Part 13: Shakespearean Comedy

Going upstairs, random rebellious people walking around fill us in on some of the details of the Empire. The translated names don't tell us anything about them, unlike the original text.



The Resistance's stronghold is... oddly spacious. I think that it's actually the biggest building in town, at least on the inside.



The little details make all the difference. A little kid talking about how the leader of the resistance cries herself to sleep paints a clearer picture than any long monologue could.



:facepalm: These people are hopeless.




So far we've visited two thirds of the empire. Gold City is only a matter of time, but I'm glad that got a chance to visit the capitol.



I immediately regret buying new armor in Southtown, but can't argue with the tiger motif they've got going on. For bonus points, the Tiger Bikini provides noticeably more defense than the tiger suits that Boy and Boss get.



I think we have a lead on the Sea Hare tail. Unfortunately we have no way of reaching the coral yet.



The only reason.. the ONLY reason... that the Resistance hasn't been mopped up yet is because the Empire's guards are every bit as dumb as the Republic's.



"And the man by the bridge told me that he's got some puppies hidden away under there that he'll show me if I come back after dark when there's not so many people around!"



Castle security is astonishingly lax. They don't really care who waltzes on in there.



Where have we seen this kind of reaction before?



Heading out to the Eastern Ruins provokes a strong sense of deja vu. Why are there two very similar ruins across the continent from each other?



Our old friend Phanna makes another appearance hanging out on the front porch. She's as friendly as she ever was.




Oh no she didn't! There's some things you just don't say to a magic wielding amazon who's holding a spear, and "I've been shacked up with your boyfriend and it's the greatest" is at the top of the list.



The reason for this is demonstrated when Kid pretty much shanks Phanna in response. She feels awfully bad about it, though.



Luckily Boy and Boss have their heads on straight, as Kid would probably stand there while Phanna bled out.




Luckily there's no question of that as Krissie shows up just at that moment to take her off her hands. Huh. Guess she wasn't kidding about that whole "we'll" investigate Dyluck.



"And try your best not to stab him too."

"We're not making any promises."



A quick look around shows that there's some treasure chests we'll have to seek out.




Inside the ruins themselves, we have a few retreads. The Wizard Eyes spawn floating eyebots, and there's upgraded zombies roaming around. This is actually a pretty good place to grind some of the weapons and magic we've picked up lately, as the Wizard Eyes will create eyebots indefinitely.



It's possible that you could miss it, but there's about 4 doors beside the large double doors that are scattered around the room. They kind of blend in to the background.




Following one of the doors leads us to some upgraded bats and one new enemy, the imp you can see in the center. They've actually got some fairly nasty spells, so it's best to keep them stunlocked. Higher level tomato men show up, but at least now they're fairly easy to deal with.




Following both upper paths to their end nets us a pair of orbs, although it's not really worth it at the moment to go and get them forged. There's actually quite a bonanza in here..



In another bit of deja vu, there's a few rooms laid out as though they're going to have attacking furniture. Nothing materializes, but it certainly makes for some paranoid moments.



There's also the First Empire Church of Evil in one doorway, although there's nothing of interest in here.



Three drop type enemies? Dick move Square. Dick move.




Eventually we get to a few spike blockades keeping us from getting to things. I can't help but think that the spikes would seem.. spikier? if they would hurt when you ran into them. I don't think it would add anything, it'd just make more sense.



It's one of those things where you have to go on a long, circular route to find a switch that changes things two or three rooms away. At least they're nice enough to tell you that the switch did something.



The switch is the thing, as this is the door that we need to use to continue...



But the door we saw earlier behind a wall of spikes has a Sword Orb, which is certainly something you wouldn't want to miss. Orb Count: 3




A needlessly complicated path to a switch (in the same room, no less) leads us to a very ominous looking door. Understandably so, because we have a mid-boss behind it.

Boss Fight: Demon Wall 2

Demon Wall Battle Video



As soon as we get into the room, this encounter starts to look pretty darn familiar. A wall of spikes on the back is about all we need to be facing off against the boss of the previous set of ruins, and the experience isn't much different here.




