Parasite Eve 2 Part #42 - Episode 41: Walk It Off

Part 42: Episode 41: Walk It Off

Last time, we found a secret passage back to Dryfield and split up with Madigan to check up on our old pal Douglas. This is a good a point as any to mention that this return trip is entirely optional, but worthwhile. And you kinda need to do it for the best ending, but I guess you can skip it if you're speed running or something.

Flint is here to great us as we emerge from the well . He's barking excitedly about something.

I dunno, Aya, but I think the dog wants you to follow him?

And yes, Hot Zones have reappeared in Dryfield, so more BPs for the BP God

But, at the moment, Flint wants us to follow him, so let's do just that.

The path Flint leads you on is almost entirely free of encounters, but if you know where he's going, I guess you can run off and clear out the Hot Zones first.

The water tower? I guess there's something up there.

hold up, there was a Mad Stranger on the other side of the fence I had to shut up

Oh yeah, and we get to see the Medicine Wheel in action! Certain fights are hard coded to give you an extra item if you have the Medicine Wheel. There's nothing random to it, the game just looks to see if you have the Wheel at the start of a specific fight, and then gives you the bonus afterwards. Generally speaking, all the bonus drops are very handy things to have, so it's actually a much better item then I previously thought.

In addition to a free belt pouch, we get this little bottle of poo gas. Berserk is a weird status effect in this game. It boosts your Physical Attacks like its Final Fantasy cousin, but it only locks out your support spells, so you can still spew lightning everywhere like Zeus on a bender. The downside is that attacking with your guns drains your health slowly, and all spells cost HP instead of MP. I'm sure there's some clever method of abusing this to become a walking Armageddon, but it just seems like too much of a trade off to me.

Still, not a bad haul for killing a motionless foe with no attacks, is it?

Climbing up the water tower, we find...

oh dear

Looks like its time for some pest control

This time, we score 9mm Hydra and Spartan rounds. This Medicine Wheel is pretty sweet, honestly.

But there's no time to celebrate, because Pierce is in trouble! Why he decided to drive all the way out here and climb a water tower, I don't know, but we should probably help him.

PIERCE

: You dick!

: I thought you were...

: I could get used to this!

poopoo in his pants and poopoo in my heart

: Are you hurt?

: I lost a little blood... Nothing serious.

: You don't look so good! (haha) Wait here... I'll get something for you...

: Don't... Don't worry about me...

...pfffft bwahahahahahaha! Are you shitting me, Pierce? Rescue Aya? Have you fucking MET Aya Brea? She is literally a professional ass-kicker: that is her job, to kick ass. Fighting hideous abominations against nature? That is every fucking day of the week for her. She's stomping around, blasting twisted ghouls left and right with her massive arsenal like it ain't no thang, cuz it really isn't. She's basically Bruce Willis with a prettier face. And even if she didn't have entire crates full of shotgun shells sitting in her coat pocket, we're talking about the only person on the face of the planet with straight-up magic. Aya Brea can summon fire and lightning WITH HER MIND. She fought a fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex and won. She won by punching it until it melted. If you were looking for a damsel in distress, you are one game to early, buddy.

I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but really now

: Pierce, I want you to stay right there.

Pierce spits out his car keys and hands them to Aya. Gross.

: It's the key to my SUV. It's a little beat up, thanks to the locals...

The game helpfully plays a sound clip of snoring to remind you that Pierce is both still alive and the comic relief.

So, here's the deal: Pierce isn't doing so well, and like Flint, if he dies we get locked out of the best ending. I believe Pierce AND Flint dying gets you on the straight road to the Bad Ending, in fact, so we'd better do something about this. So, what can we find to help someone recover from severe blood loss?

How about we just put some ice on it?

No, really. We need to bring him a bag of ice or he dies. Don't tell me that's not how medicine works. I watched Ocean's 11 one time, and George Clooney was on ER, so I'm pretty sure that makes me a PhD.

The other thing about this little segment is the slight time limit. After you pick up the Bag of Ice, if you take too long getting it back to Pierce, it turns into a Bag of Water. You can easily just go back and grab a fresh bag, so it's not that big a deal.

If you try to give Pierce a Bag of Water instead of Ice, though, he dies instantly. Because, again, this is how the human body works. Look it up.

We will not be killing Pierce, so we bring him Ice.

: Pierce, wake up!

: Hrmph...?

: Put this on the bruise...

: Thanks, feels better already. Here... Take this...

Hey, free cola. Nice.

Oh, by the way? We're not done with this little mission yet.

As you may imagine, there's only one treatment for being poisoned by mutant mosquito babies...

MORE ICE

Yup, you have to run back to the ice machine and get a second bag of ice, or Pierce dies. No, no enemies respawn, nothing changes. Just do it again.

Slick dodge there, Brea.

: Th-Thanks. Here! Take this...

Another minor item reward, and guess what!

Still dying! Do it again!

The third and final time you bring back a bag of ice, you'll find Pierce standing and healthy again. Yes, you do have to do it three times. Thanks for that riveting side-quest, Square!