Just What is an Edge Fencer, Anyway? Let's Play Summon Night Swordcraft Story 2!

Master using it and you can have this!

Wait, no, he's just going to make us do swing practice for the rest of the day. Damn.

This would be a more relevent complaint if she actually lifted the hammer when we forge. You'll see what I mean in a bit.

...


Too bad there's no trees or swords nearby infused with the power of Mana for her to recharge off of.


He's a slavedriver!


Well, it's great that we don't have to go out and fight slimes with a hammer!


Hey is this right? Shapestones and whatnot... this isn't how we forged weapons back in Wystern...


Party chat brings Dinah's laziness out in full force.


And there's no option to create materials from the ore we were given... so let's figure out how to forge things Swordcraft Story 2 style!


First you pick the shapestone. This time around we're limited by the number of shapestones we find; we can't just forge a million weapons.

Then you pick the material to make the weapon out of. Each Shapestone/Material combination makes a different weapon -- the equivalent of a Technique from the first game.


There's some new information here. Special attack? Effect? What manner of witchery is this? Since this is a new, never-before created recipe, we don't get to see anything but a silhouette of the sword.


See what I meant before? Dinah's hammer is floating in the air in front of her! I guess that explains why ran out of Mana instead of just being tired.


Turns out Iron Ore becomes an Amateur Knife.


Huh? Sweets? Well, everyone loves candy, right?


"And about each other's bodies." Bow-chicka-wow-wow


Errr... That's actually pretty creepy that he doesn't respond to her complaint at all. But where would we put Aera's clothes if we move them? There's no dresser down here...

Isn't it obvious? He's a yuri fan.


What was it we heard earlier... about Tatiana?


Hey I recognize this tint!


Oh right, Tatiana's cooking!


Considerate as always.


Screw her, Aera has plans tonight! She has a date with the floor, involving lots of groaning and stomach-clutching!


But she quickly realizes that even if she stays in, her night will be filled to the brim with whiny bitching.


Still not that sure how eating bad cooking makes you tired.

Man, she has quite the history with this place.


Thanks for the vote of confidence, but no.


So they saved the village but not the house. But what happened to her mother and father?


;_;


And it's a good thing he did! If she wasn't training to be a Craftknight, they wouldn't have been able to call this game a Swordcraft Story.

And everyone lived happily ever after, right next to the sealed world-destroying demon.


Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Your Highness. ...Bitch.


I love that the way to throw Dinah off is to agree with whatever she says.


Then again that could be dangerous.


Oh, hello again.


"Determined" is kind of a funny look for her.


Uh... I don't think you're helping. In fact, I think you're making things worse right now. Have you two tried to work out a deal of some sort?

Welcome back. At least it was enlightening.


And thus ends Day 1. Lots of talky talky, not much stabby stabby. Maybe things will get more visceral tomorrow.

Next time on Just What is an Edge Fencer Anyway?: The event nobody saw coming! I mean, there's no way any of you guys could predict what happens on day 2! It's so sudden and unexpected!

Upcoming event? what? I can't hear you over Blaire being awesome.

Also, it's good to see that the story writers didn't do a thing to change the plot being focused on Edgar when playing as Aera.

Man, I can't wait for that one scene.

Morning dawns over the ...uh... Blaire residence? Kinda rude of summoners to hog all the last names.


Yes! We have to take Ryouga to Goura's gate, where nothing unexpected will happen!


Dinah wants to crash our date.


Hold on, my womanspeak translator just threw a red flag. Um.... um... No honey, that dress doesn't make you look fat! Wait, I don't think that's right.


Good gravy. I'm surrounded by suicidal idiots.


Well maybe just the vanilla brand of idiot.


This is a lie. There's no equipment to buy in the store yet.

But we do make sure to actually equip the butter knife we made yesterday.


And we may as well grab the money before Blaire takes it.


Good to know where our destination is; that way we can avoid it and run around exploring instead.


This is Child. This screenshot is actually important but I'm not telling you why! Hahahaha!


Oh yeah, let's see what Dinah wants to say about our situation.


TV hasn't even been invented yet! Geez.


Don't you hate portable games that don't let you save anywhere so you can put the game away when your bus reaches its stop? Well worry no more! With an Anywhere Diary you can save anywhere! Well, except during battles and cutscenes. And they might not even work at all, I don't know, I don't remember actually ever using one.


And in a display of goodwill never before seen in an RPG, the store gives us one for free! Incidentally, the store currently only carries Bandages and Anywhere Diaries. I won't be buying either.


If I wanted to collect mini medals I'd play a Dragon Quest! Bah.


Anyway, let's get on with this.


Why'd we even come here if we were just going to meet him there anyway?

I don't know what's up with this guy but he hangs out here at the fork in the road and dispenses general life advice.


Well this is fancy. I wonder if Parista is jealous that he was stuck in a pink dungeon while Goura gets this sweet digs.


