Also, supposedly he's responsible for the demon infestation of the Center, though I could be wrong.
Could be. But then again, he's in Valhalla, where, apparently, he's been running around saving people.
Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if that Bishop guy unleashed those demons to serve as an excuse to get you to go... do... something. Maybe kill the anti-Messiah. I dunno.
Kill him. Besides, since it seems we have some major Law points, I guess it would help to bring it down to Neutral.
Actually, if he is Chaos, then killing him would probably give us some more Law points.
Ah, didn't think of that. Since that priest guy doesn't want an Anti-Messiah walking around, killing him truly could get us some Law points.
In that case, I guess we should let him live. Unless there's a way to get those points back to Neutral in some later part of the game. Cause I would really like to see him dead.
Choose to kill him. The game probably won't let you anyway, but making that choice will still affect your alignment. If he's supposed to be a major player, he won't die right away yet.
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited May 2010
I think that settles that. But in case you're curious where this takes us, alignment wise:
There's two questions.
If you choose yes first hand, you are going to the Law alignment. If you choose no and spare him on the other statement, you are more likely to stay neutral. If you insist on killing him, it's a shift towards chaos.
Killing him, unsurprisingly, leads to Chaos. Which is fine by me.
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Been going through some hellish dungeons. I'm not done with this game though.
By the way, this game is a lot less grimdark serious business than SMT1. It's practically a comedy at times.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Part 5: Screaming Infidelities
Wanna bet?
Okay, the pointy end goes in the other guy's neck...
Fine, God.
It's... too late... for me...
So, I want him to live...
and...
You, too..
My purpose... is to...
save... you...
It was only a short time, but...
Told you to let me kill him, but noooooo.
Alas, poor Law Heroine, we hardly knew ye.
Damn! I won't... forget..
this... e-ver...
The murderer high-tails it like the little girl he is.
Just as God foretold, the Anti-Messiah
had appeared, and was defeated by
the hand of the true Messiah!
Blendy is the true Messiah!
At last, at long last, God has given
to us a savior!
Messian groupies!
Fan mail, already?
I need to tell you the truth
about what's going on.
Come meet me behind the
Gaia Temple on the first
floor of the slums and I'll
tell you everything.
-Mekata
Okay then...
It's a long trip, so I made some more friends for the journey.
A few dungeons of backtracking later...
It's me... but you don't remember me,
do you? I've heard quite a lot of
rumors about you and your exploits.
You are even more powerful than I
had thought you would be.
Have you regained your memories?
No? I thought not.
In a way, that's a good thing.
No, don't worry. I'll explain everything.
About you, who you are, why your
memories are gone... the truth about
everything. As difficult as I fear it may
be, you need to know, and the time to
tell you has come.
...But first, I have a request of you.
Do you remember the woman that came
from the Center to find you? She has
been imprisoned and is being held in
the Factory. Would you please free her?
Since she has left the Center to look for
the missing child, she has been convicted
by the Center of going AWOL.
Please, Blendy... rescue her. Break her out.
Once you have done so, bring her with you,
and come to me.
I will tell both of you everything...
she will need to hear this too.
Security is extremely tight at the factory,
and the holding cells are cut off from
most of the rest of the area, so you will
need to go through the Underworld to get
to where she's being held.
Go to the road connecting Valhalla and
the Center, and talk to the man guarding
the western intersection. He will know to
let you by. Please, you're the only one
I can ask this of...
I guess we can help her out.
Just so you know, there are three
passcode protected doors beyond here.
Their passcodes are 1213, 1834, and 9192.
I don't know which door has which password,
but I guarantee that those three are correct.
It wasn't too hard to figure out.
Almost there, and...
Time for payback for what you did at the Colosseum!
Not again.
He was almost difficult that time, slightly stronger.
I'm still not giving up yet!
He's reallllly getting on my nerves.
Colorful area.
Ooh, scenic.
Why not?
Uh, okay?
Can't think of a reason not to. (I honestly have no idea what this is)
Thank you for breaking my curse and reversing my petrification,
but I'm still having a little trouble moving around...I guess I haven't
fully recovered yet.
Okay then. (I assume we go back at some later point)
Recruitment's gotten a little easier.
The passwords weren't too tough either.
Law's sending out the bigger guns. Couldn't get Archangel to join either.
A taste of the hellish maps I've been enduring.
Apparently there's a shortcut that I could have taken that I totally missed!
Except if I had used it, this wouldn't have happened.
A little young for Blendy's taste, but okay.
She's no Kerberos, but who is?
Well let me give you a juicy tip then!
Getting her unveils a much easier route at the end.
Solid stats.
Sorry, but I'm not going to let you free Lydia!
Lydia left the Center unauthorized, and for
this crime was put in jail. I understand her reasons,
but she broke the rules, and the rules are absolute.
All of the rules the Center made must be followed.
Breaking them is a crime. All crimes must be punished.
Therefore, Lydia must be punished.
If you too want to break the rules by fighting her,
then I must fight you. I do not want to disobey the
orders of the Center!
So much for allies. He was even easier than Pokey.
I guess that's to be expected, after all, you're the
Champion of Valhalla. You certainly seem to be
resolute in your decision to free Lydia. I guess I can
see where you're coming from. And seeing your
resolve in that fight has convinced me, too.
All rules must still be followed, but any rules that
are wrong must be corrected. The Center's motives
are right, but the way they do things is wrong.
I won't follow them when they go too far. As for you,
you should free Lydia. But I need to warn you, she's
not in her right mind. I think it'll be harder to get her
to leave than you might think.
I can be persuasive.
Who's there? Blendy?
I don't need anything from you, go away.
Yeah, only one real option.
Move it.
Uh...
Er...
All right then, if I give Lydia my power,
it'll solve everything! If I'm part of Lydia,
then if you love her, you'll love me too!
Ok! That settles it! I'm going to give her my power!
Wait, what?...
What is it with SMT and fusing humans with demons?
No, she doesn't become a ninja like Chaos Hero or awesome like someone else in a newer game.
Lydia's abilities all raise by one point, that's it.
Eh!? What the... Where am I, what am I
doing? I remember them bringing me to
the factory, but after that, it's just a big blur...
I almost feel as if something else has been
controlling me, and I've been asleep...
But how did you know where I was? ..What!?
You found Mekata? Hurry! Let's go back and
talk to him! He should know everything about
what's going on, and have the information I'm
looking for too...
At least fusion changed her attitude a little.
More of that?
My findings indicate the operators of the
Center made him do it. They've stooped to
using any means necessary to bring about
the Thousand Year Kingdom, no matter how
dirty! We can't let the Center get away with
this! Somebody... has to do something
about them...
Someone call a Kuzunoha!
Zombie fangirls?
Oh, you.
I just barely escaped with my life. If I had
been a fraction of a second slower, I'd have
been eaten along with Valhalla by Abbadon.
He swallowed up both Madam and her mansion.
I really am indebted for all that she's done for me,
but it all happened so quickly that I didn't have
a chance to save her..
Madam, she was a tough cookie herself...
Hey, it's ok, right?
You won't regret making me your minion!
This time for good hopefully. And much sooner than in SMT1.
Yeesh, that's one giant demon.
Solid healer, comes with a bunch of curative magics.
So much for that idea.
Apparently Holytown is the only place where stuff is going on.
They wanted to build a huge church and
get everyone to move here. The area was
a colossal failure though. Eh? Why did it
fail? Well, why listen to boring sermons
nonstop here in Holytown, when you could
live in a place designed to make life fun
like Valhalla? People chose the Casino
and Colosseum over church services in
overwhelming numbers.
No surprise.
So what else is new?
Holytown has its party people too.
Wonder what the hell he was talking
about? He was probably just insane..
He said he was a messenger from the
planet Jupiter, too!
Weirder things happen.
...oh yeah, I'm not working today!
Even AI gets their party on.
Meanwhile, in local news...
Here is the latest news from Millennium.
We have some very sad news to report.
The elite Temple Knight, Kenshi, has
betrayed the Center and the city.
Kenshi has been spreading totally
false rumors about the Center.
This is truly a heinous betrayal, and
everything he says is a lie.
