Introduction

Be a hero for real this time - Let's Play MediEvil

What is MediEvil?
MediEvil is a platform game for the Playstation, though there isn't that much platforming. Most of the game revolves around the combat; you get a lot of weapons, and even more enemies to use them on. The closest comparison I can think of is Ratchet & Clank, with a bigger emphasis on melee.

Plot
The introduction explains it well enough, but if you never want to see a bad Playstation FMV again, here's what's happening and why:

In the Kingdom of Gallowmere lived an evil sorceror, Zarok. Everyone else in Gallowmere was kind and peaceful, and this annoyed Zarok so much that he summoned a horde of undead and tried to take over Gallowmere. The King sent his army to stop Zarok. They were led by the famous hero Sir Daniel Fortesque, who won the King's favour with tales of slain dragons and the like.

It's strongly implied that Dan made these up, since he was the very first casualty of the battle, dying from an arrow through the eye. The King's army defeated Zarok's, but Zarok himself disappeared. Since your best warrior looking incompetent is bad for morale, the King spread the tale that Sir Fortesque died from his wounds after single handedly winning the battle. He was buried as a hero, and is still remembered as one.

However, Dan was unable to enter the Hall of Heroes, where heroes go after death; you can't fool the afterlife, and they knew he had nothing to do with Zarok's defeat.

A hundred years later, Zarok returns, and picks up where he left off by summoning a horde of undead to take over Gallowmere. His spell also revives Sir Daniel Fortesque, who somehow retains his sense of self while everyone else is mumbling about brains. Dan jumps at the chance to finally do the thing that made him a hero in the first place, and the game begins.

Videos

Introduction (no commentary): Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Dan's Crypt and The Graveyard: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Cemetery Hill: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Hilltop Mausoleum: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Return to the Graveyard: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Ant Caves: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Scarecrow Fields: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Pumpkin Gorge and The Pumpkin King: Youtube Polsy
The Sleeping Village: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion Read the books I skipped here
The Asylum Grounds: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Inside the Asylum: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Enchanted Earth: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Pools of the Ancient Dead: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
The Lake: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Crystal Caves: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Gallows Gauntlet: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
The Haunted Ruins: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
The Ghost Ship: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Entrance Hall & The Time Device: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion
Zarok's Lair: Youtube Polsy Dailymotion

Characters

Sir Daniel Fortesque

Click here for the full 1600x1163 image

In life, Sir Dan was the King's champion, a position he earned due to tales of his heroism. The tales were just that, and when Zarok invaded Dan was the army's very first casualty. The King's forces won, but rather than admit he had been duped, the King told everyone that Dan had single-handedly killed Zarok, and so Dan is remembered as a hero in Gallowmere.

The Hall of Heroes, Gallowmere's afterlife, knew the truth, and Dan spent a hundred years of the afterlife in...
it's not clear what happens to people that don't get into the Hall of Heroes, but we can assume Dan didn't like it; when Zarok unwittingly resurrects him, Dan immediately sets about becoming the hero everyone thinks he is.

Despite not having a tongue, or a jaw, Dan is not a silent protagonist. He's just an unintelligible one.

_{It's pronounced 'Fort-eh-skew'}

Zarok

The villain. Zarok is an evil sorceror. He hates everyone in Gallowmere because they're kind and happy. Deep and complex he is not.

Heroes
Part way through the game you find a library with books on everyone Dan can meet in The Hall of Heroes. You can read them here:
http://lpix.org/sslptest/index.php?id=15058

Weapons

Melee

Arm

Dan's left arm. He pulls it out of its socket and hits enemies with it. It's the weakest weapon in the game, and you can't use a shield at the same time. On the other hand, you can kill enemies with your own detached arm.

Main attack: Dan swings it in front of him - short range
Second attack: Dan throw's his arm a very short distance, then it returns to him like a boomerang

Buy back price - It's the only weapon that can't be stolen. Yay...?

Small Sword

Dan's first real melee weapon. It works well enough on early enemies, but you don't want to be stuck with just this at the end of the game.

Main attack: Dan swings it in front of him - medium range.
Second attack: Dan spins in a circle, doing less damage than a normal attack, but hitting multiple enemies. Can be charged up to do more damage than the normal attack.

Buy back price - 600 Gold

Club

Use it to bash things. It eventually breaks, but is easy enough to replace. You can also set it on fire with torches, to bash and burn at the same time. Multitasking!

Main attack: Dan swings it overhead, smashing anything directly in front of him. Has a slight area of effect, but direct hits do more damage.
Second attack: Dan holds the club out. This is how you set the club, and enemies, on fire.

Buy back price - Can be stolen, but replacements are free

Hammer

The hammer is an unbreakable club. It also can't be set on fire, but that's a good thing, since the club's flammability is traded for a very useful secondary attack.

Main attack: Dan swings it overhead, smashing anything directly in front of him. Has a slight area of effect, but direct hits do more damage.
Second attack: After charging up, Dan slams the ground so hard he creates a small explosion that can hit and push back multiple enemies. Really useful against melee attackers.

Buy back price - 1600 Gold

Broad Sword

The Broad Sword is an upgraded small sword. It does more damage and has more range. The interesting part is that merchant gargoyles can enchant it for 100G. The enchanted Broad Sword does significantly more damage, but only lasts for 100 seconds. Since the enchantment only wears down while it's equipped, doing anything useful with it takes some inventory juggling.

Main attack: Dan swings it in front of him.
Second attack: Dan spins in a circle, doing less damage than a normal attack, but hitting multiple enemies. Can be charged up to do more damage than the normal attack.

