Shin Megami Tensei II

Part 23

Update 22.
Was going to post this a couple of hours ago, but I thought that it was too short of an update.

Now I think it is a bit too long (over 200 images), but eh, whatever.

Going down.

Apparently, what, with the leaders suddenly deciding to send a FREAKING DEMON to eat an entire TOWN.

A Tengu!

Wikipedia posted:

Tengu (天狗? "heavenly dogs") are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai (monster-spirits) and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami (revered spirits or gods). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon, the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is practically the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination.

Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice known as Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the distinctive garb of its followers, the yamabushi.

It has Toraport. THus, it would be very, very useful.
Managed to convince one to become a minion, and that is a good thing.

What could be beyond the stairs?

A new area, of course!

With CODEBREAKER.

A Code Breaker with all 7 numbers.

And only one new item.

The Lotus Wand!
Stats: Lotus Wand
Attack = 135 Hit% = 29 # of Attacks = 0-2
STR +2, INT +1
Gender: MALE
Alignment: LAW
So, it is pretty mediocre, in my opinion, just because it is for the Law asshats.
And it is a wand, the least manly piece of equipment one could have in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Not even a wand of Head Explosions. Not even a simple super effect like Panic or Charm, no, just a wand. And a wand with a flower motif. Ew.
Oh well. Maybe it'll fetch a good price.

Inflicts Poison Status in one enemy. Completely and totally meh, in my opinion.

The map.

The next floor had absolutely NOTHING of interest.
Nothing at all.

So, since that is fully explored, it is time to check the outside again.

Let's see that circle thingie first.

Oooh. An altar. What could it be for? Actually, what could THEY be for, since there are several of them?

Ah hah! They are for the pillars!
Interesting.

Let's see what this person here has to say.

The Dragon must be restless. Or at least shifting. Or something. In any case, that sounds like crazytalk.

Another pillar has been erected.

I have no idea what this guy's name means. And I am not finding stuffs on Google.
Cool masks, though.

Another one.

Time to go back inside.

Hey! Look! Virtuals in the Underworld! That should be interesting.

Oooh. Hey, look, Steven hacked into the Virtual Battler again!

Hooray! Six minions were seriously not enough. Not enough at all. And he said that he was planning to improve on that again! That's quite good.

Back again.

And after a very easy mini dungeon, Aleph and HIroko face the boss.

...
Is this a joke?
A single Templar?
Also: Notice: The previous bosses in the Virtual Battlers were either demons or Gaians. This means that it is GAIAN TERRITORY!

Told as it was supposed to be even moderately dangerous.

A New Virus!

And a new demon!
Nekomata!

Wikipedia posted:

A bakeneko (化け猫? "monster cat") is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with supernatural abilities akin to those of the fox or raccoon dog. A cat may become a bakeneko in a number of ways: it may reach a certain age, be kept for a certain number of years, grow to a certain size, or be allowed to keep a long tail. In the last case, the tail forks in two and the bakeneko is then called a nekomata (猫又? ,猫叉, or 猫股 "forked cat"). This superstition may have some connection to the breeding of the Japanese Bobtail.

A bakeneko will haunt any household it is kept in, creating ghostly fireballs, menacing sleepers, walking on its hind legs, changing its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take her place. When it is finally killed, its body may be as much as five feet in length. It also poses a danger if allowed into a room with a fresh corpse; a cat is believed to be capable of reanimating a body by jumping over it.

And the level boss: An Archangel.

You've got to be kidding me.

NEEEXT.

A Turdak!

Megaten Wiki posted:

Turdak is a Tibetan lesser deity associated with illness and death. He is a servant of Yama and is depicted as a humanoid skeleton. While Turdak can bring illness and plague upon mankind, he also has the power to cure illness, or expel illness-causing demons if a dance is performed for him.

Turdak is also seen in Hindu mythology, where he is again the servant of Yama, judge of the dead. Turdak's role has changed, and he is considered an executioner of judged souls. After Yama has pulled a soul from a corpse and sentenced it to Hell, it is Turdak's job to haul that soul to the proper level of hell.

Wikipedia posted:

In Lakota mythology, Haokah is a god of thunder and lightning. His emotions are portrayed opposite the norm; he laughs when he is sad and cries when he is happy. In art, he is depicted as having two horns.

And the boss for the Third Level.

A NEW kind of mesian asshat!

Some sort of blind psychic guy with plugs in his head and a jetpack?
Okay.

Neeext.

And the BOSS:

This one looks impressive. It loses, though.
Clickety for video

Ah hah, so these are the ruins of Roppongi.

MUTIES!

Oh shit.
Ashura!

