Part 3: Update Three: Not The Reference I Was Expecting

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Cthulhu Saves The World, we made our way through the cave that leads to Miskatonia, but stopped right outside the city, as I'm a huge tease like that. Today, instead of continuing the story, we'll be doing a sidequest, so let's get crazy.



Let's not waste time and head right into the city.



Oh, yeah, there are a ton of goddamned question marks around in this update.



A lot of our Lovecraft references are in the places that we visit, which shouldn't be surprising.



: and not including it.

I'm pretty sure that it would have been okay, but maybe it's best to not fuck with Batman. I'm sure he has a contingency plan for this sort of situation.



I wonder if that's his job, and if he's satisfied with his life as a glorified Wal-Mart employee.



Behold!



We can actually enter houses now, and they're not all just open air homes!













I've nothing to say about Cthulhu's cursing.



That's a lot of words. I wonder how many the average novel has.

But, of course, there's a Wikipedia article helping to determine just that sort of thing.



Little does Cthulhu know that this is actually the path to becoming a true hero.



Librarians are the most hidden heroes on the planet, but they're willing to save the planet, time and time again, for low pay and hobos using the free internet for porn.



Ooh, the weapon shop.



And a kid, and a question mark.



Yeah, who the hell saw this one coming?



I mean, Christ, I've seen Shane and wouldn't really expect to reference it anywhere.



Well, it's a Western that's old enough to probably be on Social Security.



Oh, we're not talking about the movie.



Eh, why not? By exploring this town and doing that, I'll have another update done.



Hey, some of the best people I know are dogs.



Don't even try it with that quest log bullshit, game.



Thank God I haven't yet LP'd a game that has a quest log. Is that something I show pictures of? Does anyone even care? And I'd have to be checking it all the time to see if it had anything interesting in it, but that would inevitably lead to wasted time and more footage I have to sift through to get the good stuff.



Though, seeing some of the updates I've made, it's possible I don't fully understand what "the good stuff" actually is.





See, now that's neat. I always liked the commentary tracks of movies, and it's fun to have it in a video game. I know other games have done it, but this might be the first one I've ever actually checked it out in.





This is all laid out just like it was in Breath of Death.



Hrm. I like the looks of that.



But Umi still has her baseline gear, so she could probably use the upgrade.



Okay, that sounds all well and good, but we'll need a heroine to accompany our hero.



...Uh-huh...





This might be a reference I need explained. I Googled the name Khoo and found this bit of news, but I'm not sure if that's what they were going for.



Then again, Zeboyd would go on to work on a couple of the Penny Arcade games, the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness' third and fourth episodes, so it's entirely possible, but I'm just not sure.



So, let's go talk to that old lady.



I'm glad to hear it!



South of there is an exit to the town, but there's other bits to explore, so let's hop to it.



Maybe these children will be afraid of us. That's really my only goal in life.







...Oh, he's just talking to her. For a second, I thought Cthulhu was going to have to explain himself to the police.





Oh, Jesus, stop it, you're grossing me out.





Hey, don't go knocking true love. It's the sort of stuff that can move mountains, part oceans, and bring happiness to the worst of times.



And on that note, let's go get plastered.



Maybe we'll get better than some chocolate milk.



Anyone have any idea where to go next? I'm pretty lost right now.



Gibberish, you say? I wonder--



Why do I even try anymore?



skin.

I originally read Cathila as Catzilla, and then I Googled that.



I have no regrets.



Is just for killing it, or can we turn the monster in for an equal or lesser bounty? Because I'm sensing a way to get a quick buck here...



Are there any games that let you do that? If not, there should be a game where the player character has a huge bounty on his head and you have the option of letting one of your companions turn you in, collect the wad of cash, and then break you out of wherever you're being kept, and then continue the game, just that much richer.



I'm not saddened by this information at all.



Well, if it involves those three, I think I have one to top all of theirs.



Sir, I am a married man!





: of the music started. By moving this intro to the end of the song, the overall feel of the music changed from a ballroom dance theme to the small rural town theme we were looking for.



Ah, crap, he mentioned the soundtrack. I wonder if I can find that somewhere. Or if some generous reader happens to know about it, I do have plat, as well as Steam...



Before we gain knowledge, there's other knowledge to be obtained!



:destroying it like the literature said he would. The cutscene would take place in an insane asylum, but Bill rightly pointed out that our world had no asylum map in and it was too late to put one in. In the end, we decided to scrap the idea.



Yeah, I'm not listening to this.



But I'll keep this in mind for later.



And that's the only bit of non-tutorial dialog in the place. The other stuff is about regaining MP and other bits about the gameplay, which you either already know or I've explained.













Inns function the same way as they did in the previous game. In hindsight, I should have gotten a shot of what the guy behind the counter has to say.



What kind of madman would want a creature made of belts!?



Oh, yep, that'll cover that question.



Maybe a horror or two.





