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Last time, Polnareff killed a member of a critically endangered species by running it through with a sword, thus setting us adrift once more upon the sea until a non-ghost ship picked us up and brought us to Singapore.

Polnareff: So this is Singapore...
Kakyoin: It seems a smidge, er, dark...
Joseph: There could still be enemies lying in wait... We should explore in groups of two again. I've handed a memo with all your room numbers to that girl. There could even be enemies in the hotel, so check your room thoroughly before you sleep!

Since he's still at the bottom of the FP ranks (and because I know the plot), we're sticking with Polnareff for the second update in a row. He's not my favorite party member, but a Badge of Honor later (much later) is contingent on him winning an incredibly difficult solo fight, so I'm not complaining.

The "Runaway Girl" straight up didn't have a name until the 2014 anime... where it's never actually spoken, just written in production materials. She's "Merlai Anne", a riff on Singapore's mascot, the Merlion.

Polnareff: So, are Abdul and Monsieur Joestar...
Cascada: Not my business.
Polnareff: Ahem, oui...
Cascada: But we can ask my magic radio if you REALLY want to know.
Polnareff: Pardon, your what?
Steel: So you've finally made it to Singapore. I can sense the presence of Stand users here as well... Be very careful. I feel two Stand users with evil intent in the hotel... And 2 to 3 more in the city itself. You ought to stay away from the shadows of buildings. Lurking within those shadows are fearsome enemies who detest the light...
Polnareff: ......I don't hear anything.
Cascada: steel you son of a bitch

What an oddly specific tutorial message that I'm sure has no bearing on our current situation.

We go to drop off our luggage as our French pal suggested.

It's got a full kitchenette and everything. I think I can count the number of times I've actually used a hotel room's kitchenette on one hand, but I haven't traveled much in the past fifteen years.

Polnareff spots something just a bit off about the room.

Cascada: What's wrong? Is it [INSERT STOCK FRENCH JOKE HERE]?
Polnareff: ...Man. Just when I thought we might get a break for once... All right, come on out!

A goth comes out of the refrigerator! As they oft do!

Cascada: !? How'd he fit in that thing?
Polnareff: You look angry. Why don't you tell me your name before I kill you?

Polnareff: Why do you think? You took out everything in the fridge... and stacked them on the table!

I don't think I've ever taken anything from a hotel room fridge. Presumably some poor employee has to take inventory of each one every day to see if some schmuck is okay paying $5 for a Snickers bar, which seems like it'd be a miserable job.

Cascada: Orangutan.
Polnareff: Whatever!

Polnareff: What's with this guy...?

Polnareff: ! H-he's gone!
Cascada: Polnareff... your foot!

We get a few beeps and boops as Polnareff dials the rest of the squad.

Polnareff: I couldn't tell if he was a threat or not... He was totally incomprehensible. Creepy though... And he got away, damn it!
Abdul: Did he really say that his name was Devo? Devo, the user of the Devil card?
Polnareff: Oui, do you know him?
Abdul: Not at all, but I must keep my tarot checklist up to date. So, the Devil?
Polnareff: As far as I can remember, yes. I may have caught a glimpse of his Stand, too. He cut my leg without me noticing, so be careful! Gimme 5 minutes, and I'll be right with you. Room 1212, right? Call Jotaro and Kakyoin while you're at it!

Cascada: You gonna mention the broken window?
Polnareff: I prefer a cross-breeze while I sleep.

I'm not sure why this line warrants his full portrait. I probably would have at least gone for the bed sheets or my shirt or something, but I'm also not a Stand user or French.

Polnareff: ? ...That's weird. Where's the room key? It was right here a second ago...

Polnareff: Tch, how'd it get under there? It must have gotten knocked over during the fight earlier...

Polnareff: What!? H-how did they...

Polnareff: Auuugh! It's... it's shampoo! Damn it, I can't see!
Cascada: What's going on!? Where's the enemy!?

Polnareff: Help meeee!!!
Cascada: What the fuck is wrong with the beds here!?

Uh oh! An innocent bystander!

Polnareff: Don't come in here! You're in danger!

Polnareff: Get out! I told you, your life is in danger!!
Cascada: Get out!! It's not safe here!

Wellp.

I don't have too many snide comments to add here because sometimes (often) JoJo is insane enough as it is.

Polnareff: It's... It's a doll! this is...!!
Cascada: Ebony Devil!?

Cascada: Not a problem. Time for The Hose.

