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The third testament... KICKS ASS!!! - Let's Play SMT2

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
hotclassyguyandfriends.jpg

So bloody cool...



Tokyo 20xx...

Several decades after the great destruction...

While cultivating the wilderness, fighting off packs of demons, and through countless deaths, humanity survived...

But people were not strong enough to survive without someone or something to cling to or rely on...

The Mesian religion preached the advent of a savior, gathered together believers and built a city on the site of the old cathedral...

This city came to be known as Tokyo Millennium.



Released in 1994, Shin Megami Tensei II is everything sequels should strive to be: An extremely refined and polished version of the original game, with a whole lot of updates and improvements made without changing the heart of the thingie. If you played Shin Megami Tensei before you can just jump right in and notice everything is more or less the same, but better: We will still recruit, summon, and fuse demons. We will explore huge dungeons step by step in a first person perspective. We will still participate in some of the weirdest conversations ever with many demons, and devils, and faeries. We will still need to chose whom to offer our allegiance, and every now and then pick from among a bunch of choices that will change our alignment and thus screw our party. We will still go through twenty million random encounters before the end. But now the combat mechanics work better, the demon negotiation system has more options and diversity, the graphics are really pretty, both in plot and setting the game is much more cohesive and deep and stuff, etc.

This time the story is going to be weirder, though: While the original was set in modern day Tokyo and Post-Apocaliptic Tokyo just a bunch of decades after the thingie, now a whole lot of time has passed and the wasteland left by the war between Heaven and Hell has evolved into its own, unique setting. It is still post-apocaliptic Tokyo, but where once the Cathedral stood now a futuristic megacity called Tokyo Millennium stands. This city is ruled by our old genocidal pals from the Mesian church and order is kept by the same Knights Templar we, like, slaughtered by the thousands last time. They never learn, sigh.

This city is very ordered and stuff, since we are talking about the forces of Law there. The city is divided in five areas with checkpoints and stuff between: The center, a huge pyramidal structure where the elite lives and where all the important thingies are done and decided, and the four domed districts of Holytown, spiritual center of the city, The Factory, industrial center of the city, Valhala, entertainment center of the city, and Arcadia, a luxurious residential and park district. Citizens, meanwhile, are divided in three classes: Center citizens, allowed to live and work and do stuff in the center; second class citizens, allowed to wear and use arm terminals and so they have access to things most don't have; and general citizens, allowed to breath and stuff for as long as they don't bother any Templar. Even for the center citizens travel between the districts is highly regulated and controled and stuff. Oh, and all religions and cults other than the Mesian Faith are outlawed and if i don't remember that part wrong they execute pagans and heretics on the spot, without tribunal or anything. Your run of the mill jewtopia, more or less.

Our character is an amnesiac :)roll:) guy, and this is one of my two main problems with the game. No, not the amnesiac part, the other one. My other problem with the game is that he seems to be cosplaying a cab. Here, have a look.

smt2mrcab.jpg


But other than those two things, the clothes on some of the female characters, and that thing about it having to end sooner of later this game is super duper cool and i love it. It is also very, very weird and has a very strange thingie in that it manages to be a very serious and dark game while never taking itself seriously. That's quite an accomplishment, i say.

In the begining our guy is known as Hawk. It is not his name but a nickname given to him by the guy who saved him from a demon attack and, surprised by how well he was doing by himself, decided to let him stay at his Gym in Valhala and turn him into a Gladiator, for in Valhala many fight in the arena for a chance to move up to the rank of citizen of the second class, or even center citizen. Hawk has a COMP, and arm terminal he won at the arena, and thus is a citizen of the second class. As the game begins the date for his final fight in the arena is close: If he wins the next one he will be this championship's superchamp shounen thingie and become a citizen of the center with all the privileges and stuff.

As he begins to regain his memory we will get to name him and his friends. You can let the game use the canon names but they suck and that would give us a strong alignment bias towards LAW that's pretty hard to get out of, and i always rename the characters anyway when given the choice, so meh. Or not, if you want i'll leave the canonical ones and stuff, or i'll name them myself but tell you the canonical names with all the references and meanings and symbologies and stuff. They are all named after hebrew letters, more or less. Use the time until the first update to tell me what you prefer.

And that begining in the arena and stuff is a bit slow: The battle you have ahead of you will be pretty much imposible if your first choice on the game isn't to spend the next five hours grinding the virtual reality dungeon simulator for levels, so be glad it is the superwitch doing it instead of you. Later the story starts to pick up, and this time there is a story there so i will be more careful with the spoilers and stuff. There are also some puzzles and stuff where the game is bloody evil, and gives you really subtle hints about what to do next so that if you, like, blinked at the wrong time you are left wandering the gameworld without any idea of what to do until you either hit again the hint and manage to notice it this time or hit what you needed to do by accident. There are also a couple more puzzle-like dungeon levels than in the first one, and they are pretty fun.

And this time it is going to get really, really weird. But not bad weird, mind you: Weird in a cool, The Dreaming kind of way where everything ends being so dream-like and strange that you just flow with it because is super cool and fun to just suspend disbelief and be carried away with all the crazyness. It is like a pre-packaged high quality acid trip imported from Japan, and stuff. And, once more, we will be following the kill everyone with a name over their heads and call it a victory for neutrality, nya! path, since it allows me to show most of the game's content and both sides are several orders of magnitude more full of jerks than the last time.

Watch the intro at jewtube.

Next update the adventure begins, and stuff. I may take it a bit slower at the begining, but otherwise we are all set.
 

The Wizard

Educated
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
606
Location
Germany
you should totally give them nicknames.
and:
i'd hi-oh wait, "he". aww, what the hell. i'd hit it.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,157
Just add a non-lame name and call it a day. Also, ironic how the post-apocalyptic christians become a fascistic, dyastiopya, "slavery" society more like the one of Egipt for example XDD


Also, who was the dumbfuck that called Arcadia as a place? You seriously don't want to attract Their attention...

PS: Steve appears again?
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,326
Location
Flowery Land
Don't suppose that pic has a wallpaper version?

Isn't SMT2 the first appearance of inheritance in fusion?
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
@ Clockwork Knight

They are translating soul hackers? That's, like, better new i have heard in a while, nya. Thanks! And If... you can play if you don't mind using a translated script, so that you read the japanese thingie and then go to the script and look for the event in which you are and look for the guy and look what he said and what the options mean. Last time i looked it over the script still wasn't complete, you should ask around MegatenHaven (or was it Heaven?) or something if it is completed or if some other guy is doing another with the paths that one lacked. The old one i believe had only one path if you are girl and one path and a half if you are a boy complete. And gamefaqs has a translation of what the character creation questions and answers actually mean, some are really weird: Do you have a cellphone? That kind of thing.

And a bit of trivia: The If... alternative universe is actually the Persona one, talk about weird.

@ deuxhero

You may need to edit the scan a bit to make it fit the screen, but here i uploaded it in big-big-superbig version for you.

Clicky Click, nya.

Oh, sorry. Edit time, I forgot to answer the question: I believe it is not in this game. If it is and i played through it, like, six times without knowing and planning around inheritances i am going to jump of a brigde or something, sob sob.

@ lightbane

Yes, the Stalker stalks again. Now he even stalks in cyberspace!
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,326
Location
Flowery Land
That cat (what demon is it?) seems out of place on second look, can't tell what is causing it to look odd.
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
That's Bael, a pretty famous demon. I believe he was also in the first game but with diferent art and as a secret demon you can fuse but never get to meet in the gameplay, like with Ananta and others. The following is taken from one edition of the Ars Goetia, translated and edited and stuff by Samuel Lidell MacGregor Mathers.

He appeareth in divers shapes, sometimes like a Cat, sometimes like a Toad, and sometimes like a Man, and sometimes all these forms at once.

In the first game they use the Dictionnaire Infernal ilustration as the base for the game art, and Bael is a grotesque monster with three heads (one human, one cat, one toad) in a spider like body. In Shin Megami Tensei II he appears as a naked king mounted on a giant toad and with a black cat resting along his shoulders. Given he is one of the highest ranked and most powerful Fallen Angels in the Ars Goetia he is a Maou, not a Datenshi, and thus pretty hard to fuse.

Since we didn't came across him during my Shin Megami Tensei run i will post his old artwork here so you can see it, it is pretty amazing.

bael.jpg
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
Chapter the first, the Hawk has landed.
In which our heroine survives the very slow begining... Barely. Along the way she gets two pretty lovely demons of her own, though, so she is happy. She kills some big ugly dumb brute while a bunch of retards watch, grind a very very small dungeon until it becomes painful, and then the prologue ends and the game begins, yay!






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Hawk! Get up already! Hurry up!

You have made it all the way to the tournament finals, you can't start slacking now! And don't give me any bullshit about not being capable... I may have been the one that save you when I found you getting attacked by that demon, but I could tell right off from the way that you were fighting that thing that you were a natural! Especially the way you were able to hold your own despite being in that drunken stupor!

I am forced to not only be a guy with null fashion sense, but a bloody drunkard bully too? I'll be in the bathroom slicing my wrists, if you need me. :cry:

Don't give me that face... You better be glad i saved your sorry ass! And remember, in your test run through the virtual battler you not only made the high score, but literally went through it unscathed. That's skill!

That's plot, baldie. :roll:

And don't be forgetting that I was the one that paid for that run! After all, you couldn't even remember your own name when I found you... Who else would've taken you in? And you make a hell of a Gladiator too... Thanks to me, of course. Hawk's a pretty cool - sounding name for one too, doncha think?

It's bloody awful. Did it come to you while you watched, like, Dragon Ball re-runs or something?

... Ah, this formerly studentless old man's luck has finally turned. Anyhow, until you win the champship and get us both out of this hell - hole, no slacking! I'm not going to let that asshole Haneda show me up any longer!

Crap, sorry 'bout the rambling... You got me though?

Hell, yes. Just, like, shut the bloody bleep up.

Then get your ass up and start today's training!

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First i'll be saving. No way i would want to listen again to all that evil exposition from hell if the power goes out or something happens. And, well, it is always funny that during this initial part of the game to Save implies to sleep and recover all your HP and stuff, so actually...

shinmegamitenseiii031.png

Take it easy, kick back, and get rid of that tension.

... Good night, jerk. Nyahahahaha. Kuroi Neko always find the way to slack, comes with being a cat! Screen fades to black, etc. The next day Okamoto awakes us and we decide to begin with our grinding sesion: This time we pick the Training option on the menu, and he tells us to go and do a run on the virtual trainer, a virtual reality combat simulator. The one in Okamoto's Gym is pretty basic and bare-bones but at least is free, while the others we will later be finding around the city and beyond require a fee depending on chosen level and station dificulty.

