Moonspeak! 1337speak! Let's Play Soul Hackers!

I wish I could play these games... but I can only stand RPGs on handhelds now.

Filler Update: Let's Remember Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner


In 1995, a man and his girlfriend were... Wait. It would better to start at the very beginning, wouldn it?


Date: Approximately 600 BC
Place: The land of Qin, located in what is now southern Japan.

Queen Anu of Qin, a direct descendant of the settlers from the mainland who came Japan, bears a daughter named Inanna. The country of Qin is a shamanisitic matriarchy, for the women of the royal line have strong spiritual powers that defend the small country from invaders. Qin is a country different from most: The people live in peace with the native spirits of the land, the things that others might call "Demons" or "Ogres." Princess Inanna grew up in a peaceful time, thanks to her mother.

But! Of course there's a but!

The Great King of Yamato, Jimmu-Tennoh, under the guidance of the sacred bird Yatagarasu, sought to unify the land. The people of Qin refused to become a part of Yamato. Jimmu-Tennoh declared war on the tiny country. Inanna is unable to protect her country from the invading Yamato army. Jimmu-Tennoh drove the demons and ogres from the land, and Inanna was arrested. For daring to stand against Jimmu-Tennoh, she was executed.

As she lay dying, she burned her anger onto the world: The sorrow she felt for the people she could not protect, the anger she felt for the people of Yamato for destroying her country, her own self-loathing. All of it. Remember that part of The End of Evangelion, where Asuka's in her Eva after she's had the lance go through her eye, and the Eva series is circling over her head, and she reaches into the sky chanting "I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you"? Yeah, that's pretty much how I imagine Inanna died.

Her spirit did not move on.


Her vengeful spirit rampaged across the land of Yamato, destroying people, buildings, animals, mountains... anything that stood in her path. Only the combined forces of Yamato's most powerful were able to seal her away. A city was built atop her seal, and the guardians were appointed to watch over it.

Thousands of years pass, with each passing day Inanna's hatred of the world grows. The purpose of the guardians fade from memory.

Date: 1995 AD
Location: Hirasaka City, located in southern Japan.

A stranger arrives in town. A string of grisly murders follow. A strange event is witnessed across the city, as is a sound described only as "the roar of thousands of demons."

A young man pays no attention to it. Instead, he's busy chatting with someone online named "Redman." Their chat is interrupted by the arrival of young man's girlfriend, Hadano Kumiko. They have a date. The young man soon finds himself in a trap, fighting for his life against demons. A man and a woman appear before him: Kuzunoha Kyouji and Rei Reihou. They tell the young man to go back to his life and forget everything.

The next day, the young man sees a TV report: A body that was found late the night before was identified as Kuzunoha Kyouji, a private investigator. There was no apparent cause of death, so an autopsy will be performed.

The young man passes by a construction site, and encounters a priest. The young man quickly realizes something's wrong as the priest talks. He introduces himself as Sid Davis. He offers the young man life if he can find the exit. But there is no exit. The young man dies.


The young man awakens at a beautiful river. A pale man named Charon appears before him. Charon refuses to let the young man pass. It is not his time to die. Instead, he is returned to Earth. He's not allowed to return to his own body, however.

The young man awakens in a hospital. The doctors start screaming, yelling, "Zombie, zombie!" The woman... the one that saved him before, calls him Kyouji. The young man has possessed the body of Kuzunoha Kyouji. With nothing better to do, the young man goes to Mari, a local medium. Mari is able to contact the spirit of Kyouji, who instructs the young man on what to do next. The first task is to go to the Goumaden and get a computer from the owner. Victor, the owner, is more than happy to give the young man a computer. A special computer. One with a devil summoning program.

A couple of wacky misadventures later, some involving a man named Dr. Thrill and the artificial demons he calls the Gargantua series...


Sid has come to town to break a seal on Princess Inanna's spirit. The five locations around the city that act as a seal are broken, one-by-one. But he needs just one more thing: A body with which to channel her spirit. He finds one in the form of the last descendant of the Qin royal family: Hadano Kumiko.


The young man and Rei corner Sid and Kumiko, but Sid escapes into the Astral Realm with her. The young man's pursues them, and once more comes face-to-face with Charon, and the spirit of Kuzunoha Kyouji. They reveal that the young man's death and subsequent resurrection within Kyouji's body was not a quirk of fate. They had conspired together to make it happen. Sid has the power to issue a death curse to anyone. The Bible he carries with him? That's a DEATH NOTE. No, just kidding, it's actually a computer that he uses to summon demons. It makes more sense han a saxophone. The unique existence of a foreign soul within another's body is immune to Sid's magic. Kumiko's ancestry was not unknown to Kyouji either. That's why her boyfriend was chosen. Only he would have the iron will to save her. Which, y'know, that's one hell of a gamble.

Deep beneath the city, the young man and Rei finally catch up to Sid and Kumiko. He's already begun the ceremony.　The young man and Rei are defeat Sid, but not before Inanna is released from her prison.


In true Megaten fashion, the best way to heal the angry spirit of a dead Princess is to beat the every loving shit out of her. And they do. And they do. Happy!Inanna thanks the young man for freeing her soul and allowing her to rest in peace.

Afterwards, Kumiko thanks him, Kyouji begins to possess a new body, and Rei finally figures out that the guy who's been by her side the whole time wasn't actually Kyouji. He takes up the name of Kuzunoha Kyouji though, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

Kyouji's new body? Has a thing for purple, eye-liner, and was in the last update.

By the way, once Inanna's first form is defeated, she turns into a giant tentacle demon:


Lovely. They also made a live action TV series based on it. We'll be going over that later, probably between Disc 1 and 2. I'm going to go ahead and break the news to y'all: It's really not very good at all.

Next time: I'm sure it won't be annoying at all! /cuts wrist

Sorry, this should have been up last night, but I had some technical difficulties. Hopefully, the next update will be later tonight.

Between last update and this one:

BandyAid took some of the cash he got from beating the Speed Demon to the Casino, where he played the Dice Game. He used his winnings to buy the Pajamas of Happiness (歓喜の寝具), a "Gift" item that will raise a demon's loyalty. They'll also recover the HP of a party members while walking around if they're in the inventory. They're pretty awesome to have around, because they heal a crap load of HP per step.

Update 9: Atlus Rapes Puppies

BandyAid heads back to his home in Akanedai, where his mother greets him at the door. Tomoko was messing around with BandyAid's computer, and


She's acting kind of funny. Unresponsive. Trance-like. Hitomi notes that Tomoko is logged into Paradigm-X, and is viewing the Art Gallery. BandyAid feels a sudden pain in his chest. Could it be... an omen? Perhaps it is but memories from another lifetime where he's already endured the horror that is to come. Nemissa urges him to return to the Hideout so they can go to Paradigm-X and see what's up.

BandyAid stops in Shibahama Core and buys some new equipment:

• Ninja Sword (ニンジャソード, an imitation sword made of aluminum alloy)
• Hide Armor (ハイドアーマー, Strength + 2)
• Yamato Bracers (大和手甲, Personal effects from an ancient Civil War, immunity to Curses)

Nemissa doesn't get anything new. But oh, she's will by the end of this update. And it will be one of few shining beacons of hope for us all.


Back at the Hideout, BandyAid decides it would be in his best interest to equip the Back Upper software, because he senses something terrible on the way. It would also be a good idea if Nemissa put her level up points into Intelligence and Agility for the near future.

There's a new post on Summoner's Net about the Pet Shop in Paradigm-X being used to trade demons. From now on, BandyAid can access the "real" features of the Pet Shop. In fact, BandyAid's going there RIGHT now.


There are five traders right now, and a few more will show up before the game ends. The traders are:

• Rokusuke, who wants demons with specific spells or abilities.
• Mister DNA, who wants demons with certain stat levels.
• Timing X, who wants demons of a certain race/alignment.
• Mrs. Ryouko, who wants specific demons.
• Anoon, who wants demons with maxed out loyalty.

The only thing that catches BandyAid's etye is Anoon's sole request: Any demon with max loyalty. He checks his stock and sees that he's carrying around a rogue Gallytrot from a few dungeons ago. He heads back outside and force feeds it cheese and crackers (珍味のおつまみ) until it's loyalty has reached 5.


He sends it to Anoon. She rewards him with a Datenshi Seere, as well as a copy of the rules for Demon Metamorphosis. Which... isn't that helpful. Anoon now has three additional requests available:

• A stupid demon with max loyalty
• A friendly demon with max loyalty
• A clever demon with max loyalty

The last one catches BandyAid's eye, because the reward? Majuu Nekomata. But alas, he has no demons that meet the criteria that he's willing to part with, so he resigns himself to saving his sister. To the VR Theater! The VR Art Gallery is part of the "A Course."

BandyAid notices that this is a first person dungeon, so even though there are no encounters in the gallery-proper, his MAG is still going down. He does NOT approve. The painting Tomoko was looking at is located on the north end of the second floor.

When TAS approaches the painting, titled "Aqua Dolphin," Nemissa hears a girl's voice. Hitomi says it's coming from the painting! BandyAid backflips into the painting, shouting out "Let'sa Go!" in what is best defined as a vaguely-racist attempt at an Italian accent.

TAS find themselves inside the painting. In a canyon. Underwater. A dolphin and a girl are just ahead. TAS moves forward!


