|
Zagglezig posted:It certainly makes some sense from a narrative point of view to use the bad endings as a jumping off point, since good endings tend to have things nicely wrapped up with no dangling plot hooks for a sequel to play with.
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2018 21:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 04:55 |
|
|
Accordion Man posted:Funny thing is, very few games with multiple endings actually do this. The only ones I can think aside from Koudelka and SH1 is Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen and a good chunk of the Fatal Frames. There's a series of semi-X-COM-alike games called UFO: After X where if you win the first game with the 'good' ending, you just win the alien war and wrap everything up. Meanwhile the rest of the series goes from the assumption that you took the bad ending offer to surrender with 'honor' from the aliens, because otherwise the first game's story would wrap everything up on its own.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2018 21:45
|
|
|
I kinda like this ending still. The end. No 
EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jun 14, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2018 22:31
|
|
|
Accordion Man posted:Funny thing is, very few games with multiple endings actually do this. The only ones I can think aside from Koudelka and SH1 is Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen and a good chunk of the Fatal Frames. Drakengard did it too, but with the joke ending. The bad endings are a completely different matter.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2018 23:15
|
|
|
Materant posted:Here's the update from the LP Archive. There aren't any spoilers for Koudelka, as far as I know, but fair warning anyway. I still read that as him not remembering anything, personally. But I guess it's ambiguous unless the developers have chipped in on which is the correct interpretation.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2018 23:51
|
|
|
It doesn't really matter if Yuri retains his memories, even though I'm pretty sure they implied he does. What matters is they also implied that he wins the second go around.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 00:35
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:I still read that as him not remembering anything, personally. But I guess it's ambiguous unless the developers have chipped in on which is the correct interpretation.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 00:56
|
|
|
Shadow Hearts is weird in that *both* endings are canon, in their own fashion, if you assume the good ending of Covenant is the canon one. It goes SH1 Bad Ending -> Covenant Good Ending -> SH1 Good Ending, if I recall.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 02:26
|
|
|
Accordion Man posted:Yuri's last few lines aren't ambiguous though, he recognizes the train and jokes about doing it all over again. Personally I always read that as him recognizing the train because, y'know, he got on that train in SH1, too. So even back then he'd presumably have recognized it, assuming he wasn't just randomly jumping on every train he saw for no good reason.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 02:36
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:assuming he wasn't just randomly jumping on every train he saw for no good reason. This sounds like Yuri really.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 02:38
|
|
|
Episode XXXII: Someday, Somewhere We’ll Meet Again Music: Kiss Again .jpg) Previously on Koudelka, we defeated Finale Elaine and got the ending where she just kinda comically falls down a burning pit and explodes. Everyone felt very melancholy about the entire proceedings. But that wasn’t the only conclusion to the game. Nor was it the canonical one. This time around let’s do things a bit more fairly, shall we? We came into this battle with Edward wielding a legendary sword sharing the same name as the game developer and that’s just a clear cut case of collusion. Not to mention James with that magical girl Rod and Koudelka with a jewel ripped from the corpse of a cat granting vast magical abilities. Plus there is assorted mystical pendants, holy rosary relics, shirts stolen from the groundskeeper and all kinds of stat buffs draped all over our trio. Let’s toss all that poo poo out and do it raw and proper! .jpg) ...Oh, right. She is an extremely powerful unholy abomination. Maybe we actually needed all of that stuff to put a dent into her. .jpg) Well, at least we still have Edward to tank and keep he— .jpg) ...Oh. Well, that’s what all those 58 bottles of Whiskey revives are for, right? We’ll just crack one of those over Edward’s corpse and he’ll be right as rain! .jpg) Oh wait, Elaine has the same AI as Gargoyle and will immediately rush past any downed party members she can to make them permanently dead. .jpg) Well, fine! Our