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Episode CXIII: Trial of the Believer.jpg) I suppose we should quit procrastinating and get on with it completing the next stage of the Trials of Solomon. We can put off the terrible idea main plot jamboree for as long as necessary. Thus our band return back to the Goreme Valley for another session as Sarah, our trial provider, can apparently utilize Instant Transmission to teleport from Japan to Turkey at will. Only Japan and Turkey. It's a very specific discount version of the technique.  Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg)  Ah! What is it now? Don't tell me, another trial? <nods> Exactly! Last night King Solomon spoke... Come on! Give it a rest! There's no end to all of this! This ghost guy is really pushy.  Only your will can decide if you attempt the trial or not... But King Solomon has prepared a great prize this time. But if you don't want to do the trial, I can't make you... It'd sure be a waste of a great prize, though!  Well... you know, I've been thinking, and... Maybe I will give it a try! Don't force yourself! Your will alone must decide. But again, it would be a shame to lose out on this fabulous sidequest exclusive prize from the great King Solomon.  Please! I'm sorry I was so negative before... I won't do it again! I really wanna do this trial! <clasps hands> King Solomon will be delighted to hear you say that! Are you ready?.jpg) Our next set of trials is the Trial of the Believer. Technically, that whole spiel was for the next level of trials after this one. Trial of the Believer has been available since the team up with the Mutant Apes in the Imperial Capital and Roger Bacon restored the Bacon Jet to fly back to the Europe map. But screw doing any of these trials as soon as they unlock since it is just grinding through every single fight we just did in the last several hours of the game under tougher conditions. And none of the rewards are worth that hassle. Anyway, let's get started. As per usual, we have four total trials in this bracket to burn through. .jpg) The first one is a two-member party that has to win three battles with permanent Reverse and Tight Ring. Neither of which is particularly taxing. We'll be taking Yuri and Karin in for this one. .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) For the most part, the battles in Trial of the Believer run from Idar Flamme to the Otherworld dungeons. The first set is against a Zamuza, a Megafilaria duo, and an Echidna from Rasputin's flying fortress. .jpg) .jpg) Given the level scaling... yeah, they can barely put a scratch into Yuri or Karin, and most go down in a basic physical attack string. I don't feel bad cheesing this by pushing it back. There's more than enough side content without drawing out the one that is just grinding out even more battles. .jpg) Following that we're dealt the hand of a trio of Akagi Soldiers from the accursed Battleship Mikasa. .jpg) And lastly, there is the monster mash from Garan's Otherworld with a pair of Gaki, Pera-pera, and a Noh Mask. .jpg) All of which are more than easily dispatched. Who even goes to the Otherworld anymore? Everyone knows the Underworld is the new freshness. Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) .jpg) Our reward is another pair of Warlock Earrings. We already have two of these in storage. They're just giving them out for doing well in boss battles nowadays. You can do better, King Solomon. .jpg) .jpg) Our next task is taking a party of three characters while permanently poisoned and with Fake Ring installed. We'll be adding Blanca to the party for this set of trials. Joachim has decided to go Golden Bat and has far too little a pool of HP to be useful here. .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) We will actually have to occasionally heal for this set of trials since the Poison HP drain will add up over the course of five battles. Especially since enemies in the trials tend not to bunch up too much so we cannot just nuke a set with an AOE spell. The first enemy set is another Idar Flamme reunion but with the Zamuza swapped out with the off-brand Xenomorph-looking Hati. .jpg) After that, it is "Oops! All Worms!" with five Gigafilaria. .jpg) The Battleship Mikasa has brought in mechanized support with a pair of Akagi Soldiers flanked by a Spider Walker and a Flying Drone. We sandbagged some impressive Japanese tech by dismantling the entire Japanese military the last few months. .jpg) Otherworld refugees Pera-pera and Noh Masks give it another unsuccessful go. .jpg) .jpg) And finally, power armor dad, Lt. Terada, and the last squad of Akagi Soldiers take a run at the party. Terada is the only one that can actually deal more than around 5 HP of damage a turn. I am afraid it doesn't help him escape from this Pit Fight Purgatory to ever see his child again. .jpg) Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) .jpg) That is another round in the bag and with it another Magic Crest. We haven't gotten much in the way of specific elemental defense magic so this is at least noteworthy in this set of rewards from our ghost King of Israel benefactor. .jpg) .jpg) Next up it is time to squint with a single character. Yuri seems fit for the job with the most versatility in his tool kit. Not that we need a ton beyond hit good. .