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Part XLI: The temple of Thor-Agoth Soundtrack: Temple We made it. We're finally at Agathoth's temple. Once you make it here, there's no going back, so be sure you've finished everything you want to do.    It's impressive, that's for sure.  Nowhere to go but down...  The platform in front of us is an elevator, but let's hold off on that.  Looks like people lived here.  drat it! No forbidden knowledge here.  Like the other consoles we found, this one needs 8 INT and 10 Lore to utilize.     Bad decisions on top of bad decisions.  Using the elevator brings us down another level.  Hey, I have a suit just like that!  A trio of constructs guard this platform.  Methinks it's a bad idea to touch this at the moment.  Crafting it is.   Hooray! We can remove the plates, but let's hold off.  Opposite the constructs is this door.  AAAAH!   I disagree about "no cognitive damage."  Any option is fine, but let's go with the first one.  : Duty. Unfortunately, neither option will work for us.  Crap. It's okay, we can figure it out ourselves.   The plates over the elevator have withdrawn. Apparently, the function of that guy is to use this console and nothing else. Talk about an easy job...    A lovely life support system.  This door needs a 7 or 8 in Lockpick to open (I forget), and the lockbox (which is trapped) contains sky metal.  Oh no, it's like the tank in the Abyss...  UGH  The lockbox in this room holds this potion. Seems like a poor trade-off to me. By the way, there are a pair of locked doors on this floor leading to rooms that are totally empty. Game design!  Alright, time to use the elevator.  We're at the bottom of the ziggurat. The place looks suitably ominous.  Another tablet like the one under Saross.    Let's recap everything we know: Long ago, the Qantari Servants (their Magi) made contact with the Elder Gods, extradimensional beings of unfathomable power. The Qantari wanted to bring them to our plane of existence but couldn't, so they made a deal with the Magi, who built machines that could capture the "essence" of the Gods in human vessels. The Magi, being the hubristic wizards they were, created wards to control the Gods in their human forms. The Qantari unraveled these bindings -- whether they did so of their own free will or because they were manipulated by the Gods is up for debate. Naturally, the Gods (Balzaar and three others) start nuking everything and the Great War begins. The Magi bring Agathoth to our realm so he can build machines to destroy the Gods. The Old Empire fights the Gods, the Qantari fight the Empire, the Gods fight each other, everything is wrecked, countless people die, land is devastated, all that good stuff. The Magi triumph and try to reverse the ritual so Agathoth can be banished from this plane, but those that worked with him have become enthralled, so a civil war starts, Agathoth gets entombed beneath the ziggurat, Magi are wiped out, centuries pass, history becomes legend, which brings us to the present day. In short, a fuckup of cosmic proportions.  Opposite the elevator is another one of these weird rooms.   Of course we're going to mess with it.  We could overload the generator and destroy the temple, but even Octavia's 9 Lore and 8 Crafting isn't enough to prevent death. Oh well. Besides, where's the fun in that?    We have the medical canister full of expired whatever-it-is from the medical facility. We could use it. We're not going to use it.   The game gives you one last out. We can get on the elevator and tell Gaelius the temple is just a myth and Agathoth stays buried here. Yes, we're really opening the sarcophagus.  changed my mind close it close it  It's Agathoth himself, ol' squid-face in the flesh. Chitin. Whatever.   : Petty men lording over pitiful city-states. Oooh, pick me! I'll be your bestest friend forever! : Use *me*, Lord! I'm your most devoted servant. Heeeeeeyy!   For ancient, unknowable beings of astronomical power, these Gods have strangely human emotions. : What do you mean?   I don't like this. Let's backtrack here.  If we're going to fight Agathoth -- because, let's face it, who doesn't want to fight a god? -- we need to weaken him first.  He's not happy.  Soundtrack: Agathoth Combat Using the canister knocks 25 hp off Agathoth's health, which still leaves him with 100. More importantly, it raises our To-Hit Chance. I'd recommend using the bomb from Hellgate, because it deals a ton of damage. Agathoth uses his first turn to kind of stare in shock like he can't believe you damaged him, so take advantage of that.  After that, all bets are off. Usually, he starts by doing this psychic attack that bypasses your armor and lowers AP. Neurostimulants are super important in this battle.  Then he performs this annoying smack-you-across-the-room attack, so now you have to waste AP to get closer. By the way, even if you have good THC there's a significant chance he'll block your attacks with a psychic shield.  Oh, I neglected to mention there's a time limit. As the fight goes on, Agathoth starts attacking multiple times per turn and your THC plummets. After that, he'll smack you with his tentacles which REALLY hurt and inflict poison.  Prick. Death Count: 68 I stopped loving around on the second fight and threw what I had left at him. A few bombs and a shitload of neurostimulants later...  HA! All-powerful god my rear end!  drat right it does.   Hell yes! Finally, our hard work pays off.  Eh, maybe letting the Guardian go free was a bad idea.   Backwards assholes gonna be backwards assholes.  Dial it back a bit, Gaelius.  Most importantly, Feng keeps on being Feng.  And that's the end. There are a number of variations to the slides, but showing them all would take too much time. I encourage you to pick up the game and play it for yourself if you want to see absolutely everything. Arguably, we got the "best" ending -- the land is united once more, the Gods can't interfere and we've secured ourselves an important position in the new empire. Stay tuned, because I plan to finish the other playthroughs so we can see what happens. Next Time: Always a servant rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 15, 2020 18:35
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Where is your grand and intoxicating innocence now, Agathoth?