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Basic and barebones, as i said. It looks a bit better in game but not by much. The red and yellow line beneath the main screen is the residual magnetite detector that came with our COMP: It indicates how prone to random encounters an area is. The other thingies you already know from Shin Megami Tensei: Phase of the moon, MAG we have, direction we are facing, dungeon level, and our party's two rows. Before anything else let's take a look to Hawk's sheet.

shinmegamitenseiii040.png

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Okay, as you can see things got a lot easier to read. The initial character is not a good Shin Megami Tensei character, though: Our first task will be to raise Inteligence for demon negotiation and Luck for special battle conditions, retreating, loot, and stuff. In the initial room if we turn back we can exit the simulator. The other two ways to leave are dying or killing the level boss. I start milking this dungeon for all it is worth. First thing we meet is an old friend: Yuuki Gaki. As you may remember those are spirits suffering from an unsatiable hunger or thirst, though not necesarily for food and drink: While most are seen as harmless, a Gaki can become dangerous to humans if his hunger is, for example, for flesh or his thirst for blood. They are also known as Pretras, and are a pretty common type of low level demon in the Shin Megami Tensei games. They still belong to the Yuuki clan, which is aligned with Darkness and Chaos and is composed of undead humans whose will or identity was so strong they managed to retain some kind of physical form and fragments of their mind even after dead.

shinmegamitenseiii044.png


The second demon we will face on this initial dungeon is the Akuryou Poltergeist, a new kind of demon. Poltergeist are usually seen in occult lore as either a very lesser entity with some kind of psychokinetic hability ocurring usually in the proximities of very stressed children and adolescents, so you could say it is either somehow attracted to those for feeding or some kind of similiraty or in reality a subconsious, semi-independant, or even nemesis based manifestation of latent paranormal hability. In the game they are ghosts from the Akuryou clan, also aligned with darkness and chaos and composed of spirits less powerful than the Yuuki who can't, or don't want, to pass on to the afterlife. Also, Poltergeists are very, very weak.

poltergeist.jpg

shinmegamitenseiii045.png


The third demon we will face in this area is the Shiki Zombie Dog, and i don't think i need to explain what it is. As you may remember the Shiki clan is composed by all manner of magically reanimated corpses without intelligence or will of their own, aligned with Darkness. When in big packs they can pack a punch for this level and the XP they give degrades almost as quickly as with the Poltergeist, so when after the first couple of levels they stop giving good experience i just evade them.

zombiedog.jpg

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The fourth kind of demon we will be facing in this area, and which serves as boss, is the Shiki Zombie. He gives good, if not great by any measure, XP but there is only one in each dungeon run so you won't be milking him. Actually, only kill him when you want to go back to save and recover.

zombieb.jpg

shinmegamitenseiii048.png


The fifth, and last, kind of demon we will be finding in this training dungeon, and only very rarely at that, is the Virus Moebius. The Virus clan is aligned with Darkness and Chaos, and composed by the physical forms, manifestations, or representations of computer viruses. I am guessing they are not, like, part of the simulation but actually intruding on it, or something.

moebius.jpg

shinmegamitenseiii062.png


We just milk them for a while. We start evading the dogs when they no longer give enought EXP to justify the damage and focus on the Gaki, killing the poltergeist too because they are, like, supereasy to defeat but pretty hard to escape from. We kill the Moebius thingies the few times they appear. As you can see in the next screenshot the place is very small, so there is not a lot to do other than run circles and level up.

shinmegamitenseiii063.png


When i reach level 14 i decide i had enough. I recover, save, and the next day i pick the option to leave Okamoto's Gym for a walk and some exploration. He gives me two hundred makka for the virtual battlers scatered around town and then i'm free, yay! Let's start going around, meeting people, having fun, exploring, and stuff. In the next screenshot you can see the residual magnetite scanner thingie when in a totally safe area, and also the general look of this part of the game.

shinmegamitenseiii070.png


Now we begin interviewing the locals, as usual. First comes the armorer next door, and if the game is trying to, like, make me hate Okamoto it is starting to manage precisely that: He talks a lot, wants to make me fight in the arena like some sweaty gladiator thingie, gives me a stupid and totally uncool nickname, and makes me insolvent. Help me some more, please!

shinmegamitenseiii072.png

What with Okamoto being as poor as he is, everyone knows he doesn't have any money. Tell him to return the 1000 Makka I lent him!

Then a guy who tells us of something he heard about a scientist working at Madam's manor. The Madam is the ruler of Valhala, which is a kind of a free and wild area inside the extremely Lawful enviroment of Tokyo Millenium.

shinmegamitenseiii075.png

something no good, I hear.

This is a Shin Megami Tensei game, so the only way for scientists to stop being up something totally not good is to round up every single guy with glases and a labcoat for public executions. Then we may finally get two weeks of peace and tranquility before the next apocalipsis, demonic invasion, or, like, something. Next guy in line tells us a bit about the local currency, Makka.

shinmegamitenseiii077.png

It's gotten so that nobody will take anything but Makka any more.

Later we will at last learn what Makka is, where it comes from, and stuff. Now we enter the local virtual battler station and are received by a girl dressed in the kind of thing only a japanese guy would draw without feeling dirty or, like, sick. Maybe there is a shortage of, like, fabric in post apocaliptic Tokyo or something, but i kind of doubt it when we are living in a superfuturistic megalopolis with virtual reality demon hunting training programs and stuff.

shinmegamitenseiii080.png

You too can be a hero in cyberspace! So, what will you do?

I ask her to explain me about that virtual battler thingie.

When you play the Virtual Battler, we'll hook you up to this virtual reality station, and in the virtual world you can fight demons. Except for the fact that you won't die if you lose, it's exactly like a real-life fight, so it works quite well for combat training. You can use it to gain battle experience, but keep in mind that if you use any real-life items while training, you'll lose them for real. Game over is either when you run out of HP or defeat the level boss... Being able to win by beating the boss is pretty impressive!

So, you understand?

Now, I tell her i want to have a virtual battle thingie. She shows me the menu, and i will take this moment to explain how it works: There are many Virtual Battle Stations through the city and beyond, yes? Each one has a dificulty level of its own, so this one Level 4 is going to be totally easier than The Center's Level 1, and stuff. The price of each run at each training level is proportional to the absolute dificulty of the run and not to the level, so a much harder Level 1 would cost a whole lot more. The virtual battlers are a good way to train every now and then, and as you will soon see we will need to visit them every now and then for, like, other thingies too. For now I pick the first level, since i am cheap and like it.

shinmegamitenseiii093.png


Level 1 costs 20 Makka. This level is a cinch, it should be a breeze. Enjoy yourself!

Once in the virtual maze i notice something is wrong: The thingie in my COMP shows a safe area, how can this be? I begin exploring and no more than a couple steps from the begining tile i spy something in the distance. The vision fills me with woe and horror and evil thingies, sob sob: I would prefer my stalkers to be rich, cool, fashionable, smooth, and totally not disabled if possible.

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We follow him for a while since there is nothing else we can do, and at a dead end we find him waiting for us. It would have been easier to just, like, drive to us and say hi instead of making us pursuit him and stuff, no? Whatever.

shinmegamitenseiii100.png


No, that would be mean for the poor demons: You are just a very stubborn pervert, Steve.

I'm a person just like you, and I came into this virtual battle so i could meet you. My name is... call me Steven. I'm here because there's something I want to give you.

No way i'm going to be accepting candy from you, creep. Shoo-Shoo.

Here... this is my Demon Summoning Program that I wrote. You can download it to your arm terminal directly through the virtual interface here.

There has been an... incident... and because of it, very soon, "Tokyo Millennium" here will most likely be overrun with demons. The leaders of this city have been surpresing the demons for a long time, but they can no longer hold out. At this point, nothing can stop the demons from entering our world. Unless we learn to live with the demons and use their power, we humans will never survive.

Therefore, in preparation, I have been giving this program to everyone that looks to be able to summon and use demons. I don't know who you are, nor does it matter to me.

I'm supossed to be the one who got reincarnated in an amnesiac here, Steve. :roll:

All I can tell is that you are powerful, and thus I am giving you this program. Do you understand me?

Yes, I do. Now, for the readers: This is a bit of lore that never got well explained in the games. While the demon summoning program is just that, a program that somehow reproduces the magical ceremonies and translates the language of demons, it doesn't work for everyone: The user has to have an inate talent for summoning or, like, stuff for it to work, just like the user can't control demons of a higher level than herself and stuff. But this is unique to the Shin Megami Tensei storyline, and while some of the alternative timelines, like IF, may share that it is not something universal: In Devil Survivor, for example, the designer of the program finds a way to energize the thingie without requiring a talented or trained user, so anyone can take one of the magic COMP thingies and summon demons as long as they survive the first use. Meanwhile, many of the boys and girls in Devil Survivor are so talented some even manage to summon greater, unique demons without using their COMPS, only focusing their will and stuff, so meh. Go figure how it works and, like, stuff.

Very well, I am glad that you understand. I shall upload the demon summoning program into your arm terminal. Use it well!

I hope you use this program with fore-thought and moderation.

*grins* Hai Hai, one hundred percent of course, etc. Trust me, nya.

We will most likely meet again here in the virtual reality of the Virtual Battler. I look forward to seeing you again. Goodbye for now!

Sigh, do i even have a choice? Meh. We leave virtual reality and then go back outside to keep exploring. Not far from the virtual station we find a guy who tells us more about Madam and how dificult it is to meet with her...

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It ain't bad being governed by a beautiful ruler! I went to her manor up in the northeast sector of Valhalla, but her guards kicked me out.

... and then we enter the bar. Instead of being small dungeons like in the first game, now the bars work like a store: You can buy drinks from the bartender or talk to the patrons and stuff, all from a bunch of menus. After being welcomed by the Bartender i pick the option to Chat and keep picking diferent patrons until i have talked with all the present ones.

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virtual battling. That's not supposed to be part of the program!

Oh, don't worry... It's probably just one of those demons of the VIRUS clan. Actually, i am quite certain it is.

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If you win I'll do whatever you want me to, if you get my drift.

Even buying some sensible clothes so that i no longer need to consider your presence a formal declaration of war against the republic of my eyes? You got yourself a deal, i say.

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You sure you can afford to be wasting time in a place like this?

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vs Hawk. Word on the street has it that Hawk is probably going to win.

That means we leveled more than enough at the virtual dungeon, and then some more. He says diferent things depending on your level and stuff, it's a nice detail. We leave the bar and go around the corner, and as we walk in front of a door a woman's voice calls us.

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Come here. No, over here, to your left. Stand here before me and listen to what i have to say. Then your eyes will be opened and your path will become clear...

As i face the door she again invites me to enter and stand before her, and so we do. The first we notice is that the game is really a lot prettier now. The second thing we notice is that all sensible clothes seem to have gone boom-boom with the rest of Tokyo, sigh.

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and guide you to the correct path. Is this the first time that you came here? Very well, I shall tell your fortune for free.

Hmm... Hmmmmmmm...

Deep, deep within the recesses of your soul... I see... a name. A woman's name. She is very important to you. Can you remember her name?

Yes, of course. She is Mariah, star of the ocean and, like, worst character in the entire game, what naturally means she is the character we will be carrying around the most, sigh. Her fashion sense is worse than yours, gipsy lady, and that's no small feat, i say. Her original name is Hiroko, which is pretty horrible but at least is a name and not an evil Jew letter.

So, you've remembered? Her name is Mariah, correct?

Yes, that's what i just said.

Mariah. Do not ever forget that name.

It's not like the game will let me forget her, sigh.

Her fate is inexorably entwined with your own.

I am affraid you are right. Later in the game we can come visit her for a hint on where to go next. She will never tell you what to do here, but she will say, like, you are needed in The Factory or you must go to Arcadia or stuff. At times she can get useful, right? But other times you want to shoot her dead. I mean, there is a pretty awful puzzle later where you need to find some thingies spread all around Tokyo Millenium and beyond in order to open a gate to The Abyss. So, you say, maybe the Gipsy Lady will give me the general location of the next artifact, right? Wrong. All she says is, like, you should go to the Abyss. Really, screw you. We leave and talk to a guy close by, who gives us some general information on the city...

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All of the Areas are controlled centrally by the "Center."

... and then visit the Junk Guy next door, who doesn't want to sell us anything because of Okamoto. When the boys and girls in the seedy district think you should stop being a moron and shape up chances are you are bottom deep in crap.

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then blowing it all at the casino and never returning it. So until he shapes up I'm not selling him anything. Unfortunately that extends to you too, since you're staying with him.

Once outside we finally get something cool done: Next in line is the Disco! We are received by some well dressed guy, and once inside we listen to the infamous Disco song and watch people dancing in an endless two-frame animation. Here, Linkity Link.

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And amusing thingie in Tokyo Millenium is the clubbing. I mean, Clubbing is not what i think about when i think of facist churches opresing the population under the iron heel of, like, thingies. I think of, say, mass four times a day or something, etc. But, worry not: We will be doing a lot of clubbing in Shin Megami Tensei. We will even go clubbing around Hell! Now that's what i call having fun.

In the disco we get to talk to all kinds of talkative people. This guy, for example...

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I could join Haneda's Gym and become one of his warriors. Haneda Gym...? It's right to the east of the main town.

... and this girl, reinforcing my theory the sick old creeps overseein doctrine at the Congregatio Pro Doctrina Fidei went and forbade good christian girls of using skirts longer than the bare minimun necesary for decency.

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I suppose it's only natural to be taken in by my beauty...

:roll:

But if you're here, you gotta be dancing!

We also meet two old friends of us who make me think someone is not going to be returning home tonight, and then we get to know the infamous Tony, who gets around so much he is the DJ of all Shin Megami Tensei II's Discos at the same time. Not even Chuck Norris or Vin Diesel would be able to.

maneater.jpg

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On the way out we come across another girl. She gives us some very interesting information without noticing, not even by accident.

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Boy, was i ever right to flee the slum town! The entire northwest section of Valhalla is shut off, making it past the guards to get here was tough! I think I'll go to the Colosseum next!

