Hey everyone! surrealcanine here! For those of you who don't frequent the chat, I'm a YouTuber/Twitch streamer who got interested in DROD back in the summer of 2018. I've been wanting to Let's Play these games for a long time, but I've always had other commitments to other projects.
Until now.
With the main story of Disgaea 6 wrapped up, I have a stream slot free, and All the DRODs is all ready to go!
What counts as All the DRODs?
All official holds, plus Entry Point once it is released, in this order:
Click here to view the secret text
×Part 1: The Legend of Beethro
King Dugan's Dungeon
Gunthro and the Epic Blunder
Journey to Rooted Hold
Perfection
Beethro's Teacher
Master Locks or Master Locks Expert
The City Beneath
DROD RPG: Tendry's Tale
Devilishly Dangerous Dungeons of Doom
Suit Pursuit
Finding the First Truth
The Second Sky
Part 2: The Tales of Beethro
The Choice
Beethro and the Secret Society
Halph Has a Bad Day
Smitemastery 101
Complex Complex
Flood Warning
Treacle Stew
Part 3: The Twin Kingdoms of Oyst
Entry Point
What will you be doing?
Required rooms, secret rooms, and challenges (and DROD RPG scorepoints).
What's the schedule?
Thursday nights starting between 6 and 7 PM, US Eastern time, and continuing either until midnight, or my hands get tired (at which point I pick up my controller and play something else).
Can I make my beautiful voice heard?
Sure! Any and all DRODites are welcome to join the voice chat while I'm streaming! https://discord.gg/sXw7mTFCYQ
Anything else?
Yes. I will be showing the current high score for each room I conquer, and if I scored especially poorly, I will show off a first-place demo. If you have any first-place scores in the holds I am streaming and would prefer your demos not be shown, let me know in a PM. Alternatively, if you specifically want your demos shown off and they're close enough to first place, let me know too!
Sounds great, I am looking specifically forward for challenges. There aren't many LPs of DROD on youtube, so there is never enough of them. If I had a yt account I would make an LP myself [Last edited by Illusionist at 07-18-2021 02:49 PM]
If a post-mastery room isn't too frustrating to solve, I'll be solving those too. I remember being rather annoyed by one in a Smitemaster's Selection in the past, but I'll give everything an honest try.
Just a note on the demo sharing - there might be some players who wouldn't want their demo's shared with the outside world (this happened to me a number of years ago where someone shared one of my demo's on the h&s board and someone else brought up the issue).
Of course, it's not really feasible to explicitly request permission for every demo you wish to use, might also consider who actually owns the demo once it's uploaded to CNet and whether Caravel can grant blanket permission...
I probably shouldn't have said anything I'm sure it will work out okay, if it makes things easier I'm happy for you to share any of my demo's
Best of luck!
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Without struggle, there is no progress, so get up, get out, and go make the rest of your life the best of your life; you deserve to live the life that YOU want to live...
I do concede that, while it seems community opinion is in favor of demos, I should honor the wishes of individual players who do not want their own demos shown. As such, I have sent a PM to the five players with the most high scores in King Dugan's Dungeon. Of these five, it appears that three have not been active in the community for a long time, and I see the other two regularly in the chat. I will proceed to show the demos in the absence of a reply, but I am prepared to honor any negative replies going forward.
Episode 1 took me through the first five levels of King Dugan's Dungeon. The rooms were easy enough, the challenges were highly technical, and the demos were full of sorcery. You senior smiters are something else!
I also got a few unexpected first-place ties from busted rooms, so that was nice.
Thanks to Rabscuttle and disoriented for permission to show their demos, and to NoahT and Nuntar for helpful commentary and navigation!
Yesterday's episode covered levels 6 through 9 of King Dugan's Dungeon. I struggled a lot with several rooms on level 7, took my sweet time against level 8's tar mothers, and got annoyed by level 9's roach herding exercises. I also got scratched by my sister's cat!
The next episode will probably be streamed August 10, but depending on circumstances, I may be able to stream August 3 as well.
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136th Skywatcher surrealcanine plays All the DRODs [Last edited by surrealcanine at 07-28-2021 01:14 PM : Add next episode's stream time]
Intriguing! I am aware of these holds, which are packaged with certain releases of DROD. I hadn't considered doing them at first, but if I get to the end of Entry Point and still want to stream more DROD, they are definitely on the table.
ErikH2000 wrote:
@Surrealcanine, this is great! I really like your editing on the intro video.