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) The Idar Flamme monstrosities have one final go at it with one final stand of the Zamuza, Hati, and Echidna. .jpg) An actually unique fight is TWO Mother Filaria. We only had to do the one in Idar Flamme. They're multiplying! .jpg) This fight can be someone of a drag. Not because of the difficulty. But because if you'll recall Mother Filaria annoyingly had the Cure ability. Which was just a minor nuisance when we had a full party. But now we solely have Yuri. And on top of that, the creatures will chain Cure spells on whichever one has the lower HP. So it will randomly just negate a good chunk of damage dealt if that occurs. It's actually a better idea to take turns beating on both of them individually instead of focusing on just one. As in that case, they'll both cast Cure on themselves, which is far more manageable than having one essentially get a full cure and wasting our time the last several attacks. .jpg) The ghoulies from the Otherworld have one last go of it. It's not even worth mentioning how one-sided it is. .jpg) The one fight I would say is still somewhat of a threat is we have to solo Asmodeus. That would be somewhat untenable if did this trial right when it was unlocked. We were maybe in the single-digit levels up from where we were at the end of Disc 1 by that point seeing as there were only two dungeons crawled at that point in Disc 2. .jpg) .jpg) But that's no longer the case six or seven dungeons deep into Disc 2. Rasputin, get your greased up creepy-rear end back to hell where you belong. .jpg) Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) .jpg) We do get a unique item from this trial. The description isn't particularly helpful but this is a Joachim exclusive accessory that gives him +2 to all stats and increases the frequency he transforms into the Golden Bat. Spiffy! .jpg) .jpg) The final Trial of the Believer lets us have a full party with zero stipulations in a twelve battle gauntlet. That's quite a bit of fights, eh? Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) What do you say to a Boss Rush of the bulk of end-of-dungeon baddies from Disc 1? I believe the only omissions are Asmodeus and the Night Queen. We just refought Asmodeus solo. It would be lame to do it again as a group. And I assume the Night Queen omission is having a boss with Instant Death crop up 10 or 11 rounds in would be fairly lovely a move to pull. .jpg) .jpg) I hope you enjoy squash matches and watching old bosses explode again because all their stats and health pools remain unchanged from their initial encounter. The poor Gargoyle guarding Apoina Tower's cursed treasure did not know what hit him when Golden Bat Joachim swoops in and tears his neck out in a single blow. .jpg) Then there was that time Yuri's Malice went out of control his body shat out a creepy as hell hand-spider Arachne. Good times. That never came up again. Just the hand spider was all the Holy Mistletoe curse had in it. .jpg) Castor and Pollux are once more jobbing in the Pit Fights. It goes even worse for them this time than the rematch a couple of trial sets back. .jpg) The alcoholic mutant from Meursault and its bug friends return from the Wine Cellar and straight back into the grave. .jpg) I had to struggle to remember where this thing was from... Remember Rhondda Mine? Grimlock. And this thing just... kind of showing up because they needed a boss for a 100% filler dungeon? Yeah, me neither. .jpg) Carla's weird giant pink cat has decided to burn another life in the Pit Fights after its defeat on Manmariana Island. If we brought Anastasia along she could use her photography skill to steal err... Cash Steal from the overgrown feline. We could do that. I am not going to do that. Have you seen how much money every boss is dropping at this point? We're good. .jpg) Here's another one I barely remember. Janus from the Sapientes Gladio Italian HQ. The monster that just... showed up to fight. Grimlock at least had a description that indicated it was born of Malice from a mining accident killing a bunch of workers. This... nothing. Monster is here now. Fight it. Oddly enough, despite being the most nothing boss this thing gets copy and pasted as a regular enemy in late-game Shadow Hearts: From the New World. I guess it had a good agent. To get into a subpar game. .jpg) After that, we have the Star Gazers and Grail Gazer defenders of the Émigré Manuscript in the ancient Welsh Neam Ruins. We really should have kept that book down there in retrospect. .jpg) We need to kill Veronica's dog Oscar again. Anastasia can learn the Remove ability from Oscar which negates any buffs on a targeted enemy. In a game where if a boss does buffs and has them removed it will just get pissed and immediately recast the buff. Remarkably useless. .jpg) A duo of Mother Filaria gives it another go. This is much more manageable with a full party. A 4-person Combo can just immediately destroy one of these oversized worms. I don't know why they bothered throwing in a rematch. .jpg) Our penultimate fight is the only Disc 2 boss and one our main party never fought since this was exclusive to Ouka and the Mutant Apes' dungeon in the Hojo Research Lab Part 1. It was basically impossible to lose to when it was a party that only had physical attacks and grenades to chunk at the machine. It's even less of a threat now. .jpg) The final challenge is a completely unique enemy to this trial. This cute little dude is a Mini Tanuki. It is a Light elemental creature with 400 HP. Technically, this is a model swap of the Ducky Toy enemy defending Domremy from Nicolai and Karin way back in the very beginning of the game. .jpg) .jpg) While this thing isn't very threatening. It can deal damage but only to the tune of around 50-75 HP if it attacks. Its main threat is it will just jack items from our inventory. It seems to target curative consumables. The loss of a Pure Leaf is no big deal. But it can jack high-end restoratives if we're not careful. .jpg) But four characters against a toy raccoon dog with 400 HP is no big deal. We'll take the hit of a couple of consumables in the process. Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg) And with that, we have defeated the final Trial of Solomon ~ Trial of the Believer! Hurray! Ugh... There are still two more of these in the future. .jpg) Our final reward is another Seventh Key which... loses its impact somewhat considering we had just received one of those from defeating the Peach Bat in the previous side content we did. But hey. Perhaps one day we can string these together to attack and dethrone god or whatever end of the game hijinks will occur in this all-over-the-place adventure. .jpg) But for now, we bid Goreme Valley and the Solomon Trials adieu and venture towards our bad idea destiny. With perhaps one final pit stop along the way... That should reinforce this is a bad idea. Stay tuned.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:00
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Yup. Exactly what I always did. Wait until you're over leveled for the trials and then brute force them.
