Let's Play Suikoden 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brantly B.]

Ehhh... why is Chaco necessary again?

Since Sid is so obviously going to be in the party that I don't know why you put it to a vote, and since you're walking into a trap, I propose the Trap Card Party: Sid (ha ha, you activated Sid), Bob (ha ha, I activated Bob), and either Wakaba (ha ha, you powered up White Tiger) or Sheena (ha ha... oh.)

[Blossom]

Bob's a must-do, if only to see him hit the dogzone. But if we're talking trap party, well, I did vote for Simone.

[nosimpleway]

Sheena and Killey aren't quite to their "devastation is devastating" mode quite yet, if that affects your voting at all.

[Grath]

Where's my voting option for Hoi? He's max level, he must be OP!

[nosimpleway]

I was afraid certain that if a waste of space like Hoi was put into the poll in the first place, he'd be a sure bet to make it into the party. I know how you guys are, and I'd hate to put him into the poll out of fairness just to take him out of the party so I could, you know, continue the game without dying.

[McDohl]

Gengen and Gabocha.

[nosimpleway]

Since there's a maximum limit to the number of options I can put in a poll, I eliminate poor performers after each vote. Gengen dropped out long ago, and after I picked up Gabocha I put them in together, and they still couldn't amass a following.

At this rate you can say goodbye to Lorelai, Killey, Tsai (who returned after dropping out to pair with) Tomo, Kinnison (who returned to pair with) Ayda, Camus, Miklotov, Clive, and *sniff* Oulan.

[nosimpleway]

Still not 100% sure why Shu thinks you need to be here, Chaco.


But once the active party leaves, Shu gets another "I have a bad feeling about this" cutscene, because Japan still hates suspense. I've started skipping these, such as the part where Shu calls Chaco before we fight Luca, and the part where Shu calls for the archers to mass and follow Luca to the arranged point, purely because some of you haven't seen the game, don't know what happens yet, and might appreciate not being spoiled by the game constantly reminding us that Shu is always one step ahead.

But this time it's so obviously a trap I might as well point out that's what I'm doing, while I show Shu doing it.


We cross the lake and get into Kuskus, as the guards let us through now.


Yes, it's very sweet.


Chaco dammit you can't even--

We had to bring him along, but he's gone now.


The town is still completely empty, so there's nowhere to go and nothing to do but go straight toward the Hilltop meeting hall.

[nosimpleway]

Nanami: Jowy? Is that really you, Jowy? How have you been??
Jowy: Yeah, fine. But my name has changed. It's 'Jowy Blight' now.... Muteiu, how have you been?


Flippant response!

Jowy: I'm glad.........
Teresa: What's going on? This is supposed to be a peace conference, but it looks like no preparations have been made.
Leon: Well, this place was built to host peace conferences, but in this case, your side is going to surrender unconditionally.
Teresa: Wh... what are you saying? That would mean.....
Nanami: J... Jowy...... Why Jowy? What does this mean? I thought you joined Highland so you could stop Luca Blight... Stop this stupid war!!! I thought that was why you left us!!!
Jowy: It's true, Nanami....... But the world is a lot more complicated than I thought.... Muteiu..... please. Right here, right now... surrender to Highland. If you don't.......
Nanami: Why?! Why?! If you defeated Luca Blight, then....




Hah! Teresa's the one who laid a trap! She invited along her archery unit to bombard... Jowy... and... Le... on...


...those bows are pointed at us. Teresa delivered Jowy's lines for him.


Jowy: I'm commander of the Highland Army now and Muteiu is the leader of the KISS Army. We're not old friends anymore, now we're enemies. I demand that you surrender to the Highland Army, Muteiu.


Jowy: I can't let you return. Please......
Muteiu: I can't do that.
Jowy: This war..... It's not between me and Luca Blight..... It's larger than that..... That's why.....
Muteiu: CAN'T LET YOU DO THAT, JOWY FOX
Jowy: Please.... Muteiu. I can't ask for understanding, but I don't want to lose you.
Muteiu: Gawd, fine. I understand.......
Nanami: Muteiu!!!
Leon: You're so stubborn. I've got no choice, I guess.
Viktor: You think it will really go like that?


Viktor storms in!


...with... Pilika?!


Pilika: ................!!!!!!
Viktor: Run away, Muteiu!!!


