Part 9: Destroy Train: Pantheon Core
Extra Stage Thoughts
This stage would be a very good Zero 1 stage if there wasn't so much fluff dragging it down. I cover most of that in the video, so let's talk positive things, shall we? Destroy Train is short, mostly sweet and to the point, a relentless onslaught of enemies that looks very intimidating at first glance until you work out how each of them behaves, figure out that there was actual thought put into their placement, and suddenly can start dancing loops around them. The bikes in the first section are a little unfairly fast, but I'd say they're far more managable than those abominable spike balls from the Disposal Center mission. The bats are great, they swoop down just right so you can get them with a jumpslash while you're hopping over a pit; sadly, the last one is timed a little awkwardly, so you can get it neither at the same time as the cable nor afterwards (Zero won't finish his animation in time to pull out a second swing). That's what having two weapons at the same time is for, though. Other than this little roadblock, you can practically fly through the first part, and that's glorious and amazing and fun. Gameplay flow at its finest, and why I love this series so much.
The miniboss is a butt and I don't like him. To get to his core, you have to hit the top and flip him; the time he stays flipped is dependant on the strength of the attack, so a half-charged Buster won't be enough to really damage him, a jump-slash is great, on the other hand. Best flip him and stun him and lay down the hurt, at least it's done quickly. Both attacks require you to keep your distance, though you can gamble with his shots and hope he doesn't fire directly in front. I did that in the Hard Mode run and lost, c'est a vie.
The train part also tries to stop your flow. I get the idea, the tough enemies are meant to slow you down so the timer actually matters, but that one is stupid anyway and pointless to boot. You're best served to do what I do in the hard mode run and treat them as obstacles you just jump over; and it works quite well, except for the final stretch with the (badly designed and annoying) purple crushers! You can also choose a far easier path by going into the train compartment, getting a health refill; I suspect the top path was meant to balance that by giving you more shots at more enemies that drop elves, but the number required to kill, especially of the fliers, is still way too high to get them just by running through. Can't all be winners. But yeah, this isn't bad, as I said in the video, only seems a little unpolished. Especially with Ciel butting in all the time, she'll get better, as we've already seen from other missions that are later "in order".
Boss Comments
Attacks
- Triple Flame Combo: Two non-damaging flame spouts, then a small fire burst, repeat, then two spouts into a big flame. You'll get hit by that once, then have figured out that it's always the same. Next!
- Piston Crush: Below Zero, a piston will rise up, and the ceiling above it will open up, revealing spikes. This is nasty, because the less health Pantheon Core has, the longer it'll be, until three or even four of them can be up at once. If you don't pay attention and get yourself cornered, it might be game over. As the spikes are instant kill, this is not really fun at all. Dashing helps in a pinch, though.
- Claustrophobia (EX Skill): P.C. will give just one warning spout, then shoot a continuous flame. It'll move forward, the length of a piston tile. While moving, Zero is trapped between two pistons or one and a wall. I don't think you can escape without bonking your head on the ceiling, and it doesn't matter really. He'll do this attack at most twice until he's near enough to roast you with the big flame unless you climb the wall. Pretty interesting, but not really an issue; the warning shot not being repeated might get you hit once, but it's easy to see coming as he breaks his otherwise extremely rigid pattern. Piston Crush is changed so you'll never get trapped by four of them up, so it's paradoxically easier once he has finished moving.
This is pretty much the worst boss design in the game, just because it's incredibly boring. It's just there to soak up hits while desperately relying on the player's stupidity and an unfair instant death move which shouldn't exist; even Anubis didn't one-hit kill you with either the spikes on the pillars or them crushing you (though it does deal a shitload of damage). Thankfully, despite that, Pantheon Core is also really fucking easy (probably the easiest boss, go figure) and therefore not too much to complain about, in my opinion...
Ranking High
Plan a route for the first part. Memorize the bikes so you don't have to lure them out, you're pressed for time. Kill a lot of the ceiling-huggers early on, they're sitting ducks and you need the enemy count. Miniboss will make or break a run, that fucker; at least when you're on Hard Mode, otherwise cheese his sorry ass with the Thunder Chip. The last stretch is just hopping over most of the opposition, choose the lower route (where you have to take out the one big arm Pantheon), get good at the purple crushers. Trying to micromanage those and the annoying flying Pantheon is not cool, and I highly recommend taking a single point of damage from the latter one and making a break for it like I did. It wasn't intentional, but welcome nonetheless. Boss is a non-issue, it'll always take the same amount of time (unless you come here later and have the one weapon we're still missing...), just watch out for the pattern change that signals the EX skill and don't get cocky.
- Express UG: I like it! A little short, but very catchy and upbeat and full of action. Fits the mission. Too bad once we reach the train it gets replaced by something worse.
- Deadzone: We've heard this one before, when escaping from the crumbling lab in the Retrieve Data mission. Missed it there. I don't like it much. It's really repetitive until it gets the the actually interesting parts, and even those are anything but. Would be better suited as a short "shit is happening" cutscene underline, like a track we're going to hear later (called "Emergency"); both sound pretty alike anyway, and this one can't carry a mission. Sadly enough, it will be used as a full mission soundtrack anyway. Not my cup of tea.