Serenes Forest Showcase: Let's Play Monster Quest [FE8]

[marine3950]

Let's call this my forum Debut. I'm here because, after lurking for a while, I've looked around and gotten really into a couple of Let's Plays. So, following in that train of thought, I'm bringing you a Let's Play from a patch right here in the Forest.

It's called Monster Quest, and the patch is for Sacred Stones. The premise? All of your dudes (with the exception of the Lords and Tethys) are monsters. I haven't actually played this before, so I'll be learning it as I go.

So. Let's get this thing started.

AH! PLOT!

So, no changes in the exposition. However, once we hit Castle Renais...

Let's see here. Fado's an Elder Bael, Franz is a Bonewalker, and Seth is a Wight. More plot follows, and...

Vigarde's an Elder Bael too. Huh. So, those spiders of unusual size do exist.

Then, more plot, outside this time, and Valter appears. Scripted battle time!

What.

WHAT!

Vidofnir? Valter stole the... WHAT?

Also... why isn't it flashing? I'm not that good at screenshots, it's literally not flashing. Is this because a monster is holding it? But a monster shouldn't be able to hold it anyways! But then my dudes won't be able to either! IT MAKES NO SENSE!

Either way, standard stuff happens. Seth misses, and Deathgoyle Valter (who arrived with his standard wyvern rider escort) hits. Seth rescues Eirika and runs.

On to the first map!

Now, let's meet our units!

First up, Eirika.

No changes to her stats, but take a look at her inventory. I kind of like the idea of her actually having her Lunar Brace in her inventory to start. It gives me the feeling of "Oh, it's not a McGuffin item, it actually exists." However, the maker of the hack expressed that this one will lead to a different class than her Great Lord.

Also worth noting is the uses on those items. Straight fifty on the Rapier and five total on the vulnerary. As far as I can tell, the Rapier's stats haven't changed otherwise.

And Seth!

This is interesting. Seth actually gained a point of Skill from his Paladin incarnation. Of course, lacking a horse means that he lost two points of move, but no other changes, statwise. But he exchanged his horsemanship out for something awesome.

Yeah. That's right. Archery. Seth's got A ranks in every weapon but axes. Also, vulneraries and Rapiers aren't the only things with boosted usage in this game. I hesitate to say that everything is more durable, but that's what it's looking like.

And now, let's see what's going on with our enemies.

Well crap. I really hope that this isn't going to be a recurring thing with bosses. That'd be cruel. It is nice to see the Monster Slayer weapons in this hack, though, and with unlimited uses, though that probably means that I won't get more than one of each, if I get them at all. I always wondered why they weren't included in the original other than the fact that it would make the game even easier.

So, Eirika goes to war.

Clearly, she's not happy that Grado is here. She avoids the counter and pokes him to death.

She takes a hit on the enemy phase, and doesn't crit for revenge. Enemy phase ends, and she goes around onto the forest behind him, then double taps.

Then O'Neill gets up off of his butt and moves in.

Unfortunately for him, Eirika is on a forest tile and gives no craps.

However, Truehit or not, I'm not really interested in tempting the Random Number Gods any more than I have.

And as a reward for it, not only does Eirika not end up needing the Vulnerary, but she gets a decent level out of killing the Boss. Then again, any level with Strength is a good level if it's Eirika. The Defense is also appreciated.

Anyways. Prologue's finished, and there's more exposition.

Look who's talking, skeleton.

ONWARDS!

So we arrive at Border Mulan to see...

Breguet defying the Random Number Gods to pull an impossible and ineffectual critical against a Frelian Cyclops armed with a Hammer.

Naturally, this goes very badly for Breguet, who... how did that Cyclops lose HP in an amount not in a multiple of 3?

*sigh* Scripted battles.

As a scripted event, the Cyclops fades out. Interestingly, Breguet's map sprite also fades out courtesy of his death, but that Cyclops' hammer seems to have resurrected Breguet.

