Part 72: Episode LIII: This is a Story About Gigante Lapses in Ethics

Episode LIII: This is a Story About Gigante Lapses in Ethics



Music: Strumble

We rejoin Three for the second DLC mandated campfire scene of the chapter. Gabriella has bailed on this prologue with zero notice. I cannot say I blame her. But Octa and a couple of Armisael dolls have rejoined Three's party for this final verse.

For some reason Three has a ridiculous lumbering gait during the campfire scenes as though she is some manner of hunchbacked golem. Someone on staff must have really been bored to animate a unique walk cycle that will be used for all of twenty seconds total. Regardless, I'm glad it's there because it looks silly. Let's lumber over and see how everyone is fairing since our dragon cruise intermission.



Me? Oh, just on a little errand.
Hmm...
Well, if you want me to be perfectly honest... I was off "enjoying" myself in the deep forest.
Ah.
I apologize for the delay. However, I reached my fever state a record 592 times!
You... counted.
Keeping one's memory sharp is what helps maintain youth, after all!
.....
Had you been watching, my lady, I likely could have muddied the path an additional 399 times!

Well, that was entirely too much information. I hope the soldiers' souls bound in these dolls are just a fuel source and not trapped in a hellish limbo hearing and seeing everything that happens around them with no control over their new forms. That would be a less than stellar time for all involved.



Yes?
A good hobby can add spice to anyone's life. However, if they aren't careful, it can also consume their life. Have you ever thought that perhaps you might spend a bit too much time on your... doll-making activities?
It's fun. And I have lots of things I want to research.
Of course, my lady. I know how seriously you treat your work--both in the laboratory AND between the sheets! And that, you see, is why I can't help but worry.
.....
So what say you set aside your crafts for a spell while we focus on removing a few stubborn clogs from the drain--
No.
Ah, my poor loins. I fear they never be brought to a rolling boil again...

How many hours a day do you think Octa sits around thinking up euphemisms for sex and his junk?

...

On second thought, I don't want to know. Or why I even had that thought. Let's just... get this final mission started, eh?



Did something happen?
One told me to dispatch the children I've been keeping in the Land of Seas.
Ah. So that's where your next set of failed experiments are hiding, mmm?
Not failed. Gifted. They are gifted children. I don't want to break them.
But if we let them live, my lady, who knows what would happen?
I know. It's just...
My poor lady! I think what you need is a quick game of hide-the-schnitzel in-the-moist--
No.
.....
Could I even make such masterpieces again? I don't want to go to the Land of Seas. I don't want to destroy my children.
I know how you feel, my lady, but we must see this through to the end. It would be most unwise for us to begin questioning Lady One's orders, would it not?
...How frustrating.
Now, now! Don't be so gloomy! I shall engrave your wondrous masterpieces forever in my heart.
Really? ...What color are the fireworks of hope?
Er... Why the strange riddles, my lady?
Heh heh heh. Make sure you really do look closely and engrave them in your heart. Never forget it... That's our iridescent promise.

Verse 4: Masterpieces



For this final mission we will be making a return trip to Five's Colosseum. It looks quite a bit different from our first visit here. Indeed, they actually took the effort to make a unique level out of it for this mission. I mean, it is still the Dubstep Crab boss arena just without the yellow tint and filled with assets from the sunken city mission of Chapter 1 arranged in a grid format. But hey, it's nice they finally put some effort into this particular Prologue chapter.



Our goal for this final mission is to destroy Three's "masterpiece" children. Given the several dozen botched experiments we've had to euthanize this chapter, I am not sure I want to know what Three considers a successful experiment. But, here we go...



Is this where you left your "masterpieces," Lady Three?
Yes. My masterpieces. The greatest work of my life.





The Colosseum is a maze life series of roads lined with narrow alleyways and side-paths criss-crossing between them. It is lousy with dead end paths and it is quite easy to get lost in if we're not careful. To initiate the first round, we need to do a bit of exploring to get semi-acquainted with our surroundings and trigger the first wave of enemies.