Polnareff is nominally in the battle here, but he takes several turns to free himself. Otherwise he's a warm body to take hits in Cascada's stead.

...Honestly, you can picture a lot of future fights going exactly like this.

This is a pretty hefty chunk of damage, and it's only his first turn. Around four of these would be enough to KO Cascada.

Ebony Devil's gimmick is that he's a multi-stage boss fight; his stats scale depending on how much damage you've done and he'll basically get a fresh health bar at certain intervals, which is why he doesn't restore any HP in the above gif.

Cascada: You're not only a refrigerator-hiding goth, you're also a creepy pervert!

lol, lmao

This move might actually fuck you up. It does about 35-40 damage to the whole party, which isn't too dire, but it can also paralyze. The game has zero qualms about stunlocking you to death if that's how the dice roll.

By this point, we're actually pretty low on HP and Polnareff has yet to free himself from the bondage-shampoo-bed trap (Devo would be great at Tecmo's Deception). But you know how The Machine rolls by now.

Cascada: Glad you could finally join us, Polnareff.
Polnareff: You see zis hair!? Does it look like I usually get shampoo in my eyes!? I can't deal with that!
Polnareff: I've got something to ask you. I'm looking for a man with two right hands... Tell me his Stand's power!

Cascada: ...you DID explain your whole Stand to Abdul and I DID kick your ass immediately afterwards...
Polnareff: TAIS-TOI!

Cascada: it's true though
Polnareff: Fine!! You want more!?

Cascada: ...and that's why you always go for the nuts, kid. Give 'em a kick to the genitals.

Cascada: Jotaro can wait, I haven't even had a chance to explore Singapore yet.
Steel: A Stand who can strengthen itself using the power of curses... What a terrifying enemy. ...By the way, it seems someone has been searching for you... For what reason, I can't say, but you should be careful. Once you've prepared, talk to the runaway girl in the hotel lobby so you can go and purchase tickets.
Cascada: I haven't been on vacation for even a week and I've almost died a dozen times. This sucks.

We take a bit of time to explore the hotel.

Singapore's barely one degree above the equator, so it's hot and humid there year-long. Every building has the air-con running at full blast so when you take one step outside your glasses instantly fog up.

Cascada: I say bullshit; my Stand covers my hand so there's no way I'd leave prints.
Polnareff: Hey! I'm the real victim here!
Polnareff: I got shampoo squirted in my eyes! It really stung!

Part 6 cameo spotted! Ask him the weather!

I think this is meant to also be a Part 6 cameo, but they're also the wrong color scheme for whom I think it's meant to be. Not sure.

Cascada: Oh yeah? I think Polnareff knows all about that.
Polnareff: -grumble-

One more floor to go.

Cascada: what
Polnareff: I LIKE zis floor! Time for puff-puff!

shit shit shit SHIT

We've gone from floating Matryoshka dolls to high school girls to bunny girls. It seems the user of Murderdolls is a huge creep (who knew?).

At least our adventures with Polnareff on the ship have powered him up enough that he can finish after only a single round of thrusting. The horde of bunny girls is summarily dispatched and we approach the man sitting at the table.

Wonder Festival is a long-running event in Japan for showcasing garage kits and anime figures.

Cascada: I will fucking END you.

Both this dialogue and Ebony Devil's change depending on the order you fight them in. That said, fighting Joey here is totally optional; you don't have to go to the 12th floor at all.

All three Murderdolls get resummoned at the start of every round, and Joey spends his turns either buffing the girls or trying to inflict status effects on the party.

You know, if he gets turns.

And once Joey's below a certain HP threshold...

The fight's as good as done at this point. The Murderdolls all get inflicted with Confuse status on summon and start attacking each other.

But the asshole can still do this! If an enemy changes distance and goes completely offscreen, then too bad for you. Your only choice is to wait until they reappear. Cascada must cease her energy beams and switch to defense for a few turns.

Polnareff: That's how I want to go out... stepped on by a bunny girl...
Cascada: Do you really want to perv out in front of me RIGHT NOW?

Polnareff: Er, perhaps you're right...

Cascada: ......
Polnareff: ......
Cascada: motherfuckingpieceofSHIT

On the bright side, we got a brand new attack!

Venom Cannon is expensive and only has a 75% hit rate, but it'll wreck pretty much any non-boss encounter for the rest of the game.

