Apocalypse: so fun it's worth repeating - Let's play SMT III

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Update 19: In which the city of Asakusa is explored further, our hero becomes a shameless political prostitute and looks Death in the eyes, an otherworldly dong creature gets displeased, the words of prophecy are uttered, and the author suddenly and inexplicably breaks the previously established update naming convention



Male Manikin: ...But, we weren't the first ones here... Well, we're still pumped up. I'm going to help restore the city, too.

As it was hinted by Hijiri, the Manikins had been hard at work while Reggie had been away having fun in the Obelisk.



A previously inaccessible part of Asakusa has been restored as a result.



Female Manikin: ...It's full of demons, though.



Male Manikin: Oh, well. Futomimi should be ready to give his prophecy at Mifunashiro. I think I'll go there. Are you going?



Demon: We believe in coexistence, so there's no violence here.

Demons of the Jirae race are the new neighbours of the Asakusa Manikins.



This is a Titan. Titans are the eldest generation of supernatural beings in Greek mythology who had ruled the world before they were overthrown by the Olympians in a war known as the Titanomachy.



The building has another exit, using which bring us up one level.



We enter this building next.



Demon: Then, you should drop by once in a while, to check up on him. Take the advice of a long-time Asakusa resident!



Demon: You visiting them?



Demon: I heard someone saw Hikawa by the building that used to be the Mantra's headquarters.

Inside we get some very interesting pointers.



There's also a small terminal here and two Cache Cubes: one with 2 Life Stone, one with 2000 Macca.



Finally, the building can be used to get even higher.



Here we have the last unexplored structure in Asakusa.



Within are 3 Mystical Chests with gems in them: an Emerald, a Sapphire and a Diamond.

We should validate the rumors we've heard now. First, let's travel all the way back to Shibuya, to the club where we met Chiaki.



Soul: They kept saying, "We'll summon a magnificent demon." Sounds... fishy.

Interesting.



The place of the ceremony is fiendishly well-hidden: the entrance is on the other side of the building in the middle. The door does show up on the auto-map, though.



This is what you get if you attempt to enter on any Kagutsuchi phase other than full. SMT II players may recognize the four dolls in the background. Now let's follow the soul's advice and enter on full Kagutsuchi.







Manikin on the right: Screw everyone for making fun of us just because we're Manikins! We're gonna summon a magnificent demon, then give 'em the beating of their lives!
Manikin on the left: Right on! It's payback time! Hurry up and summon that magnificent demon! Summon the magnificent Mara! This is going to be sooo sweet!

You know, I always struggled to find the proper words to describe the SMT version of Mara, but "magnificent" is just about perfect.



Baphomet: *chuckle* As I haaaad been saying, it's not time yet. Mara is a magnificent demon... If we summon him at the wrong time, something baaaad may happen.



Manikin on the right: We can't let anyone who's made fun of us live any longer than they absolutely have to!
Manikin on the left: That's right, Mr. Baphomet. Just like the guy on the right said!



Manikin on the right: Tell him to summon Mara and make our lives a little easier!

I love the pettiness of these two.

Hurry it up.

It's not like anything can go wrong, right?



Manikin on the left: Now, hurry up and summon Mara!



Baphomet: *chuckle* Have it your way! Not my fault if something baaaad happens, okay?

Baphomet begins to chant...

Oh yeah, I probably should tell you what Mara's supposed to look like.



Told you he was magnificent. Anyway, the name appears in a whole lot of languages and can often be seen in words related to illusions or bad dreams (English "nightmare", or Russian "кошмар"). The Megaten Mara is based on Mara who tried to tempt Gautama Buddha and is a manifestation of worldly desires.



Baphomet: Come forth from the depths of shadow... And submit to my will!







He's... He's limp.



Mara: ...............................................................Ugh......G-g-geee......



Baphomet: Well! In my rush, I have summoned Mara the Magnificent in an incomplete body of a slime.