At... zero health, no less. Thankfully, he doesn't come equipped with a Bright Lance, so he won't be dealing extra damage against Franz or Gilliam here.

So, chapter starts. I move Eirika to that house north of the start, with Seth directly behind her.

Not really. Their leader just reanimated himself and kept attacking until he died. We'll leave after beating him, and he'll just get back up.

Anyways, enemy turn, that fighter moves in to suicide on me.

And Eirika gets Defense again. No strength though, but I don't expect much of it out of her anyways. Now, if she would only work on that Res a bit...

Then, player phase! Ladies and Gentlemen, Franz and Gilliam have appeared!

Like Seth, Franz has lost his horse. Unlike Seth, he doesn't get any archery out of it (yet. I'm not sure if he'll get bows as a Wight or not.) What he does get is...

A Shadowkiller. So, apparently I will be getting those slayer weapons. As far as those stats, he's got an extra HP and speed, and two more defense. Also, only one vulnerary.

That's where the vulnerary went. Annoyingly, getting details on those Monster Weapons doesn't reveal their stats to me. However, checking the Wiki does.

Rotten Claw: 7 Might, 80% Hit, 0% Crit, 8 Weight

Fetid Claw: 12 Might, 75% Hit, 0% Crit, 10 Weight

Then again, this is assuming that the stats weren't edited. Looking at the screen, I'd say they were. At the very least, Rotten Claw has one less might.

Statwise, He's got 8 more HP, 1 more Str, skill, and Res, 4 more speed, 3 more Def, and an extra move. Not bad for a spider.

So, Franz and Gilliam go the the fort and house, respectively, while Eirika moves to the forest, with Seth behind her.

And Breguet, sitting on the Gate like a boss, heals up after that Cyclops hit him.

That soldier moves up one space and ends his turn without attacking, while that fighter suicides on Eirika.

On my turn, that soldier dies horribly.

Franz doubles, and takes a hit in return. Then ex-knight Gilliam...

Excuse me. The Spider God Gilliam takes the kill.

To complete the map, I move my guys out of their turtling formation and towards the castle.

A soldier thinks he should take this opportunity to poke Franz with his spear.

Unfortunately for him, Franz pokes harder. The second soldier moves in as well, and Franz doesn't get that kill.

Look at that smile on Gilliam's face as he rips his enemies apart! Isn't it just the cutest!

> Inb4 Cherche agrees.

The reinforcements arrive this turn, so I split my forces next.

Franz is getting Experience today.

The first level? Decent. The second? Better. Much Better.

All that's left is the boss.

Spider God Gilliam is pleased with this.

Eirika seizes, and the chapters are done.

Next time: Chapter 2 -- The Protected.

Edited June 10, 2014 by marine3950

[Klokinator]

While it's neat that it's a reclass, it comes off as pretty sloppy. Probably for me the fact that the scripted battle left the boss with 0 hp means the hack author either didn't playtest, didn't care, or it's some kind of joke/troll hack.

I hope it's a joke/troll hack though. Those aren't too bad, sometimes.

[LightingChaos]

Those aren't too bad, sometimes.

lolghebsaga and lolghebfe

[The Iron Rose]

lolghebsaga and lolghebfe

True. Often, they're worse than bad.

This on the other hand is rad as hell. I want to play a giant monster spider.

[Wander]

This looks terribly unbalanced so far. Gilliam seems to be pretty much invincible at this stage in the game, and unless he doesn't promote (how many of the monsters actually have promotions?) he's probably going to stay unstoppable.

Of course, the hacker may have actually edited more enemies later on to make things more challenging. Should be interesting to find out, because this definitely looks like a joke hack

[ScumbagJade]

I'm quite pleased to see little things like this every once and again. Continue onward with the LP.

[marine3950]

Replies

Klok: First off, love the ManRiklass run you're doing. BersekErika all the way!

