White Knight Chronicles I & II Part #51 - Down For The Count (Part 2)

Part 51: Down For The Count (Part 2)

CUTSCENE: A Little Treasure Hunt

Steward: A keepsake of the Count’s… that he kept stored in Greede’s Underbelly, you say?

Caesar: Remember when I was a kid? That time I got lost down there.

Steward: Of course. Down in the Merchant Quarter side, wasn’t it? I’d nearly forgotten. You had the whole household in an uproar. And your poor father nearly had a heart attack.

Steward: Why, that was—that was when he locked up the Merchant Quarter entrance. He was quite insistent that no one ever go down there again.

Caesar: That’s it!

Steward: That’s what?

Caesar: C’mon! Let’s go on a little treasure hunt!

AREA MUSIC: “Scar” (Disc 2, Track 13)

Let’s go find that lance then.

Yulie: I feel weird saying this, but Count Drisdall was buff.

Eldore: And he had a firm grip on what it takes to be a leader.

Leonard: But he kind of reminded me of Caesar too.

Caesar: But? What do you mean BUT?

Orren: Heh heh heh.

Train train, take us awaaaaay… Off to a terrible Final Fantasy VIII joke!

Here we go.

AREA MUSIC: “Greede’s Underbelly” (Disc 2, Track 7)

Shortly after coming into the Underbelly, we encounter a Greede soldier standing guard on a corner.

You’ve got two options when talking to him. Tell him the truth or be evasive with him.

This is what he says if you’re evasive.

Meanwhile, if you’re straightforward with him…

He gives you a clue about where Wyrmbuke might be hidden.

So because it’s Greede’s Underbelly, it’s a goddamn puzzle dungeon. You need to clear a pair of switches on the second level to unlock the elevator to the third level (ie: where we needed to go to access the Demithor’s head).

You can see the star there in one of the reservoirs. There’s another one directly above it just off the map.

We need to clear both reservoirs and flip the switches in both of them to unlock the elevator.

This is a switch bank at the top of the T junction just above where the objective marker is. Right now all three switches are locked down and need to be released by the switch in the smaller room on the right, just above where the position cursor is on the map screen above.

The big secret about these switches is that it’s always a combination of the farthest left switch and the farthest right switch. Activating both unlocks the reservoir.

Inside the reservoir is a Dire Waterspider, and an assortment of Sprogs.

Using the Dragon Knight in this area really helps because they’re all weak to slashing attacks.

Look at all those orange numbers.

Also, when you break a Direspider’s legs, the curl up into a ball and roll over on their backs.

To get to the other reservoir, we need to return to the first level and then drop down this drop here.

Orren: OH FUUUUUUUU [CRACK] MY LEGS! MY GODSDAMN LEGS!

Eldore: Walk it off, Niles.

Oh yeah, because this is game 2, there’s also Skeletons in Greede’s Underbelly now.

Fuck.

This.

And then I walked into a wall because I was watching a video on YouTube while I was recording this footage as a means to stave off boredom.

Another room, another giant goddamn spider.

SLASH

And now we can head down to the third level.

And this thing’s still here too. Still doing nothing…

This switch unlocks the four switches you need to activate to unlock the main reservoir where Wrymbuke resides.

There’s one per room in those four small rooms near the objective marker.

Eldore: We’ve come a long way.

Yulie: Does that mean we’re close?

Caesar: Yeah [spooky voice] I can feeeel the lance’s POOOOOOWEEEEEEEER!

Leonard: Heh heh heeeeh… Uuhuuuuh.

CUTSCENE: Wyrmbuke

Caesar: Check it out!

The place is absolutely wrecked. The pipes are shattered, chunks of concrete are missing from the super structure, and there are deep claw marks all over the walls and floor.

Eldore: This must be it—where the Count faced the black dragon.

Orren: I thought weren’t supposed to call it a dragon anymore?

Yulie: Caesar!

And there it is. Somehow Caesar didn’t spot this thing immediately even though it was right in front of him and GLOWING HOT ORANGE.

Caesar: Thanks, Dad. I’m just gonna borrow this.

Eldore: The Netherwrym flew towards the Bunker Lode Caverns, I believe.

Orren: And you just thought to share this NOW?! You really need to stop—just stop.