Mara: ......Blah...B-Bluh......H...ow.........Blorg......



He's getting excited!



So yeah, Mara. He has two attacks: Dismal Tune and Hades Blast. Hades Blast is the one to watch out for: it's a physical AoE that can deal very impressive damage. Make sure to boost your defense and/or reduce his offense as soon as possible. Mara's main gimmick is his knowledge of Diarahan, a healing spell that brings him back to full health. As a result, you have to kill him in a single turn. Fortunately, his HP is very low: only 2300. After setting up all buffs and debuffs, he can be killed with a single Focused Terrorblade, provided it hits twice and scores a critical. To make your job even easier, you can reflect a Hades Blast back at him with a Tetrakarn, but that's just overkill.



One of the easiest bosses in the game. If your character doesn't get killed at the start with a random Hades Blast critical, there's just no way you can lose.



Something is on the ground... You obtained the Magatama Muspell.

Muspell has no weakness, resists all status effects and teaches spells that inflict status effects on all enemies and deal some damage while they're at it. Absolutely essential if you're building the main character for this sort of thing, but it's not what we're doing.





Now we should see if the other rumor was true.



It's been a long time since we were here.



Hey, look, a cutscene! Guess it was true. A very cool version of Hikawa's theme plays in this scene, but it's not included on any soundtrack, for some reason. Does anyone know if on-disc music files were ripped by some kind hacker?

EDIT: Found it!



...What a surprise.



Or should I say, "Demi-fiend"? Frankly, it never crossed my mind before... But, it seems we were destined to meet again.





That's why I didn't stop you from going to the Obelisk.

Why so much security there then? For the Spyglass?

I also wanted to verify that you were truly the Demi-fiend. However, not only did you defeat my subordinates, but you single-handedly set the Maiden free.

We did bring Nicolas Cage, the undead monk and Baihu along.

The strength of the Demi-fiend, as written in the Scripture of Miroku... It was beyond my expectations. You might be able to aid me in delivering Shijima to the world...





Eat your heart out, Sephiroth.



Humans became dependent on its warmth, and averted their eyes from its destructive nature.









By doing so, a life of repose would in turn be promised to them.



It is not man that makes the distinction... It is the world. Humans should be beacons that light the world.





That is the ideal way of life.

The drums start spinning at this point.

Don't you agree, that the world should be ruled by serenity...?
Yes, it should.

Reginald is a man of wide views and has no problems accepting multiple mutually contradictory ideologies.

So, you understand the greatness of Shijima? ...You are on a different level than the masses, as I suspected.



I will ask for your assistance when the time comes. ...It is now time for us to part. I will not feel at ease until all this is over. Do you not sense something wicked in the air? Someone is scheming to ignite the ember that still glows within the remains of Gozu-Tennoh.



It is I who will create the new world!



Man, I am getting jealous of that inexplicable knack for teleportation plot-important characters have been displaying lately. But what was that he said about Gozu-Tennoh?



Strange.



Demon: A human guy was here, too.

Something is definitely off. Oh well, it'll probably solve itself.



Meanwhile, we have a prophecy to catch.

















What I am about to say is critical to our future.



But, another power is being born that can potentially bring our efforts to naught. Yes, it's... Yoyogi... This evil power will take form at Yoyogi Park. Right now, it is but a mere shadow. However, when it takes form, it will have enough power to change the face of the world.



Manikins: ...Yoyogi Park?............A threat to Manikins...?............



We have learned to work together. If we join forces, we will be able to fight this evil power. Let us work harder and prepare for that time. We will not fall to the power that is brewing in Yoyogi Park...



There will be an end to our journey, a world where we are free from suffering...









Yoyogi Park, huh? If you remember, that's the first location we visited after leaving the hospital, only to find out that the place is locked from the inside by fairies who live there.



Luckily, there's another way in now. Another part of Asakusa has been restored, and it can be used to reach a tunnel leading to the eastern side of the park.





