Shadow Hearts: Covenant - Reach Out and Punch Someone

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ImpAtom: May 24, 2007

Yuri is a good boy.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 19:38

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# ? May 25, 2024 19:08

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

The moral of the story is don't throw weird poo poo down wells.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 19:43

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

I wonder how many people got to this dungeon and just put the game down. It's a real momentum-killer.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 19:58

Jadecore: Mar 10, 2018; They say money can't buy happiness, but it sure does help.

Someday, the Ring Soul's day shall come.

Someday.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 20:02

FeyerbrandX: Oct 9, 2012

I was going to ask why we get a bat and mist transformation but not a wolf... then remembered we already have a Good Boy.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 20:16

Robindaybird: Aug 21, 2007; Neat. Sweet. Petite.

for some reason Japanese Media really don't like giving vampires wolf forms - I guess because it overlaps werewolves too much?

Anyways, honestly, lot of issue with these mine levels is they're so bland, there's nothing neat or eye-catching about them to break up the monotony

# ? Sep 8, 2019 21:23

OminousEdge: Apr 4, 2013

For those wondering if any of their weapon guesses were correct... One of you were. In fact, Doubly so for the sequel game. Also A couple of you were thematically correct, if wrong otherwise, on some of his weapons.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 21:45

Space Cadet Omoly: Jan 15, 2014; ~Groovy~

Golden bat Joachim is a cutie :3:

# ? Sep 8, 2019 22:52

Speedball: Apr 15, 2008

oh, right, Joachim has different victory quotes for all his alternate forms, so you might never hear them unless you use him A LOT. I appreciate the attention to detail though.

# ? Sep 8, 2019 23:21

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Sure, but on the other hand, what sort of monster would ever take Joachim out of the party?

# ? Sep 9, 2019 00:10

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

Robindaybird posted:

for some reason Japanese Media really don't like giving vampires wolf forms - I guess because it overlaps werewolves too much?

Alucard gets one in SOTN.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 01:01

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

There aren't a lot of Western media anymore that give vampires wolf forms either, probably for the same reason. It has always been something pretty specific to Dracula and Dracula-derived stories anyway.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 01:04

Weeble: Feb 26, 2016

CmdrKing posted:

Sure, but on the other hand, what sort of monster would ever take Joachim out of the party?

Hi, hello; I'm that guy.

I love Joachim as a character, but don't particularly like him as a playable unit. I did use him over Gepetto, yes, but as soon as more party members came along Joachim was relegated to the B-team.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 03:07

OminousEdge: Apr 4, 2013

CmdrKing posted:

Sure, but on the other hand, what sort of monster would ever take Joachim out of the party?

I like to switch my party members around regularly to keep things fresh.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 04:58

Junpei: Oct 4, 2015; Can't post for 11 years!

Joachim is the best and I will have no ifs, ands or buts.

There is other characters who tie with him, though.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 05:05

Robindaybird: Aug 21, 2007; Neat. Sweet. Petite.

there's only a couple of characters I never put in my party outside of mandatory/it's their thing going on, Gepetto is just not as good and Cornelia's kind of creepy, another one coming up because their mechanics is a type I never like in RPGs.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 15:42

Mokinokaro: Sep 11, 2001; At the end of everything, hold onto anything; Fun Shoe

The only one I never really used is Gepetto though I found Blanca got less useful as the game went on as well. He just doesn't have the utility of some folks coming up.

Oh I did also bench the final party member outside of their mandatory stuff (which they have a lot of) simply because I wasn't nearly as invested in them.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 15:54

Whammiewazzle: Apr 29, 2016

After Highfort in Breath of Fire 2, I have always tried to keep all my party members rotated to keep them at decent levels in RPGs.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 16:16

Speedball: Apr 15, 2008

Whammiewazzle posted:

After Highfort in Breath of Fire 2, I have always tried to keep all my party members rotated to keep them at decent levels in RPGs.

The Suikoden series was pretty clever about this since XP scaled to your units. Under-leveled party members would get a TON of XP to shoot them back to cutting-edge very quickly.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 20:33

DukeofCA: Aug 18, 2011; I am shocked and appalled.

