Part 17: "You can use me as a model if you like."
Chapter 16: "You can use me as a model if you like."(The Imagination Part 2, Ares and Harold 4&5&6&7)
Welcome back! Into the third part of The Imagination this time.
It's essentially one of those "navigate all areas without crossing any intersection twice" puzzles.
So naturally I go after this treasure chest and blow the puzzle off.
The Unconscious is big and tough; I can't kill one of them in one turn without two criticals and Camil's missing 12% of her critical rate. Its attacks aren't that impressive, though.
The chest had a Glass Fragment.
Stepping on a darkened light at an intersection gets you whisked away to this punishment area. It's patrolled by Trauma enemies, and each of them has two chests.
There are two punishment areas. Punishment areas become inaccessable once you finish their puzzles. Missing both punishment areas is enough to disqualify you from opening the 260 chests door in His Memory.
It's kind of a dick move all around, really. Make sure you fail both at least once.
Oh yeah, screenshot multitasking. I am the best LPer.
Anyway, Traumas are aggressive but not very tough. They do a little less damage than the enemies of the last area.
They also give deliberately pathetic rewards. Their item is pretty decent, though (+18 SP, +1 Critical, Sporadic Guard) and they give the same progress-towards-item-levels experience as anyone else. This is a pretty good place to level up Will's items, so it's a shame it doesn't stay accessable.
The other treasure chest has a Glass Fragment.
Another light dot whisks you back up to the starting room.
Okay, so the real solution here is hit the first one, go left, up, right, up, right, leave. You can't see the whole room layout, though, so I end up fighting a The Unconscious (wow is that awkward) on the way.
Two annoying things about them:
One, they can heal themselves. A lot--that's more than Camil's double-critical attack damage. They only seem to be able to do it once, though, and will spend a lot of wasted turns trying after the first time.
Two,
Their drop does nothing. At all. I've tried levelling it up to 3 to see if it's some sort of Paladin Shield, and the answer is no. It always does nothing. At least it sells for 1200.
Through another empty hub, and...
Room number two. You can see a bit more of this one before you start walking on lights, at least.
I deliberately fail and drop down to the punishment area.
The chest by the exit here is 1000 gold.
Back up top.
The correct answer is to:
Use that path circling around to the left to hit the one shown in the upper-right here, then go left, down, right, and follow the path. You don't need to fight any The Unconscious this way.
The next room has one of the most ridiculous puzzles in the game. It's optional, thankfully, but you don't want to ignore it.
When it says "window," it means "game window." To open the room, open a second instance of the game.
No, I don't get it either. It's very Psycho Mantis in a game that hasn't exactly done Psycho Mantis stuff previously.
The Delusion Cocoon is amazing mage gear. It's not the armor stats; +6 SP and +80 Defense is good, but it's just an inferior Three-Legged Frog.
Like the Aegis, though, it really shines as an All-Purpose. +35 Skill, +6 SP, +35 Defense, Sporadic Guard, and Recover SP While Defending. It's amazing. And also like the Aegis, it's going on Randolf, and the moment he masters it it's never leaving his All-Purpose slots.
Will gets the Mask of Determination for a little bit. Then I run all the way back to the hub area, because I am not redoing all of this when I die in the next area. I also have 3 Glass Shards, so, hey, another Empty Bottle can't hurt.
That also means it's story time!
I was interested in the rest of that story.
Even though it's still all blank white pages? Well, listen for a second. I thought of something good.
Well that's fine and all. However, I already have a story inside my head. Putting it down on paper (beat) is as easy to do as breathing. So no reason to ask others for help. Well for Chapter 1, why don't you... write a story about trying to reach a high place? Listen when people are talking, please. Hmm, what should we do for the characters.
Just how thick are you? Ok, then I'll tell you about my experiences. It might help you beat that writer's block. ...... I'm going to start, ok? Just do whatever you want. I won't be listening.
Where was that place again? In the middle of the continent, I forget the name of it but,
Oh, Ares.
She only has eight story segments to establish herself as a character, and yet she is so vividly a person.(And if you've been paying attention to the music titles, then you could've guessed it earlier--all of the story songs are called "reiy_(name)", for "Reminiscence, (name)"; for instance, Nana's is "reiy_nana". The one for these segments is "reiy_ar"--"Reminiscence, Ares.")
So much for the grand Camil theory, though; Ares wouldn't refer to her own daughter as "young girl" back in the intro, would she?
Another good reason to grind the Traumas: they're easily to kill and their rewards are lucrative. They're also gone once you clear the puzzles, though, so I leave myself one for later. You never know.
I pick up the Expensive Stone while I'm there. Before I do that, though...
...Randolf gets the Twin Tail, which gives Escape Dash. As you'll recall, that's the item that lets you move at lightspeed once you encounter an enemy.
This is because it's a fucking underwater section with tough statwall enemies who never attack.
I get screwed by bad luck and the final enemy's random movement pattern carries it JUST outside of engagement range, even with the Twin Tail. This dooms me to failure, because it's pretty much impossible if you get unlucky that way.
Whatever. I'll leave it for later.
Back to The Imagination. And this fucking area. Oh god. Trauma flashbacks.