Next we visit the Weaponsmith, to keep showing you around and saving me from having to remember to take screenshots when on a buying spree or something. Also, members of Okamoto's gym means the same than saying me and Okamoto.

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Nothing personal, but i can't sell anything to members of Okamoto's gym. Sorry...

Now, let's go back to interviewing people. First in line is some random girl...

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Good luck! if you become the Champion, you get to live in the Center!

... and a woman who, like, totally surprise sexs the fourth wall.

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you can choose what you want to buy by pressing up and down, and change the quantity of what you purchase by pressing left and right. This way you can buy and sell everything you want all at once easily.

That's some nice thingie to know, though. In the previous game if you wanted to, say, sell a bunch of nine Magic Stones you needed go all the way down in the inventory, pick the Magic Stones to sell one, be taken back to the first line of the inventory and go down all the way to the Magic Stones again, pick the Magic Stones to sell the second one, etc. And the buyer asked you every single time if you were sure. Next is the casino, also known as minigamelandia. Right now we can't yet enter, though. Can you guess because of whom?

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here, get your ass back to the gym and train!!

Almost there, in any case. Now we talk with a Mesian preacher still throwing around the same stuff last time we met those guys...

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Those who believe will all be saved!

... a guy who thinks we never played any game or pen & paper setting with seedy bars before...

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If you're looking for information, the bar is the place to go!

... and the Appraiser, whose function is to identify items for a small amount of Makka so you know what they are, how many attacks and what special rules weapons have, etc. It is very, very useful. In the first game you more or less had to take the crystal ball and the tarot cards to do that.

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Next is a guy who will trigger a vision of our past, including a guy in a tube filled with some liquid and a white haired man in a suit who then asks us to give tubeguy a name. Who are those people? We will be discovering it later. First, meet trigger guy, also known as totally not cyclops.

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What was he like? Well...

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You will give him a name... Understand?

Yes.

His name is...

Daniel. If you can't think of a name the name will give name him Zain, for the seventh letter of the hebrew alphabeth. Zain corresponds to the seventeenth path of the Three of Life, joining Binah to Tiphareth, and its name means Sword or something. Zain is related to the zodiacal signs as the others from the twelve simple letters of the Hebrew Alphabeth, in this case to the sign of Gemini, and it's tarot card is The Lovers. Being one of the first ten letters its numerical value is the same as its position, 7, and its number is either 67 or 717. Some occultists see Zain as kind of an Anti-Vau, given it is a letter aligned with division and conflict. And even if i know my way around Kabalah i think jews are evil servants of misery and ruin and live only to eat babies and give their souls unto their Dark Lord. One thing does not cancel the other. :P

... Daniel... His name is Daniel?

Bloody bleeping yes, that's what i said.

So his name is Daniel...

¬¬U Screw you.

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Listen when someone's talking to you! The guy who was looking for you... called himself Daniel.

Then we also meet a guy who lost everything at the Casino for the who-knows time and wanted to tell us, meh. That ends with the area, yay! No we leave the area through the only exit there is, and meet the overworld map for the first time. A bit north of the mall like building we were in we come across a small area where the scanner-thingie goes red and yellow, indicating random encounters can be had. I only get several bunches of zombie dogs, from whom i run, and a group of Chirei Knockers. The Chirei clan, composed of spirits related to the earth and caves and stuff, has gone rogue since the last game and now is neutral in both axis-thingies.

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I *think* that art is theirs, but if it isn't then we will notice sooner or later. The Knockers are mischievous faeries who liked to play practical jokes on the miners, but also helped them on ocasion, leading them to rich mineral deposits or warning them about inminent collapses for example, if they were treated with respect and their jokes just laughted off. In some versions they are the spirits of dead miners, but both originally and most of the time they were, and are, seen as a kind of earth spirit or stuff. I choose to negotiate with him and pick the friendly mood.

Oyoyo? You want to talk to me!?

Are you a friend?

Yes.

I'm Chirei Knocker, ho! I'm yers to command!

So Kawaii! :cry: Let's look at this little guy's sheet: He has Zan, the basic force spell; Happy Dance, a skill that may make enemy blissful so that they become distracted and lose rounds; Taru-Kaja, the melee buff; Dia, the basic healing spell; and Posum-Di, the cure poison spell. He is a pretty useful chap, i say. As you can also see skills now have a MP, if kind-of-magical, or HP, if physical combat based, cost, and in exchange you can use the one you want instead of having the game pick one at random. In the sheet spells are on green, skills on yellow.

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Next we come across Haneda's Gym. He has a much better Virtual Battler than the mall, but it is pricey (more like we are poor, sob sob). Other than that there is not a lot to do here, we can only visit Haneda's office and then talk with some of his warriors. Let's do that before leaving: First we enter the office and are received by a big WTF moment. Seriously, Japan, what the bleep?

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If it isn't the sole warrior from that run-down Okamoto gym! I bet you can't get any decent training at that grubby old gym. How would you like to join mine? You're pretty cute too, just my type. You can never have too many handsome young warriors! Anyway, if you'd like to use my top-of-the-line virtual trainers, you're welcome to them.

... I won't let you train for free, of course, but if you are interested just ask one of the gym members. Of course, no matter how hard you train, you'll never be able to stand up to my warrior, Red Bear! Ho ho ho ho ho ho!

We leave this perv alone with his photographs of manly muscleheads and go explore the gym and interview the gladiators. First we enter the training room...

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In the past, it's produced several warriors who went on to become Champion.

... then the rooms in the back. The first one is empty. The others are not, and thus we get a chance to meet a stron, proud, brave gladiator...

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... I don't want to die...

... and two random retards who don't say anything interesting, so we leave. Haneda's Gym is surrounded by a small dangerous zone in a sea of no-random-encounters-allowed thingies, so we go round and round and round until we meet another new friend. Remember the Pixies from Shin Megami Tensei? Well, this one is a High Pixie, meaning something like a noblewoman among the Pixies. She is from the Yousei clan, which has remained True Neutral. She has a pretty cool hair.

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You can use that computer to talk to me? Cool! I think I'll become your minion!

I am Yousei High Pixie. I am at your service.

:| That was, like, so bloody one hundred percent pure Yousei that i loved every single second of it. Let's see this girl's sheet: She has Hapilma, the spell to make enemies happy and distract them; Dia, the basic healing spell; Jio, the basic lighting spell; Patra, the one we before knew as Patora and that heals some psychological status effects like charm and sleep; and Jionga, the second tier of single target lighting spells.

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We can't still summon Knocker and High Pixie, though. Our funds are two low for that: We have 180 Makka, and to summon both of our minions would cost much higher than that. High Pixie alone would be higher than that, actually. So we keep going and trying to find money and stuff: First we try going north, towards the colosseum, but you-know-who decides not to let us pass...

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The tournament comes closer every second! Get back to the gym already!

... so we go east from Haneda's and come across two other buildings.

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The first in line leads to the underground passage linking Valhalla to The Center. It is a safe area right now so we explore around, find a Jakyo Manor in which i will not be doing anything yet, and then come across two diferent thingies that block our path. First, some Templars keeping watch near the exit to The Center...

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ntry to the Center.

... and then a strange man who does not let us close to the door he guards, meh.

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So we leave and go next door, to the church. In Tokyo Millenium churches aren just churches, they also have Terminals that allow us to both Save and Transmit to other terminals we have recorded in our COMP. Since we have none, we are stuck in Valhalla for now. Meh. After saving and recording the Terminal in our COMP we go say hi to the priest of this totally not christian religion.

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Once outside we try to keep going west from here but...

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... so we go back to the dangerous area around Haneda's Gym and go round and round and round while escaping from evil demons and talking with the friendly demons. That way we get some Magnetite and Makka from the Knockers and the High Pixies. We also got an Amathist from a Poltergeist we scared and left it to pay for his escape, and a a Knocker living both to its lore and its name.

This is yours!

Hawk got punched by Knocker!

Take good care of my buddy!

Knocker left.

We also meet our first Chon-Chon. This one comes from Mapuche lore and is an evil looking, crazed human head with huge ears it uses to fly around like a bird and pursue its victims and, like, stuff. It isn't a natural creature from either the mundane or occult worlds but a form or transformation the Kalkus, a bunch of boys and girls seeking to follow evil and ruin as their path of spiritual enlightment, can turn into or be transformed into in certain conditions. Their name comes from Kalku, the name given in that lore to some kind of primal force of pure evil and corruption. In the game the Chon-Chon belongs to the Kyouchou clan, composed of demonic birds and similar creatures. The clan's aligned with Darkness and Law.

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After evading them i return to the mall like thingie. Before going back to Okamoto's, though, i again visit the Virtual Battler, pick the cheapest level again, and start wandering the dungeon. First room i come to, though, a strange signal reaches me...

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... then everything becomes blurry as another forgotten memory fights its way into my mind. Again we are at the lab and in front of some guy in a liquid-filled tube, with the well dressed guy next to him.

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... Give him a name.

Yes.

His name is...

Sarab. Were i to refuse naming him the guy would name him Gimmel, after Gimel, the third letter of the hebrew alphabeth. It is the thirdteenth path in the Tree of Life, joining Kether with Tiphareth, and it crosses that Abyss thingie where Choronzon sleeps and kill Egos and stuff. Gimel is spelt Gimel-Mem-Lamed, but remember evil jews write from right to left so if you see that written in hebrew it would look like Lamed-Mem-Gimel. Being one of the seven double letters Gimel is related to a celestial body instead of an astrological sign, in this case the Moon, and its tarot card is the High Priestess, in case the relationship to the Moon wasn't enought of a give away. I believe it means Camel or something like that, and is a symbol of teaming up and becoming friends or, like, thingies all let's colaborate! and stuff.

Sarab. Is this all right?

Yes, guy. That's precisely what i said, just like the last time. You should visit a doctor or something, maybe age is making you, like, deaf or something.

So his name is Sarab...

¬¬U Screw you a bit more.

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And really, if you don't get that reference i am going to have to kick you where it hurts the most then hit you with my big fat book of occult references over the head until you reach enlighment. We now wander around the maze, kill some Shiki Zombie Dogs and then the Boss, a Gedou Slime. As you may remember the Gedou clan is the clan where both the demons that don't fit other categories and possesed humans are thrown in. Then it is a slime and we are all at least partially Dungeon Crawlers, so no introductions needed.

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We kill him almost by accident and return to the outside world, then return to the Gym. It seems the boring introduction will finally come to an end, now: Tomorrow's the great battle and stuff, yay!

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One more win, and you're the champion... So relax, go get some rest so you'll be prepared!

Next morning he wakes us up and gives us directions and instructions and stuff, because we are in the tournament's finals but we do not know how to get to the Colosseum by ourselves. Then he gives us a very awful inspirational speech, but maybe it would work if i was a meathead gladiator with just half a neuron and stuff, or a Shounen fan with around as much. Meh.

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Now listen close, 'cause I know that you still haven't gotten your bearings around here yet. To get to the Colosseum just head north from that twerp Haneda's gym.

Remember! You're though! You're the best there is! You can win, got it! Just remember what I taught you and you'll be fine! Or would you like to take a quick rest before we head out?

Nah, the sooner we finish this thingie the sooner i can begin the game proper.

All right then, go on ahead. I'll catch up with you.

Now we can go to the north of Haneda's gym. Before going to the Colosseum, though, we go to the big screen thingie in the corner: Most of the time it has the Millenium News Network transmiting some news and messages and stuff aproved by the Establishment. The give some background and stuff, so they are pretty cool. This one's totally not fishy at all, i say.

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Here is the latest news from Millennium...

And old man who works at the Factory has given a donation of 10.000 Makka to the Mesia Church. Mr. Takemura, age 78, had been working for 50 years, slowly putting money into a savings fund a bit at a time. He brought the entire 10.000 Makka he had saved to the church yesterday. We should all strive to be as faithful and generous as he is!

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Now we go to the Colosseum. Before going to the arena, though, we loiter around a bit and go to the Hall of Fame, where the statues of previous Champions are. Some of those guys we will meet later, and stuff.

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Here we have erected statues of each of the Champions who have won the tournaments and attained Center citizenship.

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Despite having a small stature, consistently defeated all manner of strong opponents. Specialized in using his opponent's power to his own advantage.

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Had huge pride in the aesthetic qualities of his muscular body. He is also widely reknowned for his uncanny luck.

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Climbed the ranks while always fighting fairly on even terms, he was nicknamed "The True Samurai." A serious person, he continues to be one of the most popular warriors, and still has lots of fans.