At least unused party members in this game still get some experience, so they don't fall as far behind as poor old Zhuzhen.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 21:25

Geostomp: Oct 22, 2008; Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

DukeofCA posted:

At least unused party members in this game still get some experience, so they don't fall as far behind as poor old Zhuzhen.

As bad off as he was, he still got some story focus. Unlike poor, poor Keith who basically ceased to exist after letting Yuri crash at his castle for six months.

# ? Sep 9, 2019 23:28

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

I kept Yuri and Karen in my party at all times and then just rotated pairs of the other two. Yuri's the most useful because fusions, and Karen's the most well-rounded of everyone else.

# ? Sep 10, 2019 00:09

Mokinokaro: Sep 11, 2001; At the end of everything, hold onto anything; Fun Shoe

Geostomp posted:

As bad off as he was, he still got some story focus. Unlike poor, poor Keith who basically ceased to exist after letting Yuri crash at his castle for six months.

Unfortunately this game is just as bad for that as we'll see.

# ? Sep 10, 2019 00:51

Ubiquitous_: Nov 20, 2013; by Reene

Mokinokaro posted:

Unfortunately this game is just as bad for that as we'll see.

It�s also kinda worse for it as the playable cast is larger, too.

# ? Sep 10, 2019 02:03

Xander77: Apr 6, 2009; Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.

The Dark Id posted:

So if Yuri happens to gain early intuitive

initiative.

# ? Sep 10, 2019 18:34

Zagglezig: Oct 16, 2012

I appreciate that grand slam always makes the bat "tink" noise regardless of weapon.

The Dark Id posted:

That's ALMOST there is as far as battles go.

and I'm switching to Gepetto for something as trifling as that.

Guess "ALMOST all" and "not switching"

# ? Sep 12, 2019 23:03

The Dark Id: Aug 13, 2005; Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]

Episode XXV: Grimlock

Music: In Darkness of a Labyrinth ~ Dungeon

We probably should have asked Ring Soul directions out of this endless mine. But frankly, he probably gets turned around down here too.

All there is to do is trudge forward. Though our path is somewhat impeded this time around. Northwest of where we met up with Ring Soul we encounter a darkened passage. Entering which results in...

We're not gonna get anywhere like this. We need some kind of light...

You know, it's actually impressive engineer that all the decades abandoned and monster-filled the mines have had full operational electrical lighting systems up until this point.

Continuing down the still lit path, we eventually come to a crossroads. To the west is...

Hmm... We're gonna have to find another way to go.

Well there only is one other way to go to the south and down another elevator. I'm going to hazard a guess and say we may find a light source in this direction.

And wouldn't you know it? The only thing down this tunnel is a storeroom with a...

I'm not sure why they just didn't give us a lantern right past where we spoke with Ring Soul. It's not like going down an elevator to a storeroom added anything. Heck, this bottom floor doesn't even have any random battles enabled. So it's not even good padding. But, nothing about this dungeon is particularly well designed or good. Why buck the trend now?

In any event, now that we have a lantern we can return to the dark sections of the tunnel upstairs and continue onward.

Now we can make some progress.

That first darkened area just leads to another storeroom dead end with a Speed Seal nestled by the boiler or whatever the heck that big iron contraption is supposed to be.

The westward path actually leads to progress. Spoilers: It's pretty much the same exact area as the first level of the mine only now there's mood lighting from the lantern. I wonder how many people put this game down at this joint because it is utterly a momentum killer slog that takes far too long to complete.

There are a couple of points of interest in-between all the identical rock walls. This whole dark section of the mine is basically a big loop. Only the counter-clockwise part leads to a dead-end in a cavern with a chest and a man standing in darkness spying on us. Nothing creepy about that at all.

The chest itself contains an upgraded rapier for Karin. One might even say it is a fine rapier, indeed. This gives Karin a +32 Physical and +30 Special Attack power bump. Glad we saved our money back in Southampton. Although, I was mistaken. Gepetto gets jack poo poo for free here. It's like they knew nobody was going to use the old man with a creepy doll over the male and female leads, a cool wolf and a luchador vampire.

