Part 41: This ridiculous show

It's morning!



Since he got a good night's sleep without any strange people showing up to interrupt it, Lazlo is sure not to make any tactical errors that will kill half his army!



It's hard to say...

The other option is "Well... um..."

It is all very exciting.

Sorry, that was a silly question.

Yes.

It was.

If what Elenor said was right, the fog should clear shortly... Now, let's get ready.

yeah yeah whatever man

Alternately, if you sent Lino with Team Less Awesome...



...the scene is a little different.



Fuck, I love that option. ""

Either way, I know that it was the best thing to do. I am sure His Majesty wanted it that way. Besides, I... actually, everyone... has absolute faith in you after all. All I can do now is wait... That is why I cannot help but speak with such worry.

I think I like this version of the scene better.



Anyway. Plot.

What do we do with this boat?

Let's hide it in the rocks. The fog will clear in a little bit, so we'll need to hide, too.

And so,



...we're just outside the final dungeon. Playing as Elenor.

Well, not really, but we'll run around as her and swap in our actual playable characters when we get into battles. This is only a preview, however, as it only takes a few moments of walking before Elenor "..."s at us...



...and the camera pans up the... whatever the hell we're looking at.

(Well, okay, it's El-Eal, but I wouldn't know that if they hadn't told me.



Then it cuts to the fleet.

Of course! Lady Elenor said so.



This is a really petty complaint, but I can make it so I will.

After me. I am to be taught first.

You'll see this if you watch the video, but the screen just goes black between the part with Agnes and Louise, the part with Agnes and Tanya, and then the next one.

Why? It would be a waste of time teaching you. Besides, do you even have the aptitude for it?

Wh-Wha?! What is that supposed to mean?

Are you ready?



SCENE CHANGE!

It's finally time...



These ships...



...are entirely staffed by mermaids! No way this can go wrong.



Actually though, this is the first time we see the gang use something actually resembling tactics, so that's nice.



Understood... Thank you.

Kooluk Soldier 2: Captain! A fleet is approaching us. It appears to be the enemy.

Prepare for battle. Be aware of the Rune Cannon's firing range and draw the enemy close. Confirm the fleet's identity.



Troy also seems to have some idea what he's doing.



Too bad his subordinates are a bunch of idiots, huh?



Strangely this scene is not voice acted, and it's sandwiched between scenes that are voice acted. It just ruins MY IMMERSION.

Kooluk Soldier: The 1st Fleet has moved outside the firing range and is prepared for battle.

Gunner: Captain!! There's a suspicious fleet in front of us! They're in range!

Gunnery Captain: Are they planning to approach, using the fog as cover? Let's stop them! Prepare to fire!

Kooluk Soldier: W-We have not yet confirmed the fleet's identity...

Gunnery Captain: It's not one of our own. A split-second decision can cost us our lives! I'll take full responsibility for this. Fire!

Gunner: Yes, sir!

We'll find the gunnery captain's horribly mangled corpse lying outside the castle when we arrive. _{Well, not really, but man would it be awesome.}



So anyway, they plot laser our decoy fleet into smithereens...



...much to Troy's chagrin.

Listen everyone... Advance straight ahead. Parts of the enemy's main force might have survived. If there are any remaining ships, we'll finish them off!

Good luck with that.



Our estimate is about 2 hours. There's not much time to spare. We must defeat the 1st Fleet before then!

These lines are also unvoiced.


Men, let's go!!

The soldiers salute.



That's not going to save them.



The game does not lie: this is the final engagement. We face a force of three enemy ships, including Troy's with not two, but four rune cannons!



But the game has five elements, and he's missing lightning. As such, the safest bet is to shoot him with water at all times because that way you can hit his weakness, but he can't hit yours. This works out to about a 50% chance to take damage every time you exchange shots with him, but a 75% chance that you'll damage him.



There's nothing worth putting in screenshots here, as you've already seen all the system has to offer. If you're interested in seeing how we got here, I recommend you watch the video. I got a couple of lucky breaks (he used fire twice in a row) but generally, this is how it will always work out: the two lesser ships are faster and will attack you before Troy can do so; you'll sink them because they suck; and then you have four ships against his one, which pretty much guarantees victory. Oh yeah, we now have an Obel Ship, bringing our total to four, and putting us at an advantage... again.

As if we needed one.

Seriously, Suikoden IV's large scale battles are just a waste of time.