All the Player Stands are frontloaded as hell; I'm not just saying that because we're overleveled. Cascada'll only learn two new abilities after this: at level 30 and level 45.

And here are our current FP standings. Remember, vote in the Best Bud poll (when this goes up, you'll only have a day left)! See you next time for when we actually visit the new enormous hub map!

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<= Previous | Top | =To Be Continued=>

Last time, our charter ship got blown up by the captain, who was secretly one of Dio's assassins. After drifting on the waves, a mysterious tanker picked up our life boats...

Joseph: You don't think there's a Stand user here, too, do you?
Cascada: I'm starting to feel like I'll be more surprised if there ISN'T a Stand user somewhere.
Abdul: You need not worry. According to my fortune-telling tarot deck, there are approximately a dozen Stand users left on Earth.
Kakyoin: What about that businessman riding a giant chicken?
Joseph: Or that masked character? Idaho, was it?
Polnareff: Or Madame Cascada herself?
Abdul: Hm... Indeed. It seems the scope of our undertaking may exceed that of the Major Arcana.
Jotaro: That's not it... I was just wondering why there's no one on deck.

Kakyoin: Either way, our food and water supplies are limited. This ship is our only hope.
Abdul: That's true... Still, this calls for some investigation.

Joseph: Now isn't the time for Star Wars references!
Cascada: Kakyoin started it with the "only hope" line!

Joseph: Yet all the systems are functioning without problems somehow...

I was on a ship once that had total power failure in the middle of the night. I remember this mostly because the TV picked up airwaves from Mexico and I was watching Spanish-language Rurouni Kenshin at the time.

Cascada: I'm sorry, a WHAT?

Cascada: Don't dodge the question!

Abdul: It has to be a Stand!
Joseph: Be careful... The user has to be here somewhere! This ship's not here to save us... It's trying to kill us! How many enemies are aboard!? Are they alone!?
Cascada: B-but I didn't see anything resembling a Stand!
Cascada: No arm cannons to be seen!
Abdul: I was closest to the hook, and even I didn't notice anything peculiar...
Polnareff: Maybe they're not on the ship at all!!
Kakyoin: Let me handle this. I'll search the ship with my Hierophant Green!

She kind of has a point. Would you want to hang out with a bunch of muscley dudes who get jumped by assassins every twelve hours?

Joseph: ............There's just one thing you need to know.

I always liked how Joseph kind of slips into Dad Mode when the little scamp gets involved. It's relatively subtle character work, at least compared to a guy getting impaled through the face by a freight hook.

Cascada: What do you have for me, Steel?
Steel: So the ship has sunk... But don't lose heart. Keep going! More importantly... Something's strange about this tanker. I can sense 2 Stand users within it... Be very careful.

Now, this is kind of interesting. One of the selling points of the "R" rework for 7SU was that they removed random encounters. When I last played, the whole ship was an encounter zone. Now, it just has hooks moving back and forth everywhere.

Due to our current FP standings, we'll be hanging out with Polnareff the entire update. I'm writing this a good while in advance to make sure I get quality time with Dragon's Dogma 2, so I don't have any audience input about whom Cascada should be best buds with yet. Please vote in the poll and also comment so I don't feel like I'm screaming into the void.

Even in older versions of the game, you could examine the hook above the blood puddle here to get a guaranteed encounter. The Ghost Ship is a solid grinding location as a result.

We'll have to ask Abdul for a Viking Funeral later.

Kakyoin is accordingly unavailable as a party member for this segment.

Abdul: It seems there aren't any enemies on the deck.
Joseph: The rest of the crewmembers are taking shelter on the lowest level of the ship. If anything happens, they'll call me by radio.
Jotaro: ................
Polnareff: I knew there'd be a Stand user aboard! You be careful. There's no telling what kind of person they are!
Cascada: You cut me and Abdul like five-hundred times and I sliced your carotid artery open with high-pressure water, so we're even now right? You wanna check this place out?

Polnareff is our Speed-type party member, and accordingly fulfills a sort of DEX-build like niche. He's fast and has a good amount of status-inflicting multi-target attacks just like when he was a boss fight, but he might as well be made of phyllo. Also notable is his Armor Takeoff skill here, which as far as I'm aware is a permanent mode-change ability. Here's a before and after:

He already moves first most of the time and hits plenty hard, so I don't think it's quite worth the hit to his Durability.

These hooks are swinging back and forth so that you could avoid all of them if you had more patience than I. Instead, imagine me getting into somewhere between three and five encounters between every single screenshot because I'm just stomping through everything.

