Part 15: Devil's In The City

Last time we actually got a real job for our fake career, but it wouldn't do to just go in without any planning.



I mentioned it awhile back, but there's another use for the Zoma, and it's time to actually put that to use. Zoma are needed to fuse the Hero race of demons. The race, as implied by the name, is made up of famous historical figures and all but one have a skill that's exclusive to them. Like the Zoma, they all start at Level 10 Loyalty.

The road to getting them, however, can be annoying and often requires a lot of experimentation with fusion. All Heroes are the result of the fusion of a certain level Zoma and a certain demon, no exceptions. The Zoma was easy enough to get, but the demon, well...



I hit the streets recruiting and fusing, and I hit it hard. Compare my money and MAG during this mission to the values beforehand. Since I'm playing the Saturn version, I don't have access to the Demon Compendium, which would make it much easier to get the right demon. Here are some of the fusion-only demons that passed through my hands.



I got Kresnik, Kudlak's archenemy who I mentioned awhile back. Both Airavata and Cybele got changed from red to blue in later designs, though I think I prefer the red.



I also got quite a few ladies. Hariti is a pink color here to go along with earlier releases, but gains a more human color in her later design. Palles Athena, who was essential to my fusions, has a white color scheme here but gains a red and black one for later games. She's most well-known as a Persona in Persona 3. Last is Black Maria, who I will actually use for another Hero fusion down the road.



All of this effort was to get my hands on this particular guy - Hachiman. With this and a level 55 Zoma, I was able to finally make a fan-favorite.



YOSHITSUNE: Nice meeting you!!

Yoshitsune! He comes equipped with his signature skill Hassou Tobi, a physical attack that hits all enemies eight times. He also replaces Leanan Sidhe with the skill Provocation, can reflect physical attacks back with Tatami Shield, and can inflict Close with Laughing Yakusi. Overall a pretty useful guy.

Alright, enough of that hellish mess, onto investigations! Kumiko's parents said that she'd been spotted around Chuou, so let's head on over.



Now, where haven't we been? Could it be the hugeass city hall that just screams "suspicious"?



Yep. Maybe I am good at this "detective" stuff.

DUNGEON 16 - NEW CITY HALL
New demons:
Peri Dakini Dominion Yaksa
Catoblepas Titan Anzu Girimehkala
Rukh Cerberus Botis Oberon
Mushussu

BGM: Otherworld Dungeon 5

The first appearance of this theme. Poor Otherworld Dungeon 4, it really got the short end of the stick.



As you can tell from the outside, this is one tall building - 60 floors in all, though we'll only be visiting 12 of them. The city hall is a pretty fancy place, as it should be since it cost some big bucks.



Apparently none of that money went into the infrastructure, since there's plenty of pits that you'll have to fall through as well as a dark zone.



Heading up.



As you keep going higher, the flooring changes. The red is a nice touch, but I'm not much for the green squares.



There's plenty of new demons running amok. Anzu's design is based off of his SMT design and was changed for his Soul Hackers appearance. Another blue beast is Catoblepas, who was changed to a more natural brown for later appearances.




Dakini and Yaksa showed up a lot together, as did Peri and Dominion. Peri's colors were muted for future games, and Dominion went from red to blue.



Titan's appearance has stayed at the same for almost all of his appearances throughout the series. Botis went for a darker color in later games.



Hitting the 60th floor grants us access to the mayor's office. Alright, let's bust this guy!

BGM: Conversation



MAYOR FUJIWARA: H-Hieee! Spare me! Please don't kill me!
: ...I-I don't know anything.

Oh. I guess not. Sorry for scaring you.

: Yamashiro was in charge of everything, from the redevelopment plan to the town hall construction. All we did was follow orders. Please believe me.
: He said something about a final ceremony and went to the Diet Building. You can get to it from the door across the hall. Here's the key. I helped you, so please just leave me alone...



>Received the Diet Building key.

Now we can get through the previously locked door. The second part of the dungeon gets us some new demons.



Classic Cerberus shows up, along with Rukh. Mushussu appears as well, looking much more rat-like than later colorings.



Last were Girimehkala and Oberon. Girimehkala is especially annoying due to his physical absorption, I actually had to bust out some MP-healing items since Rei was working overtime.

The second part of the dungeon also has some downright devious puzzles going for it.



For example, there's a series of one-way doors that can potentially send you back to halfway through the dungeon. Go through a door and...



...now there's a wall. Hope you're going the right way.

There's also a series of three hallways with near unnoticeable warps, similar to Chinatown. Before the warp:







And after.

The worst is the warps that appear right before you get to the boss room.



The pink warps only work if you enter them from below, and the orange warps only work if you enter them from the left. Cue players endlessly walking into the orange warps without thinking of heading backwards to activate the pink warps before throwing their controller in disgust.



I managed to get to level 60 and maxed out my Strength stat along the way. I guess Vitality is up next. I need to watch out when it comes to my Speed, because the original game has a particularly cruel bug: if you raise either Rei's or the hero's Speed over 25, they will always go last in battle. It only affects their base state so you're free to go hog wild with equipment, but it's really a punch in the gut if you forget. Luckily this was fixed for re-releases.



We manage to get out of there without any controller abuse, so into the real enemy's room.

BGM: Conversation



YAMASHIRO: Well done, Sid Davis. I've sealed the soul of that girl you caught in the pseudo Astral Plane. Now all that's left is to ask her about where that book is.
: Sir Yamashiro, it seems that a rat has slipped in.
: I'll take care of it. Don't worry about me, head on in and take care of that girl.
: I will, Sir.



: Welcome, Devil Summoner. It seems that you arrived too late, as our plan will soon be complete. Once we get our hands on those notes concerning the last seal, we can remove it.
: Well then, you should be happy that I am going to take care of you. You will perish before the seal is removed and the great evil spirit returns. You will even get to see my true form, Demiurge, before you die.



Boss #18 - DEMIURGE

BGM: Boss Battle

VS Tyrant Demiurge

Demiurge has been a boss in every game he's appeared in except Card Summoner, and is probably most well-known for his appearance in Strange Journey.



He is a particularly nasty boss this time around. His most dangerous/annoying skills are Death Ring, which inflicts Paralysis, and Petra Eye, which inflicts Stone. Stone is particularly dangerous because he loves using his regular attack and can hit 4 to 6 times per turn.



He can also use Tetrakarn to reflect physical attacks back (not much of a problem since I'm faster than him) and Dekunda to remove debuffs (also not a problem, because I exclusively used buffs).



In terms of offense, his only other skills are the multi-target Almighty attack Megidola and the Ice attack Absolute Zero, both of which aren't as dangerous as his regular attack.



: Kyouji, I only have enough magic to send one of us to the pseudo Astral Plane. I want you to hurry up and go get Sid.



>Go to the pseudo Astral Plane?
YES
>NO

Naaaah, I'll take care of that next time. Who knows what the heck is gonna go down in there? Gotta prepare first.

______________

Next update: An unnatural reunion.