Even though there are no encounters, BandyAid is losing full MAG with each step. And... they don't seem to be getting any closer. After losing a little over 100 MAG and passing the same stone archway several times, Nemissa helpfully points out that they're not getting any closer. There's no choice but to exit and see if there's another way.


Right outside of the Aqua Dolphin hallway, a strangely-dressed man appears. He introduces himself to TAS as Juggler. Maybe "The Juggler." It's kind of like the Joker and the Riddler had a retarded mPreg baby. He wants to play a game. In the Gallery, there are three chess pieces that belong in the painting "Chess by the Window." Unless TAS returns those pieces to their rightful place, they won't be able to continue into Aqua Dolphin. With that, Juggler leaves. I imagine he probably did backflips and cackled, or something goofy like that.

There's a Save Point and a Heal Spot on the second floor, which TAS make use of. The time on the save file is 4:36.

I want to make one thing clear, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me: I hate this dungeon. I hate it. Hate it. hateithateithateithateithateithateithateit. Hate. It's divided into three different paintings, located around the Art Gallery. It feels like the entire thing was designed to waste the player's MAG.


TAS's first stop is "Strange Area," which is very Dali-esque. It's populated by these little bowling ball-headed freaks. Hitomi's afraid of them, but Nemissa thinks they're cute. This is one of the few occasions BandyAid agrees with Hitomi over Nemissa.

BandyAid attempts to check his big map, only to find it disabled. Great. Luckily, Neo-Clear/Mapper still work.


The gimmick of Strange Area is that TAS must step on these teleporters to try and get to the room with the Chess Piece. When BandyAid steps on this particular one, TAS is dumped out in a wide open space. Hitomi is confused, mostly because this event was supposed to be triggered by walking rather than teleporting, but Nemissa's figured out yet another dark secret of Strange Area: The entire thing is looped. No big map AND it loops, making it more difficult to figure out which warp points BandyAid's already tried. I HATE THIS DUNGEON.

Nemissa also dies at some point. Remember how BandyAid found that Engagement Ring at the Planetarium and Nemissa equipped it? Remember how it was weak to a certain attack-property? She happened to run into an enemy with a special attack that deals that type of damage. It took BandyAid down to the red, so maybe she would have died with or without the ring equipped. Either way, she swaps it out for the Ring of the Universal Will.

It's worth noting that she has a unique "death" status: Dying. It's functionally the same as "Dead" but it's unique to her. BandyAid summons Oshira-sama to cast Recarm on her.

BandyAid also recruits a Ryuuou (Dragon King) Yata-no-Kami, which is immune to strike attacks (Physical attacks from most demons) and Gunfire (Less useful). It has the skills Mahazio, Sukunda, and ParalaEye. Yata-no-Kami gets to sit front and center, and his job is best described as "Meat Shield"

Shortly thereafter, Nemissa levels up and learns a new spell: Marin Karin, a charm-inducing spell. She would have obtained the infinitely more useful "Hama" had she been Fire-based, and the ultimately useless "Mudo" if she had been Ice-based.

BandyAid also recruits another Kijo Acheri, which is like, his third or fourth one so far. He wanted to recruit Kijo Leanan Sidhe, but she seemed more interested in eating his face.): He pours some liquor (吟醸ゆめざくら) down Acheri's throat to make her friendly (she's the ghost of a little girl, so I guess BandyAid is going to get a call from Demonic Social Services) and raises her loyalty to 5 by Guarding.


Eventually, fortune smiles upon TAS, or a merciful deity takes pity of them, and they find the correct teleporter. TAS finds itself in an enclosed structure. Fortune is a cruel mistress, however, and places two teleporters the end. One will allow BandyAid to continue on, the other is going to boot him back to the entrance. This is why BandyAid equipped the Back Upper to his COMP. He makes his choice... and turns WEST. And it he finds himself in a new enclosed space, which also has two warp points: One off to the side, the other is straight ahead. BandyAid takes the one to the side. It was the correct one! He finds himself in a place that looks suspiciously like the first inclosed structure, and takes the right teleporter. BOOM, another inclosed space. He sees a room in this one on his Neo-Clear display. Inside the room is the Rook piece. He can now leave this godforsaken painting.

BandyAid takes a breather in the Art Gallery proper and decides to do some administrative work. First, he fuses Tenshi Angel with Shinjuu Oshira-sama to create Genma Hachidaioh.


Genma (Illusion) Hachidaioh repels Expel and is weak to Curse. His abilities are Mellow Beat (高揚の歌, inflicts "High" status on a single target), Drunk Smile (ドランクスマイル, Charms all enemies), Mamorikuzushi (マモリクズシ), Cupped-Fist Strike (端杯手の突き), and Angel-inherited Hama. Hachidaioh is a stupid demon, which shouldn't be surprising what with the liquor bottle and the skills Mellow Beat and Drunk Smile.


BandyAid also drops back by the Pet Shop to give Acheri to Anoon. Anoon gives BandyAid Majuu Nekomata and a partial list of Demon Metamorphosis outcomes.

Majuu (Demon Beast) Nekomata is a clever demon who's far higher than BandyAid's level. However, that doesn't matter one bit because he got her from trading at the Pet Shop. Nekomata drains Force spells, and has the abilities Marin Karin, Dormina, Scratch and Estoma. Not exactly a good set of skills. Estoma is useless in this game because of MAG consumption (demons still consume MAG when you're walking around, and if you aren't fighting you aren't getting any more. You could counteract this by now having any demons summoned, but then if you did encounter any foes they'd be at a higher level than you, and you'd be alone.)

Worse yet, since she's a clever demon, she only gains loyalty points if her offensive skills connect, so she'll have to charm an enemy or put it to sleep to gain loyalty. This is bad. Luckily, BandyAid has liqour that'll make her Friendly (吟醸ゆめざくら), so she'll gain loyalty by guarding! Ah booze, are their any problems you can't fix?


BandyAid heads back to the Art Gallery. The next painting is on the first floor, and is titled "Secluded Waterfall." Don't be fooled by the painting, it's actually a cave dungeon. There's a locked room in the center of the dungeon that has the Chess piece. But to open it, BandyAid will have to speak to the four hermits spread out in the cave.

"Secluded Waterfall" is an annoying place, because it's filled with long corridors and few battles. The battles bounce between being really weak enemies (There's a Chirei brigade that'll show up containing 3 Knockers, 2 Koro-Pok-Gurus and a Putz) and ones that can actually hurt. Nemissa dies a few times against Majuu Kanfull because its Ice Breath really hurts while she's wearing High Leg Armor. BandyAid recruits a Chirei Knocker, then decides to make a tactical retreat.

BandyAid heads to Shibahama Core and buys some Tranquilizer Bullets (麻酔弾) from Video Muscle, 8 Return Orbs (地返しの玉) and a couple of Soul Incenses (反魂香) from Drug Gear. Those Tranq Bullets are on of the reasons he's been raising his Intelligence. The higher it is, the more likely it'll inflict sleep. Then he hops over to the Goumaden, where he fuses Chirei Koro-Pok-Guru with Chirei Knocker to create Seirei Gnome:


Seirei (Elemental Spirit) Gnome is mostly a means to an end. It has the abilities Zio, Lightning Storm of Loyalty (忠義の電撃), and an inherited Patra. Gnome reflects Lightning magic, voids Expel and resists Curses and status magic.

BandyAid's COMP is not capable of creating Seirei, so he has to haul his ass over to the Goumaden if he wants one.

He also processes the hell out of Nekomata to create the NyanNyan Claw for Nemissa:

If ever there was a case for Nemissa to be a physical fighter, the NyanNyan Claw is it. These babies are more powerful than BandyAid's current Ninja Sword, and Nemissa's attack power surpasses his just by equipping them. They give her 2 additional points to her Agility and attack an entire row of enemies.

...unfortunately, they can't be used from the back row. Sorry Nemissa, you're only going to be using your kittycat claws if TAS gets back attacked! But it's ok, the 2 Agility points are totally worth it. In fact, this is pretty much the last weapon Nemissa's going to ever have. So yeah guys, Nemissa's been through four dungeons and she's already got what I consider to be her ultimate weapon.

BandyAid returns his other demons to the COMP and summons WISHBONE. Despite what I just said, Nemissa moves to the front row. The trio heads off to the Sea Ark Hotel where they spend several minutes hunting down a Yousei Pixie and Yousei Penangal on the second floor. They go back to the Goumaden where they fuse the two to create Seirei Undine:


Seirei (Elemental Spirit) Undine has the abilities Bufu and Blizzard of Loyalty, is weak to Fire, reflects Ice, Voids Expel, and Resists Curses and status effects.

Now BandyAid can fuse both Seireis together to create Mitama Nigi Mitama and...

CRAP ON A STICK, BandyAid still needs one more level before he can fuse it.

Back to the "Secluded Waterfall" TAS goes.

BandyAid figures he can finish this part of the dungeon and by then he can gain a level. To do this, he's supposed to talk to all of the Hermits twice, in this order: The one located in the Southwest room, the one in the Northwest room, the one in the Northeast room, the one in the Southeast room, turn around and speak with the one in the Southeast room again, the one in Northeast room , the one in the Northwest room, then the one in the Southwest room. Then, he's supposed to turn around and speak with the one in the Southwest room again. He begins his journey.