I heard you can't get inside Mantra's headquarters right now. ...The Manikins are worried. Former members of Mantra could be involved, but most likely, they wouldn't try anything without a leader.



Maybe those Manikins are up to something themselves...

Curious, but we have to deal with the park situation first. Let's see what's in the final parts of Asakusa.







Good, it has been getting boring without them.



Male Manikin: But, we worked together to build this city. We'll beat down that evil power!

And right around the next corner...



Will you stay here?

Yes.

Are you sure?

Yes.















When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him.





Never understood why this shot of the main character backing out slightly is here. He acts as if he has lost a staring contest.





Let us see whether or not you can best the four knights of death...



overcome the inevitable fate of death...?













Beware, or it will engulf you in an instant!



The Pale Rider has two Loa assisting him, and I'd say they're actually more dangerous than him. For starters, they have Stone Gaze, which can set up instant kills by any physical attack. Second, they have Dormina and Poison Bite, which can be used to spread around the Sleep and Poison status effects. Why is it a bad thing? The Rider has two spells that stand out: Eternal Rest you're already familiar with and his exclusive skill Pestilence.



Almighty damage to everyone and a chance to catch Poison. The kicker? If a demon has already been poisoned before the attack starts, they die instantly. Needless to say, immunity to Curse is very attractive in this fight.

But back to those two Loa. They also know Debilitate, which is Tarunda, Rakunda and Sukunda all rolled into one. This spell is bad news, and Dekunda is mandatory. As an icing on the cake, they have Last Resort. Damage a Loa without killing it in on the very same turn, and there's a chance it'll blow up in your face on the following one. There's another icing on that icing, too: it heals the Rider by around 500 HP. I only wish I was making this crap up. In my mind, it's best to just ignore the pests and concentrate on dealing damage to the Pale Rider.

How do we do that? Oh, the usual, we cast Tarukaja, Rakunda to boost our Focused attacks further. But before that we use War Cry to reduce his dama... No wait, we don't do that last part. We finally put Amaterasu's Tetrakarn spell to good use and take advantage of the Pale Rider's love for using Blight, a physical AoE that deals heavy damage to everyone and can inflict Poison on top of that. No instant kill shenanigans on it, though.



This is what happens when you do a Blight on a party protected by the might of Tetrakarn: it bounces right back. For added humiliation, each hit is lovingly reflected individually, so the Rider takes all of the damage that would otherwise be evenly spread across 4 targets. In total, after Rakunda, it exceeds 1200 points. And this is why you don't War Cry.

Yeah, and Tetrakarn works the same way as natural reflection does, meaning it also drains the attacker of all current action points. Beautiful.

Just don't forget that the Rider knows other spells too and can drop a Mabufudyne or a Pestilence on you instead and be ready to heal that if he does. If a Loa triggers Tetrakarn, finish it off.







That was fun. We should hurry to the park now.



Female Manikin: It's him. Definitely him.



Soul: There's a giant hole there. We call it the Asakusa Tunnel.



Soul: But, you can't get in, so there's nothing to see.



Male Manikin: He went down the hall.

Souls here tell of two interesting landmarks, and Manikins reveal the identity of the evil power.



Our old friend has opened up a shop he dreamed of.



......Hahahahaha! I'm sorry, I always wanted to say that. You remember me? I'm the Manikin that collects all sorts of junk. I finally opened my own shop! Take your time and look around. Since you helped me out before, I'll sell to you at wholesale.

Could it be? Did we find a shopkeeper who doesn't charge outrageous prices?



You wish, they're only getting higher. We buy the Kamurogi Magatama, which makes you resistant to physical damage, weak to four basic elements and teaches physical attacks. We probably won't be using it, but gotta catch 'em all. The other two are currently outside our price range, so we'll have to return for them at a later point.



This building also houses a small terminal and a Cache Cube with a Revival Bead in it.



We leave Asakusa behind us. Let's take a look at that temple first.



Soul: But... What's a "Kimon"?





