Part 19: PART EIGHTEEN: KURAN KURAN, AND POSSIBLY OTHER BAD PUNS.

PART EIGHTEEN: KURAN KURAN, AND POSSIBLY OTHER BAD PUNS.



Welcome back to the Dezolian spaceport! Unlike with the Motavian one, there's no way I can get distracted by a million sidequests, so we're actually going to Kuran today!

: That would be most wise.





: Wow, this thing is huge!

: Indeed, the Landale is an impressive vehicle.

: ...so, anyone know where the bathroom is?



: Woooooaaaagggh!

: Are you okay?

: This...is...AMAZING!



: You know, this place looks exactly like Zelan, but with different paint.

: I can assure you that exterior appearance is where the similarities end. The station's interior is approximately thirty times as complex as Zelan's. Also, there are a large number of security sentries in place.

: Wait, if Kuran is the backup, then why does Zelan only have you guarding it?

: I am all that is needed.



: Easy...easy...a few more inches...oh, right, I'm supposed to turn off the radio before parallel parking!





: the entire planetary control system out of whack.

: My head is out of whack! Man am I dizzy!

: Come on, let's go!

: Yes, we must hurry to the main control center!

: You, you...



: I swear, when the universe stops spinning I'll teach you not to ignore an old man!



For starters, just go left. There's nothing up here.



And then on in here.



And then, uh, more left.



Possibly running into a wall of Piercers! These are still my favorite enemy sprite, only now it's mirrored. This sprite-flipping  will lead to some more fun much later in the game. 



Hot DAMN, that EXP is nice.





No skills, but hey, stats are stats!



Before taking the elevator, you'll wanna go up and down here.



: It's an internal weapon unit for Androids. I surmise that it is a Hyper-Jammer.

: Hyper-Jammer?

: Wait, you don't know what something is?

: Hey, I'm only one year old, you know. I couldn't have learned everything.

: It is a weapon that temporarily scrambles the AI of machines with strong electromagnetic waves. There seems to be no incompatibility in its specification, so let's install it.

: Oh, right! I'll turn around.

: Why would you do that? There is nothing about this procedure that would be harmful to observe.

: But...when Demi...ah, never mind.

: Device installed. Hyper-Jammer can now be used.



Of course, the character limit reduces it to Hijammer. Still, it's a very nice little skill that will paralyze all robotic enemies. It also makes a really lovely combination skill a little later in the game.



: It would appear that part of a television has gone rogue.



: Gyaaaargh!

: That was most unpleasant.

I tell ya, enemy combination attacks suck to be on the recieving end of.



Alright, this time south.



Wren shows off his crowd control skills. His wide area guns are almost 20-30 points weaker than his single target ones, but being able to hit everything every turn is more than worth it. Problem is that I never remember to switch before bosses. Whoops!





This is a really nice addition. Too bad it's not that much stronger than Raja's version of Sar, but, there's never anything wrong with having extra healing potential.



This may come in handy. Or it may not. Androids are incredibly reliable, really.



: Sometimes, I enjoy my work.



Alright, in we go.



And it just drops us into another long hallway leading back to the main block we parked next to. Who the hell designed this place?



Hum dee dum dum...



See, up there was where we were about twelve pictures ago. Couldn't they have built stairs down, instead of two connector tubes leading to another section of the space station in order to build one elevator?



Skip the south path here. Nothing down it. Just keep going until you hit the Hahn lines.



They'll get you to where you need to be.



Which happens to be this elevator.



You know, I rather like this dungeon for whatever reason. They use a lot of parallax backgrounds and such. Still, there's not much to say about it.





Oh, and then Rune learned the strongest Foi technique.



Another elevator. At least I can see where it goes thanks to the background.



Head left from here. Seriously, more and more I'm learning that the dungeons have a 'head left for extras!' mantra.



Also, meet Siren386! Since PS3's  Siren was such a crappy boss in an equally shitty game,  he's been relegated to random encounter duty. He's not all that impressive, really.



These guys, however, are goddamned irritating. Often they start off flanked by two Floatmines, and they have a combination attack that sacrifices the two of them for some major damage.



Then, if you don't kill the middle one quickly enough, it'll summon more, potentially repeating the process.



At any rate, this is your prize for going left. Ziroarmer. Yes, with an 'e.' Toss in on Wren.



Back to the right!



Past the open box, which they really need to stop putting in dungeons because it always irks me to know that there's treasure out there that I can't have.



And into another door that clearly could've just been stairs instead but has to be a long, winding path!



Actually, it's not that long. But skip the elevator for now.





Nothing impressive at the end of the hall, but nothing to scoff at, either.



KILL IT! KILL IT!



Again? That was fast. I keep forgetting he started at level 20.



This is surprising, though.