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Apr 2, 2021 01:56
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That sure is content that you can engage with in the game.
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Apr 2, 2021 02:17
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You know sometimes I come across a line in an LP that really encapsulates just how weird it would be if someone read it while being totally unexposed to the LP, which is in this case:quote:Trial of the Believer has been available since the team up with the Mutant Apes in the Imperial Capital and Roger Bacon restored the Bacon Jet to fly back to the Europe map Just a magical world we're in here.
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Apr 2, 2021 22:04
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The trials are never fun since the challenge curve is all over the place. I think the only reason why they're in the game at this point is because it's relatively low-effort content to insert.
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Apr 2, 2021 22:18
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There's a joke somewhere about the Russian royal family stealing money but I'm far too exhausted to think of it
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Apr 2, 2021 22:33
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The trials here at least don't have the excuse of being quasi-mandatory like they were in From the New World. If you want to get all of the Yuri character's fusions and the good ending, you have to do some of the trials. But most people wouldn't even think that the trials would be necessary to do it. I don't even think the trials there even indicate you'd get X required item out of it either.
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Apr 3, 2021 01:32
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:There's a joke somewhere about the Russian royal family stealing money but I'm far too exhausted to think of it
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Apr 3, 2021 14:53
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Keldulas posted:The trials are never fun since the challenge curve is all over the place. I think the only reason why they're in the game at this point is because it's relatively low-effort content to insert. They're definitely filler, but they don't even feel that bad due to the sheer volume of late-game sidequests.
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Apr 3, 2021 15:08
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Episode CXIV: Cross.jpg) Other than not wanting to stick my dick in a vise doing the next set of the Trials of Solomon, we're officially caught up with as much progress in all the sidequests as we can be before being blocked by endgame flags unlocking the final stage. We could carry on with plot progress. But Detective Columbo just walked in and said "but one more thing..." and well, poo poo. At the end of our Europe world map list of locations the game silently, with zero fanfare or indication, has added Zurich as a location option. .jpg) If you'll recall the end of Shadow Hearts 1, that's where Yuri and Alice were heading at the conclusion of the game to go meet Alice's mother. .jpg) .jpg) ...It didn't turn out too well. .jpg) So, what better an idea than to return there to go visit Alice Elliot's grave and reflect on the past before performing feats of necromancy on her that have never gone properly at any point in at least the last 20 years. .jpg)  ...... Is this...?.jpg) Yeah. Alice's grave. Sorry I had Roger land us at the city and we had to walk 20 miles outside it to get here... I just needed to get in the right headspace, you know? It's fine. It doesn't hurt to walk that far outdoors in high heel boots or anything. Thanks for understanding.Yuri bends over and starts brushing off the grave. .jpg) I haven't been here in a while, and it's gotten so dirty. Sorry for not visiting, Alice. I beat up a Japanese military conspiracy and saved Russia from another wizard while I was gone. It's been a weird few months. But you know how it is with me..jpg) Heh... It's been over a year now... It might be two years now. With everything going on I've lost track. It almost feels like nothing is consistent lately. What day is it even? ...... Why... did you bring me here?Music: Memories of Melodies ~ Peace .jpg) Yuri takes something off the grave. .jpg) <hands something to Karin> To give you this. A cross? <nods>.jpg) It belonged to my mother. ...... I want you to have it. Really? Look... I am in a weird place. I've got a curse that might erase my soul. I'm going to try a crazy resurrection of my dead girlfriend with a 700-year-old monk that might get me killed. Kato is out there doing some ending the world stuff I don't even know the deal with yet....jpg) All of the people that I've ever loved have carried it. My mother and father....jpg) ...And Alice. <sigh> I still feel like an idiot I got this headstone made with the last of my Cash after the old party divvied it up last adventure and... I couldn't remember if her last name had two "L"s or one. It was two... Sorry again, Alice....jpg) ...... <scratches head nervously> Hah, I guess that everyone that has carried it has died. Huh?! R-really? Mom got killed by zombies. Dad died beating a Chinese sorcerer. Alice... you know... Ergh... I-It's okay! You don't have to worry. It's not like it's cursed or anything. That's just me cursed. There was a Chinese fiddle player that was the daughter of my father's good friend that had it for about a decade too and she is still alive. <remembers Shanghai exploded> Y-Yeah... She... she's still good... Definitely good! Yep! Alive... and good... <nervous laugh> Heh... heh....jpg) If I lose my memory... do you think all of the memories locked up in that cross will disappear too? Yuri....jpg) Karin, I want you to hold it for me so the memories don't disappear... My mother, my father, Alice and me. A part of all of us is in that cross..jpg) I know I shouldn't ask. I feel bad doing it... But... It has to be you, Karin. I like the rest of the group but... you're the only real choice. C'mon. Am I going to give it to Joachim? He's a vampire. It might kill him. Or Anastasia or Lucia? No... Just