magic user characters are still fairly beefy. I mean how much of a difference does like 20-30 PIE or Intelligence REALLY make? .jpg) Oh... an incredibly significant difference, huh? Well, then. That’s a learning experience. .jpg) .jpg) Well, if nothing we get to see an attack or two this go around that Elaine failed to utilize the first try. Like stabbing Koudelka in the face six times with one of her legs for like 20,000 damage. .jpg) .jpg) Or pulling a page out of Lavos from Chrono Trigger’s playbook and unleashing a rain of energy missiles upon the earth, laying waste to the battlefield. .jpg) This could have gone better... But an outcome of the gang getting their poo poo pushed in might have been our aim. You see, the final and canon ending involves losing to Elaine in the final battle. Nothing is supposed to end on a positive note in Wales. This is actually the most likely scenario playing this game the first time. Barring the completely optional Gargoyle, this boss is a massive difficulty spike out of nowhere. I think I originally got to this point with like two accessories, only one armor drop and significantly less impressive weapons and just got destroyed. Which leads to... Music: ENDS .jpg)  VIDEO: Click to Watch Koudelka’s Canon Ending .jpg)  <pant>.jpg)  I’m O... K... Just need to... catch my breath... Round 2... coming... right up... <coughs up blood>.jpg)  Dear God... Is this my fault? Do you blame me? Are you punishing me now because the path to my faith was tainted?.jpg) I accept my fate! If it is your wish, then I accept my fate!.jpg) <pants> Where were you even keeping that thing? Huh...? Whuzee got...? I’ll be up... in a minute... Just gotta get... a second wind....jpg) <stands up and starts walking towards Elaine> Ye who has an ear, let him hear! If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go!.jpg) If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed!.jpg) I am what I am! I AM CONTENT WITH MY LOT!.jpg) I have always loved you, Elaine....jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) And so Father James O’Flaherty opened up a portal to Heaven and casts Holy on Elaine. That’s the last Desperation Move attack of all ordained Catholic Bishops, you know? Normal priests only get access to Curaga at most. .jpg) Hey, Koudelka? Yes? Did... Did James just summon God? ...Maybe? ...... Is that good? I don’t have an answer for you..jpg) Well, Elaine certainly doesn’t seem to be a fan. Or is super into it...? It is immensely hard to tell with these ghoulish rubber visages passing for faces in late ‘90s CGI. .jpg) Are they getting raptured or something? Koudelka, what am I even looking at here? Why would I know, Edward? You’re the magic psychic lady. I thought... I can cast mid-level elemental spells and channel ghosts. This is a bit beyond my wheelhouse. OK....jpg) Well, if nothing it seems like God is at least getting off his rear end and hoovering up all those evil spirits from Nemeton Monastery. Granted, that’s only a .08% overall reduction in malice and wicked spectral beings from the total Welsh countryside. But at least it’s a little progress.  Also, God is really not into weird insectoid ladies or tattoos, so you’ll need to have all of those removed before you get raptured into the afterlife, Elaine. Saint Peter is really strict at the door about that kinda poo poo. .jpg)  <echo> Let’s go home, James. Let’s go home. I have such fond memories of those days..jpg) .jpg) .jpg) ...... ...... Did the old man just die? I... think he did, yeah. Huh... ...... So what, n—.jpg) HOLY SMOKES! I FORGOT WE SET THE BUILDING ON FIRE!.jpg) No! Flames are coming this way! Don’t be silly! There must be something we can do! OK... Well, I do know water magic. Maybe if I cast Geyser right in the middle, then it will st—.jpg) .jpg) What the HELL are you doing, Edward!? Saving you! Edward, we’re eight stories up! This is a murder-suicide..jpg) We’ll be fine. Trust me... <mutters incantation> What are you— I’m binding your spirit to this monastery in case we die in the next few seconds. Oh, OK..jpg) ...Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?.jpg) .jpg) An overcast haze is the closest thing you’ll ever see to a sunny day in Wales. .jpg) .jpg)  In these crazy times, young people push themselves too much. There was a ladder right on the side of the tower. I’m not sure what all the fuss was about. Hehe..jpg) An so, having somehow someone survived jumping off the top of a clock tower (which evidently is completely non-fatal in the British Isles if this and the documentary Clock Tower 3 are to be trusted) Edward Plunkett and Koudelka Iasant proceeded to pitch a tent and have rough sex in front of Nemeton Monastery. That’s one way to celebrate err... what did all of this qualify as? A job well done? Yeah, sure. Let’s go with that. .jpg) Even if Edward didn’t accomplish anything besides accomplishing perhaps the most roundabout