The temple is sealed with a powerful spell.

We have no way of getting in right now, but if you played the original SMT before, you probably can make an educated guess regarding the identity of the inhabitant of this temple.



The only way to go is the Asakusa Tunnel.





It probably holds some kind of a record for the shortest dungeon ever.



Near the entrance is a portable one use Estoma.



And a the bloodied body of a dead Manikin.



And another one. Like a nightmarish breadcrumb trail, bloodstains in this dungeon can be used to guess which way Sakahagi went and which way the park lies.



The tunnel is dark, so Lightoma is needed to make any progress.



How else can you see all the blood?



Male Manikin: Th-Th-Thank goodness it was dark...

The blood tells us that Sakahagi took the southern subway track. Which mean the northern one leads to optional goodies.



There's another Cache Cube nearby with 2 Medicines inside, but who cares about those?



On the southern track we find another corpse, confirming the theory.



At the start, there are 3 ladders. One leads to nowhere, one leads to a Mystical Chest with a Bead Chain in it, one leads the way we have to go.

10 meters after the correct ladder is a small treasure room with 3 Cache Cubes. One's a direct damage, another one has a Soma Droplet.



The last one has 3 Titans in it. Weak to Electricity, making them easy targets for the Red Rider's Bolt Storm and Reggie's Shock.



Speaking of enemies, meet the Raja Naga.



Just like regular Nagas, except royalty. Still weak to Fire.

Other demons spawning here include Ikusa, regular Nagas, Nues, Sarutahiko and Shikome.



10 meters after the treasure room we find another ladder, which in turn leads to another subway station, at which point the dungeon is basically over.



It doesn't even have a token optional area on the other track.



Soul: After that, a female human passed by. It's usually quiet her, but...

Now this is interesting. The Manikin is obviously Sakahagi, but who is the female? There are two possibilities.



Soul: That vicious Manikin won't be able to do anything just by himself.



So we make it to the exit.



To the north you can see the hospital where we started the game. This means our destination is to the west.



Sure enough, here it is.



Next update: Yoyogi Park.




EDIT: Found the track that plays in the Hikawa cutscene. Why isn't it on the official soundtrack?

Another amusing thing about the loas. Even if you dont damage em they have a small chance to trigger last resort. and since last resort damages everyone Loa #2 is now damaged and has a higher chance of triggering last resort. Death summons loa on the first action next turn and the last resort of Loa #2 damages the newly summoned loa #1 leading to a chain of last resorts if your unlucky

this lp inspired me to play this game btw nearly finished now :3

Hey, it's still to early to start preparing for the exams. I have nothing else to do. The flood will stop in January, then pick up again in February. I hope I'll have finished this by March.

:clap:

Probably my favourite dungeon of the game.
This one and the final Kalpa:



And the LP:

:o +

You're really on a roll with the updates. Splendid to see, since most other LP'ers are on vacation.

A comment by someone who isn't Crooked Bee or spekkio is a precious rarity in this thread, Jaedar. Thank you.

As you can see from the number of views, we're quite a few that follow this LP even if we do not comment. I have no experience with jRPGs, but I enjoy all the LPs nonetheless, especially when the updates are as frequent as yours.

And SMT3 is jRPG? :?

News at 12 I gues...

Of course it is a jrpg, it does not comply today rpgs' standards:

1. No hand-holding at all.
2. Pressing a button is not enough to watch something awesome happen.
3. Lack of terrible, pretentious writing.
4. No sex scenes.
5. Lack of shit/grimdark filter.
6. It has more than 10 hours of gameplay.






It seems he tried to copy the main character's design but failed horribly at doing so. In any case, many thanks for this lp, please continue as soon as you can.

What would you call it if not jRPG?

Is it not a roleplaying game developed in Japan?

Your definition of jRPG pleases the Emperor:

Sorry, I just have trouble providing meaningful feedback in other LPs. I read them, I swear.

