The more I play Banner of the Maid, the more I’m enjoying it. The plot is picking up, with plenty of side quests that lean more into the Visual Novel side of the game.
As an example: One side quest involved raising money by going to an auction house, buying items cheap, then selling them for a huge profit. Problem with that strategy is arranging with other bidders for them to bid low or abstain entirely to get the best price. Taking what you’ve learned about the various factions in the journey so far, you have to find allies who will help you — and avoid those who see through your scheme and plan to only give you the worst deals imaginable.
Another side quest had the protagonist, Pauline Bonaparte, circulating around an important party, talking with the people there about whether they’d seen any signs of attackers as they’d entered — and as each one talked about what they’d seen, the corresponding bandit group would emerge from the fog of war for the rest of your army to take on outside.
That one ended with a daring escape in a hot air balloon.
The battle themselves are getting increasingly technical, even well into the third act of the game still introducing new mechanics (like flanking) and changing battlefield conditions. The rain in this scene is making the ground muddy, which is making it nearly impossible to move units or keep gunpowder dry. In particular, it makes artillery nearly impossible to move and difficult to aim.
This particular map involves going from house to house looking for loot and rebels, then taking on a boss.
I’m liking the VN/Tactics mix, and we’ve even figured out why everyone speaks Chinese.
It’s because French was fine as the language of diplomacy as long as the peasantry kept the words out of their mouths. Once French became widespread, the only possible choice was to have the upper crust choose another language in which to set themselves apart from the non-aristocracy — and so, Chinese.