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Oct 15, 2020 19:05
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It's extremely important to the game's themes that the Gods are cosmic horrors when it comes to power but act almost exactly like humans when it comes to personality. They had to be just as petty, because their entire war and their participation in this war was just that. They're merely very powerful people, not something beyond humanity or unrecognizable, even if they are aliens from the void. Because the Gods are just like all the other tyrants, and like all the other tyrants their scrabbling put the world where it is. It's one of the reasons I really, genuinely like AoD's twist on cosmic horror. You deal with people more powerful than you all the time. They have great influence over your life, over all lives. Why should the dark gods of the stars be different? And of course, you can still shank one while it's weak and strangle it in the crib, because powerful doesn't mean untouchable, either. Though it's also really funny to imagine the Guard getting here, having no idea what's going on, and then just killing a weird monster because it said 'kneel'. There's all this fascinating history to piece together as you try to figure out what really happened (or your nearest approximation) in this ancient disaster, or you can just ignore all of it and become a Legatus on the back of stabbing dudes real hard. Similarly, the whole 'see the story from multiple perspectives to piece it together' plays out in the way the Backgrounds and playthroughs mix. To get the full picture you need to look at it from all the characters' perspectives. And to notice the ways you intersect with the 'other' backgrounds, who simply aren't the main character right now (Like the Assassin and Mercenary killing each other in the intro, or the Praetor having a chance to get suspicious and poo poo all over the Thief's attempt to kill Gaelius). I really appreciate that. Whatever flaws the combat engine has, AoD is legit one of my favorite cRPGs and I wouldn't have given it a try without this thread. And hell yeah, Feng will never stop being Feng.
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Oct 15, 2020 19:07
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It's still really funny that Balzaar holds a grudge for centuries and once it manages to come back, it immediately gets its head bashed in by Feng's former apprentice. Guess Agathoth is getting a reunion with Balzaar. Octavia did pretty good for herself though this new empire only goes as far as Gaelius does. No Miltiades slide?
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Oct 15, 2020 20:49
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Hypocrisy posted:No Miltiades slide? Sadly, no.
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Oct 15, 2020 21:44
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Night10194 posted:Whatever flaws the combat engine has, AoD is legit one of my favorite cRPGs and I wouldn't have given it a try without this thread. This exactly! Excited to see some of the other endings soon, never went through the thief or assassin playthrough fully. For some reason I started as the Praetor my first time through and accepted good ol' Agathoth's offer (after entirely neglecting combat skills that run).
