![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigozealOK: What follows is a diary of my activities in Retour. Quick recap of our game objectives for those not in the know: both Angelique and Rosalia have been given a continent to run. They are to "cultivate" their respective continents by directing the Guardians to send their powers over the elements of the universe (Wind, Earth, Green for vegetation, etc.) to make their lands more habitable, thus encouraging the development of settlements. You can ask a Guardian to send only so much power per day, though - you can either ask one Guardian to send a lot of his power, or two to send a little respectively. When one candidate fully develops her continent, the test is over.
...That candidate may not necessarily have won, however, since the winner is determined by a vote of the Guardians - and they vote completely at their own discretion. You may find favor with some just because you're doing well on the exam - but many will simply throw in with whomever they like better, making Angelique, depressingly, perhaps the most accurate workplace sim ever produced. Therefore, the real key to success is finding favor among the Guardians - by asking for their power and thereby flattering them; by chatting them up in their offices (which consumes the "action points" you would normally expend on cultivation); and by arranging to meet them in personal circumstances i.e., by going out on dates. If a Guardian becomes excessively fond of you, however, he may fall in love with you and suggest you get together with him instead of becoming Queen - which, this being in great part a dating sim, is of course another way to end the game.
Oh, and you can also blow your cultivation "action points" on other non-cultivation activities like getting early stat reports or casting spells to improve the relationships between certain characters, but we'll get into those later.
Since I am deeply invested in the welfare of little virtual people, I will not be using obstruction (where you use a Guardian's Sacrea powers to destroy your opponent's settlements instead of cultivating your own). This is a 100% pacifist run! Here we go:
Day 1:
Rosalia pops by to offer some advice on cultivation to make the competition fair, somewhat like what Rachel does (in a less condescending manner) at the start of Special 2. Since this will take the form of a weeklong tutorial, and I've been through over an hour of tutorial already, I gently turn her down and say I'd like forge my own path. Rosalia admires our attitude, pleased that she's getting an equitable contest with a game opponent; she warmly smiles and advises us to come out swinging!
Gerard drops in with some breakfast - juice and a muffin. We can hit up Gerard for some free advice, either on cultivation or romance, at the start of each morning. I'm all business, so I ask about cultivation. GeGe advises Clavis, prolly because I have the highest compatibility with him at Scorpio A...but Lumiale was the only Guardian who was nice to me when I tried to play the SFC version, so I think I'm sticking with our Lumi.
When you go to the map, there are now little icons at the various locations that tell you if a Guardian's out and about - you don't have to manually check each hotspot. My map said that Jules was at the park, so I went there to see if the game would let me talk to him with no hearts. It did, but he doesn't give you anything but a literal "nice weather we're having." (You can also talk to what seems to be the couple on the park bench for old time's sake, though no actual bench or couple is shown - just a still of the park.)
I also dropped by the RRI, where Olivie & Luva were hanging out, and Luva was a bit more personable than Julious; I even got an affinity boost when I chatted with him! (Ditto for Olivie, though he was a bit more formal in his chit-chat.) I like this addition; it gives you something else to do in your everyday choresbeyond what you could do in the original game. It's not just "ask for power and go to bed."
After visiting Lumi, I looked at my continent's status screen, and it turns out that the people actually did need Clavis's power the most. Oh, well. While I'm in the status screen, I note that Limoges has an Accessories inventory, which currently consists solely of a rose quartz pendant given to her when she became a Queen Candidate. I wonder if Koei is selling replicas of those yet.
Day 2:
GeGe congratulates me for successfully cultivating a settlement on my continent. I'm beginning to warm up to him. I ask Gerard to put on my rose quartz pendant (can't do it myself, apparently) and ask for romance advice re: Lumiale. Gerard has no advice at this early stage, but he promises to keep an eye out for info: "You have Gerard on your side; he's always got his ear to the wall!" This is another improvement: you can get free advice at the start of your turn, and the increased interaction with the characters around you just gives the game a warmer feel.
I go to visit Clavis's office, but Rosalia's already there, dammit. Can I ask Clavis for cultivation if she has already?
...Apparently so! As opposed to his dour expression in the SFC version, Clavis just looks perpetually pissed off in this game.
Post-cultivation, I meet Clavis again at the park and Rosa again in her room. I can't just chit-chat with her willy-nilly, though! I need energy to do it, like with the Guardians.
Day 3:
Continent still needs Darkness according to the priest (though I think the report might not have refreshed yet). Clavis is out for the day. I decide to play it risky: even though Rosalia's getting cultivation, I dedice to go among my people and visit the continent.
