Part 21: Bloody brawls.

Coming out of the most complex of our seven chapters, it’s time to wind down with something simpler.



-Strongest on Earth-









I must be adaptable.







I will learn much from each fighter.







In memoriam.



I look forward to the coming battles!



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With our montage and training theme taken care of, we are unceremoniously placed on a MegaMan-style selection screen. These are the six fighters that stand in the way of Andre becoming the strongest man in the world, and we can tackle them in any order.



We can also take a look at our menu; though Andre has no items to use, he does have amazing stats for only being level 2. They aren’t O-Robo levels of crazy, but they’re definitely better than our other protagonists had.



Trained by a special paramilitary fighting unit, Tula Han is a master of close-quarters combat. He fights with both mind and body as one, and can bend both to extreme measures.

Skills:
Armlock
Cross Heel Hold

Whenever you pick an opponent, we’re treated to a little bit of background for them and half their techs. It’s a nice little touch.



Let’s see how strong you really are…



Andre’s got his serious face on. So let’s get to wrassling!

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The Wrestling chapter has some pretty great music.

Also, the gimmick here is that Andre does not gain any experience during these fights. Nor will he get any new gear.



So you need to know how to take advantage of his moveset. Roundhouse here is weak, but turns the opponent. This can be quite handy, since as mentioned by some folks in the thread, enemies need to be facing a particular direction to use certain moves. And since it takes them some time to turn, you can ‘spin-lock’ some foes who can’t hit behind them.





Oh, and all that stuff about being adaptable and learning all the fighting skills? That directly translates into Andre being a blue mage. If he gets hit by the moves mentioned in the pre-fight text, he’ll add them to his own moveset.

Cross Heel Hold and Arm Lock are two great moves to start with, because Andre can use both of them as counter attacks. And of course, they lock away feet and hand techs as per usual.



To help support this whole deliberately-taking-damage thing, we have a weak healing move that also attempts to buff Andre’s power and level, along with cleansing some status effects. Battle Cry is going to see a whole lot of use in this chapter.

One important thing to note, however: Battle Cry has a brief charge time. It’s enough to let an opponent to turn around or move toward you, but not enough to attack (most of the time). Be wary of your placement when backing off to heal.



All of our opponents have three or four techs, but we just have to eat the others with no benefit.



Tula Han gets finished off with the last of Andre’s starting moves, Blazing Fist. It’s a solid diagonal-targeting attack.



Every competitor has their own beaten-up portrait and line for defeating them…

You cannot win if you don’t use your brain!

As well as one for losing to them. They tend to be very closely related.

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Heeding the call of the sumo, Jackie traveled to Hawaii to become the greatest ever. Unfortunately, he failed, and instead uses his sumo skills in international wrestling.

Skills:
Aloha Clap
Ogre Grip



My Sumo skills will crush you!!

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Jackie’s another good early candidate for an ass-whooping, because his attacks aren’t too threatening when used against you.



Also, his fight is home to one of two secrets for this chapter. Disabling his movement makes getting this one much easier, hence why I fought Tula first.



If you hang around outside of Jackie’s range long enough, he will throw out his secret move. Earth-Rending Fury hits like a speeding train (and in a 5x5 area), so you’ll want to be near full health for this.



It’s also Andre’s final technique. It’s the only one besides Battle Cry to have a charge time… which is unfortunately beyond glacial. It’s honestly not too useful in most situations; enough so that it isn’t even unique to Andre. O-Robo learns this move at level 16.

But hey, completionism!



Jackie’s regular moves have a similar theme; Aloha Clap is a Wind tech that hits a 3x3 area and will probably push opponents back.



Owww. Guess who used Arm Lock and paid for it? (Andre basically spends the rest of this fight in critical health.)



Ogre Grip hits only one tile, but is more powerful than Jackie’s other tech. It also has the knockback, so if you keep triggering it, you can push back your opponent over and over while they move closer on their turns.



That was closer than I’d like…

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Come to think of it, is sumo wrestling a big thing in Hawaii?

Alternate dialogue:
You’ll never knock me out of the ringside rope!!

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Enlightened in the ancient Japanese technique of bare-handed killing, Moribe’s strikes can pierce even the toughest armor, yet can damage internal organs without breaking the skin.

Skills:
Abise-Geri
Tsuda



I hope you have studied well of the Art of War!

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Facing off against Moribe Seishi can potentially be a very infuriating fight. He has by far the least HP of Andre’s opponents, just 112. (Tula has 432, Jackie 576.)



Of course, this translates directly to him being insanely evasive. It’s a royal pain to land any hits on him at all.



This could potentially be counteracted by learning Tsuda and crippling his stats, but good luck landing it in the first place. This also leads into the other reason why Moribe is annoying: his two non-learnable techs are both weak and have the exact same attack ranges as the learnable ones. Guess which he prefers using.



Though to be honest, it’s probably a good thing he doesn’t use Abise-Geri much. This attack will often spin its target around, which will prove invaluable later on.



Generally speaking, this fight tends to devolve into healing constantly and letting Andre counter this old man to death.



...Unless you get sick of that and drop a whole load of rocks on him for a one-hit kill.

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Alternate dialogue:
My ancient Japanese martial arts have never been defeated!!

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America’s number one wrestler, Max has made a name for himself as a Hollywood star. He’s grown bored, however, and is seeking a challenger who can provide him with a new thrill.

Skills:
Max Bomber
German Suplex

What I know about wrestling wouldn’t fill a thimble, but I do know Maxamania’s running wild.



Max Bomber Number 1!!

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Oh man, that outfit.