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Oct 15, 2020 22:41
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Part XLII: Alternative endings Here's what it looks like if you decide to blow up the temple.   And now we'll probably die from a lethal dose of radiation.  Gaius Goonius becomes Strabos' personal assistant, which is the perfect ending for a merchant.   Eat poo poo, Cassius. For Gaius Stabbius:  We're in charge of stabbing zealots. Not bad. For Gaius Brutus:   Religion and fascism, together like they were always meant to be!  Bass gets the short end of the stick again. For Gaius Impuratus:  I'd say we did alright. For shits and giggles, I did a Praetor speedrun to see what kind of endings there are for House Daratan. To make a long story short, I ended up convincing Serenas to invade the Slums which goes horribly wrong and he ends up dead. Then I blew up Al-Akia. Eventually...   Yeah, Antidas is a giant dick So what happens if you bring Meru to Al-Akia and he dies?   The Imperial Guards invade and you end up on a cross. I believe there's an ending where Antidas becomes Gaelius's vassal if you prevent the latter's assassination, but I was too busy laughing to look for it. Those are the "normal" endings. But what happens if, say, you do what Agathoth wants?  When you get on the elevator, you have a choice of who will be his puppet. Let's start with (ugh) Antidas. Each choice unfolds the same way: you go to the HQ, speak to the chosen lord, then set off for the temple. Along the way, you're stopped by Aurelian guards (this won't happen if Gaelius is with you) where you have to talk them down or fight. You learn that large groups of people are heading north to answer "the Call" and attacking anyone who tries to stop them.  Hellgate is closed off, so you make a detour.   : Why else would we be here, brother?  If you mess up the skill check, Agathoth takes over anyway.    You'll skip this part if Paullus is with you. : It would take an army to secure this crossing. If you stay here, you will die for nothing. : There's no honor in being torn apart by a pack of rabid dogs. Take your wounded and go, before the zealots return.  Agathoth's been busy.  hahahahaha what the hell is he wearing  MUST OBEY  I agree, Antidas is a disappointment.  Try not to cream your pants.   Despite Agathoth's help, it takes Antidas three years to conquer his enemies. God, he sucks.  Gaelius is hesitant, but accepts his new role.   Paullus is eager to obey, like a good little soldier.  Is anyone surprised at this outcome? I switched to Gaius Brutus because Meru's alive in his playthrough. During the conversation, this little tidbit popped up:  Which means Balzaar has been guiding Meru ever since he found the star room. Creepy.  Of course, he's happier than a pig in poo poo to follow his God.  But wait, there's more!  What if, in a fit of insanity, we kneeled to Balzaar?        Guess we're just going along with this.   From this point, we're sent to find the temple and kill Agathoth.   Balzaar is transforming into Emperor Palpatine.    Please stop calling me a slave, thanks.   Humanity is enslaved forever! Yay! We're the favorite slave, so it's okay.  This time, we talk to Agathoth instead of killing him.  "Such is the way of the world," I say to a giant fish-man.   Would a "please" kill you?   He gives us the "I need a face for the tribes" line. Just admit you want to rule the world, dude.  : How do I kill Balzaar? He might be too powerful for me now. Agathoth grabs our head and injects his essence or whatever the hell he does.  I know I made a Star Wars reference, but this is getting out of hand.  Not so fast, Balzaar! I have a Divine Spear and I'm not afraid to use it! From hell's heart I stab at --  Oh.  Huh. I suppose a thermonuclear warhead is an effective way to kill a god.  If you have high CON and don't feel like vaporizing everything within five miles, you can endure Balzaar's attacks and outlast him.  Yeesh.     Well, that's depressing. There's one more major ending I haven't shown yet, but I think I'll save that for another day... Next Time: Become as Gods
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Oct 16, 2020 00:12
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Oh, that's a lot of entertaining ends there. Even then, take a lot of time to work yourself up in injecting a dead god inside yourself doesn't it? I'm sure there's nothing to fear. SIGSEGV fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 16, 2020 01:08
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When picking lords for Agathoth, is The Chosen One path gonna be in the next update?
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Oct 16, 2020 01:20
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Do not, at any point, kneel before Age of Decadence Gods. It is No Good.
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Oct 16, 2020 02:56
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"gently caress it, use the Divine Spear" is pretty perfect for the idiot who keeps on reviving and kneeling before these giant squids.
