Part 40: Dom Ruins Final

Welcome back! Last time



Oh, right, that guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukM5tBXPWoU (Polsy Link)

As always, skip down to "Battle Ends" to skip the screenshots.





It's time to queue up your favorite boss fight music and get this sonuvabitch started.



So we've had single-target bosses, bosses with mooks, and bosses with multiple independent parts. The final type of boss has two different parts that share the same HP pool.

You might think that AoE attacks would basically do double damage against targets like this, since each part's damage is subtracted from the total HP.



Unfortunately, though, the designers thought of that. All attacks treat the boss as just one enemy.



Even normal physicals.

This boss's gimmick (one of 'em, anyway) is that the head is nearly immune to IP knockback. It isn't stunned by attacks, and even criticals don't knock it back very far.



Another of its gimmicks is that the head uses Suck In as part of its normal attack. Unlike the Squid King, who had to use it as a special ability.



I've never looked closely at Ganymede's sprite before. I'm pretty sure that this point, forty lines into the update, is the most I've ever thought about it. Usually it's just "while (!dead) { hit(Ganymede)};"



Justin and Feena take the opportunity to practice some Wind magic.



Oh no. Damage. What ever shall I do.





The shell here is charging up the only attack it can do that can hit people at a distance.





Sue and Feena take the opportunity to split up. They both have long-range techs, so they can hit the boss without moving into the danger zone.





Unlike the head, the shell is perfectly content to have its IP stunned or knocked back by attacks.



Ahh, what luck! The boss's third and final attack is queued up and ready to go. Note that he's targeting Sue here.



Motherfucker just clubs whoever's in front of him off to the other side of the battlefield.



Feena's Knife Hurl gets her up to Knives 10, where she learns a new technique. Random Hurl is just a Knife Hurl that hits all enemies.

Also, Justin got knocked over by Sue. And took a whopping 11 damage.

Dom kinda goes easy on the player, is what I'm saying.



And I'm exactly 1 SP short of being able to show off Random Hurl. Oh well.



Justin, having gotten in the boss's face to smack it, runs off while Sue sets it on fire.



Causing Beat Attack to whiff.



Unfortunately, the Rush Attack is still coming up, and Justin has no way of canceling it without potentially eating a counter, so he defends.



And Sue pre-emptively queues up a Heal.







Rush Attack causes Ganymede to slide forward, then slowly scuttle back to his starting position, launching and scattering anyone he hits.





At 24 damage to Justin, it would be his most damaging attack.

Yep. There are random encounters from the previous dungeon that are more dangerous than this guy.



Eh, fight's almost over, so why not?



This fight can be won or los-... Won easily or with a little more effort, based on your positioning. Staying in the back means he'll whiff with Beat Attack, staying out of a straight line means he'll whiff with Rush Attack, and hugging the lower-left area means that even the normal Draw In attack will miss.



Not that it's a big deal either way. He's big, slow, and hits like a pillowcase half-filled with marshmallows being swung by a kitten.



Even with no defense and walking into a counter, Justin can tank the damage easily.

Seriously, even if Sue hadn't healed him, he still would've survived this.



And, with a face-full of Holy Mace, Ganymede goes down.



Exploding into a big pile of gold and some armor.



1000 XP, 2000 gold, and another suit of Shell Armor. Not a bad haul.



Although that one dagger level was the only skill level gained in the fight.



Feena and Sue both gain XP levels, though.



Well, Sue can't wear two suits of armor, and Justin's out of the question, so...



And, like Sult before it, Dom ends with a Room of Illusion. Which means cutscenes and for the rest of the update.



: Justin, haven't we seen this somewhere before?

: Hmm... this looks like... I know! We saw one just like it at the Sult Ruins!

: The Sult Ruins? Isn't that were you saw someone named Liete?

: Since this is the same, let's try doing this....

"This" being "taking a small step closer".

: Justin?! Huh? What? ...!





'Sup, Liete?

: Welcome, Justin. You've been blessed by the Spirits.

: We've come closer! Liete! What about Alent? Where is Alent hidden?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOAue6IvZ-I (Polsy link)

Surprise FMV! Skip down to "FMV ends" to skip... the FMV, at least. There's still more cutscene after that.