We totally do!

Leon: You won't get away!! Archers!!!!!
Jowy: W, wait!!! Don't shoot!!!!!!!!
Leon: But why... Jowy?
Jowy: Sorry........ sorry............ But I couldn't do it in front of Pilika..............
Leon: You're just prolonging this useless war, you know.
Jowy: I know.............




But getting Fastball Specialed across a roomful of crossbowmen turned out pretty good for Pilika, too.

[nosimpleway]

There are, of course, scripted and random encounters on the way out of Muse, as the Highland soldiers try vainly to stop us from escaping.


GUILD




I've actually never used Bob before. His howl sounds just like Shiro's.


Sheena's not one to be outdone by some lycanthrope. His crits are pretty painful.


But Bob's regular hits are no joke either, and he doesn't even have a Fury rune.


YOU ACTIVATED MY TRAP SID

[nosimpleway]

The reason Chaco came along is because he's an evasive little shit, as we discovered when he stole our wallet back in Two River. In this case, he opened the main gate out of Muse, then stole the lever mechanism and flew away so the soldiers couldn't close it again.


Viktor: Well ya see....... Shu knew that this was going to happen to them. He told me he didn't want you to have any ill-feeling left.

Since we can't get back through Kuskus, the idea is to meet Flik in Toto and march back to Vania via Radat, but that's all done in a cutscene.


Nanami: Pilika....... Why did you bring Pilika.....?
Shu: Because it was necessary.

Shu knew it was a trap, but wanted everyone to know Jowy's a real enemy and not a misunderstood friend. But he also knew Jowy would be adequately distracted by Pilika's presence to let us escape, and if anyone's going to be burdened with the care of a small child, it oughta be the enemy.

Nanami: You used that child like a tool!! I won't ever, ever forgive you!!!
Shu: I'm not asking for your forgiveness.
Nanami: Grrr..........

Perhaps you forgot how much of a callous dick Shu can be? He's just a callous dick who happens to be on our side now.


Nah, we cool. Pilika's talking again, so I'm not entirely convinced it was a bad idea in the first place.


Pilika wasn't on that Tablet over there by Luc, so again: ain't even mad.

[nosimpleway]

Anyway, with that over with, let's go to... hey, Banner Village. Why not?


Ko: I think he's called 'McDohl', but I was thinkin'... maybe he's really General Muteiu!! It sure looks like him!


Well, that certainly looks like his butt over in the corner, on the docks there.


Ko hatches a devious plan: he'll climb up a little into the hills and scream like crazy that he needs help. The guy with the scar will come running, and we'll get to talk to this 'McDohl' guy who's probably Muteiu in disguise after all.




Worked like a charm.


THE MEETING OF THE TENKAI STARS


Most of the recruits from the first game react to seeing young McDohl again, with the most dialog going to Kasumi and her secret crush on the guy. But we don't have Kasumi here, now do we?

[nosimpleway]

Gremio calls a quick meeting of everyone within earshot.


Instead of sneaking back to his house as planned, Ko got kidnapped by bandits instead.




"Oh, and in case you were wondering, McDohl still has the Soul Eater."


The expository banter from Gremio is pretty baffling, since this is the bonus content you get from loading your Suikoden 1 save data at the beginning of the game. You literally cannot do this part unless you played all the way through the first game. You already know what the Soul Eater does!

And you know Gremio's pretty wrong about the nature of the rune, even though one of the people it ate in the last game was him.


Anyway, since we're responsible for Ko getting kidnapped, we're off to save him. Gremio joins in the convoy as a noncombatant, and McDohl is put in the active party.


Muteiu and McDohl can Unite to do the Double Leader Attack, dealing three-quarters of their combined damage to all enemies. Since they're both faster than everyone else in the party, these underleveled random encounters are a snap.

(Yeah, I could have Let them all Go, but I managed to snag a Chinese Dish bath decoration item from one of the Samurai for my efforts fighting them.)

