Part 40: Episode XXXV: In Which We Fly Through Rings
Episode XXXV: In Which We Fly Through Rings
Welcome to Chapter 9. This is pretty much the official "hey remember this was supposed to be a Drakengard sequel...?" chapter of the game. So buckle up. It's gonna be a...thing...
Chapter 9 takes us to "Sanctuary", better known as Castle of the Goddess area from Chapter 1 of the original game. But, before we head off to deal with the rampaging Red Dragon, there are a few little things we should take care of during the intermission. For instance a new town, the Village of the Tower, has been added to the map. Let's have a look at the new locale...
"What!? Why would a dragon do such a thing?"
"They say some damn fools released it from its imprisonment and now it wants nothing more than to destroy humanity." "What kind of idiots would do that kind of thing?! What were they thinking?!" "Well, who knows? We'd better get ready to leave. I, for one, don't want to burn to death." "Right. We should gather our things and go, but where to?" "Some place where the dragon can't reach us! Like a cave or something. Away from here." "Aren't the Knights of the Seal supposed to stop this sort of thing from happening? What happened to their airships and planes?" "Some monster attacked the districts and shot them all down. The few that were left have fled." "Good gravy! Alright, let's go."
Great job, kids. I'm sure the freed peasants are going to be overwhelmed with the joy of hiding in dank caverns, cowering in fear to avoid being burned alive while their homes are reduced to ash. But at least there's no more oppression from the knights! Oh well, let's do some shopping while we're in the neighborhood!
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
SAVIOR BLADE - 16,500 Gold
History:
Once upon a time, a land faced destruction due to the deception that corrupted people's heart.
Mourning the state of his realm, the king passed a new law sentencing to death anyone who spread false hope among his people, with lies that the country was being rebuilt.
It was then that a merchant appeared before the king with a sword that only killed liars. The king rejoiced, and paid a good sum of gold to purchase the sword.
Eager to test his miraculous acquisition, the king swung the sword at the merchant and clove him clean in two. The king mourned once again...
Description: Saves the undead from purgatory.
Traits: Effective against the undead.
Magic: "Sonic Burst" - Whoever smelt it dealt it.
Hahaha. Okay, that was a pretty good story. Though, the weapon tale has nothing at all to do with the weapon's traits. This sword gets a buff against the Undead like Manah/Eris receive, only for Nowe. However, it is a very slow swinging and overall weak sword. So...there's still no reason to use it over just swapping in Manah to do the task. Unless the plot takes away Manah like every other character non-Nowe character thus far.
...
Maybe I ought to level this weapon a tiny bit...
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
MAIDEN'S KRIS
History:
A short sword lay, at the corner of the altar in the shrine. During its construction, the sword was used to take the lives of sacrificial maidens, whose blood was offered to earn the blessing of the gods.
The number of maidens sacrificed is the number of the pillars. Each of the maidens, who died against their will, cursed the sword with their last breath.
Soon after the shrine's completion, the priests fell victim to disease and misfortune. One by one their order dwindled and the shrine was eventually abandoned in the wake of the war.
Several hundred years later, the shrine still stood. Resting on its forgotten altar, the cursed sword remained, casting an eerie light around the murdered maidens' tomb.
Description: For the protection of maidens.
Traits: Looks ordinary, but with some training...
Magic: "Sonic Burst" - His throbbing member's contents all over the yearning Tails' young face. Let's see how many people are just lazily skimming these info dumps... Edit: And don't just quote this part and comment on it...
So, I just played through The Hive level of Duke Nukem Forever a little while ago. I still feel kind of unclean... Anyway, I'm not sure what is up with the ambiguous trait text in this weapon description. The sword just gets pretty good Guard Break stats when it's fully leveled. Nothing particularly unusual.
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
SEALBLADE: CALAMITIOUS VERSE - 9850 Gold
History:
A master blacksmith, embittered by the god's maltreatment of the world, vowed to forge a weapon with which to destroy them.
So the power of the seal negated the power of the gods? ...And the seal derived its power from the goddess? ...and this master blacksmith sealed the power of the goddess into some kind of weapon?
A trainee blacksmith heard these rumors, and decided he could make a tidy profit if he made a weapon like the one in the legends.
After many months of hard work, the blacksmith finally completed the weapon, but no one knows what became of him after that. Some said he had been attacked by a thief who desired the sword, others said it was the curse of the goddess, but no one knew for sure.
Description: A copy of a famous sword.
Traits: Relatively powerful, but doesn't seem to accumulate MP...
Magic: "Sonic Burst" - Go home and be a family man.
Neat story? I got nothing... Just one more left... Bear with me.
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
NORTHERN SIREN - 11,800 Gold
History:
To a tiny pub in a northern port, a pretty young girl visited. Beautiful skin, alluring voice, all the men fell in love. She only carried with her a staff. She said she would sing.
Men gathered to see the girl. Squeezed into the tiny pub. The girl sang songs of the ocean. The men listened to her voice. They all tried to win her heart. But she would say: "No, not you."
One month later a traveler visited the pub where the girl now worked. Innocent eyes, handsome face. His smile was so charming. She knew what she had to do. She told him that he was the one.
Next day, the girl left with the boy. Leaving only her staff and a letter. The staff was a token of thanks. The letter said: "I'm an ocean spirit and it was time I went home." Men sang: "You could just have said so."
Description: A siren's staff.
Traits: Conjures spells for ground-sweep magic.
Magic: "Siren's Tail" - Glistening balls of water wash over the enemy. Way too many of these weapon magic spell descriptions sound like some bad sexual innuendo...