Wikipedia posted:

In Hinduism, the Asura (Sanskrit: असुर are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons. They were opposed to the devas. Both groups are children of Kashyapa. The name is cognate to Ahura – indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary recognises the use of the term in reference to Zoroastrianism, where "Ahura" would perhaps be more appropriate – and Æsir, which implies a common Proto-Indo-European origin for the Asura and the Æsir.

The negative character of the asura in Hinduism seems to have evolved over time. In general, the earliest texts have the asuras presiding over moral and social phenomena (e.g. Varuna, the guardian of Ṛtá, or Bhaga, the patron of marriages) and the devas presiding over natural phenomena (e.g. Ushas, whose name means "dawn", or Indra, a weather god).

Mitra, Varuna and Vritra are the most well known Asuras.

Vairocana, Sumbha and Nisumbha are kings of Asuras
Mitra/Maitreya/Miroku bosatsu (Buddhist saint who will relieve people in the future)
Varuna/Sui ten (Ocean deva)
Vairocana/Maha vairocana/Dainichi nyorai (Great Buddha who shines on all entire universes)
Sumbha and Nisumbha Asura brothers/Trailokya vijaya and Vajra humkara/Gouzanze myo oh and Shyozanze myo oh (They are admired with the victor or Person who has them surrender)

In later writings, such as the Puranas and Itihasas, we find that the "devas" are the godly persons and the "asuras" the demonic. According to the Bhagavad Gita (16.6), all beings in the world partake either of the divine qualities (daivi sampad) or the demonic qualities (asuri sampad). The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita describes the divine qualities briefly and the demonic qualities at length. In summary the Gita (16.4) says that the asuric qualities are pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance.

The Padma Purana says that the devotees of Vishnu are endowed with the divine qualities (viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ smṛto daiva) whereas the asuras are just the opposite (āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ.

The first time I saw one of these in the game was in the Factory area. Needless to say, there were two options: Run or die. THus, didn't hae the Demonic Compendium entry, and decided to not show it.

This time, the things were seriously different. The bastards ate LEAD. Or whatever the hell the magical bullets are made of. It was quite satisfying. After the first, the Ashuras were dealt with the Talk option, because killing them would increase the Law points thingumy, and right now I am not aiming for a Law character. Would like to stay in Neutrality for a bit more.

MUTIES.

Clearly, the elevator is where Aleph and company should be going. But damn these one way doors. I hate them.
The update was originally going to end in this point, but eh, decided that it was way too short, and that not much was shown. And since I did not post it hours ago, when the pics were ready, I decided to advance a bit more.

A Nozuchi!

SMT3 Demonic Compendium posted:

A Japanese Earth Spirit.
It hides in the grass or in the shade.
It's not evil, but it is a bit violent and may harm a human if it sees one.

And the image is Mizuchi's, but it is pretty much the same, it is only colored differently.

Meh.

Going down.

Ah, the Renki-No-Ken.
Renki-no-ken
Attack = 58 Hit% = 40 # of Attacks = 1
Gender: MALE, FEMALE
Alignment: LAW, NEUTRAL, CHAOS
Maybe it will be usable in Sword Fusion again? It is not a good weapon as it is now.

Managed to recruit a Nekomata and a Banshee.

The first Rag's store we have seen!
Again, demons and items can be acquired in exchange of gems. Do not feel like giving away the precious gemstones just yet, though.

When the demons go crazy, they drop more gems!

A new casino!
Let's check their stuff.

Interesting loot, but there's a problem. And not a small one.
ZERO COINS.
What?

Oooh, DARK coins. Damnation.

Way more expensive than regular coins as well.

Let's see what they have.

A new type of Slots, do not care.

Good old Keno.

And Baccarat!

Since I don't care for the first and the last, it's time to abuse Keno once more.

Bwaha.

Upgrades! Hooray!

What does the Bronze Box do?

This. It summons any demon in the Devil Analyze menu to fight it. Could make re-recruit them for fusion purposes a simple thing. Useful, in my opinion.

O... kay?

So they are bitter because the people of the Millenium were racist asshats?

So that's what has happened to Tokio in the last xx years. Sucks to be the city, I guess.

Map of the first floor. TIme to check the second elevator in the area.

MEH.

Russian... Roulette? What the hell?

And so it starts.

What the hell?

And then he leaves.

Saved before the event, and selected the Byakko. It is better than a Caith Sith, I think.

Wikipedia posted:

The White Tiger (Chinese: 白虎; Pinyin: Bái Hǔ is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎, and it represents the west and the autumn season.

The Chinese constellations were not only used by Chinese cartographers, they were also used by Korean and Japanese cartographers as well. In Japanese, the White Tiger is called Byakko, and it has been depicted in numerous Japanese comic books and animations. In Korean, it is called Baekho (백호. In Sino-Vietnamese, it is called Bạch Hổ (Pronounced by "Batch Ho").