Part 19: Indeed, you are strong, brother!
We've got a date in the Big Tree Hole with the Big Bull Evil King. We head out of Madril and into the Forest of Wilkur.
Music: Forest of Willkur
Along the way, we grab this Tiny Gear from a tree near the Madril entrance.
And another one from a tree near the bridge where we met Kisling for the first time.
And now that we've taken care of those, we head for the southwest corner of the map.
Throwing caution to the wind, we loop around the barricade and charge full speed into the Big Tree Hole.
But first we stop and grab the forest's last Tiny Gear, bringing our total up to 16.
Gambler?
Rosalyn, your ears are as sharp as they are shapely! Let's go inside. To the ghost-filled garden of adventure!
I don't want to listen to this nonsense! If it isn't true, you will have a bagful of unhappiness waiting for you. Beware, fake scholar.Music: Big Tree Hole
Welcome to the Big Tree Hole! It's much more straightforward than the Escapeless Abyss, thankfully.
Immediately to the right from the entrance is a sealed door. We ignore it for now and head straight.
Straight ahead from the entrance is an otherwise empty room with a treasure chest. The chest contains a Black Cat Jewel. When used in battle, the Black Cat Jewel halves everyone's HP (max damage is 999), including the party's. It's pretty useful for boss fights, as long as you're prepared to heal afterwards and-
OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT
After fleeing from the Lone Wolf and desperately trying to forget about the encounter, we run into the dungeon's first Urn.
It's like the other Urns, but this one is a fire elemental. Super interesting.
After killing the Urn, we continue forward and head into a side room.
A nearby magic circle opens the door we saw before.
We head across the map and into the newly opened door, smashing the Urn on the other side.
After the battle, Ari learns Heal, which restores 90 HP to a single ally. Rosalyn learns Charged Parasol, which is a single-target lightning attack (which does more damage than Kisling's single-target lightning spell, officially making him useless.). Kisling learns Flaming Tome, a single target fire attack.
I love the description for Flaming Tome.
There's another nearby magic circle, which opens a very nearby door. I don't even know the point of this circle, the door is literally ten steps away.
It's right there behind that Urn.
There's a staircase on the other side of the door, so we descend to B2.
The room completely enclosed, with sealed gates around. And it's completely empty except for a lone sign...
An important clue. We head back to B1, to the room with the treasure chest.
And we walk straight through the wall behind it.
The hidden room contains the floor's final Urn and the sealed staircase. We smash the Urn and head downwards.
There's an Urn right next to the stairs. We smash it and continue exploring the floor. In the process, Kisling learns Burden, a spell that decreases the speed of an enemy group.
We continue circling around the room, and in the process find a magic circle that opens a door somewhere.
The northeast corner of the room contains another Urn. We smash it and Ari hits Level 24, learning Blizzard Sword.
Always read spell descriptions, they're often fantastic.
Next we head down to the southwest corner of the room and take out another Urn.
And the northwest corner contains B2's final Urn. Like I said, this dungeon is much more straightforward than the Escapeless Abyss was.
We still haven't found the stairs, though. We check the west-most room, which is empty except for a sign.
Something's written on it. "A secret in an empty room."
The south-most room is the only totally empty room in B2.
Once again, we walk through a solid wall. The (formerly) sealed staircase is on the other side, and we head down to B3.
Floor B3 is just a big circle with an Urn on the west side and an Urn on the east side. The northern room contains the sealed stairs, which are still closed even though we've smashed all the Urns on the map.
A sign beside the stairs gives us our answer.
If we approach the center of the floor from any direction, we walk straight through the walls and into the floor's final Urn. After destroying it, we double back to the stairs.
All set, Ari? Are you ready in both body and mind?
Yes....
Now, let's be off!
Cute tiny little pulps! Then I'll stomp on you 'til you stick to my shoes! Man, I'm excited!
Yep, one too many power drinks... Um, excuse me for interrupting your excitement, but I have a question for you, Big Bull Evil King. Have you been here at the back of this tunnel all along without trying to conquer the world? Yup. I don't care about world conquest. I just want to fight strong opponents! Meat grinding fights, that's my life! I won't give my World Evil King Belt to anybody!
I don't know.
...I see. It seems to be that all sorts of Evil Kings exist. Now, I the Princess shall specifically be your judge. You may begin! Here we go!
Big Bull charges at our party, ready to pound us into cute tiny little pulps.
Boss: Big Bull Evil King
Music: Evil King Battle
I hate this boss so goddamn much.
Big Bull's got 2746 HP. He's the second burliest enemy in the game, beaten only by the final boss. Dude is a tank.
He's paired with these Burly Bulls, which cast Quiet constantly.
Notice the light blue "1" in Ari's status. Status ailments in Okage have multiple levels, which are intensified as enemies continue to hit you with a status ailment.