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An extremely hardy fighter that could shake off hits as if they were nothing. It's said that his body contained triple the magnetite of a normal human being's.

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Wielding superhuman strenght, the strongest warrior ever to fight in the Colosseum. Famous for his battle to the death against Killer Tsune.

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Said to have been able to freely summon and control demons at will.

Meh, good thing I escaped from that jerk before he went on to try and become a Shounen superhero. Now we go to the arena and stuff, where an employee is waiting for us. He explains us all about this thingie and Okamoto gives another one of his motivational speeches. Then we are clear to go.

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trainee Hawk! Now listen, you make sure that he doesn't die too quickly! If te fight goes too quickly, the spectators will get pissed and start a riot!

All right, here's the rules. The final battle is a Dungeon Match. Both you and your opponent will be dropped off in different parts of a big maze, the center of which is set up as an arena. Once the match starts, you need to work your way through the maze. We've dropped some weapons and items in varios places in there. If you find them they should help you out.

To make things interesting we've released a fairly large number of demons into the maze too. Once both fighters enter the ring, the true fight starts. You can only fight your opponent in the ring! No fighting in the maze if you happen to run into each other there. The winner of the fight will be the first to knock out or kill their opponent, of course.

Those are the rules. Got it?

This is a dungeon and the other Gladiator is the boss, got it.

All right then. Hawk, go on through.

Okamoto
You've come this far... There's nothing more i can do to teach you! Go for it, Hawk! Have confidence in your abilities! You ARE strong! You WILL win! You come back alive and in one piece, got it?! Now get on out there and show 'em what you're made of!

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The finals of the tournament begin in earnest! Let's introduce our two contendenders for the championship!

In this corner, we have... Red Bear!

*Ovation*

... and in this corner, Hawk!

*Ovation*

READY! GO!

This will be quick. The maze is pretty small, so meh. First i take all the equipment left for me: Fritz Helm, Leggerslam, Kaiser Armor, Slicer, Bullets, Desert Eagle, and Rivet Knucle. In the maze i found four kinds of demons: Yuuki Gaki, who are rare enough as for me to just coming across one group while trying to recruit demons and stuff; and then three demon types of the Demonoid clan: The seeder, the leecher, and the uploader. Laught at the bad joke, please. :cry:

Okay, now seriously: The Demonoid clan is the group of artificial lifeforms created from demons in some way or another, never explained. They are slave workers, cattle, and stuff. The three types we will meet in this dungeon are the Demonoid Heracles, the Demonoid Spartan, and the Demonoid Oracles. Since i am lacking resources like Orbs, Magic Stones, and Magnetite the only one i manage to recruit is a Demonoid Spartan, and not until after many failed tries that ended with me running away. I will take this oportunity to also introduce you to a semi-new element in Shin Megami Tensei II: This is a random encounter, not a boss or unique battle, against two diferent demons bunches at the same time! One of Oracles and one of Spartans. I try to hail, in a friendly manner, the little green guy since my previous negotiations attemps with the Spartans went always badly...

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Spartan interrupted you!

Don't ignore me! Hmph! That's stupid!

Aah, booooring!

I apologize to him.

I think you're lying!

Give me your soul!! ... (Oh yeah, I sounded *so* cool!!)

It got kind of annoyed

I try to persuade him.

Whaat? You don't want to fight me?

Yes, that's it.

You want me to betray the Maou?

I tell him that he won't betray them by joining me.

Eh, good enough. I'm Demonoid Spartan. Well, guess I'm at your service.

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Let's see this guy's sheet: He has one special skill, punch, that he can use as many times as he wants. He is very low level and has 10HP. High Pixie would kill him with her little finger, meh. At least he is one more target for the enemy. Now let's see the Heracles art and sprite, and then let's win the championship and stuff.

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In the center of the supersmall dungeon there are two entrances to the arena where the fight will take place, one at each side. I summon Knocker to my left, Spartan to my right, and High Pixie in the middle of the back row and enter the arena to face Red Bear. As we start talking, though, my vision goes blurry again and the memories start pouring in again. Very bad timing, i say. Keep in mind that the rumor going around that this Red Bear guy and the one they are talking about in that memory are the same one is very very wrong. Is the situation of facing off in a duel with an important oponent in front of a lot of cheering idiots what triggers the memory, just like later, when meeting Madam, we will get the memory of the other main female character, who is totally not related to Madam. Red Bear will not abandon this ring alive, nyahahaha. Knowing the future i'll say that makes him lucky.

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His power is nearly identical to yours... Can you decide on an appropriate name for him?

Yes, of course I can.

His name is...

Koinu, naturally. :lol: If you don't give him a name this guy will call him Daleth, after the fourth hebrew letter, Dalet, who is related to the fourteenth path of the Tree of Life, joining Chokmah to Binah, and also crossing the Abyss where Choronzon sleeps and eats people who come visit him. Dalet is spelled Dalet-Lamed-Tau, numbering 434. Being one of the seven double letters is related to a celestial body, Venus. Its tarot card is The Empress, and it has the meaning of an archway, a valve, a door, a gate, etc. A division between there and here, so to say. Being one of the first ten letters, also, its value and position are the same one, 4.

So, you will name him Koinu then?

Yes, old guy. Yes.

So he is named Koinu... I see...

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Listen when I'm talking to you! I gotta admit, you've got guts to ignore me like that... Or maybe you're just a fool.

Hawk, you've done quite well, making it up the ranks this far. I applaud your fighting prowess! And...

... I mourn your impeding death!

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The fight begins with High Pixie casting Jio for 11 damage and totally no shock, since now it works like it should and while every now and then it shocks the target it is no longer one hundred percent sure it will do so, yay! Then Hawk shot him for 18 damage, and Red Bear answered using a Kick skill, hiting both Hawk for 9 damage and Spartan for 10, going back to the COMP without even, like, taking a round or something. Then Knocker casts Zan at Red Bear for 5 damage. Then second round was amusing: Hawk shot Red Bear with the Desert Eagle. Critical Strike! 33 damage, Red Bear dies. Meh, my memory was, like, playing games and stuff with me again. We get 160MAG and 400XP,

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One more... and I'd be Champion... I... could have... gone to the... Center...

I am not going to feel sad about some random uncivilized brute who killed people in a Colosseum to pursue his dreams, guy, so just go ahead and die and stuff and don't make me lose any time and, like, stuff and thingies. The announcer then comes and, like, announces Hawk's the champion like three or four times while the people cheer. Then time moves forward and we are in Okamoto's new office at what once was Haneda's gym.

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I've finally got a decent gym, and showed up that pansy Haneda! Not only that, I'm finally out of debt and can buy stuff around town too. Keep winning and make us both rich!

Nah, i'm so done with you it's beyond the domain of words, and maybe even that of pure concepts.

If you keep winning, the Madam'll take notice and call us to her mansion. Hehehehe... Oh, Madam...

This guy's so bloody low i have met coal pieces more worthy of life than him.

H-Hawk! What the hell are you looking at me like that for! Oh yeah, and not only all this, but you get to become an official resident of the Center!

... Eh? Looks like someone's here to see you.

Meet Mariah, ambulant fashion emergency extraordinaire! Her prefered weapons are whips and pistols, thus what she is carrying around in the image, and, even if her clothing would never make you suspect it, she is a high ranking Temple Knight. I guess with being a main character comes the right of using personalized uniforms and weapons and, like, stuff. And, really, i know guys aren't thinking about that when drawing this kind of character, but really, look at those bloody heels! She is a Temple Knight, she is suposed to kill demons and heretics for the future of JEWtopia! I don't know anyone who wouldn't kill her own ankles trying to go for a walk with those damn things, much less survive a fight to the death with an army of demons!

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My name is Mariah. I've come here from the Center.

Okamoto
Oh? And what would a Center resident like yourself want with us?

Mariah
As the new champion, I need your help.

I need your help to find someone. About six months ago, there was an accident in the Center where there was a large explosion. In the confusion, a little boy disappeared. Actually, it turns out that the accident really wasn't an accident at all. It was deliberately set up by two scientists named Mekata and Hanada, both of whom disappeared right afterwards.

After the explosion I searched for the little boy, but couldn't find any trace of him anywhere. I think the two scientists took him with them. Through some digging around, I discovered that one of the scientists, Hanada, has been hiding in Mada's mansion in Valhalla.

The security of Madam's mansion is really tight, and she never lets anyone in normally. But they say she always summons new Champions there to congratulate them on their victory. Please, take me with you! I can't get into that mansion any other way!

Yes, i can do that.

R-really!? Thank you, Champion!

What i can asure you i don't need is another stupid nickname, really.

Okamoto
Hey now, the Champion's too busy to be bothered with your missing persons hunt!

... Ah, what the hell, I guess it's all right. Looks like you've got another visitor.

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I am a messenger from Madam. She would very much like to meet you. Please come to her mansion when you are free. Here. This is an Invitation from Madam. Please do not bring any more than one guest with you. We will be waiting for you at the mansion.

Okamoto
Aw, you gotta be kidding me! Only one guest?

Life is so pretty, i am so happy. :)

Ah, don't worry about me though. You promised the girl you'd take her, best not to go back on it. I'll be here if you ever need me. Go ahead, have fun!

We abandon the office and have a look at Mariah's sheet.

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And so end this update. Next time we meet Hawk and Mariah will explore some more around town, buy some crap, and then visit Madam's. Later they will race against time to stop the opening of a gate to the Abyss right in the slums, meet Daniel, travel to the Center, and chat with a whole lot of Non Player Characters, so stay tuned.

'Til next time!
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,326
Location
Flowery Land
Tomas the Tank? That has to be the translator playing around.

Is this templar a regular party member, or does she leave?

Can you go to the shop and buy her some pants now?
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
@ Ghostdog
My memory was, like, playing tricks on me, or something. I remembered the battle with Red Bear as being all ominous stuff and thingies, and you can already see how that went. First time through the game, though, i had a lot of problems with Red Bear and, later, King Frost proved to be well beyond my league and stuff, so i had to restart and stuff. Since then i always begin oh, no, i am so going to totally screw my run and i will need to restart if i don't grind the initial dungeon until nothing there gives EXP! The rest is history.

@ deuxhero
Mariah is going to be with us until we go to the center. Then she will leave for a long, long while. When she rejoins us later, though, she becomes permanent. And you don't want to say that kind of things around Tokyo Millenium: After seeing what the female dress code seems to be I'm sure the inquisition is out there, looking for anyone who is against the shortest of skirts and, like, shorts. And the worst in that department is yet to come.

@ both
Wow, so those were actually, like, references and stuff? They went way over my head, sob sob. :cry:
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
Chapter the second, feline messiah.






Last time we met Mister Cab became champion at the arena, obtaining Center citizenship and stuffy stuff in the process. Later, a high ranking temple knight by the name of Mariah, being the very same one the gipsy lady told him about, walked into Okamoto's new gym to ask for their help in tracking a disapeared kid and two rogue scientists by the names of Hanada and Mekata. We accepted, Mariah joined us, and now we have to attend a meeting with Madam, Valhalla's ruler, in hopes of gaining information about our targets' whereabouts, given one of the scientist had been in contact with her and probably in her payroll. After leaving the gym, though, first our heroes decide to explore a bit to see if something changed or, like, happened with the plot's advancement. They go back to the giant screen to watch the news.

And now, here's today's demon report. Things are pretty clear today, with no patches of demons reported in any areas of Millennium. The danger level is currently slightly under 1.0 and falling, and we expect it to reach a level of 0.5 by the end of the day. Let us pray to God that today will be safe!

We go back to the mall, sell our old equipment in one of the shops, pay a visit to our old run down gym, now Haneda's, and then go into the Virtual Battler to complete the four local levels. We already did the first one before, so now we do a run through the second, third, and fourth. This is a good way of comparing your level to that of various monsters, given the bosses are always common encounters of a comparatively high level and not true bosses. The three new demons we meet in this way are Audrey, Gremlin, and Garm. The first one is a big plant thingie of the Youju clan, aligned with Darkness and composed of sentient murderous plants and trees.

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The second one is a, like, modern mythological creature, a kind of goblin thingie or imp thingie that sabotaged airplanes during world war two and later become part of folklore, popular culture, and stuff. He belongs to the Jaki clan, violent thugish brutes without the strenght, power, or intelligence to be more than bullies or annoyances. The gremlin's art, though, is cute and lovely, i want one!

