Part 36: The FM King

I left off right at the point of no return last time, so let's get right to it.
The point of no return was when you agreed to do a commentary combo with me




It makes sense to me that this is a case. Dipping into programmer nerd speak for a second, it's like if a boolean got stuck between true and false. He can't pulse out to the Real World because technically he's still IN the Real World.
So this dude is that strong, huh? A shame we never fight him.





Anyway, the traditional Point of No Return speech is going on.



Now that we're done with the conversation, this is the official point of no return. Make sure to drop a save so you don't have to sit through it again.

Neat.

I've delayed this long enough. So let's get in there and fight the FM King.

The FM King loves Snapchat Filters so much that the entire area has a purple tint to it. I guess it looks nice enough.
Is this the DarkChip filter?


Thanks for the warning, Mr. Hertz, but we're good! I made sure to talk to everyone who matters before I left.
So basically I talked to Sonia.
Shots fired.


I usually don't show these, but they're different than usual. Everyone's prepared.


There's been some damage to the space ship. It's been half-pulled into the wave world, so it's not looking so great.

Since this is the point of no return, there are no new enemies. You also don't get to keep any cards or zenny, so there's no point to fighting. Pop a Cloaker, or just try to run.

Right here, the cutscene takes over.








What's up, king? I'm here to beat up your superweapon.


I wonder where he heard that saying? Then again, it's weird enough that they share the same language despite being aliens, so I'll ignore that for now.
Bitch I complained about that from the jump. Plus, he looks like Masa and Mune from Chrono Trigger. Don't tell me you don't see it in that mugshot.








Yup, we gotta beat up what looks like a child. I'm entirely okay with this.




Fucker has the "Repel all" shield he picked up on the playground. Fortunately we have the "Destroy All Shields" weapon to counter.




I feel like "past the point of no return" is not the best place for major character-related plot twists. This could really have been used somewhere else to add motivation to Mega, but... oh well.
As I said, despite it being 200 years in the future, some things never change.





It does explain, though, why even though Geo's heart has been filled, Mega can still fuse with him. Originally, Geo could fuse because of the loneliness wave frequency (whatever that's supposed to mean) but now he has Sonia and everyone else to be friends with. Every other FM-ian possession would get chased out, but not Mega.

The King stands up. C'mon, bring out the boss already.



Yes yes yes yes yes!



Motherfucker's got some dentures.








Finally! Time to fight!





Alright, the final boss appears! Is everyone excited?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCiXQ5vv0Q
Andromeda is, for Leo and Pegasus players, the first time we've seen this; it's so big that it cuts off the last two rows. Functionally this affects a few things - you can't put status effects on those panels, and if a card relies on hitting the ground (like the CannonBomb cards) it won't explode outwards.
The movement of Andromeda is pretty simple - it starts in the middle, then bobs up and down left and right. The entire body is vulnerable, so don't worry about missing.

As it moves left and right, meteors will slowly rain down on Megaman's spot, so make sure you're constantly moving or you'll get hit for 40 damage. They can't be guarded, so you do have to dodge.
>40 damage. Double that, game!


After bobbing left and right two or three times, Andromeda's eyes will flash and it uses one of two attacks. First is launching missiles down two columns; and second is doing a bite attack that hits the entire field.

Pictured: the missiles. The missiles are 80 damage and breakable after enough damage, but can be blocked.


Pictured: the chomp. You can see it hits the entire field; it's 200 damage, so you REALLY want to block it.
Technically, you CAN counter the attacks if you've got super-precise timing, but... I've only managed to do it once and despite video evidence I can't figure out the timing or replicate it. So... good luck?
Anyway, that's a pretty easy boss -

...Oh.
Once you've dealt half its health in damage, Andromeda will change forms. It's... only ROUGHLY half - you can see that in the image here, Andromeda only has 700 HP left despite half being 1250. You can burst out extra damage before the cutscene kicks in - theoretically, you can kill Andromeda before it transforms, but that's 1) very difficult to time, and 2) pretty much requires a Best Combo card. With my cards, I'm not gonna manage it.
Actually, even if you kill Andromeda before it transforms, you'll get the transformation scene, then it'll die immediately. It's kinda hilarious.

In this form, Andromeda is much more dangerous. You really want to deal as much damage to its previous form as possible to limit the time it spends here. As you can see, Andromeda didn't take any damage from my WoodHammer; that's because the only part of it that's vulnerable is the very core. Most of the time, it's shielded and invulnerable to all damage (except Breaking type). The only time it's vulnerable is right before an attack.
This is partly why Bravesword and MoaiFall were such favorite cards of mine. Break that danged shield.
Andromeda also gains a new attack in addition to its other two attacks.

