Part 31: Flipping Out

I mean we’ve been doing that the entire game. But sure, Hyde. Let’s go beyond Zero.



To the other side of the cycle. Time is the judge of all.

We have control of Aya here. It admittedly took me a bit longer than it ought to have in order to realize the game wanted me to walk a few paces to trigger the next cutscene. I guess all that Final Fantasy X cutscene hunting training never stuck.




New Music: Blue of the End (It’s the final boss theme and Yoko Shimomura actually did a new track instead of remixing old ones. It’s a pretty kickin’ final boss track!)





Behold: Hyde Bohr the High One’s final form!





Ultros! You son of a bitch! I should have known you were behind all of this! Dammit… It all makes sense now!





In response to Squid Bohr, Aya Brea decides it’s high time she goes Super Saiyan. Or unlocks unlimited Liberation Mode. Cuz fuck it! Why not?



Apparently we are now playing as the actual Aya Brea for the first time in the game. No Overdiving proxy battles. Don’t ask how she physically manifested herself here. Or… where here is supposed to be. We’re now in a plateau raised above an infinite void with massive floating Twisted bones forming DNA helixes decorating the horizon. The datalogs say we’re in Hyde Bohr’s consciousness. Sure. Whatever! Let’s do this thing!



Aya begins this final battle against Bohr with Liberation activated and cranked up to 10x efficiency. A normal Liberation lasts all of about 15 seconds. This one, if Aya were to avoid all attacks and let the Liberation bar drain naturally, lasts a solid five minutes. For this fight, the Liberation bar acts as Aya’s health meter.





It does, however, still drain. Aya is invincible in Liberation mode. But any attacks coming into contact with her body causes her to auto-dodge and eats a corresponding chunk out of her total Liberation gauge. If the Liberation meter empties, Aya dies. But don’t worry about that. I had to actively work to kill Aya here just to confirm what happened when Liberation ran out.



For the most part, this is for all intents and purposes just an interactive cutscene battle. Maybe it’s more threatening on higher difficulties. I neither know nor care. I haven’t talked a whole lot about Liberation mode’s functionality. As it is an ability that lasts again, all of 10-15 seconds and can be used a max of 2-4 times per mission. But here’s the thing about Liberation mode:





Aya Brea’s dodge roll has been replaced with a ninja flip. I did mention that when I originally talked about it in the tutorial. The thing about the ninja flip is that Aya is complete invincible while performing it. The entire animation has i-frames. Also, it takes up none of her Liberation bar to ninja flip all over the place and has zero cool down period, unlike the normal dodge roll.

Oh, and most importantly: she can still shoot while flipping. Really, the only down side is Aya yells “Hya” every time she flips. She can flip about three times a second…







So the entirety of the tactics for this battle is to just have Aya Brea side flipping, back flipping, and cartwheeling all over like a lunatic while firing none-stop akimbo pistol homing fireball shots at Squidbohr as he desperately tries to keep up with a random assortment of fireballs of his own. And fails miserably, cuz that motherfucker forgot to pack any sort of i-frame tricks to his second form.





Indeed, all Octo-Hyde can do is race around the arena firing a volley of fireballs, stop to charge up a series of homing shots which are utterly incapable of hitting even a slightly mobile Super Aya, and…





…lastly, he can attempt to Overdive head-butt Aya. Which is hugely telegraphed and again, is completely evaded by just flipping constantly. That’s his best attack. At least as far as I saw. He can also start just charging around and attempting to physically head-butt Aya.





Maybe he has some other super move I didn’t get to see because Aya murdered the living shit out of him effortlessly. I couldn’t tell you! I have no time for Hyde Bohr if he is no longer going to be a delightful inflatable tube man.




Music: Dive Into Myself





Hurrghaahrr!



Aya Brea!





AAARRRRRRAAAHHHHHHH!!
BAAARF!





And so Hyde Bohr dies. Good riddance. Other than the fact he already said he’s gotten owned countless times already and is stuck in a time loop where he is just going to get pooped back out at Aya’s Wedding where everything went down. But details… We have our victory and have beaten The 3rd Birthday!



What were your true intentions? You were always there with a kind word for me. Was that all a lie?
…I still have a LOT of questions, if we’re being honest.



Or was it—?
*gasps*





It's Time Zero. The place where eternity begins.





Music ends…







*laughing*
Hehe. Where’s the happy couple?
They should be here soon… But the bouquet is mine!
Huh? Heheh.
What?
What? There's no law saying a man can't have it.
You're such an idiot. She already said I could have it.
*leans in close* My family is dead. I’m getting it.
Oh pfft. Boo hoo. My partner was shot dead and my fiancé was executed for being a spy. That line isn’t gonna fly. I’m getting that bouquet.
*nervous laugh* …Hey. Uhh… W-Where’s Eve?



…So, Eve’s friend Emily Jefferson and Aya’s co-workers Gabrielle Monsigny and Thelonious Cray were all hanging outside the church until after Aya Brea’s wedding ceremony was over. For… some reason. Were they not actually invited? Is this some weird Japanese cultural thing I’m not aware of? Why aren’t you clowns inside the church? It’s late December in Manhattan. It’s bloody cold out!

…Also Maeda was walking by that same day. He had nothing to do with anything further and won’t appear again. Definitely not a stalker. Just a weird coincidence! Honest!



Tune in next time for the ending of The 3rd Birthday… Part 1. What? It’s like a near 20 minute series of cutscenes. The longest we’ve had prior to this was… about three or four minutes long, tops? Don’t worry, the TREMENDOUSLY FUCKING STUPID part is up next!






Video: Part 31 Highlight Reel (It’s the final boss. You should probably watch it. Just turn down your volu—HYAHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA)





Saint Thomas Church Concept – Well, they managed three landmarks for this city set entirely in Manhattan. I suppose four if you count the Statue of Liberty’s severed crown.