Chapter the third, Shinjuku's Blues (part1).
In which our heroine is left an orphan, turns her dog into a demon of mass destruction, invades by accident a government laboratory where everything went very wrong, finally discovers what the hell is going on, joins the resistance, and saves Helena from being publicly executed. She also kills lots of zombies, recruits more demons and faeries, and meets the two factions that will soon become the main power players in Tokyo.
Welcome back! Last time we met our daring heroes they had just rescued Aquino from Ozawa's gang. Let's rejoin them in Kichijoji's mall as they enter the cafe in their quest for information about the demons and Bardon's girlfriend, Helena. The barman tells them the old Echo building, located south of the station and just west of the hospital our heroes just escaped from, is rumored to have been taken over by monsters. Then a schoolgirl tells them the very same Ozawa they just scared into leaving Aquino alone was asking around about Helena! He is no longer around, though, so no chance of going back to him and shooting a confession out of him. While we leave the cafe we hear some guy talking about all the ways out of the district being blocked, but we already knew that so we pay no attention.
Just outside the cafe they meet yet another Machine Kagutsu. Having caught it off-guard they just riddle it full of holes and go on with their business. They go into the antique shop and face an enemy much worse than demons and devils: Bugs in the translation patch! As you can see in the first image, the guy from the store only gives us the same three useless options from before: We can try to buy antiques, try to sell things, or leave... And the first two options are just there so he can invite us to leave.
I create a savestate, quit the emulator, and add a random character to the end of the translation patch filename. Now i return to the game and find there is some untranslated dialogue followed by a much longer list of options.
I fool around with the options a bit and finally find what i was looking for: The list of firearms! The antique shop is just a cover for a black market operation buying and selling firearms, so now i can get me some bullets for my pistol. In this game once you equip your gun with bullets they are endless, but diferent kinds have diferent damage ranges and effects, like sleep or bind or extra damage against certain alignments or families.
Guns also come in three diferent kinds. Those categories do not have distinct names, but my friends call them Single, Semi Auto, and Full Auto, and thus i will do the same. The pistols Koneko and Bardon are now sporting are of the first category: They hit the first enemy and nothing more. Some very high damage guns we will be getting later are like this, like a Sniper Rifle we can get in Ginza. Aquino's MPS is Full Auto, it sprays the entire enemy party but only hits each enemy once. The last variety, the Semi Auto ones, have an amount of shots every turn: If for example it has three shots a turn and there are four enemies it hits the first three once and stops. If there are two enemies it hits the first one twice and the second once, and if there is just one enemy it hits him thrice. Those are the ones i prefer the most.
But right now i do not have money to do anything more than buy a pack of the basic, boring bullets.
That i do, and once you buy something once you can exit, make a savestate, and rename the translation patch back to its original name. The bug only fails to register the script change, but once the script is changed it is changed for ever. So i take this chance to sell all my junk. Then i leave and as a parting gift i receive some life advice from a weapon smugler...
Once outside i equip my bullets. Now life is good: Character on the second row do little damage when they use melee attacks, but full damage when they use Magic or Guns. Koneko will be hugging the second row for the rest of the game. I leave the mall and since Bardon asked us to look for Helena we stop by the doctor's house to ask him about that. He just tells us she went to Shinjuku and never came back, and ask us to tell him if we discover anything. Then we get back home and the old hag receives the party by trying to embarrass me before my friends and my bloody demons.
Old Hag
I'm always so worried about you. I'm glad you came home all right in one piece! I'm so happy! Please, come over here to me... What's wrong? Come here! I love you, always! Come on! Hurry!
Bardon
I don't like it. Something's strange here.
Aquino
I second that thought. There's something fishy here... It doesn't smell right!
Old Hag
Damn... You kids are sharp. I'm sure you're all wondering, so I'll let you know that I've taken your mother. Aw, what's with that face! Come on, there's no reason to be sad. You'll see her soon enough... in my stomach! Until then, why don't you entertain me for a bit!! I hope you taste as good as she did!
And then she turns into Jaki Ama-No-Sakugami. The Jaki family is aligned with Darkness and Law, and is full of angry, evil demons full of hate against everything and without enought power to do much about it. So the old hag got herself eaten by some random internet troll, more or less. And that means i will need to look for a job now, so its payback time: Only one party is going to leave this house alive, etc.
As you can see in the screenshot above i picked the EXTRA command Weredog. Extra chooses randomly one of the free special skills the Demon has and uses it. In this case it means he will use the Bite attack, since he has no other special skills, but when Demons having two or three specials is somewhat of a gamble and actually can balance pretty well the fact you can use them without limit. From the next Shin Megami Tensei game this rule will change: You can choose the special skill you want but they consume HP instead of MP.
The battle is opened by Knocker casting Zan against the thingie, for 11 damage. Then the same does Bardon, for 25 damage. Aquino casts Agi for 30 damage and then Ama-No-Sakugami attacks Knocker for 14 damage and Pixie for 32 damage, killing her outright since her max is of only 15HP. He also dodges Weredog bite attack, meh. Finally Koneko shoots him for 7 damage.
