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The Sachiko things checks out. In scenario A, Emory died in the south area accident, and the original Sachiko's suicide attempt was unsuccessful and left her with amnesia. In this scenario, well... Turns out Emory being dead was probably a good thing. Honestly I like the way changing different variables, like Hume and Anne reconciling, or a different person dying in an accident helps explain drastic scenario changes.
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Feb 11, 2022 02:30
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Mathwyn posted:The Sachiko things checks out. In scenario A, Emory died in the south area accident, and the original Sachiko's suicide attempt was unsuccessful and left her with amnesia. Agreed, it's kinda like seeing all the possibilities of what Neo Kenya could turn out to be. There's an underlying "what-if" to it that makes you wonder what other things could change in other scenarios. I'm wondering at this point if there's a scenario where Ken isn't even around.
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Feb 11, 2022 02:49
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King of Bleh posted:I for one am shocked that the Hitler Doctor turned out to be a shady guy.  honestly the weirdest part is the zombies out of left field I expected his shady plan to involve more killing and less un-killing
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Feb 21, 2022 01:55
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quote:Thank you. It makes me happy to hear that, even if it's a lie. You are always so nice to me, aren't you? I was a bit scared before, now I'm not any more. Thank you for everything. *kiss* So, good thing none of that liquid hit you then. I'm sure this won't come up later... But...The Puppet Master's been active for a very long time before now. So what was Emory doing before?
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Feb 21, 2022 12:29
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Bloodly posted:So, good thing none of that liquid hit you then. I'm sure this won't come up later...
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Feb 21, 2022 12:48
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Bloodly posted:So, good thing none of that liquid hit you then. I'm sure this won't come up later... More or less it was mentioned that he got into some kind of crime deal with his bionics research in order to make it possible for his daughter (Sachiko) to have a heart surgery when she was a baby. So presumably the whole thing was going since pretty much the birth of Sachiko, so we're talking a couple of decades or so that this has been going on. Also this will be touched upon a bit more in the upcoming update too.
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Feb 21, 2022 13:48
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 Welcome back! Last time, things got a little weird, actually. First, Ken and Linda ended up fighting a bunch of zombies in Minago. Then Dr. Emory claimed that it's all his fault for letting a parasitic infection (?) spread out from the hospital, but not to worry he'll sort it out. Then Ken and Linda went and did a whole lot of hunting, and then finally they found out some information which seemed to indicate that Emory is actually the Puppet Master. Therefore they did what any reasonable person would do and went to confront Emory directly. Turns out, he's completely nuts and the whole encounter ended with Linda injured and in hospital. Oh, and also it turned out that Sachiko isn't really Sachiko but simply one of several clones of Emory's actual daughter Sachiko, who, as it turns out, was in fact the first person to commit suicide by throwing herself off the church, after not having been selected for the female ark crew for the slot that was ultimately given to Linda! So at this point we find Ken again on his own...  After leaving Linda in her hospital room in Hospico, we should head over back to Hardia and talk to Ben, to see what he thinks of all this! He may not be too happy with us, as we disobeyed him pretty blatantly by going to confront Emory...   Looks like we don't have too much to do until the next plot moment, so it might be a good time to finish the hunting! We are missing only two species to make a total of 50, so let's grab a couple. We could actually have done these last time already, but that's ok, it won't take us long!  First, we will head all the way down south...  ...into that same place where we fought the ants. You won't encounter this new species normally, but if you make camp here, you have a good chance of being attacked in your sleep...  ...by a bunch of hydras! As you can see, they use mostly fire based attacks and are definitely among the stronger enemies you can find down here, but still we're decently high level so they don't pose much of an issue at this point. Our next destination today is...  ...again that difficul to get to bit of land between two caverns.  First of all, one of the things you can run into here, among other places...  ...is a poacher and his dogs. The poacher appears to fight using a (very) large mallet, but nevertheless, this is mostly just a distraction and you don't need to fight them. Dogs are plentiful in other places, so there is no need to come here to capture them.  Last time here, we were capturing us some impalas, but today we have a different species we're looking for...  