This means I get into substantially more battles than I would have run into with random encounters.

Cascada: Are they smuggling animals or something?

The bridge is, indeed, eerily empty other than this treasure chest.

Polnareff: Truly, the ape is mankind's closest cousin.

Oh, it's been an orangutan this whole time? Glad nobody was in earshot while they were saying "monkey". They'd be banned from the Unseen University for life.

According to RPG logic, we therefore must seek out the thing we were explicitly told not to. Below deck we go!

The treasure chest has an Overdrive SY (3% HP and 20%+60 SP).

The Hydrants can inflict Bind and Propellers can be reasonably dangerous if they use their self-destruct attack, but Polnareff one-shots 99% of the encounters here with multi-target attacks.

Like so. Again, imagine seeing this five times between every other screenshot and you'll get an idea of what playing this is like.

This does heavy physical damage to one enemy. Considering how I hoard items, it'll probably never get used.

The fore of the ship has a row of treasure chests containing two Overdrive SY, a Ripple-Infused Cola (5%+40 HP and 1%+1 SP for the whole party), and an Herb-Infused Drink (flat 80 SP).

Other than the Hydrants, Green Hornets are still buzzing around too. At this point they're truly more of a nuisance than anything else. The chest in the cabin there only has a measly 500G, while fighting things along the way to it probably got me around 250-300. Barely worth it.

Down another deck. There are a few chests here with Ointment and First-Aid Kits, guarded by the usual Hydrant Horde.

I'm not sure what the thing on the right side of the screen is meant to be; I assume some kind of freight crane/pulley. The "green tube" sprite just always makes me think of ninjas sneaking around underwater.

There are two stairwells down to the next deck. This one goes to a treasure room cut off from the rest of the map.

The other chests just have Rations.

Polnareff: Would you, er, care to assist at all, Cascada?
Cascada: -yawning- Nah, looks like you've got it covered. Keep it up.

He was level 12 when we started. He'll be level 15 (and Cascada level 18) by the time we leave. I guess that Badge of Honor wasn't that impressive after all?

Taking the other stairwell leads into the lounge area where the normie crew members are holed up.

Cascada: You're talking a big game for someone staying well out of hook range.

I'm kind of fascinated by varying attitudes towards eating fish. In Japan, it's a protein staple, but they're an island nation where getting fresh fish isn't a big deal. I like fish because growing up it was a welcome reprieve from my mother's usual school-night dinner of unsalted chicken breast, mushy frozen broccoli, and plain steamed rice. Meanwhile, the majority of white people I've met, even those raised coastally, categorically dislike seafood.

The late great Anthony Bourdain infamously said to never order fish on Mondays, because it was probably caught/bought on Friday morning and sat in the fridge all weekend long. Writer Tobias Buckell grew up poor in the Caribbean and said that dinner was usually whatever they'd catch that day, so he associates fish with poverty. But in my mind, fish is at a weird cross-section of more-expensive-than-but-not-as-fancy-as beef.

...This has nothing to do with the Let's Play. Moving on.

The nurse here gives us free full heals without causing the day counter to tick forward, which is the other reason this is a popular grinding spot. But as we leave...

Random chance of getting a random status effect. I guess she's still in training.

Polnareff: Oh dear. Perhaps we should visit the nurse again, and she can kiss all ze hurt away.
Cascada: I thought you French were more into like, maids?
Polnareff: Maids, nurses, police officers... as long as a miniskirt is involved, Chariot's armor is coming OFF.
Cascada: Dude, gross.

Cell key in hand, we go up to release the orangutan for... reasons...?

What did we expect.

In the manga, this is recognizable as the August 1989 issue of Playboy Japan, which is silly because Part 3 takes place in November/December of 1988. Then again, 7SU decided this is summer vacation instead, and these are the kinds of details that nobody should actually give a shit about.

Jotaro still doesn't say shit.

There isn't anything around the rest of the ship. We have to head back down into the lounge, where...

Everyone's dead. With our RPG top-down God cam, we can see that the runaway girl is being accosted in the shower by the creeper orangutan... but Steel said there are two Stand users here. We examine the rest of the bodies.

Polnareff: Ah, she is playing hard to get...
Cascada: Not the time!

We scour the rest of the ship. Can you spot the difference?