Will takes off the pieces of the Star Fall Magic set-up. I don't need him dying that easily.
Okay. Here's the thing about this area. See those angel-like enemies? They're all aggressive and they're tank-like offensively and defensively. I will be going nuclear on them from the get-go.
This area, more than any other part of the endgame, whisks you right back to The Snow Fields.
I do find it funny that the angel-like enemies are named "Repression," though. Clearly a moment of deeply-cutting religious commentary there. Or a Monty Python joke.
Look at that health bar. Look at it. That's after two normal Camil hits and a Light Axe. I'll need three turns of that to kill ONE Repression. ONE. And it did half of Camil's health right back, and she's wearing the Aegis, which is amazing defensive armor.
And that isn't what makes them scary.
THIS is what makes them scary. The attack has no name, it seems--it just shows up as blank spaces--but it will ruin you. If you have less defense, then this can kill you from full health, as Will shows here.
Do not ever fight more than one Repression at a time. Ever. Barring extraordinary luck, you WILL die--even one Repression can keep you locked down and forced to repeatedly heal yourself, and a second one can kill anyone weakened by the attack-all. Two attack-alls will kill you outright.
If you're lucky, though, they'll stick to the single-target attack. They still take three turns to kill that way, but it's better than the alternative.
Some of the angels are Projections instead, thankfully. You can identify them by their wings. Projections are the ones with big wings. Both types move when you've moved two squares, preferring to move two squares closer to you. This means that so long as you don't freak out, you have all the time you need to heal after a fight.
I'm not sure why wings and murder coefficient are inversely proportional, but I'll take what I can get. Projections trade the Blank hit-all for Sting, which is a single-target draining attack. It does as much as a normal attack and therefore sucks. They're only really dangerous when there's a Repression on the field with them, because Repressions are scary.
I don't even remember what was in this chest, I was too busy freaking the hell out about almost fighting two of them. Should've been more careful.
Apparently it was a Glass Fragment.
Will's job here is to defend any turn that everyone's at full health and to use Healing Magic when they're not. Depending on random variance, Sporadic Guard MAY allow him to survive a Repression's Blank. If he doesn't, oh well, Camil and Randolf are the important ones here, and his items will still level up even if he dies.
Seriously, I cannot express how tense this is in words. There are only two screens with Repressions, and they're incredibly nerve-wracking. There is a very real sense there that if you screw up, you may just die. It means you sometimes make bad decisions.
Like here. The exit is just above the divider between me and the two Repressions. WHY DID I RUN FOR THE DOOR?
I mean, I survived it, but it was a stupid decision and it would've Game Overed me nearly every time.
Both are Repressions, naturally.
Just a little up from the last chest. The lower one had Glass Fragments, this one had 1000 gold.
The potion situation is not looking so hot. If a Repression ever uses Blank on a first turn, everyone needs to heal. Everyone. That's at least two potions, three if one of the injuries is outside of Healing Magic's 60 or so HP range.
My Trauma certainly has levelled up.
Thankfully, the Repressions have a strange tendency to target Will; if they hit any single person, it's him about six times out of ten.
Whew.
And I get through without dying. That's a relief.
(I imagine poor Feldherren feels differently, though.)
Out to heal, back in.
The final area is weirdly blank. I guess we're into the empty white pages now.
Catharthis are basically Repressions or Projections without Blank or Sting. They critical very often, but that's about it... Also, if you kill them they need to wait to respawn, just like red enemies elsewhere. Their drop gives you +40 HP.
If the last area used the design philosophy of The Snow Fields, this area uses the layout philosophy. It's pretty similar visually and has the same features, and the enemies are similar too, sans the monkeys. (Thankfully.)
The Ambivalent enemy, which are the lizardmen on the field, are Repression+1, only the can move normally. They do so pretty quickly, if not with dedicated aggression. Also unlike Repressions, there's four screens that have them on it.
Same durability, they hit a little harder, they also have Blank. Thankfully, they're much less common.They're also red, so you can kill them and then run back to heal. I don't, but it's a valid strategy.
DIDN'T QUITE THINK THIS THROUGH
With Hero Supplement up, Randolf does about 380 damage with Light Axe. It's a good tool to have, even if the 40% HP requirement means it's risky. The agility bonus helps, since it ensures he always activates Sporadic Guard.
...damn, forgot about this. Yeah, I'm probably only gonna get that after the final boss. I still need to buy The Final Battle As Planned, I think.
I end up running back. I fought a lot more enemies than planned, and I have Glass Fragments to use.
Also lets me grab this 1000 gold.
Going back to the Nest means story time!
How's it going? ...... Show it to me. ...Fine. Oooh! Great! It's not all blank anymore. ......
...... I don't need your feedback. I didn't write it for that reason. It's not something to show other people. Oh yeah? Well then, tell me, why do you write stories? I guess...
So I'm the only reader, huh? That makes me pretty happy, I guess. So, how about it? Can I ramble on a bit again? Yeah, go ahead, say whatever you want. I won't be listening, though. Well then, let me get started. I had a friend.
I'm not really sure whether he was a good or bad guy, but he was into a lot of shady things. Oh yeah, Not that long ago...