Update 20: In which Reginald's manhood is called into question





Demon: Everyone went crazy!



Soul on the right: He locked the door, so the fairies that were outside are in a panic.



Demon: That Sakahagi messed everyone up and slipped right inside...

That's the situation. The door is locked, so let's explore the plaza further.



To the north we find a large terminal and a Cache Cube with 3 Life Stones.



Demon: Is that human in the southern room in cahoots, too!?

Another human is here. Let's pay them a visit.



This is the room the Pixie spoke of.



BGM: Reunion with Master







You heard about what's happening here, right? The existence of a power that can change the world... I'm sorry that I disappeared after you saved me. It was my god who did that; I couldn't do anything about it...

Demonic possession, even willing, has its drawbacks.



But, my god has been protecting me since then, and I'm doing much better now. Hikawa won't be able to take control of me again.



What he envisions is a world where the thread of time is spun unerringly, without change... You can't call that a world. It's just wasted space, totally devoid of power. To restrain the reborn world like that would be unforgivable.

Agreed whole-heartedly.





The world cannot remain in a state of chaos, nor can it fall prey to Hikawa's ambitions.



My god has spoken to me, but she has yet to reveal the Reason.........

Aradia sounds like a very frustrating patron.





Well, it's all because of the Yahirono Himorogi. The Yahirono Himorogi is a stone that contains an enormous amount of Magatsuhi. It grants tremendous power to its possessor. Word spread that the stone is somewhere in Yoyogi Park, and now everybody is trying to claim it for their own.



Once I have that power... I'll be worthy of receiving the Reason from my god.



I'm not sure who, but I can sense a strong, evil power.

Whoever could it be?

Their power is so strong that I wouldn't stand a chance against it... But, I think you would.

What an unexpected turn of the conversation.

If I promise to give you the Magatsuhi contained inside it... will you try to get the Yahirono Himorogi for me?
Let me think about it.

The thing sounds pretty damn powerful. Let's not promise anything we can regret later.

If you're having doubts, then I really shouldn't force you to do it, but... you're the only one that I can rely on in this world. Even if you say no, I'll still have faith in you.

Translation: this is not a side quest.

You weren't able to get inside the park before, right? Here, take this. It's the key to that locked door.

You obtained the key to Yoyogi Park.

The choice is yours, but... I believe in you.



I'll be here waiting for you...



You didn't forget she's Reggie's teacher, did you? Enough creepy subtext, game!





You used the key to Yoyogi Park.



And we're in. Well, almost.







Pyro Jack: Ah, whatever... Pixies, deal with him!

Pixies? Really?





Pixies: You're nothin' to us! We'll chase you outta here!











Pixies aren't a real combat threat at this point of the game, but it doesn't mean they can't cause trouble.



Soul: If you get too close to one without thinking, you'll be teleported somewhere else!

We have another teleporter maze on our hands.



See that steel bar thingy at the upper left corner? Pixies are hiding in some of them.







Attempting to pass under one will boot you back to the beginning. It's not all bad, though. First, all Pixie ambushes you trigger get noted on the auto-map with exclamation marks. Second, there's a way to know where the Pixies are in advance.



Soul: There's a platform in each one, so try climbing it. From there, you will be able to see the entire section and where the shining Pixies are hiding.



See? It's not that hard. Now let's talk about the overall layout of this dungeon.



Soul: That's where that Sakahagi is. But, you can't get into that section from here.

The construction site is a square, divided into four smaller square-shaped sectors. A communications tower is in the middle, and that's our destination. The entrance is in the south-western sector, we start in the south-eastern one. There's no door connecting them directly, so we'll have to circle around the tower counter-clockwise.



Here's a complete map of the starting sector. The only loot here is a Cache Cube with 2 Life Stones.



All demons encountered in the park belong to the Fairy race, which mean you've seen all of them, but one.



This is Titania, Oberon's wife. It may be the most modest and conservative fairy queen design in the history of gaming.