-Erik
I hold no praise higher than that from the creator himself. Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest of the series going forward, even if I appear to get frustrated with some of the rooms in KDD.
In this episode, I cover level 10 through 16 of King Dugan's Dungeon. I got lost in a maze, slashed my way through plenty of tar, read an article on the Palace style and evolution of spiders, and matched wits with dozens of goblins.
In this episode, I do levels 17 through 20 of King Dugan's Dungeon. The "Spring Cleaning" challenge on level 17 sure was a thing, but the rest of the stream went pretty well!
In this episode, I finish King Dugan's Dungeon, and a certain infamous challenge gets skipped entirely. (Instead, I showed a demo of me doing it 3 years ago.)
Thoughts on this hold: For the first hold ever, it's fairly decent. The floors have a wide variety of themes and gimmicks, and nothing really overstays its welcome. It's regrettable that so many challenges were implemented without considering whether it meaningfully changes the room, but that problem will become less and less prominent as the series goes on.
Story analysis: In order to tell a story about the unusual, we must first establish what is normal. The writing in King Dugan's Dungeon gives us an excellent showcase of Beethro working in his preferred element. King Dugan's Dungeon is a simple story about a working man taking on an unusually large job, and trying to make it sound like a grand heroic tale. And while Dugan's dungeon is huge, and comes with a few surprises, Beethro outright dismisses the unanswered questions and conspiracy theories, and intends to get some answers just so people will shut up and he can get back to work. Thus, we get a good characterization of Beethro pre-Journey: An impatient blue-collar worker who's seen it all and just wants to get on with his life. Halph also makes an appearance in the ending and, to Beethro, he's just a dumb kid who has no idea what the real world is like. It's only in JtRH that he really comes into his own as a character.
I'll be going on vacation for the next three weeks. The next hold, Gunthro and the Epic Blunder, will (probably) begin September 14.
Thank you, everyone, for your patience. I'm back with a new episode!
Episode 6: Roundabout rafting
In this episode, I clear the first act of Gunthro and the Epic Blunder and get a whole bunch of first-place ties in the process. I also miss quite a few secret walls and have to look them up in the map.
In this episode, I complete Tuenan Armory, Daskeran Caves, Golem Encampment, and Daskeros Tower. I get owned by a couple of challenges, including one proposed by NoahT, who's been a regular in the chat! But due to tiredness, I don't get much farther.
Whoops, forgot to post the update! Episode 8: Secrets in the shallows
In this episode, I clear Inauro Canyon, Grotto Hideout, and Englos Keep, finishing out Act 2. I then do the Rock Giant Lair up in Akandia!
The next episode will be streamed October 5.
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136th Skywatcher surrealcanine plays All the DRODs [Last edited by surrealcanine at 10-04-2021 02:43 AM : Forgot to add the video link too!]
Illusionist wrote:
Watching this stream I thought "and yet there are people who think that Gunthro was too easy".
EDIT: where are my manners, I forgot to say "thank you for doing these"
Yeah, the secrets, challenges, and postgame stuff are all pretty face-bash-in-y. Have I mentioned I don't like fighting my way out of surrounded conditions yet?
Speaking of postgame stuff! Episode 9: All eyes on me
With this, Gunthro and the Epic Blunder is now finished! Journey to Rooted Hold will be streamed tonight at the usual time.
EDIT: Since I neglected to do a story analysis when I posted this episode, let's do one now.
Gunthro sits in a weird place. It's a prequel to the saga of Beethro, and if you consider the actual story to start with Journey to Rooted hold, then Gunthro shares that status with King Dugan's Dungeon. If you have played all of the official content released before 2012, there won't be anything surprising in the story of Gunthro. That being said, let us compare this game with KDD in terms of their role as introductions to the story.
KDD's plot is extremely back-loaded; the reveal about Dugan's dungeon being expanded over time happens in the ending itself in AE, and in postmastery in 2.0 and beyond. Beethro's curiosity about the unreachable section of Floor 10 forms the launching point for the rest of the story, but the door itself is only treated as out of place in hindsight. One might argue that the "Beethro the Delver" stories do just as good a job introducing Beethro, with the bonus of cutting out the more tedious sections of KDD's gameplay.
GatEB, on the other hand, isn't really about Beethro at all. Instead, the story introduces the Rooted Empire as a mysterious third party in Rasarus and Tueno's war. Thus, the driving question changes from, "Who's expanding and/or seeding the dungeons, and why?" to "What is the Empire's goal?" While this line of inquiry is more direct, it doesn't quite line up with Beethro's reasons for returning to Dugan's dungeon in JtRH; not until the second level, anyway.
