Part 86: Episode LXXXIV: Spread Love Throughout the World!
Episode LXXXIV: Spread Love Throughout the World!.jpg)
OK. Onward to fill our debilitating completionism streak. Todays session begins quite close by from where we concluded the Wandering Couples business not long ago.
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Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)
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Todays quest takes us to the sewer entrance leading to the Amusement Park zone. This sidequest was actually available to 2B back in Route A but we opted not to approach it. Youll see why in a few moments. For now, lets see what this clown machine is doing outside of its usual region.
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Yep. Its an escort mission... Unlike the last two back in Route A which were rather simple affairs, this one can be a big old pain in the dick! Especially, if it was taken when it was first available right after the Adam and Eve fight in the Mothership.

Music: Amusement Park (Vocal)
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Five identical clown machines drop from a nearby building and line up for a parade. Our task is to keep at least one of these machines alive to the end of the parade. How far is the parade gonna go? Waaaaaaaaaaay too fucking long and far is your answer!
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Were starting here, at the entrance to the Amusement Park adjacent sewers. Our end point is in front of the Resistance Camp a few blocks south. You know... before the whole sinkhole happened.
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I personally think this quest spawning during Route A was a straight fuck-up oversight. The reason we skipped this the first go around was that it spawns a pretty decent mob of enemies to thwart the parade of happiness. The trouble is were escorting fairly fragile fellows here and all of these enemies are Level 30-40. Which at this point is not a big deal at all, right?
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You have to remember, this quest originally spawned in Route A following the events on the alien mothership. At that point, 2B was Level 13 making this quest literally impossible when it first spawns. For further references, the cut-off point for this quest she was Level 28. Eve, the final boss, was Level 30. We completed the Route A, having done all but like three sidequests, at Level 34. This escort mission is straight up not feasible as 2B without grinding to the point that the remainder of Route A and most of Route B would be mostly a joke.
NieR: Automata has some real difficult balance issues but this mission definitely takes the cake.
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This repeats non-stop the entirety of this sidequest. This escort lasts for like ten minutes. I'll still be hearing this in my sleep tonight.
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Another kinda tricky thing is the path of this parade: this jump. This is an awkward ass jump. Its just far enough to make double jump + dashing assuming you dont know any
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But god help you if you dont have the height to make the (slightly higher) opposite side because 9S/2B sure isnt gonna grab that rocky mess. And guess what happens if you fall down that pit? The mission auto-fails! No, Ive definitely not done that both times I attempted this mission for real. No sir... Thatd be ridiculous.
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Thankfully, unlike that one child bot who dies and stays dead in that early escort mission (you monster), this muppet and his parade of dinguses just instantly respawn to try again. Theyre gonna fill the world with love by shouting about it for a couple blocks, dammit!
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Once we get past that pit, were not quite out of the woods yet. Indeed, it gets much harder to keep this band of nitwits going here on out. I managed to get them this far with 2B the first time I played the game and was like Level 25 or so.
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Here, outside the Resistance Camp, there three waves of machines ready to crash the parade. The first is Small Bipeds mixed with some Enhanced versions for spice...
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...then some Small Flyers roll in. Again, with Enhanced Models dealing extra damage to mess it up.
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Finally, some Medium Bipeds roll in, again sporting Enhanced models for the ride. Pictured above is one that dropped from the sky and decided it was going to immediately vaporize one of the parade bots and hell if I could do anything about it.
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I actually got pretty lucky, all things considered. The first time I did this mission to success, a Goliath Biped decided to roll in to see the parade too. No idea what triggered that. There were more casualties than a mission in Myth when that rolled in. But we dont have to worry about that. The parade made it to its conclusion... mostly safely. RIP Parade Bot #4.

Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)
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Eh. Nothing here is particularly spectacular. Reset is a chip that has a % chance of auto-reviving 9S or 2B with a variable percentage of health. For instance, +3 is 15% chance of revival with 30% HP. Optimally... we dont wanna die in the first place! I could see this being more useful on Hard and above but hell if well be using it on Normal.
Anyway, theres some additional dialog as we try to depart...
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Neither of you are going to say anything? You know this poor robot is just going to end up suicidal/depressed or insane now. No, dont you shrug at the camera Silent Protagonist 2B. Zero talked enough to earn that. Youre not pulling your conversational weight, lady.
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While we have gotten our reward for Parade Escort already, the quest itself remains open. Theres not actually a follow-up quest. We just need to buzz off for a while. We could do the usual thing of just teleporting to another area to advance quest stages. But, you know what... While were doing quests we left unfulfilled in Route A...
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...Perhaps its time we dropped in on an old friend. The newest malformation of Father Servo has been waiting for months for our return.
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Music: Birth of a Wish
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Time for the long awaited Round 3 against Father Servo. His newest incarnation is an upright quadruped. I dont think thats come up again outside that one pseudo mini-boss in the Forest Kingdom Castle.
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Being basically an upright boxing horse, Father Servos new body doesnt have the largest of move sets. Mostly, its just wide haymakers that are easily telegraphed and avoided. Well, at least for the player. 2B tends to take those on the jaw fairly often. Shes got a strong jaw like Raiden. Its fine.
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Servos primary attack in this form is just pulling a Sonic the Hedgehog and spin dashing at rapid speeds around the arena. Thats a touch harder to avoid on a 3D plane, as it turns out. I mean have you ever played the 3D Sonic games? Its a goddamn mess to control a rapidly rolling body. Much less dodge one.
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The main reason we avoided this fight in Route A was that he is a Level 40 enemy regardless of our level at the time. We can take him one-on-one fairly easily now. And it would have been doable back in Route A. It just would have taken for goddamn ever chipping away at him. Quadrupeds are extremely easy to stun. This boss fight can easily be won by just hanging back, equipping the Missile Pod and spamming it until hes defeated. Its probably one of the few fights where missiles are actually pretty useful.
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Regardless, despite the long months of build-up the fight itself is unsatisfying and quickly over. Its just like modern pay-per-view bouts.


Music: Rays of Light (Vocal)
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Holy shit! 2B, you can still speak? We were all starting to get worried there for a bit. Thought you were gonna pull a Rico Banderas on us the latter half of the game or something.
Anyway, weve already acquired all of this junk. Silver ore is a common drop around the City Ruins and Desert Zones. Pristine Screws are semi-rare drops from Goliath Bipeds. Broken batteries are drops from medium bipeds all over. Lets just hand this junk over.
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...Wait, didnt we just [b]give you[/i] a Broken Battery? Why are you giving us three back...? Whatever. Thats another stage of the Robo Dojo completed. Well be back another day to complete Father Servos training. Theres still a couple more stages to go.
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However, in the meantime we did get an update on the Parade Escort and a marker back to where we received that quest. Lets see how the parade of happiness is going.
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And uhh... thats it. Thats the end of the quest. Congrats. We made a party machine into a nihilistic robot. Thaaaaats NieR: Automata! This is the lighthearted half of the game, by the way... Stay tuned for more!



Video: Episode 84 Highlight Reel


Amusement Park Machine Concept Art Embrace nothingness in festive makeup.