Part 143: Episode CXL: Freedom!
Episode CXL: Freedom!Music: Shevat, the Wind is Calling
Last time on Xenogears, we established the Captain of the Thames is still the best character in the game. That said, let’s finish up our dicking around the Snowfield Hideout so we can advance toward the end of the game within my lifetime. I’d rather not hand down the mantle of finish LPing Xenogears to my children.
If we head down on of the side passages in this area, we’ll find the wreckage of that abandoned house from Shevat that they kept bombed out and empty as a reminder to never blah blah blah hippie bullshit. The bombed out children’s room upstairs is toast. But the dancing mirror remains. One of the few small comforts of the area.
Oh well, let’s return to the main area and gab with some folks for some flavor text on how humanity is holding up amongst the world going to utter crap during the course of the last three months.
“But it’s probably already too late... It’s always the case. By the time we notice anything, it’s way too late. How could we possibly stand up to god’s army? The situation’s really hopeless.”
”Nah. It’ll work out in the end. Trust me. Rebuilding civilization is going to be a slight bit more of a chore... Especially without giant robots for construction...”
“Best not to think about that too much, Fei. That’s crap from past the closing credits.”
“My home, my whole family, everything’s been destroyed by them... Who cares anymore, burn it all up!! Hahahaha...” ”Yeah, umm... Could we get someone else over here to monitor the camp fire...? That’d be great...”
“It’s the same as 500 years ago. That tragedy and hardship is being repeated again... What’s going to happen to our world... What’s going to happen to us...!”
“Well, to be completely precise the angels of 500 years ago were not augmented by regenerative nanotechnology nor were they backed by the awakened Deus consuming those destined to become parts to revive itself.” “...” “...That doesn’t help me feel better at all!” “That was not my intent. I just wanted to clarifying issues regarding current events.” “Yeah...Citan... You should probably just stop talking to people outside the party...”
“I know supplies are short, but I can’t believe they are burning my treasures!” ”Shame that. Hey, let’s go get our giant robots upgraded!”
Despite the limited supplies and dwindling resources, there’s still plenty of maintenance work and fuel for everyone’s Gears. Though the fact they’re still charging for it probably makes even less sense. We’re the only ones left to attempt to save what’s left of the world. And society has completely collapsed. What are merchants going to spend their cash on? Making a fort out of gold coins to live in? Jerks.
It is a good idea to upgrade everyone’s Gears. Even the ones pimped out by God need some mechanical enhancement lovin’.
While we’re in the neighborhood, here’s Omnigear Stier. I’m never going to use the thing in battle because it’s still terrible. But I just wanted everyone to get a nice look at the worst giant robot around before it went back in the closet with Rico.
If we head behind the Gear Shop merchant, we’ll find an easy to miss little pathway to a sub-level of Shevat.
Quite the expansive area at that. If we have Citan in the party, we can obtain a quite nice upgrade for him down here...
“There are no men with enough guts to ask me to forge them a weapon to fight Deus... If you bring me a nifty sword, I can forge it into something truly amazing for you, anytime... But I won't work for anyone rude enough to ask me to check a weapon while it's still equipped to their Gear!”
Translation: They couldn’t be arsed to swap weapon equipment for one solitary instant in the entire game. What this weapon smith wants is the Kishin Sword that Citan stole from the Elements back in the second Anima Dungeon.
If we unequip the Kishin Sword off Fenrir and hand it over to the guy, he’ll upgrade it to the Kijin Sword which is the best weapon in the game for Fenrir. He doesn’t even charge us like an asshole. We’ve just got to promise to stab Deus in the face with it eventually. Suicidal weapon smith guy is good people.
Back in the middle of the central room, we can find that waitress with the birds that evolved to become flightless on the formerly flying city. She’ll ask if we want to buy them, since they’re good eats in post-apocalyptica. If we agree, she’ll take a hefty 20,000 G in exchange for the birds (and we don’t get to know this sum until she’s already robbing our wallet.) And upon the transaction’s completion...
Turns out she was just another dumbass Shevat stoner and the birds could fly just fine. And do so immediately, never to be seen again. The waitress refuses to give our money back and there’s nothing to be done about it. Oh well, when Deus is defeated and Fei and the gang are restructuring what’s left of the planet...guess who is getting a Chu-chu train ran through them to repopulate the demi-human population. That’s right lady! Have fun with that!
Speaking of Chu-chus, now that the birds are gone (we couldn’t just shoo them away, that would be rude) we can use their former perch as an elevator which leads to...
“I wonder what happened to him when Shevat crashed down to earth... I haven’t seen him... His treasure... Can we just take it...? I’m sure he won’t mind if we just borrow it...”
Don’t worry Fei. He and his friends were probably sucked out of a hole in the wall during Shevat’s freefall and were smashed upon the ground far below. You can loot their old haunt without fear. And loot we should as there is some very nice swag in this room. The first display case has one of the best accessories in the game: Speed Shoes. Speed Shoes are an accessory that pretty much auto-haste the person wearing ‘em and this carries over to Gear combat as well. It also stacks with Booster, making the person wearing ‘em get about 5 turns for everyone else’s 1.
Unless it’s Stier. Then it gets one turn for everyone else’s one turn.
