The Let's Play Archive

NIER

by The Dark Id

Part 27: Episode XXV (Part 1): Of Letters, Lovers, and Lies...

Episode XXV (Part 1): Of Letters, Lovers, and Lies...


Not cool, Cavia... Not cool...

Welp, there are a couple more sidequests left in Seafront. Let's polish 'em off and leave this wretched have of scum and trolling for a very, very long time. Our first quest takes us back to the post office. Just a warning: this is going to be a very, very chatty update...

Music: Seafront Room Ambience

Sidequest: The Postman's Request


"You need something?"
"Yes. See, I've got a letter for the lighthouse lady, and I was hoping you could deliver it. The other postmen... Well, they can't really deal with her. She's a bit cranky."
"You don't say!?"
"I'd do it, but with my bad leg and all... Anyway, sorry to keep bugging you, but can you help?"
"Yeah, all right."
"The lady hardly ever leaves that lighthouse, so you should start there. And thank you."

The Postman forks over the letter for delivery...

Love Letter 3/28/3340

Let's go ahead and invade the Lighthouse Lady's privacy once more. Both she and the Postman actually do have real names that are never mentioned. The Lighthouse Lady is Ursula (Little Mermaid reference) and the Postman is Hans (as in Hans Christian Andersen, the author of the Little Mermaid.)

Nier heads toward the lighthouse...


"There's nothing wrong with helping people out now and then."
"Bah! That attitude is what makes you such an easy mark!"
"You're starting to sound like a cranky old man again, Weiss."

A trek to the lighthouse later...


"You look to be in pain."
"You took so much time delivering the mail, my illness has gotten worse! I'm lucky I'm not dead!"
"You truly are a staggering creature."
"Well, since you're here...I guess I should give you a little something."

The Lighthouse Lady tips Nier 1000 Gold...

"...I think this qualifies as a lot."
"It's fine! Just take it. Take it and go! But bring the mail quicker next time! ...And I want to see a smile!"
"Is there no end to this madness!?"


And that is a wrap with the Lighthouse Lady for now. There is one more quest available outside the post office given by a random wandering NPC, so it's a bit hard to find at first glance.

Sidequest: The Belated Letter


"Oh, I am! My new flower shop is already far more successful than I ever dreamed!"
"Really? Well, great!"
"I was in trouble before, but I think I've got a good foundation here. I was just thinking of sending a letter to my girlfriend in The Aerie. I've put her through a lot, but now I'm ready to start a new and better life. I just haven't found the time to track down the postman yet..."
"Do you want me to deliver the letter for you?"
"Oh, really? Are you sure?"
"Oh, he's sure. Believe me, this man loves nothing more than meddling in other people's affairs."
"Huh. That's kinda creepy. But whatever! My girlfriend lives near the chief's house. Give her this freesia with the letter, okay? I really wanted to give her a Lunar Tear, but as I'm sure you know, the whole reason they call 'em 'legendary' is that they're so hard to cultivate... But I did manage to cultivate a freesia. She's always liked freesias, so I guess things turned out for the best."

The florist hands over the potted freesia and a letter...

Letter to a Faraway Lover

Aww, how sweet. I do hope we didn't crush the guy's girlfriend when we destroyed half the Aerie last time we visited. That would kind of suck... Anyway, our duo has a chat on their way out of town.


"-of work."
"He really tried to get his lover to join him, didn't he?"
"It appears so. But who can say if that lover honestly wanted to wait?"
"What do you mean?"
"The woman wanted to live with him, did she not?"
"Well, yeah, but it wasn't gonna happen. That's why he left her in the village."
"It would have been difficult, yes, but perhaps preferable to a life of solitude. Why did they not think about how much the time and distance would separate them?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. They can see each other just fine now."
"...Indeed."

A jog half way across the world later...

Music:The Aerie Chant


Luckily, the lover's house is in a relatively undamaged part of The Aerie over by the mayor's abode. I guess the letter must have an address and these tanks are numbered somehow, cuz I sure as hell don't remember that guy telling us where we were supposed to deliver this thing other than vaguely by the chief's hut; which narrows it down to about twelve houses...


Unfortunately, upon reaching the address in question nobody is home and indeed, the place appears to be uninhabited for some time. Okay, seriously...is every fucking quest in Seafront a roundabout utter waste of our time?!