About halfway through, he realizes something terrible:


BandyAid didn't check the locked door in the center room, so he didn't properly start the event. All of the walking from one end of the dungeon to the other was for naught. He has to start it all over. I HATE THIS DUNGEON.
BandyAid hits Level 25. He praises his merciful deities, and leaves the godforsaken cave to return to the Goumaden. He fuses Mitama Nigi Mitama:


Mitama (Principle Spirit) Nigi Mitama is a stoic demon that repels Curses and Expel, resists Magic and status effects, but is weak to Physical attacks. It has the abilities Sukunda, Poisum-Di, Dia, and Patra.

BandyAid returns to Paradigm-X, and visits the Pet Shop with his new found Mitama-friend. He strikes up a conversation with a gentleman named Mister DNA, who requests a demon with over 10 Intelligence points. Why, it just so happens that Nigi Mitama has 12 Intelligence points! What luck! He's rewards BandyAid with Megami Scathach.


Megami (Goddess) Scathach is a stoic demon who voids Expel magic. She has the abilities Mahazan, Rakunda, Mediarama, and Bomb-di. She also has 17 Strength, and is 11 levels stronger than BandyAid.

Zan is Force-type magic, which has the strongest base power of any spell-type besides Almighty. Mediarama is a second-tier full-party healing spell. Rakunda lowers the enemy party's defense, and Bomb-Di removes Bomb status. One of these spells is absolute shit, and I'll let y'all figure that out by yourselves.

BandyAid is sure she'll he'll get her to show some emotion if he pours enough liquor down her throat. FRIENDLY WINE (吟醸ゆめざくら): A Devil Summoner's Best Friend.

BandyAid heads back to the Goddamn VR Art Gallery, heads to second floor save point and records his data. It's been 7 hours and 12 minutes y'all. I was at four and half hours earlier this update. I've spent roughly a third of my TOTAL playing time just going through this one dungeon. It's safe to say that Atlus called and left a message: "It's on bitch."

Next time: Three boss battles.

How story heavy would you say the Devil Summoner games are compared to, say, the SMT series or Persona?

Definitely digging this.

The easiest way to answer that question: More than SMT, less than Persona. I say more than SMT, because it tries to give the characters actual motivations beyond "So I kinda like these LAW-aligned guys, so I'm gonna be one of them now and turn into a giant asshole!"

There also seems to be a clearcut reason the player is visiting certain locations, unlike in SMT where a lot of the time the player has to go somewhere just because.

So... how come he doesn't use it on Rei?

You can't just leave us hanging like that!

It's against his religion to hit girls.

Nocturne really cracked me up like this, because I was trying to recall the plot, and when I got to Isamu and Chiaki, I thought, "What's up with these two, anyway?" Then I decided they were both just brats.

Update 10: Nemissa comes into her own, or Return to the Abyss


TAS re-enters the Abyss of "Secluded Waterfall." A few steps in, BandyAid summons Scathach and gets her drunk. One battle later, her loyalty has been maxed out and she's returned to the COMP. She's great and all, but high level demons that consume 8 MAG per step should only be used sparingly at this point in the game.

TAS also has a rather nasty run-in with a pack of Hakujoushis. They manage to charm Nemissa, probably because she's still wearing her Metal Turban (weak to Charm). Remember all that raving about her NyanNyan Claw? When applied to TAS's front line, it fuggin hurts. Barely making it out of that battle alive BandyAid and Nemissa take off the Metal Turbans and equip some of their old helmets.

BandyAid has also forgotten something: When he speaks to the Hermits on the second go around, they'll teleport him back outside the painting. BandyAid uses some colorful language, and wonders if VR buildings can burn.


After sitting through the enter painting FMV 4 times, BandyAid finally receives the key to the locked door and obtains the Knight Piece.

The last piece is in possession of Juggler, who's waiting for BandyAid in "Chess by the Window."


"Chess by the Window" is blessedly straight-forward. There's lots of Tenshi and Yousei-class demons hanging around. TAS's first encounter is Tenshi Principality. It dies and leaves behind a Guard Angel (ガードエンジェル), which BandyAid equips.


BandyAid encounters the Hee-ho Brigade, and immediately contacts Jack Lantern. Their conversation is very meta. Yousei Jack Lantern joins Team Adhesive Strip.


Yousei (Fairy) Jack Lantern, known locally as Pyro Jack, is a clever demon who drains fire but is weak to ice. His abilities are Agi, Maharagi, and Dormina.

BandyAid comes to a hallway. On the far right side is a Soul Incense, and on the far left is a Chakra Pot. (There was also some treasure in the previous two paintings, but it was pretty worthless compared to what TAS already has) Through the double doors is the gimmick: The giant chess board.


Normally such a thing would invoke fear in my heart, but Atlus has decided that to go a cheap route, and so there's no actual chess minigame. Instead, BandyAid's movement is confined to white panels with the King's seal. If he steps on one that doesn't have it, he'll be warped back to the start of the area. It's actually quite underwhelming.

After the giant chess board, BandyAid is in another hallway. On either side of the hallway are rooms with chests that contain VERY IMPORTANT items: There's a Disclose Stone (ディクローズの石) in each one. It is very important that BandyAid pick up these items, or else the next boss fight is going to be nearly impossible.

Moving forward, BandyAid braces himself for what he knows is coming. He summons Scathach, and allows her to take his place on the front row. He moves to the back, and summons Yousei Silky as well. He takes a deep breath and enters the next room.


The Juggler taunts BandyAid, saying that he has the last piece and that BandyAid's never going to be able to get it. Juggler summons two Jaki Rahmjergs, and the boss battle begins.

The Juggler is weak to Fire, Ice and Lightning. He has the abilities Tarukaja, Sukukaja, Whisper of Silence (沈黙のささやき) and Scratch (引っかき). In front of him are the two Jaki Rahmjergs, which are both weak to magic but extremely resistant to physical attacks. Like, only take 10% damage from them. The obvious solution is to blow the shit out of them with magic, right? If it were that easy.

Juggler will, on his first turn, use Whisper of Silence to silence TAS. Silence is a battle effect in this game, rather than a status effect that hits individuals. The only way to dispel the effect is a Disclose Stone, of which the party only has 2. And Juggler will eventually cast it again. BandyAid will be able to buy more Disclose Stones from Automatar, but not until he reaches level 36 or so. That sort of defeats the purpose, since this is probably the only battle where it actually matters.

So what's TAS to do? Well, that's where our magic users comes in. Zio spells, in addition to dealing damage, can also shock an enemy so that it loses it's turn. Same deal with Bufu spells. The chances of inflicitng these states are based on Intelligence. That's why Nemissa's been building her Intelligence for the past couple of level ups, so that she'd hopefully be able to shock Juggle before he can cast Whisper of Silence. Since TAS also has Yata-no-Kami, who has Mahazio, and Silky, who has Blizzard of Loyalty, it increases TAS's chances of stopping Juggler.

On the first turn, Scathach casts Rakunda, just in case, Yata-no-Kami casts Mahazio with an anchor on Juggler, Hachidaioh doesn't really do anything productive, Nemissa casts Zio on Juggler, BandyAid defends and Silky uses Blizzard of Loyalty. Nemissa's Zio shocks Juggler, preventing him from acting. Yata-no-Kami's Mahazio shocks one of the Rahmjergs. By the second turn, the Rahmjerg are gone and Juggler still hasn't had a chance to act. By the third turn he's dead. His death was very satisifying.


He drops the Bishop Piece. That's all three pieces! Now TAS just has to find the gameboard and they'll be in business. There's only one way to go, and that's forward.


TAS encounter their first ever consecutive battle, where another Hee-ho Brigade attacks immediately after dispatching some other beasties that were too ugly to live. BandyAid tries talking to a Jack Frost, only to scare it. This ends of coercing it to join TAS.


Yousei (Fairy) Jack Frost is a clever demon (Dear Atlus: No one believes you). It drains Ice and is weak to Fire. Jack Frost has the abilities Bufu, Mahabufu, and Mellow Beat.

At the end of the way, there's a room with a chessboard inside. Go-go-grainy FMV! The pieces fall into place and a big "Check Mate!" flashes across the screen. The barrier in "Aqua Dolphin" has finally been broken!

Nemissa takes a moment to put on the Cold Suit from waaaaaaay back. For no reason at all.


This time, TAS is able to reach the dolphin, and... it has a halo. And wings. And calls itself "Snappy." And Snappy wants to suck Tomoko's brains out. Hitomi manages to snap Tomoko out of her trance, and Snappy, the Halo'd and Winged Dolphin, launches a surprise attack!

Snappy always begins the battle with a surprise attack, and always opens with Dolphin Kick (ドルフィンキック). Dolphin Kick will knock off 25% of the front row's life, and 50% of the back row's. The attack will hit all party members, and the damage is based on which row they're in. He has the abilities Lullaby (子守り歌), Bufula and Mahabufu. BandyAid's Hide Armor and Nemissa's Cold Suit help immunize them from half of Snappy's attacks. This is good, because neither one of them would be able to stand a Mahabufu after Dolphin Kick.

Snappy drains all magic except Almighty, and is extremely resistant all physical. The solution is obvious: If it wants energy, TAS is going to give it energy. The whole team, sans BandyAid, starts chunking out their strongest magic spells. It isn't long before Snappy is no more.


Afterwards, Tomoko thanks BandyAid and Hitomi, then disappears from Paradigm-X. Both Nemissa and BandyAid level up, netting Nemissa a new spell: Mahazio. I want to take a moment and talk about the problems with Mahazio: Maharagi, Mahazan and Mahabufu all hit an entire row of enemies. Mahazio doesn't. It has what we're going to call a "Splash" effect: It hits one enemy (the targeted one) for a lot of damage, then "splashes" off and hits the surrounding enemies for considerably less damage. Instead of being able to regularly wipe out entire rows, you're stuck praying that it kills everything it hits. The target area of Mahazio is probably my biggest complaint about Zio-Nemissa.