Second turn is opened by Bardon casting Zan for 25 damage. Ama-No-Sakugami lowers our physical attack power with Taru-Nda, Knocker casts Zan again for 11 damage and Aquino casts Agi but the beastie dodged it. Wheredog goes melee and Koneko shoots his gun, doing 5 damage each.
The third turn is opened by Ama-No-Sakugami raising his own physical defense with Raku-Kaja, but it is late for that and in any case most of my damage is magic based. Weredog heals Knocker with Diarama and the little angry guy casts more Zan at the nasty, again for 11 damage. The battle is finished when Bardon does the same, for 25 damage. Yay, that was easy. We all get levels that go to speed, and Aquino and Bardon both get new spells. We also get ¥576, 240MAG, and an ID Card to open the Echo Building entrance. And we get to see the Law Hero is an imbecile every now and then, but with good intentions:
Bardon
Koneko... I don't think there's anything that i could say that could provide much comfort, but try not to feel too bad...
Aquino
"Try not to feel too bad!?" Damn, that was insensitive, Bardon! For God's sake man, his mother just got killed! I know you mean well, but don't try to console him... Just give him a moment to himself!
The exchange is interrupted by the dog, who starts barking and jumping around like if he was trying to get the party to take him with them. I accept, and thus Pascal joins the team! All around Kichijoji's streets and even on the highest floor of the Echo Building demons tremble, for they know their time has come! Since we used quite a bit of MP we go to sleep for now: Demons who have a contract return to the COMP instead of the Abyss. They remain "dying" until dismised, moment they die and return to the Abyss, or until taken to a healer that can help them. Sleeping does not help with that, but tomorrow we will take Pixie to a healer. Once we get to Shinjuku we will even need to pay to recover our MP and HP after battles, no more free rides for a while.
The next day we Save and go back outside. We notice the barricades have changed: Now they are kept by SDF's soldiers instead of the police. One of the soldiers informs us that a state of martial law has been declared, so things are really going south in Tokyo. In the spot where they arrested us the day before we also find a man telling us about it, sigh.
It makes me feel better to know that a lunatic like that is off the streets!
Whatever. We go back to the mysterious mannor in Inogashira Park and visit the Dojo here. The evil capitalist healer saves Pixie for ¥300, and then we go to the Jakyo Mannor to begin fusing demons since now we have enough to start trying combinations. You can choose to fuse two or three demons, and then the guy tells you what Demon is going to result. You then can accept it or pick another combination, etc. In the later Megami Tensei games the process is much more involved with fusion accidents and all that, but even in this one the system has a fair bit of complexity as you will be seeing.
The symbols that appear next to the Demons indicate the general information of the result: A circle is a normal fusion, resulting in a Demon from a third (or fourth, in the case of triple fusions) family. An asterisk is an Elemental fusion: In that screenshot you can see that since both Knocker and Brownie are from the Chirei Family fusing them would result in an Elemental Demon instead of a normal one. There are other symbols we will be seeing later: Right now i will fuse Brownie with Pascal, of the Dog family. The result of this fusion is scripted: No matter which Demon you fuse with your Dog the result is always the same.
After seeing what the result would be and accepting we are taken to the fusion chamber. Both demons are put in big glass tubes, connected to some kind of, like, thingie with a Seal of Salomon on it. Then the glass tubes fill with some liquid that absorbs the Demons, and then the process takes place with lights and stuff.
Pascal the Dog is now Majuu Kerberos, a level 43 demon that can kill all Demons in Kichijoji's area by giving them a bad look. He is not cheap to summon and eats a lot of Magnetite but he will only accompany us until the end of Echo Building, so we are going to make the best use of him we can. I also want to get me a Youki Azumi, a Demon having Zio and enought mana to cast it non-stop through entire Boss Battles. But Kerberos is the only Demon that you can control while having less level than him: Youki Azumi is level 10, Koneko is level 8, Kerberos can kill Kichijoji's demons in just one strike and always get first go... Get my drift? It's let's grind the world map time, yay! But first let's look at Kerberos sheet and art.
He has two special skills: Bite and Fire Breath. He also has one high level spell called Samaricarm, that revives a dead party member with full HP. He has a whole lot of HP and for this stage in the game he is totally IMBA with an attack power of 103. He is of the Majuu family, a fully neutral family comprised of animal demons, supernatural beasts, and magical monsters.
We leave the park and go vigilante, patrolling the streets of Kichijoji and killing any bad demons we find. Or, more like it, Kerberos goes vigilante and the party goes with him carrying big, pink Pom-Poms and singing his name and glory, etc. Since this was a two level grind on the starting area with a mid-game Demon i will make it short: Lots and lots and lots of Yakuza, Thugs, Moryo, Zombies, and Ghosts died horrible deaths. We also got some gifts from Pixies and recruited a new Brownie.
Then Koneko reached level 10, and those are the sheets of the three main characters at that time. As you can see Bardon and Aquino will be leveling up anytime, too.
