Let's Play: Kagero: Deception II

This still looks kind of clunky but that vase hell of won me over.

I agree with the Oil Vase, we can use that to soak them in oil then try out the neato Fire Arrows. In fact, let's just get the Oil Vase and save the rest of our Ark for the next interval.

Gastone will be very disappointed by the little girl instead of a beast.

I just wanna see Spike Rock on the shopping list soon.

I agree with this 100%. Good job, Turnip.

Hawk: I don’t believe it! He can’t be dead.

Gastone: Get a grip, Hawk! You’ll get us both killed too.

Hawk: …..

Gastone: We’re here to avenge Slash, aren’t we? Get it together!



As soon as this chapter begins, PANTS hears the sound of a door opening, and looking at the map reveals that she is surrounded. The map doesn’t give any clue which red dot corresponds to which enemy, so we should look to see what we’re dealing with.



PANTS runs up the stairs to see who just entered the room, and sees the beastly Gastone coming to threaten the young belle.



So PANTS runs away and into the hall. Hallways are dangerous because traps can’t be set there, but enemies can more easily attack PANTS in the narrow corridor. Hawk takes a swipe as we run by, but we make it past unscathed.



This is obviously a much more advantageous position; we can dispose of Hawk quickly before Gastone even makes it to this room.



For the record, Vase traps are kind of a pain to use. The timing depends on the victim’s walking speed, and the hit box on a Vase is much smaller than on Rock-type traps. Once Hawk has his hat, he helplessly hobbles ahead. PANTS steps aside to give us a better view for setting off traps.



Vase traps break as soon as the victim is hit by any other trap, so the Small Bomb is set off almost immediately after the Fire Arrow to continue the combo.



The final combo hit is this always-on electric chair. “Aerial Hit” is an Ark bonus for midair trap hits, and “Bingo!” means we didn’t overkill our victim at all (very much not the case with Daar or Slash).

I know what you guys are thinking, “We wanted you to set someone on fire! Hawk barely had time to burn!”

Fine.



One nice thing about the Oil Vase is that it really counts as two different traps. On a miss, it leaves an oil spill that causes an enemy to slip and gain the same flammable property as on a direct hit. The game even gives us another “Initial Trap” bonus for using it this way!



With Oil in his eyes, Gastone holds his hands close to his face and moves even slower than before…. Until he’s set on fire and starts running straight towards us, and into the path of a land mine. Sadly this isn’t getting us much Ark.

With a little maneuvering around the room, PANTS is able to get Gastone into position for a gruesome death.



Gastone walks right into the Lumber Saw and amazingly doesn’t die from it. PANTS was standing slightly to one side to make sure Gastone walked at an angle that would result in him eventually landing on the Small Bomb.



And that’s it for Gastone. Next time an enemy with a ton of hp shows up, I’ll try to set up a big combo instead of just setting him on fire… 3 times.



King Eclypse: But why do you look so concerned?

King Eclypse: Even if she betrays us, she’s limited to using traps …as you suggested.

Yocal: …..

King Eclypse: What? You aren’t worried about her, are you?

King Eclypse: I understand – we cannot have our own children.

King Eclypse: You think of her as your own child, don’t you?

Yocal: No… I am a Timenoid. I abandoned such feelings long ago.

If Yocal had “such feelings” long ago, then was she not always a Timenoid? Does that mean there’s a way for a human to become a Timenoid? hmmm….



Rain: If it’s a retreat, it should be deserted right now.

Gerald: Perfect for a TMD ambush! They’ll never expect us here.

Gerald: Agreed. Let’s designate this castle as our battle site.



In retrospect, I wish I’d gotten the death blow on Gastone with the Lumber Saw, just because it would sound cooler.



Next mission, we get 3 opponents! Gerald and Rain are particularly important; killing them or allowing them to go free greatly alters many of the upcoming chapters. Killing them now, however, does not prevent us from getting any of the endings.