The wall does gain some longevity with a few abilities that enable it to regain lost HP..



And still has a variety of status effects it can inflict on your characters. Not pictured: Leaden Glare, which can cause a slow status. In some ways, this boss is a bit misleading. The actual boss you have to kill is the center eye, while the other two are merely hangers on.



Probably the most spectacular attack the wall has now is a mid-level thunderbolt, but it has dismal magic and can't really do any harm with it.



The only new trick of note that it's gained is the ability to revive the larger side eyes, which means that any tactic for this fight is going to have to focus on the center eye and pretty much ignore the other two.



The wall is still weak to Earth Slide, however, and by now we've got enough mana to blow it on spells bringing the wall down. We get a Whip's Orb for our trouble, bringing our count to 4 orbs in this dungeon.




The very next room has a number of silent thralls wondering around and a step pyramid with the object of our quest sitting on top. His reunion with Kid... doesn't go well, to say the least.




They actually go through the trouble of having her show up in ghost form here as Dyluck goes on about what an annoyance she was, and remove her from your party so there's no confusion about what's going on.



Thanatos crops up again as the mastermind behind these creepy ruins, which isn't unexpected since he was in control of Dyluck and Phanna. It'd be interesting if he didn't need the ruins to drain people, but just liked them for the atmosphere.



Boy's had quite enough by this point. There's some things you just don't say in front of an axe-wielding Mana Knight, and "I'm going to send the girl who loves me off to be sacrificed by a madman with a thirst for drama" is one of them.




Not pictured: Boy hitting Dyluck with his axe. I suppose it's a literal interpretation, but he didn't stab him! Whatever you want to call it, though, the trauma clears Dyluck's mind while leaving him unable to walk. Boy really did a number on him..



After receiving directions to Kid, the game engine finally catches up and realizes that one of our party members died a bit back.




In one of the worst jobs of hiding your villainy that I've ever seen, Thanatos is literally in the room directly behind the pyramid behind a door that's plainly visible. Villains these days, I swear. His ceremony doesn't seem to be going well, either.



Somehow the interruption brings Kid back to her feet and frees us to move, although it's not quite time to fight Thanatos.




Thanatos blames it on Dyluck, and exits to leave us with our second boss battle of the dungon, this one being an original that we haven't seen before... in this game. Players of Final Fantasy Adventure might recognize Count Lee.

Boss Battle: Vampire

Vampire Boss Battle Video



The choice of electric blue for his skin and fur doesn't really do much for the Vampire's appearance. He's a lot like his FFA counterpart in the way he loves to dance around and prevent you from getting a solid in using your weapons.




He's quite fond of using spells, and they pack a bit of punch when they hit. He's also got the strongest Energy Absorb we've seen yet, but that doesn't help much considering how high our damage output can go.



He's also got a few status effects,but I never felt at any point as though they'd be more than a minor inconvenience.



Slightly more dangerous is his habit of grabbing anybody who comes within arms reach and trying his best to turn them in to a midnight snack. I didn't quite catch the damage, but none of of our heroes seem to like it at all.



He's got a weakness to thunderbolt, but trying to exploit it can be difficult due to the MP cost of Thunderbolt. Having Kid pitch in with fire magic helped a good bit, especially since Salamando has the added benefit of lowering the Vampire's attack. For defeating the Vampire we get our fifth orb of the dungeon, being a Boomerang Orb this time around.



Unfortunately, by the time we get out of the room Dyluck has disappeared. I imagine the explanation about what happened to him can only be awkward.



Friends once again come to the rescue, keeping Kid from freaking our and hanging out at the top of a pyramid forever.



All things considered, Kid recovers remarkably quickly. Maybe they didn't tell her and she just came to the conclusion that he wandered off while Boss and Boy whistled innocently?



The door ahead is closed, so our only option is to go back and see what the Resistance has turned up.

Pamela's Vital Signs are WAY Normal?