We run back to the Jakyo Mannor. Pixie and the new Brownie become fusion fodder, and the result is the Youki Azumi i wanted.
As you can see in his sheet he has Zio, the basic shocking spell and the whole reason for him to be in my party. He also has Me-Dia, a party wide Dia, and a special skill called Wall of Water. It is pretty useful but i will not be using for now, since i want to Zio the bad guys each and every turn of battle. I also fuse Knocker and Weredog to get a Yousei Goblin.
He has three Kaja spells: Taru, Suku, and Maka. Those, in order, raise the party physical attack power, raise the party accuracy, and raise the party magic power. That last one is pretty amazing for this party i am building. Now we are ready to go visit the Echo Building.
First thing we notice upon entering is that we have already been here! This is the building we visited in the last dream we had, the one triggered by meeting the old man at the park. There is an elevator to go up to any floor, but we prefer to explore, loot, recruit, and kill thingies. So we explore each floor entirely and then go up using the stairs.
First thing we notice is that there are new kinds of Demon in this building. We first meet a Chirei Kobold, and after some failed attemps manage to recruit him. He has two Kaja spells, Raku and Suku: Suku we already know what it does, and Raku raises the party physical defense. He also has Patora, that heals status ailments.
Later we find Goblins, and some of those give us gifts and all that. We also find a treasure box from which we take an Amethyst. Treasure boxes like that are usually empty: What you find inside depends on your Luck and the fase of the moon.
On a cardboard box i also get an Intelligence Incense, and when leaving that room...
It's
Kuroi Neko teaches darke magicks, nya! time, yay! This guy is Andras, an infernal Great Marquis and Sixthy-third spirit listed on the Ars Goetia. He likes the moon and his favorite metal is silver, just like Oriax. His tarot card is the Ten of Wands and he is related to the nights of the third decane of Sagittarius, and the dates between December thirteen and December twenty. He governs thirty legions of spirits and has the office of sowing discord and enmity. He is one of the few goetic demons that will turn against the summoner if given chance. They took some liberties with him, though: His head is of a black raven, not an owl. Having Plinpa (the confusion & panic spell) and Hapilma (the distracted by bliss spell) does somewhat rhyme with his office, but he will never turn on you in the game. Shame.
Since he is not a Boss i will recruit him. I open with a Friendly greeting.
Gya ha ha ha ha!
Laugh back
Hmph... You'are one sick bastard!
Calm it down
Hey hey, if you don't please me quick I'm gonna blow up on you!!
Calm it down
Tell me what you want from me.
(Become my minion)
Give me ¥898 and I'll think about it.
Yes
This just doesn't cut it.
Now i want Magic Stone. You've got it, don't you?
Yes
That should do it-- contract fulfilled!
*SQUEEEEEE*
He has the two spells i wrote above and also Agi, the basic fireball. In the room next to this one i found a stash of ¥4800, making me way too happy. Then i met my first Jaki Gremlin: Those guys i never understood, so i am just Threatening to them and ask for Magnetite (they give 200) if given chance. If not i kill them and move on.
There are also Gaki around here, but we already met them. I find two incenses: A speed one and a luck one, and then come to the long corridor we saw in the dream. This time, though, the old hag does not appear to pester us. Instead we get Yuriko raising our egos.
With your power, you'll be able to do anything you put your mind to, so you should be OK.
Then we heal the wounds we got ascending the building and enter the last room. We find the same scene we saw on the dream, and the mad scientist guy even recognizes us! The game gives us a chance to try and escape, but we do not take it. It's magical punishment time!
This is the place where my brethren in the Abyss are to be summoned. I cannot allow it to be defiled by your blood!! Get out!
We are sent back to the corridor. There he tell us: "You won't get away this time! Those who stand in my way will be crushed!" and turns into Choujin Doman, just like in the dream.
The first turn is opened by Aquino casting Agi for 31 damage. Then Doman cast Maha-Agi on us: Kerberos reflect the attack back to him for 10 damage while Azumi takes 9, Goblin takes 18, Bardon takes 8, Koneko 16, and Aquino 8. In that you can see how the Magic attribute also affects magic defense and not only attack. Bardon casts Zan on him and does 24 damage. Azumi casts Zio, hurting the monster for 8 damage and shocking him, but it is useless now he already took his action. Goblin casts Maka-Kaja, raising the party Magic Power. Then Doman dodges Kerbero's bite attack and Koneko shoots him for 4 damage.
The second turn is opened by Azumi casting Me-Dia to heal the damage Doman did with his Maha-Agi. Doman then casts Sibabu, binding Kerberos while Azumi manages to avoid the spell. This time, and thanks to the Goblin buff, Aquino's Agi does 46 damage and Bardon's Zan does 36. Now the Goblin casts another Maka-Kaja and Koneko does 4 more damage with his gun. Kerberos does nothing since he is bound, and so he will be for the rest of the battle. Yay.
With the two Magic Buffs going on Bardon opens the third turn casting a Zan for 49 damage, Aquino an Agi for 63, and Azumi a Zio for 16 damage and shock, so Doman loses this turn. Goblin casts another Maka-Kaja and Koneko does 4 more damage with his gun, feeling kind of useless.