The rhino! They might be a bit on the stronger side for the East Area (although they don't have any abilities that are too crazy), but East Area is anyway intended mostly as a beginning area so at least on the surface of the planet none of the animals are really TOO strong. So the rhinos also in the end look tougher than they are. Funnily enough, in this pariticular battle Ken is confronted with three rhinos and after capturing one of each gender, the third one actually uses his "eject" ability to kick out Ken, thus ending the battle, since Ken is fighting on his own! (I took out the dogs so that they don't accidentally overkill anything) This should comfortably bring us to a nice round 50, so...  ...we can head over and report in the ark.  Talking to the robot confirms that, indeed, we have captured the required 50 species that is needed in order to successfully finish this scenario. Incidentally, between the first two scenarios, we have so far only actually personally encountered 57 different species out of the possible 120 in the entire game. So that's actually less than half, which does kind of beg the question, where the heck are all the other 63 hiding? I mean that's not a small number and we've looked at a fair bit of places in the game so far and didn't find them! Well, not to worry, this is only the second scenario, so we'll still have a chance to look into it before the end of the game. But, as far as Scenario B is concerned, we are definitely done with hunting.  Incidentally, we can check here another news bulletin! Minago residents zombie(?) uprising! The bodies of Minago residents who had died in the recent massacre appear to have been zombified and have gone on a rampage. The cause of the rampage is unknown, but it appears to have been caused by a unknown parasitic infection. The path of the infection is yet to be determined, though. While we were doing the hunting, Ken also received another message notitification!  So, let's check it out. The message is from Ben!  Heading to Ozport, unfortunately we find no sign of Sachiko at all, however, this one tent here is for once not actually empty, so...  ...we can talk to its owner! So here you get a bit of a hint to look for the basement where the catfish are, but we already did that last time! In any case...  ...soon enough, it becomes Autumn 1993. Here we can also see the game indicating that we have 0 species left to capture!  And soon after that, Ken receives another message notification!  Checking the message, it's from Ken's mum this time! I guess it must be one of the Sachiko clones probably? I don't see who else it could possibly be. So, let's head home and find out!  As expected, it's one of the clones who is with Ken's mum!  Ken explains to mum everything that's happened until now.  No. 1 does just that.  After this, we can talk to both of them again... Ken's mum seems to be pretty much the nicest person on this whole planet, together with Ben. But, unfortunately, we have places to be, so we will head out. But, as we do...   This game is absolutely hilarious. Indeed, we get to choose the answer Ken gives here, but the only problem is... all possible answers are "Yes"! And with this, we can finally leave.  And so we have now the newly named Sumire in our party. She's massively underleveled compared to us, but she does have a secret weapon in the form of her laser beam when she transforms, and yes indeed we can use it in battle ourselves--her so-called "Mode B"! It has the effect of simply one-shotting any enemy--so it's not useful for capturing in that sense, but luckily we won't need it for that anyway. Expectedly, the party menu re-uses the same portrait here as we've had with the other clone, but that makes sense since, you know... they are clones.  As we go out we can definitely sit on the swing with her, but there is no additional dialogue to be had, unfortunately.  So we'll take the Bird Line south. As always, the only place down south with a functioning service is in fact Dogy Figh, so that's where we'll go in the first instance.  Upon arrival, we find a hunter loitering about. We can talk to him. Ah, so that's how that ended up, huh? Also, I think I might know who the "pro" was who executed the assassination! Nevertheless, as we descend the stairs...  Ah, this thing again... Before we proceed to Laguna Lodge, we can make a quick stop at Dogy Figh. Being as it is autumn, there's no fights going on, but...  ...the naked lady is still here! Considering what kind of relationship these two had, I can see how the fact that all family members have been either killed or have left would be a problem for her! In any case, if we take the tunnel from Dogy Figh to Laguna Lodge...    ...we run into a locked door!  Looking at the map (where the line is pointing at Laguna Lodge)...  ...we can see the lake. So we have to go around the mountains and approach from the south.  This is in fact the same place where we used to hunt eagles in order to make the sword. But from this side...  ...we can get inside.  the main building is actually locked this time around...  ...so we head into the side building.  But, as we try to go in...  ...this door is also locked! However... And she does. Coming inside...  We can see the dresser here. In the wardrobe, we can also find "cabbage white butterfly dress" (this is an "armour" item for Ken and Linda, because somehow cabbage white butterfly is one of the animals which can be found in this game, although we haven't found it yet!). It is not actually as strong as what we already have (dog jacket) so we don't need to bother with it. In any case, looking at the dresser... Ken found the key to the main building!  