Nier and Weiss have a discussion in this latest fool's errand...


"No."
"Guess you were right, Weiss."
"I find it difficult to determine who is right at this point. We had best return to him."


Alright...just a simple matter of backtracking all the way to Seafront...again... I'm getting really si-




--BALLLLLLLSSS! The hell did that thing come from?! I not only waste my time but they span a damn mini-boss two feet in front of me out of the blue. Who shat in your coffee when designing Seafront's quests, Cavia?!


This big brute Shade is the same mini-boss from the Prologue. It doesn't go down quite as easily as when Level 30ish 21st Century Nier did battle with it. But, it doesn't gain any new tricks either.

A short, uneventful battle later...


Upon the over-sized Shade's demise, Nier discovers a pressed freesia flower on the Shade's body. That...probably wasn't a coincidence and there is a good chance said flower was "pressed" in the sense that "its owner was mashed into a fine pulp". Welp!


On the way back to town I decided to offload my entire excess inventory in order to buy that shiny Beastbain weapon we saw in the blacksmith many moons ago. My sold loot included:



In addition, Nier can redo the mutton collection sidequest for 1500 Gold for every 10 pieces (market value is 600 Gold for 10 helpings) as many times as he wants. That got me another 3000 Gold.


So yeah...I think we can afford to splurge a bit and spring for one of the best weapons of the early half of the game.


Beastbain thoroughly trumps the Lily-Leaf Sword in both attack and magic power at the cost of being slightly slower. Sounds okay to me. In addition to kicking a lot of ass, this is also the first newly found weapon which is NOT a holdover from Drakengard. Howabout that...? I also have the story for this one. Gather 'round kids...

Grimoire Nier posted:

BEASTBAIN

Once upon a time there were three brothers in a kingdom. The second of the three was a mighty general leading the army. The army was very violent and feared by everyone.

The general loved wars. He liked seeing burning cities and rolling corpses. The general dedicated his life not to conquer, but to destroy. Soldiers trained like machines destroyed alllllllllllllll the villages and cities and countries for the general. The might general saw that and laughed. A vulgar laugh. "Guhuhuhu…"

The army marched on. They destroyed the northern country, the eastern country, the southern country indiscriminately. Obeying the absolute orders of the mighty general, for yeaaaaaaaaaaaars and years they killed and killed and killed and killed and killed and killed and killed.

Eventually the army reached a certain country. They pierced the people in the city, the armies, the princess, and the prince with their spears and killed them. In the end a general begged for his life while crying but he was killed right away. The general's face seemed familiar. The soldiers tried to remember, but the general's daughter appeared and they were so absorbed in killing her, and did not think about it again.

Aww...that would fit right in with the classics.

Returning to Seafront, new weapon in one hand, young lover's spirit crushing news in the other...


"I'm sorry, but the home was empty. On our way back, we were attacked by a Shade that dropped this..."
"It's a...it's a freesia. So you think... No. No. She's alive. I know it. And I'm going to keep living my life for her."
"You are?"
"I'll stay here and keep the business going. After all, she could come back at any time."


Yeah, well...good luck with that one kiddo. At least he leaves a decent tip. And he didn't even make us give the rare flower he toiled away on cultivating back. I bet Yonah will like it... Should really visit her one of these months.


If Nier enters the Post Office at any point upon returning to Seafront, he will trigger the final sidequest of the area for quite some time.

Music: Seafront Room Ambience

Sidequest: The Lighthouse Lady's Wrath


"You can't leave! Who's going to tend the lighthouse!?"
"How much longer will you force me to toil here? I must go see him! I need to board a ship as soon as possible!"
"No way, lady. It's back to work for you! Now get going!"
"....."

The old woman silently trudges back toward the lighthouse. Nier enters to take her place and see what the ruckus is about...


"There's no one else in town who knows how to keep the lighthouse burning. We...we need her."
"Sounds like a poor excuse to me."
"Would you mind talking some sense into her?" You're the only one she seems to listen to."
"Eh...? I am...?
"You're the first courier who's gone there lately and not come under threat of defenestration and been run off. So yeah..."
"I suppose a visit is in order, yes?"


Alright. Another trip across town to try to calm down this old crone. At the rate we're going, she's going to have already commandeered a sailboat and set the lighthouse on fire out of spite by the time we arrive.

Traveling up to the top...