Fourth turn is opened by Azumi casting Zio for 18 damage and shock, so evil guy is defenseless! Bardon and Aquino cast again the same spells, this time for 54 and 70 damage. Evil goes RIP and we get 480EXP each plus ¥780 and 300MAG. That means we all go up one level, yay. Then we return to the weird room, where we find a machine whose function we do not understand. Kerberos seems to know something, since he starts acting up.
So unfair!
It will be a long, long time before we meet again with little cute dog, sob. We mess around with the machine and discovers it needs to be interfaced with a COMP to be used, and it can both SAVE and TRANSMIT. We do both, in that order. Transmit presents us with a menu where only one option exist, for now: Lab. We pick it, and...
Those must be the machines Steven told us about. We leave the room and begin exploring this new place, finding a Zombie in the room just next to the Terminal. This Zombie, though, has managed to keep his wits and actually tells us thingies about what happened here, so i will honor him with the Zombie Artwork.
Wow, I'm surprised you were able to make it in here... So... What on earth is going on in the outside world? I've been here working on our secret Terminal System project. I've had to transmit all the data from my experiments over the computer to the main center from here.
Three or four days ago, we were attacked by a mob of demons. Everyone was either killed or turned into zombies...
Hurry...
Get out of here...
We return to the corridor, summon Andras in the place left by Kerberos and keep going on for a little bit. Then we are interrupted by some fat, confused demon.
Take it easy for a while. Get used to your new home. I'm sure you must be tired from your long trip from the Abyss. I see you've successfully changed into humans... Wait a minute, you ARE humans!!
And he dies before getting a turn. I raid some storage rooms with cardboard boxes and get a total of 560MAG and two incenses: Stamina and Luck. Then we find Steven again, who really gets around for being on a weelchair.
However, Gotou's influence has spread to here as well, and it is now under his control.
So... Has my Demon Summoning Program been useful to you?
Yes
Are you satisfied with the number of demons you can make your minions?
No
Very well then! Give me that computer, and I'll increase its memory for you!
...
Done!
You should be able to store two more minions than you could before. With this adjustment my Demon Summoning Program should be even more useful.
I return to the corridor and then decide with all the Incenses i have been getting and how little we have been hurt so far is foolish to be lugging them around, so instead i use them to raise Koneko's attributes. You can also use them on you companions, but... No, you will later see why.
We then resume our explorations and come to another Orc who ask us "How the hell did you manage to get in here!?" before being shocked by Azumi and abused by the party. He left a San-Setsu-Something, a very powerful melee weapon for this stage of the game. With it Koneko, not precisely known for his great strenght and power, does some good damage from the second row, and has up to three strikes a turn. Is pretty cool so i exchange it with the Tonfa he was carrying. Soon afterwards we find the exit and take it, finding we are now in Sendagaya, an area in the Shibuya ward.
Exploring around we find this area is also barricaded by the SDF. Then we meet our first Yousei Dryad. Things do not go well, she takes advantage of my good will to Entrhall Koneko and then we end fighting, but since i do not want to mess with the Yousei i just retreat and leave her be, taking the path north through Yoyogi park and into bustling Shinjuku.
There we come across a big screen were we can see an speech given by the man himself, Gotou. I love his gestures so i will just post the screenshots.
Later we enter Shinjuku's underground malls and the first person we meet is a girl from the Mesian Church, and while now they are just a bunch of boys and girls with good intentions and a lot of faith on the second act they will become one of the main power players and will have their own fanatical crusader army among other thingies. They take inspiration of several western faiths as you will be seeing, but with enough diferences as to not be any one in particular. For example they seem to be tolerant of ceremonial magicians and include a number of those in their fighting forces, something i highly doubt catholics or christians would be happy with. They are intolerant of most other thingies, though, and the only reason i usually prefered them over the competence is because the Gaian Church, who we will be meeting soon, is far, far worse.
That's a good thing. You are an ally of our Mesia Church then. If everyone prays to God, he will surely send us a savior to rescue humanity! in these dark times, God is humanity's only hope... there is none other to whom we can turn to!
Next to her is the entrance to the local Mesian Temple. A priest welcomes us as we enter.
Little lost sheep, pray to God...
What business do you have at the Mesia Church?
He does the usual temple stuff for a donation: Heals the DYING state, restores HP and MP, removes status effects, lifts curses, and sells items with a lot of character... Things like Holy Water, that works like a one-shot Hanma (think Turn Undead) spell, Rosaries, that automatically resurrect with Half HP the Law Aligned human characters when their HP goes null, and Segaki Rice, that also works like a Hanma spell but against groups of enemies of lower level than the Main Character. He also sells Charms and Indulgences, but i do not remember what those do, sob sob.
For now we do not want anything in particular, so we go back to the mall and keep exploring. We find another Terminal close to the church and we use it to save. When leaving a mighty, powerful
*SQUEEEEEE* could be heard, for the party had met no other than Yousei Jack O'Lantern, the cutest flying pumpkin ever!