Now about that creepy man standing in that last room. If we follow the mine's loop clockwise to its endpoint (skipping past a northern path that is actual progress) we can find that weirdo.

<becomes Lottery Member 14> Oh, hold on a minute! Have you come to do the lottery?

Of course!

There's no other reason I'd come to a brain numbingly boring mine dungeon than to play the lottery.

We simply cannot skip a new Lottery member, now can we? This one is a little tricky. The Lottery wheel ticker doesn't spin very fast. The catch?

All the Hit Areas turn invisible as soon as the Judgment Wheel starts spinning. Hope you paid attention to the markings and didn't just mash through dialogue.

Not really, I'm still not done with this dungeon. Plus I'm going to Wales.

Can you leave me alone now, please...?

Yeah, OK. Have fun umm... standing in the darkness, I guess?

The top prize in that Lottery is a very powerful item returning from the original Shadow Hearts. The Third Key allows us to repeat an action three times in a row (assuming we don't bungle the Judgment Ring spins.) In other words, Yuri has a four-string physical attack. If the Third Key was activated, he'd potentially be able to dish out 12 physical attacks in a row. Likewise, someone could use one of their special technique three times in a row (assuming they have enough MP.) Since this is a consumable that lasts only one turn, we'll just keep that in our pocket for a rainy day or particularly bullshit encounter.

We're now cleaned this dungeon of everything but the inevitable boss fight. However, all the many random battles I've omitted from covering on this level of the mine (it's the same exact enemy pool as the first level) has resulted in...

Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe

Joachim's Invisible form has activated from the Joachythms. The Invisible form isn't super interesting. Unlike the Golden Bat form, all of Joachim's stats stay exactly the same and he is still able to use special abilities. While invisible, enemies will almost never target him in battle and if they do (if for some reason he was the only non-KO'd character) he has an extremely high evasion rate. That said, he's not completely immune to damage. AOE attacks will still affect him if he's in range. And some enemies can see through his thermoptic camouflage trickery. Great Gama, for instance, will just ignore that poo poo and knock his pupil into space no problem visible or no.

Invisible also gets its own unique Profile blurb while active. Much like the form itself, not super interesting.

Music: In Darkness of a Labyrinth ~ Dungeon

Backtracking a bit and going down the only viable path from the big darkness corridor loop takes us to yet another crossroads and decent lighting. We came from the east and the southern path might lead to progress.

West takes us to a treasure chest containing an accessory that grants +4 Physical Attack. We'll pop that on Yuri. Hmm... Hmm... I could have sworn the rock music genre didn't start until the late 1940s or so. But, I suppose we are in thorough alternate history territory at this point. Maybe someone seeing Shanghai get nuked was inspired to start jamming on an electric guitar. They were also inspired to invent the electric guitar. Stranger things have happened in this universe.

Returning to the crossroads and heading north leads us to... wait, what?

Jeez?! What do you mean, jeez?! That's pretty rude, you know!

I'm just surprised is all. I've been wandering through this place for like an hour and somehow you already have a shop set up here? It's just weird is all.
Oh, now I am weird?!
...Well.
Your rudeness knows no end, sir!
Fine, sorry. Geez!
There again with the jeez!
Actually, I said "geez" with a 'G' this time.

There's a penalty for being rude. You have to buy something! Otherwise, I won't forgive you!

I'm so sorry! May I buy something?

Gerard's shop is selling the same junk it was back in the Port of Southampton. It's just here in case we want to stock up before venturing forth to fight the obligatory boss. That's unusually nice of the game.

I just topped off some consumables (mostly Tents) here since we're quite flush on Cash after all those random battles. That was enough to rank up our Point Card to D Rank aka we can now get up to a 20% Discount and 10% Mark Up on selling items. Spiffy.

In any event, head back out of Gerard's shop and to the south leads us to an elevator at the bottom level of this miserable dungeon. We're almost home free.

Music: ENDS

Looks like someone did a number on this room. I'd be quite unfortunate if this was the sight of the mining disaster and now the malice of all those slain had convalesced into an angry spirit or cursed abomination of some sorts.

