Part 19: ???? - Pure Zone 1
Welcome back. Before we get started, let's take a look at our current status.
Music - Silencio
The Batter is currently level 12. His skills are:
Wide Angle - Analyses the enemies' characteristics
Save First Base - Restores some HP
Save Second Base - Restores a lot of HP
Run with Courage - Special attack of the element Metal
Run with Grace - Special attack of the element Plastic
Furious Homerun - Special attack of low impact
Our primary add-on Alpha is also level 12. His skills are:
Saturated Chain - Special attack of low impact
Converted Chain - Special attack of mediocre impact
Awaited Embrace - Special attack inflicting Poison
Requisite Embrace - Special attack inflicting Blindness
The second add-on, Omega is level 11. His skills are:
Inverse Perspective - Cures Blindness and Muteness
Overdone Perspective - Cures Poison and Sleep
Optimized Blur - Attack of random impact
Photographic Blur - Attack ignoring the adversary's defense
Epsilon is our final add-on. He's currently level 10, and his skills are:
Classic Drama - Increases an ally's attack lightly
Baroque Drama - Increases an ally's defense lightly
Surealistic Tragedy - Special attack of multiple, low impacts
Abstract Tragedy - Special attack of multiple, mediocre impacts
Now that we've reviewed our party, we're ready to revisit zone1 and see what's become of the element producing Elsen since we left.
Music - Not Safe
Something is wrong here.
Very wrong. The sign that previously marked this station as Elsen has been blanked out, and the train car that carries us between stations is missing.
The color and the music are missing, as well as the Elsen who inhabited this zone previously.
Since the train is missing, we have to walk.
Seeing the lettering on this sign is reassuring, but only a little.
Everyone is gone. Everything is gone.
The ground that connected the entrance to this mineshaft where we found Alpha originally has been flooded out.
Is this really a result of what we did? Are we responsible for this?
Thank you to the poster who let me know there was a chest here our first time through.
The music never changes in a purified zone. If Not Safe ends while you're still reading, please restart it.
I feel like constantly hearing the moaning and banging and sobbing is an essential part of exploring a purified zone.
The tunnel where we found the first set of star-sign orbs has caved in, but there's a chest in its place.
The halls are empty and creepy. The torches appear to be unlit now, but the hallway is so bright it nearly hurts to look at.
Every last Elsen is missing.
Heading down this hall, we have our first encounter in a purified zone.
Meet the Secretary. This is the only enemy we'll be seeing in this zone ever again.
They have a solid amount of health, and they hit fast and hard.
These Secretaries have two attacks. The first is Natural Logarithm, which hits for around 95 damage.
The second attack is Logical Value. It only hits for 20, but the Secretary absorbs that as health. It also has a chance to inflict poison, mute, or fury.
I hate these fucking things. However!
They offer an utter shitload of experience.
If you ever want to become over-leveled, just walk around in a purified zone for a little while.
Remember this torch? There was a hidden bunker here before. Maybe the Elsen inside survived.
The translators appear to have missed a line here, but I think we understand the gist of it.
No. No one survived our purification. These aren't new chests, by the way. I hadn't visited this room on this save file. The loot is the same as the last time we were here, an Inspiration and three pieces of Belial's meat.
The Secretary attacks in a purified zone are extremely frequent. I'm not sure but I think they can attack you anywhere from the first moment you enter the zone.
It's also probably just anecdotal evidence, but it feels like you're attacked more frequently the further into the zone you go.
The path to the right has caved in.
In Pentel we find that the paths are crowded with the metal spheres from inside the cows.
Not a living cow in sight, though. Not one.
We also probably shouldn't speculate on the embarrassingly long amount of time it took me to get through this puzzle.
Real talk? Probably like 15 whole minutes.
Not really worth it I don't think.
The red block here is in case you get stuck. The rock puzzle to get into this room is impossible to do in reverse, and there's another one out the back door.
That chest with two Jokers isn't open in this screenshot, but you should ignore it, because the odds of me having gotten too frustrated with the rock pushing puzzle my first time through and giving up are PRETTY low.
The collapsed areas of the world are distressing in a way I can't describe.
We're in Shachihata, but the sign has long since faded.
Maybe someone's survived in the upper reaches of the post office.
No. There's no one.
No one but the Secretaries. Special Homerun is an improved version of Furious Homerun, a special attack that hits fairly hard.
I think this chest is here because this is as close as we can get to the room where Zacharie used to be. I'll explain this later on.
Also the elevator is broken, so if anyone is on the upper floors, they're trapped there. But... I don't think anyone is up there.
I have very little to say about this zone. It's frightening to go through.
Everything that was bright and colorful and full of life and music is now wiped blank.
We've found the traincar. It's right where we left it when we came to defeat Dedan not so long ago. It no longer works.
I'm not sure if these posters have been wiped blank or not. Usually the Batter will tell us straight up if something has been blanked out. With this he's just not interested.
Here, this is why I said that about the chest in the post office. Wherever Zacharie once stood in a purified zone, we'll usually find a chest, either nearby or exactly on the spot where he stood.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, if he left in such a hurry he dropped his wares, or if he's rewarding us for progressing further and further through this desolate zone. I feel like it may be the latter, or perhaps that he's rewarding us for the purification in general.
Oh, by the way, the Eyes we just picked up are a battle item. They function identically to the Batter using his Wide Angle ability and just show us the enemy information. I don't know what advantage they have over using the ability short of not using any CP.
Music - No Music
We can no longer reach Dedan's chambers. The flesh maze has been rendered silent, so there's no way for us to find the correct path.
The room the Judge used to sit in is missing as well.
There's still a never ending parade of Secretary battles, though.
Music - Not Safe
Outside again, one of the pedalo call points is still active.
It's no longer a living duck friend, just a boat.
Just a worthless, stupid boat.
Most of the land this close to our final purification of the zone has been completely destroyed.
To the left though, did you catch it?
This door. This door was never here before. This area was where the block puzzle was previously.
This is the hidden treasure room of zone1. Every zone has one of these, and we'll be finding them all.
A Monday is another one of the special day items. This one protects the user from critical hits. But what was that other item we picked up, the Grand item?
I don't know. It's something plastic, but the Batter doesn't offer a very good description.
You might also notice something special in this screenshot. I still have the Music Box. On this save game, I never gave it to Zacharie, since I already knew about the code in the readme. The Music Box is a very special item, and we'll be hanging onto it for a long while to unlock something later.
But that's it, now. We've seen the whole zone. Without its guardian, zone1 has fallen into nothingness. The Elsen are all dead. Enoch was right.
Next time we'll head to zone2, where I guarantee things aren't looking much better.
I hope to see you then.