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Garm is your run of the mill Hellhound... Or more like Helhound, amirite? He guards the gates of Hel's realm in Niflheim, and during Ragnarok he will face against Tyr in mortal kombat or, like, something. He is pretty much like an aryan cerberus who took a shower of blood and gore.

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Each time you defeat a boss the Virtual Girl appears and ask you if you want to do another run or go back outside, though you must pay each and every run. When we defeat the Garm she appears and declares us Virtual Master. What does that do? Absolutely nothing, of course! There must be a life lesson around there, somewhere.

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In defeating the Garm, you gain the title of Virtual Master! You no longer have anything to fear!

... within Virtualspace, that is...

We then go to the bar and chat around: An old man tells us about a place in the slums called the Jakyo Manor, where it is said you are suposed to bring demons for an unknown purpose. The rest of the patrons either congratulate us for becoming champion or wonder when the next championship will be, meh. We leave the mall and go all the way to the eastern corner of Valhalla, then to the north until we reach the park where Madam's mansion is located. As we approach to the gates the guards stop us.

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Y-you're the new champion, Hawk! Please, please, come in. Take the elevator upstairs.

After doing so and crossing a big, empty but nice hall we come to richly decorated room with big curtains and stuff. As soon as we enter our vision goes blurry again. We are back at the lab but the well dressed man, but this time a girl is inside the tube and the old perv's words are exactly that: The words of a sick, dirty, corrupted old perv. Meh.

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... Give her an appropriate name.

Yes, old dirty guy. I will.

Her name is...

Gailah, naturaly. Had i refused, though, her name would be Beth, as the second letter from the hebrew alphabeth and the twelfth path on the Tree of Life, going from Kether to Binah. Beth is spelled Beth-Yod-Thau and being a double letter is related to a celestial body, Mercury in this particular case. Its tarot card is The Magician, and it has the triple meaning of house like in sanctuary or resting place, house as in container of something, and House as in House Eiluned or House Ailil or stuff.

Gailah. Is this all right?

Yes, creepy sick guy. It is.

Gailah... Yes, that's a good name...

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Madam is waiting for you. Madam, the new Champion has arrived.

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Everyone calls me Madam. The officials at the Center have left the control of everything here in Valhalla to me. People have flocked to Valhalla to visit the Colosseum and casinos we have opened here, devoting themselves to the pursuit of all sorts of earthly delights.

Meh.

And as a result, peace has flourished in Valhalla. With all sorts of pleasures at one's fingertips, the residents here live out their lives without conflict. Do you not think this is a great accomplishment? I am very proud of Valhalla. I think it is an ideal place to live.

A great accomplishment? Well, that mortal kombat thingie at the Colosseum is surely something to be proud of, i say. Way to go, girl! You rule, etc. I do love your dress, though. It is a shame is usually the people i do not like who get the really good dresses while i am left traped inside a guy who is cosplaying a god damn taxi. Then she asks us to watch the screen, as if we weren't already doing so.

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life in this city: The "Center." The officials in the Center intend to tighten their grip on the city and control people's lives to a greater extent. However, I plan on leaving Valhalla the way it is now, as a free area.

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some trouble. There was a scientist that had been working for me here for the past while, but he ran away. He intends to open a portal to the Abyss, and summon a horde of demons to the surface.

Lady, that part about the Abyss or hell being inside the Earth is not suposed to be taken literally. It's a symbolical, metaphorical construct, you know? Oh, right. I forgot: You are girl who thinks having casinos, bars, discotheques, and arena fights make for an ideal life. Sorry, just forgot i said anything at all, meh. Your dress still rules, though.

The reason I called you here to my estate is that i would like you to find him and bring him back to me. As you have won the tournament, I know that you are a capable man... Wold you please assist me? The scientist's name is Hanada.

Mariah
Hanada!? Then Hanada isn't here!?

Madam
No, he is not. He has fled somewhere to the slum district. Where, I do not know. I leave the matter in your hands, Hawk. Oh yes, that's right. Let me lend you my pet to assist you in your search.

... Kerberos, come here.

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He is quite powerful, and surely will prove a trustworthy and reliable helper. Kerberos, don't just sit there, greet the man!

Kerberos
So, you're Hawk, the new Champion, eh? Normally i wouldn't associate with low-level weak humans such as you, but as Madam requests it, I'll go along with you. I am at your service... for the time being.

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Well, we already met Kerberos in the previous game and his art did not change in between. Let's take a look at his sheet: He has three useful skills and a pretty cool spell. The bite skill uses HP instead of MP, and Bind Voice can get really useful against bothersome random encounters later on. Samaricarm resurrects a DEAD or DYING ally, and fire breath is an elemental attack. A nice, well rounded demon, and he can stay useful to the very end if you don't want to fuse him or, like, something. Kerberos receiving a special role on the games is a legacy of the novels on which the Megami Tensei universe was originally based, on which Kerberos is the main demon of the protagonist or something. The Shin part in Shin Megami Tensei is suposed to divorce the videogame setting from the novels, but certain memes and thingies were still present in the first few games. Today the Megami Tensei universe and the novels are completely separate entities, with a total of nothing in common.

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Back to Kerberos, he eats a lot of magnetite each step in the dungeons. That, as well as the fact that i need resources before i can get the demon recruiting tango steadily going, means before we actually start looking for Hanada we are going to go vigilante on the slums, so that we can use Kerberos presence to slaughter and loot a couple hundreds of evil demons while we receive gifts and stuff from the demons we have already befriended. To get to the slums we leave the park going to the south and the souteast. In between the park's exit and the eastern corner of Valhalla there is a tower thingie with a bridge or something. When we get close we find an elevator that takes us to the bridge like thingie, and we follow it to the other side, where another elevator takes us back to the ground level. Before we reach the other extreme, though, we get jumped by Jack o'Lantern. I take a friendly attitude towards him.

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First, put that weapon away before you hurt someone!

I tell him that yes, i will do what he asks. And so i lower my guard, so you should not do that with all demons: Some will only try to make you lower your guard so they can get a free round on you, and stuff.

Now I can relax and talk.

Eh, you want me as a minion?

Yes, I do.

Give me a Magic Stone! A Magic Stone!

Yes, okay, here you go.

Thank you!

I'm Yousei Jack o'Lantern, ho! I'm yers to command!

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As most of the faeries of the Yousei clan Jack o'Lantern is a demon with a bias towards magic and spellcasting. He has four spells: Agi, Agirao, MahaAgi, and Taru-Kaja. The last one is an attack power buff, the other three fire based spells. Since the next update we will have a pretty hard fight against an ice-based foe this little guy will be pretty nice to have. In any case we leave the bridge thingie and explore the slums, the run down and crappitty crappy section of Valhalla. There are no safe areas here: We find lots of demons around, and even a new type of Gaian believer, the first one of many we will meet on this game. As i said before we run the circular street thingie to get some resources and stuff. While so doing, though, we only come across two new enemy types: The Machine Crazy Dummy...

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... and the Gaian Kugutsushi, the new type of believer i mentioned above. With him we have a pretty weird conversation. I pick the friendly stance, as i do most of the time.

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Fool!

You don't even realize the way you are being controlled...

Kugutsushi left.

After a while, when my stores of Makka, Magnetite, and Magic Stones have grow enough as for me to feel comfortable with, i decide to start the hunt for Hanada. This one is a tough one: The building you need to enter is very hiden, and so you can't actually see it until you stumble with it almost by accident. Take notice of the next screenshot: It is northeast from our position, just behind those crappy looking buildings.

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Once inside we start exploring. For all his coolness Kerberos can get pretty bossy in this area: He will tell you what path to follow to Haneda, and while he will allow for small detours and stuff, he will not let you go, for example, to the west wing of the building if he said Haneda is in the east wing. So you'll need to go and finish that quest before you can explore the rest of the building. Meh, i say. And then some more meh. First room we enter we find a guy who doesn't know what he is saying, but i can asure you he will learn soon enough.

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Not even the Center can dictate what we do.

Then i try to follow the left corridor but Kerberos gets bossy: "Not that way! Right, go right!" So right we go. In the next occupied room we enter we find a woman who tells us some pretty interesting stuff about Makka.

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one of Lucifer's subordinates.

Then we go back to the corridor and keep following Kerberos' directions and exploring a bit when allowed. We come across a Gaian in one of the rooms...

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Gaia adherance has really been suffering. The Temple Knights kill anyone openly practicing any other religion, so we've been forced to go underground.

... and the local Gaian Temple in another. There i finally get to revive Spartan. I tried before going to Madam's on the Mesian Church but he didn't appear in the revive list, i don't know why. Maybe the Mesians are just bigoted like that.

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We also find a new demon: The Hanged Man, from the Akuryou clan. I don't really know what he is suposed to represent, but being from the Akuryou clan i supose he is some kind of evil ghost or something. His posture and art and thingies, though, seem to be inspired by the tarot card of the same name.

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After a while of following Kerberos' indications and exploring we descend a staircase to the basement, where we finally find Hanada. He is right in the middle of some weird, ceremony like thingie, but since we all suffer a sudden bout of cutscene paralysis he gets the chance to not only finish the ritual but also to explain us what he is doing and gloat and, like, stuff. Way to go, game! :roll:

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This is the laboratory of the master genius, the great Doctor Hanada! Stay out! I'm at a critical point here!

What? You've come to take me back?! Like hell you will! A master genius like me needs to be able to perform his experiments without restriction! Since neither those thickheaded zealots in the Center nor that old fart Madam seem to be able to understand that, I've gone off to do my research by myself!

And guess what that unrestricted research has produced?

A magical ceremony to open a gate to the Abyss? You are the kind of scientist i like.

Nothing less than a tunnel straight to the Abyss! No longer will i have to perform all these stupid menial tasks by myself! From now on, I'll summon as many demons as I need to help me! To start with I'll take the artifacts I need...

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With the power contained within these four statues, all I need to do is place them in the right formation in an area whose energy is close to being in tune with the Abyss...

... and the door will open! Behold!!

The magic seal in the wall collapses to the void beyond, so at least that part worked. Next he decides to keep doing the comic book villain role, so he dies at the hand of the things he foolishly summoned, sigh. Then Youma Mercurius appear: I don't know if he is suposed to be, like, Mercurius, the roman god, or what. His art is very strange and looks more like the kind of thingie you will found in an Alchemy treatise or a medieval grimoire. I kind of remember finding a very similar one in an old book somewhere but i can't really put my finger on it right now. Meh, my memory sucks. Later i will go through my books and if i find something i will post it here.

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Kill those little punks who want to disrupt my research... ch. ch. ch. ch...

W-w-wait... you're supposed... to kill... them... not... me...

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The battle is a walk on the park. Mariah casts Jio on him but it only nicked the painting, then Kerberos attack for 72 damage. In response Mercurius Zans Kerberos for 5 damage, meh. Hawk shoots the creature for 12 damage, Pixie casts Jionga on it for 8 damage, and Knocker casts Zan on it for 3 damage. Bloody bleep. Next turn Kerberos attack for 67 damage and Mercurius dies, leaving behind 576 Makka and 432MAG. Also, both human characters got 144 EXP and we get the four magic dolls before leaving.

The characters then leave all by themselves, but we can go back at any time. I do straight away to see if i can find more about the portal Hanada opened, and i am given two very important pieces of information: First thingie is that the entrance is one way only, so we can't reach The Abyss from there. Second thingie is that demons are pouring out! We kill the Gaki that appears and then leave the basement. As we are returning to the entrance hall to explore the building's other wing we come across a Yama Alp and a Datenshi Ukobach, yaaaaaaaay! It's Kuroi Neko teaches darke magick, nya! time!

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The first one is a dream demon from germanic folklore. It feeds on dreams and emotions like fear and panic, and it can control and mold dreams and nightmares as a way of doing so. They can also attack sexually, but it is said to be an exeption more than a rule. Contrary to other dream demons the Alp chooses a prey and then feeds on her or him until it is banished or expeled, and then it choses a diferent one. Only in emergencies and the like will it feed on sleepers other than its own. In the original lore, though, they were not seen as evil but as faery-like beings with whom you could bargain or the like, and who could be useful to get on your side. Later they were demonized, as usual. In the game she belongs to the Yama clan, where all the dream demons and other vampiric creatures belong. They went through an alignment shift since the last time we met them and they are no longer aligned with chaos: Now they are true neutral with a playful bent.