Music: Prevolt - Armaros



The theme for this mission is gigantes. Not tiny gigantes or pumped full of psychotropics and tweaking out gigantes. Just a standard, killed dozens of times previously sort of gigas duo as our first wave challenge.



I suppose they do have something of an... elegant... air.
No.
Oh?
These are normal children. A warm-up.
I beg your pardon, my lady. These old eyes have seen better days... Of course, my "third" eye's still sharp as a tack! Ho ho!



A warm-up indeed. At this rate the gigas race is going to be extinct in a few decades.

...

Wait... there aren't any gigantes around by the time Drakengard 1 rolls around. I guess this game straight up is an extinction event for the gigas species. Poor giant goofs.





Round Two swaps out the fresh-faced warm-up gigas variety with their battle beaten, less healthy cousins of the undead variety. Again, no noteworthy enhancements to this pair of adversaries. Just your everyday zombified giants monster men.



Did you make them as well?
No. Think of these children as merely spare parts. They're the junk left over from my other work. Like the bones of a half-eaten fish.
I must say, I'm starting to feel a bit bad for them...



Bah. C'mon. Two was dealing with two undead gigantes at a time on mission two of the last DLC chapter. This is nothing. Bring on some fresh meat!







Huh. Well... Perhaps I spoke a bit soon. This is certain a new item on the menu.

Music: Blissade - Egregori





Meet the final boss of Three's Prologue DLC: The Greater Gigantes. Unlike the previous copy and pasted dullard gigas sets we've been challenged by, these two are not playing around. First, let's hear a bit about this brand spanking new gigas sub-species.



Something seems a tad different with these gigantes.
Yes, that's because I crossed them with humans.
Gyaaaaaaaaagh!
Three... The accursed Intoner! You... You alone must die!
Ahhh... Faaather! Mooooootheeerrr! No! Please... Noooooo...
Humans? B-But, my lady, that--
<double speed speaking> See? Look at how they talk. A regular gigas is totally incapable of speech. But crossing them with humans was hard, because human minds and bodies are such fragile things. Once you scare a human, it's no longer useful. Just the sight of blood make them freeze up. So I had to mix and match a bit to try and get the results I was looking for. First, I had to figure out a way to stop the screaming, which took a little while. THEN, I had to clean up all the goo and junk, which took even longer. I had to work fast, you see, because time was pretty short.
Um... Oh dear...
But it didn't work. A simple melding of human and gigas, I mean. Human are far less durable than gigantes, for one. That makes it hard to balance them out. I tried. I tried and tried. I killed lots and lots of humans and gigantes along the way. It was the only way. I had so many beloved soldiers I wanted to build.
Lady Three...





So we are facing horrific human-gigas hybrid abominations. This melding has granted the Greater Gigantes an entirely different moveset from their predecessors. For one, the greater gigas can haul ass at a full sprint and does so at all times in their pursuit of Three. They've also mastered the trick ability of stopping from a sprint without nosediving into the dirt. They'll immediately come to an adept halt if Three should run past their charge and correct themselves. Or otherwise they'll just shoulder-block their creator a city block away to come to an emergency stop. There is a reason for all these narrow alleys in this map and it is to avoid pissed greater gigas having the street areas on lock-down.





Beyond the charging attacks making the wider lanes of the battle arena unsafe, greater gigantes can slam their clubs into the ground and create a shockwave of explosions that travel the entire length ahead of the attack point to the nearest wall. Again, alleys and alcoves off the main path are Three's friend unless she wants to get juggled down the road for a third of her total HP.





The greater gigantes have the same standard attacks as the undead gigas. Except instead of a meandering single hit strike with huge wind-ups and recovery animations, they've all been strung together into a rage filled thrashing combo. Three really needs to be nowhere near this when set-off if she values being not being flat as pancake like say Four.



One final noteworthy quirk with this boss is that the greater gigantes actually have AI that can lose track of our Intoner sister if she slips down alleys and loop back around behind a patrolling gigas.





Three can even creep up to an unaware greater gigante and stab 'em in the ankle for a stealth attack that knocks the armored behemoth on its ass stunned for a nice chunk of time. This is the most efficient way of taking out Three's masterpieces as they take double damage while stunned. Popping off Intoner mode as they fall is a great way to just tear through the health reserves of a single greater gigas. Especially if its partner is searching for Three elsewhere.