The game does give you the option to skip this if you want, and I guess primarily this option is here if you're replaying the game or something like that. Anyway, here is the story. Very interesting. As we already know Dr. Emory got involved with some criminal interests because of his bionics research when he needed money for Sachiko to get a heart surgery. So I guess afterwards they ended up not being able to settle anywhere permanently on account of that. Anyway, we got what we came here for, so we can leave. At the door, Sumire/No. 1 stops us.  It's a bit hard to tell at this resolution, but it does look a bit like Ken. But if not him, then who is it? Nek? Maybe we'll find out in another scenario?  Time to go in the main building, though!  We use the key and go through the door (welcome to our first actual usage of a key, by the way!)...  ...but then all the storage cabinets pop open and...   ...we're thrown into a battle against four of these... things. They are called "The Origin" and apparently they are artificial life forms created by Dr. Emory to act as his loyal guards. Yeah, let's go with that. They pose no real threat to us at this point, Ken can certainly one-shot them. Sumire/No. 1 is quite low level, as we've seen, but...  ...she has her special abilities as a bionic creature/clone: - A Mode: First Aid (heal) - B Mode: Hand Beam (the laser attack) Using B Mode on an enemy simply one-shots them, no matter the HP. So as you can see, this battle is easily and quickly over. Some guards, huh.  By the way, this chest is now accessible and contains... another "air free pass". A bit late for that one, since we already bought ours way back at the beginning of the game! In any case, where we need to go is the other side of the house.  Here in what looks like a laboratory of sorts, we find Emory and No. 2, who seems to be wearing Linda's wedding dress for some reason. Let's see what this lunatic is going to do now!    He explains it in more detail in the following cutscene. What even. Also, could I have some time to think about it? Because, uh... By the way, in case you've been wondering why I haven't been posting many PC Engine cutscenes lately, it's simply because in Scenario B, other than more low tech graphics, they don't really contain anything different from the remake versions. In Scenario A there were some noticeable differences in dialogue and otherwise, but that is not the case for Scenario B where all cutscenes are basically identical in content in both versions, except for the one at the very beginning where Linda is trying on the dress.     The two of them run off.  He starts slowly inching away from Ken...  While talking, he's managed to make his way slowly over to this button on the wall. He pushes it...  ...and the storage cabined moves to reveal a staircase. I like how in this scene Emory is all over the place. Starting with constantly shifting whether he's talking about the real Sachiko or the clones and then literally changing the mood in each sentence! As expected, he makes his escape down that secret staircase.  We follow him down, but as you might expect...  Another bunch of "Origins" pops out from behind the doors! Even though Ken is alone, he's still able to make a short work of them. Eventually we find...  ...a staircase going up...  ...which brings us back out here to a familiar location. There is nothing to do here for now, so we can leave.  While walking around, Ken is again notified of a message!  Let's check it out! The message is from Ken's mum. Well, then, let's make our way back to Hardia and see what these three are up to...  We can stop by Ben's office on the way... Uh, sure. Ok, let's proceed to Ken's house.  I don't usually bother talking much to Ben's secretary since she rarely has much to say, but this time she strikes gold. Back at home...  Well, ok, let's head down to C-21. I wonder what's there, though?  Before we can do that, however, there is another message for Ken!  So we go quickly to check it. It's from Ben this time! So, like in Scenario A, here too Linda gets kidnapped from hospital. Although, as we'll see shortly, that's where the similarities end, as this situation will turn out to be completely different. Now we can really head down to C-21.  Here it is on the map, and there does seem to be something there. Of course, this game being mostly open-world, we could have in fact gone here at any point to see what it is. But that's ok, we'll go now.  Here we go, looks like another abandoned place, in the vein of Koshikata!  Coming inside confirms that the place is abandoned and no services are available. However, there is one of those news bulletins posted by the telephone, so let's check it out... A big win! The youngest Ranger commander ever! Gene Challenger (27) has been appointed as Ranger commander. The appointment of Gene Challenger as the commander of the Rangers Corps is seen as a move towards rejuvenation, in order to better cope with the long running Neo-Kenya escape project. Ben MacDonald (29) is expected to become deputy commander. Huh, so this is from years ago, talking about Ken's father and the current commander, Ben... Well, I guess it was left here when the town was abandoned. Let's proceed inside.  