Part 31: NG+ Update 03: The Dragon Blade
NG+ Update 03: The Dragon BladeMusic: Lift
Remember the Death Cow that gave us trouble way back when?
It’s considerably less threatening now.
The Lantern Bats are also easier to deal with thanks to Side Slash.
The only other noteworthy incident in this stage is finding a Gold XP inside a yellow item box. I’m not sure if a higher D-Ratio affects rare item drops, but I definitely seem to be picking up more Power Meals and other stat boosters from boxes and enemies this time around.
Music: BioCorp
The return visit to BioCorp is brief and uneventful, except for one specific point.
The same series of cutscenes play when we enter the Genic Processor. Bosch marvels at Odjn’s corpse before urging Ryu to get a move on.
When the game gives us back control we see that something is different this time around. Something is sparkling in the piled dirt and decay beneath Odjn’s body.
Venturing down below the walkway reveals a sword driven into the earth.
Of course we have to take it.
What is this mysterious weapon’s true identity? Fortunately Jaju is only a handful of rooms away.
The Dragon Blade is Ryu’s ultimate weapon. It’s twice as powerful as Zeno’s Violet Blade, has a longer range than any of Ryu’s other weapons, has three free Lv. 3 skill slots and carries an inherent +20% accuracy bonus. The only downsides are that it’s slightly heavier than the Violet Blade and has Side Slash locked in as a Lv. 1 skill.
Unfortunately Violet Death is a skill that only exists in the Violet Blade and can’t be learned, so we can’t thread it to the Dragon Blade. Deathbringer makes a decent alternative however.
You’ll also note that this particular Dragon Blade is a +4 variant. The modifier depends on your D-Ratio, with higher values spawning more powerful Dragon Blades. The maximum is +9 for attaining a rank of 1/4.
Aside from that, everything goes as normal. Ryu and Bosch make it to the platform just as the train is about to leave.
Bosch asks Ryu to give him his test scores, but is interrupted when Lin attacks.
Music: Formidable Foe
Ryu shoots back, but fails to stop Lin from sending the train into the abyss.
Music: Origin
With our knowledge from the last playthrough, we can tell that the symbol Ryu sees in his vision is the seal keeping the gate to the surface shut.
Odjn claims Ryu as his host. The scene ended here the first time around, but this time it carries on for a bit.
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Bonus Art: Miscellaneous Concept Art