: There is no one in this world who would interfere with the blessings of the Spirits.



: Or with our civilization which began together with the Spirit light.



: Our civilization began to spread far and wide.



: Angelou became prosperous enough to cover even the farthest reaches of the land.



: This building, that you are in now, is also from that period.



: Go east, Justin. The place called Alent is a place far from here.



: You still have a very long way to travel.

: East? From here?



: Pretty soon we'll reach the End of the World, Liete.



: Tell me, please. Just where is this Alent?



: There is no such thing as the end of the world, Justin.

And with that wham line, the FMV ends.

You may have noticed that the FMV used the same animation from the into and Sult Ruins. There were only a few hand-drawn sequences made for this game, so most of the FMVs either re-use the same animation, or are CGI, like the Ghost Ship one.



: Well, then our adventure isn't over yet. I mean, we still haven't made it to Alent yet. Right?!

: Ha! There IS no End of the World!

Nonono, Justin. There is an End of the World. There's very clearly a giant-ass wall over there. It's just not the end of the world.

: Are you two listening? I say there's something on the other side! Our adventure is not over yet!

: But Justin... didn't you see how tall the wall is? Do you really think we can cross it?

: And not only that... there's the Misty Forest out there. No one's ever returned from it.



: I'm an adventurer! I can go anywhere! And I can return from anywhere!

: If people don't even go there, of course they won't return from it! I'll be the first one to do it!

: Alent is waiting for us just ahead! Let's go, Feena and Sue!

: Across the Misty Forest! To the other side of the End of the World!



All right, then. Let's get started!



... Good thing we have all those ledges that lead back to the beginning of each area.



: But just how will we do it?

: Hey, I said it'd be OK, all right?! So don't worry. We'll find some way to get over it.

: Juuuusstiiiin! Don't tell me you don't know yet! I swear, you'd be lost without me.

: A ha ha ha! That's Justin for ya.

: Maybe we should head back to New Parm and get prepared for this.

: I agree, Feena!

: Let's just think for a bit. ♥



And you're given one more chance to wander around and search for treasure you may have missed. Once you cross to the next area, though...







Dammit, Feena, this is neither the time nor the pace for your disco shenanigans!

: Look, over there! Someone's collapsed.



Good thing she pointed him out; I'd've gone around the side because fuck getting lost in the woods.



This fucker's dialog is gonna be fun to transcribe.

: It's a little kid! He's unconscious.

: He's bleeding...! Oh no! He's got a bad wound!

: Look, Feena.... This kid has horns... and a tail!

: Hey, look! His eyes are open!

: ... Ϝϝϝ ...

Yeah, I know that it's not greek letters in the game but it's the closest available thing.

He pulls himself up a bit.

: Oh, good...! He's coming to.

Justin steps forward.

: He isn't... an animal, is he? He looks so human. Hmm....

: ϝλφλ! ϝφφ! φϚφλϜ!

: Huh?



Doesn't look like he took kindly to Justin calling him an animal.

: Justin!

: Ouch! He's biting me! Stop it!



: Wha-whaaat's going on?! What is this?!

: Ϝ......

: Oh, he passed out again. We've got to help him, quickly! Justin, lend me a hand! Let's take him to my place. Hurry!

: Oh, OK! All right! Here, let me take him.



Using Sue to hide the fact that the didn't have an animation for the kid getting put onto Justin's back. Sneaky.







Uh-oh.



Oh great. Those three again.

: OK, everyone halt! Humanoid search unit! Stop here!





: Nana's a bit short on common sense. She said standing watch is boring, so she went to buy make-up while on duty.

: Nana, I'll still be your friend, even if you get kicked out of the forces. ♥

: You guys are so obstinate! Me, I can't stand the smell of animals! I can't do this without splashing on some perfume!

: But, what shall we do, Mio? That humanoid we caught is valuable! We've got to find it!

: Hmmm... but even so....



: If we stick to my plan, it should work perfectly.

: Excellent idea, Mio! What better way to track a beast than with another beast? Let's get back to the base and get ready.

: Attention! Humanoid search unit! About FACE! Back to our front-line base!