way possible to get laid. .jpg) Ahh... the sun came out. I’d prefer it a little hazier, though..jpg) Well, if you want me to crawl back in there I’m sure we could find a way to make it a little more hazy. ...... <finger guns>.jpg) Sheesh. Sorry I asked. I’m going, I’m going!.jpg) We never got a good look at the horse in the intro and even if we did it was in low lighting and mostly obscured by shadows. BOY, that is not a horse model that should be seen in direct light. It looks like they stuck a horse head on a squat cow body. That poor CGI creature. .jpg) Good-bye. We’ll probably never see each other again. I’m NEVER setting foot in Wales again, so....jpg) Hey, your nickname... Zlato? What does it mean? I haven’t even asked you yet. Will you tell me? When did I tell you my name? Before, when we were drinking waiting for the old man to mix those chemicals. I did...? I don’t remember a thing. I never asked but... I... didn’t make a scene did I? I get a little... emotional when I drink. <sucks teeth> No... You were... very umm... you honestly passed out really quickly. Lightweight. Hmm... But your name....jpg) It... it means... “treasure.”.jpg) Oh, that’s rich! I’ll remember that. Treasure....jpg) And with that, Edward J. Plunkett gallops off into the wastelands of Wales. Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany went on to having over 90 books published and wrote a few hundred short stories and plays and generally had a pretty cool life. Mostly free of any further werewolves, ghosts or resurrected homunculi wives as I understand it. He lived to be 79 and as far as I know he didn’t get his face melted off. Appendicitis, as it turns out. I’m only saying all this because he never shows up again. Despite... .jpg) It is it OK, child, for you not to follow him?.jpg) Yeah... It’s OK. I have a feeling that someday, somewhere we’ll meet again..jpg) Also I had stolen that horse and supplies to get here. The further they are from me when the law shows up, the better. Oh hoho!Music: Ubi Caritas et Amor .jpg) Where charity and love are, God is there, Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ's love has gathered us into one, Christ's love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him! Let us fear, and let us love the living God! And may we love each other with a sincere heart, And may we love each other with a sincere heart. Sincere Where charity and love are, God is there, Where charity and love are, God is there. As we are gathered. .jpg)    Video: Final Elaine Boss Battle – Take Two!  Video: Koudelka Canon Ending (It's the ending! Go watch it! To the very end...)  That is it for Koudelka! What a strange, muddled mess of a game that I still like despite its many (many) flaws and... The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 02:53
|
|
|
The 'bad ending' is cool as all hell and redeems James a lot. It feels like the intentional ending, too. It feels like the Good Ending is kind of a weird bonus where you were really pumped up and ready instead of something you were supposed to nail the first try.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:09
|
|
|
Gotta hand it to the music department, that final boss theme is pretty good. Sufficiently easy on the ears, with a sense of finality to it. But that cannonical ending wasn't bad, probably better than the "good' ending at least.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:10
|
|
|
That was definitely a unique experience!  I kind of got the feeling that you had to be trying to fail, in order for Elaine to kick your rear end, though, which almost qualifies this as a secret ending.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:12
|
|
|
Of course the bad ending is gonna be better. Who would want to have a "happy" ending in this hellhole? Sometimes it's better to just lie down and quit. I mean, the harder they tried on their journey, the more dysfunctional they got and the worse poo poo they'd encounter. If they croaked earlier, at least as evil spirits they would have fun tormenting each other and living up to their true natures. No weird bonding with a bunch of total strangers over their horrible pasts.The Dark Id posted:BOY, that is not a horse model that should be scene in direct light.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:33
|
|
|
James finally scored with Elaine in the afterlife, this was a lowkey romantic comedy, turns out
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:41
|
|
|
The bad ending has much more resolution than the good ending, it's really kind of odd.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:42
|
|
|
I woudln't call this a bad ending at all, honestly. Like James dies I guess, but Koudelka & Edward come out of this just fine, Elaine gets to ascend to heaven with the lover who didnt butcher hundreds of women and ressurect you as a hellspawn, and hey dying didn't exactly turn out terribly for James either!