[nosimpleway]

Muteiu: Let Ko go!!
Bandit Leader: Didja hear that? A kid's asking us to return a kid! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!
Bandit Leader: Huh? Hey, why aren't you guys laughing?
Lefty: B, boss... That guy... he's...
Leader: Huh? You know this guy?
Lefty: N, no, it's... he's...
Righty: N, n, n, now that you mention it... I think I've seen that guy, too, he's...
Leader: What, what?! Am I missing something? Are they famous??? They're just brats, after all! Who are they?
Lefty: This guy's... he's the leader of the KISS Army...
Leader: Huh? The KISS Army... Wait, you mean the guys that defeated Luca Blight...!?
Righty: And... and that guy was the leader of the Liberation Army from the Toran Republic...
Leader: The Liberation Army... You mean the ones who took down the Scarlet Moon Empire...!?


It's not often we get to win fights on reputation alone. It's a nice change.


Leader: F, forgive me...!! The kid is... the kid is... There's a monster just ahead... We ran from it and had to desert the kid... Damn it! Why did we have to turn to kidnapping...?

Yeah, yeah, let's go.


Ko: Ooh... ooooohhh...
Gremio: What happened to him...? It looks like he may be poisoned...

Well you know, last time we were here...


...we were attacked by an inexplicable giant caterpillar...


There's only one enemy, so there's no reason to use the Unite attack, but the Soul Eater that we've already established is still stuck on McDohl's right hand?


Its spells haven't changed at all.


Everyone else helps too! Until...




THE GIANT MOTHS ATTACKED

Well, just the one giant moth, but you get the idea.




Between Judgement out of McDohl's rune and my three super-scary pumped-up frontline fighters, the moth doesn't stand a chance. This battle is actually un-loseable -- if everyone dies, then Muteiu and McDohl activate CUTSCENE POWER and blast the boss with their highest-level magic until it dies.

Yes, Muteiu gets the Bright Shield level 4 spell for the cutscene, even though it's still not available normally. Here's a video of the event if you want to see that spell in action -- it's not like you'll get the same experience out of a screenshot LP, anyway.

[nosimpleway]

Bob's a beast, both literally and figuratively.


Ko: It's hot... I'm so hot...
Gremio: That monster must have poisoned him. What should we... Oh, good thinking, Young Master!! Doctor Liukan in Gregminster will be able to help the child.




No time to chat, Varkas, we got a dying child here. So shortly...

Music: A Song in Praise of Peace


Gremio: Ah, thank goodness... Thank you so much, Dr. Liukan.


Neither is an English teacher's.


Lepant: And I am also glad you've made your way back to the Toran Republic. The office of President has always been rightfully yours... please, come this way.

I'm not entirely sure you guys know how "presidents" and "republics" are supposed to work. I mean, yeah, there are plenty of nations in the real world that call themselves "republics" and have leaders that are elected for life and can't be deposed by any means beyond full coup d'etat, but... is that really the message you want to send here?

And for god's sake, get rid of that fucking throne!


Anyway, McDohl backs up a few steps, like he's about to bolt for the door.

Gremio: President Lepant...
Lepant: Why did you leave this land in the first place? The Toran Republic is the country you fought and spilled blood to build, the country you made. It would be inappropriate for me or anyone else to hold this office. It is yours.

Actually, if we want to talk about who spilled blood to liberate this nation in the Gate Rune Wars, we really should be talking about... uh... Eileen...

Remember?


Well yes that was my minimalist playthrough, not the one that got its data loaded into this game -- but even if it wasn't, Eileen would still be here to say her line.

Eileen: Boys always have their eyes on the distant horizon... There are things more important than being cooped up in an airless room and being called 'President'. Were you not the same, dear?
Lepant: . . . . . I see... I won't try and convince you. But please, promise me that you will one day return to us.

[nosimpleway]

Cleo: Oh, come on, Pahn. You only came back because you ran out of money.
Pahn: Ah, p, please don't mention that in front of the Young Master...
Cleo: Welcome home, Young Master. So, how was your journey? Were the countries you visited interesting?
Marie: Welcome back, McDohl. You left so suddenly, we were all worried about you.


Sarah's as sharp-tongued as ever, and the only one to not mob McDohl the instant he enters Gregminster city -- her comment is addressed to Gremio.

Music: Gremio's Special Stew


There's a dinner to be had at McDohl manor.


Muteiu: Miss Cleo, what are you doing?
Cleo: Huh? I... I suppose I'm just... thinking. Muteiu... Is waging war painful for you? 3 years ago, the Young Master, I mean, Lord McDohl, fought as our army's leader... He brought many things to many people... But I've been thinking... What did Lord McDohl, personally, gain from that war...?
Muteiu: I have a reason to fight...
Cleo: ...Muteiu... Such a strong child... You really do resemble the Young Master of three years ago... Thank you for speaking with me... Muteiu.