He has three fire based spells: Agi, Agirao, and Maha-Agi. He is also one of the best known, iconic demons of the Megami Tensei setting, being on the same level of fan recognition that Jack Frost, Nekomata, Lucifer, o Astaroth. Those are some big shoes to fill for the little pumpkin and he does it pretty well. I try to recruit him but Full Moon it is, so we get to fight one of my most favorite faeries, like, ever. He burns Goblin to a crisp in the first turn, and in a couple more turns we defeat the bunch. While retracing my steps to the Mesian Temple i come across another new demon, Yuuki Oshichi, and since it still is Full Moon we kill her and keep going. Those are immune to bullets, though, and have some fire spells they like to use in the first turn, so they can get bothersome. The sword i got from the Orc is useful, since to her it does 10 damage thrice even when Koneko wields it from the back row.
We revive Goblin on the church and restore both HP and MP of the party, then we go back exploring and find a staircase leading to a dark basement. There we first come across a big war party of Youki Bogle that we just charm and forget all about since five of those things are not to be making experiments, they pack quite a punch for this level.
A bit deeper we came about some strange guy guarding a corridor.
Just to fool around i tell him Yes.
Like hell you do! You can't pull the wool over my eyes! I'm not letting you go one inch past me, so get out of here! You ain't one of Gotou's spies, are you?
He really talks too much, but for now we go back to the mall and keep exploring. We find our first Gedou Slimes, a small bother that resist a lot of damage and recovers some life each time it reaches out and connects a hit. They are very weak to fire, though, so Maha-Agi is all we need.
Soon afterwards another powerful, screeching
*SQUEEEEEE* is heard, as our heroes finally come across their first Yousei Jack Frost, Atlus mascot extraordinaire and, like, cutest magical snowman ever. I cuddle him until he joins the party, yay! It costs me a Magic Stone, 225MAG, and ¥257, and he is worth every single bit of that.
Besides being super-duper-mega-cute he has Bufu, Bufula, and Maha-Bufu. Just like the Zio line of spells, the Bufu (cold) one is completely broken, and enemies that aren't outright immune to the effects will become frozen and lose any actions they had qeued. Now look at this little guy's MP, and notice that each cast of Bufu takes only 3 of those. So, like, Jack Frost's name is spelled A B U S E in the right conditions. The original Jack Frost, though, is more of a fae or elvish creature related to winter and deep cold than a cute singing snowman.
But for now we will continue exploring the mall and meeting people, defeating demons, and getting gifts from the ones we are friendly with. Thus we came across a schoolgirl that had some interesting information...
Once i said no, he went to a girl standing nearby, and asked her the same question. I wonder who he was?
... some random guy doing all the wrong questions...
... visited the local healing dojo and jakyo mannor, meet a delirious woman...
I hear many people crying in pain... But the shadows don't disappear... No! Aaah! My head... it hurts so much...
... and another woman worrying about not being able to go home while she should be worried about not being able to live much longer...
There's no way i can get home like this. What should i do...
... And yet another woman showing us there are thousands of morons behind each and every coup d'etat...
Why don't they just let the coup d'etat continue? Deposing the coup d'etat forces is not only stupid, but dangerous! It only makes things worse for the general populace!
... meet our first Shiki Bodyconian, a kind of demon that can get very bothersome in big numbers...
... sell lots of crap at the local survival shop, meet a man that explains the current situation to us...
... and the forces of the American Army that Ambassador Thorman ordered into the country are assembled en masse in Shinjuku. While obviously they're at odds with one another, so far there hasn't been any sort of direct conflict between the two of them. If something like that happens, it's really going to be a mess!
... and finally get my own Jack O'Lantern for an Orb and 253MAG, Hee-Ho!
While i still lack any good tanks this guy packs quite a punch. This leaves me close to the other temple in Shinjuku's underground malls, the one belonging to the Gaian Church. Their ideals are the kind of ideals no civilized world can rest upon, and the group is based around some of the most extreme neopagan faiths and some forms of modern theistic satanism. To keep it simple they are the red in tooth and claw, survival of the fittest, etc etc, infantile bunch. Their preacher looks a lot like Anton LaVey, too.
... and that is Lord Lucifer!
In ages past, Lord Lucifer was the most powerful, most beautiful angel in Heaven. In order to bestow upon us the gift of wisdom, Lucifer sacrificed his position in heaven and descended to Earth. Furious at him for opening our eyes, God turned Lucifer into a demon and stripped him of his power.
Even still, against overwhelming odds, Lord Lucifer continued to fight God and his army in order to save us from the fate of becoming his mindless minions. Lucifer sacrificed everything he had for us! Therefore we worship him for his courage...