Cascada: Lady, if you'd attacked me like this while I was alone in Hong Kong I'd have been done for. Shoulda taken your shot before the Polnareff Incident.
Polnareff: Pardon, the what?
Cascada: Don't worry about it, just give her a taste of the bullshit I had to deal with.

Silver Chariot wipes out all six hornets before any of them have a chance to act. The ones in this boss battle actually have lower HP than normal, but they do more damage and respawn... if they get a chance. Cascada got a new special move last time, remember?

Cascada: ...I'm starting to feel a little bad for you folks. Alright, take your shot.

This is a little interesting, because normally the "Insects" status can only be inflicted by one of the player Stands. It halves Speed, lowers accuracy by 20%, and deals 2%+1 HP damage per turn. The Stand in question can also inflict "Swarm" and "Bugs", which do 5% and 7% HP damage, respectively. They can stack with each other, which is one of the best ways to deal with a hidden boss or two.

Accordingly, if you have that Stand, there's a bit of extra dialogue here.

Cascada: Ugh, gross. Alright, that's enough.

...I may have gone too far in a few places.

If you don't defeat Kate here, the Green Hornet encounters stick around for another few maps, slightly stronger and more annoying. This way we get some breathing room and a nice shiny Badge of Honor.

Okay, now we can go kill the ape.

Polnareff: Is this the Stand user!? But why... Why can't I see the Stand? Where is it hiding!?

Polnareff: Could he himself be the Stand...? No, the sailors and the girl could see him... And when I hit him, I felt a Stand user's power! But why can't I see his Stand...? No... Maybe... I'm already looking at it... This freighter is the Stand!

This is a very silly moment, but it helps establish some more guidelines about what Stands can be. Remember, Cascada's arm cannon is a non-canon addition.

Stands like Star Platinum and Hierophant Green are at least vaguely humanoid and each has some kind of special ability useful in a combat situation, like you might expect if you've read any battle manga ever. Next to that, we have Joseph's Hermit Purple, which is just a weird bundle of vines that does "spirit photography"... so Stands don't necessarily have to be human shaped or combat-oriented.

Next up is Tower of Gray, a weird needle beetle, so also not humanoid. Dark Blue Moon is broadly humanoid, but has a whole slate of powers that are all just sort of loosely water-themed rather than a single ability.

And now Strength breaks all the rules we've seen so far. The Stand-user is a fucking orangutan, normies can see and interact with the Stand, and the Stand is huge.

Anyway, Polnareff picked up a new move after cutting down several dozen propellers.

...so, normally, Forever can melt into the wall and become untargetable, forcing you to deal with constantly respawning Hydrants and Propellers every turn until he reappears. Quicksilver hits hard.

Polnareff: I refuse!

Polnareff kills an orangutan with a sword, giving animal rights activists even more ammo against Hirohiko Araki. In the manga, Jotaro does it with the second and final use of Star Finger in the series. Funnily enough, in the older OVA adaptation of Part 3, it is Polnareff who lands the killing blow.

Abdul: What's unbelievable is that that ape was able to cross the ocean with his own Stand... He must've been frighteningly powerful.
Cascada: I dunno, we killed him in about 30 seconds.
Joseph: If we hadn't found out he was the one behind it, we'd have been overpowered for sure.
Polnareff: Monsieur Joestar, we cut down at least fifty hooks, hydrants, and propellers. It was not terribly difficult.
Joseph: The thought that we might meet Stand users even stronger than this one is quite unsettling...
Cascada: Are you even listening?
Jotaro: ...
Cascada: ...
Kakyoin: ...

Joseph: Looks like we're at the mercy of the waves again...
Joseph: A perfect chance for me to tell you more about the good ol' days.
Cascada: God, not again.
Joseph: I didn't cross-dress as a Mexican barfly to sneak into a Nazi encampment during the war to take lip from you, kid.
Polnareff: Did it work? I admit, I cannot picture you in a miniskirt.
Abdul: Have I related the tale about my encounter with Dio to you yet, Monsieur Polnareff?
Polnareff: Oui, after our previous ship exploded. I am still not sure why you had to ACTUALLY scream.
Kakyoin: -sigh-
All: EVERY detail.
Jotaro: Gimme a break... My cigs are all wet.
Polnareff: There's plenty of time to dry 'em out in the sun.
Kakyoin: Guess we just have to pray we make it to Singapore safely...

That's all, folks! Tune in next time for another enormous hub map!

<= Previous | Top | =To Be Continued=>