Anyway! TAS are automatically teleported back to the Hideout, where Hitomi says she wants to go check on Tomoko IRL. There's also a new email from Alpha, saying that EL-115 has some new stuff. BandyAid returns to the Pet Shop and speaks with Mrs. Ryouko. Most of Mrs. Ryouko's requests can be fulfilled by collecting demons from "Chess by the Window" and it's a shame that BandyAid didn't think to do so. He trades Jack Frost and Jack Lantern for the Frost Panel and Lantern Panel software, respectively. These will change the look of the character panels on the battle screen.

BandyAid swings by the Goumaden to speak with Mary about the nature of love. This is the second step in her sidequest and needs to be done now.

Over at EL-115, most of the new stuff is junk, with one major exception: Hyakutaro (百太郎) is software that will prevent back attacks. This is a VERY good piece to have at all times. BandyAid takes some time to rearrange his COMP: He unequips Neo-Clear, and puts in the Lantern Panel and the Hyakutaro. He's not going to keep the Lantern Panel installed, but he does want to see what it looks like.

There's a handful of new stuff at Shibahama Core that's worth buying:
Both BandyAid and Nemissa get Full Face Helmets (フルフェイスヘル, a motorcycle helmet that covers the entire head). Nemissa also gets the G Radas (Ｇ－ラダーズ, A watch that increases Magic by 3 points, reduces Strength by 2, and grants immunity to Curses). I'm not sure if she's ever going to get a new arm-guard, because this one is nice.


Back at home, it seems that everything's back to normal. Welp, looks like there's nothing left to do but have a little bit of R&R. Outside the apartment complex, BandyAid casually checks out his and Nemissa's stats, while Nemissa puts on her High Leg Armor.


Dizzam.


On the way down the street, TAS encounters a strange man in a red cape. It makes a lot of strange noises, and threatens Nemissa. By name. Nemissa identifies it as Moowis. Hitomi reminds the folks at home that they fought Moowis at the Planetarium. He attacks and JESUS CHRIST HE'S A TENTACLE DEMON.

Moowis has around 2000 HP, as well as the abilities Agilao, Zanma, Megido, She Marker (シー・マーカー), and Dynamite Blast (ダイナブラスト). He always uses his first turn to cast She Marker, which inflicts Nemissa with the "Mark" status. On his second turn, he'll use Dynamite Blast (on Nemissa) and then he'll start with Agilao and whatnot. On Nemissa. He wants her dead, guys. Nemissa's High Leg Armor will protect her from Agilao, but she'll still have to survive Dynamite Blast. And the reason we want Nemissa to survive Dynamite Blast is because Moowis? Moowis is weak to Lightning. Nemissa has lightning spells. She and Yata-no-Kami are shaving off around 500 HP per round with their Zio spells alone. Moowis is not a tough enemy. But then, he's apparently taken the roll of "Annoying reoccuring miniboss" so...


After he's defeated, he'll run off, dropping a piece of scrap metal. Nemissa's pissed that he ran off, but Hitomi says that scrap metal must be a clue. Jinkies. She says they should go ask the rest of the Spookies if they know what it is. The Spookies have been consciculously absent since beating Moowis the first time, haven't they?


At the Hideout, Yu-ichi notices that there's a mark on the scrap metal. The stamp says that it's a piece from the Leon automotive plant over in Yurajima. Nemissa's ready to go, but Spooky says that it would be dangerous for just the two of them, so they'll all go. Oh boy. BandyAid silently resents the fact that Spooky thinks a mere automotive plant would be too difficult for the people who have, in the past few hours, battled their way into a demon infested airport during Dark Summoner-training to come face-to-face with one of the most powerful hitmen in the world; traveled into strange, looping worlds, caves, weird chess-themed dungeons AND fought a demonic dolphin with wings. But yeah Spooky, this is what's going to kill us.

Next time: Actually, Spooky is right and the team will be helpful backup. Hey, anything that saves us from having to do soem retarded hacking minigame is a-ok in my book! Also: The appearance of enemies with Mudo spells!

Demon artwork I forgot to post last time:

• Seirei Undine
• Majuu Nekomata
• Seirei Gnome
• Genma Hachidaioh
• Mitama Nigi Mitama

I'm for some reason missing Scathach's artwork, but I'll have it tomorrow.

He doesn't know how to spell her name.
Because she's just a girl. Really, I don't know. Divine protection from Amaterasu/Gabriel/Ishtar?

That pretty much sums up everyone in a SMT game, ever.

Wait, I'm missing something here. If it drains magic, how did you kill it with magic?

It overloads with energy.

Update 11: Shocking revelations! ...almost.

BandyAid says "Fuck it" and heads to Paradigm-X. He heads to the Casino, and begins playing the Dice Game. The Dice Game works like this: BandyAid can place up to 100 Coins on up to 3 different numbers. He can also place up to 3 "Jack Bets" (at 33 coins a pop), which are basically do overs. After he's placed both bets, the multipliers are randomly distributed, although the less likely numbers tend to skew higher. The dice are rolled, and if it turns up as the numbers he bet on, he wins. Here, he put 100 coins on 3, which had a x 16 multiplier. He wins 1600 coins. After a initial win, he's allowed to play an extra game: This time, all numbers but 7 have a 1.3 multiplier of the initial winnings. If the dice land on 7, he loses it all, but if it lands on any other number he gets to do another extra game. It's not difficult to hit the 10,000 coin limit. In virtually no time, he has over 22,000 coins.

Coins are naturally traded for fabulous prizes. There's several loyalty items (although some are wines you can actually buy at Octagon Liquors, so I'm not sure why you'd waste Coins on it), of which BandyAid picks up the Nymph's Facewash (妖樹洗顔クリーム) for 500 coins, which prevents allies from taking Poison damage while walking around if it's in the inventory.

The Casino also has rare healing items such as Soma (ソーマ, fully recovers one ally. 200 Coins), Chakra Pots (チャクラポット, fully recovers one ally's MP. 50 Coins), Chakra Drops (チャクラドロップ, recovers one ally's MP. 10 Coins), Teometle (テオメトル, fully recovers and increases one human's max HP by 50%. 100 Coins), Magic Reflecting Mirrors (魔反鏡, Reflects enemy magic cast on the party for the remainder of the round. 50 Coins), and Attack Reflecting Mirrors ( 物反鏡, Reflects enemy physical attacks for the remainder of the round. 50 Coins).

And then there's the equipment. BandyAid's mostly interested in the World Armor (ワールドアーマー, 20,000 Coins), because he remembers that's what Urabe was wearing when he went to Algon NS. The World Armor is three times as powerful as his current Hide Armor, and is one of the most powerful pieces of equipment in the game. BandyAid is very, very happy.


Onward to Yurajima! When the Spookies arrive at the Leon Plant, the power's cut off. Since they're going to need to use the elevators at some point, their first priority is to turn the juice back on. Luckily, the circuit breaker... thing... is located on the first floor, fairly close to the entrance. BandyAid, Nemissatomi, Lunch and Spooky go to turn the power on.


In front of the elevator, TAS encounters a mysterious woman. A mysterious woman they've technically met three times now. Rei Reihou. In the flesh. Since BandyAid is NOT a Phantom Society member, she does not try to blow him up with Maharagi. She warns TAS that demons are now running around thanks to the electricity being on. Nemissa assures her that they'll be ok, and thankfully does not coax her into a fight. Little favors.


TAS's next stop is the third floor. There's a card key here, but it's invisible, so the player has to hope they pass over the tile where it's located. The map above shows where it's located in relation to the elevator on the third floor. He also summons up a Chirei Koro-Pok-Guru that somehow found it's way into his party back in the Art Gallery of Hell. He sticks it in the back row and lets it defend to raise it's loyalty.


The Card Key unlocks a door on the far side of the third floor. When TAS arrives, they use the computers there to unlock the second elevator. There's also a Terminal and a Heal Spot right outside the door. BandyAid swaps out the Lantern Panel for the Frost Panel and heads back down to the second floor.

The second floor is composed of catwalks. Very unsafe catwalks. I don't know how much you guys know about Japanese Culture (I'm an expert), but they don't have anything like OSHA standards over there. Lunch is on the outermost catwalk. He checks to see if the two are ok, even though, y'know, they're AWESOME. BandyAid heads over to a walkway on the Eastern side of the floor, and leaps into the gap.

Instead of dying, he finds himself back on the first floor. TAS is promptly ambushed. "INSTALL 100-TARO INSTALL" will appear on the screen when the Hyakkutarou software goes into effect. I must say, the way the game tells you when this stuff is working is quite refreshing. You can also see the effects of the Frost Panel. Whee.

BandyAid is now in a new part of the first floor, which has a few treasures: Soul Incense (反魂香), an Orb of Sight (見晴らしの玉, same effect as the Mapper spell), a worthless Dispoison (ディスポイズン), a Luck Incense (運の香, increases Luck by one point), and 2000 MAG.

At this point, the battles in the area are pretty much being one by Nemissa casting Mahazio and Hachidaioh casting Hama. It's pretty nice. There's a one-way door to the main part of the first floor, which BandyAid takes and walks back to the elevator, and up to the second floor. On the other side of the floor, which can be accessed by simply walking around the outer edge, is the second elevator. BandyAid takes it up to the fourth floor.