If you see Kenshi, please report it
to the nearest Temple Knight!
Listen to me, I will expose the true
plans of the Center!
The Center claims that they want to
create a peaceful Thousand Year
Kingdom, but that is a world that only
a tiny, select few will be permitted to
live in! Millennium was created to weed
out the unfavorables and pick those truly
"worthy" of living in the Thousand Year
Kingdom!
When the "wheat has been separated
from the chaff" successfully, Millennium
will have no more purpose... and will be
destroyed entirely, along with all those
living therein! Look at what happened to
the Valhalla Area! The Center had no more
use for it, so they made Maou Abbadon
swallow it, killing all the innocent citizens
living therein!
The Center calls our industrial center "The
Factory," but in reality, it's nothing more
than a concentration camp, where people
are forced to work against their wills!
Why!? I'll tell you why! Because Valhalla
was no longer useful to them! This is
brutality! Pure, inhuman brutality! The fate
of Valhalla today is the fate of Holytown
tomorrow! The other areas of Millennium
are merely being manipulated! The only ones
that will be allowed to join the Thousand
Year Kingdom are those in the Center!
Well, he sure changed his tune quick.
Hey Blendy! Have you been listening to me
too? I've decided to fight the Center and
their dirty methods. I'm exposing their
true agenda to the people, trying to incite
them to action! By changing their minds and
building opposition, we have a chance of
stopping them and fixing the system!
If things continue the way they are, virtually
everyone in Millennium will be cast aside
like so much refuse..
Speaking of refuse!
Yawn.
Getting more than a little ridiculous.
Heading underground.
Are you refugees from Millennium too?
Welcome to Fairyland!
Follow the laws of the king while you
are here!"
I want Titania, forget Oberon.
This is where the Yousei, Chisei,
and humans fleeing persecution have come.
Yousei means Fairy.
Chisei refers to another kind of demon, probably ogres and such.
Pathetically, someone else is here too.
I will defeat you this time for sure!
This time I'm going to do it without hurting you!
You won't even know what I did!
But it will work better than anything else i've done so far!
All right, puck, show em your stuff!
Uh...
Look out!
Wow, deja vu.
Crap, I missed! Sorry, sorry.
Well, see ya!
Ooh, ooh Pokey...
You're the one I've been searching for all my life!
Ack! Oh CRAP! Get back! Aaagh!
Keep away from me!
Pokey, where are you going?! Wait for me!
....Keep her.
Hel-lo.
The sap that Puck used is a magic medicine that makes
anyone fall deeply in love with the first person they see
as soon as it takes effect. What Pokey wanted to do is
use it on you... Ah! My name is A-anoon..
I-I was the one that you were supposed to be made to
fall in love with...But to tell the truth, I-..
N-never mind, I'm sorry!
I never get the good ones.
I'm sure he'll be an even nicer corpse.
protector of Tokyo, is sleeping in pieces all over the
Underworld. Some people are saying that if he gets revived,
he's gonna destroy Millenium and revive Tokyo down here,
but I dunno about that. What do you think?
Sounds good to know.
Oh god, wrong room.
Hey, come on! Get your hands off me, you dirty slut!
Ahh, keep back! Get away from me!
This woman is so...
Uh, I mean, she's mine now!
Give up, I've won!
She's all yours.
The entrance to the shop is over there!
Ah, Blendy... Um... you want to know
about the Infidelilly Sap, don't you?
Only the Yousei King, Oberon, has
the power to break its spell. A-..and if you
would like me to, I can ask him to break
the spell for you...
Fine, I guess, even that moron doesn't deserve dealing with that.
Gaianism at its finest.
I found this guy while searching random shrines.
A LONG fight ensued, but he went down eventually.
And wow was it worth it.
Oh yes.
I have no clue. I think I did an early side quest.
Another district, Roppongi. Or Akasaka, I get them mixed up.
I wasted a lot of time wandering around lost.
(Why do you think this update took so long?)
But I found good things!
Sort of.
Very good, very good. Is my demon summoning
program working the way its supposed to?
It should be fine, I've put a lot of effort into it
over the years. I have something else here I
would like to give you. This is the Devil Analyzer.
It will record the data of any and every demon that
you encounter. You should find it useful, so use
it well. I'll upload it to your terminal now.
I would imagine by this point you might be feeling
that the amount of demons that you can stock in
your memory is a bit low. Therefore, let me give
you this upgrade to the Demon Summoning
Program. It should allow you to stock up to nine
minions. I was able to work out a compression
algorithm to reduce the size of minion data within
your computer. Using it you can stock more demons
in the same amount of space.
I'm still tinkering with the algorithm, and I think
I can compress the data even more. When I do, I'll
give you the upgrade, so look forward to it.
Sadly, the Analyzer doesn't have a compendium. So no nifty bios.
I did get this guy from a nice fusion.
After more wandering, I backtracked and managed to find Oberon.
It sounds like that incorrigible Puck is at it again.
Him and his mischief, will it ever stop?
I had intended to admonish him myself, but the
slippery little weasel went up to the ground floor
and fled out the east exit. Human, if you wish
to break the spell, first you must catch Puck
and get some Infidelilly Sap from him. Understood?
More searching!
He's not exactly hard to find, fortunately.
At least the dungeon wasn't.
He keeps throwing status items and occasional bombs, so it's best to keep the protagonist solo in this area.
This happens a lot.
SMTII has a nifty warp effect. The pixelation seamlessly integrates right into the next area.
I imagine this is a taste of evil, evil dungeons to come.
I'm really sorry I threw the Infidelilly Sap on your
companion there... But I was forced to by Pokey!
I had no choice! Go easy on me!
All right, all right, you want the Infidelilly Sap,
right? Gimme 10,000 Macca and it's yours.
You think this gun's for show, don't you?
Here, take the Infidelilly Sap.
You can do better than that.
Ah, you're still pissed, aren't you?
Much better.
That was an assortment of alignment decisions which took us way over the boundary into Chaos.
But we're 10k richer, so, hey, call me Gaian.
Very well, with this, I can break the spell on Lydia.
...Go to her now. The spell is broken.
I was told to come here by King Oberon...
Please, Blendy, come inside with me.
What are you after, taking me to a secluded place like this!?
Pervert! Deviant! Horny bastard!
Shit, this isn't fair! I didn't do anything!
...What the hell is going on here?
All of a sudden this woman's attitude changes 180 degrees..
Ah! Blendy! You've come to save me from
this sicko! Thank you!
Better than nothing.
Demons will be demons.
I would do anything for you, just to be able
to gaze upon your beauty...
Ah... I've overjoyed just to hear you say that.
There's no accounting for lack of taste, is there?
Actually, it looks more like it says "Vlavgi Blendor... Zorf." I think that means you're famous. Or a son of a brownie, whichever.
And as for that deserty ruin pic with the lighter areas with buildings sticking out, are you on a high mountain and that's just very brownish clouds, or is that nice, sandy beachfront property?
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
I'm not really sure any of the main cast fit into SMT1's archetypes, they're just easier to classify that way.
And that area was deep underground, the Gaian hideout(s).
I'm sure we and that polite gentleman are going to be the best of friends.
WotanAnubis on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Part 6: The Tower of Demise
Good to know.
We get that a lot.
But it used to be the city of Tokyo. With the missile attacks,
the great flood, earthquakes, and other disasters, the city
was destroyed and sunk deeper and deeper into the earth.
If that wasn't enough, "millennium' was built right on top of it
so now old Tokyo is sealed completely underground.
The center refused to let us mutants live in Millennium with
the rest of humanity, and cast us out.
We fled here to the underworld, and here we continue to live
on, cut off from the light of the sun. We don't demand to be
accepted, we don't want any reparations from the surface
dwellers- all we want is for the light of the sun to shine on
us and the great city of Tokyo once more...
My apologies, forgive me for rambling on. Thank you for
listening to this old man's story.
Not like it was optional.
Abyss... I would be great if he could take me there.
Thrown out by normal society and condemned to a place
like this, I have no dreams or hopes for a brighter future
anyway. Maybe there I could make a better life for myself.
the underworld. We followers of Gaia wait for their revival,
and the liberation of the people living here...
