Part 11: Episode XI: Library of Congress - Survival Horror Edition
Episode XI: Library of Congress - Survival Horror Edition
When last we left our hero, he'd just relayed a meandering, seemingly pointless rant about the world to a child and a fully grown adult with the mind on par with a child. Also, some girl told him to go underground to find the Princess. With that said, let's continue...
Alright, then. Underground, is it? Well, that narrows things down... We're definitely on the wrong floor.
If you'll recall the magic locked corridor, from several updates ago, which we skipped (the one just before the creepy hanging guy in the save room).
This is pretty much the only location left we've yet to explore in the keep proper. So, in we go. Though, speaking of save rooms...
Arashi, the wind orb, got an upgrade to level 2. I didn't want it to feel left out. I was actually wrong about the orbs as they relate to magic attacks. They do actually tie into the strength of a weapons magic attack power. It's just the level two upgrade for Raizan and Enryuu are minor, at best. Also, the weapon's physical attack power also ties into those two's magic attacks. So upping the strength of the weapon itself will make the magic more powerful than the orb will. If that makes sense.
Anyhow, Shippuu's magic attack is solely tied to the orb's strength, as there is no physical element to it. Long story short, Sam now has a bigger whirlwind (which still won't kill most enemies.)
In other news, this locked storeroom looks slightly sinister. The flavor of evil is definitely augmented by the first of many... many... files in this update.
Blue Book
I should hope so. He has an entire series of video games devoted to his ambition.
I'd just like to think Nobunaga was just completely stoned off the demons' anesthetics. 'Resurrected from the dead? Serve the demon lord? Human sacrifices? Sure... Sure... Just...move outta the way you're blocking the dancing beaver in the corner...'
Files aside, we find this little pedestal adorning the lovely demonic décor.
Wouldn't you know, this looks exactly like the three magic orbs Sam has been stumbling across.
This device is not unlike the entrance to Tourian from Super Metroid. Only...it's found half way through the game... And only one of the keys to unlock it were found at a boss fight... Also...there's only three of them... Kraid was big...
Alright, so it's not really anything like the Tourian gateway. Regardless, now that Samanosuke has found all three orbs and the demons have...curiously locked the entrance to their hideout with magic orbs used by a gauntlet of their former enemies...the path is clear.
The castle underground is a less than inviting place, to say the least. But, it wouldn't be a survival horror game if there wasn't a trip into a dank basement at one point. This is why I'm confident I'll never befall a zombie outbreak where I live. We don't even have basements here.
<taps head> That's planning ahead.
It seems the ghostly apparition door blocking mechanism from Devil May Cry is making a cameo appearance in Onimusha. Let's see what it wants. I am not fighting Nightmare again. So you can just fuck off right now with that.
looks like the dead are screaming... But why do these tormented souls want to interfere with your mission?
Why is Samanosuke thinking in the second person...?
Unable to bypass the ghosts until a short fetch quest is completed, Sam heads further into the underground.
Though, there was a pit stop to upgrade the Shippuu to Level 2. The underground section is packed with Reynaldo monsters. I'm talking three to a room with a good three to four teleporting in after those are killed. Shippuu is the best weapon to deal with them, as its combo lacks any particularly heavy blows, so weakened Reynaldos have less of a chance of being cut in half. Also, its attack reaches all the way to the floor. So, there's not even a need to rush in for a finishing blow and leave Sam open for other attacks. He can just continuing swinging his staff about like the Star Wars kid and be gravy.
In addition, the whirlwind attack actually is quite effective against newly spawned Reynaldo. Pulling it off before two halves become whole monsters will almost always kill them.
Further into the increasingly meaty underground, we find this tentacle like things baring the way. They're not actually hazardous. I'm not sure what their point was supposed to be, other than demons like gooey stuff. On the plus side, they've usually got nice blue and yellow souls stored within them, for a quick recharge.
Beyond the juicebags, we come to a room with not one... Not two... But an unprecedented three files in it. I'm not going to lie to you... There's even more coming down the road...
Oh well, let's get to it...
Green Book
The Dark Ceremony is the darkest of all, you say? I'd have sworn it was the Indigo Ceremony.
"This is our most evil and holy event of our religion... Err...not quite sure how it works or anything... But, hey... That's faith!"
King of Demons blesses blood > human drinks blood > human gets demon powers
Oh shit! Who knew I was a biblical scholar.
I just imagine Guildenstern leering at Nobunaga going 'Err... Dude... Dude... you gonna finish that?' and Nobs just glaring back with a silly blood mustache.
One down. Two to go.
Orange Book
I recall a city mayor once attempting to 'redistribute the evil energy of the district' to isolate a 'Dark Ceremony'. I'm pretty sure he got killed in a drive-bye later that week.
So, you just need a nice virgin local girl with long hair, no acne, and doesn't smoke. And this is the holiest ritual this chucklefucks can come up with...?
Good to see the demons have their standards. Terrible mutilations, slaughter, and sacrifices of humans? No problem. Rape? Eaten by the fucking Demon King. Tokichiro better watch his ass.
Two down. One to go. The last one is just a code book, thankfully.
Byakko
Guess I need to backtrack at some point and pick up what was in those two early code boxes, huh...? Meh..
Moving right along...
