Part 3: Survivor

Part 3 - Survivor



When we left off, Barry Burton, S.T.A.R.S. all-star and star of this game, was about to go save some girl from a monster. Since the way to the sun deck is already clear, it's just a straight run.



Barry stops you four or five times along the way to remind you of what you were doing, but considering you have a map that highlights the sun deck for you, it really isn't necessary.



Alright, we'll just use the trip-skip here...



Equip the good weapon aaaand sun deck.



I know, Gaiden, I just did it.

From the edge of the shadows he can see something hideous and large chasing Lucia.

Help meeeeeeee!



I think Barry is a Lego man because that is one rectangular torso.

If that's the B.O.W. then this is my lucky day! Well... aside from..._{being here...}



Look up.



Look waaaay up.



I couldn't help but notice that your stomach is hollow.

There's a present for you inside.



Sweet mother of... that's not friendly at all!



I've got this totally under control! Just relax!



Yep, what you're looking at here is a textbook case of boss fight.



Meet the tyrant. His belly button has been replaced with a tentacle-shooting vagina. I bet you expect him to use some tentacle-based attacks, right?



Nope. He just punches you right in the face while you shoot him with a shotgun until he dies. Thanks to the wonderful combat system, he really isn't any different from a normal zombie, except he has more health and does more damage. After that thrilling boss fight:



Then it disappears rapidly into the shadows.

That's not an amoeba. It looks like a blob of melting mud or clay or something. I know whenever it rains I run outside and shout "Shit! Amoebas!"



I'm glad it has finally gone. It was horrible.

Are you hurt? Let me see your arm.

Alright, just... please stop staring at me like that.

What the... not a scratch! I could've sworn he hurt you!

I... I was lucky, wasn't I?

Uh, yeah. I guess you were. But let's not push that luck, okay? Stay close, that thing might still be around. They never die just once.

No, he's gone.

What makes you so sure of that?

I don't know... I just... feel it.

...

...

Okay. Let's go find Leon before zombies eat him.

So, Lucia joins the party. You've probably noticed the three slots for characters, and you can probably guess who number three is. Each character can have a separate weapon and armor, but only one is active in a fight at one time. Since the battle will always start with Barry active, and since Lucia takes more damage per hit that other characters, I'm not planning on switching at any point in the near future.

There's another save point here. As you enter the elevator lobby again...



Copy, over.

Thought we'd lost you. What's going on out there?

I've found a survivor and I'm pretty sure I've located the B.O.W.

Only pretty sure?

Well, it had tentacles coming out of its stomach, and it ran away after I shot it a lot.

That's Umbrella all right. Too bad you lost it, but we have unscrambled Leon's last message. We believe he is somewhere in the first class cabin area.

What, exactly, was the message?

...

...

...

Hey guys. Leon here. I'm just in the first class cabin are- whoa! Shi-

...

...

...

I wonder what it means... Well, thanks for the update. Over and out.

Why don't we take the lift down? It would be quicker.

Yeah, alright.



One floor down, in the lobby balcony, this door leads to first class. There is, of course, no way of actually knowing this.

Looks like it's locked.

Well, I have a key to second class, if that helps.

Really? Let's go loot over that way, then.

Second class is on the opposite end of the room, so it isn't a huge detour.



Welcome to second class. The map for this area shows...



A hell of a lot of rooms to search. Many of them are empty, and all of the ones on the west side are locked, but some on the lower row actually contain useful items. Amongst them...



It might be able to blast open the door to the Captain's room on 3F.

This explosive which can only be used to blow open a door. One, specific door. So it's another key. If we want to pretend it's different, we can call it a crest.



Lucia, you wouldn't be... good at picking locks, would you?

I've never done that in my life.

Not even a little?

No, why?

Nothing... _{It's just not the same...}

Notice anything about that description? It didn't give any sort of clue on where we can use them, and as you can probably guess, there is only one door on the entire ship they work on, because these are the worst lock picks ever made. Luckily, it's nearby.



This cabin in the top left is the one you need to pick. Good luck figuring this out on your own.



After luring this zombie into the hall, there are two important items in the room. One is a key to one of the other second-class cabins. The other...