Also, I personally enjoyed how wacky it was. If anything, it reassured me that the guy had a decent idea of what he was doing. If this is a joke/troll hack, I'm going to be surprised.

Wander: It does worry me a little bit that it's been so easy up to this point, considering Hard Mode. But it's only the first few chapters so far. It could very easily get worse. It's also worth noting that, as a Spider God, Gilliam has given up any chance he had of hitting enemies through walls.

Also, from what the Hack's main page said, promotional items are still in the hack, and still work. Gilliam should be able to use a Knight Crest to promote to Elder Bael, and, if I'm remembering right, he has another option. Cyclops, I think.

And now, onto the Show!

Chapter 2: The Protected. I'm writing a FE:SS fanfiction right now, self-insert Stream of Consciousness, and this is the chapter I drop myself into to start.

But enough about me. Let's met our two newest units!

First, Vanessa.

+5 HP, +2 Str, +1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Con.

-1 Skill, -2 Res, -1 Move.

Also, she's no longer riding her pegasus, so her Aid is down as well, and I'm pretty sure this means she's missing Canto now.

And Moulder.

+1 HP, +7 Mag, +2 Skill, +2 Spd, +4 Def, +2 Res, +1 Move, +6 Con.

Also worth mentioning is he's joining with Staff D instead of Staff C, but I'll take it if it means Dark Magic.

On a side note, Moulder the (now bigger) Boulder is a Class that, in vanilla FE8, turned dudes to stone. I approve.

Now, onto the Chapter!

Plot happens, and we get to Ide.

Wasn't that soldier a brigand in the Vanilla?

But yes, They're Tarvos! Axe-Wielding Centaur Monsters! Of course, this means that Ross no longer gets an extra ten levels from being a trainee, but I'll allow it since I have no hacking experience and can't do crap to change anything. And speaking of Ross...

+7 HP, +2 Str, +1 Skill, +3 Spd, +5 Def, +1 Res, +3 Move, +2 Con

-3 Luck

Of interesting note is his hatchet, which now has an added 5% crit chance.

+1 HP, +1 Str, +1 Spd, +5 Def, +2 Move

-1 Con

That Fiendcleaver confirms that I'll be getting the Slayer Bow. Probably with Neimi. Also, since they're mounted units, they get Canto.

And if Vanessa can't rescue Ross...

She's going to take this guy out. Also, that crit. I didn't get a screencap of it since I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but Slim Lances and Slim Swords now have 15% crit.

Battle goes well for Vanessa. Two clean hits with no retaliation.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, I've got Moulder grabbing the Elixir, and Eirika grabbing the Red Gem, while everyone else heads south.

You could close the gates... You really didn't need Erina to come in to tell you that, did you?

Personally, I've questioned the reasons that this village in particular hasn't closed its gates if it obviously knows about the bandits, but then, it goes hand in hand with my theory on why a village closing its gate actually protects it from bandits in the first place. Now's not the time to explain it, though. Tell me if you're interested, though.

With that, the turn passes uneventfully. An injured Ross heads north to heal himself with that vulnerary. Next turn...

Thankfully, Vanessa can still pick Eirika up.

Even more positioning as the left group makes its way down to fight bandits. My turn ends, the archer in those woods comes out to help his fallen spear buddy, and is greeted by...

Doubles. With a Hand Axe. Say good night, Robin Hood.

Vanessa drops Eirika off near Ross to recruit him, and Spider God Gilliam prepares to feast on the pathetic mortal who dares to challenge him.

This is the result. Can you say Spider Tank? Turn passes, and those bandits move to get a piece of Franz. He dodges the hit and counters, as I expect from swords and axes.

Recruitment! Yeah, Ross tried to rush down on that turn to get a piece of the action.

Screencap demonstrating that a Tarvos can tow (if you didn't get it, say it out loud.)

Moulder heals Gilliam and confirms my suspicions. The Boulder is a prepromote. That is the extent of his EXP gain. Not sure how I feel about this. It all depends on what his growths are.