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Oct 16, 2020 16:27
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The other reason I enjoy Age of Decadence as a story (besides the whole 'piece everything together' thing) is that it's cynical as hell without exalting that cynicism. The world isn't actually doomed. Depending on the ending, the period of instability might be ending and eventually rebuilding (assuming you didn't hand it all to a space squid, which my Merch definitely did because if he was gonna get jackshit for selling the world to his boss he'd sell it to someone who'd pay for it at least, it was in theme) will probably happen. Things are hosed, and they'll never be how they were, but things aren't inevitably over. But they could always get worse, because of the constant cynicism and power-seeking. The one thing that's sure is they won't stay the same. I see a reflection of that in the mechanics. They make a big deal about how you're just one person who doesn't have any 'plot armor' (outside of the reload button) but even that one ordinary person can achieve a huge amount. And you can even do some genuine good. There's an achievement for getting into the monastery to steal the elixir, and then realizing doing so will kill this community and promising to tell the doctor there was nothing here. It doesn't affect the whole world, you don't get any gameplay reward, but you do genuinely save a village. One of the interesting things the developers talked about (they're active on their Steam forum and such) is that they're disappointed they didn't manage to make money a bigger deal. There just isn't enough to buy and crafting is how you get the best items and weapons, so they felt that accidentally removed one of the big incentives they wanted around for plot reasons. One of their goals was making a game where some of the altruistic paths genuinely gave you jackshit and left you having a harder time, because they wanted 'trying to be better' or 'trying to do what I think is right' to be its own reward and challenge. Which I think is neat. They really meant for the 'difficulty' to play into the story (and the 'play multiple times to see everything' bit is part of that; your PC is talented, but not omnicompetent) and to some extent, I think it still does. Which is more interesting than just trying to make it 'hardcore' because that's 'oldschool', even if I think they push the 'you're nobody important' part too much when they should have emphasized 'anybody could be important', so to speak. You see that in crossing the paths of the other PC types; in another playthrough, they would have been the protagonist, making the big decisions. This time, history happened in such a way that they're a stranger passing you in the night. I adore that kind of focus, on how you don't need a magic bloodline or a mighty destiny to matter, because anyone could. Similar to how Gaelius, who is obviously the frontrunner, can lose it all in an instant because he's one man and a man can be stabbed, no matter how many other people listen to his every word or carry out his will.
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Oct 16, 2020 16:59
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Part XLIII: The compact must be honored The last ending is a bit tricky. You need to: 1. Find the surgical kit from Saross 2. Discover the medical facility 3. Go to Al-Akia and keep it intact Then, you need to go to Hellgate and give the Divine Spear to Bennie.  Sorry about running out on you before. I just like lugging around a warhead in my pocket.  Make sure you're far, far away from me when you use it. : Before you go, I want to show you something. You know what? I'm just going with it.  Yes, good.  : I found the ruins of Al-Akia. The machines are intact. When can you ward me? ... No, no, I'm committed to this. : I know just the place!  Gulp. : No gain without pain!  Hopefully we won't die on the way there.    I regret everything  You need a CON and INT of 7, or else the invading entity kills you.  I HAVE GROWN BEYOND THE NEED FOR CELLULAR RESPIRATION    That's it! I want to thank everyone for sticking with this LP -- it took much longer than I anticipated, but I pulled it off. Once again, I encourage you to pick up the game and try it. And remember: Never kneel before a god.
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Oct 16, 2020 17:09
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I understand that the themes of the game prevent "reach godhood and just leave and / or gently caress about" but I'm still sad that's not an option. Alternate bad ending still acceptable.
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Oct 16, 2020 17:28
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This is the kind of game where it mostly feels like different degrees of bad end.
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Oct 16, 2020 17:53
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Eh, the ones with Meru stopped, Agatoth dead, Balzaar dead/never come again unto this world are all varying flavors of okay. Mostly. Of course, none of the Gods are dead, just unable to enter this world. And very nettled. Though I think only Balzaar is supremely nettled about it. His whole thing seems to be utter dominion and he wants this world because it dared ever say no to him or think it could betray him, and he'll just keep trying because he has nothing better to do and is a jerk.
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Oct 16, 2020 17:56
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I mean, "world improves from dysfunction through unity by conquest" being the "best" ending for the world kinda is what I mean. Although we don't really know much for sure about the reign of the player character as the new God, maybe her coming from the human condition to divinity makes Octavia's world pretty decent for most people if you don't mind all the holy rolling.
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Oct 16, 2020 18:01
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"We have enough food, just make sure you say Octavia rules sometimes or else she'll kill you with her lightning eyes." is a possibility, yes.