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:42
|
|
|
rannum posted:I woudln't call this a bad ending at all, honestly.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:48
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:The 'bad ending' is cool as all hell and redeems James a lot. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie: you can tell that this ending was the canon one because it had a much better sendoff for everyone than the "good" ending did. That other one just...stopped instead of ended, for lack of a better way of putting it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 03:52
|
|
|
Seriously. If you had told us that this was the good ending, I would have totally believed you.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 04:14
|
|
|
Yeah, that's not how I expected that to go, coming only with semi remembered backstory from Shadow Hearts 1. I figured they'd failed completely, had to seal Elaine with someone sacrificing themselves, and then ran off, leaving Elaine and the monastery to sit around.The Dark Id posted:Like stabbing Koudelka in the face six times with one of her leg for like 20,000 damage.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 04:22
|
|
|
Accordion Man posted:Well...Edward does knock up Koudelka and then runs off to America, abandoning his child for more than a decade. So Edward and Koudelka don't really come out of this completely fine. granted with how it ended, I don't think Edward knew he had a kid until much later, but yeah with SH1, Koudelka definitely did not have a good time and the reason Alice got targeted was she was basically Koudelka's light-element counterpart, as Koudelka turned out to be too difficult to control
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 05:07
|
|
|
Thanks a ton TDI. Once again, I've thoroughly enjoyed one of your LPs. Keep on going you crazy gently caress.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 05:15
|
|
|
What a bizarre mess of a game.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 05:41
|
|
|
Thank you for the LP, The Dark ID! My favorite things about this format are getting to see stuff that I would never have access or patience to play myself but still have neat aesthetics or ideas, or fail in interesting ways. I don't think I've seen a game that's quite like Koudelka before.
Octatonic fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 05:46
|
|
|
Oh god. No wonder it took eighteen years to resurrect Elaine. She's made up of only flesh and corn cobs. .jpg) Similarly, what the hell is up with this face?  Shitposting aside, this ending was good too. I'm still pretty amazed that the game makers allowed you to lose the final boss battle and still get a very satisfying ending from it.  I still love this game a lot, flaws and all. Still makes me wish Hiroki Kikuta didn't resign after this game failed to be a smash hit, because it's obvious that a lot of care and consideration was placed into the setting and atmosphere.I've added the last the couple of pages of the Koudelka Light Novel as well as a download link for everyone to take a peek at here at the google doc. The final illustration in it seems to be pointing towards a similar parting of ways between Koudelka and James, but it's uncertain yet how the novelization ended yet because there seems to be a small continuation added to the end, and a quote by Nietzche...?Also, have some vintage Koudelka wallpapers if you're feeling a bit adventurous. http://gameswalls.com/koudelka. EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 06:45
|
|
|
"That's not Elaine, that's a hollow shell!" Okay. I'm with you there. James: HAIL MARY! Elaine: Oh hi, it's me after all. Let's die together! I'm going to speculate that getting Holied "purified" the body enough for Elaine's soul to temporarily go back; before the side effect of "Death" kicks in; but still this bugs me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 07:19
|
|
|
Thanks for showing this off TDI, as always, you do justice to these weird arse games. I keep coming back to this game, and the SH series - there's something about it that just clicks for me. So thanks again TDI  --- Here's some of the poo poo that goes down in Shadow Hearts that's relevant: You revist the ruins of the monastary:  Which is in a hell of a worse state than when Koudelka and Edward left it. Just outside the ruin, there's a single little grave dedicated to James:  It says "Father James O'Flaherty - Rest in peace with your loved ones." and he retroactively plays an important part in the game's backstory. No body buried there obviously. Inside:  It's somewhat difficult to make the terrain match what we see in Koudelka, .jpg) Very similar-ish though, and they're standing in roughly the same place. However the hidden cauldron room is in exactly the same place as in Koudelka:  .jpg) As another little easter egg, earlier on, the hole is covered in the same pattern as Koudelka's title