Lava Vase is the only new trap available, but 5121 Ark gives us lots of choices. So in addition to the usual, “what should I buy?” I need to know whether to spare or slaughter Gerald and Rain? (You can’t kill one and let the other go)

Next… “Chapter 4: Tangled Thoughts”

You need to buy that.

And so far we've killed everyone. Might as well go all out.

I say let them go free, but I'm a big pansy like that.

I don't think this guy is human. His grammar/word choice sounds like a robot trying to pass, to me.

MURDERING FELLOW HOO-MANS IS BAD.

"I am a human. I am concerned at the murder of my fellow human. Because I too am a human."

I stick with my vote of Spike Rock. I'm kinda inclined to let them live, just to mix things up a bit, but that would mean less ARK for our next shopping trip.

Basin and Spring Floor. I'd love to see how you'd make those two work.

Also, spare Gerald and Rain - all this killing is making me feel guilty.

The TMDs move you to other castles later on. I think this first one's just the "prove your usefulness to mom" area.

Yes. Chapter 6 takes us to a new castle that's twice as big, and chapter 16 takes us to another location of comparable size.

It looks like Gerald & Rain will live through this chapter, leaving McLord to bear the brunt of the new traps. Update will be sometime late tonight; single opponents don't take long to dispatch and write up, but I won't be able to start working on it for a few hours.

Gerald: Haven’t you heard from Deadmoon yet?

McLord: Nothing concerning plans to kill the respected TMD.



McLord: What do you mean, you don’t respect the TMD?

McLord: You’re crazy! TMD gave us life! I won’t betray them.

McLord: *walks away and enters the castle*

Gerald: Wait, McLord!

Rain: Gerald.

Rain: That’s strange – why didn’t he know about the mission?

Gerald: Yes … strange.



McLord: No need to worry, now! I caught you red-handed!

McLord refuses to fight Timenoids, but has no problem bludgeoning a human girl to death for assumed trespassing? As you can see, McLord starts only a few steps away, so we need to immediately escape to another room to come up with a plan.



McLord has a higher movement speed than Hawk or Slash, and is through the door just as the traps have finished charging. Magnet traps are useful against fast enemies because they cover a fairly large area and don’t require precise timing. The downside is the lack of damage, and that it only counts as a combo hit if the enemy is pulled all the way to the Magnet itself.



Spring Floor is one of the best traps in the game. The target square for the bladed pendulum is exactly 4 squares away from the wall, but no NPC is stupid enough to walk there of their own accord. Spring Floor is great for placing victims directly in the path of nearly any room device, and I will try not to overuse it, even if it is a regular part of my trap arsenal.



McLord hasn’t completely stood up by the time the pendulum hits him in the back of the head, so it counts as another combo hit, and knocks him to the side where our newly minted Spike Rock is ready to finish the job.



Gerard & Rain have only just entered the castle by the time McLord dies, making you wonder what were they doing that took them so long?



Jeez! Why does everyone jump to conclusions in this game?



Fortunately for PANTS the poor liar, both choices are true statements.

Rain: Good, I never really liked McLord anyway. *

* she doesn’t actually say this.

No perfect genocide this time. Perfect Genocide gives a 500 Ark bonus, and each sacrifice is worth 300 Ark. Even with the 4 Initial Trap bonuses, this chapter doesn’t give us much more Ark to work with.

Deadmoon: You’ve killed five Timenoids?

Keith: Yes, sir.

Keith: But one of your men, McLord, was killed by a human in the west castle.



Deadmoon: Of course, you took care of the human who killed McLord, didn’t you?

Keith: No, sir. The mission of the Red Blood is to exterminate the Timenoids. Our mission is not to kill humans.

Keith: That soldier died in vain. He was killed because he disregarded my orders and tried to destroy the human.



Deadmoon: Then, there is nothing to do.

Keith: I discovered something during the battle.

Keith: Our mission is to exterminate the Timenoid.

Keith: But it seems that your mission, master Deadmoon, is not simply to kill the Timenoids, but to gain control of the country.