Another catwalk floor. Six is waiting right by the elevator, he's apparently lost track of Yu-ichi. Great. BandyAid swears that he's not going to go look for him. There's more safety hazards on the fourth floor: BandyAid picks one on the eastern part of the floor and jumps down. Well, more like falls.


He finds himself back on the second floor, in an lone catwalk that's broken off from everything else. There are two boxes here, one contains a Monster-in-a-Box. The MIAB dies with one shot of Nemissa's Zio. It was guarding a Soma. The other box contains another Soul Incense. There's no way to go but down, so BandyAid takes the plunge eyes wide.

While walking back to the first floor's elevator, he encounters a Tenshi Archangel, whom he bribes into joining TAS with a sword.


Tenshi (Heavenly Host) Archangel is a stoic demon, with the skills Heat Whip (ヒートウェイブ), Zio and Hama. He reflects Expel but is weak to Curses.

BandyAid reaches Level 30 before hitting the elevator. Sirens go off in his mind, and he dashes back out to the Goumaden. Yousei Silky and Ryuuou Yato-no-Kami, whom I keep calling "Yata-no-Kami" because I'm so used to "Yata-no-Kagami", are fused to create Shinjuu Narcissus.


Shinjuu (Tree God) Narcissus is a clever demon who voids Expel and Curses, but is weak to Fire. He has the abilities Tarunda (タル・ンダ, reduces enemy attack power), Parala-Di (パララディ, heals Paralysis), Ion Storm (アイオンの雨, extremely powerful ice attack to all enemies), Hypnotism (催眠術), and, because Silky was used, the spells Diarama (ディアラマ) and Media (メ・ディア). It was necessary to fuse him at the Goumaden to pass on the spells Diarama and Media, because the Goumaden allows for more skills to be passed on.

BandyAid also stops by the Pet Shop in Paradigm-X to give Anoon the Koro-Pok-Guru to fulfill her "Friendly Demon with Max Loyalty" request. He also hands Archangel to Mrs. Ryouko, as per her request, which she rewards with the Oni Mark (オニ・マーク) Software. It's another aesthetic panel. When a character is affected with bad status, instead of a kanji stamp, they'll have a little demon icon like from SMT2 and SMTif... Unfortunately, the graphics only show up for bad status, which I personally like to avoid.

BandyAid heads back to the Leon Plant, to recruit another Yato-no-Kami and another Archangel, and silently wishes Silky appeared in this dungeon because it would make this a better fusion by passing on Diarama and Media. The two are combined to create Seijuu Airavata.


Seijuu (Sacred Beast) Airavata is a friendly demon, with the skills Zanma (ザンマ), Rakukaja (ラク・カジャ, increases defense of party), and Parala-Di. Unfortunately, Airavata doesn't really have the magic strength to back up Zanma. It drains Force spells, voids Expel and resists Curses. You'd think BandyAid was preparing for some sort of showdown with a paralysis-inducing enemy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong.

BandyAid also recruits a Yama Sandman, because it will fulfill the last of Anoon's requests, which is for a Stupid Demon with Max Loyalty.



Yama (Night Stalker) Sandman is a stupid demon who voids Curses, resists Expel, and reflects Force. It has the abilities Zan, Dormina, Happy Trigger and Bulletstorm of Loyalty (忠義の銃撃), which is like Silky's Blizzard of Loyalty, except with bullet-damage.


In the center of the fourth floor is the monitor room, where Moowis is hiding. Moowis is now a transformer. He says that Nemissa is a threat that must be terminated. Nemissa doesn't fully comprehend what he means. BandyAid rolls his eyes and tries to count in his mind how many demons Nemissa incinerated with her lightning spells on the way up here. Moowis attacks. He's still weak to lightning magic, but this time he resists both Ice and Fire. BandyAid kicks himself for not picking up another Yato-no-Kami for it's Mahazio.

Moowis has the spells Agi, Agilao, Maharagion, Megido, Megidola, She Marker and Destroy Pile (デストロイパイル). Destroy Pile has the area of effect as Mahazio, and deals Force damage. Airavata and Sandman can help deal with that. Megido hits one target, but Megidola hits an entire row. Moowis has nearly 4000 HP.

Moowis has something of an attack pattern. At first, he'll waste four turns making sure his programming is running correctly, then perform this series of actions: She-Marker, Agilao, Megido, Destroy Pile. Nemissa's High Leg Armor will protect her from Agilao, so she just has to dodge Megido and Destroy Pile. He'll keep following this pattern until he's lost enough HP. Then he'll start randomly using his abilities. Megidola can hurt.

This is the case for a non-Zio Nemissa. If Nemissa has the Zio magic, the battle will be over in almost no time. She'll constantly be inflicting him with Shock status before he can act (This is why Intelligence + Agility are really important), and be dealing far more damage than anyone else in the party.


When he dies, he begins to... rust? I think? In a Grainy FMV, even. He'll turn into a ball and disappear into the monitors behind him. Nemissa, not willing to let him go, grabs BandyAid's hand and drags him inside the monitors with her.


And suddenly... they're flying through a canyon? BandyAid can dig it, he's not losing any MAG anyway. Eventually, Nemissa stops. She seems to recognize this place, vaguely. She begins to flip out and see things. I guess Moowis slipped her some LSD while BandyAid wasn't looking. She regains her composure and they continue forward.



They catch up with Moowis, who is... a half rotten corpse in a headdress? Moowis continues to swear that Nemissa is an enemy. Nemissa wants to know just what the hell he's talking about, how he knows her, that sort of thing. He doesn't give any answers, but thinks its funny that she doesn't know. Apparently, there will be others coming for her. Then he dies. Nemissa is pissed that he died before telling her just what the hell he was talking about.


Back IRL, Nemissa is still fuming about the stuff Moowis talked, about but Hitomi tries to calm her down. Rei shows up and is surprised that TAS was able to kill the demon. She says the Phantom Society was responsible for the demon, and that if TAS is really interested in fighting against them they should speak with her friend, Madam Ginko. Madam Ginko will be waiting for them at the Goumaden. Then she leaves.

Lunch, Spooky and Six show up, and they're glad BandyAid and Hitomi are ok. They say they're heading back to the Hideout, because Yu-ichi's waiting there.

But first! The Goumaden!


TAS waits around outside for Madam Ginko. As it turns out, Madam Ginko was the other woman that BandyAid and Hitomi saw leaving the Goumaden way back at the beginning of the game. Fancy that. Madam Ginko explains that the Phantom Society is a very dangerous, Mafia-meets-Illuminati style organization, and says that it'll take a lot to go up against them. BandyAid will need to become really powerful. She asks him if he thinks he can handle it.

Tyrants, what do you think? Can BandyAid handle the power?
"I'm confident in my own abilities."
"I'm not sure."

This is an interesting question, isn't it? On one hand, the first option fits the JRPG "I believe in myself so I conquer any obstacle!" cliche, but on the other hand, the second option fits into the "I can rely on my friends because we all trust each other" cliche, and friendship is the strongest power in the universe isn't it? Basically this question is a huge screw you from Atlus, because it effects something totally unrelated much later in the game. Actually, it won't do jack for this particular playthrough, but I'm putting it up because I feel like I haven't been able to offer any interactivity for the past few updates

Next time: Clash of the Titans

Also:
Megami (Goddess) Scathach

Clearly just a typical day in demon-land.

I don't think most Megaten protagonists got anywhere with a lot of self-doubt. You gotta be bold!

To quote a certain puppy with the wisdom of... well, a rapping puppy, "I gotta believe!" And if the game punishes you for believing in yourself, well, fuck the game. Thousands of The Secret readers can't be wrong, can they?

This is a series where an ordinary human can kill God with a katana. If I were a Megaten protagonist I'd probably be confident in my abilities!

Update 12: Upstairs and downstairs and this place is not designed for efficiency at all!

"Hey baby, I GOT this!" BandyAid screams. Madam Ginko warns him that overconfidence has been the downfall of many, and proceeds to talk more about the Phantom Society. They're bad news. They're currently in Amami City and working with Algon Software. Blah blah blah.


She does, however, give BandyAid a Blank Sword (無銘の刀), which can reveal it's true power when fused with a demon. She tells him to meet with the Muramasa the 33rd if he wants to know how. She takes off, again warning that the Phantom Society is everywhere, evil, rapes puppies, etc etc etc.

TAS heads into the Goumaden, where they meet with Muramasa the 33rd in the bowels of the ship. His prefers the nickname "Chef" and peppers his speech with French. You might say he's a Ouiaboo.

Through sword fusion, BandyAid can use a demon to create a sword that takes on that demon's properties. There are 8 different "types" of swords, all of them are Seven Star (Blank) Muramasas:

• Shichisei Muramasa (七星村正, Muramasa "Regular" flavor. Male only)
• Shichiseishiranui Muramasa (七星不知火村正, "Mysterious Fire" flavor, deals fire damage. Male only)
• Shichiseihyoujin Muramasa (七星氷刃村正, "Glimmering Blade" flavor, deals ice damage and chance to inflict "Freeze" status on an enemy. Male only)
• Shichiseidenkou Muramasa (七星電光村正, "Lightning" flavor, deals electric damage and has a chance to inflict "Shock" status on an enemy. Male only)
• Shichiseihashou Muramasa (七星破衝村正, "Shockwave" flavor, deals force damage. Male only)
• Shichiseimaei Muramasa (七星魔映村正, "Glamour" flavor, inflicts "Charm" status on enemy. Female only)
• Shichiseidokujin Muramasa (七星毒刃村正, "Assassin's Dagger" flavor, inflicts "Poison" status on enemy. Female only)
• Shichiseimusou Muramasa (七星夢想村正, "Dream" flavor, inflicts "Sleep" status on enemy. Female only)

The female only weapons would be nice if Nemissa were a front line fighter and the NyanNyan Claw didn't exist.