Meteors are more dangerous too - they do the same amount of damage, but three of them drop randomly on the field. Only one will target you, but if you don't move then you might get hit by two of the volley.
Only one is needed to cause iframes, thus it's really not so bad if you get hurt by it.

Pictured: the new attack. Andromeda will raise a hand and then shoot a beam that covers two rows and does 80 damage. It's also unblockable, so dodge.
Only 80? That's weak. It also pierces Invisible, so there's that.

The missiles now cover all three columns, so you have to destroy them or block. In this case, I'm using Fokx-Fu to get extra damage on the boss.

Since Andromeda can't exactly bite at us anymore, it turns the bite attack into a slam. It's the same deal though, just block.
As for strategy related to the boss - aside from the slam, none of Andromeda's attacks do more than 80 damage, so LifeAura will help for a good while. Other than that, keep on your toes and be ready to block. As long as you're not getting greedy, Andromeda's first form is very easy.
I mentioned it above, but try to do as much damage as possible before Andromeda changes forms. The second form is much harder to take out, and the attacks are more dangerous. Don't be afraid to take damage from Andromeda's attacks if it will let you get hits on the core, but you should probably pack some Breaking cards to hit it while it's waiting patiently.

Eventually, I manage to get through all 2500 HP.
Cool death scene, but I wonder if the devs held back a bit too much with the difficulty.

Now that we blew up his weird mouth, superweapon thing, the King is a little bit disappointed.
It's not transformed post-battle. Bad devs, bad!






Dang, Geo. It wasn't THAT rough a fight, even if I got hit a few times at the end.
You were doing fine, then made dumb mistakes and caused Geo's leg to break. Fuck you, Yeti.






Remember, Geo technically is half in the Real World, so it's not that big a surprise that he's exhausted.




OM NOM NOM NOM


Everyone's badass until their world-destroying weapon turns on them.



Hey have you noticed that despite this game being all about the Power of Friendship (and at this point, no real deeper themes) we haven't had the Battle Network-style group gathering?
Thank god for that.




Our friends start to appear one by one. They literally just blink into frame, so it's a bit difficult to catch.
Fuck.



So, that's the main group... but who was talking earlier?




Cue the triumphant music. Somehow, getting a word or two from everyone gave Geo strength back, because this is a game about the Power of Friendship.
Fucking kids game. Did Geo just imagine these?






Pew pew.
We always beat the final boss with a 10 damage ChargeShot.

With that, Andromeda is fully destroyed. For real this time, and not just in the gameplay.




We beat the boss but there's still another 150 images of textboxes I have to wade through. And that's just this conversation. The end-game is VERY backloaded on dialogue.
Oh, no...all the transcribing that Yeti has to do! Hah!



Remember, this game is about the Power of Friendship, and nothing else.
Depressed? Just get friends, idiot.
Job got you doing something immoral for profit? Make friends, moron.
Parents want to transfer you away from your school? Your friends will stop it!
People steal your invention? You needed a friend. Remember, it's OK to steal from people who don't have friends!
Suffering from a mental illness? Well, duh. You suffered because you have no friends you trogolodyte.


I won't give the game too much grief about it since, have you READ any of the Battle Network scripts, but it's a little disappointing considering the themes they were kinda working with in the first half of the game.
I would and am. Damn you Japan and making everything about friendship.


Now, the FM King is getting his chance to explain what's going on, and.... yeah, if literally everyone you know is trying to kill you, I can understand being a bit paranoid.
Fair enough. But you know what the solution is? Just make some friends, buckaroo.





Think all the way back to the beginning of the game. Geo had massive abandonment issues because his dad disappeared, and he closed himself off from everyone until Mega arrived.





Gemini, as before, is a massive piece of shit. You might wonder why someone who distrusted everyone happily trusted Gemini, but it was probably just confirmation bias - the King expected Planet AM to attack, so Gemini's report was accepted immediately.






Oh you were just about to destroy our planet, it's no big deal we're cool

Well...Geo is a kid, so I can see that from his standpoint. What should annoy him is the fact he's directly responsible for his dad's fate.





Putting aside the whole "you only fight because you don't know them" which sounds like some sort of after-school special on why bullies actually have low self-esteem, that's not exactly how trust works.
The thought is correct, though. A lot of fights and conflicts are the result of a communication breakdown somewhere. And while hearing someone out won't resolve every fight, it can certainly help you avoid being in shitty situations that cause one to begin with.






Geo, you have four friends, a pseudo-father figure in Boreal, an alien, and Zack. You have no room to talk about having "a lot of friends".
It's certainly a lot for him. Plus, Dunbar's number takes effect once you get to have too many, anyway.

