The priest gives me a special advance update (and an affinity boost for him, which I guess makes cultivation more effective). Apparently, I need Julious's power now. Actually, though, Jules, Clavis, Randy, and Olivie are all in an four-way tie, so I think I'll still go after Clavis.
I'm initially disappointed with my visit, as you at first just get to tour the continent through a mirror projection, not actually visit it. You also hear the voices of your people, though, and their hopes and dreams and worries during the early settlement, which is nice.
It turns out, though, that I do get to go to the actual continent after all! And as soon as I step foot on its surface...
...OK, this is where I wish I had screenshots. Anyhow, it's Brian. "I get the feeling I've met him before," Angelique thinks, as Brian stares gaping. B approaches, and Limoges outright asks him if she they've met, whereupon he asks: "You remember?" (Limoges, oblivious, backs off with a "Um...never mind.") "If you don't remember, then you must have just imagined it," smooths Brian, and he, unlike anyone else on the continent, instantly recognizes her for the Queen Candidate she is. Brian advises her that, rather than being "petrified" by the immense weight upon her shoulders, to simply "keep on going...right to the very end...as if you don't even know it's there." He then departs.
Day 4:
Going to Julious. His brooch still looks stupid. I get the chance to ask Clavis out on Sunday when I run into him at the park, but it costs a heart, so I decide against it.
Day 5:
I talk to Randy at the park. Marcel & Zephel are at the Royal Research Institute, but I can't do anything with them, since they're manning the research station & the fortunetelling booth respectively. Always weird to see Zephel on fortunetelling duty - though I suppose if we get into that, we have to examine why there's a fortunetelling booth at an ostensibly scientific institute in the first place. (It was in a separate building in the original. See what happens when you get rid of Sara & Pastha, Angelique?!)
I go ask Olivie for some power. His musical theme is the crazy nightmare I remember it being in the SFC version. (The music in the game is largely inoffensive but unmemorable.) Olivie kvetches about how boring it is to be stuck in an office all day. Tell me about it, fashion man. Afterward, Marcel's moved onto the park, so I can get a slight affinity boost for him. Zephel is also off fortunetelling duty, so I also talk to him. I haven't been seeing much at all of either, and I've no doubt they'll be in Rosalia's corner come the monthly vote.
Day 6:
Continent inspection day! The formal inspection day, not my self-appointed one. "It's not easy being adored," Rosalia opines as she descends to visit her followers. "But that's not anything about which SHE has to worry, is it?" (So I see they've kept a bit of SFC Rosalia for old time's sake.)
When I go to the RRI, Dia greets me with a surprise: I can invite a Guardian to go with me on inspection. I settle on Lumiale, as it doesn't seem like Clavis would be that interested in an inspection tour. Or in going out & about. Or in doing stuff in general. My priest, ignorant of the existence & nature of Guardians, refers to Lumiale as Limoges' "retainer."
My followers have also sent an offering to the temple: candy. I assume I can now lead them to seal the monster lairs. The "candy" appears to be a little orange shaved ice thing with a daisy decoration. Limoges seems to like it; she wants to try to make it herself, and gets a recipe to do so (a lead-in to the game's confection mechanic, which we'll get to when the monthly vote comes around). She also approves of the high quality of her people's candymaking as indicative of the level of their civilization.
The priest suggests we also tour the harvest festival and go shopping. Right on. Hitting the bazaar, I discover I can buy: an opulent "accessory box"; an art box that seems to be inlaid with mother-of-pearl; hightop sneakers; a folding fan; a book cover; and several beverages: cocoa, cappucino, a tropical fruit drink that is Olivie's drink from the Joysound promotion, cola, and green tea. Not wanting to be a human cupholder for the rest of our visit, I buy the shell box as a present for Lumi, though I can't give it to him here.
I then have a choice of visiting the village plaza or the city streets. Streets seem a little crowded for Lumiale, so I choose the plaza. Lumi is deeply pleased; it seems that everyone is singing & dancing, and their love of music warms his heart. He asks to be brought back here again. It was a genuinely sweet time! I again find myself ruing the lack of a screenshot function.
Limoges also gets a dream tonight. Oscar & Randy admiring the resolve of the Queen Candidates. Yawn.
Day 7:
Free day! I decide to invite Clavis on a date. The park seems a safe bet (as opposed to the "lake of romance," which is only for when you're going steady, or my room, which in-game is innocuous but seems...wrong.)
But Clavis turns me down cold. Limoges says that she should've made an appointment beforehand. Ah, well. I deliver the inlaid box to Lumi. He loves it! So I have a chance to invite him to the park. I take it! But HE doesn't want to go to the park, either. Man, y'all a bunch of stick-in-the-muds. I'm not going after either one of you. Next time, I'll talk with Rosalia. SHE won't turn me down. I don't think it's in her programming.