My god... This was one of the fabled Ecto Cooler mines. What, you didn't know they mined that poo poo? Why do you think it went away? It was a limited resource and the overindulgence of the early '90s depleted it completely. Tragic, really.

Music: Flame of Strain to Blaze ~ Tension

Oh. Hi! I cannot help but think this creature dropped down from the ceiling and is now looking straight up Karin's skirt. Look, it gets lonely in Rhondda Mine. Do you know how crappy company Lambton Worm is? And don't even get me started on Tammuz always going on about his cheating ex-wife.

Music: Glint of Light ~ Mid Boss in Europe

You know what? That's a pretty choice demonic design. Assuming this is a creature born of malice from a bunch of dead miners, having its "wings" be two blackened lung looking appendages is pretty morbidly choice a design. At least his subpar dungeon had one decent thing going for it. Meet Grimlock the boss of Rhondda Mines. It is a hardy 780 HP touting Dark elemental enemy.

The name Grimlock comes from a creature in Dungeons & Dragons which is in itself just a serial number filled off, original character DO NOT STEAL version of the Morlocks from H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine. Either way, it's a race of underground dwelling devolved blind cannibalistic humanoid monster folk. That's a little bit different from what we're encountering. But as always, names are only a suggestion in relation to Shadow Hearts' creatures.

Back to the subject at hand, Grimlock here is one of those obnoxious bosses that like to fiddle about with speed-related status effects/buffs. The first action it takes is speeding itself up by 133% using Gale.

To make matters worse, Grimlock also has a physical attack string that only does sub 40 HP of damage but does inflict the Slow status effect. We've got a remedy for that at least, but we'll get to it in a moment.

Finally, we've got Grimlock's unique attack -- Hell's Eyes which will wreck a single target for 50-60 HP of damage. There's a reason we didn't unlock Yuri's Level 2 Light Fusion earlier despite the next boss being Dark elemental. This attack would do nearly 100 HP of damage to him in that form and would be A Problem.

That's why instead we're going to have him shift to our Level 2 Wind Fusion -- Grano, instead.

Grano does pretty decent damage to the tune of around 60-65 hits per physical combo. But more importantly, Grimlock's favorite tactic is just slowing everyone down while enjoying his speed boost.

Grano comes factory stock equipped with Gale. Blanca also has Gale equipped from Crest Magic. We don't have any items that directly negate the Slow status at this point. But copying Grimlock and casting Gale on anyone inflicted will completely negate the spell's 50% speed reduction while still giving us a decent boost of speed.

Additionally, Joachim, who is still in his Invisible form for this fight, is a character I forgot I added the Slow add-on to his Judgment Ring ages ago. And his first round of attacking landed the Slow status on Grimlock, negating over a third of his speed boost and one advantage in this battle.

Speaking of Joachim, since he's basically completely safe in this fight, I thought it'd be fun if he spammed Rage on both himself and Yuri and see what happens when they go to town while Karin provided support with her Sword Arts.

The result was a comically short boss fight. Status buffs are still pretty good in Shadow Hearts 2, as it turns out! And frankly, I just want OUT of this tedious dungeon already. So I'm perfectly content with having a stomp match against the area boss.

Music: Result ~ Victory

You can run but you can't hide!

Poor bastard only got three turns and it wasted one of them on a speed boost that immediately got neutered by an invisible wrestler. We gained a fairly substantial Soul Energy reward slaying Grimlock. That's more than enough for one additional Level 2 Fusion next time we hit the Graveyard.

Additional, the Murmur Crest grants a resurrection spell. Yet to have to use any revivals thus far and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

Music: In Darkness of a Labyrinth ~ Dungeon

I mean, I was expecting a big dumb monster. But that thing was kinda freaky.

I bet this was the spot where the explosion was.

Let's go, you two.

Hey... wait! No, you clowns! There's a treasure chest RIGHT THERE! Don't just walk away and leave the dungeon. I mean I can relate to wanting to get the hell out but c'mon! (We actually have to manually walk two steps to exit and it's just another Seal of Strength.)