Er, what actually happened here? It seems this place was not simply "abandoned"! So, yeah, the place is called Garex, but as to the hows and whys of the explosion and all that, it will have to wait for the next scenario. But we definitely want to find out more about what happened here at some point.  For now, we can simply conclude...  ...that the place has seen better days! By the way, that chest can be actually reached by quickly going through the basement here. It contains a camel shirt...  ...which actually gives Ken a slight +10 defence boost. So, why not, I'll take it.  Anyway, where we actually want to go is this underground shelter whose entrance is here in the corner.  You can take a lift, which takes you directly all the way down to the 7th basement floor, or you can take the stairs, one floor at the time.  Most floors don't actually have anything in them.  Except floor 4, which has these two chests. One is empty, and the other contains a 100HP recovery tablet. So not that special, really.  Anyway, here we are at the basement floor 7. This is as far as lift goes, but there's one more floor below.  Before we proceed, there is a room with the three computers here. The one on the left is not operational, but the other two by the door allow us to "defrost" a cryogenically frozen pair of animals. This is the same as what we've seen in the prevous scenario already, also near the end. The first one: TransCargo IN: Anglerfish ♀: 1, Anglerfish ♂: 1. And the second one TransCargo IN: Cobra ♀: 1, Cobra ♂: 1. So the game again shows mercy and gives you a couple of species for free near the end! Anyway, proceeding down to the bottom most floor, we encounter quite a scene!  As it turns out, Linda was "kidnapped" by Sumire and Yoshiko! Let's see what they have to say!  The other one takes over.  The game differentiates them by putting the portrait on the opposite sides of the screen!   Well, then...  ...hunting scorpions it is, I guess! But that's for next time, in the grand finale chapter of Scenarion B! Until then, take care!  Today we start with the picture of "Sachiko" doing that... thing when she turns into a robot. "Leave it to me" And then also a picture of Emory and Sachiko from the PC Engine version:
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Feb 22, 2022 01:02
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I'm impressed that Emory managed to both look more and less sleazy in that second picture.
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Feb 22, 2022 02:12
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Ken's mom is awesome.
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Feb 22, 2022 02:35
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Oh, Emory doesn't have some grand plan. He's just insane. I'll throw out a guess in the dark and say the painting is of Ken's bio dad since I'm expecting to learn more about him.
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Feb 22, 2022 03:30
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Hypocrisy posted:Oh, Emory doesn't have some grand plan. He's just insane. He's in red and white and his hair is spiky, I'm pretty sure it's Nek. Looking forward to the third scenario being Ark Couple vs Team Bizarro. I'm sure him and Sachiko would make a great couple! They can bond over murdering their dads and their inferiority complexes.
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Feb 22, 2022 05:43
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Night10194 posted:Ken's mom is awesome. Yeah. A real bright spot in this complete  of a route, which is otherwise very entertaining, but uh... what the hell
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Feb 22, 2022 07:30
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I know that's her default expression at this point, but Sachiko's face in that cutscene is peak 'this crazy bastard needs to shut up'. She is so done with this nonsense.
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Feb 22, 2022 13:32
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I think we should call the cops on Doctor Emory and also his medical license should be revoked.
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Feb 22, 2022 14:32
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...he doesn't have the Hitler stache in that art  This game continues to be absolutely wild and I'm enjoying the read.
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Feb 22, 2022 14:58
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DACK FAYDEN posted:...he doesn't have the Hitler stache in that art Yeah the "führer" look was only introduced in the remake, the original just looked like your run of the mill mad scientist.
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Feb 22, 2022 15:43
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So what happens if you try to pick Sachiko?
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Feb 22, 2022 15:51
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Item Getter posted:So what happens if you try to pick Sachiko? Not much, just some slightly different dialogue for a couple of sentences. There's no branching plot in this game, all dialogue choices only change a bit the dialogue itself but the plot always proceeds the same way no matter what you choose. The only "real" dialogue choice is when the girl at the beginning asks you if you want a dog or not. All the rest of them only change a bit what is being said, but the plot remains the same.