They might be waiting a while.
I made some eerie friends to pass the time.
Perhaps he'll let his secret slip...
He means someone important, surely.
Someone like this?
Leave this place at once! If you don't leave quietly, I'll see
to it that you leave in body bags!
No, wait! You're not the people they sent to kill me...
So, you're just humans who have come to the Underworld...
It's what I do.
You will!? I appreciate it! What's your name?
Oh, what's in a name-
Blendy!
I see.
Speak when spoken to!
For you to help me revive Prince Masakado. Prince Taira
Masakado is the guardian deity of Tokyo. However, his
body was torn asunder into six parts when he tried to
mediate an internal dispute between the ancestral gods
of Yamato... Japan. As you may know, ever since the lands
of Yamato were relinquished by Izumo's O-kuni-nushi, the
gods of heaven, the Amatsukami, have ruled over the gods of
earth, the Kunitsukami, and controlled the land.
However, in the chaos that occurred at the turn of the century
when mobs of demons overran Yamato and its fertile valleys
were decimated by missiles, the Kunitsukami decided that
this was a perfect chance for them... the perfect chance to
overthrow the Amatsukami and take back the lands of Yamato
that they once controlled and raise their own stations.
And so, the Kunitsukami trapped the Amatsukami, sealing them
deep within the bowels of Yamato. Their revolution a success,
they should have retaken the lands that are now called Japan...
...But they did not. The Kunitsukami were being manipulated by
the demons that had overrun Yamato all along. Prince Masakado
was torn to pieces, and the Kunitsukami were sealed off in shrines
in the underworld, just as the Amatsukami were.
However, realizing the error of their ways, the Kunitsukami secretly
collected the pieces of the Prince's body before being imprisoned.
The imprisoned Kunitsukami each have a part of Prince Masakado's
body. If they are not freed and Prince Masakado's body is not
reassembled, then the turmoil here in Tokyo will most likely never
end. And I will never be able to atone for my crimes, as it was I
that betrayed the Amatsukami and gave the demons an opportunity
to succeed in their nefarious machinations.
What were we talking about again?
Very well then. Will you be willing to free the Kunitsukami from their
imprisonment, and resurrect Prince Masakado?
I'll be paid, right?
That better be a yes.
Don't send a Messian to do a man's job.
So the shrines with Masakado's pieces are all over the dang map.
Fortunately, you're spared the hours of searching I had to endure.
Remember that uber powerful boss I killed early on?
Yeah, I was a little ahead of the game.
No combat required!
Five left.
Hiroko's nice enough to help us out. After we're already there.
A few(okay, a lot of) long tunnels later...
Do you dare approach, knowing that I am Sukunahikona!?
...Hmm. You do not appear to be evildoers. To tell the truth, I've been
locked up in here, trapped.
...you'll help me!? Thank you!
Ring a bell, Persona 4 vets?
It later becomes Naoto Shirogane's Persona.
Warp room city. Now doesn't that look fun?
I didn't think so.
It was basically an escort mission.
With benefits!
This is also known as Yggdrasil in Strange Journey. Or maybe it was a palette swap, whatever.
You might know this class of demon as 'Fallen' in Nocturne and such.
I'm pretty sure Daitenshi means 'Fallen Angel' or something along those lines.
Boo.
#3!
A bit less chaotic. Except for the invisible walls.
The mapper spell in 2 is awesome. I should use it more.
I'm lost and can't find my way out!
Please bring me with you!
Always have an extra spot handy before these missions.
No thanks to that.
That's the last escort mission, (un)fortunately.
Two down.
#4!
Conveyor floors! II's are evil.
You can pass over a panel twice and go in a completely different direction the second time through.
Still not as bad as it looks.
Except the guardian here isn't very sociable.
If you do not, I will send you to Yomi,
and make you go on a date with Yomotsu-Shikome!
Ooh, scary.
Screw that.
Counter-argument?
I thought so.
Baphy should stick to the goat-head thing.
Taste my wrath, demons!
It's a heal spell.
Killjoy.
So you've spoken with Hiroko?
Then you will know what to do with this. Here!
This is the demon we actually need.
That too.
Two left! They took the longest to find, so I did some wandering.
And wouldn't you know, I ran into the most familiar face at the Holytown Bar...
I can't believe those cretins made Abbadon eat Valhalla...
They really will stoop to anything to achieve their ends! If I remember correctly, though,
Abbadon should be in the Underworld... wasn't he?
If you're looking for him, that might be a good place to check.
Maybe another time, Lucy.
That's great! I had a massive debt at the casino
over there, and fled here to avoid my creditors.
Now I don't have to worry about them!
special dolls to perform a ritual that would let him into the Abyss.
He used the dancing doll instead of the sleeping doll, and the ritual failed.
Duly noted.
Another location we took care of a little early.
Very well then, take this Torso of Masakado.
One left. Also took forever to find.
This joker at Holytown had it.
How about no.
Want, do not want, your mind make up!
Your head, remove I will. Fair?
Smart guy.
I'm never taking you flea market shopping.
You're never taking me shopping, period.
Uh... elsewhere!
Today I will give you a program that will turn on a formerly
inactive part of your arm terminal. It is an identification system
that will analyze any item or magic that you wish to learn
about... But it will not make the appraisal stores obsolete, as
cannot tell you everything.
It's still quite a nifty app, for this game anyway.
We shall meet again.
Goody.
Back to the client...
Now you must fuse the parts together to restore his body fully.
Where's Victor when you need him?
Oh well, plan b.
Please, let me fuse them together! As master of the Jakyou Manor,
it would be an honor to revive him through my fusion!
Can't turn down a man(?) who loves his work.
Science!
Eerie.
Well, Prince Masakado's body is in one piece now, but there's still
something missing.
will need more than just his pieces. You will also need his soul, which I
have been guarding here. by fusing his body with his soul, the Prince
will be resurrected. You have done more than I could have ever possibly
hoped for by gathering his pieces and restoring his body.
Now, let me return his soul.
(One nifty soul-transfer sequence later)
That's a bit more traditional, isn't it?
Hiroko, was it you? Were you the one who revived me?
Prince, it was thanks to the efforts of Blendy here, not I.
I see. Well then, Blendy, you have my eternal thanks.
Now Hirpko, I believe we need to hurry, no?
Indeed! let us go to the sealed cave at once!
(Elsewhere...)
the factory. I worry about all the laborers there...
Let's rescue all the workers in the Factory before they die!
Let's free the factory from the bonds of the forced labor camp
it has become!
...Blendy, just as you've heard, I intend to go to the Factory
and free the laborers there. If you agree with me, join me!
Let's work together to rescue the people of the factory!
Uh, maybe later.
This is the sealed shrine Masakado spoke of. It's an optional sidequest, but I was tempted.
Understood, Hiroko.
(Cue Frog's theme)
It would appear my job here is done. 'twas a bit difficult
for me... having just revived, I have not the strength I once did.
But thanks to you, I was able to reclaim my body. Blendy,
I would like to show my thanks to you again. I shall give you these two treasures.
Now, I shall rest for a while and recover my strength.
Farewell!
And off he goes. Maybe he'll be back for the sequel.
Hiroko asks to save the Amatsukami trapped inside, which is optional, but worth doing.
The cave itself was pretty tame. A few warp tunnels, lots of dead ends.
And a familiar face or two.
These are the Amatsukami that are trapped here, five in all.
Why bother? Because this unlocks them for fusion.
Also, the demons here give wicked XP.
In thanks, let me give you some advice.
The gods that you are now freeing are returning to the Kongokai to
nurse their wounds, but will now be ready for you to create through
fusion at any time.
They will surely be happy to serve you, as will I.
No trivia this time.
Here's one for the Okami fans.
Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess who rules over the High Plain of Heaven. Her name means "she who illuminates the heavens". She was born from Izanagi's left eye.
Since ages past, the Kunitsukami have served us
Amatsukami. However, they betrayed us, defecting to the gods
of the Hebrew pantheon, and then helped them imprison us.