Um, Turnip, I'm looking at that moonspeak and comparing it to the moonspeak in the picture above, and it doesn't look the same. What gives?

I'm glad you asked! In addition to the Seven Star swords, certain demons can be fused to the Blank Sword to create new, exciting special weapons. In the picture above, Megami Scathach and the Blank Sword will result in the Gáe Bulg. Since Scathach is... shall we say, more helpful to BandyAid's team than the Gáe Bulg would be, he decides not to do the fusion. Alas! The blank sword will remain blank for now. Plus he's probably going to get a really cool new weapon within the next two updates that's going to carry him until the end of the game


Muramasa's Workshop can be accessed by speaking with Mary at the Goumaden. When TAS leaves, BandyAid receives a call from Spooky. Apparently, something's up. He wants BandyAid to come back to the Hideout ASAP.

BandyAid goes to Drug Gear and buys some status healing items (except for Dispoison, which are useless to him now) and has a leisurely lunch with his demonic compatriots at Sawamura's.

At the Hideout, Spooky shows BandyAid something that's been posted on Summoner's Net: "To the owner of the Guntype Computer, whom I met at the airport..."
Oh jeez someone thinks that Summoner's Net is craigslist. I had to check wikipedia to see if that would be anachronistic, but apparently not? Neat.
Anyway, Finnegan has issued a challenge to BandyAid, and says that he's got Yu-ichi. BandyAid is to come to Amami Float, a manmade island off the coast of Amami Bay. BandyAid barely keeps himself from spouting off the tired, "Yu-ichi may be a worthless idiot, but he's my worthless idiot and I will be the one to kill him, not you" cliche. Spooky says that the Float is accessed by the a shuttle at the airport. The Spookies saddle up and head out.

But first, BandyAid returns to the Hideout to save. A new email arrives from the boys of EL-115. They've got new merchandise. BandyAid feels a tingling sensation in his loins, and rushes over there to see what they've got.

New stuff, each piece costs 980 yen:

• Caps Lock (キャプス・ロック): Works like Estoma. Weaker enemies are kept away. Worthless because MAG, and BandyAid would have to go to a Terminal to take it off.
• Scanning Zero (スキャニングゼロ ): Maps Dark Zones. There is, and this is not a hyperbole, exactly one dungeon in Soul Hackers that uses Dark Zones. Worthless.
• Mr. Surprise (Mr.サプライズ): Increases odds of a preemptive strike for TAS. A good idea in theory, but worth a slot? No way.
• Dark Man (ダーク・マン): Allows BandyAid to recruit dark demons. This will come in handy shortly, so BandyAid buys it. While it is great, he's not quite sure it was exactly what he was looking for.
• Jive Talkin' (ジャイブトーキン): Translates incomprehensible speech. BandyAid will need this at some point in the future, so he snags it too. But there's something else... something he feels deep in his pants gut...
• Gibo Eyes (ギボ・アイズ): This. This is it. This is what's making BandyAid heart race and face flush. Gibo Eyes warns the player if an enemy is going to absorb/drain/repel their attacks. BandyAid slams his money on the table and begins babbling incoherently about his "Precious."

When BandyAid finally comes to his senses, he decides that he must test out his new toy. Where oh where might he test it out? He remembers that whole Yu-ichi thing. Finnegan's a summoner, there must be demons near him! It's off to the Airport. Again.


The shuttle is in the basement, along the same wall where BandyAid found Judah's COMP. The Spookies prepare to board, only to be interrupted by BandyAid's phone. The man on the line says that only BandyAid is allowed to come. He can bring the girl too if he wants, but only those two are allowed. Little does he know that Hitomi's coming along too! Or Nemissa's coming along too! Um... either way, there's going to be three of them. So neener neener Finnegan. Lunch, Six and Spooky backoff and wish BandyAid and Hitomi good luck.


Inside the Float, there's a Terminal and Heal Spot right in front of the door. This does not bode well, thinks BandyAid. Down the eastern hallway, a worker explains that the building has three different "blocks", and they're all locked down right now. Another says that the switches to unlock the blocks are located on the 13th floor, and that BandyAid will have to take the elevator up to the fifth floor, then get on a different elevator that goes to the 13th floor. This sort of layout is NOT NORMAL and is COUNTER PRODUCTIVE. "Hey, we have to put a switch that unlocks the door on the first floor. Let's put it on the top (13th) floor!" I mean, it's almost as if who ever designed Amami City was an evil sadist.

Oh right.

BandyAid sighs, and heads to the only available elevator. Then he encounters a battle.


The Gibo Eyes work as such: When a character begins to select a target, a little icon will appear in front of a demon if it voids, repels, or drains that attack. In the above picture, Youma Marut has a blue "X" to show that Nemissa's Mahazio spell isn't going to effect it. In the next, Kyouchou Gurulu will reflect Airavata's Zanma spell, so a red "X" with arrows pointing outward is displayed. The Youjuu Jersey Devil, on the other hand will take damage from Zanma, so no icon is displayed. In the last picture, Ryuuou Nozuchi will drain BandyAid's attacks, so there's an orange icon.

Gibo Eyes won't display anything if an enemy is resistant to a particular attack, however. Gibo Eyes works on EVERYTHING, including bosses and enemies that BandyAid has never encountered. Oh yes, they are that broken.


BandyAid takes the elevator up to the 5th Floor, where he finds himself in a rather twisty area. The elevator up to the 13th Floor is marked with the pink triangle, and the chests are marked with blue squares. The top chest contains a Chakra Pot (チャクラポット) that does not impress BandyAid because he can get them at the Casino if need be, and the bottom contains 3000 MAG. This dungeon has a lot more walking and backtracking than the Art Gallery of Hell, but I haven't complained about it draining my MAG. That's because the enemies in this dungeon are generous with the MAG, as are the chests. There's 6000 MAG in chests alone.

The 13th Floor is straight forward. One room has the lever that unlocks the A Block, the other has a chest with 2000 MAG. After unlocking the A Block, BandyAid makes the trip back down to the first floor where he can visit the Heal Spot and save. Hachidaioh dies a lot because of goddamn Yochou Takuhi. They tend to travel in pairs and with Nekomatas. Takuhi has the skill Human Bullet, which reduces Hachidaioh's HP to 1. Then another enemy will swoop in and finish him off. It's painful. BandyAid's Tranq Bullets are good to use, because Takuhi is weak to bullets.

(I was kind of excited because this update wasn't going to hit the 10 picture limit, but then I hit the character limit. Sigh.)

As far as annoying enemies, Takuhi is probably the only one. Jersey Devil is can poison the party, but that literally means nothing to TAS now.

BandyAid takes the elevator in the A Block up to the 5th floor, grabbing a cool 1000 MAG on the way to the next elevator and another Orb of Sight (見晴らしの玉) at the other end of the floor. The A Block is really straight forward and is basically a straight line. On the 13th floor, he pulls the lever to unlock the B Block, then walks back down to the 1st floor and heals before going in.


There's a Magic Reflect Mirror (魔反鏡) in the center room of the B Block, and a Chakra Pot at the far Northeastern corner. BandyAid and Nemissa come across Yu-ichi's stupid little hat in front of the elevator to the 13th floor. The B Block's 13th floor is large and filled with lot of warehouses, but the switch to open the C Block is marked on the map by the purple icon.
C Block is located within the B Block, and the elevator only goes to the 13th floor. TAS step on the elevator and roughly 3 minutes later when it reaches the 13th floor, they find that there's only a single warehouse. BandyAid takes a moment to re-equip himself and blog SAVE using the Back Upper. He swaps out his Yamato Bracer for the Guard Angel he got on the Chess Board.


Finnegan is inside. He wants to play a little game with BandyAid.(...apparently he really does think Summoner's Net is craigslist)

He challenges BandyAid to a duel, a fight between Summoners.

...Finnegan. The man who kind of already killed BandyAid once, back in Urabe's Vision Quest. Former professional boxer Finnegan. Currently a very skilled assassin who works for the most powerful organization in the world. He wants to fight BandyAid. One-on-one. Man-to-man.

Tyrants, what's it going to be?
A) Let's settle this like men! One on one!
B) Fuck that, my girlfriend can incinerate you with her BRAIN you think I'm going into battle without her?

The "duel" part is a little misleading. It just means Nemissa won't fight, rather than actually fighting him as solo BandyAid. Demons are still ok. Well, other demons. Demons that aren't Nemissa are ok.

tl;dr version:
Finnegan kidnapped Yu-ichi, BandyAid went through an annoying hit-switch-unlock-door dungeon, and now Finnegan wants to fight BandyAid one-on-one.

A, because it sounds more difficult.

I say one-on-one, it can't go wrong.

I say bring Nemissa. What's he going to do, whine at you? Plus, EXP.

Didn't we just say that we were confident in our abilities? Besides, Finnegan seems like an honorable chap, you know, the sort who would fully heal you before a fight and give you a free round or two to start with if you were brave enough to fight him solo.