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Feb 22, 2022 16:32
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Night10194 posted:Ken's mom is awesome. 
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Feb 22, 2022 18:11
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ivantod posted:
When I saw this, I was like, "Oh, what an apropos reference to the manga 'Sumire 16-sai!,' a manga about a puppet girl controlled by an old man!"   Except... the manga came out in 2006, years after the release date of even the Playstation version of Linda³, so I guess it's just a coincidence? A really good one? (To be clear, Sumire 16-sai isn't about a robot, but a totally normal puppet, controlled by an aged ventriloquist, who uses her as a 'front' to have an ordinary high school girl's life. It's honestly super sweet and I like it a lot! ...The original run, Sumire 17-sai, is lackluster in comparison.)
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Feb 27, 2022 18:26
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John Lee posted:(To be clear, Sumire 16-sai isn't about a robot, but a totally normal puppet, controlled by an aged ventriloquist, who uses her as a 'front' to have an ordinary high school girl's life. It's honestly super sweet and I like it a lot! I'm sorry, but WHAT THE CHRIST? I dont even know where to begin with all of my questions about that sentence.
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Feb 27, 2022 19:48
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So does nobody notice the ventriloquist or what
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Feb 27, 2022 22:55
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DACK FAYDEN posted:So does nobody notice the ventriloquist or what the joke is that everybody notices the ventriloquist and then through of combination of Sumire being an unrelenting force of good and the ventriloquist never breaking character, they eventually become just as dedicated to the kayfabe as he is like was said, its surprisingly sweet given the elevator pitch
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Feb 27, 2022 23:24
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Nick Buntline posted:the joke is that everybody notices the ventriloquist Can confirm, you hear the plot and, naturally, think 'there's no way this series can be anything but the creepiest poo poo ever', but it winds up being a very charming series. They focus more on the absurdity of the concept, so any potential horribleness winds up being bypassed completely and the end is sincere and very sweet.
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Feb 28, 2022 19:26
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 Welcome to the dramatic(?) finale of Scenario B! Last time, someone (again) kidnapped Linda from the hospital. It turned out to be the No. 1 and No. 2 clones, a.k.a. Sumire and Yoshiko, who apparently found a way to restore Linda's left arm via a surgery. In order to help out with that, Ken needs to go and bring four pieces of scorpion meat from the nearby cave!  As the clones have mentioned, we need to head a bit south from Garex...  ...to this place here.  This place is called Sand Hole and there are definitely scorpions to be found here (among a couple of other species which we won't bother with today).  Hm, the colours are all wrong, but that definitely looks scorpion-shaped! Let's see...  They definitely look like scorpions, but as it turns out, unfortunately, they are fakes! The name of this enemy in the game is literally "fake scorpion". As with most other non-capturable species, these too are mostly a distraction which serves no real purpose. As you can see, they don't even have a gender designation on them, if you needed more indication that they are fake (if the name itself wasn't enough!). Anyway, continuing down into the cave, you will eventually come to a place like this:  And here, in quicksand pits like this one, is where the real scorpions can be found!  Here are a few real ones, for a change! As you can see, the only difference from fake ones is the colour scheme and also the fact that these do have the gender designations. Well, also the name. In any case, we need to capture at least four. I decide to capture two extra so that we can hand them in at the ark. It's not necessary as we already have the needed 50 species and also it doesn't give you any kind of an additional bonus, but since we're already doing it, why not, right? Once that's done, we can head back outside. By the way, you have to use the run button to get out of the sand pit, so it does cost a couple of HP.  As before...  ...we'll make camp with Ken and select for him the option to process meat. We'll process four of the scorpions into meat, as requested.  Coming back to Garex...  ...we'll go straight to the bottom floor where the clones are. It appears that No. 2 (Yoshiko) has already been prepared for the surgery to remove her left arm and give it back to Linda, while No. 1 (Sumire) will be actually performing the surgery.  Ken handed over to Sumire four pieces of scorpion meat. Ah, still more of those?  Aynway, Ken goes upstairs, and in fact even if he wanted to he can't leave because of those closed doors. While we wait...  ...we can check out this computer which wasn't operational previously. TransCargo IN: Tree Frog ♀: 1, Tree Frog ♂: 1. So the game basically gives you a total of three species for free, like in the previous scenario! This time it's harder to miss it since Sumire even directly tells you to check the equipment on the upper floor.  Ken is walking around nervously... But soon enough...  ...Sumire shows up to talk to Ken again. So at least now we'll find out what happened.   And here is the situation downstairs: Linda seems to have gotten her arm back, but of course Yoshiko now has only one. Of course, Linda's arm was transplanted on Yoshiko so that she could activate the ark with it, but what exactly happened with Yoshiko's original left arm? I guess we'll never know...  You can choose whatever, but it makes no difference. Ken presses his lips on Linda's <insert_chosen_option_here>     He does...  And, finally, the Linda we all know and love is definitely back!    That is a very cute animation, no two ways about it. Ken explains to Linda everything that has happened in the meantime. Then, finally, Sumire, who's been standing around during all this, approaches.  As we leave... And with this, we can leave this place.  The lift, unfortunately, is out of action for some reason, so we have to take the stairs.  It all goes fine for a while, but...  ...on floor no. 3, we unexpectedly run into Emory. Well, figures that he was not going to let this go so easily!  Sumire shows up suddenly!    Well, I guess he's taken that parasite growth accelerant thingy! Also, I love how he just casually lights up in the middle of all this!  Time for a "boss" fight, it seems?  Indeed. Pretty cool design, I have to say. The fight itself, though, is much easier than the one with Hume, mainly because he just doesn't do a huge amount of damage. Also, there was almost double the amount of capturing to be done in this scenario, so you will naturally be a higher level, making it even easier. We can start by transforming both our characters into the strongerst animal they are able to. For Linda this is rabbit with +48 in attack power and for Ken, it's still the eagle which at this point brings a crazy +131 to his attack!  Ken's attack easily does nearly 200 HP damage to him (and he only has 800 HP total to begin with!).  Eventually, he'll summon a bunch of these parasite tentacles on the sides... but just deal with them, they pose no huge threat.  He doesn't exactly fight just with his bare hands, as you can see here! But regardless, this is soon over.    He creates a big explosion which causes the rubble to collapse on the stairway! Well, we can't get past the ankle-high rubble, so, instead...  ...let's check on Sumire.  Oh hey, she's still alive!  Also she morphs into her robot form!  She causes another explosion...  ...which eliminates the rubble! And back to her normal form.   And so, Linda and Ken make their way back out.  And then...  ...another explosion...  ...finally destroys this place, once and for all. Unfortunately at the cost of Yoshiko and Sumire sacrificing themselves. That comment about Hospico is interesting, though. It seems there is still a bit more of this plot to unravel, so we'll get to that in just a moment. In the meantime we should make camp with Linda, since she has something to say. No difference here either no matter what you choose.  Well then, let's head to Dogy Figh via this tunnel. It is definitely a pain that in the south area there's really only one place with Bird Line facilities, but what can you do.  There's actually these two people here in the tunnel which we haven't really talked to, but they actually have some interesting things to say! First this guy here. And the other guy. So... those are both hints that we'll have to take a look in the next scenario for sure. Especially interesting is the second one which seems to indicate a way to get kangaroos to appear so they can be caught. So we'll try to figure out what it means soon enough. But for now, let's be on our way. We have an ark to launch (after we finish the last few bits of cleanup, of course!).  As we walk through the tunnel, we get another notification of a message. What could it possibly be at this point in time?  In the Dogy Figh entrance area, we can read the latest news bulletin. N.K. News Bulletin A new explosion in Garex! The Ozsat meteorology department has announced that a small explosion has been detected in the vicinity of C-21 location. Experts believe that the explosion was caused by some transformation in the unrecovered explosive material in Garex. Well, that's one way to put it, I guess. Since we're right next to the phone, let's also check the message... The "real" Sachiko? Could it really be? Well, Sumire did also mention something about Hospico, so there's definitely something going on. First, though, let's head over to Ken's house in Hardia.   Ken's mum and Ben are here...  Depends for whom...  As always, Ken's mum stays awesome. That was a nice little optional scene, but now let's head out.  First, we'll stop by the ark to hand in those few remaining animals: anglerfish, cobras and tree frogs which we got from the cryogenic storage, and also a pair of scorpions that we ended up having as extras.  So that brings us to a total of 54 out of required 50. As mentioned, we didn't need to bother handing in those last four, but since we were already here, why not, right?  While we're outside, one last overnight camp with Linda, at least for now. I love these little bits! However, now is the time to finally head over to Hospico and find out what's going on.  While we're here, we can still talk to a couple of people we missed before who have something a bit interesting to say.  Like this gentleman here... Very interesting, and it ties in into the whole backstory of this game, how humans started exploring deep space and arrived on this planet to begin with! We should try to find out more about this at some point.  