More Crafting

Oh boy, that was a tough-ish one ... okay, basically in order to get those "chokers" -- accessories that you can put on the Tactics Ogre characters in order to multiply/amplify their damages, i.e. "Must Haves!" -- I World-ed back (travel back in time to Chapter 4) to re-do the Fire Temple and tackle Ifrit (this temple guardian drops the Codex of Jewelry III but because of a stupid glitch, this particular recipe for choker-crafting wouldn't drop when my team was below Level 33/34) ... anyway, now that I'm edging to the end of Level 30s, I World-ed back to the point where all the temples were still locked (bwah!) so I had to go through the laborious process of unlocking them again (many, many, many tedious, tedious, battles with horrible terrains, so OMG, MORE grinding) ... JUST to get into the Fire Temple (lucky I didn't have to fight through the other five temples).

Anyway, having finally confronted temple guardian Ifrit, it would NOT drop the recipe (scream/grunt/expletives) ... apparently had to try killing it at different angles, using different weapons/magic etc ... so, after, I think, a couple of HOURS attempting that (had to recharge PSP in between ...) I finally GOT the wretched thing to drop ~ PLUS two magic scrolls (yeahhh!). Then I World-ed Forward to the post-game "Coda" section to find ... well, luckily the recipe was still in my inventory (phew! or else I'd have thrown the PSP out of the window) ... yes, to find I have to redo the rescue Lanselot mission (!!) 

Which, actually, I didn't mind because partly the mission consists of just two battles (even though the final battle was a real pain in the backside the first time round they are still more interesting than the battles to unlock the temples and the final cut scenes are beautiful), and partly cos I wanted to test out the new gears. So I crafted three chokers (will have one more in a minute), various wizard hat + 1s and robe + 1s and head for the battles. Haven't noticed THAT big a difference yet but totally breezed through the mission. I was a little disappointed when I didn't get a Paladin class mark, which would have been good.

SO ... now I'm updated with my game and, perhaps, finally ready for the San Bronsa Ruins (?) Have to say I find this game incredible in that the system allows you to, like, time travel ... yes, by World-ing backward and forward (between what they call anchor points) might mean you have to re-do certain missions BUT the amazing thing is you get to keep or even gain characters and, more importantly, items in your inventory in the process. 


And I think that is why this overwriting-some-data-but-not-other system causes a lot of  confusion among players: On the gamefaqs forums, it is explained that different scenarios (between anchor points) within the four chapters and four Coda episodes act like saved files, so in order to SAVE any progress you've made between two anchor points (which could be recruiting a new character or getting an exclusive weapon/item), you need to complete the scenario in its entirety or else the system will not register the changes you've made ... but that is quite true; yes, you will lose the progress you've made if you don't save between two anchor points but you WON'T lose the items that you've gained. Strange yet utterly brilliant!!! With that, this game really takes equipment farming (and, unfortunately, grinding) to a whole new level/dimension.  

It's a shame the rescue Vyce mission involves World-ing back and do a completely different story line/route, which might result in some of my team members leaving/deserting (!!) Just don't want to risk that (Arycelle simply is too good an archer to lose) but it always means I will never "complete" the entire game (Coda Episode 4 is now just sitting there ...) But I still think Vyce deserves to die and I don't wanna deal with the necromancers side quest. Which means, of course, if I want more powerful equipment (like those terrifying cursed weapons), I may have to return to the Palace of the Dead (again ... yes, 100 levels this time) ... hmm ... dare I ... to even think about that ... 


PS just downloaded the game's OST ~ SO GOOD !!!