screen:  And the room itself is more-or-less the same, except we're seeing it from the side:  .jpg) Clearly, Edward, Koudelka and James didn't bother to check behind it to see the door - but to be fair, there were more pressing concerns at the time. And the vines. Behind the door is more of the underground, which has no resemblance to anything from Koudelka, but a few familiar faces roaming around:   Koudelka herself has had a bit of a redesign:    But they kept the chocker and cuffs - could have put that pendant in there for good measure though. And that's the general non-spoiler overview. Oh, and there is a little Sacnoth statue inside Roger's house near the ruins:  --- All the above was the official sequel stuff - or demi-sequel, or spin-off or whatever Shadow Hearts technically is to Koudelka. However, as I mention earlier in the thread, Kikuta did have some ideas for directs sequels. He considered the manga to be a canonical sequel (this is long before Shadow Hearts) - short version of the manga story - someone wants to use the Emigre manuscript to bring someone back from the dead; Koudelka 1.5 Electric booga...jive. Basically - to be followed by Koudelka 2. Koudelka 2 would have seen Koudelka visiting the Exposition Universelle in Paris, 1900, drawn by mysterious goings-on at one of the temporary pavilions there.  At some point, she would end up in the tunnels of the, newly opened, Paris Métro, where it's being haunted by restless spirits - possibly from the expansive Paris catacombs. Koudelka 3 would have a change of protagonist, in Koudelka's grandson - Rodmell, Lodmell...something Koudelka (here's characters for reference: クーデルカ・ロードメル), son of her daughter Amelia (another new character) - in Chicago 1973. He was to be an anthropologist for the University of Chicago.  The gist of the story would be that there was a spate of mysterious murders caused by soldiers returning from Vietnam, either possessed by evil spirits, or a focus for evil spirits or something. Roger Bacon would also have made a return, wearing a suit, and apparently continuing his travels, and later aiding R/Lodmell to stop the evil spirits. Koudelka 4 would again have followed the grandson, in 1984 on a trip to Japan, where he would visit the Asuka stones, and try to remove a curse on one of his professor friends, placed on him by an evil onmyōji.  There was never anything concrete for the above ideas - only the manga ever surfaced - and Kikuta left following the release of Koudelka, and its zero impact on the gaming world. Which is a shame, as I think some of the ideas sound really interesting. Especially the one in Paris. Some of the stuff made it through to the other Shadow Hearts games - in varying ways - which is a nice coincidence. And that's all the info I have - hope some of you have found it interesting as a bit of background to this little weird game. Thanks again TDI for showing this off! Thanks to EagerSleeper for being a generally cool person, and thanks to Nimsant for the CD transcripts [e]: No problemo dude, really appreciate what you've already done  VVV Pesky Splinter fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 08:03
|
|
|
Pesky Splinter posted:As a really big ask, (if you don't want to I'll understand As for now, I think I do not want to do that. And the thread will probably be locked before I manage anyway. But maybe I will have a better mood after weekend. Here comes part 6 of the Drama CD, narrated by James, continued from part 5. <bells ringing>  James, do you know this place? There is no way I can forget it. It is the university I studied at. The university where I was with Patrick and Elaine. No way! Hahaha, that brings memories. Everything is just as it was like at that time. Someone is here. It is.. Patrick! Elaine! And me, from that time. From that time... It was fun. For me, that time was the most... Elaine! James. Elaine! James, why? No reason. It is what I want, Patrick Really.. James! Elaine! Why? I am sorry. James! That's wrong! I had no choice. I wanted to turn back and embrace her right away. Elaine did too. Patrick, you She loved you. Even more than me. Me? I knew it. Your resolution. That's why it was hard. I hid my hatred for you. ... I loved her, that is why "I felt I didn't want to lose to you! I ignored her feelings Patrick... When she was killed, I searched for a way to resurrect her. I'm sorry. I wanted to make Elaine, whom you have abandoned, happy. And, at last, I found it. And it is the Emigre Manuscript. Yes. But as a result, I made her suffer. All I did was make her suffer. Due to my error, even the peace of the death was stolen from her. I'm just a coward like you. When she became a monster due to my doings and stood before me, I was so despaired I didn't even tried to save myself. Stop it! What should I do? What should I do?! Please, her wish. That is too sad. Too sad! But it is the only way to save her! Return her the peace that I have stolen. Patrick! Patrick!