Surely this will be accepted by the populace and Cepheus will not be assassinated almost immediately by war hawks. Yes, this is a good idea.
Darned kids game not doing political plots. Imagine the intrigue!


Oh! It's these guys! And... I believe this is the first time we've seen them (except Pegasus) in the flesh. Technically we've only seen Pegasus because of using the Giga card.





I'm not sure why that requires a trusting heart, but sure.
I guess because if you don't trust them, you'll just go crazy and kill them again. They'd just think "wow, they are organizing a rebellion!"





Honestly I'm glad that Cepheus is taking steps to fix things, but it still runs into the problem that apparently every FM alien is hostile and war-hungry. (Fits right in with most FM radio stations that I've listened to, to be honest)
True Capitalist Radio over here. Those darned troll terrorists!









Bwoop. Good bye.



And hey, remember how Cepheus was the one producing that EM wave distortion?

The game just pulses out for me. Neat.



As you might expect, since we're still past the point of no return the game won't let me pulse back in, and Mega just insists that we get outta here.





...Is that good?



I take it that's not good. I might even go so far as to describe this as, 'bad'.
Would 'undesirable' be a good adjective?








Remember, folks - being shown a complicated control panel exactly once means you can operate heavy machinery three years later. This is why Euro Truck Simulator looks great on your resume.
This is anime, sir. Every Japanese boy is a super genius when they need to be, clearly.




I mean, in this case it worked, but still.



Surprisingly, the machinery that they turned on actually has plot use beyond letting Geo get to the space station.



So, I can't help but wonder how they're going to spin the sudden re-entry of an object into the atmosphere. They might worry it's a satellite falling out of orbit or something.
"Come in. Identify yourself.
He's not responding! SHOOT IT DOWN






Sonia I can understand, she was there with Boreal. But how do the others know how to talk to Geo?
She probably told them.




Spaceships: So easy you don't need lots of schooling.


Another, pretty violent, screen shake.




Something else I would describe as not good.
Would this classify as going from 'bad to worse'


Geo's dead, dang. Well thanks for reading along, everyone, I'll be back in a couple weeks to cover the postgame.
RIP. I wonder how they will address this in Starforce 2.




By which Mega means, Geo hit his head.




I mean, I was joking about Geo being dead a few images ago, but they really seem to be going for it. (Ignore that there are two sequels to the game by this point, we didn't know that back then.)
It was a bad joke on a dead comedy forum.






But Pat isn't a Brother -



But that's not... It's a radio signal, not a heat-seeking missile. It's not... Okay, deep breaths. Remember, this is the Power of Friendship.
Can I fucking puke now? Ham-fisted friendship GOOO


This bitch can shoot energy waves out of her guitar. She's been holding out on us.









Three Brothers, Pat, and Zack. This is so stupid...
CAPTAIN PLANET!



Power of Friendship will save the day. How? Don't ask questions, it's the Power of Friendship.
By our bonds combined!









Did this entire segment need to be in the game? Not really, in my opinion. They could have dropped the Power of Friendship and I would have been much happier.
Nobody needs friendship; this is bullshit.






And then we wouldn't have to worry about the science behind "My emotions called a connection to someone's cellphone"




How can you tell how hard they're looking...?
How the hell did they reach him anyway? Space is vast. Eh, fuck it.

Anyway...

With that, we've entered the credits!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3LejK2wP8
Watch the video! There's a lot of names here and I want to make sure

Eguchi and Shimogawa... Which one of you wrote the Gemini scenario? I want to have... words.
They probably worked on all of it to a degree. Kick 'em in the shins.

The Backgrounds folks, they're alright. Also of note - they show all the constellations of the bosses, so that's nice.

Programming, also pretty tight.

And the final constellation changes depending on which version you're playing. For me, Pegasus.
RIP Inafunah.

Oh? How nice. We made it back to Earth.

I'm almost mad I can't get a third Giga chip yet... So close to the perfect pyramid. But otherwise, not bad for finishing the story.
Fucking ruined.



Wait, nobody visited? Damn, are you sure you're their friend?
...That's a good point. WTF.





Oh, she meant everyone, huh?
Oh, we're just doing Battle Network 1, huh.




I mean, I'd be more concerned that the cops are here.












That was a quick turnaround, Geo.





Of course, Sonia goes with them.






It's strange, but they don't use Geo's smiling face image the entire scene. Guess he's not THAT happy.
No alternate mugshots for emotions. Sad.













See you all next time when Giver and I tackle the postgame!
Hooray, now I get to dunk on Yeti for having a hard time with still-easy fights!