Wait? We barely had time to say two lines! And then I cut them because they didn't add anything to the LP!


Oh boy, our first dungeon I can't wait!


Man, more ancient shrines that have demons sealed within should have shortcuts like this. (Wait no that's a terrible idea what I am saying.)


Uh-oh, did we get busted already?


Uh... who's this clown?


Usually introductions include other people's names.


Uh-oh! That sounded like a threat! And what do we do when threatened?

We go home.


And get captured in the process. Real slick there Dinah, maybe next time you won't walk right up to the guy who's threatening us.


It's implied that he is punching her!


Who would have thought that a couple of youngsters going where they shouldn't would lead to trouble?


Man that's convenient. Can we set up a teleport spell connected to our house? No? Bah.


Man, give an inch and they take a mile.


...Surrounded by idiots...


Ignore the big red "Unleash Demon" button over there.


More violence against women. The screen flashes for like one frame so screw trying to get a screenshot of it.


And if you did include a "Unleash Demon" function in your demon-sealing apparatus, would you tell young girls who have a problem with accepting poorly-thought-out bets?


Finally he decides that maybe a young girl actually doesn't know how to unseal the centuries-old demon.

As you should be!


And Gedharm reveals that he's not familiar with any Greek literature.


Man does everyone but us know how to do that?


Turns out the dinky sword is a hell of a lot better than the hammer. Go figure.


Dinah levels up and we find a piece of Iron Ore when the tiny tank goes down like the chump he is.


Man you've had nothing but a string of bad ideas today, and I think this is the worst.


Hey how can you do that? We just killed that thing. This bastard must have some G-Returners or something.


Oh no! The little undead tank thing blasts us with an attack that only does about 20 damage!


But this striking, horned, dark-haired fellow intercepts the attack for Aera! Hey, he looks kinda familiar.

Whoa! Turns out Ryouga has been keeping a secret! That secret is: He has an enormous hand! Look at it! It's twice as big as his head!


Uh... isn't that a bad thing?


Uh, Ryouga? Won't that weaken the seal? (Cool trick going all Dragonball Z on us, though)


No! Bad Ryouga! No treat for you!


Reinforcements arrive just in time! One short explanation later, it's time to see how badass Blaire is!


Uh... that was not very badass at all.


And his flying unconscious body shatters our Novice Knife. Doubly un-badass!


Aera decides she's not going to let Ryouga upstage her, and ups the DBZ quotient. And now... roll the opening credits!

Video: Opening Credits

What does this transformation mean for Aera? Will Goura be freed and lay waste to everything? Is Blaire dead or just unconscious? And just what kind of lame name is "Mono Shift" anyway?

Find out next time on Just What is an Edge Fencer Anyway: Don't be afraid of your power!

I forgot who said it but Aera really does look like the lovechild of Pratty and Sugar. It's the hair.

I can't wait for more.

And suddenly , out of nowhere, a flashback!


This must be when Graham died...


"You are... actually the lovechild of a Craftlord and a Fairy... You're adopted!"


Ok maybe it was relevant on the "loss of family" level.


But it was all a dream! Wait weren't we on fire and stuff?


Man it's not like bursting into flame and turning into a superpowered form ever hurt anyone.

Oh yeah, what happened to Blaire?


That's a relief. It'd really suck to lose another dad.


Oh, you know. A strange old coot and Ryouga tried to release Goura. The usual.


...What? He just... walked away? Who walks away when they're winning?


Well then. Let's go see him.


Aww, he lost that silly chain belt he was wearing on his head. Now what am I supposed to make fun of?


...Maaaaaybe.


An explanation like, "he was evil the whole time and just using you all along?"


Yeah, like that explanation.

Yeah, way to be insensitive there, you cad.


Uh... is that supposed to do any good? Isn't he already out?


Man that's handy. I don't suppose they made it just as easy to reseal the gate? Maybe a switch or button?


Well that sounds like a plan. If we can't go into the Chamber of Seals and seal him there, just seal the whole ruins and everyone lives happily ever after, right?


...HAPPILY EVER AFTER, RIGHT?


Okie-dokie. How hard can it be to find a sword that could be anywhere?


Oh well that's a good lead. Also, if she's saying that nobody knows where the Wind Fortress is, she's full of shit. But I'm getting ahead of myself.


That's a pretty significant restriction!

Oh, so the Daemon Edge is a foil or épée, then? Also, let's insult the player's intelligence, too:


And here I thought it was Child from that last update!


Cool beans! So can we do that anytime?


Naturally, magic Edge Fencer powers are powered by Belief In Yourself.


...Hey, can we stop right there a second? He also died from it.


...Gulp!

(No, that was just out of context. He's consoling her on her real father's death.)


Oh no! He's dying after all!


Oh nevermind, he's just tired.