Gameplay-wise Titanias can be quite annoying: they can both nuke your party with Glacial Blast and completely heal theirs with Mediarahan. They repel Expel and Death (no God's Bow fun for the White Rider) and are resistant to four basic elements, making them hard to kill as well. At least they yield a lot XP upon dying.



Reginald reaches level 59. Tetraja is replaced with Makakaja.

That's all for the first sector.





Titania: I hope that you do not bore me. Pixies! Play with him!









:?



Here's the north-eastern quarter. Pixies are a lot more numerous here, and most of them teleport you to a location other than the start. We still can use a tower to see where they are, and trial and error mapping is always an option.



Soul: Sakahagi used that to summon a powerful demon. ...It reflects physical attacks. *sigh* How did it come to this?

Sakahagi wasn't just sitting on the stone Yuko is looking for and used its power to make a powerful friend. It's good to know its resistances in advance.



Mystical Chests are all over the place. In addition to the Balm of Rising, we find a Luck Incense and a Sapphire. There's also a Chakra Drop in a Cache Cube.

We should see the western half now.





Oberon: My troops shall entrap you as you move! This falls out better than I could devise!



Shit just got real: High Pixies were unleashed! There are only four of them, but there's a trick. Every time you pass under a, uh, metal bar thingy unprotected by a High Pixie, they change formation, of which there are two.



This is the square formation.



This is the X formation. The auto-map is as helpful as always, and finding your way past them is still easy.



Loot's worse than it was in the previous section. No Incenses, but we get a Bead Chain, Sacred Water and 3 Medicines.

Things are more interesting on the leveling front.



Amaterasu learns Debilitate, one debuff to rule them all.



Reggie discards War Cry in favor of Rakukaja, completely moving away from debuffs. No Magatama teaches Debilitate, and everything else is now outclassed by it.



Djed also curses him when it goes wild. Only a Fountain can remove it, so we use the small terminal in this section to return to Asakusa.

BGM: Heretic Mansion ~Curse~



The curse given by Magatama has a curious side-effect: it completely changes the fusion table. All fusions now result in demons of Haunt, Wilder, Foul, Night, Vile or Tyrant races. Fusing elementals from two demons of the same race is disabled, but you can still fuse Mitama out of two Elements. Finally, elemental fusion is reversed: Elements that normally upgrade a demon of a certain race downgrade it now, and vice versa. Note that normally demons of some races (Deity and Tyrant, for example) can only be downgraded with elemental fusion, so getting cursed is the only way to upgrade it.

One use for this feature stands out: fusing a certain level 84 Tyrant that can later evolve in an even more power level 95 Tyrant. You see, under normal conditions, pretty much the only way to create a Tyrant is by fusing a Vile with a Fury (there's also a couple of recipes involving a Raptor, but there's only Raptor in the entire game, so it's a bit limited). The problem here is that no combination of a Vile and a Fury of comparable levels results in this particular demon. You either get the level 74 Tyrant or the level 91 one. Normally, to get the Tyrant in question you have to either downgrade the level 91 Tyrant or use the level 95 Fury in fusion. Both of these options become available quite a bit later than the level 84 Tyrant does, so he'll be lagging behind in levels when you finally do get him. The better option is to get cursed, then use the increased number of combinations resulting in a Tyrant to your advantage.



Level 84 is still far away, though, so we're getting rid of this crap for now. But since we're here anyway, why not use the Cathedral of Shadows for other purposes? Making Debilitate easily accessible to future demons sounds like a good idea to me.



Amaterasu is first fused with a Kodama, then with another Kodama and finally with a Pixie. The resulting Aeros is registered in the Compendium for future use.



The Aeros is then fused with a Black Ooze we picked up gods know when. This will be the final form of the Pixie that originally joined us at the hospital... until we get to the Fifth Kalpa.

That said, we need a replacement for Amaterasu.



