Following what tiring events we’ve been through, my now battle-hardened maux and I repair to our brothel, accompanied by our bros Hatsuo and Jasen who have elected to work with us. Diana has the fine idea of potluck and booze, and all of us unwind, indulging in merry compotation, talking a bit about this, talking a bit about that.
I’d like to note that, though I admittedly know little of them yet, the girls each have their own clearly distinct personality, competently conveyed, and in my opinion at least they are quite far away from any caricatural archetype so often populates video games. Aside from Thassa who so far is one-note, but I’ve had very little time for interaction with her. So, Tyranicon, heartfelt kudos on that point; the girls are fun, interesting, and I enjoy talking with them, hearing what they have to say.
Tired, to sleep I go, but anon wake up I must for I have a brothel to tend. Immediately I enter Diana’s office, to see if she has any new insight on the recent developments; but no, she offers no new dialogue. I go downstairs, and no sooner have I arrived there that who calls, telling me she’d like to talk to me in her office? Diana. Ugh. Come on, game… I was just there.
Some brothel-centric talk later, I go downstairs again, where I share a drink—a nearly-corrosive ‘Rocket Cleaner’ of nonpareil potency—with Zafra:
Ok, I have to talk about this for a second. When describing an action currently taking place, the writing oftenwhiles alternate between past and present tense. Here, the first sentence should be either “Zafra throws an arm over you and guides you to the bar,” or the slightly more distant but nevertheless correct “Zafra threw an arm over you and guided you to the bar.” Not this heinous mismatch of throws followed by guided. It’s a weird beginner mistake that is peppered everywhere in the game; and honestly I’m surprised to see that, because as far as the rest of the writing is concerned, it’s pretty damn good and certainly undeserving of being thusly dragged down.
Now for something else. I want stats, and items, and going where I want to go, all at mine own pace.
First, I have enough XP to level up:
Each level grants me three points can be invested in stats. Seeing that evidently the enemies can hit really hard, I want a bit more HP; being a Shaper, I want more Spirit; and if my experience so far is indicative of a greater trend, people in this game can be hard to hit, so I want more Reaction since it improves my to-hit.
Equally important to spend are the Class Points I receive along each level. I don’t yet have access to the sub-classes, so I max—one point each only—the first two tiers of available abilities.
Notice how some abilities require SP, while others don’t. Those that do are Skills, while those that don’t are Features. Despite this, Features can’t be used nilly-willy, as they have a very limited number of uses per combat.
Wandering the streets of Saint Gorfu (district in which the brothel is situated), I then head to the shops—but only to browse since I’ve spent nearly all my credits on much-needed upgrades for the brothel.
First stop, Golgo’s place, wherein an ominous, blood-encrusted chair and surgical tools catch my eyes:
His services include changing my or my companions’ classes, and augmentations, but unfortunately I don’t have the money to browse these. Also, for those who can afford it, he proposes to change one’s sex, the option being either ‘penis’ or ‘vagina + tits’. Wait? + tits? Hold on; during character creation I only had the option for ‘vagina’, so does that mean I have no tits? But those are the best part!
As well in Golgo’s shop, we hear a little bit of dry humor:
On to the weapon shop, whose owner explains to me that the reason she doesn’t like bulletproof glass is it works both ways. There, I see the following:
– All sorts of guns, from normal ones to flechette-loaded others;
– Melee weapons, from knives and swords to polearms and hammers;
– Shields, to accompany your favorite handgun or stiletto;
– A special category of weapons, including LMGs, grenade launchers, powered greatswords and greatmauls;
– A ‘Mastercrafted’ category that proffers two extremely expensive items, a revolver and a katana (the latter made of supeliol japanese steelu?);
– A lone, so-called SMART gun, also quite expensive;
– Armors, improving either your melee or balistic resistance;
– Channels, being basically staves for those practiced in gramaries;
– Mods, these to add elemental damage to your weapons, or to extend your range, improve your Reaction, Defense, and so forth;
– And lastly two ‘LTL’ weapons, whose purported particularities I failed to grasp.
Alas, as noted, I’m a broke whore at the moment, so I don’t exactly get to buy anything.
And oh! how times passes when I take notes for a Let’s Play; and as time passes in-game also, my whores are ever dutiful, and ding! is the sound I hear when I receive my meed. Quick side note: other than Final Fantasy 8, I don’t remember a single game in which my character received a salary. That’s actually fun.
Thus does the clicking of my high heels bring me back to the brothel, where I want to buy the last remaining basic facility upgrade, ic est the Blood Pit.
But entering the premises, there began playing a truly horrible music track—the first track in the game I do not like, so it’s definitely not the put-down it might seem. Personal taste of course, but this particular one sounded like the worst kind of techno, complete with a guy periodically interjecting “INTERCEPT!” with his gruff electro-distorted voice. Off, off, to the jukebox I speed and change the music; now rises a faintly bucolic track, that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in Stardew Valley, and vaguely evokes Dmitry Shostakovich or Georgy Sviridov.
As I transfer the required money for the Blood Pit’s construction I wonder if, possibly, Zafra and Windress—whose murtherous proclivities are evident—will be pleased by that. And half a second later, I get a notification that yes, indeed, my Trust with Zafra and Windress has grown! Huzzah. Love it.
Now I visit newly-built places within the brothel I’ve not yet seen. Stopping by the janitorial service, I get a good laugh, if a meta one. Remember how, earlier, I joked about Tyranicon’s favorite-ever game supposedly being the Witcher 1? Because of the extremely limited number of character models in that game, which is also the case for Memoirs. I joked that in the street, I randomly met my twin sister and mexican maid, Consuela. Well, guess who’s a janitor for the brothel now? Consuela!
And as you can see, some people now working for the brothel can train me, improving certain stats. I have a bit of money left, so Consuela trains me to better detect stains, while other people teach me how to dangle my heels to greater effect (Charm), and how to write Python (Technology).
Next up: we explore the entire world!
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