no. I considered Blanca but he's Jewish and it'd be weird. And I barely know Kurando. But... Wasn't Gepetto related to Alice? Shouldn't he have it? Yeah... But I get the sense he would try to put it on one of his creepy doll dresses. I don't want the memories of me and my family as an accessory on a gross puppet girl..jpg) ...... <nods> ...I'll do it..jpg) <nervous laugh> Hehe..jpg) And the two share an awkward laugh slowly addressing the elephant in the room that... there's not an out for Yuri's curse visible and he's probably hosed this time. Especially, since the third game has barely any connections to the adventures of our Punchboy and that's never a good sign looking into a series. Music: ENDS .jpg) This scene bestows us Anne's Cross returning from the first game. In the first game, this was given to Yuri after completing a series of Pit Fights (see why I just did that last update of bullshit) which resulted in some more backstory about the lead-up to his father's final battle with the wizard Dehuai. And it was... a completely useless accessory! +1 Physical and Special Defense. It gave you a mulligan if a character went Berserk. As in their turn was just skipped so you could heal that status before they got another turn. They'd go Berserk again the next turn. Anyone could wear it and all that business about giving it to Alice didn't happen on screen. But then again, Shadow Hearts 2 fudges the details of the first game a lot. Alice and Yuri being lovers are... they were clearly into each other. And clearly hooked up at the end. But the furthest it ever got was possibly they went to the bone zone off-screen at a hotel during the ending narration before getting on a train to Zurich. Alice dropped dead the next day on the train ride. Alice was actively dying in the last dungeon and if they had a few weeks of being a real couple it'd be a lot. But let's not dwell on that. .jpg) While it was useless in the first game, this is Karin Koenig's exclusive designated best accessory in the game for her as it gives +2 to all offensive and defensive stats. It also grants full protection from all Status and Ring abnormalities and debuffs. And just restores 25-75 HP per turn as a cherry on top. It's probably the single best accessory in the game overall. .jpg) ...So reads the gravestone inscription. And with that, we depart from Zurich, never to return. Welp... That was a bit of a bummer. Also, might I mention this is a loving optional scene you can easily miss? I don't know. This seems vitally important overall if you ask me. To the furtherment of Yuri being in a weird bad headspace that is leading up to the next big plot beat and maybe people should be concerned. I don't know what this series is with essential story beats hidden behind going to specific places at specific times with little indication. Like how you had to go to one hotel room in a location you were in for all of 40 minutes to learn one of the bigger characters of the first half of the game died. You know, the set-up for most of the plot momentum in Disc 2 with Kato, who is I suppose the main villain now by order of elimination. Now onward to undo that bummer. Probably. Maybe... We'll see...   .jpg) Video: Episode 114 Highlight Reel The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Apr 4, 2021 |
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Apr 4, 2021 00:07
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I really don't understand why they made that scene optional.
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Apr 4, 2021 00:47
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ultrafilter posted:I really don't understand why they made that scene optional. I actually wouldn't be too surprised if they meant to have it mandatory, but it got mostly lost in the shuffle.
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Apr 4, 2021 03:13
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I would have missed this scene for sure were I not following a guide when I first played the game. Not carrying over a central theme and cast is usually bad for any series, video games included. But somehow writers keep making this mistake.
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Apr 4, 2021 04:18
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Burger Flipper posted:I actually wouldn't be too surprised if they meant to have it mandatory, but it got mostly lost in the shuffle. Agree, as we've seen there is a lot of stuff that got cut or hastily rewritten even in the late stages of production wouldn't be surprised that something went a bit fucky here.
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Apr 4, 2021 04:39
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Burger Flipper posted:I actually wouldn't be too surprised if they meant to have it mandatory, but it got mostly lost in the shuffle. Yeah, that makes sense. I think I know exactly where it was meant to be, too. It'll probably be obvious to everyone.
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Apr 4, 2021 04:43
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Anastasia can also learn Pillage Storm by taking a photograph of the Mini Tanukis as well.
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Apr 4, 2021 07:29
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I've learned of a trope recently called Cosmic Deadline, where they just decide to hastily end all the plotlines as quick as possible with little to no satisfactory conclusion because of time and/or budget constraints. For a good example, think of the Chairs Zone from Xenogears.
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Apr 4, 2021 16:15
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HR12345 posted:I've learned of a trope recently called Cosmic Deadline, where they just decide to hastily end all the plotlines as quick as possible with little to no satisfactory conclusion because of time and/or budget constraints. For a good example, think of the Chairs Zone from Xenogears. The real reason was almost the entire Xenogears team were poached for Final Fantasy VIII. Aside from the budget crunch and time limit. Oh and I forgot, The giant robot you fought in the Foreign Affairs building? Anastasia could learn it's Ray blast spell as well.
