Part 15: Episode XIII: In Which We Go Home

Episode XIII: In Which We Go Home


Chapter Four already, eh? Well, at the very least this game isn't all that long. We pick up a week or so later when Legna and Nowe have made it out of the Imperial Knights' core stomping grounds via Mexican coyotes friendly not-Scottish merchants and a "secret road" only they know.


Chapter 4 is taking us to a new location on the eastern part of the map, the "Mourning Stream". Said location is actually still pretty close to the Grand Shrine. I'm not sure why they didn't just continue west toward Drakengard 1 territory to avoid Union controlled countries in general. But hey...it's Nowe.




Before heading to our next location, we can pick up a couple new weapons from ye olde blacksmith. As well as a new accessory to equip on Nowe.


In the accessory department, our options are Guard Earrings (10% physical damage reduction) or Magic Ring (10% magic attack boost.) Magic is a bit situational in this game, but people attempting to stab us in the face are rather omni-present. We can only equip one accessory at a time (it'd clash with our outfit otherwise) so...earrings it is...

Now then, about those weapons...


That little girl sounds awesome. Why can't this game be about the adventures of Jackass Dragon and Caim's Granddaughter? Dammit Cavia!


Bwahaha! You're stuck in a Cavia game, kiddo. You're boned. Have fun being stuck on a staff that will soon collect dust in a broom closet off-screen. Also spoilers: Manah joins the party eventually. Sorry to ruin the surprise with the menu description.


Alright, that's enough dilly-dallying about with kind of crap weapons. Off to this far eastern land we've wandered to in-between chapters.

Verse 1 - The Evolution - Music: Vein of Grief (You should probably listen to this.)


"What's this, my boy? Are you afraid of coming out into the big, wide world? You should not fear the unknown. You should embrace it."
"Legna, does nothing frighten you? ...Legna, what's happened to you?"


"As long as that memory lives within us, we can stand firm in times of adversity."
"Adversity... Yes, times don't get much more adverse than now."
"Oh, come now. This is a minor setback on the scale of dire times. So you've lost your job with a bunch of nancy knights and need to relocate to the countryside. Pah! It could be much worse."
"How so...?"
"Why, you could be enslaved by a band of possessed humans and forced into a pact with an insufferable whiner who mumbled incoherently about a woman he loved non-stop, day after endless day, until you wanted to fly straight into the sun just to make the ceaseless drivel STOP!"
"That...does sound bad... And oddly specific."
"Oh, you know. Just a story I'd heard over the years..."
"Still..."
"Why the long face, my boy? I've told you before: regret is for fools."


"Will you stop sitting on my back and whining? You'll pull through. I know you will."
"...I'm tired. Let's find a place where we can rest awhile."
<sigh> What did I JUST say to him?


This mission is actually pretty fun. It's basically a big demo of "hey Legna got a LOT more kickass between chapters" and so it's basically a big one-sided shit stomping of everything in the area.


Legna now has six lock-on shots instead of the previous four. Each shot has much further range and power as well. The dragon himself has gotten a big boost of speed up from its already pretty impressive maneuverability.


Unfortunately, a rare dragon incinerating dozens of bats in the sky is enough to catch the attention of a nearby Knights of the Seal (henceforth referred to as "KotS" since I am beyond sick of typing that out) Balloon Squadron to attack Legna. I somehow think being held aloft by a bag of flammable gas may perhaps be a poor place to be when combating a fire breathing dragon. Just a hunch on my part.




I know I've made a few jokes about the Union's radio chatter and my desire to cut it off but...it seems there really was a Union intercom all this time, as they manage to call in back-up from a nearby fighter plane squadron to help against the dragon. Huh...who knew? Airships, shortwave radio technology, and .50 cal mounted turrets...but everyone still fights with swords, lives in crudely built hovels, and rides horses. This world is weird.


In any case, taking on a trio of fighter planes amidst a slew of balloons firing cannon balls every which way also proves to be fairly entertaining. But I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon enough.


"Humans can't forgive those whose beliefs differ from their own."
"I see..."
"Torching them by the dozen likely isn't endearing their lot to us either..."

Three destroyed planes later...


"I slay knight after knight, and they still come! I'll never be able to escape to town like this."
"There may be a correlation between those two things, you know."
"Perhaps there's somewhere we can lay low for a while..."
"What about our homeland? It's a long way from the knights..."
"Our homeland... Yes, of course! Let's go!"

Nowe and Legna fly across the map to this "homeland" joint...


"Yes. And even if they do track us down, it won't do them much good. This is OUR territory."

