The Let's Play Archive

Shadow Hearts

by The Dark Id

Part 78: Episode LXXVIII: One Last Thing...



Episode LXXVIII: One Last Thing...


New Music: Nobody Knocks the Door (This sounds like something out of Silent Hill 1.)



Welcome to Neameto Float. The effect is lost in screenshots but that giant flesh mount to the left is actually a giant beating heart. That is an interesting choice of welcome mats.



I'm glad everyone took the designated Terminator crouching teleportation pose for entering Neameto Float. I'm also happy nobody lost their clothes in the teleportation. I mean, we probably would have seen a nude Roger Bacon as a result of the teleportation experiment test if that were the case and nobody needs to see that. Anyway, the entire party is present for this final stretch of the game even if we're still remaining in groups of three for battles because of gameplay limitations.

Everyone stands up and surveys their new surrounds.



Or is it like a temple...? Or I dunno.
I thought it was just a fancy castle.
Yah, could be that too. It was real hard to tell from the ground other than it was evil as hell. You can also tell how evil a dungeon is from a glance.
It’s like this entire temple is a living entity…



You're a wee bit TOO into this gross architecture...
Just let me have this.
This is amazing. It looks like a movie set, almost.
Very funny! Can’t you do better than that?

Well, you make a decent comparison then!
Ergh... Well... it is like something... I...
Something outta a comic book?
The heck kinda comic books were you reading, kid?
I used to live in Japan. You don't wanna know.
The heck is a comic book?
Hey, I've seen that radio thing you're using for your special attacks. Don't tell me a comic book is anachronistic.
Tch. How do you even know that word, Yuri?
I read it in a damn comic book!
Can we maybe focus, guys?
Looks a lot bigger than from the outside.
Okay, let’s go!



Despite everyone being present for this final dungeon, we still need to select a three character party. No need to change anything here.



That is because we're not staying here very long. Just stepping foot on the Neameto Float for the first time is the trigger for two final sidequests. And wouldn't you know it, a mysterious yellow glyph has appeared right next to Yuri once we're given back control.



The game is very inconsistent as to whether the Float is Neameto or Neameeto. It uses the one with one E for save points and in the dialog so that's what I'm sticking with. In either case, this recolored save point can let us escape from the final dungeon. So let's hop back down to Earth to knock out those last couple of sidequests. Don’t worry, it won't take that long.


Music: Callback from Jesus





And we're back in Roger Bacon's house. And wouldn't you know it! The first sidequest involves talking with a certain 400-year-old Franciscan monk.



Naturally, a machine based on superior science of the planet Gamilans is impossible to adjust.
Did you say Galerians?
Oh, heavens no! I have SOME standards...
Aha!

Roger spins around to face Yuri.




Not gonna ask what we're doing back so soon.
The world has yet to end and the Float is still in the upper stratosphere so I assume no change worth mentioning.
Well, yeah... But...
Enough. Now about this experiment...
Another test? It's all well and good to help, but don't you think it will get you into trouble, just like before?
Trouble? What trouble? There was no trouble last time.
Halley told me he saw you fall from like a few hundred meters in the sky.
...The boy's imagination is clearly overactive!
Uh-huh.
Be quiet! This time everything will be fine -- I've perfected the transfer program!
Wait, it wasn't perfected when you teleported us before?!
Well... no. But you made it there, didn’t you?
......

Yuri shakes his head dismissively but gets back on the treadmill for the teleporter.



<starts running faster>
Grrrr! T-This is great!
<runs faster still> Whoooaa!





Fuck me sideways! What sadist designed this? In order to complete this sidequest, we have to hit three spots on a Judgment Ring TEN GODDAMN TIMES with the dial accelerating each time. By the tenth revolution, it's spinning at a rate of less than half a second per spin. Needless to say, that is rather difficult!



What are you talking about? The experiments from my century depend on it.
...
Well my legs from this century are dying from this.



