The Way Part #58 - Episode 6: Part 1: It Begins

Part 58: Episode 6: Part 1: It Begins

Episode 6: Part 1: It Begins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6FxDfAidI

Ah... that's a lot of citadels. Suspicious.

Lots more beta testers this time.

Anyway, the game starts the last scene of Episode 5 from the beginning, so I'll just skip ahead to when Gaius tells Rhue he's the Phantom Slasher.

Rhue draws his sword, and...

Gaius jumps down from the boulder and Rhue backs up.

There's always been something about you that was a little off...
And real shortly here, that little something is going to be that head of yours.

This is your last chance. Hand the sword over and leave this place.

Never!!!

Rhue charges Gaius but is... repelled, the same way as when he tried to attack the Harbringer to save Cetsa. Except it's much more forceful this time, like he ran right into a brick wall, rather than just being pushed back.

Burn you...

I can see that this is going to be very painful.

Gaius starts doing... something that makes these motes of light or energy or whatever rise from the ground.

Then Traziun appears, seeking revenge...

Hold on. Hold on, the games just doing a complete 180 on everything from story to gameplay style and even Episode structure. The only things that will be the same are that Rhue's our lead and the basic mechanics of combat and The Plunge. It's actually kind of offputting initially, even for someone like me who loves this episode the most of all. The greatness of this episode is THANKS to this sudden turn but... Well, just look at the scene we just left, and it's so abrupt...

As a side note, I've seen fair few reviews and comments by people that say things along the lines "After I finished Episode 6 I discovered [One way or another] that I'd missed half the content and that there's two more very different endings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUkgnLzQcY8

Uh... hi.

...

Uh, how are you?

... I'm...

Where am I?

The outer city.

Near the Shadow Inn and the House of Pnoe.

Outer city... Estrana?

???

I don't understand... I was at the End of the Way...
And the big twist was that I'd have to start all over again from the very beginning! Terrible!

End of the Way huh? I found you in the street!
If you look at this faceset for longer than a couple moments, you'll notice where Lun or someone painted over the eyes in a slightly off tone.

What?!

Yea, you were passed out in the middle of the street.

...

Don't look at me like that! I'm telling you the truth!

Truth huh... And you always bring people you find passed out in the street to your home?

Well... no...

Who told you to bring me here?

No one! I did it on my own!

Why?

Sheesh, can't you just be thankful?

...

You seemed nice enough when I met you outside the city a while back.

...

Don't you remember me?

(I thought that was a dream.)

You don't remember me?!

I didn't say that...

...

Sorry, I'm just a little confused right now. (Actually, more than a little.)

About what?

You wouldn't understand.

Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I can't help.

How could you help me?

I work at the House of Pnoe. Lots of different people gather there. Someone there could probably help you sort things out.

House of Pnoe? Weird.

Why don't you drop by sometime? It's right next to the Shadow Inn.
Besides, it can't hurt, can it?

Probably not...

My shift is starting soon so I'd better get going now. Nice meeting you again.

Yea...

"The House of Pnoe... Maybe I'll go there..."

If you look at that painting on the wall, Rhue says he doesn't know what it's meant to be. Looks kind of like a shattered love heart to me.

Heyy the red tints gone and all the fires are finally out.

Oooh. The other tutorial is just what I told you about that one move that upgrades the more Transcendent Sword auras are level 3.

Note: I've been wanting to add this tutorial for ages. Finally I did it!
10/28/2005

The House of Pnoe has a storeroom off to one side. Rhue says he doesn't know what this symbol is, but it'll be relevant eventually.

"You must be new here! It's that tower in the west that rises above everything else."

You mean the Arm of Estrana?

WOMAN: Oh, you're one of those "Arm of Estrana" people?

What?

WOMAN: I don't know why you call it that, it's the freaking Phantom's Blade!!!

Well... let's leave her alone, and talk to plot progression man.

Lost City? I've never even heard of it.

MAN: I've only been down there a few times, and it's something to see.

Where is it?

MAN: It's buried underneath the main city.

Then how can you get to it?

MAN: There are secret passage ways down to it from many locations.
Thieves like to use them all the time to get from one place to another without being seen.
However, treasure hunters also frequent the Lost City. Many valuable things have been found there.

Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll go for a look some time. (Or not...)

MAN: Best be wary if you do.
Lots of strange things have been happening down there ever since...

Since what?

MAN: I'd better start at the beginning...
A strange man passed through here about a year ago. There was something odd about him, but I couldn't figure it out.
A year? Really?
A friend and I followed him down into the Lost City.
He seemed to know exactly where he was going, as if he had been down in the Lost City many times before.
I thought that to be very strange considering I'd never heard of seen this man before.
And I don't think anyone would forget a man like him.
Strangest of all was the place where we followed him to. Altair Manor.

Altair Manor? What's that?

MAN: It's the home of a murdering ghost. That's all I can tell you.

(The Phantom Slasher maybe? And that man... could he be... Gaius?)
How can I get down to the Lost City?

MAN: The most obvious route is by going down through what used to be the Central Hall.
Here, I'll circle it on your map.
But be wary young man. I wouldn't go down there even if someone paid me to nowadays.

Thanks for the information. (And I will be wary. I always am.)
The game wont ever confirm Rhue's guess, so here's a note in the code.
Note: TIP OFF ABOUT GAIUS
mention stranger going down there

Oh yeah, we hit Straphalyn rank sometime before the end of Episode 5.

Uh... Rhue's Focus and Poise are getting insane boosts from somewhere. The walkthrough has a thing for the end of each episode to tell you what your stats are if you absorbed everything. So here's that for comparison.

code:


Your stats at the end of Episode 5 should be:

HP:                     159     :HP
XL:                     17      :XL
Focus:                  41      :Focus
Will:                   37      :Will
Poise:                  36      :Poise
Plunge:                 18      :Plunge
Damage Threshold:       26      :Damage Threshold
Critical Hit%:          6       :Critical Hit%
Critical Strength:      9       :Critical Strength
Strides:                18      :Strides
Cross Link%:            45      :Cross Link%
Lunge Link%:            30      :Lunge Link%
Drop Link%:             30      :Drop Link%

Classification: Straphalyn


*NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items.

I have two unabsorbed Heart Stones, so thats why there's some missing HP, but... I can't explain the huge bonus. I'm pretty sure it's normal for Episode 6 though.

This is what we got for beating Strata. Not too shabby.

Castor doesn't have much to say, and there's no way to speak to our blonde friend. Time to head for Altair Manor.

I decide to make a few stops along the way. We can actually explore pretty much all of Estrana! And it only took two episodes after it was introduced!