:facepalm: Whatever. I have heard enought of this kind of blah blah blah back in school and believe me when i say not even in games i want this kind of people near me, thanks. They go getting some weirder troops as the game goes on but those are not the Mesian: They already are going psycho with fanatical armies on this first act, even if there is still a functioning society in place, and their suicide squads can get pretty annoying when big enough. If you manage to recruit one of those gaian fanatics, though, they can be useful as fusion fodder since any demon fused with a human results in random fusions of a very variable power level that you can accept or refuse before the last step is taken: You can initiate the fusion, see what the random demon is going to be, and then refuse if you do not like and initiate it again to get a diferent one, and repeat until you get what you want, moment in which you accept. If you are patient and have enough money to keep recruiting them (and other Gaian and Mesian troops later on) you can get lots of demons that way.
But for now we will enter the temple just so you can see it.
That which has form will eventually crumble. You who bring Chaos to this world... What business have you in this Temple of Gaia?
They have the same services the Mesian Temples offer with the option to still use them by bribing the Priest even if your alignment has gone into Law. They also have a diferent variety of items on sale: Pentagrams that i do not remember what they do, Kodokuzara that works like a one-shot Mudo (instant death, very hard to hit with) spell, Hell-Souls that work like a one-shot Maha-Agion (a more powerful version of Maha-Agi), Amulets that negate traps for a while but are harder to time than the Neutral equivalent, and Talismans that protect against Curse attacks but i never understood how to activate so meh. Most of them also have a terrible fashion sense, etc.
Now we can get back to explore the mall, yay! We find some yaoi fanboy...
At least that frees me from suspicion... if it was me, I'd be kidnapping men! Not that I'd do something like that in the first place, of course.
... and then we go explore the offices in the upper floor. The first demon we met there is a fallen evil horsie! Here i would do an Andyman reference but he became an unicorn so no. Also, here comes another
Kuroi Neko teachs Darke Magicks, Nya! segment, yay!
The most important lesson here, though, will not be my shameless fangirling of an (in)famous fallen angel but that Japanese people can't fucking write: This is suposed to be Samigina, fourth spirit as listed on the Ars Goetia and a Great Infernal Marquis. Gamigin is an accepted alternate name for him just as Oriax can also be spelled Orias, but really... Was it necesary to make it Gam
yg
yn? It is hard enough to get all the references without they making the names weirder just for show, for (it wouldn't really be right to say God's but i don't either they or him really mind) sake, and as we well later see there are far worse cases.
But back to Samigina he also happens to like the Moon and silver most, just as the two previous ones did. His tarot card is the Five of Pentacles, following the same pattern that we already saw on the previous two with the relationship between astrological significance and elemental alignment of his card: Samigina is related to the first decane of Taurus during the day, thus his stronger period is from April 21 to April 30. He governs 30 legions of spirits, teaches all liberal sciences and knows of those who died on sin. And yes, he takes the shape of a horsie until the summoner asks of him to take human form.
Just like with the other two this is an illustration taken from a modern edition of the Ars Goetia:
And this his sigil thingie:
I'll ask myself if this is of the horsies who like people playing with their ears or the ones who kick people doing so but, like, as i said i suck at banishing, sob sob. In the game he has Zan, Makajama, and Mudo: The basic force attack spell, a spell that seals the enemy's magic, and a save-or-die spell that only sparingly connects, making it useless for the party but vewy vewy bothersome when enemies have it. I neither do know what those three powers have to do with teaching liberal sciences and knowing of those who died having sined, but lets keep going: My first try at diplomacy with him fails a whole lot. He does the are you humans are hopeless question many demons like to do and that i never understood what the
yes and
no options are supossed to mean since the wording in the translation is weird to me.
I'm thirsty for blood today! You better be ready for me!!
Battle-stance
Oh, you wanna fight, do you? Come on then! Entertain me a bit!
Persuade
Yeah, right, you wish!
You humans are hopeless, right? There's no hope for you...
No
I'll see whether or not there's any hope for you.
I'll send you all to your graves!!
We run and since i am lucky cat manage to escape. What i was saying of that line about humans being hopeless is, more or less, what the bloody hell do my answers mean? Yes, we are hopeless? Yes, there is hope? No, we are hopeless? No, there is hope for us? Sob sob. A lot of demons like to do that kind of questions and like diferent kinds of answers, so you are better just throwing a coin up in the air and doing a head is yes, tails is no kind of thing. We also find our first Yama Imp while running, but he asks for an Emerald and when i do the No thingie he decides to get killed by the party, so i will post more on those later, when i recruit one. The next Gamygyn we find is a though nut to crack but finally accepts to contract with me, yay! It is a shame i will not be able to use it for long, sigh.
I keep going and come across the local Jakuza big guy, a lot less stern and tattooed than i would have hoped. Also, a lot more bald. Keep killing my dreams, SMT!
If that weren't bad enough, now we've got demons popping up all over the place! They're all doing whatever they damn well please on MY turf! They're all deviants without the least bit of respect or honor! What's going to happen to Tokyo if we just let them continue on like this...?
And don't forget about the teens armed to the teeth and with a singing snowman and a flying pumpking walking into your office out of nowhere, too. While going back to the mall i come across another Yama Imp, and this time things go my way, so let's celebrate the moment showing you the little guy. I forgot to take a screenshot of his sheet, though.