And now, Franz takes on those two brigands for some EXP.

And just. Keeps. Missing.

He does manage to hit the other one, though. My turn rolls around, and my two Tarvos get to join the fight,

Ross does pretty good and Garcia GETS A FREAKING CRIT OFF WHOO!

I like you, Garcia. I really do.

That would be Gilliam. The Spider God. Your new lord and master.

In other news, Franz continues to miss his target.

Unfortunately, Garcia didn't crit this time, which is a shame, because the Tarvos critical hit animation is probably my favorite in the game so far. He does, however, get a really nice level out of the deal. That's all on my turn, so it passes to the enemy.

Yeah. He missed again.

Franz, why are you so filled with suck? I mean, come on! Ross hits without a WTA, with the True Hit against him! You stupid, crappy little excuse of a-

Ahem. I would like to rescind my previous train of thought. Good job, Franz.

With that, the chapter ends. Next time: Chapter 3: The Bandits of Borgo, where I seriously re-evaluate the status of this ROM hack.

[Rainbow Skittles]

This is interesting. I never knew that mounted monster units didn't have mounted aid.

[Klokinator]

I knew about that from manriklass, and I mentioned it a couple times in my videos. And here I thought you were a true fan.

[Rainbow Skittles]

Oh noes I have been exposed as a poser. Wut will I do?

In all seriousness moulder seems op tho.

[marine3950]

Onwards!

Before heading out to Borgo Ridge, Seth hands in his gear so he can pull meatshield duty, and I stop by the Armory in Ide, sell off the Pure Water, Elixir, and Red Gem, and buy Franz a Javelin, and Ross an Iron Axe. I know that Vanilla FE8 has the former in a chest in this chapter, and the latter in the village next chapter, but I'm not sure whether or nor that still applies here.

So, my troops properly outfitted, we head off to Borgo Ridge! But first, Neimi!

+3 HP, +2 Str, +1 Spd, +3 Def, +2 Con

Neimi comes equipped with a Beacon Bow, our Anti-Monster bow. Like the other ones, this has unlimited uses, and an innate 5% critical.

She moves up to attack the Brigand on the other side of the wall, showcasing her Sprite. Meanwhile, Moulder and Franz take out the bottom Cracked Wall ,and Ross, Garcia and Vanessa move in to fight.

Vanessa snags the kill. The rest of the turn consists of positioning my troops. Now, let's see what Colm is.

What...

WHAT?

So, you're telling me that, every time I go into a Monster Encounter (which will be fairly often, since I'm not planning on challenging myself overly on this run. I'll clear the map of monster skirmishes before moving on to the next story mission), I'll have to have my units put all of their stealable items back into the supply? Ugh. I can already tell this is going to be a headache.

+1 Str, +1 Spd, +1 Def

Also, the Sharp Claw's original stats:

14 Might, 65% Hit, 0% Crit, 14 Weight

Needless to say, He'll be sticking to that Rotten Claw.

Yikes. Without the WTA, I'm going to need to baby this guy.

Meanwhile, my crew breaks the other cracked wall on the start side, I grab the javelin from the bottom chest using the key (only one use on the Chest Key, in case anyone was curious), and the Bandit that Neimi weakened earlier attacks on his turn.

No doubling from Franz... This doesn't bode well for me, but I shrug it off.

Seth gets into position so that a tag-team from Neimi and Colm can get Colm a bit of EXP.

Meanwhile, Franz offs the bandit in the pillar room, Vanessa goes for the Theif on the other side of the wall, and Ross starts trading blows with that Hand Axe brigand on the other side of the cracked wall.

Moulder's going to be doing that a bit this chapter. More positioning stuff happens, and the enemy's turn rolls around.

Ross takes another hit, but since Moulder's standing right next to him, I'm not worried. The bandit in the treasure room takes the bait, and goes after Seth, who dodges the attack.

