dual wielding as usual.
lol.
We only have 1 HP and no way to heal enough to survive Thomas' attacks.
So the only for sure winning move is to use Quadra Metal.
Roman starts to tell Random what the Art of the Sword actually is, when there's a noise.
Roman talks up the newcomer a bit and tells Random not to judge her so quickly because she's a girl! She's very tough apparently!
Random's all 'So there's a girl too huh'
Next time - Random gets a group assignment!!!!
Stuff happens!!! Including one uh... scene that would be much more infamous if people actually played these games through and didn't just play 30 minutes of LP1 and stop. Or skip to the Force trilogy.
the end