Part 63: Episode XLV: In Which a New Path Begins

Episode XLV: In Which a New Path Begins



New Music: Blissade - Raphael (You should really listen to this.)



So... this is happening now. Time to face Raphael the Love Spider. Did you know spiders born of love energy have remarkable flatulence? It's true! Also that said flatulence is composed of deadly neurotoxins? It's all accurate. Such is the dangerous nature of premarital relations, kids: Three story tall poisonous doom-spiders.



Due to the regular pumping of poison vapors from Raphael's body, we have a five minute time limit to squash this spider or else Mikhail and Zero will succumb to the poison for an instant game over. Honestly, this thing has way the hell too much of a wall of HP to reasonably beat in that time period and I've bested it a grand total of once without continuing to bump down the difficulty cuz fuck it. It's not a hard battle at all outside running out of time to kill the damn thing. It's just tedious and unfun.





Raphael has the same issue of Dubstep Crab where its top half is resistant (not entirely invulnerable this time) to Mikhail's fireballs. So we need to roast the soft underbelly. This requires a well timed headbutt from our dragon into Raphael's face. But, Branch B's final boss will not just topple over like Five's tacky doof of an angel.





Instead, gas chamber tarantula will rear back long enough to muster a web-shot to shoot out toward Mikhail's position. Getting nailed with this will stun Mikhail for a time, leaving him and Zero open to attack. Mikhail is far too young a dragon to be getting hit in the face with sticky white stuff. Especially while on a tight schedule.







However, evading the webslinging action will cause Raphael's shot to become stuck to the magic dome covering the arena. By the way there's a magic dome covering the arena. Very good idea to avoid going near it because Drakengard 3's camera does not appreciate it. Anyway, now we can pull a follow-up headbutt ram and knock the bastard on its back for some gas lighting action.



Think I'm... going numb...
<huff><huff...> Urrrgh... <huff> <huff>
Hey! Hey, you good?!
<huff> Am I... good... at what...?
Ugh, for God's sake!
Z-Zero... Are you... okay?
Shut up and worry about yourself!



It's important to keep our distance from Raphael as he recovers from its stun cycle. He will immediately retaliate with a shockwave butt stomp... or whatever the spider equivalent of a butt stomp is... Do spiders have butts? They must. Regardless, that does a decent tick of damage if Mikhail is caught in its radius.



The asphyxiation arachnid can additionally try to whack Mikhail out of the air if he lingers near him around ground level. It doesn't hurt too badly. I mean they're spider legs. They can only do so much. Has anyone ever died from a webspinner in Resident Evil? They never even bothered to give the player death animations against spiders they were so non-threatening.



Last, but certainly not least, Cent and Two's summon has by far the most annoying attack in its poison cloud spitting technique. It can fire it off at any time, it blends into the background, and it has a wonky ass hitbox that is twice the size of what it looks like it ought to cover from the cloud. If Mikhail isn't already in motion when Raphael spits poison it can be awfully hard to evade. And getting knocked to the ground high up and having to deal with Mikhail's ten second recovery animation ain't ideal in a timed boss battle.



I've got this damn flower. I'll be fine.
That's great... <wheeze> I'll... <wheeze> I'll try real hard... okay? <wheeze>
Let's squash this asshole and get the hell out of here! He's vulnerable after he spits that poison... Wait until he's open, then let loose!
<wheeze> Okay...
Watch out for that thread! Get out of the way when he's firing that junk!



Never mind me, what about you!?
I'll... I'll try hard... <wheeze> Real hard... <gasp>
Goddammit!



Alright game, you've already killed off the entirety of Zero's party outside Mikhail. It would be preferable if you didn't have our dumb baby dragon sidekick suffocate. Thanks...

Music: Silence



And so Raphael goes up in flames. The smell would probably be overpowering... were the air not already filled with purple poison gas. Still at least we made it through without hearing Amazing Grace. At least Mikhail will not become the Raincoat Killer. That would just be silly.



Despite the victory over the final angel, Mikhail collapses to the ground and dumps Zero off his back following the fight's conclusion. Not even a trophy unlock can keep the weakened dragon on its feet.



Gah... Get out of there, idiot!



Move it! The poison's gonna... You're gonna...



Hehe... Guess I tried a little too hard...



No! No, you have to reincarnate! Do it now!



S-Sorry, Zero... But... I think... I'm done...
I'm... really sorry... Zero...

Music: Descendus - Instrumental





AAAAAAAAARRRHHHHHHHHH!!



<pounds on Mikhail> Don't you die on me, you asshole! Don't you... Don't you DARE leave me alone again!
Why does this... keep happening to me? <cries>



Goddamn flower!
.....



.....
Flower...



.....



...I'm sorry.



So I have no explanation as to anything that is happening at this point. But the end result might be vaguely familiar. I'll just let this play out...





By the power of my song, I hereby forge a pact in exchange for the life of this dragon!



Gods of the east...



...goddesses of the west. I offer up the flame of my life--





And whatever nonsense incantation Zero casts trails off at this point. So hey, a pact. Remember those from Drakengard 1 and 2? They were kind of a big deal. Yeah, turns out Zero invented the concept only a little over a century before Drakengard 1. That was nice of her to do in the prequel. Drakengard would have been a far shorter tale otherwise.





I want you to know... I'm glad we met.

























Ugh. C'mon Drakengard 3... we've been over this already. Stop calling attention to those atrocious background assets. I've seen more convincing mountains in SNES platformers.



<shakes head>



...Zero?



Nice flower you've gotten yourself there, Mikhail. I hear it's really in fashion. Wait why is there a kid talking...?





Sorry, sorry. I'm up now.





...Zero.



New Music: Kuroi Uta

So... I think it was implied Zero got the Michael > Mikhail treatment and got transformed into a child by her pact price. They just couldn't be arsed to make a child Zero model that would only appear for fifteen seconds. And... I guess that's an ending! At least not everyone died this time around. Well... I guess technically a lot more characters died overall... Eh.

Drakengard! 3!























Update.
By utilizing the reprogramming function of the flower, the singularity known as Zero has created a new concept known as a pact.



I do not know how this will affect the future. However, I will continue to observe events as they unfold.



M3250_E0970_FL: End Recording.



And that concludes Branch B of Drakengard 3.



Two branches remain. So does quite a bit of the Intoner Sisters' DLC. There's still a lot more Drakengard 3 left to go... There... There sure is... Oi...








Video: Raphael Boss Battle


Video: Drakengard 3 Ending B (It's an ending. Watch it.)



Raphael Official Art



Raphael Battle Concept Art