Part 2: Sunday's Melancholy (II)

Sunday's Melancholy (II)

[Music: ???]



Unfortunately, this is how you will die. And, yet...
If you still wish to live, your "demon summoning app" will surely come in handy.
...Well? Are you going to give up on living?



We just got took a falling train face first. Pretty sure we're dead and just hallucinating right now.

Yes. Let me die.



Don't make me say it twice.
I see... So you would like to die. Are you sure you won't regret this decision?
Let's end this.





Umm... I'm beginning to think we might've picked the wrong option here.







Well, that's kinda weird and it's nice that it lets us pick the immediate game over at least.

But let's, uh... can we have a do over?



Don't be ridiculous!
...Of course. Your strong will to live has been confirmed.



[Music: Silence]



[Music: Countdown]



I'm called Obariyon. Don't go dying just yet! I'm supposed to kill you.
Ugh... Whooooooah! What the hell is that!?
Mm...



Yeah, that's the spirit! The timing couldn't be better... I'll battle you all at once.



S-S-Seriously!? There are monsters in front of us and behind us...!
What... What should we do? Like this...
Let's fight!



I don't see you coming up with any ideas, Daichi!

[Music: Desperate Situation]



Defeat conditions just grant an auto-game over if they're met. In this instance being the tutorial fight you'd think it'd be impossible to lose, right? Well, yes. Mostly. There is one way you can realistically fail here and whether it happens or not is down to pure luck.



Die already! I've got other stuff to get back to.



Being the first fight and all, it's more or less scripted so as to ensure you don't get absolutely wrecked by having stuff gang up on one person. This works by making it so that the first 2 turns are more or less predetermined.

What the hell?! Don't come near me! Don't!

[Music: Attack]



Actual combat itself is done on a second screen with something closer to a traditional JRPG combat system. All 3 of our characters only have these two options right now, and in a weird twist I'm having Daichi guard here.



See, Poltergeist's first move is always to cast Bufu. It's the basic ice spell, very ho hum. What isn't immediately apparent is that because it's an ice spell it has a chance to inflict an ailment (it's pretty low but I dunno exact odds of it).



See, all ice spells - including Bufu - can inflict Freeze. Freeze does exactly what you think it will do; you cannot do shit, and you take extra physical damage if hit. There's also a much higher chance of it being a critical hit too.

You can still get frozen in this first fight. If it happens, Daichi is a lot more likely to die (you can still win but it requires being a bit smarter about things). There's no way of healing yet, and he cannot oneshot a Poltergeist because he's level 1.

Of course, this is an absurdly rare situation that will almost never come up so there's not much point to worrying about it. It just seems oddly fitting that the tutorial fight can still murder you if you get unlucky and/or treat it like a stock tutorial.



Either way, by default you only get 1 turn per fight. This holds true for everyone, but you can get at least one more via Extra Turns. As far as we care right now they're affected solely by speed and something called Initiative. We'll look at that shortly.



This means we actually get to attack this time, and since the Poltergeist only has enough MP to cast Bufu once we're no longer in anything that even vaguely potentially resembles danger.

[Music: Desperate Situation]



I-I-I'm not just gonna die! I don't want to!
That's pretty good... for a human. But can you defeat me?



Whether we can or not doesn't matter right now, since Pixie can't even get close enough to do anything. This'll work out in our favour later, I'm sure.

I'll chase you wherever you go. If I can beat you, I get to go free.

But for now it just means rather than worry about the easiest thing here Obariyon waltzes down and attacks Hibiki.

Your life against my freedom. What's more important...? Freedom!
Careful, Hibiki!
These guys are really going to kill us!

[Music: Attack]



And it is always Hibiki on this turn. Likewise, the Poltergeist will only ever attack Daichi. This is just to stop either one of them from being overwhelmed and giving you an outright unfair game over before you can do anything.

And considering the Obariyon has no abilities whatsoever (Bind doesn't count in this fight)...



It also means Hibiki gets to attack, but just the once. Obariyon and only Obariyon gets to attack twice in this skirmish.

[Music: Desperate Situation]



Waaaah! I'm completely surrounded! What am I supposed to do...!?



Of course, its now our turn and we can learn quite a few things from this fight alone. Most obvious of which is that turn order is not static and your actions affect it.

It also means we can get revenge on that damned Obariyon and smack it around a bit ourselves now.



Unfortunately, Hibiki does gain an extra turn now... but the Obariyon still does too. This leaves us in a precarious situation, but one that is not as problematic as it seems.



Since Daichi's next, he can either take out the Obariyon leaving Hibiki completely safe or he can try his luck with the Poltergeist.



