Part 3

Coming back to where I left off last night, we enter the Ancient Tower...



Only to get told to stay put the moment we enter.

I'll take a look inside the tower.
Hmm, what a mysterious tower. I wonder who built it?
I have a strange feeling about this place.



Suddenly, the symbol glows!



Look! Something is appearing. What's that?



Why are you here? Where are you going? What... wait! You're here to possess the King, aren't you? I won't let you pass. You shall not harm the King.



I think he made it mad. Great.

This doesn't look good. We'll stop the evil Gizmo here. Nigel, defeat these fiends!

I'm not sure why he thinks this qualifies as a "we" effort. He leaves everything to us, really.


Battle #1: The Humble Beginning




It's just the three of us vs. 6 Gizmos. Note that we're armed entirely with wooden sticks. Thanks, Astral!



One of the Gizmos charges Nigel, hitting him for 5 damage. In a lower difficulty, they'd probably only hit for 2-3.




Ashley gets the first hit in for our side.




And Nigel gets the kill.



I have to proceed carefully here because the enemies hit so hard. 3 attacks means death for any character, and there are still 5 enemies remaining and fairly close to each other.



As expected, the next Gizmo made a beeline for Ashley, since Nigel wasn't in range.



A second Gizmo goes after Ashley, allowing her to demonstrate some new features for Shining Force 2!



Counter attacks! Whenever an attack is performed, the target has a chance to get some payback.



Also, there is now visual feedback when you whiff, as shown here.



Nigel moves ahead a bit in order to finish off another wounded Gizmo.



While Ron moves next to Nigel and heals Ashley with a medical herb.



Thankfully, Nigel moves again before the Gizmos by Sir Astral can attempt to swarm him. He goes after the Gizmo that Ashley missed.



If I didn't just heal Ashley with Ron, this would've finished her off. She takes 4 damage.



And now we're officially being swarmed.



Thankfully, Ron avoids the attack. That'll make things a lot easier.



Ashley finishes off the third Gizmo.



While Ron strikes the one next to Ashley.



Oh, hell.



And this is why Super is for masochists, folks.




Well, that was a perfectly good opportunity wasted.



Ashley takes another 4 damage. Now both she and Nigel are on the brink of death.



Fuck it, I could have Nigel use a herb to heal himself, but I'd rather take the more agressive solution: Kill a Gizmo and let Ashley heal him.



Not a moment too soon. Nigel is brought back to full health.



It costs her, though.



Oh, well. It is better to die for the Shining Force than to live for yourself.



Since it'll move first, Ron strikes the Gizmo that's closest to Nigel.



It promptly goes after Nigel.



Standing on the stairs was a mistake, as they have no land effect defense bonus. If Nigel doesn't get the hell off the stairs, the next hit will kill him.



Luckily, his turn is next, and he finishes off the fifth Gizmo, levelling up in the process...




Of course, the final Gizmo goes right after him...





Ron and Nigel tag team it, ending the first battle.



Well, you could keep staring blankly at it, like you were doing the whole time I was fighting. Or, here's a revolutionary new idea... You could kill it.








It disappeared again.

FUCK. You let it get away. Good going.

We must hurry to the King!



Hmm, the King isn't in his chambers, so we might as well check the eastern tower.





The King lunges for Sir Astral!





The King strikes!

Yeow! My head! No, I'm OK, Nigel. I must use a powerful spell. It may be dangerous. Stay back!



And with this one action, Sir Astral has already proven himself infinitely more useful than Nova.





Having been forced from the King's body, the Gizmo flies off.



Astral, wha... what happened?
Are you alright? Let me use your soldiers. We must kill it before it finds another victim.
What are you talking about? I don't understand.



Astral collapses

Astral!


Next update: On His Majesty's Secret Service