Part 2: Heaven's Gate, Part 2

(I know I said weekly updates, but all the content thus far has already been in the sandcastle for some time, so enjoy your second helping. Don't get used to it. Regular schedule from here on out, all things being equal.

P.S. First post updated with current vote tally. Serene is currently our most eligible bachelorette, but just barely. Once the update after this one goes up, the poll will be CLOSED, so get those votes in now! GO GO GO! TEAM SPIRIT YEAH!)







It's pretty bright in here, as far as caverns go.
Even though we're walking around with a dim bulb.
Ooh, that's a burn.






Wait. You're talking about Ein, right?


We're going to examine the sunlight here. It doesn't do anything right now, but it'll pay off momentarily. Heading east.



Humina humina!
It's a demon, Ein. Focus.
Dude, she's wearing, like, nothing!
Ein-
Hey baby, wanna see my other Diviner?
It's not a "she", Ein. It's a demon. There isn't anything down there but teeth. Hundreds and hundreds of horrible, pointy teeth.
Temptress! I shall strike thee down in the name of the gods!





Although you can change the formation of your characters, it doesn't affect them directly; rather, it affects whom your enemies will hit. If, for example, you're fighting an enemy whose attacks hit everyone in the front row, it is wise to keep your toughest character in the front and the others in the back to minimize the damage you take.

To change your formation in the middle of a fight, your Overdrive gauge must be either at level 1 (to rotate your formation) or 2 (to flip it). Doing so doesn't actually consume the gauge, however.

As you just saw here, the attacks of certain enemies can force a change in formation.



Alright, we have officially done enough goofing off. We need to get this Retribution going, ASAP.
The Retribution?
Some ancient power that we need to unlock to save Asgard...although there's a good chance that it'll destroy Riviera in the process.
Wow. That's...not a great deal for Riviera, is it?
You know, I've been thinking about that myself. She has a point. This is pretty brutal of us, isn't it? What about all the Sprites living in Riviera?
Who cares?
Well, *I* do. It doesn't exactly seem right to wipe out an entire race just to save our own skins.
Ein. Don't forget who you are. You're a Grim Angel. This whole thing is bigger than Riviera and the Sprites. This is about the war between gods and demons. This is about vanilla milkshakes, damn it. You remember that.


Now we examine the sunlight in this area. Provided you also did this on the previous screen, you will be rewarded with the key item "Orihalcon".



As far as I know, this item has no actual use, but you do get points for finding it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move east.



What up, my Grim Homies?
Hector? I thought you said you couldn't afford to call us here?
Heh. You guys know Henry? Magi numero cuatro*? He just went to the bathroom and left his jacket, so I'm using his cellphone. He's gonna be pissed, but I don't care. Guy's a douche. Anyway, what's goin' on? You get that Retribution business taken care of yet?
Actually, we're still in the Cavern of Judgement right now.
A'ight. Well, get moving. We ain't got all day here, kids. I still gotta file a report on this when you're done.
Uh, boss?
Ein, my man. How ya doin'?
I'm good, I guess. Look, something just occurred to me. Don't you think this a little harsh? This whole "genocide" thing?
Whoa whoa whoa. What's all this shit all of a sudden?
I'm just not really comfortable with killing millions of innocent people, you know? Isn't there any other way we can do this?
OK. This is confusing me, 'cause I'm looking at your job description right now and, damndest thing, "Asking dumbass questions" ain't part of it. You wanna know what is on there, though? "Doing whatever the hell Hector tells you to do."
I just thought-
You "just thought". Well that's great. That's just fucking great. When we're all getting our asses served up as hors d'oeuvres in the next Ragnarok, I'll be sure to let everyone know that Ein just needed some time to think.
...point taken.
Listen, I just heard a flush, so I gotta split. Just cut the crap and get it done, alright? Peace out.


*The seven Magi are, in order: Hector, Herbert, Herman, Henry, Helmut, Heath and Hewie. Just so you know.



Here, we're about to experience our first instance of doing unbelievably stupid crap and getting rewarded for it. Examining this step informs is that it looks fragile and unstable. We are then given the option to leave it alone, touch it, or FUCKING PUNCH IT. The first two have no particular effect, but if we hit it, the screen begins to quake, and a boulder starts hurtling towards us.