With that said, that concludes our time in the Rhondda Mines and as far as I know, unlike many dungeons, there is no reason to ever come back here again. Hallelujah! And with the dungeon's end, so too ends Chapter 8. Tune in next time as we return once again to the vile hills and sinister plains of that infernal land of Wales as Shadow Hearts: Covenant continues!

Bad dungeon but a decent monster mash that I never want to see again because I fought all of them about 20 times a pop.

Monster:

Touching it, sure? But what about punching it? I feel like those are different actions.

I've seen how many of those things were plodding around those barren mines and find this description suspect.

Spaniards have some loving issues...

Warmer weather? Well, that won't be a problem in England.

What exactly were all 100 miners doing in that one chamber when the accident happened? Were they having rave that just got out of hand?

Video: Episode 25 Highlight Reel (Grimlock gets Grimrocked.)

Rhonnda Mines Concept Art - Color shift all that yellow to brown or dull grey/blue and it's fairly spot on.

# ? Sep 13, 2019 22:07

ImpAtom: May 24, 2007

My mental image of Joachim has transformed into Drax

# ? Sep 13, 2019 22:25

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Grimlock always was the coolest Transformer.

Joachim as Drax? Nah. Even Ronan would never say "I doubt I'll remember killing you" about someone like Joachim.

# ? Sep 13, 2019 23:09

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

The lantern detour is probably to make sure players find that save point. It's about halfway through the dungeon and the place really is a wretched maze of missable things.

I never found Gerard's shop when I played through thst dungeon.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 00:27

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

achtungnight posted:

Grimlock always was the coolest Transformer.

Joachim as Drax? Nah. Even Ronan would never say "I doubt I'll remember killing you" about someone like Joachim.

They do however have a similar grasp on the art of strategy.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 00:37

Tuxedo Ted: Apr 24, 2007

I like this game a lot. I've played it through at least three or four times. But I don't remember a single thing about this dungeon. Even the boss is a big blank.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 01:04

Ratoslov: Feb 15, 2012; Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

Tuxedo Ted posted:

I like this game a lot. I've played it through at least three or four times. But I don't remember a single thing about this dungeon. Even the boss is a big blank.

Yeah, this seems like a huge missed opportunity to do a cool Industrial Revolution ghost story. I think that's what they planned on doing, what with the setup and the killer boss design, but when the crunch came this was the least important plot beat and they didn't have the time or budget to make it decent.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 01:37

Speedball: Apr 15, 2008

CmdrKing posted:

They do however have a similar grasp on the art of strategy.

Shadow Hearts character who keeps using improvised knives...

# ? Sep 14, 2019 03:03

Zagglezig: Oct 16, 2012

Not sure how creatively entertaining you could get with improvised knives, though. Lots of stuff to pick from that can smack things, but that same potentially ridiculous flair that also has a sharp edge and a pointy bit seems like it would be trickier to pull off. Probably would need to sell it with characterization.

The Dark Id posted:

You know, it's actually impressive engineer that all the decades abandoned and monster-filled the mines have had full operational electrical lighting systems up until this point.

Likewise, someone could use one of their special technique three times in a row

We're now cleaned this dungeon of everything but the inevitable boss fight.

I'd be quite unfortunate if this was the sight of the mining disaster

At least his subpar dungeon had one decent thing going for it.

Rhonnda Mines Concept Art

Looks to be "engineering", just "mines", "techniques", "We've", "It'd", "site", and wasn't sure if that should be "this" or is you were saying it was the boss's dungeon.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 21:44

Pesky Splinter: Feb 16, 2011; A worried pug.

Thank god you only have to go through this once. That and the Metro level drat near kill my interest in replaying every single time.

# ? Sep 14, 2019 22:00

Shei-kun: Dec 2, 2011; Screw you, physics!

Whenever I see the name Grimlock, I always think of one very specific moment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R1m9fjdwjI

"Grimlock here to save universe!"

# ? Sep 14, 2019 23:56

StandardVC10: Feb 6, 2007; This avatar now 50% more dark mode compliant

Zagglezig posted:

Not sure how creatively entertaining you could get with improvised knives, though. Lots of stuff to pick from that can smack things, but that same potentially ridiculous flair that also has a sharp edge and a pointy bit seems like it would be trickier to pull off. Probably would need to sell it with characterization.