But as you may know, the Hebrew gods are not ones for sharing
power, and as soon as we Amatsukami had been imprisoned,
they turned on the Kunitsukami and imprisoned them as well.
Unbeknownst to the Kunitsukami, they were being used as tools
all along. Both we Amatsukami and Kunitsukami are gods hailing
from the once fertile isles of Japan. It was wrong for us to have
such squabbles amongst ourselves. Truly, we were fools.
We shall never make the same mistake again.
Who are you, human child, possessing such power?
I bet you hear that from all the deities.
Now that you mention it...
I'd rather not know.
The last two are pretty uneventful.
Almost.
I'll make the rat that tricked me pay for this treachery!
He'll live.
Without that light, this world is nothing but darkness...
Hiroko, you have suffered greatly. You have gone to great
lengths to find help in these people to break our bonds.
Blendy, Lydia, the two of you shine with an inner light yourselves.
Let me give you my thanks once more. Hiroko, come with me.
Together we shall go to the Kongokai to heal our wounded bodies.
With those two living happily ever after(?), it's back to the main quest.
The factory workers don't seem too eager to be relieved.
Not that Kenshi's backing down.
Come on, let's free everyone in the labor camp!
Shame it's for naught.
They don't want to go anywhere.
Well, screw them.
The conditions here are awful! Why doesn't anyone even try to leave?
I see. It must be the Watchtower!
There's something not right about the top of the tower!
Nothing gets past him. So, plan b.
The people of this area are working under the influence of the song
being broadcast from there.
Makes our task kind of clear.
You need to raise your Intelligence first. That's it.
Yuck.
(Some level grinding and a lot of bar hopping for INT boosting drinks later...)
Ninja Gaiden time.
Kind of ominous.
Not really as bad as I was expecting, certainly no Cathedral.
Some nasty demons though. (I love the happy face)
And some fine ones. (No I don't mean Arachne on the left.)
The Watchtower is 12 floors high. The first 11 were 4x4 rooms, child's play.
The twelfth brought the pain. Demons everywhere.
It was like SMT1 all over again, but I eventually got through it.
To think they've got a demon as guardian of the Watchtower...
What the hell is the Center thinking...!?
Be careful in there. He's no pushover.
I couldn't hold a candle to him on my own, and barely made it out with my life...
Belphegor is a demon of Sloth, one of the 7 Deadly Sins. His name is a corruption of Baal-Peor, the name for the god of the Moabites. Belphegor gives people ideas for inventions that will make them rich and thus greedy and selfish. Sometimes is portrayed as a beautiful woman, but other times is portrayed as a monstrous demon with horns. Some claim that he must be worshiped on a toilet, thus we get his design in the Shin Megami Tensei games.
Well, well, it looks like I have another visitor!
I have to admit, it's pretty impressive that you were able to see
through the illusions guarding this tower. However, the last guy
who came here ran away with his tail between his legs! A smart
thing to do, to tell the truth... Will you be as foresightful, I wonder?
Guess not.
So you may have noticed that in all of these screens, I'm not using any demons at all.
Why? One, because summoning is EXPENSIVE in SMT2. Two, because it drains Mag like crazy.
Three, well... See for yourselves how broken these two are.
Such power... A human, yet summoning and binding many demons
to his will... Who are you....?
Off the throne with him.
And then, the top of the tower.
What awaits is pretty unexpected.
She sings in a sorrowful voice, and won't be moved.
So, fusion time!
Always have a Sarasvati on hand.
So back on the bar scene..
Here's the scoop. You've heard about the strange radiation that's been
emitted by the Factory, right? Well, it turns out it's not radiation, but
actually singing! And not just any singing, but the song of the Siren,
which is said to steal the souls of those who hear it.
That's not all though! Siren was living happily in the Abyss with her lover,
but then some of the Temple Knights kidnapped her and brought her to the
Factory. Since then, they've been broadcasting her song all throughout
the Factory to brainwash all the workers!
But Siren isn't doing this intentionally to manipulate the humans.
She is mourning the loss of her lover and singing in sadness.
Poor girl, that Siren... trapped there, all she can do is sing...
Hmm..
Had a really weary look on his face. I wonder if he's okay?
I wonder.
Next time: The War For Arcadia
Brace yourselves, readers.
On a scale of 1 to Bad Boys II, it's about to get real.
I'm vaguely aware that the ancient Hebrews were probably henotheistic and I've heard there's supposedly archeological evidence suggesting that once upon a time YHWH had a female counterpart (does having only two gods still count as polytheism?). But somehow I think Amaterasu was talking about YHWH and his legions of angels and not about an actual Hebrew pantheon.
Speaking of which, Amaterasu was pretty useful in Devil Survivor. I'm looking forward to seeing how she holds up in this game, should you ever use her.
Did the game do that horribly evil thing where after dumping that huge, long story on you and asks you if you want to hear it again, it defaults the question box to yes?
And man, 'ol Louie's just chilling at the bar rather than actually doing anything. At least now we know where he keeps disappearing off to in all the other games.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Pretty sure it's just a stab at Yahweh, though this is the first I've ever seen the series explicitly call something Hebrew in origin.
Also, I'm not sure how to fuse the Amatsukami yet, but I'll keep experimenting. As it stands, I could probably solo the game with just Blender and Lydia. (Thanks to their awesome 38k Roppongi machine guns.) I hope to be proven wrong.
I've been looking for the Fiends, but I've yet to find any. (Alice is among them!)
As for Louis, yes, that was pure coincidence. I had no idea he would be there.
cj iwakura on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Part 7's coming along.
Can't quite recall where I recognize him from...
cj iwakura on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Part 7: Behind The Curtain (Interlude)
Major alignment branch decision on the way, so I had to cut this one a bit short.
So exploring Holytown yields some... interesting developments.
That sounds worth a look.
Well, you see, my ambition is to see the halls of
the Abyss for myself, so I've been trying to open
a door there. ...but I can't seem to get it to work,
no matter what I do. I know how to get there in
theory, but not in practice.
Do you want to hear how it's supposed to work?
All right, here's the deal. You need to find four
magical dolls, each infused with special power.
Then you need to place them in the right formation
in a place where this world's energies are in sync
with those of the Abyss. Then the portal to the Abyss
will open. The problem is, out of those four dolls,
I only have one.
May as well add it to the collection!
All right then, here you go. I'm sick of trying and
failing, so you find a way there for me. Good luck!
So it's Abyss time, or something.
Familiar territory.
That's the one to skip before placing the Sleeping Doll.
And off we go.
The music here is quite good. I suggest you make use of it and play this for the trip.
only fitting that someone as hot as I am live here.
More Eldritch horrors.
Some less unpleasant sights... and a familiar one.
To think that I'd meet you here, Blendy.
You've done well making it all the way here to
the Abyss. But you came here by what's more
or less a back door. Try and figure out how to
come in through the front door next time. Good luck.
Moving on... Tiphereth has a disco too.
A ...special one.
Keep at it, MJ.
The shopkeeps here are equally freaky.
Best gear in the game so far, by far.
Not much else to do here yet, so let's get who we came for.
Then by any chance, do you know what happened to my
lover? My lover, Siren, was kidnapped by someone and
brought to your world. They probably wanted to use her
song to enthrall others. To tell the truth, I, too, was
enslaved by her song initially. But as we spent time together,
we ended up falling in love. We were together for a long,
long time... my body grew old and weak, and so I cast it
aside, so I could be with her forever. I am nothing but a soul
now, and in my state, I am powerless to save her...
That makes me so sad... so frustrated...
Please, bring me to her! I beg you!
I guess.
I thank you for your kindness. I won't be any help in battle,
but I will come with you.
We could go back to the Watchtower, but examining a distortion in the southeast of the Abyss reveals something fascinating.
Arcadia is truly a utopian world!
The truth behind 'Arcadia'.
These people tied to the computers are the residents, seeing what Cassio wants them to.
What does he have to say about all this?
You know the truth about my Arcadia Area, as I am sure
you have witnessed for yourself. Arcadia is not a true
utopian world. It is a fabrication, a virtual reality. But even if
it is just a fabrication, is it so wrong to give the people the
peaceful world they so desire? They are all none the wiser,
and happy in their belief that what they experience is real.