There is also a decent piece of female only helmet, the Vivid Turban. Only women get to wear turbans in Xeno-world. Who knew?
“Hey, it’s not like we’re grave robbers or anything! Right!? So don’t hex us, or haunt us, OK! Please...we’re begging you.” ”Tch. Calm down, Fei. We’re not graverobbers.” “Yeah, yeah... It just feels wr—“ “Everyone knows Chu-chus eat their dead.” “...”
We get a couple of neat accessories and armor here too. The Hercules Ring makes it so it only takes 50% XP to level up. We’re definitely going to need that for the last few Deathblows for Fei. There is also a Hero Costume, which gives great defense stats on foot...as long as the wearer’s allies are alive. If they get KO’d then you’re obviously not a very competent hero and its stats drop dramatically.
Fei heads upstairs and tries to loot another display...
*thundercrash* “The mythical ‘RPS Badge’!!” *explosion* “The ‘H&S Badge’ of legend!!” *zap* “The ‘Tag Badge’ that even collectors go crazy over!! Huh. I bet that old Chu-chu guy must have been so happy... It was displayed so nicely here... I can’t take this from him.”Fei gently put the badge back where he found it...
”Remember when we actually had the time to go get drunk and play hide and seek and crap?” “Yeah... Whatever happened to those days?” “Disc 2 happened.”
“Ah... Right.”
If we head back in the direction the Queen of Shevat was hanging out, we can find a handful of children from Billy’s Orphanage. Just a few humans and a Chu-chu. No demi-human orphans. They’re all turned into zombies and eaten by Deus. Poor chicken boy and gopher girl.
Just past the main makeshift hall, we find a fairly intact bedroom holding Dan and Midori. Let’s see if we can’t make our peace with Forehead Boy.
“Living inside of you, Fei, there is a monster that's not you... He's the bad one... He's to blame..." *turns away* "So... to forgive you, or not to forgive you... Well... that's not the problem! It's not like it's gonna turn back things the way they were... but... errh, it's just... I don't know how to say it properly, but I'm sorry... I... I, errh... I...!" "It's alright, Dan. ... Enough already. I understand. It is my fault. I'm sorry I caused you such pain..." "..." "I'm just glad that I could finally make peace with you. Take care, kiddo." "..." ”...You know that kid?” “Yeah. From back in Lahan. I...kinda...vaporize his sister...” “...” “...I need to stop asking questions about random people you know.” “Probably for the best. Details and all that...”Well that was nice. Now let’s give Citan’s daughter a talkin’ to...
“Cause I knew that inside of that monster, you were doing all you could to fight it, Fei. I knew it." ”Yeah. Sorry about that. He was kind of a jerk. Oh yeah! That reminds me! I stole this from your house like three months ago.” "Midori! I had better give this back to you... It's your precious ring, right? Be a good little girl, and listen to your mother, Yui, alright, Midori!” “Not seen... Mom since... Shevat crashed...” *frown* “Oh and... look after Dan for me, OK!?" "Yep, we, are all fine. Fei, you be careful too. I'm sure your voice will reach her too, Fei..." "Yeah... I guess you're right! Okay... Well, I'm going now. So see you later!" "Here... I got this from Chu-chu. Fei, you can have it. I'll trade you for my ring. Be careful, Fei." ”Hey thanks.” “...” “...” “...” “...You gonna say anything to your daughter before we leave to go fight a god, doc?” “I cannot think of anything of importance to share at the moment.” “...Alright then. Forget I asked.” *frown*
And so we get another Hercules Ring from Midori for holding onto a ring we stole from her flower bed way back during the first half hour of the game. That’s quite the long haul for an extra item exchange... And yet not the longest in Xenogears.
One final stop before we leave Shevat for now. If we return to the central room and wander through the northwestern hole in the wall we’ll come upon this fine fellow mining for god knows what. If we fund his expedition with a Gold Nugget he’ll dig his way further through the rock (after a couple days at least.)
When we return later, he’ll have doubled the size of the package but still no alleged treasure. He’ll ask for Gold Bullion to continue his excavation. We just so happen to have one of those lying around. So let’s see what he finds...
A couple days later...
And at the end of that nonsense, the treasure hunter finds a...buried jukebox. A jukebox that demands 100G a pop to hear a long. I feel somewhat ripped off by this investment.
But hey, nobody ever said being a completionist wouldn’t lead to the
Snowfield Hideout Jukebox Playlist - Please insert 100G!
The Valley of the Wind
A Distant Promise
Lost... Screeching Shards
Our Village is No. 1
We Wounded Follow the Light
The Brave Seek Dreams
September Mermaid
The Sky, the Clouds, and You
A Nest of Dreams
An Ancient Dance
Tears of Stars and Memories
Shards Calling One Another
Prayers of Wind and Fire
Welp. That about does it for the Snowfield Hideout for now. We’ll be making a return visit here later for a couple odds and ends. But let’s see what is beyond the western door we’ve neglected to enter thus far...
Music: Emotions
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.................................................HOLY SHIT!!! The World Map! We found the World Map! Today is a big fat Red Letter Day up in Xenogears, I’ll tell you what! First the Narration Zone came to an end and now are free to walk the earth for the first time in twenty hours!
Freedom... Sweet freedom!
