Recruits

Recruits is a game mechanic introduced in Chapter 2. If the party spares enough enemies of the same type, they are recruited into Castle Town.

Recruitment[]

Recruiting only works on standard enemies, not bosses. If the party ever defeats an enemy violently, that enemy becomes LOST (even if they had already been recruited), and it becomes impossible to recruit that type of enemy ever again; however, defeating enemies violently increases the party members' maximum HP. Battles in the Party Dojo do not affect recruitment, so enemies can be defeated violently without becoming LOST.

At the start of Chapter 2, all Chapter 1 enemies are automatically made recruits regardless of whether they were spared or defeated violently in Chapter 1. This is presumably due to the lack of the Recruits feature in Chapter 1 meaning that the appropriate information was not tracked in the SAVE file at that time. Starting in the 1.07 patch, if the party did defeat enemies violently in Chapter 1, Lancer mentions that he used his authority to pardon the party's crimes.

Effects[]

Recruited enemies appear around Castle Town. Some characters in Castle Town comment on the absence of particular enemies; for example, Swatch comments on the absence of the Swatchlings.

Recruitment progress can be reviewed at SAVE points. The Recruits menu displays the number of recruited enemies and how many more enemies should be spared for that enemy type to be recruited, for all enemies for which at least one individual has been recruited. Additionally, the recruitment counter is also displayed upon sparing enemies when that type of enemy has not been fully recruited yet. This menu is not accessible when on the Snowgrave Route. However, it is re-enabled after sparing an enemy in Queen's Mansion.

The recruits menu displays profiles of each recruited enemy: Their name, a brief description, their level, Attack, Defense, Element, Likes and Dislikes. There are two slots below Likes and Dislikes left empty, presumably to be used in future chapters.

In the Cafe, recruits can be placed at tables, where the party can talk with them about the drinks they like. There are three tables around which recruits can be given a seat, and the pair around the southern table are implied to be sharing it. Tasque Manager is the only recruit who cannot be placed at a table, as she is already present at the top of the Cafe.

Chapter 2[]

If the party has not recruited all of the possible enemies in the Cyber World, but also has not LOST any enemies, Trashy appears near the end of Queen's Mansion, reminding the party that they are near the end so should check to make sure they have recruited all possible enemies.

When assembling the Thrash Machine mecha before the GIGA Queen battle, only recruited enemies contribute to its formation. Mauswheel, Werewire and Werewerewire do not appear (although Maus and Plugboy do), but still contribute towards the Thrash Machine's HP. Each recruited enemy contributes 5 HP to the total HP of the Thrash Machine (from a base of 200), up to a maximum of 250. (The Hacker and Starwalker also contribute 5 HP each to the Thrash Machine's maximum HP if their respective requirements have been met, so it is not necessary to recruit all 10 Cyber World enemies in order to achieve its maximum HP.)

If the party does not recruit all of the possible enemies in the Cyber World, Nubert does not come to Castle Town, which Queen notices in her dialogue upon arrival. Additionally, King berates the party for the people they left behind, and the Castle Town basement scene with King and Queen does not occur. (However, due to a bug, Mauswheel is not required for the party to be considered to have recruited all possible enemies.^[1]) If the party has recruited no enemies, Queen sadly remarks that the town is very empty, and no longer speaks in the nonchalant tone she usually does.

Some challenges at the Party Dojo are only unlocked if the appropriate enemies are recruited. Sweet Cap'n Cakes's Music Room is only open if all enemies have been recruited.

List of recruits[]

Chapter 1[]

Chapter 2[]

Quotes[]

Individual Interactions

[Ruddin] Hey, boss! I'll have a Dark Candy Starfait! [Rudinn]
[Narrator] (Hathy is going to order a heart-foam latte.) [Hathy]
[Narrator] (Looks like it wants to osmose some flavorful cubes.) [Ponman]
[Narrator] (Looks like it wants to be dabbed with rubbing alcohol.) [Rabbick]
[Bloxer] Everything tastes better with a normally-shaped body! [Bloxer]
[Jigsawry] Lemonade? ... Please. [Jigsawry]
[Rudinn Ranger] Boss...? You're treating me...? Oh, you shouldn't have! (smile) [Rudinn Ranger]
[Narrator] (Head Hathy drinks an ice tea in silence...) [Head Hathy]
[Ambyu-Lance] Pipooo! Nothing beats a nice shot of espresso... Want me to give you a "shot", too!? [Ambyu-Lance]
[Poppup] NOMU NOMU. BERRY GOOD! [Poppup]
[Narrator] (It's drinking K_K's electric milk JPEG.) [Tasque]
[Narrator] (It has some kind of energy drink.) [Werewire]
[Narrator] (It's drinking melted cheese.) [Maus]
[Virovirokun] Wanna share my soda? We'll both get sick that way... Hee hee. [Virovirokun]
[Swatchling] Boss? Shall we sit down and enjoy a nice earl grey? [Swatchling]
[Narrator] (... it's crushing its energy drink with its hand...) [Werewerewire]
[Narrator] (It's getting electricity from the melted cheese like a water wheel) [Mauswheel]

