Part 4: Chapter 5

All righty, Akiko it is. I'll try and give more choices like that as the LP goes on. This one is rather short, anyway.

***



After giving Akiko a Wood and a Wax Candle, she's all set.

Akiko: We better split up from here.

Emi: Okay...



The Wood comes in handy immediately. The skeleton is just a skeleton.

Up ahead is the flashlight, and... a boulder.

Akiko: Took F-Lite.

Outstanding. The only catch is, Resident Evil decided to take notes on their boulder traps from this part of the game.



Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-oomph



Geez. That rock did 30 damage to everybody. That is not a good way to get stoned.



Nothing behind where the rock was lurking, so it's back to the impassable shadows we go.

Akiko: Used F-Lite...



There we go.



There's three ways to go: Left, right, and straight up the stairs. The platform on the stairs splits left and right. Going left in either case leads to a pointless loop.



You can't see it very well, but there's glass here. Try to keep Asuka nearby. As if you weren't doing that already, right?



Up those stairs is a doll and a Tonic.



Oh yeah...



Stay away from the statues. Still, even if they do fall on you, it's only 5 damage.

Emi: A doll!



Charming.

Our destination is that upper walkway we passed under near the broken glass. It's just south of the doll.



After Asuka and Emi have a brief word with the doorway, we can go in.



And we finally end the longest black-out in the game.

Emi: Look! The garden!

Look! An encounter!



Graves are cheap little bastards. They're weaker than Zombies, only worth 13 experience, and they can inflict either poison or stun.

If a character is stunned, not only are they unable to move, but any characters attacking during that time will accidentally hit the stunned character for full damage. As you can imagine, this will hurt a lot.

Since the +Kit doesn't work in the middle of a battle, your only recourse is to Pray or Run. Running is not recommended, because each individual has to successfully escape alive, and the monster can still attack the stunned and immobile character. So, if you Pray, not only will the stunned character be cured after one or two party members use it, but the extra Pray damage will still hit the enemy. Do not be afraid to Pray if a character is stunned! You can lose a party member very easily because of this!

Anyway, let's check out the door south of us.



Ah, okay. A Fresco. Let's go check it-



AHHHH OH GOD FIRE WHY

Fire traps hurt. A lot. They constantly drain your life as long as you're walking or standing in the flames. If you encounter one, use a FireX as soon as you can. We've only found one so far, but Kazuo's party has it. So, let's tag them in.



That's better. We would've needed Taro for the Fresco anyway.

Taro: Used Camera... Letters appear!

"2-11 Where there is lightning..."

This clue is poorly worded, considering how much we've seen lightning already. Let me give you a hint: We don't have to go back to the first shadowy hallway.



A narrow offshoot west of the Fresco leads to bloody writing, a skeleton, and a statue.

Kazuo: Bloody letters... Can't enter... without prayer... Huh?! Prayer?

This is a vastly more important clue than the one the Fresco gave us. Remember it.

The skeleton is, again, just a skeleton.



The statue, on the other hand...

Kazuo: A knight...

None of our items do anything, so the only option left to us is Pray.



Whenever you pray, whether it's in battle or in puzzle screens,this black and white bar appears. You can devote more or less of your PP to what you're doing, depending on how much you want to sink into it. I tend to go for the max, since I'd rather use too much than too little in most situations.

"Kazuo used 29 pray points. Kazuo drew the spear!"



I pray the statue out of existence, apparently.

The Armor Spear isn't actually a weapon. It's an item. We'll be using it soon.



Another FireX. The closed door on the left can't be opened right now. Let's try the open door just under it.



This looks familiar. I can avoid the fire trap by just not stepping on the circle, but I wanted to capture the animation effect for it.



The Fresco up there is dusty, so Asuka and Taro double-team it.

Taro: Used Camera... Letters appear!

"2-28 A knight needs a spear."

The Fresco here is connected to the one that we saw in the other fire room.



I'll let you think it over while I F-Lite that shadow over there.



A Tonic and a Silver Axe. Since I'm playing this game finders-keepers style, Emi can have the axe.





Teenage Japanese girls wielding axes? I like it.



Down here past a rope obstacle is another door that opens with the Key. It leads...



...Back into the evil dark room from earlier. I'm not going back there. Let's go into the east door, the last one available in that lightning hallway.



The blue things in this lightning-filled room are the arms of a statue.



Kazuo: A Knight...

So, have you figured it out yet? Considering that the Frescoes give clues in order of their marked dates...

"2-11 Where there is lightning..."
"2-28 A knight needs a spear."

Kazuo: Used Armor Spear...



Well, I used the Armor Spear, but nothing else happened... let's Look and see what's new.

Kazuo: Concentrate!

The bloody writing helps us out here:

Kazuo: Bloody letters... Can't enter... without prayer... Huh?! Prayer?

So, how do we finish up the puzzle? Pray!





There we go. Still with me, sports fans? That wasn't so hard, was it?



Why do the lightning flashes keep waiting until I take a screenshot?

(The East Garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A8O5KA3m5o#t=3m23s)

Don't worry about the imposing music, we aren't staying long. North would technically be quicker, especially since I kept the Mallet, but we'd miss something good if we didn't go south.



That's our ultimate destination. But first...



You have to take out Hounds quickly. They can easily do 30 damage when they attack, which makes them the hardest hitters in the game so far. They also give 30 experience, so try to get everyone in on the action when fighting them.



I thought you guys might want to see what it looks like when a character is stunned. It changes the battle window to this color scheme until they're cured or the battle ends.



This is another Old Sword. I give it to Taro.



This outbuilding is just across the wall from the other building we saw, but we need to go in here first.



Another Mallet, and Gas. We don't need a second Mallet, but the Gas will be useful shortly. Also, watch out for the wisps.



Kazuo: Rocks block the way.

Not for long they don't!



Emi sure does a lot of beastly work, smashing rocks and swinging an axe.



Right then, the main building.



Bloody writing, a Skeleton, more Rope, and a Tonic.



Thought you might like to see another battle background.

Emi: In blood: "GAS..."

What a terrible, terrible way to die.



Emi: WA!

Emi dodges the random flying dagger.

The Skeleton is harmless, so let's move up a bit.



Oh, okay. So let's turn it on.

Kazuo: Switch on the generator?

Yes

Kazuo: But nothing happened.

This is why we made the sidetrip.

Kazuo: Used Gas... Gas poured.

Kazuo: It's on!!



Thank GOD. Now I can see again.

Status update:











Asuka's been taking a lot of abuse from Hounds and the like, but otherwise we're still going strong.

Next time: Back to the Mansion!