And then there's a brief montage of the other residents of the house.

[nosimpleway]

Ko: Yeah, I'm okay now, mister. They made me drink some awful-tasting medicine though. Um, um, mister... You're really General Muteiu, aren't you!! And you're General McDohl!!! Wow, awesome, I get to meet two heroes at once!!

Face it Ko, your life in that dreary backwater village you call home is all downhill from here.


Yeah, one more pass through the Banner mountains... and not even the last one of the game... siiigh...


Actually in this case Varkas gives you an off-camera escort most of the way back to Banner Village, so that's nice.


Gremio and McDohl spilt; having walked us back to Banner they now return to Gregminster for a while. Ko goes home, and so do we.


And nothing ever comes of Ellie, despite her having a portrait. :shrug:

[Mothra]

I just read the five-squirrel sentai team encounter and it was horrifying.

[Thad]

but the Soul Eater that we've already established is still stuck on McDohl's right hand?
Its spells haven't changed at all.

Actually they're considerably more useful this time around, as the instant-death spells deal damage when they don't cause instant death.

Yeah, one more pass through the Banner mountains... and not even the last one of the game... siiigh...

Yeah, it gets pretty tedious if you decide to keep McDohl in your party wherever possible for the remainder of the game; you can get him again but he's not in the party list and you have to go all the way to Gregminster every time.

Worth it, though, as between the Unite and the Soul Eater he's pretty damn powerful.

And nothing ever comes of Ellie, despite her having a portrait. :shrug:

Guess you'll be doing a minimal playthrough on this one too, later on?

[nosimpleway]

When we visit the kitchen, there's some suspicious character fleeing through the kitchen.


Hai Yo has no idea what happened.

So when we leave, and come back...


Gyokuran: Bah!!!! I'm disgusted to think that a rat like you is also one of the 4 Great Lords!
Hai Yo: But why Gyokuran??? If you're also one of the 4 Great Lords, you should know what the 'Moon Bird Recipe' is, no?
Gyokuran: Of course, Hai Yo. And Lord Jinkai perhaps knows as well.
Hai Yo: B, but then why.....
Gyokuran: Silence!!! That's enough!!!! It's time for the cook-off! That's all we have left!!!








The "recipe" that was stolen wasn't the Moon Bird Recipe Hai Yo is (badly) hiding. The assistant means that Gyokuran has ripped up Hai Yo's favorite cookbook, the one I've been collecting recipes all over Lake Dunan to build, and now most of his stuff is gone.


Oh yeah, and Gyokuran has a habit of whirling a staff over her head. She did it in her introduction, she did it a few times during the cook-off, and she does it each time Fu Tan Chen announces her contribution to the next course. The staff flickers a lot, so it's tough to get a good screenshot of her doing it.


Hai Yo might not be able to make a salad without referring to a recipe card, but he's good at following the directions he's got.


Gyokuran: Why!! Why couldn't I defeat Hai Yo....... He didn't even have the recipe...
Hai Yo: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gyokuran: Wh, why!!!!!! Our techniques were identical!!! But even so.......
Hai Yo: You're wrong, Gyokuran! Cooking is about more than just technique! At first, I came here just so I could hide from you. But after I started cooking for these people, I realized something.

...that trying to hide your status as a world-famous chef by opening a restaurant in the fastest-growing city in the nation was a really bad idea?

Hai Yo: I realized that I could help these brave folk by serving them good food... that I could ease their burdens just a little bit. Cooking isn't about technique! It's about caring and giving! That's why I don't need a recipe to be a great chef!!!
Gyokuran: Urgh... I... I forgot the first and most important lesson about cooking.... something a chef must always remember.....
Hai Yo: Where are you going?
Gyokuran: Now that I've lost, I can no longer go back to the group. I'll wander these lands alone and examine my defeat. Perhaps I will once again discover the joy of cooking that I felt when I was young. Here Hai Yo, take back the recipe. Also this..... Think of me when you use it. Once we were good friends....

Gyokuran returns all the recipes I had before. Hai Yo, having defeated another chef in a boss battle, absorbs her Tonkatsu recipe Megaman-style.