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Apr 5, 2021 10:24
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Episode CXV: Checkmate.jpg) We are now about as caught up as we can be in all the side content for the moment. All that remains is entering the penultimate dungeon of the (main plot) of the game -- The Queen's Garden. I hear Scotland is haunted but significantly less cursed than Wales so perhaps this will go better than our usual outings to the UK. Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) .jpg)  But the all-important book was seized by the Vatican, and the plan couldn't be put into effect... Wait... when did this queen lady die? Around 1901, as I recall. But I fought a guy a couple of years ago in London that had it before I gave it to you. He said Albert Simon gave him the book. ...Huh. I suppose Albert could have stolen it from the Vatican. But... didn't he ALREADY steal it from the Vatican once? And that whole burnt monastery down the road from your house thing happened with the psychic lady. Hmm... Perhaps he just stole it again? TWICE?! How bad is the Pope's security? You walked into there with little resistance a few months ago, did you not? We did. ...OK. That is a fair point. Continue. <looks around area> It's magnificent... but creepy! This was the queen's secret villa..jpg)  Someone else besides us? Here? Who'd willingly go to Scotland? Yes. Someone else came for the tools needed to perform the magic. You mean Special Agent Kato? It's gotta be. When I first met him in Southampton, he must've been on his way here. Okay, this is as far as I'm going. I'll be waiting for you all in the airship. Be extra careful! Deep inside, there's a stone called the Moon Crystal. That's what you're after. Hurry up. Or in the name of the moon, I will punish you! <nods> Got it! The Moon Crystal!.jpg) Despite his claim to wait in the airship, Roger Bacon is just going to chill out by the entrance to the Queen's Villa and offer a free full-party HP/MP restoration should we return to him. Not that we really need it for this dungeon. But hey, he's at least helping a bit. More than I can say for a lot of non-combat NPCs that are basically party members. .jpg) Welcome to the Queen's Garden. It's time to plunder the British Empire's historic sites to loot ancient relics for a change. Compared to the grueling slog of identical caverns that was the Immortal Mountain, this dungeon is downright pleasant. It's still a bunch of dimly lit corridors but it at least has some flair to it in spots. The dungeon itself is a big ring with side rooms in the cardinal directions of the circle. .jpg) Directly north we find a dining room. There is nothing worth mentioning in the chest tucked to the side. However, that shiny on the table is filled with intrigue. .jpg) It's a chess piece. This one's a knight..jpg) .jpg) A Knight Plug. We're going all Resident Evil mansion up in Queen Victoria's secret villa. Speaking of secrets, if we check the fireplace in the back of the room, we discover... .jpg) Why don't you see if this knight piece fits? Let's see... drat. It's no use. I can't get it to fit right. Looks like the piece is a little too small. It's also a square peg you're trying to jam into a round indentation. Argh. Maybe if I line it up just right... And... Bah! No good! I guess we'll have to find some other piece..jpg) .jpg) As I said, this whole building is a big ring. The outer doors lead to long empty corridors curving up to other directions of the ring. There's little to be said about these areas. Other than random battles! Oh yeah, baby! It's happening again! .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) Three enemies inhabit. The first up is Morgan, a 309 stout Water elemental enemy that is a more skeletal reskin of the Echidna beasts from Idar Flamme. The main threat of these creatures is the technique Blood Loss which just automatically shaves 50% off a character's current HP and is just rude. Otherwise, it sticks to higher-end water elemental spells and stabbing people in general. Morgan or Morgen comes from the Welsh/Breton mythological water spirits that liked to be jerks and drown men. Wikipedia on Morgen posted:
It's a siren with a Welsh accent. .jpg) Following that we have nude, blindfolded tentacle-haired women bound to a floating stone going by the name of Bethlehem. Don't ask me what any of that has to do with the birthplace of Jesus Christ... All I know is they have 333 HP, are of the Light element, and can cause the Panic status effect and steal all of a targeted character's MP with Mind Assault. .jpg) Lastly, we have Graffias which is uhh... a bent backward human torso with its calves split open to reveal mouths like something from The Thing, reptile feet instead of "arms" and a scorpion tail coming out of the part of the spine where a human head should be. Sure... Why not? This is an Earth elemental with 320 HP and its primary damage is the ability to inflict Petrify with its strikes. It's named after a star in the Scorpio constellation also known as Beta-Scoripii. I have no idea what that has to do with... all this mess of teeth and flesh. Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) None of those are particularly threatening and it's quite easy to wipe out an entire mob before it has a chance to strike especially given their fairly low overall HP levels. Additionally, random battles are only present in the connecting rooms. All the side rooms are thankfully combat-free. .jpg) .jpg) This is good as there is some investigation to be done in these rooms including obtaining another chess piece for a future puzzle and/or key. In addition to that, this room has a medley of points of interest Yuri feels compelled to investigate. Such as: .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) All of this poo poo! Commit all of that to memory as we are going to need to recall those random poor interior design decisions in the near future. .jpg) .jpg) On the northernmost part of the ring, we find a door to the north and south, as well as one heading easy continuing along the ring. .jpg) To the north is our ultimate destination just past that save point. There is just one minor problem... .