Once we have returned to the mall we start exploring Shinjuku's bars. The first one is a small, cozy place where we yet again find Yuriko. There is little art of her that is not spoilerific to the max, so i'll post the next image as a link only and you can go see it on your own free will. This image, like the one of Steven before, is of later in the artistic evolution of this guy, when he had already found his own style and stuff. Is very cool, and I end liking Yuriko a lot just by looking at it.
Spoilerific Yuriko's Image
She really likes doing that, i guess. Then we go talk with the bartender:
Do you have a demon summoning program?
Yes
Do you think it's OK to just let the demons continue to run around unrestrained?
No
Do you think it's wrong to call on a greater level of power in order to restore peace?
Yes
I've got something i want to give you.
Take this. You'll be able to find the person you're looking for.
Then he gives me a matchbox and send me on my way. Now we could go back to the basement and beyond that guy blocking our way, but before let's finish exploring and let's get some more powerful demons. The next bar we enter is big and more fashionable, and the favorite of the U.S Forces currently occupying parts of Tokyo under Embassador Thorman. The american soldiers speak very broken english in the translation patch because they talked what i believe was a form of Eihongo in the original. We are welcomed, and then began talking with the regulars.
Gotou say he make ideal country summoning demons. We move out to protect against that!
Yes, it is that painful. I never could take Thorman seriously because of that bloody speech pattern. Let's be quick: First, the bartender...
Though they don't seem to be working for Gotou...
... then another american soldier...
... then a scientist who managed to escape from the very same installation we stormed by mistake when using the terminal.
I only just made it out of there with my life! There was a man in a weelchair there too... Poor guy, there's no way he could've gotten out of there safely. I wonder what happened to him?
Hint: He is going to survive much longer than you.
Now we go to the last bar here, this being the favorite of the SDF Forces aligned with Gotou. Another Hostess welcomes us, then we begin talking with people.
I don't know why Gotou would want help from a no-good punk like him. If you're looking for him, he's in the building that's right northwest of Shinjuku.
So there was more to Ozawa than we first believed and he has been experiencing a lot of upwards mobility as of late. Maybe this is also related to he looking for Helena back in Kichijoji and all the abductions of young girls that have been happening as of late? We will be sure to pay him a visit soon. For now we go to the next soldier...
Without even hearing him out, he just called in the American army from square one.
... the bartender...
There's this group that calls themselves the Resistance, and they are led by some woman named Helena.
... that guy who always talk about the decline of western civilization on the Codex...
it will only lead to the eventual destruction of humanity. That worried Commander Gotou, and is why he started the coup d'etat.
... and some random guy that decides to be helpful.
You should talk to J.B. then, he should know where she is. He hangs out at the disco a lot, you might be able to find him there.
The disco is close by, so we go there hoping for some information on Bardon's girlfriend. A men in a suit welcomes us but informs us the place is pretty full up at the moment and no seats remain, and that he would be able to squeeze a couple of people in but not my entire party. Understanding this as discrimination and bigotry directed to my Demons i unsummon them, and then am able to enter the disco.
What will come next? Diferent bathrooms for humans and demons? Hooded guys burning crosses and getting dismembered by innocent tentacled abominations? Bigots, all of them! Etc. Once inside the first guy we meet is having a nervous breakdown.
Ah, we're all doomed! Someone help me!
And the second one is this J.B guy we came to meet:
... has been pulling out all the stops searching for Helena, the leader of the Resistance. But since nobody knows what she looks like, they're just using the shotgun approach and arresting every single person named Helena that they can find.
While i was already informed of the obsession some japanese guys and girls have with western occultism (just like many westerners have an unhealty obsession with eastern mysticism, to be fair) i never thought it would be so widespread as to have lots and lots of japanese girls going by the named in honour to our favorite vodka drinking, cigar smoking, controversial Russian Theosophist.
I should have gone with naming all the characters japanese thingies for it to make any sense, sorry.
We also meet a woman who tells us about the nearby bar where all the american soldiers go but we already visited so there is no need to care. There is also a guy fearing nuclear bombs will be dropped in Tokyo if things get out of hand between Commander Gotou's and Embassador Thorman's troops. Those people sure get hysterical and start spinning conspiracy theories at the first chance they get, using nuclear weapons so caresly would surely spiral out of control and end civilization as we know it, reducing the world to a devastated wasteland. Who would want to do something like that?
Afterwards we find a staircase leading to the Disco's basement. There we find another Yousei Dryad wanting to have some fun with our entrails.
I'm scared...
(i lower my weapon)
Ahh! Come here, come quickly!
Approach it
What an idiot! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Yeah!
Then she attacks. We defend for a turn and we start negotiating again, always friendly. Thing go pretty well.
(the demon is ignoring you)
Flatter it
Aah! I'm so happy!
Flatter it
Ha ha ha ha! This is great!
(become my minion)
Sobing a whole lot we continue exploring the basement. Hidden in the deepest reachs is an American Soldier whom we talk to.
I go awol when i heard that. That is too far!