We get Barong by fusing Sparna with Baihu. Sparna, in turn, is obtained by upgrading Orthrus with an Aeros. The fusion of Baihu is a bit more complicated: we upgrade a Power to a Virtue with an Aquans bought at Rag's, then fuse it with another Orthrus.



Barong embodies all that is good and is the archenemy of Rangda in the mythology of Bali.



We give him a boost with an Ara Mitama fused from a bought Aquans and a summoned Erthys. After he learns Iron Claw, we'll have a very flexible demon, capable of physical and magical offense and support. Electricity draining will prove highly useful in the next Fiend battle.





We return to the Third Kalpa. The Black Rider becomes available on level 61 and we're out of Deathstones.



Will you try to open it?

Yes.
Voice of the door: Your strength is worthy of praise! You may pass.

This time we manage to get inside the strength section.



Inside we find the desired Deathstone, two Beads and a Magic Mirror.



The final resting place of the weaker three of the four Oni is here.

Randomly encountered enemies include Titans, Yaksini, Ara Mitama, Onkots and Oses.

This isn't all the strength part of the Kalpa has to offer. Two more doors refuse to open to us, so we'll be returning here yet again.



Will you try to open it?

Yes.
Voice of the door: Your magic is worthy of praise! You may pass.



The magic section has several Mystical Chests. Inside we find this Attack Mirror, a Balm of Rising and a Chakra Pot. No Deathstones for now, which is a shame, as the Pale Rider is only 2 levels above the Black one, but, again, two more doors can't be opened right now, so there's still hope for us if we put all our stat points in Magic on several level-ups.



The magic section introduces Jinn.



Supernatural beings created by Allah and given free will. On average, tend to be far less dickish than Efreets, but bastards still exist among them.



Dekaja replaces Shock on the Reggie's skill list. It is time to fuse the Black Rider.



Any fusion that would normally result in a Night demon results in the Black Rider on new Kagutsuchi. First, we fuse an Ikusa from the White Rider and a Naga. Then we downgrade a Pyro Jack to a Jack Frost using a summoned Aeros. Then we fuse the Ikusa and the Jack Frost together.



...I am the Fiend Black Rider. My thirst for blood... shall never be quenched.

Random numbers hate us today and not all skills I'd like to have on the Rider get inherited.



We soup him up with a Nigi Mitama fused from summoned Aeros and Erthys. As a bonus, it sends the Rider's Magic stat through the roof.

Our little detour ends here, and we return to the park to tackle the south-western quarter.





Oberon: Rascals! You grow bolder with each passing day!





No biggie, we still have the auto-map to help us out.



Oberon: Now, you will die...

This is more of a problem. Pretty much all random encounters in this section include not one, but two Titanias assisting another Fairy. The XP is delicious, though.



First of all, there's a locked door nearby.

Will you unlock it?

Yes.

The door is now unlocked.



This leads to the western entrance and, by extension, to Shibuya and the hospital. Back to the construction site.



This part can be confusing: Pixies are numerous and teleport you all over the place.



This Mystical Chest can only be reached by getting teleported by a Pixie. In Cache Cubes you can find 2 Life Stones, a Chakra Drop, a Bead and a Revival Bead.



Barong levels ups, forgets Analyze and learns Iron Claw.

Time to face Sakahagi.



Will you enter?

Yes.









You too, huh? You should've thought twice before coming here. They all come for Magatsuhi, but then they find out that it's already mine. There was a girl who showed up not long before you.

He isn't talking about Yuko.

Yeah, I taught her a lesson... a painful one. Hehehe...

Rape, violence, or both? Your interpretation is as good as mine.

Didn't I tell you before? I won't be used by demons. With all my Magatsuhi, I'll be the one using them. Not just any demons... Even the strong ones.



















It blinks several times, then...



...it rises!



And then it fights us.



This is Girimehkala, the mount of Mara. He's a part of the Sri Lankan mythology and is generally thought to be demonized Ganesha, as there were tensions between the island and the mainland India.

