Part 2: Shorting Out

Update 02: Shorting Out

Welcome back. Last time our protagonist escaped from his restraints and figured out a way to open the door to his isolation room. What trials and terrors await us outside? Let’s find out.





The scientist hears the door open and looks around.

: Rion!



: W-what am I doing here?

: How did you get out of your restraints?!

: What was in that shot you gave me?



: Rion! Return to your bed now!



: How did I get this power? Why can I do this?





The scientist clutches his head and falls to his knees as Rion psychically compels him to answer.

: Grrh! I-I don’t know anything! I just administer the PPECs!

: What? It’s all because of the Psychic Power Enhancement Chemicals?



: Ask Clinic Chief Lem! He knows all about it!

: Clinic Chief Lem…

Music: Galerians - Hospital Battle



After the cutscene ends we’re thrown into the game’s first combat section, because the scientist from before has decided the best thing to do right now is to attack the confused and angry child he’s just finished injecting with superpower-inducing chemicals.



As this is the first real battle it’s not too challenging. The scientist walks toward Rion at a snail’s pace and can be easily outmanoeuvred even with the game’s clunky tank controls.



His one attack is a jab with a handheld taser that deals negligible damage. I’m showing it here, but there’s really no excuse for getting hit by it.



Taking the guy down is simple enough. Holding R1 will cause the charge wheel in the upper right to overlay the other stats.



Charging the wheel up to full power at level one takes just slightly under a second. When the wheel is fully charged tapping the X button will blast whatever is in front of you with whichever psychic ability you have selected.



In this case the ability is Nalcon, which is essentially a telekinetic shockwave. Nalcon is not a particularly damaging power, but it can hit multiple enemies at once if they’re clustered together. It’s also very reliable since no enemy in the game is immune to it. When in doubt, use Nalcon.



The scientist is a chump, so he goes down in one hit. With him out of the picture we’re free to check around and see what we can find.



The topmost computer terminal yields a Recovery Capsule. Unlike what the medical documents imply these drugs refill your entire HP bar no matter how injured you are.



Using an item requires pressing Select. This will bring up the menu. The menu is divided into three layers. The top layer lets you switch your active psychic ability.



The second layer holds your key items, like the medical notes we found last update. Some key items are only held for a chapter, while others stay with you the entire game.



The third layer is for consumables such as the Recovery Capsule we just picked up. Rion starts the game with a Recovery Capsule already in his inventory, as well as two of another kind of drug.



Delmetor is an important item and I’ll be explaining more about it in a minute. For now let’s continue our search.



There is clearly something on the second monitor, so let’s snag it.





A security card. No doubt this will come in handy soon.







Flavour text aside, there’s nothing more for us to do here, so let’s leave through the only other door.



This corridor is patrolled by three scientists, all three of whom will aggro us almost immediately. This gives me a chance to show off the other power we’ve been granted.



Red lets us set enemies on fire. It’s more damaging than Nalcon, but it’s much more difficult to hit multiple enemies with it. Certain foes are also immune to it, so you need to be careful when you have it equipped.





After immolating the scientists I bring up the map to give everyone a sense of where we are. The map is a feature that I really appreciate, and I wish other early survival horror titles had a map system as good as this one.







Turning the corner we come across a strange statue, but more importantly the bar marked ‘AP’ has filled up and begun to flash. This has no immediate effect, but will be very important fairly soon.









Through the next door we come to a security checkpoint.



Reading the card reader will show you where the security card is if you somehow didn’t manage to find it.







The big security door unlocks, and we’re free to proceed. Doing so triggers another cutscene.





An alarm blares in the security office, alerting the guards.



: What the hell are those doctors up to?!





: Well, it looks like the rabbit’s out of his cage.



: Return to your room, and you won’t get hurt!





Unfortunately for the guard, stun batons aren’t that scary to someone who can set people on fire with his mind.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Battle



The guard is a little close, but there should be enough time to charge up a full dose of Red. Let’s-



Oh. That can’t be good. I think something might have gone-



Jesus Christ!



Welcome to one of Galerians’ more interesting game mechanics - Shorting. When your AP bar completely fills up, the next time you press R1 Rion’s powers will overload and go haywire, detonating the brains of any nearby enemies. In this state Rion’s movement is slowed to a crawl and his HP will rapidly decrease until he keels over and dies.



Shorting does not wear off naturally. You need a specific drug in order to cure it. However, the status can actually be very beneficial if you utilise it correctly.



Enemies will panic when they see that Rion is shorting.



They will run away, trip over, and generally do their best to get the hell out of dodge.



Some will even break down and cower in a corner.



Not that any of that helps them in the end.



Naturally, there’s the small problem that Shorting will eventually kill us. This can be solved by taking the drug Delmetor.



Taking Delmetor empties your AP bar and stops the Short. The AP bar basically represents Rion’s mental stress. It ticks up gradually all the time, and using powers such as Nalcon or Red cause it to fill up faster. Thankfully it’s not nearly as annoying to manage as it sounds, since Delmetor is reasonably common and you can’t actually Short until you press R1 to charge your powers.



There are several things to do in this room.





Searching here gives us a key that will be useful down the line.







Hitting this button on the control panel opens a door we need to progress.



Examining the mirror triggers a brief scene.





: This is my face?



: Who am I?





Images of a strange manor house flash through Rion’s mind.



: How long have I been here…?



All very good questions. Unfortunately Rion is going to have to wait for answers, because this is the end of this update. Join me next time as we venture deeper into the Hospital and muddle our way through some good old fashioned puzzles.