What is true is what people want to believe is true.
That is all that matters.
However, as you have seen the reality behind Arcadia,
the reality that must never be disclosed at any cost,
I cannot let you leave here alive.
Posts
Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if that Bishop guy unleashed those demons to serve as an excuse to get you to go... do... something. Maybe kill the anti-Messiah. I dunno.
Ah, didn't think of that. Since that priest guy doesn't want an Anti-Messiah walking around, killing him truly could get us some Law points.
In that case, I guess we should let him live. Unless there's a way to get those points back to Neutral in some later part of the game. Cause I would really like to see him dead.
I just wish we didn't have to take law points to do it.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
actual spoiler:
If you choose yes first hand, you are going to the Law alignment. If you choose no and spare him on the other statement, you are more likely to stay neutral. If you insist on killing him, it's a shift towards chaos.
Killing him, unsurprisingly, leads to Chaos. Which is fine by me.
Last call, if that really changes anyone's mind.
Oh.
Not that I expect that to last.
Oh hell. Already?
Gonna be a long one.
There was an alignment decision.
It was a no-brainer.
So we're leaning towards Chaos now.
Pretty sure no one has cause for objection.
"Go Gaian, so we have more people to preach to!"
Been a while though
By the way, this game is a lot less grimdark serious business than SMT1. It's practically a comedy at times.
Wanna bet?
Okay, the pointy end goes in the other guy's neck...
Fine, God.
It's... too late... for me...
So, I want him to live...
and...
You, too..
My purpose... is to...
save... you...
It was only a short time, but...
Told you to let me kill him, but noooooo.
Alas, poor Law Heroine, we hardly knew ye.
Damn! I won't... forget..
this... e-ver...
The murderer high-tails it like the little girl he is.
Just as God foretold, the Anti-Messiah
had appeared, and was defeated by
the hand of the true Messiah!
Blendy is the true Messiah!
At last, at long last, God has given
to us a savior!
Messian groupies!
Fan mail, already?
Okay then...
It's a long trip, so I made some more friends for the journey.
A few dungeons of backtracking later...
It's me... but you don't remember me,
do you? I've heard quite a lot of
rumors about you and your exploits.
You are even more powerful than I
had thought you would be.
Have you regained your memories?
No? I thought not.
In a way, that's a good thing.
No, don't worry. I'll explain everything.
About you, who you are, why your
memories are gone... the truth about
everything. As difficult as I fear it may
be, you need to know, and the time to
tell you has come.
...But first, I have a request of you.
Do you remember the woman that came
from the Center to find you? She has
been imprisoned and is being held in
the Factory. Would you please free her?
Since she has left the Center to look for
the missing child, she has been convicted
by the Center of going AWOL.
Please, Blendy... rescue her. Break her out.
Once you have done so, bring her with you,
and come to me.
I will tell both of you everything...
she will need to hear this too.
Security is extremely tight at the factory,
and the holding cells are cut off from
most of the rest of the area, so you will
need to go through the Underworld to get
to where she's being held.
Go to the road connecting Valhalla and
the Center, and talk to the man guarding
the western intersection. He will know to
let you by. Please, you're the only one
I can ask this of...
I guess we can help her out.
Just so you know, there are three
passcode protected doors beyond here.
Their passcodes are 1213, 1834, and 9192.
I don't know which door has which password,
but I guarantee that those three are correct.
It wasn't too hard to figure out.
Almost there, and...
Time for payback for what you did at the Colosseum!
Not again.
He was almost difficult that time, slightly stronger.
I'm still not giving up yet!
He's reallllly getting on my nerves.
Colorful area.
Ooh, scenic.
Why not?
Uh, okay?
Can't think of a reason not to. (I honestly have no idea what this is)
Thank you for breaking my curse and reversing my petrification,
but I'm still having a little trouble moving around...I guess I haven't
fully recovered yet.
Okay then. (I assume we go back at some later point)
Recruitment's gotten a little easier.
The passwords weren't too tough either.
Law's sending out the bigger guns. Couldn't get Archangel to join either.
A taste of the hellish maps I've been enduring.
Apparently there's a shortcut that I could have taken that I totally missed!
Except if I had used it, this wouldn't have happened.
A little young for Blendy's taste, but okay.
She's no Kerberos, but who is?
Well let me give you a juicy tip then!
Getting her unveils a much easier route at the end.
Solid stats.
Sorry, but I'm not going to let you free Lydia!
Lydia left the Center unauthorized, and for
this crime was put in jail. I understand her reasons,
but she broke the rules, and the rules are absolute.
All of the rules the Center made must be followed.
Breaking them is a crime. All crimes must be punished.
Therefore, Lydia must be punished.
If you too want to break the rules by fighting her,
then I must fight you. I do not want to disobey the
orders of the Center!
So much for allies. He was even easier than Pokey.
I guess that's to be expected, after all, you're the
Champion of Valhalla. You certainly seem to be
resolute in your decision to free Lydia. I guess I can
see where you're coming from. And seeing your
resolve in that fight has convinced me, too.
All rules must still be followed, but any rules that
are wrong must be corrected. The Center's motives
are right, but the way they do things is wrong.
I won't follow them when they go too far. As for you,
you should free Lydia. But I need to warn you, she's
not in her right mind. I think it'll be harder to get her
to leave than you might think.
I can be persuasive.
Who's there? Blendy?
I don't need anything from you, go away.
Yeah, only one real option.
Move it.
Uh...
Er...
All right then, if I give Lydia my power,
it'll solve everything! If I'm part of Lydia,
then if you love her, you'll love me too!
Ok! That settles it! I'm going to give her my power!
Wait, what?...
What is it with SMT and fusing humans with demons?
No, she doesn't become a ninja like Chaos Hero or awesome like someone else in a newer game.
Lydia's abilities all raise by one point, that's it.
Eh!? What the... Where am I, what am I
doing? I remember them bringing me to
the factory, but after that, it's just a big blur...
I almost feel as if something else has been
controlling me, and I've been asleep...
But how did you know where I was? ..What!?
You found Mekata? Hurry! Let's go back and
talk to him! He should know everything about
what's going on, and have the information I'm
looking for too...
At least fusion changed her attitude a little.
More of that?
My findings indicate the operators of the
Center made him do it. They've stooped to
using any means necessary to bring about
the Thousand Year Kingdom, no matter how
dirty! We can't let the Center get away with
this! Somebody... has to do something
about them...
Someone call a Kuzunoha!
Zombie fangirls?
Oh, you.
I just barely escaped with my life. If I had
been a fraction of a second slower, I'd have
been eaten along with Valhalla by Abbadon.
He swallowed up both Madam and her mansion.
I really am indebted for all that she's done for me,
but it all happened so quickly that I didn't have
a chance to save her..
Madam, she was a tough cookie herself...
Hey, it's ok, right?
You won't regret making me your minion!
This time for good hopefully. And much sooner than in SMT1.
Yeesh, that's one giant demon.
Solid healer, comes with a bunch of curative magics.
So much for that idea.
Apparently Holytown is the only place where stuff is going on.
They wanted to build a huge church and
get everyone to move here. The area was
a colossal failure though. Eh? Why did it
fail? Well, why listen to boring sermons
nonstop here in Holytown, when you could
live in a place designed to make life fun
like Valhalla? People chose the Casino
and Colosseum over church services in
overwhelming numbers.
No surprise.
So what else is new?
Holytown has its party people too.
Wonder what the hell he was talking
about? He was probably just insane..
He said he was a messenger from the
planet Jupiter, too!
Weirder things happen.
...oh yeah, I'm not working today!
Even AI gets their party on.
Meanwhile, in local news...
Here is the latest news from Millennium.
We have some very sad news to report.
The elite Temple Knight, Kenshi, has
betrayed the Center and the city.
Kenshi has been spreading totally
false rumors about the Center.
This is truly a heinous betrayal, and
everything he says is a lie.
If you see Kenshi, please report it
to the nearest Temple Knight!
Listen to me, I will expose the true
plans of the Center!