Neimi, I didn't expect to double. But when Eirika doesn't double, I start to get a bit concerned. When Eirika gets hit? I checked their stats later. At the time, I was kinda glad that Eirika only hit once, because that meant that, even if she got the crit off...

Colm would still get the kill. Here, we see Colm Dougie-ing to avoid a Bandit's axe, before killing him.

Meanwhile, down below, Vanessa kills the thief and nets a pretty nice level, while Ross trades again with the brigand. I end my turn, expecting the archer to go for Vanessa and for the Brigand to keep hitting Ross.

Doesn't happen. The brigand with the hand axe goes down to Vanessa, and gets a hit off, then dodges the return shot. This leaves the spot open for the archer to come up and hit Ross, who hits back. When my turn rolls around, I decide to have Vanessa retreat, and have Ross attack the archer.

Instead, Ross pulls a Franz.

TWICE!

While this is happening, I've got the rest of my guys chilling as Colm loots the chests in the treasure room. No changes to the contents.

So, I have Moulder heal Ross up a bit before Ross tries again.

He hits this time, and gets a very, very nice level.

The archer doesn't survive much longer but interestingly, the Brigand with a hand axe that Ross was dueling with earlier doesn't move up to keep fighting. My turn rolls around, and my dudes shuffle a bit to put Neimi in position to grab the kill.

Which she does. Afterwards, I have my dudes break through the last wall, and put Neimi up front to fight the brigand that's sitting in the corner with his hand axe. He takes the bait, and I prepare to have Colm come in for a bit of EXP.

This is when I realize that I haven't been doubling at all this chapter. I should be here, right? I mean, Colm's got 11 speed and this guy's got a Hand Axe.

Are these stats normal for Hard Mode? I'm not sure. I don't usually look at the enemy stats in advance, so I admit I'm clueless.

So, Colm hits, but fails to dodge. Neimi hits, and dodges successfully. Ross rides in and claims the kill. Moulder heals Colm up, because there are things to be stolen.

I think that consumables in this hack have five uses each. A couple of units contribute to that brigand's death, and Neimi levels up off of it.

She disappoints me.

I move out towards the boss, leaving Colm up front so that he can steal the antitoxin from the Mercenary.

Alrighty then...

Franz and Vanessa take this one down, and all that's left is the boss.

My disappointment in Franz's inability to dodge is removed when I get to see a double this chapter. Garcia misses his first shot, but pulls a double and hits with a 33 displayed.

Eirika cleans up, gets a level that I kind of expect from her, and the next turn, she seizes.

Next time, Chapter 4: Ancient Horrors. Should I spoil the classes for L'Arachel, Dozla, and Rennac?

[ScumbagJade]

Do it, I don't mind. I can't speak for others though. Gorgon, Cyclops and Entombed probably though.

[marine3950]

Sorry for the delay. Forgot about it, then actually had to restart on this map after Artur died. Second time's the charm, though!

So, let's get this show on the road. Remember how Colm spawned in as a rev, though?

If I have one complaint about this ROM, it's this. Having to do this for every unit that takes the field if monsters are involved.

So, Artur joins us on this map, right? Well, I personally always liked Artur. Light Magic user is nice IMO, and Artur has balls of steel. Think about it. He decides to run across an entire field of hostile monsters to warn a few travelers. Speaking of Monsters...

+1 Mag, +1 Skill, +1 Spd, +2 Def, +1 Con

-2 HP, -1 Res

I did remove the Vulnerary he comes with, because he'd end up losing it otherwise.

See how Vanessa's doubling? That's the last time I'll get to see my dudes doubling for a bit.

So, after a bad start to combat, Vanessa redeems herself with a dodge, a hit, and an amazing level.

Here's the setup. Here we go again.

Like I said, I kissed doubling goodbye for a while this chapter.

On the bright side, my dudes seem to be dodging just fine.

Ignoring Artur's failure to keep the dodge train going, I do appreciate that Light Magic has weapon effectiveness against Monsters. It makes up for the fact that I no longer get Bishops with Slayer.