Sirens are such cock teases. Anyway, that's it for weapons available in the Village of the Tower. However, during this intermission we can visit the other villages across the land for a few extra cutscenes. Let's take a look...
The Village of Sand
"But why? We haven't done anything to make the gods angry!" "Maybe the humans drive the gods to anger just by being alive." "I bet it has something to do with that boy with the dragon and that other girl messing with the seals. Those meddling asses have doomed us all!" "A pox upon their names! Tch... 'We'll destroy the water fortress and restore the village.' It's been a month and I haven't seen a sodding drop of water! Useless bastards..."
"..."The Village of Stone
"Everything is burning!"
"Run! Get away from the village!"
"My flesh! It burned off ALL my flesh!"
"Well at least some good came 'o this..." "Where can we go?! The devil has wings!" "Quick! Get on your dragons and fly out of here!" "We don't HAVE bloody dragons! ARGH!!!"
"Damn!!"
Welp, good job getting that entire village killed, Nowe. On a lighter note, a new Free Expedition opens up around the District of Heavenly Time upon the completion of Chapter 8 and a new weapon comes with it. The stage is even less eventful than the first trip through, so I'll spare the details. The weapon is located opposite the room where the sword in the mission proper was located.
Drakengard 2 Weapon Stories posted:
SORROWBORN
History:
There was a small pond near a small village. This pond was said to have been created by the tears of young lovers torn apart. One such lover, a boy left behind in the village when his lover's family moved away, longed to see the one he sighed for just once more
One day a spirit of the pond appeared before the boy, and made a wager. If the boy could bring back some spiderwort that only grows in the far northwest mountains, it would bring the girl back. The boy left the village in search of the spiderwort and found a village in the northern lands. There, he also found his lost lover.
Reunited, the two lovers shed tears of joy. Sitting together in the small village, next to the small river, they talked until the sun set and made a solemn vow to marry each other. As night fell, the boy smiled contentedly, his dreams fulfilled. But it was only an illusion created by the treacherous fog of the forest. The boy died, alone in the darkness.
The spirit of the pond mourned for the boy's unrequited love. It sealed the lovers' tears into this spear, praying for their happiness in the afterlife.
Description: A spear of lovers torn apart.
Traits: Possesses a great variety of attacks. Very powerful.
Magic: "Serpent's Fang" - Giant icicles erupt from the ground, impaling the enemy.
Even the woods troll people in Cavia games. Oh, and thanks for giving me yet another spear for a dead character. That's quite helpful, game.
Okay, I believe that is quite enough of weapon collecting for one update. Let's head on to Chapter 9 proper and see just how much more Nowe and Manah can manage to fuck-up this world!
Verse 1: The Red Dragon - Music: "Exhausted" ~ On the Holy Land
"I cannot tell, either. It's an explosion of rage... I fear her mind is broken."
"Broken?" "Yes, you know... More than a few screws loose. Not firing on all cylinders. Mad as a hatter..." "I have NO idea what any of those expressions mean. But I know what a broken mind means, Legna..." "Hmph... There's a rarity."
"I decided to become the final seal not for the sake of humans! It was for...for...for him. I cannot remember who..." "Hey! Do you understand me? I want to talk to you!" "My boy that is not a g...what is wrong with you...?!"
<snort> "Verdelet, why did you deceive me?"
"She's gone mad..." "So great was her suffering. Fool... Never trust a human." "Legna?" "Isn't that being a bit harsh...?" "Hmph. While I'd love to go on a lengthy tirade about what treacherous wastes of flesh and air human kind is...now is not the time, boy." "There's no use in talking. Let's fight, my boy."
"And then maybe you will have the hindsight to see that this seal destroying campaign was ill-advised from the get-go. But, we are past the point of no return for those musings." "Her power is growing without a conscience to control it! The world will soon be engulfed in flames." "Alright. Let's try to stop her attack. We have to earn some time."
So once more we need to play catch-up with Red. But this time, there is a terrible gimmick for doing so...
As we pursue Angelus across the wastes, she will occasionally spit out magical rings of fire in her wake. Should Legna fly through these rings, he'll absorb their energy and negate the attack.
If Legna misses the ring, the fireballs circling it will immediately home in on his position, causing massive damage. So basically, we've got to play fly through the target rings to make it through this stage until the clock runs down. Hey, if it worked for Superman 64...
It seems quite evident by now that Nowe completely spaced out during Seere's whole spiel about how he and Manah had screwed the pooch.
"With all the seals destroyed, the world will end." "Did you...not just state knowledge of as much just five minutes ago...?" "Uhh...I was just checking to see if YOU knew what would happen..." "...Indeed."
After the timer runs down, Red will gain a huge speed boost and sail off in one direction. Following her takes us back to a familiar location. Funny...I could have sworn this place blew the fuck up in a previous cutscene...
"The red dragon has a human ally?" "Indeed. Whoever has heard of such a thing happening...?" "We do not reveal our given names very easily. They must have close bond. That is for sure."
"But, then why do you let everyone know your name...?" "Well, at first I only revealed it you, my boy. But then somehow once you found yourself in the company of other humans it became common knowledge rather quickly. I'm not sure how that happened..." "I see... And...what is her name?"
"No. Set me down out of sight. I'll go through the castle and sneak into the courtyard." "A surprise attack? A-ha! You're learning."
And so Legna drops Nowe and Manah off on the roof of the Castle of the Goddess so they can sneak up behind the winged, extremely violent and on edge dragon. I'm sure that plan will succeed brilliantly for them...
General Village Misery Cutscenes
Verse 1 Cutscenes
Music: "Exhausted" ~ On the Holy Land (This is a pretty good track. You should probably listen to it.)
Drakengard 2 Cast Early Concept Sketches