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The second one is a pretty kawaii demon of western lore. His name is a corruption of Urobach, meaning tinder or something, and he is a demon of low ranking and no political importance: He maintains the infernal boilers and cauldrons supplied with oil under command of Beelzebuth, and passes his free time covering in burning coals the souls of the damned or spewing flames on them, and his grotesque features (big eyes, big nose, big lips, etc) are said to have the function of allowing him to better taste and contemplate and stuff the torments he inflicts. Being a low ranking demon and stuff, Ukobach is not often summoned. When he is, though, he does not follow any of the witch's commands without proding from a higher ranking demon or the witch feigning she was given permision by such a higher ranking one. Otherwise he just lies around doing nothing and, like, being lazy as fuck until banished.

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It is rumored he is, or originally was at least, from among Orobas' legions, whom we already met in the first game. Some versions of the rumor go as far as making him a divorced aspect of Orobas, since even if in the past they were the same being they obviously no longer are, being two vewy vewy diferent entities as of today. He is also said to be the inventor of both fireworks and the frying of foods, and to live in the western regions. Finally, a friend of mine tells me he read somewhere his blood is suposed to be a powerful energy source, used to fuel many infernal machines and supernatural devices and, like, stuff.

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I try to talk to them, starting by the Alp. I choose a friendly approach, as always, but as soon as I'm done Ukobach interrupts me. Then the conversation plays pretty much like that one when we recruited the Spartan, and Ukobach joins us. Let's look at his sheet: He has Agi, Maha-Agi, and Rikaja. The last one is the counter debuff spell: All the thingies that were lowered by the enemies' spells or skills go back to the natural levels, yay!

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Then we finish exploring: We go to the local Jakyo Manor but i didn't want to fuse anything yet. Then we visit the Repair Garage, the neutral temple-thingie, and meet a talkative old guy with a nice hat.

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there have been fewer and fewer tournaments. Could be that you end up being the final Champion.

Wow, old chap... Could it be that civilization is finally reaching Valhalla? Astounding! We also come across some random guy who tells us it seems not even Valhalla is safe from demons anymore, which is funny since it looks like all of Millenium's sinners are there. Then we meet another new demon: Jack the Ripper, from the Gedou clan. Well, that's one famous case solved by the world's best witch, yay!

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Then we leave the building. As we are returning to Madam's mansion we come across another new demon: A Sudama of the Chirei clan. I don't have the slightest idea of what it is suposed to be, though. In the art he looks like a posesed stone or some stuff. I almost got him to join me without asking for anything in return, but i had my current stock full and thus he couldn't join. :cry:

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As we keep going to the mansion we come a bunch of Sudamas and a Garm. I try to talk with the Garm, he does the lower your weapon routine, i follow suit, and he attacks. We killed them, but not before High Pixie went back to the COMP. I will have to revive her as soon as i find a church or something. After killing the Garm and his friends Mariah got a level, and learned Media, yay!

Soon afterwards i come across a High Pixie and an Audrey, and the encounter serves to ilustrate another new feature: Now demons you come across and have befriended react to the status of the one you have. So, since High Pixie is dead the other High Pixie goes hysterical and attacks, and I run because I couldn't just go and kill her when the fault was mine. This time i finally reach the mansion. The guards seems to have passed the time by thinking another stupid nickname to give me, sigh. And things do not get better inside.

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I shall let Madam know that you are here.

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We couldn't bring Hanada back alive, but you're a pretty tough one! I like you, kid. I hope that we will meet again.

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I had thought you would be able to bring Hanada back alive... I'm a bit disappointed, but what's done is done. By the way, someone is here to see you. He is a messenger from the Center.

Meet Daniel. He is a very, very elite Temple Knight: From the next update we will start hearing about the existance of five very powerful Temple Knights, among whom the Messiah is supossed to be. This guy is the best warrior among those five, and since those five are the finest Temple Knights there is that makes him the best human warrior in all of Millenium. If we were to follow the path of Law he would join with our party for the last leg of the game, and he is so powerful that even with some of his powers being slightly bugged he is a bloody win button. Since we will be following the Neutral path things are not going to be nice for us in that department, but he is a very cool character all the same and we will be seeing a lot of him, and he will do a lot of cool things before we end in diferent factions. If you do follow the path of Law, though, and don't cry during the chat you have with him right after the final battle you are a heartless monster and should die of something horrible, hmpf.

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Think! Remember your true name! Your name is...

Everything becomes blurry. I'm back at the laboratory, but this time I'm the one inside the tube thingie. It is full of liquid, but soon it is emptied and the front slides open. Not a second passes before the well dressed guy is in front of me.

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Whether or not you choose to be a servant of God, or an agent of the demons... Either way, it is a great gamble. A gamble on which the fate of all humanity rests... So, it is now time. Identify yourself as you will.

Yes, i can do that.


Koneko the second, that's me right here! *twitches ears*

... Your name is Koneko?

Sigh, yes. That i just said, no?

Koneko... You have chosen a good name...

If we had said we didn't want to choose a name for us he would have called us Aleph, for the first hebrew letter and the eleventh path of the Tree of Life, joining Kether to Chokmah. Aleph is spelled Aleph-Lamed-Peh, which gives a numerical value of 111, or 831 if we use the value of Peh Final instead. It is one of the three mother letters and as such it represents an element, Air in this case. Its tarot card is the Fool, which symbolizes both Humanity as a whole and the Seeker in particular. Aleph has the meaning of an Ox, and it also represents the fertilizing forces of creation: It can be the Ox pulling a plough or the divine breath of life awakening man or, like, stuff.

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My name is Daniel. I've been searching for you for quite a long time! You might not remember it, but you were originally a resident of the Center, Koneko. Also, Mariah, you have also been ordered to return to the Center. The two of you should come with me. We are going back to the Center!

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To think that you were a Center citizen all along... What a shame, you woudn't have had to go to all that trouble risking your life in the Colosseum had you known. This isn't the sort of place that you belong in. Hurry and return to the Center!

Don't worry, next time we meet you will be a lot humbler and less pushy and less bossy, nyahahaha. 'Til then, bye bye! We leave along with Daniel, and go *fooosh* like to the Center's Command Center, where the Center Bishop, ruler of Millenium, is waiting for us. Since he has no art and i like the Command Center map thingie with the flashing lights and stuff i made a GIF for you, yay! Ain't i nice and stuff?

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Or should I say, you've finally returned! In any case, I am overjoyed to see that you are both all right. Here. This ID Card is yours. At last I can give it to its rightful owner!

You got the Resident ID Card.

As for you, Mariah, you should have known better than to run off like that. The Temple Knights are our most glorious and prestigious order, and it does not look well upon us when one of them decides to arbitrarily leave the Center like that. I would like a full explanation from you in a moment.

Guards! Could you escort Mariah inside to my office?

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It's too bad that we never were able to find that little boy, but i appreciate you sticking your neck out for me like that... I hope I'll see you again!

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Right before you were kidnapped and brought from the center, Mekata erased your memories. As a result, you remember neither your true identity nor the divine mission that was bestowed upon you. Koneko, you are to become our Savior.

Your birth was a fulfillment of the ancient prophecy foretold by John in the book of Revelations... you are destined to become the Messiah! You have been given wondrous powers with which you can bring salvation to the people of the world!

In the past, a great city known as Tokyo once stood upon this land, but was destroyed in a cataclysmic war. From the ashes of the city, we built a new city -- this "Millennium."

Millennium's purpose is to actualize the Thousand Year Kingdom, an age where the people will live in peace forever. And in order for Millennium to truly become the Thousand Year Kingdom, we needed a Messiah to guide us.

While you read all of that exposition do not forget what has happened so far.

And so, you were born. In you, God himself has given unto us a savior. To aid you in this your most holiest of missions, God also gve us one that would be a fitting partner for the one who would become the Messiah.

Gailah, you may enter.

Meet Gailah, this game's fated partner. She is a pretty interesting character that sadly is not explored a whole lot: I would love to see how would she react to some of the later revelations and how would her personality go in some of the paths, but she will only join us for the first act of the game. She also has the shortest bloody skirt ever, so bleeping short even my male friends believe is insulting and offensive and as uncomfortable as it looks, and given they were going for the Zettai Ryouiki look the fashion laws indicate the skirt should be way, way longer than it is, meh. She is also another of the five ubercool Temple Knights, and currently her level is much higher than Koneko's.

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... or so I'd say, but you don't remember me or this place, do you? Poor Koneko... But don't worry, I am with you now, and will remain so from now on. You'll soon start to remember things you've forgotten, a little bit at a time, and will eventually return to your old self.

And i will never leave your side, ever...

That was creepy, girl. Really creepy. :cry:

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Holytown district. King Frost has frozen over the entire area with his powerful ice magic. And if that weren't enough, Basilisk is also rampagin there, breathing thick clouds of its deadly toxic breath throughout the entire district, claiming many innocent lives.

Please, save the people of Holytown!

Go into the western exit from the Center. If you enter the passcode 0352 in the security door there, you can enter Holytown.

And so this update ends. Next time we meet the Feline Messiah and Gailah will expore a bit around the center, talk with a bunch of characters, fuse some demons, thingies and stuff, and then we will go start doing our Messianic job, which includes killing thousands of demons and thingies and stuff.

'Till next time!
 

ghostdog

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
11,079
Boots with high heels and miniskirts are more preferable than pants, in futuristic sword combat. Haven't you read Camelot 2000 ? (which is fucking awesome by the way) Also, now we know where demonoid.com found it's name.
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,997
Location
Skyrim .///.
@ Ghostdog

What's Camelot 2000? *tilts head, feels ignorant*

And i will take your comment like you are laughing at the bad joke. Thanks! :wink:

@ Deuxhero

Nyahaha, nope. Actually, the first armor you can buy her is, like, an armored lion tang with armored bunny ears or something. Yeah, like, screw you, japan. And stuff.

@ All

Sorry about the delay, being a bit busy and a bit emo but working on it and almost finished it. Tomorrow or so i will post the next update.
 

ghostdog

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
11,079
Black Cat said:
@ Ghostdog

What's Camelot 2000? *tilts head, feels ignorant*

And i will take your comment like you are laughing at the bad joke. Thanks! :wink:

Whoops, sorry. I was talking about Camelot 3000. One of my favorite artists (Brian Bolland) in one of his best works.
 

Black Cat

Magister
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
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Location
Skyrim .///.
Chapter the third, hail to the king.






Last time we met... well, like, you can read it a bunch of posts up. Today, as we rejoin the Neko Messiah and Gailah, is a very special day. Why, you ask? Because this is the chapter that separate the worthy of those, like, not so worthy, and stuff. As you may remember the Center Bishop, ruler of this faux Thousand Year Kingdom we are living in, sent us on a mision to save Holytown from the depredations of two powerful demons. The first of those two, Basilisk, is one seriously irritating creep, as you will see later when we actually go to Holytown and start with this Messiah business. It isn't really a, like, hard battle, but the entire, like, thingie rests on mechanics and stuff many people doesn't even know are here to begin with, so it can get frustrating at first.

Right now, though, we abandoned the Center's command, like, center, on the twenty first floor of the Center's main building. First thing we do is take the elevator to the twenty second floor and talk with a family who lives or works or something, not far away.

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and even became a Temple Knight.

Mesian
Mariah was always such a good girl! Why would she do something as awful as leaving the Center without permission!?

It's called adolescence, you know? And it's the reason behind at least half of all of mankind's fuck ups, nya. Now we return to the elevator and go down to the twentieth floor, the lower one we will ever visit on the Center. After some running around like a headless chocobo i find my way around to the local Terminal, recording its location for later Transmit and taking the chance to save the game. With that out of the way let's have a look at Gailah's sheet.

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Yes, Gailah's a pretty tough girl and her little finger would destroy more demon hordes feeling lazy than all of Koneko put on a cocktel of Fallout's combat chems and stuff. After this we go next door to visit the local Mesian Church and revive High Pixie for 1400 Makka, ouchie, then into the Virtual Battler to pick the cheapest level again since we have another date with the Stalkiest Stalker, like, ever. Once in the virtual maze he makes us follow him around a bit and then we chat in a dead end, exactly like the last time.

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So, you're working hard to strengthen yourself in the Virtual battler, eh? Very good, very good. Is my Demon Summoning program working the way it's 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.

Yeah, well, thanks a lot. Leave it over there, on the floor, i'll take it once we part ways and stuff. And keep your distance ¬¬U

This is the Devil Analyzer. It will record the data of any and every demon that you encounter.