The Center claims that they want to
create a peaceful Thousand Year
Kingdom, but that is a world that only
a tiny, select few will be permitted to
live in! Millennium was created to weed
out the unfavorables and pick those truly
"worthy" of living in the Thousand Year
Kingdom!
When the "wheat has been separated
from the chaff" successfully, Millennium
will have no more purpose... and will be
destroyed entirely, along with all those
living therein! Look at what happened to
the Valhalla Area! The Center had no more
use for it, so they made Maou Abbadon
swallow it, killing all the innocent citizens
living therein!
The Center calls our industrial center "The
Factory," but in reality, it's nothing more
than a concentration camp, where people
are forced to work against their wills!
Why!? I'll tell you why! Because Valhalla
was no longer useful to them! This is
brutality! Pure, inhuman brutality! The fate
of Valhalla today is the fate of Holytown
tomorrow! The other areas of Millennium
are merely being manipulated! The only ones
that will be allowed to join the Thousand
Year Kingdom are those in the Center!
Well, he sure changed his tune quick.
Hey Blendy! Have you been listening to me
too? I've decided to fight the Center and
their dirty methods. I'm exposing their
true agenda to the people, trying to incite
them to action! By changing their minds and
building opposition, we have a chance of
stopping them and fixing the system!
If things continue the way they are, virtually
everyone in Millennium will be cast aside
like so much refuse..
Speaking of refuse!
Yawn.
Getting more than a little ridiculous.
Heading underground.
Are you refugees from Millennium too?
Welcome to Fairyland!
Follow the laws of the king while you
are here!"
I want Titania, forget Oberon.
This is where the Yousei, Chisei,
and humans fleeing persecution have come.
Yousei means Fairy.
Chisei refers to another kind of demon, probably ogres and such.
Pathetically, someone else is here too.
I will defeat you this time for sure!
This time I'm going to do it without hurting you!
You won't even know what I did!
But it will work better than anything else i've done so far!
All right, puck, show em your stuff!
Uh...
Look out!
Wow, deja vu.
Crap, I missed! Sorry, sorry.
Well, see ya!
Ooh, ooh Pokey...
You're the one I've been searching for all my life!
Ack! Oh CRAP! Get back! Aaagh!
Keep away from me!
Pokey, where are you going?! Wait for me!
....Keep her.
Hel-lo.
The sap that Puck used is a magic medicine that makes
anyone fall deeply in love with the first person they see
as soon as it takes effect. What Pokey wanted to do is
use it on you... Ah! My name is A-anoon..
I-I was the one that you were supposed to be made to
fall in love with...But to tell the truth, I-..
N-never mind, I'm sorry!
I never get the good ones.
I'm sure he'll be an even nicer corpse.
protector of Tokyo, is sleeping in pieces all over the
Underworld. Some people are saying that if he gets revived,
he's gonna destroy Millenium and revive Tokyo down here,
but I dunno about that. What do you think?
Sounds good to know.
Oh god, wrong room.
Hey, come on! Get your hands off me, you dirty slut!
Ahh, keep back! Get away from me!
This woman is so...
Uh, I mean, she's mine now!
Give up, I've won!
She's all yours.
The entrance to the shop is over there!
Ah, Blendy... Um... you want to know
about the Infidelilly Sap, don't you?
Only the Yousei King, Oberon, has
the power to break its spell. A-..and if you
would like me to, I can ask him to break
the spell for you...
Fine, I guess, even that moron doesn't deserve dealing with that.
Gaianism at its finest.
I found this guy while searching random shrines.
A LONG fight ensued, but he went down eventually.
And wow was it worth it.
Oh yes.
I have no clue. I think I did an early side quest.
Another district, Roppongi. Or Akasaka, I get them mixed up.
I wasted a lot of time wandering around lost.
(Why do you think this update took so long?)
But I found good things!
Sort of.
Very good, very good. Is my demon summoning
program working the way its supposed to?
It should be fine, I've put a lot of effort into it
over the years. I have something else here I
would like to give you. This is the Devil Analyzer.
It will record the data of any and every demon that
you encounter. You should find it useful, so use
it well. I'll upload it to your terminal now.
I would imagine by this point you might be feeling
that the amount of demons that you can stock in
your memory is a bit low. Therefore, let me give
you this upgrade to the Demon Summoning
Program. It should allow you to stock up to nine
minions. I was able to work out a compression
algorithm to reduce the size of minion data within
your computer. Using it you can stock more demons
in the same amount of space.
I'm still tinkering with the algorithm, and I think
I can compress the data even more. When I do, I'll
give you the upgrade, so look forward to it.
Sadly, the Analyzer doesn't have a compendium.
I did get this guy from a nice fusion.
After more wandering, I backtracked and managed to find Oberon.
It sounds like that incorrigible Puck is at it again.
Him and his mischief, will it ever stop?
I had intended to admonish him myself, but the
slippery little weasel went up to the ground floor
and fled out the east exit. Human, if you wish
to break the spell, first you must catch Puck
and get some Infidelilly Sap from him. Understood?
More searching!
He's not exactly hard to find, fortunately.
At least the dungeon wasn't.
He keeps throwing status items and occasional bombs, so it's best to keep the protagonist solo in this area.
This happens a lot.
SMTII has a nifty warp effect. The pixelation seamlessly integrates right into the next area.
I imagine this is a taste of evil, evil dungeons to come.
I'm really sorry I threw the Infidelilly Sap on your
companion there... But I was forced to by Pokey!
I had no choice! Go easy on me!
All right, all right, you want the Infidelilly Sap,
right? Gimme 10,000 Macca and it's yours.
You think this gun's for show, don't you?
Here, take the Infidelilly Sap.
You can do better than that.
Ah, you're still pissed, aren't you?
Much better.
That was an assortment of alignment decisions which took us way over the boundary into Chaos.
But we're 10k richer, so, hey, call me Gaian.
Very well, with this, I can break the spell on Lydia.
...Go to her now. The spell is broken.
I was told to come here by King Oberon...
Please, Blendy, come inside with me.
What are you after, taking me to a secluded place like this!?
Pervert! Deviant! Horny bastard!
Shit, this isn't fair! I didn't do anything!
...What the hell is going on here?
All of a sudden this woman's attitude changes 180 degrees..
Ah! Blendy! You've come to save me from
this sicko! Thank you!
Better than nothing.
Demons will be demons.
I would do anything for you, just to be able
to gaze upon your beauty...
Ah... I've overjoyed just to hear you say that.
There's no accounting for lack of taste, is there?
And Pokey lives happily ever after.
Uh... I think.
Next time: The Uprising
So yeah, anyway, Kenshi is stirring up a violent revolution, is he? Are we sure he's the Law Hero?
Actually, it looks more like it says "Vlavgi Blendor... Zorf." I think that means you're famous. Or a son of a brownie, whichever.
And as for that deserty ruin pic with the lighter areas with buildings sticking out, are you on a high mountain and that's just very brownish clouds, or is that nice, sandy beachfront property?
And that area was deep underground, the Gaian hideout(s).
Well, maybe he's the only Law hero to realise that the Law faction are a bunch of jerks?
FFFFFFF
Good to know.
We get that a lot.
But it used to be the city of Tokyo. With the missile attacks,
the great flood, earthquakes, and other disasters, the city
was destroyed and sunk deeper and deeper into the earth.
If that wasn't enough, "millennium' was built right on top of it
so now old Tokyo is sealed completely underground.
The center refused to let us mutants live in Millennium with
the rest of humanity, and cast us out.
We fled here to the underworld, and here we continue to live
on, cut off from the light of the sun. We don't demand to be
accepted, we don't want any reparations from the surface
dwellers- all we want is for the light of the sun to shine on
us and the great city of Tokyo once more...
My apologies, forgive me for rambling on. Thank you for
listening to this old man's story.
Not like it was optional.
Abyss... I would be great if he could take me there.
Thrown out by normal society and condemned to a place
like this, I have no dreams or hopes for a brighter future
anyway. Maybe there I could make a better life for myself.
the underworld. We followers of Gaia wait for their revival,
and the liberation of the people living here...