What is this "honor" you speak of, Q 3?

Brain-burnings, por favor.

Update 13: Bad Seeds

BandyAid accepts Finnegan's one-on-one challenge. Then he reloads his game to make things easier for himself. Hachidaioh is returned to the COMP, and WISHBONE is summoned in his place. BandyAid bravely struts back to Finnegan's room and sits through the scene again. He accepts the challenge. Nemissa's pissed that BandyAid is letting her kick his ass, but steps aside anyhow. Finnegan is happy and can't wait to show off his new summoning program that the Phantom Society gave him.

Yes.

No.

Finnegan heals TAS, and launches a surprise attack.


Actually it isn't really a surprise attack, he just begins summoning his demons. His COMP is in his brass knuckles. No, I don't know how that works either. Just go with it. He first summons Seijuu Airavata, which is something BandyAid has. That sure is a coincidence, isn't it guys?

Then he summons Genma Hachidaioh. And Shinjuu Narcissus. And Genma Marut. And Youma Sandman.


His summoning program copies the demons in BandyAid's COMP and summons them. Ladies and gentlemen, we are fighting a mirror battle!

Except for one thing: His demons are strictly default. BandyAid's Narcissus is custom built, if you recall, with Media and Diarama. Finnegan's Narcissus won't have those spells, it will only have whatever the demon would have by default. Scatach is the only character on Team Finnegan that can heal.

Finnegan himself has a few skills (Why do enemy summoners get to have neat special attacks and BandyAid doesn't?): Roundhouse Kick (回し蹴り, strike damage to front row), Shocking Backhand (電撃裏拳, strike damage to one, chance to "Shock"), Short Jab, Snipe (ねらい撃ち, gunfire damage to one character), and Zouma Incineration (造魔焼却, instantly kills Zouma-class demons). Sorry WISHBONE, the only reason you're even summoned right now is to make Finnegan waste a turn killing you.

This battle seems like it'd be a lot harder than it actually is. Most of the demons can't even touch BandyAid, and TAS's Airavata's Rakukaja helps make any damage they deal manageable.

Whenever a fake!demon is killed, another one will be summoned at the end of the turn automatically.


BandyAid got a little worried with Megami Scatach came out, but then he realized that she's not longer 12 levels stronger than him. She goes down without much fuss.

Eventually Finnegan is the only one left standing, and it's down to a slugfest between four members of TAS and him. Guess which team wins?


Both Hitomi and Nemissa are impressed by BandyAid's mad skills. So impressed that they don't even bother to chase after Finnegan when he runs away. Yu-ichi's ok, relatively speaking. He seems sort of out of it. In a daze.

Oh god. Did Finnegan touch him? You know, in his bad places? Is that why he's acting like this?

Back at the Airport's Shuttle, Six bitches Yu-ichi out for getting into such a situation. The other Spookies tell him to chill, but he storms off in a huff. Yu-ichi's still sort of out of it, so they send him home.


At the Hideout, an email arrives that says BandyAid's ID has been terminated. In the eyes of Amami City and the Government, he no longer exists. This is a problem, because without an ID BandyAid can't access anything in Paradigm-X or Shibahama Core. Spooky says that it's the Phantom Society's doing, and that BandyAid should go get Six, who lives in Nijomon.


At Six's place, Hitomi tries to talk to him. He's giving the silent treatment, because he's apparently still pissed that Yu-ichi nearly got himself killed. When trying to smooth things over with him doesn't work, she changes the subject to BandyAid's ID being erased, saying that they need his help. Still no response. Nemissa gets pissed off and starts yelling at him. No response.


...uh oh. This is in no way a good thing.

Six has the same look in his eye that Tomoko did when she was under Snappy's influence. He's apparently logged into Paradigm-X's VR Horror House, which BandyAid can't access without an ID. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Back to the Hideout!


Spooky says that the guys over at EL-115 can forge BandyAid a new ID, and he and Lunch start to head over there, leaving BandyAid and Hitomissa alone. A new email arrives containing an access code for the VR Park. A walk in the park? Surely that's what BandyAid needs right now! He'll need his ID to get in, so it's off to EL-115. Except, as TAS starts to leave the Hideout, Nemissa hears voices outside.

Lunch's father has found the Hideout. There is drama. While Lunch and his father argue about, say, everything under the sun, BandyAid slips off toward EL-115, where Alpha and Beta hook him up with a sweet new ID.

BandyAid goes to Shibahama Core to purchase a Gladius (グラディウス, A sword used by Ancient Roman Soldiers) to replace his Ninja Sword. He feels it's time that WISHBONE powered up, so he walks to the Goumaden.

Unfortunately, he arrives during the New Moon, and discovers that attempting to fuse WISHBONE during the New Moon will revert it back to it's original Dolly Sample state. So he leaves and wanders Shibahama for two steps until the phase of the moon changes.

First, WISHBONE is combined with Youki Tokebi, then with Genma Marut. The result:

...um, ok. He now has the abilities Zio, Zan, Mahazio, Dormina, Rakunda and Mapper, and not nearly enough Magic/Intelligence to make use of 'em. Oh well. He'll find a reason to exist eventually. I promise.

With nothing else to do, BandyAid returns to Paradigm-X's Pet Shop, where he delivers the Stupid Yama Sandman to Anoon. She gives him another Demon Metamorph list, as well as Kyochou Mou Shobou.


Kyochou (Bird of Misfortune) Mou Shobou is a shitty demon. It has the abilities Dia (ディア) and Self Destruct (自爆). BandyAid deletes it from his COMP in disgust.

Anoon how has three more requests, this time for specific demons with max loyalty. This was the real reason for fulfilling the rest of her requests.

Now BandyAid's off to save Six!

...or not. SIDEQUEST!


BandyAid attempts to access the VR Park from the Theater, only to find that it's been closed. Hitomi gives the password, which allows TAS administrative access.

There are no encounters in the VR Park, although some of the people inside will mention that it's been taken over by the Ohmropas Program. Sounds kinky. If BandyAid has learned anything from his brief life as a Devil Summoner, the best way to fix something is to beat it into submission!

The VR Park has a couple of "jump" spots where BandyAid must leap over the hedges. Neo-Clear/Mapper shows where they are, but BandyAid can also see them because the jumpable shrubbery lacks flowers.


Hey remember last time when I said there was only one dungeon in the game that had dark spots? I lied. The VR Park has them too. The North and South ends of the Park are separated by long stretches of "dark" hallways that also have warp points. The only way to get across is to jump over the hedges in the right order.

At the north end of the park, there's a door leading south. When BandyAid passes through the door, he enters a literal "dark" area. His goal is to head all the way to the bottom, then come swing back north into the central light area.


Unfortunately, the door to the central area only opens during the New Moon. I suddenly have violent flashbacks of Shin Megami Tensei if...'s World of Sloth as BandyAid paces around the immediate area, waiting for the New Moon to come. When it does, he finds himself in a well-lit area. A well-lit area filled with treasure. Treasure and Monsters-in-a-Box. Oh boy.

The angel decorations act as treasure boxes. Almost all contain a monsters, but most of the monsters are pushovers from previous dungeons. Except for the big red skeleton pictured above. He's new. He dies just like anything else though: With a shot of Zio.

Heading north along the outer west path, BandyAid finds a Magic Reflect Mirror (魔反鏡), and on the outer east path there's a Soma (ソーマ). TAS comes to a path that leads southward into the inner central area. There's a Heal Spot, not that it's needed, and a Luck Incense (運の香) located just a little ways south of it. From there, BandyAid heads to the westmost path to pick up a useless Stun Grenade (スタングレネード, inflicts paralysis on enemy) on the outer path and an Intelligence Incense (知恵の香) located on the inner path. That's pretty much the reward for this sidequest, so yay? There's a Diamond along the southern wall that isn't guarded by a MIAB, as well as a Chakra Pot on the path just north of it. The far eastern path has another Chakra Pot, and the inner east path has an Attack Reflect Mirror (物反鏡).

The entrance to the centermost area, where the boss resides, is located south of the Heal Spot.


Heeey Ohmropas wants to eat BandyAid's soul. What else is new? It summons 3 Youjuu Alraunes and this battle begins. The Alraunes are nothing even though they're new, Nemissa can blow them up with no trouble at all. While they're around, Ohmropas will do nothing but defend.

They're dead before TAS knows it, and Ohmropas is up front. It has the abilities Poison Breath (臭い息, Poisons front row), Demon's Birthcry (悪魔の産声, same as Win-Pe's back in Vision Quest 2), Maharagion (マハ・ラギオン, major fire damage to the whole party), Variety Dance (バリアントダンス, inflicts "High" status on front row), and Necro Dogma (ネクロ・ドグマ, almighty damage with Mahazio's area of effect). None of these attacks are particularly dangerous, it's Maharagion isn't even enough to kill Narcissus, who's weak to fire magic. Nemissa' High Leg Armor protects her from it, so there's that too. Poison's a non-issue for TAS.

Ohmropas gets to attack twice per turn, and will start casting Maharagion whenever it's HP get to yellow level (which is half of maximum). It's weak to physical martial arts, so Hachidaioh would have been awesome here. It's also "weak" to Fire, in the sense that it resists the other elements.


It has around 3000 HP, and it takes a while to die because TAS isn't optimized for this battle. The worst thing that happens is that it BandyAid gets "High," but he uses his turn to attack Ohmropas anyway, so it worked out ok before Nemissa could use a Me-Patra Stone. Eventually, it dies and leaves a crummy reward. Neither character levels up. What a rip off.

