(If you don’t want to read everything, you can skip to the Conclusion.)
Having watched the anime versions of the game, I decided to take the plunge and try to play it.
After signing up, the first thing to surprise me was the intro video that played. I didn’t know about that and really enjoyed watching it and listening to the music. After having enjoyed that and setting my saniwa name, I was finally able to choose my first sword. For me, this had been a toss-up between
Kashuu and Kasen, but ultimately Kashuu won that battle. ^-^
I was glad that the tutorial was fairly straight forward. However, I still felt a little confused and frustrated with things to begin with. Though, now, I understand things a bit better and can work with the game fairly well. My biggest struggle as a newbie was gathering resources, but I found it gets a little easier as you level up and increase your swords and your team spaces. (Let’s face it, three teams out on expeditions is better than one or two.)
On this first day, I got a total of 12 new swords (which is easy when you have no swords at all).
The first, after Kashuu, I got during the tutorial for the forge, where you get a tantou; mine was Maeda!
Five more of them were also from the forge (after the tutorial) – Souza, Atsushi, Doudanuki,
Yamatonokami and Yamanbagiri.
The other five were from drops on the battlefield maps – Yagen (I was so happy to get him so early!), Gokotai, Akita, Midare, and Aizen.
Also, when I joined they had an event going ~ a summer themed one where you could equip troops with water guns. I didn’t record the name of it, but my swords were too low level to even make it through the easy level. (Naturally, I was a brand new player so my swords didn’t have high enough levels then…) As I’ve gone on and levelled up my swords, the events have gotten easier and easier (still hard to reach really high level rewards sometimes, but easier now that I have higher level swords).
Day 2
I gained another 7 new swords this day; 5 forged: Kasen (was so happy to get him), Horikawa (was super happy to get him), Namazuo, Mutsunokami and Monoyoshi. 2 dropped: Sayo and Hakata (was glad to get him too).
Now I was just missing 3 members of the 2nd unit from Katsugeki; Izuminokami, Tsurumaru and
Tonbokiri. ^-^
This was the day I learnt about the ‘nitou kaigan’ (two sword attack). I had never seen it on the videos I’d watched so this was a surprise to me. The first was done by Kasen and Horikawa and the follow ups were Yamatonokami and Horikawa and Yamatonokami and Namazuo.
I also organized my first set of duties this day: Kashuu and Yasusada on horse keeping, Atsushi and Yagen on fieldwork and Souza and (unknown as I failed to record it…) on sparring.
Day 3
My saniwa level reached 15 by the end of this day.
This day, I was starting on Edo Map 4 – Osaka ~ Battle of Winter and I ended on Shokuho Map 2 –
Honnouji; unlocking Map 3 ~ Echizen.
The number of new swords were beginning to dwindle now: only 3 new swords today. 2 drops – Houchou and Hirano. 1 forge – Yamabushi.
This was the day I learnt not to put Kasen on horse duty. I also ended up having an inadvertently very
‘Kasen’ day as I, without thinking, placed him as leader on Team 1 (in order to level him up) and was
surprised when I saw him on the Honmaru screen. (However, this day ended with Yagen taking his place. ^-^)
Today, Kashuu was the first to reach level 20 (his Toku level).
Day 4
I felt that Kasen may have a grudge when he returned from horse keeping… He really didn’t like it. (Given how he likes to keep things clean… I should have guessed that he’d like to keep himself clean… whoops.)
Yamanbagiri had become my new attendant shortly after Yagen (I was working on levelling everyone up to level 20 so the attendant changed a fair bit). I felt he needed to speak more as I was used to Kashuu, Kasen and Yagen who are all fairly chatty attendants.
Day 5
I’d started trying to plan my duties assignments so that I wasn’t just putting the same swords on rotation without knowing it. (You can see a version of my duties sheet in the Downloads from last week if you haven’t already seen that post).
More on duties, Doudanuki and Yamabushi returned from sparring and seemed to really enjoy working together. ^-^ Also, Yamabagiri seemed to be okay with horse keeping (in comparison to Kasen the day before…).
Had some swords level up. Doudanuki and Kasen both reached level 20 and Kashuu reached level 21.
In the sorties… yikes. I ended up going against the ‘Justicars’ (kebiishi) and my swords got trashed! Both Yagen and Horikawa were severely damaged, Doudanuki was majorly damaged and Yasusada was lightly damaged. (Quickly realized I needed to level my boys up…)
Also, in regards to sorties… I was beginning to get aggravated with Atsushi on my team. Whenever I took him into battle, he’d get injured and need repairing (and when your resources for repairs and forging are limited… you don’t really want a sword who’s going to need the repair room every time he goes onto the frontlines…).