Caesar: Let’s gear up in the city before we go.

Leonard: Right.

Our “protagonist,” ladies and gentlemen—still unable to formulate plans on his own.

And we now have Wyrmbuke in our Key Items bag, in addition the Sylvan Insiagia.

Hmm, I guess we swiped it off of Miu on our way out of Faria and nobody’s noticed it’s gone yet.

Eldore: Our next stop is the present day Bunker Lode Caverns.

And here we are.

Miner: “What the hell is going on around here?!”

Miner: “The fog gets… gets worse from here on in. …Be careful.”

Caesar: My dad never flinched, and neither will I.

Eldore: That’s the spirit lad.

Yulie: Psst. When did Caesar get so serious?

Leonard: Just when he needed to.

So we need to head down to the second basement lower in the mine. To get there we go down to the lower level where we went to to get to the ruins, only now we have to head in the opposite direction to this elevator here.

The boss is up the middle elevator of the lower mine here.

Eldore: The beast will have a nest somewhere with access to the sky.

Miner: “He’s… He’s up from here. Take the central elevator to get there.
Miner: “Please… Take him out…”

There’s a Logic Stone up here to let you save, heal and repair your weapons before heading in for the boss fight.

Leonard: It’s about time we taught that “deathless monster” how to die.

Orren: For once, you and I are in complete agreement.

CUTSCENE: Round Two

Well, here we go.

Caesar: Nasty little thing, ain’t it?

Yulie: Get ready!

BOSS BATTLE MUSIC: “Crimson Dragon” (Disc 2, Track 5)
BOSS FIGHT: The Netherwyrm Boss Fight, Round Two (no commentary)

So here we go, the final fight with the Netherwyrm. It’s pretty much the same fight as it was on Flandar Trail, only we have the second and third party members there for back up and we’re not bound to use an Incorruptus exclusively.

It’s got the same attacks, strengths and weaknesses.

We also get to see what the Netherwyrm’s special attack was.

An ice blast. Woo.

I don’t mean to undersell it, in all honesty. This attack has a random chance of knocking your characters (Knights included) off their feet.

But enough of this shit.

DOWN!

Also, I love how if you level up while in Knight mode, the “Level Up!” pop up is also giant-sized.

CUTSCENE: Down For the Count
CUTSCENE MUSIC: “Crimson Dragon” (Disc 2, Track 5)

Caesar: UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAA

Caesar: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

boop

Caesar: Crap!

Caesar: Note to self: stab—

Caesar: HAAAAAARRRRRDEEEEEEEERRRR!!!

*GRAB*

Oh, hey, look. Leonard actually used his Knight. For something heroic no less!

Caesar: Nice catch, Leonard!

!!!

Oh shi—

Leonard: Caesar! NOW!

Caesar: Second time’s the charm!

You know why they named him Caesar?

‘Cause he’s the goddamn KING.

Orren: Tch. Deathless my ass. BOOYA!

And we even get a celebratory fireworks show for our victory.

Wyrmbuke absorbs the Netherwyrm’s energy…

And seals it within itself.

And then it’s just sort of forgotten about, because we’re done with this plot thread now.

Oh, hey, the Plot Book’s back.

Eldore: Mmmh?

Caesar: Ah?! Dad?

So apparently not only can the Retrospecticon take you into the past, it can also make contact with the afterlife because now we get to have a little chat with not-quite-ghost Count Drisdall.

Drisdall: Caesar. You did it, son!

Drisdall: I knew you would keep Greede safe.

Caesar: Hey… I’ve got to now that I’m the guy in charge.

CUTSCENE MUSIC: “Echoes of the Past” (Unreleased Track)

Drisdall: You have become a greater man than I ever was, Caesar. I never managed to finish the dragon off. I am so proud of you.

Drisdall: I have a gift for you.

Oh hey, it’s another Insignia, the thing we were here to get anyway.

Caesar: What’s this?

Drisdall: It’s called the Dragonroost Insignia.

Drisdall: House Drisdall has passed it down for generations. I have faith you will find a good use for it.

Drisdall: Caesar… take care of your friends. They are you greatest treasure, and will give you strength in the hardest of times, when Greede, and our people, need you most.