Oh boy a town meeting. Looks like we're off to get chewed out for royally f***ing up the entire purpose of our existence.


Oh Blaire, even lying injured in bed, you're awesome.


Well, we don't want to keep the people waiting! Let's go straight to-


-the fishing pond!


Well so much for that idea.


Hey it's Child!


And his girlfriend! She has advice for us. Where he was before he lost it...?

May as well look there.


And here it is! It's Child's Thing. No, it's not anything specific, it's just a thing.


And this is Recurring Sidequest Number One: The Child's Lost Thing. Every day you need to go to where the kid was the previous day and pick up the thing. Then you get a shitty reward! Everybody wins! Except us.


And we're going to stop here for now. My weekend kind of... disappeared when I started playing FF Tactics. Oh well.

At least you reassured me that I didn't miss anything from that first quest that I didn't know how to solve.

Unless it's another one of those "you gotta do it every day or else you're screwed" things.

In which case OH WELL I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO STAB PEOPLE TO DEATH WITH A SLIGHTLY LESS AWESOME SPEAR THAN I COULD HAVE

So there's a child who lost a thing.

This setting thrives on specifics, I see!

Hey, guess what?

There's a bonus reward for each sidequest if you remember to do it every single day. Fortunately the only missables among them just unlock silly minigames.

Now I remember why I stopped playing this game - damn you, stupid fishing minigame, and damn you, stupid forging system that requires you to grind for rare items if you want to maintain more than one type of weapon at optimal performance. I think next time I load up this game I'm just going to use axes the whole way through. I do like how they improved axes in this one.

Yeah, and thanks to the magic of LPery everyone else gets to enjoy the fruits of my labor while I do all the work. (Fortunately I get to cheat my ass off)


Anyway, we stopped last time when I ran out of things to do before the meeting. So:

May as well get this meeting over with. But before we can even get a word in, the crowd starts clamoring for an explanation.


Opinion is split on Lynn's role in this mess.


And the crowd finally settles down. I guess that's why he's the Chief.


Hush you.


The plan is this: everyone else gets to lounge around watching the ruins while Aera and Dinah run around all of creation aimlessly looking for a sword.


Aera's not confident she can find a sword that's been lost for twelve years before the big nasty demon busts through the ground and eats all her friends, but the Chief points out that she doesn't have a choice. It's literally do-or-die.

No pressure, though!


But Aera is a JRPG Protagonist! She's going to do everything in her power to save her friends and family, no matter what she has to endure!


Oh you can all just f*** off and die then.


Well damn, I'm glad she's on our side at a time like this. I take back everything I said about her.

Well, most of the things I said.


...Okay, some of what I said.


Great, nobody trusts Aera the long-time member of the village, but nobody has any trouble putting their faith in Aera, the devil's slave.

Hey guys aren't you doing this all wrong? You gotta wait until the hero is moments away from being defeated by the Big Bad before declaring that you all Believe In Her, thus giving her the strength to unlock her full potential and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It's like these clowns have never been NPCs in a JRPG before.


Maybe a little. But we were cornered.


Are you kidding? Every story needs a narrative hook. It wouldn't be a very exciting game if it was "Aera and Dinah's Crafting Training" every day.


Also Aera is way too nice for her own good.


Yeah, who ever heard of an angel and a devil at each others' throats?


The Wind Fortress in the forest, right? That should be right outside town.

...Convenient.


Oh, really? That's considerably less convenient. Also, most of the aggressive things outside town are not what I would call "animals".

Oh god I can see where this is going.


Yay, crisis averted! We can make a weapon now!


Ok, we're off to the forge, have fun with your stuffy meeting.


Eh, how hard can it be?


Well, how should we put this? I'll let Aera's internal monologue explain.


We should spare her feelings, of course! She's such a sweet girl, how could we be mean to her?


HAHAHAHAHA


...It just broke. She held it up and it broke. Gravity was enough to shatter it. That is a shittily made sword.

Oh, you know, she thought you knew the difference between a hammer and your ass.


And Aera goes out of her way to make it not sound like she's blaming Dinah... while she's blaming Dinah.


Wha? Does she actually have a work ethic? Have I misjudged her? Is she really kind-hearted and hard-working underneath the selfish and lazy personality she projects to protect herself from getting hurt?


No, she's just worried about her image.

Man, there's something nagging at me... what did Blaire say the other day?

Well that's just what we needed! Carte blanche to rip her a new one! Go Aera go!


Day-um! You go girl!


Oops, guess that road goes both ways.

So.... none?


Man we've seen a whole lot of her lately.


She is a devil.


Sure, we believe you. The angel is a dirty liar, and the devil speaks nothing but the truth.


Well, that's like a work ethic. I'll take it.


...Doh!


Hold on... I have a bad feeling about that...


That's a, uh, nice similie...


Dammit, I knew it! We're gonna have to go smack enemies around with our hammer!