Part 15: Chapter 16

All right everyone, ready for the end?

***



(The final dimension: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKU...elated#t=00m34s)

I bet you weren't expecting a fleshy final dungeon, were you? Well, it is Capcom, after all.

As you can tell, the final area is a maze. You can go three different ways right at the beginning, and there's all sorts of twists and turns and splits to explore. Many of them loop back to other sections. Thankfully, there aren't any random encounters in this area...



...Just heat-seeking wisps. Dammit, Taro.



They deposit you in Mamiya's bedroom, which is one screen away from the dungeon entrance. They do this every time, so the consequences of touching one are not severe. Additionally, hiding underneath arches in the dungeon will prevent them from touching you.



Kazuo and Akiko might be wondering how Taro just entered the dungeon twice, but decide not to ask questions.



Great, now let's go check out the right-



...

You know how Taro kept getting grabbed by wisps throughout the game? This is like ten times that. Here's a couple more for your Taro-related humor:





Now that we've got that out of our system, let's keep going.



Team Girl decides to scout ahead for a bit. They find a gap in the path. And guarding it...





...Is Emi? Okay... let's call in the rest of the gang and beat the crap out of a Japanese schoolgirl.



Or that. Ouch, man.

Evil Emi hits pretty hard, but a couple rounds of regular attacks do her in. She's worth a whopping 190 experience.



Since Kazuo and Akiko are in pretty good shape, I sent them up ahead for a bit.



...Again? Really?



Sheesh. Evil Kazuo hits even harder than Evil Emi. And he takes a bit longer to kill. And he's only worth 150 experience.



Although I find this immensely ironic.



You will get lost in here. Try not to let it get to you.



Along the way, a disembodied voice gives Akiko some very inappropriate advice. I knew that Tool was fishy.

...Ugh. Don't read that last sentence too closely. I promise I didn't mean it.



"That voice is familiar..."



Evil Akiko decides to pay us a visit. She only does about 80 damage a hit. She can also flash to inflict poison.

...I swear, I'm not trying to do this. 160 experience.



"It's Yamamura!!"

Apparently being melted alive wasn't enough to dissuade our kickass old man.



Evil Taro does about the same amount of damage as Evil Kazuo. He's worth 170 experience. He didn't do any flashes when I was fighting him, which is odd considering he's the one with the camera. Oh well.



Last but not least we have Asuka.



And she hits like a linebacker.



Using their own items on them doesn't do anything. I just thought it would be funny to try. And no, Kazuo isn't using the Vacuum; it just switched to his name because he's up next. 180 experience.

As a sidenote, Evil Emi appears in the movie, but she's the only doppelganger.



Since those cryptic messages we've been seeing will show up each time you walk over their corresponding tiles, now would be a good time to save and review them if necessary. Also, try to arrange your inventory so that only one person has each of the four key items. If someone dies while holding a key item you haven't used yet, you're doomed.



(Encounter with Mamiya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11v...elated#t=02m00s)





This is it, everyone. Mamiya is the final boss of the game.

Your options against Mamiya are extremely limited at first. She hits pretty hard, around 100 damage each time she attacks, but my characters were doing closer to 150 damage per strike. Using Pray initially gives the following message:



Makes sense, right? Similarly, using the key items right now has no effect. The thing to note here is the only purpose to leveling high for this fight: HP. Mamiya cannot be killed with just attacks. You could whack away at her for hours and still not slay her. Hence, the Dress is not really that useful in the final fight unless you're practically out of PP to start with. Hope you stockpiled at least a couple of Tonics.

After each attack, your characters will spout a random line of dialogue. These include:

"Go to your rest!"
"The child is dead!"
"How many must die?!"

Although this is reflective of the characters' obvious animosity toward Mamiya despite learning of the story behind her insanity, there's little to be gleaned from it. Mamiya, similarly, gives a line of dialogue at the end of each round.

"My baby!!"
"Why do you disturb me?!"

And, the dialogue you want to look for:



Remember the warnings Yamamura gave us on the way up?

"If she shouts use the Tool."
"The Photo recalls reality!"
"The Diary reveals the heart!"

These are your only clues as to when it is appropriate to use each item, but if you really don't want to play it clever, you can just keep using the item every round until something happens. Remember, we were given the order in which they had to be used: Tool, Photo, Diary, Coffin. Also, try to Pray each turn. If it says "Not Needed" then keep going with items. Once Mamiya says that, the only way to advance the battle is to use the Tool on her.

After using the Tool, Mamiya gives us a new line:



Let's try using the Photo next.







Pray works after this. Have everyone throw as much as they can at her. I'm not entirely sure if damage matters for this part, but sometimes it took more than one Pray attack to make it stick. Not Praying or using the wrong item will reset the battle back to the beginning.



(Final battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11v...elated#t=01m05s)

Oh. This... really doesn't look good. From now on, Mamiya hits from around 110 to 160 damage. Pray doesn't work. Again.



She likes to say this a lot, but it isn't what we're looking for.



At this point, we use Ichirou's diary.



Kazuo tells it like it is.



Next turn, we have to Pray again.



There weren't any clues to imply this, but it shouldn't be needed. It's time for Emi to use the Coffin.





Shit... that's harsh...

There's nothing else for it. We have to finish her off. Pray with all you've got.



Afterward, everything goes dark... and then...



Everyone wakes up in Mamiya's quarters.

Ape-Man: She is at peace now and the estate is serene once more. Follow me!

(The End: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11v...elated#t=04m03s)



Just like in the movie, Mamiya transforms into a terrible monster. But the sight of her dead child is too much for her to bear, and she lets go of her malice and ascends to the afterlife. If you'll notice, after she releases several small sparks of light, perhaps the souls of those she's claimed, one of them returns and disappears with her. Could it be her child returned to her at the last...?



"Yamamura?"

"Yes. He said the power from within would save us all. Unfortunately, he sacrificed himself for our sake."

"How sad, yet noble..."

"He felt responsible... guilty in a way..."

"Was he Ichi-"

"Please hurry!"

The truth of Yamamura's identity is never fully revealed in the movie or the game, but... well, you can draw your own conclusions, I'm certain. Feel free to discuss this point in the thread.



If you glance through the credits, you may notice a couple of familiar faces from my Willow LP. Fortunately, they did a much better job on this one.

And then...



As in the movie, Mamiya's estate collapses into ruin.

Guess what? There's multiple endings. We'll do one more update to showcase them all. Stay tuned!