Part 21: In Which Will Appreciates Art

“Wait a second… why am I sneaking around? It’s not like anybody is going to stop me from wandering around here.”



Jeweler is here in disguise, as is his way. I forgot to turn in my jewels to him at this point, but I’ll get around to it.



“The right song will cure any disease.”

“That’s great, lady, but I’m gonna stick with actual medicine and weird mystical herbs.”



“I guess that’s pretty reasonable, all things considered. If you’re a sculptor for 30 years, that’s about a statue every week and a half.”



“Should I?”

“Ishtar’s studio is on the other side of this door. But in front, creatures with hate in their hearts are waiting.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but we’ll talk later.”



“Not sure if I should stake her or not. This vampire-angel thing is confusing.”



“It doesn’t help that everybody kind of looks the same.”



“If you think that helps. Just stay away from my neck.”



“But the model in the painting was lost. Funny thing is, that happens a lot.”



“After that, people wanting to be painted flocked here.”

“Flocked… interesting choice of words, there.”



That’s about here, other than this Red Jewel conveniently hidden in a water fountain. With that, we’ve got nothing else to do but go through the door to find Ishtar.

Angel Village Gameplay



The first new enemy we’ll be facing is the Dive Bat, which is pretty much what the name would suggest. It hangs out on the ceiling and then dives down to attack you. They’ve got 5 HP, so just facing them and timing your swings will fix the problem. This one is in the middle of hitting me.



A bit more problematic are the Steelbones, who act like earlier enemies in that they throw bones at you but will also charge at you and run over your attempts to kill them. At 20 HP they’ve got more HP than anything short of a Cyclops or Flasher, but are otherwise unremarkable. Clearing out the first room gets us a STR upgrade.




Slightly more unpredictable are the Draco, which tend to squat over doorways and have a deceptively extendable neck. If You keep your wits about you it’s not hard to dodge their attack, but you have to hit the head to kill them. Jump attack can be your friend here. They’re not particularly tough, other than only having one vulnerable area. Our next clear bonus, earned shortly after, is some more HP.



The next segment is a darkened corridor, which you’d think might be a bit of a reprieve..



But what it actually means is that you can’t see the Dive Bats before they swoop in at you. There’s a brief warning if you’re paying attention, but it’s pretty easy to lose track of them and take a hit before you can react. Clearing the short section gets us another STR upgrade.



There’s a subtle tell in this screen, if you can spot it. The key is in the flames… if you notice one of them is off center, indicating that there’s a secret passage between the two. It’s subtle, but without enemies constantly popping up at random you have time to explore.



In the next segment after the secret door we’re introduced to our final new enemy, the Ramskull. They’re obviously stationary, and only fire at slow regular intervals. With only one you can afford to dodge and then attack, but the easier method to defeating them is to use the Psycho Slide. The invincibility frames will let you bypass their attack and a single psycho slide hit will usually kill them.



On the other side of the Ramskull we’ve got another Draco and a DEF increase once we decapitate it. And as for that familiar looking low opening…



It leads to the second Red Jewel in the dungeon.



Next up, the Wind Tunnel. There’s a steady wind blowing from east to west, so you have to run to make any progress. There are enemies scattered throughout the area, but the fact that you’re running makes attacking difficult.



The answer is the Psycho Slide, and clearing the area gets us another HP increase.



The next area is similar, but more more crowded without the wind. Pyscho Slide can clear out multiple enemies at once, as demonstrated by the number of jewels visible here.




To progress we have to slide through another low opening and find a secret door. The indicators aren’t as obvious in this case, but there’s even less pressure if that’s possible. You’re free to wander around poking at things, and long stretches of straight wall are strange enough in this dungeon that they tend to draw your attention.



The end goal is to reach this room, at which point there are no more enemies. There’s not even a boss for this section, but there’s something far more sinister.



But before that, heading left gets us this precious treasure.



“So… I guess that’s a pretty clear sign that Kara’s been here. Nice picture, but I’ve got a really bad feeling about all those missing girls.”



“Okay, a really, really bad feeling.”

“Go into this room. If you solve all the riddles, I’ll give back the girl.”

“Riddles? Yeah, she’s doomed.”

Next update: Riddles and Relationships