I like how the demons just recently attacked in the last twenty-four hours or so, but have apparently been chilling out in the basement for the better part of the week. I could see, were it a small few rooms of floor space, but this joint is bigger than the entire first floor. Nobody had need to go down here?
In any case, Sam locates the Rosary of Com...
Com...?
Com...!
COM...?!
The situation is worse than any of us could have predicted...
Actually, the 'Rosary of Com...' allows Samanosuke to communicate with the dead for hints. That is, every corpse that has been lying around, up to this point, now had a rambling little message that may hold some relevance to the situation.
Basically, they're just ripping off the gameplay gimmick from Pathways Into Darkness for no particular reason.
Further into the darkness...
Down this ominous little hallway we find...
The Purifier Bell. As the name suggests, this is Feudal Japan's ghost buster. Though, I don't think a film about Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray ringing bells would be that entertaining.
Well, at least clearing past those spirits wasn't too tough.
Son of a bitch!
A swinging blade trap later...
That was unpleasant. On a lighter note, Shiden has now been upgraded to its max level. Level 3 blue loogie locks can now be undone. The Raizan's magical attack now has an added flip slash before the big lightning bolt finish. Huzzah.
Back to the ghosts...
This is the type of gameplay we've come to love and respect from Capcom. Let us all now be thankful this game was released in the early part of the decade.
Were it to come out today, we'd surely be mashing the action button to ring faster or else playing a rhyme game to ward off the wayward souls.
Heading on through.
Further ahead we...come to a secret underground
Oh yeah...every fucking Resident Evil game ever made! Did this element slip under the survival horror Madlibs development tool? Let me guess, the capsules are going to exp-
Goddammit! If stasis capsule technology has been around for over four hundred years, why the hell are monsters still breaking out of them on a daily basis?! Has there been no advancements in the field?! Really?
After a less than startling scare and a few bouts of demon slaying...
Two paths open up at the end of the hallway. Looks like we need a key with blue on it. Or perhaps a key which just is blue... Who knows? Blue will undoubtedly be involved, regardless.
Further into the underground, we find dual wind-loogie barred door. Good thing we upgraded the orb for the seemingly random ass need for upgraded seals. But, before we head through, a side room beckons.
Its siren call is that of, yes, another file. No, it is not the last one.
White Book
So...are we talking about eating humans here or just regular animals. If you call everything a pitiful animal, it gets a bit confusing. That's like me calling every carbonated beverage 'Coca-Cola' and getting pissed when the waitress does, indeed, bring me back a coke (I wanted orange, dammit!)
As a subnote, to regions that actual do use that terminology: I hate you.
Guildenstern hasn't grasped the concept of 'ebonics' yet.
Wait... Guildenstern is pimping out his race to be far superior to humans when in 100,000 demons, only one will not be retarded (maybe functionally retarded, if Guildenstern is anything to judge by...)
Seriously, that's not something I would write down.
I think the whole 'crumbling into ash upon death' thing might make an autopsy difficult, as well.
Heading back to the wind orb locked room.
One last storeroom. One last file hurrah. I promise. But first, a puzzle box needs solving.
Three moves to align the numbers. The solution:
- Middle square
- Right square
- Left square
For his efforts, Samanosuke gets the blue key. Which, turns out to be just a key with blue on it.
Next on the agenda: We have our first use of the Rosary of Com...
Entrance. What was it? Was it a door? Or maybe a gate...?
Perhaps it was a hatch? Or an aperture? Maybe even a portal? Oh wait, what if it's an exit? That'd be a mindfuck.
The last two files, I swear. First up, another code book.
Byakko
Chasm of Dimensions? I once divided by zero and ended up there. Terribly high sales tax, they have.
Apocalypse #1
Is there a Dark Ceremony Day? Is in a nationally observed holiday? Do demon kids get off school for it? Or is it like Kwanzaa and just sort of happens to be during the holidays without having to make a fuss?
Thanks for clearing that up. I was getting confused. The last two files that said the exact same fucking thing weren't enough.
Heading back to the previous hallway...
And so the key with blue on it finally gets put to use. What will behind the blue marked door? It won't be files, I can tell you that much...
Education Station:
"Can't you just turn the damn thing off?!"
"It's a sentient artificial intelligence. That would be like murder." "You try to kill Megaman every other day." "Megaman is a jerk and sounds like an eight year old boy. Fuck that guy." "Point taken. I argue the sentience of this thing, though."
"D-D-DocTOOOOr Wily is hzzz is huuuuuuuuuuung lIIIIIIIIke aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa HORSE!" "I'm going to have to disagree with you there. This thing clearly knows what's what." "I get shit for being a tentacle enthusiast when you're showing your Dr. Willy to robots. That sounds entirely fair." "You're just jealous it doesn't like you." "It's a machine. Why would I care?" "Fagswearsunglassesatnightfagswearsunglassesatnightfagswearsunglassesatnightfagswearsunglassesatnightfagswearsunglassesatnight! 000101010010010101010101000101! ChocOlate!"
"Is there any reason we're still continuing this section?" "Science, my friend. Science."Tune in Next Time For:
Magic!
Betrayl!!
Clones!!!
Bonus Content:
What? Do you want a video of a friggin' file being read?