I still fondly remember the first time I encountered a couple of these in SMT II, turned on auto-combat, then stared at the game over screen, wondering what the hell had just happened.

As we were warned, Girimehkala reflects all physical damage, but that's just about everything there's going for him. He can spread Poison and Panic, do a basic physical attack, boost his accuracy, remove debuffs and... and that about sums it up.



The strategy is simple: we set up Rakukaja and Sukukaja ASAP, rendering him harmless, then Makakaja four times and start spamming multi-hit spells like Glacial Blast and Bolt Storm. He goes down in no time.



After he's dead, Sakahagi takes his place. What he can do, I have no idea whatsoever. All buffs carry over. The very first Glacial Blast freezes him, then he faces a flurry of automatic criticals and dies without ever getting a turn.



Very badly.



The XP reward is disproportionally huge.







However, the power of Magatsuhi seemed to be absent from it...











Pyro Jack: In my dream, I was a bad demon, hee ho!
Voice: No, it was not a dream.





Oberon: Reggie, I ask you to forgive our discourtesy...





As if they could stop us.

Oberon: By the way... Before we were cursed, a human girl came here. She was beaten by Sakahagi, yet somehow survived and limped to safety, but... I felt an evil power from her heart. Something even stronger than that of Sakahagi. That girl is not an ordinary human...



Doesn't mean it was useless.

Oberon: We shall take our leave. We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please put the Yahirono Himorogi to good use...





So should we. Let's return to the eastern entrance and see how Yuko's doing.







I felt it when the evil presence faded away. Does that mean you have the Yahirono Himorogi?







Can I have it then, since you have no use for it?







My god will surely teach me the Reason now...





The grave awaits even the victor at the end of the road. Show me your heart...



Because of your name, you will carry the burden of plague, pain, and ridicule.



This question officially ushers in the end-game, as it has the most direct influence on which ending you will get. Specifically, Reginald's behavior here will define which of the two neutral endings he'll qualify for, should he show the middle finger to the Reasons and the old gentleman.

Immediately after this is answered, another question will be asked: does Reggie fear betrayal?

It's voting time. Is Reggie afraid of suffering? Of betrayal? Both of them? Neither of them? You decide.

I have no idea how this affects the endgame.

And Reggie does not afraid of anything!

Reggie was (sort of) "eyeraped" and forcefully converted to a demon (plus his jacket was stolen) and then practically everyone is using him, I think he suffered more than enough fear and humilliation, so no, he doesn't fear it. About the 2nd question, well, we're surrounded by DEMONS, betrayal is expected so the reply is no again, he doesn't fear it.



These fuckers, I really hate them, in DDS they loved to spam Mudoon (death-type attacks), then there was that gigantic fucker that spamed Megidolaeon... Terrible creatures, indeed.

I think Reggie is a pretty cool guy. eh kills daemons and doesnt afraid of anything...



Plus "True Demon" ending is the only true ending...

This is how it's done:

Never said I didn't. Just pointed out that she doesn't look like a cheap whore, which is unusual for female fairy creatures in video games.

Were those questions the ones which decide the ending if you aren't eligible for neither a Reason's ending nor the True Demon ending or am I mixing them with something else?

If that's the case answer Yes to both, and then do not support any reason nor reach the final level of the Labyrinth of Amala.



Let's imanetize the eschaton!

You should try Imagine some day. In that one Giri-Giri reflects everything but Almighty. All melee damage types, all ranged damage types, all magical damage types. Everything. Bonus LULZ if you are an MB gunner min maxed for extreme solo and whose every shot does damage enough to kill herself five times over, or more, and after spawning him by mistake you went, like, let's try it, yay. Once I even had a pretty powerful but inexperienced party (Everyone knows what to do, right? - Yay Boss! Totally!) wipe itself out on him on the opening salvo, leaving just the Enhancer to run in circles while her demon revived everyone the best she could.

Then you discover the trick and if you have an extreme solo build rape him without a second thought. Poor Giri-Giri.