The game is nice enough to quickly let you restart on failure. I saw this dialogue a number of times until I made an emulator savestate just before the whole thing began to save myself a LITTLE bit of time. This still took me upward of about fifty tries, at least. Or at least somewhere around that. The whole trial start to finish takes about eight seconds. I have six minutes of footage recorded here, so...



Well, you don't need to worry about my suffering. I got it eventually. How does it always come back to rhythm games...?







And with that, Roger Bacon is beamed to points unknown. We probably should have asked where he was going. Neameto Float only took five spins and it's only in low orbit in space.



The sound of something falling from very high and impacting on the ground with a loud thud.



Why doesn't this place have a bathroom, Rog?
There's a perfectly good cliff to relieve yourself off as God intended just outside.
......
But who cares about that?
I went there, I went there, I WENT THERE! To the moon!!
...
What are you talking about?

Roger dashes down the stairs and up to Yuri.



I thought I might die from the lack of air, but I was all right because I left so quickly! My, but the Earth was green!
...
It's tough when you can't die, isn't it?

You don't believe me, do you?! You think I'm lying, don't you?!
How'd you get off the moon?
I jumped. The gravity is quite low and I'm nimbler than I look!
...
All right, here's the proof! I brought back a souvenir for you! Go on, take it!





The point of this whole sidequest is that we receive Yuri's ultimate weapon... from the moon... I kinda don't think this is a naturally occurring moon rock. This gives Yuri +89 Physical and +85 Special Attack. Not too shabby.


Music: Atmosphere - Blow Up



Now let's move on to the final sidequest of Shadow Hearts. This one has quite a few prerequisites which include:
Last I'd checked, we've done all of that! Now if we'll back up a bit to the Pulse Tract. Specifically, the description text in the Pulse Tract. Very specifically, the part where it talks about a rainbow... Remember how there was a rainbow gimmick in a bonus dungeon already?



Guess where we have to crawl through for a THIRD time? That's right! It's back to the Ancient Ruins!


Music: Don't Cry My Vampire





This dungeon hasn't changed one lick other than the fact there is a new set of flames in the labyrinth. It's still the same trash mobs of lizard dudes and buff blobs. If we'll refer to the Pulse Tract description, it goes:



The rainbow's treasure is a golden moon - Yellow
burning sun - Red
old forest - Green
royal garden - Purple
ocean's color - Blue
drop of blood - Red
and from the sky to rebirth - Light Blue



That doesn't really have anything to do with the rainbow at all. But once we clear the dungeon proper we are spit back to the entrance and the water drains, revealing...





A weird stone. There's no indication of what the hell to do with this. But, we have gotten six other Stones and they've all been linked to the Graveyard and Fusions. Perhaps heading back there might lead to a clue.



In any event, we've done with the Ancient Ruins forever. Indeed, we're done if every location in Shadow Hearts beyond the Neameto Float and...


Music: Graveyard Moon



...The Graveyard.



Before we actually head into the Graveyard, we're going to mess with Yuri's equipment a little bit. Specifically, we're going to give him the Berserk Earrings to boost his HP by 20%, the Seven-Eyed Mask for some key defense buffing and the Flare Brooch to reduce his SP drain from Fusion by 20%. There may be a tiny bit tough battle upcoming...



Yuri can go dunk on the Four Masks again but it's just a repeat of the earlier conversation minus the part where one mouths off and Yuri demands an apology. No, we actually want to go to the back of the Graveyard where we had that whole spat with Foxface ages ago.



I don't know what kind of filter weird filter they're using for this sunset from Yuri's childhood, but it absolutely murders performance on PCSX2. Or maybe just the framerate was lower back when Yuri was a boy. That aside, there's nothing to do here other than gaze at the sun going supernova in the distance. But, if we attempt to leave...


Music: Tanjou



!?



Welp... This is happening now. Tune in next time as Yuri has a chat with the actual Ben Hyuga. Don't worry about how that works. I'm sure that won't be awkward or anything. And hey, you know we never did resolve that whole dark god chilling out inside Yuri thing...