The other way in which GatEB benefits the story is in offering a closer look at Rasarus beyond its pirate problem. Each of the games adds some information to our general knowledge of the Eighth:
- KDD, of course, takes place entirely in and under Ephelna, and one might argue that JtRH does as well. Meanwhile, we get snippets of information from the level intro texts occasionally describing a slice of life up above.
- TCB puts a great deal of focus on
Click here to view the secret text
×life in the Empire, while also briefly visiting Glorthorred, Ephelna, and Rasarus.
- DROD RPG stars Tendry, a Stalwart of Tueno, and most of the game takes place in or under Tueno.
- A third of GatEB takes place in Rasarus, a third in Tueno, and a third in Akandia, though we don't really see as much of Akandia in any game as I would like.
- TSS sees Beethro traveling all over the world, with the most prominent "place reveals" being
Click here to view the secret text
×Sun Island, the Great Maelstrom, and the other surface 10,000 years ago
, while the early game appears to take place beneath Glorthorred.
- Finally, Entry Point takes place entirely on Oyst.
With this, the least explored major region is Clarbag, only getting token representation in TSS's endgame alongside the other continents. And while this is unfortunate from a worldbuilding standpoint, this story is less about the world itself than about Beethro and his hunt for truth and knowledge.
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136th Skywatcher surrealcanine plays All the DRODs [Last edited by surrealcanine at 10-20-2021 07:48 PM]
Augh, I really should be posting these sooner. Episode 10: No wonder they call him as "The Slayer", look at him!
(Yes, this is a reference to something.)
In this episode, I narrate the events that took place in the years between King Dugan's Dungeon and Journey to Rooted Hold. Then we begin the journey itself, clearing three levels and managing to kill 39th Slayer in clear sight of his students! (Sort of. How do walls even work in the Eighth?)
The next episode will be streamed tomorrow.
Due to a scheduling conflict, last week's episode of All the DRODs was shorter than usual. As such, only level 8 of JtRH was done. Still, the serpents in that secret room proved to be quite the tricky opponents!
The next episode will be streamed November 2. It's likely to be another short episode for the same reasons as last time, but I am assured levels 9 and 10 are quite short!
I speed through levels 9 and 10 of JtRH, and while I fail to find both of level 9's secret rooms without the help of the restore map, nothing really poses a challenge here.
The author of one of my other projects is available all night during my normal DROD day, so I'm temporarily switching the two projects. All the DRODs will continue November 7.
This episode sees the completion of levels 11 and 12, along with clearing the remaining secret room on level 10. The tar mother of Patrick's Puzzle proves to be quite the tricky foe to clean up, and for the sake of my right hand, I ended the episode before the night was over.
I will be experimenting with a new stream schedule next week. As such, All the DRODs will return at the usual time on November 18.
In this episode, I clear levels 13 and 14 of Journey to Rooted Hold, which means lots of bashing my face against goblins and mud! One challenge in particular proved to be too much for me, unfortunately. My poor hands!
There are (probably) lots of Americans among us, so in respect to holiday gatherings, I won't be streaming DROD next Thursday. Instead, I'll likely be playing Megaman, and All the DRODs will return December 2.
Episode 16: The decoy was a distaction, I have the car
In this episode, I'm too burned out to do much, but I do get through level 15 and the second half of level 13! Hopefully the next stream will go better.
Oh no, I forgot to post the update! Episode 17: Power creep, power seep
This episode sees Levels 16 and 17 done, and introduces the rattlesnake and seep elements. And boy are those rattlesnakes a pain to deal with when you're not allowed to turn your sword!
The next episode will be streamed tomorrow, December 16.
Well, it seems like this level doesn't introduce anything I can name my episode after, but that's fine! It's JtRH level 18, and that means we're approaching the end at a decent pace, even with the number of one-level streams.
On an unrelated note, I'd also like to welcome Nuntar back to the DROD chat after his lengthy absence! He was missed, and now he is not. Huzzah!
EDIT: Forgot to mention! The next stream will be December 23 at the usual time.
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136th Skywatcher surrealcanine plays All the DRODs [Last edited by surrealcanine at 12-22-2021 12:02 AM]
I'm sure it will work out okay, if it makes things easier I'm happy for you to share any of my demo's 