Verse 2 - The Homecoming - Music: Vein of Grief


"Hehe. When you were young? When you were a small boy, these valleys were your entire universe."
"Back then, Legna, you were all I had. If you hadn't been there to raise me, I would never have survived."
"Funny...I did not know 'back then' extended to last week..."
"These valleys are my home. Anything in them are my responsibility-even abandoned human children."
"I owe you my life. Back then, I thought that when I grew up, I would grow into a dragon, too. I had no idea what humans were..."
"If the Knights of the Seal hadn't come to these valleys, who knows? You might very well be a dragon right now..."
"Really!?"
"No..."
<frown>
"Oh, what's the frown for? How would you ride me everywhere if you were my size? That would look ridiculous, my boy."


"Hehe. I haven't seen you smile in a long time. You know, I thought you'd forgotten how to laugh."


As the objective suggests, our goal for this stage is to reach Legna and Nowe's old home in the Forgotten Ruins. There's an awful lot of reminiscing for a forgotten joint, if you ask me. This stage is...really dumb and almost entirely game padding filler.


The map we are in is also bloody massive. But luckily, we'll only be tackling the bottom right corner of the area this verse. Indeed, the rest of the chapter is basically broken up chunks of this map in more easily digestible portions.


The reason I said this level is really retarded is that Legna, the flying dragon, decides to do a trench run through the narrow canyons instead of...I don't know...just flying straight to these ruins. There's absolutely no reason to be doing this. The KotS jerks clearly retreated or were shot down last mission, so it's not like they need to keep a low profile at the moment. But, even ignoring the silliness of navigating these canyons, there's another reason this portion is pretty dumb.




Parts of the canyon pass are blocked by landslides. Landsides of which Legna could just take five seconds to fly right over, but chooses not to do so. And they're not just any kind of landslides either. They are magic rock barriers.




There are several magic switches crystals in nearby canyons which must be sought out and shot with dragon fire in order to destroy the rock barriers and proceed further into the area. And since almost all of these switches are surrounded by goblin shaman (yup...goblins have made it to this part of the continent and infested it conveniently enough too), that means Nowe must disembark from his dragon and clear them out before proceeding. Very fun stuff.


So fun, in fact, that they pull it twice! And the second time it's a timed version of the proceedings. Joy of joys!


"Our life together was not so bad."
"That doesn't really jog any memories, Legna."
"What do you want? An epic yarn of how he wandered in with shining armor and whisked you off your feet into the humans 'civilization'? If it was worth remembering, you would have remembered it, no?"
"Well...I suppose when you put it that way..."


"Manah? Where did you hear that name...?"
"It was that woman we were chasing in the District of Soul Flame a while back."
"...Was it now?"
"Yes. She was the one who killed Lieutenant Zhangpo. Or at least caused him to die. I wonder whatever happened to her?"
"Tell me. This Manah character... Did she have short, blond hair?"
"Well, yes. She did."
"And did she have red eyes?"
"Now that you mention it, I think she did. They were strange."
"I...see... Tell me, boy, did she...even suddenly get a very deep, monotone voice while speaking?"
"Uhh...no. I don't think so. That is a strange question. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing... It is nothing. Just...making small talk as we fly."




Destroying the second magic pile of rubbles' switches will reveal the entrance to the Forgotten Ruins. Which doesn't even have a roof...thus making this entire stage even more pointless than it already was.


At the very least for Nowe, he's enough of a moron that he'll be happy enough sleeping outside in the wilderness, eating bugs and cooked goblin, for the rest of his days while staring at rocks. Though, I'm not sure leather pants were made for outdoor livin'...


"They may still be waiting in ambush. I'm going to investigate. You get off and rest for a while."
"Okie dokie. I'm gonna go spruce up my old room! I hope nobody has messed with my old stuff!"
"I see your priorities are in order. I'll be back soon."

Nowe enters the Forgotten Ruins...


"There you go again speaking before you think. You always did have a problem with that, dragon boy."




You've got to hand it to General Gismor for having bounced back so quickly from losing a limb. He even got himself a new set of even more villainous looking black armor to go throw a surprise party for Nowe with style.


"Did you really think you could get away that easily!?'
"It wasn't that easy... It was a lot of work."
"Oh, I am truly sorry to hear that. Men?"
"Sir?"
"Dragon boy needs a rest. See that you tuck him in properly."










Verse 1 Cutscenes


Verse 2 Cutscenes



Music: Vein of Grief (Really, go listen to it. It's probably one of the best tracks in the game.)




The Many Faces of Legna - At least until he changes his face again...