Is this bad boy. For some reason, the fully automatic weapon is much harder to hit with than the pistol, but it does nice damage. Someone also stashed some ammo for in a nearby plant, which isn't any sillier than having an assault rifle in your cabin in the first place.



That key I found in the room opens the door on the very bottom left of the second class area. Inside is the very thing we came looking for.



Now we can go find Leon!

Yeah. I've just got one little trip to make first.

Save Point 4 comes up right after this.



Of course, I went to use that Semtex on the Captain's door, first. I'm showing this screenshot so that I can point out how getting grabbed from both sides caused the game to go completely nuts. The screen was shaking wildly back and forth.



The crew area is a pretty long detour, Barry. Did we really need to-

Cover your ears. I'm blowing this thing.



...



Oh you have got to be kidding me. No explosion. No signs of an explosion. The door is still there, and it doesn't even look damaged at all. You still have to open it in order to enter the room. If you won't put in the effort to make the explosive blow up, why bother having it? Why not just, you know, put another key in? Do you feel so fucking clever, M4? DO YOU?

Ugh. Well, the safe isn't locked or anything. It has ANOTHER key card in it.



There are so many computer rooms at this point that I can't keep track of them. There's another treasure in the Captain's room, as well.



I have no idea what Diamet is, or how it is stronger than Titanium. I don't care. They can just tell me it's powered by Materia at this point.



Alright, waaay back to the lobby balcony. As you approach first class, this "life sign" indicator pops up. I'm not sure what it is supposed to signify, and it never appears in the game again. I suspect it is some sort of warning system for what is about to happen.



Huh? Where?

I can't pinpoint his location, but he's definitely close.

...

...

Well, I-





Hello, children.

Huh. I guess you were right.



Exactly the same boss fight as ten minutes ago.



...

...

Wait a minute...



What is this, spot the six differences between panels?

I told you, I can feel its presence.

Right! I'd like to believe you. I mean, I DO believe you, I just think there's something you aren't telling me. You aren't a Mary-Sue, are you?

What?

Like that chick in the Resident Evil movies with the superpowers.

Umm...

The big guy already broke that wall, I figure we might as well make it the fourth.



PAN LEFT



Oh, there he is.





...Then... vanished...

"Man, if we just have Barry telling them about it, we don't actually have to show anything!"



Well, Barry is alone again, and I don't care. Finally, the way into first class is open.



Down the fall, we encounter a "new" type of zombie-the first palette swap. How much tougher is it? Well, let's say that the boss left me with a little of my yellow bar left, meaning a little more than one third of the maximum health.



Now let's say I try to run away and get hit ONCE.



Yep.

Anyway, most of the rooms in first class are empty. One is locked, and the last one on the hall...



Huh. I can't find Leon anywhere. Just this hole.

...

Heeeeey...



And so, a mystery is solved: Leon did not report in because he was knocked unconscious when he tripped and fell down a giant pit in the floor.

Barry descends the rope which he has and God help you if you missed it to reach Leon.

Leon! C'mon! Wake up!



When you failed to report in, somebody pushed the panic button. So they called me in to pull your fat out of the fire.

Right. Sorry for dragging you... Wait a minute! There was a girl...

Yeah, I know. Lucia, right? Left her on the deck?

Well, yeah.

She was captured by that... thing...

With the...

Yeah, the tentacles. Listen, there's something about that girl that bothers me...

Like what?

Well, she's got this weird power. Maybe she's the B.O.W. we're looking for...

Yeah, sure. And that thing that took her doesn't fit the bill?

Well, yeah, but...

...

She knew when it was nearby!

Barry, they're always nearby. You got lucky when you only had to fight yours TWICE. Did you hear about Jill's? She lost count, Barry. She. Lost. Count. Right now, I'm convinced that amoeba thing's a pretty good candidate for what we're looking for, and until I'm convinced otherwise, I'd like to see what I can do to save what may be the only survivor of this hellhole!

Yeah, I guess so. Let's go see if we can find her on the cameras.

Sure.



With two non-useless characters united, the duo must now work to save Lucia from the Tyrant. (Lucia peril count: 2)

Tune in next time for the next chapter in the thrilling story of Gaiden.