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Nya?

You should find it useful, so use it well. I'll upload it to your terminal now.

I look forward to our next meeting...

Back in the normal, unvirtual world we leave the Virtual Battler station and keep exploring. First place we enter we meet no other than Otomo Akira, who got his Center citizenship by becoming Champion at the arena as Hawk wanted to. Now that i'm looking at the name of those guys as references, i have to say that there is that famous movie by the name of Akira, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo... Who knows? In any case we meet with him and have a small chatty chat.

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To think that I finally get to kick back and live easy after all that time risking my butt fighting in Valhalla! When I became the champion I looked all cool and composed, but in reality I was really stressed! Losing equates to death, and that's pretty rough, you know.

He won his citizenship in the Championship just before our own or so, so he is still new at this thingie. We keep exploring: We go to the bar, and near the door there is another of those Mesian preachers talking about the Messiah and stuff. In this bar we find four people, too: A temple knight, a female center resident, a refined man, and a shady man. We talk to all of them in that order.

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Let's work together for the glory of Millennium!

Let's! :roll:

By the way, do you still remember the passcode to get up to Floor 21? In case you've forgotten, it's 5261.

With our visit to the Center's command thingie we only visited a pretty small bit of the twenty first floor, that is reached by the main elevator. There is a side door, protected by a code, that allows access to the staircase from which you can reach the rest of that floor and stuff. We will going snoop around there in a moment, and around the middle point of the game we will be making the most epic visit thingie, like, ever.

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All my needs are taken care of, and there are no demons, so there's nothing to worry about!

Soon there will be, nya!

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The north entrance leads to Valhalla, the east entrance leads to Arcadia,

Wow, are you saying Millenium has access to a trod going straight to the deepest reaches of the dreaming? Actually, that would explain all the crazyness. Forget i doubted you, nya.

the west entrance leads to Holytown, and the south entrance leads to the Factory.

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breathing poison gas everywhere. Not the kind of place I'd want to be right now!!

This last one may seem stupid, but it is actually the most important of all four. I'll explain: In Shin Megami Tensei II poison is pretty weird, right? In most games poison acts like a damage over time thingie, either permanent until cured or stuff. In this game, though, the damage over time from poison is negligible: Since all status ailments somehow affecting mobility do damage with every dungeonstep now, being paralized or bound will probably do more damage to your demons each dungeonstep than getting poisoned. The problem is that poison affects every single bloody thing they do: For example, you finally catch up with Basilisk, right? But you are poisoned, so instead of shooting at him and doing, like, 11 damage you shoot him and do bleeping 3 damage! Meh, if you aren't in the know before fighting him there is, like, no bloody way to kill him, for he kicks like a mule and you are doing, like, half a point of damage per round.

We leave the bar and keep exploring. We find even more preachers, and then an old Mesian guy who tells us about the five uberknights i mentioned before.

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of superior ability that the Center has been watching closely. Word has it that one of them might be the Messiah...

Since i am a nice cat and am trying to give you the full Shin Megami Tensei II experience to the best of my ability, let's have a look at the game's cover image, now.

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I wonder, could this be of significance? :roll: Next in line we find a Mesian making the kind of questions that aren't usually seen as good for your health but someone was bound to begin doing sooner or later...

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I think it's kind of odd that we would use that sort of money as our primary currency in a God-fearing country like Millennium.

... another Mesian guy, this one telling us about the explosion Mariah spoke about before...

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Nobody was actually hurt but there was a lot of confusion, because the Center's communication lines were all cut in the blast.

... and finally a Mesian girl who tells us more about the Bishop.

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Though I have heard that there is a select group of advisors that he goes to for advice on big decisions...

After a while we find the side door to the twenty first floor and enter the code the Templar gave us: 5261. The door opens and up we go. Up there is a dungeon level, but it is a safe area and thus we can map it and find the four important thingies on it. Thingie the one and thingie the second are the weaponry lab and the biotech lab.

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protect our citizens.

From themselves. :roll: He then asks us if we want to have a look at the things they are developing, but we can't buy or get anything, only see what kind of weapons we will be getting later on. Meh, i say. And then we leave and go next door, to the Biotech lab.

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The items that our research produces here go to benefit everyone in town.

Then he asks you if there is anything you need and if you tell him yes he, more or less, becomes an item store: You can buy spell stones and stuff. I do not use a lot of items, though, so i will not be coming back. Thingie the third is a checkpoint guarded by Temple Knights.

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Thingie the last is a door protected by a keycode and stuff. We go back to the twentieth floor, save, and then transmit back to Valhalla. There i have three objectives: To fuse demons, to recruit demons, and to get more resources. As soon as we leave the church, though, we notice something is wrong: No place on Valhalla's overworld map is safe anymore, and you get a lot of random encounters. That, like, goes with our plans pretty well.

We kill thingies and stuff, right? And meet a new demon, Ihika from the Yoki Clan, aligned with chaos and made up of many diferent supernatural humanoid creatures who are neither divine nor demonic. I choose to friendly negotiate with him, and thingies get really amusing before long...

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Geez, you're trash!

I try to pacify him.

I'm hot under the collar, son! You understand?

I do not have the slightest idea of what you just said, but i still answer that yes, i do.

Very well then... Give me a tribute.

How about 22 Makka!

Yes, here you go.

This is not enough...

17MAG, can you give that much?

Yes, take it.

This is not enough...

Could you give me a Magic Stone?

Sigh, yes.

Thanks!

Farewell. Stay well...

We give chase but don't manage to catch up with them, meh. The demons have a lot more character and variations this time, as you may see. It is pretty funny, and keeps the thingie fresh and a bit unpredictable or surprising much longer. We go to the Junk Store to buy nine dis-poison, then go to the big screen to hear the latest news. They are talking about us, now...

We have just received a report that Koneko, Valhalla's Colosseum Tournament Champion, was actually a resident of the center all along. He has been given a new ID card and has returned to living in the Center.

... and making us look like jerks or something, meh. We go to the closest Jako Manor and start fusing: Knocker and High Pixie result in a Youki Azumi, the first of many to come. He is a very useful demon but i don't like him a lot. He has Jio, Media, Patra, and Posum-di as spells, and the skills Water Wall and Punch.

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Then i go back to the overworld and recruit two demons. The first is a Chirei Sudama, whom you already met. The second is a Majuu Cait Sith, nya! Leaving aside being almost too cute, he is a quite popular figure of faery lore: Known also as the Cait Sidhe or Cat Sidhe, it is a fairy that looks like a huge black cat with a weird white marking on its breast. In the lore both Fairies and Witches could turn into this huge black cat thingie and wander around unimpeded. In the game he looks like the cat in boots because it is said the Cat Sidhe is the inspiration to such tale thingie.

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Now we return to the Jakyo Manor and fuse Sudama and Spartan to get a Jaki Wendigo, then Cait Sith and Jack o'Lantern to get a Seijuu Unicorn. Finally we fuse Azumi and Ukobach to get a Youma Mercurius of our own, nya.

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Back outside we recruit yet another Sudama and meet a new demon, Yama Empousa. She is a Greek demigoddess with succubus-like abilities and powers, explaining her being in the Yama clan. We try negotiating but it doesn't work, so we kill her and keep going around.

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Next time we visit the Jakyo Manor we fuse Sudama and Mercurius to get Yousei Dark Elf, yay! She has Jio, MahaJio, Doluminer, Hapilma, Patra, and Posum-Di, and also happens to be a fair enought fighter. The good thing about the Yousei is that even if the aren't as hardy and tough as the aligned demons they are always very handy to have around for their spellcasting. This was the game were the Yousei found that calling of theirs: In the first one it was a mixed clan, with some magic based demons and some seduction based demons and some warrior demons. From this game onwards the Yousei will become one of the main spellcasting clans.

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Now we Transmit back to the Center's twentieth floor, then leave through the elevator linking the main hall with the ground level. From there is a long way to the western passage, but there is no safest region in all of Millenium and the walk is without any events of importance to mention.

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Beyond is a small dungeon without random encounters, little more than a passage linking the Center to Holytown. While going through it, though, we find a small room marked with the letters CB on the gate, and we enter. A, shall we say, quintaesencial hindu guy by the name of Mister Nandi welcomes us inside.

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It's been a while since I've seen you! I'm glad to see you!

Are you sure you aren't mixing me up with someone else? :roll:

This is Code Breaker. Play it, it's fun! You just have to guess my number. Now I'll give you hints! It's easy!

I decide to get advice.

1 play costs 1 Metal Card. I will pick three different numbers from 1-5. Put what you think it is in the ANSWER box! R button starts the game. Change the numbers with up and down. Left and right changes the digits. A button picks your number.

"H" and "B" will appear in the JUDGE column. H indicates a hit! You got a number right, and it's in the right position. B indicates a Blow. You got a number right, but it's in the wrong place. If you get all H's you win!

In the HINT column it'll indicate whether or not the numbers you picked are there. A double-circle indicates that number has to be there. A single circle indicates that number is somewhere in there. An X indicates that number isn't there at all. Use the HINT columns to guess the number correctly!

The faster you guess the number, the better the item you get. Good luck!

Since i got a Metal Card while killing stuff or, like, something i will play once so you can see the minigame. Including this one, in all my playings I must have done so, like, thrice. I am not the most minigaming cat. The first couple of prize items, if you guess it in one or two tries, are cool, but it is easier to just go kill more monsters and, like, buy them at a junk store. I got a Maha-Bufu stone, which is like a one shot scroll to cast Maha-Bufu. Meh, maybe it is my obsesion with doing things all systematic and ordered and the right way and stuffy stuff, but as the Witching Cat always says if your victory depends on consumables and random chance you should be grinding some more, nya.

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After another Namaste thingie we go back to the corridors, and a while later we come across a checkpoint with some Temple Knights guarding it. It shows how controling the Center really is that even as two Temple Knights with a pretty high ranking Koneko and Gailah only are allowed to pass because the Center called in and told them they would be coming, otherwise is be a nice cat and go back the way you came. Beyond we use the code the Center Bishop gave us to open the gate, and Holytown welcomes us!

If i am not mixing my lore Holytown is the spiritual center of Millenium, a small God fearing city build around a huge church. It was not the greatest sucess, though, since most people prefered living in Valhalla and stuff, instead. Other than the big church and the gate back to the tunnel the only interactable places in Holytown are a mall and one of those bridge thingies we already found when in Valhalla. But first thing we notice is that the entirety of Holytown is frozen by King Frost's magic and overun with demons and stuff. The first new one we meet is no other than Jack Frost! We are, naturally, nice to him, but discover he is going Emo or something.

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The world sucks. I feel like going delinquent.

I tell him that's totally not true to cheer up the little guy.

I really dislike those Temple Knights!

I can't help but chuckle, but he seems to take it the wrong way.

You're a minion of the Mesians, aren't you! Gimme your life!

I try to persuade him about me being a nice, cuddly cat and stuff.

So, you don't just want to turn me into experience points?

Yes, that's it, more or less.

You want me to betray my Yousei allies?

I tell him he won't betray them by joining me.

All right! I'm Yousei Jack Frost, ho! I'm yers to command!

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Hee ho! As you can see he has Bufu, Bufula, Mahabufu, and Raku-Kaja. His MP is pretty low, though. Now I finish preparing my party: Unicorn, Gailah, and Dark Elf in the front row and Jack Frost, Koneko, and Wendigo in the second one. We start looking around for Basilisk, our first target, by following a small passage going north and west but something is not working and we do not trigger the encounters yet, so meh. We reach the area around the Mall and meet a new demon from the Demonoid clan, Frankie. We recruit him.

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For this level he is a fair brawler, but lacking spells and stuff really hurts his usefulness. In the next screenshot you can see both the local mall, with three doors, and the local giant screen. We can't enter the mall until after we have defeated King Frost as now the doors are frozen shut. If we go to the screen we get our first meeting with an Stalker, much weirder and cuter than the rusian ones.

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There is not a lot of lore about those guys, though: We know they are, like, treasure hunters and looters, and that they talk like the green thingie from Star Wars. Other than that your guess is as good as mine, i say. We then return to the initial area by means of the narrow passage and this time Basilisk finally makes an appearance!

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Most of the time he, like, just appears somewhere in the narrow passage and either runs or breaths a cloud of poison to your party and runs. Usually he only does so, like, three or four times, then he stands and fights, but this time he did it a lot more, so i wasted some poison cures and some spells in healing the thingie when I thought the battle was going to be. It took a whole lot of running around for him deciding to fight.