Southern Table Pair Interactions

[Rudinn and Hathy paired]
- [Rudinn] Sure is great to be here with my best friend Hathy.
- [Narrator] (Hathy seems fine.)
[Rudinn and Rudinn Ranger paired]
- [Rudinn] Sigh... does this guy have to one-up me on everything!?
- [Rudinn Ranger] I'll have a double Starfait. No, triple. Oh, hi, boss! (Smile)
[Hathy and Head Hathy paired]
- [Narrator (Hathy)] (Hathy is letting Head Hathy have a sip of her latte.)
- [Narrator (Head Hathy)] (Head Hathy doesn't seem so alone...)
[Rabbick and Swatchling paired]
- [Rabbick] (I'm the dust off his shoulder.) (Sukkiri.)
- [Swatchling] We'll make sure to clean our plates. (Sukkiri.)
[Head Hathy and Werewerewire paired]
- [Narrator (Head Hathy)] (... it seems relaxed its partner is so quiet.)
- [Narrator (Werewerewire)] (...)
[Ambyu-Lance and Virovirokun paired]
- [Ambyu-Lance] I'll get you next time, pipo! ... Want some more sugar?
- [Virovirokun] We don't get along... but we can drink together.
[Tasque and Maus paired]
- [Tasque] [Miaouw]
- [Maus] [Brrrrrrrr....]
[Werewire and Werewerewire paired]
- [Narrator (Werewire)] (... it seems annoyed that its energy drink has been crushed.) [Werewire paired with Werewerewire]
- [Narrator (Werewerewire)] (It's crushing many of the surrounding drinks.) [Werewerewire paired with Werewire]

Other Interactions

[Swatchling] Boss, are you enjoying your Butler Cafe? [Seated Swatchling when every other seat also has Swatchlings]
[Narrator (Werewerewire)] (... it's staring at the southern seats and crushing its drink hard.) [Werewerewire seated north of a Head Hathy, after interacting with a Head Hathy and Werewerewire pair]
[Narrator (Werewerewire)] (... looks like it's about to flip its table over.) [Werewerewire seated north of a Head Hathy and Werewire pair, after interacting with a Head Hathy and Werewerewire pair]

Flavor Text[]

Not yet fully recruited [Everyone, if not fully recruited]
Said to be someone's best friend, but maybe not. Shine on, you lazy diamond! [Rudinn]
A heart with a big heart. Always supporting others with her bullets. [Hathy]
A simple organism that takes life one square at a time. [Ponman]
A real dust bunny. Known to play dirty, but loves to play clean. [Rabbick]
A shape changing fighter. Ironically, blocking is not its forte. [Bloxer]
It cries tears of joy that you are its boss. [Jigsawry]
Obsessed with ranger shows, it lets everyone know it's better than Rudinn. [Rudinn Ranger]
Although stronger than Hathy, seems to have fewer friends. [Head Hathy]
An aggressive antivirus. It's not down with the sickness. [Ambyu-Lance]
Known to say ASOBOH, which means "Let's Play!" ... does it know that? [Poppup]
This cat loves you! [Tasque]
It was controlled by Queen. But, it's stronger and cooler now, so? [Werewire]
It dreams of re-enacting scenes from cat and mouse cartoons. [Maus]
A virus with a slightly criminal streak... and a heart of gold. [Virovirokun]
Colorful and dandy, you can always count on him to work hard. [Swatchling]
It absorbed the wire with fighting spirit. Gets flustered easily. [Werewerewire]
Loves to coordinate outfits. Strongly dislikes clowns. [Tasque Manager]
You recruited 3 big mice and you're stuck with it. [Mauswheel]
It is known. [Known Quantity; unused]
An agent of CHAOS, he became DEVILSKNIFE to the pocket. [Jevil; unused]

Trivia[]

There is unused recruit info for Jevil, who, like other bosses, cannot be recruited.
Pipis are the only non-boss enemies from Chapter 2 who cannot be recruited.
Some non-enemy NPCs appear in Castle Town under unique conditions similar to the recruit system:
- Hacker appears if all three of his Blue Checkmarks were collected.
- Nubert appears if all enemies were recruited.
- A tiny car appears if fewer than three cars were hit during the driving segment.
If save editing is used to recruit an enemy with no recruit info, it displays as "Known Quantity [ID]." The image shown is a randomized sprite.

References[]

↑ gml_GlobalScript_scr_get_total_recruits script, line 10

[1] _GlobalScript_scr_get_total_recruits script, line 10

[1]