Then we return to the disco, meet a girl whining about civil liberties, and leave. Once outside i decide to once more summon my friends, but an unplaned development is going to change our plans for the time being...
I have lost the power to summon half my demons because somewhere down the road i did something that turned my character to Law, i suposse answering
Yes to the question about me believing in God or always using the Mesian Temple for healing and resurrection because i dislike those Gaians to a fault. This does not change our plans, however: The only way to become forced to an alignment is to leave Fate decide it for you. You can be of Law and still ally yourself with Neutrality when it comes down to it, and i'll be damned if i enter Tokyo Destiny Land's alignment maze again. Once was enough. So the true effect is that now i can't use Chaos Demons, and getting them through plain old recruitment is going to be a lot harder. My favoritism towards the Yousei, though, makes it hurt a lot less than it could: Having Jack Frost i do not really miss Azumi's Zio.
Having already finished all there is to do in Shinjuku's mall for now, i go to the nearest exit, come across some guy who says nothing of value, and leave. I travel to the building were they told me Ozawa's gang was based, but only find a stash with 1360MAG and the fat gangster holding the fort while his friends are gone, so we will have to come back later.
Now we should go to meet with the resistance, but i note i am only exactly one level away of fifteen so i start grinding the area around Shinjuku's mall for a while. At first i mess up since i had forgotten how to do the grinding game before getting Nerve Bullets, so i take several journeys to the Church to revive fallen demons and heal. Then i start abusing my spells since recharging MP is cheaper than reviving characters. Around this area we can find Shiki Lady Zombies...
... Shiki Obatarions...
... I-did-not-write-the-family Fukeis...
... Shiki Zombie Soldiers...
... Shiki Zombie Cops...
... and I-did-not-write-the-family Sankis.
All the zombies are weak against fire so Aquino and Jack O'Lantern get to have a whole lot of fun. Some, like the Zombie Soldiers, can do a lot of hurt and like to come in big groups of four or five so opening with a Maha-Agi while the rest of the group defends is priceless. I also get enough money to buy both Koneko and Bardon a set of Full Helmet, Kevlar Vest, Rivet Knuckles, and Rider Boots so they are better protected. Lots and lots of crispy zombies later Koneko reaches level 15 and runs to the Jakyo Mannor, puts Goblin and Andras in the big glass tubes, and gets...
... a Tenshi Angel with Me-Dia, Hanma, and Penpatora. Hanma is a spell that destroys undead on a hit but misses a whole lot. Penpatora is a party wide version of Patora, healing status ailments. Me-Dia we already know is the party wide version of Dia, the basic healing spell. Also, given its level and strenght most Demons in the current area die when she slaps them though she lacks the mass destruction of Jack O'Lantern and the enemy party control of Jack Frost. Finally, 70HP turn her into my frontliner and 60MP turn her into my main healer.
The Tenshi Family includes all of the celestial hierarchy that are not named characters (like Gabriel, Michael, etc) nor are direct aspects of YHVH (like Sabaoth or Adonai). Tenshi are all very good and useful Demons, strong and with a good selection of spells. Having a bunch of them around is always cool, and is one of the few families whose demons do not lose their utility once you go to higher level areas than those were you found them. They also lack a definite weakness. They are my second favorite family, though the Datenshi are more characterful because the fallen angels of the Ars Goetia have a lot of flavour and individual quirks. To get a Tenshi you fuse a Yousei with a Datenshi, the resulting demon being based on the levels of the fusion fodder.
Tenshi Angel is your run of the mill, generic Angel. Later on we will be getting some members of the Angelic Orders of our own, too: Archangels, Virtues, Powers, etc. For now, though, we have our first one and are ready to go into the basement and meet with the resistance. The guy allows us to pass this time, since the item we needed was the Bar's Matchbox. Beyond we meet a very, very greedy Dryad.
Will you love me even though I'm a demon?
Yes
I want to see a sign of your sincerity!
Give me ¥962!
Yes
More! More!
Give me Onyx.
No
Eh? Well, then...
¥673, how's that? No good?
Yes
This is good... Be gentle with me!
She uses a modified version of the Elf sprite, so i will be posting the character art once we get ourselves some elves. Dryad has Happy Song as a skill, and both Marin-Karin and Me-Dia as spells: She's more of a control caster, since her skill causes Bliss and her first spell Charms the enemy. She also is a good healer to have around, but since we already got the Angel for that role Dryad goes to rest in the COMP. Later we find our first Yuki Ghoul.
We kill them with fire and get to the Resistance's secret base, where we are received by some nameless guy.
Bardon
So, you must be the Resistance leader?
Resistance Man
Whoa, whoa, hold on there just a minute, chief! I'm not the leader, just a member. We can't just let outsiders meet our leader, It's not safe. Don't take it personally, we jut have to be really careful about who we trust.
Girl's Voice
There's no need to worry, they are safe and mean no harm to us. I will be willing to meet with them myself.
Resistance Man
Are you sure? All right then. You heard the lady, she'll meet with you. She's right beyond the room here.
Meet the Heroine:
(end of first part)