<Some scary zoom-out sound> Oh - oooh What is happening?<Gentle tune>  Koudelka. You? In this form. Is this a dream? A dream, a reality. A memory, that remained in him. A psychic impression? So this is..? In the memories. And you? Say, why did you choose me? Was it because of my powers? No. Then why? Because you are a kind person. Me? I was watching you always. When you saved that girl in the village. Since you can't live with humans, you like them even more, and value them more. You thought so. I did? Elaine! Father O'Flaherty. James. I am sorry. I was about to make you suffer more. You understood. So, <scary background warp sounds> James, I... What happened? The space is vanishing. This is a shard of memory. It doesn't last long. But it's all right. However happy the moment is, it will surely pass and be no more. Farewell. James, Koudelka That... Elaine! And you two ... No, we can't Why? We are a memory. We are no more. No, no! From now on, together... Wait! I have so much to tell!<Kodelka grabs him> What are you doing? Let me go! Do you wish to die? If you're lured in by spirit, you can't return. I don't care, I can't stay in a world without Elaine. Elaine! Please, destroy my body, so that I can be human. Elaaaaaaine!<Memory dream world vanishes> Uh... So, have you finished talking ? Roger? So this is the study. So what will you do? Will you use the Emigre Manuscript? Roger! James is already... The one who decides is the priest over here. So what it is? Dust to dust. That is Elaine's wish. What? Well, all right. Although just a bit, I had been expecting/anticipating you to say otherwise. This too is due to human curiosity. Hohohoho Koudelka. What? The Elaine, that appeared before you. What was she like? She seemed sad. But with a very kind face. So that's how it is. <footsteps> Where are you going? The explosive. Wait. I will do it quick. Should I help? I am fine, alone. This time.<Gunshot. Explosion. Fire. koudelka shrieks> Ready? There is no guarantee we come back. 100 percent. What about you, Edward.I told you. I won't stop until I win the gamble<Bells ring> The bell! So appropriate. Let's go, and finish. The bell invites us. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell. What? Macbeth. So which do you think it is? I don't care. Elaine waits over there. Is it an end, or a beginning? I don't know. But I do not hesitate anymore. I love you, Elaine.The rest of the Drama CD are actors saying their names, and now I know that SH wikia is wrong about these almost completely. I also want to point out one thing that bothered me ever since I heard this for the first time. Given the time of Elaine's death and Koudelka's age... For just how long is Elaine watching her? Nimsant fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Jun 17, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 10:12
|
|
|
Pesky Splinter posted:Koudelka sequels I'm going to elaborate on the manga if anyone's interested. It will be a quick summary and I'll just leave it unspoilered. There's a decent English translation online and you should check it out if you're interested because its good. Anyway, the manga takes place several months after the events of the game. The manga is super vague about which ending is canon, but because neither Edward or James are in it, I'd lean towards the bad ending being canon just like Shadow Hearts. (Because James would definitely get involved in the manga's plot if he was still alive, though it deviates from Shadow Hearts in that Edward didn't knock up Koudelka) The manga opens with Koudelka escaping from an asylum being guided by another mysterious voice. She eventually meets a plucky young orphan, Joshua, in a seaside town and the two escape Koudelka's pursuers, making their way to London and to the brothel that Joshua's deceased mother used to run. Koudelka befriends the prostitutes there and eventually becomes embroiled in another rash of mysterious murders of prostitutes similar to the ones ol' Patrick had committed. As she delves into the mystery and fights off mysterious assassins, Koudelka eventually uncovers that the British Royal Medical Society is behind it and they're trying to do a successful Emigre Manuscript resurrection that doesn't end in a horrible hell beast. The society members were the ones responsible for telling Patrick about the Manuscript as well helping him get it from the Vatican's vaults because they wanted Patrick to be their Emigre trial run. The Society leader, Lord Leslie, wants to resurrect his daughter who turns out to be Joshua's mom, who was the voice guiding Koudelka this time around. Koudelka returns to Nemeton to stop the ritual and reunites with Roger. Turns out though that both Patrick and Lord Leslie were just being used by society member De Gaulle (No relation to Charles) who turns out to be a rogue apprentice of Roger's and who seeks to use the Emigre ritual to summon The Author, one of the Formors, and to use The Author to destroy all life