Reminds me of the flavor text for one of Joker's knives in Persona Q2: "A spoon. It was not intended for this."

# ? Sep 15, 2019 18:51

Arkanumzilong: Sep 10, 2016

Zagglezig posted:

Not sure how creatively entertaining you could get with improvised knives, though

Look up kiwami japan on youtube
Youd be surprised how creative one can be with knives.

# ? Sep 17, 2019 04:30

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# ? May 25, 2024 19:08

The Dark Id: Aug 13, 2005; Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]

Episode XXVI: Aberystwyth Again

Music: Old Smudged Map ~ Europe

It always comes back to Wales with this series. The Rhondda Mine was nice enough to deposit us in Aberystwyth the home of Roger Bacon. Before we venture forth, let's see how Score is doing after that slog of a dungeon.

I believe we were at 62 battles last time we checked in prior to entering the Port of Southampton. So it was seventeen random battles during the course of that dungeon. And all that yet we're still outranked by a Fat Thug. I don't know about these ranking calculations.

Going to be real, I thought about bailing on some random battles toward the end there.

I remain good at hitting buttons at the correct time.

I'm not sure how Gepetto is still ahead of Joachim in the number of battles participated when he's sat out the last two dungeons. I bet that shifty old man is padding his stats.

It'll probably be a few chapters before we peek at those stats again. We may be hitting a relatively combat light stretch of the game, outside the odd boss battle. Nevertheless, Wales awaits. Let's mosey.

Music: ENDS. Sounds of the sea begin.

Wales.
Yes, I know that. I mean what is this place specifically?
Oh... right...

Well, technically we fought it ABOVE this place. Like in space.
......
...In space?
Yeah. It's a long story. Let me back up for a minute...

NEW Music: ICARO Piano Arrangement ~ Main Theme (You should probably listen to an arrangement of the main theme music.)

This is where it all began and where it all ended.

Well, technically it began on the Trans-Siberian railroad in rural Manchuria like a year before that. But we're just gonna skip to the relevant parts.

Six months ago there was a man who tried to destroy the world.

He raised a temple into the sky and summoned a god from beyond the stars. To remake the world in his own image.

Or just blow it up. He was kind of vague and rambling by the end.

We defeated him, and battled the god. In the end, we were saved by a legendary magician who has lived for a 1000 years.

Roger Bacon.

Wasn't Roger Bacon born in the early 1200s?
OK. Want me to amend the story to 690ish years? Sheesh.

NEW Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God (Nice chill theme you should listen to.)

I like to think Yuri drew all those illustrations himself as visual aids for his story recap. Anyway, welcome to Wales -- home of Roger Bacon and the ruins of an ancient monastery three idiots accidentally burnt down back in 1898.

It seems Roger constructed a completely new house in the last six months since the Shadow Hearts ended. This one is located a decent clip away from Nemeton's ruins while the old house was located a short jog up a hill away from the place. I wonder if the wreckage of an ancient aliens' floating castle presumably raining all over the Welsh countryside might have taken out Roger's old haunt. Whoops!

We could head on in and see if anyone is home. However, if we approach the side of the house we'll trigger...

I am the Ring Soul... The will of the Judgment Ring, the administrator of all fate. .....Right?

Tsk!

Now you're clucking your tongue?!

I'm just trying to help you remember your lines.

Here!

I suppose we can have Karin join in the four-hit combo club now. Neat.

Where's the poetry? The romance?!

Put some feeling into!

I'll appear again to give you more power, and I'm watching to see if...

Hey, hey! Come on!

Get serious!

...you're truly the one to command destiny. Okay, bye!

Ring Soul vanishes.

Look, Ring Soul was out with the boys late last night and he's dragging this morning. Give the poor guy a break. You can't be on the ball every day of the week.

Anyway, let's head inside and see if Roger Bacon is around. Or rather, confirm he's been kidnapped since that was literally one of the first events on starting the game.