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Heading north at the moment leads to an infinitely looping hallway. Or more correctly, the hallway just reloads and places Yuri at the far end if he reaches the arches. I guess we're going to have to solve some manner of magical bullshit. Possibly involving the game of chess. If we return to the earlier hall and investigate the door leading toward the central part of the ring, we discover... .jpg) There's a depression on the lock. We probably have to insert something. I wonder if this knight would do the trick? It doesn't look like it's the right shape. This won't work. Now you are trying to jam a square shape into a key-shaped hole. Tsk. I guess we look for another piece..jpg) Onward to the only direction of the ring we've yet to explore. .jpg) There's a depression on the lock. We must have to insert something. I bet inserting the pawn would unlock the door. How do you know that...? It's a pawn shaped depression. <squints> ...If you say so. <inserts the Pawn piece> Hey, I think it unlocked..jpg) Hey, this room looks kind of familiar. If somewhat inverted. And there's another chest only this one is currently locked. I do wonder what we'll have to do in here to circumvent this mind-boggler. .jpg) If you guess screw around with the furniture to make the room a mirror image of the previous one, you've probably played a video game or two before. Not every piece of furniture needs to be adjusted. Half of them are in the right place. Annoyingly, some of them have broken triggers where they can only be moved once and we need to leave and return to the room to reset them. While others can be flipped at will. Such as this low-resolution mustachioed man. .jpg) .jpg) Yuri can perform magic feats to swap the color of a fifteen-foot long banner. As you do. .jpg) The couch is completely messing up the feng shui of the room. .jpg) And this scholar had a skewed view of society and wants his portrait displayed as well in turn. .jpg) .jpg) And thus we are granted another chess piece -- the Queen. .jpg) .jpg) This can be used if we backtrack to the northern part of the ring and use it upon the previously locked door. Which leads us to a break room of some sort. .jpg) .jpg) Hidden from view behind the pool table we can discover Karin's second to the best weapon in the game crafted by the god of war himself (prior to his tragic death at the hands of a very angry bald albino man) the Flamberge. This gives Karin a respectable +186 Physical and +185 Special Attack Power. .jpg) Beyond that, the key point of interest in this room is an abandoned chess game. Yuri, you know how to chess, right? No... Uhh... Checkers? No to that too. Go Fish...? No, the game not the activity. No to both. Ok, man... Let's give this a shot anyway. .jpg) "The knight rescues the white king." What's that mean? Hmm. I think we have to put that knight we found on the chessboard. Wait just a minute! I don't know the first thing about chess! This is me making my surprised face. Shuddup!.jpg) .jpg) .jpg) We are given three options as to where to place the Knight piece we found earlier to accurately complete the game. I know gently caress all about chess. It's option three that is correct. Options one and two will just result in a forced battle against the standard random battle mobs of the dungeon and the option to try again. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) So let's not do that and just obtain the King piece. The essence of chess, as you know. .jpg) .jpg) The remainder of the dungeon is just... backtracking. We need to do another full circuit of the outer perimeter of the area returning to the first room to the south with the fireplace and the indentation. Here we can place the King piece which signals something has unlocked. And then we have to go all the back to the northernmost passage where we find Yuri can now pass to the end of the hallway here instead of being stuck in a time loop and proceed to... .jpg) .jpg) I've probably fought a hundred bosses in the main chapel of a church area like this but do you ever wonder how many people have actually gotten into climactic fisticuffs in the main chamber of a church? No matter. The  Let's grab it and get out. Hold your horses! We should use caution here. Aw, c'mon! What're you getting yourself all worked up about? It'll be fine. What's the worse that is gonna happen? A boss fight. Yes. Well, then we should grab it before we trigger the fight! Duh!The room begins to shake. What the...? What's that noise?...Something's coming!! ...Is it a boss fight? You already know the answer to that. Darn..jpg) Tune in next time for a boss baby! No, I didn't forget a comma in that statement.   Bethlehem Concept Art - ...Alright.  Queen's Garden Concept Art - Still going alright about Bethlehem. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Apr 10, 2021 |
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Apr 9, 2021 20:38
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twist is they're using it on Victoria herself and not Victoria was trying to revive Albert with it (but that would give us Fallen London not Shadow Hearts)
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Apr 9, 2021 21:33
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The Queen's Garden is actually nice-looking and the monsters are properly grotesque! I approve of this.
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Apr 9, 2021 21:39
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It's a really nicely done dungeon but it blends into everything else in the SH:C endgame.
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Apr 9, 2021 21:44
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No, stop! Don't remind them! Not now!
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Apr 9, 2021 22:05
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Dark Id posted:I've probably fought a hundred bosses in the main chapel of a church area like this but do you ever wonder how many people have actually gotten into climactic fisticuffs in the main chamber of a church? Never done it in real life myself. Favorite time it's happened in a video game thus far? Assassin's Creed 2- you punch the Pope, can't get much more climactic than that. Runner-up is Days Gone. You do not interrupt an outlaw biker's reminiscing about his wedding.