I head left. Then there are two Ambivalences, so I head right. Except the treasure chest is left!
You need to be decisive about where you're heading. I ended up fighting a pretty pointless and avoidable three-Catharthis battle.
Eh, 10/11 Stamina/Energy, I can get through one screen. ...probably.
Only natural that we'd get a flower field near the end, really.
Do you see that fairy? It's a special enemy. Not fucking with it. Maybe after the final boss.
The chest has a Glass Fragment.
The fifth and final flower. Past that is the final area of The Imagination, where the final boss lurks. We've got two more things to do before that.
Did you lose some weight? Not really. Ooh, Chapter 2 is about the ocean. ...... Is the main character of this chapter a bad guy? Wait a second, this is Aeritz isn't it?
Oh, that's just messed up. ...... Hmmm, so the enemy is a white whale. Is the whiteness of this whale supposed to represent good? Is that the theme? Then the darker hero beats him up, symbolizing human nature at its worst. That's deep stuff. I haven't put that much thought into it. The main character defeats a strong-looking enemy. That is all it's supposed to be. Oh yeah?
If you like your own interpretation, (beat) then you can read it like that. That's kind of irresponsible isn't it? Oh by the way... It was born. What was? A baby. Congratulations... I guess? Whose is it? The flower I got from you before. I gave it to a pregnant lady in the village. I told her it was a charm for safe delivery (beat) It ended up being pretty tough, though. But she gave birth safely.
I see. I didn't know that flower was a charm for safe deliveries. I didn't either. Hey...
I guess that's how it is. Well then, I'll ramble to myself again. I've got a lot of stuff to talk about.
Said his hometown was some high up mountain town. This guy, he was one of those big, sturdy types...And, all joking theories about her parentage aside, this is Camil's real connection to the Demon King Chronicle. She's named after a different kind of flower in Japanese, unless I miss my guess, but a casual search wasn't quite enough to discern which type.
You lost weight again. Are you eating properly? ...... Let's see, the third chapter... Oh, you've barely written anything yet. Sorry. The pen just wouldn't flow. I see. Well, don't try to force it out. But, there is a problem. My time is coming.
Is that so... Well, then you better get to work. Yeah, I guess so. Can you finish it? I'll finish it. All that's left is the Third Chapter, the story of the Dragon.
Just a little more. Yup, just a little more. What kind of story is the final chapter? You want to know? Yeah. Alright, I'll tell you. The final chapter is...
Yes, they really do just end it there. They wanted to mirror the way the Chronicle wasn't ever finished, I guess.
Or they were just being dicks. Either one.
New achivemements: "Open 200 treasure chests," "Used items 100 times," and "Survive over 1000 battles." The remaining three are "have over 50000 gold" (not happening), "Do 600 damage in one attack" (will probably happen), and "Do 1000 damage in one attack" (maybe near the very end of the postgame stuff).
Now that we've reached the final battle... Now's a good time to pick up The Final Battle as Planned. That's for next time.
Annihilation Record:
Annihilation count:30
[2014/04/13 13:40]Defeated at unknown area.
Current winner: Cake Attack (26)
Next: Feldherren (35)
Battle Record:
2014/04/13/ 15:46:25
Demon King Chronicle
■Battle results
Playtime:17:42:23
Save count:179
Steps taken:87663
Battle count:1031
Max damage:515
Max damage taken:605
Items:71 Types 162 Items
■Treasure Chests
The Nest: 8/8
Demon King's Castle: 26/26
The Hamlet: 31/31
The Snow Fields: 20/20
The Dragon Mountain: 6/6
Sands of Remembrance: 26/26
The Tower: 11/11
The Seashore: 12/12
The Mirage: 9/10
Leviathan Depths: 5/5
The Disease: 18/20
The Imagination: 30/32
Unmapped area: 7/10
■Camil(36)
HP:149
SP:74
Attack:290
Defense:97
Range:32
Critical:41
Skill:54
Agility:84
・Praying Mantis Axe(3)
・Aegis(2)
・Holy Sword that Cuts the Dark(3)
・Zara Sword(3)
・Lucky Rabbit(3)
■Randolf(35)
HP:118
SP:89
Attack:233
Defense:114
Range:64
Critical:14
Skill:136
Agility:69
・Speckcinder(3)
・Delusion Cocoon(1)
・Sagarmatha(0)
・Varnished Bird Wing(3)
・Black Ladybug(3)
■(27)
HP:119
SP:56
Attack:170
Defense:41
Range:32
Critical:22
Skill:65
Agility:57
・Daybreak Club(2)
・Mask of Determination(1)
・Zara Mantle (2)
・Trauma(1)
・Stained Wing(1)
■Top 10 defeats
Green Mud Man(178)
Rat(160)
Toothy Piranha(157)
Mermaid(143)
Abominable Snow Monkey(97)
Wake-Eater(89)
Merman(84)
Monkey(83)
Deformity(82)
Mutt(80)
Glossary:
New entries:
■Ritzea
The character created by Harold Diester
which was modeled after Aeritz.
■Randolf
The character created by Harold Diester
which was modeled after Flodnar.