Aside from a powerful elbow strike, Max Morgan has a spinning lariat…



And the eternal classic, the German Suplex.



I’ve never been much good at fighting games (Soul Caliber 3 and Bloody Roar: Primal Fury were the only two I really got anywhere with), but suplexes were part of what really sold me on playing Kirby in Smash Bros way back when. That’s more of a brawler, though…



But I digress. Now back to jump-kicking anime Hulk Hogan in the back of the head.



And using Battle Cry a bunch, because this dude’s whole thing is that he hits pretty hard. Max will wreck you pretty quick if you don’t keep your guard up. He also has 512 HP, so he’ll definitely win a pure damage race.



And with a firm kick right in the taint, we’re done here.

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Gracious even in defeat.

Alternate dialogue:
IIIIII’M NUMBER ONE! You’ll always be playing second fiddle, chump!!

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An incredibly flexible warrior who fights using the Muay Thai style. His ashiwaza high kick is considered to be absolutely devastating.

Skills:
Punchama Kick
Spiral Knee

If I’m not mistaken, Ashi-Waza simply refers to a leg or foot technique.



Too bad you won’t be able to so much as bruise my pretty face!!

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Despite being a total pretty boy, Namcat is fully capable of stomping Andre into the dirt with his Spiral Kick.



Especially since he can use Panchama Kick as a counter, potentially knocking Andre back directly into its range.



Some strategic miscalculation makes Namcat the only one of the six fighters who I didn’t have to go back and get loss dialogue for. It turns out that there’s a version of Martial Arts Masters used just for these loss screens.



Get dunked on.



Namcat’s 255 HP doesn’t hold up for long against some styling.

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A Japanese wrestler who has mastered the techniques of the Mexican Lucha Libre champ, El Rudo. His moves are considered to be extremely rough, and he has been called the Dark Angel.

Skills:
Frankensteiner
Tornado Press



You obviously have no skill! I’m gonna chop your head off!!

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Nope, still not sure what that is spilling out from behind Great Asia’s skull mask.



This fight has the slight issue that Asia absolutely loves using his unlearnable move, and its range is three tiles to his side, bottom and diagonal. It does about 30 damage and poisons Andre, so Battle Cry counteracts it almost perfectly.



Baring the weak 3x3 area of Aloha Clap and the extremely slow Earth-Rending Fury, Tornado Press is Andre’s best option for dealing with opponents more than two spaces away. It’s worth picking up just for that little bit extra range.



The last of Great Asia’s moves is a diving headbutt. And really, what else could you call that but the Frankensteiner?



Now, here’s a problem. The second secret for this chapter is in Great Asia’s fight. I had to take a few goes at this fight to actually get it to trigger before the big guy’s 244 HP runs out.



You have to force Great Asia to the bottom right corner of the arena, then have him use Bite. Every time he uses Bite, it has a chance to trigger an extra scene.



Yes, that was the chapter’s Watanabe moment. Great Asia leapt into the audience and straight-up murdered a dude who had thrown a can at him.

Live-A-Live: For kids!

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Alternate dialogue:
You’ll never be able to knock my head off!

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The game actually puts you straight onto the save screen after beating all six opponents… but we’re not done yet.





...Wow, he’s big.



It doesn’t help that apparently our Andre is very much not a giant.

I am not impressed, though. The competition was not exactly stellar.



First was that amateur, Namcat… and the Lucha wimp… I twisted Tula’s joints in ways nature never intended! Then Max, and that fatass, Iaukea… And the geezer, whatever his name was. They were weak… so they died! Now, you fight me…!



...



You didn’t fight them…



Namcat’s ashiwaza… Great Asia’s Lucha… Tula’s armlocks, Jackie’s strength… Morgan’s power, Seishi’s technique! And… my anger…!



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Odie Oldbright is perhaps the toughest final boss of the seven chapters, even with Andre having access to a full moveset.



Firstly because he’s reasonably evasive, so some moves will have a hard time landing.





And while his ranged attack isn’t too strong, his melee attack is pretty hefty. Add in the fact that he has 832 HP, and it’s really quite tough to stay alive long enough to whittle him down.



Also, don’t stand on the diagonal. Odie does have one more tech called Terrible Shout, but it just heals him for about 20 HP.



Full disclosure: I died five times in this fight.



Why yes, that is a ‘Continue?’ timer. The game is nice enough to let you just jump right back to trying the fight again without punishment, something I really wish more games would do.



The best tactic I can find for this fight is to lower Odie’s stats a few times with Tsuda, then back off. If you can stop him moving beforehand, that would be even better.



If you stand two spaces to the side and one down from Odie (or vice versa), Odie can’t hit you with his ranged attack. This is the ideal spot to pummel him with Abise-Geri, which will turn him around. He will then use his turn to spin back around. Repeat ad nauseum.



The problem is that even two or three Tsudas won’t give Abise-Geri perfect accuracy, and it won’t always turn Oldbright around successfully either. So you also need a little bit of luck. Unfortunately, that’s the best I’ve got.



But hey, it got me there eventually.

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(No music, wind blows.)

The title… passed on, until it reached me… I, the great one! The invincible! It is my… destiny… to be the best there… ever was… You… can’t be… human…







I will be the strongest!



Such is the life of a champion.

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And that, ladies and gents, was the Wrestler chapter in its entirety!



Andre managed to rise to the top, overcoming even the most brutal of opponents.



It was a short chapter, but it did what it needed to.



And now we have just two more of our seven chapters to explore. We will be meeting this mysterious man next time… But what’s his name? Remember, it’s going to be the ______ Kid.



Also, please enjoy pretty anime Hulk Hogan.

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