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He opened the first turn by breathing poison at us, meh. Since we were all already poisoned that only added somewhere between 10 and 15 damage to our boys and girls, and immediately afterwards Gailah casted Me-Dia to heal. Being poisoned, Unicorn only bashed Basilisk for, like, 4 damage. Wendigo healed Koneko's poisoning with Posum-Di, Jack Frost raised our defense with Raku-Kaja, and Dark Elf healed Gailah's poisoning with Posum-Di. Then Koneko shot Basilisk for 11 damage. Where he still poisoned he would have done 4 or so, nya.

Second turn Basilisk opened by trying to bit Koneko, but was dodged. Gailah slashed twice at the thingie, first for 8 damage and then for 7 damage, and then Koneko shot it for 11 damage. Dark Elf healed Unicorn's poisoning with Posum-Di, then Unicorn bashed into Basilisk for 17 damage. Wendigo healed Dark Elf's poisoning an Jack Frost raises our defense rating again.

Third turns begins with Gailah shooting Basilisk for 7 damage, then Basilisk attacks Jack Frost for 15 damage, Unicorn bashes into evil thingie for 18 damage, and Jack Frost once more raises our defense. Finally, Dark Elf attacks for 15 damage, Wendigo heals his own poisoning by means of a Posum-Di, and Koneko shoots Basilisk for 11 damage.

Fourth turn Gailah casts Media. Basilisk attacks Dark Elf for 12 damage, Jack Frost keeps raising our defense with Raku-Kaja, and both Dark Elf attacks evil thingie and Unicorn bashes into it, both by 14 damage. Finally, Wendigo heals Jack Frost poisoning with Posum-Di and Koneko shoots for 12 damage.

Fifth turn Gailah shoots at Basilisk for 16 damage, being a critical strike. Basilisk bites Wendigo for 15 damage and dodges Dark Elf's attack, meh. Unicorn attacks evil thingie for 9 damage and Basilisk is defeated, yay! We get 960 Makka and 640MAG. Also, both human characters get 320EXP.

We decide to go back to the center before facing against King Frost, to save and recover and fuse more thingies. On the way to the passage we come across a new demon, the Youjuu Bicorn. She, for usually Bicorns were Female in their representation, is a memory of just how retarded can boys be when left to their own devices: Bicorns were demonic monsters, at times seen as panther-like and at times seen as horse-like, who eated the flesh of faithful and enduring husbands, and thus was very well fed. Her counterpart, the Chichevache, fed only on faithful, loving, caring wives... And thus was eternally malnourished! Screw you, guys. Really.

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We walk back all the way to the Center. Here we recover and Transmit back to Valhalla, and while going to the Jakyo Manor we come across another new demon, Youchu Benu. This guy is from Egyptian lore and in that topic i am really, really rusty on that topic, so if someone among you wants to comment on him feel free to.

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We recruited him and went to the Jakyo Manor, where we fuse Frankie and Jack Frost to get a Chirei Dverger, whose sheet i forgot to screenshot because he is a straight out brawler: Hit thingies with axe, wait for them to do the same on you, repeat. Your basic Norse Dwarf, in other words. They are pretty cute and stuff. Now my party goes to be unicorn, Gailah, and Dvergar in the front row and Dark Elf, Koneko, and Wendigo in the back row. And, like, isn't that thing in his helmet the same symbol thingie of the cars or something?

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Now we return to Holytown and take the bridge thingie to the second half of the map. While being here i recruit another Frankie, then i come down the bridge and walk around until i reach the great church. That this place is the focal point of the King Frost's cold magic becomes obvious as soon as we cross the gates.

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We start exploring the dungeon-like place. We come across some Jack Frost bunches but we can't recruit more demons right now, then with our first Tenshi Angel, your run of the mill Angel of the Order of Angels and, like, stuff. Most angels belong to this Order, though, and are those with the most varied responsabilities and offices and thingies, and they also act as messengers of the Lord on Earth and stuff.

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We are friendly to her and stuff, and in response she throws some Makka at our feet and goes her way. Screw you, heaven. And stuff. We then enter a room in the first level were another of those Stalker guys offers to heal all of our wounds and ailments and thingies for two thousand Makka. We say no, thanks, that would be, like, a whole third of my Makka, etc. Then we return to the corridors.

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We explore the rest of the first floor. The door that leads to the staircase is frozen, and so we can't go up until we defeat King Frost. So we prepare to do: We heal, we stuff, and then we kick the door and enter, doing the pew-pew tango. What we must face inside, though, is something that rivals looking into the eyes of Great Cthulhu itself in the madness and horror department. Meet Maou King Frost, lord of all Jack Frosts and, like, the one doing the little bro' role in the Maou clan, that of hellish tyrants and witch queens and, like, stuff. And do not be deceived by his looks: While cute and usually described as fun loving and naive and good natured he is still one among the Maou. And in Devil Survivor he is one of my favorite low level demons, since the Maou (translated as Tyrant in newer games, even if i think it means something like Demon King or stuff) clan has Tyranny as a racial skill, that each time the party he is in wins a battle or kill an enemy monster all members replenishes a bit of MP.

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I'm really in a good mood! I get to freeze whatever I want to! Hee ho! Hee ho...? What, you want to stop me? Then I'll freeze YOU! Hee! Ho!

The battle begins with Gailah slashing at him twice for 6 damage each time. Then King Frost attacks her for 30 damage, and as you can see if he does that amount of damage to her he can pretty much one hit kill the kind of demons i would have if i had not focused on fusing high level thingies and, like, stuff. Then Unicorn kicks Frost for 8 damage, and Dverger uses his Hell Fan or something skill, for an amazing 22 damage. Koneko uses a Maha-Agi stone we had found in a chest for 10 damage, then Wendigo attacks for 7 damage and Dark Elf tries to JIO Frost but is dodged, meh.

Second turn begins, again, with Gailah slashing at King Frost: First hit does 7 damage but the second one misses. Then King Frost casts Bufula at Wendigo, who lucky me is immune to Ice Magic and absorvs the attack, healing itself, yay. Unicorn bashes King Frosts, gets a critical strike... but then King Frost happens to be immune to BASH and so all the amazing damage that should have done amounts to nothing, meh. Dvergar uses the same skill again, this time for 25 damage and now you see why I love the angry little thingies with axes, beards, and faux scotish accents, nya! Wendigo uses Raku-Kaja to raise our defense, then Dark Elf attacks for 7 damage. Just before Dverger used his skill Koneko shot King Frost but i messed the screenshot and stuff so i can't see if he missed or did some damage.

Third turn Gailah slashes but is dodged again, meh. Then the angry dwarf does his thingie, this time for 21 damage. Unicorn tries to kick but is dodged, then King Frost slaps Wendigo for 17 damage, Koneko shots Frost for a 20 damage critical strike, Dark Elf attacks for 6 damage, and Wendigo agains raises our defense with Raku-Kaja.

Fourth turn begins with Gailah casting Media. Then King Frost uses one of his skills or something: He shoots ice at us and freezes all but Koneko and Wendigo, who dodged. The attack also did 15 damage to Unicorn, 17 to Gailah, 19 to Dverger, and 12 to Dark Elf. Koneko shoots King Frost for another critical hit, this time for 18 damage, and Wendigo keeps raising our defense.

Fifth turns begins again with Gailah casting Media. King Frost casts Bufu against Wendigo, meh. Then Koneko shoots him for 11 damage, Wendigo keeps raising my party's defense, Dverger did his skill thingie for 23 damage, Unicorn attacked for 9 damage, and Dark Elf casted Jio for 2 damage. :facepalm:

Sixth turn Gailah casts Media, then Unicorn attacks for the last 3 damage and the battle ends, yay. We got 1408 Makka and 704MAG. Koneko got 1056EXP and went up a level, while Gailah, being much higher in level, only got 528EXP. We go back outside and now the it's cold effect no longer plays, so we can finish exploring and stuff. We start getting new enemies, though: First battle is a Bodyconian bunch, and one of them paralyses Dvergar before dying, so he can't act in combat and loses HP every step. We send him back to the COMP and summon Frankie on its place, meh. I should be better prepared for the status thingies from now on. In the second floor i find nothing interesting, then on the third one i meet my first Datenshi Gagison but my bloody stock is full! :cry: In any case, this signals the begining of another Kuroi Neko teaches darke magick, nya! segment. Aren't you happy? You better be, nya.

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This one is pretty obscure. So obscure, in fact, that obscure does not even begin to describe him: I have him not on my demon catalogue, nor in my sucky memory, not anywhere else. I was originally going to rant about how japanese can't bloody write and should stop getting pissed out of their minds and high before writing the names of demons when my one-before-last ex got online, so to check my theory Gagison was the gooks-can't-write version of Gusion i went and being as cute as possible i, like, asked him.

:cry:

Then he told he was a demon mentioned only in passing in the list of demons of the second volume of the tome of (not so) sacred magic of Abra-melin. That's like so bloody obscure i feel humiliated in my pride as the cutest infernal witch, like, ever. So there: Gagison is one of eight spirits subservient to Paimon, and other than that your guess is as good as mine. I will later return to recruit my own Gagison and see if puppy eyes and constant nagging can get my friends to look more info on him for me, but for now i just leave with a small bunch of Magnetite every time we come across one. In the third floor there are three important thingies: A room looking like someone tried to open a portal to the abyss on it...

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... a room where another Stalker guy tells us about his, like, findings...

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Really gross it is, sell it I cannot.

... and another Stalker keeping watch before a door we will not be able to go through until much later.

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Pass yet you cannot!

We leave the church and see the world has gone back to its unfrozen state, yay! We go back to the mall, and now we can enter. Inside, though, there is not a lot to do: The shops are empty and no one is around, so meh. Not even the Terminal is working as intended. In the Jakyo Manor, the only place where we can actually do something useful, we fuse Frankie and Benu into a Furiae, who i don't really like but i need to free slots to get more demons to fuse and play and stuff.

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We now have to walk all the way back to the center because the game thingie decided the local terminal will not work until people starts going back to Holytown and stuff, meh. Once we reach the Center we go straight to the command thingie to talk with the Center Bishop, nya. He is waiting for us.

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driving the demons out of Holytown. While you were gone, I debriefed Mariah, and she told me about Hanada's death. It would seem the man had far too much confidence in his own abilities. With him gone, the only rebel left is Mekata... But where on earth is he, I wonder? He is a dangerous man, far more dangerous than Hanada was. If we leave him be there's no telling what he might do!

A voice then calls him, interrupting the chat: "Your Holiness!" A priest appears and talks to him in a very low voice. We can't heard them, but since we are sure a new Messianic quest is on the way we just wait for him to tell us about what happened.

shinmegamitenseiii630.png

Bishop
... I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

... Koneko, it would appear that we have another emergency on our hands. Withing the Factory district, there is a large excavation and mining project being undertaken underground, and the evil demon Betelgeuse has appeared there and has taken over the entire site.

People should know better than to say his name thrice. :lol:

At the same time, and perhaps as a result of his influence, several of the Demi-Nandi that we have been breeding for food have gone on a rampage in the farming areas of the district.

The Factory is an essential part of our city, and both its resources and the workers there are in grave danger! Please, defeat Betelgeuse and the Demi-Nandi, and save the citizens of the Factory!

You can get to the Factory through an underground tunnel from the Center's southern exit. The passcode for the security lock to the Factory Area is 6191.

So ends this update. Next time we meet we will recruit one or two fallen angels, see if people returned already to Holytown so we can talk and do stuff and thingies, and save The Factory from some of the weirdest demons ever, including a bunch of crazed half-demon cows, evil demonic cars, and you-know-who himself.

'Til next time!



@ Ghostdog

"The series follows the adventures of King Arthur, Merlin and the reincarnated Knights of the Round Table as they reemerge in an overpopulated future world of 3000 A.D. to fight off an alien invasion masterminded by Arthur's old nemesis, Morgan Le Fay."

Someone needs to do a tactical role playing game based around that idea as soon as possible or, like, something, nya.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,157
It seems that Shin megami 2 is completely wackier than the 1st one, and poor Frank, to be converted into a "simple" demon :P

Btw, a question about Steve: is he still alive and running around, or before dying he programmed an AI to have emotions and develope new programs all time?

And obviously the other stalkers are the ones from the Zone, that suffered a dimensional accident.

PS: The King Frost with the evangelion-style feet is gross...
 

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