~*~
Lesson learned:
- Don't invite Guardians out on Sundays. Let them come to you, or talk with Rosalia to increase affinity with her instead.
Continent status:
Elysium: pop. 430, 4 buildings; Felicia: pop. 342, 3 buildings
.
...That candidate may not necessarily have won, however, since the winner is determined by a vote of the Guardians - and they vote completely at their own discretion. You may find favor with some just because you're doing well on the exam - but many will simply throw in with whomever they like better, making Angelique, depressingly, perhaps the most accurate workplace sim ever produced. Therefore, the real key to success is finding favor among the Guardians - by asking for their power and thereby flattering them; by chatting them up in their offices (which consumes the "action points" you would normally expend on cultivation); and by arranging to meet them in personal circumstances i.e., by going out on dates. If a Guardian becomes excessively fond of you, however, he may fall in love with you and suggest you get together with him instead of becoming Queen - which, this being in great part a dating sim, is of course another way to end the game.
Oh, and you can also blow your cultivation "action points" on other non-cultivation activities like getting early stat reports or casting spells to improve the relationships between certain characters, but we'll get into those later.
Since I am deeply invested in the welfare of little virtual people, I will not be using obstruction (where you use a Guardian's Sacrea powers to destroy your opponent's settlements instead of cultivating your own). This is a 100% pacifist run! Here we go:
Day 1:
Rosalia pops by to offer some advice on cultivation to make the competition fair, somewhat like what Rachel does (in a less condescending manner) at the start of Special 2. Since this will take the form of a weeklong tutorial, and I've been through over an hour of tutorial already, I gently turn her down and say I'd like forge my own path. Rosalia admires our attitude, pleased that she's getting an equitable contest with a game opponent; she warmly smiles and advises us to come out swinging!
Gerard drops in with some breakfast - juice and a muffin. We can hit up Gerard for some free advice, either on cultivation or romance, at the start of each morning. I'm all business, so I ask about cultivation. GeGe advises Clavis, prolly because I have the highest compatibility with him at Scorpio A...but Lumiale was the only Guardian who was nice to me when I tried to play the SFC version, so I think I'm sticking with our Lumi.
When you go to the map, there are now little icons at the various locations that tell you if a Guardian's out and about - you don't have to manually check each hotspot. My map said that Jules was at the park, so I went there to see if the game would let me talk to him with no hearts. It did, but he doesn't give you anything but a literal "nice weather we're having." (You can also talk to what seems to be the couple on the park bench for old time's sake, though no actual bench or couple is shown - just a still of the park.)
I also dropped by the RRI, where Olivie & Luva were hanging out, and Luva was a bit more personable than Julious; I even got an affinity boost when I chatted with him! (Ditto for Olivie, though he was a bit more formal in his chit-chat.) I like this addition; it gives you something else to do in your everyday choresbeyond what you could do in the original game. It's not just "ask for power and go to bed."
After visiting Lumi, I looked at my continent's status screen, and it turns out that the people actually did need Clavis's power the most. Oh, well. While I'm in the status screen, I note that Limoges has an Accessories inventory, which currently consists solely of a rose quartz pendant given to her when she became a Queen Candidate. I wonder if Koei is selling replicas of those yet.
Day 2:
GeGe congratulates me for successfully cultivating a settlement on my continent. I'm beginning to warm up to him. I ask Gerard to put on my rose quartz pendant (can't do it myself, apparently) and ask for romance advice re: Lumiale. Gerard has no advice at this early stage, but he promises to keep an eye out for info: "You have Gerard on your side; he's always got his ear to the wall!" This is another improvement: you can get free advice at the start of your turn, and the increased interaction with the characters around you just gives the game a warmer feel.
I go to visit Clavis's office, but Rosalia's already there, dammit. Can I ask Clavis for cultivation if she has already?
...Apparently so! As opposed to his dour expression in the SFC version, Clavis just looks perpetually pissed off in this game.
Post-cultivation, I meet Clavis again at the park and Rosa again in her room. I can't just chit-chat with her willy-nilly, though! I need energy to do it, like with the Guardians.
Day 3:
Continent still needs Darkness according to the priest (though I think the report might not have refreshed yet). Clavis is out for the day. I decide to play it risky: even though Rosalia's getting cultivation, I dedice to go among my people and visit the continent.
The priest gives me a special advance update (and an affinity boost for him, which I guess makes cultivation more effective). Apparently, I need Julious's power now. Actually, though, Jules, Clavis, Randy, and Olivie are all in an four-way tie, so I think I'll still go after Clavis.
I'm initially disappointed with my visit, as you at first just get to tour the continent through a mirror projection, not actually visit it. You also hear the voices of your people, though, and their hopes and dreams and worries during the early settlement, which is nice.