This guy here has no "lore" for us, but he IS very funny. All right, now let's head over to that one hospital room that always gets used when a game's character is hospitalised!  Well, that surely looks like yet another Sachiko! Let's see.  But... Isn't the real Sachiko dead? Just so he would think that she's still alive? This is all so incredibly messed up. No, you can't just... We're about to take off with the ark! However, nothing we can do. Let's just go then. But as we do...  Oh, good.  She goes outside. Also, this is one of the dialogue choices which do make a difference. If Ken chooses the second option above, then this following conversation doesn't happen and he and Linda just leave. So let's hear what this is all about.  Waitwaitwait! Where is this coming from now? In this Scenario B, Ken certainly has no knowledge of any kind of a twin brother! What the HECK are you even talking about! Reminder, West Area is where the abandoned Beastian town of Koshikata is, and where we had met Nek in Scenario B. Also I still maintain it should be called North Area instead. Anyway, sorry for the interruption here.  A lie, huh? Yes, I'm sure you made up this very specific elaborate story just to mess with Ken. Absolutely. Not to mention, that portrait in Sachiko's room, which we have some vague idea might also be of Nek! Also, what a thing to drop on us, just minutes before the end! Good one, game. Good one. I'm also pretty sure you can entirely miss this conversation if you don't come here before taking off with the ark. Remember that Linda's arm is healed, so nothing is stopping you! Anyway, Sachiko is not yet done talking to us.  Ahahaha this thing again! Let me see here, what shall we choose?  We're still not done here.  Man, this conversation is like "the greatest hits of Sachiko(s)". But we are actually done now finally. All right, let's see now, Linda is probably getting annoyed by now!  Before we leave Hospico, there's just one last thing we can do.  Go over to Panheim's lab and talk to his assistant. So I guess this is where they kept her while in a vegetative state and where the switch happened with the clone. All righty, that's everything. It's time to head to the ark!  Before we go up, here's where everything ended up level-wise with our two characters:  Now, let's make our way up to the control room.  But getting there...  ...somehow Emory drops out of somewhere!   Well then. Suddenly...  ...one of the Sachikos shows up from somewhere.  She takes him...  ...and starts dragging him away to another part of the ark. Ken and Linda follow.  Ah, so Yoshiko/No. 2 somehow survived the explosion!   She jumps off together with him.  And being that C-Mode is the self-destruct mode, they both explode together on their way down!   Let me quote myself: "Well then." At least the third clone still lives. But, there is definely nothing else left to do now but to take off! So let's go back to the control room door.   Inside...  ...of course we need to activate the console, as always.  Of course, we have no reason to turn back as we've done all we needed to do already.  And well, it's take off time! [Photosensitivity Warning: The following video features brief instances of rapid flashing.]  Well, the song is different from last time! But seriously, this is the second and last time with this kind of ending. About the song, this one is called "Linda's Song", and as before, is performed by Linda's voice actress, Minami Takayama. Also, as before, an alternate version was recorded for the soundtrack CD which was included in the Sega Saturn version. That one is, still as before, performed by Ryouko Kihara, who composed the music for this game:  And so, here we are.  I know what you're thinking. Not only was not much of this planet's mysteries even touched upon, but we even have more of them added to the list! For example... - What is the whole story about Ken's father? - What is the deal with Minago, anyway? We never really get to do anything there as it always gets annihilated. We also never got to hear much of that story that the animal expert in Minago was going to tell us! - What is the whole story about Nek and this cloning stuff that we just now heard from Sachiko? - What is the deal with those blue teleporters we never really figured out? - What is the deal with the strange status we saw in dungeons around the teleporters? - What is the deal with the Beastian Elder dude? - What is the deal with the dog fighting arena owner and his weird family? - What is the deal with that kid whose father works away but in reality is actually divorced from his mother? - What is the deal with the mythical snow beast? (Yeah I know you forgot this one, it was back in Scenario A!) - What is the deal with this whole planed to begin with? - And the most important one... will Sachiko ever stop being utterly perplexing? ...and many, many more, including a whole bunch of heretofore unexplored game mechanics! Well. Not to get ahead of myself, but I'll just say this. Scenario C is (more than) a little bit different from the first two. But we'll get into that next time (No tease this time, it's time to start delivering on the promises!). Until then, take care!  Today, a couple of storyboards from recently seen cutscenes: And then a bit of a, shall we say, risky one of Linda, from the PC Engine era: ivantod fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Nov 9, 2022 |
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Mar 6, 2022 00:22
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Awww, dang. I knew bad things would happen to the clones but I hoped I was wrong. Looking forward to Scenario C!