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Apr 9, 2021 23:48
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quote:Tune in next time for a boss baby! No, I didn't forget a comma in that statement. Drakengard intensifies
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Apr 9, 2021 23:59
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I guess the chess "puzzle" is that the third option puts black in checkmate. The first two put the black king in check but the knight can be taken, assuming all those pieces are what I think they are. Any chess set where you have to guess what the pieces are sucks rear end. Why yes this was the thing I paid the most attention to this update 
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Apr 10, 2021 00:17
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Hey, in the second Xenosaga game the church was the final boss. You fought a literal cathedral. Like, the giant stone building. It had an attack called 'Sodomquake'. I'm not even going to spoil that because a) lol xenosaga and b) I don't know that it actually spoils... anything...? Like, it comes out of nowhere, it means nothing, and it never comes up again.
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Apr 10, 2021 02:02
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Eschewed isn't an adjective. Did you mean skewed? Chess is the best game and everyone should know how to play it. 
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Apr 10, 2021 03:10
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Picayune posted:Hey, in the second Xenosaga game the church was the final boss. You fought a literal cathedral. Like, the giant stone building. It had an attack called 'Sodomquake'. Is it Xenogears or something similar where you have to fight someone's actual house? I remember reading something like that in an LP at some point in the past, but not sure what game it was - trying to google phases like 'jrpg fight house' just returns lots of unhelpful Fire Emblem Three Houses results.
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Apr 11, 2021 00:21
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Pseudohog posted:Is it Xenogears or something similar where you have to fight someone's actual house? I remember reading something like that in an LP at some point in the past, but not sure what game it was - trying to google phases like 'jrpg fight house' just returns lots of unhelpful Fire Emblem Three Houses results. FF7 has "Evil House" as an enemy. FF7R does something... very good with that information.
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Apr 11, 2021 00:28
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Picayune posted:Hey, in the second Xenosaga game the church was the final boss. You fought a literal cathedral. Like, the giant stone building. It had an attack called 'Sodomquake'. No no no, the final boss is the Space Pope. The cathedral is just his automated last line of defense before you get to him.
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Apr 11, 2021 01:33
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CmdrKing posted:No no no, the final boss is the Space Pope. The cathedral is just his automated last line of defense before you get to him. Oh, crap, that's right. Also much less entertaining. Boo. 
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Apr 11, 2021 05:10
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Kurieg posted:FF7 has "Evil House" as an enemy. FF7R does something... very good with that information. FF9 also has a fight house, but it's named Armstrong for... some reason.
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Apr 11, 2021 16:14
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Leraika posted:FF9 also has a fight house, but it's named Armstrong for... some reason. So that the stronger recolor can be named Winchester?
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Apr 11, 2021 20:24
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Episode CXVI: Boss Baby.jpg) Music: Glint of Light ~ Mid Boss in Europe .jpg) We're jumping right into it with the boss of the Queen's Garden -- King Tamakos. Tama being the Japanese word for sphere/orb and koss being a mistranslation of chaos. This enemy appears in every game in the series, including Koudelka. And it has had its name mistranslated in every game except Shadow Hearts 1. You know, the one with by far the worst localization. Don't ask me. Localization seems hard. This ball of flesh with a ghoulish baby sprouting out of it alongside muscular arms and... winged babies with flapping wings sticking their rear end out of the lump... is a Wind elemental enemy with 6450 HP. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) This thing actually packs quite a punch. Its Bent Space attack hits for 300+ HP and that can outright kill any of our party if they get targeted twice in a row. It also has a handful of Wind elemental magic attacks which are much less devastating but are of the AOE variety. .jpg) It can also use Gale to increase its speed and the only counter to that is to use Gale ourselves because trying to negate it will just trigger the AI immediately casting it again in a free turn because bosses like to cheat like that on occasion. .jpg) .jpg) This is also the first boss fight since sometime late Disc 1 where worrying about SP was an issue as its physical attack string can cause SP lowering which reduces a targeted ally's SP by ten. This isn't a huge issue for Joachim or Yuri as they have high SP levels. Karin and Blanca only have 18 and 19 SP respectively and that's dangerously low to have a ten-point hit to sanity .jpg) Our attack method is the usual kit. The rudest thing about King Tamakos is the player needs to rally and finish it quickly (read: around 25% remaining health.) Otherwise, it will employ Spirit Ward. .jpg) Which just deletes one of our characters from the battlefield. In this case, Yuri was sent to the Shadow Realm. They're not dead. They're just removed from the battle for the remainder of the fight. There is no way to counter this if it is cast and there is no way to bring that character back. They're just plain gone. .jpg) .jpg) But thankfully, the rest of the party didn't have too much issue in taking down the nightmare baby guarding the Moon Crystal. Queen Elisabeth, I feel like there are some questions for why you have a Moon Crystal and a flesh blob baby in your secret villa. But I suppose those secrets of the royal family died with her... Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg) .jpg) As has been usual with late-game bosses, we get quite the payout to our EXP and Cash flow. Even though Yuri was deleted from the fight he still receives full battle benefits. So that's nice. Nothing is worse than a boss that can eject party members and the game just negates them from the proceedings. Final Fantasy is bad about that. Stupid rear end giant worms... .jpg) King Tamakos also dropped another of Lucia's tarot cards. As it mentions, this provides double attack power. The Reverse card doubles the enemy's attack power. Likewise, the Special Effect version is quadruple power in whatever direction it favors. I continue to favor not using Lucia. Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) Well, looks like we managed to take care of it. ...Okay, Yuri. You're up. ...Yeah. I could get it. I... don't think that's such a good idea. I got it. Why not? <glances down> You ever considered wearing shorts...? No? Why...? Uh no reason...  I don't see a problem.   .jpg) .jpg) The queen didn't horde the crystals for any nefarious reason. British Empire just going to pillage regardless. .jpg) We got what we came for. Now, all we have to do is get back to Roger. .......jpg) .jpg) Do you have the Moon Crystal? What does this look like? Ooh! Great! We had to fight a flesh ball baby to get it. It's probably weird that isn't the first time I've had to do that, eh? For you? Not particularly. Let's get back to my place right away!.jpg) Huh? Not again! What is it? <groggily stumbles forward> Unh... uughhh....jpg) And so Yuri falls to his knees and passes out. It's been a while since we've addressed the whole cursed Yuri thing or seen Jeanne. In fact, I don't think we've done that in Disc 2. Jeanne's haunting must be localized to the greater European continent. Music: Holy Mistletoe ~ Graveyard .jpg) Yo! Still a ghost in my head, huh? Yep. Check it out! <walks through the door behind her> This way! Hey! Jeanne!Yuri falls Jeanne through the door to yet another gate. .jpg) What is it? Where are we going? This whole place kind of looks all the same. <examines the door> I hear something in there. What could it be...? <gasp> This door...?!The door opens for Jeanne. .jpg) Jeanne runs through the door. It slams shut behind her. .jpg) Hey! Jeanne!! Hey!! Wait a minute!! Jeanne!! Well... That's probably nothing to worry about. Probably... ...... ...Probably..jpg) There's no way to follow Jeanne and nothing else in the Graveyard has changed. So our only recourse is to just leave the gates out of Yuri's mind. Music: Spiritualization ~ Holy Land of God .jpg) Yuri pulls himself to his feet and looks around. .jpg) Don't worry. We'll discover that soon enough. But for now, our time in the Queen's Garden has come to a close, and with this the chapter. We may have more business here later. Something perhaps involving a bonus boss. But that is a journey for another day. We're going to be railroaded straight to the endgame going forward. So strap in as we reach the upper reaches of the bad idea zone rollercoaster of Shadow Hearts 2.  While the main focus of this chapter was brisk we did encounter a number of beasties along the way. Let's take a look. Monster: .jpg) I'd be a little pissed if I got embedded in a wall too. .jpg) You wouldn't think an abomination of flesh with a scorpion tail and gnashing teeth all over would usually be chill. But you'd be wrong. .jpg) Nobody inhabits the Sea of Death except for this creature that inhabits the Sea of Death. .jpg) Same. .jpg) I care not for hunky boooooooys! ...... ...Or do I? .jpg) You couldn't just let something be cute, could you, Shadow Hearts? Character: .jpg) We must have an eccentric vampire as a party member. Forget even having a core protagonist to last the series. Weird vampires are the key to success.  King Tamakos Concept Art - I wish it looked less a nightmare and more like this dingus.  Moon Crystal Statue Concept Art - Fighting evil by moonlight.
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Apr 13, 2021 23:21
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"You wouldn't think an abomination of flesh with a scorpion tail and gnashing teeth all over would usually be chill. But you'd be wrong." Well, it's better to save that venom for those who deserve it, and by "deserve it", I mean "look like they'd make a nice statue". 
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Apr 13, 2021 23:35
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I can think of at least four tv series that were made interesting mostly by an eccentric vampire or two. As for Queen Victoria, she’s got a lot of secrets. Some of the worst involve Prince Albert in a can.
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Apr 14, 2021 04:32
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I just watched a show with my dad where Prince Leopold teams up with four orphans, one of whom is psychic, to solve cases assigned to them by Dr. Watson.
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Apr 14, 2021 04:45
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achtungnight posted:I can think of at least four tv series that were made interesting mostly by an eccentric vampire or two. Yeah. Sometimes she's a werewolf, and sometimes she's not. Then there's the times where she's involved in a Vampire War or the Jack the Ripper murders, or the times when she's a Cthulhu.
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Apr 15, 2021 01:33
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Or she's keeping the Shroud of Turin in her secret vault and my Assassin's Creed Syndicate has to stop the Templars from stealing it. That was a fun game. 
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Apr 15, 2021 02:24
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