No, I take that back: The Luck and Intelligence Incenses were great, it's like two free level ups for BandyAid. TAS is deposited outside the VR Theater.

With that sidequest over, there's only one thing to do: Save Six. Have you noticed that Lunch is the only Spooky we haven't had to bust our ass saving? Yeah, funny that he's my favorite member of Spookies, isn't it?

Next time: Megaupdate with tragic backstories, Mary Poppins and the end of Disc 1.

I really wish I had something interesting to say, but I don't. However, I keep reading these Let's Plays and not posting encouragement, and I enjoyed such encouragement during mine... so...
Be encouraged! This is awesome! I'm still reading it! Etc!
No, seriously though, you are hitting a pretty darn good balance between humor-oriented stuff and informative stuff. Keep it up!

This thread also reminds me that I really need to figure out how to get Japanese language support on this machine sometime, so I can see what those nice question marks look like.

Oh, thank you.

Update 14: Dramatic Conclusions. Sort of.

BandyAid's off to save Six!

...or not.


Remember how we haven't really recruited any new demons or done any fusion for a couple of dungeons? That ends now. BandyAid strikes out for the Sea Ark Hotel. The door to the fourth floor is unlocked, so that's where the hunt begins.


First up is Majuu (Demon Beast) Katakirauwa, a stupid demon with the abilities Zan, Mudo, Recarmudora (リカームドラ), and Shockwave of Loyalty (忠義の衝撃). Katakirauwa repels curses but is weak to expel. It is also, as mentioned, a stupid demon. Early, I said that stupid demons gain loyalty by autobattling. Unfortunately, Katakirauwa, on his first round, decides to cast Recarmudora to recover the 10 HP BandyAid was missing. Recarmudora, if you're observant, is a combination of the spells "Recarm" and "Mudora": The former is a revive spell and the latter an instant death spell. Recarmudora kills the caster to fully recover the HP of the rest of the party. It's pretty useless.


Next is Tenshi (Heavenly Host) Principality, which repels Expel but is weak to Curses. It has the abilities Media, Mahabufu and Lightning Stab (イナズマ突き). Principality is a friendly demon.

BandyAid heads back to the elevator to go down to the second floor, where he takes the stairs up to the 3rd. You see, we've established that Amami City was constructed by Satan, and the Sea Ark is no different: The elevator only goes to even numbered floors. The even numbered floors have stairs that lead up to the next floor (ie, there are stairs to the third floor on the second), but the odd floors don't have anything that goes to the next floor. It's a pain in the ass.


On the third floor, BandyAid recruits Youma (Trickster) Apsaras, after many, many, many attempts to persuade her. Apsaras is a friendly demon who is weak to fire, reflects ice, and voids Curses. She has the abilities Bufu, Diarama, MePatra and Wall of Water (水の壁, nullifies fire attacks for one round).

BandyAid also recruits another Putz on the 3rd floor, then heads downstairs.


He snags Akuryou (Phantasm) Poltergeist, a stupid demon with the spell Zan. It voids Curses, Bullets, and status effects, but is weak to Expel.

BandyAid also recruits a Knocker. At the Goumaden, Knocker and Putz are fused together to create another Seirei Gnome.


BandyAid strolls back to Algon NS at Nijomon. Remember? The very first dungeon in the game? His new ID allows him to access the second elevator that was locked before. Apparently, the massive security lockage on said elevators were guarding empty hallways and trash cans.

The third floor's can has the East Taishan Hat (東方泰山の帽子), the fourth floor's has the West Huashan Clothes (西方華山の衣), and the fifth has boxes containing the South Hengshan Ring (南方衝山の指輪) and the North Hengshan Shoes (北方恒山の具足). The items are named after the five sacred mountains of China. That's an equipment set if BandyAid's ever seen one. They're all girl clothes, so Nemissa puts them on.


When all four pieces are equipped, Nemissa gets stat boosts across the board. +4 Strength, + 2 Intelligence, + 2 Magic, + 4 Constitution, + 2 Agility and + 2 Luck. I did say earlier that Constitution wasn't useful, but 4 extra points to it are not unwelcome.

Now to Paradigm-X. BandyAid goes to the Pet Shop to trade a Seere that's in his COMP for another Nekomata. The Pet Shop is fundamentally broken like this, because BandyAid can fulfill the same requests an unlimited number of times as long as the reward isn't already in his COMP.

There's a new trader up, too. His name is Dr. Thrill, an he wants specific demons, and his rewards are demons from a special class known as Senshi (Ranger)... we'll probably be talking to him waaaaaaay later in the game.

Now BandyAid is ready to go save Six.

The VR Horror House is located under the "A Course" at the VR Theater.


A butler greets TAS when the enter the Horror House, who mentions that Shingo is already here. There are three empty rooms until they reach the main section, which contains a Heal Spot and a Save Point. The whole first floor is automapped already, which is nice. When BandyAid steps into the main room, he hears the sound of children playing. Creepy. There's 500 MAG is the chest in the far eastern part of the floor, but other than than that, nothing. There are three large rooms in the center of the first floor, each one contains an organ that, when played, will warp TAS to a new part of the Horror House. BandyAid cranks the organ on the left, which is technically the second one, and is whisked away to a new floor.


The new areas are huge and mazelike. Looks of hallways, doors and single rooms. Each of the single rooms are warp spots. One is the correct warp, the rest will send TAS down to the basement where they'll have to climb back up to the first floor and try again. Needless to say, Neo-Clear/Mapper/A full stock of Orb of Sights are necessary for this dungeon. Dark Man, the software that allows BandyAid to speak with Dark-aligned demons, will also be useful.

If you're playing along at home and following the walkthrough on Gamefaqs, which helpfully says "The correct teleporters are in the Northwestern part of the floors," I'm going to tell you something that will make your life easier: In front of the organ rooms on the first floor, there are lightning fixtures on the ceiling. On the maze floors, those lighting fixtures appear in front of the "correct" door. You can see them in the above pictures.

Left organ dungeon map.


BandyAid also recruit Jashin (Wicked God) Mishaguji-sama. I would want to stage an intervention with Kazuma Kaneko because this is yet another penis demon, but then I remembered how many of the female demons have exposed breasts. A lot of them do. Mishaguji-sama is a regular encounter that was unceremoniously bumped up to major villain in Kuzunoha Raidou vs the Soulless Army. It's a Ferocious demon that reflects strike and technique-damage. It has the abilities Mahabufula, Shocking Backhand, and another skill I'm not quite sure how to translate. It doesn't matter, really, this fella's just fusion fodder.

It should be noted that this dungeon is probably the first that the enemies weren't well below BandyAid's level.

The correct teleporter will send BandyAid down to an isolated part of the basement, which contains another teleporter that sends him upstairs. Following the only path he can, he eventually ends up in a bedroom.


There's a little kid there named Shingo. That's... Six's real name. Nemissa thinks that little Six is cute, and asks BandyAid what they should do. BandyAid tries to take Shingo and leave the Horror House, but he doesn't want to go. He screams, and a little girl appears. She says he's really loud, and asks what's wrong. He tells her, and she sends TAS back to the first floor.

BandyAid cranks the middle organ and heads into the next area.


Not far into this area, Nemissa levels up and learns Zionga, the most powerful Lightning-element spell. Yes, in Soul Hackers, the spells only go up two levels. No -dynes, sorry.

BandyAid takes the time to grind himself up to Level 37 and raise Nekomata's loyalty. Middle organ dungeon map.


At the end of the road, TAS find themselves in an attic. A similar sequence takes place, where BandyAid attempts to take Shingo out, but he calls Erika to protect him. She throws the party back to the first floor.

BandyAid leaves the Horror House and heads back to the Goumaden, where he fuses Majuu Nekomata with Seirei Gnome. The result:


Majuu (Demon Beast) Kazo is a friendly demon with the abilities Diarama, Fire Breath (ファイアブレス), Recarm and Petra-di. He inherited Mark-Di from Gnome. It absorbs Fire but is weak to Ice.

Back to the Horror House to raise it's loyalty up. It doesn't take long, but before it maxes out BandyAid recruits a Yousei Leprechaun.

Yousei (Fairy) Leprechaun is a stupid demon that voids Curses and Lightning, and reflects Force. It has the abilities Gun Phone (ガンフォーン),Makarakarn (マカラカーン) , Roundhouse Kick (回し蹴り), and Rakunda (ラク・ンダ). The only one BandyAid is interested in is Makarakarn, which reflects enemy magic for one turn. Leprechaun can be Metamorphed to create Kuribo's Show. That's a lie, but wouldn't it be awesome?

When Kazo's loyalty his 5, BandyAid leaves and goes to the Pet Shop. You see, a maxed loyalty Kazo was one of Anoon's requests. As a reward, she gives BandyAid another Metamorph list and a Reichou Thunderbird.


Reichou (Spirit Bird) Thunderbird is a clever demon with the abilities Thunderbolt (サンダーボルト), Sonic Boom (ソニックブーム), and Missle Punch (ミサイルパンチ). Thunderbird voids Expel, drains Electricity, and is weak to Gunfire.

Back at the Horror House, BandyAid works on raising Thunderbird's loyalty. After two battles, BandyAid pours some liquor down it's throat to make it friendly and speed the whole process up.

BandyAid enters the third organ dungeon, and grinds his way up to Level 38. It takes a while.


A long while. Right organ dungeon map.