However, Light magic will be significantly annoying to go up against.

So, the enemy turn passes, and my troops go on the offensive.

Happy to have Slayer weapons? Why yes, yes I am. That Franz level was kinda meh, but Garcia, Gilliam, and Vanessa all promise to be amazing units.

Eirika, however, reveals on the enemy turn that she's going to be a liability unless she can get some decent levels.

Yes, that's the same Revenant. Pretty bad, huh?

Garcia wraps up the enemy phase with a great kill and a level that assures me he'll be capping his Strength.

This turn, L'Arachel appears on that cliff with her cadre. If you want to be surprised when they finally appear, just skip over this. Otherwise, here you go.

Sorry, ScumbagJade. Only 2/3 right. L'Arachel is a... Mogall? Wierd...

So, my turn rolls around, and it's another go at combating these enemies.

So, Neimi is the only one that really disappointed me that turn. Missing on an 80? Come on! Franz would have disappointed me, except that he managed to dodge after missing. Ross' lackluster performance was balanced out with an AMAZING level.

I end the turn with Gilliam on a forest to tank the reinforcing Revenants.

[marine3950]

Chapter 4, Part 2

Artur gets a very nice dodge to start us off, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've seen an unnecessary crit when the enemy was at full health. Also, what is it with this chapter and AMAZING levels? Is this foreshadowing something horrible?

Gilliam pulls through the enemy phase (like there was ever any doubt), and the turn passes to me. Time to clean up the top of the map.

Cleanup's a breeze. Vanessa pulls a perfect level, Moulder crits.

Artur takes this position to pick off the Mogall to his south, while everyone else heads west to the snag so we can grab Lute.

Enemy turn rolls around, netting me my second double of the chapter. My first was at the beginning of the chapter. Yeah.

Eirika's getting the Shadowkiller because she's going to be killing the Bonewalker and Revenant near Lute's start to grab some EXP.

Meanwhile, Moulder's creeping towards that second level, one heal use at a time.

Preparations for the monsters. Moulder's one heal away from leveling up, and Neimi needs the EXP too, so she'll support Eirika.

Oh doubling, how I've missed you. Afterwards, my turn rolls around.

Neimi establishes that it is the bow itself that deals damage to her foes, not the arrow it fires, and gets an OK level.

Meanwhile, Moulder proves to me that he's worth using.

Eirika tries to clean up, but doesn't double anymore. Also, that level is terribad, even by your standards.

LUTE! Don't be insensitive! You know that Artur's a Mogall! You know, like you are?

+1 Mag, +1 Spd, +2 Def, +1 Res, +3 Con

-1 Skill

This is what I've been dealing with this chapter. On the left, Revenant. On the right, Boss. Look at that Monster Mov, though. 6. That's a +2 improvement.

Gilliam gets into position to lure the Rev in so that Lute can get some EXP.

Garcia/Ross Support, Level C

Gilliam baits the Entombed, and Lute picks up the kill and a great level, and the chapter ends.

[Rainbow Skittles]

2 perfect levels wuuuut

[ScumbagJade]

I wonder if that means Joshua is gunna be a Mauthe Doog.

[nekron450]

he is. its sweet.

[Kobazco]

umm, not sure about this but i think that colm having a lock pick and can steal was done in nightmare by editing his CHARACTER to have steal and pick, not the actual class. It works like that :D

[Chocolate Kitty]

umm, not sure about this but i think that colm having a lock pick and can steal was done in nightmare by editing his CHARACTER to have steal and pick, not the actual class. It works like that :D

nope, it's the class; I've already been robbed by revents playing this

[nekron450]

ditto.was a bit annoying.

[Hotgemstone]

Does anyone know where I can find this Monster Quest hack? It's the only hack I can't seem to find online 😞

[Hotgemstone]

It has magically appeared again on the creator's page! Thanks 😄