<speaking maniacally from here on out> But my research found the answer... Human strength is governed by emotion.
Your... research?
Yes. My research. Research to create the perfect soldier. I decided I had to cross between assorted emotion sets.
Cross? You don't mean--
Of course I do! Why wait for the right emotions to come along when it's quicker to make them yourself?
.....



Fifty-six.
You counted!?
Keeping one's memory sharp is what helps maintain youth, after all!
I cannot believe this...
Octa! Hey, Octa! Guess what? Octa! Hey, Octa! Guess what?
I cannot, my lady...
You want to know which humans had the highest durability levels? The ones who were filled with hate! So I gathered up a few nearby villagers and I... Heh hah! And I... Heh hah hah!
Please, my lady! No more!
I killed a guy right in front of them! They didn't even see it coming! Just hacked him into little bits!
My... lady...
And then, while everyone was standing around all shocked and horrified... I made him into a soldier! Right there on the spot! It was a TOTAL SUCCESS! Isn't that great!? Heh hah! Heh haha!



Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kiiiiill!
Motherrr... Mooo...therrrrr... Faaatherrrrrr...
Yes! Yes! Higher! You must go higher! Y'know, Octa... Thinking of the right situation to amplify human hatred is so much fun! Humans get angry at the littlest things. You'd be surprised how easy it was to set them off. Like, I'd threaten to kill the women before killing the men. That made the men SO ANGRY! They couldn't even stand it! Then I'd tell everyone I was gonna make them watch. I'd threaten to hold their eyes open with my own two hands... And then I'd grab my scissors and ************* until the ******************* started flying. It was great! Oh, and blood sprays REALLY boost the hate. Isn't this all just the BEEEEEEST!? Hehuhuhuh!
Stop, my lady, please! I cannot take any more!



Hraaaaaaaaaagh! You piece-of-shit Intoner!
Soldiers made from hate are strong! They fight like no one else. Although they are juuust a little hard to control. Maybe that's why One never wanted to accept them. She never accepted these children, just like she never accepted me for giving them life. Why? Why, Octa? Isn't that cruel of her? Don't you think!? Hmm!?
.....
How could she dismiss such beautiful, gifted children!? They're the best soldiers ever! Aaah hah hah! Ah hah hah hah!
Forgive me, my lady. But I, too, simply cannot accept it.
Huh? What? I can't hear you! Heh hah hah hah! Hah hah hah hah! Hah hah hah! People grow stronger when they lose something precious. Heh. So I take whatever's most precious to them! I take it, and create powerful soldiers! Heh hah! Hah hah hah! Hah hah hah hah hah!
.....





Right then. I suppose Octa's defection from Three makes a bit more sense when it turns out she's anime magical girl Josef Mengele. Regardless, taking down both of the greater gigante soldiers makes this trail of slaughter complete. Just like the trophy says.



...Yes, my lady?



Music: Descendus



The Intoner's hobby caused her to lay hands upon human beings.



Once she crossed that line, nothing could stop her.



The elderly man silently excused himself from the room. He chided himself for his impotence...



...as he mourned for his now-broken Intoner...



And that brings the final mission of Three's Prologue chapter to a close. In the end we learned that not only was Three an insane weirdo, she was a really fucking insane weirdo. No half-measures if you're going to embrace madness in the realm of Drakengard.



As with all the Intoner Sisters, the completion of this DLC Prologue earns their signature weapon for Zero's ever expanding collection. Before we close the book on this lackluster chapter, let's take a look at Three's scissor's weapon history.


Well... With all the experimentation on the limits of human suffering and cross-breeding species and binding souls to dolls and the like going on with Three... At least she didn't murder any children this whole tale! That we know of... Coming off of the previous prologue, at least that is something... Right...?








Video: Three's Prologue Verse 4 Highlight Reel
Video: Jump to the Greater Gigante Fight (Worth watching at least this.)



Greater Gigante Concept Art