Day 6
I was better prepared for the kebiishi this time around. Only Yagen came out with light damage and I got Imanotsurugi as a drop from this encounter! (I’d read that you could get Higekiri or Hizamaru from confronting the kebiishi so I’d been hoping for one of them, but was happy to get Imanotsurugi. ^-^)
I had been trying to forge naginata, yari, ootachi and tachi this day; my tachi timers I’d get to look at on day 7, but I’d gotten 1 new naginata ~ Iwatooshi! (Imanotsurugi didn’t have to be lonely anymore! ^-^)
Day 7
Taikogane had arrived yesterday and Shokudaikiri was one of the tachi waiting for me today. I quickly sent them both on fieldwork and liked how they seemed to be keen on organic veg. ^-^
Another tachi I got this day was Hizamaru! I’d been ‘looking’ for him on the kebiishi maps, so I hadn’t expected to get him in the forge. (Now I needed to find his brother…)
Day 8
Sending Doudanuki and Sayo on fieldwork… they didn’t seem to be keen on it. (Doudanuki – ‘Not made for this’ and Sayo – ‘If it’ll prevent a famine…’)
I was trying to forge yari, but all I was getting was tantou. (Wasn’t all bad; got Gotou. ^-^)
Day 9
This was the day I first encountered site maintenance. I ended up not doing much as I got the timing wrong; I could have come on earlier, but I incorrectly calculated the time difference.
Day 10
I really liked Horikawa’s ‘En garde!’ line for sparring against Atsushi’s ‘Ya ready for this?’ ^-^
I’d begun to realise how my perception of the characters was changing when I had them as my attendant. I was back to Yamanbagiri again and was beginning to become fonder of him.
Also, I don’t know why, but I always forget that whoever I place as team captain on team 1 will become my attendant and am always surprised when I return to the Honmaru screen and find them waiting for me. (I still do this ~ over 100 days later!) Sometimes, this isn’t a bad thing. I ended up swapping out Yamanbagiri for Horikawa (one of my favourite swords from Hanamaru and Katsugeki).
This day we had an interesting duo in the forge. Hachisuka and Nagasone, one right after the other. XD Personally, I think Hachisuka didn’t want to be beat by Nagasone. However, Nagasone was smithing before I put the forge that had Hachisuka on. So… does that make this a tie? ^-^
Day 11
Not much today…
Day 12
Always glad to find that a sword doesn’t mind doing a particular duty; in this case it was Yamabushi on fieldwork. (I like to try to place my sword warriors on duties they like as much as possible, but when I can’t, I just hope they aren’t in the chosen unit for the dialogue…)
Day 13
Again, not much.
Day 14
I learnt today not to believe everything I see in Hanamaru. I’d seen Kasen ‘happy’ to do fieldwork, but in the game it wasn’t quite the same. It was the same with Souza…
I’d found out that besides Atsushi, Gokotai wasn’t much good out on the battlefield either. (They’re still two of the swords I don’t enjoy levelling up due to their poor abilities on the battlefield, but they can do fairly well if surrounded by stronger swords.)
Day 15
A plan I had to increase the team units I had (you need to clear certain levels to unlock team units 3 and 4) failed badly when I found that the next expedition required an ootachi to be on the team… I didn’t have an ootachi at that point… So, my quest for an ootachi in the forge began…
For duties, I was glad to see that Souza had at least learnt how to enjoy fieldwork. Kasen on the other
hand…
Day 16
Didn’t get much done today as maintenance went on longer than expected. However, I was able to login to get the free daily login backdrop gift ~ ‘Beginning of Autumn – Sunflower’.
Also, I got a surprise in the form of a ‘New Saniwa Booster Gift’ that the game gave me. I was so grateful for it. I’d been building up my request tokens (essential for forging) so I could forge a lot and this gave it a good boost.
Day 17
Was really enjoying how fast my swords were levelling up in the ‘Operation Night Flower Recapture’ event, particularly the double experience ones!
Day 18
Lots of level ups and Uguisumaru came to join us.
Day 19 & 20
Not a lot to report…
Day 21
Shinano (who arrived on day 20) started at level 1 on the event team today and ended the day at level 24! (He was one of the Double EXP characters.)
