Part 7: Flesh and Steel

Update 07 - Flesh and Steel

Welcome back. Last time we gathered some tablets engraved with images of two-headed animals. Now it’s time to put them to use.







This door leads straight to where we need to go. It was locked when we tried to get through from the other side, but now we can unlock it for a shortcut.



We find ourselves back in the conference room.



Now that we’re back we can finally solve this puzzle.



Each of the four tablets belongs in one of the slots here. It’s not hard to discern which goes where, the order was shown when we used psychometry to read them in the fifth update. The order is snake, eagle, wolf, monkey.



Once all of the tablets have been placed a scene is triggered.





Rion hears a noise and turns around.









The huge decorative eagle splits in half, revealing a hidden doorway.



Examining the map after the scene ends reveals a whole new passageway has appeared. With this we can bypass the remaining locked door and explore the rest of the level.



The secret hallway is dark and lined with pipes - probably a repurposed maintenance corridor.











Things are fairly quiet until you go past the bend, where an armoured trooper lies in wait.



It’s tough but not impossible to run past him, which is what I do here. Even at Lv. 2 fighting troopers isn’t worth it, especially in such a narrow space.



The door is right around the corner anyway, so we can just forget about him forever.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 3



Or maybe not, since the next room has three more of the bastards stomping around.



There’s some more Skip in here. I snag it even though Rion can’t go beyond Lv. 3, because reasons.





This door leads back into the lobby with the statue. Useful if you’ve forgotten anything.









The stairs lead to progress, but there’s an optional area we can explore before that.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 2



We find ourselves in a room similar to the freezer from earlier.





There are some items in the corners, but what are those weird pods in the middle?



I have a bad feeling about this. Alright, let’s use psychometry to see what’s inside.



...I see that Dr. Lem has been cribbing research samples from Umbrella Corp. Let’s back away slowly and hope that-



*Sound of glass smashing*



Oh, goddamnit.



These red-skinned freaks are Arabesques. They’re similar to the Hunters from Resident Evil, only less dangerous since you can set them on fire with your mind.



They jump around a lot, sometimes to claw at you, sometimes to dodge your attacks.



They can also puke up puddles of acid which hurt you if you step in them.



Arabesques are also tough as nails. It takes two fully charged Lv. 2 Red blasts to take one down, and lighting them on fire doesn’t stun them like it does other enemies.



Still, enough damage and they keel over just like any other foe.







There’s just one room left unexplored.



A save point stands off to Rion’s right. It’s a very good idea to use it.





I take some brain ‘roids, then open the door.





This room is pretty big.



It’s also got a big metal ball in the middle.



Aha! A lift! Could this be our ticket out of here?





Unfortunately it’s locked down, and judging by the shadowy silhouette revealed by our reading only Dr. Lem can operate it.



Perhaps we can bypass it via this terminal. Examining it twice triggers a scene.



: PLEASE SPELL OUT YOUR NAME.



: R…I…O…N.





: THE FAMILY PROGRAM IS TOP SECRET. PLEASE GIVE THE PASSWORD.



: THE FAMILY PROGRAM IS TOP SECRET! ACCESS FORBIDDEN WITHOUT PASSWORD!



Rion concentrates, using his psychic powers to brute-force the password.



His efforts are partially successful, and the computer begins to divulge information. (The voice carries on in the background for the rest of the scene, but I’ll dump the text of it here as one giant lump.)

: FIRST NAME: RION. LAST NAME: STEINER. SEX: MALE. AGE: SIXTEEN. DATE OF BIRTH: 2506. FATHER: ALBERT STEINER. MOTHER: ELSA STEINER. ADDRESS: 287911A MICHAELANGELO CITY.





Unfortunately, it also distracts him enough for Dr. Lem to sneak up on him.



: You’re a natural, Rion. Just as I expected!

: Dr. Lem?



: I can’t believe how much you’ve progressed in only a month!

: Who am I? What is the Family Program?



: Rion, there are many things you are better off not knowing.



: This is Nalcon. You’ll short circuit if I inject you with it. You don’t want to die, do you? Return to the isolation ward!



: No!





Rion forces the Beeject away with his powers.

