Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 Part #41

Part 41: Soda.

Update 41

First things first, and that is INTERROGATION.

Salivating Girl: "Then ah'll tell yew. There's a place in the Tento Woods called Centipede Road. If yew go in there, my mom says an oni'll eat yew. So stay away from Centipede Road, okay Mister?"

If the response is positive:

And bah, no single Oni could POSSIBLY eat Raidou.

Inner voice"There aren't any oni in Tento Woods. I should know, I used to live there. Why would humans lie about something like that? What's really in the Tento Woods?"

"I heard the whole story, Raidou. You left the cute, fragile, and very fainted Kichou here... So you could split for the Capital with Narumi, huh!? "

"To prove there's no hard feelings... I'll let you in on a juicy scoop. Part of the Tento Woods around here is off-limits even to the natives. It's called Centi... Something.
Whoever goes in there is supposedly gobbled up by an oni. But from a folklorist's perspective... "

"Doesn't it make you want to get into the Centi-something? Hmmm?"

Short-haired man: "Chief's orders. Ah didn't have a choice. Anyhow, she's up and at 'em again. Ain't yew seen her around?"

sharp-eyed man: "Where... Where'd yew hear that name? Sorry, ah ain't allowed to talk to outsiders about the village god. And the chief'll say the same. Don't take it personal..."
inner voice: "What the chief says comes straight from Lord Tento, our village god... And he told me once, keep Lord Tento a village secret... So we do whatever the chief asks us on Lord Tento's say-so."

This is pretty much the only helpful villager at the moment. Likely due to senility.

squinting elderly lady: "He's Akane's husband, ain't he? Why ask me the obvious?..."
Inner voice: "Ah never realized it 'til this young man asked me... But we don't know anythin' about Lord Tento. Not the first thing... Where he lives, what he looks like... Nothin' at all. Does Lord Tento really exist?"

This is always useful. Too bad Raidou can't use it on himself when HE is afflicted.

Now R1's "return to headquarters" menu has two options. That allows for fast and convenient travelling from the capital to Tsukigata and viceversa.

Pretty heavy fare, though.

Wandering old man: "Ya know, when I was just a babe, I never dreamed of leavin' the Capital! We didn't have none of these fancy streetcars. Now ya kids can scurry off to places like that Tsukigata..."

Old wandering aside, let's check what's new in SHin-Sekai. That is the main source of case files, some of which will be resolved in the next update.

That is getting rather suspicious, I would say. But surely, the Luck Locusts and Dahn can't have anything to do with the movement of tectonic plates, right?
RIGHT!?!?!?1

Owner of Shin-Sekai: "I'll forward the case files to the Narumi Detective Agency. If you have time, please take them."

Oh boy, there is someone there that normally would be in... Other places. And of course, he has absolutely no importance whatsoever. No sir. Completely irrelevant, this young man.

"I'm glad you've come. There was something I wanted to discuss with you. I enjoy churches very much... I find their austere atmosphere to be quite soothing."

"There may be a spark for you there."

>Passive skills are learned when a demon's loyalty is maxed out. Each demon can learn various skills. However, you cannot necessarily use all the skills you acquire. When you learn a new passive skill, or gain it through demon fusuion... You must place the desired skill in the demon's available slots. Abilities chosen here do not disappear. You can reallocate them during the next demon fusion.

As seen here, new tutorials are opened on each chapter in Shin-Sekai, detailing functions not described in the (very awesome) manual.
It pays to come from time to time and read about the things. Strange Journey does something similar with the crewmembers.

Blonde Agent: "Many of ze most powerful demons can only be 'ad through ze demon fusion. Zey tend to be tres puissant and are valuable in any party. But it is ze law of nature zat demons obey zose who are stronger zan zemselves. Par example, most demons can only be created after you have defeated zem in a battle. But some demons, like ze Element and Spirit orders, can only be 'ad through fusion. Remember... Life is short, so hurry and 'head to ze Gouma-Den!"

Stunningly lucky woman: "I found out a few more tidbits about luck fluctuations. THat's why I was having my Gouto collect luck locusts. Although... He may be here now, but he always goes missing at the most inconvenient moments. Whenever there's an incident or anything like that, he's almost never around. Where does he go? But enough about that, let's talk about luck fluctuations.
From bottom to top, the lucky states are Good Luck, Great Luck, and Best Luck. The more luck locusts you capture, the higher your luck will rise. Unlucky states follow a similar pattern: Bad Luck, then Worse Luck, then Worst Luck. Everytime you are ambushed in combat, your luck declines. When your luck fluctuates, you tend to see the greatest impact during combat. I'm sure you've already seen it for your self, but... It acts like a lottery where your luck can change in the blink of an eye. When you're lucky, you might get a good Fortune... When you're lucky you might get Misfortune. By the way, you can change whatever Fortune you're handed by using your luck locusts. If you use a luck locust as an item during battle, you can easily give the wheel of fortune another spin. Pay close attention to what'sa going on and use them accordingly."

Damned fiends.

Stunningly lucky woman: "It seems that the unluckier you are, the more likely your chances of running into a Fiend. So if you do become unlucky, don't delay, dear. Purify yourself at once! Well, that's it for my advice."

And then the lady's Gouto has combat tips, mentioning the characteristics of the different weapons' special attacks. Bah.

And then something interesting, about sword fusion.

Karma-bearing man: "You can get 'em from the Training Halls to the North, South, East and West of the Capital. Bear a sword-wielding demon in any of those places, and you'll earn yourself a Renki sword. But to get to any of the training halls, you'll need a way to travel on water... Either way, though... That's how you get the Renki swords you need to fuse different weapons."

Owner of Shin-Sekai: "We look forward to your next visit. Hopefully you can always find what you need to know here..."

Elder Monk: "It seems you are needed outside the Capital. Far away... i hope the words of a monk like me can aid you, young Kuzunoha."

There is a significant change in the Shrine.

The Shrine's Training Hall is now open for business! Not to be used at the moment, though.

"The Yatagarasu has delivered a case file to the Narumi Detective Agency. We hope that you will accept the assignment detailed therein."

But the main reason the shrine was visited was this: TO SHOW the power of transformation, and what Goro can do.

There it goes.

By pressing the square button, Raidou-as-Goro whistles. That triggers a fight.

Most of the time, anyways.

It is a rather special fight.
It ALWAYS has at least one luck Locust. Goro's form can't be used everywhere, but it is the fastest way to increase one's luck.

But of course, I was an idiot and didn't get any birdlime. Silly me.

Still, using the combos as mentione by the human-shaped Gouto dude leads to fast battle winning, and heavy heavy mag usage.
The combo for the axe is: Two slashes, two specials. The first hit of the special is ramming with the axe, the second is the jump slash.