Is this the available bed space of this place?



Well, I certainly hope it isn't.







If that's the girl's room, then this must be the owner's bed. Where the hell do the guests stay?



Oh, hell, they don't pay me enough to ask these questions. That not I'll stop asking them, since I almost feel honor-bound, considering I only LP RPGs (and half of Yoshi's Island).



Are you blind? We're clearly--



Is this schtick tired yet? Because I love these jokes, I really do.



While I ponder if someone is considering shooting me for making those same tired jokes.



Off to adventure!





Plenty of new monsters this update.



Starting with these Cobras!



There's no shot of them Insane at the moment, but there will be later on in this update.



I don't believe they can Poison you, as I never saw it, but it's still possible.



In either case, they're easily dispatched with regular physicals; anything more than that in basically overkill.







Well, now, this is a horror show in action.



With hair like that, you bet it is.



I can definitely believe that.



I can't imagine the Punk needed much of a push to get there.



Whoops. I was just trying to neutralize her, not completely waste her.



Ouch. The Molly Dolly isn't much tougher than this, so this fight isn't a big deal.





And that's pretty much that.



Alright, now, we have a dog to go rescue. We're going to go in here, kick some ass, and get that good boy outta here and back to his master.



We've no time to waste, people. Time to cowboy up.



Hell yes.





It's not long before we get into a fight.



Ugh, goddamned Bats.



And they're juuuust strong enough that Umi can't one-shot them with Flood.



Being Bats, they're also faster than our party, which shouldn't surprise anyone.



They don't stand a chance against Cthulhu.



To properly show you their Insane sprite, I had to let Umi Stun one of them.



NOt sure why I didn't do that with the Molly Dolly from earlier, but eh, whatever.





Alright, so, this cave isn't very big. It's kind of circular, where it's easy to get turned around and wind up back at the beginning, though.



Which I may have done while I was exploring in here, but nobody will know for sure.





A Swordsman? Hell, I bet Cthulhu is better.



...Perhaps not.



I seriously love all the different Insane sprites; they're just so well done, it's kind of a treat getting to see them.



Keep in mind, though, that the Swordsmen do not fuck around. Umi actually went down in this fight.



However, with the full HP at the end of battle, that's not really a concern.





This is the most obvious loop in the place, but some of the others look like they're leading down a different path, to some treasure perhaps.



Well, hey, that was easy enough.



: optional treasure hunts.



Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.



Bah, of course it wasn't that simple.



Hrm. It digs up some bones, so you reduce it to bones. I...I don't think it's fair to do that.



And we're fighting Ninjas now. Fantastic.





Oh, Ghost Ninjas. This is much better.





Well, he's got some strong attacks, but we don't have many options right now, outside of slugging it out.





If I could have Blinded him, the fight would have been over then, with the Ninja Spirit just needing the sense to (re)die.



We've got more than enough power to drop him, but the issue is getting that done before he does us in.



Especially if he wants to spam this attack; we don't have any way to heal both characters at once, and not enough Potions to keep it up indefinitely.



Thankfully, it doesn't come to that, and Cthulhu puts him back to rest.











I take Nightfall, just so that I can make every enemy Insane at once. I'll be doing that in most fights anyway, since Insane enemies take more damage. Lowering their resistances was tempting, but I'd rather be able to hit the entire enemy party at once with Insanity.



Now, on this one, I took a minute to carefully consider my options.



On the one hand, Umi would have a spell that is, effectively, a Potion in MP form. However, it would break my combo count, which I don't like. The passive that also heals ailments is what I ended up taking, since I'll probably get more use of that, and it doesn't break my count. It's easier to raise the combo count in this game, and I swear, the skills associated with that are stronger than they were in Breath of Death.



Like there was ever any doubt?



Eh, he's probably peeing in the crypt of a fallen king.





But before we can head back to town, there's one more enemy to show off in here.





I honestly can't think of anything to say about this. I mean, it's a big fuckin' spider. What do you want?



Oh, right, you want to see things made crazy.



Due to them being nothing special, this fight doesn't last long. They're in the same weight class as the Punks, roughly, which makes them not much of a threat.



Oh, and my promise of showing Insane Cobras?



Fulfilled!



Okay, back to town.



Oh, good, Shane did return home.



Too bad that all of our trips into bonus dungeons weren't trying to find Shane and rescue him from whatever pissed off creature there is in there.



For some reason, I don't doubt that Umi can speak Dog.



I bet she has a bit of a Dachshund accent, though.





I like the sound of that.



Ugh, if only I could swap the Magic and Strength bonuses, I'd be absolutely crazy about this sword. As it stands, I'm not building a Magic Cthulhu, so this isn't all that useful. Or maybe it is, since that Agility boost is pretty mighty.



But I'll leave you to brood on that while we take another break. Next time, we'll go east and see what we can figure out about that Hero's Shrine.

Stay tuned!