Since when were you a magician?
Of course I am. How do you think Cornelia gets animated?
I try not to think about that creepy doll if I can help it.
She is NOT creepy!
...You can keep saying that. It ain't gonna make it true.

I was always worried his old house would turn into a big robot or something.
What is a robot...?
I dunno. Which made me all the more worried about it.

What on earth is a "comic book"?
It's cute you think this guy reads anything.
I was talking to you.

Yuri runs upstairs.

It was a pain in the rear end getting here. You better not have teleported yourself to the moon again or something, you old geezer!
...Again?

There's no sign of Roger or anything of interest upstairs. We can do a smidgen of choice looting back downstairs though.

There's a Lottery Ticket hidden on a table at the southern end of the house. Which sense considering last we saw Roger Bacon was president of the lottery committee. Come to think of it, I wonder if Joachim knows his brother was vice president of a secret continent-spanning lottery cabal.

In the back of the house, we can find another Crest. This one comes packed with all kinds of Special ability-based buffs.

It looks like Roger's vending machine survived the move to his new digs. Unfortunately, it is a bit busted at the moment. Or maybe it's containing the spirit of some malevolent entity? I'm not quite certain while it's bound in mid-air like something you'd find in a hidden burial chamber in the back of a forbidden tomb.

Music: Holy Mistletoe ~ Graveyard

There's also a save point back here and you know what? You're flush enough with Soul Energy to go unlock another upgraded Fusion for Yuri.

I reckon we should get Yuri a proper Dark Fusion. After having Death Emperor, Czernobog and Amon in the past, the current incarnation of a goth clown with a skin condition is kind of sad.

It was really embarrassing having despair left exposed like that. I'm glad it's been sorted out.

That's more like it for a Dark elemental Fusion. Orexis gains a stat boost of:

Strength +6
Vitality +6
Agility +6
Intelligence +1
Power +8
Luck +5

Not too shabby at all.

Orexis also retains its predecessor's Surge and Hell's Eye attacks. But it can now potentially learn:

Mind Assault: 1 MP. Steals a small amount of MP. Gotta spend manna to make mana. Or just have whoever is on support use a consumable.
Dark Claw: 35 MP. Single target Dark elemental attack. Par for the course for these Level 2 Fusions.

Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God

Welp. Looks like Roger Bacon isn't home. Since he got kidnapped by Lenny about nine in-game hours ago and all. All we can do now is head on out.

Maybe he went for a walk...?

Yeah, maybe.

Not like there's a lot to do in Wales if you're not interested in punching ghosts.

The party exits Roger's home.

Tough luck for you!

Music: Suffocation ~ Grim Atmosphere

It's them...!

Ha! It's just like Nicolai said!

I like the mental image of Lenny and his two knife-hand stooges having spent the last ten minutes scampering up the side of Roger Bacon's house so they can pose on the roof. Those two goons in full plate armor are drenched in sweat right now.

Too bad, but that old geezer isn't here. By this time, he's in a cage far away.

Action jump to superhero landing. Lenny's been waiting all day to do that.

Unfortunately, nobody is impressed with this mid-boss' theatrics.

Heh heh heh!

Where is he?

I can't tell you.

<smirks> Cause you don't know?

I know, all right.

Music: ENDS

Then where?

I'm not saying.

I knew it. You got no idea.

Hey, Lackey #1? You two know where the old man is?
Hey! They don't! I do! I'm in charge here!
Uh-huh. What about you Goon B? Do you know where Roger Bacon is?

I told ya, ya little punk!! I do know.

<crosses arms> ...Right.

<smirks and puts hands on hips> Yeah, right...

<gasp and looks around nervously> Oops!!

Welp. We know where to go next. With that information in hand, everyone proceeds to ignore Lenny and immediately leave.

Yuri sighs and shakes his head in disappointment that actually worked before moseying off as well. He's likely longing for the days where evil Chinese sorcerers disguised themselves as puppies and through their demonic cat at people.

Oooooohh nohoho! <sobs>

Poor Lenny just cannot catch a break. At this rate, a palette-swapped version of Lenny is going to start showing up as a common enemy in a dungeon or two from now.

Lenny springs back to his feet.