They might be waiting a while.
I made some eerie friends to pass the time.
Perhaps he'll let his secret slip...
He means someone important, surely.
Someone like this?
Leave this place at once! If you don't leave quietly, I'll see
to it that you leave in body bags!
No, wait! You're not the people they sent to kill me...
So, you're just humans who have come to the Underworld...
It's what I do.
You will!? I appreciate it! What's your name?
Oh, what's in a name-
Blendy!
I see.
Speak when spoken to!
For you to help me revive Prince Masakado. Prince Taira
Masakado is the guardian deity of Tokyo. However, his
body was torn asunder into six parts when he tried to
mediate an internal dispute between the ancestral gods
of Yamato... Japan. As you may know, ever since the lands
of Yamato were relinquished by Izumo's O-kuni-nushi, the
gods of heaven, the Amatsukami, have ruled over the gods of
earth, the Kunitsukami, and controlled the land.
However, in the chaos that occurred at the turn of the century
when mobs of demons overran Yamato and its fertile valleys
were decimated by missiles, the Kunitsukami decided that
this was a perfect chance for them... the perfect chance to
overthrow the Amatsukami and take back the lands of Yamato
that they once controlled and raise their own stations.
And so, the Kunitsukami trapped the Amatsukami, sealing them
deep within the bowels of Yamato. Their revolution a success,
they should have retaken the lands that are now called Japan...
...But they did not. The Kunitsukami were being manipulated by
the demons that had overrun Yamato all along. Prince Masakado
was torn to pieces, and the Kunitsukami were sealed off in shrines
in the underworld, just as the Amatsukami were.
However, realizing the error of their ways, the Kunitsukami secretly
collected the pieces of the Prince's body before being imprisoned.
The imprisoned Kunitsukami each have a part of Prince Masakado's
body. If they are not freed and Prince Masakado's body is not
reassembled, then the turmoil here in Tokyo will most likely never
end. And I will never be able to atone for my crimes, as it was I
that betrayed the Amatsukami and gave the demons an opportunity
to succeed in their nefarious machinations.
What were we talking about again?
Very well then. Will you be willing to free the Kunitsukami from their
imprisonment, and resurrect Prince Masakado?
I'll be paid, right?
That better be a yes.
Don't send a Messian to do a man's job.
So the shrines with Masakado's pieces are all over the dang map.
Fortunately, you're spared the hours of searching I had to endure.
Remember that uber powerful boss I killed early on?
Yeah, I was a little ahead of the game.
No combat required!
Five left.
Hiroko's nice enough to help us out. After we're already there.
A few(okay, a lot of) long tunnels later...
Do you dare approach, knowing that I am Sukunahikona!?
...Hmm. You do not appear to be evildoers. To tell the truth, I've been
locked up in here, trapped.
...you'll help me!? Thank you!
Ring a bell, Persona 4 vets?
Warp room city. Now doesn't that look fun?
I didn't think so.
It was basically an escort mission.
With benefits!
This is also known as Yggdrasil in Strange Journey. Or maybe it was a palette swap, whatever.
You might know this class of demon as 'Fallen' in Nocturne and such.
I'm pretty sure Daitenshi means 'Fallen Angel' or something along those lines.
Boo.
#3!
A bit less chaotic. Except for the invisible walls.
The mapper spell in 2 is awesome. I should use it more.
I'm lost and can't find my way out!
Please bring me with you!
Always have an extra spot handy before these missions.
No thanks to that.
That's the last escort mission, (un)fortunately.
Two down.
#4!
Conveyor floors! II's are evil.
You can pass over a panel twice and go in a completely different direction the second time through.
Still not as bad as it looks.
Except the guardian here isn't very sociable.
If you do not, I will send you to Yomi,
and make you go on a date with Yomotsu-Shikome!
Ooh, scary.
Screw that.
Counter-argument?
I thought so.
Baphy should stick to the goat-head thing.
Taste my wrath, demons!
It's a heal spell.
Killjoy.
So you've spoken with Hiroko?
Then you will know what to do with this. Here!
This is the demon we actually need.
That too.
Two left! They took the longest to find, so I did some wandering.
And wouldn't you know, I ran into the most familiar face at the Holytown Bar...
I can't believe those cretins made Abbadon eat Valhalla...
They really will stoop to anything to achieve their ends! If I remember correctly, though,
Abbadon should be in the Underworld... wasn't he?
If you're looking for him, that might be a good place to check.
Maybe another time, Lucy.
That's great! I had a massive debt at the casino
over there, and fled here to avoid my creditors.
Now I don't have to worry about them!
special dolls to perform a ritual that would let him into the Abyss.
He used the dancing doll instead of the sleeping doll, and the ritual failed.
Duly noted.
Another location we took care of a little early.
Very well then, take this Torso of Masakado.
One left. Also took forever to find.
This joker at Holytown had it.
How about no.
Want, do not want, your mind make up!
Your head, remove I will. Fair?
Smart guy.
I'm never taking you flea market shopping.
You're never taking me shopping, period.
Uh... elsewhere!
Today I will give you a program that will turn on a formerly
inactive part of your arm terminal. It is an identification system
that will analyze any item or magic that you wish to learn
about... But it will not make the appraisal stores obsolete, as
cannot tell you everything.
It's still quite a nifty app, for this game anyway.
We shall meet again.
Goody.
Back to the client...
Now you must fuse the parts together to restore his body fully.
Where's Victor when you need him?
Oh well, plan b.
Please, let me fuse them together! As master of the Jakyou Manor,
it would be an honor to revive him through my fusion!
Can't turn down a man(?) who loves his work.
Science!
Eerie.
Well, Prince Masakado's body is in one piece now, but there's still
something missing.
will need more than just his pieces. You will also need his soul, which I
have been guarding here. by fusing his body with his soul, the Prince
will be resurrected. You have done more than I could have ever possibly
hoped for by gathering his pieces and restoring his body.
Now, let me return his soul.
(One nifty soul-transfer sequence later)
That's a bit more traditional, isn't it?
Hiroko, was it you? Were you the one who revived me?
Prince, it was thanks to the efforts of Blendy here, not I.
I see. Well then, Blendy, you have my eternal thanks.
Now Hirpko, I believe we need to hurry, no?
Indeed! let us go to the sealed cave at once!
(Elsewhere...)
the factory. I worry about all the laborers there...
Let's rescue all the workers in the Factory before they die!
Let's free the factory from the bonds of the forced labor camp
it has become!
...Blendy, just as you've heard, I intend to go to the Factory
and free the laborers there. If you agree with me, join me!
Let's work together to rescue the people of the factory!
Uh, maybe later.
This is the sealed shrine Masakado spoke of. It's an optional sidequest, but I was tempted.
Understood, Hiroko.
(Cue Frog's theme)
It would appear my job here is done. 'twas a bit difficult
for me... having just revived, I have not the strength I once did.
But thanks to you, I was able to reclaim my body. Blendy,
I would like to show my thanks to you again. I shall give you these two treasures.
Now, I shall rest for a while and recover my strength.
Farewell!
And off he goes. Maybe he'll be back for the sequel.
Hiroko asks to save the Amatsukami trapped inside, which is optional, but worth doing.
The cave itself was pretty tame. A few warp tunnels, lots of dead ends.
And a familiar face or two.
These are the Amatsukami that are trapped here, five in all.
Why bother? Because this unlocks them for fusion.
Also, the demons here give wicked XP.
In thanks, let me give you some advice.
The gods that you are now freeing are returning to the Kongokai to
nurse their wounds, but will now be ready for you to create through
fusion at any time.
They will surely be happy to serve you, as will I.
No trivia this time.
Here's one for the Okami fans.
Since ages past, the Kunitsukami have served us
Amatsukami. However, they betrayed us, defecting to the gods
of the Hebrew pantheon, and then helped them imprison us.
But as you may know, the Hebrew gods are not ones for sharing
power, and as soon as we Amatsukami had been imprisoned,
they turned on the Kunitsukami and imprisoned them as well.
