Part 11: The Bird Man
Update 11: The Bird ManWelcome back. Last time we uncovered the true reasons behind the events that have dogged Rion since the game began. Now it’s time to head down into the manor’s hidden basement, and uncover the final secrets of this damned household.
The basement is dark at first.
Trying to examine anything while the lights are off just gives this message. Thankfully, turning them on isn’t too hard.
Press the switch under the green light and hey, everything’s lit up.
The only collectible here is some Red on the desk.
That chair…it kind of looks like the equipment we saw at the hospital.
Sure enough, it has a similar purpose.
Reading the chair gives us this lovely image. Whatever the actual process was, it definitely looks painful.
Anyway, enough beating around the bush. The diary on the desk is what we’re really after.
Pascalle’s diary doesn’t tell us much that we didn’t already know, although it does confirm that Dorothy was keeping tabs on him as well. The mention of a child is disturbing, however, since it could very well have been one of the Galerians we’ve heard about.
More importantly, the diary contains the key to the shed, the one place in the manor that we have yet to explore. Taking it triggers a new cutscene.
: Heh heh heh… I’m tired of waiting.
: Who’re you?
: Heh heh heh heh… Me?
: Why, I’m the bird man.
: Was it you who killed my family?!
: No, it wasn’t me. Nope.
Birdman becomes intangible and fades away, reappearing behind Rion.
: It was my little brother.
: They died while he was rummaging through their minds. It must have hurt… Heh. Your head must ache too.
: You better tell me how to contact Lilia!
Rion refuses. Vehemently.
: Gah! Damn you!
: You stubborn fool…
Birdman vanishes again, leaving Rion alone.
We regain control back in the basement, with Birdman driven off and the key to the shed in our possession. Now we just need to get there and hope it contains something that’ll let us return Lilia’s calls.
Music: Galerians - Birdman
: Heh, heh…
However, it’s not that simple. Birdman has some kind of invisibility / intangibility power that lets him chase us all through the manor.
He usually appears right in Rion’s path. Touching him deals damage, but he’s fairly slow and one shot of Nalcon will get rid of him for a while.
Once you’re outside Birdman stops harassing you. From there on it’s an easy ride to the shed.
Alright, here we are. The one place we haven’t explored.
Let’s see what’s inside.
The shed is dark and dirty, but it contains some items of interest.
A vial of Nalcon, for one.
A dose of Skip, for another. This is the only Skip in the level, unless the player carries some over from the previous stage.
To advance the plot we need to examine the pile of junk at the back. Rion will note that there is an old doll on top.
The doll belongs to Lilia. You can see her holding it in nearly all the previous cutscenes of her.
With the doll in hand we can leave. Using the Skip we just picked up is a very good idea, for reasons that are probably very clear by now. Leaving triggers the penultimate cutscene of the stage.
: Rion…
: They’re looking for me… I’m scared…
: Don’t worry, I’m coming. I’ll get there before they do.
The scene suddenly shifts to a dark, grimy room. A girl lies on the couch, unmoving.
: Who’s that?! Rion?!
: Yes, it’s me, Lilia! I’m sorry - I don’t remember you very well.: Rion… What did they do to you…?: I don’t know. But don’t worry. I’ll protect you.
: *Sobs*: Why are you crying?: It’s just as papa said. He said that you’d come for me.
: And he said that until then, I must continue sending telepathic messages to my doll until I contacted you!: Lilia…where are you?
: The Babylon Hotel, in Michelangelo City.: I’ll be there soon.: Hurry, Rion!
Well, you have to hand it to Dr. Pascalle - the man certainly had a lot of faith that Rion would find Lilia’s doll locked away in the shed. Or maybe it was meant to be somewhere else but Dorothy’s attack screwed up whatever plans he had for it. Either way, we now have two-way communication with Lilia, and even know where she is!
Too bad Birdman’s here to ruin our fun.
: Argh! That hurt!
Rion whirls around, but Birdman teleports behind him.
: You better tell me where Lilia is! Your memory’s coming back, isn’t it?
: So, you’ve been watching me.
: Heh heh heh… Ever since you escaped from the hospital.
: Rrgh!
Birdman pummels Rion with Nalcon.
Rion takes it like a champ, then hits back twice as hard.
: Heh… Heh… I think I’m gonna short-circuit!
: I’ve never enjoyed anything this much! Ha ha ha ha!!Music: Galerians - Birdman
Without further ado, we are thrust into a boss battle against Birdman.
Birdman is tough, but not nearly as bad as Lem. His initial attack pattern is simple. He’ll teleport around a bit, occasionally attacking, other times chaining his teleports to fake you out.
Birdman initially attacks by pointing, shouting ‘Bang!’ and loosing a blast of Nalcon, which in his case is invisible. At this stage it’s not too hard to dodge, and so long as you keep moving he’s very unlikely to land a hit.
This is a good thing as Birdman is only really vulnerable while he’s attacking or about to attack. Both Red and Nalcon are effective against him, the latter moreso than the former, although it does take him longer to shrug off the flames. A good strategy is to go to one of the corners, charge up an attack and then hold it until Birdman teleports in.
After taking enough damage Birdman shakes things up. He becomes more aggressive, and also gains a new trick to counter the aforementioned strategy. Now if you try to charge up while he’s in the middle of teleporting he’ll appear behind you and blast you while you’re helpless. Irritating!
Amusingly, if you and Birdman attack at the same time you’ll both go flying in what I can only imagine as a psychic cross-counter.
After taking even more damage Birdman really takes the gloves off. Now every time he teleports two mirror images of him also pop up.
Only one is the real Birdman, but they all attack and all of them can damage you. They all attack at slightly different times too, meaning they can easily wind up stunlocking you.
There is a trick to figuring out which clone to attack. One of the clones always teleports in slightly ahead of the other two, and that one is always the real Birdman. Peg him a few times and the fight will enter its final phase.
Birdman stops using his clones and goes back to attacking by himself. This naturally makes him easier to deal with, but there’s a twist.
In this phase Birdman gains a new attack where he splits into three and carpet bombs the area with Nalcon. This attack has a huge radius and can only be avoided by immediately dashing to the edges of the area.
Another important detail is that unlike with Lem there is no way to cheese this fight. Shorting does not affect Birdman at all, because he is a Galerian and his brain is made of sterner stuff.
Birdman is a fairly tough boss, but he’s not invincible and will eventually go down for good.
Birdman falls to his knees, unable to continue fighting.
: Ugh…am I…gonna die?
: *Cough* *Cough*
: You…better be…careful…: Careful? Of what?: Why…yourself…of course…
And with that, Birdman dies.
: Lilia had continually called for me, through her ragged old doll that was left in the shed.
: In her mind was hidden the virus program for destroying the insane computer, and in mine, the system for accessing it.
: My parents are dead, and today I killed a man I had just met. What a nightmare this day has been.
: The day isn’t even over, and I still don’t know what the future will bring.
And that’s the end of the stage, and also the first disk! There are two more disks to go, although each contains only a single stage. The manor is a much better level than I remember it being, although the plot dump from Rion’s father still feels a little clumsy. We’re done with it now, though, so join me next time when we visit the Babylon Hotel.