It turns out, though, that I do get to go to the actual continent after all! And as soon as I step foot on its surface...
...OK, this is where I wish I had screenshots. Anyhow, it's Brian. "I get the feeling I've met him before," Angelique thinks, as Brian stares gaping. B approaches, and Limoges outright asks him if she they've met, whereupon he asks: "You remember?" (Limoges, oblivious, backs off with a "Um...never mind.") "If you don't remember, then you must have just imagined it," smooths Brian, and he, unlike anyone else on the continent, instantly recognizes her for the Queen Candidate she is. Brian advises her that, rather than being "petrified" by the immense weight upon her shoulders, to simply "keep on going...right to the very end...as if you don't even know it's there." He then departs.
Day 4:
Going to Julious. His brooch still looks stupid. I get the chance to ask Clavis out on Sunday when I run into him at the park, but it costs a heart, so I decide against it.
Day 5:
I talk to Randy at the park. Marcel & Zephel are at the Royal Research Institute, but I can't do anything with them, since they're manning the research station & the fortunetelling booth respectively. Always weird to see Zephel on fortunetelling duty - though I suppose if we get into that, we have to examine why there's a fortunetelling booth at an ostensibly scientific institute in the first place. (It was in a separate building in the original. See what happens when you get rid of Sara & Pastha, Angelique?!)
I go ask Olivie for some power. His musical theme is the crazy nightmare I remember it being in the SFC version. (The music in the game is largely inoffensive but unmemorable.) Olivie kvetches about how boring it is to be stuck in an office all day. Tell me about it, fashion man. Afterward, Marcel's moved onto the park, so I can get a slight affinity boost for him. Zephel is also off fortunetelling duty, so I also talk to him. I haven't been seeing much at all of either, and I've no doubt they'll be in Rosalia's corner come the monthly vote.
Day 6:
Continent inspection day! The formal inspection day, not my self-appointed one. "It's not easy being adored," Rosalia opines as she descends to visit her followers. "But that's not anything about which SHE has to worry, is it?" (So I see they've kept a bit of SFC Rosalia for old time's sake.)
When I go to the RRI, Dia greets me with a surprise: I can invite a Guardian to go with me on inspection. I settle on Lumiale, as it doesn't seem like Clavis would be that interested in an inspection tour. Or in going out & about. Or in doing stuff in general. My priest, ignorant of the existence & nature of Guardians, refers to Lumiale as Limoges' "retainer."
My followers have also sent an offering to the temple: candy. I assume I can now lead them to seal the monster lairs. The "candy" appears to be a little orange shaved ice thing with a daisy decoration. Limoges seems to like it; she wants to try to make it herself, and gets a recipe to do so (a lead-in to the game's confection mechanic, which we'll get to when the monthly vote comes around). She also approves of the high quality of her people's candymaking as indicative of the level of their civilization.
The priest suggests we also tour the harvest festival and go shopping. Right on. Hitting the bazaar, I discover I can buy: an opulent "accessory box"; an art box that seems to be inlaid with mother-of-pearl; hightop sneakers; a folding fan; a book cover; and several beverages: cocoa, cappucino, a tropical fruit drink that is Olivie's drink from the Joysound promotion, cola, and green tea. Not wanting to be a human cupholder for the rest of our visit, I buy the shell box as a present for Lumi, though I can't give it to him here.
I then have a choice of visiting the village plaza or the city streets. Streets seem a little crowded for Lumiale, so I choose the plaza. Lumi is deeply pleased; it seems that everyone is singing & dancing, and their love of music warms his heart. He asks to be brought back here again. It was a genuinely sweet time! I again find myself ruing the lack of a screenshot function.
Limoges also gets a dream tonight. Oscar & Randy admiring the resolve of the Queen Candidates. Yawn.
Day 7:
Free day! I decide to invite Clavis on a date. The park seems a safe bet (as opposed to the "lake of romance," which is only for when you're going steady, or my room, which in-game is innocuous but seems...wrong.)
But Clavis turns me down cold. Limoges says that she should've made an appointment beforehand. Ah, well. I deliver the inlaid box to Lumi. He loves it! So I have a chance to invite him to the park. I take it! But HE doesn't want to go to the park, either. Man, y'all a bunch of stick-in-the-muds. I'm not going after either one of you. Next time, I'll talk with Rosalia. SHE won't turn me down. I don't think it's in her programming.
~*~
Lesson learned:
- Don't invite Guardians out on Sundays. Let them come to you, or talk with Rosalia to increase affinity with her instead.
Continent status:
Elysium: pop. 430, 4 buildings; Felicia: pop. 342, 3 buildings
.