The latter is the smarter option, though. There's no danger in it and its still very likely to result in the demon being taken out.



And at the end of every fight which results in an opponent being killed, we get some EXP and Macca (money). Since we're only level 1 right now this gives us a level up and level up gains are mostly static which is pretty nice all things considered.

Ugh... I lost. Well, I guess I'll be your demon.



The monster vanishes, leaving its mysterious words behind...

W-We did it...?
Y-Yes...! We did it! We might survive this yet!

And now we have Io's turn so she can finally do something.

No... Why is this happening!?



That means she can drag the Pixie into the fray, and we can see roughly what Initiative is. As a general rule, whoever is doing the attacking gets a +5 bonus (though it can be bigger), and whoever is being attacked gets nothing. This is important for a couple reasons, the most relevant right now is...



It means that Io gets an extra turn but the Pixie doesn't. This would not necessarily hold true if the Pixie's agility stat was higher than Io's however.



Also Io having a slightly lower strength than Hibiki or Daichi means she deals a relatively consistent 9 damage instead of wavering around 10 or 11.

The next turn goes back to... Hibiki. Not moving at all means you can do stuff faster. This isn't a good strategy for most fights, and in fact the vast majority of the time staying in one spot is a Bad Idea, but when it works it does so quite well.



Since we started the fight, we got to attack first. This means Obariyon dies.



And because the Obariyon was level 2, it gives more EXP than the Poltergeist did. More important is that Hibiki doesn't get a stat up on this screen.



Instead, being the main character, he is the only person whose growth is flexible. Since a stat maxes at 40, Hibiki can potentially max 2 stats and get to either 29 or 30 on a third... if you completely ignore one stat entirely. This is a fairly bad idea, though, because that's actually very limiting and closes off many options later.

Regardless of what you choose to do, it's worth getting Vitality and/or Agility upto either 12 or 15. Strength or Magic is a judgement call based on what you want to do, really; personally I prefer Magic but you can do either reasonably well. Physical is arguably even better, but there are people who do it really well already anyway.

Of course, even if you pick Magic it's worth geting Strength up to 12 at most (you can get away with less though), and getting some Magic if you pick Strength so you don't need to cart around a dedicated healer.

Or to put it simply: every stat is useful in its own way. Going completely balanced is a pretty bad idea, though!



With the Obariyon finally finished, we can just pass our turns until either the Pixie or Io does something.



Since Io's planted right in front of the Pixie (and the pixie is more interested in her anyway) this means that no matter which one goes first, we get the result we want.



Namely the Pixie dies and we win the fight.



For good measure, Io gains a level as well.

A human beat me!? Argh, I'm so mad at myself! Whatever... Use me well, okay?





At the end of every fight, we get bonus EXP and money for good measure. This is enough to push Daichi and Io up to level 3, and all three get fairly close to level 4 too.

[Music: Countdown]



Those were demons.
Demons!? What are you saying...!? Don't be stupid!

[Music: Silence]



[Music: Requiem]





And then... those monsters appeared... Dammit!
Calm down!
I-I can't calm down! You saw the death clip too, didn't you?
This is bad... really bad! What's going on!?



...I'm scared. Can we get out of here first?
Let's go up to street level.
Oh... yeah! We have to hurry and go up!



[Music: Crumbling Routine]



I'm getting the impression that, uh...



Things up here might not be better than they were down there.



If anything, they seem even worse.



People are gathering at the intersection, now destroyed beyond recognition...

Oh... Look! The display...



At around 13:00, a large-scale calamity, reportedly a verical shock quake, occured.
There are no details yet, but massive casualties have been reported inthe city.
Once again, at around 13:00--

Hey, why'd it get cut off!? What happened!?

Anxiety is spreading amongst the nearby pedestriants...



Honestly. The media in this country can't do anything right...

...No good. I'm not getting any cell service. The TV app isn't working either...
No...



...What should I do? I need to get in touch with my parents...
Ah... hey! Io!?

A moment later, Io returns...

It's no use... The public phones are dead, too...
I asked a cab driver, and he said his radio wasn't working either.
That's odd.



Hm...? What's this?
Hellooooo?



What the hell!? I can't delete it... What's going on here!?



Dammit, what's happening!? Everyone knows demons don't exist!
So what was that back there!? Those monsters in the subway... They just--



An unfamiliar woman addresses you from behind...

Huh...? Um, sure.
You came up from the subway, didn't you? What did you see down there?
Huh? What did we see...? W-Well, the train crashed, and...