Unbeknownst to the Kunitsukami, they were being used as tools
all along. Both we Amatsukami and Kunitsukami are gods hailing
from the once fertile isles of Japan. It was wrong for us to have
such squabbles amongst ourselves. Truly, we were fools.
We shall never make the same mistake again.
Who are you, human child, possessing such power?
I bet you hear that from all the deities.
Now that you mention it...
I'd rather not know.
The last two are pretty uneventful.
Almost.
I'll make the rat that tricked me pay for this treachery!
He'll live.
Without that light, this world is nothing but darkness...
Hiroko, you have suffered greatly. You have gone to great
lengths to find help in these people to break our bonds.
Blendy, Lydia, the two of you shine with an inner light yourselves.
Let me give you my thanks once more. Hiroko, come with me.
Together we shall go to the Kongokai to heal our wounded bodies.
With those two living happily ever after(?), it's back to the main quest.
The factory workers don't seem too eager to be relieved.
Not that Kenshi's backing down.
Come on, let's free everyone in the labor camp!
Shame it's for naught.
They don't want to go anywhere.
Well, screw them.
The conditions here are awful! Why doesn't anyone even try to leave?
I see. It must be the Watchtower!
There's something not right about the top of the tower!
Nothing gets past him. So, plan b.
The people of this area are working under the influence of the song
being broadcast from there.
Makes our task kind of clear.
You need to raise your Intelligence first. That's it.
Yuck.
(Some level grinding and a lot of bar hopping for INT boosting drinks later...)
Ninja Gaiden time.
Kind of ominous.
Not really as bad as I was expecting, certainly no Cathedral.
Some nasty demons though. (I love the happy face)
And some fine ones. (No I don't mean Arachne on the left.)
The Watchtower is 12 floors high. The first 11 were 4x4 rooms, child's play.
The twelfth brought the pain. Demons everywhere.
It was like SMT1 all over again, but I eventually got through it.
To think they've got a demon as guardian of the Watchtower...
What the hell is the Center thinking...!?
Be careful in there. He's no pushover.
I couldn't hold a candle to him on my own, and barely made it out with my life...
I have to admit, it's pretty impressive that you were able to see
through the illusions guarding this tower. However, the last guy
who came here ran away with his tail between his legs! A smart
thing to do, to tell the truth... Will you be as foresightful, I wonder?
Guess not.
So you may have noticed that in all of these screens, I'm not using any demons at all.
Why? One, because summoning is EXPENSIVE in SMT2. Two, because it drains Mag like crazy.
Three, well... See for yourselves how broken these two are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5O4po4_14Q
Such power... A human, yet summoning and binding many demons
to his will... Who are you....?
Off the throne with him.
And then, the top of the tower.
What awaits is pretty unexpected.
She sings in a sorrowful voice, and won't be moved.
So, fusion time!
Always have a Sarasvati on hand.
So back on the bar scene..
Here's the scoop. You've heard about the strange radiation that's been
emitted by the Factory, right? Well, it turns out it's not radiation, but
actually singing! And not just any singing, but the song of the Siren,
which is said to steal the souls of those who hear it.
That's not all though! Siren was living happily in the Abyss with her lover,
but then some of the Temple Knights kidnapped her and brought her to the
Factory. Since then, they've been broadcasting her song all throughout
the Factory to brainwash all the workers!
But Siren isn't doing this intentionally to manipulate the humans.
She is mourning the loss of her lover and singing in sadness.
Poor girl, that Siren... trapped there, all she can do is sing...
Hmm..
Had a really weary look on his face. I wonder if he's okay?
I wonder.
Next time: The War For Arcadia
Brace yourselves, readers.
On a scale of 1 to Bad Boys II, it's about to get real.
I'm vaguely aware that the ancient Hebrews were probably henotheistic and I've heard there's supposedly archeological evidence suggesting that once upon a time YHWH had a female counterpart (does having only two gods still count as polytheism?). But somehow I think Amaterasu was talking about YHWH and his legions of angels and not about an actual Hebrew pantheon.
Speaking of which, Amaterasu was pretty useful in Devil Survivor. I'm looking forward to seeing how she holds up in this game, should you ever use her.
And man, 'ol Louie's just chilling at the bar rather than actually doing anything. At least now we know where he keeps disappearing off to in all the other games.
Also, I'm not sure how to fuse the Amatsukami yet, but I'll keep experimenting. As it stands, I could probably solo the game with just Blender and Lydia. (Thanks to their awesome 38k Roppongi machine guns.) I hope to be proven wrong.
I've been looking for the Fiends, but I've yet to find any. (Alice is among them!)
As for Louis, yes, that was pure coincidence. I had no idea he would be there.
Can't quite recall where I recognize him from...
Major alignment branch decision on the way, so I had to cut this one a bit short.
That sounds worth a look.
Well, you see, my ambition is to see the halls of
the Abyss for myself, so I've been trying to open
a door there. ...but I can't seem to get it to work,
no matter what I do. I know how to get there in
theory, but not in practice.
Do you want to hear how it's supposed to work?
All right, here's the deal. You need to find four
magical dolls, each infused with special power.
Then you need to place them in the right formation
in a place where this world's energies are in sync
with those of the Abyss. Then the portal to the Abyss
will open. The problem is, out of those four dolls,
I only have one.
May as well add it to the collection!
All right then, here you go. I'm sick of trying and
failing, so you find a way there for me. Good luck!
So it's Abyss time, or something.
Familiar territory.
That's the one to skip before placing the Sleeping Doll.
And off we go.
The music here is quite good. I suggest you make use of it and play this for the trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj8HAJYjpm8&feature=related
It isn't a happy place.
Neither is that.
of the secret to eternal life. Is it here, I wonder?
If I can find it, then we can make Arcadia into
a truly ideal world...
One track mind, those guys.
moving. See, over there? You can see it too, right?
I've heard that they're the body of the Kuzuryu,
actually.
They are, in fact, moving. It's kind of creepy.
Not as creepy as him. A DDS2 uber boss. Yeah, not a dragon to mess with.
This would be Tiphereth. The music here is AMAZING. Play it, you'll be glad you did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ks_Ws-yXmo&feature=related
only fitting that someone as hot as I am live here.
More Eldritch horrors.
Some less unpleasant sights... and a familiar one.
To think that I'd meet you here, Blendy.
You've done well making it all the way here to
the Abyss. But you came here by what's more
or less a back door. Try and figure out how to
come in through the front door next time. Good luck.
Moving on... Tiphereth has a disco too.
A ...special one.
Keep at it, MJ.
The shopkeeps here are equally freaky.
Best gear in the game so far, by far.
Not much else to do here yet, so let's get who we came for.
Then by any chance, do you know what happened to my
lover? My lover, Siren, was kidnapped by someone and
brought to your world. They probably wanted to use her
song to enthrall others. To tell the truth, I, too, was
enslaved by her song initially. But as we spent time together,
we ended up falling in love. We were together for a long,
long time... my body grew old and weak, and so I cast it
aside, so I could be with her forever. I am nothing but a soul
now, and in my state, I am powerless to save her...
That makes me so sad... so frustrated...
Please, bring me to her! I beg you!
I guess.
I thank you for your kindness. I won't be any help in battle,
but I will come with you.
We could go back to the Watchtower, but examining a distortion in the southeast of the Abyss reveals something fascinating.
Arcadia is truly a utopian world!
The truth behind 'Arcadia'.
These people tied to the computers are the residents, seeing what Cassio wants them to.
What does he have to say about all this?
You know the truth about my Arcadia Area, as I am sure
you have witnessed for yourself. Arcadia is not a true
utopian world. It is a fabrication, a virtual reality. But even if
it is just a fabrication, is it so wrong to give the people the
peaceful world they so desire? They are all none the wiser,
and happy in their belief that what they experience is real.
What is true is what people want to believe is true.
That is all that matters.
However, as you have seen the reality behind Arcadia,
the reality that must never be disclosed at any cost,
I cannot let you leave here alive.
That answers that.
And that.
We hardly knew ye, harpist.
Arcadia is ours to do with what we will.
MAJOR ALIGNMENT DECISION.
Take over Arcadia? Law.
Destroy it and everyone in it? Chaos.