on Earth, because he just wants to see poo poo burn. Koudelka and Roger work together to stop him and it ends with Koudelka gaining control of The Author and crushing De Gaulle into dust. Shadow Hearts definitely took some elements from the manga even if it didn't treat it as canon, mainly with De Gaulle, as the main villain of SH1, Albert Simon, is also a rogue apprentice of Roger that manipulated Patrick for his own ends and seeks to summon an ancient power, though their motivations are opposite of each other. Also T.E. Lawrence pops up in the epilogue and he's a recurring character in Covenant. Also thanks for the LP, Id. Koudelka's gameplay is really flawed, but its writing, atmosphere, and voice-acting really are fantastic and it always deserves more love because of that. Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 13:01
|
|
|
So the most satisfying ending with the most resolution for the characters is the one that you get by losing to the end boss. Huh. I like it, it's a good twist on the usual unwinnable boss fight sequence. You feel like you're going to get a game over and you'll have to grind a bunch... But no, instead it is an actual ending. I appreciate the gumption to do something different, if nothing else. I've always been mildly curious about the Shadow Hearts series. This little weird gem of a game and all the supplementary material that people have been posting have convinced me to do some digging at the LP archives. Thanks for the LP, TDI!
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:32
|
|
|
So the drama CD reinforces the real ending's conclusion that deep down, Elaine was still in love with James over Patrick all that time even after he willingly chose to leave her. Guess it must absolutely suck to be Patrick, the guy who was crazy about her and just couldn't compete. So either Elaine's ghost came to James because she was that disturbed by Patrick's failed attempt at resurrection and the ritual forced her in some kind of limbo (really, couldn't the guy use some relatively harmless guinea pigs like a few skeletons and severed heads to get his bearings before trying to revive his wife's perfectly preserved corpse with an untested spell that requires a deliberately evil atmosphere and human sacrifice? Fuckin greenhorn), or she just never really cared for the guy. re: SH talk, yeah it's a great series but for those in the know, Covenant's retcon of Albert Simon still makes me giggle. Shitenshi fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 19:11
|
|
|
Hey DarkId, now that they are making an RE2 remake, are you thinking of playing it again? There are supposedly a bunch of differences between the two versions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_MLmTpKaZY Mycroft Holmes fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Jun 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 19:55
|
|
|
Shitenshi posted:Guess it must absolutely suck to be Patrick, the guy who was crazy about her and just couldn't compete. It also reinforces Patrick's urge to complete the resurrection. As in, he may have thought "Alright, what's lost is lost, many years have passed, I can move on. The ritual seems too disturbing anyway" and in the next minute "What if James knows? If I meet him, what do I say? I must complete the ritual!"
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:12
|
|
|
To whoever said Elaine seems easy earlier in the thread, she's not. If you don't know to spam reflect you will 100% lose against her. Think I've only beat her once without reflect. Prefer to lose anyway since the """bad""" ending is so much better.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:16
|
|
|
Skanker posted:To whoever said Elaine seems easy earlier in the thread, she's not. If you don't know to spam reflect you will 100% lose against her. Think I've only beat her once without reflect. Prefer to lose anyway since the """bad""" ending is so much better. Yeah, Elaine isn't easy. I beat her on my first run without Sacnoth/Gargoyle Killer and without using Reflect (because I forgot that it existed). Granted, you have to grind a hell of a lot in order to do so, but it's definitely doable if you bunch everyone together and have James constantly spam Lv. 2/3 Heal in the center of the group. Also, I abused the poo poo out of my emulator's fast forward function to make the battles go by faster, so that might've had something to do with it as well. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:42
|
|
|
Thank you for the high-quality LP as usual. I'm glad this weird and clunky but also pretty cool game got a little more visibility.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:55
|
|
|
Good job on this LP, my man. Thank you for an incredible ride through a game that is fun to look at but horrendous to play.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 04:55 |
|
|
Yeah, thanks for this LP.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 21:30
|
|