......!? S-Something else...? Th-That's... Umm...
......



......!
Why?
(Hang on... Something's weird about her... I don't think we should get involved.)
What's the matter? If there's a problem...
Oh... No, it's just...!



You quickly put distance between yourselves and the mysterious woman's gaze...

[Music: Connected Hearts]





Yeah... She was kind of scary. I wonder what her deal was...
She was suspicious.



Well, it's good we got away, but what do we do now?
I need to go back home... I'm worried about my parents.
Oh... Yeah, good point. I'm worried about my family too.



This guy here's in the same class, and...
You already know, huh?
Uh, no she doesn't What's gotten into you all of a sudden...?



See, what did I tell you- Huh?
Uhh, well...

An odd silence drifts over the group...

Ooookaaay then. On to the next subject...
So we'll be fine, since our houses are in the neighborhood, but where do you live, Io?



For reference, I think it's about 10 miles (give or take a little bit) from Shibuya to Ariake.

That's dangerous.
Huh...?
Ohhh, you're right. I didn't even think about that...
All right... We'll make sure you get home safe, Io.
Really...? I don't mind, you know. I'd feel kind of bad imposing on you...
Don't sweat it. Safety in numbers, right?
Um, okay... You're sure you wouldn't mind...?
Leave it to us.
Then, let's get going. Ariake... Will we need to take a train or bus? Are they even running?



Hmm, okay. So... parks and shelters, huh? Let's try our luck with those!

[Music: In The Devastated Town]



On the one hand, we have more than one place to go this time around. On the other hand, it's still just an illusion of choice because we need to do both of these events to progress. Might as well do them in the order presented here.



Yikes... Look at all the people here. We won't get near the station like this...



In the name of cutting costs, you'll occasionally notice things like this. There are some portraits just taken from Devil Survivor 1 and dropped wholesale in here. They don't normally stand out that much (and are generic enough to not matter anyway) but ones like this are particularly egregious about it.

I repeat, Shibuya Station is not in use at this time! Only select individuals may enter...

A gathering crowd is voicing their frustration, and the mood is turning ugly...

I guess the station's closed... The trains probably aren't running because of all this.
It's too congested.
Yeah... The roads are choked with cars, too. I doubt they'll be moving anytime soon.

Just as Io says, there are even abandoned cars in the intersection...

What's the problem?



Ughhh... I can't believe this. This is nuts...
Daichi...? Um, what's the matter?
I was hungry, see, so I went looking for a corner store. But they're all closed...
Everywhere I tried, it was no use. They all said, "now's not the time."
Wow...! That must have been tough... Um, so were you able to get anything?



Actually... It might have been a good thing you got all that bread now...
Huh...? Why's that?



O-Oh yeah, that's right! That was exactly the idea, Io! Man, I'm good!
Well, here you go! You guys' share of the bread! heheheh...
Wow... Are you sure? Thanks, Daichi.



But... what now?
From the looks of things, transportation will be down for a while...



If they're being used as shelters, maybe we can rest there and get some info!
Ah... You're rght. Let's do that, then.

You leave Shibuya Station, chatting with Daichi and Io...



We're going to go straight into the Refugee Camp next. Pay no attention to the two new events for the time being.





Dammit, we can't even get inside the park! What's up with this...?

A woman comes up behind you, looks at the state of the park, and starts complaining...



Hey... You hear that? It sounds like she's already been to the other parks.
I don't know...



Oh... Um...

Io seems as if she has something to say...

What is it?
It's just... Well, doesn't something seem off?



Maybe they can't?
Is that it? But, ever since we left the subway station...
We haven't seen one TV news copter or anything like that flying overhead...



Yeah... But not this time. We haven't seen or heard them.



Yeah... Something's not right. With this many people here, the quake must've been huge...
...I don't like this. No cars, no trains, and no shelter...
W-Well, it's out of our hands! Let's pull ourselves together and try our luck elsewhere.
Who knows, maybe we can find an easy way back home, or somewhere safe to stay!
Oh... Yeah, okay. Let's do that.

You leave Miyashita Park along with Daichi and Io...



Okay, so you see that clock in the corner? It's not for show. Not only does time progress as we're doing things (with some exceptions), but there are certain events that occur at set times too. Usually you're railroaded into doing them because they have plot importance or something.



Mentioning this now, because there's something coming up at 16:00 that we cannot avoid. That gives us enough time to complete 3 more events. There are 4 left available. This is a bit of a problem as you can imagine.



So, what I want you to do is pick the event you don't want to do. Or, if you'd prefer to look at it another way, the one you least want to.



That can be done here.