Buy back price - 1200 Gold

Axe

The Axe is like Dan's arm, only good. He can still wear a shield while wearing it, it hits harder than the normal Broadsword, and he can throw it like a boomerang, saving his ranged ammo for the really dangerous enemies. The enchanted Broadsword still hits harder, though.

Main attack: Overhead swing. Doesn't have the hammer's area of effect, but does more damage.
Second attack: Dan throws it at enemies, then it returns to him. Still makes more sense than a boomerang arm.

Buy back price - 1600 Gold

Magic Sword

The Magic Sword is the strongest melee weapon in the game. It's stronger than the enchanted Broad Sword, and doesn't lose power every 100 seconds.
It is also the most glamorous sword this side of Majora's Mask.

Main attack: Dan swings it in front of him.
Second attack: Dan spins in a circle, doing less damage than a normal attack, but hitting multiple enemies. Can be charged up to do more damage than the normal attack.

Buy back price - 4000 Gold

Projectiles

Throwing Daggers

Dan's first ranged weapon. They're slow, weak, and they're made redundant after the very first level, but they are free.

Main attack: Dan throws a dagger at whichever enemy he is targeting. Medium attack speed
Second attack: Dan charges up, then throws 3 daggers at once. You can throw 3 daggers in the time it takes to charge, so I can't see a use for this

Max Ammo - 250
Ammo price - 50 for 40G
Buy back price - Can be stolen, but replacements are free

Crossbow

The first weapon earned by collecting a chalice. It's better than the throwing daggers in every single way. The bolts ricochet, so even if you miss your target, you'll probably hit something.

Main attack: Rapid - fire bolts (no, I don't know how that's supposed to work)
Second attack: Doesn't have one, doesn't need one

Max Ammo - 200
Ammo price - 50 for 80G
Buy back price - 1400G

Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken Drumsticks are the hand grenades of MediEvil; Dan throws them in an arc, they stay on the ground for a second or two, and then any enemies nearby are turned into roast chicken. Dan can eat these magic dinners to restore 20 health. How does it restore his health? Magic! How does he eat chicken in the first place? Uhh... magic?

The drumsticks are one of the best weapons in the game; though they have no effect on bosses, they are a one hit kill on the majority of standard enemies, barring a few that have to be killed in a specific way. The only (legitimate) way to get more is to redo the Ant Caves, so it's tempting to save them for the next level, and then the next...

Main attack: Dan throws the chicken drumstick a short distance, in an arc
Second attack: None, so I won't be able to club anything with a chicken leg

Max Ammo - 30
Buy back price - 200 Gold

Longbow

The Longbow is a cross between the Throwing Knives and the Crossbow. It fires in an arc, and at a similar rate to the Knives, but it fires further than the Knives and does more damage than the Crossbow. The Longbow's arrows don't ricochet like the Crossbow, so accuracy is more important.

Main attack: Fires arrows in an arc, at a reasonable fire rate.
Second attack: None

Max Ammo - 200
Ammo price - 50 for 60G
Buy back price - 2000 Gold

Spears

The Spears are the most powerful projectile weapon Dan will have for a while. He can only carry 30 of them at a time, and they're expensive to replace, but they fire as fast as the Longbow and do far more damage. Best used when you need to do a lot of damage to an enemy in a limited time e.g. a boss that can only be hurt during certain attacks.

The projectile is also faster than any of the arrows, making it easier to hit things.

Main attack: Dan throws a Spear. Hold down for auto-fire
Second attack: None, surprisingly

Max Ammo - 30
Ammo price - 10 for 100G
Buy back price - You can't buy back the Spears if they're stolen. I assume this was an oversight, because it means they can be lost forever!

Flaming Longbow

A straight upgrade to the Longbow. The initial hit does more damage, and also sets enemies on fire. This does damage over time, and will lock down all but the strongest enemies; every 'tick' of fire damage makes them flinch, interrupting their attacks.

Main Attack: Fires arrows in an arc, at a reasonable fire rate. Sets enemies on fire
Second Attack: None

Max Ammo - 100
Ammo price - 25 for 80G
Buy back price - 2400G

Magic Longbow

More damage than the Spear or Flaming Longbow, even when you account for the damage over time from setting things on fire. The only trouble is it's not that much more damage, yet ammo for it costs much more! Nowhere near as big an upgrade as the Magic Sword.

Apart from the fact that the secondary fire makes the arrows explode! I did not know this until DukeofCA pointed it out.

Main Attack: Fires arrows in an arc, at a reasonable fire rate
Second Attack: Fires an arrow that releases a shockwave on impact.

Max Ammo - 50
Ammo price - 10 for 100G
Buy back price - 3000G

Lightning

Lightning is the final weapon in the game, and the most powerful. It's an area of effect instant kill, similar to the Chicken drumsticks, except it covers a wider area and there is no delay before it hits.

You can't buy ammo for the Lightning. If you need to restore it, there is a glitch. Let an imp steal it. When you buy it back it will be at 100%. This is expensive, though!

Main attack - Constant damage to a single enemy, locking them in place. Effective, but redundant due to the second attack
Second attack - Charge up the lightning, then hit everything in range for huge damage. Very few enemies can survive this.

Buy back price - 3000G

Shields

Essentially extra health, except they only come into effect if you're blocking when an attack hits. Replacements are reasonably easy to find, so don't risk a game over trying to save your shield for something worse. All shields will take the same damage from attacks, so the only differences are their health and their appearance.

Copper