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Oct 16, 2020 18:16
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GunnerJ posted:I mean, "world improves from dysfunction through unity by conquest" being the "best" ending for the world kinda is what I mean. Although we don't really know much for sure about the reign of the player character as the new God, maybe her coming from the human condition to divinity makes Octavia's world pretty decent for most people if you don't mind all the holy rolling. True that there isn't a super happy ending, but it is for sure a relative improvement right? I mean, there are quite a few times in this game where you encounter a farmer or trader or whatever and it seems like - as bad as the cities are - everywhere else is many times worse. If we could move from no/failed state, to a functioning state it seems like a definite improvement, even if it's varying levels of autocratic (from Gaelus to Paullus to PC God to Agathoth). Given the constraints of this broken world, outside of the PC god being omnibenevolent, it's honestly kinda hard to see how there would be a super happy or good ending. And congrats on the absolutely wonderful LP. Was so great to see all the threads converging from the various PCs. Guper fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 16, 2020 18:19
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Night10194 posted:"We have enough food, just make sure you say Octavia rules sometimes or else she'll kill you with her lightning eyes." is a possibility, yes. Of course, it's easy to say that when loving Balzaar is there, sacrificing the entire human race to build vanity construction projects while he presumably shouts into the Void about his innumerable rad ziggurats built on a foundation of Gaelius running the show is probably the best ending all-around though. He's competent, he's not outright evil, he's happy to reward the player character for their hard work, he keeps the loving fascist Imperial Guards in check, you don't have some creepy, awful inquisition, and he won't gently caress around with poo poo he doesn't understand/that will get everyone killed/enslaved. In any case, this was a great LP. Great job, rudecyrus!
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Oct 16, 2020 18:31
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Guper posted:True that there isn't a super happy ending, but it is for sure a relative improvement right? I mean, there are quite a few times in this game where you encounter a farmer or trader or whatever and it seems like - as bad as the cities are - everywhere else is many times worse. If we could move from no/failed state, to a functioning state it seems like a definite improvement, even if it's varying levels of autocratic (from Gaelus to Paullus to PC God to Agathoth). This isn't really in contradiction with what I'm saying, like I'm not complaining about it, just noting.
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Oct 16, 2020 18:38
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I do adore that if you back House Daratian to the hilt as the Praetor, you gently caress pretty much everyone and probably yourself, too. Sure, it feels clever as heck blowing up Al-Akia and accidentally destroying the entirety of House Aurelian by encouraging an idiot to do an idiot thing, but at the end of the day Daratian is where it is because it has one town, little money, and a handful of troops that even the local PMC garrison can overthrow without any support. The hell were they going to do even if you put down their rivals? Same for the 'declare Antidas an Emperor' thing just kinda awkwardly going nowhere as Paullus glares at Carrinas. Antidas' dumb rear end can't do jack and it's hilarious.
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Oct 16, 2020 19:30
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Part of the game's parody of RPG tropes, surely: in this case, the "chosen one" with a great destiny that can be fulfilled by collecting the right set of magic artifacts. It's great.
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Oct 16, 2020 19:45
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I hope you show the True Ending the Ascendance of Milty.
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Oct 16, 2020 20:09
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The wards do hold! Maybe... Been a fun journey.
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Oct 16, 2020 20:32
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Thanks for the excellent LP, rudecyrus. I really like this game, it feels true to history and the passing down of information and such in a way that perfectly tickled my little history dweeb brain. I did end up buying it; don't know if I'll ever get around to playing it myself, but I did want to support the devs for it.
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Oct 16, 2020 20:47
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I love how Agatoth seems to want to rule humanity because if he doesnt he'll be banished to space where a giant jellyfish will bully him for being a fuckup, essentially
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Oct 17, 2020 10:12
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Thank you for the LP, it's been a wild ride.
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Oct 17, 2020 14:10
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I wonder, is it possible to go back and speak to Balzaar with Hadad's getup through the interdimensional gate after stabbing his new and shiny Neru body?
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Oct 17, 2020 18:06
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This was a wild ride, and a plot I definitely didn't see coming. Thanks for the LP!
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Oct 18, 2020 02:23
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Erwin the German posted:I hope you show the True Ending the Ascendance of Milty.
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Oct 19, 2020 12:54
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I just marathoned the tail end of the LP and while the later part of the game did feel less weighty than the first part, the endings are still completely appropriate. I appreciate the subtext that the Merchant is the one out of all the factions that gains the least for serving his master. It's really funny. The nuke ending made me laugh, it's like "oops".
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Oct 20, 2020 23:46
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Thanks for this LP, especially showing off all the different endings!
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Oct 26, 2020 00:11
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Great playthrough of this game! Loved watching it.
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Nov 3, 2020 02:12
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An excellent LP. Would you be showing off Dungeon Rats next?
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Nov 26, 2020 04:24
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