Deadmoon: I just don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed. I am a priest, after all.

Keith: Then, why…

Keith: Why is it that you do not hesitate to kill the humans?

*fadeout*



Deadmoon: He’ll pay for this.

Deadmoon: Are you there, Matia?

Matia: Yes.

Deadmoon: You’ve already taken care of all the mercenaries we lent to the Red Blood, haven’t you?



Deadmoon: Well done.

Deadmoon: We can’t be associated with any Timenoid deaths. We must make it appear that the Red Blood are behind this.

Deadmoon: The mercenaries who didn’t return were killed by a girl at the west castle. We have to take care of her, too.

Matia: What?! Haven’t the Red Blood taken care of the girl… even though they failed the mission?

Deadmoon: That might be part of their strategy. They may be trying to avoid criticism from the humans by letting her live.

Matia: That’s a laugh. How can they expect to avoid criticism from the humans when they’ve murdered so many Timenoids?

Matia: Understood. Let me take care of the girl.

Deadmoon: Good. It’s no problem if the Red Blood accuses me – who’d listen to a killer? But if anyone else betrays me…

Matia: Yes, sir.

Deadmoon: I’ve even lost the ability to pledge my loyalty to the King.

Deadmoon: I’m sure the Kind will keep his promise.

As you can see, this chapter’s wrap up is where the game reveals an actual plot beyond just “kill people”.



Three fast opponents next time, Hunna is the only one who will try to run away. 2658 Ark isn’t much to spend, and you guys have given me a slight backlog of traps to go through by now. Let me know if you want to change your vote, otherwise I’ll use prior posts for shopping preferences.

Next… “Chapter 5: Ordeal of the Young”

Hunna looks entirely uninteresting from that description, so I say kill her for the full Ark amount.

Man, I'd never even heard of this series, but despite the hokey text it looks dang interesting to play. Are the controls an exercise in frustration or is it pretty easy to move around and such?

For a 3d game that came out in 1998 and doesn't support an analog stick, the controls are pretty good.

Replaying this game makes me want to replay the PS2 entry ("Trapt"), though I remember not liking it for some reason. Now that it's $10 at EBStop, I'll probably give it another go.

I remember playing a bit of this game and thinking the trap-gameplay was awesome, but I don't remember any of this Timenoid bullshit.

Seriously, this story is awful. But the traps are so bad ass that it doesn't matter.

*banjo music*

Matia: That’s right.

Matia: That’s why you need to perform well here: to earn our faith.



The south enemy is closer, so we set up traps right outside the door. Obviously, this is a bad place to stand if the enemy has ranged attacks.



That is a pretty massive bear trap. By all rights, it should cut Ash in half, but it’s more useful holding him in place for rolling the Spike Rock into him.



Hmm... Looks like I vastly overestimated this combo’s effectiveness; Ash isn’t even knocked down. PANTS had best run and try again in the next room.



This is inconvenient, I wonder if the Magnet wall will last long enough to catch Hunna, too?



CRAP! The question I should have asked was, “will the Magnet wall charge fast enough?” No, it won’t. Time to run away some more.



We might as well set off the Magnet wall before leaving the room, it might catch and slow down Hunna. Fortunately, that happens just before we leave the room, so we can set off the other two traps.



Being pinned underwater by a giant spiked rock would be a horrifying nightmare that I hope not to have tonight. The game shows you every trap hit, which is nice because often enough you’ll be running away or not in the same room.



You should have thought of that when you saw the room with the electric chair, pendulum blade, and OSHA noncompliant Lumber Saw!

Basin can be a useful trap, but it can also be very dangerous. After getting hit with it, Ash charges towards us, faster than his normal walking speed (I’d estimate 50% faster). Basin can be a fun way to get enemies where you want them, but if the timing on your follow-up trap is wrong, you have to be prepared to flee.



Ash meets his nemesis the Heavy Claw again, and receives massive blunt force trauma to the head.