At level 1, this light blue status ailment prevents you from using any skills that cost LP. At level 2, you can't use any skills, whether they cost LP or HP. At level 3, you can't use skills and you also can't use items. You do not want to let this reach level 3.
Big Bull himself hits like a truck. He did 81 damage to Kisling in this shot, but I've seen him hit over 120 in a scrapped recording (It was scrapped because he killed Ari like, four battles in a row with his freight train fists).
I just keep dying. I can't heal like this, I need to figure out how to prevent this ailment. Help me, manual!
Okay, so this status ailment that's been ailing me is called "Lock" then. Let's go to the store and buy a million of whatever cures Lock.
Okay, cures Lock. Great, I'll take 20.
Music: Evil King Battle (Disadvantage)
You can't tell from this screenshot, but Ari has been inflicted with "Lock," so I'm telling Rosalyn to use a Cheeful Stone to cure it.
It's greyed out in the menu. Trying to use it gives me a buzzer sound. What the fuck.
The manual is a goddamned liar. The ailment is actually called Seal, and is cured by Liberation Stones. The manual itself makes no mention of an ailment called "Seal." I also have no idea what Cheerful Stones actually cure, because as far as I know, no "Lock" ailment actually exists outside of the manual and the item description for Cheerful Stones.
So now that we have the right item, we can take Big Bull down. We open the battle with the Black Cat Jewel we found in the dungeon. There's a reason they put it in a chest that's impossible to miss. As I said, Big Bull has 2746 HP, and this battle goes on entirely too long without using a Black Cat Jewel.
So we get a ton of free damage, and now we just have to focus on staying alive and attacking whenever possible.
I get lucky in this fight, and Big Bull just charges over and over and over again. I'm pretty sure the attack boosts from charge don't stack, because with how many times he casted it, he should have done something like 600 damage, rather than about 100.
In the end I take him out in a desperate fit of combined attacks. Kisling is dead, Ari is one hit away from death, and I've got no LP. I just kept combining over and over, and he just kept charging over and over until I took him out.
Music: Big Tree Hole
Come on, slave, I'm on a roll. Go defeat the next Evil King! We'll pound them to dust!
You're still here? I already regained my dark power. I don't need you. Go away, shoo! Stop playing cool! ...Besides, you didn't win the victory alone... Indeed, you are strong, brother! That was the toughest battle I ever fought!
Side note: I read all of Big Bull's lines in Hulk Hogan's voice.
Brother, I know you will keep my burning fighting spirit glowing forever. Right? Stan, brother!? Huh? Me? What? The reason why I waited here is so I could fight with a kindred spirit, a brother! I don't think so, Former Big Bull Evil King. I think you misunderstand.
It seems you are quite attached to him... Good for you, self-proclaimed Evil King. You may take care of him. Silence you gnat!! Just because it is not for you... Before, I heard fate calling. It said to me: "Hi. Once you become the strongest, head deep in the sewer. OK, bye..." It was so confusing. But now I get it! It's not me heading there. It's you, brother! Hmm? Again "deep in the sewer"... Why? What is the importance of "deep in the sewer"? Well, I don't know the meaning. But what I think is...
Ah, it was a waste to ask. Now! Let me join your family! Let me travel with you from now on! You don't mind, right, brother?
Uh, uh... Grrr...Umm...Y-you can...(sigh) That makes me think. You guys are taking me in so... So I think I have to give you something. But what do I have to give...? Oh yeah. You defeated me, brother.
Right on brother! Reign over everything as the holder of the title belt! No, no, I don't want this! No one knows about this belt! What's the point!?
......Well, when it's broken, it's broken. I should have something else... Oh! How about this! Brother! I've had this since I was enlightened through fighting! Yes, this is good! Take this brother! And take good care of it!Ari acquired "Manual Handle"!
Uh, uh, I see. Grrr... Uh...Thanks... (Chuckle)... You're having a hard time. I agree. I love giving the stupid Evil King trouble! Oh, you are our sister. Pleased to meet you!
I am the leader. I believe it is called "Don" in the lower world. Yo, Don! Waddaya say!
Oh, you are the "Doc"! Yo! And him? I am a servant of the Princess.Too complicated to explain.
Huh? What's that? You can't fool me. Ari is you know. ...What is he? Uh, basically... He's well ummm... I... Oh, okay. He's a "cub". Yo, what's up dude! Hey, hey, don't threaten him. Now, let's go back! Gotcha, sister!
And our band of adventurers becomes even stranger. What kinds of misadventures are in store for this peculiar party?
That shot of the manual was cropped from a high quality PDF Sony used to have up on their website. I've uploaded it to my Dropbox for anyone who wants to check it out (I recommend you do. They put a lot of effort into it). There are some location spoilers in screenshots, but nothing I would worry about.
Download the PDF Here