<Huff...huff...>
"Oh, no..."
"As I feared. It's the Black Scrawl, and an advanced case at that."
"So that's her illness."
"Oh. You. I suppose you want to tell everyone about my illness, hmm? Well, don't! I don't fear death! I've lived long enough, and I'm tired of it."
"....."
"...And tired of being alone. But though I don't fear death, I do have one regret... I wanted to see my love one last time. I've spent 50 years in the lighthouse, working and working for these people, and now they won't let me leave! I just want to see him! I want to board the ship that will take me to him! O, cruel world..."
"So it's a dying wish now, is it?"
"You know what I'm going to say."
"Well, we've better things to do than stay here and operate a lighthouse! You'll have to convince the villagers to let her go."
"Let's start with the postman."


Welp...this is a thing... The Postman is the de facto chief of Seafront, so it's best to get him to cut the bullshit. Nice view up here, by the way...

Back to the post office...


"I do? I mean... Look, it's just not possible. We can't afford to lose her."
"Death stalks this woman, postman! Would you truly deny her final request?"
"She's... Wait, she's dying?"
"Yeah, and there isn't much time left. You need to let her go."
"Even so, I...I just... I can't. I'm sorry, but it's impossible."
"Are you kiddin' me?!"
"I... I have things to attend to. Come back tomorrow, please!"

Nier and Weiss leave...


Weiss calls the postman's bullshit. The guy doesn't come off as a total cock enough to still be blowing off the old lady's dying wish. Let's go see if we can catch him off guard...


"I suppose there's no need for this now."
"Ahem!"

Nier storms back in...


"And just what are you doing?"
"Work! Just...just some work."
"I thought postmen delivered letters, how come you're writing one?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Well then, allow me to ask about something that is very much our business... Why are the old lady's letters, and only her letters, postmarked from this very office!?"
"Uh, well, because... Um..."
"The other deliveries bore postmarks from locales far and wide."
"You got a point, Weiss?"
"The woman was not receiving letters from a lover in some far-flung land... They were penned by the hand of someone in this very town!"
"Well...crap."
"....."
"..........Go to the back room. There's something there you should see."

Nier heads in the back...


Welp, there is a block puzzle in the back of the post office. That guy must really wanted whatever this secret is to remain hidden...


Alright, let's get to the bottom of this dicking around the old lighthouse lady. Lousy block puzzles. Why can't I double jump past them?!


"Yes, and a rather sizable bundle."

Nier collects the stack of letters and carries them back out front...


"And you never thought to deliver them!?"
"I couldn't... Not anymore."
"It's a death notice. For her true love, I presume."
"So if he's dead, who sent the woman all those letters?"
"Um... I did."
"What manner of cruel hoax is this!?"
"It wasn't just me. It was the entire town."
"So you're all in on it..."
"Those letters kept her going! They gave her hope! She believed her love to be alive in a foreign land somewhere, and we couldn't bear to tell her otherwise. So we just kept the lie going. It started with my father some 50 years ago."
"No... Not her..."
"Will you continue your lie now?"
"Yes. The truth can only cause her pain."
"You sure about that?"
"It's not a very happy truth, now is it?"
"And what of her final request?"
"I don't know! How should I know!? I'm just a damn postman. I don't know what to do anymore... What's the best thing to do? ...What's the right thing? Here. I have a new letter. Take it. It says that her love is coming, but that the journey will be long. ...It tells her to wait."
"You wish us to deliver another letter filled with lies?"
"You uncovered our town's deepest secret like it was nothing. I don't think that's an accident. Look, I've told you what I think. Deliver the letter, or go tell the truth. It's up to you."

Love Letter 5/1/3340

Well, then... I guess we need to go deal with this...?

Nier heads toward the lighthouse...


"This is tough. Would she want to know or not?"
"Such questions are best left for philosophers. You can hardly be expected to know the mind of another."
"It's hard to believe that the entire town was lying to her."
"I wager their intentions were good. Else wise, they would not have carried on with the ruse for 50 years. It also explains why they tasked her with keeping the lighthouse running, so news of her love's demise would not reach her."
"That doesn't sound like good intentions to me."

Up the lighthouse one last time...


Welp... What do we do, ladies and gents? Think it over...


Nier is given the option of perpetuating the lie and giving something for the old woman to hold onto. Or let her know the truth of her love's fate...












Letters, Lies, and Lovers