Now we wait. Hunna is badly hurt and will slowly hobble towards the exit, while Statz spawns a couple rooms away from us….



Next time I cripple an enemy, I’ll try to stand closer to get a better picture of them limping while clutching their midsection. The Basin, of course, changes everything, and she finds the inner strength to run directly towards PANTS and the suspicious bloodstain on the floor in front of her.



Did I mention Spring Floor is one of my favorite traps?



Statz seems to want to stay in the altar room, he certainly could have easily outrun Hunna if he was trying to get to PANTS.



What…?



There he is. But, if he’s just going to cower in the corner, it sure makes killing him easy.



Damn it Press Wall! *sigh* wtb: wall trap that knocks ppl down



Well at least he’s still cowering… nevermind. I hate thieves.



No more playing around. Spring Floor, followed by Press Wall into the Lumber Saw, finished with a Spike Rock.

If you haven’t been paying attention to clear times, this chapter took longer than the previous 4 combined. Mostly because of waiting for Hunna and chasing Statz.



Priest Dusk: I’m so sorry, my King.

Priest Dusk: Unfortunately, we’ve yet to identify any of the killers.

Priest Dusk: However, since so many TMD were killed in this attack…

Priest Dusk: …the humans involved must be very powerful.

King Eclypse: Hmm. Maybe it’s the nobleman, Hornstein?

Priest Dusk: It may be Deadmoon. With his involvement the reason is clear.

King Eclypse: They assume we’ll trade immortality for allegiance?!

Priest Dusk: Yes. They obviously don’t understand what that entails.

Priest Dusk: They have some reason to revolt. Maybe that’s it.

King Eclypse: I see.

Priest Dusk: This is only my guess, your majesty, but I believe there may be an attempt on your life by a rebel faction.

Priest Dusk: I suggest you take temporary refuge at our sacred place.

King Eclypse: Yes. We have no choice. But how should we solve this problem?

Priest Dusk: Strike at once, using a loyal agent they won’t suspect.

King Eclypse: We’ll use PANTS. She’ll easily avoid raising suspicion.

Priest Dusk: Yes, my King.



Yocal: Why do the humans kill the TMD?

Yocal: No one knows. It’s very sad that this had to happen.

Yocal: The King will take shelter elsewhere. And you, PANTS…

Yocal: He appoints you to guard the castle. A great honor.

Yocal: You must protect the castle and keep it safe.

PANTS: *nods*



Hornstein: So, the news of the massacre was true.

Hornstein: Yes… this is our chance to prove out loyalty to the TMD.

Deadmoon: You could be right.

Hornstein: It’s simple… we catch their murderers, and gain their trust.

Hornstein: Ooops! Don’t repeat that to anyone. It’s just between us.

Deadmoon: …..

Deadmoon: Have you heard news about the murderers?

Hornstein: No, nothing. How about you?

Deadmoon: I don’t think I should say…

Why on earth would Deadmoon broach this subject if he didn’t want to talk about it? And somewhere lines got crossed between the meanings of politically powerful and individually powerful. Plot is not this game’s strong suit.



We have a new map!



One of these 2 will try to run as soon as they take damage! Can you guess which one? And should I let him is the more important question.

We’re starting to see some fairly expensive traps, but these later chapters tend to give us more targets for gaining Ark. I’ve never tried farming Ark from self-healers like Deadmoon, but I imagine it could be effective (if tedious). 5075 Ark gives us a few choices here, so what will they be?

Next… “Chapter 6: Castle of Illusion” (not starring Mickey Mouse)

Let the fat man live! Soon his rich diet will deliver him into the hands of diabetes mellitus, killing him without the slightest effort on your part.

if I die this way, these will totally be my last words.

well, that or "AAUUAGHHGHAHGHAAGGHAHHRHGHJHGHHGHHGAAAHHHHHHH "

Spring Floor cooks with three kinds of heat. I hope to see it often.

Your opinion may've been colored by these assholes.

That Deadmoon fella is no good. He's got to go.