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Mar 6, 2022 00:39
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This game never ceases to be Looking forward to seeing how Scenario C shakes things up!
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Mar 6, 2022 00:57
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I'm so incredibly confused. That whole update was a lot. I can only hope scenario C explains things, but I doubt it will. The ending being identical to the A ending just feels entirely on brand for this game's kind of insanity, too.
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Mar 6, 2022 03:25
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That's a shame, I was hoping at least one of the Sachikos would wind up joining them on the ship.
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Mar 6, 2022 03:42
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Well, that all happened. 
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Mar 6, 2022 03:42
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That was actually kind of freaky how they did the arm transplant without anesthesia for Yoshiko. But uh good on her for being able to drag away Emory with only one arm. Poor No. 3 though. She doesn't have her sisters or Ken's mom.
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Mar 6, 2022 05:03
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That's a lot of info to drop and not actually finish right at an ending.
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Mar 6, 2022 05:20
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Well, if I wasn't confused before... (I was confused before). It actually does feel there is a plan to this thing... not waiting on an explanation, though. Looking forward to Scenario C, which from what little I know is totally ordinary, even relative to what's already happened.
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Mar 6, 2022 08:45
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Queen of Enforcing Consent Also someone needs to tell Dr. Hitler that "monster scientist pops up again right at the end after seemingly being defeated" was supposed to happen in the Evil Pharmaceutical Company plotline. It's like he's never even played a Resident Evil title.
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Mar 6, 2022 16:06
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Hypocrisy posted:
It's fine. Planetary extinction event by meteorite happened shortly after.
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Mar 6, 2022 16:22
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ivantod posted:
well when you spell it all out like that, linda, no, that seems like a very specific reaction. how would the cloning even help? and why would they secretly look like ant people with laser-hands? and wait a minute, i remember now, are you asking if i would have killed your parents as revenge for having you, who beat out my imagined daughter for something she wanted?! oh, no, it's a normal question, i see why you'd ask.
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Mar 6, 2022 16:28
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Sum Gai posted:Well, if I wasn't confused before... (I was confused before). It actually does feel there is a plan to this thing... not waiting on an explanation, though. Looking forward to Scenario C, which from what little I know is totally ordinary, even relative to what's already happened. Of course, everything in this game is completely ordinary and normal. How else? Hypocrisy posted:But uh good on her for being able to drag away Emory with only one arm.
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Mar 6, 2022 21:16
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Dr. Hitler turning into Dr. Mega Hitler is absolutely what I wanted out of this scenario, the devs deliver.
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Mar 6, 2022 21:30
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I love how this game continues to make me go "what the hell just happened" I remember the innocent days of thinking wow those animal designs are pretty weird, or the meat walls of the ark were pretty weird. How little I knew... thanks for keeping this going, ivantod, this is an incredible experience e: still can't get over the literally wood ark/spaceship/time-travel device where they just casually pop open a clearly not air-tight wooden hatch in outer space and it's fine
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Mar 6, 2022 21:49
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ivantod posted:This is actually one of my favourite "attention to details" moments so far. If you look carefully at the screenshots where she's dragging her father, you can see that the sprite indeed has only one arm (the right one)! In general, I think the character sprites (and their animations) in this game are absolutely top notch. I did notice that. I totally agree on the animations. Did the Emory fight have anything? I liked the Hume boss fight video for the Hume attack animations.
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Mar 6, 2022 23:29
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