Now then, we finally get to invade the fort. This winding path is here just to piss you off. You can leave the dungeon and go back to the ship (but you can't sail anywhere) but in order to do that, you have to go down the path on the left side of the minimap, and the entrance to the dungeon is all the way up to the upper right. It's just another time sink for some dumb reason. Also, if you use the R1 dash (and you will) your characters have a tendency to get stuck on these sloping paths. It's not a good first impression.



Despite the annoyances, it's a pretty cool looking location, but...



...we're heading inside.



Just like I thought...



This brief scene plays just as we enter. The first line differs depending...

There are less people here than I had expected...

There aren't as many people as I expected...

There aren't as many people as I thought there'd be...

...on the which character is in the first slot. Effort!



Then we're in control inside the actual final dungeon! The inside of the fort is pretty bland and boring, which makes it the perfect location to end the game.

The first thing to do is head down the stairs on the right, which lead to the dungeon where Ramada got shot.



Also, that's the last we'll see of Governor.

The final piece of Hero gear - the helmet - is also down here in a chest, but we don't particularly care about it any more.



The enemies are all generic Kooluk soldiers. The game actually gives you a bunch of lower level ones on the lower floors, in case you brought a party that, despite Elenor's warnings, can't hold its own in battle, but you really shouldn't be having problems here.



The last Angel Hairball is also waiting here.



It doesn't have anything worth showing off, but defeating it nets us the Knight Attack.



If you could damage things by posing, it would be an absolute killer! Sadly, not so much.



Up we go. There are some... strange decorations here...



The whole place is like some sick gardening experiment gone horribly wrong. We can't enter any of these rooms...



...but there's a door on the fourth floor that works as intended.



Inside, an old friend awaits. (Recommended viewing)



Elenor is pretty chill considering she's in the middle of enemy territory with a homicidal maniac.

I see... So it was you all along, wasn't it? You were the one who spread the information about the Scarlet Moon army breaking through our northern border...

This, too, is something that just gets mentioned in passing.

You're quite right. That, in fact, was me. But I'll have you know... that information wasn't false.

Hmm... So you used your family in your homeland. Your skills in manipulation...

You can just feel the love dripping off every word.



Well, love and murderous intent.



"I'm Spider-man! "



Suddenly Ramada out of fucking nowhere!



And he gets shot. Again. How did he even survive that the first time?



*thump*

How ridiculous... A small-time crook trying to pass himself off as virtuous. Oh, enough with this ridiculous show.

My thoughts exactly, Cray, but I don't think you quite realize that you're the star.



So now we finally get to kick his ass.



And what better way to do that than with our newly acquired Knight Attack?

(Yes. I know. Plenty of ways would be better. Shut up.)



Ugh, Knight Attack. They just flail their swords and shoot some water at the enemy. It looks dumb and you're pretty much never going to use it.



Cray has a few moves like one where he rapid-fires his robot arm thingy...



...and a shield which reduces the party's damage output quite severely.



But in the end he is still a boss designed to be fought with your "B" team. He only has 4000 HP and doesn't last very long at all. He wouldn't be a threat if we came here with normal levels, either. It's actually a bit of a disappointment, given he's the villain of the game.



Okay, back to our rendezvous point! I can handle things here.

Will we be all right? Might that Cray not come back...?

That really doesn't sound like a Jewel thing to say.

He's got other places to go, and I've got some ideas where. More importantly, I want you to secure a safe return path. Go on... Take Ramada with you, too.

...Then, we'll be waiting below.

Here, too, there are different lines for different characters. The first line here with other people in the lead...

He will escape...!

He got away...!

...gives Tal and Keneth the same line, but you can't vary this too much, I suppose.

The next line:

Will we be all right? Might not Cray come back...?

Will we be all right? Won't that Cray come back?

B-But... if that Cray comes back...

They're really set on calling him "that Cray".

And the final line:

I understand. We will be waiting below.

I understand. We'll be waiting below.

In that case... we'll be waiting below.





Elenor goes over and fiddles with the cannon, not that there's anyone left to fire it at us or anything...

Now... That'll do it for this one. All that's left is...

...the final boss, of course. But she can't just come out and say that.



Bonus material:

What's that you say, killing Cray in two rounds with the Knight Attack wasn't humiliating enough? ...well then, how about this?

 This is with Ogre sets on Jewel, Tal and Keneth. Paula cannot wear it, so she has Goblin gear instead; I imagine her damage would have been comparable to the others' if she had a Fury Rune, but I couldn't be arsed.