What the HELL, Ein?! Why'd you do that?!
OH GOD I DON'T KNOW I REALLY DON'T



In this minigame, you have to enter the button sequence before the timer runs down. If you run out of time, or if you hit a wrong button, you fail, which in this case results in you getting crushed by the incoming boulder and losing a chunk of HP. However, if you succeed, you jump over the boulder and get points.



Yeah.

You must abandon your silly notions of common sense here. In the world of Riviera, idiocy is the one true path to glory.





Examining the surroundings does nothing, but if we try to pull the sword out...



Another minigame! This one's simple; you just have to hit A enough times before the timer runs out. Failure has no consequence here; you are free to retry as many times as you like. When you succeed, you get a nice new Dragon Killer sword and some points. Also, Ein gets a small boost to Strength.



No other way to go, so it looks like we're jumping.



Boy, I sure hope those chains don't...



...break.
Relax. It's just lowering us to the bottom.
Sweet. Who needs a stairway to heaven when we have an elevator?
That was terrible, Ein.



Oh snap! Dragon!
So was that.
...what?
"Snapdragon"?
...nope, I'm not following.
Oh. It's a type of flower. I thought you were-
GUYS THERE IS AN ACTUAL FUCKING DRAGON HERE I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS HAS ESCAPED YOUR ATTENTION.



Well, I suppose there's no sense in not using the Dragon Killer here. Let's check it out!


Sweet! He felt that one alright.
Bitch, please. I'll take care of this.



...what is this shit? 111 damage? That's not even a third of what Ein just did!
Uh oh. Did someone's mighty manspear just go flaccid?
You shut your mouth!


This is standard RPG fare. Many enemies are strong against certain elements and weak against others. This dragon, for example, is resistant to fire, which is why Ledah's doing so little damage. The Dragon Killer sword is, of course, designed to kill dragons, so the dragon is weak to it.



Man, this elevator is slow.
I see a ledge over there. We could try jumping.
OK, I'm not that impatient.
Yes you are.
...



Another mini-game. If we fail, we miss out on a bonus area with a lot of cool stuff in it, so let's not.





That's because it is, jackass.
Heaven's Gate has fallen to pieces...even the palace is in shambles.
That's the fate of all material things. (He actually says this.)
Well, aren't you just a little ray of sunshine today?
It's being around you for so long. It depresses me.


Opening the chest gets us an Album, which unlocks the CG collection in "Extra Contents."



We can also check the statue here for a Golden Ornament, another useless key item.



You loot the palace of the gods for a trinket?
Well, yeah.



BORING. It's been entirely too long since I last impaled something.
...it's been like two minutes.
Entirely too long.



Right on cue. Stand back, kiddies. Daddy needs his fix.






Checking the goddess statue gets us an agility boost. The broken statue, on the other hand, yields a Rusty Sword. Caps.



Ein, you've got a friggin' Diviner. What do you want that rusty piece of crap for?
Your FACE. Is a rusty. Piece. Of crap!
...
Maybe we can polish it up and sell it! (She actually says this.)
that is dumb you are both dumb


Nothing left for us here, so it's time to drop down to where we would have ended up if we'd missed the ledge earlier.





These rocks don't look stable.
The wind's pretty strong, too.
Flying's not much fun for an angel without wings. (She actually says this. I'm serious, she never lets up about the wings.)
Yeah, you know what? If the angel without wings managed to grab someone before he fell, I bet flying wouldn't be much fun for them either.
...point taken.



At least I won't be coughing up any hairballs! (He actually says this.)
...oh yeah. Because I'm totally coughing up hairballs all the time. You know, out of my mouth.


Examining the chains here gets us a Power Wrist, which provides a temporary strength boost in battle.



Going east leads to a dead end, but there's still some stuff to do, so eastward it is.





...it's possible.






Who is this new foe? Will it drop any cool stuff when we beat it? What will happen when we finally reach the end of Heaven's Gate? FIND OUT NEXT TIME.

Or don't.

It's up to you I guess.





---NEW ITEMS---
Dragon Killer: Misc. Weapon. Effective against dragons.
Power Wrist: Support item. Raises Strength.