And this is VERY useful. Reviving items are very rare; Chaz may suck at healing, but I'm grateful for anyone who gets a revival tech.



And our resident healing god refuses to learn any new skills. Alas. Back to the elevator.



Head right here for more goodies.



This is a wicked single-target gun. As such, I'll forget to equip it entirely. Damn it.



: Why does this keep happening?!

: I'd make a joke, but my flesh is melting off!



Seriously. Stairs. Build some fucking stairs!



Heading left solves every problem! There's nothing to the south.



Eventually you'll hit this elevator.



Which leads to a loop and another elevator. Also, woo, parallax!



Welcome to the central command area of Kuran. Now, let's see, what could the problem be?



: I shall search for the cause of the malfunction right away.

: Wait! What's that?

: What? Where?

: Over there! In the shadows!



: Oh, right, the giant thing attached to the only interesting piece of decor in here. Totally missed it!

: What on earth? This feeling of oppression...!

: Dark...Force!

: Did you say Dark Force!? You mean the Dark Force who revived Zio as a god?

: I don't recall Zio reviving. I'm pretty sure we vaporized him.

: It appears that Dark Force is the cause of everything. Let us remove it.

: Easier said than done.

: OK! I'm going for it!

BOSS FIGHT: DARK FORCE (Gamevee Viddler)



: Damn, I didn't think he'd make his move so soon...

: What are you talking about?



: Never mind that. Just be on your guard! This will get messy!



Dark Force. Mother fucking Dark Force. He has various multi-target attacks, in addition to a really powerful single-target Flare shot.

Unfortunately for him, we happen to have the best party configuration in the game. Have Wren set up a Barrier, Raja use Blessing, and Rika use Saner. Her Deban is pretty much useless as Blessing will do a better job of it.



After that, just beat the hell out of him while healing. Classic jRPG boss, really. Hit it, get hit, heal, repeat.



Still, it's the goddamn Dark Force. And apparently he's making full use of his newfound cyborg powers.



Being Dark Force, though, guess what he's weak against?

: Laser hands! They never get old!



St. Fire does more damage than Chaz's Githu, but unfortunately Raja only has one use of it. And it's sorta wasted on a single target.



Nevertheless, DF doesn't want to deal with it anymore, and kills him.



Thankfully Chaz picked up this technique earlier.



And then Raja dies again before Rika can pull off a Gisar to save him. Alas.



Eventually we get everyone back on their feet, and then Dark Force shows off his ability to have built in rocket launchers.



: Nobody gets to mistreat the wrinkly old guy but me!





And then, it's over. Dark Force is destroyed.



Ooh, yay!



: Yep! We've won! OK Wren! Get Kuran back to normal!



: Hmph...

: Rune, can I ask you something?

: What is it?

: How did you know...that monster was the Dark Force Zio was talking about?

: Ah!





: I'll tell you sometime... Just wait until then, will you?

: Um, I thought we all recognized it from the huge scary head floating over Zio whenever we saw him?

: Well...

: Rune...



: do is make some final adjustments at Zelan. What is the matter?

: Ah...nothing.

: Let's go to Zelan!



: Wheeeee!



: I'm pretty sure it's in the DOS shell somewhere....ah, yes.



: All the maintenance systems for the Algo environment are working properly.

: Well, we've been through a lot, but I guess we've solved everything. Are we legendary heroes now?

: Wait!

: Aw, consarn it all!



: The snowstorm hasn't stopped? Has the control system for Dezolis been restored?

: Yes. Everything is in working order.

: I TOLD YOU! Didn't I tell you that the Garuberk Tower was the cause? The demons that live in the Garuberk Tower are creating the blizzard! Why don't you listen to me once in a while?!

: Er...ahem.

: Anyway, this means there is some other cause for the snowstorm in Dezolis, right?

: YES. AT THE TOWER. WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!

: If the snowstorm continues unabated, there is a danger that the Parmanians and even the Dezolisians will perish.



: It tends to make my brain hurt. Let's go to Dezolis!



: As the mission has not been accomplished, I shall continue my responsibilities.



: Even if you damn kids refuse to hear a word I say.

: Hmmph...unless I go you won't be able to get anything done, eh, Chaz?

: Hey!

: Well, it's true.

: What with Dezolis in a wall of ice we won't be able to move around freely. What shall we do?

: If we use the Ice Digger we can break through walls of ice.

: Ice Digger? What's that?

: In planning for action on Dezolis I had an ice breaking car built.

: You're not gonna be attracted to this thing, right?

: I do not comprehend.

: Well, uh... Why don't you tell us these things sooner?

: I shall load it onto the Landale. From there you may place it in your pocket.

: An unrelenting snowstorm...



So, looks like we haven't beaten the game, then. Ah well.



To Dezolis!




NEXT TIME ON PHANTASY STAR 4

An actual old friend and another reused boss!