: R-Rion! Such strength…!





Lem is unable to hold on, and the Beeject goes flying.





That cane is a work of art and I want one.

: So be it! It’s the freeze chamber for you!



Rion is not impressed.



Not. One. Bit.



The scene fades out, and we are immediately thrust into Galerians’ first boss battle. I’d post the boss music, but it’s not on the OST.



Clinic Chief Lem doesn’t seem too bad at first. His only attack is to swipe at you clumsily with his cane, and while he can run he only really does so to catch up with you if you leave the screen he’s on.



He’s also very weak to Red.



Two shots of Lv. 3 Red are enough to put him down. Attack Lv. 3 is absurdly lethal since it vastly decreases charge time.



Of course, that's only the first stage of the fight. The screen goes dark, and ominous clanking and mechanical sounds begin to play.



When the scene returns, we see that Lem has decided to turn into the Terminator.



Cyborg Lem is an asshole. I’m not joking when I say he might even be the hardest boss in the game.



His basic attack is a flying shoulder tackle that cannot be interrupted, travels a tremendous distance and takes off about a fifth of Rion’s health. It also has a knockdown effect that leaves us wide open for more damage.





Cyborg Lem is totally immune to Red and cannot be knocked down even with a fully charged blast of Nalcon. He is very tough, has a huge amount of health and runs at the same speed Rion does.



After you deal some damage to him Lem will start to use a ground pound attack. It may be possible to interrupt Lem during the animation, but I’ve never managed it. As far as I know this attack cannot be avoided and will always hit for a small amount of damage.



The pound also stuns you for a second or two. You absolutely do not want Lem to catch you while you’re stunned.



If he does, this happens. He punches you twice, then slams you into the ground, taking off a large amount of health.



Occasionally Lem’s cybernetics will spaz out, giving you a brief window to attack or, more likely, run the hell away.



There’s no easy way to fight Lem directly. You can evade his charge by using the metal ball in the middle of the room as cover, and if you’re far enough away you’ll recover from any stuns before he reaches you. Try to deal as much damage as possible very quickly, before he inevitably drops your health below half and robs you of your extra attack levels. Even in the best case you’ll need all the Recovery Capsules and Skip tablets you’ve found so far to keep up with him.



Eventually, after a long, hard battle, Lem will go down. Many, many new players have trouble with him, and it’s not hard to see why - he’s basically the Tyrant from the first Resident Evil, only more aggressive and you don’t have a huge Magnum or rocket launcher to deal with him.

Fortunately, there something you can do that will absolutely trivialise Lem. Something so simple you probably won’t even think of doing it.



Go into the fight with a full AP bar, then Short out.



Guess what? Despite being a boss, Lem is not immune to having his head popped. He dies instantly, just like regular enemies!



Even his cyborg form kicks it, with a special death animation to boot! Given how hard he is normally, I think this was probably the way players were intended to win. Also, it makes his prior threat about overloading Rion with Nalcon totally empty.

Regardless of how you choose to fight him, examining Lem’s body after his death triggers a new scene.





Rion reaches down and pulls out Lem’s cybernetic eye.





The device scans it, and the elevator doors open.











Rion slumps against the wall, clearly exhausted by everything that’s happened.



: Heh heh heh…



A creepy-looking man giggles to himself as he watches Rion through the surveillance camera.



: I escaped from Michaelangelo Memorial Hospital, knowing nothing but my name.



: I found a picture of my family at the hospital, but just when their faces started looking familiar, the memories slipped away, as if I had never known them.



: What was I doing there?



: My mind was all cloudy, and I couldn’t remember a thing. I was all alone.







And there we have it! The first stage of the game is complete.

Michelangelo Memorial Hospital is a really neat starting area. It does a good job of ratcheting up the tension and creating a subtle sense of dread that grows heavier the further you progress. Enemy types are varied and force you to switch up your strategies, and while some of the puzzles are irritating there aren’t that many of them and none are massively obtuse. Lem is a tough boss, but that just makes figuring out how to gank him all the more satisfying.

Anyhow, that’s it for the first stage. See you next time, when we explore a creepy abandoned house in order to piece together more of Rion’s past.