Also, on day 20 and today I got some very unexpected drops from the event map: Otegine and Tonbokiri! I was so happy to see them! As you know, I’d been trying to forge yari previously, but had stopped seeing as the chances of getting them were quite slim and all I was getting was tantou. (Now, I just need to find Nihongou… He was available in an event a couple months down the line, but I didn’t make it to the right level to get him… Next time!)
Day 22
Izuminokami arrived in the forge today and I was so happy to get him! Not to mention, I knew Horikawa would be happy too. ^-^
Also got my first 4hr timer, which turned out to be Juzumaru. (Had been hoping for Mikazuki.)
Day 23
Was so disappointed to miss the seasonal backdrop. I was so close! I was just missing 1 of each of the
harvestable/duties seasonal items needed to exchange for it. Though, I was ready to start again and hopefully get the next backdrop.
Day 24
Discovered that the fast forward button in battles is your friend in events. You can get through battles a fair bit quicker, thus letting you advance quicker in the event and earn more rewards.
Day 25
Got the 1st fireworks backdrop! I was so elated! ^-^
Day 26
Not much.
Day 27
Another unexpected event map dropped sword ~ Ookurikara. (I’m sure his brothers were glad to see him. ^-^)
Got a little fed up with the ‘level up’ team getting injured so quickly during the event, so I swapped to a stronger team to try to make it through.
Finally got to see Izuminokami and Horikawa do a nitou kaigan together; I’d been waiting for this! (They actually repeated this 2 more times during my time on the game today, which I was glad about. ^-^)
Day 28
I finished the event! I was so happy to actually finish it!
Day 29
Not much.
Day 30
Got another special login backdrop ~ ‘Heat Withdraws – Cosmos’. (So pretty.)
At long last! I got my first ootachi – Ishikirimaru!
I found it so amusing that my team with Yamanbagiri, Mutsunokami, Taikogane, Doudanuki, Hakata and Houchou was too strong for the Level 3 maps! (They did equal 208 if you added their levels together…)
Conclusion
At the end of 30 days of being Saniwa, here are my basic statistics:
• End level: 35
• End map: Shokuho Map 3 ~ Echizen.
• Sword list – 52 swords in total. (In order of arrival: Kashuu, Maeda, Souza, Atsushi, Yagen, Gokotai,
Akita, Midare, Doudanuki, Yamatonokami, Yamanbagiri, Aizen, Kasen, Horikawa, Namazuo, Sayo,
Hakata, Mutsunokami, Monoyoshi, Houchou, Hirano, Yamabushi, Nikkari, Imanotsurugi, Taikogane,
Iwatooshi, Nakigitsune, Shokudaikiri, Hizamaru, Kikkou, Gotou, Hachisuka, Nagasone, Hasebe, Fudou, Shishio, Koryu, Higekiri, Uguisumaru, Shinano, Otegine, Tonbokiri, Izuminokami, Akashi, Juzumaru, Sengo, Ookurikara, Ichigo, Ishikirimaru, Urashima, Honebami, & Tsurumaru.)
So at the end of the day, besides many of the other various ‘teams’, ‘groups’ or ‘families’ of swords found in Touken Ranbu, I had the whole 2nd unit from Katsugeki. (Tsurumaru barely squeaked in to make the list complete in these first 30 days. ^-^)
Favourites
• Attendant: Yagen. (I really enjoyed having him as my attendant.)
• Backdrop(s): Visually – Most of the night time ones ~ particularly ‘Spring Garden – Night’ and
‘Summer Garden – Night’ (this one has fireflies!). Interactively – ‘Scenic View – Fireworks’ and
‘Scenic View – Fireworks Big Konnosuke’ ~ these were both event rewards and some of the swords
have lines they say when you have them as your attendant and activate the fireworks. (Kashuu’s my
favourite to ‘watch the fireworks with’. ^-^)
• Event: Operation Night Flower Recapture.
This was the ‘part 2’ to last week’s post Touken Ranbu Online - Rambling.
So, if you play Touken Ranbu online, who is your favourite attendant and which backdrop is your favourite? If you don’t play the game, are you considering starting now? Let me know by Contacting me; my details are on the About page. ^-^
Also, if you’d like to watch someone playing the game, I highly recommend these two ladies on YouTube:
• Sarah’s Nerd Life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMKtEEnkyt_Rgs7AlgTHd6Q
• FrostElfVA: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW93ZNg5RdslEZIZkMsQBUQ
Until next time, keep enjoying your fan side of life!
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